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e e e all right it's 6:30 uh Julie would you mind calling the role please certainly Cara Caston here Ken Dawson here CHR espanosa here Jenny hagstrom here Terry pavich here and Don rener here thank you very much having a quorum uh let's stand for the pledge of alleg I PL Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the republ for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right uh first item of business will be approval of minutes can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve the me minutes from the December 16th 2024 business meeting the December 16th 2024 closed meeting the January 13th 2025 Workshop meeting with action item and the January 13th 2025 closed meeting so moved second Chris moves Ken second thank you Chris resinosa hi hen Dawson hi Jenny hagstrom hi ter pavich hi Cara Caston hi and Don rener hi motion carries uh Julia Adam for do we have any visitors no sir okay thank you uh item number five I'll turn it over to Hank getting there I'll invite okay Julia Beckman and the foundation Donna Dawson up to present uh Foundation checks to Grant recipients and hello we're very happy to be back here this and I'd love it if we came every two weeks but it won't quite be like that I'm I'm Julia Beckman and I am the I have the honor of being the president of the District 99 Foundation board and it's good to be back in this room again we are presenting checks that that actually were granted in the middle of last semester but what with the Christmas holiday Etc we're now presenting the the uh demonstration checks but these were really wonderful grants that we were that we produced but I also wanted to introduce you some of our board members who are here uh they're behind me Diane Richard is our Treasurer so she's really important and Steve ruffle is also very important because he's a retired District 99 teacher but we're very happy that they're here and I'm going to let Donna Dawson who is our grants chair tell you all about the grants all right we'll help her with the big checks bu is back there okay hi everyone as promised we're back again uh today and we have five recipients well actually four cuz one's um uh accepting on honor uh on behalf of some of the other members at North because tonight is I think freshman night at school so okay so we have five projects that we would like to um recognize tonight and we're going to start off with the attendance intervention mentoring program so if cath Katherine Kelly hi could come up we would appreciate it and so we're going to ask Katherine to just give a kind of brief overview of the wonderful project that you are heading and we're also going to big hon you with our um yeah so uh at South we are running the uh attendance intervention monitoring intervention it's a tier 2 intervention to support students who are in the building and getting to class it is an initiative through the Roe and so they provided the slides and they're in constant contact of who's working with you how many kids are you getting how effective is it um so a lot of schools in the area are piloting this project we're trying to take it a step further and provide incentives such as individual and group incentives to just build some more culture in a community within the attendance group to continue to Foster healthy decision- making um and and really build those connections similar to the relationship mapping so congratulations thank you so much okay next we have the sensory room Nicole can you please join us from D Grove South and Nicole requested for funding of a new sensory room at Don's Grove South for $1,500 can give us absolutely hi good evening I'm the occupational therapist at South building and our sensory room provides now a controlled space for those with sensory processing needs which is the way that we all take in our senses through our this environment through our five senses and the way we respond so now we have a controlled space for those individuals to go and get out their needs there it's a space for them to reduce their anxiety to reduce their stress levels to communicate in other ways what their needs are and for us to allow them their private space in a safe way for them to take a quiet minute and for us to teach them how to self-regulate because the environment of a school building can be so overwhelming for some of our individuals and so now they have a space that they can go to whether it be they request it or whether it be that's something we teach them to engage Eng in for them to get their needs met for them to increase their focus their attention their communication and for us to better be able to meet their needs within our environment and for them to increase their learning opportunities so thank you so much awesome okay now we're moving on to t99 with their entrepreneurship program candle making micro business Trisha so tiisha requested for $555 in order to start up this new program at t99 hi my name is cha Bry I'm the vocational coordinator at transition 99 we have a very robust micro business program where our students participate in all sorts of work and Vocational skills inhouse we make custom stickers dog treats mugs I'm sure I'm missing things and now candles um I had the opportunity when I taught at Downers Grove South to start a candle making business and saw how accessible it was for our students so I'm really excited to bring it here lots of lovely scents um and so we just started right before break and we'll hopefully have some out and running by Valentine's Day good how would we find out how can we Pur so we have a website I will pass on the link um I'll pass it on to Hank when I have it we're ready to sell and we will we'll pass on some candles as well so thank you so much okay so another really cool project is the disc golf club this is a new club that started started up at at uh North and I'll have Brian come up and actually it's Brian and a um some team members but Brian is representing his team here and they requested for $1,035 yeah so I'll I'll start off by saying that uh disc golf has played a major role Larry Baka and Tony s Lo Maya's life uh over the last five six years uh it the sport came to us in a time of need whether it's during the pandemic or life Transitions and I can assure you that you cannot find more passionate uh co-sponsors than the three of us uh we were graced with the opportunity to take over the club this fall and if you know uh Tony Calo whenever he has his mind set on something it's going to go big or go home so uh we meet on a monthly basis at the local uh and distant disc golf courses around the suburbs uh with our students we've seen membership close to uh triple in terms of outings uh we have parents play with us as well because they don't want to drive home and they it's great exercise most recent outing was at Shorewood and 2 Ines of snow uh your is beautiful your is beautiful and a great memory uh with this uh Grant we're now able to purchase uh 10 prati ice baskets that we'll be able to house and keep um at North to run clinicals on putting which is one of the most essential skills in disc golf because if you can't putt you're not going to win uh so we are uh really grateful for this opportunity to expand and grow our club thank you thank you sorry and Brian is also accepting uh this wonderful $1,000 check for on behalf of the engineering club uh where they are using the funds to purchase radio control parts so as I alluded to in my last uh Speech here is the sponsor of the engineering club he started this up last year with a goal in mind to uh spread uh the interest and enthusiasm that he shares in in being a maker and being a builder uh it started off with a handful of kids who who came to him and said hey we need to have a club well this year we meet every or they meet every Friday morning and you know a Friday morning to to be able to get 25 to 30 individuals freshmen all the way up to seniors wanting to participate and whether they are students of ours in our class or they are just someone who wants to get uh an idea of what engineering is so with this grant they purchased uh various components for uh a boat well N I think nine different boats and they are modeling 3D modeling and fabricating with our 3D printers and the ultimate goal by the end of the semester is for them to uh race them in our pool so right now they have uh gone through several iterations uh every group's boat looks different uh and and has its own unique sense of style but uh we're looking forward to seeing what The Alchemist thank you [Applause] okay that ends our presentation we will start back up with our grants for the spring semester they will kick off um applications will open up on March the 1st so we will be back later on thanks everyone thank you Foundation thank you before you guys leave I want to just um thank the foundation for the great work that you guys are doing I mean these great and bringing these creative ideas to fruition is just fantastic and to have the teachers here to tell them their own words what a positive difference this is making in the schools is priceless so thank all of you for taking time out and doing what you do and once again we appreciate the board's support too thank you thank you all for coming out it's a public meeting you're welcome to stick around the whole time I tell everybody you may have gee I don't understand they Shuffle to the door R they're running over each other to get out of do all right uh moving back to board business this evening uh jur is here to provide an update on our quarterly financial report I'll advance for you okay let me start with revenues okay well we're halfway through the year and our revenues just like always at this time of the year we've got a little over 90% collected because the bulk of our revenues are property taxes and so we've already collected the revenues there's no surprises at this time um last year at this time we were noticing that our replacement taxes were little lower than what we had anticipated and then later in the spring we found out from the state that uh replacement taxes were going to come in lower uh last year they did slightly lower than what we had anticipated then the state let us know that this year they were going to really reduce the amount of Pro replacement taxes that we received so our current budget reflects that reduced amount so we don't anticipate any surprises in that area for this this year interest earnings are are are still pretty strong and um Tammy and I believe that they might come in a little bit higher than what we had anticipated we were a little conservative we listened to PMA they aligned with our thoughts so um we might have a little extra there other than that it's everything's you know pretty constant any questions on the revenues okay on the expenditures as you can see we're pretty much on target like we were last year um with the amount that's expended uh the only areas that we're watching one is in the purchase service line item and that would include transportation services last year transportation expenditures were higher than expected so we uh formed a a team late last spring um to look at what we might be able to do to have some cost-saving measures we've implemented those measures and um as of now it looks like we we might have some Savings in that area that savings if we do have some will probably help us out in the tuition line it item because it's running a little bit higher than what we had anticipated um that's all related to student services and so if our students have you know a higher need of of specialized services our expenditures run a little bit higher than what we we had planned but there's no concerns at this point at all any questions and the last slide is just our fund balance just showing where we are you'll see the one uh transfer from working cash that's what the board approved um in December for us to transfer that money into the capital projects which paid for all the Athletic Facility improvements other than that it all looks just you know really stable at this point Hank do you have anything to add thanks to Tammy and Jer you know for all their work and then the entire team it's really especially those Transportation costs I know we're looking closely at electrical costs and printing costs there a couple of other areas across the district that we've really tried to make sure we're containing um otherwise the rest is as it comes right you bring up a good point on the utilities because last year at this time that's when we had a big surprise on the utility cost on the delivery costs that really increased um you met with the Travis met with the consultant and I think we have a pretty pretty sound budget amount do you agree for this year so we shouldn't have that large surprise that we did last year of about5 to $600,000 that was not anticipated yeah are the transportation savings that you referenced is that related to those activity are we seeing savings from those activity buses we we do see a small amount of savings from the activity buses yes we do um we have really focused in on the transportation needs of our any any student who is transported outside of our schools to different outplaced facilities and working with our transportation providers to come up with a more efficient way of doing that and ultimately saving some money for example we have a our our regular education Transportation contract is um with District 58 and District 68 to keep our cost down so the three districts met to see what we could do to reduce our costs for some of the students who live um at the uh the shelter on Butterfield Road and so we've combined we have two special buses who are doing that and so that's a pretty good savings for all three districts that's just one one idea any other questions for J thank you for no surprises yeah yeah yeah absolutely all right and also at this point of the year uh I know the time in which we've brought the board The Five-Year Financial projection has varied over the years I think we're pretty much settling in here at being uh end of January being our general time uh now and into the future we have an idea of what our estimated Levy is at that point we're halfway through this year's expenditures so we just feel like this is a a good time to start present to make this the tradition of presenting around uh end of January beginning of February on the updated finan fiveyear Financial projection so I'll let you retake it from here okay yeah just a kind of add to that there's a couple other areas that it really helps to wait until now one is capital projects so Travis and his team have a much better idea of what the plans are for the next summer um and then Gina's office has a a better idea of textbooks needs and such and those are pretty large expenditures uh so it it it does help to to wait until now along with already having a pretty good idea of how this year is going so with that we'll start with the very positive which is the very bottom line ending fund balance and you'll see the percentage of revenues our goal is to stay at 5% or better and so with this projection we're showing that we should be able to keep our fund balance you know above the 5% Mark um just a reminder of that 5 % is the number that jury and I have picked to try to stay above the board's policy is three three [Music] mhm um this projection um does take into account the um the negotiations that's currently going on with DGA and and possible projections with that um it also takes into consideration F any any retirements that are coming over the next few years which can be a a savings and a cost at the same time um it it the revenues are just based upon what we know is CPI and then an estimate of of CPI just based on history um and then we've kept state and federal funding flat which it pretty much has stayed that way the only outlier on that was during Co when the federal government did provide us with some additional funds but otherwise we stay pretty flat on the federal funds other than that there's um can't think of any large items to to to look at that's going to affect this other than the ones that we've already put in there the textbooks capital projects oh it's right one on the capital projects okay this one is just snapshotted but if if you look if you're looking at your computer and you see the the large screen on it the major Capital outlay mhm uh Travis and I met and we identified that some of the areas that have been categorized into major Capital outlay over the past few years has really been repairs and maintenance and we wanted to keep those separate so we' have a a better idea of what the true capital projects are costing and so you'll see that's a reduction but just some of the expenditures have been moved down to a different line the cost is pretty much relatively the same it's a recategorization it is and then we don't see a large expenditure in capital outlay over the next few years because we plan on doing a number of Life Safety projects there's one project that was noted in your memo that's still absent from this which is the replacement of the Fieldhouse floors um that's somewhere between 1.1 and $1.3 million estimated to do that project we have a little over 300,000 set aside right now for it um so we're going to get a little closer here towards the end of this year maybe into next year to look at which of these future years it either sits in or gets scattered between multiple Financial years you can see there is a surplus there that allows for that and allows us to stay above the 5% threshold uh we just need we need a stronger idea of finances in each budget year to determine when we come to the board for that actual project so um that that is a chunk that needs to come out of here we just don't know we know it's not this year uh so it's either it's probably in the next two years and we'll just determine when is the best time to come to the board with that final project would you do one school one year and one the next there's possibilities to put it across two or put it across to fiscal years yeah as well like you do it over the summer and one school's pay paid out of one fiscal year and the next one's paid out of the next fiscal year so there there's different ways you could do that either way we know there's about a million dollars of additional expenditures that fit into our budget some you know into our larger budget picture but we didn't want to reflect that in here until we were closer to get there so certain just important to note that that one is coming in some shape or form over this 5year period one other line in here that um you might wonder about the transfer to other funds line item we transfer money from our education fund every year into our debt service fund to make lease payments that's an accounting rule uh we didn't used to have to do this transfer but now we do so those lease payments pay for the Chromebook devices the staff devices the print devices that's all on a cycle and so those are just our lease payments so instead of coming directly out of the education fund we transfer from the education fund which is part of the operating funds into debt service but it is an expenditure any questions all right thank you jury for all your work on that all right this is the one that the board looks forward to every year just letting you know that we've abided by the rules and uh Raymond James uh files all the disclosures for us and they did back in December in a timely manner so it's just to let you know that the filing was completed repl all right uh the next one there's really I don't think need for a lot of discussion um the team is proposing that we do not increase athletic summer camp fees uh so for that there's no need for board approval no it's we're just informing the board that we're keeping that flat if the board wanted to discuss those more in detail we could bring them back at a future agenda um but at this point it's more of a FYI we're not planning on increasing those fees next year so um if you'd like to discuss them further let me know and we'll add it to a future agenda we can't reduce them no we do not believe we can reduce them so so last year um we met as a larger group with the athletic departments and um we reconfigured the way the fee structure was for the summer camp fees um and there was really good feedback from the parents um with the fee structure and so uh we would not recommend changing the fee structure but at the same time we also believe that the fees that we currently set last year should just flow forward for 2025 and then I would anticipate you know we'll look at it again for 2026 all right any other questions on fees all right uh next couple of things uh come to the board every year in the same format so summer school and esy compensation recommendation Rob it's just yeah simple we just take last year and multiply by CPI it's pretty easy so that's the recommendation it's an item this evening that you approve that annual increase in line with CPI Summer School uh calendar and summer calendar Rob also works on this as well presented a calendar that reflects what we've done in the last I don't know six eight years something like that long time long time so that's up as an action item for approval this evening as well discipline Improvement plan um because of the way that state metrics work pretty much each year we're going to end up having to present a discipline Improvement plan to the board Scott works on that uh Scott is giving you a preview of that uh this evening for well a view of that this evening for approval before he sends it off to isby um it's got anything else to add to that yeah I mean I I just would compliment our buildings and ter and um Kelly zerner and Karen Taylor have really done a lot with restorative practices and we have an outside consultant they've also um created with um a few other uh staff members that went through some of the restorative training with our outside consultant to create like a professional development opportunity to bring restorative practices into the classroom um and it's been pretty successful so we'll continue to expand on that so we're excited about that and then our most way and positive positive ly nor teams um continue to work on you know using the data from you know students that are bullied or harassed and try to build um prevention activities and we kind of have like a bystander kind of training that goes out to all students um to just you know be aware of it and how they can engage and stop it and you know so we're excited about that work um and I ask you how that I've just I've seen that in the workplace more that bystander training like is that it makes perfect sense but is like you see kids actually I mean it we started it last year so it's like kind of like we're we're we're continuing with it because we know through our different data points that obviously we need to continue to work on that um so it being fairly new we're trying to okay work on Baseline stuff and how we're going to kind of monitor it um I think honestly what I uh give credit to the district is that there is not a lot of schools that are actually implementing like kind of like a bander training so I do give a lot of credit to District 99 to actually you know do this kind of work um it is new and yeah there's a lot out there there's a lot out there in the universities and colleges as well as the workplace um so we're excited about challenging at a teenager age than you know an adult but that's great yeah so we're excited about that and and then obviously our path program is another piece that we you know we we expanded we have full-time staff members um we presented the parent teacher advisory I know the data in that are we keep looking at the recidivism of and and the data continues to you know last year we haven't calculated at all obviously for the this school year but um definitely is is a strong point that we know that we're making an impact on students um doesn't mean that we don't have our challenges and all that and like Hank said we'll we'll kind of have probably this Improvement plan um every year but I think it's a good thing to keep us accountable and really looking at the data and and what we can do to support students so I just want to point you know also thank you Scott for leading the team and for all the team members that are working on this unfortunately just the way that the the numbers are structured in the law a district with our size that is high school only with our demographics will pretty much guarantee that in because there's multiple ways that you could uh reach this list right and it is likely that every year based on just our size demographics and the fact that we have high schoolers only will make it so that the numbers work out that we'll continue to respond to the state mandated plan the work that Scott's describing is our work anyway right we would be doing work on improving our response to discipline issues and concerns regardless of this plan so um but Scott and the team do a nice job of formatting it and getting it in the way that isby needs it and so that the board can approve that work and move it forward so any questions for Scott actually just one other thought I'm thinking as I'm reading the bystander training that like another I don't know if you do any work with like the various clubs with some of these groups but sort of you know working through some of the minority clubs around by I don't know if that's yeah I mean we haven't um it's been out to just the all student body it hasn't okay so all students get the training CU I think some of those clubs are particularly focused on things like that being in La I'll I'll put a note down to bring it up to our team though because it's a different avenue of obviously just another way to reinforce it or groups that might be a little more receptive to a message like that any other questions or suggestions comments for Scott all right this is an action item later on this evening all right uh scoreboard advertising Travis brought this to you for first review last month he's back to answer any questions you might have this month I just don't like that there's no termination provision so it's a 5-year agreement um we can terminate if there was a breach just on a breach of contract claim but there's no there's no language in here about termination before the 5 years is up y unless there's the breach but yes yeah but that that goes with any contract so [Music] um are they sinking costs into their process of seeking I mean generally you wouldn't have a termination right if like you know entity's going to put upfront costs that mandate its ability to um its need for a 5-year term term but I don't know that that's really the case in in this Arrangement um I don't want to put a wrench in the deal um but I also don't want to put us in a situation where we get into this a year end and we don't really like how this firm is operating and we don't really have a way of getting out for another four years after that that's my concern sure they if they don't if they don't sell the advertising they don't make they don't make money so that that's part of the the draw with that also they're um I I completely agree with you that there's nothing else in there that you know we say if we're not if we're not happy or they don't reach a certain Benchmark you know there's nothing uh that's in there that gives us then that ability to um to go through so if you'd like me to go back I I certainly can and say hey we want to you know put in a provision for that um we're the only timeline we're on is trying to get this going so that we can start seeing some some Revenue maybe come at it say we'll give you 12 months but after 12 months if you don't meet like certain projections or thresholds of of generating Revenue then we have a we have the ability to terminate after 12 months and maybe that's a sliding scale during the 5-year period so that it it's you know if they're making any representations on hey we think we can generate this amount of Revenue and you you you say if you don't meet 75x of what you know you're projecting then we have a right to terminate uh and then maybe find somebody else who might be able to do a better job I just don't want to be locked in for five years that's all I'm saying would you like this us to table this tonight do you want to approve it I'm only one7 so um I'm just expressing my concerns if if you're asking me how I feel I would I would like to propose that idea um back um to uh scoreboard media and see if they'd be willing to uh negotiate on uh an exit strategy before the five-year term can you remind us I know you talked about but there's not a lot of options out there right because a lot of them are large National right can you just remind us like do we have other options like if we can't get them to do that like what else it is limited okay um they this company is also broader in the scope that they this is not all that they do they also do billboard advertising the it's a sister company if you will of that so they have the connection the national connections um and so but I I completely get where you're coming from uh from my conversations with them I feel that their their reputation they're local they're they're going to strive to get as much as they can cuz it's beneficial um with that um that being said I I also see where you're you know where you're coming from but there there are not as I mean this is not a huge uh at least right now right as more schools look at doing things such as this that may grow and there may be more companies that that come about but right now there's not a lot if he came back on February 3rd we couldn't approve it because it's a workshop meeting is that right no we could we just make it a workshop with action am I the only one who has this concern or is it I would I would agree with you Don now's the time that we iron out little details like that and I think it's very important that we do have an exit strategy if they don't meet our expectations we shouldn't be locked in for 5 years so I agree 100% yeah and if it delays it for two weeks or even a month it's worth it because we're talking about a 5year commitment here yeah I think if they're able to uh provide us with some sort of uh termination Clause um based on a metric of like you know x% of their projections that that'd be more comfortable for for me I think um and it's a Ken's Point like it an extra two weeks is not going to make a break uh if we're already not yeah we're not I'm not asking for just like a uh a no fault no cause termination right that would this would be you know you're just not generating you know revenues that we were anticipating or what you were representing is a possibility um yeah because that locks Us in for five years if we're yeah unhappy yeah and if we're not making any money then yeah then it's just sitting there and they have the exclusive right to sell and they're not doing a good job locked in so yeah I think um an exit clause is very important and based on what you're saying about that company and their reputation and their track record I don't think they'll have any problem making that kind of adjustment to our contract I can I can certainly do that I'll um I think the the part of the challenge is when you're talking about advertising like I get the the the component of they've said I think I I included that in the presentation they think about um 50 75 years 1 50 to 75,000 um in the estimated our our Revenue right so a certain percentage of of that um and I would think that it would give us cause to doesn't mean it's an automatic because as we investigate it that's that's how I would suggest that the language is written right gives us that opportunity it's a it's a may not a shall MH that's what I was yeah make sure that I'm you can I me I think I'd be comfortable saying we're not we don't have a right to terminate in the first 12 months you know because there's a rampup period right you know they've got to educate the market before they can sell it right all right we'll go go from here Travis you and I can chat after see what we can come up with see if the company is is open to that or not right it's it's a negotiation right that's right so that's right and then we'll table it for this evening and bring it back it depends on how how quickly we're able to to engage and alternatively Travis and Hank I mean if they're not willing to do any type of termination agreement then maybe we you could come back with a shorter term and instead of a five-year term we'll give you a two-year term with no termination but a 5-year term with no termination right I think is just a it's a long time it's a long time sure okay all right we'll go back to work thank you all right uh foyer requests uh we receed them periodically and respond to them promptly and post them on the website consent agenda okay before the board votes on the consent agenda is there any agenda item a board member would like to pull out of the consent agenda for further discussion okay hearing none can I get a motion for the Board of Education to approve the consent agenda as presented which includes a the Personnel report leave of absence classified appointment classified B Personnel report resignation classified C Personnel report termination classified D December Financial Pages e student trip F ihsa application for Cooperative team sponsorship ship boys gymnastics G annual comprehensive financial report and H review of closed session minutes and verbatim recordings so moved second Terry moves and Chris seconds thank you Terry pavich I Chris Dr Spinosa hi Jenny hagstrom hi Cara Caston hi Ken Dawson hi and Don rener I motion carries all right item number seven recommendations for Action um can I get a motion from the board of Education to approve the 2025 summer school and esy compensation recommendation as presented so moved second CH moves K seconds thank you Christ Espinosa hi Ken Dawson hi Jenny hagstrom hi Terry pavich I Cara Caston I and Don Runner I motion carries uh can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve the proposed 2025 summer school and summer calendar as presented so moved second Terry moves and Jenny second thank you Terry pavich hi Jenny hagstrom hi Eric Caston I Ken Dawson I Christopher Espinosa hi and Don Runner I motion carries can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve the 2025 2026 discipline Improvement plan as presented so moved second Ken moves Chris seconds thank you Ken Dawson hi CHR Espinosa hi Jenny hagstrom I Terry pavich I Hera Caston I and Don rener I motion carries and then item d we're going to table for now y okay that's good uh any old business Hank uh not old we've got new how about new business uh policy committee sends the following report first reading of policies to the board uh Julie has done a wonderful job of as always presenting to those to you for first reading there is a combination of clerical changes um some subst changes but not uh so drastic that we feel like we need to outline them here at the board level they've been reviewed at the policy committee level and then we also I don't think it's reflected here but just so you know we reviewed a few policies that had been quite a while since we had some of them hadn't been reviewed since I had been superintendent so we uh went through and reviewed some that hadn't come to the policy committee for a while to just update that they had been reviewed by the team so uh here is the first reading of policies with changes uh they will come back next month for approval in the next month as you review these if you have any questions or would like to discuss them further please reach out to myself Don or Chris and uh we can either answer those questions or get them uh for discussion at the next meeting uh otherwise they'll come back for approval in a month at the meeting of the policy committee meeting it was very straight forward we didn't have much discussion so nothing or shattering in these policy updates all right that's it for new business item 10 Julie do we have any uh reception okay uh inviting shaas C ashown up yes sir thank you uh you'll have three minutes to address the board no problem my name is sha C ashtown and I'm a longtime Downers Grove resident I attended Downers Grove schools uh my whole school school year time and that was a long time ago um I want to thank you all so much for your service to our community and for this um this collegial atmosphere this evening um so um one thing that I'm really passionate about is cultivating an anti-bully in school culture and I was really happy to hear about the bystander training that you uh talked about today um in that ilk um you know that um we uh just got a new president who ran on uh a campaign of demonization of lgbtq people and um I'm a volunteer with youth Outlook um and I can tell you that um the kids are really um really suffering they're really scared um and um I happen to hear that um the Trevor Project which has um um a suicide hotline for lgbtq people um that after uh the inauguration last week uh they got an increase in calls by 700% so um you know um trans people gender Divergent people uh I include myself in that were generally that way from birth and all through our schooling years and so during this this period that's very difficult for them I just want them to be foremost in your minds um I'm also concerned about ice raids on schools um they said that they were just going to come after criminal criminals or some Republicans said that but um I know that uh an elementary school on the south side of Chicago um has already been visited by Ice uh they didn't let them in um and um you know I'm not um completely against any dis deportation but I think that um this kind of action is very traumatic to to children and um it can also increase absenteeism right because immigrants if they're unsure they're not going to send their kids to school yeah it's a lot easier to um round up people who go to work every day send their kids to school than the criminals um I have heard that funding for special ed will experience massive Cuts that's the end of my 3 minutes thank you so much for your attention thank you thank you sir okay attorne to item number 11 um Jenny any updates from L um yeah Hank Did circulate the slides from the meeting on Friday but we had our first meeting of the new year on Friday um it was just before the legislative session is getting underway which I think is today um so the kind of the key bills that they are focusing on right now are the Dual credit and the polling places uh legislation so um for dual credit they are hoping to present more of an appeal Pro process for credentialing of teachers um because I think they found Dage County um even amongst other counties in Illinois we don't have enough teachers that are certified for the Dual credit teaching and so they'd like to make it a little bit easier to get more teachers then and then in turn get more students um with regard to schools as polling places um right now if the Board of Elections requests that a school be a polling place a school can counter by um saying that the use of the school interferes with scheduled programming um or that the use of the school as a polling place poses a safety concern um and if that is raised then the Board of Elections and the school district can work to find an alternate location um if an alternative location cannot be found or agreed upon then they can appeal to the board of County Commissioners who then decide um the location of the polling place um so they're kind of pushing to you know I think less and less or try to avoid using schools as polling places um there is also a data collection component to the legislation um looking at things for example the percentage of people who participate in earlier mailin voting um the legislation would require that the Board of Elections would have to gather and provide this data um so that's kind of been The Works um there were a few other bills that they touched on um you can kind of read about in the um PowerPoint there's a mobile Panic alert system um a child placement bill which would allow parents to record meetings with their child's IEP team um there was a bill about student surveys um and getting parental consent if we're asking about protected personal information um another law about students who are found in possession of a firearm on a school grounds or school campus um sort of just a kind of generally law enforcement is immediately notified and it sort of becomes the law enforcement agency's issue to handle um but they would you want the bill to say that the principal of the school must immediately notify the school the students parent or guardian and coordinate with the law enforcement agency just so that there's communication between the school the law enforcement agencies and the parents or Guardians um they are still looking to make election day a state holiday which would be uh November 23rd November 3rd of 2026 would be the next one um that just for like school calendar planning purposes they put that out there um and then there were just a couple of uh bills about inner clastic Athletics um first that students who are in special education programs at schools that are they're there through age 22 that they are eligible to participate in inner Scholastic Athletics and then also uh students who are non-public school students um they attend a non-public school but reside in the district they can participate in extracurricular athletic activities sponsored by the district without being required to enroll or meet any coursework requirements um if certain conditions are met ex so that's kind of the gist of it and then the assembly begins this week so yep it will be a busy leg sure and then we'll have a meeting um the end of February next one so thanks Jenny Chris any report on sassin uh no we have a meeting on uh this upcoming Wednesday at uh the sassin center over in um ly so okay yep Terry any further update from the Education Foundation um just as you saw tonight we we gave out some checks and we will be giving those out again um towards the end of the year and um we're still um trying to decide what to do with the Mark McDonald fund uh we're thinking about maybe doing something with moose heart because he was um very passionate about moose heart and so we thought that would be a good place since we don't have a lot of money we are just you know trying to decide um we're just uh working on our calendar to um so so everybody knows what to expect kind of like what we do you know so um you know what what's coming up in February or March and so we're doing that and we're still trying to find someone to help us with the website so if you know of anyone who would like to work on the website and help us uh make it a better place to go um we would appreciate it so that's kind of what we're doing okay Canen any update on iasp next uh D page division meeting is Wednesday March 5th at Addison Trail High School so anybody that's interested and going let Julie know and she'll get you registered the topic is preparing students for a changing economy so that should be a very interesting and relevant topic so I'm definitely going to be there and hopefully some of you will have time to attend as well I'll be there good be there okay Shell's not here so I'll skip that on the Downers Grove plan commission uh item 12 upcoming board meetings our next board meeting will be here at uh 6:30 p.m.

27th 2025 can I have a roll call please Mr Cerone here Mr Gatewood present M Johnson present Dr marel present Mr fer present Miss Simon present Miss venth present and our student board members hope prier present and kie Parnell present please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation God indivisible andice for all do we have any we have okay on behalf of the Board of Education I would like to thank the public for attending tonight's meeting we value the feedback we received from our members of the public and encourage everyone to take an active interest in their Public School System residents interested in speaking to the board this evening are asked to have completed a comment card and presented it to the secretary to the board when the secretary calls your name I ask that you come to the microphone state your name for the public record and provide your feedback please note that comments are limited to five minutes per person and no responses to your questions are permitted comments should be addressed to the Board of Education as a whole and not be directed to an individual board member audience or staff member the Board of Education will not address concerns against individual employees rather a complaint against an employee must be in writing and signed by the person who makes it and the Board of Education will refer any such complaint for appropriate review campaigning or advocating for any candidacy is prohibited according to state law and comments should be limited to District business follow up to your questions or concerns will be addressed by Administration through the contact information provided on the comment card thank you ka heyen hello everybody my name is Katie heyen uh engaged parent in the community and local member uh I'm here tonight because I wanted to talk about an event that was hosted last week College information night I want to go ahead and thank Betty and Joe Betty and Joe for putting together that event uh it's for students with IEPs 504s and ohis where they could need a range of different Services either those that are gifted or needing testing accommodations or modifications to the curriculum what I wanted to mention though was when after Betty and Joe were done presenting it then got handed off to the other presenters uh for the rest of the evening one of the things that I would say as a parent that kind of you could see the disengagement after that was when they started talking about cumulative G PA scores managed for over the four years having that 3.0 average and an SAT score for 430 and higher and then they also talked about that if you didn't meet those number guidelines that was when placement testing would come into place for everyone so as a as a parent and someone who has students with an IEP or a 54 there's nothing more discouraging when you're thinking about just Community College or any form of college and then to feel that there's already barriers there when it comes to numbers I do feel like we could have done better highlighting vocational schools licensing exams or certification courses different Industries don't always require placement testing so if students are already going to have to pay for additional credits moving forward going into Community College or traditional forms of Education we need to have those resources is ready and presented to students so then they know how to bridge that Gap and they don't feel that barrier when going into furthered education so I'm hoping that maybe we could try to have an additional presentation night or you know whatever you guys want to call it to make sure that those students don't feel that weight on them when they're graduating like where do I go after this so that is it thank you thank you that's it okay all right good evening good evening board I want to um welcome to join us an Cummings Bogan who serves as a lead consultant for ACB Consulting um this work really started really I want to say when I began here in the district but I would say it actually goes a step behind that which is that the board really had a vision for how do we become a district that really sticks to how it wants to plan in an organized and thoughtful way to get to success and we know that a effective strategic plan can really help us get there and uh and role was really to come in and really partner around the vision around collaboration and uh Dr Kade and Teresa Kam kidas have really served as lead facilitators but I would say that it's been the work of senior leaders Prin principals directors staff students families and parents that are really making this strategic plan come to life and the board's um trust and engagement in this process has been overwhelmingly positive and we're grateful for that trust and we um I I think that tonight you'll have a chance to hear some of the really powerful highlights that have started to come through um in terms of the direction affirming the direction we have started to go in and pushing us to that next edge of so I'll turny over to Dr K to take lead so the purpose of our presentation tonight is to provide not only an update but some information regarding our engagements so our plan for February 24th is to bring forward our draft strategic plan um and we are on target for then bringing our final for approval on March 17th So today we're going to focus on the information that we've collected from from our community our staff our students um and we just wanted to um give you highlights of how that information is shaping our plan as we get closer and closer to presenting our final plan so as um Dr katti mentioned um not only Teresa and myself but we've been working hand inand with an and an's going to talk about what has been unique of our approach not only working collectively but seeking the input and um information from our uh constituents good evening Board of Education um thank you for having me um excited to be here um just to reiterate my role as kind of the guide on the side um and helping to support the the overarching systems um grounded in Partnership and collaboration and as weo School District 308 um the strategic planning process is just another example of the way that the district has been moving over the last 18 months to um engage uh diverse voices and really bring folks to the table to um listen and learn to the system and be able to tell tell the system story it's something I refer to all the time so it's kind of cool that the Strategic plan is about the story um just underscoring uh since um I first met the board uh we engaged in some exploration of this framework um that I developed four years ago or so after about a decade of being out in the field and supporting school districts in strateg in uh just continuous Improvement um and what I'm most excited about to just uh sort of endorse and underscore is that the way that the Strategic plan planning process is unfolding is really not about building a plan that that is not deeply integrated into the day-to-day work of the system um can I just go back one second to that that graphic I just want to point out that um there's two aspects of this framework that I think are important to highlight the first being just that common vision and taking the time that you're going to learn about tonight to really hear from the system itself about what what does success look like what does Excellence look like and then the bottom of this framework um that talks about accountability through shared commitments so when we think about return on investment or what we're doing with our time uh I really believe that the way that this process is uniquely um unfolding with really it being led from an internal approach not an outside entity I'm again my my role is just to kind of come in and be a thought partner as to the process so I just I just want to underscore that the the last point I'm going to make um before handing it off to Teresa is again this image of the systems approach and one of the things that we've been talking a lot about um is that the impactful practices will take place in classrooms and in schools and it's really um the work of the the work of the Strategic plan is being able to leverage the systems and the structures that have been being developed over the last 18 months to make sure that when we talk about high quality instruction effective systems and teams equity and rightful presence that we're really seeing that implemented at the school level with students with families where it makes the greatest difference so um I'm just I'm I'm excited about the process I'm excited exced about um the direction the district is headed and I think um hopefully you will be too as you continue to learn about the process so thank you for allowing me to have a few minutes so as Dr katti mentioned our journey really started in the summer of 2023 over the course of last school year um we came together to develop our strategic road map from there not only have we been implementing that plan but then we went through an organizational curriculum audit we've been looking at our academic data and our five essential data um as we heard in our last board meeting our um Panorama data so we've been looking at not only um some of our quantitative but then also some of our qualitative information to really shape our strategic plan so in terms of first our step forward in our strategic plan we wanted to make sure that we had a solid foundation to build our objectives so what we in looking at that information in conjunction with um working with our district leadership team where we have focused our work is through these four pillars um so looking at academic and Student Success looking at um our educational uh so sorry um our educational access and supportive environment our partnership and collaboration and our resource allocation as we met with our different um groups what really came to the surface is the need to consider all of these elements in order to write a truly effective plan to implement not only with Fidelity but with longevity that if we were not considering both what would lead to our Student Success but then also what support what collaboration what professional learning and what resources are necessary as part of that Foundation our priorities would not be successful so using these four pillars that's where we started to then bring in um the information um and feedback through our focus groups that Teresa will uh speak to and dive a little bit deeper in but these four pillars will serve as our foundation as we build and explore our strategic plan okay so what made our process a little bit unique uh was as an mentioned really kind of working from the inside out so we didn't want this to be a top- down approach we didn't want this to be something that people couldn't see themselves in so in order to do that we set out on a journey to collect the voices of our students of our staff our parents our alumni our Business Leaders um and our community overall so really framed in that idea that this is our story and what that means for us writing the future together that next chapter so we're going to play for you a short video this video was played at the start of each of our focus groups town halls and is also included in the engagement package that we had for Community conversations so we're going to kick it off with this hello sd308 students famili staff alumni and community members I'm Dr katti and I have the honor of serving as a superintendent of asgo Community School District 308 our schools are more than just buildings there are places where dreams take place and take shape where collaboration and support Inspire growth and where every student knows they belong each student staff member and experience adds to our story we want to honor our past as we celebrate our accomplishments and aspire to a promising future to ensure that we continue to thrive we are developing a strategic plan the next chapter in our story this plan will set a common vision for our district grounded in our core values it will be student centered and designed to achieve meaningful outcomes for every learner but we need you to make this plan truly impactful we need your voice more importantly the perspectives of students staff and parents and alumni community members are vital in shaping a vision that reflects the diversity strengths and aspirations of our entire District we have developed pillars of focus for this plan using findings from a comprehensive curriculum audit are five essential surveys that many have completed over the last couple of years assessment d data student performance data climate data as well as our Master facilities plan that we are currently building as we work together we will refine this Vision we will identify priorities of what comes first second third and we will develop objectives that will help us realize a promising tomorrow together we are going to create a plan that reflects the success and the hopes that our school deliver rigorous instruction Foster collaboration ensure that every student feels supported and prepared to succeed in the future your input matters we thank you for your time commitment on this journey to building a plan that is relevant and transformative for all thank you for being an essential part of this process and for helping us write the next chapter in our story thank foring that um guys this was really kind of set stage St our engagements and also was included in theage others to help to conversations throughout their own groups of Staff members neighbors friends um students Etc so we'll kind of walk you through some of our digital engagements first this was a selection of quick questions surveys online polls uh for those of you that answered quick question questions and there were thousands of them uh we heard lots and lots of positive feedback in regards to that way of seeking feedback this was really a single point uh a quick hey what did you think about this or what are your thoughts on that and it only took a minute for people to complete and students hundreds of of replies uh parents hundreds of replies and fast like we we'd send one and then then we'd send in a meeting and we're like hundred 200 300 400 500 I mean the answers were really flowing in really quickly and it was a great way for us to get a quick pulse or a temperature check on something if we weren't sure that we you know maybe had gotten it right we could ask a question for clarification our surveys were really targeted both to Business Leaders we had one that was distributed through all of the Chambers of Commerce that we are part of and that one was asking specific questions around development of you know future staff members what types of characteristics trainings things as well as an invitation to ask them if they'd be interested in joining with the district to offer additional opportunities to students within their field and then our polls were just really quick smiley face or star ratings around specific topics it was just a way to engage people as they were on our our story page of our website so we'll walk you through some of that another unique thing that we did was these Community conversations there's 426 of them actually might be a couple higher now um what we did was built a set of seven questions and then we had a facilitation guide and we did offer some training we had a few people that wanted to participate in training before they hosted one but essentially this was a package deal that you could take to any staff meeting home and school meeting student clubs did it um it was actually a couple of the Freshman seminar classes had their students engage with it which is why you see that large percentage of participation from students up there 320 students it allowed for people to either submit as an individual or they could reply as their group and they could choose to answer one question all of the questions and provide us feedback and I can tell you from this piece Alone um there are hundreds and hundreds of pages of incredible qualitative feedback people really took time to provide perspectives for us that really kind of carried through each of the different ways that we engaged with our community so this was just one Teresa if I could just build on that for a second just to add that a number of I received from principls uh direct feedback about these experiences where they did at their PTO meetings in the evening um with their staff and just how impactful it was for them as Leaders to be able to have these kinds of conversations and how it will definitely have an impact on their their work as they think about their school Improvement plan within their school so the the the the learning will not only influence our learning and able to serve students in our schools better but will also help them and then building effective plans that are going to help them accelerate their school Improvement plans Dr k and it was a great um way to model collaboration and engagement at the school level it kind of uh forced some of that in a way but it was a great practice for them to learn how to engage and collaborate and have open discussions about topics that sometimes are difficult to discuss here's some just raw numbers for you of how people responded again the quick questions were incredible you see 2850 responses up there uh 9917 of them being students that was just emails uh we had 86 poll responses 109 business or Community survey responses 200 surveys um from teachers which um we'll dive in a little deeper on but that was a survey that was co-constructed with our Union Partners both for teachers and a different one for support staff uh and those are the responses and that's another one where there are hundreds of pages of incredible qualitative feedback coming from within our system and then the community conversations we talked about and then our group attendance in person totaled about 89 individuals we wanted you to know that it was very representative so every zip code that we serve within our district was had participated in some way and one of these uh Outreach opportunities we like I said we had student staff families alumni grandparents Business Leaders um you know current and recent grads just everybody showed up every level was included every bu every uh school was included so the voice really re was across all of the community that we sered so I'm going to take you into some points of feedback again there is so much Rich data uh that we have and we'll we'll put together kind of in a raw format if you really want to dig deep but we want to share some highlights with you this evening this one was really a cool question so it it asked students to think about the class a class or classes that made the most positive impact on their lives and what was it about that class um this was the multiple choice type answer they could select all that applied um first obviously the teacher was engaging um huge and there was an opportunity for them to write some comments and many students chose to write comments about their teacher and about how the impact of their experience in the classroom led to them feeling as though that the class was a positive experience for them the topic again right up there the way that they engaged in the class as far as as Hands-On learning and I thought it was real interesting that the actual textbook workbook was 5% because sometimes we get caught up in thinking well it's you know it's all about the resource and the resource is an important component of it but so much more about it is really the way that learning is delivered and the way that students are participating in their learning in their class and that showed through heavily with this question here's another one from students so do you feel like you're part of a supportive Community when you're at school overwhelming ly yes um again there was an opportunity here for them to write comments and I would say that most of the comments came in um in the areas where they did say no and again it's another learning opportunity for us while it's exciting that yes is 72% it's also means that there's some work to do that there's 28% that don't feel as though they're part of a supportive community and that qualitative feedback that came along with it matched right in with the the feedback that we heard from some of our in-person engagements here's another one for students so we always talk about future ready college or career Readiness things like that but we we kind of plan it as adults and we don't always take that half step of going backwards and asking the students what do you think you want to do when you grow up um so asking this of we asked our Junior High and high school students thinking ahead what are some things that you think you'd want to try you know experience or perhaps receive a certification or training in overwhelmingly the stem Fields were there but there was a high amount of medical and Health Care up there law and public policy trades vocational arts and creative and then General career Readiness and I put some descriptions in there just for you to review as you go through this presentation in detail this was another one that was really touching when we take a second and back away from just data we asked parents and families to consider how they Define achievement for their child in school and you can see that class grades don't come into play until sixth grade on this list and so often we're looking at you know grades and standardized testing and you know prep for college and all of those things but so much of it is based foundationally in those younger grades around their students you know self-satisfaction sense of belonging um there was some comments in there around you know opportunities to explore and kind of sparking the interest in learning and it again all experential and the way way that they experience School the way that they you know make friends the relationships all of that which we know is so Central to that early part of childhood but it really kind of came across here and then if you follow that all the way through even into our Pathways and transition program you can see here we're we're looking for students to be um challenged but also to to walk away with those Independent Living skills so another point of contact for us in building the plan here's where we asked uh parents and Guardians do you feel involved as a parent in your student School overwhelmingly yes but still a good number there um of students feel no but more importantly we asked why and what were some opportunities there that they gave and so um under no like opportunities clear opportunities for working parents how can they if they can't be there present you know in the space what can they do how can they donate how their specific needs opportunities to be in the classroom for those that feel like they are involved um you know clear expectations transparency communication all those kind of things are just opportunities for improvement this is the questions we ask to our business Community among several of them um but what are the skill sets you find most valuable as you're hiring for entry-level positions and this was really the The Real World skills so this is where we we saw things come across about ey contact carrying out a complete sentence being able to write um being able to talk on the phone with someone and and what's interesting is we we kind of heard the same feedback from parents when we were in our focus groups and we had the chance to talk with people face to face um when our digital era as much as we put Focus around technology in some some cases we've kind of lost that fundamental human interaction skill so that was something that businesses felt was really lacking that we could be focused on for future hires in their world and then they they talked a little bit about what do you think think you know what assets could we barely be focused on from the school side and an AI came up technology you know there's jobs that we don't even know exist today that we're trying to to train students for but also some of those fundamental skills around communication and teamwork there was a community survey that was open on our website that had quite a few responses to it and again this was just an opportunity for anyone to come in and provide feedback this is just a summary around some of the open-ended responses so asking about skills needed we're seeing that stem stuff there as well as some of those social skills pop up the challenges um I think we'd all be in agreement there's there's funding challenges technology advancements um there's a few other things up there that are Behavior related uh there's the uh School culture you know around diversity and you know curricular representation Outreach all of those types of things that that you know we really talk about as far as our rightful presence goes um defining our successful School District we asked people how would you define that and some of it is is rates you know graduation rates and post-secondary plans but also that strong school and Community Partnership um inclusive School environments uh our staff training and support and then there were just some open-ended you questions raised and again we see transparency come up in here um we see some of the the behavior topics again so this is where we got into the um oea and oesa um co-designed opportunities for feedback from our school staff this was a list of 13 questions the same seven that were in the community conversations were also present and then there were some additional questions that were really relevant um only to staff members and this is a very high level summary of what is hundreds and hundreds of pages and can attest to having read through many of them um but here's a a summary for you on some of the the key takeaways so around academics academic wellness and student wellness you know the resiliency that the common expectations um you know alignment can move forward and then uh staff Wellness so staff want to be heard staff want to know that they're valued um we did hear over and over um in this survey as well as from staff who participated in our in-person engagements that this process alone has really helped them to feel as though they have a place at the table that we're really truly mean we're we're out for collaboration and want to hear their voices um so we we have a a great opportunity here sort of a turning point where staff are really on board eager and excited to be part of something different so we really wanted to honor that through this process um again this is just kind of we told everyone this is sort of step one it's not a oneandone um they're really going to be collaborating across this process as we move forward not only development of the initial plan but as we continue to refine the plan in response to our systems changing needs I'm gonna turn it back over to Ann to talk about our inperson engagements yeah so some of you participated in some of the focus groups there were um six focus groups that we conducted in person and then we actually followed up with a couple um virtual engagements last week um and the basic format of it of the uh the meetings was to first ask participants what brought them to the town hall or to the focus group um because certainly everybody came with a perspective um it was great there was great support from District Personnel who sat at tables with students with community members um and then um not simply to to be the resource but to help facilitate and really put an ear to the ground because a lot of obviously what we're learning and just listening to Teresa talk you can tell there's a lot of information um everything may not land in a strategic plan but the system knows what's happening the finger is on the pulse so um and then this next slide just kind of gives you basically a a a visual framing of what some of those themes are but what I would say in a nutshell is high regard for the staff in this District um came through loud and clear um really uh families that value um the opportunities their children get in the district but also um particularly in the areas of gifted specialed multilingual Learners dual language just really making sure there's Clarity around academic programming making sure that there's consistency across the system making sure there's vertical alignment between levels um making sure that you know the staff is is supported and in place um and so it was just great to to allow uh open dialogue in the room um and to generate the themes one thing that I wanted to underscore is that at the engagements there was really strong support from each of the Departments from principles I think this was mentioned but I just want to underscore just our uh that this would not have been possible without their the the departmental equity engagement or student services and lni and multilingual Services I mean everybody showed up and it and principles showed up assistant principal showed up like it made a difference so if you're a parent or you're a student you were having this really three-dimensional conversation about the topic yeah and so it wasn't a one-sided view of the experience you were lit we had alumni students showing up so I just think it created this like I I said a 3D experience on the topic and that that became very powerful I think it catapulted um for a lot of us this shift of like who story is this this is really the the the community story that started to emerge and really people pushed and challenged and and and and I think I feel I I was grateful that there were I I I don't want to say the word dissenting but there was dissenting voices people didn't always agree and I think that's extremely that tells you a lot about the health of the space I also want to make sure um we highlight that um Spanish translation was available at all the meetings and um and that was one of the reasons we scheduled a followup uh virtual engagement was because of the um the bpac uh president requested and and so we had a a session last week um at 6 o'clock in the evening so I just want to under and video the video was also in Spanish and all of the facilitation guides for the community conversations and the questions were available in Spanish as well thank you Dr King y so the information that we have learned read heard from has really been integral in shaping our strategic plan so the feedback drove then the creation of our five priorities so those were the themes that you saw um across the information that Teresa just provided so the Strategic plan is going to be shaped around five priorities of Future Ready systems of support academic Wellness both students and staff and then systems management so the goal then um is to really work on intentionally aligning the connection and support between our strategic plan so our district Improvement plan and our school Improvement plan so through the work um and we have with us uh today Dr TOA prior has been leading a group of individuals um about our portrait of a a well-rounded learner she will also be joining us next month to provide more information regarding that not only the process but the information and those attributes but with that leading um the lens of our work focused on foundationally the pillars what we are now working on is objectives in each of those five priority areas so we will be bringing in February then a priority plan so objectives in each of those five areas aligned to the four pillars so you will see priority plans with clear objectives that will be measurable year toe the Strategic plan will be a threeyear strategic plan um but using the information that we've collected is really what we're going to be working on then over the next month to continue to refine um not only the prioritization um but those objectives year to year um we've been working through our district leadership team that has members of um oea OA um our building leaders and our district leaders um and as Teresa mentioned um we will have an appendix of all of the hundred of pages hundreds of pages um of data available for you all uh towards the end of the week so as you can see really the um not only aligning our portrait our uh strategic plan but then also connected to and you'll see those strands within um our strategic plan to our school Improvement plan which is built on our three foundational practices of um our effective systems and team our equity and rifle presence and our high quality instruction so all of our schools have um goals around those three foundational practices we want to make sure that that's embedded throughout our district strategic plan um Heather can I add one thing so um while this is kind of the nuts and bolts of the structure we do want to assure you that kind of that feeling that we kicked it off with in the the story and the the voices that we collected that that's really what the forward-facing document is going to look like um this is going to be presented as a story as our story um and the next chapter so people understand and can see themselves and how you know the community our staff our students everyone plays a part in this and has a very clear um role and what the next three years will look like so this is kind of our back end um of it but we want to assure you we have an incredible video we've been working on um we went into over hundred classrooms and spaces across the district and gathered some really neat footage to be able to showcase our story from the perspective of our students and their classroom experiences so we'll be able to to run that along side of the public facing document that we really do we don't want it to be a graphic that gets hung on the wall we really want it to be um a collection of objectives of you know things that we're going to do to really transform who we want to be and that's really led by the voices we collected throughout this engagement process so are there any questions that we could address I'm just I'm just amazed at the amount of work that's gone into this in and Ann I know you've put in a tremendous amount of work but you made a comment to me about um some cost savings that were as a result of this and a couple people that are here if you don't mind commenting on that sure yeah I can I can just turn it over to them but we had gotten into a conversation so again um the strategic planning process is something I'm supporting but I wasn't hired to write a strategic plan for your District um and so there were some phone calls with some a agencies just to find out what it would take to mine some data and there was one estimate that was about $65,000 that um I think just there was a reaction that said I think we can figure out a way to tell our story and so uh I would say the team kicked into gear um and again I'm certainly obviously a consultant that um is hired by the district but as you can just see by the way the data is being shared this story is being um developed and is being told by the system itself and so um I don't think this strategic planning process is going to end when you get the plan I think it's actually going to be the beginning of your process and I think all these things that we're learning and all these things that people are expressing are just going to continue to add to the system I I will say the question about collaboration um when you know I think you know when you read when you read those responses do teachers feel that they own and are included in the school improvement process and out of the hund it's close to 200 I think it was like 178 responses you know a little more than half say Yes um that they feel ownership in the school improvement process because of their opportunity to serve in a leadership on their school leadership teams and these this um survey was issued through the teachers union so it just really starts to again from my perspective some who's out in the field doing this work all the time the ownership of um your priorities and the and the three foundational practices are really being felt in the system and you're only 18 months in so see what this road map will do for you this plan will do for you again every year it's really really exciting so yes I I do really think that's what makes it unique and that's where the return on investment is if we don't have a shared Vision then we can't be accountable to the vision we can't be accountable to something we don't know or understand and so that's the power of this process that I'm so excited about so I know that there was wow that was loud I know that um there was a whole team involved but specifically Heather and Teresa thank you for stepping up and saving us potentially sending this out to a third party for a lot of reasons number one to to you know we saved $66,000 but secondly I don't think a third party representative would be able to get to the to the um to the level of detail and be able to relate it back to the district um quite like somebody internally could so um thank you again to both of you and to everybody else that participated I know I know you are two of a team so thanks to [Music] everybody it was really fun we learned a lot I was going to add on like one of my comments was I think the other return on investment is when you do it yourself you learn more about how to do things like this about how to tell stories and like you were talking I think Dr katti talked about principles being in the room and saying oh they kind of learned how to do these Community conversations and found some real value in it so we uh bonus got some added professional de you know professional development out of it too as well um I had just a couple other comments but um thank you for this update and I know it's a lot of hard work and such great data to have um for you know so many things um I appreciate that um data is a starting point for these conversations um and I'm glad we collected so much qualitative data to kind of inform some of the the you know multiple CH like pick a pick a response thing um and I think also like when you talk about is the teacher engaging is one of the aspects that students are choosing as why they enjoyed the class or forget the exact question um well that's something I would want to do dig into like what what is engaging for you and that can impact a lot of you know other conversations um you know same thing with like do you feel like you're a supportive part of you are I can't read my own handwriting but you're basically you're in a supportive you know Community I think it was like 7030 you know 70 yes 30 no well that's something else I want to dig into you know what's the 30 you know what's saying yes I think we could probably say what makes people say yes but why why the no um so and I also think like this data can live um like it's a living strategic plan I that's my view of a Strate quality strategic plan is it's a living document so as you're living it and we're putting it together and we're going through the objectives you can also go back to all that data and say what were we thinking when we put this down is it really in line is it working is it not is there something else we want to add because we've moved you know quicker than anticipated um uh and things like that um and I really appreciate also the last comment I I'll make is that um I've been a part of many strategic plan things in workplaces um and they do often like end up on a wall as a graphic and so um I and I like I feel like I'm trained in that way too I'm like okay how are we going to put this here where are we going to put this here is this going to be the base where the lines go you know what I mean um and as I was thinking about that you said something Teresa like this is not you know it's not a graphic that's just going go on a wall it's a collection of voices or stories and I think um it's a really nice way to think about a strategic plan and it's it's different um so I'm excited about about thinking about that differently and I'm also excited about getting the update on the uh learner attributes I think that'll be another good point so those are all just comments no questions thank you actually to branch on uh the comments Amy that you just made we initially started to look at the objectives under the four pillars and as we heard more and more and um looked at the data incoming and um attended the focus groups and heard we actually inverted the the entire structure of our plan because what we were continuing to see this is a very dramatic moment I just it lots of chart paper the feedback was like messing up the the we the team had a plan like wait a minute it very much did like we're like Dr K was like oh we have to flip this you yeah so we literally rebuilt the structure of the plan in the middle of the plan that's great because what we were hearing over and over from our staff from our community even you know from our leaders is that if we did not have all four pillars thoughtfully integrated within the plan there was siloed work there was siloed discussion so hence why we now are using our pillars as foundation for those priorities to ensure that the conversations happen across Staffing budgeting planning implementation um because we want to ensure effective implementation and Longevity so no we were we were well down the road and then decided to urn in a different direction to ensure um really strength within the plan so how many times have any of us all of us worked in places and in organizations where even if you had seen the data you would have still pushed ahead because no no no this is this is where we're going this is how we're going to do it and so I just love the fact that all of us sitting here on this board um we we wanted to see the cultural change and that's what is happening here I can see it in your faces I see it in your work I see the smiles on your faces you use the word fun I mean it's like when you can take when you can take she also used the word tired the other day you know it was long week the first week of January but you know what when you're doing something that you believe in when you believe that you are doing work that has purpose and meaning you are going it doesn't matter if you're tired you're going to do it you're going to have a smile on your face and you're going to love coming to work every day and that's what we wanted for all of you for every one of our staff members for all of our students and all and we're going to see it happen and I just it's I can't even be begin to tell you because you guys use words like excited like when I'm in my Wednesday meetings with Dr katti and I'm looking in your faces and I am just so um pleased with how you guys show up every day and you were showing up before but I saw your you were just exhausted but it was also the pushing that you talked about and having that cultural shift where you guys were pushing but you know that you weren't it w you it wasn't the fact that you were able to say we're going to flip this on its lid God is the cultural change the fact that you felt empowered to to do that yeah empowered to do it right instead of just going forward and knowing that you're just doing something that may not at the end of the day work but and and I can also share what that um Dr Kade came came to I believe each one of the committee meetings on our finance and um facilities committee meeting we gave her a lot of heartache over these four and we're like what about this what about this what about this and behind this and as someone who has been through a strategic planning initiative in another school district to try to distill and encapsulate on a chart like this almost denigrates all the work that's gone behind this but what I think we will get to see is that over time what really holds up all of those pillars there is so much more behind it and even though we pushed and we tried to change them there is what I was so impressed with seeing is there is so much intention behind each of these pillars and what holds those pillars up for the pillars to hold the plan up so um I wanted to say that I also wanted to touch on something Dr Mario said about how do you keep a strategic plan Dynamic how do you keep it living and working and making sure that we can adapt as needed and what i' what I've seen throughout these stages that Dr Kate has given us is that we do have that plan when you don't have those pillars that Foundation anything will rattle you when you have that Foundation nothing will rattle you because you know that it's adaptive and dynamic to those things so I'm very excited about that um I also just wanted to share that um and I don't know how this is going to come out so just give me a little a second to let my ADH brain figure this out one of the things that was happening when I first came on the board and and I think um Eugene and Lata will be able to attest to this we made a lot of reactionary decisions with the data that we had available to us it was to nobody's fault it was just the way that it was at the time and what I have seen happen in the last 18 months and don't get me wrong I'm a strategic planning nerd this is like my JM but what also I have seen is that you don't have the cultural shift you don't actually do the real work and that real work means some of it doesn't feel good some of it's uncomfortable you hear things you don't want to hear sometimes you get defensive and you're like yes we do do that don't say we don't do that but it is that opport Unity to reflect and to know that you're in a safe space to say yeah we have a lot of work to do or you know we're doing this well but we're really not doing this well and I think a lot of our responses show where we have work to do I think our student ambassadors are working hard on some of those areas around trust between adults and students but to to to have a board that makes decisions about student Improvement plans and curriculum and strategic plans and master facilities plans we would not have been able to do this without the the fortitude at the beginning when we brought Dr kadon to say there's no possible way all this work can get done with our current staff we were it was a skeleton and and our administrators and our directors and our principles were literally working around the plaque and so I think and I hope Dr katti you felt empowered to put a organizational structure together that allowed for this expansion and this growth and this reflection and I get very emotional you looked at people and you said I don't we have we've known each other for three months I trust that you're going to go do this work and I trust that you're going to do it intentionally and you truly empowered your people my question though comes and I don't mean this to Rattle anyone because it shouldn't it should be really positive but we you put a structure in place and now you have so much data do you foresee with all this feedback maybe a change in your organizational structure and do you see possibly you know making sure that we have the right you know I always use the bus analogy the right people on the right bus in the right seats with the right driver do you see that maybe um expanding changing um in the future that's a great putting on the spot if you can't answer that right now I can give uh a comment and I'm sure um Dr Z if you want to add to it but because I would say that was really a team effort to think about the organizational design that was a result of the 100 days that the board charged me with so really the board said hey come in listen learn see what's going on tell us what you what what do you and as a result of that the the thing that emerged the most is at that point we needed a we needed people yeah yeah not only that we needed people to know and to understand that the value of their work was valued and that they were going to be invested here so that's one and the so I so it's a good question and absolutely I think organizations become too fixed on we have a organizational structure and we're going to stay this way so we are listening to our principles and our staff and they're saying you've got more people to do what you've got to do to help us but we're not yet always feeling it yet so we've got to work me continuous Improvement right we always either we're winning or we're learning from our mistakes right I messed up that quote but but I would say that the the the the goal here to your point is what I love is that the Strategic plan will help our system make thoughtful decisions about where people are staffed and is the are the Departments set up in a way to be most successful we have a schools Department we have a student services department we have a a full Department of multilingual services and thinking about our our various students needs are we able to work well in a well willed way to then support our schools so Dr K did you want to add anything to that or because I know you and I spend a lot of time as well yeah no um the conversations we've been having is then based on our priorities what would be a way to bridge the support provided not only within the district but within the schools so that is conversations that we are having um just to make sure that we have the right supports in alignment with our priorities um we've seen some shifts not only this year but um with our strategic plan needing to potentially have more shifts just in structure and um in in Partnership so how are we even um Dr Waller and uh Teresa and I have talked about and and different cadres of how do we even reorganize um who is working together um aligned to the priorities so those are some of the conversations that we're having in conjunction with with the plan thank you I really appreciate that and I just had one question can we go to the slide where it shows um the number of responses I do have and and if you could tell me if maybe maybe I'm reading it wrong but um when it comes to quick responses and how the community responded is this are these in alignment with what the um we've seen with other school districts because to me they feel a little low but maybe I'm not like when I look at bus quick questions for the community or Community feedback knowing that we have a community of 37,000 people am I am my misunderstanding am I not representing the data properly so I think what is different about this is is one it was an internal process and so we didn't cold call you know communities and ask questions uh additionally our engagements were a mix and so the community conversation feedback the 426 right there could have been a group of 40 community members and one response that came in okay and and our and we tried to weave our um findings in with already existing structures so things like our superintendent Advisory Group has done work around this and we actually called a special meeting with them after our initial draft is formed to again bring it back to the people that that are there um and as a reminder that is Educators parents and leaders from each building across the district so it's a great um three-dimensional uh Viewpoint as well so I I think it it was is different it may not have the shared numbers but I can tell you the quality of the engagement and the people that were invested um whether it was a senior citizen giving us feedback on you know property value impact um or we were talking about you know students and what their experience in the classroom felt like or the teachers you know I I've run the last couple of um surveys that we did with our staff our climate and culture surveys and the the heart behind the answers in these questions I have never seen before so I think the fact that it wasn't a you know a thirdparty company just sending out a survey or or making a a cold phone call it was really conversations that were held or you know questions that were so specific that they were able to provide feedback it was it was a different level of response for us um and what you know was reassuring is across all of these across hundreds and hundreds of pages um there really weren't too many outliers you know that the common themes that you saw in that word bubble collaboration alignment all those kind of things they they really they crossed all levels all engagements um it to me was less about the data and the numbers and more about the description the feeling which lends itself to the fact that we're trying to frame this as a story with the next next chapter right so it it's it is it's more narrative it's it's more of that so yes I think our numbers are down a little bit but compared to some of our surveys where we've had high numbers but not the qualitative feedback I think we learned a lot more this way thank you yeah and as we mentioned really looking at not only the objectives so what we're looking to accomplish in the priorities but also through the lens of our portrait so what are those attributes that we want our students to experience throughout this time um Dr P prior is there anything that you would like to add at this time about our portrait it's okay more to come right pass the mic pass the mic hi everybody um I will say we are almost done with the attributes for portrait well rounded learner we have one attribute that we are still um trying to finesse one of the big things about portrait of a learner is for all of our students to be able to see themselves in the attributes so one of them was um an attuned emotionally ATT tuned individual and so a third grader would have a difficult time seeing themselves an ATT tuned individual but we do have five attributes we do have a Graphic we will present that at some point but we developed a task force this year that included uh oea members building level administrators um District level administrators from every Department we've run the questions through the various focused groups of course ssac sag and various other groups in order to gain feedback because what's important when it comes to this is the Crux of our work as students and so how do we build a system where we understand that the Crux is students and what is best for students and not just one student or one group each and every student and they need to be able to see themselves in the portrait of a well-rounded learner we landed on well-rounded because what the conversation very deep conversation so what I will say is we focused on um Quality and depth and going deep in these conversations in various groups and really honing in in what does it look like for each and every learner for whatever Future Ready looks like some students are College Bound some are not some are going to be uh astronauts some are going to be entrepreneurs we don't know what's next but at the end of the day we're charged with being sure that we support all of our Learners so we've had a very very very deep very thoughtful conversations of what it looks like for each and every student and still more to come we have a little bit more work to do but uh it's going it's going really really well and it's been just a pleasure to lead the task force and collaborate across the district with so many people who you can see the joy is about what is best for our Scholars so it's fun I loved it I'm appreci appreciative of the work but we still have a little bit more to go yeah just to confirm you um I know that that task force has brought um opportunities for feedback from both the superintendent's Advisory Group um as well as the public forum um was there any other what am I missing other sessions where where feedback was gathered around with the portrait of a learner yep so we started with maybe I should go all the way back to last year so the conversation began last year asking questions in Sag asking questions in board forums that information was then given to K12 innovate our task force was charged with how do we refine these 33 Pages it was about 100 Pages 33 was portrait of a learner and then it was 33 for portrait of an educator and then it was 33 for portrait of a leader our task this year was to focus on portrait of a learner because that's the cruxs of her work um but then it went out even more to different groups because we refine those 33 pages to what are the themes that AR rising and so as we took those themes and broke them down and came came to the five attributes we began to to push it out a little bit more with District level Administration with student groups with teacher groups and we still will continue to do that because as we have received feedback in those focus groups then we tailor the questions a little bit more because at this point it's starting to get a little bit redundant but we still want to continue to provide those opportunities to say what is missed because we have the five attributes but then we will define those five attributes so it's not just a couple words it is this is what mean and then these are the definitions that accompany that thank you Dr Pryor thank you any other questions what our portrait has done has really allowed us to do the work and focus on future ready expanding beyond the typical just high school and preparing it really is looking at what skills are needed as you enter even back at age three through the system um as we're really preparing for each step um along the way so and the portrait is a unique opportunity for us as um you Dr PRI mentioned we're we're still reaching back out we're using some of the same effective strategies so our quick question surveys our digital engagements our existing meeting groups like we're we're continuing this work so that it doesn't feel like the Strategic plan was this one thing and the portrait of a learner is this thing over here and then the school Improvement plan is this thing over here we've been very intentional around building them as one plan and everything is impacting and influencing the others and we continue to do the work in that continued collaboration and engagement with our community I think is really what sets us plan apart I I have a few just comments um we can go to 13 tried to organize my thoughts a little bit um what I noticed here is 5% text book workbook worksheets it just kind of goes to show that differentiating learning is is real um some people want to do textbook workbooks and worksheets um page 17 there was a yes to um engaged versus or involved versus not involved um so the results are going to be generally the people that are involved and the fact that we had 29 % that are not involved I guess it's good but that's probably under represented so I just want to make sure that we're um it's it's that's a very important group because we want to get them engaged um and then the last one was 25 and all that was was um you know just kind of reminder to our board you know that when it comes to Resource allocation that we want to make sure that we're consistent that we are budgeting appropriately to satisfy these goals and not necess not short changing um our students you know and our staff um and then one of the themes that you had uh throughout this conversation is and the first thing I had written down was I have personally seen this evolve based on the feedback so um I said that I wrote that down before we even saw this um so it's it's it's true you know it's I i' I've seen it so and I appreciate that so I have a comment if you can go back to slide 13 please it's actually bouncing off of your idea Mr Crown about um students with textbook workbook and worksheets how I kind of interpreted this data with that 5% is that sometimes teachers that are handing out these textbook workbook and worksheets actually don't really communicate with their students they kind of just expect them to do it on their own it's kind of a lecture and then here's a worksheet get it done turn it into me and so that's why you see that 39% of the teachers were engaging is because half of the time instead of giving those textbook workbook and worksheets they replace it with like an engaging activity in class or having those open-ended conversations but I feel like a teacher can be engaging with textbook and workbook and worksheets but sometimes that kind of flops the other way and they kind of use that as a replacement to have some open and ended conversations with their students and that's why the teacher was engaging is kind of at that 39% and then you have that 5% with textbook and workbook and worksheets that's just like a student perspective of what I've seen because I've had teachers that are very textbook and workbook and worksheet heavy and they usually don't like have open-ended conversations with us it's kind of more of a here's the worksheet like ask me any questions if you have any but like they don't really engage us with like maybe videos or talk to us in depth about what were learning so maybe that's where that comes from that's how I interpret I'm not huge on worksheets but that's just me that's my that was the you know though it's very interesting that you said that because last year on our student advisory committee we had a student that shared with us that they were in a math class and all of the students were going to drop the class they said it wasn't working it was a lecture-based math class and they were all just sitting there like with clouds in their eyes and it was such a great opportunity for them to use their student and together they went to the teacher and said this isn't working for us and it enabled for that teacher to say okay what would work and how can we make this work together so I hope that the fact that you called that out and that you see that in there I hope that you can engage with your Stu with your friends and your classmates and continue to show that this can work that you can be the you know director of your learning and make make those changes a teacher is only going to do what they know how to do until someone says this isn't working for us and so I love that you that you pointed that out and I love students that feel that they can go to a trusted adult and say hey this isn't working if there's 12 of us in this class and we all want to drop it what can we do and instead of them all dropping it they work together and that is what we're trying to get I think um you know student voice and collaboration um to the point in this District where you do feel like you own your learning I'll just say I really like it because it shows the different styles of each student and how different people like different teaching styles and how it works best for them but again at the end of the day the 39% shows that I love when my teacher engages with me and I really think that's such a positive point that the teach that students love when they have when they communicate with the teacher and they love when you're able to talk to them ask them questions and again when they don't like it they feel responsible and like they feel respected enough to go to them and say hey can you change it like I'm interested in the topic 32% but I want to learn more and again the textbooks the workbooks and the worksheets may not be working for me and going back to where our plan is to increase the relationship I really feel that having a best a better bond with your teacher can help the teacher evaluate their teaching style and Al and Alternate it in different ways so that the student learns more and increases their relationship and to jump off of exactly what Cali talked about the topic interests you but you have that hire of the teacher was engaging I just want to point out it's never what the teacher is teaching that's a problem it's how you present it to a student and I remember uh last year I was a PE leader in the first semester we were teaching we were getting taught on how to engage with the sophomore class how to you know bring different subjects and we were given task of like basically having a PE activity and the thing that was at the top is charisma when a teacher has Charisma when they're bringing that topic in a lighter note the the kids want to learn more about that so they have an interest in the topic I'd be more concerned if the topic didn't even interest students I'm glad that we have that 32% compared to that 39 people are interested students are interested but it goes short that little distance between 32 and 39 it's that Charisma that just changes it how are we presenting that um lecture to the student how are we presenting our teacher teing style so maybe having conversations and even me and Cali having conversations with our own teachers about you know having Charisma you know making you know math sound fun you know yes two plus two like yes like let's do it like sometimes I feel like teachers just lack that Charisma but I'm really happy with the data and what you guys are doing I'm very proud this takes a lot of work it's not an easy task so I'm very thankful for you guys and what you're doing and I feel like this also goes along with what we talked about last week about self self efficacy efficacy and it really shows that okay 39% 32% how can we let how can we make it grow in the future if showing that they they like when teachers engage and they like when the topic interests them how can we make it so it grows so the students can believe in the themselves that they can grow how can we make so this number can grow and really just have a good like perspective like how they you know Dr drwy I think you want to hand them applications for teaching a couple years from now right now I think you're ready to recruit them signing bonuses uh after the board meeting Dr swamp in applications hope has graduated so um oh she's ready ready go I have one comment on uh slide 25 I was going to comment in one word and my one word is comprehensive um but here's what I appreciate about this I I've stared at this for days and I had one question no no you answered it I had you had one I had one question but the bottom right hand little graphic answered my question and so here's what I appreciate is it's so comprehensive and in the past our practices have not aligned with our strategy and it's created a a rub in the in the between the district and the buildings and the comprehensiveness that I see and and even the evolution of the plan and then even you saying that the the objectives will come off of the priorities all of the dots connected and so I just appreciate the intentionality behind it and you are taking the time to ensure that how we implement this is just as important as coming up with it and I think that's an intentionality that we have missed in the past therefore we have had strategic plans but there was a difference between uh the Practical side of it and the development of it and so I just I just wanted to say great job in in taking the time to do it and Mr gate would that came across in um some of the feedback as we were kind of digging in deep today we sat with all of the feedback and made sure looking through the objectives again making sure there wasn't anything that wasn't in the you know the draft objectives that came from our feedback and and reading some of that directly today I think our our teachers felt that you know they were asked to sit on committees in the past and evaluate resources or develop things and and it was all really great work and it was all kind of centered in that number one pillar up there around the academics piece but unless you took the step back to evaluate how you can build an environment to support it how can you build the collaboration the professional development and and the resource allocation around that time around the people around the money it didn't happen and so they they didn't trust the idea of another strategic plan but what we saw in a shift is the people that began to attend the meetings and engage in the conversations and through our you know DT and some of our other avenues that we're working through um people are starting to to believe the process and understand it and so by putting these four pillars in place we forced that because as as Dr Kade mentioned they were initially just in one of those fours as a category and we said wait a second if this person's come up with this really excellent idea in this one area and there's not the supports and the foundation in place to take it off the ground we're right back where we were before right right back to that you know laminated picture on the wall so I just I know in this discussion but I just want to reiterate can you go back to my triangle real quick just because one of the reasons why we included this in this presentation is that in the Strategic road map there's a priority around systems uh change in organizational health and that you don't see that as a pillar in the Strategic plan because it's embedded and integral in the way that the system is going to work and so this graphic if you you know you can and I know you've seen it before but we really have to pay attention to those arrows on the left side that we have to build the process from the bottom up from that student voice saying I need a charismatic and engaging teacher with topics that I appreciate and then the teacher has to work with colleagues to sense make that and if we don't line up those structures and systems all the way through we lose we you know I say all the time we don't make any impact by collaborating at the district level it's it's it's that DLT has to leave the DLT and then Empower and that's why the presentation last week with Dr with the the I team Dr dubiel Dr Pond and Dr Waller they really reiterated that it's got to be about that engagement of the schools when parents say they want connection to the system parents are connected through their schools that's how we build the bridges and so the system has to Corral all that amazing energy every school has to be able to tell their story in the context of the district story and so it's really exciting to see that the the the work around school Improvement um Team and plans those are those are systematized they weren't prior to this last year right the DLT is a is a living breathing entity and this data keeps getting scrubbed because we keep asking people now what do you think now what do you think now what do you think so anyway it's a good thing you got a deadline because learning about the system has been really really quite energizing for for some so anyway I just I have to just take the opportunity because this is this is why systems don't make the changes because they stop at central office right and this is I think the other thing though that Dr kotti has done as a leader um is that there was missed opportunities for collaboration before and I don't want to say you're forcing collaboration but I think sometimes and I don't I see this in school districts I see this in my corporate life we're very afraid to let go of our thing because if we don't want somebody else to take it and I think it takes leadership to say if we if you don't let go and you don't let go and we don't make it our thing we're never going anywhere I have never seen collaboration like I have in this District in the last year and I think that ability to be like okay my thing is safe and I can and I can share it but it's just human nature that's not what we do and I think that collaboration I have seen the from HR to curriculum to um communication to student services to student safety to Mr queen and I we talked about this in our finance and Facilities meeting he said nobody used to ever ask buildings and grounds and I'm like wait what I mean how do you not ask buildings and grounds when that's the F that's literally the foundation of everything that type of I just got goosebumps that type of collaboration has not been in this District in a very long time because it's just human nature to hold on to our thing and not want to share it so I just want to say kudos to you for allowing and empowering the system to say it's still your thing but we have to all own it together because I think that's a huge part of it your executive leadership team has to be willing to let go for that to happen look I'm going to let I'm going to let you talk because i' I have shared well I just wanted to say every system I mean every every system has to be valued by every and every individual and every team every group has to be valued by the other and we hadn't and that's why you can get collaboration when when you work as a team that means that the individual on your side to your left or to your right values what you bring to the table and and and the system would not work well without each and every individual bringing whatever they're bringing so if it's at the building level if it's at the district level if it's the teachers or if it's administrators everyone has to Value what the other is bringing and so when we have to make investments in our administrators because at some point in the past that's that um system was ripped apart we have to build it up and bring it back and everyone around every and everything that the administration does supports the buildings we have to have all of that working together there's not like one group of individuals who are more valued than another group we're all working together go ahead jar so I always say if I walk into a room full of realists I want to be the idealist and if I walk in in a room full of idealists I want to be the realist so there's just a piece that I want to add to all of this just because I'm sorry I'm forever the social studies teacher and the historian and and so I I I need to make sure that this context is here um having been involved either directly or indirect indirectly for the last decade I I do want to pause and and just remind a few lessons collectively as a community y um there's been a lot of trauma over the last decade and what what started or or where this started you could say whatever you want but um I I want to make sure we understand that some of the pieces we're able to accomplish are because we've invested um and when we were in a moment and for those who were in this District back then when we weren't investing and what we were doing was cutting I remember one of your predecessors go on down the line saying there's nobody left to really cut and what that says too is that we have to recognize what the system um felt from us always being in reactive mode and and one of the fears that I have and I'll I'll just be open about this is the historical context to make sure that that piece of the story is not lost because and it's important that it's not lost because listen I I I I'm not trying to take away from all of the good work everything everyone has said is 100% true however let's be real I dare I I hope this doesn't ever have to happen right but I dare us to see if we could do the same thing under those economic conditions and I am going to tell you that yes I'm sure that we're all great here but imagine that you're coming to work and suddenly we're talking about cutting 25% and asking you to do the same amount of work it's not fun and I know there's some people in the room who were here and it wasn't fun and we are going to now have a board of education that will have a collective experience of about seven years so my challenge is I'm I have great faith in you just so we're clear but my challenge is don't lose the historical context piece and make sure that those lessons stick with the community we're allowed to do great things when we're in good Financial shape if we're not in good Financial shape it's not as easy to do these things and so it's imperative that we we don't lose that part I'm not saying that's why we're here we still have to I you still have to even as a coach right if I Got Talent I got to figure out a way to still utilize that talent but also as a coach I've had times where I just don't have the talent um and I know what their ceiling is and I can get them to that point but going beyond that the investment matters and I want to make sure that that piece is not lost because there I've I've worked with people up here who have all the great intentions in the world but when they're told this is what you got it's hard it's not a fun it's not a fun story and so the investment piece that's come from multiple levels in multiple Fashions is what's paying off and I appreciate that and I just want to make sure that that piece is not lost in the discussion I feel like you were in our conversations uh at the distri as we were working this uh Dr can K you want to just wrap up and then I think we should bring this to a close absolutely um Jared please know that that sentiment is truly part of every part of our planning process because with all of the voices there we could have hundreds of priorities um and we are really um mindful of not only the financial piece but also the learning and implementation um and um everything requires potential money time and investment and that's a a lens that we are looking through at every step because what we don't want is to launch and then not be able to follow through with those accomplishments um so that is very much um part of the decisionmaking process um so I hope that we continue to learn from our past to shape you know as Teresa mentioned kind of what is the next chapter of there have been so many false starts that we really truly want to make sure that we're providing the best opportunities for our students within the foundation and and constructs of our district today so any other yeah questions thank you thank you thank you thank you all right we're moving to 6.1 the superintendent report Dr kelti if you could give us your report please absolutely I just wanted to one more time reiterate um our appreciation for those facilitating and leading this process but um most importantly we want to really honor our our students our staff our parents whove really showed up and showed out to make sure that we could really um have a plan that represents their story and the story of this community so I want to just thank everybody for that um on a more serious note I want to reaffirm our District's unwavering commitment to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all our students in times of uncertainty when who when news headlines can spark fear we hold firm to our shared values and recognize the importance of every student in our community our role remains steadfast we are here to support them and uplift them ensuring that they know that they are valued and protected as a district we are legally prohibited from collecting or maintaining any students immigrant ation records additionally all Student Records are safeguarded under federal and state law requiring a court order for disclosure while the likelihood of an immigration officer visiting our schools is low our district and building leaders have received guidance from isby and our legal counsel on the proper procedure to follow only a criminal warrant signed by a judge would permit an ice agent to enter a school even in such cases our building leaders have been directed to partner um to contact the district immediately and to involve legal counsel to verify the warrant and secure the appropriate and proper handling if it even gets to that to further our support for our students and families our staff have received a number of strategies to really strengthen the culture of welcome that we have for all of our students in our schools and a sense of encouragement and safety in our schools and um especially for those who are experiencing who may be experiencing fear and anxiety during this time above all we want to reassure our students and our families that our students are places where they are safe and supported and able to focus on learning and if you have you have received uh exciting uh note card this this evening board members regarding our kindergarten turning by turning by 9125 kindergarten new student registration um another exciting example and this is just a great example um without saying that we don't collect your status this may create some fear for somebody and so I think it's important that we're reemphasizing that that is not information we would collect at any one of our events and so we look forward to if your child is turning um five or turn turning five this year uh come to this event Mr B thank you for your effort with this and the communications team thank you for your efforts to make this happen I invite board members to add anything else if you have anything else how many how many years are we away from the class of 40 we're not that far off are we sorry I didn't make mean to make everybody feel old for a moment there being like not that far off are we class of 40 is coming up Callie says she feels old so I because people are telling me like oh I was born in 2012 I'm like 2012 like three more years three more years we got three more years to the class of 40 oh my goodness wow so almost yeah look out almost the prek have fun with that people Miss Johnson do you want to lead us out Jen Jen do you want to lead us out okay after a rigorous audition process three of our junior high students were selected to the all Illinois Junior band Festival this is a competitive event as students were chosen from all over the state congratulations to Natalie devau Flute from trer Jor High Ellis young with the bassoon at trer Jor high and Owen de Camp percussion at Murphy jior High congratulations congratulations to Anna Marie um director of Planning and Development who was recently acknowledged as a leader of Distinction award um in December with the District administration Leadership Institute uh ohos English teacher and reflector yearbook adviser Eva tulock and her student publication staff earned a first place award from the American Scholastic press Association for the 2023 2024 yearbook shine bright their hard work and dedication to journalistic Excellence is represented by this award congratulations to miss tulock and her student journalist for achieving this this honor and moving over to wrestling uh congratulations to Mia navaras and Quinn J janson's of oehs for winning the SPC championship in their respective weight classes congratulations also Jessica Stover for her second place finish and Ella Cooper for her third place finish additionally congratulations additionally and congratulations to the OS chess team for their SPC championship one amazing the Prairie Point Elementary School Helping Hands clubs recently made dog toys to be donated to local animal shelters we are inspired by their efforts to make a positive impact on our community sd308 Special Olympics Wild Cats the silver team won regionals in basketball congratulations yay they are advancing to the state champion ship in March we look forward to uh continued success from the wild cats congratulations to them and good luck uh speaking of basketball success stories we also have one from oehs alumnus Ray J Dennis earlier this month Ray J uh signed a two-way contract with the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Mad Ants of the NBA g-league and I think uh president similton you were saying uh scored scored first buckets in was NBA game yes is this do we know if this the first time um someone from sd308 has scored in an NBA game or we don't know I don't know that'd be that'd be good there's a challenge for somebody out there congratulations to Ray J Dennis the asigo East High School boys bowling team won their Regional Championship this is the first Regional Championship victory for oehs boys bowling history Mitchell wrote it sorry Mitchell Ro Rob Roden basto won the the individual title for the Regional Championship at sectionals and Derek zahorak punched his ticket to the state championship another OE celebration as the oehs I'm sorry another celebration for the oehs dance team took second place at a ihsa sectional qualifying them for their state competition congratulations and good luck at state y all right thank you very much all right moving on to our student board member reports okay so during our January 21st meeting we focused on teacher Wellness with a particular emphasis on mindfulness roles in supporting Educators and students we reviewed key points from various research articles and engaged in discussions about strategies to enhance emotional well-being in the classroom thank you one article explored how mindfulness can improve teacher wellness and positive positively impact student outcome mindfulness was described as a state of mind and a practice enhancing emotional intelligence when teachers practice mindfulness they can better understand and manage their emotions which allows them to model positive behavior for students by doing so teachers demonstrate to students that they care creating stronger and more trusting relationships the article also emphasized the importance of meditation as a valuable tool for developing mindfulness and maintaining emotional balance a key Point discussed how participating mindfulness during moments of conflict can serve as an example for others especially students when teachers remain calm and mindful in challenging situations they show students how to regulate emotions and handle conflicts constructively this approach Fosters a supportive and respectful classroom environment the meeting also addressed teachers overwhelming demands daily with up to 150 interactions in a single school day the constant activity can lead to stress and burnout if not managed effectively we discuss the need to recalibrate P perceptions of students behavior particularly what is considered disrespectful and shift the focus to understanding students needs by identifying what both teachers and students require to be in a good mental and emotional place way Educators can create a more positive learning environment so another key theme was embedding mindfulness into daily routines for both teachers and students this includes understanding one's own emotion recognizing emotion of others and acting on them in a thoughtful and constructive way we considered questions such as how can teachers develop emotional awareness and self-regulation how can schools create spaces and opportunities for mindfulness practices how can mindfulness become a shared practice in classrooms to improve relationships and learning outcomes so today we had our ssac meeting which focused on students rights and responsibilities the Coalition was invited to provide additional student perspective and we reviewed the draft for 2025 to 2026 school year student right and responsibility document we focused on two specific areas which were attendance and enrollment and cell phone electronic device access and these were some of the themes that Rose from the conversation so we'll start with attendance day so the First Act um question that we asked was in what ways do you think attendance attendance is affected by relationship between teachers and students and some of the um answers that were brought up were students sometimes don't come to class when there's no relationship with their teacher and so then we kind of built that to the idea of perception so for Teacher we talked about how do the teacher build a relationship with students when they're absent and then for the students P perspective it's I don't show because I don't have have that relationship with the teacher so how can this communication gap be filled another thing that we wrote was our teachers encouraging students to come when parents don't emphasize attendance because not all families are the same and not all parents are the same so we said our classes engaging enough where students want to come regardless of outside factors as well so we kind of talked in depth about teachers emphasizing coming to school cuz I know there's some days where teachers are like you know we have nothing to do in class so whether you come or not it really doesn't matter to me and you also have parents at home that really don't care whether their student shows up or not so how do we encourage in the classroom and outside um to promote attendance for students um the second question we talked about are what are some strategies do you think could help encourage better attendance among students communication responses we got were When teacher or Administration see chronic absences and starties from students find out what is going on with the students to find out if they is support needed the school can possibly provide resources and gain insight as to why the student is busing school also some extra information that we added was how teachers can communicate expectations with their students and kind of just find that middle ground of like what we expect what the teachers expect and just having a better Bond something else is are there multiple ways to communicate absences to accommodate All Families uh example that I like that someone talk was what someone won a mental health day CU they woke up and just wasn't feeling it they will obviously need to grab their parent to go like sign them out but what if the parent isn't there in the morning or what if they're tired and they know they had a long day and they feel up they feel sad like waking the parent up so we was thinking is there multiple ways instead of calling in and saying hey my students's not my sorry my daughter or my son isn't going to be here today and just finding different ways like set having an online form or just sending a quick message instead of just always calling in and then lastly is something that I thought was interesting is potential change in the schedule if it could in if it could increase attendance um another point that they made out was making block schedules because if like you have PE at first period in the morning at 7:20 like not everyone wants to go there and get sweaty so what if changing block schedules would make people more not excited but more willing to go to school if they know that it's not just going to be a repeat every single day so our sorry so our next topic was the cell phone policy so the first question is how could technology How could a technology policy that restricts device use during class enhance your learning experience and what ways May negatively impact you so some of the responses were not having phones can improve um inclass engagement in some classes expectations are set for no phones and it's respected when it's clear and then our next question was what strategies do you think could help balance your device usage while still being engaged in class um some people brought up warm-ups Brain Breaks team building um time and time to get organized so that they are present um some other conversation that was brought up is that how the policy is very individualistic because some students don't struggle with multitasking and having that downtime on their phone and still understanding what's being taught but then you also have another majority of students that can't um be able to use their phone in class pay attention to what the teacher is talking about and something that I brought up again and I think I've brought it up so many times was that self-efficacy believing in yourself that 3 uh 38 39% um I brought up how sometimes that can be brought on because a student is using their phone in class so maybe it's not that they don't believe that they can that they can't do it but because they weren't paying attention sometimes they feel as like they're lost or they're kind of held back that's the same thing for attendance if you're not attending class regularly and you feel like you're falling behind you might not believe that what the teacher is about to give you after 5 days of being absent that you can tackle that and so then that's when you're like I really don't believe in myself so those were some conversations that were um brought up today and kind of meeting that middle ground of whether to make this whole policy for everyone or for just specific students and we were reading through the draft and we were just basically having an open conversation about it which was really healthy and was really fun to have the Coalition with us so yeah overall the January 21st meeting highlight the importance of of mindfulness as a tool to enhance teachers Wellness improve emotional intelligence and create a balanced classroom Atmosphere by incorporating mindfulness practices Educators can better manage the demands of their roles and contribute to the well-being and success of their students does anyone have any questions no okay perfect thank [Music] you thank you all so much so just just a point of clarification the data that you're going over just to confirm is a response to the teacher and the student survey that we did correct I just want to make sure that everybody understands where you got the data from wait which specific data like what we talked about today not today just just some of the answers that you were just reporting out oh we got it from today's meeting like the one that we talked about today so part of it was from student services some some of the student services data and as as well as the data that we received they surveyed earlier this year or last year I can't remember which one um they surveyed the students and then they also start surveyed the teachers and based on disaggregating that data is where they're they're analyzing it right now then we had a conversation today with student services in regards to um I'll let Jeremy give a little tidbit on that yeah I would just highlight that um even last week's right you guys were really kind of initiating that not initiating but um engaging in that wiar process where you were reading technical uh research articles that would support both the connection between the student and and and the teacher relationship but also what are aspects that staff can do to improve their overall well-being right and how can you parallel that to students overall well-being and what does that reciprocal relationship look like those were some really highly technical like research based articles there was four different articles and so that convers was really powerful um just to step back and watch watch their minds work right um and and so I give you guys Kudos because those were challenging those were those were definitely um impactful and then to carry that work over even in today's conversations you know we put some attendance data out there for you guys that was specific to just the first semester's worth from o and OE and kind of broke it down and disaggregated some of that and and made it look like what would this look like for one in particular student um we also talked about which I thought was interesting is had them pick up their phones and see how many pickups they had that day or today um and so you can do that through the settings we had anywhere from 114 to 263 um pickups on a on a single phone um in a given day and so just those engagement opportunities to get them to understand that there's power in technology but there's also um conversely right there's that uh lack of Engagement when you have it in front of you so good job guys great job great job oh thank you we're moving on to our consent agenda can I have a motion com comments sorry anybody okay I'm moving I'm moving on CU I know hey no I just want to bring up I just want to bring up one thing um last week I had the chance had the chance to go to Multicultural night um over at Boulder Hill uh first of all as soon as you walked in the door the the food smell was amazing um but congrats to the PTA the teachers the parents the admin organizations and students for doing an amazing job um honestly you walk in the door you get hit with the smell of food and there was dancing singing laughing food and Community emphasis on community in what was a really fun learning environment and I I bring all this up because I know that there's going to be several Multicultural nights in several of the schools across the district um I would like to attend as many of those as possible uh but I think now more than ever based on especially Dr katti's statement we really need to support events like this and we need to make sure that our students get exposed to cultures other than their own um regardless of of anything else we are part of a global community and it's uh critical to know and understand our diverse cultures so if you see one on the calendar um try to go if you can I and seriously there were children there up on stage dancing singing in multiple languages uh it was a good time that was it how many languages do do we have in our school district Dr do yeah how many it's close to 80 it's close to 80 I just have two quick pieces um number one um sorry ever the social studies teacher um don't forget that every single year right every single year there's at least one election and hey we get the honor of this odd year of having two if you are in asigo or Aurora February 25th and April 1st so just always want to make sure people are aware that there are multiple opportunities because to have your say out there um in fact we just did a lesson in my class today about uh the local election voting rate compared to the National voting rate today uh the last piece that I I I want to make sure that it's out there is um there's a district not far from here that's taking the plunge for next year so I think in some ways a lot of uh districts especially large unit districts eyes will be on them to see how this goes uh but in Neighborville 203 they have announced that they are starting they're going with the research and they are starting Elementary in the early slot and they're putting uh High School in the later slot and they actually cut the time on the high school day uh and and increase the time on the elementary day I am not saying oh everybody should and what I am saying is hey they're going to do it all eyes on them and uh let's see how it goes do they use their own do they have their own I've been hoping for it for years just like yeah so we'll see see if they can uh pull it off uh I will tell you that uh I don't want to mention any uh um pages in that uh Community but boy are they getting uh quite the feedback uh from all angles and but if you got some popcorn and you have access then get it out we but the reality is too and we've talked about it for years and it the research does back this that it works we have a transportation challenge in this district and that will continue to be what drives and our resources and our transportation what drives those decisions so if somehow we could miraculously solve those issues I think it would be a little bit easier but I think that will I think every year our admin it's on the top of the line I I think to your point too it'll be interesting because obviously they talked about how they're going to overcome their transportation isues but that's no guarantee until you actually are uh in the midst actually doing it and so um we'll see yeah Madam president I just want to bid my farewell I apologize safe Trel do you need one for the okay feel better I have a statement yeah I just wanted to add um just a statement um I know that with the new Administration in Washington I feel it pertinent to recognize uh as Dr Kat also recognize that there are those in our schools and Community or others in Our Lives who uh might be feeling at best uncertain and at worst fearful so I appreciate Dr katti's message to staff about how to work with students who need support and need to feel safe and how to respond if needed in the face of um ice knocking on doors um and the beginning efforts uh in the country in this area additionally I want to thank I isbe for doing their part on issuing guidance to districts on the rights and responsibilities of the students uh this is not the case in all states other states unfortunately are doing more um harm to you know criminalize immigrant communities uh and we are doing I think our best to to Value them so I don't think we all know yet what is to come in regard to the field of Education with the other proposals on the table in Washington such as eliminating the department of Ed uh but I feel certain that we will be working together on a variety of issues in the coming years and I think by leaning into our communities and our policy in 308 on equity and rightful presence uh I think we'll have a clear um albeit at times maybe difficult path forward um there's a lot I could say about this week and I don't need to say it all now but the message I want the community to hear is that uh we are here as a board and we are focused right now on making sure our students have access to a quality education as always that they feel safe and secure and I trust that we as a board and Community will will will respond as needed and when needed uh to make sure that happens so um thank you thank you anyone else all right I I just wanted to say that um earlier in January was uh world religion day and it's an opportunity for people to um talk about and um at least recognize and understand other religions and I bring that up because today is National or International I should say Holocaust Remembrance Day and I think it's just a good opportunity for all of us to practice tolerance and understand that our Viewpoint may not be the only Viewpoint in our community and um I had the opportunity to uh meet with a couple of our uh Jewish students today and and really reflect with them and I think it's really important that we understand that many people in our community are feeling vulnerable right now um especially with what's going on in the Middle East and this ceasefire and so forth um so I just wanted to bring that to uh the stage thank you thank you anyone else okay now 7.1 the consent agenda can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda please make a motion to approve all items under consent including 7.1 minutes from the Board of Education meeting on January 13 2025 opening close session 7.2 to acknowledge the foer requests received by the district and 7.3 to approve the field trips for overnight and or over 200 miles second are there any questions on the consent agenda you go hold on are there any questions on the consent agenda no all right Mr Gatewood I Dr Maria I Miss Johnson I Mr Cerone hi Miss Simon hi Mr pler hi Miss venman hi motion passes um OB Dr Mr oaimi um the financial statement oh I'm sorry Heather you want to do that or no you're good okay I'll do it okay have your uh financial statement please thank you madam president wait a second wait a second do we skip over field trips no we just we them we just voted on those with the consent agenda oh okay can I just say say one I just want I have a question um so we all know accountability is only succeeds if a person is that is accountable knows so I appreciate the heads up on all those for over the summer and all the continuing um things that the students are involved in and however their Seasons May last but who is responsible for say a building's field trips so it depends on the type of field trip okay um the the athletic base which um is a significant portion of tonight and especially the memo because we're seeing um actually our regional and state they're all doing so well not only are they doing so well but they seem to be getting further and further away so we really wanted to be cognizant of both the timelines for our athletes and then also the timelines for our collectiveness um but our Athletics go through um our athletic director and our principal and then um some of our activities which also do some include some of the ihsa um curricular and after school um will go through um either our assistant athletic director or our assistant principal of buildings and operation so um at the high school then um everything goes through the principal at the junior highs um things go through the principal so there is building um uh approval and vetting um before it even comes to then the district office um before it even comes to you and then at the district office those go through either the schools director um or um uh myself um and also um Mr arson as uh The District athletic director thank you okay all right um Mr Oba fimy your financial statements please so I've actually gotten to a point we have enough data uh to start providing a more detailed budget report all right course what I was trying to do I was trying to make sure I've been here for at least a year so I have the data that I needed to be able to do variances and comparison and the package that you see in this month's budget which is you know the beginning of the calendar year will be what we respect moving forward so what we have in the treasur report is actually the fund balance that the district has uh for the month of December so on December 31st we have a total amount of 124.5 million in fund balance broken down by the different uh funds now if you look at the capital projects you see in November we ended the year with a a shortfall of 34,9 61 and then we spend an additional 461 341 which lives us with a shortfall of 746 what I would like to point out is rest assure what that is the funds is actually available if you remember back in February of 2022 the B the board issued um $17 million in DP money in the working cash and you will see later on on the agenda we are transferring 7 million of that to cover the work that is been done so once the transfer of $7 million is approved tonight in the resolution that is attached below that will take care of that so the other document I would like to share is the investment report and as of the date this was printed on the 22nd of January we have uh invest investment of 108 million uh4 uh in Investments so we we're in good shape now the other thing that I wanted to show uh it's an all funds mon to date uh in in the budget uh expenditure so what I've tried to do is compare where we were uh a year ago in December to where we are in uh right this month and what you will see is that we are actually right on track there's no outliers here if you look at a uh current year mon to date we at uh a deficit of 11.3 what that it has to do with timing because we get the majority of our Revenue especially as it relates to local funds in uh we get it in uh June and then in September so this is in line with what we've always done uh as far as the variant and the next document that I want to share also lays out the revenue comparison so if you look at the revenue uh at at the end of December of 2024 we are projecting a fund year fund balance of 33% which is which puts us in good stad and year today Revenue what we actually have in actual amount is 47.6 one what we're projected is 47.59 so we're right on so if you look at the other ones to same thing with uh that's the total revenue local revenue and state revenue we're right on track to be where we we hope to be at the end of December I this first of all I just am so happy I want to thank you this is a variance report I've been begging for this for years we received a version of this which was month over month which people don't understand that month for month for school finance and school budgets is not helpful because lots of things can happen in a month what we really have needed to look at is where we were from last year and why things have changed thank you thank you thank you being able to say oh we have an increase of $1.1 million from the state but a decrease in our local sources that is that is the information that a board of education needs to understand and understand why we may not be able to do something else or why we may be able to hire some directors to help with a lot of the workload that's going on but what I'm just very grateful for is that when we are looking at this this is this is really the bird's eye view that the Board needs not the the details that you you and your team work on on a daily basis I I'm this has been the first Finance report that I've been like oh my God this is so cool and then thank you per for for those of us that learn visually of providing the um correlating um graphs and stuff the only further thing that I would ask is that if we could make this available on our website absolutely it would be really helpful and I think I think you could also get the community to understand at a very very high level to the difference in where we are granted you know the conclusion is what people are looking for well if we're over in here and under and here but we're still on track that's really critical so I just want to thank you this is really really big deal and um I'm I think it's just much more digestible than um what we've had in the past so thank you very much thank you this will be part of the financial package for board meetings moving forward every month and I I just want to Echo that and one thing that I just want to put in as perspective is you know I I listen I myself in 2015 I I ran on transparency right and I'm I'm not saying like we have reached the pl you know the mountain or whatever but you know I I I would say this to people um check check out some other school districts and then compare where we're at on a transparency level and like listen this goes back to you invest properly you can do the things you need to do right but I'm telling you like I I I've seen some things out there that are like and I'm not saying that should make what we do here acceptable that's not my point but I I I do think like I'm a firm believer if you see something in multiple places you got to ask questions about that system that's in place right um and so listen um I I I have seen like I said I have seen districts that are way less transparent than this one um in fact I would argue uh the community very much many times will say let's throw it out here and let's have this debate it's just a matter of whether people want to enter the arena and when they want to enter the arena um and listen people are busy I get it um it's not like you can sit and watch every single taxing body in a local area because Illinois loves to have many of them but but at the same time you know I just I I think it's good to enter the arena with a lot of questions that's great that's healthy that's a good thing uh but sometimes maybe maybe reserve the claims until after you've had a few of the questions answered because um we're pretty transparent here compared to many other districts and actually and listen part of that transparency real quick sorry is is the media I I I we are lucky that we have a media here that that will report on us now do I wish they sometimes report on some of the things that other districts are doing also as I've just stated sure right in a comparison state but honestly I I I applaud that we have media here because it does help us um as as community members as as a community uh to make sure that we're keeping an eye on things and and there should be Watchdogs out there and and people should not just be a rubber stamp and all those things so all those are contributing factors thank you for all you do and and yeah we got to continue the education piece because we don't teach how local local governance works that's not something in a curriculum that you're going to find anywhere so thank you to all who who play aart thank you well you know last year and the last couple of years I should say we've talked a lot about inflation and how that affects our school budget and one of the we but we never had a way to really show it and I know the other place that inflation hurts us is in our capital projects when cost of materials and cost of Labor goes up our projects get pushed down because we just can't meet the need and so when you're showing where our operating funds are where I know there's capital projects in here operations and maintenance it's easier to go wow they went up a million dollars a million dollars is one of our Roofing projects or one of our haax projects when that's just the cost of goods and labor going up I'm I'm using that as an example not that that's what's represented here it makes it much more easy for the board to be like oh well that's why we can't do this project at a specific school and how to re how do we reorganize our priorities so I just feel like this is so incredibly digestible and thank you I know we've pushed you you know at finance and Facilities meetings and so forth but this is a great place to uh and then to be able to do this month over month and keep looking back and be able to see what has changed is very helpful so I just I applaud you and your team for this thank you so then we have the expenditure which mirrors the dashboard mirrors that of the uh the revenue then we've included a memo too on CPI and CPI is very important to our we get our Revenue we get 43% of our revenue from property taxes and the CPI that will actually govern our 2024 Levy came out uh on the 15 of January which is last week and that CPI was the December CPI and the CPI was 2.9 which is actually 10 basis point higher than what I projected so yeah so I that was why I included that in the uh in the financial package that shows that so when we come in December and to to talk about the levy that will be what we'll use and as part of that next month board meeting I will be presenting the fiveyear uh Financial projection since we know what the CPI is now from uh 2025 all the way to 2030 so that will be presented and and and again going back to what I said there not all not all boards do that not all boards are asking for fiveyear projections I applaud everybody involved in in doing those things um and when we were at I iasb um uh the triple ey piece one of the questions I sat in one of the finance pieces and I said I don't understand why every board doesn't do a five-year projection with these very ious scenarios that we do and like I had some pretty respectable people in there who are Finance people and they're like good question right like it is it is best practice to do it and a lot of times it really simply boils down to does the board even know number one number two like what are your resources to do that like your time and and and and people that you have and all those things so thank you because like I said I I'm not saying we're perfect I'm not saying we've solved everything I'm just saying systemwide we're we're we're showing quite a bit thank you next Could you um also this um uh Memo from uh Mrs satar to you I think and and you to Dr katti I think it's very important for the public to see as well that for instance for all of our techn or all of our fees last year we collected 87% of fees I think it's important for the community to understand that we have to make up that difference when we're not collecting feys and I know that for this school year it's at 68 that will go up as the year goes on but again every year when we're only collecting 87% of what we need that has to come from somewhere and that compounds over time so if those things could be on the the website I think it would be excellent we will put we we promise we'll start tomorrow moving forward we'll post a financial on the finance website thank you every month I every point so the 68 versus 87 is kind of an Apples to Apples so we're behind quite a bit from where we were the same time last year so it might grow but you'll probably also see that 87% grow as well um you know I guess if we did a through end of year but this I I wanted to see an Apples to Apples and this it represents it so it's well we know it we know it hasn't been 100% year well yeah it's just it's almost 20% yeah less that so so uh then I think the last document is is the list of activity fees which are money that's raised by uh different schools and account that is affiliated with the schools that's the balance they at at the time of the uh the financial closing here any questions please thank you aome okay and then then the next thing is uh which I mentioned earlier back in February of 2022 the board uses DV is dead extension uh base to issue working cash uh Bond and uh the bond was uh about $17 million the the purpose of the bond is to do some capital projects and we we started doing those actually we started doing those in Earnest in 2003 we've done some uh R2 rooftop units we've done some uh some Roofing and I I'll pass it on to uh Mr so so we've done a lot of projects and I sat before this board and presented those projects the track project their rtu projects some upgrading of Bas systems um the four that he's labeled here with with with the parking lots and the roofs and the Bas systems and the boilers and chillers those are our major ones that we have to attack and those are all well over a million um but if we don't take care of those we we we don't host schools so those are very important to us and and we We Like These funds to move through there and get these projects completed so so the way thank you Mr qu the way the process work is by skoo the board has to approve the money is in working cash we can't spend in working cash it has to be Abad which is uh state code for transfer so we have to transfer from working cash to our the capital project funds in order for us to be able to keep paying for those projects and as I mentioned earlier we spend more but we had the money we included in the budget but we couldn't do the accounting necessary until we have the uh resolution approv at the public meeting the last the LA after we moved the 7 million how much will be left is that will that be the total amount no I think we have about 4 million okay and then so but I need to check that to be but I think it's about 4 million and what's the timeline on having to spend it all before when before by summer of 2025 2025 yes this summer now if we don't spend it all there's something called arbitr rebate which it's actually a good thing in that we earning interest of the money if we ear Beyond a certain amount of Interest we have to pay it back to the IRS because it's a non-t taxable Bond but it's not necessarily a bad thing because we're making money off of that that money that we have invested you thank you all right 9.1 action item approval of school year calendar can I have a motion please make a motion to approve the 2025 26 and the 2026 27 school year calendar as presented second second second second Miss vmou I Dr marel I Mr Cerone I miss Simon I Mr Gatewood I Miss Johnson I Mr pler I motion passes 70 action item 9.2 approval of personnel report can I have a motion please make a motion to approve the Personnel report as discussed and presented second second Mr Gatewood hi Dr Maria hi Miss Johnson I Mr ploger I miss Simon I Mr Cerone I miss vmou I motion passes 70 and 10.1 can I have a motion to adjourn make a motion to adjourn all in favor I

e for e e accommodation Crown Point Board of school trustees is honored to command Sean Granger assistant coach defensive coordinator CPO High School varsity football team for Meritor service and achievement be it hereby resolved that the board of school Trustees for the Crownpoint Community School Corporation wishes to express sincere appreciation and congratulations to Shan Granger the assistant coach defensive coordinator for the Crownpoint High School varsity football team for his 23 years of service coaching 260 games at Crownpoint high school and for being named the 2024 region one assistant All-Star coach the board of school trustees publicly recognizes this achievement and renders it permanently to its minutes to be preserved for public posterity here this 27th day of January 2025 coach Granger congratulations not going to let you leave before I say a few words and then there might be somebody else so uh I've been on this board for over 20 years and I got to know Shawn after I moved in and being an avid football fan myself and became friends with Sean our kids went to school for uh school together for a while and uh we talk on a frequent basis so I came from a background of football with my dad being a middle school football coach so I claim to know a lot about it I don't know how much I actually know but I think I know a lot and me and Sean would get to talk and I would you know shoot things out to him have to go into Friday Night Football games and there's one game in memory I won't bring it but I don't know some team from Chesterton they had like 570 yards of rushing or something one night I don't know what it was but I'm just joking with him because he has become a friend and uh I'm hoping now that he gave 23 years of providing coaching but also becoming and making young men men and men on the football field in competitive nature and friends a lot of people don't know this Shawn has a little thing with his linebacking group and stuff like that where at the end of the year gets them together for pizza or whatever and he you know they just talk to him on a coaching level but a friend level and a mentor level and to do that for 23 years not working in the school corporation should be applauded Beyond non belief because how many are going to valid you know give their time outside their regular daily jobs and with two young boys at home all the way through that and then they actually played for him which is just an outstanding man in its own hands it just gives me great pleasure to give him this combination award and say thank you for your 23 years of service um congratulations I hope your golf game can now improve uh I always give him a hard time on this um hopefully he learns and becomes a big boy and can now hit a driver off the first T box because he doesn't like to use that driver I don't know how when you can claim yourself to be a golfer don't use a driver so uh congratulations Sean uh Mr Smith you'd like to add something to this yeah thank you unlike Mr angel I know nothing about football although I coached for 13 years over the junior bulldogs and I had coach's son Carson who's joining us tonight and coached him for three or four years and I could just say as as representation what a what a fantastic family you have and fantastic I coach both of your sons for one year but uh for having a lack of knowledge of football you never once corrected me you never once came to the fence and said you should do this you should do that you're always supportive and I think that says a lot about your character and I just want to honor you for that and as Mr Angel also said that U you know we we talk about often times we reiterate what it means to get back to the community and a community is only as strong as people willing to serve it and you have certainly served it and I know you've impacted many students lives I've had conversations with you about kids that are struggling you've always had that conversation and really reached out and loved on kids and I I I can't imagine amount of of players that you've impacted in your life and then of course to Carson Lissa we see you guys every Friday night at all the games all the time I mean just a huge support so we appreciate your sacrifice and under your dad and your husband coach for so long so thank you we appreciate you coach job well done thank you and Coach Buzz anything you'd like to add before I got got introduced Mr grer who between the two of them run their company and thank you Mr grer for allowing him that extra time off to be able to do what he did for as long as he did so thank you coach sh thank you I just want to say thank you I think to be doing this this long not as a teacher there has to be a great partnership and I just want to say thank you for trusting in me believing in me allowing me to do this uh coach Buzz coach pet coach en right all the guys that I've been coaching with uh but to uh for you guys to allow me in your building as an outsider uh it means a lot um I love seeing guys that I coached before coach China uh played for me coached with him uh love the fact that I can pick up my phone and contact four or five guys that are on my 2001 team uh but I want to say thanks to my family my dad all you guys um it means a lot in this community uh special people special place thank you very much e all right next item on the agenda today is 3.01 suspend regular business meeting and open the special session uh may I have a motion so move show motion move by Mr basser second second by Mr there any questions or comments all those signify by saying I carries 4 Z and go to item 3.02 Board of Finance uh Mr re thank you Mr President members of the board every year in January we're required to hold a board of Finance meeting this is that meeting uh the first step in that meeting is the election of officers our past practice has been to name the individuals who are currently in the same position of president vice president and Secretary of the regular board to those same positions on the board of Finance you've heard to recommendations Administration that the same officers for the board of Finance certain in the same positions currently with the board of school of Trustees that being Brian Smith Dan Vice any question that'd be fine like so as we take our vote we'll just go down position by position right so first Brian Smith as president I will will beel for vice sign all right uh next item is 3.03 Board of Finance report of Investments back to you Mr gree thank you Mr President another uh report that's required under the statute is a report of investments from the previous calendar year for so for 2024 you'll notice we earned just shy of $4.5 million for 2024 you'll also notice in the graph provided uh that this is a significant increase over 2020 21 and 22 where interest rates were significantly lower as mentioned previous years we also had a nice influx of cash uh due to the sale of our our bonds where we received $50 million for the the buildings that the holding Corporation purchase that increases our obviously our investment income we have higher rates higher balances you get more interest income so as these funds are being spent we anticipate this interest income coming down a little bit uh however I also point out that the uh money that is earned is divided back up Pro with the ation fund the construction fund and the Self Insurance Fund are the three funds where we deposit that interest per R any questions regarding this report any questions I believe that requires a vote so Ved 3.04 Finance coration overall investment policy back to thank you Mr President one of the requirements is to review the investment policy uh for the school corporation we're recommending no changes that investment policy V questions coms questions necessary back to you Mr re 3.05 report of Corporation Financial using fisc qualitative thank you Mr President a recent development within the uh Board of Finance statute is the inclusion of the uh distress unit appeal board physical indicators that we are required to review with you with that I briefly go through these charts and graphs uh and by briefly I mean briefly um and the important part about this is a lot of these a lot of information is regarding calendar year 2023 so as you know we've already been through 2024 we've developed the budget for 2025 U so a lot of this is some old information that you've heard um almost a year ago at this time our ADM last year was up 77 students to 8949 with our assess valuation about 3.75 million a billion sorry our population's at 51,000 student uh for our demographic area you'll see in our demographics as we mentioned our free reduced lunch has hovered around 20% as it has for the past few years uh one thing we have talked to you quite a bit about is the special education student percentage Rising uh we were closer to 11% we're now approaching 15% of our population being special ed English language ver is also Rising but that percentage is still fairly small at lower than 5% our fund balances you'll notice in 2021 2022 and 2023 the large line bar graph you see there is the construction funds so as we're starting to spend those down in 2024 those are almost gone and they will definitely be depleted in 2025 the rest of our balances are holding fairly fairly still as you across all the funds that are listed there for annual deficit and surplus you'll see the large uh increase in 2021 again those construction funds coming on board um you'll notice we have the first year we've started to spend a little bit more money than we brought in and for the main part that's the spending of those onetime construction dollars in 2023 you see there with that next chart the bottom of that page is fund balance is a percentage of expenditures well you can imagine as our fund balances are going down we're spending down those balances uh and expenditures are going up that percentage is starting to decrease some as planned uh we anticipated those percentages coming down as we start to spend on the construction funds but then also bringing down some of other balances as well Revenue by type has not changed much you do again see the one spike in 2021 of the construction funds and then those funds going away pretty much every year after that the last chart that I required to talk to you about is the operating referendum Revenue you notice there's a dip again in 2021 that green bar is the percentage so if you have a large increase in your Revenue that year and the revenue stays fairly flat you'll notice a dip in the percentage increase but then going back to where it was about six% uh of our re of our revenue is from the referendum fund happy answer any questions you might have regarding this report so mov by by question coms all favor sign by saying I we'll go to item move to item 4.01 Patriots registered to comment on educational issues there are no Patriots registered today so we will continue to move forward uh and move to the consent agenda consent agenda excuse me item 51 Dr ter thank you for your consideration this evening we have 5.01 the minutes of our meetings 5.02 the Personnel agenda 5.03 the recommendation for employment of candidates and 5.04 voucher registered checks as listed before I turn this back over to Mr Smith um on the Personal Agenda 5.02 just want to take a moment to stop and and recognize one of our stored administrators Mr Jim Harden who is has his retirement in here this so we'll have another time later where we'll kind of do this more officially and thank him and roast him and whatever else we'll be at part of that that'll be coming so I want to recognize that as a part of the personel agenda Dr Terell for that event is he going to wear like a blue shirt or green shirt we're going to try there's no promise could couldn't help myself right you heard the recommendations from Dr tal to uh approval of the 5.01 regular business meeting minutes uh dated December 16 2024 January 8th 25 reorganization meeting of the board school trustee minutes January 8th 2025 executive session item 5.02 the Personal Agenda 5.03 recommendation for app candidates pursue 20265 two in voucher 5.04 voucher register checks number 1747 63 17560 vouchers number 309 I have a motion sorry all right motion made by Mr warning second second by Mr Angel are there any questions or comments yes Mr President we Tak person separate uh it would be my preference just to vote Yes or no or have you abstained today is there is there a concern with the person all right what I what I would recommend Mr Bard just report philosophical process certain your objection bed all right any other questions or comments all right all in favor of approval of the consent agenda signify by saying I I right show the vote carries three to one all right moving on to item 6.01 uh authorization of Desy for Department of Education excess cost applications Mrs pasus she comes good evening uh so occasionally we have students with special needs that require additional services and programming that's more significant than what we can provide here in the public schools when those needs arise the department of education does have a mechanism they have a grant called an excess cost contract that we can apply for um and this can include a day placement a residential placement or additional pair of professional support for that student um so we have to file this application with the state um and then uh we need a contract signer so this resolution is for you to allow Dr tal to be the designate for those contracts thank you further recommendation scho Tres authorize a superintendent to act as a signatory design for the purposes of alternative services in private resal have ation by second by questions comments questions comments favor signy by saying I a the I Carri 4 Z action item South Lake Cooperative agreement 2025 Mr J thank you Mr President board members in your board packet is an agreement between Crown Point Community School Corporation and the South Lake career Cooperative renew our agreement with them to June 30th of 2026 essentially continue his partnership through next school year um school corporation in that Cooperative with us our Handover Community School Corporation ke School Corporation and tri School Corporation of course us um it allows us to uh jointly employ Personnel uh joint purchases of supplies equipment and Facilities toide programs and services for secondary Career and Technical education is the administration's recomendation that we in this South career Cooperative agreement June 30 thank you Mr me are recommendations to Administration board approved the agreement between the Crown Point Community School Corporation South Lake career Cooperative to June 30th 2026 have a motion by Mr second by Mr are there any questions comments Mr have one these four schools Crown Point over K Tri Creek same schools as in the past that is correct all in favor signified by saying I I carry 4 z uh action item 6.03 resolution number 857 2024 year an appropriation transfers back you Mr thank you Mr President uh it's your December board meeting gave us authorization to make the appropriate transfers as that we needed to close out the calendar year 2024 uh as required we bring those appropriation transfers back to you just a quick reminder of what this is when we set the budget you set the budget LG approves it we're able to place that budget into our accounting system uh with individual line items and when we do that we don't break it down by location as we spend our money throughout the course of the year we do spend money by location at the end of the year we take all those expenditures matching with the Appropriations essentially what's called a Shakedown so if you have $110,000 in this line and you spend 2,000 out of another line you're able to move 2,000 from the over appropriated amount to the under appropriated amount and zero it out so this appropriation transfers that are include in your packet in lister's 382 Pages virtually every line has appropriation transferred as you can imagine uh so with that there's about 5,000 appropriation transfers in there for the education referendum operating Debt Service and the operations fund with that we're recommending approval of resolution 857 the 2024 year end appropriation transfers and wave the reading thereof thir Administration recommendation to approve resolution number 85 2024 year appropriation transfers motion so move with the waving of the reading byel com favor signified by saying I I zero action item 6.04 resolution number 858 authoriz administra regarding calul thank you Mr president the first step um requires us to the board to give authority to the board president the superintendent myself and any other administrated design to work with the Lake County audit coming up with complations for our upcoming refer with that we're working with a tax rate of 18.28% 18.2 cents for this renewal as we go forward in 2026 you've heard the recommendation of the administration for approval of resolution number 858 authorizing the board president Administration work County auditor under the operating referend statute formal read formal waving of the read second second by Mr Angel questions comments questions comments it 6.05 resolution number 859 thank you Mr President this resolution 859 uh actually gives you uh The Authority for the ad to work with dgf the Lake County elections board regarding putting a referendum question on the ballot for May 6th of 2025 again just as the last resolution this is a renewal of a referendums that were approved in 2011 and 2018 both for seven years this one is an eight-year as we're allowed to do by law now with that again we were requesting a reduction in the rate 21 cents down to 18.28% recommendation of the administration for approval of resolution number 859 to reduce our operating referendum from 21 cents not exceed 202 questions or comments it s discussion report items Revis 2025 2026 school calendar 2026 2027 school calendar Mr J for Mr J FY jumps in I'm going to just kind of set the stage for this as you guys know it's been our practice over the last several years to try and have two years of our school calendar out in front of people so they can see plan uh Mr jiry is going to review some of the minor changes we've made for next year's calendar not changing any of the dates of Vacations or times off of school uh for around spring break fall break those kind of uh locations in the calendar but then also um give you the 2627 student calendar as well uh just for your information and then also for our uh community of patrons as they move forward that I'm going to turn over to Mr J thank you Dr Terell as Dr Terell said none of the fall break or holiday breaks have changed the start and end of school and semesters are all the same the only changes that you'll see in the calendar is the scheduled e-learning days are moving from four days to two one in each semester and then parent teacher conferences for our elementary schools will be moved to the first Tuesday in November which would coincide with any election days that we have we still have a site that is an election site so instead of just one School site conferences that keep things those are the minor changes that we togethers it's issue am so nothing to recort at this this Mr Angel anything um move on to uh item 8.02 director of Grants and assessments Mr Hart Mr President members of the board uh ton just want to give you a brief update on our U current testing that's going on for our English Learners these are students that have been identified when they enrolled in from schools or prior in the state of Indiana uh that they are need intervention as far as learning langage uh currently we are testing 311 students uh 278 of those students are in grades 1 through 12 17 students are kindergarten students then we have 16 students that are alternate uh assessment students these are our more significant cognitive disabilities we're in the midst of this uh uh seven week uh assessment window began January the 13th so we're coming up on the the midpoint uh of that assessment uh we have currently uh administered 673 of 12,26 tests each student in the online test the vaa access takes four tests a speaking and a listening test or excuse me a reading and a listening test and then that's followed with a writing uh and a speaking test the writing and speaking test that the students take is based on how they did on the listening and the reading so there's tear of the assessment where they take the writing and test so we're in the midst of that and Anna RL is our specialist for English Learners and she has done a really great job and has always done a great job in preparing our staff or the administration of this our our teachers of record for English language arts which we've increased over the last few years uh thanks for the funding that has been allocated to that uh we've been able to add teachers of Records to be able to support our students these are certified teachers that have an English uh English learning background with that uh also think it's important that working along with Anna Sabrina and she too has been instrumental in the program that we have and also making this uh assessment that we have go very smoothly over the course of uh course of the years the goal of for every student is to improve their English speaking if they score five out of six we used to be if they score a five out of six they're going to be fluent criteria has come out by the state of Indiana that uh actually allows for some other ways that students can be deemed proficient or fluent and therefore they're go into a two-year monitoring period so if you have any questions please askina Jim let me just say congratulations onug retirement and I know you have more than white shirts because my wife and I and I do wear those I do wear those Tim thank you very much serious question though um there was an article on the paper today Jerry damage about students fearing deportation you heard anything from our teachers of this students are worried I have uh we haven't heard anything right now about students we have communicated with our ad to fill in give them information or the process or plan if something to come thank you 8.03 director Elementary education Dr thank you Mr President and board members tonight I'll give you a brief update on our new uh Elementary stem course now that we are a semester in um to this new course we were recently a couple weeks ago informed by one of our uh resource providers our curriculum providers Sam Labs that all seven of our Crownpoint elementary schools are ranked one through seven uh in the country uh when it comes to the number of student coding projects that have been created in their uh platform their Sam Lab Studio uh so our our Crown Point K through five students have created more uh coding projects than any students across the country which is really awesome especially considered it's our first our first go around here with with our new stem class uh over the next week or so as we transition into February uh we will be kind of Shifting away from that computer science Focus to Project Lead the Way which is a little bit more engineering and a Hands-On uh Focus uh for the rest of the school year but uh our students have been uh really enjoying this new course our instructors are doing a fantastic job uh under the leadership of our stem specialist Sarah covin so just wanted to recognize them um also with the new year it is time for kindergarten enrollment uh to start uh getting communicated about uh here in the next few days and weeks uh you'll start seeing lots of Facebook posts and uh different things to encourage our our community and families to uh be ready for pre pre-registration thanks to some help from Brook Allen um and our technology team and our elementary school leaders we we got some feedback from our kindergarten families last year about the process technology uh we've been working on kind of streamlining some of that registration stuff um and uh that might might look and feel a little bit uh quicker this year so we're excited about that um but pre-registration begins on February 25th so if you know any uh families with uh children who are turning five before August 1st make sure uh they are ready to go but that like I said opens up on February 25th and we are looking forward to meeting are you ready for it the class of 2038 thank you thank you Dr thank you 8.04 director of secondary education Mrs Ramirez thank you Mr President and board members I wanted to take the opportunity this evening to highlight the career fair that Crownpoint High School hosted this past Friday on the 24th and wanted to thank specifically Lynn Aly the administrative team in the counseling office um who really organized and helped support this event we had the opportunity to have all of our Juniors and seniors participate they went into the Fieldhouse during the school day and were able to then self- select who they wanted to speak with I want to thank the 36 community members that we had um that were representing a variety of career Fields so we had fields from um medical field to IL legal we had Aeronautics there there um was construction there were some culinary so it was really a good diverse group of um Representatives that were participating and that our students got a chance to meet with um military was also represented and they made some really strong connections with students who are um very seriously interested in pursuing a military career so that was a great opportunity for them to connect and we also saw another outcome of um students starting to kind of get on a list for potential internships for next year so it was a really great turnout and um this will be then kind of mimicked if you will at the middle school level at Wheeler They will have their career fair in March and over at Taft in May so we really want to make sure that we're exposing our students at the middle and the high school level to really a lot of different options postsecondary so just want to thank everybody that participated in that for that wonderful opportunity and the other thing that I wanted to share with you guys is a wonderful opportunity for you um to attend if your schedule allows we have this spring um the play at the high school is called the play that goes wrong and so I know many of you guys like to attend the uh musical performances as well as the theatrical performances so I have a um slip of paper with the dates hopefully your vision is really good because I tried to be uh skimpy on the paper and put them as many as I could on one piece um but if you guys want that's all I have for you unless there are any questions you happen I do not know which one attracted the most students when they kind of gave me the rundown they said that they were very well attended in general but I did not ask which one had the most interest yeah if I could say from my time there there was one that is a dog training facility and boarding facility Stony Run something I believe they have Stony Run can9 camp but they had a dog there okay and the old addage of you never follow kids or animals pets yeah well that was it and the dog was actually doing tricks like riding on a skateboard and rolling over and the kids just stay pass now candy too but so had the perf thank you thank you m again just thank you to all our community support and businesses that continue to support our schools volunteer their time those time events all right 8.05 director of exceptional education Mrs Pas good evening again uh president Smith and board members so uh we have already even though it's January 27th started planning for our transitions for next school year and based on some feedback from our families um some of the hardest transitions are Elementary to middle school middle school to high school so um beginning in April we're going to have a couple parent nights here at the admin building for our students that are serviced in our applied skills programs um one night will be for our Middle School to high school students um and their families and then the next will be Elementary to middle and we're going to have our teachers come and just explain some of the basics like how will they communicate what is homework and classwork like uh what is lunch like what will be the General Schedule lockers all these um facets of daily school life that we take for granted that um other kids kind of just know um and then we'll also have our middle um in high school resource students so these are the students again transitioning from elementary to to middle middle to High um we're going to have just brief virtual meetings in May where our teachers are kind of Manning in front of computers and parents are able to pop in and out um and they'll have some general information just like the information I spoke about what are the communication methods what kind of homework would you expect to see your student bring home um and who do I contact if I have questions those kind of things so we'll be publicizing um those meetings here soon also Bulldog Ballers kick off their season Thursday at six o'clock at the high school um and then the following two games are February 13th and February 20th at the high school at 6 PM love to see you thank you Mr we're all ready for some Bulldog Ballers basketball that's for sure thank you for sharing that 8.06 assistant superintendent Mr thank you Mr President I just have one thing to add on Saturday attended a Science Olympiad competition at tap Middle School this is the second year so I guess it's becoming Science Olympia competition at T Middle School over 30 schools high school and middle schools competed there and it's an all day event and engineering science and math um we have some had some distinguished guests helping us pass out ribbons we had Congressman mbin senior advisor Martin Lopez and of course mayor land was there he's spent there years so um I just want to recognize the science olympi coaches that put that together Pam Abraham Jamie M from tap Trisha Reed Tracy jansson May Baker from colon wheeler and Tim clam from Crown Point High School um it's a big event they've done an excellent job uh you know first year was last year and this year you can tell they kind of dialed it in and then let me not forget all the student volunteers they had there throughout their days so takes a takes a small army to put it together but they do a great job it's great to have not only our kids enjoy that thank you Mr President and board members I'd like to offer up special thanks tonight for uh two days of amazing efforts here to get our first graders uh what's called MCT or modified clinical te screen done at the Crown Point Community School Corporation uh we have two dates scheduled one's already done the next day uh the second one is actually tomorrow so on Tuesday January 14th we had MacArthur Lake Street Eisenhower and t-ball here at central office to have first grader screen uh tomorrow January 28th St Mary Solen Jerry Ross and Windfield um first of all having the screenings done here at central office is pretty nice we can help the rooms stud transported here that complete the screenings but I want to thank Dana Toriano our nurse coordinator for getting this all organized uh in addition Tim carry with transportation to get the kids routed over here uh successfully uh but the following individuals from uh outside in the public have partnered with us and volunteered to get these screenings done uh Dr K comate For Eyes in Highland Dr Katherine moles Eagle ey Optique Dr Justin cousera Dr Jennifer jennif for con from Moses iare and Amanda eslinger is an optometry student with Moses as well that put in time to get these uh screenings done uh to give you an idea for numbers approximately 689 students will be screened in those two days our first session we had over 325 students screen and tomorrow we're expecting about 365 so we just like to thank everybody who put their time and energy in uh and all the folks here at central office for hosting these uh students to get their annual screening taken care thank you Mr President I'd like to rec the business office staff tonight um when most people are gone for the two weeks for over the holiday break uh my staff is in pretty much every day and uh there's lot to close out before the year with the appropriation transfers you approved tonight uh along with the month of January with um 941s W2s 1099s a lot of very important documents Financial reports for the end of the Cal year we need to get completed they've done a really really nice job this year getting everything done accurately with the new system it's been for that staff to get these things knocked outly so I just recognize that9 superint SCH thank you following along uh Mr E and the conversation about what took place over Christmas break if you guys will remember back to this fall when there was some concerns about Solen and as we were working through that building really excited to let you guys know that over Christmas break we were able to remove all of the old furniture out of that building and now they all have brand Furniture in all classrooms theice area just appreciate the amount of work that went into it um from our staff but also from uh Ki as they helped us get that in place so thank you to all of them that made that possible and being in that building shortly after we return to school the kids the staff were just thrilled to have that kind of like a fresh breath of air as they come into that as well then also the second one just for all of you as we are in the midst of this legislative session long session which is supposed to have very few education uh bills to be a plethora of Education bills and we're just keeping our knees bent right now as we work through those and looking uh to what's coming in the near future and I Mr Vasser is working as well and we'll continue to communicate with you guys um for our community and uh the public just so you guys are aware uh a lot of information coming U stay informed and we look to hopefully having some good influence in these bills as we MO thank you Dr ter just a quick question we touched upon just as aind when do we anticipate so one actually should be done if not by spring break shortly thereafter as well as Lake Street where they'll just be finishing up some of the things outside that we need to wait on weather to break to do that um but once that's done all of our projects should be completed by the beginning midd the summer put us in a really good place all right to it1 few bills that Dr Terell all the bills of our ass so please excuse some of Terri a lot I don't have answers first just ands just as point the rest of the board members fortunate enough to talk to one of our state reps and my understanding is that house bills closer to a chance of pass not saying that's 100% true it's good rule of so just last Mr basser has bu through the house the Senate none of this is any other board statements appreciation I'm sorry other boards of business of the board Mr warning welcome back and uh it's nice to have you and back usually you were always the guy to bring up Bo City do you have anything for us today not not a normal comment but I did jot down a couple things as we're talking and thanks for welcome back and that's what I want to mention that coming back a second time around uh my first year on the board my first child was three months old and didn't really know what I was going to be a part of getting into and uh after n years years I really sit here today with almost a different lens different perspective different Comfort understanding what our roles are um but I do think that maybe there's no one here tonight but important for all those board members to know we all understand that we speak for ourselves but um I do think it's very important as a board member to be available to anybody who may be listening or ever concerned and through our board email getting the routine of responding and and U Know of those nine years here I remember when I joined a m Mr Angel mentioning to me that I think at that time he's like I've been a board member for 10 years and had comments from somebody or problems I've had to deal with maybe five or six times and it turned out to be pretty accurate for my period of time although we did deal with the hiring of a new superintendent and Co and uh some building projects that were that maybe multiplied that by a few but um I do feel important that in this position it's a privilege to be here but then there's this obligation that you take when you're here and I'm I'm very excited to take on that appc Avail anybody where I stand uh I would just like to congratulate Mr Hartman on the official announcement of the retirement obviously being on this sport a long time and worked with Jim on many of things and um when it comes to that aspect Jim's always going to tell you straight uh straight forward and arrow what's going on whether it be test scores uh whether it be we're doing really well we need improvements so I always respected the honesty and the way you address those areas so looking forward to the the where we get to celebrate that and how many years of service with us Jim how many 28 well so God bless you for that and thank you for that that time and we'll have another opportunity to say thanks and that but just want to make sure and acknowledge that today for being official on the that's all I have to see Mr B I'd like to thank people that are sometimes uh not noticed until there's something wrong I'd like to thank our our crews who plow our parking lots and our streets going to schools because it's so nice when you pull up to a school parking lot is clean just like to thank those people working at hours where most of us are probably still sleeping so thank you for I'm not sure exactly who does that but i' like to thank them for app Mr V I have nothing can I add one quick I forgot uh that very frigid cold morning two Mondays ago we were closed um I passed Jerry Ross on my way to the office uh it was Martin King day we were weren't even in school and I want to give kudos to Mr molaski and his staff because he was leaving Jerry Ross so seeing him at the stop sign as I passed him I called him and said uh was that you just leaving Jerry Ross he didn't see me he goes yes he goes couple things I was checking to make sure American flags were um acknowledged for that day because it was a change in protocol for that day but also making sure all our buildings and staff were in order even though schools weren't or kids were in session so just kud to him and his staff like Mr vassard mentioned that we're making sure even though kids aren't there that we don't have any crisises going on when you have minus 30 degree wind chills and things like that and that we're also inhering to Governor's orders on things such as flags at half mask or full full Mask full mass for half staff for those days so who knows to ad a staff speaking Ava strer I believe she won state championship Point High School first first high school state championship for females I believe state champion wrest congratulations to Ava as a freshman and AER found so probably see based on history yeah we probably see a few more of those from and I did happen to see the wrestling coach at event our uh boys assistant wrestling coach 30 are undefeated and 32 of her 35 matches were pins or something like that don't hold me to it but very close to wear a perfect record of pins in her first season as a female wrestler at the high school and State child so yes dominant so well done Ava all right I think that's everything anybody else have anything else all right go to uh 11.1 11.01 we have a motion to adj so move by Mr Angel Second by Mr Vasser All In by saying I I

e good afternoon I like to bring the meeting to order for the uh what the board of finances for this evening so all right new business we have election of officers for the board of Finance can I get a motion for the election of officers for the year what do you need uh we can either elect officers or I think what we've done in the past is we've just voted to just mirror the standing board uh as it stands now we can do it either way you guys okay all right can I get a motion either way motion to keep same off okay now second my motion in the second any discussion hearing none all those in favor I I any oppos that motion will carry all right moving on to the review of the green cast community School Corporation Investments Mr y so this this report will be relatively brief because we're obviously limited as school district on how we can choose to invest our dollar so all of our earnings on investments are from interest uh from our bank accounts um and you might recall past couple years at the end of the year we always review um which banks and which banks are going to give us the most interest on our dollars and the interest rates have been uh pretty good in our bank account um so we earned just under $360,000 um for the last calendar year which is um Lighty years more than the P the past couple of years um so that's been a positive positive thing for us so you can see on the right hand side when it came to budgeting season we're conservative with our estimates and we estimated 60,000 and obviously we brought in just under 36 so overall very very positive we'll have to monitor that as uh economics fluctuate or change that's just an information I have no action anything then see if I have any further with that any questions okay yep moving on thank you and then uh as required by Statute I have to provide the board uh with a copy of the fiscal indicators report from the distressed uh unit appeals board and in your packet you will see um that slide deck uh the first page um next slide please um is just some general uh general information um about our school district um our 2023 24 uh student count so one of the things that it's important to remember uh with this entire forth report is is a year in the re so it's not uh not our current current year data um but our fall 2324 student count um our net assessed value and then um also our uh population and then um again thank you Jimmy you shared that link with the other board members but in case you wanted to access will record the links um on the bottom of that page next slide please um this is just a report of our average daily membership going from 1516 to 2324 um and you look at it it shows uh the blue is the Fallen person and the green is the springing person because we know that right now we have two different account base tied to uh finances and um you can see see that it's uh slowly declined there from 156 today's date and it's somewhat kind of plateaued off uh the past couple of years and that's not too different than uh just Trend in uh in the state with declining declining enrollment next slide please and then this slide is a bar graph um that shows um our uh fund balances for uh many different funds and as you can see uh normally when um I share a lot of reports with you I'm talking about our local dollars which are primarily funded through property tax or state tuition support um but these graphs also include um some of our federal funds um and so it's just a again it's a year in the rear and um shows those um balances with that next slide please um this next uh graph shows annual deficit Surplus um bear in mind this is for all funds so it's not just our uh local funds this is also the uh the federal funds um and you can see that over time obviously uh expenditures uh have increased um but revenues also uh tag along as well well in 2023 uh we show a slight uh slight deficit um again that's uh we have some federal funds um but overall very uh very positive um monitoring our cash flows next slide please and I think it's very kind of telling on on this one and you can look um and you can see fund balance as a% of expenditures um again it's never our intent to to um become a bank uh as a school district right we have certain expenditures or excuse me certain funds designated for uh specific expenditures but at the same time we know that we can't predict year toe and occasionally you may have a lean year um we may be looking at a couple of those uh moving forward so you do want some cash Reserve um to kind of help you through uh any tough any tough times with that so overall uh very positive uh with where we're at right now next slide please um this graph is just a revenue by type um so as I mentioned earlier um this covers uh federal funds uh State funds any other local revenue and it just kind of helps to show kind of the spread or where uh we receive uh most of our funding from and in looking at that you can see um that our our state funds obviously make up the largest percentage um of Revenue types as they as they should the next slide please and this is operating referendum Revenue so if we had an operating referendum to where we uh charge a rate in a levy or generated a levy uh to bring in some additional additional dollars this is where that uh information would be record but obviously that's not something thats to us so again this uh information that's uh a year in the rear and something by law that we have to uh to share with you at our Board of Finance absolutely anybody has any questions what current value is you have an idea what that yeah we grew we grew 99 just under 100 million so um we're like 623 something like that I will actually share that number later tonight oh wonderful thank you yep anyone else have any questions comments okay oh thank you very much thank you Jeff for all that hard work I appreciate that all right if I we have no other comments or questions can I get a motion to adjourn this meeting of Finance second I have a motion to Second any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries thank you so we have a few minutes here before six next nice and smooth I like that e e e if you're good you have six I have six good evening like to call the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance Mr Gib thank you we have a student there we go 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 thank you well done thank you good evening everyone and welcome to the January 20125 meeting of the school board all right we have any adjustments to the agenda no there are no adjustments to the agenda I [Music] like cool uh Mr gimy do we have any recognitions this evening yes we do uh Mr Roberts right well I have Mr Colton Buskirk here he's a first grader at redpath um and our character trade of the month was empathy and so he was actually nominated by two of our staff members his first grade teacher Mrs White it and our counselor Mrs Ward so Colton is a caring classmate and friend he's kind and thoughtful towards others he's understanding and sensitive to how others feel he will try to cheer up a friend when they are feeling sad by using kind words encouragement and a pat on the back or a hug I've even heard him say I bet that makes them sad with an empathetic look on his face Colton has a tender heart toward others and I can always count on him to be caring kind and helpful to his classmates and then another example um one of our staff members had was carrying a bunch of things and she acally dropped some of it in the hallway and he got another friend to help him pick things up and he even made the comment and said with so many items she must be very busy so he certainly understands how to care for others um so give it up for Colton buser all right I have Kiko here and Kiko is a first grader at Deer Meadow and she uh you know shows a lot of empathy in the classroom and so Mrs Hill her teacher is here here tonight and she's going to share some of the wonderful things about Kiko Kiko shows excellent empathy every day she always notices when her friends are feeling sad or upset and tries to help them feel better whether it's offering a kind word or sharing a toy she knows that she care she shows that she cares about others feelings when someone needs help she is quick to lend a hand and always makes sure no one feels left out her kind heart and understanding makes our classroom a happy place for every everyone I'm so proud of her for being such a great friend to others [Applause] he's so excited to be here so this is Lincoln WS Lincoln is our T student of the month for the character of empathy character trait of empathy um he is from Mrs Mitchell's fifth grade class and she said she wasn't able to be here tonight but she did say um that this is something that he showcases daily among his peers he's always is kind respectful and helpful to all of his classmates regardless of the situation and I will also say um in addition to this Lincoln is also our student council treasurer which is not a position that's a lot of fun sometimes he does a great job of keeping track of that with our um treasur of the office and he is also a member of our TV flag team that put out every day and races and black so we are so proud of thaning [Applause] I have the pleasure of introducing Amelia pridemore she did a wonderful job at Pledge of Allegiance many years of experience right um You were nominated by Mr Sherk for your um kindness that you of it at all times so empathy is our trait but what he recognized about you is you are always looking out for others always there to help anyone that needs help um other teachers chimed in that they've seen you hold doors always ask if everybody's okay checking on not only your friends that you're super close with but other students as well um if they're having a good day and always saying hi and making sure everyone feels safe and welcome in our building so we appreciate you for that very much so Emelia pron [Applause] hi our student um was nominated by Mrs lanam and she had to um be absent today for her son being ill um so she nominated Adeline she said she's known Adeline since middle school and there's so many wonderful qualities that she can mentioned as she's such a wonderful young lady but she wants to limit and focus on being nominated for empathy her concern for others daily no matter how she's feeling or what's going on in her personal life it's an honor to know her um was said by Mr Hawk and then Mrs Lam said Addie is one of the most caring and kindest young ladies that she's ever had the pleasure of meeting she puts others before herself and if she's a friend she's a true friend she's always there and listening and telling her friends that she's there to listen she is always there for anything that they need and if they just want to talk she is followed by huge hugs I've gotten some of those hugs um she works hard to do her very best of herself and not only blessed to know Addie but also be honored as well and this is Addie [Applause] congratulations to our students of the month it's always nice to see their bright smiling faces when they come in here it's exciting so congratulations to one and all all right moving on to public comments looks like I do have someone wants to come up and speak Megan Hi Megan hi welcome thank you appreciate it thank you for letting me take just a few minutes great to see these kids too I think that's kind of a highlight sure um so my name is Megan Meadows um I am a resident of the Green Castle Community School Corporation and I'm also um a volunteer with a 501c3 called defense of democracy focuses on on public education issues that sort of thing um I I just this may have already been brought up and you know I apologize if if I'm bringing up something that's already been discussed but I just want to make sure that we at least have the conversation um I've been pretty concerned about some things Hearing in the news over the last week and longer um you know about the reversal policy that now allows ice officers to come to schools and so I was wondering if that's been discussed if there's been training provided for faculty and staff um what the plan is here in Green Castle and um I know we all want our students to be safe I know we all want our families to be safe so absolutely um yeah just asking that question and happy to uh continue this discussion however that normally happens sure absolutely okay yeah I'll be happy to answer any questions you have if you want to contact us along through Mr gibney's office and also I'm always free if you want to catch me on the side any osr we'll be happy to answer any questions you have as regard to that so got all kinds of answers I'm sure and thank you for coming in we appreciate you thank you okay anyone else okay seeing none we'll move on to the approval of the consent agenda which consist of meeting minutes the regular board meeting December 16 2024 excuse me just posted on the door allowance a claim financial report Personnel reports part one and two M Roman yes hello um first in your Finance packet you'll have the payrolls that we had for December the first one was dated the 6th for a total payroll of 545 941 92 and as usual we've got some um benefits and retirement with that um taxes total was 161 45694 the second regular payroll was Data the 20th total payroll of 529 800 49 and along with that came the taxes and the benefits of 147 and 35 next in your package you're going to see a list of um prepays dated for December 2024 as you took a look at that list did anyone have any questions in anything particular um you'll see we had the um we had Debt Service payments that's why it's exceptionally High we had a couple Debt Service payments so you'll see that in there if you had no questions I'll go ahead and move on to the next list okay we had um if you recall we our board me uh meeting was early in December it was the 16th I believe so I asked if we could get some last minute um claims in to kind of close out the uh year a little more soundly and calmly without and that without any carryover makes things a lot easier all the way around so there was a list of claims that was dated December 30th as you took a look at that did anyone have any questions no okay we'll go ahead and U move on to the list of claims that are dated today January 27th as you look through that list did you have any questions about anything in particular no no okay all right we'll go ahead and move on to the fund report um fund report um as of uh December 31st 2024 balance and all funds you'll see there on to the right in the balance and education fund was 4,407 42977 operations three lines down from there it's going to be fund 300 the balance in that fund was 1,136 9957 if you go ahead and go to the very last page you're going to see that balance in all funds as 11,830 97838 as you look through that list did you have any questions about any fund balances no okay next in your package you're going to see the depository statement and basically what that is is showing what our our inhouse funds should balance with our bank statement and as you can see there those are in balance at 11,839 7838 and then we've got the transfer report and those um just are the transfers that I do every month as far as the education to Ops we've got some uh we've got a an 8,400 for school lunch that we do a transfer to the 800 fund and then we've got some things at the end of the year that I need to do some transfers as far as like have to do with property taxes our circuit breaker there's a lot of boring stuff in there if you have all kinds of time I would be happy to explain all that to you but as you'll see on here we've got quite a list of transfers that I did for December did anyone have any questions surface questions about any of those I look pretty pretty coetic okay so then we'll go ahead and we'll move on to the bond expenditures report um we did have some expenditures in bond 2021 as of December 2024 total expenditures out of bond 2024 34 m797 18144 we did not have any expenditures in bond 2022 so our total expenditures thus far is 4,327 21012 did anyone have any questions about anything a question I noticed so there were some issues like right there's a pipe that busted behind the high school um that caused freezing and then some of the sign stuff I'm just on terms of our sewage pump piping yeah yeah that should all be that should all all being covered yeah we shouldn't have to pay additional Prost for those things the graphics wall is going to be repaired at no cost us things like that but we do have that the new sewage pump pit that um helps as we pump uphill from the stadium all the way up to Washington Street uh we had to essentially add another like lift station so to speak there to handle the new Lo rooms in the oxygen and bathrooms and so there were a couple elbows that busted out on that during when we have the heavy freeze and so those have been fixed on that yep okay anyone else okay can I get a motion to approve motion second I have a motion to Second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor I any opposed a motion will carry thank you Mr you're welcome all right moving on to reports with the assistant superintendent Mrs MC yes so um actually the principles and I are going to share with um you our middle of the Year data um we have worked really hard uh the first semester and we want to share all of the good things that are happening um next slide please um so I'm just going to um go over our district and school printed in your I apologize read on the screen yes small on the screens um our district and school goals that we set um in the late summer once we got all of our assessment data back from the state um and how we determined those goals is we collaborated as an admin team and we looked at at our end of the year scores we also looked at the Pass rates of our neighboring schools and the Indiana State average um to kind of see where we fell within all of that um and we determined that an increase of 10% of an overall proficiency for our assessments was decided because it was a substantial increase um but we do feel it's a realistic goal that our teachers and students can obtain um also this goal of 10% will set us apart um as academic leaders in our County and state because if we are able to add that 10% to what we did last year we will be um ahead of our our neighbors and above the state average in our state assessments so I'm going to just give a really quick example of how our principal set grade level goals I'm going to use first grade as an example so uh last year um at the end of the year our kindergarten they earned or were at a 64% pass rate on their end of the year dibles so when we were looking at what we want them to do as first graders our principles um and teams decided we're going to add that 10% so that same group of kindergarteners who are 64% in the spring our goal for them is to be 74% this spring so we're going to hold those kids at that 64 we're not going to lose them right and we're going to add 10% or more um by that end of the year to reach that goal um as you will see um in the slideshow as we go through each building tracks their data on a consistent basis um using not only um our assessment data but they use classroom data things that they're doing um one-on-one with the students um to make the best instructional decisions possible so that our students are growing academically if the end of the year goal is met already which we actually have that happen so that's exciting um the principal will work with that grade level team to set a new goal for those students um and so that's kind of how that will work as we move forward questions about the elementary piece of that with the goal setting so I'm going to transition a little bit from elementary to high school because it is a little bit different um Mrs good pastor and her team set a goal of a 95% of students in each grade level will be on track with their credits for graduation and so what they're doing is um the the office staff and then a few of their PLC teams are really focusing in on tracking student credits earned I'm tracking students who are earning their credits the first time in a course and who aren't earning the credits the first time and then those who aren't they're using some targeted intervention time that zero hour working with them to figure out okay how can we help the student get back on track so that they're they don't get too deficient in credits um where it feels like they can't they can't make it out we want to get them there to that senior year for graduation does that makes sense any questions about that piece for the high school okay you can do next slide please um so this is our middle of the Year reading I ready data so I ready is our formative assessment that we take um we take it K8 I don't have sixth through eth on there um because they did the I learn checkpoints in December and they're doing the I ready now so their data is not ready yet for the for the I ready there's lots of ready words in here but um you'll notice also that we don't have a district end of the year goal for I ready that's because we have a lot of Assessments happening right now and we really wanted our teachers and admin team and students to focus on those specific ones Dibbles and then our state assessments of I learn and Irene that's not to say I ready is not important um actually our teachers use it quite a lot when they're forming their wi groups using um it provides a lot of instructional resources for them to use um and it's a good predictor of how the students will perform on iearn um so even though we don't have that district end of the year goal it's really important that they're G that they're taking that and as you can see for our reading we did have a substantial increase in all of our grade levels from the beginning of the year um proficiency to our middle of the Year proficiency um so I'm really really excited that how hard our teachers are working and doing those targeted interventions that we can see that that is progressing and that's working you can do the next slide for now I have a question sure so you um can you explain dibles yes I I will I have that been up on the next slide is that okay I was just asking in general like what dibles o overseas for everybody to to know what dibles is used for as in general and then I'm going to tie it to a question that I have perfect so Dibbles is our reading foundational skills assessment it's primarily in K3 so it's testing our students on their awareness letter naming um decoding and then fluency in that too so you said that 64% of the kindergarteners at the end of the year were passing it on dibl as where you just said but at first grade they're at 11% on the beginning of the year for I ready for I ready different so I is a different assessment I understand that but how what how can it be that big of a difference from an end of a year assessment albe it it's still based off of reading that big of a drop over some so Dibbles is given on a one-on-one basis and their quick one minute um like progress monitoring tests with the student and the teacher I already is a longer assessment and just a lot of more like comprehension type questions so it's a completely compl different assessment it's hard to compare the two um with those I'm not sure why we had the drop at the beginning of the year in first grade um it could be different reasons we took it at the very beginning of the year in August when we first started school um there's always a little bit of a summer slump with that um so there's just different factors on there I can find out more information though and you get with you and figure out a little bit why there's a difference in that that'd be great they take it at beginning of the year is that their first exposure to a standardized test yes so in kindergarten we don't take the I ready until midt to give them a chance to learn how to be in school um and then in first grade through eighth grade we take it usually like this second week full week of school any questions on the I ready for the reading okay uh for math um you can see we had a big increase in our Ma as well we don't have a separate assessment for math like we do for dibles um we just have the I ready and again our teachers utilize this data to form their wi groups and determine the skills that the students need to be retaught as well as predictors for I learn um and so we're really excited about that movement with our kiddos any questions on the math for the I ready okay next slide please so here's our overview of our our K2 dibles um again Dibbles is a foundational reading skills assessment and it tests the students on femic awareness letter sounds decoding and fluency it is a one-on-one assessment so our teacher pulls the students um out either in the hallway or into a small like their um office it's usually our title teachers or special education teachers and they give it's a one minute assessment for each one of them and so it's really quick um it's taken on computer and they go about their day um our kindergarten and first grade students a middle of the Year data this year is equivalent to what they were at the end of the year last year so like we're at 64 and 65% for kindergarten in first grade so we are on track to hits and we're we're thinking we're going to be surpassing that into of the year goal so we're really excited about that um with those grade levels and then our second grade team um we had almost a 30% increase from the beginning of the year for diples to our middle of the year so our data is tracking really really well um and it really is due to what our educators are doing in the classroom with our teachers or with our students we're very proud of them any questions on the dibles data no but I would like to see that end of the year in the beginning of the year seems like we start the year awfully low across the board we do curious to see what drink you can identify that I will get that to you um and now I'm going to invite Mrs Cooper from dear Meadow to come on up she's going to share with you a little bit of a deeper dive into what they're doing at dear Meadow this is something USS to reference it's hard when it's on there it's really tiny [Music] this is an example of our live data sheet and one of the things that we spent a lot of time on at dear Meadow this year is talking about you know what what does data mean what do grades mean and so we really come to this consensus that that grades are a reflection of Mastery toward of progress towards Mastery of identified state standards and how are grades different are the same from the data points and really understanding that we are moving towards um those being standards based and really identifying if a kiddo can can do this set identified standard and if they're not how are we going to continue to progress monitor them so that we make sure that they do learn that standard at some point because we we know that those are important so off to the side which it's in white so you can't see it is all of the kiddos names and then we have their exceptionalities um identified and then different um areas and different data points are listed I'm sorry got it um so you'll see I ready on there for reading and math you'll see Dibbles um and then what we've been working really hard on is this is a live active data sheet that we pulled up every single week during DLC and so there are options to sort it up at the top and so we'll look at it from lots of different angles we'll look at it by class we'll look at it by specific measures and what's most important to me is that we recognize that these kiddos are more than just one data point and so like Jimmy you were saying you know there's definitely a discrepancy between what we're seeing in DBL and what we're see in I ready because they are different measures and they're measuring different things and so we look we like to look at it and compare how are they doing here how are they doing there the other thing that is really important to us at the middle of the year is we're pulling growth rates and so for example and I ready we're not only going to get that um academic performance level we're going to get a growth level and so we're able to see okay this kid grew a whole Year's worth of growth in one semester what are we doing that is working for this kid and maybe this kiddo over here is at a 0% then they they didn't make any growth what do we need to do differently for this kid um so we're really like dissecting the data um the other thing that is so important to me is off to the side which you can't see it is we include all of the things that you can't read in a number so it's things like this kiddo is in foster care uh this kiddo was just removed from their home this kiddo um has a medical condition and just had surgery or all of these different kinds of intricacies of what's happening in in the whole life of these kiddos that isn't going to register on the data sheets and so we're looking at these every week and then um especially after like the beginning of the year the middle of the Year data and we're making informed curricular decisions about where we're going to put those kiddos for um like their wi groups um their OG groups um and and a lot of the conversations this year has been like hey we need to get the parents to the table and we really need to talk about you know this issue or we need to follow up with our Commons Mental Health Partnership and ask them about this um and so there's a lot of time spent in that narrative note section of what we're doing over there um so as I mentioned this is something that we review and adjust weekly during PLC um each week the PLC teachers um continue to monitor their student performance and make adjust ments to those intervention groups and things as needed so if you go to the next page so this is an overview of our data um so at the beginning of the year we had 25% and this is as measured by Dibbles um since this is the one um piece that was our goal um so 25% at the beginning of the year in kindergarten um that was 22 students and then middle of the year we are at 66% so that's 55 of our 83 students and so that was a growth of 41% and again that's by dibles yeah does this include special ed yes the number includes special yes and we have a huge inclusive of the special right yes I just want yeah and it also includes we have a fairly large e population U we've got several kiddos in that kindergarten class and the second grade class that do not speak any English um and so we've we've seen a lot of growth with them um one of the things that we're really proud of is that um and this is why I included this this sheet so you'll see on here that we break it up by grade level and anybody in blue is considered above gray level anybody in green is considered on grade level anybody in yellow is um one grade level below and anybody in BR is two or more grade levels below and so for example you'll notice like when we get to second grade we didn't as much but what we did see with second grade is a lot of movement among those levels and so you see the kids in the in the red moved up to the yellow the yellow moved to the green and so forth so in first grade um actually back to kindergarden we only have seven students um away from meeting our goal so that's something else that we do um during our PLC time is really kind of drill it down to that you know actionable piece of data it's one thing if I say hey kindergarten teachers we want to have 74% you know pass rate it's another thing when we say okay well that's three kids in your room and two kids in your room and who are they and what are we doing with them what do those Services look like so in first grade um we've had some movein some move outs and so we've been trying to keep up with um all of the you know accurate data um we are at 57% this is just a 1% um gain and while we're you know glad that we maintained and we showed a little bit of growth this is not as much growth as we definitely wanted to see one thing to keep in mind with Dibbles is that it's a moving Target so the assessment they had at the beginning of the year is not the same as the assessment they had at the middle of the year and it's not the same as the one they'll have at the end of the year that gets progressively harder um and second grade um similar to first grade we saw some some gains but not as much as we'd want to see so 24 students away from our goal there we had seven fewer students um you know in in that red which was encouraging um some of the things that we talked about at our middle of the year uh meeting when we came back in January is looking at in first and second grades we spent a lot of time um with our lowest of the low populations and in title especially and so we really shifted our Focus from there to looking at some more of those bubble kids uh We've adjusted some of our Aid schedules we've had um because we have a a really large and and growing e population our teacher has received some new professional development and trainings um and then we've also been talking about how can we make some changes um to the master schedule and things looking towards next year and so we we are excited we think that we've got a lot of really good um adjustments made um to hopefully see some more growth within first and second grade by the end of the year any questions I did put uh on your first page uh I would argue that the section is probably the most important piece of getting the relationships and understanding how to reach the kid but this is phenomenal on it to have that available to it absolutely and I I just I can't even tell you how important it is to what we do I mean we have this up every day we have it up every week I'm constantly taking notes in it the teachers are my counselor is and so it's it's very fundamental to the growth that we're seeing good awesome thank you thank than Mrs Cooper Mr Roberts hello hello hello all right well um on this first slide you will see um something very similar to what Mrs Cooper was just talking about this is our um our Master data sheet where we keep um all sorts of things from our beginning of year testing to middle of year testing um the picture on the right there um we have also had each of our grade levels create their own um individual data sheets um because we do a lot of assessing besides just the beginning middle and end of year and so um I've been really proud of our teachers this year throughout our PLC process of not waiting until that next middle of year assessment because if you wait from the beginning to the middle that's that's too much time without making adjustments without changing up groups without tweaking interventions um and so we are really updating our uh you know live data sheets on a weekly basis and so this year our PLC process has been um a new Initiative for the corporation um but that's something that we've been working really hard with at rid path is what are we doing um in our instruction on a weekly basis what do our assessments look like um our the assessments that we've been giving in the past is it giving us the information we want to know um if not let's look at what tweaks do we need to make to that assessment to give us the data that we really need and so our teachers have worked really hard on forward thinking not only looking at our Curriculum maps but um when we get to this point we know that we need to assess our students and see if our instruction has worked um we give that assessment and then that's what we're talking about in our PLC meetings um looking at how many of our students did Master that skill and what are we going to do for the kids that didn't and that's really where our when time comes in um we have worked really hard about taking um it's our teachers have had to step out of their comfort zone because um it's not just the four walls of our classroom it is it's a team approach and so how can we work smarter um by sharing our kids sharing the load as a grade level as a building to where if I'm a classroom teacher and I have three kids that are really struggling in a skill the other two classrooms are probably going to have kids that are struggling with that skill too so let me take them I'll work with those kids during my one time and you can have a couple of my kids and work on a different skill and so our teachers have really embraced that um and and I'm confident that it's making um a big difference Cory if you could go to the next slide please um so I talked about when time a little bit another thing that's different is we're doing differentiated OG this year OG stands for Orton Gillingham um and that's our phonics instruction and so um this year is our first year of doing differentiated OG um in years past it was a whole group phonics instruction as you all know our kids come to us with so many different needs Mrs Cooper um mentioned that there there's all sorts of different needs that are kids have and so um we decided to to take a dive into differentiating our OG instruction this year we've worked really hard on training some of our instructional assistants that have been with us for several years um they've been able to see OG for a couple of years but now we've sent them to training to get OG trained themselves and what that allows us to do is get our groups smaller and more targeted so that we can um provide individualized instruction to all of our kids so if you were to observe our OG groups some of them have six students um if they're a lower group that needs um more intentional instruction um some of our groups with some of our higher performing kids might have 12 to 15 um but those groups are fluid and changing um as our students needs change so between those two things are our wi time our differenti I OG um I'm very confident that that is what has led to some of our really good growth in kindergarten in first grade so this slide is very similar to what you saw with Mrs Cooper um kindergarten or for each of our grade levels we determine our goals at the beginning of the school year um you'll see our goal listed um as that first bullet point on the goal update colum um so in kindergarten we set our goal for 74% proficiency and dibles by the end of the school year um and that's based on composite score so uh Mrs mcferson mentioned dibles is a series of subtests that we give when once you have given all of those assessments it gives you a composite score that kind of summarizes everything to give you an overall picture of how the students are performing and so that's what our goals were based on so kindergarten our endof year goal is 74% of students on or above grade level based on composite score at the beginning of the school year we had 21 of our students um or 34% that were onor above grade level um we have increased that to 66% um at middle of the year and so incredibly proud of our kindergarten teachers um every year our kindergarteners come to us with more needs um and so to accomplish this um it really just kind of gives you chills um and our our teachers are very proud of their students and they're proud of the work that that we're doing um so we are only five students away from reaching our end ofe goal of kindergarten first grade um again we had our goal at 74% proficiency by the end of the school year um at the beginning of the school year 16 of our kids or 39% were at that and um at middle of year we actually met our end ofe goal um with 30 out of our 41 students and so um very proud of that um but you know that's it's it's it's a moving Target and so we're gonna have to to keep working to keep all those kids there and then continue um moving the rest of the kids that are not there yet um second grade obviously um based on composite score um not something that we're happy to see um so we're we're at 45% at middle of year um but again that's based on composite scor um that does not mean that our second graders have not made any growth um looking at a couple of those um sub subtests within Dibbles um we had 19% growth in something called nonsense word fluency that's one of those subtests um so really good growth there and then um oral reading fluency is a piece that has been a struggle for our kids um but we we made 18% um growth there um in addition to that if you look at I ready um we were able to reduce our students in the red category or two or more grade levels below um we reduced that by 10% um and we increased our students in the green category by 20% um so so good growth there with our second graders so um the job's not done um we still have work to do and by no means are we um accepting the the the 45% we're still there we are um we're making tweaks We are continuing to have those PLC conversations um we're continuing to look at individual kids and um having conversations and sharing that load between all of us classroom teachers Title One teachers special education teachers instructional assistants um to put things in place to help our students grow um that's all I have for you unless you have questions for so what's next for the first grade for the end of year goal where do you see that pushing to you like see it I I mean I would like to at minimum increase that by five% um you know it's it's it's one of those things that you get super excited about but also nervous because you know that um if kids were supposed to read 82 words per minute they're now going to be expected to read 95 words per minute and so um I would really like to see an additional 5% increase there um and and I I think we can do it and our our teachers each week are are trying to um we're we're never satisfied I guess um there's always a way that we can increase even if that number were 84% how can we how can we continue doing that and with all the changes that have happened with the science of reading over the last couple of years um we've made some really good changes curriculum wise and so I think that the the progress that we've made now in the short time that we've made these adjustments I am very encouraged as to what this could look like two or three years down the road what's the historical data of your second grade as far as they been low performing in the previous grades it it is a bit of a lower performing another thing to think about is when these kids were in kindergarten there was no wi time in our master schedule um there was no differentiated OG and so um by Nature we we were not getting kids were as as far as they needed to compared to this kindergarten class that from day one um we gave our beginning of year Assessments in um August and within two weeks we had analyzed that data and we were rolling with our differentiated o G groups and our when time so um again we're not done um we're going to continue to um monitor the progress of those second graders and continue to to see how we can move that needle and I can get you that comparative data from when they were in kindergarten in first grade wonderful a thank you thank you thank you Mr Roberts um Mrs El um TZ so we are the bridge between the primaries and the middle school and so we get to take students who are learning to read in second grade and somehow sort of shift them into reading to learn so we do still have a lot of students who come to us without those foundational skills so what we're working with is tracking a number of different data points so our students and third grade will be tested on IR 3 which is a high stakes test for the state of Indiana and that's where a lot of that dibles testing information feeds into so we pull in um our wi groups for that extra support we also have Title One support at TZ in the afternoon so our data sheet this is just a snip of one of our data sheets for third grade we have a data sheet for each grade level similar to the other schools and we are tracking for fourth and fifth graders we also have their third and fourth grade data as well so we can see data across time from the the time that we get them until they leave us and I forward that data on to Selena um and I'm sure we'll get Brandon Britney's data next year as those kids move up to us as well so we're really looking at a complete picture of students data across their education with us we pull this data sheet up in our PLC meetings at grade level teams every week as well and look at where we see especially after a a benchmark assessment where do we see weaknesses where do we see trends that aren't strong how are we going to shift support for those students um again pulling in all of our resources thanks to Mrs Merson we do have a lot of additional staff trained in OG now we had some fifth grade teachers attend the science of reading over the summer um our Librarian Is Now trained we have some IAS that are are also trained and that just gives us the ability to respond to the data in the best way that we can to Target where students need support and to make sure that we have the folks that can take care of them so you can kind of see across we have um our checkpoints that you'll see there that's new this year we are piloting it for I for I learn and those those are Silo data points so the state is also Al changing the way that they are handling things so those checkpoints are specific to standards that are taught at a certain time of the year so it is basically a snapshot of how are these students doing on these standards and the state has been better they are kind of building the plane as they fly it um but they are getting it together to share with the teachers the blueprints for this is exactly what we're going to be testing this is how the question might look on the test and so that that's an additional piece those checkpoints will then lead to the summit of of I learn at the end of the year so again they're not building on each other but they are okay in the in the first quarter teachers should have taught these standards the checkpoint is going to assess how students are doing on those standards and then checkpoint to so on the state has also offered an opportunity to for students so if they take checkpoint one during the window that's offered and we talk a lot about this at our PLC grade level team meetings as well we are starting to have those conversations with students um this this is how you did um we have a lot of especially fourth grade students um fourth grade is an interesting year in our building there's a lot going on in your life when you're a fourth grader and they will sometimes say you know I didn't I didn't do my best on that assessment I want would like another chance so teachers are having those data conversations with students and then after some reteaching giving them another opportunity to take that checkpoint and so that gives us a little bit different data point so you can kind of see of those students who took opportunity to how those scores may have changed and that gives us another piece of information on how to support that student um so yeah Blues greens yellows Reds that's kind of how the I learn scores are set up the nice thing about I learn is it is a consistent scoring pattern so they the state has standardized that so we can see that solid growth from year to year on the I learn assessment I will say one more thing about the plc's um it's been a great addition to our staff just having that designated time every Wednesday to come together review the data look at what students need bring in counselor pieces cins um if they're U if DCS is involved in the student um and then deciding is this a student who would benefit from an additional monitoring through the mtss process which is mult multi-tiered systems of support which we provide for every student through win but then there are some students when we start to see that downward Trend we pull in the parent we see um what we can change or add to make an additional tier of support for the student in the area of need so then the next slide so this is our I ready data which aligns more closely with I learn summative at the end of the year so you can kind of see we have made an increase one of the reasons that you see that 51% for every grade level across the board our students are responsible for passing I learn in language arts and math so the state breaks those numbers down for us as a school they'll say you have this many kids who passed language arts this many kids who passed math but then they also like to put that number together to talk about you have this many students who passed both and so that's the number that we need to be at 51% because last year I don't have that number off the top of my head but it was it was pretty low um in fact our end of the year I learned scores for third graders it was 27% at the end of the year so we want to make sure that that continues to increase 51% is in no way a ceiling for us and as you can see we've already busted through that ceiling in third grade through our middle of the year I ready but that is all to try to make sure that those students have all the skills that they need to be able to demonstrate them on the I learn test at the end of the year for third grade one of the things that we've done we have that additional data point of dibles so we're looking at their reading score and I ready and their Trends with their skills there and then also looking at their Dibbles foundational scores and so this year at the at the middle of the Year Benchmark after Christmas we looked at those students who are at risk to not pass the I3 test and we've developed an after school tutoring plan that started last week we have eight groups now eight small groups of after school tutoring they're between three and five students they're from 3: to 4 pm they may come um they may come one day they may come two it depends on the need and the availability of the parents to come pick them up so we have a number of students we we aimed for 30 and I think right now we've got a little bit over 30 so um we actually added a teacher today to that so we'll continue to hone in on this the needs there and invite more students as we can um but that is going to be an additional support that we can provide for students as we look to increase those reading foundational skills so same with the fourth grade I'd like to see historical data especially with the sun in the fourth grade and yeah there thank you Mrs eldrid Mrs Clemens for Middle School um look at this we do it instead of having all students on one sheet as you had seen on prior we we divide it by um teacher and subject level um on this so you'll see on the left hand column Our advice time that we use in the same way as win time in the primary and um grades we um have our teachers look at our data points which we have listed here and we um devise who needs um math advisory time so we have like our Math teachers but then we have another teacher typically science that will help with the math um parts that our Math teachers will um give them activities to do create um plans for them to work with some of our science teachers will say hey I have I can connect this to science in some way that um bring in math skills and so they'll kind of go on their tangent and like stay within the standards that they're working on this would be the exact same for language arts as well and in language arts we use our social studies teachers to kind of help uh facilitate that as well so when time is advisory time for the middle school would be a good way to kind of see that where we we are hitting our um students on our mtss and those groups are data points plus our teacher input on which students they've seen progress in the classroom and they want to move them in and out so those groups are fluid currently they're fluid within a nine weeks time however um some students are moved within a nine weeks if they've made substantial growth um or in the reverse a decline and they're moved into other advisories so you can see our I ready um as Mrs mcferson said our teachers asked for I ready to be given in second semester and kind of flip-flop with the checkpoints um and so we are doing I ready currently and trying to get that completed as well so you'll see the 24 I learn progress um from that cut score I ready and then our checkpoints and Eldridge went into a little detail on the checkpoints um those typically in checkpoint one were about six to eight standards that were focused in language arts and about the same in language arts was a little bit lower I think they were about five to six standards that they focused on and in math it was more six to eight during that time frame um the state has done a really nice job of kind of laying out the time frames of what standards will be in checkpoint one checkpoint two checkpoint three and then the summative but currently since this is a pilot year the summative will be all the standards kind of together but we're getting a really good snapshot along the way of how our students are progressing so if a student does um get a green which is on level or a blue then they will they do not have to take opportunity to those are for students that were yellow or red so um um did not pass would be another way that you're kind of looking at that and we don't give that backtack we provide time in between those opportunities so that teachers can go back and retach uh maybe pull in small group put that into bell ringer work where we Cy Circle back and do Spiral Review during that time um that gives the teachers some time to kind of breathe and say okay these kids are passed these have not what did I how did I teach it and what can I change to teach it differently to maybe um grab some more into a higher level whether they're moving from red to yellow or yellow into green um they're just looking for that progress to proficiency so this is a just a simple snapshot of kind of the extensive data that our primary teachers keep we also have other um data sheets within this um file that kind of put in all the other subcategories such that U Mrs Cooper was talking about maybe um home life how their situations and things like that we also use PLC time to pull this up talk about our students um this is when we work on advisory time switching up groups and kind of pacing ourselves um for the next four weeks we're trying to get them into that fluidness of about four weeks so it's real time data coming in and then we're using it and changing instruction and then testing again so if you can go to the next slide for me please just real yes the Snapchat is all math or is it that's for one teacher one teacher okay I just want to make sure I was yes my eyes are bad so I thought I'd do the biggest phone I could yeah so we have them for all of them but yeah that's kind of how it looks um this would be um similar to the other um data points that you have seen um previously these we just focused on the checkpoints our teachers find a lot of um comfort in seeing what standards they are expected to kind of lead their students to Mastery on and this is a stair step is the way we kind of approach it you know we have to start somewhere and then help our students um move forward in the direction we know that they can achieve in sixth grade on um for Ela in checkpoint one we were at 31% um when they took that opportunity to so of those same standards um we they our teachers moved 17 students during that time frame and seventh grade was 28% and they moved um 10 students 8th grade 33 and they moved 13 so we're seeing that forward progress language arts um has a just larger broader standards and so those are take a lot of time to develop and so the checkpoints are kind of a little bit harder to navigate through because those skills build upon each other because they're so indepth on there you can see our goal where we are going we like to tie it into how many students just like our our other um schools are doing looking at moving you know 17 students seems more reasonable than trying to move a whole pile of students at one time our math progress as well um looking at moving 16 students um sixth grade eight students in seventh and eight um six students in eth grade and so as we are compiling checkpoint two data we'll have that as well to see how many students we were able to move from opportunity one to two and that data again for checkpoint three and then the sumita of grand finale at the end of the year will'll be um looking at all of those standards together and kind of um seeing how our students are progressing at that time any questions on checkpoints in the Middle School all right thank you thank you mman finally we have Mrs good pastor um she's going to talk to us um about high school and especially talking about like our redesign and how we're attacking that so the beautiful thing about all of them is regardless of where they end up on the data we get them and we've got to graduate him in four years so um we are actually really excited about the new graduation changes and the new diploma changes so you'll hear me say a lot of personalized um because when a student comes to us we have four years to get them through um or less um and be productive members of our society so the fact that we've got these new diploma um design the redesign for us that's that's a big thing for us so down at the bottom um you'll see that there are three different current areas of focus of employment enlistment and enrollment um for today I'm just going to show and use enrollment so everything that you're going to see today is the exact same thing in enlistment and the exact same thing in employment um so the top part of it um The Freshman is going to be a big Focus for us so everything that I'm going to talk about if you have a prior or a current nine through 12th grade they're not going to fit into the criteria that we're talking about this is just going to be current freshman um starting in 29 so we started with um our nth grade you'll see in the white is everything that um the high school offers and it's going to stay consistent for ninth grade depending on which track um with a little bit of additions you'll see that here in a minute um freshman year we um have things set and then we've got a few family choices um we decided to call these selectives family choices because we want um our families to hear that we want them to be part of the decision Mak with their students they're the best ones to help to decide is this really the choice um because a lot of students they take um they take an assessment and they find out oh the assessment says they're supposed to be a pilot and that may or may not ever be something that that family can help the child to obtain so we want families to be involved um we met with all of our departments um on the teacher day um for them to know and for them to learn the new diploma and are goals were that for that were were Beyond The Years where you know a kid needs 40 um credits for graduation and this is what they have to take everyone is going to be individualized so we wanted them to be a master of their um of their content um area science to know the science criteria English to know the English criteria um so part of that feedback for being an inquire were what happens if I have a band inquire how does that fit in so you are going to see B inquire be the actual FOC Focus because we realize we have a lot of students in band in choir so we wanted the families to see that so um if you go on to the next one the other option um that students will have a choice of is um the honor seal and the honor seal is really more or less like our honors um diploma that we have now um with some other additional criteria and you're going to see that in purple so now you start seeing a little bit more color freshman again is where we're going to start with so think about the 10 11 and 12th that's as they go through their four years not our current 10 11 and 12 so the Freshman continues um still the same year whether they're in um the general um content up above or whether they're honors um 10th grade year is where they'll start taking some of those um college courses and that's in red which is our ICC um which stands for Indiana um colon core that is um our college credit dual credit coures so you'll see those in red everything in purple is that additional seal um and again we have this for the other seals as well um bring the last one thank you so then the last one is um our enrollment plus um honors plus so this is above and beyond this is where our students really take the academic route um and as you see there they still can be ban in choir and still take a complete full load of academics um this is also where our students will fulfill the ICC requirement um and end up with um an associates degree or certifications um we're proud uh to have Partners um with IU for our ICC partner um but we also still have other colleges um involved um with our idtech and our depal outfit and vincon um and ISU so we'll have a lot of different um options for students um but this is as we start with freshman we're also during all of our parent meetings and all of our um conversations with our guidance counselors I've told them I want um students preparing for two because what we're finding before with diplomas if kids set their selves up for something and they fell short of it um life happens Life Changes we didn't want them to get to 10th or 11th grade and freak out of now what um so they will um in their meetings they will decide what two areas do you want to focus on on a lot of them go hand inand with just a little bit of adjustments but they'll either be enrollment and employment or they'll be enlistment employment um so they have a backup plan if something fails within um the next four years thank you um so this is just a quick snippet of our master schedule um because of the new requirements we're looking at things differently so everything in light blue is showing um new courses that we're creating everything is standards based everything is still um following all the state standards that we've done before but some of our subjects um are going to be reworked to give again uh personal preference for students and see courses that are going to apply to the choices that they um are choosing moving forward so we have more applicable courses um instead of you're just taking English 11 um now they have um some additional um um expertise in their areas if we have a student like I had said um we get them and they weren't up to par and they're going to be an employment or they're going to be an enlistment and college was never on the radar these are courses that we are tailoring um towards kids interest so that way a kid still is not um it's not just jumping through the hips of school for then what um these courses will apply and allow them flexibility to apply if they're more of a Hands-On student um or they're more an academic student um courses in Black are the same subject so um those are just the Dual credits you can see that we we're adding dual credit and um adding additional so this is basically kind of the timeline of how we came through that um we are because we will see a freshman um we'll have a lot of time as you saw on previous slides Junior and Senior year to do internships to do um more um fully focused instead of hopping period class schedule they may be with one teacher um in a programming Department um for three hours they may be in internships um outside of our community um we also want to have internships within our school um because we have a lot of things that the kids can have access to and in talking with the mayor they don't have a lot of jobs for our kids so um she has reiterated you know the more we can um give opportunities to our students in house and the more things we can do with them in house house we're pairing with businesses businesses are telling us the things that they need they come into the classroom with our with our students we teach those students those skills they hire them in the summer they'll hire them post um graduation so we are taking a handful of kids um we have seven Mr kindall and Mrs shuy have that were doing these internships um using these new requirements so that way we can see um where the short files are what do we need to tweak what do we need to change prior to getting the whole class of um 2029 um knowing that we still had a few years January 3rd just again we took um say from all of our um teachers um one of our things you're going to see us history is jumping down to freshman because 8th grade they have um the the curriculum matches right back up it didn't make sense for us to have a junior year when it can go right um and then allow that flexibility their junior year to do more internships um in and outside of our school um we will be having um counseling um meetings um and one of the things that we thought would be really important with Mrs Clemens and I speaking um is that our guiters and counselors set on to um the middle school and so they're going to talk with the middle school and again not get into all the little leads but give the overall arches that kids can have choice and kids can have um a different steal um option um and what does that mean and how can we do things within our classroom how can we do field trips that match up um how can they add those opportunities and then um we always have a parent meeting um with freshmen for scheduling but this time we're going to turn it into an open house because we know that although freshman year it's pretty specific what they need to take um after that there's a whole big guidance so our foreign language departments coming our Fab Lab our um our class our um business teachers um our science labs to be open for our parents to see that no longer is it like when we went to school we choose two science classes a kid could choose a whole path of science um and still get that and so we want them to see our spaces um indust re iterating with parents and with kids every time we speak we're personalizing it so we're going to have some options we want you always having two skills focused um so we have a backup fing in and we'll still continue um the scheduling meeting with our high school students um but what we're constantly reiterating with erance is our freshman through 12th grade they're still going on with um current guidelines as we would go through the news so that would be a different um juggling that with parents of no this applies to this kid and office kid so we're trying to get everything personalized so our guidance counselors came to me and they said all right we got a whole bunch of SK um we got a whole bunch of changes we get a whole bunch of things uh how about we rearrange how we do the guidance and so I heard them out um I talked with Mr Gib no longer with a through l and m through Z we are looking um that it's going to be a good idea for us to do 9 and 10 11 and 12 so we'll have a guidance counselor stays within nine and 10 and then we'll have a guidance counselor that moves with them 11 and 12 um but they're both involved in each other's are so know um her n and 10 Miss shuy she's doing the testing for Junior and senior so she sees what is to come and why um Mr Kendall is doing all our Junior and senior internships invested with um the n and 10 to see what are their interest and what opportunities do we need to have available um for them when they're 11 and 12 um so our model motto basically is going into personalization and make us tell you know um we've had the graduation uh requir or our goal of 95% um we've had that because the state's always been so low um 88% was the state highed in 2023 last year everyone was ecstatic you're at 9% what I think a lot of people fail to realize at the high school level is graduation is based on four years so if the kid passes away if the kid moves out and we don't get documentation properly back those de if a kid um moves out of state and that state doesn't share this that kid is a Dean for us um we're happy to say everyone that fulfills 9 or 12 graduates um so that is our good thing it's the kids that I already know I'm gonna take a hit on right now in ninth and 10th because they've been MIA um and I can see them on the Tex report so internally um we're about 99.3% graduation but what the state records um we are not so that's going to be the focus for us is instead of getting them all pushed out senior year and everybody focusing on senior it's like okay we need to rethink we got to get them really involved ninth grade year 10th grade year so they have that passion that drive for what is going to help them be successful um Junior and Senior year and then hopefully they stay and then our 18-year- olds when they turn 18 don't um get an argument with their parents and Bounds that they'll still stay because too so so one thing you touch on was I know we've been working on expanding our dual credit opportun did you kind of make sure that that there we started out with two um teachers that were dual credit three could have been but two um I'm happy to say for this next school year we have 10 um and then we have three more in the waiting for the following school year so we partnered with IU for the simple fact that IU um offered all of our programing so teachers the minute they say um they qualify they say they want to teach a dual credit they instantly teach a dual credit they pay them for training they pay them to get their masters they pay them get their certification um and our teachers can teach it the other programs we love our other college Partners but they just didn't have that flexibility right now so you will see a few of our start IU and then maybe bouncing over to I Tech or ISU um long term but IU is allowing us uh to be able to get that window in so up to 10 um by the following 2526 we should have 13 um but we also know too EV flow right at any given moment someone else outbids a dual credit teacher and they go to another school system so we know that's really important that we keep the culture in our school that we keep um their opinions and and their thought um thought processes and their input um for our students that also realizing that have halfs so we are our goal for 25 26 is to be on ICC Journal requirement so if we do lose someone we don't lose ICC also any other questions how we looking on licensing overall I mean are we the new requirements are we good yeah we are we are um all of my emergency license have all switched over now everybody has um their licenses and um all of our dual credit is all in and then we've got our plan that will jump in in 256 Wonder thank you thank you I know that that was a lot of information thank you um for taking the time to listen to all the good things that are happening and our action plans helping our students grow I will be sure to get um historical data for you and then the two assessment information be great I think um for data driven with a whole lot of relationship and rigor be successful so I would love to see what that number looks like for the high school in terms of how many we got on target for graduation postgraduation in terms of who's enlisting who's going through education where they're in that process if they uh you know taken the asbab and sworn in for the military and then also um that gain for employment what is that game see just kind of see where we're at maybe some special ed input too to see where we're at as a district a special ed and I count us with what I did the numbers today we said at 51% in reading and 44% in math so if we can get some top down too um from Jeff and Becky in terms of a goal too to to tie as a district as a whole I think it's going to be better for us and that's that's just my thoughts on it thank you I like it thank you thank you Mr M and kudos to you and your team for all the hard work on all that stuff it's fantastic thank you okay is that all you had for us this evening Madam that is all I have for you okay all right moving on to Mr Gib about another hour and a half outstanding I don't want to rush through because I do have important information to share as well but just a few updates um our ADM count date uh is on February 3rd and so that's second count day uh type type of funding won't go into depth this month but with Bond 2024 our projects and some of those funds available um working on even though it's mostly complete finish up that middle SCH hallway uh flooring projects um working on planning for some additional painting to take place in the district at Middle School TZ um potentially over spring break and then working longer term uh you know contining to kind of build out some of those uh additional projects with floring and just a just a lot of just general maintenance that has been deferred time and time again so um excited excited about that um you know I do think it's kind of important to to mention you know well we didn't share a lot of specifics but um when it comes to uh some of our students it's important to remember that access to education is protected um and all children regardless um of immigration status um are entitled to a free public education and so we do have uh procedures and protocols in place for um working with governmental agencies so I just did want to State uh that piece as well question was kind of brought up um at the beginning of the weend um kind of Shifting years here um obviously we just wrapped up the 2024 uh budget and calendar year and we're working to shift boards into 2025 so Cory if you can pull that up um this information is obviously uh in your in your board packet so I'm not going to read it verba them but this is something that we've done year after year just to build greater understanding and just to have greater transparency um with our stakeholders I just feel like it's a good thing to show them uh that we are good stewards um of all of our funds next slide please so this is just a tracking spreadsheet that I use uh throughout the year um that Top Line there um that's highlighted in yellow those are um budgetary uh Revenue estimates that we use when we are doing our budget each year um and when it comes to our budget we're conservative because we don't want to plan to overspend when in essence we could get cut or student enrollment could drop um so we just want to protect ourselves with that so I track against our budgetary numbers and you can see specifically for our pension uh debt fund and the education fund um that bottom line those are all green so that's good that means that we took in uh more than expected um one of the big reasons with with that specifically for the education fund is something as simple as just that additional interest um from our bank accounts next slide please and then something similar here uh for The Debt Service fund and the operations fund um overall pretty well nothing too uh distinctly different from uh prior years um but you can see all the different buckets that we capture from there so we have our property tax funds then we have some of those miscellaneous tax funds excise commercial vehicle excise financial institution tax and the local in income tax and you can see again kind of where we stood um with budgeting in the yellow to kind of where uh we fell um at the bottom and those numbers are not too uh too different um from from prior years um and on the operations fund of course we have our transfer from the education fund to the operations fund and that's captured there next slide so overall 2024 uh was a fairly positive year you can see we took in roughly $957,000 in more Revenue um than than what we projected moving forward you know I don't want to paint a bleak picture um but it may get a little a little bit tighter with just um some of the potential property tax reforms um certainly uh we know uh the tuition support funding May look slightly different you know the governor's initial kind of estimate is looking at 2% um but we know that that may not be where where it falls and that 2% may not necessarily just come to come to specifically to Public Schools next slide please and then um then the next really the next two slides just kind of highlighting the year uh for the education fund um and our cash our cash balances um just kind of some high Lev notes for uh education fund um we're tracking where we should be um with our our transfer from education operations we were staying well below that 15% um our end ofe cash balance um increased by roughly $876,000 so um you can see we ended December sitting at roughly 4.4 um but it's important to note that um due to legislative change one of the things that school districts had to do was we had to eliminate our textbook and curricular materials fund and so now that is now baked into the education fund and so roughly 645,000 of that is strictly for curricular material so we're up but obviously not not that much so we're we're we're trending well um there as well year-to date expenditures increased by just over $1 million compared to uh previous year we know that um we we've been very successful at moving the needle um with just compensating our staff um and specifically our teachers moving to you know lower a first year teacher pay of $46,800 uh for a bachelor degree and then uh 478 for master's degree and just continue to kind of move the needle with some of those items um so overall uh continuing the trend uh very positively uh with that we obviously moving forward want to make sure that we're uh cautious with our our spending so that we don't take you know the proverbial One Step board and and two steps back next slide please um the next slide deals specifically uh with the operations fund um our end of year cash balance decreased um by $5,000 um so we open to think about it in terms of Revenue versus expenditures we over spent by $5,000 um we had some kind of unplanned expenditures like pool repairs and things of that nature that we had to had to pay for um so again we want to be cautious of that um as we move forward um year-to date expenditures increased by just over $550,000 uh year-to dat Revenue increased by just over just under $300,000 so just some kind of high level thoughts on that again we just want to make sure that um you know as we look to uh contract with um law enforcement agency and add S as some SRO we just want to be again just good stewards of of how we're spending and we might have a fewer dollars available in our operations fund for uh preventive maintenance projects things of that nature but that's where Bond 24 uh comes in to kind of help us offset uh some of those expenditures next slide please and so uh as we move as we close 2024 and move into 2025 um in I don't know if it was I think it was the end of November we actually received our budget order um from the Department of local government Finance you can see overall so remember where we start is where we're advertised or where we advertise we use a lower AV right and we know that a lower AV that inflates our rates and and as you can see in the right hand side that after those numbers come back certified those rates drop right um we know that some of those levies um are subject to a maximum Levy um with our operations fund and so you can see that for uh budget year 2025 you can see that we expect to have an overall tax rate of a1ar 2762 and you look right above it yep we had A1 3710 um another item I would really like to uh to note is for Debt Service fund you can see 6199 that's identical to what it was in 2024 and that was identical to what it was when we decided to move forwards with Bond 21 and 22 we promised our taxpayers that we would work within that rat um and and not increase that rate um just actually when we got our budget order back um the dgf had approved 672 W and so we actually had to tell them to cut it down to that 6199 so we cut off just about you know five just about a nickel um off of that rate so again overall things um turned to fairly uh positively with that it's anyone's guess what's going to happen uh at the state house um with funding I think we can I think it's you know well known that we're going to see some type of hoers are going to see some type of relief when it comes to property taxes um but we also know that less revenue is also going to potentially have an impact on us as well so we'll just have to U you know we're in a good spot with our cash balances so we'll just have to uh do the best we can to prepare to tackle that as it C that's all I have for my report this month I like seeing the 1.7 that's awesome very good thank you Jeff for all your work on that I that fantastic okay all right we have no old business moving on to new business look like we have several approval requests yep so again as this customary uh this time of year um we work to kind of clean up our books and one of those items is permission to cancel outstanding checks two years and older specifically uh in your packet you have some items from middle school high school PCA treasure then you also have some things from Mrs Roman it' be my recommendation the board permit us to uh clean up our books cancel those checks right can I get a motion motion second have a motion to Second any discussion hearing none all in favor I I any opposed that motion will carry particularly thankful my name's not on that all right moving on check we have an approval request for permission to pay late arriving invoices yep um so Mrs room will be uh leaving leaving town here uh in February similar to do last year this an annual annual trip and we just want to uh seek permission to continue to kind of pay our bills um and um she will provide the board an updated report of uh those late arriving invoices it's essentially what we do in December yep I hope you're going somewhere warm I am as I do every year good for you and I'm not telling you where it is I don't tell anybody where I go it's the only week out of the year that I am not accessible that's not fair okay can I get a motion to approve I I second I have a motion on a second do I have any discussion hearing none all those in favor I I any opposed motion will Carri all right we have an approval request for overnight ghs wrestling to Rochester Indiana yep so this is the uh the trip that I had emailed uh each of you about M uh we had some wrestlers qualify to move on in the the to the regional tournament which is a nice uh honor and um essentially since it was overnight it requires uh or approval we had some inclement weather at that time yes we did they chose to leave earlier up in the morning and thankfully they they did because it would have been a little bit rougher had they not yep yes yep yep safety first okay can I get a motion to approve so moved second have a motion a second any discussion hearing none all those in favor I any oppos motion will carry I think it's important to note that we had one of the one of those wrestlers move on uh to the state and uh we're going to invite her and some of our other uh other students that we have to honor um next month excellent yep those were our lady wrestlers correct correct and they are I watched the I watched them wrestle I hope they'll never snatch me up because they are mean they mean business that's for sure yeah they worked they worked really hard and it's just meant enjoy just to kind of see the increase in interest sure okay outstanding all right I approval request for D proposal for the Chromebooks at Green Castle Middle School yep so it's uh it's time to uh work towards replacing our Middle School devices for next uh school year and so any more packet um was quotes for three items um they're similar as you can be although each from different manufacturers and uh these will actually be paid for um out of the education fund because remember we moved curricular materials to the education fund so those expenditures are now going to come out of the education fund fund and we have to plan for that with our education fund balance um but we have a recommendation for uh total of to cost of $138,100 uh to replace our Middle School devices and we're seeking to move forwards with that before there are any additional increases in cost and we'd like to get those well ahead of time so we can plan for a smooth distribution it out can I get a motion to approve motion second a motion a second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor I any opposed and motion will carry thank you thank you for working hard on that I have approval request for the 2026 2027 school calendar yep so with our school calendar excuse me we always attempt to say excuse me attempt to stay two years out so this is for 26 uh and 27 um obviously we know that we have we always are mandated to have 180 student days also within that uh that same time frame we have to have 184 teacher uh contract work days and we also know that all the various different holidays that fall with uh within uh the school year in a week at fall break a week at Spring break so what you have in front of you um is pretty much a corresponding dates calendar uh for for the most part because we're not looking to uh significantly move um move anything um probably one of the major major differences and it's just sometimes how the calendar works out the holidays and things like that is um you can just see that we have one built-in snow makeup day um for next year um we just we didn't have uh the capability with kind of all the goals um for the calendar to build a second one in because we're already running up to to uh the Thursday um before graduation um and you know we listened to the teachers they didn't want to start you know if at all possible they didn't necessarily want students to start on a Monday they prefer them to kind of start midweek and so you can't accomplish all of your goals if you can accomplish most of them um you know that's pretty nice so we had a had a calendar kind of again kind of hits those things the best we can and I'm just uh seeking approval um of our calendar for 26 27 does this pretty much align with other schools or give or take a day or two here okay or like a built-in um like PD day or something there but yeah our brakes are aligned we want to keep them aligned for for area 30 and you know it's never our goal to get um you know completely off track you know beginning or end of the year either okay but there are some settle differences of times but with that being said that we are two years out they just approve they're not two years out they approve exter so they don't have got it if that makes sense yes but that's why we're looking to for the most part using corresponding dates we've agreed to like okay can I get a motion to approve move to approve the motion is second any further discussion hearing none all those in favor I any opposed that motion will carry all right approval request for a preschool program at Rass yeah so I don't think it's uh a big secret um I'm a big supporter of preschool um Community Preschool our district has been you know I think you know even you know prior to the start of this school year we listen to our community um and so we want to continue to grow out our preschool uh program so our Our Community Preschool uh program so right now it's parent funded um we're still working on um being able to take uh vouchers um sorry there are so many different acon acronyms we have to have to remember I not able to speak to the specific one um but at the same time in in addition to expanding preschool we also want to be able offer preschool at both elementary schools um so we are looking to start a full day or year old program uh at rid path beginning next school year uh there are a lot of logistics still yet to be worked out um but while we continue to kind of work on those we are seeking approval because we want to we want the work to continue to to trickle out so I think this has been a good thing I think you know everybody sees value in it we know that our students that complete a year of pre a year or two years of preschool they are that much more ready uh when they're kindergarteners um so we want to stay ahead of the curve uh with that and I do say preschool because preschool and child care are two distinct different things and we know that we still have some work yet to do that with that in our community uh but we want to specifically focus on expanding our preschool so just seeking approval uh to move forward with that Becky's been working with with Brandon and Britney um we have a classroom identified um at Red path they're working on you know what kinds of materials we might need obviously at some point we're going to have to have to work on what kind of Staff we might need there as well and so this just kind of helps to put the wheels in motion okay any of my travels throughout the schools so see at with Britney's prechool program she has it looks like it's an outstanding program it's doing very well so I think uh I think we're on the right track and I think we have the ability to do the program yeah we may even look to expand there again we're here to serve a need and if we can serve it or or fill it um you know within reason and and not you know set ourselves backwards like we're going to do that that's what we're here for I agree I like it I like it okay can I get a motion to approve motion second have motion and a second do we have any other discussion hearing none all those in favor I I any opposed that motion will carry thank you thank you and I have approval request for it looks like several donations where we at here uh we have the putam County Community Foundation the Green Castle School Corporation for $1,000 professional data analyst to Green Castle High School for a youth tobacco survey for $500 North Salem State Bank to Green Castle High School Middle School FFA for $500 Keystone Cooperative to Green Castle High School Middle School FFA for $11,000 and Deborah King to Green Castle High School Middle School FFA for $500 very nice taking care of the FFA all right can I get a motion to approve move to approve a motion the second any discussion hearing none all those in favor all all right any opposed that MO Carri thank you very much all right moving on to the first reading of the ne policies policies volume 37 number one yep so again of as customary periodically we have some additional um updates and there's no board action uh being taken uh at this meeting this is just for first reading and for your review and obviously we know that most of these changes are due to uh changes in state okay very good any questions on that anybody very good all right I'm moving on to other business I want to take the opportunity right now to thank Mr Gib and your crew uh for the recent snowfall that we've had handling that quite well that was a lot of snow at one time um so your crew handled cleaning that up and taking care of the kiddos and make sure they were safe with the first one and the second one as well as the bitter cold that we had calling some some late start days to keep everybody safe on that so that was a lot of decisions to be made at the last minute and thank you for handling that quite well I'm glad they last if we get it out or you know I never want to just sit on something and get up early in M we try to get out as quick as we can I was proud of how our work snowfall that's not easy we certainly have new facilities and New Uses like we're all we're all working to continue to get better to do even better with that um but yeah definitely appreciate everyone's uh support to there's a lot of snow and it took a lot of places to findun to put that snow I think was the problem yeah yeah we found out out in the city as well we were able to push it just not get it very far yes yeah very good do we have any other business before we close hearing none can I get a motion to adjourn so move I'll second have a motion and a second any discussions on that hearing none all those in favor I any opposed that motion will carry thank you everyone for being here have a safe evening couple hundred boys out there I'm guess probably

e e e righty I'm Mr Allen here Mr mclen here Mr meler thank you Mrs Gray go to A5 revision of the agenda Mr trout we have any reion yes we have one revision of the agenda which we will place in section D the new agenda items two um which will be a Washington DC trip we have a presentation by Mrs baram and we'll be asking for your approval thank you Mr trout would anybody like to make a motion to change the agenda motion to approve the revision to the agenda and a second thank you Aaron any questions or comments before we vote hearing none let's vote on the revision go to sleep maybe go to sleep maybe vote passes unanimously move on to B1 core values discussion this is always an exciting time of our board meeting where we can honor uh individuals and staff members for their outstanding contributions and good evening uh tonight is no different uh we're excited to recognize uh several outstanding IND individuals whose accomplishments exemplify the core values of Huntington County Community Schools these honores have demonstrated Excellence perseverance and dedication and it's a privilege for us to celebrate their achievements tonight let's meet our core value honores when I call your name please come up front for a photo opportunity family members please step out of your seats and feel free to join in and and you're welcome to come up and and take a photo at this time as well our first Honore is Huntington North senior Marissa tra out Marissa has earned her place in the prestigious 1,000 Point Club for basketball scoring her Milestone point during the January 4th game against Noblesville Marissa joins an elite group of former Huntington North athletes including Jenny eert Nancy Hoover Abby Wilson Lisa witer and Taylor double Beyond her achievements on the court Marissa is continuing her academic and athletic career at Taylor University next year I have to add no one knows this and I've shared this with Marissa back December the 8th 2021 I asked for Marissa's autograph because I wanted to be the first one to receive her autograph because I knew this day was going to happen for her and that she would be signing a scholarship opportunity to go and play at that next level so Marissa congratulations we are so so proud of you best wishes Marissa trout [Applause] oh hold still congratulations Marissa our next honor I don't believe is here but let me just do a little highlight and maybe we can bring him to the next next board meeting if we could uh in person but on January the 11th Ethan zh set a new single game scoring record with 42 points during a game against Southwood uh he had five rebounds five assists five steals uh leading the Vikes to Victory his 42 points broke a previous record of 4 points which was shared by Adam Thompson and Hunter Hollowell and so big congratulations uh coach there was never a shot I didn't like boy I'm telling you what probably ice his elbow after that game was over with but that's uh what a feat and congratulations to Ethan and hopefully we can bring him back to the next board meeting and uh recognize him in person I'm not sure where you'd hang that but yeah okay all right okay okay next up uh Alex B Burgess hccs Food Service uh director last but certainly not least we recognize the hccs director of food services for passing the school nutrition Association credentialing exam this nationally recognized designation highlights expertise in the USDA Professional Standards for school nutrition Personnel this achievement scores their commitment to providing exceptional service to our students congratulations Alex well done and that concludes our core values for for this evening thank you Mr Peters moving on to C1 public comment no one has signed up to speak this evening if someone would like to come up and speak um we just ask that you leave your give your name when you when you come up and we'll have you sign the paper no one come forward we will move move on to D1 special presentation student data Mr Allen board and Community uh tonight's data presentation is uh some general information uh that I find uh intriguing in terms of an era uh for schools of school choice we know that uh kids can uh choose what school they go to they have a wide variety of options and so what we have put together for your review and for our community is a chart that basically shows the percentage of kids that live within your school settlement and in layman's terms basically that live in your school district and what percentage of those kids that live in your school district attend uh another Avenue those Avenues might be um online school they might be a school of religious choice or it could be another public school and so uh one of the interesting facts when I see this era is I'm always very uh um aware of where our kids go to school and it's something Mr trout and Mr Peters and I and Mr mlin speak about but if you look uh Huntington Community Schools uh has about 15% of the kids that live within our legal settlement our School boundaries that attend another option if you compare that to some of the area schools I think it's very interesting data to see how maybe our school district does our community does uh in the percentages compared to some of the the surrounding ones I will tell you that the um when I look at Statewide uh we are doing quite well uh Mr trouton Schoolboard in terms of comparison analysis it's super important to understand what we're looking at here um we want every kid to attend Huntington schools that live in our district I assure we think we are absolutely the best game in town and in the area and we're super proud of our school district our teachers and our culture and our academic achievements when I see 15% and I see some of the area ones around it gives us uh an analysis that we can say yeah we we're doing pretty well considering we always want to look to improve in a continuous Improvement model and we always want to be aware of that 15% and where it's going in the future um an interesting data point is um our Jay and I's Administrative Assistant Tanya lchm and I were looking through this school distri districts that also have uh other options within its boundaries for instance um 141 of our kids that are in that 15% go to Huntington Catholic that makes sense due to religious preference that might be something a family might choose I say that because of that 15% uh where do our kids go and 241 of them choose a school like that that is um a a data piece so when you say 15% there's three three Avenues they go to will 241 of those kids choose a religious school due to church preference or due to family preference I understand that group um a percentage of that 15% also choose online school you will see some data in an upcoming work session about the number of kids we currently have on online school uh the different buckets that we will present to you for online schools in the future for our kids and you'll also see a percentage of that that choose just other public schools that might be the primary reason is relative location to home sometimes not just in Huntington but in other districts so if a school is maybe right across the border sometimes those children choose a closer school so interesting data for us to consider we monitor this closely and I will tell you that these kinds of data points come up as we look at Future programming um I'm looking forward to one of our presentations when you see our our um data that I'll bring forward to Mr trout and the board on our virtual education program that we're currently running a couple of different avenues that we're considering and also uh kids that go to other public schools and maybe what programs we have that they don't have and are they going there for another reason or a program that we might consider so I want you to have this uh Mr Allen School Board and our community so you can see we do very well we're always looking to improve so if you have questions on that data I'm glad to to take them if not um I'm glad that Mr trout let us have a data presentation just to continually let you look at what we talk about regularly yeah this is straight from the idoe this is not data that we put together but this is straight from the IND Department of Ed um many times when I'm out and about in different parts of the county the perception is is that we are doing so far worse than so many of our neighbors in regards to where children are attending school and now as a school board you have the most recent data in front of you that paints the picture I agree with Mr brimberry wholeheartedly that we need uh we want to do a better job on our 15% but when you compare that with Southern Wells with 19% wbas County 29% wico 31% um Norwell's two points higher than us uh in regards to students transferring out of their District um and so I'm just letting you see some of a lot of the data that Chuck and Jay and I uh look at on a consistent basis now um we'll be coming to you in the spring telling you how do we what do we do with that 15% and we have some plans in place um before the start of the next school year uh within that but we just wanted to share with you some data that we are looking at and this is going to become common practice at our school board meetings because um we live in this and now we want to do a better job of sharing it uh so that we're all working from the same points so thank you Chuck you bet thank you Mr trout Mr brimberry anybody have any comments before we move on appreciate that data I think it does paint a very nice picture for us um and I'm not surprised so appreciate that uh moving on to E the consent agenda items one through nine we got one more D to Mr I'm sorry right we had theion my fault we're going to have to log out and log back in to to see the update I figured that out yeah okay thanks Gary if Gary figured this out we better hang on let's not rush into this okay Mandy while we're figuring you and Holly while we're figuring this out uh so we can see this I do appreciate both of you coming today uh to present um board what we're going to do tonight is uh seek your approval of the Crest View trip to Washington DC in June of 2026 yes so not this June but June of 2026 we will uh be um looking forward to this trip so ladies we'll turn it over to you and we'll begin from there then okay okay so I'm Andy Barnum this is Holly Harris teachers at Crestview this trip to Washington DC will be my seventh I think that I've taken with students um but surprised there was a change like kind of a snafu in the way that they're doing things so traditionally we take the trip um we leave on a Friday evening drive all night and we start touring first thing Saturday morning and that's that's how it goes and we get a full day Saturday a full day Sunday and then a full day Monday and then we drive through the night to get home and we come back Tuesday morning apparently this is brand new news to us which was why there was a lot of scrambling on my part but apparently the rules for the coaches have changed and they no longer want to do the drive through the night so when we signed up this year unbeknownst to us the format was different so our students are now going to arrive Friday morning drive during the day on Friday because coach buses will longer go overnight because I guess accidents and issues with that liability insurance got expensive I mean and that is completely Fair um so now it will be in the we'll leave in the morning and then we would get there that evening no touring would happen on Friday we would go right to the hotel and then we would get up we'd Tour all day Saturday Hotel all day Sunday now that's a third night in a hotel so there's an added cost because we have three nights in the hotel and then on Monday we only get three hours in and then we have to leave to make it back that same day I did not like this option because it's more expensive for our families and it's cutting the time short like we don't get a full third day so I pushed back at the company and said I don't like this so we've been scrambling trying to get them to give us something different literally today what time did I get that like 4 p.m.

a [Music] a [Music] see you exciting yes yes bad news to everybody out there who is pumped for the name part we will have to skip that for tonight yeah we got we we got matches we the matches are getting ready as we start here yeah we we're waiting for the matches we are waiting and waiting yeah it's fine if we can skip the name part it just doesn't it just doesn't feel the same because let start off and oh wait never mind you know I haven't been permitted to uh you know scream them at the top of my lungs so they I believe they are playing yes are these matches yeah look like we got here against the funny creature the funny creature one of the funniest creatures I ever did Lay My Eyes on not not lay my eyes on I don't know what this man looks like or W man we got Owen or they going pretty good oh that misplace that's fine though he can come back from it he drops the double let's see what else he can do got turn our mic his is f oh I was gone the whole time oh he was gone the whole time oh was a big quad goes through for Owen very nice very nice okay yeah I guess I was always here the one the the dude you saw in the beginning that was that was an illusion yes for real anyway we got Owen going good so far doing good there I think the the funny creature in terms of the board has a relative Advantage right now over oh those are some big lines single double single let's see if he can defend it good combos coming through he blocked it off that was massive massive as the kids say go as all the kids say every last one of them but off screen we have Hunter against Jordan I think they're going yes I believe that is they're going pretty good right now Hunter's one all right right now uh for a friendly reminder Jordan is on the left side of the screen Hunters on the right root for your respective child this will be root for the one that's yours yes this will be noted and documented in the CCU as of last week I guess it will be sure this is becom a still thing becoming a thing it's still becoming a thing no one can stop it no one can stop Hunter as he absolutely decimates Jordan with that one Epic transition DED on meanwhile offscreen Baro is going to get a three-oh victory against has never mind sorry yeah he gets a three Victory against Kyle the rep very nice first win of the game had a look at my what fake watch there your bracelet yep you had to look at it offscreen where no one could see we got Owen oh wait yeah Owen is still going zero and zero we got Alex against Lego Master which is EMT yeah one and0 right now we got EMT on the left side of the screen oh and they're on the screen I EMT on the left side of the screen and Alex on the right Alex doing some down stacking I see big quad coming through from EMT that might be a finishing blow yes it will be and it was a blow it was hit below the belt very nice it was actually quite above it you know yeah yeah it went to the top of the screen looks like clay off screen is going to get a win there go look he's getting cheered on by Baro that moral support in the background one to two here with Jordan yep can he clutch it up Jordan on the left Hunter on the right or will he mess it up current score is one two in favor of Hunter oh Hunter paused for a second there bit of a choke point oh my goodness he's throwing the strings in case you don't know what Jordan's doing he's do seems to be doing a lot of te- spins where you make a t-shaped hole they both seem to be doing a lot of t- spins oh and that is game for Hunter and Jordan Hunter coming out on top we can go back to Owen here he's one and0 right now oh and we got EMT on screen he seems to be pressuring Alex yep EMT on the left for the reminder Alex Alex clutch it up he's trying to spin it in he's trying to find a place to put anything oh not the greatest bag in the world not the greatest board in the world not the best bag two in one here with EMT and Alex EMT on the left side of the screen Alex being on the right yep emt's got a chance to close this one out get a nice round one victory for tonight it's time to finish this should call story I should call it this afternoon well it is 511 that that's afternoon evening is but whatever it is this is a game about not a game about time yeah let's not FOC unfortunate Miss drop there from EMT EMT he's he's doing his thing Alex he's got an opportunity he's got a gotp that's a big quad there we go massive can we I didn't even mean to do that one ban anyway it's just a normal part can we tie it up two to two two to two big damage oh emit trying to stay alive he just barely going to survive that attack oh he can open that Center piece up with the ipce he be able to get a big quad in right there avoiding the MW M as in massive yes I need to work on actually taking that out of my vocabul because before I even knew about the low taper fade M massive was just a thing that I said oh oh what's he doing what's he going to do he's trying to stay in oh two to two here we are couldn't drop that block in that hole it is going to match point both sides final round this is the tiebreaker people as he takes notes off screen both seem to just be stacking up bit down stacking bit a bit of chill guy down stacking okay another quad coming through from Alex here we go quad opportunity here for em he's going to take that another coming up he's got a he's got another eyepiece in the tank he's dropping it shots fire get down I shouldn't have said that I'm sorry it's okay Gil Gail Lewis doing some good down stacking here he is stacking it up and breaking it down going in for a he's setting up a te- spin oh he it wait there it is he was doubling up yeah big t- spin I was I was going to say it but I corrected myself we will fix it yes what's he doing here see you just saw that t-pin t-pin doubles I believe send the same amount as a uh quad and t-pin triples are outside outside of all clears I believe they're the most damaging attack in the game no idea man oh oh that's some big garbage massive damage I didn't okay we got to tally how many times he says it it's a normal part of my vocabulary before about the thing there's no shame there's no shame before it became massive well that's that's just a single oh coming through he's breaking it down and really trying to survive here come on Alex is on the bottom of his screen he's at a very good position oh and there Alex gets the win we still got Owen against the funny creature one to one right now yeah it's the first match we were watching it's still going on we're only in round three score tied to one I spell Alex wrong I spelled it X's what how do you spell Alex wrong I WR my a weird okay there you go Owen is trying to get into a good position to do any sort of meaning damage here the funny creature about at the bottom of his screen he's in a solid position he's doing some nice down stacking over there there we well was that a triple I don't know if you're confused about what down stacking is it's exactly how it sounds it's you know you just clear a bunch of lines and one singles doubles you stack down basically in simple terms build big tower break big tower down yes and he misplaced the funny creature misplaced oh wow that was that was a big big big mistake H seems like Owen could Pro potentially benefit off that there he goes he's doing some down stacking of his own okay oh yep little combo going through keep a slot open not going to send that much garbage but it's fine seems like the funny creature is getting back in the game after his fumble Yep they're about on even terms right now he's picking it back up closing themid triing through let's see he's stacking up trying to BU up a tower I don't know if he's going to try to clear that one piece of garbage down there he might be going for that the thing the thing I've learned from playing this game on my own is that garbage can be beneficial it can be beneficial for like if it has an eyepiece open in the middle you could benefit off that and get a bunch of quads and just absolutely win off of garbage yeah sometimes you just to have that garbage you keep that hole open until you get that one piece the one piece it's real no but some things that I noticed from this gaml and I do not mean to be rude to any of the players is that Owen he if he down Stacks he he could get all the wins he wants but whenever he's about a down stack he he always closes the Gap I don't mean to criticize or anything just like yeah exactly like he closes the gap before he can get Prime real estate and just douch mhm and feed off that but I'm not trying to be a mean criticizing person all right he's he's got to wait for that oh or he can get the triple that's nice there we go get that t piece in there and just keep stacking that eyepiece going in for the triple single oh he's going to close that Gap again he's looking for yeah this is a part of Owen's style I think he just really likes those singles those doubles those small little combos yep ticking away your opponent slowly but singles don't send any garbage which is the bad thing about it except for whenever you get a combo I think pass two yes I believe so meaning if he ruins that combo he could ruin it for him too a double I'd be sound like a wizard over here oh yes the the Whimsical wizard man I want to be a yo-yo man make me the yo-yo man I want to be a pie I wouldn't want to be a pie why because people would eat me but you know epic commentary I must say I'm a little zoned out guys not gonna lie this round has been going on for three minutes golly yes look at that there's a little timer on the on the bottom left you yeah the bottom left of uh Owen's Board of his name tag it's like right beside it to the left you can see that timer he going on for 3 minutes 10 seconds this round has ow and isn't in a great position right now I'm surprised that it hasn't sped up to like astronomical speeds with the gravity increase a there's and that's the game the funny creature 3 to one Victory the funny creature was kind of funny he was kind of haha just a little bit there definitely nothing to laugh at that was an intense game mhm but three minute round yes so as a recap from that we had Hunter against Jordan three to one and this this is Cy V cyber tiger this isn't just regular matches and then we got EMT versus Alex which was 3 to2 so pretty good pretty good stream setion real quick let's get Owen's I believe watching the stream let let's see how he takes the information we gave him yeah hold on hold on get get that stream setion real quick he's he's locked in on it yeah watching it back this was when yeah yeah this was a round four the ended up being the last round he's watching that over yeah this was this was the round that went off for 3 minutes mhm which is which is fine I'm pretty sure all of them did really yeah games we checked in at the start of that match uh we did it was the first match that we looked at and it went on like it went on for like an eternity yeah like two whole minutes past watch two whole different games and we came back and they were still going yeah and they and only like two rounds passed yeah which is kind of wild yeah that was a long one but Owen likes to take things out his own pace which is perfectly fine everybody does we're just over here inro you don't have to blurt out what they say it just got that from my head M yeah we can finally introduce our uh players now we just went straight into the you know the matches at first but now we can actually show all right you start all right we can we yeah we can show the people that you just saw play and you're going to see play some more tonight I'm just going to say tonight uh coming up first he finished the last split in 12th Place overall in the league EMT AKA Lego Master next up we got Owen o sheets oh wait hold on let me read my paper here finish last split in 29th Place overall good job Owen next up he got a round one victory that you just saw tonight finished last split in 24th Place overall Alex AKA Gail Lewis guys I know it's a duality thing but I'm going to start screaming it all right next up we got Baro AKA X dark ninja who finished third in the split overall that wasn't a good scream I know it's a duality I'm tempted I'm tempted I'm tempted I feel it inside me pause finish last SPL in fourth place over all Jordan aka this is a real scream stcky X1 that's a real I'm going to one up you all right here we go next up next up we got oh I was about to say empty chair next up we got Hunter AKA La Soul seven who finished last split in second place and there's his forehead for some reason yeah I love his eyes he's peering into my soul oh yes uh we we do this last one together what do you say yeah next up we got clay AKA firor 977 you got to read the numbers we're doing the 977 okay Firestorm 97 very important finished last split in seventh place overall yes we did that so coordinated we should we should have probably should have done like a countdown yeah we probably should have just screamed like New Year's Day yes that was a horrible stutter for me we probably should have probably should have probably should have done a countdown all right so while we're waiting here we have off screen but hopefully it will come on screen but first quick shout out to some of our sponsors thank you to Adams Wells internet Adams Wells internet Telecom and TV they are directly responsible for our Esports players to be able to compete because they incredibly fast and reliable fber internet service thank you fiber internet service yes fiber internet if you are in the market for Internet TV or phone service check out adamswells.com that's adamswells.com next sponsor special thanks to The Moose for sponsoring our event as well check out the garage here in town on the Main Street it's a cafe slame room/ music venue for the Youth of bluon to hangout thank you the Moose garage yeah auction it not it I said I I said it this time all right do you the viewer have a nonprofit a favorite nonprofit that could use an awesome fundraising idea I know you do Janet I don't know what is referencing but I don't care auction it is an online and in-person auction platform that can help your nonprofit host a great Charity Auction find out more on auction.io that's auction.io it it I said it yep I do that thing sometimes where I just to say some random name in Hope obscure you know in Daniel will you know anyway can we before the matches start again can we get Jordan on screen please pretty please oh we get you he's got the prime gameplay going on again the prime gameplay going on this is this is the pre-match ritual for every single round yes oh he got three out of four it was so close oh my goodness off the block off the blah on blah he just dropped it he didn't even fling it hold on it is so bouncy it is so bouncy he's locked in look at his face wa yes look at him look at his face cam he doesn't care what's going on behind him dude he is like his eyes are glued to the screen bro uh uh uh and a uh oh my goodness dude why is it like why do it have to be like as bouncy as possible hold on let's see if I have the bars for some background I think I do have the bars for some background music yo the Canon event sound effect bro no I'm not going to do the Canon event sound that's not what I was thinking uh what what is it what is it what is it I got to remember the name dog we got to we got to um we got to play that every time there's a cyber tiger V cyber tiger match true yes but not directly in the mic cuz we don't want to deafen our viewers here this is an ad how was that this is epic guys this is not epic this is what gaming is for this is epic what am I listening to listening to the silly oh that seems like the kind of music that be playing on the website when you're playing the game like it's just that stup playing Tetris no I mean like the the bouncing ball game yeah that that's the perfect music for that yeah it would just it would just be that over and over again it would just never stop it's like a Roblox Tycoon yeah the music never ends I hope the mic's picking this up do you hear this anyway so we're looking at Jordan he's got the matches up on the screen looks like we got X dark ninja against wolf [Music] gamer oh I for real thought match 101 Firestorm or clay was against a guy with an nft profile picture he's back in the game sad he's back quickly we got the music for it it fits so perfectly for no oh yes sir it fits so well for no apparent reason it's so good like this is this is it we found it it's never ending he's stuck there oh he's creeping his way in oh and went back out and whenever he fails it plays like that Roblox like like that Roblox cry I don't play much Roblox I don't know what you're talking about I play Roblox when I was a kid like a lot roblo life is Roblox is Roblox he got it oh the song ended yo why does he look like a a twitch streamer who just doesn't talk and just sits there like those Tik Tok live Gamers oh yeah like he's just sitting there just staring at the screen song ended I'm guessing we're not going to Loop it again hold on don't please don't Loop it again that thing was let's not do that all right we got to get the Canon event sound effect Prim and ready I got you I'm getting it ah excuse me everybody that was that was a yucky I don't I if he goes if he goes through if he goes up somebody tell Jordan to go up I lost my second bar now I can't look anything up he doesn't have any bars I have no more bars guys Jordan just rage quit it was meant to be I just I just had to play that one song he just Rage Quit how sad I know um whoever that was uh that was Baro uh Jordan wait no too Hunter yeah there was to play the Canon event that's I don't have any bars do you I said someone do you no how does this fancy Contraption work fancy Contraption you have the same fre model phone bro no look guys guys Hunter just named his custom room Sigma oh very Hunter very Hunter of him you drink your G fuel it's water it's red it's water it's red look at look look at that it's water that's not water it is water look that's that's floating red liquid I don't bring a whole in the wave Dimension I'm escaping you know if if I wonder you can do like you know you know the Zach magic guy the the the magic trick man yeah he does like the thing where like jumps through the screen but I should run into it and it should just actually take me back like further like I'm running away and that's a great plan oh too bad we can't do that it's like there's a solid brick wall Vapor wave Dimension I felt nothing but static I felt nothing but pain yeah that that's what happens when you touch this I'm guiding it down guys I needed some help I almost got it he's guing it I helped it yo look my bracelet my bracelet is one oh don't do don't do that you El cut that out do not do that my bracelet bracelet it disappears anyway we got Alex against not Alex clay against ye stroke very good yeah Clay on the left side I don't think I deserve to be on stream anymore J it's okay Elon Elon is still a billionaire after he did that wait he did that yeah he did that did you not know no you didn't know that he did that on stage no whatever when was this should be Tetris I I think it was very recently whatever you know what I've been doing recently I've been playing Spider-Man so leave me alone ah I see I see okay anyway let's talk about Tetris so his board is very bright yes that is true and it kind of hurts my eyes but we got to we got to power through those are the whitest white lines that ever white lined I I can't believe you need it to be this High just to see where you're going to place your block but it's his personal preference anyway so we got him pressuring ye stroke to the maximum the maximum big quad that could be the finishing below yes it is and he's cooked he is done oh my do n it's two and zero already geez oh yes all because of my little oopsie mhm that we had to show cut that out edit it out something edit it out of the live stream editor cut the live stream mods mods crushes schol you know what to do all right we got e stroke coming in with a quad yeah nice quad there from E stroke that that that beneficial garbage yep he's he's feeding off it he's hungry for a snack the hunger oh my goodness it beckons whatever beckons means yes that's doing that wow bro doesn't bro nose has massive in a vocabulary but not beckin bro yeah yeah massive is a pretty basic word it's a pretty massive what does beckons mean who one of you ever heard someone use beckons in the sentence in movies bro he never anyway let's l a game E's them God anyway feeding off that garbage nice combo will ye stroke be cooked or can he become the cook he might just be well done and he is a short order Chef now anyway looks like we got Baro against Hunter but their match is starting so we can go to EMT who is two and 0 right now doing pretty good keeping the pressure on he's up against rock and roll right now and he is rocking and rolling look at him going even flowing oh man I'm trying to follow up that's a really good song It's a song yeah Even Flow by Pearl oh yeah it's a very good song I only see that in the skate memes where people are like Jesus and they just start likeing I love those memes but I heard it from uh I think I heard it for the first time from Guitar Hero 3 great game oh and getting pushed up rock and roll seems to be rocking his way to the top he's rolling he's definitely rolling mhm but what is he rolling in my goodness emt's rolling right now he's getting some good combos let's see who will be rocking enrolling in the money there's that big quad money yeah there's no money involved done this for a public school where's the money I bet I bet a dollar on this game that EMT wins I don't I think I have like a nickel in my car you want that I think I got a nickel in my car yes I'm like 95% sure that there is a nickel in my car currently it's been living in his car it's gained sentience yes it knows it speaks to me it tells me when to turn yes and somehow I haven't crashed yet thank you nickel of protection it's all thanks to bro it's all thanks to bro thank you who who's the dude on the nickel again what is it I don't know Benjamin Franklin yeah who is on the ni I have no clue man I'm about to ask Siri on stream talk do it it'll be funny hey Siri who's on the back who's on the nickel Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson on Thomas Jefferson the macaron thas Jefferson guys anyway back to the game we got EMT he is getting pressured yeah that that was very important he's getting rocked oh no it's looking like this might be the the round yes it is two to one two to one in other news Alex is also two to one how convenient yeah Alex against the funny creature a returning contestant yes we're we're way more in sync for saying the funny creature than our actual player we can be more in sync when saying the funny creature than we are anything else like he just said yes yes yes yes yes our minds are connected Alex doing some down stacking it appears while the funny creature seems to be doing his funny little thing he is funny everywhere it's all over the place the funniest he does his little jig mhm with the blocks yeah the block jig wow oh well oh he's he's setting up a te- spin guys you see that you see that te piece there it was oh my goodness he just he's spin you you guys saw that too right oh my goodness he's setting up another one another one DJ Collin Gator the lobster I thought you were going to say we the best music but bro Gatorade Gatorade anyway we got Alex coping a win in other news we got EMT still against rock and roll two and one here this round's still happening we can't see the time oh wait yep about a minute and 10 seconds emit with that down stack on the left emit on the left he's currently up to to the left to the left to the left to the left to the right to the right to the right to the right I think that's the wrong order but that's okay no I think it goes left and the right and it says yeah I think something else that I don't know maybe yeah I think it's to the right first yeah is it yeah and then now kick now kick now kick now kick now walk it by yourself now walk it by yourself okay we got the lyrical We Got The whsle Lyricist over here good job EMT look at the Whimsical Tetris player EMT Lego Master 3 to one this is how it goes all right guys time for the cannon event you have been waiting for we got Hunter against Baro do I have bars for this if you are seeing this consider yourself a sigma I do hold this is the name of the room everybody and here they are they're off I don't have bars anymore that's fine let's actually commentate and they're off H up with the clads already saving it for a te- spin combo nice combo oh jpin you don't see those Every Day t- spin double into a nice combo there from Hunter that's going to finish round spin one and0 who's going to win this one very nice Hunter is up by one Hunter on the left side of your screen B right we were in SN with that one yes very very nice saving it for Bartell setting up some t- spins on the other side nice nice nice look like he's going for a z spin T spin trip a quad oh my God but maralo blocked it off oh they are going even they going for band for band the t- spin double coming through from Hunter he's got a Miss drop but that's fine oh Bartell getting pressured up quad double there we go very nice very very good very good very good invert some of the pressure this will turn the valve and turn the tides t- spin set up there it is and the oh dang oh dang oh but he blocked it off yummy yummy in my tummy as the kids say he eated it yeah he e he eated it Hunter pausing for a minute there throwing his arm up another te- spin set up from Baro he's got two pieces go oh double teas spin set up oh my gosh both doing good this this could be anyone's game but Baro is looking more likely in his favor right now that misplaced but never doubt Hunter Never Back Down never that's dead that garbage that garbage Advantage the he spin double that could the stop sign the danger sign oh my goodness oh my God oh my oh my God hello everyon I'm hello I don't have the vocal range for that all right it's two and 0 instantly Hunter is oh okay we're back it's okay anyway Hunter off in the races he is doing some nice down stagging with that double quad there was that a triple quad I just saw I don't know big quads going through from both sides I I can't say anything is like big or huge without thinking of massive it's always there it's always lurking it's watching and stalking my every move here we go he's probably going to go for te- spin quad watch this yep the spin double into the normal double into another T double oh Bello defending for his life over there he's doing a good job at it he is doing extremely well at this he's going for that he's saving the te- spin he's pushing himself back down through okay good set up Z spin Z spin oh nice there it is there there we go there we go there we go God I feel like a fortnite streamer I feel like xqc this is very fast very difficult this is very fast it's very difficult to keep up Hunter he's got to find some sort of Hunter line to kill there it is Hunter is just having a really good time oh Baro staying alive just barely getting some nice combinations very very nice he is making his way back down to the bottom there with all this down stacking that he's oh and he blocked himself unfor drop that could be the game will be it not over yet not over yet not over yet hold on to your hold on to your seats people this is getting intense t-pin into a quad Hunter on the other hand he is down stacking this is this is the fight this is the Sentry this is it this will determine who will become the t double oh what are we going to name the victor of this one I don't know it's the person who won the game this is for the CCU man very oh he's going down with this one oh my goodness it is oh and that's the game for Hunter Hunter the eldrich horror over here big from Hunter that was a incredible match that was barely commentable because of how fast it was guys I guess you you could say that was massive he said the line guys he said it it deserved it because that was that was that was a great match that was a great match that was incredible that was that was very very fast mhm for very very no reason yeah it's worrying to think that there are levels Beyond this it's Hunter and Jordan not Hunter and Jordan is Hunter bartello what do you expect yeah but very good as he as he takes notes as he takes notes oh yes I'm grading them yeah what are you going to do with all of this we have a visitor everybody entering the vapor wave Dimension there's Pizza over here so you guys can have some pizza all right everybody we will be right back as we wait for what is this round three yeah this is going to be round three this will be round three we are Freed From The Vapor wave dimensions for now everybody but we will see you when we come back we get like 5 minutes of Freedom bye [Music] a [Music] a [Music] a [Music] or not just close it all right I'm going close if they need us they'll get us all right everybody we are back we had a very nice Pizza break Pizza break I do not be eating pizza that often so it's we got a Canon event here guys we got Hunter against Alex oh yes oh yes oh yes we have a new sound effect that will play every cyber tiger view cyber tiger match we don't know if we played right now but it is a pretty epic sound Alex ah that was a that was a bad misplace oh and there's one one to0 yep we got Hunter on the left side of your screen Alex on the right and in other news off screen keeping this match on screen we have the contender for a third time the funny creature against EMT he's back again placing so many cyber Tigers night he has a uh rivalry dispute here the number one opposition of the Cyber Tigers he is the op as the kid say the op all back to the match at hand we got Hunter with some quick moves very nice he's got a quad opportunity there he's going to take very ni oh mini jpin okay very smooth very smooth M two and0 with very cool Alex Hunter excuse me you can see exactly why this man Hunter has a girlfriend probably not I don't know I was about to say does he I don't know I don't know much about hunters you know life oh he's going for the te- spin oh there's another te- spin set up right below him taking a small break though he's taking his time he's up too well nice quad set up nope te spin set up right there yep Bo boom he's dishing them out like they're like they're hot dogs cuz hot dogs are easy to cook and quick to cook you know oh okay I was about to ask why you went for hot dogs but because hot dogs are fast like you can like throw a hot dog in the microwave for 30 seconds and boom you're done those other stuff all right fast that was a win from uh Hunter and Alex so we got to write that one down you have to write that one down oh yeah I do this is your operation I spelled Alex wrong again I put a x instead of a e x e or a x you're trying to say Axel he's car part oh we got Clay on screen now he is going against opai Opie opai she is a she is I forget what place I either one or two I think I think it's one off screen we have another Canon event with Baro against Jordan but this is pretty important right here but this this is important Opie with an all clear yeah clay clay on the left Opie on the right Opie is is one of the I think I know top five in the state one of the best in the league and is that game game that's why she one of the best that's game game and here's our Canon event everybody with dark ninja AKA Baro against stricky X1 which is Jordan and funny enough they are right beside each other where their uh computers are so yeah Baro there on the left with the round Victory two to one two to one here people Baro on the left Jordan on the right you can see Hunter in the background trying to do a botle flip fails miserably oh yeah oh he's bad at that he sucks anyway Jordan looked like he was going for a t-pin setup but he uh fumbled something in the process which is just a okay oh he's he's getting pushed up next little the T spins back to back at five six we're going for six now back to backs are exactly what they sound like game big moves back to back we got uh EMT against the funny creature third time Contender he has not given up yet love the spirit this round has been going on for about 45 seconds EMT is currently up 20 on the funny creature this he's going to need to close this out seal the deal funny creature is in a compromising situation one big attack from em is going to do it but he's not really in a position to deliver any big damage God he's just dishing out singles that are doing nothing oh and there's game that's okay so we got Owen against Raven King 08 and it's 0 and2 right now let's see if Owen got that constructive criticism from the stream see if he starts doing that down stacking yeah let's see he took a deep breath before he starts stacking start the stackage unun Miss Dr up very very unfortun it can he benefit we will find out interesting strategy I've never seen anything like this let's see a three combo there we go he's making his way up excuse me if anybody heard that really loud that was me tapping my mic help me bro please just rest me me anyway I mean that's not that's not really so we got we got Owen he he is uh he's he's he's trying to downside he's trying to he's trying to get that he's going he's learning he couldn't save that eye piece for that eye Gap sometimes you can't save them all asman says apparently he said that I don't know I'm not a superhero guy yeah he's got to anyway he's got to find the hole here he's digging his way back down he's making it back down oh there's a lot of garbage oh eyepiece open ey piece open D pie the eyepiece didn't listen to him and that is game it was right there g a m e g game here we got the standings opai in number one oh that's where she is following up with sugar Lords or that is Hunter and then Jordan strixe Baro in fourth stalo in F fifth uh clay being in sixth uh ye stroke being in seventh I don't know why I'm reading all of them we got Alex in eighth we got EMT in 14th he's making his way up the the the third time Contender the funny creature in seven 16th we got Owen o sheets in 18th and is there anybody I'm forgetting looks like all of them are in the top 20 it seems very nice yes climbing the ranks that is how we do it here yes that's exactly what we do here at all right so we got we got news from the outworlders from out here the outworlders The Outsiders I don't know we we stuck in this Dimension there's more people here and I never knew yeah we've been stuck in here for 9 weeks how did I not know I kept it a secret this entire time you've only been here for like two of those weeks what do you mean this entire time anyway all right time to read sponsors huge shout out to our local internet provider Adams Wells internet Telecom and TV they are directly they are directly responsible for our Esports players to be able to compete because of their incredibly fast and reliable fiber internet service if you in the market for Internet TV or phone service check out adamswells.com that's adamswells.com I love fiber for real it I'm a big fan of it fiber another sponsor special thanks to the Moose SL garage for sponsoring this event check out the garage here in town on Main Street it's a cafe slame room/ music venue for the Youth for the Youth the youth the youth the Youth of bluon to hang out thank you moose and I'm going to do what Hunter couldn't and actually do a bottle flip he failed phon he failed in a world where I did that in a world where I did that all right final sponsor do you have a favorite nonprofit that can use an awesome fundraising idea auction it is an online and in-person auction platform that can help your nonprofit host a great Charity Auction find more find out more at auction.io that's auction.io all the people previously mentioned are very that's mine I'm going to do a bottle flip I'm going to seal the deal guys okay no no one saw that I was closer no one saw that is there an exit hold on Yo there's walls yo let's get out of here they're letting us out they're letting us out for feeding time I wish I could do a backflip right now that'd be so cool anyway I even if you could I don't think we have room we sit back down in our chairs and question existence as everyone does yes yep thank you everyone for watching and joining us this evening this was a very very eventful night some matches were um massive no we're being sealed back in okay well well take advantage of it we tried we had to do the outro we couldn't take advantage of the we get for being greedy anyway s thank you everyone for joining us we will be back oh I read that all right we'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m.

um don't can't control that part but we did have about a $15 million surplus um if you drill into the report online the next slide is a percentage a fund balance is a percentage of operational expenditure so just gives you a general idea of of what is our balance versus what we are spending year to year you can see again our trend is is positive over the years it's varied in between sort of that 9% and about 16 177% last year uh in 23 we're at 14.5% so um leveling out a little bit over a couple of higher years but still in a good place this slide is a uh this is an important one uh this is our Revenue slide and basically shows where do our Revenue dollars come from so you can see federal dollars car's dollars Federal um Federal money versus State money and local revenues all itemized out on the start again with the majority of our dollars uh Revenue dollars coming from the state of Indiana the last one is one that we're always happy to share there's no there's no information on it um basically it's a zero balance that is our balance of our operating referendum um since we have no operating referendum there's there's no data to share goe I'll accept any questions if you have them okay board are there any questions or comments Lawrence yes I have several Mr miles um in reviewing yet again the audit information which is very densely packed I would say um there were several questions that I had um that I just would love some additional clarification on um there were several internal control weaknesses that were cited in all of the audit reports um primarily related to um non-compliance issues and um some M material misstatements that were um asked of the district to rectify um I'm hoping you could just clarify on where we stand on some of those um issues that were highlighted in the audit before that's answered could we please because this is from these questions that we received this afternoon that we received around like at 3:30 so just to make sure that admin has adequate time to review and conduct a thorough assessment of any questions I'm going to make a motion to table this until further until they have that same time that not only the questions were able it was a weekend form to form the questions but we didn't we didn't get them till 3:30 Miss Pucket I would just suggest that these have actually been statements that the district has made several months ago to the audit board and it is a matter of public record and so I'm I'm asking for clarification on the uh material misstatements and where we stand on the rectification plan that was requested and stated in that audit absolutely and I thank you for your for your uh questions but your questions deserve the time to research and actually have an ad adequate response the in-depth question that you're wanting I think it's good governance to allow the admin to have the time to get back with you to adequately answer that these these plans were outlined already in the audit report I'm simply asking for an update on where we stand on the rectification I will move that Mr miles can generally answer that um however this is a board of Finance just our general meeting and then that they were very good detailed questions I'll move that we table this to our next meeting because there there were a lot of uh detailed questions that but I was still trying to understand myself so I appreciate that sharing but go ahead if you want to give the absolutely absolutely so just generally speaking um we do go through an audit process annually um we are one of the um roughly 10 largest school districts uh at our size we're subject to a gap uh annual ad audit and we've been in that um in that state for the last oh gosh three three Cycles now uh currently we're going through our 2024 audit um The Gap process requires us to convert from a cash basis to uh uh an acral basis so more in line with what you would see at most businesses um accounting for accounts payable accounts receivable uh construction and process those types of things all of our grants um we have to report that as well what those balances are so a very high level of accountability um at the end of each of those audits we are required um to to uh put together a response and that is also that's part of our action steps um we do we have done that in each of those cases for each line item on there and typically speaking each of those items that that were are brought up either we've got um steps already in place to address those because we've been operating on a lag we're basically with that conversion over to the Gap process um it's much more in depth and it's taken us time as a district to kind of get up to speed not only as a district State Board of accounts was also behind um going through covid short staffing etc etc so um you know it may be that by the time we were audited that cycle could have been more than a year in the rears already so um I would say high level action steps have already taken place on on everything that was brought up um I'm not aware of any District across the state that that has zero findings there's always findings um and to you know to that level um car's money was one of ours that certainly um needed some addressing and and that was a big one for everyone across the state but we do have those those action steps available we happy to share those with the board U that would address I think your specific concerns many of the dates that were stated in the audit report as dates for rectifying have already passed so is it fair to assume that those issues have been taken care of that is a fair assumption we have to we have to and for transparency's sake I'll make known on my Facebook page the questions that I asked of the board as well it's fine and I just want just to make sure that it's public also too that we received your questions at 3:30 today so just again just in good governance so that we're able to work together to receive these items ahead of time so that we're able to overview and to be able to have dialogue these are issues that got that were presented before the board everyone on this de had the opportunity to do similar research and come with similar questions so I would I would just suggest that it's a matter of good governance that we all perform the same due diligence let just hold on let me just it was your Insight concerning that I did not have access to your personal questions concerning what's your thoughts your input because we are a board of five so you are absolutely right it is our due diligence to ask those questions however to receive your thoughts on these at 3:30 today is again a concern of good governance it is not the fact of you it is not the what it is the how Miss Pucket there have been many times on this dayas where you have referenced questions that I have not been cced on as well so I would suggest that it was a it was a professional courtesy that I included every member of this board and as a and as a member two pages of and is a member of this board I suggest that we all continue to ask diligent questions particularly as it relates to finances for this District let me just interject here um we are five people that bring unique skills and talents while yours yours may be the finances mine is governance with our state reps to minimize or diminish that I'll just leave that there but I'm just simply asking you when when a two-page email your questions were good they were thoughtful I am not taking away from that so I'm asking to maybe see it from the lens of I'm not taking away from your questions it is receiving questions at 3:30 and having a board meeting at 7 does not allow me to have the insight into what you were thinking and your thoughts it has nothing about asking your questions it's having the insight into what your thoughts were on that Bo thank you for this input Mr miles has given us an initial um assessment still in this report yes okay Miss done so just one quick point of clarification for um because as I was looking through this I understand that the um average the ADM numbers and I was just wondering if you could I saw noticing that obviously we had quite a few virtual Learners um during covid but saw that there were still virtual Learners in 23 and 24 albeit a small percentage could you share what virtual Learners we are reporting that's a good question go ahead D Mr kosnik explained that that that's coming from the secondary level that's not the CF have the year of Co then you have the year after Co and then more recent years would be our home access students that are placed as an alternative form of consequences for different behaviors okay thank you very much for that clarification and that was that something that we just started implementing then in because I I noticed that in 15 through 19 we didn't have any of those students reported so is that something that is new reporting is different based on the changing virtual gotcha which makes sense because of the co okay thank you so much appreciate that clarification Mr miles thank you for that thank you Mr kusik um as the next piece of this report and our uh Board of Finance meeting it's typical to report back our investment register for the prior year so this is for 2024 and I'm happy to report uh interest earned on investment accounts during the year at 2.

[Music] good evening everyone I'd like to call this meeting of the Dartmouth school committee to order for a Monday January 27th 2025 would you please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republ for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all please be seated well good evening everyone i' like to welcome you all to Dartmouth High School and the the uh Dartmouth school committee meeting just a reminder to please silence your cell phones uh if you have any electronic devices as well as also a reminder that this meeting is being videotaped by our wonderful uh high school media dep Department man under the direction of Mr Robert parate the uh meeting will be rebroadcast it will be recorded and re rebroadcast on DCTV channels 9 on the following days Wednesday and Thursday at 5:00 pm Friday at 6:00 a.m.

[Applause] welcome everyone to tonight's match up for the Spartans versus the Colonials of Pittsfield tip off Jill Steven wins the tip to Sabo mcki Jill Steven with a shot miss good to be with you again tonight Jeff looking forward to a spirited matchup here against Pittsfield go to set they work outside ball goes up quick foul against ninth grader Kendall Reed called on the Block just about 20 seconds into the action pitsfield will inbound underneath Summers looks the inbound I can't hear can you hear me can you hear me I think I can just hear you ball goes outside to mne intercepted through the middle and Pittsfield looks to finish they get overrun the play Move it around the perimeter looks to go back out to number four oh good pick by Emma dawon and there's 15 tries to get it in low Ken Marino goes to the basket she's called for an offensive foul for pushing off extending that arm just about a minute into the first quarter no score here in East Long Meadow [Music] pitfield brings the ball down Summers will look to distribute she goes outside to Powell ball goes back to on top missed there fought for on the rebound kenck comes out with it out to Jill Stevens on the break just off the backboard and rim and gosin fights the rebound and pulls it in see Emma coming in strong for that rebound Steve yeah it's always good to see that so got to try to get the rebounds where we can tonight again we'll have Summers she goes into the the high post to steps and it's taken there East meow comes down Kenna looks to find Reed at the high post she kicks it outside to mcky mcky reverses it back to the top just through Emma goson drives through BS lost there Pittsfield looks to press comes all the way through by Kevin what more you can do on that no STS with the basket there East meow beats the Pittsfield press mne goes all the way to the basket Coast to Coast nice finish by Bean good work two to two STS comes down the action is Fast and Furious right now goes to Summers outside deep three Banks it in Powell with the three from Saw me's lead is cut short quick timeout coach Gary so at 542 remaining in the first quarter 5-2 Pittsfield [Applause] that's and Spartans break the Huddle Coach Gary tries to rally the troops East L will inbound against a full court looks like a man well hard to say mat manone modified press from pitfield gosin has the ball at the middle can't get it past the pressure oh almost the block good tip by Jill fought for Castillo comes away with it goes to STS STS back to Castillo who sets up for three yeah I think Caso she L us up last time too at the Mullen Center yep that was a nice venue to play in that season opening tournament up there that was nice backed out 9,000 people attended the game that number probably close sure yep uh easto just gets it over before the 10-sec count Pittsfield disrupts it knocks it off of an easta medal player and will have Pittsfield ball as they inbound ahead 8 to2 Summers will run the point goes to STS at the high post follows tries to get it to Castillo coach Gary not happy with that call saying it stays here for Eon meow oh and the ball will go right down the way [Applause] Summers looks to inbound goes to Powell Powell tries to operate on mney cut off [Music] there high post to STS looks for the give and go goes outside good job cutting down the driving Lanes STS the nice interior pass but nothing doing nice let's see if ISO has a little bit more success breaking the press this time gosin will inbound goes to Stevens back to gos right yep help help got to move and and that'll teach you to do your homework at a basketball game as it goes off the off the Noggin of one of the students studying here at the game inbound quickly from Marino to gosin goes for three just off the rim and up on the backboard stats will settle and get it to Summers looks to go long to Castillo man that's pretty that's a pretty good track record for her if she gets a clean look at the basket Kenna gets up quickly gives the ball crosscourt to mne mne looks She's double team trouble goes in the post to read that should stay yep that'll stay East Long Meadow 10 to2 Pittsfield lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter Greece please checks in for Kendall Reed coach Gary putting blaze in looks to get a little bit more penetration y with her know she'll dried in try to see if we can generate some baskets which have been hard to come by here in the early going Stevens looks to switch the ball to nice take by emmo yeah gosin gets the basket in her own rebound lot of contact Stevens with the rebound or sorry that was goson with the rebound back up STS clears there tries to find Summers there ni for Ball's fought for ellerby comes out with it heads it [Music] up for the basket to Summers it looked like Stevens is stuck in traffic that's a very good press you got to we've done that more and more all year with picking up the dribble when another team is pressing us you have to learn to not pick up the drib keep it moving Y and they'll be hand check foul there against number 25 Taria [Laughter] [Applause] Powell Spartans will look to inbound on the far side just inside of midcourt Marino looks to inbound mne goes to the back court the ball goes to blaze at the corner rebounded by Stevens the kekney goes up top to Marino it's tipped away there by Summers and stolen and finished by Pittsfield another timeout for eeto 14-2 at the 252 Mark of the first quarter of [Laughter] well Steve eow had a commanding lead of two to nothing to start the game and Colonials have gone on a 140 run mostly from the press in couple of Threes that haven't hit nothing but net so and again In fairness Pittsfield is one of the better teams in the region but they try to do something to generate some offense move that ball quickly there it is to beat the Press yep very good much better job out of the timeout ball goes to blaze takes it Baseline blocked by STS Ni Call there Summers looks to fin transition goes to STS who takes the ball to the Baseline good defense blocked by both Grace BL [Music] and mcky goes into the front Court gives it to Blaze Blaze goes by Summers into STS ball is stripped lot of contact no call ball goes up no no basket nicely defended throw it off of or [Music] that and goson takes his step Pittsfield Defender there and she gets called for the travel just have to be a little quicker with the uh yeah passing out of the press yeah got to move that ball lightning fast so ball goes back to Summers she gets a clean look nothing doing rebounded by Goslin hitzfield will pick up the pressure aeki goes to Goslin Goslin pulls up for the jumper rebounded by STS Summers looks to reset moves the transition goes outside to Conor rebounded there by STS to go right back got do the little things you got to box out yep Stevens looks to break the pressure gets to pekne but there still a double team on the ball [Applause] there sletto turns the ball over on a 10c backourt violation that's when you're out here looking Jill had the ball couple girls broke loose going down the court you have to kind of check through the ball be an option [Music] yep Caitlin Beacon ball goes outside to ellerby there ellerby hits the three wow with those three-pointers in this press the score can get away from you in a a turnover Conor goes to oops nice F yeah oh done fought for [Music] inside Conor will reset up top Castillo sets the screen and then rolls gets the ball back well done that's good fundamental basketball the good news is th are up so much they should stop pressing us at some point we'll have to keep an eye on that for the viewers at home yes Castillo goes to the line for two makes the first I don't think she's hit the rim yet nope and not in the way we'd mean it for me where it would be just all Air balls right through for two at the line that remains he SL looks to move the ball up quickly Marino goes to beak beak looks to shoot off the front rim from the side STS comes out with it looks to find a looks to find a guard gets it to Conor I believe yep coners loses the handle goes back outside to Castillo think she may have got a little bit of iron a little bit she got the back iron on now still connected intercepts 30 seconds that is GNA end up looks like they'll play for the last shot I would imagine coners gets a screen from Castillo who rolls gets the ball back beat goes to her Summers goes outside to ellerby ellerby back to Summers Summers to Stats stats sets shoots grabs her own rebound well I'm certainly happy to see the first quarter come to an end I think the Spartans are as well trailing 23-2 spe [Music] the Colonials are now up to 23 unanswered Colonials are the generals I thought it was the generals I'll have to check this at halftime now the Colonials would be near and dear to my heart my own George Washington University Colonials but I'm going to have to check this I'm going to have to whatever they whatever military officer they are they did very well in the first quarter I think I've called three different things I uh gosin takes the ball to the basket nothing doing e tries to get the ball back there and Goslin picks up a foul in the back court pitfield one of the better teams in western Mass without a JV team yeah that's very interesting screen goes from Conor's on the ball she gets the ball back there doesn't like the look gives it to Castillo who is very reliable mne in the corner goes back to Marino to Emma Goslin Kenna goes through the middle tries to get the ball across the beak bounce pass is intercepted Summers comes up and works on Marino takes the basket Good Help by Castillo with that jab step pulls it back well defended by mcky Summers look screens for Castillo no one stays with the roller roll they got first Miss of the night yep Marino looks to go through needs some help as the jump ball comes from the backside and on the alternating possession that ball will go back to [Music] [Applause] Pittsfield Summers goes quickly outside to Conor tries to get it inside where it's intercepted by the Spartans kekney looks to press gets the ball to the middle for Jill outside to Marino rebounded by Caitlyn beak contested by both good job by be to get back good work to defend there Grace Blaze checks in from M gosin looks to find an inbound outlet they double team Jill Stevens immediately Emma starts to dribble through there Ball's got to go long Ball's got to go long Coach Gary calls a timeout to avoid the 10-second violation uh 627 left in the second quarter Pittsfield 25 you saw that 02 I think that's his third time he's called the timeout just to stop the 10-second violation it's tough with a team like this sometimes you have teams that are very very aggressive defensively but they don't shoot the ball very well other times you have teams that shoot pretty well but they're they play sort of lack defense tonight we are seeing both we're see Pittsfield bring it on both ends good on both that makes the game a little tougher yeah it's hard to hard to cut into a lead and they're quick yeah they do a good job of anticipating uh where the ball is going to be yeah well you can even tell on some of those those pick role plays it's almost like you can see that pass coming even a second before she's throwing this that they they know that that's what they're going to do both teams break the Huddle East medal will inbound on the far s side line in the back court uh 6 and a half minutes remaining in the first uh 25-2 Pittsfield look for a new way to break the Press ball goes to Marino to Goslin keep the ball moving Marino goes there ball snaps through to blaze takes to the basket well done oh nice take by Blaze foul on the floor I'm not sure that I agree with that but um I think that was a shooting foul but trying to do anything to keep us off the scoreboard yes Marina will un will inbound under the basket ball goes to an interior pass deflected away from gosin Marino comes away with it nice pass to beak beat to the basket turn good turn and Finish Well Done Spartans set their defense screen from Conor there she rolls but comes back out goes outside to Castillo good ball fake through to STS back to Conor who gets called for the travel all right let's see if we can get something going here couple of possessions in a row and see if we can generate a couple of baskets fun fact it's E's first Point since six minutes into the first quarter correct it's a long it's eight minutes without a point east SLO inbound goes from Blaze to Stevens who looks to get a good ball [Music] fake off Su good job by to come over girl bounc the ball off her foot okay A little bit of defensive pressure of our own there for ISO well done isal will stack it up for the inbounds pass there ball goes outside gosin nice nice ball fake gets yourself a better look o that looked like it should have gone Castillo runs into some pressure in the back gets it Su to ellerby ball will stay here with Pittsfield kekney checks in for Blaze ball goes out to Conor's back out to oops lb box out by be on that one that's what I like to see right good got to reverse the ball there Marino waits for tries to get the ball back there te LV goes across the Summers broken up by gosin good let's press it Go Go mcky pushes it Forward good job pitfield whistled for the hand check [Applause] foul whenever we get the ball Steve they're just on it super fast Stevens looks to set up uh on the top of the perimeter ball goes through shot is no good reverse nice ball fake by beak who takes it in there we go nice drive by beak point of the game yep 25-6 4 minutes and 49 seconds remaining in the first half chanted defense Rises for the East Meadow bench Conor with a beautiful go then through to STS that's three nice passes by Colonials switching it up my go Colonials is that another stats we we're GNA we're going to verify that at half so four is Madison stats 10 is Grace stats all right this is the first Kenna Marino and Emma gosin come out Kendall Reed and Grace Blaze check in missed both free throws rebound is fought for Pittsfield comes away with it Grace Blaze defends on the perimeter there no clean look ball is operated by Powell Powell goes to the basket nothing doing gets rebound [Music] over alternating possession Isam Ball Metal will look to inbound to break the Press here ball with a long Runner goes to mne well done nicely broken gets it back to Stevens goes back to mne shoots three partially blocked by STS that'll be Pittsfield [Music] ball Conor will bring it up slowly after checking for some instructions from the Pittsfield bench goes over to to Sherman Sherman goes to move the ball around it goes back to ellerby how Techni with a chance to finish blocked blocked by C covered nicely mne looks the inbound underneath pops outside to Jo Stevens Jill goes to Caitlyn beak moves the ball nicely gets to the middle outside to Kendall Reed Reed throws the lob to Blaze Blaze picked by Away by Powell lock oh good [Applause] recovery it's one of the things I have a tough time with girls basketball it seems like if you just go to the ground you get the call you get the call yep how goes to the line for the first High bouncing ball off the rim does not go hfield goes with three substitutions maybe three substitutions on Powell gets ready for the second pick a violation on anyone y but the shot's good nonetheless the ball goes long to beak look at that shot goes outside to mcky rotates the ball to Stevens takes it in tries to find Kendall Reed can't find her there pitsfield in transition Conor does not like the numbers and pulls it back out goes to Castillo with a step back three I don't like that call I've seen that more this year than I ever have where they pull the foot back for the step back three and it's a travel and I don't I don't know I don't think it is that that looks good to me ball goes into Reed loses the ball there Castillo goes to kanur Conor looks to go across the Powell ball does not get through with that travel call Steve I think uh Castillo's back up to 100% shooting uh ball goes long to Powell Powell looks to operate from the AR well defended by mne get the ball dead nice def by good and Beak will recover there they're going to extend pressure to her Jill will get it over midcourt needs some help there fall into that picking up your dribble no man's land Pittsfield in no hurry as Conor looks to operate from there ball goes to [Music] STS Castillo doubled there gets the ball back out the STS at the three-point line Summers tries to find someone there goes to Conor from long distance doesn't drive anything rebounded by Kendall Reed goes to Jill Stevens and Jill back to Kendall Kendall gets it to Sabina Kendall takes there go the basket just a little short yep the basket's a good idea Ken Marino and Emma gosen check in for Grace plays and Jill Stevens two minutes remaining in the H first half nice back door cut by coners goes outside to Summers rebounded by Powell beak comes up with it unlucky unfortunate dribble for gos Lan there finished by Conor Spartans look to break the pressure here yep and unlucky they had it broken I think with that that point there Ste they have 24 at the quarter right yeah I mean that point that point there that was only their second basket of the quarter yeah that is really so we've defensively it's been a much better four to four the score in this quarter so stats screens and rolls as they do all the time jump ball Pittsfield inbound under the basket they go wide to Castillo who finds Powell Powell up top to coners who will reset closely defended by mne there goes back to Powell good hands by be gets a tip on it goes outside to Castillo inside and that's going to be up and over everything Ito checks in for Kendall Reed so look for the check goes there ball goes to marino marino goes long to mne doesn't get there Conor looks for the take white three away they have Caitlin beak for away from the ball for a foul yeah I think when she drove in there she was moving her Fe I think she had it for blocking interesting oh oh five interesting okay Conor goes to the line for two misses the [Applause] First 28-6 with one minute remaining in the first half all goes up good rebound by yep gets the ball to mne one to break beak sets the screen well [Applause] done Maya noes checks in for Kenna Marino just under a minute [Music] remaining ball goes in from nolles to dosin who had nolles back door if she had called for it goes back to Emma outside Emma set up momentarily noes goes to mne KY goes outside to gosin 10 seconds on the clock gosin with a shot goes off the front R gets rebound they can reset the shot clock well done May ball goes long to Summers Summers on the basket now we should be able to hold this for the last possession but ha he've been watching the same game as us all year good Goslin goes over gets the ball to mck uh intercepted there get there unfortunately fouled by go and 5 seconds left Spartans will hustle try to get something they good good they go to nolles and they get the shot well done that's a well executed play to end the quarter that's a good note end off on that's a good way to end so so the they we got out nine to six in that quarter so so that's a little that's a little bit better A lot better than the first quarter so so we'll go to the 10-minute half time with East L Meadow trailing pitch field 33 to8 e e e all right folks welcome back second half action here at East L Meadow uh Pittsfield enjoying a comfortable 33 to8 lead although the Spartans did show some improvement in that second quarter over the first yeah we are triple D Point score ball goes to Marino tries to penetrate outside to mcknew of the iron no good Summers comes out with it fought for there mcki plays good defense somebody better step in front of Castillo who's a good shooter Powell with a ball fake goes to the basket finds Castillo inside goes to STS STS doesn't come up with much but Powell nice pass almost nicely defended Stevens comes out with it gives it to beak beak waits for someone to come over into the front Court had Jill for a second got her yep takes it underneath goes to Marino got to hit that shot there good maybe that'll open things up a little bit we'll see Summers goes long Powell be Powell beat everyone down the floor coach is not going to be happy about that never when get out hustled ball goes to Stevens in the back Court Howell called for hand check in the back court and as we noted coach was not pleased with getting beat down the floor like that oops nicely done out just a little bit too hard off the glass double team there on Castillo gets it to Summers Summers goes to Powell Powell gets a look for a second puts it off the glass goes out beak will come away with it get follow y Follow by okay well if we could get to the line that could give us a chance at some offense we look to see what they are oh I did look at half for generals General I look at way off call next and be checks back to the ball she gets it there got to move it so you don't get stuck in a corner ever's got a free up space turn and go showing off her skills I thought she going to go take it she was thinking about it um mni will set with 20 on the shot clock she'll work on the outside goes crosses oops unlucky for beak just off her hands Summers comes out with it here goes outside to Powell Powell looks to operate there goes inside to Castillo C Summers back there drive got it box out got it box out Castillo goes underneath to Y I send in the post ball goes back outside oops and that'll be a backourt violation yeah well done good defense by the Spartans much better that time Dino out gosin back in so it'll be East Met Ball mcki comes across the floor to inbound it and she'll get the ball from Referee Joe chica mcky finds Marino on the near sideline in front of the East L Meadow bench she's defended there nice caught ni take by Kenna kicks out Jill oops Kenna downtown just off the front rim good Hustle by gosson hustle out of bounds generals ball Summers and Castillo bring it up from the back St sets the screen and rolls to the basket that the play they run all the time yeah H you got to stay with that [Music] roller STS STS goes to the line for two makes the first 36-10 Pittsfield ahead and STS makes the second East met looks to inbound quickly mne goes forces the issue oh bad just one bad dribble Stevens gets back o job by Jill she got good position in front that's one of the things Jill doesn't fall down they don't call they don't call it right got to keep the ball moving there got to keep the ball moving beak looks to take it over midc court she does and we got a hand check foul at midc court Mayan ol in for Sabina mne or yes mne be stays on Marino looks to get the ball in she comes to Gosling on the curl takes the ball Baseline slides in got to be a little bit of Conta on that and really at 39 to1 we should be the beneficiary of that call well we know we have been uh not been we've been on the other end of it we've been on the other end of it correct ball will be inbounded by Summers to Castillo out to Powell back to Summers came all the way through finds Castillo Far Side man they move the ball well the ball moves quickly they all know where each other are yeah May with a good board yep Stevens looks to bring it up gets the ball to nolles nolles with the jab step fake hands off to Stevens oops miscommunication between Stevens and be Grace Blaze checks in for Jill [Music] Stevens ellerby looks to inbound to [Music] sumers screen set there by Conor she rolls away doesn't roll two goes back to ellerby looks to Castillo who's doubled there takes the ball very strong B nicely defended stats comes up with the rebound and comes away with it Summers there nice hard screen that's CLE that's what I'm talking about screen by Caitlyn beep excellent screen to force that offensive foul excellent excellent excellent play I'd love to see more of that from the Spartans with those ball screens on that on that pressure ball goes back to the Spartans in front of their own bench Marino looks to inbound goes to blae up top Blaze looks to reverse it to nolles nolles tries to oops looks like she got a hand check push there Blaze goes to the outside three-point line she's stuck in the corner Maro looks to inbound under the East Meadow basket can't get it in outs and intercepted there by Conor Conor pushes the pace goes outside to erby back to [Applause] Conor Summers into cast or into Castillo misses there rebounded by the Spartans Maro with a chance to go through good job by count to drive right into her now for cones if she had made one more step and she had made that if she had sealed that on the sideline then you can do that but you can't you have to use that as another Defender if you're gonna just try to block the coach saying beat her to the spot yep good play good try Mar in the line we're in the bonus now so this is it yeah come back there we go Marino makes the first minus that first quarter hasn't actually been that bad hasn't been awful right it's 18 to 11 minus that first quarter I mean when you allow as many as we did and you only score two points I mean that's a that's a tough it's a tough go of it you know what it was two more points than the minog game yep that's true bled good oh with the body got it got yeah I think Emma had the block the block yeah Grace with the body with the body Caitlyn beak would be checking in for [Applause] Sherman looks to shoot a second and she back rims it rebounded by Grace Blaze Blaze goes out to marino marino gets to blaze behind her coming through takes the ball to the basket nice take oh fou Oh shot of bounds well nice strong take though is medal will extend some pressure he NS against Summers Summers or sorry to Conor to Summers that goes to Castillo bounce pass to Sherman Sherman back to the line makes that one mne Stevens and Reed in for Blaze Goslin and Marino and Sherman makes both after missing the pair earlier three minutes and four seconds remaining in the third quarter uh we have SS check in yep pvi leades 41-2 Reed tries to get it in throws the ball away there Sherman takes [Music] it goes to nolles NOS can't run away got to help good gets out of trouble and goes to beak beak to mne mne to Stevens the ball is lost there fought for off of bounces it off of re you don't see that often she bounced it off the floor then the the Elby goes to Conor uh Kan goes to The Far Side brings it back here to STS STS goes outside back to LV back to STS who goes inside nope ball is deflected [Music] away double there on oops con takes it with the runner Nope off the iron and the back loses her footing Jill comes away with it a loose ball goes back to Jill as she looks to force the issue take it all the way in take by Jill Stevens should be going to the line Joe Stevens goes to the line shooting two first just a little bit short off the front rim and Jill banks in the second one off the rim very well done rattles in the second one meow sets up pressure and hit will take a timeout to talk about how they're going to attack the pressure with 2 minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter it's 41-13 Pittsfield ahead going [Music] all right we'll regroup the action here Pittsfield comes in East Lal will drop the pressure at this point pick up at midcourt [Music] Conor goes to Stu goes underneath to erby ball goes back up that's just a ball move hit the floor that's five passes before it even hit the floor wow it's a good ball movement somebody's got a tell her get some behind good Conor's defend there the ball goes to Reed at the elbow Reed up off the rim by Maya Hustle by noesa Will retain possession get a fresh 35 you see I think the big thing with Pittsfield is their first look isn't to put the ball on the ground dribble their first look is to look for a quick pass and they often get it Jill goes from the corner and hits the corner three well done nice shot by Steven got to turn and find the ball goes the ball goes inside good job by Reed to get a hand on that HS push it push it yep push it push it push it all the way through he trying to hit the kiss it off the glass with the floater just off the backside Pittsfield misses a short one inside noes looks to see what she's got goes long my y Phill pulls it back out to Sabina Saina looks to see what she's got goes up top to beak beak goes to nolles over to Reed Reed ball fakes looks for a cutter tries to get it to be can't nolles goes through to Reed Reed goes up off the glass ball comes out stats to conjurs Jill plays Defense Forces a bad pass there Emerson checks in for Kendall Reed that's what it looks like 43.8 seconds remaining in the quarter 41-6 and East medal will play with some extended coverage here go through ball goes outside we get the ball back out of bounds pitsfield out of bounds yep well done hfield extends pressure there chill Stevens freed up momentarily goes to beak beak to Stevens Stevens goes outside to mcky good can't catch it oh unlucky unlucky unlucky unlucky unlucky unlucky unlucky that looked better on the bre better on the Press [Applause] [Music] [Applause] break pfield will hold it for the last shot well we'll see if that happens but they they they will yes or not helping defense the ball goes outside they rotate to the top Castillo looks to get it Jill picks well done body's on the floor underneath oops nicely defended there four seconds left ball goes to Powell Powell from the top that's good possession so Isa meow again with something to build on going into the fourth uh trailing 41-60 [Music] come well Steve we're back nice little halftime speech from the uh Pittsfield coach yep she's gonna I think she was trying to refocus her team for the fourth quarter I can tell you one thing I don't think there's many Karens that live in Pittsfield I love it I think it's great yeah she was she has a very high level of expectation and she made it very clear that that's what she's going to demand that level of execution and effort from her team fantastic that's why they're a good team yep that you're not just playing for today you're playing for setting and establishing the habits moving forward all right Pittsfield will inbound to start the fourth quarter leading 41 to 16 ball goes up high to STS underneath to ellerby back out to Summers shot goes up got a box out pow good job by there by noes help help help out pass y oh got to help got to help okay good good job by noes stay with it good so they reset Castillo goes up top didn't like the look she had there mne troubles her there does not have a good handle o that's good defense that's good defense that's an unfortunate foul Marino checks in from mne I'll take that defense that's well done so it'll be Powell going to Summers Summers looks to find a penetration spot Castillo comes up for the screen takes it switched there nicely done double trap should be over and back oh know we have possession of the ball my bad ni good job by Emerson like a held ball to me boxs out there we go by Emerson nice Outlet pass got the numbers got to take it good not over yet helper helper she's not over yet good beak looks to take it there she's got a three-pointer oh little [Music] short idea by be be saw the open shot now pulls up with a three just a little short East low will extend some pressure pittfield wants to go long they've got some number numers there good job probably got away with a foul but that's all right [Applause] dribble okay you got to move and set this up here move it move it okay as we go to a timeout with six minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the game uh score is East Long Meadow 16 Pittsfield 45 okay so we're back East L Meadow looks to inbound on the far sideline pits be Central too right I did that was yes we were talking about that Emerson and I were talking about that earlier today so that's obviously you're dealing with a good team that's a quick 5c count so the ball get turned over to Pittsfield there they'll inbound from the same spot on the far sideline they try to run a curl nothing doing so it goes to erby up top ellerby goes to Powell Powell to Summers nice screen coming from Castillo she rolls to the basket they can't get it to her was back outs outside El can't get the handle Powell looks to move it's just like I don't know we said it but it's just constant motion oh it's like you said look to pass for and it's constant motion they're quick and they're not afraid of contact y got to move the ball quicker goes there goes to gosin no one tells her that there's a trap coming coach Gary gets a timeout that falls into you get the ball and it's not a quick pass it's put the ball on the on the ground first we get ourselves into trouble know good thing we don't have to see them again this year yeah as I said earlier the best thing about the schedule this season was that our the furthest we had to travel to play Pittsfield was amrest that was a good thing that was definitely a bonus yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] so the ball goes in gosin works against the coverage there goes against Castillo takes it to the basket just over the top rebounded by STS back to Castillo who looks to push it caught in transition numbers ellerbrook she had a couple thre excuse me goes to Stevens in the corner she can't get out of it back to noes nolles goes to Goslin Goslin gets through it goes to Marino a little bit long K of tries to save it and it runs long Vino Butler denal reel and godette check in we got a new five coming in here for the Spartans so we'll see what we can get ball goes through to Summers ball goes now out to STS boxed out there tough in one of your bigger players to spread that far out and still hits it that's a when your Center is draining threes close tough to work on ball is stolen there by Powell rebounded by Butler ties it up jump ball so East Lal will set their press break ball comes across gets the go that's a soft call yeah especially at a 50 to 16 game we put in we put in that's that's a soft call are up excellent well done looks the inbound no there good no layups with a little bit of body no layups [Music] [Applause] Madison STS converts the first free throw looks for her second one ball goes back up and it's in Riel looks to break the pressure she does good well done nice screen by Butler well [Music] done Spartans will inbound into the basket right up nice look emers with the basket good job by Emerson underneath the hoop got to Trail and get back here as Summers brings it up take her inside can't get can't find the seam back out to Powell Powell takes it inside STS gets it there good job by T good hustle test all Ball's going to be inbounded oops thrown away there travel well done there you go good defense by the Spartans to force the turnover Juju godette looks to run the Point brings it over midcourt goes there looks outside to Butler hands off to Eve there Eve goes for from the top of the Well [Applause] Done 5221 in the post no layup good ball goes back out to Conor Conor looks for the back door cut can't find it scrambling on defense the Spartans go back with it nothing doing Conor looks to find it roll stay with that screener good no shot there good ball goes up and fought for Bri Clark rebounded well done that's a quick jump ball to me that should have been a travel but yep good job by Briel to tie it up quick agreed well done psvi will pick up in midcourt God that looks stop right there Clark offers the screen looks to go there goes inside to denal denal goes back out to Butler Butler looks to gets the handle there goes to denal that's a travel okay well done 3 minutes and 19 seconds 5221 [Music] Pittsfield look to sort of nice cross over by Juju ball goes around denal has it goes outside to Butler Butler takes it Baseline extended that arm a little bit on the offensive foul Pittsfield will ound underneath three minutes [Applause] remaining E I think that coach Gary is I think trying to get his money's worth out of a technical foul we'll see if he's but he can't get the rebounded inside Butler fought for it jumps on it good job by e that's a ties it up ball so it'll be Pittsfield ball on the alternating possession run the play through some sort of a modified free throw line stack nothing there can't get it in have to go all the way back well defended goes inside yep stolen away by there Butler brings it down the near sideline in front of the East Meadow [Applause] bench good hands by yep Den on the other end it'll be Butler inbounding in front of the East Meadow bench where Carter with a three for three good [Music] look pressured and trapped there Butler back for the defensive effort well done ball goes underneath well done we see it we see it good good picked up Conor resets the point screen coming NOP nothing doing goes back out to Conor calls a hand check on the floor foul and a 30-point game with two minutes left so an interesting choice on that call um not sure that that serves much purpose other than to send Pittsfield to the line in a game that has been decided for quite some time interesting choice in any event Conor goes to the line for two rolls around the rim and no good gets ready for the second and she is that one there ball goes to R Clark Clark goes toinho tries to go over the top to juj can't quite get it there and foul here no easy layups no easy baskets good job by Briel Clark under the two-minute Mark f for there by denal no re straight up straight up to me doing much better of handling of the officials yep I wish we had a retrospective over the years fourth grade Emerson would have off let him have it that guy would have had a hard time get to the car tonight still get ball goes up for the second shot that's a parish shot oh that hit the front of the rim like it that's the call they're going to give us oh I guess that's the one we get that's the one we get it's an odd choice but that's all right 1 minute 55 seconds remaining Pittsfield 54 East Long Meadow 21 see if we can put together a couple of good possessions here ball goes High to Clark so let's see if the Spartans can dig in and have a good defensive position too pitfield brings the ball down picked up at just above the three-point line by the way Tess take it Tess oh nice good job by Tess nice pass get back get back get there no [Music] layups Spartans will push the pace here a bit God that regains the handle there looks for help goes to Butler although I'm not sure that was the intent recipient but pass look through Butler goes in for the two uh one minute remaining in tonight's [Music] game yeah Conor looks to save the action here nicely done nicely by that good defense yep B def godette will bring it over midc Court set the area there goes to Briel Clark Briel looks the basket has a good look off the top fought for [Music] there 37 seconds remaining Spartans will run from the free throw line and ball goes out to Briel Belle goes over to take the [Applause] basket 22 seconds remaining Pittsfield should just dribble it out see if that happens spart supply pressure up top almost an overation Conor fouled up top conr misses the first 7.8 seconds remaining [Music] 5623 and ball will go inbound to here voo to Clark Clark to godette godette goes over the top to teston Al and time expires the final score tonight uh Pittsfield 57 East met 23 next game believe is Chick comp okay see you everybody then have a good night by

at the high [Applause] school so a few weeks ago we had a meeting with this long foit our uh School administration we had a meeting with our superintendent Tomo uh we talk about many issues we talk about our dress C we talk about change we talk about so many different things uh one of which was allowing students to go outside for lunch uh which I think it's a fabulous idea because you know not everyone wants to eat lunch and some students just want to go outside especially in springtime where you know the weather is nice and now that we have our new Plaza I think it's a wonderful idea in to utilize uh that space thank you [Applause] everyone again to finalize and breay I would like to thank the board of ed for the opportunity us for us to speak and granting us approval for all of that we do and our Educators and students as well because truly without everybody's help this would not have been impossible events like Spirit weeks where we need Educators to help us put wristbands on students to be able to be allowed in the school where we have our student body who volunteers their time to make when we had homecoming which hadn't been done in years again without all of you this wouldn't have been possible so truly thank you for the opportunity and allowing us to share the voice of the student body thank you any questions I would like to answer them now any questions I would like to attend no great thank you so much truly thank you again I contined to uh be in awe what all the kids are doing here I we're trying to do everything we can to um you know make life a little easier inside the buildings with regards to programs and things that they need uh I also want to mention um I was talking to Mr Roso today uh it uh we have kiosks now so all those uh students that are listening to me now or the parents that are out there watching um we have kiosks in the high school hopefully going down to the middle school as well where you can uh order your meal early as soon as you get in in the morning so you can pick it up so you have to wait in line maybe you want to go to the library um these are very successful uh it's very limited it's very limited in other districts uh to to uh other districts that don't have them I only know one or two other districts maybe uh in the state that has so so we are Cutting Edge on this we like to uh you know kind of drum up some business to to utilize that in the morning come in order your um your sandwiches save your time Etc I know I could speak personally my daughter does this they don't have the kiosk they just have a piece of paper where you you know put your sandwich down or whatever it is but this is do we have books [Applause] and again I encourage I ENC easily ladies and gentlemen this is my my first meeting here with a large faculty I've been involved in many of these meetings before so let me just let me just listen as I'm respecting all of you which I have over the weekend throughout the week no I have listen you get you get you can any you like we deserve or I deserve respect to actually speak and discuss some of this with you regardless of you know we are still Role Models right for our children so we need to do that so for for us that I going suggest we have we have a next time there's outst we have a break and okay so back to the kiosks so we're encouraging the students to use those to save their time to use a library and other things of that nature um and uh again uh we appreciate all that one more thing before we go to some of other recognitions there's something on the agenda tonight um with a club called Easy Ride for Life uh I'm part of a board in Bergen County called easy ride and what that board does nonprofit organization and among other things it does for schools and other things in communities it provides subsidized rides for elderly citizens um you know those individuals that need to either get to a doctor's appointment Etc um I'm uh actively looking for the board support tonight to create this club through um hopefully the interact Club where we can run a county wde where Garfield could be the team that runs a countywide uh fundraiser so that we can help subsidize rides for um citizens in dfield and other and other um towns in the in the county so uh I wanted just to explain that and I know just meeting the interact club and their uh and their U uh mentors and moderators uh I know this is something that they will take on Full Steam uh and my idea is to then bring this in two months to all the county superint I'm sorry all the superintendents in the county uh and then we be the role model team to do this uh and and really subsidize these rides for elderly individuals who are on tight budgets Etc so I just wanted to bring that up as well um okay I also we also have the ability now unfortunately it was after uh the Galler or maybe that was not a bad thing to recognize uh Mr Moo Mr M are you here in high school oh there you are in the back uh we want to pre uh present you with a a certificate of recognition I had the um the ability to to join the community at the uh boys and girls club Gala uh a few weeks ago where uh she was honored in the wall Champions uh just for her dedication to the district and everything that she's done for the families and the students and districts I've seen this firsthand uh Thanksgiving morning when I was here with her uh and she uh really took me in and explained uh all the incredible things that happened here uh the servant leadership and she's definitely uh one of our top if not our top servant leader here so uh so we're very proud of her so we like to present you with the certificate of recognition and a coin if you come up [Applause] [Music] [Applause] thank you this is very much appreciated and uh again not necessary but it certainly means a lot um for the place that I call my second home sometimes I spend more time here than I do at home um but over the years almost 35 years of uh working with Incredible people both at the teaching level supervisory level administrative level and I've learned so much from them um it's it's a it's a process no one's perfect perfect um but only what we do we do what we do to hopefully make a difference in our children's lives and um I'm very proud to say that this is my home for all the years in my professional life so thank [Applause] you so the school ethics schools for board ERS presentations we're going to uh push that off to next meeting uh so we'll have a presentation by the busho group a few minutes just talk about some current case law Etc um the board members have all signed their ethics you know uh pledges agreements thank you um so moving forward uh we'll have that next next month uh also the student recognition for weightlifting we have them here this evening we had some weightlifters that that did really uh really well um in a competition we wanted to acknowledge them um however uh they couldn't make it this meeting so we're going to acknowledge them next meeting as well so that's on the agenda we'll keep it there and then finally before I do my quick report um we want to recognize students uh for master Paco's black belt class uh and know I appreciate the invite uh unfortunately I had family obligations I know some of the councilmen and board members were there uh Council people and board members uh were in and uh you know celebrating this achievement uh to become a black belt is uh is really an incredible thing so I think they're here tonight um yes they are if they're here can they please come up Mr Master PCO can you please bring your students up they were what I'm told to leave why [Music] okay so um it seems like there was a miscommunication the board was obviously in close session so we don't know why these these young men and women left but we'd like to still acknowledge them so may we give them a round of applause tonight he going to do that and we will absolutely call them back for next week so all right so first I will start off with the state of the district with regard to programs and and things I'm seeing we we have incredible I say it all the time I mean all of the teachers of the students the things that are happening here as I'm walking around I can't get out into the building as much as I want to because of some of the other things that I'm finding with internal audits that we're doing with regards to certain administrative tests that were either um not completed properly or missing uh no no fault of uh any board here or past boards or any of that some just things uh maybe some compliance issues ETC but we're getting on track as you saw from the actra report tonight uh and some other things too with regards to um you know Matrix audits which are your certifications uh curriculum Etc certain things in the qack um that I was reviewing uh that need a little bit of tweaking so and in and in a light of all those things I say it all the time and I understand that we could always do better in test scores and all that stuff um we still do an incredible job here uh I'm I'm I'm really proud uh of what's happening I understand that there are different um things to consider moving forward with regards to supplies programs um new technology we were we were talking just yesterday about a major a major uh infrastructure technological infrastructure that that I'm going to be coming to this board with um so that we don't have any lag in computer networking uh and things of just that just haven't been updated because of either lack of funds or or regardless of what it was I can't keep thinking back I have to think move forward um now that I'm here and the board is reorganized what you're going to be seeing is uh another uh superintendent evening for the for the parents and community members I had scoop with the soup when I first got here um and now uh we'll have we usually have I usually have something something like soup with the soup for in the winter um so we can talk about uh some of the things that we found I I encourage all the teachers to come as well um so we can hear everything that's the time to hear it uh as a as OPP post who sending me emails uh emailing or texting me you all have my number um also we are going to start with the new strategic plan now that the board is reorganized um we did that five years ago I was part of that believe it or not five years ago and uh I think the this board has some goals uh you know at that time it was preco um right before covid so uh we need some to talk about you know the future of the district uh the district 2030 um and where we are going to be at so I encourage you when we have those sessions please please become involved um it's very important to do to do some of those uh to do some of those things with stakeholder groups especially every stakeholder group that's that's represented here tonight so I need to take a minute and I want to apologize to this board for something that happened when I got here and I realized not so long ago a few few weeks ago and I'm always a person in my administrators will tell you you know it's okay to make a mistake it's okay to say you're sorry we're human happens you know it's okay to be upset it's it's the way it goes um nothing is done egregiously and I believe that I believe that for everybody I believe that for both sides I believe that for the board I believe that for the council I believe for all of you out there I believe it in our personal lives as parents as friends significant others whatever it is I have been challenging this board since I got here challenging this board on a daily basis to say we need I'm sorry this board in this Administration any administrator in here can see you outside tonight after this meeting is over and tell you I've said this to them we need we need to stop thinking about the past we need to stop thinking about what occurred in the past we need to stop thinking about those you know things that we disagreed about because the individuals that I heard from all this are our most important commodity here and those are our students so in saying that to the board I consistently consistently have said to them we need to be the the individual team that puts our foot forward first and and invites everyone else in that we've had issues with everyone else that we've had issues with we need to invite them in and I've been very very cognizant of that and I want to apologize tonight because obviously regardless of what I've said regardless of what I've said that has not come to fruition and we tried very hard and what I said what I said to an administrator the other day I said we have to stop being mad at the person in Garfield that there was Snowball at us and hit us in the head when we were in second grade we have to stop doing that cuz that's what happens here you don't have to like each other you don't have to hug each other you don't have to do any of that stuff but we have to move forward we have to move forward in saying that I bring up I want to bring up something two things tonight one has nothing to do what I just said but I know you're all waiting for the second thing I want to talk about I want to bring up a resolution that the the new the new the newly formed Council mayor and counsel P up it's resolution 3625 and I know they're here this evening so I mean no disrespect I'm a man who tells it like it is and I have to tell you this resolution came out a day a day after this board organized reorganized and what it did was a resolution it's their prerogative it's in it's in code it's in law to change the elections from November back to April it's a decision [Applause] that listen that's that's why that's that's called the Democracy right you could clap for that because that was that was a great move on their part however I go back to the let's get together I go back to talking to this board about let's move forward for the kids for the community and you would think that regardless of that vote regardless of the mayor and Council putting that through as a resolution we would have at least had a conversation about it or we would have at least had a meeting about it we would have at least had a conversation about it or a meeting about it with regard to well it was five days so we had they still had five days to talk to us about it okay and and that that'll if you all agree with that that's good because I'll bring that up to my next point after so let's say with this one so this is again resolution R 3625 the reason why I bring this up is I know for a fact and and I don't I don't know the town manager that well I just met her when I got here I I know for a fact that there is no way that this that this resolution could have gotten passed without more eyes on it and I don't know who did it but I just I have to make things right so this has nothing to do with the vote this has nothing to do with to move the election back I could care less when the election is okay however I will say this and this is why this proves to me only that the the the politics in this town that everybody knows of Garfield will it's going to be very tough to change regardless of the side of the fence you're on regardless of who you support doesn't matter we need to get together and close our eyes and just do it for the kids and for the community because there are certain things in this resolution that the board I'm sorry that the mayor and Council need to understand don't even occur anymore through law and there are certain things in this resolution that just are not correct so that's I wanted to bring it up tonight regardless of the vote so the fir the first thing is this the the resolution that that is I think the the Crux of the resolution is so that the the election goes back to April because if we all remember the April elections right the board puts out the budget the voters go out and they vote for it the budget most likely gets voted down and then the mayor and Council get to cut it that changed in January 2024 doesn't exist anymore that's a law so in January of 2024 Governor Murphy signed um legislation that said that the the the way you deal with a District budget in November is now the exact same way you deal with it in April so whether it's April or November as long as we stay under our cap uh and our 2% increase there is no vote for the town so that's number one so again I just wanted to put that out there so let's talk about that for a second so we all understand what the cap is our 2% increase could possibly be $718,000 I'm sorry 714 that's two tax points this is important for the the next part of the conversation two tax points that's 2% talk about supplies talk about more teachers talk about programs all those things two tax points $714,000 okay so we can raise it there however because you're an SDA district and we've banked cap we've saved cap over the past four years we could also raise the budget here this board regardless if it's April or November just be very clear this board this board can raise the taxes another 5.9 million and I'll tell you why that's happened because the second thing that's not right on this resolution is that the board in 2021 22 and 2023 24 came out to the taxpayers and said we're going to increase the general tax ly 0% 0% you have two incredible job by the board incredible job by the board at the time both times 0% saved you guys a bunch of taxes people that live in the town out of our staff members only 230 members live in Garfield just so we all know this okay so out of all the staff members that are on our staff 236 saved zero had a 0% increase all of you in the community had a 0% increase all right this resolution says that the budget has increased every year from 2021 to 2024 just not correct so I just wanted to correct those two things very important one the law absolutely changed so regardless of this and I'm guessing that the board the mayor and Council knew this and the attorney definitely did I'm sure he wouldn't have written this the mayor and Council then only even an effect want to change the election for new members that that's that's it again I'm that's not disrespectful I'm pointing out factual occurrences right now okay so again it's important to understand that so those are two major Miss statements that again because we didn't have a conversation if someone came to me and said Hey listen just giving you heads up tomorrow you're going to get 10 of these hand delivered to you in your office which is what happened so that you know we're coming to change the election I can said all right can I just see it I'm not going to stop you go ahead I can't stop you looked at it I go said well just you know I'm trying to be helpful because the the resolution was incorrect and I did call and tell you there was a wrong vote on it I'm not here to shake the tree with that I'm not we're talking about things that you need to be informed on because a lot of in misinformation comes on these sites which is great social media sites I I try to F them people send them to me there's a rhetoric of misinformation so that so that everybody reacts a certain way without actually listening to what happens what I am telling you tonight anybody can Google and find right now anyone it take you two seconds okay so just so we're aware that I wanted to make that clear tonight that unfortunately that resolution has two major mistakes in it so regardless when we have this election regardless there will never be a vote here again on a budget unless we go over a tax cap now my job as superintendent is to make sure this board never does that okay and I have to take your taxes uh into consideration as well it's an important thing okay this is what I've been doing for the past 25 years I've had 0% 0% tax increases in other places as well when you have a z % tax increase it only affects the next year and the year after trust me think about it okay so you all have had two of those at an end like this and in the middle 10% or 9 and a half% okay so I'm only I wasn't part of this I would never have advised this however it did happen this is all I'm telling you but you could go Google it you could Google it for five seconds okay it's in there so the only thing I wanted to bring up tonight is that so this resolution in of itself that the mayor and council did did approve and may stand only does three things that you need to know one it's going to cost more taxpayer money because now the board has to come up with 30 to $50,000 probably close to $50,000 and pay that's not true not April Excuse excuse me excuse me one second he's lying no I'm not not telling the truth I I'm not lying and I I will say this if some you can send me something that says I'm wrong I will apologize in public next meeting okay um but number one the every April the board pays for the election because it's a special Board election I already got contacted by the clerk it's my election okay so so that's number one I know that I know that for a fact so that's $3 to $50,000 unless the council wants to give us $50,000 that's that would be perfectly fine two there is absolutely fewer voters turning out in April than there is in November always absolutely that's a fact okay and all you have to do so if the spirit of an election is to get the citizens to vote on who they want to elect or whatever it is why would you move it back to a smaller voting size it doesn't make any sense that's number two and number three regardless again this the most important part regardless what anyone tells you when anyone puts in a posting or whatever there is absolutely no vote on a budget anymore as long as you're under cap our cap would have to be again we would have to raise taxes over $6 million okay so it's 2% plus cap okay if you're over that then you go out so the same way we deal with the November election is the same way we deal for April election everybody could fact check that that's fine trust me I would not get up here and say if I was 100% sure I'm more upset with the fact that we couldn't sit down and talk about these things in an office or in a room or on a phone okay and and do that I'm G I'm GNA get to that I'm GNA get to that in a second I'm I'm gonna get to in a second I'm going to get that in a second I listen I'm sure you're going to have your time to get up here that's fine I I I have my time right now to just put this out there I've been waiting patiently to talk about this because it is very important that everybody understands what is not going to happen here regardless of a vote so that's number one again the most important part is trying to get these two boards together I've worked with this board for six months now to try to work together to try to work with the the mayor and Council the newly formed uh mayor and counsil you know hopefully we can still work together I don't know this proves that there's we have a lot of work to do uh but I just wanted to I just wanted to bring that up so those are those are those are the fact of that resolution with regard to um what's moving forward okay all right now I want to speak to the health benefits plan but I would I would like to I would like to do this regardless of how you feel right now and I know I know I obviously know how you feel right now regardless how you feel about me and I and that's unfortunate but it is it is how you feel I can't help that as as I've as I have have given everyone the opportunity to so I can hear them out you all have the opportunity to hear out your individual situations to me and 75 or 85 individuals did do that I would just like a few minutes to do that here and then you could all get up and say what you want or whatever you want to do however I I I it's not productive if you know the back and forth and what not let me just actually lay everything out and then we can take it from there um because again I think it's important that you understand what the what the intention is here uh how it moves forward I have explained this many times I don't know if the information is getting to you I'm trying to get as much as I can I know the rhetoric's out there I know I know there's a bunch of different people who are on Etna because they're retired who don't realize they're on ATO already I know that because I talked to five people I talked to five people I again please give me a few minutes Mr Raymond I I I I'm asking you just give me a few minutes okay there are retired individuals who don't even realize that on Etna when you retire full retirement Service retirement from Garfield you are automatically in the Etna plan if you don't know that then you could ask anybody who's retired they should know that okay it's automatic it's a Medicare it's a Medicare manage plan it's Etna okay what Edna no it's manage plan it's manage plan okay so there's a few things I make very clear before the board decides on this tonight when I first got here and you were all well many of you were in the audience there were many things we talked about number one was trying to save money well I think I saw that in resolution 3625 the Council of Mayor want to try to save money so we looked at a whole bunch of different things okay some of those things were Staffing right before I got here you heard all those things right right and we know that's not possible because I'm telling this board that we are under staff okay I think you all know that I think you know that okay I'm not I'm not saying that I think people shouldn't be in in different positions or um but I think you all know this because because we are over in all of our sections based on statute okay and your union reps can tell you that right if you didn't know that then this is the first time you're hearing it okay meaning again that in statute we are over sections here almost a thousand sections are over the limit enrollment okay that means that in order to fix that which was a recommendation from your union reps right through the official uh you know Pathways we need more staff it's number one in the in the right in the right methods so in order to do that we need to increase either tax levy or we need to find savings okay so we look at a whole bunch of different things we look at programs what program we need programs and we want we don't want to cut things that are going to hurt kids our most important commodity okay we have an infrastructure we have we have students coming up here at meetings telling us that they can't get on um in their classes we have infrastructure needs so all these things that you're coming to me with all these true and tried problems that you've had for years and years before I got here I want to fix them so the best way to do that is try to see how we can save monies okay and and still provide those same programs and those same those same levels of concern for all the things we are doing one of those things is in health packages and the reason why it's possible is because of this several years ago if you know as you know Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield was the only the only thing in town for state health benefits plan some of you probably don't even know how the State Health Benefit Plan benefits plan works State Health Benefit Plan is that every District that joins that plan together all pulls their experience reports so if someone in down the shore in a district has 10 people there with a catastrophic illness Garfield has to pay for that if someone up north where I am in Sussex has 25 people that have some kind of injury or whatever Garfield has to pay part for that everybody pulls together when it first came out it was incredible it was a savings wow we're all pulling it together if you remember if you go back historically which I know you all did if you go back historically what was happening in your paychecks 10% 15% then it got so high during an election year that uh Senator Sweeney and everyone gave us what February for free remember that one we didn't have to take money oh everybody was happy that what happen next year almost 20% increases so in comes another company Etna so now you can pick in the state health benefits plan Etna or stay with horiz Blue Cross brw Shield they are identical plans they're identical plans okay it's yes State health benefits plan they are identical plans okay in there we're talking about I can't okay one I I'm just G to ask you to clear it in one second it's not listen it's not going to beh behoove any of us if if I have to do this at a different time or whatever it is let's let's let me just speak and say it you could yell at me all you want you could send me whatever it's fine I encourage you all to do that over the weekend and again 85 of you did that I had some really good conversations I met a lot of retirees I met people in Florida uh Etc so again the state health benefits plan has two packages that are identical right Edna and Horizon some of you probably on already maybe I don't know what it is most of you probably Rising because back in the day at the private plans absolutely not right well those are private plans for businesses not public workers I know your unions told you that okay not public workers when you go on the Endo website and you look at all your stuff that's not our plan it's not our plan okay been trying to get as much information out to you as I can with that okay so here's the here's the uh here's the uh situation we have the ability now to pull out of the state health benefits plan and go into a plan and Shop around and Etna comes up with this number for us and says that they're going to provide us with equal or better equal or better equal or better okay with regard [Applause] okay equal or better uh there's law on that okay uh there's actually transition there's a transition program too if if for some reason you have some some doctor or some healthcare need that's obscure um we have the ability to transition in if you are already um being under under the care of somebody it automatically transfers over all these things are occurring they're all occurring um and all that and all that will happen it's not a change in the level of benefit it's it's not a change in a level of benefit it's a change in the plan I made that very clear to all of you okay there's a benefit letter that says that and I made it very clear to everyone in this room in including the union heads including everyone that if there is any issue that does prescribe itself later on that the board is by law has to negotiate that impact and we have no problem doing that I have not seen this happen anywhere I've been doing this before and it has it has um been very smooth to transition okay again unfortunately some of the rhetoric out there and some of those other things is is is basically because of misinformation we got that today directly from the pension board who's who someone there told me that people have been calling and asking questions and and just have the wrong information that they're getting um again if you retire and you have this you had the right tier and the right years you can go back into the health uh the state plan if you want to that's fine uh that's law okay there's all laws you are allowed to pull out and go into a private plan it's all Pres cribed okay um the municipal government uh I think the police department is one that did do this uh I I haven't heard of any issues um again I have spoken to many teachers over the weekend many staff I should say teachers I should say staff members uh even on my rideing today I spoke to three people on the phone every issue we've had we've looked up doctors um we we've had some interesting issues with how doctors some doctors are being paid which is another problem for me that I have to take care of with the board um but again it's equal or better and that's and that's the plan the conservative savings the conservative savings to this district and the employees pockets is $800,000 this year that's one year okay that again if you go back to my original conversation that's almost two and a half tax points two and a half tax points okay now we I was here when everyone was talking about cutting things and you all were here again because things are being cut I'm doing everything I can to avoid that and still offer you something seamless where I know in a few months we will only be talking about this anymore because if anybody did have an issue and you spoke to me directly about it and I put you with our benefits team you wouldn't have an issue anymore that's my promise to you and I'm making it here in public okay and here's the other thing you could say all you want about this and and and how was you without giving me a chance to prove that this is going to work in my opinion that's not a fair thing that's like me going into your classroom and saying you I heard about you you're not a good teacher I heard about you you're not a good custodian okay so that's all I'm saying to you and I'm also saying that again the Board needs to negotiate the impact if we see something that is not equal or better now second caveat to this some of you came to me because you thought you were docked pay when January came and you lost money out of your paycheck because the the the rates went up so we we didn't do you any pay your rates were up $200 whatever it is okay now you'll begin a savings with having the same equal or better plan okay it may be fine for some of you but it's not fine for the majority of people trust me okay and that's what that's what that's what concerns me what concerns me is that we are all um listening to some rhetoric out there on posts without actually trying and I do applaud those individuals that said hey I saw this can you show me where it is and and I've done everything I can over the past four or five days and over the weekend to do this I've worked with our team here none of your teams but I worked with our team I got I got stuff from your teams this morning and we answered all of those questions before this meeting so I'm sure they'll disseminate that and share that with you which will hopefully make this better the goal is this if the board votes affirmative affirmatively on this tonight to roll out with the new human resources team okay we're the benefits team okay well right now right now we had one individual we had one individual that was in charge of everything it's not it's that doesn't happen look at this right here this is this is just a percentage of people and and we're we're saying that we don't need a team of people everyone here was happy when I left when I when I left the conversation with them I was like next week we're going to come in we're going to meet with all of you we're going to talk about your individual issues not everyone else's your issues okay that's the promise that's the promise that's the promise I I would I would I would rather you come back in three months if I didn't do that and then pack this place and say you lie to me cuz because I didn't do that yet and I won't no and I won't no I won't right you can hang on a word listen you can all hang on a word but then you're becoming part of the problem right you know that's not what I meant you know that's not what I meant you know that's not what I meant again respect respect is two ways what I'm doing for you all here what I'm doing for you all here is laying this out telling you that this will not be an issue for you and if for some reason you're going to a special doctor in Alaska and you've been going to him or her that's called transition of care that's something that we negotiate the impact on and we cover I've said that so very simple there are some other things people are talking about IVF and other things it's all covered okay so the final thing is this with this switch it's our own plan it's Garfield's plan so our increases are based on our own experience now so if we keep each other healthy through Wellness programs or whatever it is [Applause] okay I don't we don't want to be healthy here I understand ladies gentlemen very simple process yeah I don't know why I don't know why that was I don't know I don't know why that was a you know that was a little huff and a puff over there I don't know why but I mean you know to for some for a board to want to bring Wellness uh you know like we have this the wellness Lottery where you could pay forward all those other things I thought those were great things if they're not give me some feedback and what will will stop those things I'm trying to bring things that you've never had to this District okay to to make your Wellness better um including supplies and all those other things that I've heard about I've only been here seven months you haven't even seen a budget yet okay so again I'm just asking for the opportunity to do that so regardless of what you think of me or what it is we have the ability to save the money put the money in your pockets and the more important thing for those 200 and some odd individuals who didn't realize that their benefits may have changed with generic versus you know um what's it called brand name stuff you now will have the ability you don't have to wait a whole year you will have the ability April 1st to move back to the plan you you originally had for prescription so if you were upset because your husband or you or wife or whomever could that you had to couldn't get a generic had to get a generic plan or whatever uh medicine or whatever it is you now have the ability this board is going to give you the ability to now move back into your old plan so to me that's something else that that that is a is a positive thing for those 238 people in the Educators plan that didn't realize that was going to happen so again I appreciate uh the few uh few minutes here I know I spoke a little bit too much um but that's it progress thank you good evening I'd just like to take a couple moments to talk about what's happening in the facilities the Department I just wanted to let you know the buildings and grounds Department um along with our custodial and maintenance staff as well as our acting facilities director um I want to just thank them for their exceptional efforts uh their prompt response to the snow cleanup during the challenging winter season and their timely resolution of heating work orders during the recent cold spell have been nothing short of remarkable because it involved coordinating with multiple vendors ordering necessary Parts completing installations efficiently and try to minimize the disruptions and the only other thing I want to update on is for Garfield High School the process has begun on the plans for the Frank M Dawson Jr gymnasium uh vendors have been contacted for estimates so that has been moving along thank you Mr President Mr President at this time there will be no committee reports because the Committees were just formed so there was no committee meetings Mr President so put your yes if I may I did I I'd like to motion that we move the public session to now so that we could hear what the audience has to [Applause] say we're gonna have to wait for Kurt for that SO waiting for Kurt to leave before you said that was like bad timing so now you're going to have to wait for Kurt to come back so that we can actually well play but you know what let's take let's take a recess to discuss it let's take a recess to discuss [Applause] this all in [Applause] favor back in 15 minutes [Applause] motion [Applause] motion [Applause] motion all in favor make a motion keep up take it all right the [Applause] future e e e yes Mr President there was a motion on the floor by Mr frino to add up out of order have the public comment period Mr President again I'll resay my motion I would like to uh have the public comment section moved now so we can hear what the public has to say okay um is is there a [Applause] second is there a second all right so proceed all right motion to go into Personnel 6.1 through 6.38 so moved motion by Mr folino second I'll second second by Mr GBA all right all right um at this time I'll V call Mr Taylor uh abstained 6.36 I to the rest Mr M i Mr poino abstain Mr Gaba abstain 6.8 6.9 number two 6.36 I the wrestle Dr pet L hi Mr Malo hi M Sanchez hi Mr KES hi Mr Ros hi motion carries all right motion to go to finance 8.1 through 8.14 motion by Mr Cino second by Mr Sanchez second okay uh Mr Taylor hi Mr BOS hi Mr folino I'm staying on 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 I on arrest yes did you get can you repeat them please one more time 8.1 8.2 8 8.3 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 I arrest thank you Mr Gaba UPS 8.2 I arrest Dr p i Mr Malo i m Sanchez Mr KES I Mr Ramos hi motion carries all right motion to go into education 10 .1 through 10.30 with the exception of 10.24 I motion all right all motion by Mr Sanchez iard first I think all right second by Mr M Mr President I would like to table 10.26 [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is there a second is there a second come on stands alone all right voice hold on one second we're 10.1 to 10.30 with the exception 10.24 10.24 Mr T I would like to discuss we have discussion Mr President um I really feel with the number of people here uh they have concerns and uh I think we should hear them before we vote on [Applause] this thank you appreciate it do you have any specific questions because I didn't hear anything from you over it since you had this information from for us to answer well I sent Mr President an email requesting some information as to how this particular plan save us $800,000 and how it actually prepares what the long-term effects are and we listen again I I need more information and I don't know what the full concerns are of our staff and of course listen I want to save $800,000 that's you know that if that's possible but is it truly the same are we getting nine eggs out of the Dozen that we're paying for I don't know and that's what I'm trying to figure out [Applause] I was just clarifying that you got the information that you asked for because I want to make sure you clarify that you got the information that you asked for because I didn't give it to you I'm sorry I wanted to clarify that you got the information that you asked for because I did give it to you I did not receive anything except for an email that came today there were some emails over the weekend and again an hour before the meeting receiving uh information we not enough time to review this is an important decision uh it affects [Applause] long in addition any other board m in addition Mr President um I also ask for experts to come explain what this the changes are to the board so that the board can better [Applause] understand you done with your comments and I TR I truly was expecting to have somebody from the know the state plan from this plan [Applause] comments you want to respond I don't any other board member comments I'm going to I'm going to comment that I was advised by Council to abstain from this vote as it affects my family but I'm still going to speak because I'm not just going to tell you that I'm going to abstain I will tell you that I'm probably not probably I'm the only person up here who's actually experienced the switch over I'm also the only person who can speak to as this affects my children and the etop plan affects myself I will tell you that while there were and Mr garto our mayor and Mr delahanty who was here I don't know if he left can speak to the switch over from Blue Cross to Etna there were some bumps in the road and I understand you would love some more information and some more time I wholeheartedly respect that I will tell you though is after those bumps in the road we kind of figured out there has not been an issue since that's not true Mr Garo there there are very little of any issues with Etna and I'm telling you that there's always going to be issues because there's issues with Blue Cross I this is not a back and forth I'm just letting you know from my perspective I cannot vote on this but I'm letting you know that Etna has provided my co-workers city of Garfield police officers with more than sufficient equal to or better than C that's all I can tell you all [Applause] I I understand the calls for time I understand the calls for clarity I understand that I'm not sitting up here telling you that your concerns and your presence here is for nothing I'm telling you though that it it has worked out it is a smaller level we're 65 to 70 versus what's here plus well the city but it was done through the city so that's I wanted you to make sure you heard from me and you didn't just think it was an exstension and that was it premere I'd like to make a comment too um again I'm not um I'm not going to abstain I'm I'm going to vote no but that's because I'm not [Applause] again this is not for any political reason this is not this is not for any like political reason I'm not trying to appease the masses I just that's my opinion so good [Applause] Mr President I would like to add a couple words since we are board members here elected from the public we would like to hear their opinions too so I will [Applause] second that moment's already passed you should have one motion motion why because he's not hold on this is going to continue please stop with the back and forth we're having a meaningful conversation and that's what's going onti I'm not criticizing anybody [Applause] be motion For Recess motion second second M Senator all in [Applause] favor e e e test 1 2 3 4 test 1 2 3 4 e e e [Applause] you does anybody need first [Music] aid all right you vote for this she was support by we had a motion in a second there was comment by board members I believe now we have to call for a roll call can you remind me as who made the motion m d Mr Taylor no Mr Taylor did not make that thank you to going education that's it call for vote and again this is resolutions 10.1 to 10.30 with the exception of 10.24 yes all right yep all right call Mr taylor2 to the rest Mr Munos I Mr focarino no on .26 I on the rest Dr p rooch i Mr Malo I miss [Applause] Sanchez Mr K ladies and gentlemen we're in the middle of a vote you will get your chance to speak please let the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Mr K go stand by Mr Ramos all [Applause] right Mr Goa abstain 10.26 10.28 got that's it all right all right motion to go into facilities 12.1 through 12.2 so moved motion by Mr ferino second second by Mr Moo Mr Taylor I Mr Munos I Mr folino I on 12.1 number two abstain on the rest of 12.1 and abstain on 12.2 number 60 I on the rest Mr G up stain 15 15.2 and 16.1 what we're on 12 you said 16 on 12 I 12 I on 12 I'm sorry okay okay Dr P hi Mr Malo I miss Sanchez Mr KES Mr Ramos I motion carries okay uh motion go to policy 15.1 through 15.2 motion by Miss Sanchez second by Mr Malo V call Mr Taylor I Mr Minos I Mr ferino no Mr Gaba up saying 15 15.2 I the rest Dr p i Mr Malo Miss Sanchez Mr KES Mr Ramos hi motion carries all right yep all right at this time we like to open up the floor for public comment um that public comment is made at the [Applause] mic okay [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so the president is calling for public comment now is your time to speak if everybody would be quiet you would hear [Applause] me read the comments all right thank you Sam all right good evening and it's been a a long one members of the board esteemed Educators community members my name is Justin Peter suroso I'm a lifelong resident of Garfield I'm the proud parent of a student with excellent teachers my wife is a full-time teacher in District and I've been a dedicated teacher here for 20 years I'm also the president of the Garfield Federation of [Applause] teachers and I got to tell you tonight is an unusual night for me because although I've been the president of this Federation for eight years despite multiple contract negotiations navigating an unprecedented pandemic I've never before had to come here and stand up and speak before the Board of Education and I do so with great and Grave disappointment because there's been a clear violation of trust actions that go against collaboration commitment and integrity and those are the type of traits that should guide any decision made in an institution entrusted with the well-being of our children and our community what I'm holding right here is my calendar you can all see in red I'm a good teacher right and uh this is filled with extracurricular AC activities that I do this is January you know what I had planned for tonight tonight was going to be a good night I was planning on spending the night with my beautiful young son just being a father I was going to take him here to the Garfield High School varsity basketball gaming in Sunwood Park just doing what is natural to all the teachers gathered here tonight which is supporting our students but instead I found myself preparing to be here in my capacity as president of the Federation according to the Union's Constitution my first responsibility is to take action on behalf of my members wherever and whenever they deem necessary and as you can see by this very large some would say enlightened and very concerned crowd they've deemed it necessary for me to be here at the conclusion of the school day on Tuesday gft representatives were called into an emergency meeting that was this past Tuesday basically this change was presented as a done deal despite anything you hear the union was not involved which taints the process from day one they gave us three business days to inform our members to try to respond to their questions with inadequate information change is always difficult but when you start talking about benefits that change gets particularly disconcerting and very frightening it's bad enough that this change needs to happen in the middle of our contract but why does this change need to happen in the middle of a school year in the middle of a school week for that matter my friends and colleagues out here teachers and support staff were forced in the middle of a school week to scramble to find out whether their doctors were in network if their prescriptions would be covered or not it was the most stressful had to deal with in 20 years many of you sitting here Highly Educated people so I'm wondering why are you failing to realize putting this Stress and Anxiety on the people who spend their entire day with children is a good idea in fact I think it's a terrible idea it's a bad idea and it's more than a bad idea this is bad faith three business days is not enough time and as Dr TOMCO repeated over and over he answered all the questions over one [Applause] weekend including one email to me at 11:30 on Sunday morning which is inappropriate forgive me for not responding you know where I was no no I'm not listening to any time limit [Applause] no no no to hear him you would hear what he has to [Applause] say hey B [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] my church this is the best line I was going to tell him I was in church and I had my good face disrupted but keep talking because they can hear you hey e e e do no I'm sorry what I've seen [Music] and however there is a board policy that's been effect well before this meeting most members here most most people in the audience acknowledge that there is a 5 minute time Li time limit for any anybody that speaks there are no extensions because quite frankly if there was an extension for one there would have to be an extension for but see and I have to I really have to get to this point because this meeting is supposed to be about the Corp correct we're supposed to have a discussion important issues are being discussed and by screaming and yelling you degrade the process and in fact nothing of any worth comes from other than you could get your viral moment for what reason so that that's where we're at at this point Mr Soso didn't get his five minutes I believe there are other Union reps or attorneys for the union that wish to speak at which time that 5 minutes will start to walk on the next public speaker please try to maintain the qu it serves no purpose for screaming and Y you serve no purpose what do we what do we just discussed before you said that would be able to actually was 5 minutes and 12 seconds There Is No Agenda here stop free speech and public speech that's not me we have never know that Bo welcome to exchange of ideas and conversation and has done so from the beginning of Dr good evening my name is Michael B I'm the greetings chair and uh vice president of the AF New Jersey on behalf of the gft negotiations committee and membership we are here to address you about the unilateral decision regarding our family's health care coverage its quality and costs and which you made without input from those who are most affected the gft strongly opposes the district's plan to migrate health benefits to a private plan or to change health benefits coverage the level of covered service network size and providers contribution rates or in any way modify our current health benefit coverage the district has had every opportunity to include the gft in discussions regarding proposed changes you chose not to disturbingly the notice about this impactful change came less than one week prior to tonight's vote the gft views such unilateral changes regarding health benefit coverage and contribution terms as a violation of the bilaterally agreed upon Health Provisions negotiated in good faith with the Board of Education in 20 20 22 it is also our position that the actions of this board constitute unfair labor practices which have undermined the positive and collaborative relationship that the gft believed existed with this board and administration the gft recognizes the financial constraints of running a district the size of Garfield choices have to be made options need to be considered yet historically the district's leadership looks only in one Direction when costs need to be cut our teachers and staff this directly impacts our students the district's decision to rectify a financial shortfall by threatening our teachers and staff's healthc Care Quality is not a solution to the administration and board's Financial incompetency Band-Aid efforts never solve the root problem other responsible Solutions exist the district only needs to explore them if you're out of ideas the gft would be more than willing to collaborate and to point you in the right direction Garfield teachers are dedicated in an era of teacher shortages they are here by choice don't forget that many are homeowners taxpayers District parents and to them and their families you have added an obligation as their elected officials the gft is deeply disappointed in your vote and the Rel resulting loss of Goodwill that has been built over the years we have worked together we call On The Board of Trustees to reconsider and resend the vote thank you I don't need time that's okay I'll be short my name is Brian Adams I'm an attorney with the firm of canel and Adams in Wong New Jersey I have had the distinct privilege and honor of representing the gft for most of my legal career I've seen superintendents come superintendents go and the same is true of board members what has always defined this district is the respect that both sides showed each other clearly tonight that doesn't exist anymore and clearly as the superintendent acknowledged in some of his correspondence to my members he has an obligation to to negotiate the impact of the change of the healthc Care carrier that has not happened and that is a violation of the [Applause] law and what I would like to ask because it was not clear to me and I was only in the second row is if we could get a clarification of what that role call was on that particular resolution because I don't think anybody in the audience knows who voted for what and we' appreciate [Applause] that through the chair can I just say something um few things yeah I'll take my five minutes thank you um negotiating impact I did say that a million times some members and I'm not going to mention any names because it's it's really not worth it excuse me excuse me excuse me there's no vote there's no vote the vote was tonight the the the the impact is negotiated based on if there are any differences um basically I'm sure the attorney knows perk perk law um I know it's the gft or AF um I'm more familiar with some of the stuff with the nja njaa um but regardless of that um again the impact if there is an impact will be negotiated people don't have teacher uh sorry doctors Etc that's why we working all weekend not everyone um you know in the leadership was at that emergency meeting and the only thing I want to say in the board's defense is that the the IM the immediate minute that we verified that those numbers were correct for the savings which I I did provide the immediate minute I I requested that emergency meeting I I I know it wasn't timely however if we do not certify this by a certain time that that saving is not um recognized and then we get back to all the things that everyone keeps talking about even before I got here when we had places like this packed with regards to you know different positions or we need to save money as was in that resolution I right before this is what I was charged with this is one of those ways of doing that there is no and and just to be very clear as well because someone yelled at while you were speaking so I I could do it through the chair this impacts my health care as well on the same health care so that's not true oh I this is I have four children uh a wife this impacts me as well and I've been telling you wouldn't make any sense at all to do that if if I didn't feel it this was a plan um that is going to be equal or better and my promise to is to make it even better and I mentioned some Wellness things and stuff and everybody kind of squawked at that but that's okay and I and I am telling you right now I said to this board that was the immediate minute that we that we verified those numbers is when I asked for that that meeting um thank you uh and and that's and that's I wanted to work through there including the weekend as much as I could as much as I could to to ensure that everyone's you know being upset over certain plans and whatnot um you know that was the reason so so again hopefully uh you know you you're I'm going to prove it to all of you that's that's just how it's going to go uh and and and uh well again you have to give me that chance so I just wanted to say to the board the board knew EX exactly when we could verify those numbers and that's when exactly when it was Tana Raymond 93 Spring Street see this walker I'm a product of atna Medicare because I can't get an MRI I can't get pre-ert they're changing my medications so don't tell me about atna and I don't even know what plan we have with the atna Medicare as many of these teachers don't know what plan they're going into the the I only have five minutes I got a lot to say the police have a pre the premiere plan in atna is that what you're giving the teachers well you don't have to answer that now I have a couple first of all I would like to say Dr Tom I remembered I didn't know you were a lawyer the way you went on and on and on about the Board of Ed the the city council passing this thing the resolution about the um the election I just want to say we were advised by our lawyer that we are in the right we'll see today we won in court let's see what if we win the battle at the end um was this health package put out to bid I want to know if it was put out to bid this board constantly complains that they're in they're looking for money there there's shortfalls you got how many people in the Ba's office you hired all these people you all these other jobs that you're advertising assistance to assistance that we never had I don't know if you're aware we have a kindergarten classroom where the children have to sit with their coats on because there's no heat in the room the teachers are buying their own copy paper there's a shortage of toilet paper I'm told I mean it goes on and on we have dedicated teachers and staff in this district and I took about all staff that's the custodians the secretaries everybody this board tonight has showed total disrespect for this entire stud uh employe es of the school district I am so aggravated you have no idea this is not the way you run a district you'd keep talking about looking forward let me tell you something if Mrs seaka was still here this would have never happened [Applause] ever we also have our assistant superintendent who I happen to like working from home how do you work from home in this day and age how is I understand he took over the troop officer's uh duties because she was let go for fiscal reasons but yet we're hiring assistance to assistance to assistance positions we never had you're not fiscally responsible and at the end of the year why would you if you you come up short don't look at the teachers and and say you're going to cut their benefits or the staff you're going to cut their benefits they need supplies they they are dedicated they are with these children every day and you know Aaliyah you're the woman on the board would you let your child a little kindergarten child sit with a coat in a classroom freezing would you do that as a mother it's a disgrace and it's and you know Ro Jack I have to say to you I'm very disappointed I really thought you were person of your word to come out here and change your vote because you because the superintendent had you cornered in that room shows I'm sorry rojack mojack I'm addressing you that just shows you know it shows a lack of character and a lack of gumption guts or testicular fortitude I like to say that don't ever let anybody intimidate you you have you were elected to sit on this board to represent everybody and the children this board constantly forgets who you're here to represent not your family not your friends not giving them all raises you are here to represent education and you know what I would like to talk to some of you personally you don't even know what education's about thank you [Applause] yes to the chair thank you let's let's make this very clear that the conversation that the the individuals in the back saw me talking with uh Dr poek had nothing to do with the vote nothing do with the vote I was talking about listen I I again I'm here to listen to all of you I understand your said this isn't the first time I've been through something like this okay but again again I'm trying to speak I'm trying to speak I'm trying to tell what happens I know you were all back here and you heard the conversation you're right so it's not what happened I'm telling you that's not what happened but you don't have to believe it that's fine but I'm making it very clear that that's not what happened in the back and the what I did do is they did did discuss some of the uh the issues uh with regard to the regards to the plans Etc with the board so I answer some some more of their questions because I guess some of you had questions for them uh prior to the meeting or whatever it was um so that occurred so so that's that's what it is but but Deputy Mayor you just mentioned seven things or or less maybe a couple less that are all costly so let me give you a few more the boilers for the you know and and you brought up missaka I respect missaka a million per I respect missaka a million per I I would never say anything about her so this has nothing to do with her Mr perado any before that but these these boilers didn't go down the day I got here okay uh I think you probably having issues before I got here the board brought me here to fix all these things the boilers are pro I I I really would just like to answer and I'm listening to all of you okay um the boiler projects here are easy easily north of $4 million the infrastructure for the network that everyone's talking about we can't get our kids on on uh uh online everything is $1.7 million okay all these things toilet paper all the things you don't have I I didn't take all the toilet paper when I got here okay you need those things absolutely that cost money that's not here and and that's why to to bring a benefit to the board and bring benefit to all of you in your pockets and to keep the same level of care let letting me be able to negotiate that impact as we see individually what you need which I think is going to be extremely minimal which I was proven to me over the weekend when all your members were calling from all the units uh I I think that's that's going I think in a few months we'll we'll be back here at a different place um so in saying that I appreciate you let me say it that's the truth um all those things that you talk about you know we can't talk about in your resolution saving money and then when I bring the first thing here to save money that really won't impact the teachers as much as everyone thinks it is um again you know it it it it just hurts me that again this individual city has been so politicized that you won't even give someone a chance to bring something in number two if anyone does need help a retiree does need help they don't know his or her plan I will definitely still help you do that we want to we want to assist you so I want you said you you couldn't get an M please contact me I'll definitely help you uh I'll help you do that um you know and I never I never said when I talked to just to be very clear about the resolution I brought in nobody said the election was illegal I didn't say that I said what was in the resolution is not true you don't vote on a budget anymore so that's what you should check and if your lawyer told you that you should probably semantics Dr Thom it's not true though that was some we knew that okay our lawyer wouldn't have filed it if it was I I hope he wouldn't I hope he wouldn't he G to appreciate that I don't know back and forth okay good evening my name is Adriana Salas I'm at 107 Harrison a I'm here just to give some info on the effects of changing health insurance a couple years ago uh my district changed health insurance I don't work here I work for another District it was dubbed Health gate one year before that a cooworker and friend had found out she had stage 4 cancer after having everything approved for her treatment from Horizon the district decided to change our insurance plan my co-workers treatments were no longer being fully covered by the new insurance she had to go back and forth with the insurance company which is the last thing any patient should have to deal with after receiving such hard news about one's Health they denied her many services MRIs and her prescription costs went up significantly many of the buildings she worked at in the district were a 100 years old and this could have increased her possibility in developing the cancer she had so meanwhile we risk Our Lives sometimes as part of the job Insurance shouldn't be something that we should have to worry and stress about if we are not healthy we cannot perform to the best of our ability to serve your children when I started working for the district I had healthy knees my school has four floors after 5 years of being there I needed meniscus surgery I had played Sports in high school and college and never once injured my knee but in five short years working for the district I had significantly damaged my knee from the steps I climbed there every day this new insurance wouldn't fully cover it I had to wait one year until we switched back to our old insurance which was Horizon to finally be covered for a necessity and not a luxury in that year I walked with the cane because it was too painful to walk around sometimes fast forward to September 6 2025 my cooworker passed away ironically on the first day of school a place she had lovingly given her life to peacefully with Services provided by our health insurance to make sure her last days were as comfortable as possible I don't think that would have been possible had the district continued with the private insurance at nut that they had switched us over to in closing I would like to just remind everyone that no one becomes a teacher for the salary we are here because we genuinely love what we do the least that can be provided is quality health benefits with those two years my district losted over 433 staff members with health insurance being one of the deciding factors without your teachers there is no school there's no learning there's no development please stop the switch Nancy Cuts up 484 V Bus Avenue I spent over 31 years of my life dedicated to helping make the Garfield School District the best it could be my drive was always to improve the experience of our students and families making it better than when I first walked through those Halls over the years I've seen many successful programs come and go some of which have slowly disappeared or been diminished when I began my teaching career the salary was less than ideal but there was always the comfort of knowing the future would offer good things un fortunately much of that has also faded away I have a concern over the resolution of 10.26 which includes the retirees without clarification Dr TOMCO you made a a statement saying you could go back I hope I don't get a letter saying I'm being pulled out and then I have to go through the whole process of reapplying I've heard that the new insurance plan is supposedly the same as the previous one but let me be clear if we are switching from a PO to a POS that is a massive change have you ever had to face serious health crisis like cancer or Another Life altering illness having insecurity in your health plan only adds to the stress and fear we all are we really saving money by appointing new positions at the cost of losing our experienced teachers and administrators outsiders look at us and laugh we are now facing a severe lack of severe crisis a lack of quality teachers coming into the district why would they come here we continue to be short on teachers currently we do not have a chemistry teacher and the position remains unfilled are we truly serving our exceptional students have we tried the dual enrollment program in getting a professor from Bergen Community College are we unintentionally pushing the teachers away and students I've seen AO bulletin board showing students how to apply for other high schools even uh private schools the reality is the value of our homes is not what they could be and could plummet we all know many quality schools play a crucial role in Drive private property values and as long as parents feel uncertain about sending their children here we will see those values tank the district's decisions are failing our community in this regard there are incredible students in our schools who deserve better than what we are offering yet we barely meet their needs to ensure their reach to reach their full potential our students continue to learn in inconsistent environments with failing boilers and classrooms that aren't conducive to success and now we're going to face even more teachers questioning whether to stay knowing they can find better pay and conditions elsewhere I've personally watched as other schools actively recruited our best team teachers offering them better salaries and benefits one outstanding teacher came to me in tears explaining that he loved our students but with a $16,000 raise it was something he couldn't pass as he tried to raise his family I've lived through terms like garbage field and watched as the potential growth and improvement in our schools has squandered we are not garbage field there are so many opportunities for real progress but we aren't approaching them with care and foresight they deserve much of what we hear is rhetorical not meaningful change our families and employees deserve better and until parents feel confident in sending their children to our schools we will continue to fail keep this in mind thank you Danielle Marcelo 66 crack out street normally when I get up to speak during public comment I typically acknowledge that the educational and professional background that I possess is not in the educational sector however this time I'm specifically speaking on a topic that I have two Advanced degrees 20 years experience and nationally certified in and a published author in a textbook used at an international level as some someone who build I got it I got I got it take it back take it back as someone who builds manages and upholds accountability of a multi-million dollar budget annually I'm completely disheartened and disappointed that the board is looking to healthc care plans as a cost-saving solution does anyone know the national average time to appointment for a patient who's already established with a primary care provider 28 to 36 Days even more concerning are days to provider for subsp Specialists such as rheumatologists neurologist and cardiologist does anyone have an idea here how long that weight is 63 days why are these numbers important to mention well it's simple Insurance changes with short notice and 60 is short no notice in the health care sector is going to leave your entire team scrambling to find new health care providers and attempt to schedule new patient appointments which are two if not three times harder to make than those established patient appointments do you know in New Jersey 30% of the age population of your team here sees a medical provider for cardiovascular disease imagine needing to see a doctor from one of your vital organs and being told you need to wait four months all because of a cost savings initiative that should have been the last solution done mid year furthermore many of these team members who are in Jeopardy of this solution have children do you know how many well child appointments with a regular pediatrition a child has in their first year 10 years of life 19 and 11 of those happen within the first three years of their life for vaccinations and well child visits start doing the map on how much is at risk here next if change was needed why not finish out the year with the current plan for those team members who have spouses and were eligible for coverage under their spouse's plan open enrollment is over you've taken most cases you you've in most cases taken away their their ability to make the best possible Choice as a result of your choice transitions of healthcare as mentioned before has exclusions routine Healthcare visits which children need 11 of those in the first three years of their life vaccinations again children heavily in the first three years of their life and health conditions that are considered stable yet chronic are excluded from transitions of Health this solution is shortsighted and People's Health Care should never rise as a top solution unless all other lavish unnecessary expenditures are cut first yet they remain unscathed and by the way I refer to those working in the District multiple times as team members because as a parent they are the team that assures my child's education and psychosocial well-being are first and foremost every day and it is my turn to speak in support of them for the same for them as well thank [Applause] you you to the chair I just I just wanted to uh thank you for that um I just wanted to uh mention that the there will be another open enrollment uh period when with this switch so uh as you mentioned if anyone wants to switch back or switch plans uh that's available so as I mentioned but I just wanted to reiterate that but we'll be talking about that as we go Frank Barber 262 Evans Place Saddlebrook so I'm not going to reiterate everything that they just said and also I'm a former vice president of Board of Education of Garfield so I know how this works um this is the first time probably in a long time that I've seen almost the entire board disregard what the teachers are fighting for um I'm not going to again go into all the health benefit stuff because we know what they want you know what they want you guys are elected as representatives of not only the citizens of Garfield but the teachers the children and this is going to drastically affect them now the Dr TOMCO I heard you say it affects you too you're making a whole hell of a lot more money than all of them and you got you got every perk in the book and we know why that is but I'm not going to go there but some of you individuals are sitting here I see you with your heads down Mr keus I guess it's not that important also a few times no no no it it's not personal I said he had his head down I was also going to bring up the rest of them every time it got hot in the kitchen you guys believe running away hiding in the hallway why not sit here and let the public uh the president speak and fully hear him to me it's just a way of not listening it's a way I'm not listening now if I was these people here I would band together and do a vote of no confidence in this entire board including the superintendent a vote of no confidence they shouldn't be here they're not properly representing you remember this next election part of the public and follow me on my podcast cuz I'm going to keep on with this stuff everybody's saying sh sh everything that I wanted to say was said already but I'm going to speak anyway you know we're talking about the health care switch you're talking about savings just like Mr Barber said you said it affects you too I had this in my notes these people are not making $300,000 a year with all the perks that you have so it affects them a whole lot more than it affects you you know you talk about say why don't we save over $200,000 what you guys what you people just voted on specifically in the transportation department you had a transportation department that was doing their job at a cost of like 70 something $78,000 now it's $1 178 not counting the custodian that you got to replace that's over almost $220,000 that's 25% of your savings like that like that and I'm sure I can go down the list and look at the perks that both you and other people sitting up there you know uh you get a $500 allowance for gas when you got an electric vehicle how ridiculous is that come on you know Mr TCO you said too just before about the boilers you know remember this remember this remember this new oh you you do remember it because I brought it to the last meeting you do remember it right Mr TOMCO okay so you remember remember it it says here Board of Education announces $1 million in summer Capital maintenance projects in this when you open it up you were supposed to replace five boilers have any of them been replaced no I know no so this was all done by your new human resource manager for basically a campaign that's another area you could save another created job you know I've been talking to a lot of people from Belleville and they're going to start coming these meetings I know you know let me just give you all up there just a suggestion work on the the arrogance uh grins that you put up there when people are here fighting for their concerns you him I mean you know they're the only one and and you know what I got to call somebody else that just constantly laughs too I'm not going to mention names but you know sitting up there with grins is is is disrespectful um wait she laughing at you what smiling at you yeah I know I know okay like they they said the high school has a science class don't don't you better talk take my time stop it cuz I'm being interrupted you know before I go any further I'd like to congratulate the student of the month uh Miss Brasa Brasa I think her last name was but you know she acknowledged the teachers the teachers that's why she's here today she was here a couple months ago you know specifically Mr stappenbach I believe that's the way you pronounce it I don't know congratulations to you it's because of the teacher that these kids Excel the way they do it's because of everyone in this room students Excel the way they do because they're dedicated hardworking individuals but yet you want to constantly keep hot hiring and hiring there's I can I can tell you by tomorrow afternoon I can give you savings on the stuff that you've done since you are here that's not necessary that could save over a million dollars I just did it $225,000 in just like that so I guarantee it I guarantee I could give me the opportunity to give you a list and I'll do it um couple things I want to say uh um before I end this thing because everything was uh you know you you say it doesn't matter if if US changing the election back to April doesn't matter then why were you putting it back to November that's another question that I'd like to hear you answer in your roundabout way we won't get a true answer or a specific answer it'll just be in circles do you know that the Middle School anybody up here know how many boilers are at the middle school does anybody up here know how many boilers are in the middle school here right here well I'll tell you there's six there's six boilers here does anybody know how many of them actually work one one one out of six there's two there's two um big boilers two big boiles here in this Middle School you know you know how many work one you you shaking your head I mean whatever happened to this what happened here this this was just a political flyer that's all that was you know yeah you know and and how do you like I the the transportation department you're promoting individuals that don't even have a driver's license to that position like no I'm sorry how how if that individual needs to go out on a bus that breaks down on the parkway how is he supposed to get there get a ride Uber Uber Uber it's ridiculous and we all know whose brother that is look him up Mr Joseph paja Google him that's his brother getting the promotion that was the campaign manager that had their his signature on their literature I my five to [Applause] him another seconds I got 15 seconds yeah thank you Mr gisler all right thank you to ch [Applause] uh unfortunately I have to one second guys I'm GNA I'm going I have to answer uh the the mayor real quick because you could you can wait no no no no no no no no sir no sir that's not how we do it here that's the protocol I want I want I want to answer do at the end no at the end of your at the end of your comment I always answer I always answer no I'm I'm trying to answer that's not the way I me first of all wait hold on first of Alles to respond I resp I always respond I always respond no I responded to everyone after they were done just now when you want when you but but but mayor I I I I know I know your angst against me since I got here that's fine I've always respected you I still respect I've always respected you I respect you as the mayor far off that's not okay I just want to answer you may I listen let me respond we listen you said a few things resp thank you first of all I I welcome the opportunity to sit down with you and your team to talk about where we can cut welcome the opportunity so please please St that me actually I thought we were going to do that Mr Cy CH me right when you guys win the election I thought we were going to do that slower you're mumbling your words okay I'll speak on I would I would really like the opportunity to sit down with you and the team and you could tell us where we can cut I would love that so if you contact me tomorrow we'll get set up a date would love it um so that was number one let's talk about uh the boilers first I I mentioned the boilers Al together six5 $6 million $1 million is definitely going towards the boiler boilers you are 100% correct there's one boiler working at the middle school one boiler if you all don't think that's a problem right now is every morning when we get up and it's 8 degrees that's an issue those have to be repaired it's not an overnight repair there not a fix they have to be completely rebuilt again this building's not that old it shouldn't be happening but that's the truth uh and we are working on it we had architect give us plans we're also looking at energy uh from pscg doing it but we're talking about a major expense it's number one just let me finish it's very important because there a couple things we're about certain things here um so again that that is one of the things that we the where the savings does come in where it's important um what I was laughing at up here smiling and again not disrespecting anyways when you bring up bille people where I was um again some of the rhetoric there is very interesting with those individuals and I and I actually love for them to come here um but at the end of the day um you know doing an audit of all the positions here when I got here there were several positions when we first got here that were very expensive positions in supervisor roles that we got rid of Supervisors of nursing different other positions that were Consolidated after retirements especially that position which definitely wasn't needed in a district this size uh we had truy officers it you brought up the you up the excuse me I'm going to talk I'm going to talk about all of the all the positions right now that's one why could he OPP positions but when I get up there I'm stif you're talking not right I'm talking about what I am talking about I'm not even talking five minutes yet so we understand we would let the superintend let them speak children that school in the morning and it's 10:00 okay so now I'll continue oh so again um let's be very clear with the I'm not even have five minutes yet thank you though the transportation department uh you're talking about here there is absolutely no increase that you're talking about if you look at if you look at the how we moved everybody the the the facil if I can't answer I think we I mean again here we go it's you know nobody cares I well again I would like the children to talk here but but at the same time I'd like to answer this because you made some accusations that are incorrect again you you said money so I have to now tell you how that's not true um we we move the um the facilities coordinator to a split job which was transportation and construction management which deals with boilers lights all these other projects that were started by previous boards which you were a part of that we are now going to complete okay that position now goes there the assistant position takes the POS the position takes the the the new assistant position which will assist in that takes the uh the place of um the assistant that we have in in the facilities department and we're not replacing that assistant assistant position so it's a wash actually it's like a $7,000 savings so nobody that's it nope right now that's all it is that is all it is there's again I'm trying to answer I'm trying to answer okay um and not to talk about anybody's uh who gets hired or whatnot but I will say this what you said was was not true about the people that we we hire and their requirements they meet all the requirements actually one of the individuals that we did hire for epis is the only person that does have the uh the Transportation license uh on staff believe it or not but I always look for several things when I'm hiring qualified people the first one always goes back to A Garfield graduate number one uh if they're qualified and what they bring to the district so and again I will say this like I say to anyone else who bless you whoever we hire if it doesn't work out then then they don't have to be in the position any longer so so that's it so thank you okay good wow good evening esteemed members of the board my name is this on yes it's okay my name is Isabella Serano pinea I am a junior at high school at Garfield High School Dr TOMCO I address you directly you said that everything being done is to help students well as a student I can say changing teacher health insurance only hurts us we already have a teacher shortage I witnessed this firsthand being in a chemistry class where my teacher is on a screen why add to this shortage you continue to speak on behalf of students well this is me a student telling you you need to reconsider this not only hurts me as a junior who has a year still ahead for students who come after me freshman who who knows if they will have teachers to teach them I tell you you need to reconsider your decision you are only hurting students not helping them thank you good evening to to everyone my name is Jesus M Moreno I live on 346 sem Avenue and um here I am once again to express my frustration we are still dealing with internet issues and it might not seem like a big deal but it is in my chemistry class for which we have a teacher from Michigan and the only way to communicate uh in class is through a Smartboard the day of our test we W in able to see teacher for 80 minutes which is the entire class period it's just not fair for anyone to be able to do their classwork du to internet issues now let me ask you something fortif location does your internet suck too cuz I wonder if he does so I invite you I invite you Dr tomka to come to my chemistry class and see our frustration it's not only my chemistry class that is that is being affected by this issue but every other class and the staff is also dealing with this problem the mag the magnitude of this issue goes beyond the classroom as it is affecting our everyday lives a student students who have were involved in extracurricular activities have to take time out of their day to do the class work at home please address this issue as it is affecting all of us we the students deserve better in SCH teachers come to my chemistry class room 227 second block a day my name is Jaclyn Ortega and I do go through the chemistry class process where I do have a online teacher I didn't plan to come and speak here today but after hearing everyone's frustration I felt the need that I had to speak you know my teachers they're going through a lot right now and it's going to affect us students as my friend Issa said um I come from practice I didn't plan to stay here this late but it's currently 10: and we do have school tomorrow and um I just wanted to say that I am a part of the early college program I do take du enrollment classes and I am in honors classes freshman year it did not start out like that I started from the bottom and I worked my way up if my teachers leave then it leaves me with nothing I'm going to work my I'm going to work my way up and I I plan to I'm an architect and I plan to go to NGIT but without my teachers I can't do this thank you hello I'm Justin revas 35 Lanza uh you guys might remember me I came back here you guys can't hear me okay I came back here back in September speaking of speaking on the dress code I am here now on behalf of the teachers and the students um earlier in the meeting TOMCO you had Dr TOMCO sorry you had mentioned that how you weren't at fault for the boilers and you were at fault for our lack of toilet paper and our lack of utilities um I feel no one said you were at fault for those we were only saying you were at fault for not fixing them as many people have said and you had said about the success of these kiosk machines do you know how many people how many students have actually used those machines do you 25 great uh how much did those kiosk machines cost they through the Food Service okay did that I wonder if that costed you guys more probably did um just I'm wondering you guys need more money for the budget supposedly but why take it from teachers thank you hi everyone can you hear me just checking oh my name is Valerie Camaro I live in 193 Cambridge a and I am not a current high school student I'm an alumni I graduated this ban the first issue that I want to bring to you before I start my little speech over there is that I had to endure graduation practice and the worst coing hit you could imagine why we couldn't practice outside because the hot the the weather was even worse because there's no air conditioning in our schools and I know everyone here is going to agree with me that that's a huge issue old teachers too I had to bring in and some of you know a little like hand fan for myself and I passed it out in the classroom that's how bad it is I just want to let you know you don't have to answer here please let me speak that Kos machines are not going to make as much as air conditioning might but that's just me probably um I want to say that I came to this very lunchroom and where you're standing as a lost Colombian 12-year-old girl with crippling anxiety and buter English and I didn't even know what to expect my parents didn't even to finish their schooling so they couldn't help me um I was pushed in head first into the hell of what it is to be an immigrant and to be an immigrant as a child in middle school and I tripped and fell and I made mistakes but there were faces of Hope and knowledge that I look up to to see every day you know who that was you answer who that was it who was it teachers they are thank you thank you they are the beautiful architects of the person the people that are standing in front of you today and the people that we are going to become eventually they nourish and fed who I am as a person as a student and as a professional from teaching me equations to a civil war to computer a drafting to getting rid of five the five paragraph essay from taking job interviews to speaking of issues that matter to my community and love care and kindness all around that's what they stand for and that's what they teach us every day they allow me to become the young woman I I am today and my love for them is my driving force the reason why I'm standing in front of you today for the first time ever in my life for God's sake our valoran is going to Prince it right now they are forming the stars of the world not saying this Garfield I'm not saying New Jersey or a nation I'm saying the world it is their job and they're doing so not because of any money and they deserve the respect they get because I believe that being a teacher is the most honorable position of them all I really do think so and just thank you thank you everyone um to start to conclude what I'm saying uh with the warmth that they bring to us too many kids who feel mad nourish at home either because of physical abuse because of um their environments are not the best they come here and they see these teachers who hug us they care for us they tell tell us they put us apart and say hey is everything okay at home if the people after me if my brother who's a freshman right now can have that I don't know who's going to what is going to be the future of our nation itself and I beg you please don't let kids like us lose hope in the Democracy we learn so much in the classrooms like the ones right outside of this um U Larch room thank you uh and don't let our teachers who have dedicated Decades of their lives to forming the right stars that go on to become all types of things doctors lawyers artists politicians people who would sit like you eventually and hopefully do want amazing job um don't let them lose hope in life itself please and don't let them run away from this district and with all due respect I just want to finish with saying none of us here want our viral moment we're not seeking fame and money as some people here are seeking you know um we thank you uh just as a final thing we are searching as students to keep our stuff in healthy and safe to raise the future of this town this nation and this world thank [Applause] you good evening my name is kylo pasz I a senior here at Garfield High School I would like to start out by saying I'm not here to criticize or tell any of you how to do your job but I would like to start out by stating that I appreciate my teachers heavily I feel that I am the student that I am today because my teachers have always motivated me and been there for me in times of struggle and times where I felt oh this this school work doesn't matter that much or oh is it really that important my teachers have pushed me to become a better student and I'm eternally thankful to them for that and Dr TOMCO I would like to quote you I I don't usually attend these meetings but at one meeting I heard you say that you want Garfield to be the district that other districts look to like you want us to be the district that other districts look at and be like oh I want to be like Garfield I would like to start by saying that there is no District of Garfield if all the teachers are unhappy and they feel that they can't do their job to the best of their ability we have quality teachers here at Garfield High School and like Justin said those kiosks and all that we don't even have the Wi-Fi to use them to the best of their efficiency I feel that there are many issues that are overlooked and I feel that we are focusing on the things that are only going to bring us down rather than bring us up as a city of Champions I feel that we should acknowledge our champion teachers and not cut their benefits and only encourage them to leave I feel that without our teachers we cannot become the district that other districts are going to look to to improve and I feel that you should reconsider your decision thank you uh hello U my name is Gavin Bolis I live at 151 Malcolm and I'm a sophomore at Garfield High School and I'm sorry I don't have any notes I'm just like saying whatever's preaching on my mind right now but um throughout my life I've always been pushed by my parents to like pursue like my academics and everything and even so like I hated history so much like history especially Sciences hated it in in like elementary school but then um in my middle school and especially High School experience I've had teachers such as uh Mr Russo Miss K and uh Mr Burns and I could just like they actually gave me such a more like interest in like talking about and discussing things from like the past or whatever and um especially they've preached me preached to me with their lessons that we should always talk about problems and speak our mind not be afraid to do it and that's why we're here and I feel like um especially all the like weird breaks that you guys took when people were just trying to talk to you was like a little unnecessary I'm not trying to like take shots at you or anything but like I mean but it's um but uh what I would like to say um I had the opportunity to go to BCA the BR countyy but then I turned it down CU I believe that I could pursue a better social life and still have the same opportunities I could have here in the Garfield School District but then now I'm in a chemistry class with onl teacher and I'm like sleeping like 30 minutes of the class it's like and especially considering I want to do Pharmacy chemistry is a very very big part of that and it's just like I mean can't really pursue when I'm like not even wanting to learn chemistry cuz I've an onl teacher and um basically I would just like to say that um all these teachers they put like Blood Sweat and Tears like literally like I've gone through a lot of personal stuff like more than I have in my entire life within the past couple months regarding situations with my family and these teachers has been like really considerate with like trying to deal and help me out with it but um just having to think that not even just just me or freshman but like all little kids and everything they're just going to be growing up with the possibility of these teachers leaving cuz like they're not going to have like passionate teachers cuz I mean what's what's in it for them to work if they're not like getting like what they could benefit and it's just like obviously even though they could have love and like Miss T my English teacher she's said that like she's loved working in this District but uh what's it called when presented with so much money and especially everyone has their own um lives and everything to go with just all that money is just something uh that you can't really turn down and I think taking away and cutting away from benefits is just turning our teachers farther away and especially right now it just already having one chemistry class with or one class with all my teacher even in remote learning didn't really learn anything and I like to pride myself that I'm a good student that could pick up on things and it's just not really clicking so um and just imagine a bunch of your kids maybe your children grandchildren having to grow up in a school like this where half of their classes even multiple classes are online and they're not really reaping any benefits of their education but I would just like you to reconsider your decision I'm I'm done good evening my name is Emily tal I live at 130 orch Street and I'm a senior at garfi high school I would like to start off by saying that I'm not here to critize ize anything that you guys are doing I appreciate that you are taking the time to listen to us but I do have some concern because I have two other brothers in the Garfield School District One in preschool and one at school number8 and to hear my brother come home from school sniffling and basically having a cough because he had was forced to wear a coat into school because there was he was so terribly cold to the point where his fingers felt like they were about to come off he was he complaining and do you understand that my my mom has to pay for these doctor's visits every other week and it's a difficult thing for us to go through because not only does she have just one she does just have one kid she has three and to have one one kid in preschool who's only four years old to deal with this cold and like not being forced to wear a jacket not being able to interact well with his peers because all he can focus on is being cold as well as my 8-year-old brother all he can focus on is being cold and not focusing on his academics whatsoever I would also like to add that I am a 4.3 GPA student as well as I'm in the early college program and honors program and it is because of these teachers that are here tonight that thought I could succeed that succeed that thought I could be something that took extra time before school and after school even though they have children they took the time to teach me these things and teach me how to learn and all of these things that I know now is because of these teachers that are here today and it's not something to overlook you say that you respect these teachers but they truly put their time and their hard work work into their job it's not because they want their salary it's not because that they make millions of dollars it's because they want to do this they want to see children smile they want to see children exce succeed and if I recently just had ACL surgery which I had to miss school for a week and a half and these teachers here tonight have helped me through it I was way behind in my academics way behind and they stood After School Mrs Mr and Mrs Marino Miss Kata Miss dapping backck I had him last year they all helped me become the person and the student that I am today and I will forever be grateful for that and I would really appreciate if you guys respect them as teachers and as individuals because they do have children themselves some even in the school district themselves and do you really think that them having children in the school district having to deal with the cold in the like affecting their academics do you really think that they have enough money with this new school Insurance to provide their children with um doctor's appointments every other weekend because their their children's are suffering in school because of the there's it's so cold and that they have to be for to wear jackets I just want you to respect the teachers as well as respect the students that came here tonight because it is 10:30 o00 some of us are 16 17 years old 17 years old and we have to leave soon because 11 o'clock might be our curfew and dri D licing but we still took the time to come here and still speak thank you for your time good night great job uh my name is mat shanz I live at 290 at Water Lan uh I'm just going to go based off my mind what you're doing to these teachers is completely horrible uh I've been in the Garfield District my whole life I've known a lot of these teachers in the room and I know a lot of these teachers have students or have kids in this district and what you're doing to them is directly affecting them I have had many I've been a honor student my whole life I've recent I have a couple of AP classes now and I just think I wouldn't be where I currently am without these teachers I've gone through everywhere with these teachers and um last year I had an incident my family and all these teachers they did greatly help me with this and I just think what you're doing is just horrible I just don't believe in cutting funds from teachers when they're already going through a horrible situation with the recent times it's just completely horrible and uh from my history class I've learned that if the government is not acting in the citizen way we have the right to change it so if you do not wish to reconsider I do not think you guys will be on the board next year thank you my name is Lena Solas I live at 107 Harrison Avenue my mother spoke recently about her effects in her having private insurance she used a came she she wasn't able to walk I saw her in extreme conditions how can you sleep at night knowing that you're going to do that to these teachers these teachers pave Pathways to our futures do you see all the students standing here you see how much we care they're the foundation of this building how are we supposed to and the building will come crumbling down without them everything we learn is through our teachers thank you I just hope you reconsider your your decision um my name is magdalina lip uh I live on 108 Ray Street um back in 2021 my mom was diagnosed with cancer and you know I know firsthand how scary it is to lose an insurance and not know what's going to happen to you and I had to personally deal with that and my dad fought so hard with her and to know that that might happen to my teachers is so scary I have such amazing teachers that help me to do this when I got into the high school I was so scared and I didn't know what I was going to do I didn't know how to reach out to anyone and I had amazing amazing teachers and an amazing coach Miss C Miss Mar youo coach to car hello all of them helped me through this very difficult time and my mom passed away back in May and I would just hate to see that happened for any of my teachers to have to go through anything I had to go through and it's hard to get through it I I really did not think I was going to speak today I have a great this year too all these are so experienced and so knowledgeable and just so understanding with my situation and this is our community and some of these teachers might have to leave because of this decision of yours and I don't blame them that's it's horrible absolutely horrible you guys can say hi um my name is Lauren surma I Am A Garfield School teacher I have been a dedicated and loyal employee to the Garfield school system for 12 years I have weathered trials and tribulations during these years including cold weather but my dedication to the students has never faltered with that being said in Garfield we consider ourselves a family and by definition a family is a unit and when that unit becomes disrupted is a very saddening experience myself and many of my colleagues rely on our health benefits as the primary source of our Healthcare you may not know but as a family member I know the colleagues who face medical challenges including a colleague who couldn't be here tonight but showed me a picture of a child his child who had a tumor from the day that he was born the insurance had has been up to over a million dollarss had he not had that insurance he would be in generational debt probably unable to do this job with such a small salary I know the colleagues have unwell children and the spouses that rely on the coverage that was negotiated into our gft contract I find it extremely disheartening that a decision to this magnitude can be compelled Upon Us in such an Abrupt manner especially when the open enrollment period has come to a conclusion each Board of Education member employee staff member had the opportunity to select what plan and provider would work best for their individual needs and now that opportunity and choice is being terminated at the very least this consequential proposal should have been postponed until the gft and the AF legal terms teams had times to properly review all proposed plans to ensure that the contractual agreements that we as well as some of the people up there agreed upon are being upheld and respected I think I speak on behalf of many of my colleagues when I say to please to the Board of Education please please reconsider this decision to the chair can I quick before we continue going um I I think one of the one of the uh well I we were having them speak a groups I just wanted to address them one one of the most incredible things tonight was The Testament you have to all your teachers about all the great things that you were saying about them so so that's that's really um commendable uh and just an incredible thing um I would also like to say that I'm very proud of you exercising your civic duty to come up here and and in response to uh something like this to St stand up for what you wanted to stand up for it's very difficult to do at your age uh so I'm very excited obviously we're doing something here right our Civics classes so we could give a round of applause for that if you'd like to hey teachers exactly I'm giving you all aades for that excellent job um I just again uh just to clarify a few things because I think it's very important um not I'm absolutely not saying anything about what you all said you're all 100% correct on what you said about the feelings you had and whatnot but the the the teachers are not losing a benefits package or getting benefits cut well we are let me finish please because again there's a few things coming up here that teach you to pay out of pocket Etc so I want to be very clear on I want exactly they are finished that's why I waited to oh I'm sorry two adults came up I apologize two teachers came up so let me finish I'm here I'm sorry two adults did come up two adults came up Mr Mayor thank you so I just want to say also very simple that anyone who has current conditions that is a transition that's part of that's part of the package is part of the the benefit and I did mention that to everyone who called me so again during this next few weeks of this period we'll sit down with everybody individually so if they are getting care of right now s it can't happen until we talk to every individually after the board makes the plan so but thank you thank you very much hello everyone I'm Aiden I'm a sophomore and uh I didn't think I'd come up today but I feel bad for my teachers um everyone that knows me they know I'm not good in school they know I don't like school you know you can see by many teachers you know but I'm glad to see that over the years all my teachers that have helped me you know pushed me you know I probably wouldn't be here n they help me and I'm glad that they do you know I love them and I know at the end of the day they may find me annoying but I mean they help me out and I hope I help them to you know crack a joke here and there you know but I'm really glad to see that everyone came here you know I'm seeing a lot of faces that I remember you know from elementary school middle school you know even high school you know I've met so many new teachers even tonight you know people that have given me you know some knowledge I'm glad to see that people are still coming around and helping and I'm just glad to see that all of my teachers are still here you know and able to thrive and I hope that that still becomes a thing you know and I hope that you reconsider their vote uh reconsider your vote you know to help them out cuz they help us you know they don't help us how like you know what are we going to do you know I don't think I could have made it without them you know I really do appreciate everything they do and I'm really glad to see all of them here tonight and thank you all for coming and I really hope you reconsider your vote um hello my name is Carla Miato and I live 170 Harman Avenue I've been a student at in the Garfield District since I was 3 years old and I am a sophomore I'm 15 years old I think I'm the youngest person in this whole entire group and um I have three honors classes and I'm taking one Junior course as a sophomore and and I can only thank my teachers just enough um that have supported me through like everything um and one thing that I haven't heard anyone talk about is that we only have one Italian teacher right now I know that we had to but one of them got cut for whatever reasons and I know that I have 29 kids in my class which is outrageous um so I think just cutting teachers would make the class is more overcrowded too overcrowded I know my sister is in seventh grade also attending the middle school and her classes her science class oh and my mom is a substitute teacher so we all have direct contact with the schools every single class is way too overcrowded one we have we have one um one chemistry teacher that's online we have one Italian teacher teaching three courses so none of the freshman's here have Italian which are just cutting off more opport unities to get better um I know that like sorry I just think that it would be extremely unfair to if like you said cutting off the like switching to different insurance and cutting off a bunch of like their benefits thank you a bunch of their benefits would just just make a bunch of more teachers leave and make this classrooms more overcrowded and just give kids less opportunities thank [Applause] you hi my name is jakee p shovsky I'm a senior at Garfield High School and I just want to say that being a two-time state champion for this school I really don't feel like a champion for you guys and I all these teachers have kids and I can imagine it's scary receiving a call like saying that you have to change your insurance not knowing what benefits like the the benefits are going to be the same uh than the ones that they already getting I just I don't understand why I I really don't and I just really like just to reconsider because I know some of you guys have kids too and if you guys got that call I bet you guys wouldn't know what to do either I feel sorry for my teachers I've been here all my life these teachers raised me and I just I don't know just please reconsider hi um my name is Ryan Fernandez 61 Hudson Street so I just want to start off by saying I just want to start off by saying oh I just want to start off by saying that I love my teachers when I wake up at 7:00 in the morning you know I don't really want to think about going to school but when I think about my teachers I think about okay first block I got Mr FEI if he's still here I'm like he's not going to bust my balls first block if I want to take a little nap um I got Mr shoso right here he's a great great teacher Miss C she's a great teacher in my physics class there is maybe 30 students 29 students there's students sitting on the edge of tables in the back of the room on the window s like stools by the window sill and right in front of our teacher right next to the Smartboard and I just Alo way check you guys know this isn't right come on you know it isn't right look if you guys want to get reelected these are the people that are going to be voting for you right you got to think about these are the people that voting for you if they don't like what you're doing you're not going to get reelected look although voice check you guys should really reconsider although I know you're new you just got elected but come on still have a say have some balls voice check you voted no why'd you change your vote you shouldn't stick to your guts don't ever stick to your guts [Applause] my teachers are probably the only reason I want to go to school you know at 8 a 7: a.m.

on February 3rd 2025 it'll be a workshop meeting followed by February 24th regular business meeting again here at the ASC at 6:30 p.m. um next next item can I get a motion from the Board of Education to go into Clos session for a collective negotiating matters between the district and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees and B the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park recreational or educational setting or specific volunteer PE of the district or legal council for the district including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park recreational or educational setting or a volunteer of the district or against legal council for the district to determine its validity so moved second Chris moves Ken seconds thank you very much Chris Espinosa hi Ken Dawson hi Jenny hagstrom hi Terry pavich hi Cara cter I and Don Runner I motion carries and then for the members of the public the only item that the board will be taking uh or the only action that the board will be taking when it comes out of Clos session is to adjourn let's take a brief uh break and then we'll uh adjourn or start close session thank you e

today this came through so this is this is brand new I emailed the parents or parents squared the parents before I came I have six people have signed up so far so I parent squared them to give them this as an option so one of these two options would be what we go with the second option is to fly I've never considered that in the past because it is typically more expensive but they guaranteed me that if people were already signed up that the price would stay the same because they would offer a $100 discount for for signing up before June and then $75 for signing up within seven days of a parent meeting uh so they're going to offer that when I have another parent meeting they would offer that to incoming people too at least for those first seven days for that extra $75 um we would get to the airport it could be Friday or Saturday I prefer I think Saturday so parents wouldn't have issues with getting their children to the airport or getting their children to where I don't it's so new we have haven't decided would we meet at Crestview and take everybody to the airport I don't know yet um but meeting wherever so it would be pretty early we would get a pretty early flight we would get in midm morning we'd have all day on Satur Friday or Saturday whichever day it was we'd have the hotel night we get up the next day Tour all day that day one more Hotel night so we're back to two Hotel nights tour almost all day the next day take a late flight and get back we'd be flying out of Fort Wayne so that's pretty convenient um so that is an option I put that out to the six who have signed up so far I've heard back from one parent who likes the flying idea better I have never taken students to the airport I have lots of feelings about this but I'm sure it'll be fine um uh so so there are kind of two options on the table right now because I really don't like jipping them that third day I think it's really important you're only there a limited amount of time they need to get as much time in as they can so I don't have definitive like everything super nailed down right now because of that issue so Mandy if if we had approved this tonight and when you do get it all solidified and whatever else if you could send it to myself or Mr brimberry then we can get that back out uh to the board but yeah we just want to make sure you can keep moving here yes okay yes absolutely go ahead okay uh Cindy can you go to the next slide for me please thank you okay so right now the price is potentially right around $1,500 for a student again the adverti price will be about $175 more than that um but with those discounts they're able to bring the price right back down um so people who would sign up like let's say next school year they would pay that more expensive price um adults have a higher price again it's going to stay the same um even with flying now as long as they're signed up within those parameters uh their price is higher because uh with students it's quad occupancy with adults we thought it would be weird to tell them to share a bed with somebody they've never met it's just weird so they're only two um occupants and like like I said as of right now we have six people signed up um it really all of those numbers also depend on how many people go I've never had trouble meeting the minimum number but the prices are going up exponentially I think it I mean it was only like maybe five years ago ago like right before covid people were paying not even $ thousand dollar for their students so yeah it's just so I I don't know I don't know how how well this will go but um so that's that's where we are right now included in the price all their meals all the transportation including their flights if we fly uh all the hotel accommodations there are course leaders so depending on how many kids we have if I we have two buses which I have had in the past F we get two course leaders so there's one course leader per bus of students and they're the people who have all the knowledge uh we have on call doctors which I have used before um and generally speaking it's worked really well we have on call emergency support there are night shapon who sit out in the halls and their job is just to watch the rooms all night um so that's really nice all admission fees if that if those if like Mount Vernon places like that that charge that um there is limited accident in health insurance ins next slide um so yeah current participants we have two chaperon from Crestview we have one adult chaperone right now who signed up and then we have five students so potential itinerary we typically make it to the National Archives we go to pretty much all the memorials I would say maybe like sometimes we don't go to um Thomas Jeff the Jefferson Memorial um but like generally speaking we hit all of them uh sometimes we go to Ford's Theater we at least get a picture opportunity outside we always get the picture outside the white house uh they'll see the capital building we don't take the tour anymore because the kids it's not very engaging for kids uh we go to the Holocaust Memorial the Spy Museum is a favorite so fun this is my favorite when it happens in my classroom we will go to Mount Vernon uh we do the Pentagon 911 memorial which is really good um we see some of the Smithsonian so typically they'll do um the American history and um uh sometimes we'll do the art Smithsonian sometimes that's a little risky uh we do air and space but not normally the one that's on the mall we go to the udvar hazy air in space which has like actual like space shuttles and all kinds of cool planes like that's the one to go to uh we did the National Cathedral last time we didn't end up actually getting our tour though because they were super behind so we had kind of an abbreviated time in there I would like to go back we'll do Arlington for sure um so the history is Matt Groves began this about 11-ish years ago he took a trip with only eighth graders he had a hard time getting enough students to go and I think they actually incurred additional costs because he didn't eat that meet that minimum threshold uh we when I took it over I did seventh and eighth grade made it every other year and then I was taking in the beginning I was taking anywhere between 60 and 70 students pretty much every time we went um this last time again the prices were higher this last time I took 35 people so not nearly as many so we'll see how it goes this time um but throughout the course of the time we've been doing this more than 300 students have traveled um so Holly will be taking over for me because I I am doing too many things and I need to let some things go so this would be it so yeah so what's you're looking for this evening is approval yes uh for you to continue to plan continue to move forward as you can see um there are some details that we're still putting together but that's just uh necessary for all the uh two of you want to do this with them and so it's something that's a they'll never forget it's quite an experience so thank you so Mr Allen I think what we're looking for is a motion in a second some discussion and see if the board will approve their request is would anybody like to make a mtion motion uh about this uh trip thank you Mrs Miller a second second thank you Mr Carl any discussion questions I would just say yeah this is a really nice program um I mean I can't imagine how much fun it' be to go to DC when you're that age um as long as Mom and Dad don't go you know of course um but uh thank you and this is June of 2026 just to be confirmed okay all righty um oh go ahead I was just gonna say I actually took the trip I'm hearing a delay sorry about thatp when I took the trip when I was in eth grade and and truly enjoyed the trip truly enjoyed the trip at crvw so I'm full for it that's good stuff Mr wall thank you um any other questions or comments then let's vote on the motion motion passes 70 move on to item e consent agenda one through nine Mr trout yes I'll draw your attention uh if you want to uh scroll down to number eight uh this evening um again I want to thank our community for continuing to support us tonight we have we asking for donations uh for $ 6,069 you can see um a variety of those um that are there uh and so I continue just to want to say thank you uh to our community for their continued support um of of our schools um you'll also see number nine the accounts payable and payroll voucher registers that are also there so I'm just seeking your approval of the consent related agenda items thank you Mr trout would anyone like to make a motion about the consent agenda motion to approve the consent agenda is presented thank you Mr meler in a second second thank you Mrs Heim sorry Gary any questions or comments before we vote hearing none we'll vote on the motion for the consent agenda motion passes 70 move on to F Finance F1 request to dispose of obsolete materials Tiffany Drummond uh the principal at our Learning Center is here to present this agenda item for you this evening good evening as we continue to modernize our chop spaces make them the best that we can be for our students sometimes we need to let go of equipment that's no longer working or that we no longer need so this memo just outlines two pieces of equipment in our construction shop that we would like to dispose of and our plan would be to include that in an auction and then put the profit back into that construction program do you have any questions uh we're going to take a motion first if that's okay anybody like to make a motion for this motion to approve the disposal of disposal of obsolete materials thank you Mr Melcher and do we have a second thank you Gary any questions or comments from Mr just um not really matters but how do you price these is there I saw there was prices on them is this just a eBay thing or I I don't know yeah our instructors um structures watch the auctions pretty closely so they kind of look at market value okay thank you any other questions thank you Mrs drumond we will vote on the motion motion passes 70 move on to F2 2025 mileage reimbursement yes the Internal Revenue Service has increased the rate of mileage reimbursement for tra business travel this year of 2025 to 70 cents per mile so we are seeking your approval of that rate change thank you Mr trout would anyone like to make a motion about the change in business mileage I make a motion to approve the 2025 business mileage reimbursement rate thank you Mrs Heim is there anyone want wish to second second thank you Mr Melcher any questions or comments before we vote hearing none we'll vote on the motion motion passes 70 move on to F3 2024 year end transfer resolution M Smith good evening can you hear me good evening president Allen members of the board Mr trout um I bring to you this evening um a year-end resolution and wanted to give you um a little bit of background uh for this resolution and other resolutions that might um be coming in the future uh just a reminder during our budget Workshop we talk about um the past of when new funds were established for instance we used to have what's called general fund we had a a capital projects fund a transportation operating fund and a bus replacement Fund in 2019 the general fund used to be um comprised of four categories two of those categories of the four moved into the new education fund the other two categories moved into the operations fund new operations fund which then absorbed those two categories the old capital projects fund the old Transportation fund and the bus replacement fund all into that one so those three old funds along with two categories the funding that we used to receive from our old general fund 100% of that mostly 99.9% of that came from um tuition support the basic Grant which um is comprised of Factor times our ADM our average daily membership all of that um Revenue used to go on our old general fund when they created these two new funds in 2019 they separated those categories but they did not separate the funding so kind of wanted to go over that so when you see that um education to operations transfer that I do during the budget year process that is because the legislative session um created those two new funds but the funding still goes only in the One Fund so we are allowed up to 15% each year to transfer from those dollars that they did not separate why not we don't know that would have made life a lot easier and less complicated um to transfer 15% from our education fund to our operations fund to um cover those two categories that moved over so it isn't a lot of perception might come from the public thinking oh wait a minute you guys can't even fund your operations fund because you're always having to do these transfers it has nothing to about do about funding it it was the the change in the categories that uh the legislative session moved and created these new funds so I kind of wanted to give some of that background um and then also our debt service fund as you know we've been talking the last couple years during the budget session also um our debt service f fund is our main fund that we use for construction projects it consists of bonds that we sell that are up to a certain threshold usually around between five and six um million dollars and then anything over that amount that is needed is um a lease it's like a mortgage that we take out on one of our buildings so those two types of financing um make up our debt service fund that um like I said helps with all of our major construction projects our other fund or operations fund also helps with construction projects and can um but it has a different type of threshold because like I just indicated it has all those other aspects that it has to pay so you usually you build in money in our um operations fund to help with General Repair and maintenance for instance it could be for Paving lighting Roofing those type of repairs and maintenance and that's what you build in your regular operations fund for that if you recall during the budget process we have a capital projects plan that all that goes into so our capital projects plan supports whatever we want to pay out of our operations fund the capital projects plan does not um list things that are done from The Debt Service that are um a bigger construction so um while doing that of course we have our operations fund um at the end of the year we look at our operations fund and our education fund and if we have any you know money in our rainy day fund we look at all those dollars at the end of the year and we want to um keep those stable so to speak we want to make sure that we're paying our teachers and our staff the best that we can pay them and market value all those type of things and then if we have excess then districts customarily move some of that money from those major funds into our r day so our rainy day is just like it sounds it's for a rainy day most districts um usually have a normal of 10 to 15% in their rainy day in case the wheels come off the bus during a legislative session and you have two years and you don't have extra money then that will help you limp along so that's usually why that's a customary um percentage to have in our education and operations fund um it is good to have 15 to 20% as a minimum we here at um uh Huntington have um very nice balances in our um in our finances and our cash balance by Design now we are taking some of those cash balance just like you knew um the last two years when we had our two-year agreement to be able to provide higher salaries for our teachers now on the other side our operations fund now we are looking at that facility study that was done several years ago and we are starting to chip away at that facility study between the two funds that I talked about our debt service fund and our operations fund So currently um we have over 30% balance in our operations fund been working with u Mr trout and other administrators to um work that facility study all of those things into um spending some of that cash balance um down to be able to do that in conjunction with our debt service so all of that just to give you a little history um with this transfer we are asking for um $1.88 million to be transferred from our operations fund um to our rainy day fund one thing that I did neglect to say is we did end up with slightly higher balance in our operations fund due to if you recall our Esser our Esser grants that we had during the pandemic it was a threeyear grant that we had we had cares one Sr 2 Sr three for sr2 and sr3 when you have grants you usually have to use the restricted indirect cost rate which usually average in the 2% two to three% during this time the federal government decided that we could use the unrestricted rate which then ranges from 13 to 15% big difference of Revenue that that brings into the district so the the higher amount this year is due to that excess that we received from that difference of that percentage that we were able to put in our operations fund therefore that's why we're asking for this amount to be transferred into our rainy day after this transfer um if board approves uh it would still leave over 33% cash balance in our operations fund and a six% cash balance in our rainy day still not up to that 10 to 15% that is usually the norm but we're getting there so we're making strides on both sides um to get to our um goals here at Huntington now I know that's a lot of information but you do have the resolution in your packet and I'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have at this time for this res for this year end transfer resolution thank you Mrs Smith would anybody like to make a motion reference approval of the 2024 year end transfer resolution make a motion to approve the make a motion to approve the 202 go ahead Ryan go ahead Matt go ahead Ryan you got it go ahead Matt motion to approve the 202 transfer resolution as presented thank you Mr melt Mr wall would you like thank you thank you Mr wall any questions or comments for Mrs Smith I just want to thank Becky for I just want to thank Becky for trying to have have fun with thisiz I want to thank Becky for explaining this because it was a little confusing when we came outs a lot better definitely explains a lot better and makes more understandable basically she's getting us basically she's getting us final better Financial place by doing this yes we are we are incredibly blessed to be just candid with you of where we sit financially with this and Becky you play a large role in that but as does the board and pass boards along the way I need I need to add to too Becky uh shared with you some of the goals what we're going to be working with you by the summer is in our strategic plan she hit on a few of the goals we have and so how are we going to reach those how we going to obtain those financially and so um she gave you the brief history lesson but this is more of this was forthcoming um this summer along the way so um Becky I continue to appreciate your guidance and Direction but this puts us in a really good spot so thank thank you any other questions and comments thank you Mrs Smith we will hearing none will vote on the motion qu I'll pass it I also want to add while you're um voting that reminder that next month I'll be doing the year presentation so a lot of the stuff might come up then and also um updated cash balances how we ended up the um calendar year remember these funds are calendar year budgets January through December so we'll be giving a a nice highlight to that next month thank you Mrs Smith Mr wall will be excited okay moving on we'll go to that's not that's not fair facility G facilities G1 request to award request to award requests for proposal for Crest View serving line project uh Mr Alex Burgess our director of Food Service uh has this presentation for you and recommendation thank you Alex thank you thank you for having me this evening I'm very excited to be here tonight um I know you guys have uh the nuts and bolts of all the information in your packets I want to give you a little bit of background on the information that you have in front of you five years ago when I came on to Huntington schools I started working with previous director Ken Akens uh we had a goal to replace all of the serving lines in our secondary schools we started with Riverview Middle School where which is where I was kitchen manager at the time uh it was definitely in dire need uh of an upgrade and we took on that project and completed it within that first year when I was there obviously the room that you're in and the commons down the hall uh we took a few years on that project it was the next one that made sense with the construction projects going on here uh I think you can see with your eyes and hear the feedback that we have from the student staff and community that it's really come to fruition and been amazing uh the final piece in the puzzle is a Crestfield middle school project um so what we've done then what I've done then in the LA past few months is I put together a request for proposal we published it um as we need to for a project of this size we received four bids uh we put together a grading scale and we received um like I said the four bids and the company that uh gave us the most desirable bid is a company called CNT design and Equipment um they're actually the company that did the project at Riverview Middle School I worked closely with them before they did a great job any uh issues that we had with the equipment that came from manufacturer they were very quick to help uh resolve very quickly follow through they still work with us to this day uh the project manager that that proposed this is the same project manager at that time uh as far as funds for the project uh the their bid that they came through with was $192,000 during my time as assistant uh director two years ago I was able to procure a grant from action for healthy kids in the amount of $139,000 specifically for this project so the majority of the project actually is going to be funded by a grant um that will uh expire in July of this year they are saying that they will likely be able to have this project done by spring break if not definitely for sure by June of this year so it looks like it will be able to come through fruition by then uh we're hoping that we can show the kids this year this uh by the end of spring break when they come back a new serving line but if not then for sure when the kids come back in the fall so the the recommendation is to award the bid to CNT design and equipment for the project itself thank you Mr Burgess would anyone like to make a motion uh recommending the award of the Crestview serving line project make a motion to award the Crestview serving line project um requested request for proposal as presented to CNT thank you Mrs Heim and anybody want a second second thank you Mr mclen any questions or comments from Mr Burgess I just want to say that's amazing like the timeline the the grant the being able to pull all of that together and one it's like you just handed it to us as a gift in a nice little bow I can tell you that it it gives me chills yeah it really does um not just that it did kind of to say it came together uh it did not um it was a lot of hard work not on my own but with with the team that I work with and the help that I have in my office uh with my kitchen manager in in the district the fact that they do such a great job every day um that I know that I can lean on them and know that when I walk into the kitchens whether it's at any of our elementary middle and high schools that they're doing their jobs every day I don't have to worry about it you know I walk in it's they're just doing their jobs and so it allows me the freedom to be able to go in and spend time in the office to look at a grant and I mean $140,000 that's a lot of money and not everyone has the time to do that and I'm blessed to have a team that is so strong in our district that takes care of our kids so well to be able to do that so I'm blessed to have that and to be able to support my team in that way that is um I'll Echo what Mrs Heim said that is just almost too good to be true honestly um fantastic news it's part of the reason our finances are so good to be honest with you um because of stuff like that um just thank you so much for your work on this any other comments or questions quick question on the the construction timing since this is going to be during the school year how will that affect the the students going through the lunch line it won't the uh the the serving themselves are pretty much just a drop and go there's not going to be any kind of construction that will affect the building itself the the current serving lines that are there can literally be wheeled out of the building um you and I could do it ourselves in an hour um the guys are coming in the only the only concern would be is if there was an electrical plugin that does not match up but they should know that ahead of time going into it and it's just a matter of them bringing it in setting the equipment and the the plugins and making sure everything works so it should really just be a matter of an afternoon uh even if it isn't something that they that they can do over spring break they could do it after school in one day that's a great question um anything further from Mr burges hearing none we'll vote on the motion Alex thank you I'm really grateful for you um with the award that you won earlier tonight and with this you're doing incredible work for our kids and so I just want to say thank you it's very much my pleasure you know it motion passes 70 moving on to G3 thank you Mr Burgess um moving on to G3 I'm sorry G2 request award bid for h&hs restroom renovation project yes Mr Allen uh Terry thornsbury from veran is here to talk about the proposals um and awarding the bid for the high school renovation project all right um appreciate the board uh give me the opportunity tonight to present these um this bid tab to you so the restroom renovation project for hunt North High School um started in October um and so we uh came in and met um with previous uh principal um Pat and he gave us some guidelines on what he wanted to see we also got some input from uh staff and and other administrators so the project consists of the four main student restrooms or eight if you count each one separately uh various staff restrooms throughout the building and the auditorium and Arena restrooms and then two additional new additions uh to the building which would be single use restrooms um in most cases they all going to be now ada8 compliant we are actually taking some walls down to open things up make them ada8 compliant construction schedule would start as soon as possible and the timeline for uh completion of construction would be in November of this year 2025 it would be a phased project in which we'd work with the contractor to close restrooms down one at a time as they work their way through the building uh saving the uh restrooms uh down the hallway toward the commons uh for summer definitely and the additions to the building would also be done during the summer um funding for this project came from the most recent Geo bond that was secured in December and that's why the next agenda item is there because we went ahead and worked ahead uh because that's what Huntington schools taught me was work ahead and get your stuff done so so we got everything done we send you a proposal after we're finished so um we received four bids from Allen County Builders G&L uh Corporation JG Bowers and shinkle construction JG Bowers came in the low bidder at 1,20,000 and that did did come in actually just a little under our budget so that was great um so tonight I do recommend that we accept an award the bid to JG Bowers in the amount of 1,20,000 thank you Mr thornsbury would anyone like to make a motion regarding the award of the bid motion to accept the bid for the Huntington North High School restroom renovation project from JG Bowers thank you Mr Melcher anyone wish to Second thank you Mr mlen any questions or comments for Mr thornsbury so no more bathtub urals and all that good stuff no we're g to moize they lasted a long time you g to put those up for sale for vintage can if you're [Laughter] interested uh any further comments uh let's vote on the motion motion passes 70 moving on to G3 hccs and Verdan architectural design restroom renovation proposal go ahead Mr Allen Mr thornsbury's also here to talk about the proposal between the conditions for the project for the restroom between hccs and in architecture and design yeah I don't have it in front of me I didn't print off a copy but um our proposal is based off construction cost it's a percentage of the fee it's an indry standard and in this case since you didn't have funding uh we waited till January to put it together we already had the bid so that's the number and uh we're just going to play u get things moving as soon as we can based on uh the previous item we'll get the contractor moving and and uh get the ball rolling on some middles and hopefully get in here pretty soon thank you Mr thornsbury would anyone like to make a motion reference the proposal motion to approve the Huntington North High School restroom terms and conditions between hccs and vidiian Architectural Design Inc as presented thank you Mr Melcher anyone wish to second second thank you Mrs Heim any comments or questions for Mr thornsbury hearing none let's vote on the motion it's not like we're going to see you here uh Mr thornsberry between now and the fall right every day every day that's what I thought thank you Mr thornsbury motion passes 70 moving on to G4 h&hs and hccs administrative center community open house yes this is just information for you this evening uh we have set the date for an open house for March the 6th of this year from 5: to 7 um with for the cafeteria here the family consumer science areas here at Huntington North High School and the science areas at Huntington North High School um in addition uh we'll be having an open house over at the new administrative Center U we've been talking about this a long time and it's coming to fruition uh at 1415 Flex Mill Road we will also be doing that at this point I'll take the opportunity to tell you that we are super close on having that done probably as early as this week uh mostly uh within that and so we are planning we we we're in one big nice happy central office right now we are all going to move together happily uh on February the 20th and 21st uh coming up so um the next time we have a board meeting we will be actually uh all in the new administrative Center by that time so it's just informational only that's great news I know we were excited about it and looking forward to it and um certainly is seems like it happened really quick but I know it didn't any questions or comments for Mr trout all right moving on to H1 policies policy 6250 requiring ADM counts for the purpose of State funding and verification of residency for membership yes this is the second reading we're just recommending your approval of policy 6250 um this is required ADM count for the purpose of State funding and verification of residency for membership Um this can be really confusing with open enrollment um the amount of man hours we put in every year for residency requirements we shared a chart with you you know just earlier today but this uh Schoolboard policy uh brings us up to current with that so I'm just recommending your approval thank you Mr trout would anyone like to make a motion reference this approval I recommend the approval of policy 6250 required ADM counts for the purpose of State funding and verification of residency for membership as presented thank you Mrs Miller anyone have a second second thank you Mrs Heim any questions or comments prior to voting hearing none let's vote on the motion motion passes 70 moving on to H2 volume 34 number two poly poliy packet uh we had one of our members um had some questions about a few of the policies in the packet and to give Mr trout some time to answer those questions we are going I'm going to ask for some of our motion to table this um item until next meeting until the meeting in February can I get a motion for tabling a motion to table uh item H2 34 number two policy packet thank you Mr Carl can I get a second second thank you Mr Melcher any questions or comments let's vote on tbling this policy just to be clear this will come back at the February 24th 2025 meeting you know the time in between this meeting and the 25th I'll make sure I answer those questions and send it back out to all of you and then if you have any additional ones we could I'll give us plenty of time then okay thank you Mr trout uh motion passes 70 moving on to H3 this evening I bring to you policy 5410 promotion replacement and retention and I want to highlight uh retention um for the fact of keeping us in compliance with the Senate and World act 1 2024 uh in compliance obviously with the doe regarding uh third grade students that can be retained if they do not pass uh the I3 test it's now I read um but based on the ACT it's it's I 3 and so uh I draw your attention this is a first reading but I draw your attention to in the policy if you'll look to good cause exemptions that may be considered because a corporation shall consider retention of third graders who do not pass I read 3 but they give uh five examples there of good cause exemptions that would exempt a student from being retained so this could have some major impl implications uh for us as a district um but in compliance with the Senate enr act one and the id id our policy needs to State this to be in compliance that window we'll do a first reading tonight second reading will be February 24th and then our IAD window opens March 3rd through the 14th and this need to be completed prior to us doing that test testing so uh just wanted to keep you posted again in compliance with the doe uh prior to October 1st uh we sent a letter to all K3 parents letting them know the importance of their children reading or our kids reading at uh above at above grade level by the time they leave third grade but also sharing with them what we're going to be doing as a district to support their children and it also puts in there uh the good cause exemptions uh the fact that they could be retained and a part of Senate r act one uh requires us as a district to have summer school for grades students in grades 2 and grades three that were either at risk or did not pass the I3 test so uh some serious implications um for us all as a district uh but making sure that our kids are successful and they're learning to read prior to leaving third grade very important so just want to update you a first read we'll do a second read February 24th but I I draw your attention to the good cause exemptions of how students could exempt from being retained thank you thank you Mr Peters uh just to be clear this is happening this year or is this correct yes yes any questions or comments for Mr Peters before we move on yeah so Mr Peters this is also why we are allowed to test our second graders as well so that we can you know do early intervention and help those students that are struggling in second grade move on and pass the the I read yes and if you remember two years ago it was a pilot that you could pilot you could opt in to test your second graders and so we have opted in but now it's mandatory that all second graders will be tested so they'll have two opportunities to take it in second grade they'll have two opportunities to take it in third grade and in that summer retest their third grade year if they do not pass and they do not qualify for one of these good cause exemptions they will be retained understood now those tests they take in second grade are the same exact tests as third graders okay yes yes so if they pass in second grade they don't have to take don't have to understood okay all right thank you Mr Peters moving on to H4 volume 35 number one policy packet um yes this is our first reading tonight and so you'll see that there are a variety of Schoolboard policies that is for your perusal um for reading uh just so you know we have new board members here so it's just got to take advantage of this time uh to tell you about this we use uh an organization called Neola um a lot of school districts across the state of Indiana use this organization to help them with their Schoolboard policies you will notice when I give you the first reading I include all the markups so you can see um how those you know what we chose what we didn't choose now what's important to know that Neola has a group of uh lawyers and attorneys that this is what they do for fun is they help us put all of this together um now when I have questions about any of this sometimes I will talk to our local Council Mr Wy get his thoughts and opinions and suggestions in on this too uh sometimes these are new board uh uh items that you have not had before in the past sometimes they're revisions of what you've had before in the past so for example this whole group that I give you if you would click on any of those um what you will see is the markups you can see what we selected what we didn't select um and you please understand that uh if also if I have any questions Neola has reps that that I can call and talk to all these reps are retired uh superintendents um that have been in the field and so at our previous District name from the past from here is Dr Spalding um when I had questions uh he would walk me through this along with our Schoolboard attorney and so just please know I it dawned on me when we were put putting us all together that for Aaron and for Deb we're throwing a lot of these Schoolboard policies at you but this is a process behind the scenes um that we do do I would also be incredibly remiss if I did not say a huge thank you to Mrs Gray who has the patience to help me through this process uh with the technology um which can be challenging at times and so Cindy thank you um she is a true colleague and a team member in this and a great support with that now when you have these and I know that when you read these in your spare time if you have any questions uh don't hesitate to reach out to me to let me know but there's a reason that we do a two- reading process is that you have time to digest this to call to ask questions if not me amongst yourselves uh just to seek some clarification along the way because it can be quite confusing the last part of this there are administrative guidelines that go with this so if you look on your board docs um I want to draw your attention to that under policy okay and if you'll see that you can see the um I just lost my train of thought administrative guidelines um within that and if you need some help with that please call Cindy or myself and we'll be glad to do that administr of guidelines are um we' update those then is that uh once you approve these then the administrative guidelines are also updated in that process and so if a building principle comes along one of these situations how are they supposed to handle it then you can read all of the administrative guidelines that go with the Schoolboard policies okay so there are hours upon hours upon hours upon hours of work uh that goes into this and um my goal is to have us completely caught up by this summer there may be somebody at the table who disagrees with that but I keep reminding her we're going to meet that goal in that timeline as we're going to be uh doing that but no in all seriousness we have we've had worked a lot with this and if you do at any point in time have any questions please let us know but I want to take this opport especially with a couple of you being brand new that this is what this is how this whole process works okay thank you Mr trout yep any questions or comments for Mr trout before we move on hearing none we'll move on to I items of discussion by board members i1 Tiff District repres Representatives um Mr wall you have some maybe some information about this yeah so uh it's been my little it's been my little uh project to try to understand a little bit more about Tiff districts and our representation on those as school board members uh in that process I identified the fact that Huntington County has four districts they are located in the City of Huntington hton County has one R has one and in that I also found current active members on those Tim Allen is representing Count's representing Warren and we had two open spots with the departure of Mr Roth Huntington City and roke um those areed by those are appointed by the individual City of Huntington actually reached out to me uh today I believe and request asked if I would be interested in serving on that uh on that on that tip board and I have so the city will be hopefully soon or may doing that but that still leaves us an open position in my communications with them they were wondering if any board member would be interested in serving on that board with them in those Communications they say they meet not very often but I believe they said last year they met six different times so I was just going to bring it to the board to see if anyone was interested in representing the school those positions are non members but it gives us an opportunity as a school corporation to represent the interest of school corporation on those boards uh if needed thank you Mr wall H do we have anyone from Rono that be willing to do this thank you Mr meler thank you Mr melter Mr melter said he would be willing to serve on the Rono Tiff District um representative um do we need to then have have a motion for accepting the appointments of Mr wall as Huntington City I I would say that if uh Mr wall is willing to serve even though he hasn't been appointed yet if you'd want to take a action item to that and then since uh Mr meler enthusiastically um volunteered to serve for ronoke then uh what's that I think we do all four at once yes so uh Tim what I would suggest would be a motion to accept Mr walls as C Huntington City yourself as Huntington County Mr Melcher with Ron Oak and Warren with Mrs Heim and so that would be that would be my recommendation now understanding that Huntington's appointed so we're a little ahead of the game but just when that happens then we're ready to go but it it's all kidding asight it's essential that you understand what's occurring in those districts okay along the way so thank you would anyone like to make a motion supporting Mr Trout's appointments I make a mo make a motion to uh she's already done it faster I she's already done it f sorry I'll second it thanks Mr wall any questions or comments for the uh Representatives hearing let's vote on the motion sorry about the delay Mr wall motion passes 70 move on to I2 items of discussion by board members does anybody have anything they like to share I do actually I would say I would just say that we are in I believe week four of the legislative session to this point there have been 1,232 bills filed at the State House 68 689 of those in the house and 543 of those of those 13232 bills 191 of those are currently being tracked byba having something to do with uh schools so there is a lot going on down the state should you should be getting a weekly update from terryland the exective director ofba I encourage you to read that a lot of stuff is going on right now with a lot of interesting things associated education so keep an eye on that and I'll try to bring back stuff as I see it coming through make sure we're all aware thank you Mr wall and he is right isba has a lot of stuff going on right now um the email that they that goes to all of us is very informative make sure you check that out Miss s yes um I wanted to publicly uh thank Mr Peters for all the work that he did uh along with Mr trout um just to make the the day for the Flint Springs um teachers possible uh to go in and um just remember their coworker I notic you didn't ask me to sub yeah um you know it was really a sad day um um Jay and I went to the went to the viewing that day and the family was so enormously grateful uh for the support from the school district um and when you have somebody has impacted kids for that long in such a positive manner um I was amazed at the outpouring of support even from the kids and the staff that day so um not easy decisions but the right decisions by far and so thank you Carrie um Jay was instrumental in working with the state uh on that day so I'm grateful for also his leadership in that process amen anything else from the board if not I'll take a motion to adjourn thank you Mrs Heim in a second thank you Mr Carl all those in favor say I I I

for OverWatch 2 BL and cyber cyber Tyber a the Cyber tyers anyone but the Cyber tyers that's it guys I'm out I'm leaving the team yeah join us tomorrow for OverWatch 2 Bluff and cyber Tigers versus the Gibson Southern Titans final botle flip before we go [Music] [Applause] n [Music]

9 million 2.9 07104 uh which is a a pretty significant increase from the 2023 as you will note um certainly our interest environment has um helped to to drive that um higher interest rates um certainly assist us when it comes to Investments we've also had um an increase in the amount of funds that we've been able to invest uh due to our cash balances thank you Mr miles um I do have one question on that regarding the 15 million in 2023 which was went up to 45 million in 2024 can you explain the 30 million gap because and also for the public too like in our board goals we always uh we have a a board goal to maintain a cash balance but this is in fact different correct yes this is different and it's a very good question so this is this is sort of all of our funds all of our cash in one pot if you will um so everything that we hold um we're able to um then keep into whether it's U more of a checking type account a more liquid status um or invested and so prior to this year it was roughly that $15 million um those those Investments are still in place uh but as the year went on our balances grew um some of that's being able to to recover some of those cares dollars that you saw on the other slides that maybe monies that we would have had to expend upfront and then we get reimbursed for so as our cash balance grew to the point in those in this uh in our bank account basically we were able to invest more of that thank you Bard any other questions Miss Dunn so I know I've asked this question and it still myths me to be very honest because as you alluded to in the report um in 2018 was the last year that the state of Indiana used the term general fund and I see that we're still using that term which seems very misleading to the public given that the doe has moved to uh the educa or I'm sorry that the state has moved to education fund and so I my assumption is that on this report when you say general fund that you mean education fund and I'm wondering if for the public we can move to the nomenclature that the state has adopted to make it easier for our constituents to understand um what we're talking about because it is confusing when we're using Lang language that is from 2018 a great question and I'll and I'll probably um not do anything to make this clear by my answer the general fund actually uh referenced here is not it's not the same general fund that you're thinking of uh this uh you can see in years past uh going back to 2021 uh we had interest from bonds and other sources um in total this is um I i' I've maintained the same chart obviously since years ped uh but basically this is speaking in General in terms of um our general bank account so this is not just general fund dollars this interest is earned again off of all of our deposits so is there a term that we could use that would be I guess I probably so for purpos of this it is really confusing as somebody because I think this is to be real honest can be very confusing for members of the public can be confusing for board members as well and it not then for an e genomics course that I took at Georgetown um probably more confusing and so I just think in terms of making sure that we're really clear with what that is I do want to say it's very exciting to see the health of the organization and appreciate your leadership and so um don't want to I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the wonderful work that you do for our district Mr miles um because this really is exciting um but I think it just would be helpful for us to use the same terminology that the state is using noted very good question board any other questions or comments body and then just to clarify Mr miles um for all of our students that are patiently waiting thank you for that um this is done annually for Indiana code and our board policy but also the focus on this is on our Financial Health correct correct in regards to our investments yes Investments and just the General Financial Health of the district as uh this was a step from the state years back because the state was going into the School takeover business and so this was a transparency effort required not only of Lawrence Township again all all districts across the state and yes we do it every January as required by stat thank you I do have one other question along those lines because I know that we all have seen current legislation that is um currently um being suggested to to be for um readings and so forth is just for insurance at no time this is money that is Lawrence Township's money and is not subject to the state taking these funds such as wanting to take percentages of our tax dollars for use by Charter organizations but this money is Lawrence Township's investment for our school district is that clear and correct I think that's important too for MERS of the public to know yes that is accurate so Lawrence Township has been thoughtful stewards of the district's dollars and as such we've gone from $74,000 in this in the district's reserved to now $2.9 million and and I would and I that is Investments that our district has diligently sought that will not be taken by outside entities correct correct and that those those dollar figures that your referen there Miss D um are that is our annual interest uh that we accumulated that year so yes we've seen a tremendous tremendous growth in our annual investment interest very well done very thank you thank you board good questions let me just remind the Board of Education I just want to remind you that no one can come and take your money away from you and we are on our own the money that's in front of you ladies and gentlemen the resources that we have in this school corporation to exist and so it is really refreshing to hear that we've got investment amounts at that level that's a very positive because those are extra dollars that we can use to help support our teachers teers help support our students help support our Corporation there is no one who will come and help us this board here is responsible for the finances of its students our revenue streams are very minimal and the work that we have to do is very important and so the resources we have here are ours it belongs to the metropolitan school district of Lawrence Township I do want to emphasize to the board you are one of only two corporations in Maring County that don't have an operating referendum ladies and gentlemen an operating referendum is is when we have to go back to our taxpayers because we can't pay our bills we are paying our bills in Lawrence Township without that so that is is a celebration a thank you of the stewardship of not only this board with your predecessors before you and the work of every single administrator in the school corporation that works on this daily I'm tough when it comes to money remember that thank you can I ask one other question because I do think it's important for members of the public to understand this especially during this time when there is so much question so many questions about school Finance could you just make sure that for members of the public this money that is in our investments is separate from our rainy day fund that is correct and our rainy day fund currently is sitting at approximat at 14 uh rainy day is roughly 10 million milon and so are these money is this money that we have in invest ments are we able to access this money should there be a time that we need to access this so this would be in addition to rainy day we'd be at about 13 or about yeah 13 million that we would have in reserves if needed to tap into actually you would you would point to um our balance that's on this uh the report I think if I can slip back to it that balance is sort of that's sort of all of our funds available and it shows around 45 5 million because it's it moves month per month and so that would include the education fund as well right okay and that's what my assumption was in addition to the education fund but these are more should we say discretionary in nature as opposed to the education fund I don't know I just um these are operation funds other funds I mean we have a a laundry list of funds that we have across so if you kind of dumped it all into a pot this is what you've got gotcha thank you very much one one additional question Mr miles I app appreciate that the board would like you to have an opportunity to more thoroughly answer some of the questions that I raised um not really questions more just observations of the report um when can we expect those answers and uh can we make that a part of our public information um that is available to the public as far as the the responses that we've already provided um I would those are those are done those take long to produce for you um if I I'd have to look at the specific questions and if there's something that would take more digging then obviously it may take a little more uh research but I wouldn't I wouldn't think more than you know hopefully by the end of the week no the responses we have uh board member Lawrence are public this audit is public information ladies and gentlemen you can go out and look at any school corporation municipality when the State Board of account does our audits it is public information so the responses that we have Mr miles and I submit it will be on the public and so we will give you responses to there we also have to remember the board not all of you are involved in the exit conference usually your board president sits in with myself and as well as Matt miles so you're really a part of that if there are questions about that Miss Lawrence we will have detailed information for you our audit the last audit we just had for our extracurriculars lasted 5 minutes community that means you had a very good audit I've done AUD for many many years as a principal and now as a superintendent for 12 years I've never had an audit where they did not find something that we needed to improve the bottom line is if you have an audited section where your money is missing you as board members in the community would know that we've had some Financial issues that was not inside of our audit at all we had nothing like that uh when there are federal dollars involved and some of my cabinet members know this federal government is very tough if one piece of paper is off they will site us we will correct it we will move forward okay so that's part of the process so nothing we have in that audit the public can see it at any time it's already on the State Board of accounts you know how to do it Google State Board of accounts you can go in and look at any corporations audit we're unique the MSD of Lawrence Township because we're audited every year other school corporations every other year okay because of our size we go through an annual audit so we get a little bit more information than others okay this D works for a district that's large like ours they do it every year also okay we go every year so we'll we'll we'll make sure the board has that thank you thank you Mr miles for that information thank you board for the questions at this time I will close out the board of Finance meeting and now I'll call us to order for a regular board meeting stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance aliance the United States of America and to the for it stands Nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all at this time we will move down for the superint award Johnson good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board we're so glad to have so many community members with us this evening tonight we will be honoring our secondary performing arts and to present those Awards we have Mr Dan kosmik assistant superintendent of secondary education thank you Miss Johnson Madam president Dr Smith members of the board we are excited tonight to recognize several students in our Performing Arts areas at our middle and high schools who have uh been awarded different honors at the local and state level up first from bser Middle School director of bands Eric Park um for participation in the uh Indiana band Masters Association All Region band um we'd like to honor Anthony Amos Sarah Ducket Michaela Johnson and Genesis Perez Sanchez [Applause] instrument any parents want to come take pictures you're welcome to come up here as well rights in the middle he got his metal to make sure we can see everybody on each Mr come on in make sure board members we can see all right here one two three cou right please congratulations to our [Applause] Bears up next from Fall Creek Valley Middle School director of band Shannon Jones for all reading all region honor Orchestra we have Maria Meyer on violin for All Region honor band we have Jocelyn imple on clarinet valyria barbar Manilla on saxophone alto saxophone the last one and Cameron cber on trombo congratulations [Applause] see Dr Mah there she is okay there she is make sure we can see everybody all right one two oh I can't see you miss done there we go yeah let me try that again there we go ulations up parents congratulations W [Applause] cats we're going to do a combined LC and Ln tonight from Lawrence Central band director dear Marshall uh we have U Mr uh for sorry this is for all state Orchestra Mr Oliver Heyman who is ill this evening but he made the allate orchestra on French horn and we have bayy Workman who was uh the co-winner of the Indianapolis symphonic orchestra Young Musicians competition on bassoon uh and also was selected as a member of the uh Indiana All State Orchestra and for Lawrence North principal Brett cross so we're going to do a combin schol and from Lawrence North are all regen Orchestra Emily sanon Titus Henson over here and Aiden bowling [Applause] then just a little bit there we go that's great okaye you got a mom thank you congratulations again to all our performing art students thank Youk I look like you [Music] all right thank you students school and parents for coming out um if you'd like to leave it this time we'll be continuing the riveting part of our business part of the board meeting so congratulations all right now we're going to our information items Mr Roger Smith Blue Ribbon update thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board uh we continue on with the renovations at Belzer Middle School the band room is going back together a couple pictures there of that same room uh the kitchen I told you a couple weeks ago Christmas we blew it up and now we're putting it back uh as they move forward with that renovation B Creek Valley the main gym uh the upper walls are being redry wall and uh uh new material going up on the upper deck there and the commons area they continue to move through that area uh with paints and uh wall coverings Auditorium is complete and uh we'll be uh able to turn that to them for use this week softball uh as weather permits they have been working a little bit out there uh as we look at the softball baseball and the tennis s uh brick work at the new LCC is going up uh you see the ents of plastic around the building that is for protection and heat for us to do the brick work and the exterior green board continues on we're going around the uh uh Southwest and and south side of the building the interior first floor was uh inspected so we're ready to put drywall a lot of drywall up on the rooms uh on the first floor again new first floor uh office areas we have started four rooms in this building to get a jump start to uh this will be our file storage room for the disc at a lower level uh area of this building we'll have these completed and ready to move out of five rooms upstairs in to these rooms for renovation to start uh in June thank you Mr Smith board do you have any questions or comments Florence on the CATE Renovations Mr Smith uh is that temporary space that they're moving into or will that be their permanent location I know you mentioned that we're moving them out of their current location in order to Begin work on the um on the renov what room again sorry you were you were yeah these down this is space uh this was additional storage space we have had here in the building got it okay I've got 13 rooms of uh just districtwide storage that we've used over the years so this has not impacted any students here uh we would able to get a jump start on that so that the timing then getting the five rooms cleaned out upstairs we have to move everything from the second floor to start that first phase renovation apologies for misunder understanding it's a bit like when you have to move your closet in order to be able to you know Roger got a lot of great question board any other questions or comments on the Blue Ribbon updates all right thank you Mr Smith now we will move on to our strategic plan uh spring update Mr Mr kosnik and Dr Brown good evening president Norman Dr Smith members of the board we're so pleased to bring to you tonight an update on our strategic plan our three-year plan and just as a reminder as you might recall we began this work in the 2223 school year where we had both focused groups in the fall and Community meetings uh in the winter um from that work uh we created our strategic plan with six pillars that not surprisingly mirror your board goals in topic areas as we go to the next slide you'll see those pillar areas and tonight we're going to bring you updates from each of the areas different members of our cabinet we'll give those updates and so we'll Begin by asking U Mr notor to bring us the academic achievement update thank you Dr hos Brown and good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board this first slide is an update on our Indiana college core that's a new College and Career credential it's new for the state it's also new obviously for Lawrence Township and just as a reminder it's a series of dual credit courses which result in 30 college credits that can be applied at any State University so this is a significant credential um that can save lots of money as students go on to college um as we're starting um in October uh last fall our counselors are really working hard to get the word out to our students and so took 35 uh elln and LC students to the ICC day at Indiana University to begin the introduction and the exposure to all that earning an ICC credential can bring uh both of our high schools have had a communication Blitz um to parents in a variety of different formats to get the word out because it takes planning of course to make sure that you've got the correct courses to earn the ICC uh the board of education has already been involved as you've approved courses that have become part of the framework for ICC so you approved those last fall and just in terms of the metric the current ICC projections for LC and Ln for the class of 2025 is 53 graduates so in year 1 53 graduates then in year 2 2026 for this particular credential 116 graduates this Slide the metric is to increase High ability programming for our elementary school so that's an important part of our strategic plan and so um again the board has already been involved by approving new dual language hi ability programs at both Mary castle and Oak Landon for this school year also approving new high ability Advanced curriculum programming in each of our elementary schools so we continue to have our self-contained High ability program but we also have high ability programming at every Elementary and these two particular additions have allowed us to more than double the number of students gaining access to Advanced curriculum so in our elementary we have 1,214 elementary students who have access to Advanced curriculum at this time thank you Mr notor we'll now ask Miss Bush to give us an update on our culture pillar Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board in the area of culture I have two areas that we'd like to highlight this evening and the first is increasing access to programs that demonstrate improved student health and well-being and we now have our third cohort of Educators that are being certified in the applied educational Neuroscience course with Dr Lori desel they will graduate graduate with that certification this spring we have had several um trainings for specialized groups just to build capacity for how we support students the most recent being Crisis Support team The Crisis Support team was trained in the prepare model of crisis response in October as you know we've had numerous vaccination clinics held in partnership with Care Source um including covid vaccinations flu shots and all childhood uh required vaccinations and those have been very successful we've gotten lots of kids and their families vaccinated and we have access to not only eye exams but glasses for any student who needs them throughout the district which is amazing we have links to our 211 find help link as well as the Immigrant Welcome Center resources on the LT website and the help me app is up and running which is a part of the CC safety Grant the next area is increasing stakeholder engagement and if you take a look we have increased our parent teacher conference participation to 90% for both ELC and Elementary levels and then for secondary we have increased the number of conferences by almost 500 students and this actually took place on the 17th January 17th we had um an eviction sealing Clinic uh where families were able to come to Lac to meet with attorneys to have their eviction sealed and have their garnishments reduced um to try and help with the housing crisis which we all know is just really impacting a lot of our families we have conversa classes that are being offered at Harrison Hill this year which teaches English or Spanish to families and staff depending on the need and then of course you know thanks to Dr Dana we have our weekly news you can use and we've had two of our five planned uh family engaged events for this year we've had two um parental account parental assistants to reduce truancy meetings we've had two of the three of those and then we have upcoming we'll have two family engagement nights where Dr Dominique Smith will engage our parents parents and staff just to teach folks about what restorative practice means what it is and what it's not and because that's one of our our goals as well to increase education around restorative practice thank you thank you Miss Bush we'll next ask Miss Johnson to give a staffing and people update good evening Madam president Dr Smith and members of the board board um we are proud this evening to bring you one of the particular um strategies that we've been working on in HR to increase staff support improve retention reduce turnover and improve workplace satisfaction among staff and that is through um partic having our employees participate in an exit survey so in 2425 we are in the second year of assessing workplace climate through our exit surveys and interviews um we continue to Monitor and analyze the feedback gathered from these exit surveys with a total of 45 staff members having completed them out of those we've had eight that were related to retirements while 37 were from resignations um HR aims to enhance the participation rates for these surveys and interviews um we've made effort to just make that more visible one example is we doing our road shows and we go around to all 22 facilities and share with the staff that that is something that's in place um our focus in 2025 we are shifting towards analyzing the results of the exit interviews um just finding effective ways when that information comes back from an interview who to disperse it to how can it um impact ideas create change will that up next for facilities we'll turn it over to Mr Roger Smith thank you Madame President Dr Smith members of the board facilities we constantly want to assess and evaluate and increase Effectiveness use of the space to support increase academic extracurricular alignment and opportunities uh we knew we had some buildings that are pushing their capacity level and uh completed that study of the entire District both Elementary and secondary buildings and uh currently monitoring those buildings we did find that again grass View Castle fors Clint and mcit actually the first three uh over capacity mcit were uh nearing capacity uh but priority two we we had our second priority that uh addresses the over capacity issues at cresview Mary Castle Forest Clan buildings and and of course that going out to bid we'll start those projects s in June of 25 and it' be about 13 months to complete those projects and we're in a feasibility study with mcit to to uh address the issues there that we have in that building and also the needed growth that we need for expanded programs we took last THS we took it the board took the tour last Thursday they know it thank you Mr Smith and as we look to maximize technology techology Dr Steve gine will provide an update on technology president Norman members of the board Dr Smith we're in the midst of three very important projects uh first and foremost uh upgrading our data centers that puts us in a good position so that should something happen we have a data center here and one down at the old Eastgate Mall should something happen to one the other one has the capacity to pick up the entire district and carry the load so we can also upgrade our financial uh software munis we can upgrade uh trans transportation and we can position ourselves to upgrade our phone system and comply with the new e911 regulations uh I'll bring to you here in just a few minutes about upgrading our fiber uh that's connecting our build our buildings and then uh as far as the Skyward transition from the SMS to cumulative we've set up a Skyward user group that's a representative group of high school administrators and counselors we meet every Tuesday and it's Pro to be very good we learn from each other we figure out little tricks or sometimes we get together and we submit tickets to Skyward and it's been very good for everyone involved last but not least because none of this can be done without the proper resources is Mr Matt miles so we're the Glamorous behind the scenes to make sure the resources are available to make all these wonderful things happen and as far as the Strategic plan that is really the goal of finances to increase the financial alignment with these strategic priorities and just just a few bullet points to share how we're doing so um one is just basically through salaries and benefits for across the board teachers classified Department chairs admin um the board approved those raises back in the fall and certainly that goes a long way to what we need to do here as a district is taking care of our employees um this the second bullet point there is to um develop a financial plan to make up for Budget shortfalls particularly in our curricular curricular resources um happy to say that was one of the one of the uh um deficits we were able to take care of this past year in 2024 um just over the years um the state or or parent parental funding what we charge in in book rent which we no longer charge um we had a deficit there so we were able to take care of that due to our cash balance in other areas um and then lastly uh second and third bullet points just really what we've done across the board in a in a kind of a um Global Financial Planning aspect and how we bring in our bonds what we do with our um facility planning equipment needs uh through the board support we've been able to put together a long-term plan uh to address those uh Capital needs as they arise as well as just internally meeting just more alignment kind of what Dr gagan was talking about internally to make sure a finance understands what's going on um outside of our four walls and how we can support that and work together to make sure we're achieving budgets and achieving the support needed thank you Mr miles the team the team is happy to answer any questions but I would also want to note for the board and remind you that in addition to the highlights that each uh Cabinet member provided tonight each quarter the cabinet goes through a pretty thorough and robust process of updating our dashboard that's posted online so as early as this month just a couple weeks ago we posted the second quarter update and that's that's located online for your viewing it anytime thank you board any questions or comments this is all great information Florence thank you all for the work that you're doing uh to support um to support this work I I know that it in some cases requires considerable effort for all of your teams so I am very appreciative of that um Miss Johnson as it relates to the exit interviews um I'm wondering I saw that 45 people um participated in exit interviews I'm wondering what like how many people we had retire and or leave the district so that we might infer what that percentage might be and then in addition if you could help me better understand how those exit interviews are offered to um to people departing the district is that something that is sent an email are they participating in face-to-face interviews how how are those conducted um I would say that in my time in HR I arrived in 2020 and there really was formal process in place and so when people would leave they would just maybe reach out and say I'd love to talk to you about my experience here so that was really informal so what I've enjoyed about the Strategic plan is we' really tried to make it systematic and so there is an email sent to every employee when we get a resignation so members of my team whether it's classified or certified they're sending them an email just sending them a link to complete a survey so that's done electronically and then we're able to get those results and So within that surve there is a question as would you like an exit interview so that's on top of the information we get from the service so um out of 45 in this two-year process I would say that from the first quarter of 24 the fall we had maybe two that requested a survey in November and so then it's a matter of you know contacting them by email or phone many of them have left so it's like we want to try to do that in a really timely manner and so then that can if they want to come in and I conducted them also virtually so just kind of talking to them asking them what have been the highlights what would you like us to know what were your reasons for departure would you ever consider coming back and just really kind of getting to know them and so what I'm doing as we go forward is trying to figure out the best way to summarize those and then how to disseminate that information so we've begun a process after we do have an exit interview to figure out um whether it's the principal or a cabin m interess what sorts of details come in I appreciate that and I appreciate that they get the option because I think that could be potentially intimidating for people and likely would lead to fewer people completing some type of exit interview um do you have a sense for how many people have left during that same time 45 put that data together for you thank you has over the last two years over the last two years thank you good question board any other questions Miss D first of all there is a lot to celebrate very exciting things happening in Laurence Township just a few clarifying questions uh Mr notor when you say that the exciting work that is happening um with our Indiana college Corp when you say apply at any State University I'm assuming that you're talking about state-run universities as opposed to private universities yes public universities so that would be public I just wanted to clarify for um people that might think that that applies to Notre Dame or okay yes um so just wanted that point of clarification so thank you um in terms of um Miss bush so many exciting things happening in your department uh in particular I am blown away at hosting the eviction ceiling Clinic that is truly incredible um do you have a sense of how many people were able to take advantage of that you know what I wanted final numbers when I walked away as they were cleaning up it was over a hundred oh my good it was over a 100 and I would like to note that they also said that this was the best setup that they had had so the our facilities are second to none and you know we hear that quite a bit and they were very very pleased with with how things went makes me so so so proud of the work that this district is doing so kudos to you and your team for leading that initiative um I'm assuming but don't want to that the conversa class that's offered at Harrison Hill um for folks to learn English um and Spanish is that open to anybody in the district it is okay that was just a point of clarification um then that is all so thank you very much D can I also add for Miss Bush because she needs Kudos there's a wonderful judge judge bacon who is a phenomenal lady uh I've met with her and Sean meets with her regularly we have to give compliments to our other agencies and partners out there for what they do for us also judge bacon has made it her mission to help our families in Lawrence Township is that correct Sean she has been a game changer for this community yeah and other communities are modeling their system after her so absolutely great thank you for that I do I do have one question since you're up here um the eyeglass is that through a grant the the free eyeglasses how are we you know paying for those so we have no we have generous um Community Partners so we have several different ones we have um we have um a an organization called new eyes where we have a partner they honestly I think they get grants and then our students are just the beneficiaries of it um Molly tavl called me one day and said hey can you use they have something that's called the gift of sight so they theirs as a certificate so there's different different ways that we access the exams in the glasses but we have like three different partners that we work with LensCrafters not not as much as as we have in previous years but it's mostly been um Dr tavl and new eyes is it's just it's amazing that's incredible are there like um things that families have to do in order to qualify or is it just they say I need glasses they say they need it and we get them connected okay great it's great now I love that because it ties into student achievement if you can't see well absolutely well at school so I mean that's AES and the last I'd say the last probably two months we've had a lot of Littles that have requested exams in glasses so lots of kindergarten in first grade so I was really happy to see that too do we offer similar services for our ELC kids or or not similar Services would they be able to get eyeglasses yeah we've had very little yep yeah the preschool is what I'm referencing not kindergarten sorry the very Littles is a very technical term we would be able to do that great this is amazing Bor do you have any other questions um I just wanted to speak to culture again and just say the impact thank you I know we are um taking a part in clld over at bser and the beauty of that is for parents that maybe aren't able to get their child to and from this program which is amazing um it's beneficial to have it within our schools which it also gives them access future forward to the scholarship through clld so just wanted to make that note that that is an excellent program and it's helpful for parents that you know may not have the time or the ability to get to that program so just wanted to speak to that and also if you could just expound really quick one of the things that made my heart sing was the help me app can you highlight that really quick I can and um Stephanie llant can help me with this help me with the help me app so the help me app we launched that in the fall and it is an app where families or students can CH they have three different options there is a piece of that where they can request crisis assistance if they are having a personal crisis so whether that is that they're experiencing anxiety depression suicidal ideation they can reach out for immediate immediate assistance in that way there's also a part that they can reach out for help with resources so food um we have had some people um make requests saying that they need help with housing um so it can be crisis assistance uh basic need assistance and then the third one is if they need assistance from their school so if something's happening where they feel like they're being bullied or they feel like um they needed some administrative support in some way they can reach out on the help me app to message the school in that way thank you I really love that app and so I thought it was important just to highlight that it's extremely important just as a point of note this part will go to the finance um as we were reviewing the CBA the collective bargaining agreement with the compensation increases um that funding is coming this speaks to our financial stability that that funding is coming out of our cash balance correct and it's also a part of we we did the first laser for that or not for that but we did a first laser in 2023 we have a secondary laser um to cover those funds as well can you just touch on that because when you see increase and things getting higher just want to speak to the um stability of finances sure Madam board member um happy to speak to that are from a bargaining standpoint uh we we bargain our new money from the state so that's our education fund money um that we get that's driven by enrollment uh it's also driven by whatever allocation the state is going to give us that given year so the next few months the state's uh back at work and and putting together our budget so that drives our funds that are available for that certainly our cash balance plays into that uh our cash balance was particularly vital in this case in this year um to your point you may recall we we had a 3 million laser that was a new uh cost to the district basically it's a set aside that that we requireed to make um to to minimize the increase of our health insurance expense to employees so without that we were looking at a 37 uh roughly percent increase and and so we were able to use our cash balance to buy that increase down um and have that money set aside should we need it for expenses on the health Healthcare side okay thank you just wanted just that further in depth expounding on it that this isn't anything new that we did something something similar with the first 2023 so just wanted to be mindful of that so thank you you're welcome I had a comment on slide it was number five on the academic achievement um I had the privilege to serve on the high ability Review Committee a few years back and and seeing this come to fruition that it's already doubled is that correct the number of students who have access and one of our one of our um goals as a board and the boards that came before us was to eliminate barriers and just to see that process go in action you know at the time and correct me if I'm wrong only four of our elementaries offered the high ability a lot of students test into high ability but choose to stay at their home school for social or familiar reasons and so having this access it is wonderful um and I also want to give a big kudos to the staff for doing all this heavy lifting too to make sure that all of our kids who test into High ability have that access so thank you thank you I do that reminded me of a question that I had how is the Dual language High ability program going um because we did offer that for the very first time this year um and just curious how how it's been received by the families and how the students are doing it's going well um 70 students so we really um surpassed what we expected um with two sections at oaklandon one section at Mary Castle so the demand from families certainly is there of course with any new program there's growing pains on the staff side there's growing pains on the school side um but we certainly are pleased with how first semester's gone Mr notor do they have to be part of one of our dual language schools in order to qualify for the Dual language program or could they just be a native speaker and test into high ability and prefer a Spanish inversion yes the lad thank you good question board any other this is all a wonderful update thank you everyone oh miss one more I'm Sorry Miss Bush you are very popular tonight you're like the most popular lady in the house um I did just a question because I know preciousness is at Bower and it is such an incredible program Miss bucket thank you for highlighting that because it truly is an amazing amazing partnership and so was just curious is there an opportunity to expand that to Creek Valley or do Fall Creek Valley students have the ability to go to belliser on those Mondays well it has to do with cl's capacity for one I figured as much yeah and um and you know it just depends on who gets in touch with them first you know what I mean it's just um there have been times when they've been able to do both at the same time um it's just that this semester that the capacity just wasn't there excellent because C's model for years ladies and gentlemen was that our kids had to go to them yes and do a little bit of arm twisting and discussion from favorite superintendent here they have expanded their programs out to the schools that coming out so we will continue to talk with c and hopefully they I mean just like any other they prodct they're looking for funding and people to support that really encourage that well and I know that not just the precious myth I know that there's also the programming for our African-American males as well but I was I'm wondering if maybe in just if there is an ability to try and recruit volunteers to become a CLD facilitator in our buildings so um and they would love that they would absolutely welcome that a lot of the people that are facilitators for clld have been there for many many years and it's just such an incredible program so Kudos we work ons um and then I did notice that the dashboard has been updated and really appreciate all members doing that for our community because it is such a transparent way to share the great work that is happening uh peace Learning Center I know that that was part of an Initiative for the 23 24 school year um to work with those peer mediators at the middle schools is that something that is still occurring to continue to to train those students that is in the process right now okay perfect thank you so much really appreciate all your leadership and work thank you board great questions and comments thank you everyone for the work on this um just one little uh housekeeping thing the um just for the public I remind myself this um as well the Strategic plan is done in threeyear increments and then we as a board will be setting our board goals every year for the upcoming school year so um I appreciate both plans and now I will move on to our transfer of funds update from Mr miles thank you madam president at this time I report back to you uh based on our December 2024 board meeting where the Board of Education approved transfers between the education and operations funds that would take place uh on 12:31 at that time we don't know what those amounts are so we always report back here at the end of January so at this time uh you have in front of you both the education to operations transfers and the operations to education transfers and actually went ahead and included uh we had transferred back in June as well we do the same activity June 30 and so our operation to Ed transfer uh in this case is outlined on the report uh as again as well as the uh the to Ops transfer the net transfer was about 8.5 million uh for the second six months of 2024 uh leaving a total transfer of about $6.6 million uh that um is equates to a 12.25% total total transfer uh percentage the the doe allows us to transfer up to 15% of our total revenue our total education fund Revenue our education fund Revenue was about $136 million this year and so the reason we do this and it's a little bit back to your point earlier Madam board member um about the educationgeneral fund and and this allows us to match up expenses uh with where they are being funded so um we do this twice a year uh and it allows us to track um track throughout the year so that we can compare to historical also you know from an accounting standpoint it allows us consistency um to be able to to to watch those funds um again a historical fashion but then we can also uh do this transfer every six months versus you know doing transfers regularly and that type of thing um our total just from U comparison State uh last year's transfer amount was 13.88% thank you Mr miles uh board any questions or comments All right we will move on to 4.4 Mr miles requests permission to approve investment resolution thank you madam president uh this agenda item kind of ties in with uh our Board of Finance meeting um from earlier this evening uh the board of Finance um also uh uh evaluates board policy as it as it relates to our investment policy icies and so every four years uh this resolution in front of you uh must be brought back in front of the board for approval and I will be doing so later this evening this was last approved in 2021 um actually the first time was approved and brought before the board in 2018 uh in essence this allows uh the investment officer to uh make long-term Investments Beyond two years and a lot of times that makes sense just from the uh environment of the investment Market um interest rates and that type of thing and it also is limited to 25% of our Investment Portfolio so we'll bring this back later that's my statute the the yes correct yeah correct and and this again we'll be uh will'll be brought back later this evening for uh for your consideration and your approval thank you Mr miles board any questions or comments Mr Mr miles uh where might the members of the public find where we are invested like where where is that reported out is that that um well we do our annual the the investment report you saw earlier tonight is is a very high level um but it you may recall down below there were some some areas where we had invested certain monies into bonds and those types things that is basically our reporting mechanism for uh and it's up on the screen right now um as far as within uh where kind of a large bucket um high level uh where those funds are being invested doesn't have down to a granular level um that's not something that that uh we put out for the public generally speaking um we do use what we would call a laded approach um basically have Investments that that come du at a different time period based on when we may need those funds um everything that we invest in is statutorily um Guided by the State and also our board policy board policy can be found I've got that board policy number um find the actual policy it's uh policy number 6144 uh which is available on board docs um it tells us exactly where where we can invest those dollars and certainly we work with our professionals to guide us in what makes the most sense um again based on the market so those do evolve over time just making sure we're not overly invested in Nvidia absolutely something like absolutely fair question I do have question because that was an excellent question board member Lawrence uh who does help manage our investments so I work with uh fifth thirds uh investment team okay so they are our investment partner okay thank you very good any other questions or comments board all right we will move on to Dr gagin request for RFP student devices as president Norman members of the board Dr Smith each year we come to you seeking permission to request bids for new Chromebooks for the students as a reminder we issue brand new devices at the sixth and Ninth Grade so we'll be purchasing around 3,000 devices and we have uh with your permission already sought uh the common school loan and have secured the funds with this common school loan to pay for those and so we'll be asking your later in the meeting board any questions what devices are we providing our students with Chrome books yes and we're looking at every um re uh manufacturer out there now very good any other questions if not we will keep Dr gag lineing up there for Action 4.6 okay president Norman members of the board Dr Smith uh back in the fall we uh requested permission to get bids on various eate projects and just to remind you about rate that's a federal program that provides funding for schools and libraries to connect buildings to the internet and then once you get the internet into the building to provide some of the equipment to distribute it um to the students um we have three of these so I'll won't go over the e- rate piece on the other two but uh the first one was eight Network connect connections uh if you recall I spoke to you uh back in the fall that some of our fiber is getting very old um and so the lifespan is about 20 years and that's where we are so we wanted to reach out and 20 years ago the options were limited now we have so much build out in Lawrence that we can go to Providers and ask if we can get into their new fiber line and so you'll see there are eight there we have the Amy beverin to wind Ridge Crest View to Lawrence North mckin and I guess I should back up Amy beverin to whining Ridge will go through verita prew to Lawrence North to zo and then zo also bundled together McKenzie to LC mckenzy to Skyles McKenzie to Fall Creek Valley McKenzie to Crest View and then Fall Creek to Indian Creek and Fall Creek to Winding Ridge just makes a big tangled web for us but that's what we need so we have that redundancy and so uh later on we'll ask permission to enter into contracts with these providers thank you Dr gagin now we'll move on to 4.7 update yes president Norman members of the board Dr Smith as I mentioned earlier we have two data centers we want to make sure that the one here that is our primary is up and going but we have the backup at Eastgate we want to be connected to that and we had to do the same thing is upgrade the the age on that fiber runs all the way down to Eastgate Mall and uh we went ahead and got a 100 gigabyte fiber which is a great big old pipe but if it's got to carry the entire Corporation it's got to have the capacity so again we'll be asking permission to enter into a contract with zo on that one thank you Dr gag line board any questions regarding that one I do have one question how how does our approach to network infrastructure compar to other districts do they have similar I mean is that everybody running giant pipes all over the city trying yes as the demand goes up you just you want to make the experience for the students as positive as possible so you know it's just like at home you don't want that delay you don't want that Zoom call that kind of you know that kind of thing and I know there were some compute issues at one point with McKenzie um in particular with some of our students who are doing some of the more advanced work with McKenzie assuming this is this is solving for those issues yes it's all all U allows us to get that virtual uh situation the the U virtual Network infrastructure is up and going so normal for public schools to do this as a part of Dr gagl mentioned eate just a quick rate because the Board of Education will be visiting the federal government this weekend yes and we need to remind them to keep e exactly so when I do my third one here the total the E rate projects that we are going to request is about $15 million and it'll only cost us 10% of that and so we wouldn't be able to do it and Mr miles would not feel real good about that if we try to do it all so action well information item 4.8 it's your show tonight yeah Dr gagan so president Norman members of the board Dr Smith the final one is now that we've brought the fiber to the building it's to distribute those um distribute that around the bu uh throughout the building a network switch is similar uh to an extension cord like a power strip so you bring it in and then you connect various devices in your home to the power strip it's the same idea with data a switch com is attached to the fiber that's coming in from outside and then every device in the building that needs data gets pled plug into that and so we want to purchase those so that we can continue to meet the demand uh of our students and staff very good board any questions or comments one additional question Dr gine do we have our own network Engineers that are completing this work or do we we use other we have three gentlemen on staff uh the uh the young uh child that was handed over to Mrs L plant uh he is married to Mrs to Mrs kamacho um and those are our system administrators and so they work on the day-to-day piece but we also Outsource uh two Network Solutions who happen to steal one of our best uh Network administrators years ago but he knows he built the he built our Network so it's nice to work with him thank you Bard any other questions or comments thank you Dr gagin appreciate it now we will move over to Mr miles for the financial update thank you madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time I present to you our normal uh monthly Financial reports um we that we do uh month-to month uh both our general fund and the uh Transportation report The Only Exception this this time is it's it's our year end report so um a little more added significance both are in uh happy to report in great great positions um first and foremost we'll look at we've got the transportation fund up there so I'll switch my sheets which is fine um Revenue up uh a little versus the original forecast and expenses down a little versus the original forecast so we'll take that in both areas um ending balance in our transportation fund you see at the very bottom $3,122 710 uh very uh healthy position for our transportation fund and then uh moving forward to the general fund um similarly our revenues exceeded our projected uh based on beginning of the year we were 169 million in Revenue expenses uh 69 million in expenses and just and some change there so um expenses were a little higher than what were originally projected we had some transfers um as we already spoke this earlier this evening uh one of which was uh the um the health insurance laser and so we funded that in part out of our general fund and also our textbook um balance that we also spoke about earlier this evening so all those are included in this year end balance1 6,126 320 uh 16,1 126,000 $329 um about two $2 million uh plus up from our board goal of $14 million we certainly don't want to grow this too large um but it is nice uh certainly to be able to meet the board goal and have a little cushion there as well so um those are our financial reports for December 31st thank you Mr miles you've been popular tonight as well board any other questions about the financial update okay we will move on to our board committee chair reports uh Foundation uh Dr Mall yes so happy to serve as the representative for the Lord Township School Foundation um I think the exciting news coming up is the ltsf annual Gala um it's Friday February 28th from 6:30 to 11:30 um at the Indiana Roof Ballroom and if those of you who know about this event it's a great night to feature the work of the foundation the impact on students and communities and um definitely want to recommend uh checking it out and coming um going out for this event again February 28th and I think tickets are available on the ltsf website thank you for that yes it's a great event raising a lot of money for our students and staff and the work they do and then now I will move on to Lawrence Parks and Recreation Miss Dunn if you would like to share anything I have not had a chance to attend um the meeting I believe uh vice president Pucket attended the January 8th meeting and I owe you a public apology because it was on charge that to my head and out my heart I was to get that to you and so that the onus is on me on that 12 I apologize for that so I can multitask and do both okay let me look and see we have um and look I should have been prepared to even answer this can we Circle back to parts and go to poliy just for the public there's a little bit of Grace we have during uh January because we're switching over our and actually with the Lawrence Parks it's a great connection we have with the city U Miss Dunn will actually go and take an oath of office and officially be part of the city um serving on that board so so it it's a process and we have a little bit of overlap I was able to attend the foundation meeting with Dr malland so we'll we'll do we might be doing a little bit of tag teaming but that's why we're a group of five exactly like a basketball team all right well you know what I can I just pull it up a quick little Parks cap um the Winter Market is at the community center from select Thursdays from 4 to 7: go to cityof lawrence.org for the specific dates um it's going until I want to say the end of February for that one we still have our golden hour the golden hour is also at the community center and this is on Thursdays from 11: to noon um pickle balls coming back here pretty soon I don't have the date on that but you know it's on its way and that's all I have for right now that's my quick recap sounds like a lot going on in Lawrence um Parks all right thank you so now I will move on again to vice president Pucket for policy all right here we go um let me just say for this one Dr har Barger where' he go Dr harbarger yes I have my K CBS ready for tomorrow to have this conversation um but so far I have Neola Neola revision packet uh volume 37 number one cleared division leader reviews this week and is now ready for a policy committee review scheduled for Tuesday January 28th and if all goes well with the review we should be ready for the first reading on February 10th so thank you sir I look forward to meeting with you tomorrow K cups in hand very good thank you board and um now we're ready to move on to our action items so Mr miles we will go ahead with the approval of the investment resolution yes thank you once again Madam president Dr Smith members of the board at this time I ask that the board approve the investment resolution as submitted earlier this evening so moved second all right board any comments comments All right we will go ahead and it's been moved and properly seconded let um all in favor say I I I all right the eyes have it all right now we'll move on to action item 5.2 approval request for RFP student devices Mr or Dr gagin president Norman members of the board Dr Smith we request permission to seek bids for new Chromebooks as submitted so moved second properly moved and seconded vard um we'll go to a vote all in favor say I I all right eyes have it now we'll move on to 5.3 Dr gag line president Norman members of the board Dr Smith we seek permission to enter into contracts with fiber Network fiber uh providers as submitted some moved second properly moved and seconded board any comments questions all right we'll move to a vote all in favor say I I host all right the eyes have it all right Dr gag line 5.4 resident Norman members of the board Dr Smith we seek permission to enter enter into contract with the network fiber provider to the Eastgate Center data or Eastgate Data Center thank you sir do we have a motion so moved second properly moved Miss dun and seconded Miss Pucket so we'll go to a vote all in favor I I all opposed all right the eyes have it and finally Dr gag line 5 resident Norman members of the board Dr Smith we request permission to enter into contract with Network Solutions for Network switches all right do we have a motion board so move second all right properly moved uh Miss Lawrence and seconded Miss Pucket all right let's go to a vote all in favor all opposed all right thank you Dr gag line we had to make it a little phone all right now we will move to action um item 5.6 approval of board minutes move the approval of the consent agenda agenda items 5.6 through 5.12 all right do we have a second second all right all in favor of the movement to consent agenda of items 5 5.6 through 5.12 say I I all oppos all right now do we have a movement for approval of consent agenda so moved second all right all in favor for the approval of the consent agenda action items 5.6 and 5.12 say I I all right all opposed all right we have approved the consent agenda very good board thank you for the work tonight and now we will move on to administrator and board comments who would like to go first anybody I'll just share wonderful games this week um between Fall Creek Valley and Bowzer the games on Friday with the boys and girls basketball teams and then Saturday with robotics the feel and the vibe in there is just amazing and so it's just cool to see just all of the pride and so just yeah just wanted to share that like it's just awesome that's mine that's awesome to um I have to use your word it was it was an awesome week as well um as far as Lawrence Township work I I received my first set of minutes to review and I was taking a look and I and I'm you know I have the the basketball game in the background and they keep talking about Mark Conley and I'm like wait Mark Conley I'm like Lawrence grad again I just felt like so much pride right um coming out of Lawrence so that was a cool coincidence this done I've asked a lot of questions this evening so I will save everybody time but just want to express the gratitude for all the work that each of you do each and every day I know um second semester it's especially the days of winter can be very long um and arduous and not knowing what's going on uh Mr Smith with the delays and the coldness and everything that is going on so just thank you you all for your continued leadership thank you Miss Lawrence I mean I Echo exactly what Jessica said we've asked a bunch of questions I think all of us want to go home but I do want to say those bus drivers man they do God's work yes they do putting those kids on the bus every day making sure they get there and then having to get hit in the face with the cold every single time so thank you to all of those uh bus drivers out there and the facility members who make sure that our kids are safe every day yes thank you I second all of that that's great um thank you everyone the Strategic plan updates were fantastic there's a lot of uh heavy work going on to move the student achievement forward and I see it we see you so thank you um we look forward to and I'll let Dr Smith elaborate on this but we will be attending as a board and superintendent the equity and advocacy Institute put on by the National School Board Association coming up in Washington DC this next week which I look forward to Dr Smith Grant neb to the microphone big announcements coming you live in Indiana it's winter time that eil basketball Grant neth give him an update on upcoming sectional it is the girls first so let's speak to the girls that's right thank you uh Dr Smith the members of the board president Norman uh it is Indiana and it's late winter so uh last night the State athletic association conducted the girls basketball draw as you sure know we are the reigning state champions Lawrence Central uh so they'll start to defend their title when the sectional starts next Tuesday the 4th of February they won't play until Friday the 7th um this year sectional is at Lawrence North High School all the games are there sectional 10 used to be an eight team sectional they've realigned things there's only five teams now but still five usually pretty good teams LC will play uh the winner of waren in north central on Friday night and Lawrence North will play Tech so that sets the stage for the likely giving U Bolton board material for Warren and North Central but sets the stage for a likely match up between Lawrence Central and Lawrence North Saturday Night February 8th 7:00 p.m.

Saturday at 800 a.m and Sunday at 2 pm. the meeting will also be rebroadcast on DCT CH TV channels 18 on the following days Monday and Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and Thursday at 300 p.m.

I want to stay in bed I don't want to wake up you know get ready go to school cuz to be honest I'm I don't really like school but I I'm not a fan of it I hate waking up early you know going all the way to the high school it's just too much but my teachers make the The Experience better for me you know I I enjoy it more you know going into Civics with learning about the government and what's right you know and and Performing my civic duty um also Mr FEI you know Mr L back there his class I took last year my favorite class easily he's a great teacher look I just want look if you're really going to change this and you think it's going to be equal or better I'll give you the time but in 3 months and it's worse your ass is on the line look I I'm not I'm not trying to be I'm not trying to be disrespectful I'm not trying to be disrespectful it's just the truth right it's just the truth it's simple look I'll give you a chance but in three months if you if it's worse I'm sorry you're gone you're gone look my teachers I love them and if you really think about it if you really go through with this some of them are going to leave better money higher pay more benefits I would take it too why not they got kids babies at home to worry about what happens if their baby gets sick with this new health insurance doesn't cover it they're screwed look if they have a better job opportunity somewhere else more pay I would take it and I wouldn't blame them if they took it I just want you guys to reconsider and make the right choice thank [Applause] you is that the final student yeah that was the final student okay just two I just I just again again thank you all well again thank you very much I we appreciate all you're saying and I I heard a lot of things that we've been talking about the heat the overcrowding which again the gft did bring up with me right we have 29 students all those things we're trying to deal with I know you don't want to see that at this very moment but we are unfortunately those things you know I was charged with those things when I got here the supplies all those things are yes inherited and I want to try to fix those things and and that does take tax money it takes other money and and this is one of those issues so again appreciate your time and you guys are doing an incredible job I'm very proud of all of you thank [Applause] you good evening my name is Victoria I live on 202 Gaston Avenue I am an alumni and very importantly I'm also a voter I did not vote for Dr TOMCO and I'm very sadden that he is on the board um it happens you know you vote for someone and your Ambitions and everything I also voted for another uh trustee who didn't unfortunately make it uh another point I wanted to say I am a Polish American uh citizen um I'll never go back on my vote never and and it is my teachers who actually I don't they didn't have to tell me to speak up because I always speak up um but they have encouraged me inspired me and supported me and what there's what's happening right now is they're not being encouraged inspired or supported with this switch in insurances and I deal with insurances every day and the number one fact I don't see a PowerPoint showing the teachers the voters everybody right I don't see a power Point showing us what the difference is I don't show I I don't see any of that number one and same thing your own trustee didn't even get that information so what what's up with that I mean your border committee what are you guys doing apparently nothing anyways or actually illegal activities um but Contin furthering my point um I was a student since I was three in the Garfield School District I've seen many teachers have to leave because we're staffed I mean now you're cutting benefits I mean that's crazy um and the point is the students are suffering you say you've been here you've been saying we're here for the students we're here for the students you're not don't lie we've heard enough of your lies I mean first of all second of all you said we had a five limit five minute time limit we've heard people speak here for more than 25 so you can't really hold us to the same standard when you're a hypocrite that's number one number two I hate hate hate the attitude that our committee has had towards us I mean I when we first got here some one of you I like to name names but I'm not going to do that right now before I get kicked off but one of you was laughing at us recording the crowd I've had we've seen people laughing we've seen people heads down not listening you're here CU we voted for you so I mean chewing gum too I mean I'm chewing gum hello there we go let me let me be a prime example for you sir um there you go and again we voted for you you're supposed to be here to represent us and all you've been doing is being against us okay are we serious about changing the livelihoods of our teachers with their insurances are you kidding me you're playing with people's lives here and you're you're you're laughing at the fact that they're angry that that's that's someone's medication that's someone's life that's someone's surgery that you're playing with and again I would love to see a breakdown I would love to have seen some kind of PowerPoint showing the differences and insurances and what is this costing because there's no way that you're cutting costs on a NJ State uh insurance and and changing it to a private having the same benefits but lower cost that is not possible I'm so sorry we want to see the facts we also want you to maintain decorum and be professional that's number one decisions that cost people their lives should not be made over a weekend like Mr suro said he should not have been getting an email at 11:00 a.m.

at 7802 egg Road and board members I do know you will be in attendance in Washington DC advocating for our school corporation in our state Dr deadline we hope to bring back the E rate it's important for people to understand the board's role in advocating for resources we don't often get to speak at the federal level but the board has decided to do that there will be meetings with our state um our federal senators and hopefully with some of our representative we've already got one meeting two meetings already established but we'll be there advocating for Indiana and for our school corporation so thank you board this is work it takes time but they will do the work that need needs for our students so Dr gagang now focus on you eate tonight's presentation was why we need to go to Washington DC thank you thank you what a great segue and just a reminder our next uh meeting will be a work session here Monday February 10th at 5:30 p.m.

and as always you can catch it on the Dartmouth High School media YouTube channel and we always thank our friends over at DCTV as well as Miss parate and his students that are helping out uh could we have a roll call please miss gther Kathleen ameral here John Nunes hello Mary beckworth here best Coughlin here Chris Oliver here uh thank you very much uh first item on tonight's agenda is the public hearing for school choice uh it is uh set for 605 I'm not sure what the committee's pleasure is at 603 we have a couple minutes you want to take the minutes first perfect at this time chair will entertain a motion to approve the regular session minutes so of January 6 2025 so moved second uh motion by Mrs Amaral second by Miss Beckwith on the motion any further discussion Jay Haring none all in favor I I opposed abstentions I'll abstain Mr chairman motion passes 4 to Zer with one abstention thank you everyone chair will entertain a motion to approve the executive session minutes for uh January 6 2025 so moved Mr chairman with the stipulation that they be held until the matter for which they were intended is complete second we have a motion by Mr Nunes a second by Miss Coughlin on the motion any further discussion Jay Herring none all in favor I I opposed abstentions I'll abstain Mr chairman passes four to zero with one abstention did we miss public comment we're going to get to that okay yep we'll do that right after our um school choice hearing oh okay thank you though uh it is approaching uh 605 uh so at this time I will open up uh the public hearing for the 2025 2026 uh school choice the hearing uh was advertised in the standard times on January 12th 2024 so we'll open up the hearing now for anyone wishing to approach the microphone we ask you to do so state your name and if you could keep your comments brief anything regarding uh school choice here uh in the town of Dartmouth I'll just remind everyone that school choice is a program that allows uh districts to accept students from outside of the uh Dartmouth Community limits um other nearby District actually any District in the Commonwealth and uh we typically um take them in at the high school level so anyone else chairman make a motion we close the school choice hearing second got a motion by Mr Nunes to close the school choice hearing second by Mrs Amaral on the motion any further discussion chair in none all in favor I opposed motion carries unanimously thank you everyone for that thank you for bearing with us uh next up on tonight's agenda we have public comment anyone wishing to speak on any of tonight's agenda items if you would like to approach the podium uh we we typically all Lot 10 minutes for anyone wishing to speak on any of the agenda items on tonight's agenda I just ask you to approach the podium keep your approach the microphone keep your comments around three minutes and uh state your name uh hi I'm Nathan Silva I'll try to keep the three minutes feel free to give me the uh wor I'm running over I just want to speak on the budget a little bit I know you guys are hot and heavy into the budgeting season um I appreciate all the work that you guys are doing in that um and all I really want to point out is just one thing is that uh there was a lot of excitement in town at fall town meeting that the town had generated record free cash right $8 million of free cash uh was generated um but in my mind that I think that's a loss really because in the same year in which we had to in which we generated record free cash we also had to lose n and a half positions from the school department um and we also had to dip into one-time funds in order to fund our ongoing operating expenses uh in violation of the town's own Financial policies um so the direct and tangible results of those cuts are that my daughter's class size increased by 33% between last year and this year between second grade and third grade um so what we did was we leveraged the quality of our children's education in order to generate at that free cash and I think that's a shame um so I think that um it's not that the town didn't have the money to preserve those positions and and to preserve truly level services in town is that they didn't prioritize properly in order to do so um so I think I think uh we we need to they need to sharpen their pencil a little bit in terms of what we generate what we're projecting for revenues cuz in order to to underestimate our revenues by $8 million in a year in which we significantly reducing the quality of our kids education um is a shame and and I think my my ask of you all is that I'm hoping hoping that the next Town Administrator has a little bit of a different uh philosophy than our previous Town Administrator uh but until then I I would ask of you all that that only approve a budget that truly meets level services for the schools right uh and that that uh fully funds the the Strategic plan that was that was put together um and then if there's a difference between what the town is willing to offer and what you guys see as is necessary in order to preserve level Services let the select board take a vote as to where they want to prioritize money let the finance committee take their vote as to where they want to prioritize money but ultimately let town meeting have that debate as to where we think the the the funds ought to be prioritized um so I know I'm preaching to the choir I know you are all on the same page and I appreciate all all that You' do but again that's just uh something I wanted to mention as we head into budgeting season so thank you thank you very much Mr anyone else wishing to speak turn public comment all right seeing there's no takers we're moving on to our next agenda item which is our student representative report and I'll turn it over to I'm sorry Jordan Jordan good evening thank you for having me uh I wanted to start with we're heading into February and just started semester 2 so report cards will be coming out this week our debate team recently has had a successful meet in Boston Our member Audrey kard took one gold and two bronze Awards home and will Jordan took two bronze our winter sports teams continue to do well with only a few weeks left track will be holding their senior night this Thursday and we have also have a number of athletes that qualified for States our robotics team also had their first competition yesterday and they've been working diligently to prepare for it the National Honor Society has put together a carnation fundraiser where students can buy carnations and Valentine cards to surprise others on Valentine's Day our Dartmouth High School theater company will be putting together High School Musical for the spring show and tickets are on sale now for the show debuting May 1st through May 3rd and there are currently two student council fundraisers our first fundraiser will be selling flower bulbs where you can purchase online tickets online flower bulbs and the second fundraiser will be at Chipotle on February 3rd where some of the funds will go to our student council and all funds that the student council receives will go to activities and a leadership conference thank you for taking the time to recognize us this evening and we hope you have a good evening thank you thank you so much for your report Jordan any questions Mr noon to quick and I the two fundraisers that you're having what are they um so they're run by the student council and one of them is a flower bulb fundraiser so we have a QR code that's in the hallway of the school where we'll be selling them online and the other is a fundraiser taking place at Chipotle on February 3rd do you need a flyer for chipotes uh we don't have one currently on our board but I think we'll be putting one up soon you make sure get it to Mr Shay so it gets to us if I don't have to shop cook or clean I'm golden so thank you thank thank you Mr chairman thank you Jordan anything else as always you're welcome to stay what we understand probably have some other things to do so thank you very much the highlight of the night are most of our school committee meetings when we get to see students uh so Spotlight on kids uh George H Potter Elementary School turn it over to Dr sa I see Mr Porter is making his way to the podium um Mr gashaw said a minute ago that there was a buzz here tonight and there is so we as Mr Oliver just said love it when our students are here to talk to us hopefully what you heard from our high school student just now remind you of why we start this kind of work and give our students these kind of opportunities really early on and so we're really excited to have Mr Porter and crew talk to us about something that we started this year that we think is going to be very or is very exciting I agree so good evening and thank you for inviting us to Spotlight Potter School this year we are very excited to tell you about a project that our grade five students recently completed with our instructional technology specialist Sandra chicka and with the TV Production Studio here at Dartmouth High School in fact I think behind some of these windows behind the control panel there there are two Dartmouth High seniors who were instrumental in helping our fifth graders produce what they're going to show you tonight so we just want to say a very special thank you to Brady Jackson who's a junior here at Dartmouth High and Michael Burke who is a senior they were a big big help but this is not about me this is about them so miss chicka come on up and tell us a little bit more about this this exciting project thank you Mr reporter um good evening school committee members and thank you for having us here to present tonight um this project started out as just a thought um I wanted to somehow get the fifth graders involved in making announcements either over the intercom or doing video announcements monthly or weekly um just to kind of Spotlight what we were doing at parter just within parter um but when I brought the idea Mr Porter and Mrs McKenry Mr Porter suggested I reach out to Mr parate for some tips and some best practices Mr parate quickly responded have the kids write a script and they can come down to our studio and we'll record we'll have a newscast recording at the studio which was great I didn't think we'd get a lot of kids signed up but we had 25 students involved in the entire project which was great Mr parate accommodated them in the studio that day um the studio the students impressed me with their creativity and I'm very proud of the work that they put into the project I'm grateful for the opportunity to work with such a terrific group of students we have six of them here tonight to help us present Franchesca yany Sylvia vadun Madison Gardner Abigail mandaville Edward Casey and Rachel Hall and first up we have Franchesca um back in September Mrs CH asked all of the fifth graders if they wanted to be part of putting together newscast cast Mrs cha called it the wghp and the name suck we we were all invited to fill out an application and be part of a short interview next we brain brainstormed ideas for segments that would that we that would tell people about Potter since we were all eager to choose our segments we used the random name picker to decide the order we picked our segments in once we received once we received our segments we wrote out the questions we would be asking the staff we also had to set up times to interview the staff we asked the staff questions like what what was the weirdest Christmas gift you have you had ever received after we finished the interviews we had to write scripts Mrs cha helped us edit and revise them to be the best that they could be everyone had a job to do so even if you weren't going going to be on camera you still had to do just as much work as everyone else did by coming up with segments writing scripts and filming some of the videos we learned about using external micro microphones with iPads we learned louder as better while some of us were interviewing others were recording the interviews in the hallway or asking staff what's the funniest things student has ever said to you or asking students what would you do if you were principal a day we had a lot we had to do a lot of work it was very hard it took a lot of time and it was a big commitment you syby once the scripts were done we started rehearsing first we started with table reads that is when you just sit and everyone goes through their part in order making sure it sounds correct and practicing voice changes then we started Rec recording our rehearsals we don't have a teleprompter so we used the panel and in our room as the teleprompter so we could get used to reading off a screen we recorded the rehearsal so we could watch ourselves and decide what we needed to change we rehearsed right up to before we left for Dartmouth High School once we arrived at the high school Mr parate wanted to catch our first look as we walked in the studio it was a spacious room f with filled with cameras there were cameras everywhere and a lot of computers there was a big TV with a fireplace crackling on it besides that there was a large monitor that showed what every camera could see there were five cameras they all sh different angles it was shocking to find out that each camera cost around $25,000 Mr parate and some students from the high school explained the equipment to us but the best part was the high school students had our wghp all over the room those of us that did not have a segment were able to work a camera or go into the control room and work there the camera people were giving a headset so they could communicate with the control room each camera had a number so we knew which camera had to move they they would give a direction like coming in on camera too the camera looks heavy but they're they were actually light bringing on Maddie as we filmed the newscast there were students working at the cameras at the desk being recorded sitting in the comfy Lounge waiting for their turn or in the control room there were four different jobs in the control room one person was the director they controlled when the camera switched they could speak through the headset to the camera people or they could speak directly into the studio and say things things like we have to do a final we have to do another take or we can hear background noise in that take even though the final video has all the different parts we actually recorded the host Parts first so they had to pretend they were going to the next segment even though they were just stopping when we got to the Anchor desk to do our segment we had to put on microphones and sit on high chairs as as we sat at the desk we were facing a monitor that we could see ourselves in and the teleprompter the teleprompter was actually controlled by someone in the control room each time a new person sat at the desk they had to run a mic check because we speak at different levels that was another control room job that person just adjusted the volume and turned mics on and off if you watch the newscast you will also notice the background change for each segment which is which was also controlled by one of us in the control room that person had to make sure the background ran the entire length of the segment Mr parate let us do most of the work of course he helped us with the control room because there was a lot of expensive equipment in there but other than that he let us do a lot and that was great here's Abby everybody worked together and did such a great job I wanted to thank Miss chcka for organizing this event members of the school staff for their interviews Mr Pate for welcoming us and allowing us to film at Dartmouth High School our home room teachers Mrs Goodman miss suvin Mr Dua and our ESP Mrs bragga who were all flexible Miss McKenry and Mr Porter for letting us participate the staff at dhsv media for helping us record and edit the newscast this was not only fun but also such a great learning experience that we will not forget our news class is 23 minutes long and you can see it on dhsv media's YouTube channel but we do have a short staff spot late today hello and welcome to dhnn Potter School holiday edition we have a lot to talk Miss Stevenson started her teaching career at Potter 4 years ago her favorite thing about teaching is getting to know the kid her hi I'm Francesca yannie hello I'm Rowan melow we went around poter school and asked the teachers what's the funniest thing in student has ever said to you and here's what they said um a student told me that their mom told them to clean up the biggest mess in the house so they grabbed cleaning supplies and started spraying their sister yes the students picturing a fountain that you see outside and trying to take a drink from it now realizing the rest of the country uses Fountain instead of bubbler so we had a good laugh at that one hello I'm Liliana and these are my friends Ry and Maisy today we have a book new on the book Wonder by RJ P back to M and Aubrey thank you Maisy r and Liliana Miss Ken became a teacher because she enjoys working with kids and she wants to teach students to believe in themselves she enjoys learning about literacy but likes to teach math hi my name is Leah and I'm BNA we in students in kindergarten through fifth grade and ask them the burning question what would you do for your principal for a day you do I would make the kids learn our recess but they can also have fun I would let the kids learn less and have have more time at recess thanks Au and Nico hi I'm Eddie some people can't decide between a cat and a dog so I'm here to decide I'm here to give you my opinion about each of them thank you Eddie our final segment is also our final staff Spotlight he started as a fifth grade teacher and taught fifth grade for 18 years at Potter School he received his master's degree and wanted to see if he likes being an assistant principal thanks for tuning and happy holid holidays [Music] [Applause] good evening thank you so much to the school committee for providing us with another opportunity to showcase uh the fabulous work that our students and staff are doing at Potter and I would like to repeat what Abigail said and give a couple of shoutouts to to starting first with um to miss chicka our technology integration specialist I think I said that correctly um thank you for organizing this for us and to Rob parate and the DHS uh TV media team for giving our students this wonderful learning experience and most of all to our students so if you wouldn't mind joining me and giving our future news anchors I'm not sure if they're evening news anchors going to be the next Today Show post Good Morning America whatever you watch but if we could give them another round of applause for our job well done and I'd also like to acknowledge our families who joined us and our staff that joined us as well we so appreciate you coming out on this cold evening in between dinner and basketball practice and all that good stuff um so thank you as well um and I also want to acknowledge um that this is Mr por 's last Spotlight on schools which makes me very sad so if we could give him a round of applause that would make me feel good all right and I'm going to turn the students back over to you if you have any questions or comments they'd be happy to answer them thank you so much any of my colleagues have any comments or questions adding down there I I'll just start I super impressed the way in which you all took you know your roles uh turning the slides and integral part of this presentation you did a great job um and I enjoyed listening to you and learning more about the process you really described it well and um I would like to know if uh any of you were inspired from this opportunity to go have an interest in some sort of communication field and broadcasting and such I don't know if anybody wants to go to the microphone if you have yeah nobody else is well I think that it was a great learning experience and it makes me wonder what I am going to do when I grow up and this is seems like one of my options so think I will do this further I don't know if I'll do it professionally or just somewhere else but I did think about that that's excellent such great skills you know learning uh just just um learning how to better communicate getting up in front of a crowd of people and knowing that you are being recorded uh that's it's something to be proud of for sure so thank you turn it over to my colleagues thank you Kathleen well nice job ladies and gentlemen you know I'm just thinking do we have like Patrice Woods or Savannah Guri or photocopy or you know Doug jck you know type of deal but seriously fantastic job how long did it take you when did you start working on on this uh we started about I would say September ear October yeah late September early October and then we Ed like when we did the video and then now we're here did you did you work on it like after school or during lunchtime recess um we kind of just took different times and we shifted it around to make it work and everyone's in different classes so we had to figure that out we did it during Library like we just really tried to shift it around and we did it whenever we could and stuff and it was great and we filmed in December right before Christmas and from so like from late September early October to December and then we had and then some of us worked on this project too to share for you guys tonight excellent well thank you very much that was excellent thank you Mr chairman you're welcome yeah definitely excellent and um that just looked great and so my question and any of you can answer as many of you can is did it turn out like you pictured it when you were writing your scripts and what was different than you expected thank you it turned out even better than we expected that's always a good thing good yeah that's great a great question anyone else um I had a I had a slightly different picture in my mind but the way it turned out I really liked it great excellent good I also did I didn't think the studio was going to look like that or I thought I was going to be a lot more nervous or like I didn't know really what to expect and it was all really good and like it was fun and I wasn't as nervous as I was when I got to it and did it so good thank you that's cuz you prepared thank you um very impressive absolutely um so my question is along that lines but was it more difficult than you would anticipated or or and um what were some of the most challenging things so was it more difficult was it challenging what was the most challenging part um I think the scripts we were trying to make like paragraphs and all that about their answers and it was just a lot but we went through it and we're just going nice job I will say it was a lot of work but at the end it's all rewarding and it was a great experience to have and I am very grateful that I had a chance to be able to do that great very thank you you're welcome and I guess I'll wrap it up here wonderful job to all of you and the even even the students that weren't here very very professional I will say seeing everyone up there was anyone a little bit nervous when they were B in front of the camera sitting at that desk maybe a little bit maybe a little bit some yes some no I know right how many of you were like amazed when you walked in and saw the studio for the first time and you're like wow this is pretty cool it's pretty it's a pretty cool space especially for for high school it's like real stuff in there so well thank you all of you for presenting you all did a fabulous job thank you to the all the teachers uh Mrs chica that was involved thank you Mr Porter for coming out Mr I can just add that whenever we have an opportunity to bring our elementary kids up to Dartmouth High and see this amazing building so I also want to thank Mr Shay as well but we're hopeful that when the kids at this age are seeing what's offered up here at the high school they WI a few years will make the choice to become a dharm high student so with that I just want to thank also Mr Kylie because he was able through um the school Department transportation to get a bus to take 25 of our students up here because as you can imagine that's where the biggest expense comes in is when you're paying for a bus so a special thank you to Mr Kylie so thank you all very much thank you you great job J great job thank you everyone okay nice that was awesome so the rest of the meeting's anti-climatic it always is always is that's the best part thank you you're all welcome to stay if you'd like to stick around for the rest of those agenda items basketball always enjoy an audience what happened to all our people I know we just wait a second here and all right I think we're ready to move on uh up next is a consent agenda item turn it over to Dr sabba Maguire so we have a trip planned with our students who are on our student council um this is something that happens yearly where they have an opportunity to go down to hyanis much like we did in the fall um as school committee and the mass Association for school superintendents but this is for school committee and for students to go and actually learn more about uh what it means to represent uh to be Civic uh for lack of a better way of to um to explain but um we're excited to offer them this opportunity again and that will be on March from March 5th to 7th and they will leave Dartmouth High School and they will be at the uh annual conference in hyenas the same place actually that we were in the fall so we're asking for your approval perfect and it looks like 10 students 10 students that's correct one teacher okay motion to approve second motion by Mr nun second by Mrs Amaral on the motion any other discussion you're hearing none all in favor I I opposed extensions motion carries unanimously thank you very much next up it looks like we have a few presentations here this evening busy busy night first up we have Dartmouth High School uh School Improvement plan so I see Mr Shay is making his way to the podium and I know he has a presentation prepared that you received in your p pocket and so we're um we're excited to listen to our first school Improvement presentation and what we are you know really proud of is the connection that our school Improvement plans have to our strategic plan and you can see right off how Mr Shay starts off I don't know why they're moving sorry yeah they're moving with the uh with the actual dashboard for the Strategic plan so Mr Shay yeah I want to thank everyone for taking us as the first school um as you all know we have Nas this year and one of the critical standards is having a school Improvement plan in place so um it's really important for us to have a a school Improvement plan I also want to um just thank two groups of people one I want to thank the strategic planning committee and um because with their guidance this made the process a lot easier than it would have been on our own and I think that sets a nice framework for everyone to work together and keeping us rowing in One Direction and I I think that was really important um also the um the um school council is the other one that has reviewed this and I want to thank for their time too dedicating a a afternoon to be here and and looking at it and asking questions and helping us revise it before we prevent present it to anyone so thank you to those people um two others I apologize is um are the the admin team at the high school has really put in a lot of Blood swe and Tears in this and then um Ross was really critical into helping me get this out and get this together so um I'm grateful for the team that is Dartmouth public schools and you'll see throughout this that there's a Common Thread for everybody um so like I said the school district set us up in really successful fashion by really taking our our four strategic areas of teaching and learning um safe and supportive schools family and Community engagement and budget and capital Improvement and we're going to walk through each one of those as we go you have all seen this but I just want to clarify that um so the first area of teaching and learning is where we spent a lot of our time as an admin team really focusing on um it also ties directly to a lot of our NES standards so um we know coming out of Nas one of the things is just mapping our curriculum and making sure our C curriculum is mapping that is something you're going to continuously do throughout your process and your evaluating it that leads into all of the next the the next um action steps as well as developing schoolwide expectations for equable grading in academic Excellence what does that mean at darmouth high school what does that look like what are practices that are common um we we've seen that if you have seven teachers you might have seven different expectations and students that are um new to first generation or new to a high school experience don't have as many advantages of someone that families have lived it when they know that this teacher's rules are this way and this way and this way so we want a common language for dharmi high school um we use common assessments but it's nothing that you never want to stop you want to keep going with them you want to analyze them you want to look at them and you want to use that CPT time and that PLC time to really Norm those practices and develop our practices together so really working together and one big thing is we have our curriculum and what do we do with that curriculum we have expectations for what the curriculum looks like we look at our curriculum we look at our data from what we've tested and we make sure that we have normal practices that we do so kind of in that sense of following in that tl1 in that tl2 this is really big to us as professional development that's also going to be another neas um goal that we're going to most likely come out of we're assuming um so we really want to have a um use our strategic plan to develop a PD calendar going into next year so really if you look at it that's um August through June but we're going to go into school with straight strategic um straight PD plans that are already identified with flexibility because obviously there's times we want voice and choice and we want people to have availability but we want to know where we're going using this plan as our model to work continue for that and then um we also that's great we do that as a department once a month we also have our PLC times that we um we want to work on our departments as well so using our department what their goals are so science might be like working with we brought in a specialist for our atomage table we brought in other people we've worked to update some of our Labs that's kind of the stuff that we want to do departmental so whole school and then departmental I apologize I talk fast I will try to slow down I'm realizing it I hear my wife watching this at home saying slow down um so and then tl3 is the reimagining pathways that's really big in the high school world right now um currently we have two Pathways we really want to expand those we have um so and we want to really work with that um we're working with um Mass on some AI Pathways that they have um and we're going to continue doing that but we want to really find identify Pathways that also fit into the building you're going to see that later on in one of the other St in one of the other Focus areas is how do we put some Pathways into our building with our schedule and our and our plan um so examine it through the program of studies and what it needs and then identifying Staffing uh to best support that the students's transition that's a big other thing that we see is that freshmen coming up here is definitely one of our bigger struggles one of our one of the big pieces of data we see is freshmen do struggle here we want to we want to identify that we've done a lot of work this last year in a little bit last year prior to work with the eighth graders coming up and really supporting them I think it was better this year and I think we can do a lot more to continue that growth so we want to use um our staffing assignment to support our students one of the things you'll see is um in our program of studies is the preap programs that we're working on in especially like in English that we've piloted and and what that means and how we use our staff to support those programs uh Focus area two is safe and supportive schools um under kind of Mike's leadership we really do do a lot of support for um safety plans and safety drills it's nothing you ever want to not give up though it's something you want to continue so um you're going to see that but I want to make sure that you all know that we have worked our drills and we do it we always want to continue and grow on that um we do want to develop um a schoolwide culture and climate study we're meeting as a group tomorrow with a culture and climate committee um we want to do some culture and climate studies I know there's going to be a district push as well that's going to be really nice to work into what we want to do we want to look at like what what makes a dmouth high school student what makes a staff and what makes us to be successful um that's the creation of the committee that we're going to meet tomorrow and then the other big thing is is that we have our advisory period which is wonderful um one of the things that we really want to push into our advisory is those social morning learnings like those Castle skills how can we support our students um in that social emotional side we did that last month as a simple one in the sense of like how do you even organize your computer how do you organize your Gmail because we've seen our students not getting emails we've seen our students just not taking care of themselves on that the digital side so we really focus on digital side and just teaching kids like how to filter their emails and stuff like that because our kids are on seven Google classrooms on the minimum if they're on Sports and they're on um clubs and activities they get emails all day on on on those and how do we filter them out so they just get the right ones and they see the emails that they need to see that was a selfcare that we really thought was important and that's going to continue with those social emotional um competencies um continuing that is that we also want to recognize what the good is here um oftentimes we only hear about the bad but um as Jordan presented that we had students for their first time in debate team get first place we had students um we have athletes everywhere performing well our our theater program our debate team our math team is undefeated there's a lot going on our our BSU is creating like some really nice like bulletin boards and and supporting our school to we want to highlight make sure that we're highlighting the good and and continuing to push that good and you're going to hear that in the in in Focus Area 3 as well um but we want to celebrate individual accomplishments and then one of the big things is is one Dartmouth is not just a saying to me it's something I believe in and we really want to create like a one Dartmouth recognition and what it like just like um Dr s McGuire is doing with the green apple we want to bring that down just to the high school level of a one Dartmouth recognition program for next year um then um and then this is where I was talking about with Mike where we really do a really good job of drills but it's something that we want to continue and reflect one of the things that we started to do last year is after drills we put out a survey for for conversation about what it was look like but um we want to continue to monitor our school safety preparedness um quarterly drills with the district planning um seek opportun educational opportunities for um professional development there's a lot of training on school safety we want to continue to send people to those those things we've taken a lot out of it one of the things that um used to be is you would all shelter in one corner that's not necessarily something you want to do because you're all in one spot right so some of the stuff we're taking away from a lot of these trainings is what we can do and Implement in our day every day um deescalation is a really big thing right we talk about CPI 10% of that is Hands-On um 90% of it is how do we take a student that is up here and bring them down right and how do we support them what are what are those skills so we're lucky that we have some CPI opportunities in the district we want to continue that and what does CPI look like in a sense of deescalation for staff and re re refresh those skills that we all have and then um I don't know if you guys have seen this in the building we've continued we've started this project but we've really tried to Norm what our building is talking what our locations in our building are so if you see any stairwell there's some red letterings on on a lot of them we're still going to continue to update those lettering so they're easy to identify for the camera right so it says it'll say if you're looking at that stairwell way over there that would be B level D stairwell right that's the language we need because that's what the police are going to see and that's the language we need to use use kids used to call that like a be high that means something to us but it doesn't mean anything to the people that are responding so we're trying to Norm the language in our building and we want to continue to do that um in family and Community engagement we really want to continue um using parents Square it's a really great platform it gives us a lot of great data um we want to get more parents on it we've offered nights on support of it on open house we had a whole session on it we're going to continue pushing parents Square in our main office we have little QR codes for parents just to QR and and automatically get the app on their phone um we want to continue that process and we want everyone in Dartmouth Public Schools especially Dartmouth High School to have it on it we are the bigger users of the district that's also because we have Athletics that use it a ton band uses a ton clubs and activities use it a ton and our teachers are really starting to use it as well um we're lucky with Jess burningham in here who um used at Oxbridge she's really brought that energy in with it too so we want to continue that but if we're all using it we want to make sure parents have it on their phones too um the roll out of the new website has been really great um we want to increase our social media presence you are talking to someone who's very afraid of social media doesn't have a social media Presence at all but I need to be more on that because there is where that is where people get information and we're going to develop that and grow that as well and that comes out in a principal's newsletter as well um I want to start a parent advisory Council this is different than the the um school council that is different their job is budgeting and Sip and um really those responsibili ities this is um more like coffee hour you know come in let's have a conversation about what's working and what's not working for you as a community member because we really want to prioritize engagement in our community events you know we had a um art show last year that filled the gym and there were PE parents in town that had elementary schools that have like I've never gone past the the front Foy year I've either gone to the auditorium I've gone to the gym I've never gone past it so we gave some tours that night just impromptu really trying to build up what this looks like for our what our school looks like for Community cuz we have so much to offer and we really want to show off and continue those showcase nights those open house and awards nights where we really again we're celebrating the good of dmouth um we want to explore opportunities to increase our internship through Community Partnerships we do a really good job we have about 90 students right now that are on internship we would really like it to almost all of our seniors at by this second semester to have some version of an internship if they have credit wise if they're able to do it because it really does give you an opportuni to the world and I use myself as an example and I think I told you guys last year when our Spotlight was I started in a marketing internship and about 3 days in I'm like I can't spend $40,000 a year on this this is not what I want to do and so even those awarenesses on the pros and the cons side of it we want people to be be able to see what the internships are and then the last one's a little bit of a passion project for me but um it's developing a community Ser service opportunity plan um so many of our kids especially when they're juniors are scrambling for hours for a National Honor Society or they don't have those opportunities and they want to do good and they want to get back and they want want to build their resumes and there's not a bank for it so we just need a bank of what we can offer to be involved with community service it ties us to our community again I know the food bank at the Y is a really big one um as a really nice option so we want to continue to build those community service Partnerships I think we can do a really good job and again we have 900 amazing students at darmouth high school and I want them to get I want the world to see them that I see them through the lens in um budget and capital Improvement obviously a lot of This falls under Mr Kylie more than more than us and I really appreciate his guidance in it um one of the things is the needs assessment we have the msba coming in in a few weeks to really work on that and we're going to collaborate with those stakeholders to implement Improvement plans um we are working on a dedicated PE professional development space right over here that's going to be gorgeous hopefully um but it's going to be it'll be a nice space that really it's professional we look at like when we go to like an msaa meeting or a board meeting or any of those you come into an environment where you're like you're you're professionals and we want people to come in and say we're going to learn but we're treat you are a professional and we want to respect that so we're really designing it in that way and then um again I talked about this earlier but we want to look in those Pathways but also like what what our building can do based off of our program of studies and are there changes based off of what our program of studies is saying that we need and what our building offers and we want to do like A needs assessment on that side of things um again I apologize I talked really fast if you have any questions I can answer them um I can like I said I can hear my wife saying slow down thank you very much Mr Shay uh questions start down this side of the table how do you manage to talk so fast caffeine yeah we have plenty of time for questions um impressive uh looks like a lot you are in the midst of and planning to do um two questions one is um for your newsletter which you haven't done yet um so how are you going how is that going to be accessed yep so currently we use a uh we use a sore as our basis of our newsletter um so sore is a um an app that creates like a pamphlet for you okay got it um in short words um we're going to continue to use that we want to actually Spotlight more of like the media program because if anyone notices most of my principal messages are videotaped I call Ben Smith my producer if anyone watches like um shows he's he's my producer he writes my scripts he he comes in our students can do a lot in there and they do really talented work and we want to produce their work as much so as much as it's a principal new newsletter platform we really want it to be students driven and again it's that voice and choice with them working with us in a class that they're they're passionate about so we are we do have one we just want to revamp it and and again we want to make sure it gets in as many hands as possible that's the data that actually parent Square gives us so we average about 900 views we need to get that up higher okay so yes I've seen your videos your principal message but your newsletter which I'm still not clear like how do students access it and is there a way for the Greater Community to access it yeah so my intentional plan is is one again it's emailed to everybody also available on the website okay um and sorry I didn't understand your question originally no that's all right and um so parent Square um we've been hearing a lot about it in the last year but is there a way for us to access it to see what it looks like absolutely I can get you on groups um I well wait I'm not going to speak for myself just burningham can get you on those steps I can get you in with her um and get it on your phone and what groups you would need to be accessed to and what what you would have as rights but I can get you guys set up on that absolutely I'm looking at Mr gashaw and he's looking the other way he's looking other way he's going to get us all on parent Square yeah if not you can come to high school and yeah if if he's Jess is really helpful in that um great and everything else you're doing it looks fabulous you're taking on a lot it's great yeah it looks really comprehensive and ambitious so um it's imp impressive I'm most interested in internships and um your thoughts about how how to expand internship opportunities for students I think Hands-On is both good like you said to learn what you don't want to do uh but also to just be in a work environment to learn how to how to be more professional 100% agree like and that's that's the standard right there is like what does professionalism look like and how do we up that um I think it's um it's it's a it's a twofold challenge I think parate and the bit department does a really good job with promoting it we did a better job this year than we did the year before one of the things that our students are going to do in April and Mr pry might yell at me about the date because I don't have it off top of my head but um we're doing a showcase for all of our students on their internships so students can see it um what we see with a lot of our Juniors that are struggling academically at this point in the year they're like I know I need to get these classes so I can have two periods available for internship right so it's another motivation for our students um for traditional Learners and non-traditional Learners great thank you but anyone in the community that wants an internship please don't hesitate to reach out we're really um we're really like trying to expand options a lot of it is student driven to find what they want with the support of the teachers terrific thank you thank you Mr chairman thank you Mr Shan yeah I agree with my colleagues very comprehensive um you talked about uh under tl3 uh you know with the eighth graders and the what types of struggles are they having when they come up here and how are you working with them it's it's it's the the transition is tough right you're going from K to 8 where you are in a very structured organized system you are in you walk to classes you sit in the tables you you have those those supports you come to the high school and there's a release of responsibility and we believe in that we believe in that growth in our students sometimes that the the biggest struggle is the students that are like this is almost too much freedom and and Mike and Graham spend a lot of time working with students pulling them back with their Pace choices or or pulling them back some of their selections on like when they're passing and stuff like that um so that's one of the struggles the other big struggle we see in in in all honesty is um the understanding what credits mean at a high school level right yes freshman sophomore junior year exists but that only exists based off of the number of credits you have it's not like we can just give give you pass you to the next grade you have to earn 24 credits to graduate from darmouth high school in different fields like I Mr tbo's going to talk about in a little bit but you have to earn those credits that's a different mindset for people right and we have to do a better job of from day one explaining that I think our freshmen right now with report cards are starting to really grasp that concept and we have to be better about putting that out earlier and understanding it and some of it is living it and unfortunately you have to live it but we want to be proactive in supporting them um I do want to say that um our student support teams have done a really good job job of identifying students early this year and getting families in and communicating with them so we've had some success we just want to continue to monitor it and we still want to have that growth and again I love what the middle school does I think they do a really great model there it's a different building and it's different ages and what um when they come up here we want to make sure that they're ready to go okay thank you and then the uh just following up on the uh internships and such is that we had uh my memories any good uh coach white and a couple of other teachers last year that our SP that was the spotlight there that was on that okay that that was F we had student show like um one of our students she's um at BCC now which is great because it's free but prior to that her her dental agency was going to pay for her classes now it's free so it is but like you know you build those connections and you can find ways to like support those growth yeah different I mean I remember the different areas they were in yep so it was good okay thank you thank you Mr chairman you're welcome thank you so when you when you go when you're almost last you have to start think about like what can I say that's different because they've captured all of my questions um I I think you ambitious uh I I just appreciate your uh Team under your leadership under our district leadership of you know that you making those database decisions um being thought thoughtful and reflective that was very clear um and just I just want I just want to commend your um you know your part in that and your energy and enthusiasm clearly comes from your heart uh and it's infectious so um I've you know I've seen you interact with students and and so it's it's really it's really it's we're lucky to have you um I'm very lucky to be here yeah thank you I'll never forget that oh well we can tell that you feel that way um and I just really John kind of took I had some questions about that um about that middle the middle school piece but that's okay but I'll just make a comment to say that you know it's been my experience as a parent um the efforts to sort of engage with the the eighth grade and I just really am impressed with your clear mindset of constant Improvement like how can we do better um there's no ego in the game it's all about the kids and uh that can only you know only good things can come from that so I just appreciative of that and uh love you know the family engagement piece that's my jam uh I love your your idea to have that parent um advisory Council uh just so that you're hearing from boots on the ground I love to hear at a later point when you when when you have a little bit more of a solid plan of what that's going to look like I'd love to hear more about about that um and just check in on how it's going and things you learn from the community and if and how and those dat decisions how it it does you know result in changes you know and improvements with engagement so thank you that's all I have thank you Mrs Amaral thank you Mr Shay I certainly appreciate the the time and effort uh with you as well as your team uh that's been put into this I think you articulated all the all the actions steps in your you know the certainly the measures of success very well throughout your indicators um you know a couple of questions that I have well not really questions just thoughts I'm happy to see the pathways are in there and developing those and working towards those um I actually it's funny that you brought up community service program or community service because I've actually a couple of parents Dartmouth High School parents have reached out to me and wanting to know what they can do to help and see if the school committee can work towards with the in cooperation with the school department and with the High School uh about doing some kind of community service program and I think it it if not anything else it certainly would build character that's it love it so yeah it helps when Andrea is on my school advisory Council so who is that Andrea is on fair enough yeah so she's been in my ear for a bit about it and she's right so there's anything I can do to assist um then I am also happy to see that you're working on a social media presence because I think a lot of the newsletters the websites uh the website's great the newsletters through parent Square are great the s'more um but I think getting out there um if we really want to advertise and brand ourselves and let's face the education is very competitive now public K12 education it's competitive yeah um with school with school choice and with chter schools and everything else so the the more we can do to um to you know brand ourselves and advertise all the wonderful things in tonight's uh presentation from Potter is one such example of you know a great way to collaborate with students across all grades for sure so I'll just say that I I think uh Mr Shay I think you're you're the right person for Dartmouth High School um I think the I think Dartmouth High School is very lucky to have you um from my standpoint as the school committee's chair if there's anything I can do to help you grow um Dartmouth High School and take it into uh the next level please um please let me know I'm only speaking for myself but um I think you there's a lot of great opportunities uh that happen in this school um lot more than some of the other surrounding communities so I think all we got to do is just uh fine tune um as you go into knash so thank you for your presentation I and I appreciate all of the support Chris and all of you all I really really appreciate the support you all have been kind from day one and that's just the first like that's where we start and that means a lot so I appreciate all of you thank you you're welcome thank you thank you all right I'll see you in about five more minutes yeah we've got say that again y oh uh take a vote oh thank you that's fine absolutely uh looking for a vote here Mo Mr chairman motion to approve the dmouth high school uh School Improvement plan for uh school year 2526 second got a motion by Mr Nunes a second by Miss Beckwith on the motion any other discussion all in favor I I opposed motion carries unanimously thank you thank you for the reminder Mr shy uh next up DHS competency determination update so this this is actually a great segue um so thank you Mr Shay for the presentation and and I I what I'd like to point out is that I hope you could see how the school Improvement plan truly mirrors the district strategic plan and how the district strategic plan um is driving the school Improvement plan and vice versa and how they're working in concert with one another and the initiatives that were shared with you tonight by Mr Shay and his and of course the work he's done with his team and with with Dr t-bolt there to support them is meant to do exactly that they're meant to work in tandem with one another so that we're all working toward the very goals that are set out in the in the district strategic plan and at our last meeting I briefly spoke about the competency termination and told you that Dr tbolt would be here to give us an update and what I said to you and I'm sure miss and Dr tbolt is going to affirm what I said is that we're in really we're in a really good position here in Dartmouth um and I can't say that that's true for all of the districts across the state based on some of the conversations that we've been a part of so Dr tbal thank you thank you Dr sa McGuire and thank you to the school committee for allowing me to provide an update on um what admittedly is not as an exciting a topic as our Potter presentation or our school Improvement plan presentation but I'll do my best um it is it is uh important that it and this work is align to our strategic plan fall squarely under you know teaching and learning but also this opportunity to kind of update um you know use this uh um platform to update our community as well because how we go about earning a high school diploma in Massachusetts has changed there um are some changes because of the ballot initiative that was uh passed in November so hopefully um my presentation tonight will kind of clarify some of that and um we can go from there um starting with what is a competency determination because I have to admit as an educator um you know it's always it's been around since 2003 but it's not really something we talk about all that much you know um the state likes to refer to as the CD the CD you hear that a lot the CD but really what the competency determination is it's the minimum requirements that a high school student must meet in order to earn a high school diploma um and they are aligned directly to the mass curriculum Frameworks or as we often just kind of um call them in shorthand the standards okay so the CD is directly related to the standards and specifically um the the idea is that students have to demonstrate Mastery of um those standards in order to meet the CD so PRI prior to the November uh ballot initiative that was done um by looking at the achievement scores on mcass in ela and Mathematics uh which both take place uh after at the end or in the spring of grade 10 um also science technology engineering exam which actually takes place uh in June of the freshman year um from 2003 on that was how CD the the competency determination was met by a student what the no member ballot initiative change uh changed was that's no longer allowed to be used as a competency determination and I just want to be clear and clarify for folks um what that ballot initiative did not do was it did not eliminate mcast and so I just I think it's important that we're clear about that because our students will still be required to take mcass in the um you know our freshman will take it in bi for biology in June and our grade 10 uh students will take it in ela in mathematics in March and and may uh respectively um and while that's not linked to the high school diploma anymore it is still part of the school accountability um ratings that we'll receive so is still important that our students do our best and that should be our Collective message around that um but it's no longer tied to whether or not a student earns a high school diploma and that is the change so the requirements of uh the new ballot initiative is um is that according to the new law a student who has not yet earned a CD must demonstrate Mastery and these um bold italics were added by me as a point of emphasis so that we're clear but Mastery of a common core of skills competencies and knowledge by satisfactorily completing coursework that has been certified by the students District as showing Mastery of the skills competencies and knowledge contained in the State academic standards and curriculum Frameworks in the areas measured by the mcast high school test described in Section 1 I administered in 2023 so what that means is we have to identify um or certify I should say the courses that are offered at Dartmouth High School that if a student earns a passing Mark and earns Credit in that course would reflect that they've mastered the standards for for um those areas so what does that look like at Dartmouth High School what that means is that um students uh and and I should also uh highlight this pertains to kid to students who are in our class of 2025 who have not yet met that CD so we have about seven students uh in the class of 2025 who this really applies to and that's why it's timely that's why the mass Association of um superintendents has recommended getting out ahead of this um you know quickly with the school committee so um how are student well we're proposing as the CD requirements here at dmouth high school would be that a student must earn a 65 or higher which is our passing threshold in English n and English 10 or to higher core English course equivalents um such as AP seminar AP language and seminar AP Literature and composition or AP research um to fulfill the English piece a reason for that is we have uh students who take English n but then in their 10th grade year they start to have more choices um and we do have a number of students who take an AP course that fulfills their English requirement the standards are such that um you know a student who passes that course would be demonstrating Mastery of of those grade 10 um English standards for math similarly it would be Algebra 1 and geometry or two higher cost equivalents um and again for this uh Mr Shay and I uh spoke we we have actually two students and I've been here for eight years it's the only two students that I can think of we had two students who came in and right went right into pre-calculus um so those two students are really an exception however we wanted to provide language in case that were to happen you know we're not going to force a student who is and they've done extremely well I might add um we're not going to force that student to take an algebra one course that would you know um kind of be silly they clearly um you know if in pre-calculus as freshmen have those skills so that's if you're wondering why we have the language boed that way that would be why um and then for science Technology and Engineering um this is where it's just a single course that's how the science mcast is set up um at Dartmouth uh High School we've always done biology as a freshman however if we had a student who came in and said I really want to take the chemistry mcast exam we would have allowed for that we probably wouldn't have encouraged it but we would have allowed for it the um requirements uh are clear that it's any of the science technology engineering courses that were included in the mcast administration in 2023 so those would be bio chemistry physics um or engineering for us I just draw our attention to our engineering classes our halfe classes that's why if you're wondering why is it biology or chemistry or physics or engineering one and Engineering 2 the reason for that is that Eng engineering one and Engineering two a half year courses and in order to demonstrate um you know Mastery of the engineering standards that would have been on that mcast exam it needs to be a full uh year equivalent so most of our students would meet uh the uh competency determination in this way but we also try to be mindful of students who maybe this is not the pathway that they're on um you know we have students who have unique uh learning needs who have some significant um and profound disabilities who already are on like an alternative um uh mcast all we want to be mindful of that population so today um I met with Mr Shay and Mrs redlon and um Mrs uh Coker Pon our Pal's um teacher here at the high school and we wor we walked through this language and we're in agreement that this made sense um also uh you should know that we reviewed what other districts are putting forward as draft proposals to their um School committees as well and so uh some of this language was taken from examples that we've seen uh other districts using but what we're proposing is a portfolio alternative to to the competency determination crosswork identified above will be evaluated by the competency determination assessment panel that's a local panel it would be teachers from here at Dartmouth High School that would would do that um but they would assess uh an a portfolio to make sure that Mastery is demonstrated through that portfolio of work um but again being mindful that this is a team process right because what we don't want is a student to be in a position where they're issued a high school diploma and then that um means they can't get the uh special education services that they would um need uh as an as an adult as an 18 to 22 year old so it is a team process and but we want to be flexible so that we can really meet the needs of every student and provide a pathway to a diploma if that's what's in the best interest of a particular student so that's what we try to to do with this language and then the final part here the dmouth high school principal May wave local graduation requirements that's just standard practice that has always been the case and we do have some of that um you know from time to time again that's often through a team process where student might have a language based disability and so World language for example might present a challenge um and the team might uh request a language waiver that the principle there then signs off on that's again has been standard uh practice for us so what we're just calling out here is the principal maintains that right because uh for local graduation requirements however for the competency determination that is not the case it's a requirement by law that students meet that in order to earn their high school diploma so understanding the impact on Dartmouth High School of this again as I mentioned class of 2025 there are uh currently about seven students who have not yet met competency determination through prior mcast performance um those Stu of those seven students there are a handful who will meet it if this if these uh requirements are approved um and then there are other Stu other students who um would probably if a diploma was what they wanted to pursue would have to look at maybe the alternative um uh pathway that is described um students must still meet local graduation requirements I can't stress that enough as Dr Sabre Maguire said we're in a good position here 99.2% of our students meet Mass core requirements Mass core uh if you're not familiar Mass core is the recommended Curriculum by the department of uh Elementary and secondary education um it's a very rigorous C uh curriculum requires four years of English uh four years of math three lab Sciences um um and I won't go through all of you know you so many credits in arts it's really um a rigorous curriculum and our program of studies is and has been for some time aligned to the mass Core Curriculum so we are in a very good position there finally the future of Competency determination Massachusetts um Governor Healey just uh issued an executive order that established the Massachusetts Statewide K through2 graduation C um it's going to be made up of a of a of a variety of stakeholders um and they're going to be charged with examining the variations in local CD um requirements so we just had a ballot initiative that is what's going to create all of these variations and now by executive order we're going to have a council that's going to look at all of that and try to redefine reimagine um you know a high standard for what it means to graduate um and with a high school diploma so all of that is to say that I do anticipate we'll be back um in the near future to have up you know recommended updates and potential revisions to our competency determination requirements um and with that uh I'm happy to answer any questions if there are any um thank you very much for that see Chris has stepped out do anybody have any questions or comments I think I'll um if I may I'll just begin with um uh that for I well bit of humor um that from if I may is that I think any educator who has put together a portfolio of uh uh a valuation deserves extra credit on their performance evaluations and a coffee break um if anyone has been part of that process is pretty uh there's nothing alternative or shortcutting about it it's uh it's about a pile of information about this deep and uh uh it's a lot so um anyway I just thought I'd start with that humor um I don't have any questions I think I asked a question last um last time that we were hinting at this was to to come in front of us um and I had my answers um and so I really appreciate you noting that the seven students and you know the the the um the steps to the ways in which this has helped and um and the that there's a plan um in place for those if graduation is something that they are hoping to obtain or um uh to attempt to obtain so no I I thank you for this it was it was helpful um and I appreciate your presentation I'll turn it over to my colleagues thanks all right thank thank you madam chair uh one the first my first quick question is if I'm all wet I'm all wet and I'll apologize the uh John and Abigail Adams scholarship that's tied to mcast what what's happened to that so thank you for asking that Mr Junes that's an excellent question uh and that's another reason why mcast uh the message should continue to be to students to do your very best on MC because it hasn't changed mcast will still be used to determine the John and Abigail Adams scholarship as well as the coplex certificate of mry so um thank you for for highlighting that because I was here for and I'll get into that later thank you U thank you for this I guess my major concern just becomes and thank you for answering engineering one and two because I had highlighted that as to you know what was going on there uh I know you said that uh you know most of the most of those seven students are going to be okay I mean and I know you've identified them I mean is there any special help that these students are able to get is it just a whole bunch of different scenarios without getting into right without getting into specifics so I think that the students who the students for whom a diploma was their end goal those students will be fine I believe and for students who um had other plans after high school I think that those students that's going to like I I don't see this this changing their plans I think that uh that's you know for a while has been kind of uh the plan in progress uh for those students and that's um you know how I I would expect that they'd continue all right thank you sir I'm good thank you my only question is is the seven students is that atypical um from past so no uh we always have a handful of student so the atypical part is now they won't need to continue to retest and and hope that they pass in time earn a qualifying score in time um for the seven you know I mentioned there are some who have already met the you know met these because again the cost workor we're identifying is just cost work that all of our students take anyhow and as Mr alluded to if you're not earning credits you're not progressing with your class so um you know it it would be rare if we our local our local requirements are higher than the CD and that's you know um so again if a student doesn't meet the the four years of English for example they weren't earning a diploma from us anyhow so um these are actually it's you know that's why I refer to as the minimum because our local requirements in many ways are actually higher already than these okay thank you you're welcome um so I'm just curious we've always required our students to meet um the certain number of classes getting a 65 or better um so in the past did we often have or students who got 65 in all the classes that were required and still did not pass the mcast where was it always like the seven so in our community it was always you know I'm I I can't really even think off the top of my head of a student I mean there's always a chance we would always that's another thing that we should clarify students have the opportunity let's say that was the case they can come back and retake mcast with us even after they've stopped coming as a student you know because let's say they earned a certificate of completion from us right they could still come back um um I can't and I'm looking to Mike and Ryan I can't think off the top of my head of any student that that has been the case since I've been here um in other communities that is more common that that would so in our community it's really not going to change things that much no right okay thank you very much for all your work you're welcome thank you thank you Dr tibo um I think it's pretty for me it's pretty straightforward cut and dry um I think like you said like every you both said that we're kind of ahead of the game in Dartmouth with where we're at with our program of studies um and I feel comfortable with everything that you presented so um no I and I I think my my colleagues have certainly answered some of the questions that or asked some of the questions that I may have asked um so I don't have any concerns um I think um yeah I'm I'm ready for a vote so thank you for the presentation thank you thank you so we're going to look to for a vote uh to approve the competency determination for Dartmouth High School graduates so moved second motion by Mr n second by Mrs Amal on the motion any discussion all in favor I I opposed motion carries unanimously thank you everyone thank you thank you uh next up uh we have one more presentation this evening it's the preschool reconfiguration proposal like to say yes so um Mrs denisio is coming up um to present but I would just say before she gets started with her presentation that um this is something that has been in the works for since I've been here U something that we re recognized right away um that we needed to make some modifications to our prek program and Mrs denisio Mrs redlon the kushman um prek staff uh they've done a great job and poter prek staff have all been part of these conversations and they've been thought Partners in this and so uh this reconfiguration proposal is one that I think we we spent a considerable amount of time developing so Mrs denisio I know you have somebody you're going to be introducing as well so I'll turn it right over to you um good evening good evening good evening uh making substantial changes in any aspect of educational programming is hard and complicated and that's why we don't do it a lot um trying to balance mandates District resources be best practices and family needs and what's in the best interest of students often present competing priorities rather than a ignment when we look at the Strategic plan like we've been talking so much about tonight we see the call for consistency and aligned practices in the special ed office the way we've been thinking about this are um vertical alignment sustainability and building structure uh building flexible structures that will meet the needs of our students that will meet the everchanging needs of our students so with that in mind I'm here to present the proposed restructuring of our preschool programs um as you know because we discussed it last year at a school committee meeting we currently have eight preschool classrooms all of which can service 15 students um ages 3 to five in a full classroom that would look like seven students on individualized education plans and eight peer Partners um all of our eight classrooms currently are full day students attend school from 9:00 a.m. to 300 p.m.

on a Sunday or a Saturday he should have been done it 9 to5 business hours like we're adults we should be doing that I don't know why we're hiding things and lying about things and doing things under all right that's all I wanted to say no I have actually 40 more seconds um I wanted to thank all my teachers for helping me come here and empowering me all throughout my education um I'm here to empower them and that was important to me that I came here and actually it was saddening to me that my teachers had asked me to come and support them in their uh taking away of Rights honestly um but yeah uh thank you to all my teachers uh I love you guys thank you uh good night um it should technically be good evening but we've extended this hearing for a lot of hours um myour varus I live on 296 out water Lane Garfield um I just wanted to to say you're impacting the future with this Choice whether you like it or not changing the insurance of a teacher impacts the future of children we have a lot of these teachers that you see here in this District to impact children the way that they have impacted Us in doing that you are harming the city of Garfield the city of Champions its name gets charish whenever I go to college I hear that we have a bad reputation and I can't help but wonder why it's because of the Board of Education not taking action on anything that would plead in the two years that I was to represent the student body as a junior and a senior I tried and I pleaded for air conditioning and sanitary locations for students to go to the bathroom action was never taken and it still isn't taken what was the plan for the air conditioning where is all this money that we set aside where does it go to why can it not help aid the teachers as well all in all it's shameful behavior and it's saddening to see the choices that this board of education has come to I'm sorry to my teachers who are going to be impacted by these decisions and I am sorry to the future of Garfield because this will ultimately impact them I'm sorry thank you good evening it's almost good [Applause] morning good evening Dr ton Dr TOMCO and Board of Education members is this working now better okay I might stay permanently hunched over my name is Michael rassi I'm the district physical therapist for those of you that don't know me I'm a du's paying member for the gft and a representative several months ago you asked us to make a decision regarding our health care we can pay a little more keep what we have pay a little less still under a good program still under the umbrella of Blue Cross and Blue Shield let me give you a little question I we got three points to make does anybody know what an unfavorable claim is sitting at this table maybe Dr TOMCO knows but I'm going to ask him to refrain not to say anything until I close the question and then if he wants to chime in he could but does anybody know what an unfavorable claim is okay question is closed an unfavorable claim is a cancer diagnosis a chemotherapy requirement life support ICU very unfavorable as far as the insurance company looks at it what's a favorable claim the next question this is an easy one I gave you the hard one what's the easy one this is very easy what's a favorable claim this is these are claims that insurance companies love to see anybody know Everett he's got it gee I've got a cold gee I've got an earache gee could he take this W off my elbow maybe even my backside that's a favorable claim these are two of the enti entities that we're going to be judged with with our premium okay the next point I'd like to make is small pool and large pool combination of claims that we're also going to be judged with with our premiums I don't know why anybody thinks it's a good idea to be in a small pool of Garfield because we our claims will be pitted against one another okay Mary Joe has too many I've heard she's got cancer and chemo I'm going to say something that's not pretty but it is factual gee she's going to make our premiums go up she should just die already John is on life support he's been on life support for two months my damn claims are going to go up wish he would die too these are two of the entities that we are going to be judged by on our premiums not the 3 million that Blue Cross and Blue Shield has members but I don't know about you but I would much rather be in large large herd okay and be less noticeable than a very small herd where our unfavorable claims will stick out to one another like a three-headed reindeer okay pulling Santa slle on Christmas Eve instead of our beloved Rudolph we don't want to be pitted against one another to determine how our claims are going to be our premiums are going to increase okay we don't want that there's enough division in this District already we don't want to add to it and this will add to it the third Point POS okay in healthcare POS stands for of course does anybody know point of service what is the point of service the point of service is something we don't have right now a gatekeeper you want to ladies want to go see the OBGYN you need a referral you want to go to the orthopedist because you cracked your elbow you need a referral you don't need that to go to the orthopedist I cracked my elbow you could do that all on your own now we have to go to a primary care spend a co-payment there and hope that they're going to give me a referral to the orthopedist that can delay care my friends okay it certainly could delay care why go to the GP ah I got a sore shoulder okay um here take this medicine well that one didn't work for you let's get this medicine okay sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't how does it delay your care that could be a bone cancer seen it in my own practice Could Happen ge's got shoulder pain messing around with medications messing around with different things turns out this patient had bone cancer delays the care and as we in medicine often or I should say our um ancillary services like Orthopedics and neurology okay we refer to OS as poisoning our system because you know who makes out with it the GPS they're The Gatekeepers right now our insurance does not require us to have a gatekeeper it does not require us to have a gatekeeper we can go anywhere we choose without having somebody look over our shoulder so in closing I'd like to ask you that you're offering something that we don't want we don't need it's like I feel like like I'm being offered a car looks the same really runs the same but it is not the same please don't give us something that we don't want and we don't need we I'm going to give you I'm going to give you a perk I'm going to give you a perk I just want to give you guys a perk I just want to give you a perk we thank you for being on the board of education you put in time you put in money you put in effort and that's commendable we respect that please respect us because we made our choices we paid our fair share and we made our choices please Mr Geisler is giving me the giving me the the the cane to come off the stage so thank you so much for hearing me and I yield to the next speaker if there's anyone else but thank you again I leave this all over the district and if anybody finds it they know exactly who it belongs to so we got good people that look after uh Kevin Kane 13 Lincoln place in Garfield um I want to start off by saying a couple cities Loi hasb Heights Elwood Park um Fair Lawn and just to name a few because I actually cut hair in Loi and I deal with these teachers all the time from other districts they are severely short staffed in all these other districts it's not just Garfield the difference is they have higher pay better benefits and for some reason the teachers stay here in Garfield and this is how we treat them because we keep saying they're teachers and they are not just teachers they are counselors therapists and from 8 until 5:00 sometimes they are parents to our children so when you're going to do something like this without having all of the facts and I have Etna for my children and the second that I can change Etna I plan on changing Etna and the only reason I'm not is because I'm in the middle of a dental procedure for one of my kids when you call up to try to find a specialist in the area I have to go to hacken sack hospital because there's no specialist around here that will care for my kids or I have to drive all the way to Anglewood to go to the dentist all right so I'm not here for me because this doesn't even affect my kids teacher I'm here for every single other teacher in this room um and then we bring up supplies I get a list every single time my kid goes into a classroom 15 glue sticks 10 envelopes or folders pencils erasers so the parents are also paying for that too do the right thing resend the vote table it and if it's so good explain to the teachers and the parents and the counselors out there of why it should be switched to this plan let them have the option to change it for themselves it's still not too late to be the men and women up there that do the right thing and resend the vote and stick up for the teachers who are here because they love teaching in Garfield not because they have to because they could get a job tomorrow somewhere else all right and before I end I just wanted to say to the president you are a hairdresser the same as me the reason why we went into the industry is because we know at any point in time we could get a job anywhere we want in the country in a second the reason you stay where you stay well because you own it but the reason why I Stay is because I love the job I could get a job somewhere tomorrow because there's also a shortage of hairdressers you keep people because you treat them well you know put the clients first and success will follow the students are our clients we need to keep the teachers happy to keep the students happy thank you all right I get nervous when there's five of you here okay so today I'm sorry Marlene is watka 67 more app hold on I just stop my ti please okay so a few meetings ago I was asked to say something positive about this board of education so here it is they are some of the most loyal people to their friends one board member gave his wife an undeserved promotion even though they are no longer even living together I won't mention names okay so no individual attack but I'm just wondering why the insurance contract went to Allen Associates which employs the son of one of your supporters in the campaign and it's really funny because the sun was listed on their website as an employee on Thursday night at 9:37 p.m.

at this time I'll entertain a motion to close out the meeting seconded all right properly moved and seconded we are out okay