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good afternoon welcome to the committee on education today is March 17 2025 it's 3 o'clock pm and we are in room 229 first on the agenda is House Bill 110 HD1 relating to to local agricultural products and to testify hello Cher kidani to members of the committee my name is De ucha Deputy superintendent Department of Education testifying uh we stand on a written testimony providing comments on this measure the department appreciates this Bill's intent to clarify the local food purchase goals and will do its best to meet the 30% mandate by 2030 thank you thank you next to testify Department of Agriculture D and members of the commune Matthew on behalf of the Department of Agriculture we will stand on our testimony support thank you thank you next to testify kavika kayapo hello Cher kudani members of the committee uh Kika kapo with Hawaii Public Health Institute and Hawaii farmy school network um this bill well aligns acts 175 and 176 helping us to make sure that the measurements for reaching 30% by 2030 is manageable um we strongly support this Bill thank you thank you is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure members any questions moving on house 1293 relating to the Department of Education procurement exempts Department of Education purchases of local edible produce and package food products less than a certain amount from the electronic procurement system requirements requires at least three written quotes for doe purchases of local edible produce and packaged food products between certain amounts requires at least two written quotes for Department of Education purchases of local Ed edible produce and package food products between certain amounts for certain schools in rural communities to testify superintendent Boe chair Donnie Vice chair K members of the committee Dina Department of Education the department stands on its written testimony and supportting this measure thank you for T thank you next to testify kavika Kaho hello chairani Vice chair Kim members of committee again K Kayo Public Health Institute Bo Farm to school network um we strongly support this bill uh this is another tool that the dewe can use to help get raise meet the 30% threshold um thank you thank you next to testify oh y not here next to testify Micah Mikata Vice chair his testimony is strong support thank you thank you Michel next to testify B kahui good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee Bonnie K administrator State procurement office the state procurement office will stand on its written testimony providing comments the $100,000 threshold is an amount that was agreed to by due in previous conversations thank you available for questions thank you Bonnie is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this matter come forward please La chair Vice chair members of the committee Cedric Gates here on behalf of the Department of Agriculture uh the department uh stands on it's written testimony offering comments on this measure here for any questions Malo thank you anyone else here wishing to testify please come forward good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee BR mamota here on behalf of the hoi Farm Bureau my apologies chair um if you do not have our written testimony make sure the uh committee gets her written testimony uh we are in support this measure as with all farm school um initiatives we absolutely support we want to see uh the doe uh achieve those goals um as you heard previous testifiers this is a a tool again uh any support and tools that we can give to the department education to try to re uh achieve at least the first 30% goal and then Tim may get up to 50% and we' like to see that higher but again we need to to provide doe the the ability to achieve these goals so we're in strong support and we will submit our written Tes if the committee does not have a chair my apologies thank you anyone else here wishing to testify this measure members questions all right assist the superintendent shall we try round two on this bill shoot let's go so so so maybe you can give us better Clarity of what you're trying to accomplish since the last time we have this bill okay well we we put out a request for proposal I think that we use a Doods one and there's another one that we go out to supplement the dods ls that only goes out once a year so in the inter room if we find a product that we want to try this would give us an opportunity to do it we use the um small purchase procurement to BU Po and it's like $25,000 and below and it was successful but we can only do it once time so if anything else comes up that's not on the vendor list that we want to try this gives us an opportunity to try different products so this is solely using State funds correct okay and these are direct to vendor purchases correct so why can't you guys go through your current vendors and have them purchase it for you it's not under your current contract it's I don't State funds right it's not fed funds state funds I don't think it's a product that's listed in the the the current RFP sort of ifbs why not though because it's a new product like boy wasn't on the vendor list before but why don't you want to fix that part first that the whatever so you can have flexibility on meeting the 30 you know your goals of what of locally sourced food would wouldn't you rate that more because again this is State funds not federal funds correct you should have more control over what state funds can buy so I'm just trying to get an understanding of what what you're trying to accomplish here if it's not on the vendor list this gives us a chance to purchase the food item but what I'm saying is why don't you put on the vendor list we will we're trying to now we're trying to put poy on the list but don't don't you have control over that how how often do you go out for a contract we have to go to you USDA to meet the requirements but these are State funds not fed funds but to get it on the list to get the reimbursement from USDA USDA has to approve the product and the ingredients and then we can get it on the list and then we can purchase from that so it's a there's two different procurements there's a state one and then there's a USDA requirement that's right right so but my understanding is State funds are flexible the FED funds are the ones that have to follow all that but you still need to have the product on the list that the vendor is providing okay so how long yeah so so how long would that take they go out once a year I said so next time it comes up we're trying to get four approved by USDA so we can put on the list the next time it goes out okay so so but but but but aren't you start can't you start thinking of things that you should be starting to qu on that list yeah we are right now we're looking at the menu we're trying to increase the amount of local products we can purchase in our existing menu okay so then you're you're good then we don't have PO on the list right now so we're trying to get it added we find other products that we can put on the list we're going to put it on the next time it goes out okay well I I have to say you're not making a good case of what you're trying to accomplish I think that that was the problem the last time is we just need to understand what mechanically you're you're trying to get to it's just sounds like you're just trying to go around procurement um and there's no thought process on how we're trying to put this all together because as I said this a state fund state fund is supposed to be very flexible if you're trying to meet USDA guidelines okay that's that's fine but you said you could purchase up to 25,000 already as a pilot so you would think that okay that's that that should work so then when you go in and and get the approval of whatever you're trying to get it should be within the plan so I'm just trying to confuse I'm confused on what this is trying to accomplish just saying you're going to give you more tools but it just sounds like you're it's just allowing you to do one-offs instead of trying to put it together comprehensively well I apologize if I'm not communicating effectively but what we're trying to do is we go out once a year to get the new product listed it's passed already and if something comes up that we want to try this gives us an opportunity to in said you can do up to 25,000 so so if if in the 25,000 you it's successful then you know you have to put it into 25,000 was only like a a handful of schools who could Supply yeah but if it's Local Foods how you how many vendors actually can supply that that amount we're trying to find out right now well that's what you're supposed to prove through the small purchases you should have more info over it rather than just saying okay give we're going to give you a $100,000 and you know try let us figure it out you should you should be able to prove that because my thing is I'm not sure there's that many that can can meet that that demand that you're looking for Al be at Statewide because I think I think the the thing that I'm trying to make you guys realize is that when you deal with small farmers you you it's it's very difficult to go to deal with the doe right and so you may not you know you need to understand what that small farmer um you know mix is like and and what will you know make them deal Direct IR L with you that's why I'm like okay if you have somebody existing if you have an aggregator that might be easier to to to make it successful I'm just saying I don't know I'm listening to this I don't know if you have it thought out you know I think I I thought a little bit about this this area it's just when you you present to us I'm not sure it makes sense in my head well we're looking for the the companies that can provide the product on each island and once we identify them we're going to try work with the Distributors to make sure that they connect with these The Producers so we don't I don't think we want to set up a model where we're purchasing directly from the farmers we want to go to the Distributors who can aggregate different suppliers on any Island and provide us the product to us right that's that's what we've been asking so that is this bill what you need to allow that your aggregators but this sounds like this is direct which is just a shortterm inter room until we can get the product on the list and then we can start dealing with the Distributors to aggregate the different Farmers okay all right okay so last time you told us that you would see if you could get it on the list right that the contract might not have gone out yet when did the contract go out I think it went out already when did it I think went out in February I think it was February last you think it was feary I can get I'll get you the exact date okay we had these questions and you would think you would have it now because this is a similar bill and I asked that question to you the Senate bill right okay I'll get it for you this time okay so February so in order to get it on and you're going to go back out again next February is that the plan how often do you go out I think it's once a year but I can check to make sure okay so if it's once a year and you already went out in February is it great to good to assume that you're going to go out next February I don't want to speculate but probably yeah probably okay so you can put this on the next list for February you can put poy on the list once we get approval from USDA you can put it on right okay so now you have this bill this bill may not get into effect until the governor sign it or whatever and so you're going to be able to put all this together and get somebody for $100,000 worth of poy to be able cure $100,000 worth of Po yet in February it's going to go on the list so between now and February why do you need this inum bill if there's another product that we want to test aside from po then we can use this bill to test the product but you can test the product with TW current 25,000 but it's very limited on what we can we can only do it one time a year only small purchase you cannot do multiple small purchases to different vendors not for the same product no I thought you said you want a different product you just tell me it's for a different I'm saying if we if we purchase a new product says um you know limo if we put a a small purchase for limo out we cannot do another small purchase for Lio 25,000 okay but how many how are you talking about every school year or forever one year school year okay so you can do one small purchase a year one small purchase for $225,000 period that's correct per year for that product for that product so you put out one for POI already right did you put one out for po we did one last year I did last po yeah okay so you did it when when did you do that I don't know exactly I can get that for you okay because you already did that so you would think that it would have gone if you had already done it Why didn't it go into the February because we don't have the USD approval of poy as a as an item we can use we have to approve the dietary components okay so what process are you in with the USDA to get we're working out with them now and the content how long have youve been working it out with them the last several months we've been going back and forth with them to try and get for approv okay so now you want to you you want this to go up because you might want to do limo or or some other product that we don't have on the list right now so how have you been doing it before the 25,000 small purch You' been doing that right I mean how many how much limo can how much limo what Farmers that do limo can do 50 $100,000 worth of limo I don't know we haven't asked him I'm just saying that this is a vehicle we can use for something the Lim was just an example and not saying we gonna purchase $100,000 with a limo but you're saying you can only do it once right so can you do okay so if it's $100,000 can you do four small purchases for 25,000 each I don't know I would have to check with for that yes sure so right we could do it up to 100,000 that's but that's the parse thing so if you do four of 25,000 we could do that if we have 100,000 threshold we would fall under that 100,000 but you canot do it for the same vendor right we we could do it for this you could do it as long as it's under the 100,000 total cap we could do that Y and the purpose for doing that would be what maybe if we'd want to do a different island or if we want to do a different bunch of schools to see if it's just as popular within those schools or in others because as as uh uh Senator Hashimoto was mentioning we do want to see beyond just a small group we want to see Statewide if we can find some of that same interest and that same desire to eat whatever that product would be okay so this is only to test this is not for you to be able to continually use this vehicle to be able to purchase over and over again $100,000 correct correct this got to be so what we're trying to do is figure out what products might be popular or what for example maybe perit maybe something that we haven't looked at previously right or or any sort of these these sort of products that maybe we haven't thought about Rutan you know Hai is very unique you know a lot of the different um vegetables that are and and produce that's involved here that's why we also have almost all of I think the produce in Hawaii Falls under specialty crop because it's not something that's grown in other parts of the the nation so we we Face very different sort of uh both challenges and and benefits of being here in [Music] Hawaii okay so is this requires a report from you as to what vendors you you you um we're happy I don't think it currently does but I think we'll be more than happy to put a requirement about what vendors would use because it would be interesting to see the report on what vendors you actually sampled out and what you're doing year with it because if if it's been used for other purposes I think that would raise concerns for me as well totally agree okay thank you thank you members further questions thank you okay moving on House Bill 1069 relating to education this adds two voting members that represent the department education and Board of Education to the school facilities authority to testify Department of Education after chair Vice chair members of the committee Dino of Education the department stands on its written testimony and support of this measure thank you thank you capson you also wanted to testify good afternoon chair uh Vice chair and members good to be back with you in person today capson po executive director of the board uh the board does stand on its written testimony uh in support of the measure and believes the addition of the board's voice to the SFA board uh would help with the needed account ability strategic input and oversight M thank you Ricky fuani thank you chair Kanani Vice chair Kim members r fujitani with the school facilities Authority we've submitted testimony with comments and are available for questions thank you thank you is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure if not members any questions okay I'll start off uh let's see Ricky can you come back up so the last time we heard this measure the Senate measure there were concerns about communication what what happened since then has there been more communication or better communication or what right so just to give you context right we have three programs preschools work for housing in New School Central Maui we have one program manager SFA has only eight employees we have three employees that focus on those programs actually two of the three are former doe project coordinators so they know the process very very well they have monthly twice a month meetings with their counterparts at the doe on those meetings to discuss all issues so that's all been scheduled that's continuing um and so you've held have you held a meeting after we heard the bill yes okay and who showed up at that meeting so for uh do who showed up at that yeah so for for uh preschools the first one is it's Heidi Armstrong okay and she's with uh the r k initiative and she was there at the yes for um Workforce housing it was um uh Deputy superintendent head of FTB the land person project management so they meet on that okay uh and then for new school Central Maui it's it's in full flight actually we had probably four or five meetings the last one was actually in Maui okay with with all the key principles okay in so was there issues that you e felt wasn't being addressed um that you're aware of yeah not that I'm aware of I mean we document everything everything's been documented we can send you that information if requested yes okay and um who's current members on the board right now the board members are Harold Edwards he is the industry representative he's a contractor for design build water uh uh Janny wasi who's a former uh deal principal and uh that's it but you have five members so three vacancies right so there were positions but the governor has retracted some of those um those positions that were in okay so you haven't been able to vote on anything how how long have you had right so um those positions were retracted last Monday so we had three members until then and we had our last board meeting so in our next board meeting we only have two members but by Statute that is Quorum because it's the majority of the sitting members so as long as we have as long as they agree then we can continue and approve measures with even two members even two members yes and what kind of things do you folks have to vote on um typically policy level things for what's coming up it would be the next series of Workforce housing locations uh at least to start the due the due diligent process and identify properties um for Central Maui schools not much because it's pretty much in design and planning and for preschools um pretty much that's being dictated by the ready Ki steering committee yes yes okay so there's not much at the moment any more questions fore do anybody El have questions from I have other questions okay um how about doe then so again can you tell this committee what what what it is that you think having two voting members as I believe the measure we passed out last time was two ex official members right so what is it that two voting members would accomplish or the problem it will solve that we can't solve now we can't solve with having two ex official members good because you're dealing with um basically school facilities um the doe would like more of a say in what happens with SFA and how they're moving forward so when you say have a say what do you what do you mean by that like aren't you folks don't you have a don't you aren't you included in the meetings where you can right but when the board takes action I think Poe wants to be a part of that decision making with the SFA for takes action and so what kind of actions have they taken that you folks felt that you didn't have a say in or needed to have a say in I think um early on I don't think we're aware of some of the projects that were ongoing um and I think if were if we had membership representation on the board we might have been more aware of what was happening before it went public see that that's the thing I'm trying to H get a handle on you want to be more aware but the me the meetings are public you can sit on it now and be aware or with nonvoting members you can be there part of the discussion and be aware so you know that's what I heard last time you want to be aware but it seems as though and then when I asked how many meetings I the superintendent how many meetings he only went to one so it's like okay we have stuff at all the meetings and and since the last meeting that the senate had the hearing on I've asked them to include us in all the meetings going forward so myself or another of the deputies would be sitting in on the meetings so how much more aware do you think you're going to be if you you be a voting member well I think that that decision making is what we want to be a part of not just the awareness but we want to be a part of the decision Mak okay other questions members maybe this question is for the Board of Ed executive director so since the last time we had this meeting did you guys have a presentation from SFA yes uh Senator we we did SFA came I believe in the February meeting and I think there was a lot of robust discussion between the Board of Education uh and SFA okay and then did are did you take our advice of having it as a standing agenda item or you guys are not going to do that we were um but then we we they were we took them off the the March agenda item but I do think periodic um having them show up periodically on the board uh meeting uh agenda why did you take them off of the March agenda uh that was the board was going to consider was in the process of possibly considering action uh regarding um School impact uh districts but um SFA requested that it be removed no no no but I'm just talking about a standing report from SFA so there there's none of that there there was uh in its place I think part of it was to honor the discussion and interests of what that discussion would have encompassed so that was used instead to talk about school impact fees um and and impact districts sort of generally and I think a lot of um issues were brought to top of mind for the Board of Education members okay so so so the reason that I ask is there is no reason to me why you need to have this bill if you just proactively kept keep adding them to your agenda the board so now that you took them off and didn't have a standing report it questions what's the commitment from the Boe side to start communicating with SFA so so you know assistant superintendent or deput you know your Deputy is saying that you want to be communicated to but but you know it's it's a two-way street you you you guys should foster that communication doesn't necessarily need to be just on a um you know you're sitting on the board but it's the question is if you have a doe member who's on the SFA board who are they reporting back too that's the question and so that's why I'm saying if if you if you really want to have that dialogue it should be at the board level and you should have everyone in that conversation at a posted meeting so if you're choosing not to do that then it's tells me that you guys are a part of the problem and why do we need this bill to fix it for you when you guys aren't proactively taking steps to fix that communication problem um well Senator then I think if we're part of the problem I think part of the reason for it is and for the ask is to be part of the solution right the solution is why don't you just have them as a standing agenda item well and so I do easy you don't have you don't need legislation we can look at doing that but again you know at at an well meet me halfway at least say you're going to do something cuz if you're asking me for this absolutely do something it doesn't seem like you're meeting me halfway you're just like okay yes move on but I do want to make sure I make the point though that it's not just about receiving updates right I do think similar to the department the board also wants more of a say but the board that's a good time for every single board member to have their say at that point right at s SFA meeting you're not going to have every single board member giving instant feedback on any project anyway thank you chair thank you yeah I have a question for you so it says the chairperson of the board or the chairperson's designate yes so it's it somebody that you're going to designate or you're going to sit I mean not you but the the board chair I mean the current board chair is Roy Tumi and I think um from some previous discussions I think we've had here uh I think his intention was whoever whether it's him or a design that it would be consistent that was I think your suggestion Vice chair that we don't change it every time so probably try be consistent with that so so this person will then have the ability to vote on SFA will they be voting on behalf of the board of BOE they'll be voting on from them by them mean how are they going to be able to run this on the board and is it going to be a board agreed that you should be voting this way I I I don't I'm not actually sure uh but I that not how I envisioned it I did Envision that it would be a representative of the board and uh they would have the authority to vote how how they saw fit and perhaps provide updates back to the Board of Education about what was going on at SFA but that the design would have the power uh and flexibility and authority to vote um without without really any restriction just how they feel they should and there in lies my concern because you're not going to necessarily be in aware of what that individual voted for before they vote right because I'm hearing this from doe as well so doe wants to be more aware they want to have a say well are they going to really have a say when the person that's there actually has to vote on something and maybe they're G to vote the way and the rest of the doe might not agree I mean I'm not again I'm not certain how this measure is going to make them more aware of what's going on which by having a non-voting member would probably serve the same way because again you're not going to pull the whole board to say how should we vote on this well I think um Senator sometimes uh you know it would be you have opportunity to have conversation right and you sort of know where people stand and perhaps overall what their values are and they're uh sort of you know heading in the right direction do they think things are heading in the right direction the board and I probably asked you the same question you folks ever reached out to the SFA board to let them know about certain issues and perhaps like how you folks tell us or you guys need to vote in favor of this you need to vote in favor of that please vote for this this is you folks we do monitor um it but I I don't know if we've actually said here specifically the action we want to take I I wouldn't want to go that far and say that but I do know we do want did you let them know how you guys feel on these issues that's on the agenda I I I I don't know if there was a specific I don't want to say yes or no I don't I can't think of us my issue that if you folks aren't communicating it then just because you have one member on from you guys board that that is going to be communicated as well because assumption is going to be that person is going to represent us we've had Representatives on heart I've never known what they were going to do I never agreed with them on what they voted on heart on the city on the rail okay never agreed with them and I don't think they ever came and asked us what we thought they voted the way they wanted to vote so I just doesn't know that this is going to to solve that issue and when doe had all of the facilities under doe there was a problem there were problems we had to move it out try all these different methods and now we're at SFA thinking that this is going to solve the problem they're gonna all be better and now it's not now doe wants back in to have control again so I I'm just yeah I'm having I I think I hear you I I do think again it's the at least from the board's perspective the board sees that sfa's largest client is basically the department and and that takes up most of the board of education's time and that's why the board uh was asking for its seat as well there in lies the thing why don't you have them on your agenda if you're the they're your you're their client yeah there there are efforts and I think I Feer I do think it's ongoing communication and engagement opportunities you know just because we didn't do once for one month doesn't mean uh we can't keep coming back to that and seeing when things can fit in and when we can have some of those discussions right I mean I think part of what's needed is more calibration on what's needed is ongoing consistent consistency which you just proved to us this by taking them off that that's not happening so thank you any further questions comments I do believe though capson that because this is related to the Department of Education and and the facilities that they need that it's important for for the Department to have um uh their voices heard and that's the reason for for this um measure is to make sure that um the board as as Board of Education as well as Department of Education is represented yes I I think so I absolutely agree with that chair and I do think it allows more opportunity for conversation uh uh alignment and calibration in all of our efforts because at the end of the day I think we all agree that um the board believes at least that we have to build school facilities that are gy deserve and their communities deserve thank you okay that last moving on to sc66 and sr44 requesting the Department of Education to develop and Implement a Statewide financial literacy curriculum curricular plan for public high school students to testify captains Aloha again chair Vice chair and members capson po executive director of the board the board does stand on a written testimony supporting the intent of this measure and we do suggest and request uh small amendments basically to use board policy Mahal Stephanie Sakamoto good afternoon chair members of the committee Stephanie sakota on behalf of the hoi Credit Union League um I just want to reiterate that while we support strr 66 we would prefer um the pass passage of HB 619 thank you thank you next to testify Tong goopo Chamber of Commerce good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee tongo po Chamber of Commerce standing in support of Our Testimony also want to thank you chair for your leadership and introducing the resolution we do believe that financial literacy is a really big component to preventing the brain drain as we've seen throughout the years for our local students leaving the islands after college and after high school so here for any questions and also happy education week thank you thank you Tom next to testify Dana your sister could have come and helped you with hello Vice Sher Kim members of the education committee my name is danen Honda and this is Phoebe Phoebe is two and a half years old we are testifying in support of sc66 and sr44 I brought Phoebe here today with me because when finatal literacy legislation was first brought up in Hawaii I was just a little kid myself and today here I am as an adult and recently a father and we're still here talking about potentially making this happen this minder here is filled with all the financial literacy legislation introduced over the years to me these aren't just pieces of paper these represent the voices of so many of us over time advocating for a more resilient Hawaii when I first started fighting for financial literacy it was due to my personal story of overcoming Financial challenges to become a homeowner but really it's so much more than just myself or all of us for that matter it's about our future generations and giving them the education that they need and the hope that they need that by working hard and smart that they can continue living here in Hawaii so please let's not delay any longer and let's provide the accountability and the resources needed to make this happen thank you so much thank you M's question thank you next to testif Marvin D good afternoon chair Vice chair and members of the committee Marvin Deng testifying on behalf of Visa Visa is a private sector leader in financial literacy and has developed a the Practical money skills program in conjunction with government agencies Educators and others you know uh this resolution is very important it's important because when high school students are able to learn about financial literacy and management skills it will make them better prepared to face the economic challenges that they may have to deal with as adults thank you very much is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure please forward um this good afternoon chair kidani Vice chair Kim and members of the committee I'm Terry USI Jima assistant superintendent with the Department of Education testifying on behalf of the superintendent um I apologize for our late testimony the department is committed to expanding financial literacy education and has convened a literacy task force last spring in 2024 and has published an updated list of resources that has been distributed to all principals uh teachers and complex area superintendents um we have also um we are currently reviewing the vision of the high school graduate and following that we are going to be reviewing the required grit credits for graduation and we um note that the proposed resolution does have some challenges in terms of implementation Staffing and funding So to that end the department has requested an appropriation for a position dedicated to financial literacy uh to assist with implementing literacy financial literacy more fully so thank you for the opportunity to testify thank you members questions yes we always come to the point that we going have to add funding position which is okay but H where did he go you know teaching this in the schools where did it go what what took place at that um over the years that we replac it what we don't have today what you just said because we putting we tried to get it back into the schools but what happened to it when we was going school so that's the question I mean I understand you guys asking funding don't get me wrong it's it's a great thing to fund but we we're spending a lot of money adding positions adding positions and then you know you guys doing with Tas so when when are we going to be able to just use with what we have uh we have been using what we have so far and over the last three years um we have um had people who we don't have any dedicated um person with that this Falls within their duties um but we've pulled people um to work together to create to create and determine some financial literacy standards based on national uh Financial litery standards which didn't exist before um and uh we did convene a task force um with the resources that we have um inviting different stakeholders and we did come up with a report that list the recommendations and um even vetting um you know an updated list of financial literacy resources for our schools we've identified some free ones um and we've talked to Credit Union Partners we've talked to some um vendors there's newer things coming out all the time and some of it looks really good um and so there's some options that are no cost to schools because and some of it is from Community Support uh what we don't have is someone who is dedicated to facilitate uh this work and to move it forward forward more quickly we've also um explored um um you know the personal transition plan um that's um in progress right now and we've done we're asking students what are some of the things that should go in that and so we did add a question um to ask students what's important to you and as we continue our work with the vision of the high school graduate um that should be the core right um what we want to produce so um we're anticipating financial literacy um because we're hearing some of it already and um we've been hearing it from the community Our intention also is you know we know it's important for all our graduates to have basic financial literacy skills before they graduate um so we so once that's done then we of course we'll um include stakeholders in the graduation requirements and because that's one of the recommendations that resulted from the task force result um report and you know the number one um recommendation we had 11 members support this and uh no one um opposed it to or neutral was for financial literacy to be a fundamental core skill that should be embedded within the k12 and right now it is but I think we have to update to see exactly where it is we have list um but that's um we've updated our social study standards since then so um that would need updating but the second recommendation it um the gradu um the department should make financial literacy a mandatory graduation requirement that was tied as the second recommendation um with a stepbystep plan to make it a recommendation but do it more gradually and incorporate some of the other recommendations um into the process BR this something and I came and I was interested because all the students from my school well not my school the school I used to go to Camp High School I was surprised all of the kids that came different times they came with in over half of them was talking about that and then other half was transportation and it was really was really um good to hear that we're going to try to do something like this big that's what they asked when they were sitting in front of me that was the ask so he just want to take Senator K and his committ yeah and we we would like to do more too um we're just requesting thank you appreciate J question so you've testified to us in the past that deal that the schools some schools or many schools offer financial literacy as an elective correct that some some yes they they have the option to do that about I want to say four years ago um um a accn code was created so that schools could offer it as an option um okay so my question is why why are you going through all of this when if it's already been an elective and the whole requests have been over the years is to put it as a requirement in the schools so I don't understand why you need a dedicated person I know this resolution calls for a lot of stuff but over the years we've just asked that it be part of the requirements in as a required class so if you already have an elective you already have the basis of what should be taught we do we have that part we have um some drafted financial literacy standards okay and the elective course um it's a interdisciplinary elective so it could be um taking things from social studies it could be taking things from math it could um so when we came up with the financial literacy standards that is um a resource for any school who's providing financial literacy to kind of use that as a guideline so you are covering things very similar to what is in this resolution um but to make it a requirement um as if it's a graduation requirement it would have to go through a process and um okay so what's the difference between having it as a a regular course not an elective but not necessarily saying it's a requirement for graduation because if it's part of what you have to take everybody would take it right so I don't know the difference between it being a a a course that's that's embedded into the into the high school uh versus saying it's a graduation requirement because it would be part of the whole overall graduation requirement I mean we've been asking for this simply all these years as you can see from the folder that I've I've introduced measures for it other members here have can see yes right so how and then you you go and you put together a a um task force I don't understand because this is parents have called us contacted us we've talked to you folks about it so I I I don't and you have electives you just haven't pulled the trigger to make it part of the overall we keep hearing you got to take something away well you know again I'm not sure how us giving you one position because we don't give your a position every time you guys decide to add something to your to the curriculum right it's um that the our specialists in our office um they're at pretty much at capacity in terms of what they need to do and so um to devote the kind of attention we would need to to to move this forward so that we can the difference is I think we would like to ensure that every high school student has um basic financial literacy exposure right before they graduate right now right now it's kind of if they choose to take an itive they can so one idea that um was proposed was perhaps if it is incorporated into an existing course you know that might be a possibility and so part of the reason for having a task force was to see not just okay I think everyone agrees that financial literacy is extremely important then why has it taken the do so long to even put something together so we have been trying with the resources that we've had okay the last question I have is you mentioned you folks ask students what they want right you've asked students what they want in the financial literacy um we just put out a um as part of our personal transition plan survey um we first um had we went to some of our student leaders and so we posed a question out there I have not seen the Reas what's the question um I think it's asked I don't have the specific question in front of me but um we added it amongst other questions um regarding their aspirations for future careers what kinds of skills do they need to know what you know what kind of um knowledge but we had a specific question um about financial literacy in terms of should it be I think it was incorporated in as part of their personal transition plan that's that is a graduation requirement well I I I can understand you asking that question but it's hard to ask a question to somebody who maybe not not know what they need to know right I mean you have these high school graduates and they're not they're not I'm sure like when I was graduating what I needed to know as far as financial literacy I think that's why you're there I don't think you asked them you know what kind of algebra you think you need to have or um but I'm just saying saying that you folks are the Educators we are the ones that's supposed to come up with the policy and so it's great that you ask them but I hope you're just not waiting to see because a lot of times they're not going to be aware of what are the things they need to learn they might not know about you know student debt and and what and you know some of the things that are going on they might not know about you know the stock market and how to invest and stuff so how would they even know to add that in their their answer I think our question was more General I think they know that financial literacy is really important being able to manage your um your money when you grow you know get a job even if they may not know the very specific things like credit or you know how do you um um look in terms of um making smart financial decisions budgeting and looking at yeah as a high school student do you know they get so much money they're going to spend it they fig I know enough about finances that I don't need to take a class right I mean so I'm just saying that that we've been asking for this for over a decade and I think that's the issue with the electives because with the electives they would spend a whole semester um just on that topic I think in general um it appears that um financial literacy having those skills is um more of an interest well I think right now we need at least a one quarter of financial literacy to start and I think this is something that should have been implemented years ago and should be implemented immediately and I don't necessarily think that you need to go through a working group asking a survey and going through all of this stuff um to be able to give them the basics on Basics at least the basics on Financial literacy and many schools I think you know are it's just that we are not able to say that every student has it before they graduate from high school and that's what we would like to be able to do okay thank you further questions so so at least give us a timeline what is the timeline that you're looking at I think the timeline depends on our resources as well um so that is why but if it's a priority you make it happen so are you saying that it's not a priority I I think it has been a priority so that despite this not being in anyone's specific you know um responsibilities we have found a way to uh create the standards to uh get stakeholder um input and um we've updated our resources and even that you know requires time because um you have to meet with people you have to review materials and uh when we put something out there for schools to use uh we want to make sure that it's something that okay so so so don't so what is the class that everyone has to take these days I think back when I was you know this is 20 years ago was like everyone had to take guidance class yes I right is that is that still around no it's not okay what what what did that transform into um it's a person transition plan okay so it's not even a class anymore it is a half credit course okay so so there's something there yes so why don't you try and just get something in there as an incremental step can you commit to that at least I something I give us a timeline so you know respectfully I don't think it's my sole decision to say at least if I had a magic wand um that might be one thing that I might you know want to do but it's um because what I'm feeling is you're just kind of saying you're doing all these things and you're kind of like okay we'll keep doing it and we'll doing we're going to keep doing it and then we're going to be here next year with the same conversation so I just want to know something that we can say okay you you committed that some at least something will happen something th give us something I think with additional resources that we will um be able to but but but that's the thing who works on the personal transition plan curriculum right now that that person should be able to do it so um we have our office of student support services so they work on that right now um AC cross office you know we have someone from our office also involved we have um they have people from other offices as well so it's not solely them but they're reviewing that right now to see what else needs to um because right now there's variation in terms of how the P personal transition plan is designed mind because um the schools look at their school communities their students and they have come up with what they have determined as most appropriate I get it I get it so so so what I'm hearing and just just so you know this is what I'm hearing is there's a lot of excuses well there's that's what I'm hearing I a lot of excuses well I'm sorry if it sounds like we're making excuses um you know we do want to make happened for all our students and um and part of that might be through the personal transition plan it if we're I'm just telling you something that's existing if you say you need more resources I'm throwing something out there and if you feel that that's not the way then you go find something else but I'm giving you an idea I and and that's a great idea and I think that idea but when can we get something that you think should be you should be able to deliver something I'm not not seeing a full class I don't even know if you need a full class but at least something that we can have to all students before they graduate like writing a check how many people know how to write a check that every single high school student I don't think I even learned how to write a check in high school I think it was thanks to my eighth grade English teacher who taught us how to write a check so I don't so so some needs to be revamped with the curriculum and you should be concerned that people don't know how to write a check or balance a checkbook that doesn't concern you uh I I think they should be able to write a right I I just had this long conversation who was my sis with my sister who teaches in high school and we're talking about what are the life skills that people need and it's not embedded in the doe curriculum and so I think your office should be tasked with trying to figure out what is the relevant skills that people need and and not needing to create all these excuses to to get it implemented I think I'm just I'm just really frustrated maybe it's not even reso that we need maybe we need to move the bill because it just seems like when we come back here in one year you're going to say oh you know we maybe we moved a little bit on our working group but nothing has happened yet and I don't want that to happen I don't know what it's it's going to take we're giving you the freedom through a reso to implement this but every time nothing happens and that's the frustration well I things are happening I think um we do want things to happen quicker and um and that has been Our intention and I know that it has not been quick enough and given our present um capacity I uh we have um been doing what we can okay well well I think if if it reflects a priority of the department then it should you you can figure out how to make it happen with the hundreds and hundreds of employees that you have existing and if it's not then you will continue to give excuses so I think that is the litness test so if if if you feel that it's important you will make it happen so thank you chair thank you um I have a question yes so do you have any idea how many other states require financial literacy I would have to go back and check on that could you please yes we will check on that let this committee I think at one time we checked but I I don't have because if they have Financial literacy what did they give up or did they extend the school hours I'm just I'm just asking we need to the curriculum yeah we need to look at this because this comes up every year and we are um it is in cue for us to review our graduation requirements that's part of our um strategic plan so it is and who makes that decision the Board of Education would have to approve it okay but do are do they realize what we're asking and what we've asked for a number of years when you guys go over the curriculum I I believe they [Music] do okay well I'm not sure if what you believe is correct but I'd like to know for sure thank you two more questions one for you so you folks already asked for this position that you talk about in your testimony yes that was already asked in the beginning of the we asked the previous year also for the position okay can we have Board of Education come on thank you so the the Boe knows that this is a bill and this is something that we have asked for year after year for I don't know a decade now I think and what has the board done has the board passed a policy to say that this should be part of the graduation requirements or what what did the board do no the the board has not I I don't think the board has actually considered it I'd have to go back and confirm is there a reason why they haven't considered it I I without repeating some of the reasons that basically I was going to mention some of the reasons that the department did the board um has been the board is aware and is more keenly aware I think um you know especially after this session knowing um how how long or the the history now right that it has been for several sessions now so so the board is aware and and taking a look uh as far as getting movement um the board um was tends to look at the PTP that personal transition plan that uh assistant superintendent spoke about as the one of the preferred means to do it so have the board looked at look at it or you just talked about looking at um there's been discussion it and maybe more uh an update uh perhaps by one of the Committees uh usually that falls under the student achievement committee um but uh Vice chair I think to your question as the board you know grab the ball and run with it U perhaps not that aggressively what would it take to have that happen because again the board is well aware I mean I I we've been sitting in these meetings for years and there's always been somebody from Board of Education um in the meetings and we've asked them what it would take to to require it to be part of the graduation requirements or to be one of the required classes and they said well we have to look at what we're going to get rid of or what it's going to replace so I am just shocked to hear that you folks have not gone beyond a discussion that has not been something that you voted on um as to whether you're going to add it to the personal personal what is it called the person transition or because I know I had guidance class as well and you know I'm not sure why the wheel has to be reinvented when you already have electives out there there's other states that have adopted it and again we're not talking about you know um literacy 5.0 we're talking about literacy 101 or you know less than 101 basic literacy writing a check and understanding about you know when you when you charge something that you're going to have these fees and you're going to have late fees and so forth um because I know my sister and my mom thought I just paid a minimum amount you know didn't realize it's going to take them 11 years to pay off the balance if they only pay the minimum but those are the basic stuff and so I mean between the Board of Education and and educate doe you know you guys have smart people with degrees come on I can't you can figure this out we haven't done it yet I I think Senator to I should say then that you know you ask what it would take and I do think conversations like this to remind the board staff the department staff is part of that okay but we're tired already we've had this discussion over and over again we don't know what it's going to take you know can you ask the board to agenda this issue for their next meeting and um go as far as asking other states and counties um whether or not they have had um literacy required financial literacy required and if so what did they have to give up or what did they have to do what what was the mechanic chair absolutely I can tell you I will uh take that back to the either the board chair of the appropriate committee chair uh to see um what might be able to get scheduled thank you and we'll take that I'll take I'll definitely take that back thank you kson further questions comments yeah if we have a bill the bill pass what would you f do I I well Vice chair if if it is the prerogative and decision of the legislature of course we would have to comply so why AR be passing the bill well for me the reason why is I don't know what they would have to give up that's that's the the hard part they just add it to the personal or add it to the time frame of school and you know I'm just saying there's a lot of other things invol but then we just heard that it could be added to that personal gener without giving up in but I think unless we get serious about it it's not going to happen we've seen that just my two step I think when the board does consider it Vice chair um the board does also take into account some of the messaging that needs to go out to the schools I it is a large system so we do try the board does try and take that into account but but I as I said to chair I will definitely take that back thank you anyone else here wishing to provide testimony if not um recess reconvening the committee on education so committee has been in discussion and the recommendation is for Bill 110 HD1 to pass with amendments and we will defect the date to July 1 20150 okay um if there's no discussion House Bill 11 Z house draft one pass with amendments chair kidani hi chair votes I shimo hi Senator can hi Senator Dort Hi Five members present all voting I recommendations adopted thank you for House Bill 1 1293 house draft two the recommendation is the same to pass with amendments and defect the date to July 1 20150 okay members House Bill 1293 house draft two any members voting no any members with reservations hearing none recommendations adopted thank you for House Bill 1069 HD1 recommendation of the chair is to pass with amendments and the Amendments would be to um add to take the language of Senate Bill 1388 sd2 and defect the date to July 1 2015 okay recommendation HB 10 10669 1069 house draft one uh with amendments any measure any member voting no any mbers no no any members with reservations hearing none four members voting I one no recommendations adopted thank you and for the final measure sr66 and sr44 which request the doe to develop and Implement a Statewide financial literacy plan for public high school students recommendation is to pass as is strr 66 and sr44 pass as is any member V voting no any members with reservations hearing none recommendation is adopted with five members voting thank you member that concludes like to call the committee on higher education and jointly with education uh to order we are in room conference room 229 it is 419 we're on the 301 agenda item uh and this meeting is being streamed lived on YouTube and in the likely event we have to abruptly end this hearing due to technical difficulties a committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Tuesday uh that's tomorrow in room 229 at 3 p.m.

e the open public meetings act that good public notice has been given by the secretary ofation in the following manner post noce on the official office email Brown here Mr here thank you m whereas NJ 12 will ask for a public body to close session during a public meeting and whereas the board of education is deemed it necessary to to close session to discuss certain the public and whereas regular meeting of the Board of Education will reconvene following the session at approximately 7:30 p.m.

f.org students who participate in club sports or other activities of regular classwork tend to have high higher grades better attendance and improve attitudes toward learning and the second graders that will have a bigger amount of Club opportunities next year in third grade it wouldn't be fair to take them all away when some kids some of the kids didn't even get a chance to try any clubs oh kids could discover new interests through trying out different clubs that could go into favorite hobbies or even towards a career in addition clubs can be better to prepare elementary students for certain activities in middle school and in high school for example chorus Orchestra and band help students learn the basics so they are ready to part participate in middle school and high school level performances thank you for your time and we hope that you take our speech into consideration have a good [Applause] night do I move it up students if you don't um you don't have to identify where you live you guys are you know kids so if you just want to say what grade you're in that's fine you're good everyone has 7y time the same hi my name is Addison Langston and I'm a seventh grader at decy Middle School in New Jersey since the pandemic there has been a significant decline in test scores the elimination of independent study will eliminate the time that students use to study and stay organized and prevent them from getting the additional help that they need the new ideas implemented by the board want to put 30 to 35 kids in one classroom this is appalling because the occupancy for an average sized classroom is 26 people confining 35 kids to a classroom is a safety hazard kids should not have to dislike the overcrowded inconsiderate and challenging learning environment that our school will become imagine having 35 kids in a classroom and what monument Soul effort it would take to get them to all listen at once this won't be possible teachers are sculpting the future of the world they should not be neglected while the school administration claims to prioritize student needs these changes indicate a concerning neglect of the vital role that teachers play in our education the relationship between students and teachers is crucial for a positive learning environment kids should be able to feel safe when they go to school thank you for your time [Applause] [Music] thank you you will mostly hear parents and teachers speak tonight but the changes you're proposing affect the students just as much has anyone ever asked the students how they feel about these changes hello my name is Evan Ball and I currently a seventh grader at Dei Middle School I'm here to give you my perspective as a student I've had a great two years so far at Dees if you go through with these changes our school will run completely differently which is not for the better for example getting rid of Halls why would you want to get rid of something that organizes and positively impacts students and teachers socially and academically it is very assuring to know that I have teachers who know each other and can collaborate to make sure that I'm the most successful learner I can be and who are very close by so I can talk to them whenever I need anything knowing my locker is 10 steps away from my classroom and that I have enough time to get all of the materials I need is very comforting to know next year is my last year at toi Middle School I'm not only speaking for me and my grade but on behalf of the hundreds of kids that will come behind me and won't get to experience the Middle School model that has worked so well for me as a student thank you for [Applause] [Music] listening hi my name is Sloan schwager and I'm currently a seventh grader at Dei Middle School since there there will be a whole other school program in the building more utilities will be used which will end up costing way more money in the long run teachers should not have to teach sub J that they have little to no experience with you can't just move teachers around like chest pieces this is affecting real people combining Halls would make it harder for everyone to get to class classes could be very far apart if the Halls get taken away which would cause way more students to belate for their classes which matter also firing one of the guidance counselors can turn into a problem for students that need to talk to them and let let their feelings out it would be more difficult to find the time to talk to a guidance counselor if there is only one for the entire school which is crazy because there are hundreds of students how can you say you are putting students first when you are putting teachers last thank you for [Applause] [Music] listening hello I am Analise tney I'm speaking here today on behalf of Dei Middle School students um I'm going to address the changes that are being brought to our school my main topics are going to be raising class sizes and saving independent study after listening to to the last meeting I realized that increasing class sizes isn't right there are many reasons why firstly class sizes right now are 26 people per class the maximum occupancy says 26 people per class how is it safe for students and teachers to have around 35 kids in a class when the maxim maximum occupancy clearly states 26 people so how is adding more bodies in the classroom and not having the room get bigger safe for everyone secondly one-on-one time all kids benefit from one-on-one time with teachers how is it going to be possible for teachers to meet with everyone and to actually recognize and help kids who are struggling and falling behind you're setting up our younger generation for failure my next topic will be indep independent study so many students use independent study for different reasons for example last week I was absent for 4 days and I an independent study really helped me get back on track seeing as I missed five tests and and had one coming up that week um students also use independent studies for meeting with teachers when they're confused on questions or studying that can also help with raising class sizes seeing as they're going to meet with need to meet with teachers because teachers can't meet with them during class um taking independent study away is another thing you're doing to setting us off a failure all these problems could be solved if we think about it and work together for example we know other schedules that can be designed that could save independent study you need to you have to be willing to compromise [Applause] hello my name is inmar colion and I'm a student in seventh grade at Dei Middle School our school's proposed changes bigger class sizes getting rid of independent study cutting staff collaboration and reducing staff could seriously harm our learning environment and Student Success these changes that are based on budget cuts will likely create more problems than they solve in inreasing class sizes to 35 class in classrooms meant for 26 will make up hard for both students and teachers it will be difficult to give personal attention and many students will feel frustrated and disengaged a crowded classroom may also lead to more behavior issues and interrupting The Learning Experience eliminate an independent study is a big loss this program help struggling students allows for makeup tests and supports group projects more most importantly it provides important resources for students with special needs without this support many students could fall behind and those needing extra help would lose valuable assistance cutting out collaborations among students is not a smart move for Effective teaching teachers need time to plan together share ideas and discuss the needs of their students without this teamwork lessons may not connect well making it harder to help each student succeed finally reducing staff including bus drivers support staff and teachers will impact student safety and the quality of Education with fewer staff members there will be fewer supervisors larger classes and more work for teachers which can lead to burnout and less effective teaching in conclusion these changes will create a less supportive and productive learning environment we might see lower student achievement more discipline problems and lower teacher morale our school should be a place where all students can succeed but these changes would move us further away from that goal we need to stand together for a school that truly supports every learner the definition of school is an institution for educating children according to the Oxford dictionary but that is not what our school would be like if these changes occur due to the need for more money hello I'm Natalie Rogers a seventh grade Green Hall student I will not lie I'm scared for the Social and academic future of our business sorry I mean school but it's hard to tell when teacher and students pleas are being overlooked and pushed aside and the Greed for money drives all of these changes our teachers are the foundation of our school and many of them have truly shaped me as a person so listen to them when they say students grades will go down if they're crammed like sardines into a classroom kids cannot walk all the way around the school to get from class to class pods are very crucial to learning independent study is necessary for children's education we cannot have strangers strolling around our classrooms and cutting teachers and bus drivers is not the solution listen to the cries of the people you claim to be helping where there is a will there is a way please let us help you find it this is not the answer [Music] oh hello I am Addison locks and I'm from deacy middle school I would like to touch base on a couple of things that I'm not happy with like the music program I've played an instrument since fourth grade and I've personally loved it my sister who is also coming to the Macy in 2 years also really enjoys it if you were to take this away me and her would both be devastated I also would like to talk about the expansion of classes classes are already big enough especially gym in gym class there are up to 60 kids in a class which is hard for the teacher teachers to manage and for the students to manage as well I will admit that students do not behave and are immature and teachers trying to get them to listen is not working last thing I would like like to mention in my little Spiel is independent study this is one of the most crucial parts of my week and helps me with catching up on with with school workk and asking help if I need it I don't have time in class most of the time to ask for help if I really needed it so independent study really helps me to connect with my teachers thank you good evening my name is Julia Taris I'm a 7th grade red Hall student at decy middle school tonight I will be talking about the impact of enlarging class and the dangers that could come with this the room occupancy is no more than 26 students in a classroom I know there's signs in the classrooms that state this we already are exceeding this limit what will happen when you throw five or more extra kids in a classroom teachers will have an overflowing amount of papers to grade questions to answer and students to take care of even if there are 32 kids per class in Middle School regular teachers have five periods to teach I'll save you the math 32 students Time 5 periods equals 160 kids being taught if there is an additional period like you're planning there will be 192 students a day can you imagine grading 192 tests 192 homeworks with that many kids the stress levels in teachers will be Skyhigh not only that if teachers are being cut that's more weight on the shoulders of the teachers who are not cut what will happen when a teacher has to take care of 30-some students and the fire alarm goes off I will repeat the classroom occupancy specifically States no more than 26 students should be in a classroom since when has the safety of students and staff become a suggestion since when has the safety of students and staff not been the top priority as a student in this district with one sister also in the district at vanan elementary school as a fourth grader and another entering next year I fear for the safety of them and their peers the safety that is supposed to be provided from the Educators in classrooms the parents and homes and the board sitting in front of me thank you [Applause] hi I'm Maria Ibrahim from Seven Reds EMS and I'm Emma man from eight red zms even though I won't be at Dey school next year I still care about the students including my younger brothers who'll be going to Dei Middle School after I graduate today we want to talk about an important issue that affects our classrooms and our learning experience having just over 30 students in one classroom is a significant concern for us it impacts our education and our safety first let's consider how crowded classrooms can affect our learning when there are so many students it can become challenging for us for our teachers to give us the attention we need we all learn differently and in a large group some of us may feel lost or struggle to keep up this can make it tough to stay engaged and excited about learning safety is another issue is another serious issue in case of an emergency like a fire drill or a lockdown having too many many students in one room makes it harder to evacuate quickly and safely everyone deserves a safe environment where they can focus on studies without worrying about their safety as a seventh grader I understand how important it is to have a supportive learning environment addressing these concerns would allow us to connect better with our teachers each other and create a more positive School experience in conclusion we believe it's essential for us to come together and address these challenges doing so will not only enhance education but also ensure safety thank you for your [Applause] attention dear board members I'm SARS deepok from deasi middle school and I'm in seventh grade Green Hall the changes you're planning to make next year will change how students look at our school for Generations after I leave which is why I want to make sure that this school doesn't make any wrong decisions the next idea that is being planned is increase the number of children in class to 35 which is outrageous the maximum capacity for each classroom is around 26 yet the board has tried to exceed it not only that but how are students supposed to learn and ask questions when 34 other students are also willing to how will the teachers get to each student and make sure that they understand a given lesson as well as graded assignments for increased amount of students this puts pure stress on the students and the teachers another idea that is being brought up is stopping Sports and musical activities this is very depressing for the elementary students and middle schoolers who want to students who play instruments have the same feeling since they put so much effort into learning the instrument just to be told that the musical activities would be gone the school district has already taken FCS away from we won't get to know our bus drivers like we used to who knows if and who knows if and not having a signed bus driver is dangerous in a in few ways because we don't get to know our bus drivers like we're used to and who knows if the bus driver we get are careful or Reckless teachers being cut is also something that shouldn't happen because the teachers have put so much effort into learning how to teach students throughout the years but firing them could cause the teachers stress and confusion all the things that were stated must not happen for the school to be the best that it can be I have heard that the school district gained $2 million and can sell one of the administrating buildings so I hope we can put that money to good use these planned School District changes might ruin the reputation of how students teachers and parents will view our school thank you for taking the time to understand my [Applause] concerns we were fixing the clock and the internet just went out out for a second so we were fixing that hello my name is pushkar and I'm a seventh grade student at the Macy Middle School you seem to put an emphasis on the quality of the education that is being taught in this District but you are completely contradicting your words with the actions that you are taking students who are transitioning from elementary to Middle School will have a very tough time adapting to the changes on top of that you are decreasing the number of teachers and increasing the number of students that will be in class this change will lead to kids not being able to properly grasp the material that they're being taught as the teachers will not have enough time to get to each and every kids questions which will lead to a negative impact on the children's grades while we're on the topic of class sizes this idea is absolutely outrageous in the majority of my classes which is only roughly 22 students I feel very cramped also the maximum capacity is written in all my classrooms as 26 with only room for 26 students fitting 35 would be a mad house I've talked to many my teachers and they have said that they don't know how they'll fit 35 kids in a classroom on the other hand cutting independent study is another bad idea high schoolers have independent study every day to catch up on work and US middle schoolers only have one day this period is something that many students use to catch up on work and projects and taking it away will be a major disappointment for all students also cutting independent study means that tier three would have to miss a period uh so that they could go to tier three tier three students like me already miss a period to catch up on work and having to catch up on extra work for the period that I miss would be overwhelming I know that we have to take action to reduce our budget but there has to be a better way than worsening the students work environment if the board proceeds with this actions they will be SE there will be severe backlash from students teachers and parents thank you hi I'm Jacob peelman I'm in seven green at decy I want to start by acknowledging my peers who wrote speeches and shared tonight I know we've all had a long day and I'm grateful to all the kids who spoke tonight and for their parents bring them here to share their concerns I apologize for all of you who have heard this already but I think it needs to be said again I understand enough for these slides to know that we have a huge deficit and the budget has to be balanced somehow so I'm sure some things we all don't like are going to happen next year I would like to ask for two promises tonight A promise that the administration will Advocate on the state level to get these funding formulas to change please set up trips for parents and kids I would love to go and speak on behalf of the kids and also promise from the board and administration that if painful Cuts have to happen that you will be creative dedicated and leave no stone unturned to restore all of the best things of the school district kids deserve small class sizes to learn and Thrive Transportation they can count on clubs where they can go make peer connections and additional supports that they need need to have great educational experience I promise that I will keep coming back to meetings and bring more students with me each time until action is taken to restore cuts that are made thank you good evening my name is Brian whitz vice president for the eam township Education Association I've been an eighth grade teacher at Dey for 22 years the changes you about to make to the Middle School model will be very drastic this will be the most profound change of the Middle School Concept in the entire time I've been at DMS and probably in the school's entire existence dating back to the 9s I hope you have done the research and done the homework to justify the impact this will have on our students but like many of my colleagues have said at this microphone I worry that some students will slip through the cracks and not get the attention and support that they need the loss of independent study as you've heard while only once a week will have a negative impact on students they've said it themselves they need all the time they can get to finish homework take makeup tests and get extra help from teachers this is always a good catchup period for them the rising class sizes is is a concern for student achievement our elementary school teachers are already stretched thin with the current class sizes they have especially in the primary grades and now we are going to add more students creating less individualized attention and small group instruction our elementary schools are already struggling to meet the needs of their current special education populations increasing class sizes will further strain resources and hinder our ability to meet IEP requirements thank you for restoring benefits to our power professionals who have 20 plus years of experience in our district you cannot replace that experience and we believe given the years of dedicated service they have given to this District this is the right decision both morally for their families and for students we wish this could have been extended to other power professionals with Benefits who have spent many years in this District some of them have close to 50 years combined working with our autism population crucial positions that are hard to replace we have fought this long and hard for many years in order to keep valuable hardworking Paris in our district who love and care for our students many of whom live in town and are your neighbors we would love for the administration and the board to consider extending benefits to more of our poers Who currently hold them finally I would like to address finally I would like to address the Outsourcing of Transportation this is a drastic step and in my 22 years in this District we have only outsourced one Department cafeteria staff I hope Dr Smith and the board have considered what some have mentioned at this mic in the past few weeks the potential Rising contract cost with hman or whatever private provider the district chooses this could be an unknown factor that may hinder future budgets and how do we know it is likely Helman has the board already met with them isn't this something that needs to be put out for a public bid in closing please take great care and consideration of the drastic measures this budget proposal will have on the makeup of this great School District both for our staff and students you're about to unleash changes changes that will harm our students that cannot be easily undone thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Russ BS president of the IAM Township Education Association I know I might sound like a broken record but I hope that eventually some of this starts to sink in based on tonight's event so far it's clear that our issues go far beyond just the budget as I said last month it has been devastating to witness the decline of this District in just five short years the challenges we face today stem directly from decisions made at the top a lack of strategic Financial Planning and failure to prioritize student centered funding have left our schools in crisis last year the Board of Education left Millions on the table we wouldn't be in this position if there had been foresight and careful planning however I don't place this blame solely on the board it was the responsibility of the superintendent and business administrator to explain clearly and explicitly why securing those funds was critical they should have outlined the long-term consequences of passing up this once in a-lifetime opportunity to offset S2 losses and yet here we are last month ETA leadership requested a copy of the district's working budget and asked to be included in discussions to better understand the district's Financial landscape we wanted to work alongside you however we were informed by Dr Smith that this wasn't part of the standard process but that he would be happy to discuss it after the budget was presented to the board and made publicly available well maybe it's time to stop following the standard process sometimes thinking outside the box and prioritizing transparency can lead to real solutions last year ETA didn't uncover $1 million and shift dividends until after the budget had already been created perhaps if we were been included in those discussions earlier we could have found it sooner potentially preventing individuals from worrying about whether they would have a job or not if the district had dedicated as much time and effort to preserving what we already have as it did to expanding what we didn't we wouldn't be in this situation I would have loved I would have L to see the same passion that was poured into the passing of full day kindergarten in preschool applied to protecting the benefits of our hardworking power professionals safeguarding programs and departments and saving careers it's time for a change in priorities before it's too late thank you good evening my name is Tracy Brown I'm one of the vice presidents for eam Township Education Association and also a teacher here at MMS for the first time in the history of ETA we put forth this vote of no confidence we had 86% participation from our 576 members this is significant we can't even get 86% participation when we give away free food and baseball tickets for real so what does that tell you we've all had enough Dr Smith 97% of our voting members your employees do not have confidence in your ability to lead us effectively we do know that many of the budget cuts have come from the state level and legislation needs to change many superintendents in in the state of New Jersey are facing similar budget deficits however you Dr Smith are the only one in New Jersey facing a vote of no confidence we've asked time and time again for communication collaboration and transparency your own administrators in this District are often kept in the dark they are not part of the collaboration process as they have been with past superintendents we had hoped that members of the esam township administrators Association were also going to speak tonight however it seems that they as well as many others fear possible repercussions from you Board of Ed members I strongly suggest you attend one of the administrators meetings and hear what they have to say just like you visited some of our classrooms this vote of no confidence goes way deeper than budget cuts a lot of problems stem from your agenda you wanted to have free fre preschool and free kindergarten at all costs no matter who asked questions no matter who shared concerns you just kept moving Full Speed Ahead it also appears that you want our middle middle schools switch to a junior high model at all costs even though it goes against best practices for adolescents even when alternate Solutions and compromises have been offered it is baffling even the children came to say so maybe you miss your day work at the high school in town but that model is not best for etsd middle school kids what we need right now is for the current children in etsd schools to be the number one item on your agenda Board of Ed members I hope this is a wakeup call for all of you the staff is not happy the public is not happy heck even the kids aren't happy I mean wow that's a record attendance for children and any parent in here you should be so so proud of [Applause] them so my question as Board of Ed what are you going to do I know some of you really do care you need to start asking questions and I hope when it's your turn tonight we hear you ask him some tough questions hi uh my name is D Jolene and I am am proud to be the union treasur um this Groundhog Day doomsday scenario that we replay every year is indicative of a larger issue when deciding how to move forward with a strict budget the question you all should be asking yourselves is what do students really need to become successful young adults I would encourage everyone up there to do the research but I can tell you that it isn't another new math program it isn't fontas and panel it isn't even the preschool program that we're touting lately having trusted caring adults in their lives is the single most important factor in young people overcoming childhood adversities and learning to grow up strong and healthy in body and mind and so consider the cuts being proposed here tonight do they encourage student and adult relationships is creating a situation where we have even greater par turnover going to support our special needs students is having bus drivers who forget to pick up students creating a feeling of Safety and Security is doing away with the independent study period the one period a week that students have to get caught up and connect with teachers going to help I can tell you that in many districts including my own daughters they have a period every single day where students can de-stress catch up on work and ask teachers specific questions in Eve sham we can't can't even keep that period once a week is putting 30 plus students in a class going to Foster student teacher bonds I mean have you ever thought about where these Cuts might end are we going to keep cutting until teachers are teaching 40 kids 50 or until chat GPT and robots are teaching you have to come up with better than just cutting workers the kids as they've shown tonight are depending on you too I think everyone here tonight is longing to be respected listened to and approached in a manner that encourages working together not dismissed out of hand as we have been tonight we're wishing that we had leadership with a vision that would try new approaches listen to Fresh ideas so that even if some hard decisions needed to be made they would feel like shared losses because right now when whenever I hear someone up on that stage say that this is difficult for them I feel sick in my stomach it does not feel genuine so perhaps a class in communication skills is also warranted above all please don't say that in Eve sham we do what's best for kids because as someone who's been here longer than I think everyone up there I can tell you that we used to but we don't anymore [Applause] my name is Laura Maxwell and I am an eight yellow science teacher as non- 10year teachers we are advised not to speak we are advised have somebody read it for you but my conscience will not sleep if I do not look at all of you in the face and let you know what you are doing is a mistake not only are teachers losing their jobs we are going to class sizes of 30 to 35 I first want to start by saying that I would not be the educator I am today without my amazing team words cannot even describe the amount of growth that I have had here and everybody that I've worked with knows it the invaluable knowledge years of experience and confidence they have given me has made me into the educator that I've always wanted to be for myself but also for all the students that enter my classroom the time we spend discussing student needs struggles and everything else in between makes our classroom a better environment for all students secondly I want to talk about us non- tenure teachers who live in fear year after year after a year just hoping and praying we don't lose our jobs we are starting families buying ounces not in Marlton due to the fact that I want my kid to be in a class size of normal and to be able to read at an appropriate level and really getting our feet wet into the real world despite all of this being at the back of our minds every single day we show up with smiles on our faces and teach without a hiccup I love coming to work and being a teacher but I am I [Music] love um if all of us non get cut you will see to regret it what happens when all of the tier one folks are able to retire I came from a district that someone last meeting described as trash and I can 100% back that statement up because you have a building filled with brand new teachers trying to figure out everything on their own and that is not realistic to anyone involved I teach eighth grade science and allow my students to use chemicals acid and fire do you think any person in their right state of mind would allow a classroom of 30 to 35 children do that I'll answer you right now because the answer is no we teach our students and our own children stand up for what is right and speak up for yourself so here I am on the brink of losing my job I work so hard for telling you that if you go through this what is proposed you are ruined the lives of families and students alike I am here standing up for what the students in this Township deserve and normal class sizes I am here standing up for the non- tenure teachers who live in fear and most importantly I'm standing up here for myself and and to give an example for my daughter don't go down without a [Applause] fight hi my name is Amanda SHI I'm also an eighth grade yellow Hall inclusion teacher standing with my team teacher Lauren and many of our other team teachers who just spoke before me um I'm back at the mic again I told you I would be last month I have spoken to all of you about the importance of our team models at the middle school level what gets accomplished during independent study time and how we use team time to help all of our students but especially those who are struggling with academics functional skills behavioral needs and other social emotional needs throughout the day I struggled to even put my finger on what to focus on as I Was preparing to come and speak here yet again however while everything we do is so very student focused and it should be I think it's important I spend just a little time telling you how our teams benefit the teaching staff we discuss it in our PD sessions often that teachers who are happy who are taking care of themselves both mentally and physically and who also feel supported in their work environment simply put will be better teachers we are when we are feeling our best we can give our very best to the students and that is what makes for the best classrooms and the best schools teams are those support systems they are our work families and our lifelines when we're just having a bad day or you're struggling through a problem you can't solve on your own I started as a first year teacher in this District 12 years ago Ean was my dream job for all the things I thought I knew there were a million more I didn't it was my team who helped me along the way they have been there for every Victory and every hardship no matter how big or small they have helped me be the teacher that I am today I wouldn't be here without them dismantling this team structure is about so much more than dollar signs or seats on a classroom map apparently that cap out at 26 teams and the structure provides are the essence of what our middle schools are about they create a culture amongst the staff that is then shared and passed along to students in numerous ways every single day a culture that you cannot create with this proposed Junior High model it's not going to happen how could we begin to really know 190 plus students although the N the number I heard today was 230 so I guess it keeps climbing how um we will barely have time to know each other anymore we're moving teams will not just change a bell schedule or a class schedule we're moving teams will forever change the culture and climate of the eve sham Township School District and it will not be for the better I hope this is a decision the board is willing to car on your on their shoulders all of your shoulders if you decide to move forward with this proposed budget thank [Applause] you you said it right good afternoon good evening good night I belong in bed I'm a teacher my name is Shela I'm a parent in this District um first thing first those kids behind me you're setting them up for failure but you don't care about that first thing first Dr Smith aren't you a parent you have kids do you think if you held the same position you would feel the same way being in our shoes back here wouldn't you be fighting you said earlier that you're sad you don't show it you're showing that you don't care what's happening with these kids that's first thing first didn't you come from another District that the same thing happened happened to and you're at this district and it's happening again are you going to leave this this District after when it happens all the way through that's one of my questions for you um I may not know much about what goes on in the school but I have a kid that's in again in this district and when I asked him tonight hey R come with me you know what he said no Mom I'm going to stay home where I know I'm cared about at home because they don't care about my future in school a seven-year-old said that to me tonight um you're trying to do with busing um let's see my kid was late to school a whole week cuz my bus driver was out sick the bus driver told me last week I don't care about this rout because it's not my route that's one thing he doesn't care to get to learn the route and it's a safety hazard because if you don't want to learn the route how are the kids going to be safe getting to and from school um and that was that that was kind of like a a punch in the face but are you still sad about that um also increasing class sizes I'm a teacher again I'm a teacher I'm only allowed to have 20 kids in my classroom in my district I work in Lumberton um you're going to increase it to 35 Plus kids a fire hazard a safety hazard God forbid the a fire breaks out we want them to scramble to under their desk I also want to know why do you think it's okay that you're going to increase class sizes that stops the kids that's in specialed from getting the help that they need that stops the kids from other grades that's not in special education from getting the quality time that they also need I'm an upset parent I'm a Fed Up parent I'm the one that said I came from a trash behind district and this is turning into a trash behind District I shouldn't have to feel that my son is not safe in school because of a safety hazard of adding extra kids and that he's not going to get there proper um care that he needs when it comes to his learning again you said again you are sad tonight that this is happening show up and show out that you're sad don't just say you're sad cuz you're not you look pretty happy to me and as a parent I'm pretty pissed off if you ask me so make the right decision and don't feel our kids good evening my name is Donna danis I'm a math teacher here at Marlton Middle School my eight yellow team is here to support me as well I'm also an e sham resident and I've had two students who've gone through our district um I'm really apologize I'm not feeling that well but as a teacher I'm used to getting up in for a million years but the time has come that we have Prime real estate Evans school and our administration building must be sold and it can be that is a solution to our problem I have numerous numerous ideas of what we can do if our administrative staff comes to our schools we can believe it or not reduce class size we can increase our our decrease our teacher to student ratio what would a beautiful model Middle School look like where we have administrators teachers students collaborating on a daily basis let's put the model of middle school that we want here in e Township should be a model that every other District looks at and says wow look what they did let's take our administrators who I value they are very hardworking and very thinly um sliced as well and let's start taking the duties of administrative staff and creating chair Department committees instead let's have our teachers be department chair share the duties of our administrators let's put our curriculum super supervisors back in the classroom let's have them teach a class teach one class a year one just one so our our parents who are concerned about our curriculum that is a solution to that as well let's put our expertise in the classroom to practice put the theory in practice to see if it really works let's work to build building eam Township better not making it worse I'm proud that my kids went through eim Township I'm approaching age where I'm going to have grandchildren I want my grandchildren to live in this community the number one question that families ask when they move to a community is what's the school district like do we really want our Realtors to say well sadly we had a 7 million deficit so instead of making good decisions to keep our community going we we caught teachers in positions let's make each [Applause] better Carol Larson Baron 114 dear Carol Larson baron4 Deerfield Avenue I'm also a power professional here at Marlton Middle School um good evening Dr Smith and the board I come to speak to you once again regarding the power benefits um Dr Smith I received your uh email on Friday afterno afternoon and I was totally devastated to learn that my benefits were going to be cut my benefits are very crucial to my husband and myself I've been with the district for 19 years and I was the first name on the start of the cut list um I am one of three Paras who work in the self-contained autism class here at moralta Middle School whose benefits are being cut I wrote to all of you on Friday evening after receiving the notice uh thank you Mr peelman and Mr deari for your response I really do appreciate that um I detailed all the continuing education that I've received I have to assist the classroom teacher through direct instruction to educate our autism students the knowledge and the training that I have in order to reach our students is very essential the knowledge uh depending on the day today how the students are acting what have you um the approach that you take on a skill today doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work tomorrow uh that means the delivery of instruction needs to change at that moment you're in that instruction you're doing that onetoone instruction and you have to look out too because you don't want to lose the momentum and you also don't want to create a behavior at the same time as an Autism Aid we are expected to make educational and behavioral decisions on the spot without assistance the continuing education that I have received supports me to make better decisions confidently um reflecting on the day-to-day activities recommending And discussing changes whether it be educational or behavioral happen constantly in our room constantly we meet every week to review anything that need to be done are handled as a classroom losing trained staff will be de detrimental to our autism students education and the success of our program I ask you once again to please consider my play thank you hi Wendy Beach I'm a bus driver from Transportation um I want to put all my uh concerns in emails to the board and I just wanted to say thank you to those that answered um I also want to ask a question as to um eliminating Transportation except for four drivers um you're saying it would be cheaper just to eliminate us so I just want to find out um if this is about the money where um where are Roots put out for bid if so for those bids to use in comparison to keeping our transportation as it is now of the information any other time our runs were put out to bid we were always cheaper I think that's very important in making this decision and I suggest also I put it in my letter to the the um email to the board um I suggest that you watch the Board of Ed meeting from August 5th 2020 uh time Mark is 6 colon 28 colon 05 and here what Mr ficara had to say about Outsourcing Transportation it might be some of help um I asked that the board that voted you in to please or we voted you in please do your due diligence by looking at all aspects when making your decision regarding our livelihood thank you [Applause] my name is Linda masterman and I'm a teacher at Marlton Middle School I don't need a crystal ball to see eam Township school's future my almost 30 years at Marlon Middle School helped me foresee what will happen if these program programs are cut let's look at this time next year in the middle schools come join me on this less than magical journey into the future retiring early moving to other districts and abandoning the profession several teachers have left due to the unsustainable workload of six classes with 190 plus students those who are unable to leave will face physical and mental health issues as they drown in work as they take much needed six time there will be no substitutes since the substitutes have gone to the neighboring districts where there are less students per class leading to less behavioral problems and stress likewise new hires will accept teaching positions elsewhere sadly the only teachers willing to work in eam will be those dismissed from other districts due to poor poor performance unfortunately the students will not fair much better in overcrowded classrooms with overwhelmed teachers since there will be no teams of teachers collaborating many students will flounder academically socially and emotionally of course some will be fine but too many will not without teams these students concerns will take longer to identify because teachers will not have the opport opportunity to discuss the students issues or notice patterns of behaviors across classes or from year to year there will be no independent study so those students who used to receive intervention services or ask for one-on-one reteaching and explanations from teachers will miss out the student who was absent now will have to make up missed Assessments in class missing even more instruction intervention services for our struggling students will be cut dramatically with the loss of teams and independent study as teachers try desperately to keep track of it all inevitably something will be missed parents will begin to wonder if their children's needs are being met and if the education that prompted them to move to Marlton hasn't changed Beyond repair after much consideration parents will decide it's time to move to one of the neighboring towns for Sal signs will appear on lawns sadly for those sellers word has spread that e sham schools are overcrowded and lack Services young families will decide to move to those neighboring towns instead I have literally one sentence this the for sale signs will begin to fade as months pass this is the future if you pass the proposed cuts to our schools I'll try to keep this short um I'm Leah Anderson I am a marriage and family therapist I also did a year of um of contracted um School counseling in the middle schools uh when I was a kid and getting ready for school my parents even though we kind of grew up right underneath the poverty line just you know we my parents bought us crayons papers erasers for me in such a a highly taxed and and highly valued area I'm also putting in paper towels tissues hand sanitizer disinfectant soap more markers for the the teachers to use because they're running out and I don't blame them I blame how the system is working this is ridiculous we bought our home in 2018 it is more than doubled in value so we are paying more taxes now and I assume anyone else who has decided to put their roots in here as parents wanting to raise their kids in a great school system that you guys are also paying more in taxes too now now when you talk about the S2 I'm I'm not a lawyer I'm not a legislator I'm not a teach future but if the system is not working then we need to challenge the system if there are schools that need our tax dollars to help fund them so that they can get just as good of an education as our kids I am for that and I that might not be everyone else's opinion but I am for that but that does not mean that we just give and drag ourselves down as well it's obviously not working so we need to organize go to Trenton and and demand better for all of our students parents are already picking up the slack picking up everything that isn't being paid by by taxes we are I send in extra money for students that maybe their parents can't afford that field trip maybe the parents can't afford for their child to buy books from the Scholastic um uh fairs The Book Fairs I as a kid I wasn't able to I had to go in with my my classmates everyone looking at all the really cool books colorful books and posters and and pens and markers and I couldn't even afford to buy one myself and that's not the fault of my parents either so I decide to give extra money to help other kids as well and I don't know what else you want us to do you're supposed to be leadership lead lead by example and help organize us so that we can tell our state representatives our we can tell Governor Murphy This is not working sorry I didn't keep it short enough thank [Applause] you hi my name is Shane heran I'm a concerned citizen I just want to say a few things here um came up here with no prepar speech or anything like that I I was thinking to myself coming up here what should I say but you know what I I said to myself um the children are our future we should be doing everything in order to make sure they have a productive fruitful future as well unfortunately I don't think that's the case I want to thank everybody that came out here parents teachers you know kids that came and played the with this boort but we already know what you guys going to do you came up here listen to us watch us plead our cases and then you go guys probably going to vote on the budget and that's sad but that's the truth and I have seen this before I know I know what what comes up here you you look at us and say hey let them speak and then at the end of the day you guys going to do what you think it's best but do you guys really know what what's best for all of us I don't think so you guys been elected to do a job but unfortunately I don't think you guys are doing your job how who has stor the lines in terms of salary Cuts have any of you decided to take a salary cut but you ask teachers bus drivers support staff to cut their cut their their their salary got the system as well that's not fair what are you guys doing in order to change that I don't think you guys are doing a job I don't have kids but I know you guys should be doing what's right are you guys prepared to to the line are you guys prep prepared to do what's necessary in order to make sure we preserve the proper school system you guys are asking teachers to add more students to the classroom where we already have limited budgets there is a ratio to teacher to students asking um teachers to do more it's stressing the teachers out giving them more giving them more to do which is little to do we need to do better as a as a community forward uh for each each of us as as well why don't you guys lead properly as a leadership team you've been elected to put the best foot forward whether you you vote for whatever or whatever is at the end of the day we should come together as a community as a as a in order to make sure that Isam education all the T every everybody that lives here have a reason here it's because of the great school system but they have but unfortunately can we continue to say that one one person said out when when you want to sell your house you want to buy a house here you ask about the school system what are you going to say the Rel is going to say well we had a great system um unfortunately I don't know but I just want to come over here to give my peace but thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Colleen Ellis I live in Westbury Chase I have two children in the district uh I'm also a speech and language pathologist in a neighboring district and uh the other day I was sitting in an IEP meeting for one of my students who's transitioning from fifth grade to sixth grade and the parent was understandably nervous and uh the case manager for the Middle School said oh well you know we're really lucky here because we have this house system where kids are really given individual attention and it was like taking a gut punch because I had just sat through last month's board meeting where you're talking about taking it away all these cuts and not one administrative cut and I know the argument I know the arent I've seen the spreadsheets that you know we spend less per student for administration than all the districts in the area that's all well and good but what kind of job are you all doing because uh there's a special education director who takes weeks to return an email there's a director of curriculum who refuses to see the fact that the reading program is failing these kids and we have a superintendent who is CA playing at despair while cutting people's jobs but had no problem negotiating a contract extension and a salary increase for himself during these S2 cuts that you blame for all of these issues this budget is so shortsighted and the overcrowding that it will cause is so detrimental to our students I have a child who is in Mees in a self-contained classroom he is autistic he has ADHD he's dyslexic he's a very complex learning profile he's also doing really well in school right now well enough that last year he was able to be mainstreamed out to general education for math this year we had to pull him back because the classroom's so overcrowded that he can't concentrate and the teachers don't have the time to give him individual attention still sad he can't concentrate in that environment and if you continue with these increased class sizes you're cheating kids with special learning needs out of their right to learn in a least restrictive environment for them one of your budget concerns was legal fees maybe you would have fewer of those if you did write by these kids members of the board you have a duty to vote this budget down and demand this man's resignation because enough is enough thank [Applause] you hi my name is Anastasia trellis I am a resident I'm in alumni vanzan deacy and Cherokee high school so the reason I'm coming here today is Mr Smith was interviewed recently and he was asked about being a superintendent and the one thing he said is it's not about the role it's not about the position it's about making a difference and I can tell you right now the Educators in this room they didn't become teachers for the big paycheck or to get to the top of the corporate ladder show of hands how many teachers here are teachers to make an impact on students every day to grow and to make a difference in their lives thank you Educators students have increasingly complicated academic and mental health needs when you put 30 or 35 of them in one classroom it's impossible to meet their individual needs I'm not even going to touch on the capacity because we've said it a hundred times fire codes I guess we don't care meanwhile the national teacher shortage means educators are frequently giving up their planning time to cover additional classes they are overworked and exhausted teachers now needing to teach another period reading Specialists teaching math science teachers working on writing blocks many teachers have a specialty and you hired them for that specialty you don't ask your opthalmologist to do heart surgery they have a specialty at least that's what my insurance company says while teachers will tell you it is a no-brainer smaller class sizes would help students this would also help the teachers today's Educators again are exhausted a study from National Education Association said that the average teacher Works 54 hours no overtime not an increase in their pay staff are resigning to preserve their own mental health teaching feels more difficult than ever with the shortages they're regularly giving up their planning time to help out and again the students needs have skyrocketed what will happen with less support and larger class sizes nothing positive I'll tell you that 83 positions We Said Today 10% of your current staff this is not the direction eim Township should be going in I was here last month and I cried listening to parents talk about their children not being able to read bus drivers losing their jobs power professionals losing their benefits the families of student students and members of the community who support their local schools should stay in engage speak up for the programs buildings and staff you support Educators thank you for making a difference every day I stand with [Applause] you I'm Kimberly Hensen I live on metaview Circle and I am starting by reading a letter from my daughter um dear Dr Smith and Board of Education my name is dorothia Hensen and I am a 10-year-old fourth grader at berer elementary I understand that there are a lot of cuts this year because of funding and I would respectfully like to ask you to reconsider some of the cuts that you are considering my biggest worry is the cutting of all of the Middle School teachers and increasing class sizes to 32 to 35 kids that is going to be chaotic I am one of the few deaf kids in the district and I get overstimulated easily but I know I'm not the only one kids with ADHD anxiety and anyone who gets overwhelmed easily are going to struggle this will be a huge disruption for kids who need calmer environments again I am respectfully asking that you vote no tonight and reconsider what you cut and what it means please consider not only student passions but also student accommodations I didn't intend to speak beyond my daughter's letter as since last year I have been speaking at these meetings and saying the exact same thing and quite frankly it is exhausting the language and Trust are in my opinion the biggest problems I see here tonight after explaining staff salaries and benefits it was said that those numbers were before we even start talking about educating children I strongly disagree with that statement as ensuring that we have highly qualified trained staff that we are taking care of and supporting is the most important thing we can do to educate our children while I'm sure that was not the intent of your message as our board and top administrator you need to be more conscious about the meaning that your words take on I also speak again that coming to us in January and explaining the devastating effects of lost aid is far too late last year we put together a group of community members and stakeholders who were desperate to help come up with Solutions we were and would have been willing to start campaigning in our home schools in the fall to start communicating with legislators and we would do anything to ensure that the quality of an eve sham education stayed quality we we were dismissed so while I helped my daughter rewrite her letter to not be angry and it was angry I helped her understand that when money isn't there it has to be found somewhere the truth is that these cuts at this point are insulting you have lost our trust and you are not showing good faith to the incredible staff that you serve please remember when you vote later who you represent and that everyone on this side of the room opposes this budget hello uh my name is Brian Connelly I'm a teacher at thec and a resident and a parent um quick story uh 2017 I moved to eam uh I didn't want to move here because of the taxes were very high my wife convinced me I said I'm a teacher I don't want to pay those taxes but I was convinced because of the schools then in 2019 I welcomed my daughter and I got a job at dcy and when I started working there I found everything about the schools was amazing I loved working there I loved the staff I felt supported then the budget cut started happening and Dr Smith since the last few years all I've heard is About Preschool kindergarten two things that as a parent with a preschooler and now kindergartner I had no interest in but besides the point and that we need to go to this junior high model I've been hearing about the junior high model for years now the thing is our staff has been making suggestions a staff member tonight just made many suggestions that I've heard throughout the years one being the selling of Evans and the administration building the selling of the administration building was brought up at the last meeting as well and one of the excuses given early on was that there was too much paperwork in the basement it couldn't be sold because there was paperwork that's ridiculous now I've heard other things since then and I understand selling those buildings might be a one-time short-term fix it won't fix things longterm where the Middle School model might I the junior high model might fix things long term I understand the difference but we're bleeding out here it might be a Band-Aid but if you're bleeding out take the Band-Aid sell the building take the Band-Aid and we'll keep calling we'll keep calling the state and try to get the help for next year but we need to keep this together for another year even if it's a short-term fix we need to look for those short-term fixes we need to take the staff the union let us work with you it shouldn't just be you doing this we are a team we should all work together the last thing i' like to say is as a parent I don't want this many kids in the classroom I my daughter is going to get lost in there and that's not okay with me and just a side know if you've been to decy which I don't know who's been to decy there's triangular classrooms that first of all with I have 26 kids in one of my classes I have to adjust myself constantly so kids can see the board you're asking me to fit a whole another row further closer to the board in this triangle they won't be able to see anything if I'm going over something they won't be able to do it we've had um staff meetings where we don't have enough room in the classrooms there's not enough room in those triangular rooms for 35 kids it's not going to work but that's all I have to say I really hope that we can find some even a short-term solution get us through another year we'll keep calling thank you my name is Megan Boer I have a third grader and a kindergarten at van I was raised to not make waves so it took a lot to will myself to come up to speak but as an adult I've come to realize sometimes you need to start some ripples sometimes you need to make some waves which is how I try to raise my children to advocate for themselves and for those around them I grew up in a school district that faced many challenges not the least of which included economic challenges as a student I've been through the cuts and I've felt the impacts first hand I've been in the overcrowded classrooms with not enough support I've been through no clubs I've been through through the teachers and staff being asked for too much all of it while I did have many standout teachers throughout my schooling who did the best they could despite the circumstances I know that I and my fellow students often missed out on opportunities for as much growth as we could have had both academically and in the many less qu and in the many less quantifiable ways that schools can provide when properly funded and properly managed in middle school I had no art classes as that program of course didn't make the cut Middle School schol is hard especially for an awkward and kind of dorky art kid like myself who then didn't even have that one class in which I could really feel at home my husband grew up in Marlton just like our girls he went to VanZant and eventually to mecy Middle a major part of why we chose to buy a home in Marlton was because of his great experience going through the district and we hoped for the same experience for our daughters please help keep the Integrity of this District we have such caring amazing staff but they need the proper tools they need the prop proper class sizes they need the proper support to give our students the best education [Music] [Applause] [Music] possible uh hello my name is Dan forcier I'm a teacher here at MMS and a former student of MMS class of 2010 I had something longer to say today uh but I decided it'd be better to cut it down and get to the main point so what I will say is this I'm proud of the education I received 15 years ago lending thanks to the hall system teacher teams and class sizes I'm proud of the education IED by a number of teachers who are still here in this room today I've greatly benefited from the education so much so that I was glad to come back and give and give to this district and town that helped raise me my parents worked hard to ensure we could live in a town that prided itself on its education my biggest fear and it's clear that it's also the fear of the current students parents and staff staff that when our current students are my age they won't be able to look back and say they too are proud and benefited from the education they received thank [Music] you hello my name is Alex Andreoli I'm also a teacher at MMS here I'm a social studies teacher in yell Hall um I was going to say something but most of the students that spoke here today already said it and were way more articulate than I could ever be about it um but I would like to point out also and take this moment to acknowledge that I'm as a social studies teacher it warms my heart to see these kids engaging in this kind of activism on behalf of their school district so I just want to say thank you um but also I want to point out on one of the slides you said that the goal of this district is to educate students while costing the least amount of money but education is worth that investment and investing in teachers and para professionals and bus drivers who care about the students that they are our future and that's worth the investment um and it is really sad as a teacher who when I started teaching here six years ago most of the people in my life were like wow like you're teaching at eim like that that is great I don't know how you got that as like your first job um but now uh as a mother and since six years ago I've become a mother and I am very honestly going to say that I'm glad my son's not going [Applause] here hi hi good evening my name is Nicole Lombardo and I'm a parent in the district I have students at jagard and rice we have heard from The Amazing students that shout out to the teachers the amazing teachers that have educated them and encouraged them to speak tonight but we've not heard from as many parents as I would hope and I wanted to voice my grave kid sir my kids have had an amazing foundation with rice preschool both as a paid tuition and also state funded as it is now there are also many preschool par professionals who have been there a long time with extensive experience some of whom will lose their benefits next year these are some of our most valuable people that help all of our students learn I would hate to see them leave if you take their health benefits away as we have already seen so many pray professionals going to competing districts that offer this I'm worried about the increasing class size as my children move throughout the grades how will my children get the indiv individualized attention needed in rooms that have to manage the diverse needs of so many students I also have grave concerns about busz safety as Dr Smith knows from my emails um we were on famous rice number bus number one before I had to rearrange my work and child care to get my son safely to school and it really has tainted his experience to ride the bus however I know that that is also related to administrative failure and operational planning and I'm not sure that all of the proposed Outsourcing of busing will cause lower costs as previous attendees have highlighted we are losing talented teachers and I wanted to come here tonight to speak for those parents who are just starting out in the district and have younger as kids my six four and two-year-old I want to retain these amazing teachers and talent and these amazing Paras that work tirelessly For the Love of their children and always end up picking up what gets left behind by the budget cuts please put students first and consider the pleas of all of us tonight vote no hold on one second let I don't know what project needs to do hold on good okay go ahead hi my name is rosmary bori um I just want to um say how ex I don't know what the word is but the children are the students when they spoke it was so encouraging um to see them articulate the loss of their programs they were able to articulate uh the impact of the class sizes it was just really refreshing and it's it's it's going to be sad to see what the impact of these changes will be on our future students so um just kudos to the students and the their parents uh who brought them here tonight and thank you to the um teachers the Educators the staff members uh the bus drivers the par professionals who are here because everyone here cares everyone in this room cares we're uh everyone wants to be collaborative they want to solve this problem um and I think it's really great 's a very caring collab cative Community I always say that you know when we come together we can solve a lot of problems and we have in the past you know we have uh bill smithman from the e office here uh we have esham parents United um so you know the ETA found additional monies last year so there's subgroups the ptas everyone's willing to pitch in um and it's great to see the numbers uh thank you um Mr Yates for actually giving me Dollar figures um so that we can actually um solve and research and do more things so I just want to give people a little bit of Hope tonight is just the tentative budget adoption we still have time we have until May uh I believe it's 14th to uh for the final adoption I have been in contact I I mentioned last time Ean fiscal allies I've been in contact with councilman I'm sorry assemblywoman cats's office um two things one we might be able she's writing a bill to give us additional time like we did last year at least until the budget adoption so hopefully that'll give us additional time also two um we need to advocate for the state aid money the school funding formula actually worked for us this year we were supposed to get $8.4 million if they ran the numbers and they did run the numbers and they said isim should get $8.4 million but here's the problem they put a cap on it a 6% cap so they limited us to uh $450,000 well we had increase in the number of students from last year to this year and also kindergarteners came online so kindergarteners per pupil cost instead of being 05 it's actually a whole P whole Pur pure pupil person um cost so anyway we I I don't understand why the school district has not really advocated for that particular item with the doe and the governor so thank you to all you in the rooms have made the calls to the governors about this specific issue with the state funding to get our $8 million and thank you for Andrea TI for making my graph because not everyone understands this is issue but we are leaving $1.3 million on the table so um I apologize but here's the other thing too three years we as taxpayers are paying at the end if you guys adopted tonight $8 million in a tax levy for the past three years you went from a $66 million budg tax levy to a 74 million tax levy tonight we are paying $8 million the state needs to pay that 8.1 or 8.4 million also thank you good evening uh my name is John Andrews I'm a parent and resident of Marlton um as a parent I just want to say I'm proud of the kids that came in today and spoke for themselves elves um I'm here because my two sons can't um they're part of the autism program here in the district um we are a diverse Community um and each family has its own needs um mine's no different uh today I want to talk to you about the concerns that my family has with the proposed cuts to the transportation department um we love our bus drivers we love our AIDS uh they know our kids uh we wouldn't trust them with anyone um my youngest son has some OCD issues and he has a poor job uh communicating verbally um his Aid on the bus and his bus driver work with him to get through that um his older brother has uh his triggers just like any student does and his bus driver and his Aid know what uh to do to uh get him uh to school safely um my concern with Outsourcing the buses is well my children still have that high level of care that they get today we've already heard one parent today talk about um outsourced bus drivers talking about not caring about the routes well that is not going to fly with me um the other thing I want to talk about are the uh benefit cuts to our PA of professionals um they have it hard enough I mean I have two autistic kids at home I can't imagine being a room full five or six of them um we've heard from one of them today he's been here 20 years and now you're just going to say sorry oops and cut her benefits the district has slashed benefits for per Professionals for a few years and it just seems that these caring people who have a difficult job already are not treated with enough respect to be deemed worthy of being paid benefits by this District thank you [Music] hello my name is Skyler Lord and I'm a student here at MMS I just wanted to say that even though I'm only a kid I'm still worried about the effects of this budget I have a younger sister who will be going through this system without independent study individual help in her crowded classes and without extracurricular activities to improve her school skills outside of the classroom even though I'm leaving soon this will affect my neighbors friends and siblings I've heard teachers worrying about these changes and what it will mean for future Generations all of my peers and teachers have touched on this and I just wanted to reaffirm it all to you and really hit it deep on how it will affect us I understand the cuts from the state but understand but I also understand that there has been ways stated before me to fix this I didn't come here with the intention to speak but because of my fellow students and my peers and on behalf of my friends and the other speeches have encouraged me to say this you say it's for the students then you should make it for the students and I would also like to thank the other teachers and students that came before me to say what I have said here thank you hi I'm Kim pidala a teacher here at Marlton Middle School I'm here to ask for your careful consideration regarding the proposed changes to our Middle School structure I understand the difficult decisions you face but I believe there are alternatives that will have less of a negative impact on our students and all options need this school year our team in six yellow was moved to what you call a four bucket model we Face the challenge of losing two teachers one content teacher and one inclusion teacher but despite this we have successfully maintained our team structure and continue to support the same group of students while it has been difficult at times we have proven that this four model can work it allows us to maintain a team-based approach and provide independent study that is so crucial to our Student Success without independent study there is no time to catch up with students for misw workk provide extra help interventions and IEP mandated extra time the current proposal however would reduce staff increase class sizes eliminate independent study and ultimately harm the educational experience of our students why make such a drastic change when we've already shown this year that another another model can work effectively by applying this four bucket model across grade levels we can avoid dismantling the team structure therefore I ask board members to reconsider the full elimination of teams at the middle school at this time I urge you to take another year to evaluate the impact of these changes before implementing such a significant restructure the changes as proposed would affect all students in the district and we need to be sure they are in the best interest interest of our students future please meet us in the middle thank you good evening Dr Smith and uh the school board uh my name is Marne Benjamin I am the PTA president at Marlton middle school and the PTA vice president Marlton Elementary School I'm not here tonight in my capacity as a PTA president or or member I'm here as a concerned parent I have an eighth grad and I have a fifth grader um I'm here to share their stories um very briefly you've heard so many wonderful reasons or useful reasons for why none of this makes any sense and and why we need to find Alternatives I just want to share a personal uh story so you can see another side of it um my son my eighth grader is on the autism spectrum um he has fought every day to succeed and to get to where he is today he went from 30 words at 15 months to losing his whole vocabulary by the time he was 18 months old he did not regain his vocabulary until he was four and a half years old it was very hard for him he struggled a lot but if it wasn't for his incredible teachers at Marlton Elementary School um Mrs hop Mrs Atley Mrs Osborne Mrs Francesco so many other teachers there working with him oneon-one seeing him as a student and being able to give him individual attention in a inclus in an inclusion classroom that he was able to succeed this year his incl and his this now he's in eth grade I apologize I'm a little tired and a little nervous I've been running the book fair over at Mees uh today so my brain's a little fried but um in middle school he's had absolutely incredible teachers his inclusion teachers Mrs fudala Mrs stanevich and this year Mrs Taro have absolutely single-handedly gotten him to the point where he is now he is doing incredibly well he has gone from a student who was in pullout math in sixth grade to algebra he's in algebra this year in e8th grade through all of his challenges and everything that he has done he would not be where he is now if it was not for the time and attention that the teachers have been able to give him as an individual 35 students in a classroom is not going to make that possible you need to understand I get your position I realize that we're you know we have you know a deficit and a budget that needs to be dealt with but we need to look at the bigger picture which is not just that there's 35 students in a classroom which is terrible and I keep saying to my husband what what are the repercussions of that what what are the fire codes and so many students got up and made the you know voice those concerns so eloquently but it comes down more to what is going to happen to our students if they don't get this attention what is going to happen to the aand of the world who are just going to fall through the cracks because they're not going to get that attention our students are going to suffer at such a level that it's it's just going to be terrible so um thank and I just really quickly want to say thank you to all of the parents and all of the teachers and all of aon's teachers who are here tonight who I wanted to call out but thank you thank you thank you for being here fighting for the students and you guys are incredible so thanks you're welcome good evening my name is Kelly Huber last month I spoke about the importance of keeping the team the team Concept in middle school I'm going to keep that Focus as I uh make you aware in case you do not know that we are currently using the four bucket model model here at MMS in sixth grade yellow where I am a science teacher and now also a social studies teacher last year DMS started with this same model which is now used in their seven red this is a fully functioning and working model that could be adapted by all 10 teams across both buildings for the next year and could be a Middle Road for this budgetary dilemma we are facing we will unfortunately still have to lose some teachers but it would also enable us to save teachers while still fulfilling the need to increase class sizes and give some budgetary relief but most importantly of all we will be able to maintain the team concept and program that is so beneficial to our students with the class sizes needing to unfortunately increase the 32 to 35 kids per class teachers will now see up to 190 students per day and these students need to have this team program to enable success emotionally and educationally coming into Middle School these students need a home base where they have the place and time to catch up on work get extra help when needed see teachers for reteaching and for teachers to fulfill the IEP modifications and iron RS legal obligations of retesting and assisting students with their work can all students benefit from this time yes this is also a time for our gifted and talented students to get their enrichment lessons in tier three this school year came with challenges but this is an effective way to maintain its structure and give the students the support they need this four bucket model would still be a reduction of staff and increased classes but we but would be much but would be not such a drastic change when we have shown that this can work providing independent study and team time that is so crucial to the success of our students I'm asking you the board to at least try this before completely eliminating teams and the middle school at the middle school and making such huge impactful changes that will have negative repercussions for all students in the district thank you for your time and consideration good evening my name is Tom sea I'm uh VanZant and Dei alumni um and a uh a parent uh who lives in town now um when I went to school uh I didn't I didn't enjoy School uh when I was real little I just uh I didn't didn't fit in I didn't really like enjoy learning um and then in in first grade Miss Shermer van an she took me aside and she helped me do some uh Advanced spelling and um you know a couple grade grade levels ahead and it turns out I wasn't you know I I didn't not like education I just uh I was a little bored and she helped me learn to challenge myself and uh she only was able to do that because her class size was small enough that she was able to recognize me and um now that my son is in in prek at at rice and my daughter will be headed there soon uh I want to make sure that you know they also have teachers who are able to you know see what they need and help them be the best they can be um I believe that some of the budget cuts proposed are shortsighted I believe that I think it you know by cutting teaching positions adding kids to classrooms and also reducing the uh the benefits for par professionals you're reducing multiple support structures for students at the same time and those uh effects are going to Cascade and you know become a parent very quickly um you know I don't want this for my kids I moved back to marleton because I'm proud of the education I got and you know I would really like them to have that same education thank you hi U my name is Kelly um I have four children um I live in Mayfair I my two oldest go to deacy elementary I'm going to share three quick stories about my children both me and my husband went through the Marlton School uh school systems elementary middle and um high school so my oldest he's uh seven he's in first grade in kindergarten he did not accept with reading whatsoever um he did have to do the reading recovery program which we didn't really talk too much about the elimination of that tonight um so my son did do the reading recovery program um in the beginning of first grade he was reading at a below uh kindergarten level um he tested out of the program he is now reading at a second grade level um just from that program alone so he was pulled out of class spent a ton of individualized attention with that teacher um she's been abs abolutely phenomenal for his development um we even now have her tutor him outside of the school just because of that individual attention I could not imagine where he would be right now I have four kids I can't spend every hour when I get home with them so having those great teachers in those special programs are super important um my my uh daughter who's in kindergarten she's doing fantastic she's a middle child so she very much just excels at what she does and that's it so not really story to share about her however I would want to share a story about my four-year-old who is autistic he attended the rice special needs program and when I say he attended I had to pull him out um he was not getting a one to one Aid I was not finding that out till the end of you know the end of the week that he didn't have somebody with him all week I had many cancelled IEP meetings and I pulled him out I didn't sit there and go through the steps to try to get the you know eam Township to pay for him to go to a private school I pulled him out I'm paying for that school for him because I didn't want to see him suffer and I guess the point of my message I have nothing formal planned is using your village you have teachers here who have offered to help you you have the community that's offered to help with Solutions and at the end of the day when we need to get things done we have to Rally together but you're causing a divide here and it's really sad for our children I'm really sad for my three children that are currently in the system and I don't even know if I want my fourth te to go to the system I'm starting to explore the options as I know a lot of parents are out of District homeschooling because what's going on right now is not okay so I just urge you to think about that think about the families think about the teachers and hopefully tug at your heartstrings a little bit and not your pockets thank you hi uh my name is Drew Wilson I live in country farms uh I am the parent of two kids in the uh em education system right now first grader and a third grader um my wife and I moved to Marlton after growing up in camon county in different areas um how many years ago now in 2013 so quite a few years ago specifically because of the schools uh we had friends we had a lot of people that we knew who were buying big giant houses in other areas with poor school systems and the thing that we continued to fall back on was that well at least we're going to have a great education for our kids at least we're going to have that right um I have not regretted that decision for one second it was worth every single penny that we paid for a much smaller house uh on a much smaller piece of land to get a better education and a better Community for our kids everything that's happening here tonight is exactly what is right with eim Township I recognize that it's tough for you folks on the board and and for you Justin but this is exactly what is right about the community here and the parents here in Asian Township this type of advocacy is exactly what I love to see I also think it's important that we address the root cause of the issue it's important for us to take some of this energy and some of this advocacy and direct it towards our elected leaders in Trenton our legislators our governor the people who have put together the S2 bill that have caused us to lose millions and millions of dollars in funding over the last several years have put us in this position it's a position that is going to cause severe deficits for the students in this District it is causing severe problems for the Educators that work their asses off to make sure that our kids come out with the best possible outcomes I don't want to see anyone get cut I want to see everyone stay here I want to see everyone who's put their heart and soul into this education system continue to be able to thrive here and continue to be able to help our kids here we need to make sure that our school gets the appropr amount of funding that it deserves and that all of our money does not go to Trenton and does not go to other school districts in this state where it may or may not be needed we are losing money to other districts because of the rules policies and procedures that have been put in place by our elected leaders in the state government and this advocacy needs to be directed towards them if anyone has questions about how to do that I am happy to help uh if anyone would like to put together people to go to Trenton and advocate for our students I would be happy to help I will drive us there I will fit as many people in my car as I can um give this board and our school district the resources that it needs to help our kids and to make Eve shim the place it once was and I know it can continue to be thank you Bruce Albright resident of Eve sham and I spoke at the last meeting and I wasn't going to speak tonight but I I had to come back up here because of some things that were said Mr Smith you're sad you know who's sad the power professionals families that are losing their benefits the bus drivers who are losing their jobs they're sad the lowest paid workers but yet do more with less but I don't see any Administration cut I don't see you losing your benefits or Administration losing their benefit benefits it's hypocrisy what you're doing I walked through these doors 48 years ago when this school first opened with the new model that they had for educating students 48 years it's been a success and you're thrown it away without really any reason why other than that you think your idea is better and that and and and that's a travesty it's a joke this whole thing is a joke these families they're sad have a good [Music] night hello Dr Smith and Bor um I'm sure you are bored I know we've been going on for a long time many many hours I'm I don't know you're looking at your phones you know whatever you're doing up there but just know how important this is to all of us standing here before before you um I know that so many kids spoke tonight and they did that of their own wanting they wrote their essays um they spoke from the heart because they as children see what value all the adults in their everyday lives have on them um so they care about us we just hope that the rest of the adults in our lives also feel the same and and see our value um many kids emailed Dr Smith and they on their own 12-year-olds 13year olds recognized the fact that his responses were copied and pasted and told them what minutes of last month's board meeting to go to to listen to that same slideshow budget presentation I'm just going to say I don't know what happens to me after I speak so if you never see me again I I don't know you know again there's always punishment um I'm going to reiterate um that cuts never come from the top you always start with your teachers with your support staff now with your bus drivers it's not okay without us these schools cannot run try to run a school without all of us I like what someone said earlier come into our buildings spend some time in our classrooms I know Mr demarcy you said at the parent meeting last month that you're worried you would make us nervous if you come into our buildings we welcome it come and see what we do we don't want to see you once a year once a month if we can come to a board meeting come and actually see what we do with these children and how much they value US uh Dr Smith you've mentioned a suggestion box every suggestion we've ever given you you shoot down you you basically laugh at us you smirk at us yes sell the admin building yes if you don't want to sell it lease it out why are we leasing out a sixth grade pod to another school to the Yale School kids who I feel for but they're in a different placement for a reason why are we adding them to our own kids who have their own needs the last thing I want to say is just as a reminder to anyone who missed it 97% of your staff who voted have no confidence in your leadership Dr Smith I am hoping and I think all of us are hoping there would be some response to that because that's pretty huge that's a statement thank you good evening my name is Evan Scott uh the reason why I came here is because I've been watching these uh meetings for some time now and what I've learned is that no one here is an enemy we came together a couple years ago to get full day kindergart because it was the right thing to do we worked together we got it done but the meeting after that I came in front of this board publicly to say great win we will be here again and we will be here over and over and over again until we rise up together and take care of some business up in Trenton so here's the facts that are demonstrably true objectively true when you look at the state aid notice the uncapped Aid is the formula Aid that we should be getting that's $1.7 million but because of the 6% state aid growth limit cap we're only getting 45,000 in change all right for those people that are writing down that's 1.3 million right there that we're not getting that the law says you are supposed to get that money H if we're trying to say power professionals sounds like we should be going after that money we're trying to say other programs should be going after that money oh by the way if you look at the governor's educational adequacy report there are other deficits there look at CPI for energy they say we're going to have a negative energy growth when we all sitting here listening to 17 to 20% rate increases how is this possible the last thing the geographic cost adjustment for Surfer to be con constitutional the court said you have to have mechanisms in place must have mechanisms in place to review the economic data that Geographic cost adjustment the last time it was updated it's supposed to be updated every five years was 2014 this is 2025 that was 11 years ago it grew from 2008 to 2014 2.4% % if I go back in there and make the same adjustment just that one and I'm being conservative I just allow for 2.4% increase from 2014 to now that's just another $1.3 million so 1.7 and 1.3 we've got $3 million that the state is saying can't have it when is it going to be time to rise up together and go up to Trenton and take care of business thank you hi my name is Christine rora and I'm a teacher at Demi Middle School um I have nothing prepared but I come to speak from the heart after hearing some of my students speak really touched me and my colleagues and so many parents and I just want to br bring it back to perspective I teach because I want to make a difference and Eve sham actually helped me become I think the best teacher I can be you did I really wish I could have a redo and go back to my first year of teaching because if I knew then what I know now I know I would be more effective however I worry am I going to be effective with all these changes I don't know I see this year after year and the things we have been through what we have conquered together we have gotten through covid together virtual learning so much but now so much is being taken away what matters are these students the children I'm a mother of four and Dr Smith I remember your girls I remember them and how they were their best they were through the tier three program I remember Ora Lee and how impressed I was by her and she was at her best because of what we provided for her now we're taking these things away what matters are the connections I am in a unique position I am a reading specialist but this year I am also a Lead Teacher for reading and writing in sever red with the four bucket model am I at my best yes because I have a class of 20 students the same students in reading and writing I can differentiate I do meet with them oneon-one I do have guided reading groups I can't imagine doing that with 10 to 15 more students I can't I tell you right now I put all my heart into it and I wouldn't be able to do that with such a large class size it's what matters the students the connections I am School mom to some of these students that I work with through inrs as a reading specialist it's those bonds that matter these kids have been through a lot covid has changed the social media has changed them they need these people these adults these teachers to be their mentors to be their school parents because that's really what matters that's when true learning takes place when there's trust and caring and now when we have these large cast sizes when we can't meet their needs that's going to be the demise I'm not going to be at my best they're not going to be at their best I can't bring the best out of them it's the teachable moments that matter not the curriculum so please really take that into consideration you're going to have to revise your mission statement that you read tonight I just reread it on my computer this is not going to bring out Excellence we need to keep these class numbers at a manageable size because that's what's important the students [Applause] please hi my name is Aaron Gerson and I didn't didn't plan anything either so I just picked up this sign that says put our kids first I'm sitting here in this room I want to remind us is it still Monday it's St Patrick's Day it's Monday night it's almost 11 o' we all are getting up in the morning and I'm sitting here seeing my friends my neighbors teachers that my kids have had I have a child who's gone through this District we have two that are still in it and as a parent I left my glasses in the car I wanted to see each one of you because if you do not deny this budget tonight and you are accepting putting 35 kids in a classroom and putting that burden on our teachers not only does that academically provve to be detrimental for them it is also a safety hazard and I can't believe in the world that we live in with the kind of threats that are on the table when we send our kids to school every day that you would even possibly consider 35 kids in a classroom to even be an option you have a room of teachers you have a room of parents you have students here and we are all saying that if we band together and turn our attention towards the state level then we could do different things here so each one of you on this board it is your duty and your responsibility tonight to put our kids first and do not accept this budget do whatever you have to do to get a stay on it to figure out another way you cannot accept it as it is with what it will do to everyone in this room in this community in this District it is unacceptable hi my name is Bonnie marpel and I've lived in this Township for almost 50 years and it looks like I'm going to be the last one to speak so I just want to look around this room and look at the faces that I'm seeing here tonight and tell you I am very sad I am sad for the faces that I see on these people out here that are going to be losing their jobs they're losing their benefits I have been a bus driver in this Township for 47 years and I've I've been retired for 19 years and I am still working here because I love my job and I love the people that I work with I love these teachers because they are great to our kids my kids went through this system here my kids went to school with several of you up that are sitting up there my grandson went to school with another one that's sitting up here I want you guys to think when you vote what was it like when you went through the school systems here you had had a good time you got a good education right and you can all relate to it I can see a few of you looking at me but trust me when you think about it tonight you think about how you vote for this because it's going to affect all these kids out here and all these teachers and all these bus drivers and all these support people so think about it carefully when you've when you put your vote in there thank you [Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen uh I'm in the transportation department and I've been here for over 10 years and I just want to say to the board that we transport the most precious thing in the world your children these drivers and AIDS are so dedicated ated to their profession they're the greatest people I have ever worked with and I've been around a long time and they take care of business and they love your children they say good morning and good afternoon and good evening every day so I would certainly think about I wouldn't go to a subcontractor because they would never do the job that these dedicated people do thank you very much [Applause] [Music] is there anyone else who would like to speak seeing none we'll move to the next section moving to item six approval of the minutes we need a motion to approve items 6.1 through 6.3 do we have a motion motion by Mrs null seconded by Miss Fox any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please on the approval minutes Mr Brown Asain your exstension is noted Miss buter MTZ yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes to 61 abstain from 62 and yes to 63 your exstension is 6.2 was noted yes to arrest Mr peelman yes yes Mr Bach yes Mr conton yes that motion carries thank you moving to item seven superintendent report and administrative items we need a motion to approve items 7.1 through 7.6 do we have a motion motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Miss botes I will hand the floor over to Dr Smith before we vote thank you Mr canthon just want to thank everyone who came out tonight um especially those of you who stayed through the whole uh public comment a lot of wonderful perspectives the um I I would say And as far as the uh there's nothing that there's no combination of words that can be said that can take away the pain and the anger from where we are so you know it's it it means understandably little or nothing to anyone here how it feels to be in the situation as a superintendent or a board member right and I recognize that um the the but the fact is that single one of us thank you Miss Brown thank you the uh when someone goes into education I did as all of you right there there's no no way to imagine that at some point in the distant future you know I went into education in 1996 uh that at some point in the distant future that that person would be sitting in a meeting where we're talking about what we're talking about tonight it's the last place someone who went into education would want to be right because of what we're talking about um the ideas you know we have a liaison meeting on Thursday this week look forward to talking about ideas there um the idea tonight you know for example the uh the admin building selling that you know and each of these can be talked about it's it's difficult to talk about it in a large group because it it could be painful sometimes to talk about the logic of things you know because the emotion is so real the the logic of just that step for example is space right space it's easier to look at that step when there's more space and based on what we're talking about tonight there may be more space and that that is makes that idea more operationally feasible to look at and that's just one example and it and it is good to keep visiting ideas over time because as variables change an idea that wasn't feasible before may become that way I also would say again there were a couple numbers floated tonight one was that the idea presented by ETA last year about the shift dividend which was very welcome idea right and we used that last year and we used the rest of it this year the number shared tonight for the amount of that shift dividend was $1 million okay and in fact it was $381,000 Which is less than half and I only say that not not to you know say it should have been correct or whatever I just mention it to illustrate that when it comes to numbers it there are ways it is easy to look at them and and wish they were different than they are and certainly we all wish we could look at these numbers and they would be different than they are but unfortunately the duty of a board the duty of a superintendent the duty of an Administration is to recommend a budget that's balanced and as as painful as that is which again means nothing shouldn't doesn't have to mean anything to anyone um so to wrap up thank you for the input tonight including the vote and I look forward to talking more with ETA about it starting on Thursday at least thank you Dr Smith any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please roll call on administrative items Mr Brown yes Mr M MTZ yes Mr Demar yes Miss Fox abstain from 7.3 yes for the rest your exstension of 7.3 is noted yes to the rest Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes yes Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 8 curriculum and instruction we need a motion to approve items 8.1 through 8.5 do we have a motion motion by Mr demarcy seconded by Mr Thompson any questions or comments from the board sure Mrs no I know it's been a very long night and I apologize and you can tell I'm tired but I see our wonderful Eed Foundation board member standing here and I want to give them a a big thank you for always supporting our students here on this agenda we have uh requests for more funding for the eyes on Art which you do every year uh buying frames for that artwork and also for I don't remember if it's one or two active panels with the teacher laptops again every year you always give us um donations and I appreciate that so I wanted to give you a thank you since you're here in person thank you thank you Mrs N any other questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please roll call on curriculum and instruction Mr Brown yes Miss buter mowitz yes Mr demarcy yes M fox yes Mrs NL yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes Mr conon yes and motion car carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 9ine finance and operations we need a motion to approve items 9.1 through 9.15 do we have a motion after after the motion yes motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Mr dearcy as is the case with all of our motions the floor is now open to the board any questions or comments from the board Mrs null whatever you'd like that pertains to item N9 9.1 through 9.

e e e yes yes I am all right at 6:30 um Julie would you call the role please car Caston and here Mr Espinosa here charell Fuller here Jenny hagstrom here Terry pavich here Don Runner here and ran Hashim here thank you all right having the quum let's stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right um before we start tonight's meeting I wanted to address um you know some recent events uh good evening um before we begin our meeting tonight I'd like to address something that has impacted our community this morning we learned that a dgs teacher was arrested and detained by law enforcement the teacher was arraigned this morning and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and assault of a current dgs student the teacher who was also a coach was immediately placed on a administrative leave and is no longer permitted on school grounds in coordination with local law enforcement we have communicated this terrible news to our entire Community we appreciate the close partnership with Downers Grove chief of police Mike Dev the Downers Grove Police Department the village of Downers Grove the DuPage County Children's Advocacy Center and Bob Berlin the DuPage County State's Attorney's office we continue full cooperation with law enforcement as this is an H ongoing investigation we are heartbroken for the victim and also for the hundreds of students staff and family who trusted this teacher and feel betrayed by this terrible situation our top Focus now is to support the victim and their family and to ensure the well-being and safety of all of our students we will also be contacting those families whose students have had Direct contact with with the teacher and Coach we will continue to address this situation with urgency and transparency we are committed to protecting our students and ensuring that they feel safe here at District 99 we encourage anyone to come forward to the police or the school about anything that seems dangerous or unusual if you are uncomfortable reaching out directly you can use the safe to help system on our websites to anonymously let the police and our Administration know of your concerns I want all of you to know that we take all reports seriously and we're here to help thank you very much now before we get into tonight's meeting um I kind of wanted to outline uh the structure of tonight's meeting just based on our unusual circumstances for tonight um we do have a public hearing tonight so we will have to go through that public hearing process um after the approval of our minutes we will next move to the first reception of visitors to address any action item that is on tonight's agenda okay um our action items tonight include the items displayed on the screen here if you wish to address any of those items please submit a slip to the board secretary Miss nidek for the first reception of visitors after the reports from the superintendent there will be a public hearing for up to 30 minutes on the honorable dismissal of teachers okay there will be up to 30 minutes under our regular guidelines and following our normal protocols for the reception of visitors to address the board on the single topic of The Honorable dismissal of teachers at the end of the meeting after all action is taken there will be a final reception of visitors where members of the public May comment on any topic pertaining to the district per our board policy 2.23 Z in the first and last reception of visitors a maximum of 30 minutes will be allotted for each reception of visitors with a maximum of 20 minutes on any one topic unless everyone who wish to speak has already spoken any need to recess due to the public not complying with the guidelines will be included in the total time allowed so our first item is approval of minutes um can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve the minutes of the February 4 2025 business meeting the February 2020 or 24th 2025 Clos meeting the March 3rd 2025 Workshop meeting and the March 3rd 2025 closed meeting so moved second Terry moves Ken seconds kry pavich hi hen Dawson hi Chris espanosa hi Cheryl Fuller hi Jenny hagstrom hi Cara Caston hi and D Runner I motion carries so then we're going to go to our first reception of visitors on public comment for any of the items on our agenda tonight Julie do we have any reception of visitors no not the first session correct then I'm going to turn it over to item five to Hank all right and I will invite Jeff to come forward for uh walking our team through the Staffing and curriculum overview hi good evening and uh get things going today reviewing our annual Staffing curriculum overview for the year and I just want to always acknowledge that uh this is a very intricate process very complex I want to recognize the work of both uh district and building staff who uh do a lot to help pull together all the data that's used uh for these recommendations that we're bringing to you tonight um first off just talking about our certified Staffing uh FTE allocations we had uh sectioning FTE that year uh is at 31.3 which is also shown on the chart which has been shared with you and then as far as our non- sectioning FTE which is uh sectioning that's not tied to classroom requests and things uh so those are like our social worker psychology positions like that uh overall throughout the district and the list of positions you also see on the chart that's displayed right now uh that ft recommendation this coming year is 103 total um so that brings our Total Staffing uh increase this year of uh that we're looking at as a 1.5 over last year um so just kind of keep that in mind and then what I'll do next is I'm going to turn that over to uh Gina for uh section two here which is going to talk some about program impact and Staffing allocations thank you so each year as we look at course requests and teacher recommendations obviously our building administrators our principles specifically our associate principal for curriculum instruction and District admin make decisions about what courses we will be running and in some cases what courses we will not be able to run so I've provided the board with a report summarizing the recommendations of those courses that have enrollment of less than 20 for which we are not advocating to run sections for I'm happy to say that there's actually a decrease in the number of courses when compared to last year so there's 16 courses for next next year that had an enrollment of less than 20 that we are recommending for cancellation whereas the number was 19 at this time last year also provided the board with courses from both schools in which the enrollment is less than 20 but we are recommending running the section offering the course and there's a variety of different reasons why each course was decided upon but there's also a decrease in the number of those courses um so we're looking at 30 for next year and last year at this time it was 41 there are some courses as noted in the memo that are not listed that have enrollments of less than 20 and those would be courses that often times by law we have to run with fewer than 20 students they are specifically English language learner courses El courses special education courses and in some case interventions type courses so this report basically shows decrease in both the number of courses that we're recommending for next year to be canceled and the number that we're recommending with enrollments of less than 20 with that I'm going to turn it over to our associate principles for curriculum instruction Keith Pals from Downers North and Jake Giblin from Downer South who will provide some high level key points about the section process this year good evening everybody my name is Keith Pals I'm the associate principal for curriculum instruction at North high before I begin today I would really like to thank a couple key people and at the school building that really help everything uh get going here specifically the North High Department chairs and some of the key staff members in the Cs department and our building Administration for their collaboration throughout this process as the board is aware our sectioning process is student driven based on course requests and our team's collaboration is key to this success this year we received over 18,000 requests from 2011 students leading to 409 course offerings in nine different departments there's a lot going on so I just definitely want to make sure that it's not just us that's part of this process in our core departments English math social studies and science we're offering 99 courses total AP courses remain uh as very popular with 12884 different requests for uh within that group of departments we're looking to uh continue cons uh a successful implementation of our math 3 lab intervention and we started that this year it's been going very well and we're expanding eel support in science with a dedicated biology and a dedicated Earth and space science course for eel students in english four our offerings uh we saw growth in interest in three specific courses film studies journalistic expression in media literacy and Humanities and in social studies despite a move of our AP Psychology course from a half year to a full year we're seeing an increase of an entire section and so that we can serve 20 more students in that particular course our elective courses CTE PE dver at and health World Language and the Fine Arts are showing shifts in their Trends as well so CTE saw a drastic increase in interest in the internship program while they also saw a drop in the cwt program or the Cooperative work training requests I spoke to Brian Vite our department chair there um he's already having conversations focused on revitalizing the cwt course offering for next year um and he shared with me that there's going to be a more concentrated effort to put together a profile of our work-based learning students and he plans are working with counselors and other department chairs to inform stakeholders including potential students that the cwt and internship classes that provide career experience that is regardless of postsecondary um plans Fine Arts I'm excited to share with the board that AP music theory will be coming back to North High next year uh while a AP art history is going to take a pause and this is um as we shared last year that seems to be coming into a more cyclical nature of every other year uh World Language is is experiencing an increased focused in EL support with an increase of 60% requests for our El specific course requests however our French section numbers continue to decrease which is following the trend that we've spoken about over the last couple of years PE I did also want to highlight is offering 30 different courses specifically in PE what I want to talk about here is the leadership opportunities for students within that department courses like our Sports officiating course or also our PE leaders and lifeguard leaders program offer students opportunities to learn and to lead within the school day finally our special services department is expanding their number of multi- needs classrooms from three to four classrooms next year to better serve those students and this department also collaborates with English math social social studies and science to offer 21 different uh co-taught courses and those are courses in which um teachers collaborate with their peers to serve our special education students so thank you good evening I'm Jake Giblin I'm the associate principal for curriculum at donard Grove South um in addition to the department chairs and everyone who works tirelessly with this um I want to also point out we have data processor of both schools uh Barb rustic Katie Conquest who do amazing work and do a lot for us in the background that allows us to have some of these highlevel conversations because they take care of all the hard dirty work in the background for us and we can't do this without them so thank you to them as well um a couple trends for us um we we at South we saw a a an increase in particular in our Fine Arts sections um our digital photography in particular grew by 84 requests we had 143 last year we're up to 227 this year they're doing a really good job of of promoting that and getting kids interested in photography um we within the CTE Department as well uh Keith mentioned those opportunities for internship we had a dip this year we had 19 students involved in that internship program next year there are 92 requests for the same program uh to get students into the community working with our business partners and getting real Hands-On experiences um for their time while they're in the in the high school setting um we're excited because we're seeing uh stem growth we had 105 uh student requests increase in our science programs this year um so uh while AP um overall is about the same we we had uh an exciting thing in that our AP Psychology which has gone from a half year to a full year still retained four full courses kids are still wanting a an enriching experience in a what I would call a more challenging and more depth program that is going to be coming to them next year and we're excited about that um one of the trends that has definitely been part of South over the last few years is our increase in our El and bilingual programs two years ago we had 214 student requests for those specific courses last year was 368 this year we're up to 432 we've more than doubled in just the last two school years alone and one of the other things that uh is is generating more and more student opportunities we have um our incoming class this year 82% of our incoming ninth graders have chosen to take a full schedule of cour work that is increasing the number of kids who are getting more classes more educational experiences that is in contrast to this year's which was 57% it is a sharp increase in one we look to continue over the next few years thank you invite Scott wazer to come up and he's going to share with you a little bit about our special services and seat trip yeah c s needs good evening Scott I'm here to talk a little bit about special services so we um we've seen a increase at North High for next year for at a 2.1 uh FTE which the majority of that is coming um from expanding our multi program from um three classrooms to four classrooms so that's where we're seeing the largest increase there um at South High we're going to see an increase of 0.5 FTE and that's falling in uh our coocha classes um which is always a good thing to include our students in inclusive environment so we're excited about that um and then at t99 we're going to um have a decrease of 1.0 teachers um due to just our student enrollment um and then also with um I know it's up on the screen up there for psychologists um we're sharing our psychologist at t99 with north um which we've done in the past with related services like speech and that um and so it's going to be a 6 FTE at t99 and a 04 FTE at uh North and then CS we're not seeing any change the here so any questions thank you thank you thank you thanks and uh kind of rounding off our presentation around Staffing today um you have for your approval this evening a list of all the staff who are being recommended for renewal for next year who are currently non-tenured and those will you be continuing on the tenure track some will be approved for tenure for next year um and then some others will continue to be non-tenured but that's uh there for you to approve those renewals um and then as mentioned in the memo uh the list of those who are acquiring tenure going into next year will be presented at the next board meeting the next uh Workshop meeting in April um and then also uh for your approval tonight was the resolution I believe that was mentioned earlier we do have I believe six staff members who are affected with uh honorable dismissals the cause for those dismissals is those are uh all part-time teachers who we've had a reduction in our FTE in the areas that they work so that's why they're being honorably dismissed and then we also have a teacher is working a leave of absence who's also being honorably dismissed as well obviously teacher coming back so those are the reasons why we have those those situations but these are staff who in many cases like I said there's reduced FTE for some of those part-time positions they are welcome to reapply and some cases are offered those positions straight out um if they're interested in that reduced FTE that's available for their role um and then just kind of round out again so as I mentioned uh last year our staffing total was 42.8 um and this year is expected to be four 44.3 and again that's an overall increase of 1.5 FTE is said we have increased enrollment this year at South and some other shifting needs and so that's how we have arrived where we are thank you for your time and effort I know that's not an easy process to put together no as you heard everyone acknowledge it's it's many many hands doing you know trying to make light work out of it and a huge undertaking so thank you any questions thank you to all of you thank you thank you all right our next agenda item is the establishment of the board organizational meeting following uh elections in April and the recommendation is that we hold that re that organizational meeting on May 5th so returning board members will remember this is uh a night in multiple acts where the current board will come be seated then we'll transition to the incoming board and then organize for officers that evening um so uh we're recommending that the the board set that night uh for that that gives us enough time uh for all the results to come in before we we go through that organizational meeting uh any concerns with that being the date all right the next item is Travis's for North High garage roof replacement thank you good evening uh with the assistance of white uh we received eight different bids for our North garage roof replacement uh the low bidder Tori came in at $166,400 if you remember when we presented earlier in the fall we projected that to be at about $175,000 so it's a good thing uh always when it comes in under uh under budget we do have $10,000 that we have allotted for contingency surprises um within that so um everything looks to be in a good working order again uh the bids ranged from about $232,000 to this um 166,000 white has done the followup to make sure that they fully understand the scope of the work and so that's our recommendation tonight for to accept that bid uh this as Travis said is an action item this evening any questions for Travis at this point this is the garage north of the stadium yes thank you all right uh the next item is Travis's as well the 10-year safety survey report is back from earlier this year it is so this is um this is a recap of of what was presented in November all of this information is the same so just a an explanation of every 10 years that we do uh we are required uh by the state to go through a a survey uh to identify any areas of need that we need to address um so we have gone through that uh we've reviewed those this was all done again in the summer and the fall thinkk if you can give me the next slide so along with this um here are the next steps that are are related to it one is to authorize Whit and company to access iwis and submit the the report for us um once they receive that report we'll we'll get that we approve what they have uh submitted um and then we go through everything after that moment time where we know ISB has to approve the the work uh once we have that approved then we need to go through the process of getting the work all the bids uh that are needed in order to get that work completed um and then we would obviously report annually on the progress of those those things next slide please so you can see they're they're broken down into three different categories of work category a is urgent that has to be done in the first two years one to two years um and then when you look at next category B that has to be done within the first five years after it's been approved category C is recommended it is not something that we have to do next slide please so you can see the breakdown um of what that total looks like so we're just under $360,000 uh for both North and South for category a category B is just over 3.6 million category C uh we are just over 1.

uh followed by April 21st 2025 we will have a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. at the ASC followed by our regular business meeting here again at 6:35 p.m. on May 1st 2025 we plan to have a special meeting with an action item at 6:30 p.m. then on May 5th 2025 we will have a workshop meeting at 6:30 pm. and then immediately on that same night we'll have a May 5th 2025 board organizational meeting where we will install the new members after the election at 700 p.m. at ASC item number 14 uh we'll be going into close session can I get a motion from the board of educ to go into close 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 volunteers of the district or legal counsel for the district including hearing testimony on a compl 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 counsel for the district to determine its validity so moved second Terry moves Charelle seconds thank you very much Terry pavich I Charelle Fuller I Jenny hagstrom hi caric Caston hi hen Dawson hi Mr Bosa hi and Don rener I motion carries you know I often say this but this actually means something tonight um the only action that the board will be taking when we come out of Clos session will be to adjourn so there there's not much that you'll see if you if you stay around so my first board meeting yes thank you for coming well thanks for coming thank you all hey don don don don don don let me say something before they leave I just want to thank all of you people for coming out here I think it's awesome to be part of a community where you can actually show up and your opinion and your passion is heard and felt and uh it's just great to be part of donal's Grove and and d99 and our family what it stands for so a lot so thank you thank you for coming support y thank you thank you thank you very all right uh shortly once we once

e e e a here Fulk yes Gorman here papis here FY wson here Hil here all right approval to allow member vuli to join the meeting remotely is allowed by board 222 need a motion on second or required to allow member V to join the meeting second all in favor I hi no names no no names noes no names oh that saying all right we request the motion second to approve the agenda second there's no Mone no all right motion is carried all right please what no you you have to voice for you w you Motion in a second yeah then she's going to call it you can voice okay all in favor I I can we stay with her change I know hard I know it's so hard um please join us in recite in the pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands under God indivisible with liy and justice for all I want to thank everybody for coming this evening um also the folks on the phone thank you for joining us any words welcome folks if you were a little confused on the roll call versus Voice vote by state law you only really have to call a roll call vote for when there's money involved or if there's policy involved or when you roll call going in the close session otherwise it could be voice vot and I'm suggesting just go to voice voice voice Voice vote uh for efficiency purposes just makes moves the the entire agenda pass moves along quickly so I welcome everybody and thank you for the warm welcome that my partner and I have had in the last two weeks here two weeks and one day in County Griff you want turn your mic on well he's loud but I'm louder I'm sure everybody could hear me anybody in the back did not hear me I have a study hall voice or cafeteria boys I can get to the other side of the the road if necessary go ahead all right we'll start public comment first up is uh pkps minutes related to um input from the public and public questions uh the first thing is about competitive bidding and vendor evaluations uh the board packet for this meeting and also in Prior meetings uh the material Administration the administration presents the board the stuff that public sees does not include the vendor evaluation criteria and how at least three vendors compare to each other on those criteria so for example um the math curriculum proposal in today's packet uh the external auditor Ral that's in today's packet uh the transportation bids from a month or two ago um they don't have uh three vendors being compared on objective criteria so the public can understand um you know objectively uh how was the best Fender Chosen and also the board isn't getting that information when it's then taking a vote to approve a particular proposal so I think that can be strengthened um that would follow the principles of competitive bidding benchmarking uh and public disclosure around uh you know how large contracts are being awarded second topic is related to board policies um the board policy 7180 which is up for approval today this is the one on prevention uh of and response to bullying intimidation and harassment uh it's seems to be missing some of the projected classes under Article 5 of The L Human Rights Act I made this point at the last meeting as well in regard to uh some of the other non-discrimination anti-harassment policies that were approved in the last round um and it's been improved so it's got more of them in the red line but it still seems like it's missing a couple of the protected classes so encourage you to take a look at that and make sure everything is included and then um another point I made last month uh which is not reflected in uh in in today's packet for board policy 2260 which is the uniform grievance procedure uh when there's a complaint about a senior person so a superintendent or a member of the board um the policy says that it's investigated by a complaint manager who is an employee of the district and I think that that presents an inherent conflict of interest or puts that complaint manager in a precarious position because they're investigating a superior right uh and so the policy should be improved to provide for an independent investigator in those situations similar to provisions and other policies that allow for uh other board policies allow for independent investigation and then lastly on policies for board policy 8100 which is about community relations it should cover not only written Communications from the community to the board or superintendent but it should cover the things that people raise in public comments right we've talked about this before that people are raising issues in public comment typically the board and district is not responding to those issues when they're raised and I think that's a huge opportunity it's it's a missed opportunity um to kind of you know convince the public or incorporate input and improve the the things the district is doing uh and then lastly there are a few uh questions or topics that have come up in some of the community forums that uh are not official District Community forums but that people engage in uh there's a question around whether or not there will be a Middle School Graduation Ceremony this year and if not why not um questions about uh How spelling is taught uh in elementary and middle school uh questions about uh whether our cursive is taught and uh students graduating without the ability to even sign signatures uh and then also uh some discussion around uh inconsistency of ability based groupings uh across schools and grade levels and subjects uh and that actually is is um one of the ways that we could Implement an accelerated program and stronger intervention in elementary and middle school without requiring additional teachers right um and supporting not only Advanced learners but also those kids who are uh in lower teers so um those are my comments thank you thank you okay next up Jean Meer Jean Meyer resident teachers and administrators must not teach or enforce moral Val values or religions to the district's children that do not meet the district 301 residents values on 3:14 of 25 a number of local newspapers reported on the comments a parent made at the Deerfield School District board meeting this could so easily be District 301 let's not let it be when three District administrators found that middle school girls were refusing to change in front of a boy in their locker room they tried to force the girls to change in front of him this activity went all in all week with the parent speaker's daughter refusing to have her privacy breached she's an amazing girl the vast majority of the taxpayers in this District would be vehemently opposed to this a student forced to change in front of anyone at 6 5 years I have never felt anything but uncomfortable changing in front of anyone as a transgendered middle schooler that I was in 1971 due to my Agony over puberty this kind of activity would have multiplied my Agony by a th% in fact it it brought back a memory of my Middle School gym teacher she stood where she could watch us girls come naked and wet out of the shower to get our towels under the guys that she wanted to make sure we got wet in the shower and now I'm starting to think maybe she was stimulating herself this almost killed my TR transgender shy uh middle schooler that I was at the league of woman voters candidate Forum a couple weeks ago every candidate there replied to my question similarly my question asked if teachers should be required to teach only academics and not indoctrination that was beliefs not held by our community the basic reply was that teachers will and should teach their values just like the three administrators enforced their values most likely saying locker rooms and bathrooms of schools that take State funds must be open to all 60 genders the law does not say that schools are to force children to strip naked in front of anyone our society has diverse values much more diverse than they used to be from satanists and pedophiles now heading towards mainstream to those who cover females except for a slot for their eyes whose values are we going to teach we have to decide a pedophil offering some of what public schools are teaching to a child would be arrested as for me my values are unchanging coming from God's holy word any one who would coer a student to change in front of anyone should be criminally charged and lose their job without benefits or pension I wonder if anyone on this board has the fortitude to take the same stand protect our children from indoctrination please thank you J okay now we'll have facilities director h will introduce our four architects who will each share their proposal presentations with the board hello again um we're going to take this opportunity for our four um finalist firms to present about a 15minute presentation to the board and then give you an opportunity to ask questions the first one will be architectural Resource Group the second one will be Str Str then Larson and Derby group then cigan and Clark leave and his team to get us started good evening it's connecting ready good evening Central 301 board members and guests architectural resource Corporation is truly honored to be shortlisted for this opportunity upon receiving the news we looked into your District its achievements and the values that drive the district's mission in fact your mission statement to engage the Mind empower the learner Inspire excellence and influence the world resonates deeply with our firm's commitment to delivering quality projects and education Central 301's prominence over 10 communities in King County is remarkable your central status amidst one of the fastest growing communities in the United States is remarkable yet your achievements in leading the national standards demonstrates in dedication to Excellence that we deeply admire we understand that Central 301 is striving to reach its full potential while navigating the challenges of growth we believe that strategic resource planning combined with well-designed architecture plays a pittiful role in addressing these issues our experience allows us to help you develop strategic plans to transform challenges into positive experiences and realize possibilities that help plan for the future this collaborative approach is what truly strengthens our our communities since 1980 our firm has been dedicated to award wording designs for schools and educational facilities my name is Ari bruus and I serve as president and will be your key contact person about 27 years ago I was a ufi graduate and intern when I joined Arc even then I recognized the firm's passion to achieving a quality design I had the privilege of working on school projects a Cornerstone of our practice I remember our design team collaborating closely with clients engaging me in meetings and assignments it was truly a wonderful experience to be mentored by principles and Senior staff who encouraged taught and nurtured my growth this immersive experience characterized by Dynamic energy and collaborative leadership was pivotal to my professional development my career has since been dedicated to educational projects driven by the belief that Architects have a profound responsibility to ensure educational facilities positively impact their communities we understand the challenges facing educational growth balancing resources space and student to support ratios we work with districts to translate their Vision into practical Sustainable Solutions that address immediate and long-term growth needs all shaped by Community input we are proud to be exclusively local deeply invested in Illinois we do not Outsource to other states nor do we have digital satellite offices we have a proven track record of delivering successful education projects solely in Illinois in our 45 years experience we have enjoyed partnering with school districts to Envision their district and delivering Master plans that brought it all to fruition the Synergy created in this type of work is how projects in education can Will and should bring communities together our experienced team which includes founding principles mix with emerging talents integrates a balance of Forward Thinking solutions that shape a quality design being small enough to ensure personal attention yet large enough to manage complex projects we offer a unique blend of agility and expertise our in-house construction management firm provides us with the superior insights into Chicago construction Mar markets enabling us to deliver cost-effective and impactful spaces our combined resources in both the AE and CM arenas have served several other Illinois districts facing similar challenges to Central 301 with fantastic results our methodology is a comprehensive datadriven approach designed to create educational spaces that not only meet the highest standards of functionality and sustainability but also achieve award-winning recognition we believe that a deep understanding of a school district vision is fostered through a partnership built on asking the right questions our studies include land analysis strategic building planning circulation needs and program studies to map parameters that help design shape and design a process our programming and process is intended to enhance the district's ability to integrate short-term challenges into long-term sustainable results this ensures a design that is insightful creative and highly functional our design philosophy centers on creating environments that nurture both learning and wellbeing we prioritize natural light healthy air and an optimal learning environment for students we design spaces that encourage social interaction and Recreation fostering a strong sense of community with care to accessible needs creating an inclusive environments for all students we seamlessly integrate technology providing robust infrastructure for digital learning and future advancements Beyond this we are committed to environmentally responsible Construction prioritizing sustainable materials and practices that set standards we design buildings to serve as a Vibrant Community Hub reflecting local culture in context to foster a sense of belonging our approach to ensure long-term value and Innovation includes utilizing durable materials and robust construction for longevity designing for flexibility and adapting to Future needs committing to a responsible financial management plan and modern izing existing facilities with Excellence to award-winning standards is what we stand for it's our history our ability to respond to the district we're local we're 80 minutes from Central 301 it ensures that we can provide a rapid in-person response to any urgent District need our local knowledge AB building codes regulations and jurisdictional authorities allows us to facilitate expedited timelines we use advanced technology Bim and project management tools to streamline communication and coordination enabling Swift adjustments and keeping projects on track our contractor relationships cultivated through our construction management division concept Development Group with our history of managing billions in Illinois educational projects ensures a rapid resource mobilization and seamless integration with any construction management firm above all we're committed to creating inspiring educational spaces that support students in the community working closely with your team to deliver projects on time within budget and to the highest standards possible to Central 301 we believe that architectural resource Corporation offers not just architectural services but a partnership built on shared values deep experience and a genuine commitment to your District's success we understand the unique challenges and opportunities before you and we are confident in our ability to translate your vision into real ity we're ready to engage our minds Empower your learners Inspire excellence and together influence the world we're eager to begin this journey with you and we thank you for your time and consideration any questions oh yeah let's open up for questions so I question so as part of your uh request you know like responding to this proposal have you familiarized yourself with sort of the circumstances that are unique to our school district I believe so okay so um knowing that uh we have a need to expand but we don't necessarily uh have a uh clear picture of how to expand and where to expand how would your firm uh tackle that that is the question and let's put it in perspective because our deep dive into your District suggest that what we learned is you're a central unit district K through2 One-Stop shop for educational excellence and you guys are not just expanding it at an exponential rate but you're top 25 in the state and you're in the leading growing School District in the nation so that being said I think it's a significant step in the history of this District I think what you do moving forward and working with the proper design firm is find a firm that can really ask you the right questions the right questions are we've been around long enough to understand models of smaller districts growing into longer range needs we've worked with districts that temporarily solved space Problems by the age-old mobile classroom solution and what that does to District's long term I think that we have the experience and knowledge to guide you to extract what is the vision what is the program what is the short-term problem and how do we reach the long-term Vision I believe that we have the experience to ask you the questions that you may not have considered I believe that in working with other districts in Illinois for 30 years plus we can show you models of how districts have grown how they've handled expansion quote unquote problems but I believe that your design firm and everyone you interview tonight should express to you their ability to communicate with you to understand your needs to project how fast you're growing and to understand every aspect of the district from Land planning to infrastructure to the age of buildings and the possibilities I think if a proper design firm explain this upfront I believe together in that partnership the questions and answers that unfold from there can lead to wonderful things thank you how does your firm engage with like the community in the design and planning process and what specific tools and techniques would you use the school board will direct us on what the vision and the goals are in short that means if there's Community engagement in the pre-design program we can create the kid parts that allows how to form questions how to gather information from the community and how to form that into a program tools that we use are really based on tools that are comfortable with the district we can operate in a digital environment we can operate in person we can have community outreach programs to which we come to the district and the community can answer any questions they have in an open form or we can host in our firm Summits to discuss any potential problem that may not be related to The District at hand but might become an issue down the road so to answer your question we can accommodate and be flexible to any Pace the district moves in so to set you apart from the other folks that we'll see tonight what is the one thing that you would say that your firm can offer a District 301 that no one else can I think we're dedicated to projects and education exclusively the fact that we reside in Illinois means that we're small enough yet large enough to handle any project the district has faced her encountered I believe that we have experience to navigate a process that leads the district to a proper solution and the fact that we are exclusively in education means that our nucleus we truly believe as Architects that projects and education have the biggest impact to any community and for doing this for 50 years I can tell you that if we were bad at it it wouldn't look good for us and it wouldn't look good for any district and so uh we like to think we stick our necks out we like to think that we're dedicated in our area and um not only are we Professionals in an office but we're also GR program that we're all local we've all been through the same educational system and we're proud to work here questions thank you for your time thank you very much you thank you thank you did stand why is it so cold too that's a little turned it down thank you it's all toin messing with it Ser app you messed with that I saw you I know I did why turn up the heat you got your coat on right see it's ridiculous you're trying to freeze me out what is that went appreciate you you4 you gonna be okay why did you wear long sleeves just I make some jokes but I I promise good so grip is like black and Stu I can take yours you want like serious no I got paper oh okay thank you Alan you appreciate you so ridiculous than thank you there we go thank you if you could if you could do it there with the mic because uh our audience that's watching remotely they won't be able to hear you if you're oh would be happy to um so our our talk tonight is organized into some really simple ways um first we'll tell tell you a little bit about us uh show some of our work talk about master planning um into um some uh referendum and Grant uh discussions so um feel free to jump in if you want to uh we'll keep it as informal as as as uh as you'd like so um uh we have a great project team we proposed um and uh we have three people from the project team are here um again Mike Henderson so uh be the Principal in charge um Jennifer Stan she's be the technical principal and Alan AR who's in uh communication uh in community engagement and grants we'll be talking a little bit more about that later um so uh We've um uh Str strr Partners has been in business 56 years so um and we have um 35 different school districts that we serve um a number of them kind of surround Central so um and who we've been at for literally decades um um you know 27 35 22 45 years so kind of you know in a in a big area around um and um we're very proud that we were able to um serve these districts for so long and have such longevity and um partly because um we see a role as a district architect in doing kind of everything for a district um going from very small projects um you know let's say a toilet room renovation or boiler or something like that uh to uh me Renovations uh additions and um up to you know entire school campuses brand new high schools um so kind of very small projects very large projects so the small projects are just as important um they just have a shorter time frame so um s Str partners because um we focus on on um on uh educational architecture our practice is focused on um uh serving public public schools and because of that we've organized our practice around a couple of big ideas and that is enhancing now and envisioning Futures we found that a lot of our practice was um you know roofs and and infrastructure and things um keeping the the students warm safe dry um but um also forward looking um uh where you know to helping to to align your facilities to where you want to be so that your fac support your educational goals so um uh and enhancing now is also you have a lot of score footage you have a lot of facilities so how do you bring those facilities and and um align them to the educational goals right now and so all of those are important and it's a big part I again of what what we do every day you have a very big school district so um take 20 minutes to drive across it you have a lot of very old buildings and you have newer buildings so there's a big range and because of our practice being um focused on small things and big things and and all the different aspects we think we're we're hoping where you see us as a good fit um so uh I'm just going to briefly go through the range of the different projects we have talk about with high schools Middle Schools elementary schools prek so um high schools we we serve uh 22 different high schools uh in Northern Illinois and and um again we do brand new high schools high school campuses um this is a Sarah good Academy um uh additions uh do tons of additions to high schools because there there's physically very large buildings with a lot of different needs Renovations of every sort uh do field houses Tech Technology Centers technology classrooms all the different different types um um stem labs culinary arts uh and of course stadiums we've done you know ton of uh of different uh turf fields and entire stadiums and U Leach ATT tracks and things uh for middle schools again we've done new middle schools junior high schools this is the Manhattan Junior High School we just opened it up um very recently actually we started in addition onto a building that wasn't quite finished yet um which was pretty exciting the their um the project came in under budget so they had money left over and they wanted to spend it on the building so we actually building another gym to it and the District administration Center onto a building that wasn't we started before it was quite open um so uh again middle schools junior high schools U do a lot of additions to them Renovations this is Thomas Middle School um of course classrooms um where they you know so much of the education happens um lrc's Learning Centers libraries lot of different names for these typ of spaces uh stem Labs at at a middle school level you know athletic facilities PE gymnasiums music areas um and science labs science lab can take a lot a lot of different flavors in Middle School um and you know an important aspect in Middle Schools is Commons are that where teams can be organized around and this is a common area that at one of our middle schools um elementary schools um just like the high schools just like the middle schools we've done lots and lots of new elementary schools um this is Prairie East Prairie um additions to to and Renovations uh common spaces we we found that um a big part of Education now is that um education happens in a lot of different places a lot of informal spaces can be important for breakout areas this is one of those breakout areas um lrc's Learning Centers Library um in in elementary schools it's also um important to understand that things are scaled down um you know middle school and high school kids can be you know very big people um when you get in down to Elementary and and kindergarten they're physically small and having areas that actually scale to to those students is incredibly important um this is an art space in elementary school um classrooms um we're doing a lot of these um marker walls markerboard walls where we can hide a lot of storage behind um those spaces cafeteria um uh again the gymnasium for a elementary school can be very different you see all the letters on the ground and that's part of their curriculum and um getting down to the smallest students Early Learning Centers um this is a gross motor skills area and of course um you know Play Arts and and so that they can have those gross motor play areas so at this point let me turn over to Jennifer good evening I'm here to talk a little bit about master planning um so a master plan when it's set up properly and um used effectively it's a very powerful tool especially when we have a district that's experiencing or potentially experiencing a Latin growth so um basically the master plan is is kind of a a take take look at what what is it that you have what is it that you need uh then we talk about what's possible and how we can afford those things so when we break down a master plan this is an example some phases that we would go through uh we we get together we plan we set our expectations set some guiding principles and your your goals for these plans and then we get together and we have what's called um an assessment and a discovery phase so we really do a lot of different studies so that we can get to to know the buildings get to understand um what it is that you have and what challenges you have your internal challenges your external challenges so internal really talks about the maintenance needs that you have or the curriculum needs that you have an external is kind of this enrollment projection that may be causing outside forces um stresses onto your buildings we take a look at all of that we gather that data and evaluate it and then we talk about different ways we can conceptualize and address those challenges and then we help you under your framework of guiding principles prioritize and work through with your budgets how you can prioritize these things across a few years so I have a couple of examples of some of those studies um this is something we're doing recently with another District they're calling it a district vision card or facility vision card where we have um identified their ideal U number of spaces and programs that they would like to have in their facilities whether it be elementary middle or high school and then we can evaluate the actual facilities against that card so we we do a space utilization plan we highlight those challenges and then we can check off and evaluate against that vision card whether or not they're meeting the goals of the curriculum or they're meeting the goals of those progam program needs additionally in tandem with that we do a capacity study where we are um also looking in and analyzing that enrollment projection but we're comparing it against the actual physical building so that we understand where there are gaps or where there really are going to be challenges or if there are spaces that can be repurposed or take advantage of other ways so a lot of different studies go into those things and then we can work on um conceptualizing ideas later I'll let Alan start talking about okay thank you I don't need to tell anybody in this room that referendums are really hard they just are it's the nature of the Beast even the ones that from a distance that look like they passed very easily there's just been a ton of work and a lot of positioning behind it so just last November uh both we had Mount Prospect for 85 million and Indian Prairie School District really really happy both of those passed uh Herculean efforts in both cases and you know we we do this a lot we've learned a lot from it every Community is different that way um but we're pretty skilled at it and we have teams of consultants and help fill the gaps that we can't do uh I think the one big takeaway I've learned is there's very little you can't find out about there's no reason to run a referendum and not have a really good idea of how you're going to do next please the through processes from communicating with your public uh hearing from them uh is really the core here and across the bottom you know we've engaged students in you know help helping us design a stadium uh in the middle their parents committee really digging in really motivated really great group that passed just a crazy high expensive referendum because that's what they wanted and they were willing to stand by it and make it happen so the graphic here really is just to take the whole process and make it just as super simple as possible so this District across the top they created their guiding principles and so just things they wanted to do as a district kind of a master plan but you know kind of a short form version of that on the left hand side there are four different schemes so really just with the committee go through it see which schemes really solve their problems and you can kind of do the squint test and yeah obviously all green is easy all red is easy but you know how much what can I get for my money can I get 75% of what I want for half the money okay you've got my attention so this process again just just really simple for communicating with big groups we found really be effective uh next please I think the other takeaway is that we are big Believers in public surveys everything you want to know you can know uh this is an example of a recent one where in this case this cell we're really just trying to figure out what projects will the public support you know we know what we want to do the school district knows what they need to do but if there's a gap there in terms of the understanding of the community they're not going to support it it does doesn't make any difference how good it is doesn't make any difference how much you need it if they don't believe it it's not going to happen uh and the different committees so you can understand that you can know with great specificity of what projects they really are excited about which ones they're not you can also know that by geography you can know which developments support which projects and the answer there isn't that oh they don't want it we're not going to do it no that's not the answer it means there's a gap in their understanding so it gives you the ability to focus on trying to con communicate and convince them that you need this for this certain reason and if you can communicate that well enough you can get it done next please similarly when it comes to money uh it it's really amazing to me how accurately You can predict what people will support and again survey is asking the right questions asking them the right way and asking them of the right people and the right people is really the key and how you go about the survey has everything to do with it you know online surveys and things like that really don't work because they really don't reach a broad enough segment of your population is what you're interested you want to know what the likely voters think you don't really care if they're old people you don't care if they're young people you want to care if they're voters and knowing what they want and what they think and what they'll support so that'll really point to you where you really need to expend your effort so here's this small dashboard and that's in the handout here the red boxes are really the projects they'll support we we learned with great specificity of what they would support What percentages people would support on and then the blue boxes similarly with the money you know everybody has their own opinion the problem is literally everybody in this room is too close to it you know we want to believe we're looking for that affirmation but that's really not what we want we want to know what the likely voters will think what do they really believe so that gives us the ability to change their thinking but also gives us the ability to Rack to their thinking where this really comes into play is duration of projects if you're trying to do something that's going to last 20 years there's very few voters that are have that much foresight to support so you can find what is their sweet spot what do what's the time frame that they're interested in supporting you can know that you don't need to guess um so we we strongly believe in that so there you go thank you very much I appreciate it and hopefully you have some questions I've covered everything so completely I do have a question so um the master the the phases of a master plan uh that sir Alan what you covered is a component of of what goes into the master plan I really follow it so the master plan will set up your guideline now there's there's communication back and forth because if we discover that the master plan develops a plan that that wants 10 and we recognize that the community will only support six we know we have to go back and either from a education convincing point of view or from a duration planning point of view so both speak to each other but you start with the plan see what you see what you want see what you need particularly as driven by educational needs and then see what you can really support and how quickly can do it I I just it just drove me nuts when I was driving around the district looking at your building seeing the mold mob and I just hate spending money on mobiles because it's just not a great investment so the master plan is is your firm is this something that's common you do this when when you're looking at a district like ours which you've studied and you've seen that we are growing we need to expand our facilities but how and where is the question um when you engage a community like ours is a development of a master plan like this always done or is from your firm's uh philosophy this is what we do this is how we do it or do you ask communities do you want to do this or not it's it's ultimately your choice I I would say the larger the district the more likely is to have a master plan just to generalize however there are other districts that are just very linear that's the way they've always done it the community buys into it and they can do that but I will say over time in our practice the bad news is I'm old enough I have some perspective on that that I would say the percentage of districts that have Master plans is 50% higher today than it was 15 years ago so as you were driving around our district and you were like you said you saw the mobiles what other sort of challeng do you see that we face I know you've done your research on us so like what are some of the things that you would say are challenges or that we're going to have to overcome I know the mobiles is one thing but what else did you see well from what I saw and from what I've gathered from the the results of of kind of your your previous efforts and things like that it's interesting and I think this is a real challenge for your district is your geography you know you have a strong central campus that's really at the heart of the district was built on and over time that's expanded from there I'd be really curious survey wise how the public thinks about that you know certainly I recognize the ones that are in a specific development okay I get that but what about the others you know what does everybody else think about that um I'd be really curious I don't know the answer to that and I don't pretend to know the answer to that but I'd really like to know I I think the other thing that I didn't really touch on is U we've seen this and Mike referred to the project in Manhattan which was a referend I'm just last year and there was a Tipping Point in the district where the number of long-term residents versus the new people at coming in and we could see how that changed the expectations of the people in the district uh note what was perfectly great 10 years ago that people loved all of a sudden doesn't fly and to recognize where you are in that I think is is really challenging but I also think the locations I think the intra District Equity I think is a real challenge for you um you know I think it's fortunate you have the one big campus Because I think people really do kind of hang their hat on that so that gives you a real Direction a real guide but I think some of the other U you know Lally like jumps to mind um you know I think that uh to get some intradistrict Equity I think would help the educational process I think it help your teaching environment and I think it could ultimately help in passage of a referendum but again it's a supposition I out of the districts you worked with a lot of those have you know industry we only have a lot of farms and rooftops you'd be amazed how many bedrooms we have in our clients we have we have shockingly little industry in any of our clients we're jealous of all the other Architects that have all the big uh data centers and U and factories in their pieces yeah it's so how do you deal with that challenge it it is literally that that's what makes the referendum so tough and makes the survey so important because you can you have to know you have to react to what those people think I think the one thing and my my last slide if you could go ahead um the I think that we do spend a lot of time on grants I think there is the prospect of some grants that'll be speaking to your District in the relatively near future and you know nothing is more effective um in aiding a referendum than a successful Grant um you know just a a couple here Round Lake Jennifer uh assisted Round Lake with a $5 million Early Learning Center Grant the other year and I realized it as I was driving out today I said and even uh the grant process for the public schools is exactly the same process it was for Early Learning Centers which is exactly the same process it was for public libraries moringo we got them a $700,000 uh grant for their library because it's that process we really know that process and we can position your District to be ready for that that gets into that point of that timing you know do you want a 20-year plan do you want a fiveyear plan we've seen some districts try to do 30-year plans but I think is folly um nobody's crystal ball is good enough to be 30 years out but I think all those choices but that's why the survey is so important because it's the people in the bedrooms that are making those decisions you don't you have no you have no fluff from retail you have no fluff from industry it's it's everything is bedrooms yeah it's a tough spot you're not alone though if if that's any consolation thank you so much very thank you appreciate the opportun just I was pausing right good one ma'am a lot of those schools industry STS connected here thank you yes thank you thank you there we go yes we go all right thanks everybody glad to be here we want to be very conscious of your time we know that's 15 minutes we're going to try and be as close to that as physically possible we are going to be very concise we might move a little fast but feel free to ask questions at the end happy to go back at any point and look at anything that you may have more questions on so here's our agenda for tonight we'll talk a little bit about us some project experience a little thought leadership our approach and then I would ask after questions if I could have 45 seconds for a very quick closing that would be great so we'll introduce ourselves let Andrew go first sure Andrew mlin architect and principal Larson I've been at Larson and D for about 10 years practicing architecture for about 20 and a chunk of that time been able to work on some District projects so it's great to do that president of theast chairman of the Discover Center Children's Museum Science Children's Museum great I'm Steve Nelson um I feel compelled to give you a little bit of depth and background on me so we clarify everything um I've been practicing architecture for 37 years 34 of which included Public Schools um I have uh grown up in the rural area I graduated from Sandwich High School in the University of Illinois uh both of my parents were in public service my dad was a police Chief and my mom was the school secretary in my elementary and worked as a bookkeeper for the uh build business manager at my high school district um I live six minutes from this door right down Plank Road I can get here faster than I can get to downtown Sycamore I have served 19 years on the Sycamore Education Foundation board I served 17 years um the Sycamore School Board 14 of them as vice president I served 14 years on sycamore's uh Planning and Zoning Board as the school district's representative I was also eight-year member of the iasb Kishwaukee division executive board and I was your resolutionist chair because you are in the Kish Division I have served uh 12 years yeah 12 years as an iasb service associate I'm current chairman of the board so I also sit on the IP State Board of Directors we just had a meeting this past past weekend um on top of that I also um was the only one of two board members appointed to a Statewide U inclusive American history curriculum commission uh which established new guidelines for inclusive American history in the state of Illinois in 2021 it was interesting because it was all done online uh during covid and I am then married to my lovely wife who is a middle school teacher for for uh 32 and a half years so I have a good perspective on what it means to be on that side of the table as well as this side of the table and I wanted to share all that with you real quickly here's our org chart we are 40 person firm these are all people that have worked on projects here in central um many more in the office have done so as well I would be your principal in charge as I have been for the past 20 years uh Jed trius is our design director Andrew is our senior project manager and a principal we worked with a number of Consultants here in the district including imeg and Ericson for many years which you have chosen to hire independently and then other Consultants although we have Structural Engineering in house they do more smaller projects concentrated projects so we will use DC engineering who we just used on the 20 classroom Edition that we completed for this school year as a structural for a new major project and then we'll bring in specialty Consultants as need be theater Acoustics whatever that might be and we would also uh recommend using Amy earo from brain spaces if you want to enter into any industry thought leadership with us or uh Master planning or Community engagement she is a great partner that we've worked with just recently in Bader we went through all of their Community engagement uh for their master plan and facility assessment just the last two years what do we know today I can tell you we know all this stuff about you guys you know that's the current enrollment according to your website 5150 as of March 2025 97% graduation rate 11% ell 11% IEP students uh you're 40 5347 male to female in your District so those are all the statistical data things that we're familiar with in your District um what's more important I think is this slide this is by building every project that I or Larson Derby have done for Central in the last 20 years it's important to know that we did not do these alone this was a partnership it's always been a partnership and it's been a partnership with your construction manager for 20 years board whoever was on the board at that time and your Administration and your community we have been here to do what the board and the district has asked us to do for those now 20 going on 21 years and they include building uh Country Trails they include building Prairie NOS they include all the recent major additions onto the high school including the one this past summer and the one that was right before covid and that was a referendum and operating fund project totaling $30 million and it came in $2 million under budget which allowed you to do some other things which we'll highlight here a little bit not going to read them all they're all in the presentation there for you keep things moving a little bit about project experience we're not going to stand up here today and show you all the cool pictures of all the other districts that we worked on that's not what we're here for we're here for to talk about you this is a list of all the districts we've worked for there's 48 of them all over Northern Illinois um to highlight a couple of things the very first client for uh Larson and Derby group was Collins Aerospace there's still a client today 63 years later the second client was Rockford Public Schools still a client today 61 years later we've worked here for 21 as I've mentioned Bureau Valley 27 dimick 18 and we have new clients like putham County two years beler three going on four years so we're always adding people to that list and we look forward to continuing our partnership with District 301 so this is the one quick slide here's a bunch of schools we've done for other people one Awards with them they range from mlan unit 5 South booy Rockford Public Schools dimmick Lena Winslow the seow center down at the University of Illinois superc Computing Center at the University of Illinois number of projects and highered that have trickled down and informed us on how we engage and push and lift up K12 education so with that you might be familiar with this project this is the one that was finished right before Co um again came in well under budget which allows you to U build your vet tech facility as well do some additional Renovations in the high school it included Your Fieldhouse wrestling rooms music gym classrooms locker rooms cafeteria all of that was redone as part of that referendum and operational fund expense it's the premier fieldhouse in the region by far um everybody loves that Fieldhouse particularly my wife's a track coach so they love coming over and using the facility but that like I said allowed you to do some of the things like vet tech you see here in that main lobby yeah I think one of the other things that's shown in this slide is the business incubator which is a great example of some transform work that we've done um renovating some spaces we love to build buildings we love to put additions on but sometimes what makes the most sense if you have enough space already is to take classrooms and make them just more functional make them a little larger fible fible Furniture can modify that space as down the road whats and makes most sense for space a couple of other pictures the 20 classroom Edition which we just recently finished up a great project and a great example of us working together collaboratively saving the district M and it was under a reasonably tight time frame to through planning design and construction so that they'd be ready for the students to arrive because we know they're still coming for you they're they're not stopping so and then of course all the other buildings in the district like you said I was involved you leite designs for Prairie nles and for Country Trails we put additions on at hbt additions on at Prairie View we've done AC hbac upgrades Roofing Replacements Paving work placed all the mobiles that unfortunately you have to have right now to accommodate all your students um we've done Renovations here in the admin villing and at Lively Lake and many over at Central Middle School when it was in all different functions when it was a full middle school now that it's an eighth grade Center all of those things and another thing to point out is when there are projects that the district can execute themselves we've been I think a good partner in with Dan and his crew to say hey here's what you need to get your Roe permit but you guys can go out and functionally do this yourself many of the renovations recently done here in this building were done that way so a little bit on industry thought leadership what does that mean that means that we don't just design in a silo that we actually are out there learning from other clients pulling from other Market sectors like higher education we work at Rockell College raford University University of Illinois um Northern Illinois University we're pulling those things down and using them in the schools that we're designing when they're appropriate for middle school high school age students uh we pull from other areas uh that also inform education at the elementary level and we do read uh quite a bit in the area of Education normally the leave behind we have when we go to an interview is the book list I put together for my clients every year and the book but we already gave you guys that this year in November so I didn't want to duplicate that but every year we do that because I I and our our group read what's happening in the industry and what's informing design and decisions that boards have to make this is where Amy yurko also comes in she's a principal at brain spaces they specialize in this type of thought process and uh she is also a degreed as an architect and as an educator she has clients all over the world literally Central America Europe Mexico South America all over the US based out of Michigan and Chicago we worked with her on a number of things including what we just did at belvadere um which encompassed uh all 14 of their buildings we did a full facility assessment and a full master plan that took well over 18 months and hit a considerable amount of community engagement and then steering committee work that was brought back and then the board went different directions with different things one things one thing that we will show is a different project is another example of transformative design just to illustrate what that is this is Rock Valley College sure I worked on this projects and I think we show this one just as a start transformation of what they had what we to with what they had and turn it into something that was very useful for them they had a nonfunctioning space the structure was in good shape group was in good shape we were able toose that them give them a brand new Lobby space that was much more stud we also buil out some transformative design is kind of the trendy buzz word you he now and educational designer to as it really integrates principles fromers Des down not just need today great example that is we've been you Curr design twoes for them that are taking what they've got asge some small classes making larger more flexible spes that they they can use for of different classes one of them that we completed a couple years ago creativity lab the profess to because it's fible because it's got modular furniture that it can arrange in a variety of different ways to teach I and tri down from the correct so sometimes repurposing what you have and using your existing footprint makes the most sense doesn't always have to be an addition or or a new building wrong so our approach has always been designed with not for you I can't emphasize that enough and mentioned at the beginning it has been a partnership Larsson and Derby's mission statement it's on our website it's in our booklet is building trusted Partnerships the very first sentence through a journey of inquiry and Discovery to create exceptional environments period but it starts with partnership and that includes everybody that includes the board that includes the community that includes the construction manager and the engineers and the Consultants all of that we have been here to execute whatever the board and administration's Vision has been over the last 20 years and the last four plus superintendent the best way to pred the future is to design it I truly believe that that's a quote that used to be credited to buckminister Fuller but that's not accurate he never said that just to say everyone thinks he said it but we can't find any record of it it's just a good quote so along those lines part of that is community engagement wanted to touch on that uh having been on my board I've been through a number of community engagements as a board member we did it when we wrote Our strategic design we did it when we Revisited our strategic design twice and when we built a new elementary and repurposed our Middle School from a junior high to a middle school and I was involved as a board member in that Community engagement and all of that took and redistricting and I was through two redistricting and four superintendents when I was on my board just came off two years ago but I've also facilitated and led those Bel again being the most recent one but we've done them in a number of districts for a number of projects whether they are new additions whether they're referenda based projects or whether it's we have only this much space and only this much money how can we SHP things around maybe that's changing to grade level centers maybe it's changing to a different schedule at the high school moving from a block schedule to something else because they need to more efficiently use space so we've done it for all types of of scenarios and we've LED that here knowing the challenges the community is facing now with growth is why I think it's important to talk about that and it's important to for us to bring up that Amy uro and her firm could also provide some support and guidance for the whole team the partnership that we would have going forward real quickly there's three C's to community engagement it's communication collaboration and commitment I'm not going to read everything but basically what you have to do is you have to listen actively listen to the community give them their voice and then provide them feedback on what they have have to say even if not what you dis not what you agree with or if you decide to go in a different direction you still have to give them feedback so that they know where they stand and that they feel heard and there's often good ideas that come out of that collaboratively have to work all together you have to put everything aside and say I don't have an agenda I don't have anything I have a clear and open mind what is best for the kids because that's why we're all here today what is best for the kids that's was our mon through when I was on my board that was the first question that was always ask what's best for the kids so you have to do that set it aside and truly collaborate with everybody the community your your Consultants whoever they may be your Administration and then that also means commitment and it means you can't just talk the talk you have to walk the walk and your partners have to do that with you so you have to commit the time you have to commit the resources and some of those meetings may not be fun they're not always fun because there's sometimes challenges you have to answer or respond to uh that the community brings up so that's part of the process of being transparent part of P pure communication with your community so you have to have a level of commitment to say I'm all in to do this so once you're doing that we have to wrap it up Mr so sorry yep there we go no saying we have to wrap it up okay no problem go I only got a couple slides left so this is the process community community engagement on the left design team you work through that think Circle that you get all that information it goes into a steering Community to direct it and out of the school board for the decision real quickly yeah I'll just go this we use all the the latest technology used VR headsets with clients to kind of so they can walk through some of their projects before they're actually built just go to the next slide key things about that is we save cost up front by making decisions when it's in through design process it saves you guys money having the v head uh is part of that in order that clients can put that on see what's going to happen in the design make the decisions on what they like or don't like to change on process allows us to balance the scope in the budget and the quad the project questions given the things that you know about our district um what are you what do you see are some of our greatest challenges and moving forward what kind of ideas do you have for solving some of those challenges well I think um I'm going to be as honest as I as honest guy so and I've been through it on my own board because we had some challenges too so I think regaining Community Trust is something that the district has to do uh through Community engagement that level of communication you do have growth coming in I did a number of projects for Huntley School District 158 back in the early 2000s when they were seeing a massive growth uh literally uh at one point their District in the late 90s was 850 students give or take k12 and by 2002 they were getting almost 800 new students a year so they were put we were designing additions on buildings that were under construction because they were coming so fast so I've been through what it's like to to go through that process I'm not sure yours is quite as Extreme as that but you're seeing growth just from the numbers that are on your school report card from last year 41 4817 I think it was or 87 to 5150 now that's significant growth during your school year and you're only a little over halfway through so how do you house those students so that they don't um lose out on educational opportunities and the short-term answer is you put them in mobiles that's that's what a lot of people do but how do you plan forward to repurpose space to reuse space to maybe not allow people to this is my only space I never leave the space I'm G to have to move out so someone else can use that space in the inter room and then you need to look at how you want to align your facilities to your growth model so going forward that means probably putting some additions on on at some point is there grant funding available I the state is hit or miss on that and maintenance Grant is not going to help you there $50,000 po so are there other grant opportunities we're we have a marketing staff that'd be happy to help research some of that for you and help you fill out some of the grants we have three people on staff that can help do that um but I think building trust in the community and and determining the best way to house the students without impeding their educational process is are two biggest challenges from what I see another question for you a little to the board being here it says that there are two campus Master plans that have been done on the under the General District on that site when were those Master plans done the one we just did as part of the high school process on the Moss property so we looked at what would fit on that overall property as far as how much acreage things would take what roadways that was in conjunction with Ericson engineering the most recent one the other one goes back to the rorison property okay back with Dr hawk in 056 I want to say that was done if I'm not mistaken so those are the two larger ones also on that list that I mentioned was uh districtwide facility Capital assessment plan which is different than a health Life Safety survey we've done both of those too for the last two cycles but that Capital plan I think Mr prob way would agree has been the Bible that he's used in making his maintenance priority list each year as to where things are and it doesn't mean that things haven't moved up or down the list based on how they've performed but it gave them a guideline with a 1: three 3: 5 5 to7 7 to 10 and above priority listing of what roofs what Windows what doors what floors all the maintenance based things for all the buildings in the district and he's been using that for a number of years I want to say we completed that in 18 I think so pre preo so another districtwide approach that we have provided for Central one final question for me I know you mentioned the history um that you've been with us you know for 20 years and obviously you're very close um to the location appr proximity of our district um as we look back over the three referendums you know the failed referendums and obviously you being in the community what would you have done differently or maybe advised us differently as you look back sure um so let me step back and say just to clarify you know we didn't come in one day and say you should build a high school or you should build a middle school or whatever we were reacting to that we did actually a number of studies on what the current High School could or couldn't do what would fit where what would require more property um I think maybe the thing looking back at it right now is I think the first one out of the need perception of the amount of students that were arriving was pushed a little too fast didn't have all your ducks in a row for that one and really it wasn't even a design at that point because we didn't have time to really put one together other than enough for shales mcnut to put a a budget number together for you you had a target number for the referendum it was a conceptual plan but it but was no way worked out it was it was probably um you know there was there was efficiencies that could have been developed through the design process but it gave us a perspective on are we looking at 150 million or are we looking at 200 million that that was really the quarter of magnitude that we were dealing with and I think additional Community engagement and as you may recall we weren't asked to participate in all of that Community engagement or really any of it U we did the steering committee we were doing steering committee uh which was very successful group I think that was a good process for those that were around that committee but we didn't do as much Community engagement so I would I would recommend that you involve your design professional in the community engagement so they can talk specifically to that piece in those meetings and even help facilitate it a little bit to take pressure off of administration um and then I would say maybe the third thing is uh particularly knowing that you've had failed referendums now that you you would probably be wise to invest in a referendum consulting firm that does the background data there's a couple that we have worked with in the past um that have been successful I just recently heard of uh another one and I did some research on them that has been very successful at the at the tri conference in November I was in that sat in that session to learn a little bit and that's the only reason I went to it I wanted to learn if the guy was good or just talking out the side of his mouth so he had data to back it up so those are probably the things I would recommend going forward that would hopefully open up that and it really all goes back to building that trust back with the community that's got to be your foundation that's my board member hat that's not my architect hat so thank you any other questions all right thank you for your time this evening thank you thank you very much um I just wanted that 45 seconds at the end I'll do it real quick sorry no problem it'll it Rel less than 45 seconds so it's just a closing you know they they always say you don't get the job if you don't ask for the job so like we said we want to continue as your partner that's why we're here tonight we know you've got challenges uh that you have to face and we want to continue to face them with you we don't want to abandon you we don't want to not support you we've always done that so we would like to continue to do that so I'm not going to read them all but there's the highlights we have a very deep knowledge of your District your staff your personnel how you operate not just the buildings and we we have think shown through what we have done in the past 20 years that it's had Superior performance that it's been enduring and it's been distinctive without being overly expensive uh we've picked areas of impact to have design impact and focus where the kids are going to benefit the most in the other areas and we feel me personally and Andrew the same having been on school board we can provide some resources Beyond architect I have many of our clients my clients that call me superintendents that call me business managers that call me and say I'm not asking you as an architect I'm asking you as a board member a former board member how would you handle this situation what would your perspective be if I presented this to you and I try to give them some insights and help them out that way Beyond just being your architect so we'd like to ask for the job and to continue our relation ship and I can provide you lots of references if you want more but throw one up at the end there for one just down the road at moart so we thank you for your time appreciate it very much good luck with your exp thank you very much thanks just exit out real quick go how long thank you very much that stain's castle in Germany that's exactly I went there and where Disney got his idea Castle went through Germany in sou Stein's Castle now is it architectural firm claiming they worked on that Richard Blair and team from I'm Brian crwi nice to meet you all so it's uh Windows V2 right oh oh look at that fancy this is [Music] fcy thank you thank you than you know K right it is it we ready all right thank you thanks for having us uh we're cording and Clark uh we got 15 minutes to walk through some of our thoughts on your process on your projects and quick introduction our agenda is very simple three three sections we're going to walk through a little bit about our company some uh previous experience and then some things about project approach uh introduction wise I'm ran crowter principal and Executive Vice President with the firm um 35 years plus in the business most of that spent with K12 districts Richard I'm Richard Blair vice president Cate Clark have over 20 years of experience worked in various Fields but K through 12 has been my Mainer project manager at cord clar CCA about seven years working basically so a little bit about cigan Clark you've probably seen our presentation materials before we have various offices in the midwest which allow us uh to really understand a lot of the the cultur of the Midwest K12 districts most of the the offices specialize in K12 or St L Lewis office has even got a longer history than we do over 100 Years of doing K12 we have an office in Madrid Spain too we have 25 or six 26 people that work there and it really allows us to be uh reactionary to CL cents who come last minute for trying to get Services done and projects done because we're 247 firm and allows us to react and be able to deliver projects in a very quick time frame Richard can speak to that and how that works for us from a production standpoint so as as our Spain team works with us they're part of our team so as we build a crew to work on any of the projects that we're on we'll have a team here and a team in Spain we work together as a crew so it is it is fluid it's not like they we give them red lines they Mark things up they are part of the team they're part of the process of what's going on and have that knowledge as well so works really well for us at 247 carries over and we can keep your projects moving forward additionally we are a full service firm so we do architecture the engineering disciplines which is Mechanical plumbing electrical we have an interior division we also have a Construction Division so we do construction management General Contracting we do about 75 100 million a year in that you know explain you the benefits to fir to company or clients that use us k for architecture engineering because we fully do integrate our construction teams as we're designing our projects as you can see the list of services we provide as we mentioned you know the the engineering disciplines as well as construction so you get a full service uh uh delivery model with us um Richard talked a little bit about collaboration okay so collaboration is an essential essential part of the process so if we don't work with you guys well the projects aren't going to go smoothly so our goal is to work with your team make sure that we understand what you guys need and make sure that we hear what's going on there are multiple ways in which we make that happen a few of them are listed up here on the board uh facility surveys and assessments understanding your buildings what's good what's bad what needs to be worked on and talking about those with you guys uh understanding what your stakeholders need whether that's theard itself that we're talking to here whether it's admin staff students and even the local community and what their thoughts are as well um developing budgets and design that's sensitive to those budgets are very important as well as uh looking at Target value design um and how that approaches we'll get into that a little bit more down the line and how that will work for you guys uh but we're definitely focused on Communications making sure that we get to the success that you guys need and being part of the presentations we need us involved with in as well so uh looking at some of the districts we've worked with in Illinois uh pretty broad list of various districts from uh K12 to K5 to even smaller districts so we do have a tremendous amount of experience with uh districts much like um Central 301 uh quickly I want to walk through some District projects that have a variety of different uh projects that have gone on within the district District Butler School District 53 actually is a project all three of us worked on over the course of three years we first started out with some master planning and then broke the project to about $25 million worth of work over three different phases at their Elementary and their middle school buildings it was a phase project we were the construction manager on this project too so we did uh all the work in house uh bidding and so on and then building the projects over the Summers uh the elementary building on your left you can see the three different phases colorcoded the middle school is on your right we haven't completed the entire renovation of the buildings but getting close so we ran out of some pictures of that this is the library at the U school library at the elementary building and Byron yes Byron's a school district uh just Southwest of brockford we've been uh we've had a relationship with them dating back to early kind of 2007 2009 did some really big additions Math and Science we and then as of late with them been focusing in on some more specialized spaces we just finished last summer a full renovation and modernization of the library space It was kind of outdated underutilized space we kind of brought brought some new life into that space that's what we're seeing on the slide here and then also diving to how this coming summer to a bunch of athletic facilities so Fieldhouse Aquatic Center the football stadium are all getting fully renovated just this summer Plano School District we've been involved with for over 10 years done a lot of facility improvements for them uh whether it goes from roof improvements tuck pointing site improvements but uh we've been doing a lot of work for them recently we did a new maintenance facility for them and then over the past year we've been doing some uh work in their gyms updating those in athletic fields one of the great projects for them kind of going back to lrc idea is you know revitalizing that making it a place where the students and staff want to go uh this space uh it was in the center of their High School uh the students and staff love it they actually kind of fight over who's going to get uh the space even that staff goes in there and fights for it too so it's been a great uh addition for them Easter School District we've been working with them for over 30 years now uh we've done over $150 Million worth of work over those 30 years a lot of Maintenance work uh for them uh there schools a lot of old schools that need a lot of work whether it was mechanical Replacements roof improvements window replacements uh so we've done a lot of work for them over the years uh going into uh back in 15 we did a large High School remodel big addition football improvements so we redid their full athletic fields and that department as well went into their uh music department in creating new spaces for them that are more usable for their students and work well for them as well as improvements to their Library upgrading that as well one of the last projects we did was created a new facility is called the rec center which is resilience education center which offers a lot of after school programs for their students that are different than what the school offers for them uh this building offers a stage uh where they can do after uh School bands perform lectures whatever they might need as well as um they have a music studio where they can do some recordings it's after school they can bring in their personal bands and do stuff like that as well as different things like um art uh food and bringing in people for that as well as therapy uh offices as well so they can bring outside staff in there to work with their students separately this was anly Childhood Center we as here we see for zum a school district in the St Louis area over the last five years or so a really big budget $150 million or so there were a lot of bigger additions we got to do a smaller addition on a autism focused school which was a very interesting project serving that user and then on two additions to a middle school and a high school that both included storm shelters given the addition size we triggered that storm shelter requirement so had to work storm shelters into those additions to that school district then the last district is Evanson skoki School District 65 uh pictures you see here are for the new Foster school which is a new Elementary building that is under construction in in evinston we also have performed numerous other projects for uh their District over the course of the last few Summers but this one is a pretty significant project it's about a $45 million new new building for Evanson skoki we just uh we're the construction manager on this we uh opened bids up in December for 90% of the work and the district has been going through some Financial struggles so they were you know tasked us for to come in lower than what they had budgeted for the project and our bidding came out right now we're about $3 million under budget so they're very excited to save some money and get a new building that they love so uh there were some uh intricacies in making that work which we call Target value design which is we're going to bleed into next so project approach is very important for us you you know obviously you understand you as a district have needs we had a chance to read some of your information available on the web and um you know the project approach is important to get the project off on the right foot and that it generally focuses on getting the budget set properly and making sure we design to that budget you probably have heard the term maybe have maybe have value engineering you've heard that word so it's not a very friendly or or positive way to uh go through a project we we start with a different methodology it's called Target value design it start with the budget in mind and then design to that budget maybe uh Rich you can speak to what that really means in in addition to keeping the budget in mind it's also leveraging our inhouse obviously we've got our construction team to leverage that helps with cost estimating keeps us a lot sharper on cost estimating but also our inhouse engineering staff we get to bring them into the building a lot earlier in the process so that there's no surprises in the back end surprises in the back end are what make us value engineer and then we've got to cut this so making sure that there's no surprises keeping that Design Team all integrated throughout the process help us avoid surprises at the end well said so it does save time and it saves money end of the day so project budgets you know there there are things out there that that are beyond our control in the economy and we ran through a significant amount of escalation in 21 and 22 and that's you know 30% so you hear the term things aren't getting cheaper well there aren't and unfortunately construction was a big belt lender of of having to absorb a lot of that so what what what it means though is making sure you design to a budget and have good budgetary information what's going to happen in 25 you know there's a thing you probably been paying attention to called tariffs right it's going to have an effect on construction cost we we've seen it in some bids that were opened up by another contractor uh just recently and we're we're seeing it leaking into the the bidding process right now what's that going to mean is it going to mean a four to six% escalation Factor we have to fact to that end we're doing our budgets for you this is a a sheet we like to to show is okay talk is cheap right what your what Your track record you can see the various phases our team as as rich and and and Nate just said we're doing estimating with the team regardless if we're building it or not and we're going to make sure we're watching that budget throughout the various phases the final thing is the variance between the final estimate and the actual bids that average of you know negative.

[Music] welcome Public Schools apologize good evening and welcome to the Greenfield Public Schools special school committee meeting for Monday March 17th 2025 this meeting is being recorded by greenfield Community television if any other persons present are doing the same you must notify the chairperson at this time hearing none secretary Den will you call the role excuse could you please turn the video on for the community room how is that can you see it now thank you there we are yes thank you thank you okay member Childs here member Goodwin here secretary Dena here chair Johnson mad here mayor dorer here member Martini here Vice chair seon here we are all present and accounted for and have a quorum and it is 7 pm.

1889 million increase the budget that proposed that includes the staff um we have been looking in uh knowledge of this cut what it would look like and what cuts would have to be made with regards to redistricting versus what cuts would have to be made with regards to the district staying status quo for next year um regardless of the situation obviously to meet that number there are substantial cuts across the board from Administration to Central office to facilities Transportation teachers and IAS um great thank you where will central office be if we close the middle school is there a suitable place for you all to move uh no and you also would need to move transportation in um Our IT department along with many other folks who actually are housed there along with Food Services okay and one thing that I remember in past years when you were the assistant superintendent you used to always tell us about the grants that you worked on and you were able to give us the amounts and assistant superintendent Sullivan has been doing that throughout this time so am I correct in understanding that you all bring in more in Grants than you than your salaries are so when people always talk about it being topheavy in administration and then we hear how much you're able to bring in through grants am I correct in that understanding and who would do that if you weren't here I guess is the other part of my question and then I have one more for the mayor so I guess it's maybe not as black and white as we would like it to be as most of this conversation isn't so entitlement grants Ida and um ASA title one those things I would they far Outreach our salaries um they're just those two combined are in the millions of dollars um entitlements 1.47 1.47 four for entitlement grants but then on top of that competitive grants that we pursue um I could certainly for our next meeting or provide number based on what we've gotten in the past year or two um and I don't want to compare it to anybody's salary but um that is those are offsets to the budget certainly I understand I don't want to compare it to anyone's salary either but it's just a way to get it in our minds what is brought in by the people who are working to do this and who else would do this job if it wasn't you I guess it's not something you have to answer it's just the thought um but do have a question for the mayor do you know the cost savings to close GMS and how do you know how many jobs will be lost if we do that do you have a a number no I don't but somebody asked me that I I think somebody s a question didn't St remember Stacy um and and um our superintendent wrote back and she said it would take a lot of thought and there were some things that I would think of that would be changed right away and and this is not up to me I'm just talking yeah okay I think you answered the question you don't know okay all right uh I don't have any additional comments member ston competitive grants and FY 24 was 1.5 million just under 1.6 actually 1.59 so 1.6 plus 1.4 correct okay member ston um I wanted to thank member Childs for very clearly I think laying out where our decisions lie um just based on what I'm hearing from my colleagues it seems like we're and I could be misreading folks facial expressions but it seems like we are not considering closing a middle school or closing any elementary schools radically CH changing the number of buildings that we have in total and I'm also getting the sense that folks are wanting to move forward with redistricting maybe not unanimously but I'm getting getting this but I really appreciate you sort of bringing us back to that's the decision that's on the table um I still I think that that is something that we can decide sort of separately but I am still struggling with not having a real budget number and having a lack of clarity and agreement about what is our actual financial position as a community and what we can afford really because it's a big difference between a 1.8 million cut and a $300,000 cut one of those we can more readily find some space than the other um one of those is definitely going to lead to to um challenges in providing the necessary services for children more than the other would and so I would love for us to get closer to agreement about what that number actually is um and if we don't think that that's possible tonight we should say so I also would just really love as folks are referring to different documents it seems like we have some people have more documents available to them than others and we're not all working from a shared set of information so I would really appreciate as uh members are gathering intel if that could be shared if we could put that in a shared Google drive or something um so that when we are talking to each other we are working from the same set of facts thank you member Martini thanks um I do have thoughts about the redistricting but I haven't been mentioning them because we are currently on an item which is review of the mayor's statement from last Wednesday so I'm reserving it for that um I would uh like to ask the mayor again um about stabilization and free cash so uh member uh sorry chair Johnson mus mad um asked about this as well and I would like to know um what amount of money is currently in those funds and I would like to um just go over what I can see from the budget books which is that last year the city planned to use 200,000 from opep stabilization and 421 from General stabilization and the city planned to use 100,000 from opep stabilization for the past three years running so that seems pretty consistent prior to fy2 the city did not plan to use any generalist stabilization funds for the previous five so it seems like the last time General stabilization was drawn upon before fy2 was fy19 um so it seems like that hasn't been U mostly touched for a while other than last year and uh I have similar questions in regards to free cash um at the beginning of the fiscal year there was 3.3 million um in there the mayor planned to use 200,000 of that in fy2 and uh the amount the city planned to use from free cash has varied quite a bit from year to year so in that it's the average over the last um say 6 years which is 104,000 might not be that meaningful um but I do notice that the plan the city has PL to use at least some free cash almost every fiscal year and the last time that we did not was fy21 so I am curious about this because the mayor um called this 16.5% % health insurance increase unprecedented because that increase was only 4% for the previous 10 years and so I would like to know from the mayor how much is currently in stabilization in free cash and then I would like to know um why she's not planning to use any of those funds in FY 26 because if the city were to use a similar amount of those funds as we did last year then that would bring uh so far as I can tell the total available monies for the City operating budget up to a $3.6 million increase over last year so I'm I'm looking for um clarification and help here to understand the um numbers about the money available that um that were provided last Wednesday and I'm really looking forward to that budget book I can I answer okay um go ahead and respond to member martini and then you can also have a turn to whatever else yeah I know those numbers I know where they are so let me start with the opep stabilization yes every year we've used like $100,000 in from from that fund used to be marijuana revenues went into that there's $100,000 left in it now um so you know we've put that in every year I have no um you know not holding on to it that could go right back in as I said last week what we have left in free cash is after the settlement that everybody's going to vote on this week we have $135,000 left in uh free cash and um again I don't take any of the money home or you know um the steps collaps by the side of City Hall there crime tape around them as I said last week so I said that has to be fixed because it's in a public building um and we have money in um stabilization there's $2.3 billion in stabilization um or 2337 and that will not be being used for funding um anybody's budget um that is a stabilization account that you don't use for one-time expenses just like Andy was talking about having the circuit breaker money in there you there's things that you have to keep for certain things that you don't use that for one-time budgetary something so that that won't be being used for that additionally as I think I said at the last meeting but maybe there's different people here I don't really know um we we were told that we had a one in three chance of having our bond rating go down this is by the bond Council there were other people there not just me I'm not making this up and the things that they wanted us to put more money in stable a if we didn't use all of that 135,000 I would have put like another 30,000 in that but I want to go back also to where we get any of those things that go in are the turn backs um as I said we put money in contract stabilization I want all of our teachers to get a raise I'm actually going through line items right now and I found a couple of places where we could reserve something for next year and and that money that goes into to to um that when there's turn backs at the end of the year every Department that doesn't spend their whole budget it comes back in and then we allot it to things with City council's judgment we have committees that come forward uh and child's is on it um with how we will spend things you go down the list everybody looks at it we prioritize it and then I make the tough decisions there's not enough I'm saying know to people um it is the safety mostly the safety things or a truck that you know if there's a hole and you can see through to the ground on that truck that probably getting another one and so it's it's it's actually pretty easy to make the decisions because they're so obvious like you have to do this the fire alarm panel as I said three minutes to respond to member Martini's question is there anything else you want to add okay thank you um we'll move on to um member Childs uh first I want to say that the mayor really is between Iraq and a hard place right now and probably the mayor of every comparable city is in the exact same place I sincerely hope that as you do your accounting magic and go through the town budget you're able to find more money but it's a bleak time out there and so yeah we just all have to do the best that we can with what we reasonably can do sorry for such a downer statement but thank you thank you everybody great discussion um I appreciate everybody's um working um with good intentions for the best interest of our students and our community um I think we should move on now to our discussion of redistricting um so we'll begin um with the review of the current policy that's in place um superintendent sure the vote that was taken was to adopt option 2B with redrawn lines on our website there are nine streets affected by the redistricting that will be uh realigned to a different home school in September of 2025 it was reconfiguring our elementaries to grades K to 5 our Middle School to 6 through 8 and our high school 9 through 12 thank you um so I think tonight our choices are basically between um affirming affirming our full redistricting plan as is both grade uh changes and um Geographic changes for the elementary schools or to um vote to uh keep redistricting just with regard to um the students uh elementary students and the drawing of the lines of which students go to which schools based on where they live or to uh dissolve the uh redistricting plan all together um so if are are there any other uh options that people are aware of that are viable um that we should be considering tonight given the timeline remember good [Music] one does that redistricting plan include the four new teachers or is that separate from that redistricting plan superintendent if you remain with option 2B it does include the four new teachers students would need ful year science and social studies and can you review the connection with the new Civics requirements sure uh the eighth grade currently has ful year Civics with the Civics project mandatory in eth grade and that would need to remain um we could potentially look at keeping six and seventh grade at halfe science and social studies although um the feedback that the school committee members did receive from community and parents was to move to full years um but we had planned for full year social studies in science in the current schedule that we have drafted for the fall so I think those are the three um mayor I think a lot of people were working on the streets and everything um I think that at the very least we should keep the K through five part I think people everybody agreed with that and we were going to get students together there was a lot of thought that went into that so I am just saying that I would actually like more people to have a little bit of time to talk but I would make a motion that we accept that that we did that part of the redistricting because it made sense and a lot of thought went into it one of the reasons why this was done as I wasn't here when it was done but I did watch school committee meetings when I was on Council was um for inclusion and I think that that's something that we all share um also I think there's a group of all of the there's a group of parents and Educators in fifth grade that knew that that was coming so I would it like so that be something that people knew from today that's where I'd be but I'm going to let other people talk and not shut that off by making a motion yeah I where where I am in the process right now is I'd like to hear I want to just make absolutely certain that there aren't any other viable options that other school committee members know of that we are deliberating about tonight am I missing anything remember good one I'd like to see a third option which is and I'm not sure how to say this or an amendment that there's a third option that the fifth grade remains in the elementary school and we um table the the move for the eth grade maybe to a following year so okay so that that would actually be uh fourth so just to review uh the first would be to affirm the redistricting plan as is uh the second would be to keep only the elements of the redist rting plan having to do with the geographic assignment of elementary schools third would be to dissolve the res redistricting plan altoe and you're adding a fourth option which would be to keep the um change for the fifth grade uh but to um to delay the um change for the eighth grade superintendent can you speak to that proposal I just want to clarify so next the fall of 2025 GMS would only house sixth and seventh grade is I'm asking you is that your proposal yes we have not worked on that configuration so I don't think I could speak to that option right now and what the impact on the district would be I think part of why um I may Advocate that we limit our choices to these three is because whenever we start to get creative again it creates a whole other other budgeting scenario a whole other logistics scenario uh unanticipated consequences so on that's why we had a two and a half year process before we made our choice um so uh but I again I do want to leave it open enough that if there are is some other option that we're deciding realistically deciding again uh deciding for tonight uh for implementation this September um please speak up y okay um so um I would like to um make a motion to affirm the current redistricting plan is there a second second second from uh secretary Den uh discussion member Childs I would like to ask the superintendent um looking at the budget she's been playing with what allows her to preserve more staff and more services with the dire worst case scenario budget status quo or moving forward redistricting that is which way do we keep more of our people with our kids so with the proposed budget cuts if we redist District currently it looks like a potential uh six admin SL central office one facilities to Transportation 8 Unit A and 2 Unit C for a total of 19 1.0 FTE if we remain the same configuration K to4 5 to 7 8 through 12 um potentially 23.6 FTE there is an increase in Unit A losses for the people watching at home that don't know what unit a and Unit C are could you just quickly our teacher uh Union thank you sorry and FTE full-time equivalent okay and would you repeat the whole thing again please thank you um and I just want to preface this this is potential this is not definitive this was us trying to work our budget to this this is um not something I take lightly in discussing nor do I want this to be set in stone because obviously we will do our best to do what we can but in order to meet this number um the redistricting as voted on um it looks like a potential 19 Cuts six would come from admin or central office one facilities two Transportation eight Unit A teachers and two Unit C and District Remains the Same there would be uh five administrators one facilities to Transportation 13.6 Unit A teachers into Unit C currently in the potential cuts that would be proposed thank you remember child did you want to finish so just to clarify if we're looking just at your unit a and Unit C redistricting has fewer Cuts than status quo correct okay thank you may mayor no I just am curious why would that be well no I'm just curious I I'm I'm just curious sure um you would have less uh electives offered at the high school because there would be less students and there would not be um additional needs for some um coverage for meeting collective bargaining agreements so in the proposed plans it is um a configuration of sped needs versus what building versus how many are housed currently in certain grade bands it is not a simple a plus b equals c i just and I know people want a simple answer but this is not something that is easily [Music] um determined based on what is happening with all the different shifts and I really do want to emphasize we are taking into to account current unfilled positions first we've been in communic ation with the union and um discussions about what things would be cut where and why and obviously our uh just trying to meet a number in this huge deficit that we're faced with any other discussion member Martini I just want to um reiterate some uh things from last week for anybody that wasn't um present uh just for a basic understanding the school Department's requested budget uh increase was about 1.8 million a level Service uh increase would be about 1.2 million that is to say the amount of money that would be necessary in order to maintain our existing services and the uh mayor's proposed budget is slightly less than level funding meaning slightly less than the exact same amount of money that was was allocated last year if that thank you thanks any other discussion okay um all in favor uh why don't we do this as a roll call vote um secretary Den the vote to affirm the current redistricting plan sure member Childs yes member Goodwin based on the information that less teachers would be cut I say yes secretary Den yes chair Johnson mad yes Vice chair ston yes member Martini yes mayor dorer abstain motion passes with one exstension thank you everybody uh we are at our uh to our Mark just about so you are entitled to break for 5 minutes and we'll return at um 9:05 [Music] n [Music] n [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] n [Music] a [Music] he [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] he [Music] he [Music] a [Music] a [Music] welcome back to the Greenfield uh school committee special meeting we are now on to item five discussion to determine Cuts necessary that we meet mayor's budget in light of mayor's proposal and discussion to determine School priority school committee priorities based on a less than level funded budget proposal um I think that we now have a vote on our redistricting which kind of establishes some parameters for the budgeting process and um I'd like to hear from um the chair of the budget and finance subcommittee but my thought is that we would essentially um assigned these items to the budget and finance subcommittee to start working through uh well budget and finance will be happy to meet and uh make some recommendations to the full committee before uh we come back to the table great so the process will be the mayor will formally make her um budget proposal to the city council on April or by April 1 then um the city council will be will figure out what our actual number is my my memory if I'm correct is that they can't go lower than the mayor's number but they can go higher if they uh kind of claw it back from other departments um so I think that it's fair to assume that the number the mayor's put forward um is not far off from what it will be uh there there may be some efforts to try to get more for us but um so I guess it's just the com the subcommittee will have to kind of factor in your basic predictions I guess about what's likely to come out of that process um but obviously likely significant cuts um anything else on this item other than just to say thank you budget and finance subcommittee for taking this up okay um let's see so so um discussion and vote to approve entering into the bid process for a business manager and U Mr pette our contracted business manager has agreed to leave the room for this discussion um where we left this at the last meeting was we need to give the superintendent some direction relatively soon in the event that the search for a staff business manager is not successful so that we can make sure we have a a contract in place with someone for July 1 um we've had some uh learnings and some uh developments since then so I guess superintendent I'd leave it to you to share any new contacts that might be helpful for people sure I think one of the questions that came up at uh last month's meeting was if we could enter into the bid process and add a 30-day Clause um which I have confirmed we could so that um if at any time we are in a contracted service agreement with a service provider there would be a 30-day clause for notice to quit if we do in fact find a business manager in that time so that we wouldn't I think there was some question over whether we had to commit for the full two years or three years of a service contract but there is the potential to put a 30-day notice to uh part ways and we could keep either the search ongoing or re-enter into a second round as some folks had wished last time so um you can do the two simultaneously I think was the question that came up and is my memory serving me right that we actually tabled the a motion from the last meeting to this one uh Susan Farber do you have that motion available okay all right I oh great thank you secretary Den notes that is why you have concurrent notes this secretary thing is working we did a motion to go out oh please put your mic on thank you all right we did a motion to go out to bid for the business manager you made the motion and seconded it and then we tabled it and child's made the table tabled motion and you seconded it good one and that was it passed so it's tabled so we have to take it up from the table all right um and uh yes I would oh sorry that was roundabout but yes yeah so the actual motion is in the minutes the draft minutes I submitted and Glen you have those in your email account which I cannot access oh I have those too got it oh yes you do uh the superintendent is pulling it up thank you superintendent I think it was under old business thank sorry I think you went bu old business yeah I thought old business came first um I moved that the school committee authorize the superintendent to initiate the procurement process for a consultant to support the business manager role in case the current business manager search is unsuccessful this authorization allows the superintendent to take necessary steps to secure consulting services in accordance with applicable procurement laws and regulations I made the motion in in second um M goodwi oh wait have we done the motion to take it up yet I can't remember okay so a motion to uh take up the um tabled motion from last meeting and is there a second second uh all those in favor I I I I okay discussion now that we're on that motion remember good one I'd like to make a friendly amendment to that motion to add the part um where where we will also um continue our search or do another round yep okay so to amend it um I guess after the last sentence um it would just be a sentence that says the current search for a staff uh business manager will continue is that acceptable and and do you accept that so the friendly amendment is accepted and that's the motion that we are voting on uh any other discussion mayor um please unmute did you have a lot of applicants how many applicants did you have uh we had five applicants four um who were qualified four interviews um one um offer made and one offer uh denied and we are currently still speaking with one applicant who is potentially still interested and we were um I actually have a meeting tomorrow so should have more updates if this does not pan out we will repost and send to U masbo and mass for um posting again thank you any other discussion I think it's very helpful to know that we can we could potentially contract in July um or Rec contract and um and then still have the 30-day out clause in order if the committee decides you know um at a later date uh it's time to a good time opportune time to try to seek more applicants and hearing seeing no other requests to speak uh we'll call the vote um all those in favor I I I any opposed any extensions motion carries unanimously thank you everybody um we will now move to our vote to enter into executive session pursuant to Mass General Law chapter 30A subsection 21A Section 3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and seven to comply with or act under the authority of any general or special law or Federal Grant in Aid requirements the committee will not return to open session so moved motion for member child's second second from Member Goodwin uh roll call vote uh secretary genive member yes member child yes member good I'm a yes chair Johnson mad yes Vice chair seon yes member martini yes mayor dorer yes motion carries we are adjourned uh we we we are we just voted to enter the executive session now we need a motion to adjourn the regular meeting is there do you want to do you want to do this one go ahead one I move to adjourn motion from Member Goodwin second second for member child's those are funny any discussion um all those in favor I I the motion adjourns at 9:17 p.m.

now therefore be a result ofation Clos sessions to discuss the following as2 items 2.3 through 2.4 do we have a motion to enter executive session motion by Mr Thompson second by mrar Mr G please call Executive session M yes Mr Marcy yes Mr Thompson yes mrman yes Mr yes Mr yes motion thank you Mr we'll see you back approxim 7:30 e e e e [Music] sh e [Music] for e for for e for [Music] e [Music] sh [Music] e for [Music] for [Music] would all those who are able please rise for the pledge I pledge allegiance to States of America and to the Republic which stands nation under God indivisible Li and Justice thank you Mrs buter MO is going to read our mission statement tonight the mission of the E sham Township School District is to promote excellence in an environment that engages students in meaningful learning experiences in partnership with students dedicated staff families and Community the district provides a strong Educational Foundation that will Empower our students to achieve their unique potential Embrace self-directed lifelong learning develop the skills necessary for appropriate risk-taking and responsible decision-making respect themselves and others problem problem solve individually and collaboratively and become contributing members of a diverse Global Society thank you Mrs buter Mo it's a note on the board Personnel tonight board member jiren Brown is in attendance he has been called up and is currently Ser he has been called up and is currently serving our country as such we have allowed him to join this meeting remotely he can see everything that's taking place as well as uh he he will be voting tonight but just to note that that Jen Brown is in attendance tonight um right now we need a motion to move up item 15 to the top of the meeting uh what we're going to do here is we are striking our second public comment for any items of interest and moving into the beginning of the meeting to allow everybody talk on any items of interest at the top of the meeting um so motion to to strike item 15 to the top of the meeting motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Mr dearcy any questions or comments from the board I just want to real quick make clear that we'll be doing so the way we're going to do it is we're going to do the recognitions uh we as you can see we have a lot of students here today so we're going to do the recognitions we're going to do any presentations then we'll do the public comment on all topics it's just going to be one public comment um and then once the public comment's done it's when the action items will happen that's the set normally we split public com first of all there's not going to be yelling and asking questions um but item 15 is the second public comment that normally we split it into public comments on agenda items only and public comment on all items but we're just going to do the one at the beginning of the meeting so any questions or comments from the board seeing n Mr Yates roll call please roll call on moving public comment to any topics of Interest public comment one Mr Brown yes Miss Boer MTZ yes Mr dearcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes and Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you Mr Yates I'll hand the floor over to Dr Smith now for recognitions some entertainment from our Willy Wonka Jr group they want to come on up we we'll do the recognitions afterwards but um first uh just enjoy [Music] [Laughter] [Music] he [Music] [Applause] second [Applause] take their um papers I know you had certificates for them a bunch of the kids are not here so instead of calling them out for not being here we kind of the parents kind of wanted us to just okay take them all all right all right yeah yeah yeah all right thank you aot much gosh that's so awesome okay that was so fantastic can we give him one more round of applause [Applause] so normally we hand out certificates with as many kids as there are the staff in our theater program have taken the certificates and going to pass them out to the kids um later so just um their names are in the uh agenda tonight and um it's just been amazing to watch the theater program at Dei grow each year we will also here at MMS the theater program is fantastic and we will and May at our May 22nd meeting we plan to do something similar for Maron middle theater so uh if you're a Mustang family member out there uh please make sure you come back for that and um want to give a a sh a shout out as well to miss green for the idea to recognize the Dei theater program that was wonderful so thank you everybody we're going to move on to presentations now families who were here for uh the presentation for the theater presentation are welcome to stay if you'd like to leave you're welcome to leave um we have a full agenda ahead of us tonight starting with our tentative budget presentation for 2526 [Music] thank you sir all right so we are going to talk about the 2526 budget this is the third Public Presentation on the budget we presented in at the end of January at the end of February and now tonight there have been um updates each time we always start with what our goals are with any budget and obviously to maximize the effectiveness of what we do for children with ever dwindling resources right and we we know from this context which we've talked about many points over the years that is a very dismal context that we have over 7 million lost in state aid since the first year of S2 Rising costs our budgetary cost per pupil being over $3500 less than the state average which factors out to um when you multiply that by our enrollment is over $16 million less in our budget than if we were had an average budget creates tremendous stresses and pressures on a district to be able to continue to maintain when you have less to do so with update since our February 27th presentation so we discussed at the last presentation that we would be taking the full enrollment adjustment that's over 2.3 million uh we said at that time you know more would be conveyed in terms of what we were going to do with that so that is the update we are going to use that money to maintain these positions which were previously identified for reduction they were identified as such in the prior presentations that would be one music teacher position one tier three teacher position two Elementary Spanish teacher positions three reading recovery intervention teacher positions one librarian position position one counselor position one related arts teacher position and four teaching assistant positions in terms of taxes the difference between taking the enrollment adjustment and not taking it works out to a little over $12 a month for the average assessed home in eam now I'm going to turn over to Mr Yates all right good evening everybody and welcome back so if you have not already done so I would just urge everyone to take a look at our uh January February board meetings that are available on YouTube at that time we started our budget discussions and in January we talked about where we are and how we got here and during that meeting we spoke about E Shan being an S2 District so what that means for us is back in 2018 when the state revised the school funding Reform Act Eve sham Township Schools was slated to receive about $7 million in an annual state aid reduction they were going to take that over the course of seven years we're now in year eight so that means for us annually we see $7 million or a little over 50% reduced from our state funding from what it was pre 2018 over the course of that same timeline we have absorbed over $38 million in cumulative total reduction and each year that we pass a budget where we our state aid is not restored to its levels pre 2018 we will continue to absorb $7 million roughly in additional uh funding reductions at our February meeting we talked at about our revenues and we talked specifically about our limited ability to uh generate Revenue sources for us our single largest revenue source is tax levy we're going to talk about that tonight um but at that meeting meeting we also talked about the competing pressures that our budget faces every year a limited ability to increase our revenues and an increase on our we see an increase of our expenditures each year that outpace our revenues putting us in a position where we have to each year face a structural budgetary deficit and we have a need for crost cutting measures all right so I wanted to include this slide again this is a slide that I had at uh the February um presentation a lot of questions have come up about the additional authority authority that our uh District or Township has provided in tax levy so you'll remember back in 2023 we approved a budget of 66,1 41,7 that is the number in the far left column in November of that year the voters of eam Township uh approved additional Authority for our district to provide full day kindergarten and mental health services for students that was an amount of $290,000 that increased our tax levy in that very same year increasing our tax base from 66 million to 68 m231 71 that's the number in Gray above the second column where it says 2023 24 revised that number the 68,276 number is what we used at that we can use as our tax base to increase by 2% in the subsequent Year's budget so 68 million at 2% last year when we were developing our budget at this time we believed we only had tax levy that would amount to 69 million $595,000 tax base that year to$ 7,892 183 that's the amount of money that is funding or supporting our budget for this current year from the taxpayers that number inflated by 2% we arrive at the number in the 25 26 column second from the right that is the the current year base tax levy inflated by 2% this year we are also given additional Authority with an enrollment adjustment to increase on top of our 2% % by 2,336 320 you can see that in the far right column and that's how we arrive at our total tax levy for the 2526 proposed budget of 74 m692 971 so uh this chart I I put it in here twice just because I wanted everybody to clearly see where the additional Authority is didn't go anywhere it's currently just available in our tax base all right so I also had this slide available at the February presentation I just wanted to show it again because in February we talked about the structural budgetary deficit that our district faces each year and you can see in the column on the left this is our revenues $85 m5859 198 what we told you at that time was we can most accurately predict our revenues it's the number we can we're fairly certain about each year we know what our state Aid's going to be when they provide it to us we know our tax Lev is going to be inflated by 2% with few exceptions we are able to most accurately predict our miscellaneous revenues we know what our other state funding is going to be so the number in the far left column is all the amount of money that we have to spend we cannot spend a penny more on the right in February we talked about when we when we estimate our expenditures next year if we take everything that we have today and we add an increase to it what do we anticipate that we need to spend next year that number for us is the $89 Million number let's call it 90 million we also said at that time you we must produce a balanced budget so this board and the administration have the legal responsibility of prod producing a balanced budget that means our expenditures must equal our revenues not the other way around so it was the job of the board and the administration to take the $90 million and to fit it into the $86 million you cannot spend $90 million when all you have is $86 million all right so let's talk about where we are today our revenues Chang slightly some things to highlight but this is what we are asking the board to approve as our preliminary or our tentative budget this evening we have a total revenue number of 85,681 se6 our tax levy as we highlighted is the [Music] 2,971 is our largest number it makes up over 87% of our total budget we are withdrawing $400,000 from our uh fund balance we're not going to go through line by line we did that at our February meeting but you can see our state aid numbers and our miscellaneous local revenues the only number that changed from the February meeting we do pick up some tuition revenue from local school districts who send their children here to Eve sham schools so we picked up $ 58,7 there arriving at our total preliminary Revenue number at the bottom again this is all we have to spend next year cannot spend a penny more all right so I wanted to show year over so on this slide you'll see our final 2425 budget in the left column there with 88 mil 69388 in total revenues compared to our preliminary numbers for 2520 6 our revenues are down about $2.4 million total revenues some things to attribute to that are you can see that our tax levy went up by 3.8 million inclusive of the uh enrollment adjustment but our budgeted fund balance this would also include our excess Surplus our per the audit from 23 24 we arrived at $ Zar in excess Surplus so last year we had over 3 million and we withdrew about 1 and A5 million from fund balance this year we don't have that money available to us so you will see that our budgeted fund balance is down substantially over $4.1 million state aid was up slightly although we did see some reductions in categories like semi semi Revenue was down almost $200,000 and our miscellaneous local revenue is down and that's attribute attributable to us no longer being able to collect uh full day prek tuition in our miscellaneous revenues number that's now in our tax levy number and then just going down we are not withdrawing reserves to the same level that we did last year um last year we withdrew significant amount of money from the reserves this year we're only withdrawing uh $283,000 and that number has to be included as our Revenue all right so let's look at our preliminary Appropriations for 2526 again I won't go line by line but as you can see Staffing is our largest number making up 58% of our budget or almost $50 million look at this number and think this is not just this is for all of our salaries so this is just isn't for the salaries of our teachers or our support staff but this is going to be for the salaries of your administration of your custodial staff your maintenance staff um and our substitutes par professionals um clerk typist anybody who works in the main offices this is all of the salaries of the district and it's about $50 million for us or 58% the associated benefits that we have to provide for those very same staff members would be things like our medical prescription dental coverage uh Social Security uh taxes we have workers comp and other uh employee benefits make up an additional let's say 18% or over $15.1 million you can think of it this way for every $1 we collect and spend 76 cents of every dollar goes towards salaries and Associated benefits so before we've even begun talking about educating children in classroom 76 cents of every dollar is accounted for then we have to take into our other obligations that we're legally obligated to provide things like the pur obligation so our employees who qualify for the pur pension the school district has to make a contribution on their behalf towards the pension that's an additional 2% we have to ensure our facilities against risk and loss that's an additional percentage we have other District costs that we have to account for legal fees debt reduction so paying down our leases we also have debt that we have to pay back to the ECC and the TBA teddy bear Academy ran um ran a net loss the board or the general fund is responsible for covering that loss we have to account for that here in other District costs we have to account for postage and supplies necessary supplies not erroneous supplies and then we have our school resource officers we fund a portion of the school resource officer that is in every school building that is accounted for here that's an additional almost 3% we have to educate our children we want to provide a robust curriculum for them we want to provide uh updated technology that's an additional 2% special education cost an additional 7% this would be educ ating the the associated costs with educating children with IEPs this is also inclusive of placing students out a district and the associated tuition related expenses that's an additional 7% operations and transportation almost 10% so we have to operate our facilities this would be where some of our utility costs are located we have to maintain our facilities this is where we budget for the required maintenance of school facilities we have to transport our students those numbers are going to be here so when you if you were anybody's keeping math if you were to Total all of this up you look at ele and middle schools which is 0 41% in clubs and activities and additional 12% 50 cents of every dollar is our discretionary spend so 99.5% or 99.5 cents of every dollar that we collect and spend is already accounted for in obligations 50 cents is our discretionary spend of every dollar excuse me 50 cents of every $100 um and then so capital projects just to highlight what that is for the board and for the public we're withdrawing $283,000 of uh capital reserve for identified capital projects the township has come to us identified two capital projects that we are required to fund one of which is the sewer ejector pump station located at the campus of Mees and MMS think of this like all of the waste that leaves MMS so this building an Mees goes to the sewer ejector Pump Station it's then pumped to the main so it can be treated by the municipality that station is on end of life requires replacement we also have um the fuel pump station there our all of our Fleet goes and and refuels its vehicles at the mun uh municipality we are responsible for a portion of that expense so that's capital projects it's just the two totaling $283,000 and then looking at our expenses year over you'll see where we had some increases and decreases Staffing salaries we saw a decrease in Staffing salaries there as proposed by the cuts from uh the administration we our salaries are going to go down about $3.8 million our district um benefits we saw a significant increase in District benefits although you're not seeing it reflected here this is for a couple reasons one is we're essentially flat in this this is because we were able to take roughly or count for roughly over $900,000 attributable to uh Personnel who work now in the preschool education um program those expenses have come out of our district expenses for benefits um and additionally when we reduce staff we also reduce our benefit cost so we really didn't see a significant increase in benefits year over we did see an increase in benefits um just in the cost of benefits themselves the $200,000 is our con that is the exact amount of money $200,000 even that we're contributing to from the general fund to clear the debt and the ECC and the TBA um let's see what else on here would be important we see a reduction in clubs and activities reduction in uh capital projects as we discussed before and then we are seeing significant increases in in the tuition related expenses for out of District placements it doesn't matter if we were to maintain the same number of children out of District just the cost of doing business to send them out of District increases substantially year to year and then some notable increases so our salaries went up roughly $1.7 million you're going to say wait a minute you said it went down 3.8 just the salaries that we're keeping the $50 million we have to account for the increases associated with that that for us is L $1.7 million our benefits increased by 1.1 so something to note about benefits we are in the State Health Benefit Plan the state plan renews its benefits in January they don't provide us our rates until the summertime so we don't know right now what the state health renewal is going to be I can tell you this current year it renewed over 14% two years ago it renewed over 23% we've seen years where it hasn't renewed and we've seen single digigit renewals from the state so we have to account for 6 months of an unknown renewal in our benefit costs when we're budgeting then we also have to account for plan changes so we might have a staff member who's single and gets married and qualifies for a husband wife plan that's more expensive or conversely a husband wife plan give birth and now they qualify for a family plan we have to account for those plan changes which are largely unpredictable to us we also have our tuition related expenses for out a district place placements we talked about that at our January meeting we went in pretty extensively on the expected utility cost and electricity that all of us in New Jersey are going to experience in your July Bill you'll see a 20 to 30% increase this is due to the fact that there's a decreased supply there's increased demand and there's a higher cost of delivery of electric service so we are accounting for us that's about $230,000 in electricity Alone um we talked about the ECC and TBA deficit our net position there is we are uh at a loss of $888,000 it must be cleared we worked out a plan with our auditor we plan to clear this over a four to five year schedule this year we're making a contribution of $200,000 to clear that that uh net position again we have to ensure our facilities against risk and loss that was an increase for us of almost 10% or $90,000 and then there's other required costs that we face each year these cost would be things like right now we're carrying an extra Administrator salary for an indefinite period of time we don't know when that salary is going to come off the books we have legal judgments known and unknown that we have to plan for in our Budget prior year tuition adjustments to our out of District placements we talked about about this at January as well where that where we send schools at a district in the middle of the year can increase their rates by up to 10% if the prior year costs exceed a certain threshold uh when we have one-on-one uh placements at special services and that one-on-one fails to show up to work for the day and special services has to place a one-on-one on our behalf we get build for that service and then we have seen since postco a massive increase in our substitute costs conversely we also have some notable cost efficiencies we're always striving to find cost efficiencies in our B budget in whatever way that we can one of the largest cost efficiencies that we find is through the use of shared services so we participate in the lenpy trash collection Consortium it's where all the lenpy regional districts we go out and secure trash collection Services together and that provides those services at a reduced cost to us um we provide in-house PD and reading recovery we do participate in the federal eate program for internet services which provides us some money and some discounts on internet access for students and we uh we do have share cost of the the uh school resource officers the township pays about half we pay the other half the pur contribution because we see some of our more senior staff retiring or vacating positions we do see a reduction in the pur contribution we don't just budget those things flat we try to anticipate who left count for them reduce our total contribution we are always striving to become more efficient and cost effective so in uh several of our software conver versions We are going to realize an annual savings about $43,000 it's big for us we do we will always look for the elimination of unnecessary contracts and then the EF is always supporting us greatly appreciated they provide $35,000 annually towards uh Middle School counseling services and um we also share Professional Services so specialized teachers things like teachers of the DEA if we have neighboring districts who need these services and we can provide them within our schedule do receive some uh revenue for providing those services or sharing those services with neighboring districts and then of course donated services and funds this fluctuates yearly for us um so it's hard to put a dollar value on that but things like what the PTA is consistently providing for us year after year in each building it's greatly appreciated and they always come through and then private Source donations a time and a good example of this would be the donation of um let's call the the rehab of our Middle School softball and baseball fields by tuao Turf Farms that just took place over the past couple weeks um and that's David Betts not David Bach I want to correct what I said at the February meeting but that much appreciated David bets and tuo Turf Farms but that would be a good example of the donated services and funds that our district uh always finds cost efficiencies by working with these vendors and through the PTI and that is it for me [Music] thank you Mr Yates so this this slide we've talked about this uh this is now the third presentation it only gets harder to talk about these steps uh it is when we look at the reductions we're talking about tonight A number that I don't know if was mentioned in a prior presentation but it Bears saying just to try to give all of us a sense of the scale but in total we're talking about a reduction of 83 positions which is about 10% of our entire staff and that is a Monumental number that is very saddening and is part of why we began talking about this two months ago hoping people would would would hear you know hoping people would hear we want people to understand in a positive way it's reflected in the turnout tonight thank you everyone for coming and for those who are turning on tuning in at home um the uh I'm going to talk through each of these steps not in as much depth as in January but just for anyone who um is maybe watching or or here for the first time tonight number one Outsourcing our transportation department an estimated Savings of 800,000 reducing Transportation burden that involves basically looking to increase walking zones we've done that every year for about the past four years that is patient work that we do in collaboration with the township so that's a that's a number that's not entirely up to us um but that's what we hope that's that's what we're aiming for uh number three Middle School sixth class in place of Team time so essentially that's as any District in our situation has to do we are having to find efficiencies so for example a teacher currently a middle school core content teacher if you have six teachers teaching five classes each that's 30 sections by replacing team time SL independent study Duty with the six class now you have five teachers teaching six classes which makes 30 sections that's the efficiency and it's incredibly saddening but it achieves 900,000 in savings it also makes possible the Second Step there underneath it which is Middle School class size increase again another efficiency if you have if you have 10 teachers teaching class sizes of 240 kids in a Grade if you increase that class class size to 30 now you have eight teachers teaching class size of 30 that's 240 kids in a Grade that that is not where any of us want to be and I and I understand people should be upset I am upset so let's move on to the next piece here Elementary class size increase 640,000 you everyone will have a time to talk during public comment but please out of out of respect please stop the back and forth let him finish the presentation and then everyone is going to get a chance to speak [Applause] yes Elementary class size in all right so we we heard that and and I agree it seems almost like we H it seems almost like this has to be a waking nightmare right because we've been here talking about Cuts every spring since before 2020 but all Every Spring I've been here and well so I'm I'm I in my heart and I and again you look at these cuts and you think that can't be true but I'm very sad I'm very sad but I have but I have to get through this because you need to hear this and if you if you have heard it before I'm sorry you haven't hear it again but there's a lot of people in this room who haven't been here before and we all need to understand this story so okay all right Elementary class size increases eight positions we're going to phase out pa professional health benefits on December 31st um maintaining for those with 20 more years of service Elementary extracurriculars eliminated we will continue to try to explore a cost neutral approach for that but but um again we can't get can't guarantee that but we absolutely are going to continue to talk about it um and we want to make it happen use up the shift dividend these are the uh the total numbers okay that's the damage it's in it's maddening okay 83 positions 10% now on to questions this meeting will now be open to the public referencing agenda items only however if your questions or comments PR everyone please be quiet the president is [Applause] speaking the president is all [Applause] right this is fine what [Applause] okay everybody obviously there's a lot of people that have been been here before everyone will have 3 minutes to speak the timer is up there um please do not yell out I understand everyone has something to say the board wants to hear but you are here to address the board for public comment it's not a back and forth um so please be respectful to each other and to the board you'll have your three minutes um and obviously one person speak at a time um face the board uh once the timer goes off you know please wrap it up um and I would just I don't know never mind okay so we're going to start now state your name and either your residents or I know a lot of you are just are teachers or students so just say what you do okay um if you don't live in town you can you can just see you know your relationship to the district I am sorry I miss I just saying that if you don't want to say where you live you can say that you're a teacher I was saying that if you just want to say that you are a teacher or that you are a parent you can also just say that okay all right we can start go ahead my name is Marissa Dori as a secretary for the ETA I present this vote of no confidence in superintendent Dr J Smith on behalf of the ETA the leadership of Dr Smith has demonstrated a persistent lack of transparency in decision-making processes failing to provide clear and timely communication Dr Smith has systematically dismantled a once thriving School District leading to a decline in educational quality staff morale and Community Trust the Administration has repeatedly fail to engage with key stakeholders thereby neglecting the principles of open governance and accountability Dr Smith has not included stakeholders in the decision-making process disregarding the voices of those directly impacted by his policies and actions Dr Smith has employed divisive tactics pitting employees against each other fostering a toxic work environment his leadership has exhibited an ongoing inability to effectively communicate policies changes and District initiatives leading to confusion frustration and a loss of trust among all stakeholders the skills necessary to successfully manage the complex operations of a school district including Financial stewardship strategic planning and responsiveness to community needs have not been sufficiently demonstrated the failure to provide adequate leadership has had a detrimental impact on the morale of Educators and staff the quality of Education provided to students and the overall functioning of the district be it resolved that we formally issue this vote of no confidence in the leadership of superintendent Dr Justin Smith out of 576 eligible voters 494 cast a ballot of those votes 4789 7% expressed no confidence in Dr Smith's leadership therefore we call for immediate remedial actions including but not limited to resignation or appropriate measures to restore confidence accountability and transparency within the district thank you members of the Ean Township Education Association [Applause] you cut your your salaries hello my name is Elizabeth Miller everyone calls me Ellie I live in ravenscliff I am a sixth grader at decy middle school and I attended vanz Elementary I'm a tier three student who plays both flute and violin I am very sad and concerned about about the proposed changes to eam Public Schools increasing class class sizes due to the elimination of teaching positions will greatly impact a teacher's ability to help all students teachers will also need to be moved around in teach classes they do not ordinarily teach this will heavily impact the level of Education we receive additionally both the tier three and music programs offered have greatly impacted me as a student and a person today I played at row University with the Dei band it was a great experience my goals in life is to become a lawyer and then eventually become president I am now worried about how these changes will impact my education and my ability to get into the colleges that would make my dream a reality I have a younger sister in third grade she's also in the tier three program and plays the cello she participates in Little Feet yoga club and Science Club she loves attending her after school clubs next year she was hoping to start playing the champet and attend even more after school clubs these programs May no longer exist for her I'm sad and concerned that my younger sister will miss out on these experiences I understand that budget cuts happened at the level But please understand the damage and the long-term implications that of the decisions that you are making thank you for the time I hope you are having a good [Applause] evening hi my name is Quinn Johnson and I live at in Westbury Chase I'm a student at the Macy middle in sixth grade in red Hall there are lot lot of things that you have talked about that I don't agree with especially inre increasing class sizes taking away independent study and renting Green Hall out the Y first there is no way that classes will be able to get anything done with 35 kids in a room my teachers already have a hard enough time teaching classes at the sizes they are already if you increase class sizes you'll be asking for complete chaos and for no one to learn anything secondly you can't take away independent study independent study is a time for kids to get work done and for teach teachers to help kids and plan for their lessons this is also the time that tier three meets independent study only happens once a week taking with independent study will force kids to rush through the work many kids in Dey do sports or extrac extracurriculars so they won't have time to make up work at home teachers also have to make teachers also have kids make up tests during independent study if you take away independent study then you are setting all kids and teachers up for failure lastly you cannot under any circumstances rent sixth grade out to Green Hall rent sixth grade Green Hall out to deacy already has too many sixth graders in his classrooms currently I know this because I see it every single day if you rent Green Hall out to sixth grade then you are take then you are taking away the space that sixth graders and teachers in deacy desperately need in sixth grade the sixth graders in Green Hall won't have anywhere to go so how do you expect them to learn also classroom sizes will be way over 35 students if you run out six green then if you do this then you are denying all sixth graders the proper education that they need thank you for your time and consideration [Applause] [Music] pleas hello my name is Caitlyn defa I live in Westberry Chase and I am a sixth grader at the Macy we should not increase class sizes because of the following individual attention to students if there are more students it is harder for the teachers to give a good amount of attention to all of the students in the class the greater number of students leaves less time to help each student number two why not to remove Halls it would be harder to get to the next class constantly having to go back and forth between Halls it became it becomes even harder if more students are added to already crowded hallways number three why independent study is beneficial it is helpful to students who have fallen behind due to an illness or some other reason to catch up on lessons or quizzes it also is time we is also the time that we have to get personal help from teachers finally why not to eliminate clubs in school they give kids time it gives kids opportun unities to make friends build social skills possibly get exercise and keeps kids engaged in something other than G other than electronics and g into trouble I also hope that the drama club does not get taken away because it was so much fun gave me confidence and allowed me to make new friends I hope you consider all of my points while finalizing the budget thank you [Applause] please hi good evening I'm Gabby tars I'm a fourth grade hi good evening I'm Gabby Tavaris I'm a fourth grade student at vanan elementary school I live in Ravens and I am Olivia lumbo also a fourth grade grader that goes to vanzan elementary school and I also live Ravens Club we are here this evening to talk about the clubs being gone next year when we found out that all the clubs in the district were going to be cancel next year it was heartbreaking during club students can get some can get more skills that may not be taught in class such as social skills teamwork and better focus in school according to child.

please bear with me I I'm not good with a little sleep so I'm very tired but I wanted to talk about what Miss Mrs Bernardi and Mr Scott brought up and that would be additional money that's left on the table I know there is money at the state which you know we could be advocating for and I shared with Dr Smith that there are meetings with the Senate and assembly budget um Bud yeah so that and that yeah the link to those hearings will be in my update tomorrow and I'm speaking in nework on Wednesday and Trenton on Tuesday next week and have spoken at those hearings every year so thank you there's one on Wednesday in person and there is an online um available time so if you can't make it then consider signing up to speak online so I wanted to talk about that and um I will start with the budget but there's other things on here so I just wanted to say as some of you know I've been on this board this is my seventh year and uh I do have kids in the district so this is very important to me and throughout all those seven years we were told in the beginning when Mr scavelli was here that years's four and five were going to be the toughest they were going to be the biggest cuts and um you know we cut from teaching positions including special ad and uh increasing class sizes and now here we are with the largest budget deficit that we had throughout all the years and um you know through all those tough years we did eliminate a lot of positions and they directly impact our kids in the classroom and um with these additional Cuts I feel like the district is rapidly rapidly moving towards being mediocre I didn't move here for mediocre and neither did a lot of the parents that spoke here tonight and I also want to commend all the kids who all the students who spoke tonight I am so impressed my boys didn't want to come and that's okay but uh they spoke very well all of their speeches and I think a lot of it hinges on what they're being taught in our classrooms and um increasing the class size is is not good it's not good for my child it's not good for any of the kids and I'm hoping that there's some way that we can find cutting somewhere else rather than increasing all these class sizes at the elementary level it's been every single year and they're approaching 30 now in fifth grade and it that's difficult absolutely they have to differentiate I don't know how you do it but um I'd like to see not to go so high in some of those classes even if you could just save you know a couple of positions and um so with that I you know I'm I'm I'm urging you to just go back sharpen your pencils please and uh turn over more Stones I hope that there are some they talk about the four bucket model I'm not a teacher but immediately it's shut down and I don't understand why and I just wish that you know the board would be more open because there could be a little bit here and a little bit there that could be changed and I wanted to talk to Mrs Benjamin are you here she may have laughed but she talked about her son I know them I know the family they at Mees and I want to say I'm here for the erand of the world she spoke about her own child and I sit up here and I always have for the errands my children are you know somewh what gifted and they've been okay through all these Cuts but the errands you know may not have been and that's a problem we have to meet their needs so and one last thing and this is my hill to die on and everybody should know this and that is outsourcing Transportation I feel like this is a financial cliff we have no bid so I can't support it I haven't seen a bid and you say 8 $100,000 savings and you could be right and you could be estimating correctly but I just can't approve it without seeing a [Applause] [Music] bit and you could be correct but without that that bid I just can't do it and also the private provider I'm going to give you numbers here 2020 2021 1 million next year 5 million so I'm worried I am worried because they could I don't know if there's going to be anything in the contract that limits their increase year-over-year it could be you could be thinking of that but I don't know that it's going to be limited so with a bid I might might not feel the same way well actually I would because it's the increase so like I said that's my hill to die on and um I just wanted to say like 910 Archway just kids I'm going to have to abstain because I didn't have time to read that summer camp 2025 contract so I apologize and then there's one more that I um reluctant to vote Yes on and not for Yale there wonderful tenant in Evans they're not leaving Evans I don't know if you know that we are keeping them in Evans there has never been a problem with any Yale student they're great tenants however uh I cannot agree to this because I feel as though without you know a final agreement um still being reviewed I I can't I don't want to say yes to Yale School um this time not for not for any reason except for it's not a final lease agreement and I can't you know responsibly vote Yes to it I think that's everything thank you any other questions or comments from the board I'd like to make one Mr so I wasn't aware of this previously before I sat up here uh all the time the agenda is laid out in sections so we're in section N9 right now and then there's 15 items in that section the big ones that have been talked about so far for the archway just kids was 910 for uh the Yale School agreement is 9913 and for the resolution to approve the tenative budget is 9.12 so you may hear people voting specifically on specific things tonight those are the things that they're talking about just so everyone understands what's happening um for you than you you're welcome um just I just had a couple of comments for the other pieces for 9.13 the L School lease agreement I have some concerns with the lease agreement as written um it we did not have time between when it was given to us and tonight to go over it to have conversations about it I can't vote for something that I can't talk through a a lease agreement that we're signing that is for a significant amount of time going forward um as for the budget itself there are any number of things that are concerning in the budget and it is also true that we as a board have a responsibility to pass a balanced budget we have no choice in the matter and that is what has to happen at the end of the day day that being said there needs to be conversation about how we get there this budget also was given to us very late in the day and I know that a lot of that had to do with the amount of time it takes Finance to get things together but there was not enough time for conversation there was not enough time to have questions answered and to go through different steps of the process so that we could feel comfortable with the information that we had and know that we were doing our due diligence without our ability to do due diligence I can't vote for something the the only other thing I wanted to say for the evening there were a lot of people that turned out tonight and I'm incredibly grateful for everyone that's here I want to remind everyone that last year the tenative budget was passed and there were still a lot of people that were unhappy with it between various sources within from our educ ators for whatever amount of money they were able to help find for other funding that we got from the state for other opportunities that we had there were changes and there were a lot of jobs saved at the end of the day I'm in no way saying or claiming or guessing that any of those things can happen again this year I have no idea what the state of the legislature is going to be I can say though that it is important to be an advocate and if there aren't changes that we as a board are able to make because our hands are tied then please please please follow the folks here that want to go up to Trenton and help make our voices heard up there to try and restore funding from the school the funding models for the school thank you Mr peelman would any other board member like to make a comment Miss bu moitz so I took a little different approach to this I prepared something um just to kind of keep me on track um but you know my running for the Board of Education was a very intentional Choice especially the way I did it right now it was intentional for all of us for very different reasons but one of my reasons was how I felt sitting here last year in this crowd knowing that tough decisions had to be made because of the unfortunate hand we've been dealt by the state and make no mistake we are in this position primarily because of the state funding formula and the decisions made in Trend but also feeling like there were so many unanswered questions as to why certain decisions were made over others when figuring out how to balance the budget pieces seemed to be missing and I didn't feel like every stone was overturned what I've learned is that there isn't much different for me about that feeling sitting here on this side of the table versus sitting over there the difference now is I'm in a position to render my approval or not on crucially important issues for our children in our town and I cannot coign anything without feeling like I have all the information and proper time for conversation and vetting my position tonight is a reflection of my disappointment in how information specifically on Finance on District finance and operations is disseminated among the board we received a brief summary on a couple of items from Dr Smith on Thursday night um but it was in no way a full report out on all that is up for decision tonight even if it is the tenative budget every question I've asked and answered has inevitably inevitably led to more questions and I will need more time and more information to give proper due diligence to these District Changing Life altering decisions that the community trusts us to [Music] make thank you Miss bootes would any other board members like to speak seeing none Mr Yates roll call please roll call on finance and operations Mr Brown yes to 9.1 to 9.11 no to 92 and yes to the rest so no no to 912 is that correct yes and yes yes correct thank you you remote you're no to 912 yes the rest noted Miss buter MZ yes to 9.1 9.2 9.3 sorry just easier this way 9.4 and five six and seven and eight abstain from 9.9 because I don't know what we're voting on there no uh abstain from 9.10 yes to 9.11 no to 9.12 and no to 9.13 your exstension to 9.9 910 no to 912 and 9913 is noted Mr Demari yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null I'm gonna take my time here because I got to get it right I'm going to say yes to 9.1 through 9.9 abstain on 910 yes to 911 no to 912 no to 9913 and 914 says new agenda item so and there's nothing there so I don't know what to say on that it's a clerical mistake we'll fix that later okay 91 through 93 are the action items you abstained from 910 you said you voted no to 912 and 913 is that correct correct thank you Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes to 991 through 911 no to 912 and 913 you voted no to 912 and 9913 and yes to the rest Mr boach yes Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 10 Personnel we need a motion to approve items 10.1 through 10 point 10 do we have a motion motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Mr deari any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please roll call on Personnel Mr Brown yes Mr Excuse Me Miss buter MTZ yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 11 policy do we have a motion for items 11.1 through 11.3 motion by Mrs null seconded by Mr Thompson any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please on policy Mr Brown yes Miss buter MTZ yes Mr dearcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes Mr conon yes and motion carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 12 committee reports are there any committee chairs who would like to share a report seeing none we will move to Old business of which we have none moving to item 14 new business we need a motion to approve and uphold the finding of no Hib in the matter discussed in executive session do we have a motion motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Mrs null Mr Yates roll call please roll call on new business item 14 upholding the finding of no Hib Mr Brown abstain Miss buter moitz yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox abstain Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr pelman yes Mr Bach yes Mr conon yes that motion carries every single one of you that accepted this budget after hearing this room you should all be ashamed thank you Mr Yates moving to item 16 board member announcements are there any board members who would like to share an announcement seeing none motion to adjourn can we go home motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Miss Fox all those in favor thank you

4 million so you can see the total if we were to do everything in category C uh would be just under 5.4 million doll and again just that reminder a one to two years B within the first five years and C is uh recommended you have to have those done you have to have a and b done before you can go on to uh anything in the category C next slide please so this is a recap all of this is what you guys saw in the fall so I don't want to belabor this are there any questions on any of the the different categories or the work that is there you want to the next slide again this is you you can see there's some uh consistency across our buildings all of these have uh the same next slide please there's more work at North to be done uh one of the things that we um came across was the structural steel uh deterioration the summer um for the pool so we need to address uh that then our recommended again some of the consistencies between a lot of uh different odds and ends things that that we need to have done so our next steps uh tonight we're asking you to approve the application uh for the 10year safety survey report again that does not mean that you're approving the work that means you're approving the application for that to be submitted to isby um and then once we get that they'll they'll make the determination white uh will submit that for us and then uh we'll com we'll create a plan for getting the approved work uh completed in a in a timely manner to meet the health Life Safety any questions for Travis could you just like briefly because I think the funding of fund 90 is new and different and interesting could you just like quickly give an overview of like how we propose funding this work yes so if you remember so earlier just as of the these last uh these last months um we used some of our fund 90 balance for some of the other work with our our Paving uh at both schools as well as our uh energy conservation with some Led uh work at both of our schools uh so in total we had um uh about $839,000 in fund 90 that were approved of work and that we're working on last last meeting we did the paving and and p uh approvals so those will uh for sure get done this summer um so that leaves us with about $615,000 in our fund 90 which we can get going on uh all of these projects uh with that uh the other part is we'll have to talk about uh bonds to get the additional work uh that needs to be done because it will come out of fund that okay thanks you're welcome any other question questions for Travis no thanks Travis thank you all right the next item on the agenda tonight is CMG Staffing uh board as you're aware tonight will begin the process to potentially enter into a contract with SSC services for education to partner with District 99 to provide staff and oversee our custodial maintenance and grounds CMG uh group for management Supply purchases coordination of work training and provide additional Services as needed this proposal should not be seen as an indication that we are not satisfied with the service that are we are being provided by our dedicated CMG staff and administrative team leading this department I see this as an opportunity for both the district and CMG employees to enter into a model that will provide opportunities for efficiencies additional training and resources career advancement Pathways for our staff and cost savings to the district over the past decade we have periodically considered pursuing this path and each time we investigated this we made the decision not to change our staffing model over the past several years in meeting with representatives of the CMG group we've indicated that our salary and benefits have outpaced market trends and moving in this direction could be a possibility at the same time our team members have consistently raise concerns about lack of sufficient training opportunities and career advancement we we've seen many other school districts go down the path of Outsourcing CMG Services by issuing an RFP or bid and then selecting the lowest responsible bidder in some of these cases districts have ended up with buyers remorse this is frequently due to the district releasing their entire staff and the incoming company bringing in their own team and not providing an equitable pathway for current employees to remain in the distri in their District we instead have gone through a different process one focused on ensuring the ability to maintain our talented and dedicated staff in the past two years we have discussed possible arrangements with many potential Partners but none of them offered what SSC is offering our team and our district in agreement to hire on all current CMG staff and the administrators responsible for the CMG team at their current rate of pay and with similar benefits to move over to the S to move over to SS C our team will not be required to interview our staff cannot be released by SSC without cause while the proposed 5-year contract is in effect and that five-year contract um can be extended up to 10 years which is the maximum allowable by law as also required by state law a comparable benefits package will be offered to our employees who choose to join SSC and we will also be offering compensation options for acred sick and personal leave I do not want to minimize that a change like this does come with risks both to the district and to our CMG employees our employees would be moving from a school district employer to a corporate partner several of our CMG staff have shared that they selected District 99 because we are not a corporate entity there are real considerations for our CMG staff is their retirement benefit changes from the imrf public pension system and moving to a 401K retirement program has implications both the District 99 administrative team and SSC are dedicated to making sure that each of our employees knows everything they need to know to make an informed decision before signing on with ssse we are in the process of gathering questions from our team the questions will be answered before a board would be asked to approve a contract also the members of the SSC team will be on site after spring break to meet with our CMG employees to answer their questions we have great trust in SSC as a potential partner they are under the Compass Group the parent company of Chartwells that provides our food service we have seen from our experience and strong partnership with Chartwells a relationship where we have provided highly qualified and dedicated team that is an integral part of our schools the Chartwell staff are treated with respect both by their company and our school Community District 99 is a spotlight partner for Chartwells and other schools from around the world have visit our schools to see how our amazing Food Service team operates over the past two years we've had conversations with the Compass Group in ssse regarding the possibility of expanding our partnership it wasn't until two weeks ago that we arrived at a point where all of the parts of this agreement looked like a potential match this included confirming their pricing structure as part of a Cooperative purchasing agreement we shared this information last week with Mike and Michelle the administrators responsible for the CMG team in District 99 and the next day an executive member of the SSC team executive team came out to meet with Mike and Michelle and let them know how much they want them to join the SSS team continue leading the district CMG department and answering their questions after that meeting we shared this potential change with the entire CMG team and then the next day our staff in our community we have communicated this potential change as quickly as we could so that we can continue to gather questions and concerns provide answers and make sure this continues to be an appropriate pathway for the district this will be discussed tonight and for the next two board meetings before we intend to ask the board to take action on this proposal and the contract there will be opportunities to address the board through the established reception of visitors protocols at each board meeting and under similar protocols in a public hearing on the night of April 21st the board and I are also accessible via email I was present at North High last Friday for one of my regularly scheduled dropin sessions to gather and answer questions I will be in both buildings this week for the human resource dropin sessions as well as I indicated earlier SSC will be on site the week after spring break to meet with our teams and we will gather and answer questions that come our way from our staff this information will all be shared with the board as well I understand that any change of this magnitude can be and will be difficult however I would not be considering it if I did not believe it had the real potential to to provide the best outcome for our district Travis will now review some of the key points in this potential thirdparty agreement with SSC so as Hank uh just talked about uh we went into all of this with several commitments that we wanted to make sure uh were non-negotiables right so first is that all of our CMG staff would have a position um they would not have to go through any interview process that would transfer right over uh again be at their current pay rate and similar benefits uh we also talked about not being able to be released uh during that time frame without cause fiveyear contract uh with the potential to extend that up to 10 years with onee uh increments as we were to look because we don't want to lock ourselves in that 10 years is the maximum amount of time that you can have but we didn't want to commit to that 10 years because if things did not go well um we wanted to be able to make a change um in that and then another key point that we want to make sure um that I want to reinforce that Hank talked about is is that support throughout the the process um providing opportunities to ask questions providing opportunities for us to get the answers that are that are needed um because we want to make an informed decision everyone should have that uh that benefit so we want to make sure and do that also as well um providing ongoing professional development opportunities career advancement is something that um is a a big value uh when we look at the the process for our staff uh when you look at um the the potential that they have over what we have there is a real opportunity for uh for growth and advancement one of the things two that we talked about with that growth and and enhancement is what does that look like in our direct area because we know a lot of our staff uh live in the area and then if they were to move on uh with the company they would not want to move um or they could have that choice obviously but we wanted to see what was in that uh short throw and there are opportunities for our staff uh to do that uh some of the key changes obviously the management Supply purchases and coordination of all of C G uh would be handled by a third party and then um additional training and and viable chancef for career advancement as I as I talked about Mo on to the next slide please so to reinforce kind of the the next steps um we're continuing our conversations and our work uh to make sure that that third- party uh service agreement complies with all of our policies complies with all state laws uh making sure that uh all all of those things are in place at our next board meeting on April 7th we would have further uh discussions uh provide progress updates uh review anything uh to make sure that that again we are in line with all of the the state laws and as Hank talked about on April 21st we would have a a public hearing much like we're going to have tonight uh during the meeting as well as a final review and recommendation uh to the board so that July 1st would be the target uh date to start that um so that is obviously a number of months uh from now but there's a lot that would need to be done between now and then to get ready uh questions for either Travis or I uh from board members on what's been presented at this point uh Hank and I were at dgn on Friday after this had been announced um and spent a little over three hours talking to several of you in this room and one of the comments that came up um was unused sick days in imrf um and I think that's something that we need to explore we need to get some answers on and investigate I I it's my understanding we don't have an answer on on how that's going to be addressed as of yet but you're working with SSC is to to it's not necessarily don't have an answer the answer is not the same for the entire group right so we're working with TRS all right here imrf for those that are moving towards that retirement p pathway we have a few of our employees there as to how those days would work for them but then how that conversion works for moving over to ssse or compensation works for that we we want to make sure that we have all of those things detailed and we'll have that by the time that we meet with our staff on April 7th to detail what what choices that they have depending on you know their their future Pathways and the number of days that they have okay Terry I have several things that I'm I'm a little unhappy about and that is our one is our relationship with our CMG staff and our students and teachers that yeah tell the truth tell the truth all about moneyy let's bring it back to order okay I didn't say that for this I I said it because I've been on the board a long time as you all know and we've been through this before and one of the main reasons that we rejected having it outsourced before was because of that Rel reltionship you know sometimes uh students are in crisis or whatever and sometimes our CMG staff is that person that sees that and can take care of that and I I don't know that if we bring in a third party to do this that they're going to be able to develop those relationships that are already out there and to to break that and then the trust that our teachers have and other staff members have for this staff it it's hard you can't replace that my other questions are is um when of one of the staff is sick who comes in to replace that person is it somebody maybe from hensdale I don't know who the other schools are that are in this area but they don't know how we do things because our culture is our culture Terry I I'll address that question yeah it it is it's like anytime you have a sub there would be a pool of Subs that they would have trained up and ready to to come in and they would make sure that they were familiar with our team and our buildings and our facilities to be able to step in when when when called just like what we do with substitute teachers or any of those kind of substitute roles uh but uh it would be up to SSC to have that pool of people on call and prepared to step in on demand when we needed them right but it's not the same well it's not the same anytime we have a subt well we have we have a probably a list of Subs that we use would work the same way it would work the same way it would be a list of Subs that were trained those subs would be the first call that that's what I'm saying I don't know well Terry they would be they would be um then I also have um why aren't we giving our staff development we do but we we don't have the there you go there you go hey guys let's let's keep order okay I I guess I'm I'm questioning you know if it's if it's important to our CMG staff to get staff development we should treat them like we do our teachers and our and our other they need to have development just same I have a problem Terry we we do but but CMG is not our Core Business as an educational ins understand that but our Core Business you're not the business our our Core Business also is to take care of our building excuse me excuse me excuse me I'm sorry I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm in the in the audience okay and tonight we're going to conduct our meeting and we're going to allow your comments when we get to our public comments okay so let's just allow a discussion to happen without any further interruptions please okay thank you but also our core responsibility is to our facilities and and to make sure that they're clean to our standards or that they're maintained to our standards because if they're unsafe for any reason that's not our business that we're taking care of I agree Terry and we believe that this offers us that opportunity yes but I'm just saying that I wouldn't be bringing it to you if I didn't believe that those things were true okay and um I know that imrf is is is a fully funded um retirement it is a well funded retirement public pension yes right right and so I also know how how it works with the 401K because I I have one I'm using one because I'm retired but um I I I think that a lot of our staff our our our CMG staff wants to stay in the imrf and because it is fully funded and it is it's it's not fully funded but it's it's strongly it it's much more than the uh TRS yes and so in that regard I I would hate to see people who are on the cusp or or even close to miss out on that because they won't get the the years in that they need in order to get their full benefit I definitely think those are considerations that we can talk through in the next few weeks especially with or in the next month with SSE of our employees that would be on the cusp of either vesting or retiring and what that would look like to get people across that hump um to make sure that their imrf benefits are protected yes well that and then the last thing I just want to say is is I I respect Chartwell a mely because they have changed our food service product that we are uh giving to our students and faculty and staff immensely and um especially being in the food M World um that meant a lot to me to get that taken care of um I think this that's why we believe this has similar potential benefits for both our staff our students and our buildings the Chartwells is a case study for how this can be effective in our schools moving forward I it's just going to be very difficult for me to stand behind this this project to well we'll continue to report back with we will continue to report back over the next two meetings with questions and concerns that you and our staff have and then in a month after you have all that information we can see where the board stands at that point but like I said it's going to be very difficult for you to change my mind okay I will Terry I will you to know where I stand Terry my Terry my job is not to change your mind my job is to answer your questions and to make sure that you're well informed and then it is your job to vote with your hearts and your mind and to make the best decision you can my job is not to ever convince a board I'm directed by the board to bring you viable options that offer the district good service efficiencies provide resources to be directed most closely to students and to student work the board has directed me to bring you those options as they become available I have worked with the team here very carefully over a very long time to bring you a viable option for you to consider that I am doing my job that you have asked me to do in preparing this and bringing it to you the board has directed me to bring this to you that is what I am doing how you decide to vote and move forward is ultimately up to you as a board my job is to bring you those options and that is what I have done appreciate that we're aware of our duty so um I I just had a question what else uh was brought to you did you say you spoke with uh people had concerns you spent about three hours did I get that correct what else what were the concerns I know we'll probably hear more of it tonight but I wanted to hear uh from you guys what else was was top concerns feel like I addressed a lot of them in in my opening statement sure but um I I heard a loss of connection to the district that um even though they you know our individuals of CMG staff would maintain their current positions because they would no longer be employed by District 99 they felt as though there would be a disconnect there and wouldn't feel necessarily a part of the team if you will um lots of concerns about imrf right I heard a lot a lot of um staff Express the fact that um they either moved and took a you know potentially a pay cut to join our staff in order to join d99 be part of this family and be part of the imrf program um and have had other opportunities to advance their careers through other paths that did not offer imrf so I think imrf is a big hurdle here um and that's kind of why I was bringing that up with Travis um to try and work through any of those issues to see if if there is a fit here between CMG staff to to bridge that gap on the imrf those are the those are the primary concerns I heard okay okay I have a handful of questions first off there have been a number of instances over the past you said decade or so where you've come to the board with a similar resolution and it is not not a not a similar resol well there is no resolution Chris with discussing in closed session when we talk about employment of personnel groups we have brought ideas and proposals to the board over a long period of time before I was here since I've been here this is something that has been considered with this group before yes and it has not come to anything to this point correct because all of the other proposals to this point have Evol involved fully releasing our staff outside company comes in and they decide if they're going to hire people or not and it hasn't been with a company that I felt like was already invested in our schools and our community I think that those are the two biggest differences in this proposal in comparison to other ones that we've seen in the past which is why we've brought it to this point to discuss with the board is that the compass group with their investment chart wells in their investment in our schools and our community as Terry mentioned has demonstrated an ability to improve the experience in our schools for that same re reason I believe that there is potential for ssse to do the same there obviously is a period of disruption As you move through that change for both our individual employees and the district as a whole but you know I can look at Chartwells as the example of you can come out of that on the other side with a far better product for everybody involved I recognize that I just have some concerns with the precedent it sets to have a partnership that the issue with the last slide where it says can't be fired without cause I think raises some major concerns as well I recognize that our employees currently are at an at will B yeah that's more Chris that's more protection than our employees have now yeah right but but we don't know what what cause constitutes like we we don't have the finer details yet and and cause is a yeah cause is a legal def like they would have to demonstrate that they were not performing up to the expectations of that position to be released it's not just like because because it's with cause what are the conditions of the position that we have any of that information yet and if they're not being held to the same standard that we have or if their standard is different like that puts a lot of stress on the employees to perform in ways that they're either unprepared for overprepared for right uh I also think that this seems like a very rushed process and I recognize that you brought it to us to talk about and to discuss all these things uh but I don't think that there was enough time to take into consideration of CMG staff opinions on the matter prior to releasing a wider statement to to the district as a whole I think what should have happened Chris there hold hold on there are legal requirements I recogniz for so in We Are by required by law if we are going to move at the end of this school year which is July 1 which is when we typically would enter into any major movement with any employee group that we need to inform our staff 90 days in advance of that wa let me let me finish please um we had been working all along as you know we brought a proposal to you last year the board directed us to continue to look at that and come back in close session to come back if we reached a spot with the proposal this year we reached that point we are now at the Timeline where everything lines up to have those conversations to go into place for July 1 that's why the timeline is working the way it is uh this would be the same timeline any District would follow if they were working through a Cooperative purchasing agreement which is what we're doing if we went to bid then it would be a very different process it could be much shorter than this this is the longest duration of process that provides opportunity for the board to review for the public to review for our staff to review and to get their questions answered and to work through this this may seem like a quick process but it is a long process in comparison to how school districts go about making a change like this can we let Chris finish this comment and I recognize that you've been putting a lot of work into coming up with the finer details ahead of time and the information that we've been provided the public has been provided comes after a lot of work my major concern is the the the conversations with CMG staff individually should have happened prior to coming to us with like this is what we want to do moving forward like they their input needed to be taken into consideration first and I recognize that you don't do that with with other teaching situations right with curriculum I get it but in this particular instance I think as we've seen with such public displays yeah it's this is incredibly important to them and their livelihoods and I think getting their information getting their their feedback ahead of time before we come up with before there was they were not included in the at an earlier point that I felt was important and and I you can disagree with me all you want but that is what I feel it should have been done Chris the opportunity to share that with me was well before tonight's meeting that you felt that way okay um this the way we've organized this structure has given the staff the opportunity here that we're planning to do this has given the staff the opportunity to be here tonight has given the staff the opportunity to stop and ask us questions multiple times has given the staff the opportunity to meet with SSC and interview them as well on the process in I will tell you look at any school district in the area that has moved this way they release a bid they accept that bid and they move forward employees don't have the opportunity to provide input and to understand the impact of that we have gone well beyond the industry standard for considering this as an option we have put ourselves in front of our staff as we should we are here to answer their questions we are bringing in the the company to sit down with our staff and have this conversation 6 weeks of an interview process of our staff being able to interview this team of us continuing to be able to interview that team is not the way that the industry works this is not the way things work out there and we have gone through a process to First vet them very carefully over a long period of time to get to this point where our own staff can vet them so that we can come back to you with an informed recommendation next month if we choose to move that way but that's why we have done this process in a way that is very public that is very transparent that W within the week of us knowing that it was a possibility we met with our staff and they were informed of that like that is as timely as it can possibly get there is no District that I am aware of that goes to their staff in advance and says would you like for us to Outsource you that's just not a conversation or a model that happens this is the most thoughtful proactive way that we can go about this process and I think I have brought you a respectful process that youve authorized me to move forward with and consider so that's why we are here tonight that is why this has all been shared with the board or with with our staff before tonight this is why we've outlined for them all of their opportunities to be here and address the board once again if the board chooses not to move forward with this I I we're completely happy with the model that we have now we think that this is a viable model that offers us other advantages and that's why we're here offering you that um okay any other comments from any other board members any questions read you through yeah okay um so I just I I prepared a statement because I I want to I want it to be clear as to why we're here okay and why we're having this this discussion so one of the primary functions of the board of education is to adopt a budget and to manage the finances of District 99 in that regard we are charged with responsibility of balancing fiscal policy while also ensuring that our children are served to the highest standard possible in an environment where d99 faces some uncertainties from federal and state funding that task becomes comes even more difficult in that light the board has charged Dr the and and his administrative team with looking for ways to find Financial opportunities for the Board of Education to consider d99 for many years has explored the concept of potentially Outsourcing our CMG staff many other school districts in the area have previously done the same but up until now d99 has never moved forward with this concept because of would have meant losing our CMG staff and bringing in a whole new set of individuals who have no prior experience in our district the only reason that this opportunity is being explored and I say explored now is because I'm sorry explored now is that SSC has agreed to take all CMG staff at their current compensation levels and that they may not fire any of our CMG staff without cause for the duration of our contractual relationship with SSC this is the only way that this board was comfortable with ever moving forward with exploring this idea okay that is because because this administrative team and the board highly value all of you in this room we know the expertise that all of you possess the familiarity that all of you have with our buildings and the relationships that you built with our teachers staff our students and our community in short we know and I know the importance and value of d99 to you and what you mean to all of us I want to be clear about this process going forward the board has not made a final decision okay to date all we have done is authorized Dr thieling and his administrative team to explore a possibility of moving our CMG staff to a contract with SSC over the next few weeks that process will be explored to determine whether SSC would be a good fit for d99 and whether it would be a good fit for our CMG staff it's my opinion that going through this exercise is a positive and healthy step in determining whether or not this is the right move not only for d99 but our students and all of our CMG staff who are here tonight I promise to keep an open mind when making a final decision on whether or not to approve a contract with SSC so I welcome your input I welcome your comments and I understand and respect your passion for this topic thank you any other questions all right uh the next item is an item that returns tonight from last uh week this is the DuPage West cook intergo Al agreement this was discussed at our last board meeting if you remember this is a cooperative for cooperatives and this is changing the board structure of that to an oversight committee every one of the 92 member school districts needs to agree to this uh in order to move forward our process and that would take place tonight with the board approving the resolution as an action item um are there any questions on this one returning no all right so this an action item this evening administrative restructuring and related board policies once again another uh one that came back from last week we've already discussed this in in detail or last uh board meeting we've already discussed this in detail uh I have received no follow-up questions from any board members are there anything any items that you would like for me to address on this this evening this is also up for approval this even evening Freedom of Information request we have received them and we have fulfilled them and you can find them on our website under Foya okay next item item number six um so the next agenda item is a public hearing on the proposed reduction and force of teachers this hearing is held in line with section 24-12 of the Illinois school code which provides for the hearing when the number of teachers to be reduced due to economic necessity is greater than five or 150% of the average number of teachers honorably dismissed in the preceding 3 years whichever is more while the reductions contemplated later in this evening's agenda are not based on economic necessity we are holding the hearing with the intent of giving both the teaching staff and the public notice of layoffs and the opportunity to express their views to be clear the reductions in force contemplated later in this evening's agenda will not impact education programming and are not based on economic necessity rather these reductions are based on course selections for the upcoming school year so I now open up the hearing would anyone any member of the public like to speak on this topic hearing none then I will um can I get a motion to close the public hearing so moved second Terry moves Chris seconds thank you Terry pavic I CHR Bosa hi charell Fuller hi Jenny hagstrom hi car Caston hi and Dawson I don rener I motion carries the public hearing has been closed okay item number seven is the consent agenda before the bo 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 hearing none can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve the consent agenda as presented which includes a Personnel report 2025 26 fifth year full-time renewals 2025 26 fourth year full-time renewals 2025 26 third year full-time renewals 2025 26 non 10e full-time renewals 2025 26 non 10e part-time renewals appointment certified appointment classified appointment Administration B Personnel report retirement certified resignation classified resignation certified C February Financial Pages d approval of board policies 3.51 3.52 3.68 and 3.70 with effective dates noted e Illinois High School Association ihsa membership July 1st 2025 through June 30th of 2026 and F acceptance of donation Wolfpack basketball program so moved second Terry moves Ken seconds thank you Terry papich hi Ken Dawson hi Mr Espinosa hi Charelle Fuller I Jenny hagstrom I heric Caston I don rener I motion carries thank you for the donation from the Wolfpack basketball program very nice uh item number eight recommendations for Action can I get a motion from the Board of Education to adopt the resolution authorizing notice of honorable dismissal of non-tenured teachers other than final year probationary teachers and that the president and secretary be authorized to sign the same so moved second Chris moves Jenny seconds thank you Chris Espinosa hi Jenny hagstrom hi Terry pavich hi haric haston I Ken Dawson I charl fuller I and Don rener I motion carries Item B can I get a motion from the Board of Education to approve White's recommendation to award the contract for the North High garage roof replacement to t r i Construction LLC located in alip Illinois for the base bid in the amount of $166,400 to approve the application for approval of 10year safety survey reports for North High School South High School and transition Center 99 so moved Terry moves Ken seconds thank you Terry pavisic hi Ken Dawson hi CHR espanosa hi charl Fuller hi Jenny hagstrom hi Eric Caston I don Runner I motion carries item D can I get a motion for the board of Education to adopt the resolution of the Board of Education of Community High School District 99 approving proposed amendments to the dup page West cook intergovernmental agreement so moved second Chris moves Jenny seconds thank you Chris janosa I Jenny hagstrom I Terry pavich hi Cara Caston I Ken Dawson I charl fuller I and Don Runner I motion carries um item number nine old business um remind me that um we need to um select um is it two board members for the parent teacher advisory committee please um so please get back to me if you're interested on that um within the next couple of days if you can we'll send a reminder out with what it was and the dates okay we'll send that out tomorrow to the board and then you could let Don know okay any other items of the old business Hank uh none for old business any items of new business no new business either Julie um let's open up the reception of visitors for public comment for um items of and I'll read first before we do so this is the second reception of visitors which is intended for audience members to address the board on any topic pertaining to Community High School District 99 comments will be limited to 3 minutes to provide all visitors an equal opportunity to address the board individuals needing more time should submit their thoughts and writing to the board secretary visitors addressing the board need to submit a common slip to the board secretary and will be invited to the microphone prior to addressing the board audience members should State their full name the proceedings may be tape recorded for the purposes of producing accurate meeting minutes the board's presiding officer reserves the right to modify these protocols if circumstances warrant audience observ observation of these Pro protocols is greatly appreciated Julie I have the list okay thank you okay uh our first uh speaker is Monica Vander [Applause] excuse me hi my name is Monica bandide I currently serve as Executive Administrative Assistant to the supervisor of buildings and grounds which to be clear is a support staff position so before I share my thoughts I also want to make it clear that I am speaking on my own behalf and as an individual the first time I set foot at South as an employee I started at South first um my last name was immediately recognized by a CTE teacher named Mr Meisner because I did not attend dgn or dgs it was apparent to me that something was special about this District I say this because my dad graduated dgs in 1989 it struck me as a remarkable or it struck me as remarkable that Dale Vander might's woodworking teacher remembered him 30 years later I think it should come to no shock to the board that I do not believe Outsourcing CMG is the best options um it's my opinion that Outsourcing to a corporate partner ships away the fundamental core values of these District 999 employees um since they will no longer be District 99 employees and that's really the heart of this issue for me CMG each and every day inspires those same emotions that Mr Meisner did on my first day on the job job which turned out to be so much more than a job it turned out for me to be a fulfilling career choice and CMG turned out to be a family a work family that I potentially may be forced out of I never thought I would have to consider another position in this District once I land in my current role because I love coming to work every day to serve alongside my CMG family thank you our next speaker is Frank Ross hi uh I'm Frank Ross I'm a Community member I have two children that'll attend uh dgs and I'm here to speak against the privation privatization of the CMG Department um and I'm really hoping that a lot of mins aren't made up about this uh vote next month and then you'll hear me in good faith uh I was proud to be a member of this community a few years ago when there was a ballot mandate passed to raise our taxes with those tax dollars going to the schools and I was also very proud to have the names cast in rener and uh uh Dawson on a sign in my front lawn when you guys are running against people who are more interested in Banning books than ensuring children's educations this is to say I never wanted to come to one of these meetings because I thought we were in good hands now uh I'm speaking as a son of a custodian not any of these guys but my dad was a custodian uh I'm here to speak for the good jobs that are in that school building and are being threatened by turning CMG duties over to a corporation uh please don't do it this is a community that wants those good jobs and benefits left intact a community that is more interested in people than profits I understand we're being sold on the idea that no one will lose their jobs and that the school will save money but both those things can't be true and that's just a fact a corporation has to make more money year after year after year after year and they will do that by turning the CMG jobs into understaffed minimum wage jobs with poor no benefits this community doesn't want [Music] that we've said we want those jobs in that building and have no interest in short-term savings and in the shadow of the Jumbotron even entertaining the idea of saving money at the cost of 60 plus CMG employees who keep everything running smoothly it's an insult give these people the respect they deserve this SSC chart Wells company is offering to take over a system that is working well and turn it into a money-making Venture for their stockholders this community's investment is in the school and the CMG jobs are part of that thanks [Applause] [Music] our next speaker is Jerry Kilik thank you for pronouncing my name correctly I did the best I could Jerry I did good my name is Jer kuk I live in D Grove for over 29 years I am also employee of CMG for over 18 years i' would like to VI voice my opin opinion about propos our Outsourcing CMG this 99 will be never received the kind of compassion and and care what they receiving from the employee of District of CMG right now the contractor won really care we don't guarantee you we don't guarantee we're going to sign in with the new company so you might have a whole Brown new staff who doesn't know the building who just don't care uh I got a call in on the weekend nights for different kind of type of emergency you're not going to get this from the contractor uh I can talk forever and some people can prove that I can talk forever but time running out and oh I almost forgot I want to thank you teachers supports staff and Community for up here thank you well I almost forgot I grow up in the communist country so when the elective official never listen uh to the public and what is right I hope this not this situation in District 99 thank you Bor [Music] our next speaker is Donald glass uh hello uh Donald glass uh 20 plus year resident of doners Grove and yeah I'm cmg2 um others here are going to talk about what being outsourced means to them I've only been here a year and a half uh my questions relate more to the dollars and sense of this the black and white numbers of this um because it's not clear to me how this is working um the the board uh charges the superintendent with finding savings and then the superintendent finds savings well how much savings are we talking about how long have we been looking for savings what else has been looked at for finding savings besides CMG they've been looking at CMG for 10 years what else has been looked at in those 10 years what is the actual dollar amount of savings that we're talking about uh which apparently no one's ready to talk about this evening and maybe it won't come up until the final meeting but again you know how much money is being saved they tried to um offer a buyout to employees at the end of last year they were looking for a certain dollar amount of savings which they didn't get well what were those dollars about uh so it's very unclear to me you know what the impetus for this is uh if if the concern is that uh CMG as a department is overpaid uh you know are we punishing current employees for the decisions of previous board members um you know it the dollars and cents of it are clear to me our next speaker is Hannah [Applause] green good evening my name is Hannah green first I would like to say thank you to all of our CMG staff that supports me and all my colleagues at dgn we could not do our job without you guys so thank you now I'd like to address the District 99 School Board I come to you as a current District 99 dgn employee a District 99 taxpaying resident a District 99 parent for the last 14 years and a District 99 dgs graduate I have been a part of the District 99 family since I entered the doors of dgs as a student in 1986 while I understand there comes a time where spending and costs need to be reduced it can come at a high price not only financially in the long term when the anti anticipated outcome is not achieved but also personally in the short term lives are affected families are affected dreams are affected and specifically for me and my co-workers our dgn family is affected and devastated to have our cgn family possibly outsourced during my time at dgn our CMG team supervised by Michelle Canon and Nicole robach have excelled their work through the building remodel plan event setups and daily maintenance of our amazing building they have added in the security of our building during the school day and after hours they and their team succeed at everything they do and oversee as current employees of District 99 I would also like to know what other options have been considered for possible cost cutting to prevent the result of Outsourcing in regards to federal state funding decreasing being provided is one of the reasons in impacting this proposal I would like to know how this directly affects the expenses for our CMG Department are they currently receiving grants and assistance from state and federal funding in regards to school building safety what are the long-term effects for outsourcing that could affect our daily Building Safety and Security as non d99 employees are given full access to our buildings every school day while faculty staff and students are in the building School Board you are presented with a decision to make on this proposal I ask that you each examine it carefully of how this can impact the future of the district not only financially but as a whole what is being offered might sign like an incredible transitional package for an employee that has just begun their career with d99 but for those who have vested their time service and a passion for doing their job for d99 we would suffer a huge loss you each represent our community and our district and our responsible for your decision to protect the Safety and Security of our d99 family which includes our CMG Department as a part of us our current CMG family is our backbone for the daily operations of our district 99 buildings thank you our next speaker is Quenton Brown thank you appreciate you in the world we're living in today every second every minute every hour and every day is a challenge the ones before me that paved the way for us to be in this moment that includes the ones that's been in District 99 for 10 20 30 plus years devotional relationships are often discussed yet rarely understood and taken for granted conditions have changed from the beginning to time leading up to the existence we stand here stand right here today physically psychologically socially environmentally and most importantly in my favorite spiritually 511 Mr Maguire first and foremost said we want to acknowledge and recognize your hard work and dedication to District 99 to see and to hear that didn't feel good to us everybody's inar everybody was upset we're not only a great CMG team but we're a family a big family yes we may disagree on things cuz families fight we all do but it never stops us from doing what needs to be done including helping others which is important most importantly taking care of our kids for District 99 and having the opportunity to earn the trust of the community plus teachers and coaches and security there's no school without a maintenance crew there's no school without custodial there's no school without grounds and most importantly there's no school there's no place to call home for work without Michelle Nicole and Monica they have dominated in a role that most people wouldn't believe a woman can do no matter what's throw my boss's way or my co-workers we show up for the kids because we represent this community Mr Maguire also said this decision is not a reflection of our performance the white gy is a reflection of our performance the locker rooms outside the lunchroom classrooms hallways is all reflections of our work and that's why the community enjoys us taking care of their kids prepping them up and also giving them that [Applause] positivity all sweat tears and sacri even blood is nothing to sneeze at but to be taken with gratitude respect and honor vacation sick time PTO and imrf is well deserved when anyone retires with the blessing that awaits them for hard work and dedication it should never be tampered with District 9/ CMG walks through those doors and we show up to work and give the best that we have in our hearts thank you for the privilege of representing District 99 for South and North God bless all of you uh Jeffrey uh Tes is up next good evening uh first and foremost I'd like to thank the board and everyone here who showed up for CMG tonight my name is Jeffrey TW a maintenance mechanic at North High School I've been with the district for 3 years now in that time I've truly learned what it means to trust care belong prepare and evolve not just to a job but to the district and Community as a whole I timly love working for d99 and especially being part of the CMG team it brings me great pride to know that our department keeps the school safe clean and operational on a daily basis this is possible because of the dedication of our department with this being said it makes my two-hour commute to and from work work worth every Mile in CMG we are a family we feel this way because of relationships we've established not only with each other but the Administration staff and Community as well voting on separating our employment would not only devastate our department it would shy away from the core values that have been enlisted in us as being a part of the d99 family belong prepare evolve care and Trust I plead you consider what you hear from the testimonials tonight that you do not cash your vote in favor of the change and keep CMG part of the district 99's family thank you our final slip for the night is Bobby [Applause] dado Mr Z props are not allowed for the presentation to the board you have three minutes thank you um the schools my name is is Bobby Zeto thank you a school's job is to keep the students safe we heard a lot about that and thank you for all the staff the second job is to educate students so what we've seen last week dgn has 17 students with two FS we saw dgs has 107 students with two fs and the reason for that was the demographic of families in Downers Grove South that was odd uh year-over-year in literature and the ability to read at grade level Downers Grove South students have dropped 10% this is unacceptable what is the reason for this so that's what I brought in here students do not receive books maybe if you're in an AP class you get a book but if you don't you're expected to have a social studies class where the teachers can get any secondary source they can get a Google article that tells you that using continents is racist that Christians are racist against Asians and that Jihad is good the chair is here I had a meeting with him and principal lip that told me this is what they can teach at dgs so that's a big problem so the question is what is the board and how is DJs going to help um improve that 10% loss and the ability to read my second point my second point is an audit at dgs on pornography I didn't used to think pornography could be an issue at dgs and then my son received a the book twice the main character was showering you couldn't see the nipple but up you could and then the next couple Pages you knew she was nude from the back and then from the waist up full frontal my son is not old enough to see this and the school gives him this book so let's do an audit on is there is there more is there more pornography he's given a book in literature with the fword and the MF word on every page we discussed this in pipeline um thank you uh doctor I really appreciate and I had emailed you I look forward to more feedback on that so to have a hearing the book would say MF MF MF son of a b my a in the book on multiple Pages 137 pages each page had at least the F or the MF word so these types of books should be removed from the school the school would have a lot more cohesion and that's it I thank you for your time thank you all thank you okay item number 12 Communications and announcements um Jenny do you have a report on lend yeah sort of um we will have another meeting on Friday which will be more up to date the last meeting that we had at the end of February we had a guest speaker from the aasa which is a national superintendent Association um and she sort of gave a high level overview of what's going on in Washington and you know how districts you know how it's going to affect districts and what we can be looking for and being mindful of um as we process some of the changes and the legislation that's being proposed um going through both the federal system and then you know more locally our our state session which is quite busy so um that was pretty much the whole meeting um and we will have our regular land of business meeting on Friday so I'll have more to report then all right thanks all right Chris can I get a report or an update on sassin uh nothing new to report we haven't had a meeting since the uh last one okay yeah we're working on Staffing models just like we are here and Facilities just like we are here so good Terry do you have anything to report on the Education Foundation no we are not meeting till Wednesday so okay um Ken anything to report on Ias B no nothing report okay Charelle any report on the downers growth plan commission nothing for me okay all right um in upcoming board meetings we have uh our next meeting will be April 7th 2025 um for Workshop meeting here at the ASC at 6:30 p.m.

we will uh move on to public comment um folks will have up to three minutes please share the town where you live and you'll have three minutes thank you press it till it's green press it it's green think that's a bum do you want mine I love thank you than to see you hi oh that one works hi I'm Rachel Cronin Townsen I live here in Greenfield I have been teaching here in Greenfield for 25 years um my children were born raised in Greenfield graduated from Greenfield High School Valedictorian and salutatorian both of them and I'm going to tell you right now that Greenfield is important to me right it's where I chose to come it's where I chose to raise my family it's where I chose to teach and I've been here when we've had economic problems in the past I personally as a specialist here in Greenfield have been pink slipped five times right that's a thing that has happened to me and yet I'm still here it is my hope and dream that whatever decisions get made today in the next few weeks in the next few months that every one remember that our students the kids that we take and hold every day are the most important people we have in Greenfield and we need to keep their hope alive we need to keep their cheer alive and we need to make sure that when we are making hard choices we are keeping the things that they love or school will be terrible thank [Applause] you st ail I should say for folks on Zoom who' like to make public comment after we're done with the inperson public comment you can raise your hand and we'll recognize you for a zoom comment thank you go ahead hello I'm Stella Verlander and I live at 18 Pawn Street when I was 16 I came here to question the proposal the proposed budget and advocate for staff and resources that were under the chopping block to get cut now as an adult and years later I'm here again to advocate for the exact same thing this will be my last year as a high school student and my last year at ghs in my time at ghs I like to think I've learned some things one of these things is that life will always present you with choices I understand that the task of evaluating the school budget is no easy feat and there will always be people people who are unhappy with the outcome that's just how these things work but there will always be a choice there are decisions made that will objectively be better for the district and its students and its staff and there are decisions that will be objectively worse for them I understand that you are working with the very short end of the stick that has been forced upon you by the state and federal government for you to make do but do not let that back you into a corner I choose to believe that this community cares for one another and I know for a fact that there are people in this room that will keep fighting for our schools no matter what happens bringing up seventh and eighth graders to the school and shutting down the middle school will not be sustainable it just won't rushing into this decision and focusing only on short-term benefits will not work it just won't I implore you to use our community as a resource and hear our testimony to make the right choice I personally believe that merging our school with Pioneer Mohawk and more will be most beneficial in the long run as we are small schools with declining attendance rates I want to make this as clear as possible with overfilled classes less electives and less extracurriculars you will not have students like me students like Shane who do so much for our school environment students like Mel Bella and cam who have come here tonight in support of our school because they care students like April who participate in almost every club and extracurricular will cease to exist students that care do not pop out of nowhere this might sound harsh but it needs to be students like us were born from teachers who have time in their classes to devote to us who have time to teach classes that are filled with the norm normal amount of students and aren't um overfilled it comes from being in clubs that we love and appreciate having a reason to come to school every day from doing sports and coaches that care about us thank you April Follow by T good afternoon my name is April Rooney Adams and I am a junior at Greenfield High School I I am a part of many extracurriculars including band student council Key Club National Honor Society green room and French Club and a couple more I have attended Greenfield schools since kindergarten and have seen our district flourish and shine as well as through the hard times of 2020 and the pandemic my first full year in person after that was my eighth grade year I remember being so scared about being in the high school building with all the kids way up to age 18 I watched kids in my grade at 13 years old get bullied by people who were nearly adults and be pressured into more substances than ever before being in extracurriculars like student counsil and band which are combined for 8th through 12 made me feel way more safe and connected at my school but I know that that is not the case for everyone many of my classmates spent that year scared 8ighth grade is not as separate from the rest of the school as ad as adults who aren't in the building every day might think sure they have their own lunch period in hallway but really do they plenty of eighth grade students travel completely across the building to get to their classes including upstairs towards the science and English hallways if there are too many eighth grade students for their own hallway how are we going to fit seventh grade there too we most likely won't which results in 11 and 12 year olds walking the hallways amongst people who could very well be 18 they are in such different phases in their lives that it becomes a problem I know that many schools around us have a 7 through 12 program however their schools were designed for that for that model ours wasn't an article from Mass Live on August 2nd 2014 while our school was being built when talking about it states the school is built for an enrollment of 585 students in grades 8 through 12 if you look at the floor plan of our school with the classrooms that we have that much is clear I understand the budget is a very hard thing to move around especially considering the increase in health insurance taking up a large portion of the town's fund increase I also know everyone in this room including myself is here for the betterment of the Greenfield students however I do not believe that moving the 7th grade to the high school building is the best decision that we can make regarding the organization of that budget and the future of our students thank you for your time if the person who is on Deck can come and sit in the front row U just to make the transitions faster that'd be great is there anyone else oh there's no one else in the room okay thank you good evening my name is Tara cluder excuse me I am a teacher at Greenfield High School I am the vice president of the teachers union and I am a taxpayer in Greenfield um I'm here to ask you to please support superintendent Pat node's budget and ask you to please not put the financial crisis of the Town onto our children and onto our schools thank [Applause] you one more person in the room and then we'll go to zoom stay uh good evening Doug zelwin Greenfield um I have a a couple of thoughts here first is to recognize as I think we all do that we're in in this mess because of the lack of funding that we're getting from the state and the FEDS um and that squeeze is putting the same problem on towns everywhere and we all are approaching this as if we are alone and I think we need to figure out how to work with the other towns not only in the Pioneer Valley or the the Connecticut Valley but across the state there are over 200 districts right now that are in hold harmless that are being squeezed to death and going through this exercise if we keep doing it alone we're screwed secondly I think we have to recognize as we all do which is why the room is full that schools are the center and heart of a community it's why people will move here or won't move here um it's why we say kids are our future and then don't pay for it we have to figure out how to pay for it consistently and give them what they need um third trying to decide on the school budget without recognizing that it's part of the larger City budgets a pretty difficult challenge I mean we don't know where the money is um or how to work together as a city to figure out how to fund the schools and everything else we're trying to do this sort of in isolation tonight and that's that seems really difficult so I hope we can figure out how we can talk together across the entire city um and make good decisions that allow us to keep our schools fully funded I don't think closing the middle school is the right answer I don't know what the right answer is um but I do know that if we cut um the school budget um we are selling ourselves and our kids short and I hope we do everything we can to make a different Choice thank you on Zoom we'll have uh Susan wapk followed by Kim thank you for allowing me to speak tonight um I'm sus WTIC I live in for Avenue in Greenfield um I just want to talk about budgets a second um as someone who has managed a number of budgets not quite this large but almost this large um I know how difficult it is to cut budgets um but I do think that we have to remember I I really support what Doug has just said that we really need to look at this as something where we're all in this together where this is something that we have to look at from an overview and that uh and look at it from the point of view of there's no there are no evil people here this is this is unfortunately something that is imposed upon us not something that we started from the beginning um this is not our choice this is what we have to deal with um I'd also like to support Doug's comment that this is a Statewide issue and that we as a city and we as a community need to get our legislators to work for us because they need to understand how difficult this is and how we are being underfunded um that's a long-term issue that's a shortterm we're obviously in a short-term Pro uh problem but I want to thank you all for coming to this meeting with a spirit of working together and not with a an a blame game thank you Kim and then Stephanie Kim if you would share your full name and uh the town where you live okay Ken is my wife um excuse me uh we're using her computer this is Paul jablon and uh from Greenfield I would like to continue the idea that for the last three years Greenfield has been building a better and better middle school and the school committee and the schools have been working very hard at moving the fifth grade back and I would like to see that continue to happen for years I worked at universities training Middle School teachers so I have some expertise on seeing what's going on the second thing is more a question and that is I have great respect for our DPW I've actually written my turns saying that as well as for our rec department and fire department so this is not again trying to work together in the past when our school budgets have been cut and this is a big cut in our school budget those departments didn't necessarily have the same percentage cut we're going to lose a lot of staff and faculty if we have this budget are those departments going to lose the same percentage of staff from their departments and the last comment I have is also another question which is last year we were really out on the carpet to the state because we couldn't get enough this year couldn't get enough uh specialed persons to work with the kids who are in the highest needs with this budget are we going to have even more Cuts in special ed and I hope we really can work together answer these questions and be fair to the kids in our schools thank [Applause] you Stephanie Stephanie Duos Chapman Street Greenfield um I'm really disheartened by uh departments being pitted against each other it's one number that is expected from the taxpayers in Greenfield one number that everybody that is paying that bill they struggle they struggle like everyone else sometimes heart's decisions really do need to be made and we gave a lot of money to a library to a buyer station New New trucks new uh pocket parks there was a lot of money being expended no one's screaming through the roof and we supported the teachers we've always supported good education that's why we pay additional funding above the state required that they give us I mean allocation is up to the to the superintendent doesn't fall the mayor says look we're in tough times we're in tough times and everybody's squeezing their belts and it and to pit departments against each other well you know maybe the taxpayers not a lot maybe a lot of taxpayers don't actually have kids in school right now and maybe you're asking them to fund something that's you know something you they have to make hard decisions themselves about in in the taxes so you know I I really think that the mayor's um coming back with something that's reasonable I know she spent hours and hours and hours looking at you know making hard decisions across the board I mean I don't think it's right to to pick departments against each other I mean we do have declining enrollment in Greenfield maybe we need to look at some of the factors why um we collaborate our sports with other uh towns uh you know there's there's options there and maybe utilizing or offering um Green River School to a new tech facility for you know we're losing a lot of kids to the Franklin Tech maybe those are options too to maybe bring more kids to Greenfield so we are inviting um like Texas expanding let's maybe look at their model thanks is there any other public comment in the room or on Zoom oh we have a few here in the room so we go back to the room please state your name and spell it if needed and share the town where you live hi everyone my name is Pamela Goodwin I live at 54 High Street I'm older so I'm not paying taxes and I got rid of my business so wouldn't have to pay taxes but I have been a teacher for many of my years um I guess my only comment is um I hope people go back and look at some of the school committee meetings in previous months I agree with Doug swellen um and Susan rtic and I thought one of the best comments was the recent comment by member Goodwin who I'm not related to by the way and um you know was about being being a team and coming up with a plan that seems to work for a town that is having major major uh fiscal problems the last thing I'll say is I would like us to address the attendance problem the TR Andy problem in a way that makes sense in a way that would follow the law I don't know if we have a Trent officer or not but I think that we need one if we do not have one I'm not clear that running a second bus schedule for kids who have parents that maybe went off to work is part of a budgetary need but I think that if enough pressure is put on students and parents to show up where they need to be and if they are able to feel comfortable there that's the other problem you know special needs kids have special needs there are special teachers for them I worked alongside of them in many of my years of teaching so I just want kids to feel safe I want them to love sports and drama and music because honestly they're not not all showing up having a ball with Reading Writing and rithmetic thank you for your [Applause] time Anna McBain do you want this spell thing okay uh I live in Greenfield uh I am an not graduate Alum because I graduated from a different District but all the way up through most of high school I went to Greenfield and then now I work in Greenfield and I was actually in the district when the of original uh downsizing of Green River so that uh the midle mid school started housing fifth grade happened and then I was part of the inaugural 8th grade academy and what you know our current students are saying is completely true where having the eighth grade in the high school never should have happened I know that that model Works in so many other places but in Greenfield it just doesn't work we're all terrified our eighth grade year is terror you're scared that you're going to Excel and have to go out and be part of the Gen of the older kids so you purposefully don't Place well like it's not a good thing I Wrong um but you know it's it's also a testament to Greenfield's creativity because we were in a budget crisis at that point those two times and the people in charge you know in your positions at that point were able to come up with Solutions so that us as kids we were just like well this is weird but everything's normal like you know we we felt the change but we didn't so I just hope for today's kids that we can you guys can come up with a solution where you know we the students don't feel as much of a change thank you [Applause] is there any other public comment in the room is there any other public comment on Zoom hearing none thank you everybody very much for sharing your views I'd like to hear a motion to move item seven vote to approve Greenfield High School local history trip to Tucket peat museum in Connecticut on March 27 2025 to the next item so moved is there a second second um all in favor I I I carries unanimously and so uh Mr Martin if you would make your presentation are you making a presentation or not you don't have to it's up to you I'm supposed to present uh you're welcome to we I think we thought you might because you're here but I can wing it sure okay thank you for the email you sent to us yeah you don't mind winging yeah sure I didn't know if you had had read that I assumed it was put into the record uh yes so it's a local history elective course um and it's sort of designed around trips to mostly Franklin County um and uh our first major unit is about sort of indigenous cultures of the Northeast and more locally in the Pioneer Valley um and it centered a lot around early contact between Native Americans and English colonists um especially King Philip's War many of which battles took place in the in Franklin County um so we work really closely with David Brule um the nloma project and uh he gives us some guided tours he comes and he's a guest speaker um but one of the first trips we take is to the peat museum in Connecticut it's one of the sort of leading museums on indigenous cultures anywhere but especially in the Northeast uh to sort of immerse kids in you know what indigenous peoples were uh how they were living pre- contact and also how contact with Europeans is a very unstable table um were how that changed uh things for them uh drastically obviously um so the museum is phenomenal uh we went two years ago um with this class and it was one of the top things that my class uh enjoyed that year we could not go last year because they were renovating the museum so we're hoping to go again cam okay uh one of the students is right back there um so yeah it's 10 students um two adults because a nurse is required and so it's a little mini bus and we go and come back in the school day thank you if you have any questions I I didn't know quite what you wanted to hear but uh I think we'll do move on to the motion and if there questions or discussion I'm sure um people will be happy to hear from you but is there a motion to approve the um the field trip as presented so moved uh motion from Member den and a second from Member Goodwin uh any discussion all in favor I I carries unanimously have a great trip thank you both thanks for coming all right everyone really we're now moving to item three review of the mayor's statement from March 12th 2025 school committee meeting um as uh just so folks may know um the mayor made a statement and there was a discussion um but um school committee members hadn't had an opportunity to view the statement in advance and so have had a chance and since then to gather information ask questions um uh and so we wanted to provide the um members an opportunity to um discuss it again um so um I'd like to um make a motion that we um suspend the normal Rules of Order and adopt a uh Round Robin Robin format where each member would have up to 3 minutes to um to speak um and uh and I would also like um if the um members of the school administration here um have responses or information they can provide along the way that they have the opportunity to do so so could I hear a motion to um to make that change to our Rules of Order so moved motion for member Martini is there a second second second for member ston all in [Music] favor I I any opposed any extensions yes three minutes um secretary denif can you time the turns um and so we'll I think we'll just go around the Horseshoe um starting with member child's going to the mayor um so and you can um pass if you would like and it will come around to you again so um every member who wishes to speak will have an opportunity to I'm going to pass okay remember Goodwin I'm going to go back in history I mean I look at data and I look at numbers I was a math teacher so I always go there and I've lived in Greenfield for over 30 years and there have been two really hard votes in Greenfield one was Walmart which caused family fights and the second was voting for a $60 million High School I remember that day walking up to vote to the old high school and it was the first time I met Donna Woodcock she was standing in front of that school and she stopped every voter and I'm going to tell you $60 million for a high school was a lot of money and we all knew it was going to raise our taxes it was a painful vote I heard people saying things like that high school was good enough for me when I went to high school there was a lot of debate all over this town and when it passed our taxes went up we're still paying 1.3 or 1.4 million every single year on the high school so one of the things I want to say is I am dismayed by the blame game we have a new mayor we have a new superintendent this town has been out of control with spending a new library a new fire department a new this a new new parking garage the John over like we just borrow money and think nobody wants it back um a $60 million high school we talk about build this well business needs to come here because the taxpayers cannot afford what is going on people are choosing to leave town um our declining enrollment are underperforming schools those are facts um the number of children currently at the high school by removing the eighth grade you would be down to 300 it breaks my heart to hear kids say they lived in Terror in eighth grade that just makes me sick um there may be another way to look at um reconfiguring schools I think the mayor was being very creative and it was a great solution that she gave because it meant not cutting teachers in staff by closing a building you save money which means not cutting the people in front of children which I will support 100% teachers and Paras in front of children is is what needs to be the priority of this budget We're Not Alone um I looked at all of Franklin County you know there are some districts with 500 children in a school district and they're asking for millions of dollars it doesn't make sense Greenfield needs to go to the table with redistricting doesn't seem to want to we're not alone I looked at every request of every District in Franklin County $111 million for 5,000 children not enough thank you secretary Den I didn't realize it was going to be statement night so I'll just speak some of my ideas I was on the redistricting subcommittee and I spent a lot of time with a lot of you and we really put our heads together and we came up with so many options every idea was on the table we came up with some really wild ones and in the end we narrowed it down I think to two or three options and we figured out which ones would work with the size of the buildings and keeping in mind the class sizes which was a big issue and we brought in families and parents we went to all kinds of community centers we had all kinds of late night meetings we gathered everyone's thoughts about this and we arrived at the one that we thought that would work for now it wasn't a permanent idea always in the back of our minds we thought we have elementary schools that are old and we can't keep fixing them we're just putting Band-Aids on them so the idea was always in the future that we were going to need to build an elementary school for everyone which would lower the budget lower admin costs put everyone in the same school give us the equity that we are looking for but the problem was it's going to take 10 years and 10 years starts now we have to start thinking about this now and it's going to be another one of those really hard votes like melody was just talking about it's going to cost so much money but that's what we have to do and not just because of you you know the fiscal crisis now but because these buildings are very old and we've toured them and we've looked at them and there's so many fixes that need to be made so that's where I arrived in October of 2023 after working on this problem with all of you so I'm still in favor of continuing the redistricting as we planned but I also understand that we've hit this fiscal wall so I'm also open open to discussing the ways that we can fix this but it's hard for me to discuss this without having seen the full City budget yet I don't really know where all of the rest of the money is going and where all of the cuts are so I feel a little bit in the dark about it but what I do feel in my heart is that when it comes down to it the most important things are your schools fire department probably your police you know that's a conversation to have and you just don't get to have extraneous things you need to keep your water safe you need to keep your houses from burning down you need to make sure that you have your health services but you are able to cut everything else but those important things and that's what I want to see first before we really get into this I'll recognize myself um going around the Horseshoe um I guess yeah I share um the concern about only looking at one number it's kind of really impossible to evaluate the um the mayor's budget based on just the number for the schools uh so um it's hard to know if we're being asked to make cuts that are uh fair or not um based on the what may or may not be happening to other departments um and what the overall picture is uh the other question question that I feel like I need more information about is um free cash and stabilization which are are accounts that some people may refer to as your rainy day fund and it does seem like it's raining pretty hard so I'm wondering if we're not going to use those funds now um when are we going to use them and I will pass to member seon if you want to be recognized I'm assuming we'll be doing more than one go around correct great thank you um I only have a couple of things that I wanted to say right now one is thank you to everyone who showed up and made statements and also thank you to everyone who sent us emails about other possible Creative Solutions to this um to this issue I I want to address specifically redistricting and I understand that that is a a topic that brings up a lot of for folks because there was a very long process and a lot of people did work hard on it but I would remind us not to get caught in a sunk cost fallacy we did that work we had a particular picture in mind of what our economic situation was looking like or would look like as that work was done and now we're in a different picture so yes if it still makes sense to keep our the original plan let's do that but I don't want us to get so focused on on doing that that we don't look at other options just purely because we already did leg work on a particular one in in the in the past that leg work happened whether or not it still is the right decision so we can that it it just already happened and we can we can choose to move forward um in a different path if it makes more sense right now um while I can I'm I'm hearing folks talk about the the feeling a little bit at Sea with having only one number to look at and I can I I hear that I can feel that I understand that and at the same time that is the one number that is ours to look at comparing to other departments is the job of the city council and if we need to Lobby them we can but it is not our job necessarily to say what is fair it is our job to advocate for our students and to get what we need and to Advocate very strongly for that but it is ultimately not our job to say the Department of Public Works doesn't deserve the money they're getting or the fire department doesn't deserve the money that they're getting we can't we can't operate in that in that regard because that's not our function right now um I don't have a brilliant plan or solution to offer you but I'm hoping that we can work one out together um I would like a little bit more clarity about whether or not this is We Are Tonight making a binding decision about how to move forward or if this is continued discussion for a vote that will occur at a future time I know we have a vote sort of on redistricting but I just need to I I'm just in the in the e in the interest of not making hasty decisions I just want to understand like what is the level of permanence of the decisions that we're making tonight do we feel like we absolutely need to make these votes tonight and with that I'll pass so already um I agree it's very difficult um to make judgments in a murky situation where uh the mayor is bringing this to us prior to putting out her budget book uh for FY 26 but there is actually more than one number available out there if you go looking so um in the mayor's remarks last week she said that the city budget can increase only 2 and a half% and that is about the same as a million and a half dollars every year which uh is not exactly the way I see it because in five out of the last seven years the city budget has increased by considerably more than that uh and in fact three times it it was more than double that and uh this occurs in part because the tax levy calculation is actually not that straightforward uh it begins with the previous fiscal Year's maximum allowable tax levy plus 2 and a half% yes but then any new growth is added uh so far as I can tell Greenfield's average new growth for the last 3 years has been $450,500 lastly any excluded debt is added and uh Greenfield has run about a million a half dollars in excluded Debt Service for the past several years so adding these together that looks to me as if the new Levy limit for FY 26 would be 46 m324 21 and then in addition to the levy we need to add revenues so um greenfields cherry sheet estimates for FY 26 show that our receipts are projected to go up $198,400 186 is a new additional chapter 78 for schools and 12,612 is from an increase in receiving tuition for school choice other City revenues have been mostly consistent in the last few years budget books um so if we used the same number for those as last year it looks to me as if we would have estimated revenues of uh 28 8,427 76 which would bring a total of Levy plus revenues to uh 74 M 83,8 169 sorry for all the numbers um and uh then once other available funds are added meaning what the city chooses to use from stabilization and free cash then we have a total from which expenses would be deducted uh I would note that at the beginning of this fiscal year there was a combined almost 9 million in those accounts of which the mayor plans to use a bit over 800,000 and I think I heard her say last week that she doesn't intend to use any of those funds this year mayor thank you um Kate I love those numbers thank you for that analysis of that um so I just I'm going to respond to a couple of things I didn't know we were going to do little statements so um I liked what somebody said that we are all in this together I didn't choose to have us be here um I didn't choose to have the health insurance costs go up um and I don't want this to be an adversarial something um I I think that someone had a very good point about one number you know you've got like I gave this number in order for people to have time because this we had other meetings that's what we've done in the past you give the number about this time so that a school committee has time to make decisions that's what happened last year and so it was all following along at the same time I have not completed my budget and I will be up very late every night finishing this I've gone through one time and uh I'm I'm glad to hear that everybody is thinking about what's happening in every other department that's what I've been doing last year and this year and we'll continue to do that um we educating our children is one of the most important things that we could ever do but they have to have clean water and so it's all part of one big picture um as I said at last month's I mean it whatever was the last meeting we had a few days ago it seems like a year um but um last year we had a number that I worked with um uh cuz we were that one year that you did talk about we were like at the levy ceiling with uh I think it was like I forget what the number was like maybe like 7,000 to go before the levy ceiling you you can't live like that so um at any rate um we have to stay within certain constraints last year there was a number and I was like 1.4 and as I said it was my first year being a mayor even though it wasn't 5050 or whatever I thought I gave the did schools a much higher number um because I got kids and grandchildren and people that teach in my family too so but on the and it's not sides it's a community um we had a total of one extra FTE that we added and I I think that's an important thing to think about so um this year some talking about DPW that is the place where we we need something we have an increasing number of you you see it water main breaks infrastructure needs it's part of this city you are part of this city your kids your teachers you all matter to me every one of you but and there's some scientists here you want we have scientists working out the water treatment plant there's a lot of things down there that are broken they're part of this too this is not an easy decision to make but tough people make tough choices and these are horrible numbers I didn't make them up I I don't have the full number you you will be maybe looking at this year's budget let me tell you whatever it was um you know the other side did a lot worse last year I don't I don't know what the numbers are going to be but I've made enormous Cuts I'm calling people back writing them I just that was my first thing this morning I said I'm going to go down on this one because I know we're not making it um so um you know and I I I want to say something to address um my my my teammate Kate I said that is true about you know revenues and I thought but one thing I learned when I get in there I thought this is the Department of Revenue is watching us just like you have desie watching you we have the Department of Revenue watching us and you have to average whatever that is you just can't put in like if we have a really good year on the meals tax which I think is going to be really good this year um you know we have Starbucks whether or not you like Starbucks um we have this coming and I won't speak to one restaurant or another or anything they're all good but um you know those revenues will be a good thing but but I can't spend more than I have when when I was a young mother I can I just finish this one sentence yes I just I had $40 a week for food and my favorite things are potato chips and ice cream but I had three little kids and so I bought the meat the eggs the cheese the milk and the vegetables and the fruit and they liked apple juice and I couldn't buy that my sister used to come over with the apple juice and the paper goods because there wasn't enough for those extra things thank you that's what we have to do thank you member Childs will finish this first round okay uh so like many others no prepared statement winging it um so something that as come to me a lot is what percentage of the Town budget the school budget makes up because if you're going to look at any Department school budget will be the biggest part of that is because these if you look at a number of staff you're looking at just under 2third roughly of the Town employees are School District employees so it's not anything unexpected that the school department would therefore have the biggest budget of departments uh looking at numbers for enrollment one of the things proposed was K through six being moved to the elementary school level but I don't believe we have room at the elementary schools to move both fifth and sixth grade there especially not without negatively impacting our most vulnerable students in special ed programs that is to the best of my knowledge I could be wrong if I am wrong I'm thrilled because then we can move sixth grade back but I don't think I'm wrong another idea that has been presented to me in email and in person is moving uh continuing to move fifth to the elementary school but moving sixth and seventh to the high school for a combined Junior Senior High uh on paper that does sound good but if eighth graders are already having these fear issues and if adding sixth and seventh to the high school would then bring us very close to Max Capacity at high school it seems like those sixth seventh and eighth graders it'd be pretty hard to keep them segregated ated from the oldest students there so I guess what I'm coming to for this is the math is not going to be pretty no matter how we cut it um we're going to this is a triage year this is a Band-Aid year we are in a terrible situation um and no one is going to be happy with what ends up happening but everybody up here is committed to preserving as much as we can as what matters the most for the kids the people on the ground working with them their teachers their instructional AIDS and I am very glad that I've got a team up here that really do care about the kids every single one of you do and so um magic idea fairy and Magic Money fairy very welcome thank you um I just like to check with the administration if there's anything you want to say or any facts you'd like to share sure um I just have a few comments just based upon a few things that were said at last week's meeting but um suggesting to close the Greenfield Middle School and make Elementary K through six in the high school 7 to 12 to close the budget Gap um and there's this suggestion that all programming and services including all teachers and instructional positions will stay the same I'm here to say unfortunately that is not realistic in order to reduce a budget by $1.9 million cuts to programming services and Personnel will have to be made we have been working on redistricting for the past two and a half years and I have been a part of that work and on December 13th 2023 the school committee voted in favor of moving to option 2B when I took over on July 1st that is what I have been building the work around moving forward for 202 25 to have redistricting take place we met with students and we scheduled them early this year so we would know staffing needs we've met with families so they could make decisions about their children's future we've met with the bus company we've met with teachers and Union leadership so they would know the impact of all of these moves and based on an $1.9 million reduction to the school committee budget it feels like all of that work done in the past 2 and a half years is being being sum summarily dismissed I am not sharing this information as a reason why we could not consider altering our course I am sharing it though so that people have an understanding of the amount of time energy and resources that have gone into this planning for two and a half years the mayor's idea proposes changes that the school does simply not have a plan for at this time furthermore in our budget development the City Finance director had given us a directive to include a 3% increase for all bargaining units that did not have a contract Beyond this fiscal year that is also included in the budget proposal from the schools so above all of that we were caught off guard with the mayor's suggestion of closing the Greenfield Middle School next year we have talked tonight and I've heard many people comment on how we are a team and we are all in this together I do do not feel part of this team when blindsided with his information and not included in this conversation the schools are willing Partners in looking for solutions for the benefit of our students and we are not considered to be at the table to be part of those Solutions I take offense it is my job to do its best for them and we need to be part of that solution in this team that we all speak of [Applause] any other comments from the administration okay um so we will we can do um iess I'll suggest one more round of three minutes each I would respectfully ask that uh school committee members uh try to stap focused on the facts and the issues and the problems we're solving I think we all understand that we're in a difficult situation and having to make tough choices tonight I hope that everyone feels heard about that I certainly hear um have heard that from from the mayor and from many others tonight um so with that member Goodwin or uh we'll start with member Goodwin would you like to make an additional comment we're not alone this isn't this conversation is going on all over the state our commissioner has even taken a job in Pennsylvania as a superintendent um our department of Ed is being pretty much cut to half things are happening across the United States we we weren't ready when a pandemic came we did amazing things for children we weren't ready but we did it things change fiscally every single day um things change you can't you can't plan for things that just change so I would say to you as somebody who is a member of the star committee that fifth grade should going back to the elementary school about 4 years ago cuz it was supposed to be the fourth grade back to the elementary school and then the following year the fifth grade we made that decision Adrien NZ was chair we made it it didn't happen I don't know why but it didn't decisions get made and they change but this city is been borrowing money that has to be paid back that is a fact if you just drive around our city you'll find out you'll see a brand new library you see a brand new fire department just notice those things cost money it's not like um we have somebody making money in the basement of City Hall which is kind of scary to start with we also have buildings that are falling apart and that is the truth but we have been doing repairs I live through a new roof new modules new sidewalks a new basketball court all at Newton we've made repairs we've spent money in the schools as well so things change you don't want to close the middle school fine do figure it out I mean we can go every that can be we can start talking to the towns next to us um you know um districts that are having 500 children um because of declining enrollments they're talking about putting on the children in one building um that's a K12 um everybody is looking at different things blaming people is not part of the solution um I I know the fire department needs a $1.2 million truck or all our house insurance is going to go up do I want that fire department to get that truck absolutely cuz if my house insurance goes up it's just one more bill I have to stop doing something else remember J would you like to speak I actually just had a question for superintendent Pat node when you look at our redistricting list all the options that we went through has anything materially changed in the last few years that would allow any of the other options to be possible the ones that we were looking at were with regards to the sixth grade since that issue came up from last week's meeting sixth grade is feasibly not possible to fit in our elementary schools um the only way our elementary principles could configure that would be by reducing sections in other classes so for instance if you had a 25 uh student first grade in one building that would be one first grade instead of two and then you would be impacting classroom sizes in order to fit all of them there um we did not look at other options from years ago um just because we were considering what was on the table from last week uh I just wanted to speak to um redistricting and um and what what we need to do tonight essentially so um just that I I was amazed going through that process to see uh how many moving Parts there were and even in our vote on the decision to do it it once we had voted on something it meant other things fell into place it it's an enormously complicated uh system that we that is run here in Greenfield every day by our um amazing Administration and um by all the the teachers and staff um um it's very complicated to have this many students educated here and when you try to change one thing it affects everything else um so tonight we do have to make a decision on that because there's just simply no way um to be ready for September unless we make a decision basically tonight about what's going to happen um and um and and that I think speaks to you know the amount of planning that went in in the um the meetings that we had the the input we took from many many different parts of the community traveling to different uh parts of the town to make sure that uh different uh constituencies in Greenfield could be represented um it it was a huge effort and a huge project and so it's not it's not something where you can unfortunately uh have an idea on your own come in and and have that work in time for September that's just not that's doesn't kind of give that's kind of not um it's a much more complicated system and it's much more involved uh than just having an idea and throwing it out there I guess is what I wanted to say um not that people didn't give thought to their ideas before they shared them um but certainly would be great to hear those ideas as part of the redistricting process or earlier earlier in the process than um on the eve of the budget um for the year in question so uh I think that's all I wanted to say uh Vice chair seon so I have a question but I'm not sure that it can be answered for for the administration which is do we have accurate cost estimates for what the different redistri ing options would have been or are so that we can compare you know the 2B that we eventually voted on and I say we but the prior school committee voted on um versus 2A or option one or whatever the option do we actually know what each of those options would have cost or would cost us still one two does that even matter because it doesn't really matter where the students are located within our city we still have to educate them no matter what building they're in and so we still need the staff to do so am I is that follow so it seems like redistricting kind of as planned since that's the thing that we've already put in motion and parents have already been communicated with and to my knowledge staff has been communicated with as well has been part of that plan seems like the best option if we're still going to need to hire them anyway um and have them on I'm not sure what cost savings there is to be had reconfiguring in other directions if there're going to be the same number of students whether they're in you know the high school or the Middle School speaking of eighth graders um I had another point or question where did it go it lives somewhere sure super so um as previously discussed we have been building this budget and planning this school year based upon option 2B there were other options presented in the redistricting years as you know one was make a K1 School make a 2 three School make a four five school um those have not been analized by the school department because it was not the vote with which we were directed to go so um if that is the case with the committee to eliminate the current redistricting vote that I'm working under then that would be something for discussion tonight and then we would have to replan I do want to Echo though time is of the essence because parents and families want to know what their children are doing and it is very anxiety filled and stress filled when these decisions are not made early enough for proper planning so that they can make the choices that are good for their students thank you I remembered my other point um it seems like we're being asked to make a decision in reaction to a proposed number by the mayor but we know that that's not actually the final step in the budgeting process and so we can't know if the number that was given to us by the mayor is the actual number that we have to work with could be less could be more we hope for more we would love more um you know but I feel like we're trying to make a decision in reaction to something that that isn't totally real and I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that and I I don't want to be put in a position of of reacting in that way in fear or shock or you know and like oh no we need to do this immediately and I'm I get the haste of wanting to communicate with our community and we can still communicate with our community with our parents and with our our our staff um and I feel like even if we don't have a firm thing to tell them yet we can keep them part of these conversations I just don't want us to make a decision in haste that we don't actually have the full and real information we need to make properly so I don't but I also understand we can't wait until the city council has done their thing and send it back to the mayor again like I'm I'm struggling a little bit and I'm wondering if my colleagues can help me think through that having gone through the uh additional Levy and revenues that I reviewed before I want to also point out that the city is expected to see a reduction in specifically sending tuition assessments in FY 26 the cherry sheet estimates uh include an overall reduction of sending tuition assessments of $662,000 and uh if other expenses in this section uh are similar to last year which they seem to be pretty consistent then um I would anticipate that the total amount available for the city FY 26 operating budget would then uh be about $ 67.7 million and from that would be taken this year's Debt Service which is also a pretty consistent amount um so if we pay a similar amount as last year that would bring the City operating budget to 66 2.3 almost uh that is about $2.8 million more than last year uh an increase of considerably more than 1 and A5 million even without the use of any stabilization or free cash funds so uh after deducting the 1 and a. half million for the increase in health insurance of order this your perview because I think that's city council perie get make committe Sor I have to ask you this is a meeting of the school committee there is an appoint of order from the from the zoom go ahead member martini thank you after deducting the million and a half uh for the increase in health insurance cost that the mayor has told us about um I am thinking that should leave about 1.3 million uh to cover the rest of the city's operating budget now I realize that's considerably less than uh the 1.8 requested by the school department um however I um having a hard time seeing a justification for not providing to the schools at minimum the additional Chapter 70 Aid that the state is sending that is for the purpose of our schools as well as the uh increase in our receiving tuition for uh school choice and the reduction in our sending tuitions uh that would be about 700 and some thousand and uh would be on par with the relative size of the school department with the rest of the city departments within that amount so um I I am sure that the mayor has a lot more details to use than I did with this um because again we do not have the budget book uh so I feel it's rather unfair uh to be having to do this without that but I would like a response from the mayor about um each of the specific details that I provided I want to recognize Andy Pat our business manager to respond before we move to the mayor yes just a point of clarification on a school choice receiving tuition that will come to the schools it's listed on a cherry sheet but it is put into a revolving account so we will be getting that so mayor um I'm not I'm not going to go line by line because I don't even have my computer but um so there's people that made some very valid points about they hated to make a decision right now um do I think that that number is going to change uh you know it comes I do this and then it goes somewhere else I'm continuing to reduce in other departments making calls um um I don't think that that number is going to change significantly I think that there are things I mentioned it last week um you know there might be things that we you talked about stabilization in the school uh in the city and I thought yes I tell everybody all the time what we have in stabilization in the city I I I say that I announce it at meetings it's there nobody ever uses the stabilization it's suppos to be there for the even in Hurricane Irene I don't think they did I think I said that last week um uh one thing that I would look at I'll say this to Andy and I said it before I'd be looking at that um adjusting the budget numbers with the outof district tuition that was one of the main drivers for the increase in um this budget it it was increased by a million and a half and as I said before we have about the same number of students and went up 3.67 so um that special ed revolving uh that we were going to use um if you remember from last year remember that last year um there is a million dollars in a special ed revolving there are adjustments that could be made to that number that would significantly bring that down say a balance of a million in the special ed revolving in 1515 the circuit breaker as of today there's a, 415,000 school choice receiving there is to um and school transportation there 1,5 926 but I know I don't do the school budget that that's what I know I don't but I review the numbers all of the time and I think that um we had David messing that said actually you know we overestimated on the cap so perhaps that number could be adjusted additionally this um this body voted to appropriate uh last year in the out uh District tuition line we voted to appropriate uh I think it was $483,000 and that appropriation was reduced um to 319,000 I think so um something was going to come out of the special ed revolving I think that that um it and it didn't we haven't used special ed revolving in three years although I heard in a meeting on May 1st that we've been using 300,000 that's just not so I have a print out of it here which I could share but um last year there was when there was a reduction of uh getting out my magnifying glass sorry this print was small we didn't know how to get it on a paper so I thought I'd bring that um and this is the smaller of my of my magnifying glasses but um that when there was a reduction last year of 400,000 we were going to take $169,000 out of the special ed revolving and put it towards that that out of District tuition line that didn't happen what happened without any of us knowing was that the out of District tuition line went down to 319,000 there are things that you can adjust that's what I would do that is definitely what I would do um but aside from that so I think there's a huge savings there aside from that I actually I know everybody I could you know I hear the flavors in the room I hear the flavors and the feelings I don't miss that I I'm going to finish my sentence if I may if you don't want me to I'll be silent um I've been raising my little hand as much as I could to talk about what I could see on the wall I raised my hand so much I'm no longer on the redistricting Committee just so you know and that's true it's in the July 10th meeting at uh you know I had to get up in public comment to speak about these things I'm announcing it I spoke at the budget meeting can we afford this I'm not a I am not a prophet of Dumis and gloomis I'm trying to make this work and I've spoken to another town um we needed to have these conversations and we're here today and I don't want to be here any more than any of you do but it's time the you know when the ink wasn't dry on this in June of 2022 when everybody was making their decisions and I wasn't here then um we had 250 more students we had in 8 through 12 we had 506 now we have 406 not even three years ago 5 through 7 we had 361 now there's 318 I'll be silent I want to recognize uh Andy and then we'll come to you and sure uh there's a lot to unravel here but I just want to start with what I think the the biggest one is is regarding the sped tuition budget so based on the claim of it being factually inaccurate we went back to check okay um and it was reported at that meeting if you watch at the public hearing it was acknowledged that we had contingencies in the general fund budget because and I believe it was member Goodwin that asked a question about the other contingencies and potentially circuit breaker for the circuit breaker funding we anticipate using it for this upcoming fiscal year and the following fiscal year so the fact that there's a balance in the budget for circuit breaker as it is right now does not mean that it isn't going to be used in fy2 we plan on using $1.1 million of circuit breaker funding we've used $500,000 of it already and come the end of the year we will do another reclassification of expenses to fully exhaust the 1.1 that was budgeted we are statutorily required to use those amounts in circuit breaker so then back to the original thing regarding the sped tuition so we went back Mr messing we all met to talk about it I'm going to give you there are three categories of AO District placement tuitions we have tuitions to collaborative programs tuition to other public schools and tuition to private schools we have four students placed at Public Schools the total tuition for FY 26 for that is $198,200 26 students at private placements the totally anticipated tuition for that with the operational services division increase of the 3.67% is 2,683 2 $55 we have three students at collaborative programs for a total tuition of $1,322 as was reported at the last school committee meeting and then now from that school committee meeting to just recently we have been assigned the fiscal responsibility of three students so the annualized tuition for those three students is $35,840 the total amount of those three and the fourth with the three new fiscally assigned students is 3,287 7700 our FY 26 proposed sped tuition budget with all our funding sources was $3,249 1113 ladies and gentlemen that contingency is gone we're already starting at $3 38,5 in the whole so to claim that it's factually inaccurate that claim is factually inaccurate on to the other funding sources as has been the practice in the district we oops okay for FY 26 the other funding sources we have available to us in fy2 our plan for use of circuit breaker I should excuse me school choice $300,000 of school choice it hasn't been charged it every month I report to to the school committee that the practice in this district has been even when I haven't been here is we charge everything to the local budget first and then so that we're not doing journal entries back and forth with the city finance department come the end of the year we will do one final reclassification of expenses from the local budget to the respective revolving accounts just because there's nothing charged there as of right now that the mayor is reporting on doesn't mean that it's not going to be used and yes if we are lucky enough to have some wiggle room for whatever the reason may be we are going to do what is fiscally responsible for the students in this community to make sure that we have funds available to address anticipated needs unanticipated needs that's good budget practice which is what it is that we're doing so $300,000 for planned for school choice in fy2 FY 26 budget was built on using $663,000 of school choice 1.1 million of one excuse me 1.2 million of circuit breaker in FY 25 1.1 million in FY 26 sped tuition revolving account that is one of our other contingency that I talked about that we would like to keep because it is such a volatile area that we need to make sure that we have it if we don't have it we're going back to the city for a supplemental appropriation or we're making cuts to the local budget to offset what it is that would be these unanticipated needs Transportation revolving account planned on using luckily enough because with the con the credit we had this year we are able to keep some funds in the transportation revolving account next year this fi 26 budget was built on using $400,000 of Transportation revolving account funding those are the major funding sources we have available to us so to set the record straight the inflated factually inaccurate locally appropriated special education tuition funding is gone we're already in the hole so we're going to have to obviously I mean it's only by I say only $388,000 but that's where we were that's where we are now so when we build in contingencies there's a reason for it and everybody here just heard why it is that we did that because that contingency was already needed and it's already gone and it isn't even July one thank you we're still on our round robin so two member Childs okay first I want to give some context to our enrollment numbers specifically the drop from 2022 to 2023 so when we give that year it is the spring not the fall so if we look historically 2021 was the year that had a remote start fall of 2020 with a high hybrid finish in the spring 2022 was the Year everyone was back in person and any parents watching might be having some flashbacks from that because our children or at least mine went feral and it was a tough year we had traumatized kids who needed a lot of emotional support from their teachers there was a learning loss of kids who needed to be in the classroom to learn because not every kid can sit at a computer and learn remotely different learning styles different personalties ities so that 2022 to 2023 drop which is the biggest enrollment drop did come after the really a very tough school year so that is what we're looking at historically for that that said our numbers have overall been trending downwards which is something we'd like to reverse because we've got a great school system here uh I would not say it if I didn't believe it and if I didn't believe it my own child would not be in it um so going to what I think we are doing here tonight and feel free to correct me if I am wrong we're looking at a strategic goal and priorities to give to the superintendent strategic goal being redistricting or Not redistrict redist Sorry English is hard redistricting or trying something else which would have been the closing the middle school we need to give a directive to the superintendent because she needs to build a budget to staff School schools and she needs to know which schools she's Staffing with which grades uh for that note uh it seems like we've got status quo of delay of redistricting or redistrict as planned or do something new and radical uh close the middle school or one of the ideas we've been sent for that one the K through six does not seem physically viable other options seem logistically improbable on the time scale that we have so then we're back to status quo versus redistricting I do believe redistricting is the better idea because it is what the community wants and it's better for the district's long-term Health however I am in favor of whatever preserves the staff that are working with our kids day in day out if it has to be delayed then it has to be delayed so I would like to us to take a serious look at status quo versus redistrict for what will keep our teachers with our kids um be that goes to the other thing we're here alongside strategic goal can I it's like one sentence our priorities because something that the school committee does is it talk we work with the superintendent and we tell her what the community wishes to prioritize which is how we got music programs back because the community told the school committee who directed the superintendent so I believe tonight we are here to give guidance to the superintendent and yeah go team thank you um so we're about to start our third round I would like this to be more of a lightning round if possible uh we'll give give you all the same amount of time if you wish to use it but I would do ask you to consider whether what you are going to say has already been said or whether it can be brought up when we're actually um having our discussion of the redistricting and voting on that so with that um member goodwi I think we're all in agreement that our priority is the staff with the the children and I guess I had a question for Andy when he was talking and I wanted to take my time to ask that one of the things that I see a lot of money going for is 17 drivers two two bus monitors and two dispatch um that's that's a lot of money a lot of people and I'm just wondering um when we asked how much money we were bringing in it doesn't seem to be bringing in as much as the cost of all those people I know at one point there was a $400,000 you had said that the Vans were bringing in so I guess to me as a teacher and an administrator the number one thing will always be teaching kids kids to read I believe that's so being in the business of Transportation um I've never worked in a district that took that on as a private like a business within a business um is that something that could be um something we look at as a potential cut is what I'm asking or are there contracts that are not something we cannot look at Mr pette I I would have to to somewhat agree with you because I will say this uh just transportation and copy machines are the bane of my existence so um so with all all King side though I was the decision to buy the fleet of Vans and buses and do our own special education Transportation was done when we weren't here and I'm always very hesitant to be get quote unquote get in the transportation business but it was surprising to me the revenue that was generated I don't know if the promises were made that uh and I believe Mr NCA was involved in it we might be able to ask him as to whether or not the transportation was going to fully support it's like become a net zero expense budget you so I don't know if that was a case I would be surprised if it was because very rarely would it be something like that however I do have some data to share as far as the overall Transportation cost the Department of Education has uh a tool that they call which is a district analysis research tool the dart if you might have seen it where it does a statistical comparison of all sorts of data and you put in the community that you belong to and it comes up with comparable communities that you're compared with regarding demographics Etc a slew of uh things that go into this calculation and of the one two three four five the communities that they were compared to quog where Palmer Spencer East Brookfield AAL Royston Holbrook Oxford Randolph Greenfield and Garder Greenfield is the second lowest as far as its Transportation cost in the comparable communities so is it a dollar amount that we like to spend nobody likes to spend you know what it it costs when you're talking Transportation especially because in this area for both regular red and special education Transportation when it comes to the market there are very few players involved so it's we've had districts you know that's one of the reasons why for our regular transportation we join with a a conglomerate of districts in the area to try and maximize our spending power and that still went up by about 14% when we did the last bid so long answer is is it an area to look at I'm going to say with what we're talking about here everything is on the table but as far as the cost of the transportation and looking at it's a statistical comparison I understand but we are amongst the comparable District districts that were recognized by the department of Elementary and secondary education were the second lowest per people amount when it comes to transportation in the that demographic Community okay or Eve um I am all for radical out of the box thinking but I just don't feel comfortable because I don't know what I don't know what the actual dollar amount is that we'd be saving by making any radical changes at this at this moment so I have a few questions for you superintendent Pat node um do you know the actual dollar cost to move to option 2B in the fall what's the cost of doing this 1.

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f.org students who participate in club sports or other activities of regular classwork tend to have high higher grades better attendance and improve attitudes toward learning and the second graders that will have a bigger amount of Club opportunities next year in third grade it wouldn't be fair to take them all away when some kids some of the kids didn't even get a chance to try any clubs oh kids could discover new interests through trying out different clubs that could go into favorite hobbies or even towards a career in addition clubs can be better to prepare elementary students for certain activities in middle school and in high school for example chorus Orchestra and band help students learn the basics so they are ready to part participate in middle school and high school level performances thank you for your time and we hope that you take our speech into consideration have a good [Applause] night do I move it up students if you don't um you don't have to identify where you live you guys are you know kids so if you just want to say what grade you're in that's fine you're good everyone has 7y time the same hi my name is Addison Langston and I'm a seventh grader at decy Middle School in New Jersey since the pandemic there has been a significant decline in test scores the elimination of independent study will eliminate the time that students use to study and stay organized and prevent them from getting the additional help that they need the new ideas implemented by the board want to put 30 to 35 kids in one classroom this is appalling because the occupancy for an average sized classroom is 26 people confining 35 kids to a classroom is a safety hazard kids should not have to dislike the overcrowded inconsiderate and challenging learning environment that our school will become imagine having 35 kids in a classroom and what monument Soul effort it would take to get them to all listen at once this won't be possible teachers are sculpting the future of the world they should not be neglected while the school administration claims to prioritize student needs these changes indicate a concerning neglect of the vital role that teachers play in our education the relationship between students and teachers is crucial for a positive learning environment kids should be able to feel safe when they go to school thank you for your time [Applause] [Music] thank you you will mostly hear parents and teachers speak tonight but the changes you're proposing affect the students just as much has anyone ever asked the students how they feel about these changes hello my name is Evan Ball and I currently a seventh grader at Dei Middle School I'm here to give you my perspective as a student I've had a great two years so far at Dees if you go through with these changes our school will run completely differently which is not for the better for example getting rid of Halls why would you want to get rid of something that organizes and positively impacts students and teachers socially and academically it is very assuring to know that I have teachers who know each other and can collaborate to make sure that I'm the most successful learner I can be and who are very close by so I can talk to them whenever I need anything knowing my locker is 10 steps away from my classroom and that I have enough time to get all of the materials I need is very comforting to know next year is my last year at toi Middle School I'm not only speaking for me and my grade but on behalf of the hundreds of kids that will come behind me and won't get to experience the Middle School model that has worked so well for me as a student thank you for [Applause] [Music] listening hi my name is Sloan schwager and I'm currently a seventh grader at Dei Middle School since there there will be a whole other school program in the building more utilities will be used which will end up costing way more money in the long run teachers should not have to teach sub J that they have little to no experience with you can't just move teachers around like chest pieces this is affecting real people combining Halls would make it harder for everyone to get to class classes could be very far apart if the Halls get taken away which would cause way more students to belate for their classes which matter also firing one of the guidance counselors can turn into a problem for students that need to talk to them and let let their feelings out it would be more difficult to find the time to talk to a guidance counselor if there is only one for the entire school which is crazy because there are hundreds of students how can you say you are putting students first when you are putting teachers last thank you for [Applause] [Music] listening hello I am Analise tney I'm speaking here today on behalf of Dei Middle School students um I'm going to address the changes that are being brought to our school my main topics are going to be raising class sizes and saving independent study after listening to to the last meeting I realized that increasing class sizes isn't right there are many reasons why firstly class sizes right now are 26 people per class the maximum occupancy says 26 people per class how is it safe for students and teachers to have around 35 kids in a class when the maxim maximum occupancy clearly states 26 people so how is adding more bodies in the classroom and not having the room get bigger safe for everyone secondly one-on-one time all kids benefit from one-on-one time with teachers how is it going to be possible for teachers to meet with everyone and to actually recognize and help kids who are struggling and falling behind you're setting up our younger generation for failure my next topic will be indep independent study so many students use independent study for different reasons for example last week I was absent for 4 days and I an independent study really helped me get back on track seeing as I missed five tests and and had one coming up that week um students also use independent studies for meeting with teachers when they're confused on questions or studying that can also help with raising class sizes seeing as they're going to meet with need to meet with teachers because teachers can't meet with them during class um taking independent study away is another thing you're doing to setting us off a failure all these problems could be solved if we think about it and work together for example we know other schedules that can be designed that could save independent study you need to you have to be willing to compromise [Applause] hello my name is inmar colion and I'm a student in seventh grade at Dei Middle School our school's proposed changes bigger class sizes getting rid of independent study cutting staff collaboration and reducing staff could seriously harm our learning environment and Student Success these changes that are based on budget cuts will likely create more problems than they solve in inreasing class sizes to 35 class in classrooms meant for 26 will make up hard for both students and teachers it will be difficult to give personal attention and many students will feel frustrated and disengaged a crowded classroom may also lead to more behavior issues and interrupting The Learning Experience eliminate an independent study is a big loss this program help struggling students allows for makeup tests and supports group projects more most importantly it provides important resources for students with special needs without this support many students could fall behind and those needing extra help would lose valuable assistance cutting out collaborations among students is not a smart move for Effective teaching teachers need time to plan together share ideas and discuss the needs of their students without this teamwork lessons may not connect well making it harder to help each student succeed finally reducing staff including bus drivers support staff and teachers will impact student safety and the quality of Education with fewer staff members there will be fewer supervisors larger classes and more work for teachers which can lead to burnout and less effective teaching in conclusion these changes will create a less supportive and productive learning environment we might see lower student achievement more discipline problems and lower teacher morale our school should be a place where all students can succeed but these changes would move us further away from that goal we need to stand together for a school that truly supports every learner the definition of school is an institution for educating children according to the Oxford dictionary but that is not what our school would be like if these changes occur due to the need for more money hello I'm Natalie Rogers a seventh grade Green Hall student I will not lie I'm scared for the Social and academic future of our business sorry I mean school but it's hard to tell when teacher and students pleas are being overlooked and pushed aside and the Greed for money drives all of these changes our teachers are the foundation of our school and many of them have truly shaped me as a person so listen to them when they say students grades will go down if they're crammed like sardines into a classroom kids cannot walk all the way around the school to get from class to class pods are very crucial to learning independent study is necessary for children's education we cannot have strangers strolling around our classrooms and cutting teachers and bus drivers is not the solution listen to the cries of the people you claim to be helping where there is a will there is a way please let us help you find it this is not the answer [Music] oh hello I am Addison locks and I'm from deacy middle school I would like to touch base on a couple of things that I'm not happy with like the music program I've played an instrument since fourth grade and I've personally loved it my sister who is also coming to the Macy in 2 years also really enjoys it if you were to take this away me and her would both be devastated I also would like to talk about the expansion of classes classes are already big enough especially gym in gym class there are up to 60 kids in a class which is hard for the teacher teachers to manage and for the students to manage as well I will admit that students do not behave and are immature and teachers trying to get them to listen is not working last thing I would like like to mention in my little Spiel is independent study this is one of the most crucial parts of my week and helps me with catching up on with with school workk and asking help if I need it I don't have time in class most of the time to ask for help if I really needed it so independent study really helps me to connect with my teachers thank you good evening my name is Julia Taris I'm a 7th grade red Hall student at decy middle school tonight I will be talking about the impact of enlarging class and the dangers that could come with this the room occupancy is no more than 26 students in a classroom I know there's signs in the classrooms that state this we already are exceeding this limit what will happen when you throw five or more extra kids in a classroom teachers will have an overflowing amount of papers to grade questions to answer and students to take care of even if there are 32 kids per class in Middle School regular teachers have five periods to teach I'll save you the math 32 students Time 5 periods equals 160 kids being taught if there is an additional period like you're planning there will be 192 students a day can you imagine grading 192 tests 192 homeworks with that many kids the stress levels in teachers will be Skyhigh not only that if teachers are being cut that's more weight on the shoulders of the teachers who are not cut what will happen when a teacher has to take care of 30-some students and the fire alarm goes off I will repeat the classroom occupancy specifically States no more than 26 students should be in a classroom since when has the safety of students and staff become a suggestion since when has the safety of students and staff not been the top priority as a student in this district with one sister also in the district at vanan elementary school as a fourth grader and another entering next year I fear for the safety of them and their peers the safety that is supposed to be provided from the Educators in classrooms the parents and homes and the board sitting in front of me thank you [Applause] hi I'm Maria Ibrahim from Seven Reds EMS and I'm Emma man from eight red zms even though I won't be at Dey school next year I still care about the students including my younger brothers who'll be going to Dei Middle School after I graduate today we want to talk about an important issue that affects our classrooms and our learning experience having just over 30 students in one classroom is a significant concern for us it impacts our education and our safety first let's consider how crowded classrooms can affect our learning when there are so many students it can become challenging for us for our teachers to give us the attention we need we all learn differently and in a large group some of us may feel lost or struggle to keep up this can make it tough to stay engaged and excited about learning safety is another issue is another serious issue in case of an emergency like a fire drill or a lockdown having too many many students in one room makes it harder to evacuate quickly and safely everyone deserves a safe environment where they can focus on studies without worrying about their safety as a seventh grader I understand how important it is to have a supportive learning environment addressing these concerns would allow us to connect better with our teachers each other and create a more positive School experience in conclusion we believe it's essential for us to come together and address these challenges doing so will not only enhance education but also ensure safety thank you for your [Applause] attention dear board members I'm SARS deepok from deasi middle school and I'm in seventh grade Green Hall the changes you're planning to make next year will change how students look at our school for Generations after I leave which is why I want to make sure that this school doesn't make any wrong decisions the next idea that is being planned is increase the number of children in class to 35 which is outrageous the maximum capacity for each classroom is around 26 yet the board has tried to exceed it not only that but how are students supposed to learn and ask questions when 34 other students are also willing to how will the teachers get to each student and make sure that they understand a given lesson as well as graded assignments for increased amount of students this puts pure stress on the students and the teachers another idea that is being brought up is stopping Sports and musical activities this is very depressing for the elementary students and middle schoolers who want to students who play instruments have the same feeling since they put so much effort into learning the instrument just to be told that the musical activities would be gone the school district has already taken FCS away from we won't get to know our bus drivers like we used to who knows if and who knows if and not having a signed bus driver is dangerous in a in few ways because we don't get to know our bus drivers like we're used to and who knows if the bus driver we get are careful or Reckless teachers being cut is also something that shouldn't happen because the teachers have put so much effort into learning how to teach students throughout the years but firing them could cause the teachers stress and confusion all the things that were stated must not happen for the school to be the best that it can be I have heard that the school district gained $2 million and can sell one of the administrating buildings so I hope we can put that money to good use these planned School District changes might ruin the reputation of how students teachers and parents will view our school thank you for taking the time to understand my [Applause] concerns we were fixing the clock and the internet just went out out for a second so we were fixing that hello my name is pushkar and I'm a seventh grade student at the Macy Middle School you seem to put an emphasis on the quality of the education that is being taught in this District but you are completely contradicting your words with the actions that you are taking students who are transitioning from elementary to Middle School will have a very tough time adapting to the changes on top of that you are decreasing the number of teachers and increasing the number of students that will be in class this change will lead to kids not being able to properly grasp the material that they're being taught as the teachers will not have enough time to get to each and every kids questions which will lead to a negative impact on the children's grades while we're on the topic of class sizes this idea is absolutely outrageous in the majority of my classes which is only roughly 22 students I feel very cramped also the maximum capacity is written in all my classrooms as 26 with only room for 26 students fitting 35 would be a mad house I've talked to many my teachers and they have said that they don't know how they'll fit 35 kids in a classroom on the other hand cutting independent study is another bad idea high schoolers have independent study every day to catch up on work and US middle schoolers only have one day this period is something that many students use to catch up on work and projects and taking it away will be a major disappointment for all students also cutting independent study means that tier three would have to miss a period uh so that they could go to tier three tier three students like me already miss a period to catch up on work and having to catch up on extra work for the period that I miss would be overwhelming I know that we have to take action to reduce our budget but there has to be a better way than worsening the students work environment if the board proceeds with this actions they will be SE there will be severe backlash from students teachers and parents thank you hi I'm Jacob peelman I'm in seven green at decy I want to start by acknowledging my peers who wrote speeches and shared tonight I know we've all had a long day and I'm grateful to all the kids who spoke tonight and for their parents bring them here to share their concerns I apologize for all of you who have heard this already but I think it needs to be said again I understand enough for these slides to know that we have a huge deficit and the budget has to be balanced somehow so I'm sure some things we all don't like are going to happen next year I would like to ask for two promises tonight A promise that the administration will Advocate on the state level to get these funding formulas to change please set up trips for parents and kids I would love to go and speak on behalf of the kids and also promise from the board and administration that if painful Cuts have to happen that you will be creative dedicated and leave no stone unturned to restore all of the best things of the school district kids deserve small class sizes to learn and Thrive Transportation they can count on clubs where they can go make peer connections and additional supports that they need need to have great educational experience I promise that I will keep coming back to meetings and bring more students with me each time until action is taken to restore cuts that are made thank you good evening my name is Brian whitz vice president for the eam township Education Association I've been an eighth grade teacher at Dey for 22 years the changes you about to make to the Middle School model will be very drastic this will be the most profound change of the Middle School Concept in the entire time I've been at DMS and probably in the school's entire existence dating back to the 9s I hope you have done the research and done the homework to justify the impact this will have on our students but like many of my colleagues have said at this microphone I worry that some students will slip through the cracks and not get the attention and support that they need the loss of independent study as you've heard while only once a week will have a negative impact on students they've said it themselves they need all the time they can get to finish homework take makeup tests and get extra help from teachers this is always a good catchup period for them the rising class sizes is is a concern for student achievement our elementary school teachers are already stretched thin with the current class sizes they have especially in the primary grades and now we are going to add more students creating less individualized attention and small group instruction our elementary schools are already struggling to meet the needs of their current special education populations increasing class sizes will further strain resources and hinder our ability to meet IEP requirements thank you for restoring benefits to our power professionals who have 20 plus years of experience in our district you cannot replace that experience and we believe given the years of dedicated service they have given to this District this is the right decision both morally for their families and for students we wish this could have been extended to other power professionals with Benefits who have spent many years in this District some of them have close to 50 years combined working with our autism population crucial positions that are hard to replace we have fought this long and hard for many years in order to keep valuable hardworking Paris in our district who love and care for our students many of whom live in town and are your neighbors we would love for the administration and the board to consider extending benefits to more of our poers Who currently hold them finally I would like to address finally I would like to address the Outsourcing of Transportation this is a drastic step and in my 22 years in this District we have only outsourced one Department cafeteria staff I hope Dr Smith and the board have considered what some have mentioned at this mic in the past few weeks the potential Rising contract cost with hman or whatever private provider the district chooses this could be an unknown factor that may hinder future budgets and how do we know it is likely Helman has the board already met with them isn't this something that needs to be put out for a public bid in closing please take great care and consideration of the drastic measures this budget proposal will have on the makeup of this great School District both for our staff and students you're about to unleash changes changes that will harm our students that cannot be easily undone thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Russ BS president of the IAM Township Education Association I know I might sound like a broken record but I hope that eventually some of this starts to sink in based on tonight's event so far it's clear that our issues go far beyond just the budget as I said last month it has been devastating to witness the decline of this District in just five short years the challenges we face today stem directly from decisions made at the top a lack of strategic Financial Planning and failure to prioritize student centered funding have left our schools in crisis last year the Board of Education left Millions on the table we wouldn't be in this position if there had been foresight and careful planning however I don't place this blame solely on the board it was the responsibility of the superintendent and business administrator to explain clearly and explicitly why securing those funds was critical they should have outlined the long-term consequences of passing up this once in a-lifetime opportunity to offset S2 losses and yet here we are last month ETA leadership requested a copy of the district's working budget and asked to be included in discussions to better understand the district's Financial landscape we wanted to work alongside you however we were informed by Dr Smith that this wasn't part of the standard process but that he would be happy to discuss it after the budget was presented to the board and made publicly available well maybe it's time to stop following the standard process sometimes thinking outside the box and prioritizing transparency can lead to real solutions last year ETA didn't uncover $1 million and shift dividends until after the budget had already been created perhaps if we were been included in those discussions earlier we could have found it sooner potentially preventing individuals from worrying about whether they would have a job or not if the district had dedicated as much time and effort to preserving what we already have as it did to expanding what we didn't we wouldn't be in this situation I would have loved I would have L to see the same passion that was poured into the passing of full day kindergarten in preschool applied to protecting the benefits of our hardworking power professionals safeguarding programs and departments and saving careers it's time for a change in priorities before it's too late thank you good evening my name is Tracy Brown I'm one of the vice presidents for eam Township Education Association and also a teacher here at MMS for the first time in the history of ETA we put forth this vote of no confidence we had 86% participation from our 576 members this is significant we can't even get 86% participation when we give away free food and baseball tickets for real so what does that tell you we've all had enough Dr Smith 97% of our voting members your employees do not have confidence in your ability to lead us effectively we do know that many of the budget cuts have come from the state level and legislation needs to change many superintendents in in the state of New Jersey are facing similar budget deficits however you Dr Smith are the only one in New Jersey facing a vote of no confidence we've asked time and time again for communication collaboration and transparency your own administrators in this District are often kept in the dark they are not part of the collaboration process as they have been with past superintendents we had hoped that members of the esam township administrators Association were also going to speak tonight however it seems that they as well as many others fear possible repercussions from you Board of Ed members I strongly suggest you attend one of the administrators meetings and hear what they have to say just like you visited some of our classrooms this vote of no confidence goes way deeper than budget cuts a lot of problems stem from your agenda you wanted to have free fre preschool and free kindergarten at all costs no matter who asked questions no matter who shared concerns you just kept moving Full Speed Ahead it also appears that you want our middle middle schools switch to a junior high model at all costs even though it goes against best practices for adolescents even when alternate Solutions and compromises have been offered it is baffling even the children came to say so maybe you miss your day work at the high school in town but that model is not best for etsd middle school kids what we need right now is for the current children in etsd schools to be the number one item on your agenda Board of Ed members I hope this is a wakeup call for all of you the staff is not happy the public is not happy heck even the kids aren't happy I mean wow that's a record attendance for children and any parent in here you should be so so proud of [Applause] them so my question as Board of Ed what are you going to do I know some of you really do care you need to start asking questions and I hope when it's your turn tonight we hear you ask him some tough questions hi uh my name is D Jolene and I am am proud to be the union treasur um this Groundhog Day doomsday scenario that we replay every year is indicative of a larger issue when deciding how to move forward with a strict budget the question you all should be asking yourselves is what do students really need to become successful young adults I would encourage everyone up there to do the research but I can tell you that it isn't another new math program it isn't fontas and panel it isn't even the preschool program that we're touting lately having trusted caring adults in their lives is the single most important factor in young people overcoming childhood adversities and learning to grow up strong and healthy in body and mind and so consider the cuts being proposed here tonight do they encourage student and adult relationships is creating a situation where we have even greater par turnover going to support our special needs students is having bus drivers who forget to pick up students creating a feeling of Safety and Security is doing away with the independent study period the one period a week that students have to get caught up and connect with teachers going to help I can tell you that in many districts including my own daughters they have a period every single day where students can de-stress catch up on work and ask teachers specific questions in Eve sham we can't can't even keep that period once a week is putting 30 plus students in a class going to Foster student teacher bonds I mean have you ever thought about where these Cuts might end are we going to keep cutting until teachers are teaching 40 kids 50 or until chat GPT and robots are teaching you have to come up with better than just cutting workers the kids as they've shown tonight are depending on you too I think everyone here tonight is longing to be respected listened to and approached in a manner that encourages working together not dismissed out of hand as we have been tonight we're wishing that we had leadership with a vision that would try new approaches listen to Fresh ideas so that even if some hard decisions needed to be made they would feel like shared losses because right now when whenever I hear someone up on that stage say that this is difficult for them I feel sick in my stomach it does not feel genuine so perhaps a class in communication skills is also warranted above all please don't say that in Eve sham we do what's best for kids because as someone who's been here longer than I think everyone up there I can tell you that we used to but we don't anymore [Applause] my name is Laura Maxwell and I am an eight yellow science teacher as non- 10year teachers we are advised not to speak we are advised have somebody read it for you but my conscience will not sleep if I do not look at all of you in the face and let you know what you are doing is a mistake not only are teachers losing their jobs we are going to class sizes of 30 to 35 I first want to start by saying that I would not be the educator I am today without my amazing team words cannot even describe the amount of growth that I have had here and everybody that I've worked with knows it the invaluable knowledge years of experience and confidence they have given me has made me into the educator that I've always wanted to be for myself but also for all the students that enter my classroom the time we spend discussing student needs struggles and everything else in between makes our classroom a better environment for all students secondly I want to talk about us non- tenure teachers who live in fear year after year after a year just hoping and praying we don't lose our jobs we are starting families buying ounces not in Marlton due to the fact that I want my kid to be in a class size of normal and to be able to read at an appropriate level and really getting our feet wet into the real world despite all of this being at the back of our minds every single day we show up with smiles on our faces and teach without a hiccup I love coming to work and being a teacher but I am I [Music] love um if all of us non get cut you will see to regret it what happens when all of the tier one folks are able to retire I came from a district that someone last meeting described as trash and I can 100% back that statement up because you have a building filled with brand new teachers trying to figure out everything on their own and that is not realistic to anyone involved I teach eighth grade science and allow my students to use chemicals acid and fire do you think any person in their right state of mind would allow a classroom of 30 to 35 children do that I'll answer you right now because the answer is no we teach our students and our own children stand up for what is right and speak up for yourself so here I am on the brink of losing my job I work so hard for telling you that if you go through this what is proposed you are ruined the lives of families and students alike I am here standing up for what the students in this Township deserve and normal class sizes I am here standing up for the non- tenure teachers who live in fear and most importantly I'm standing up here for myself and and to give an example for my daughter don't go down without a [Applause] fight hi my name is Amanda SHI I'm also an eighth grade yellow Hall inclusion teacher standing with my team teacher Lauren and many of our other team teachers who just spoke before me um I'm back at the mic again I told you I would be last month I have spoken to all of you about the importance of our team models at the middle school level what gets accomplished during independent study time and how we use team time to help all of our students but especially those who are struggling with academics functional skills behavioral needs and other social emotional needs throughout the day I struggled to even put my finger on what to focus on as I Was preparing to come and speak here yet again however while everything we do is so very student focused and it should be I think it's important I spend just a little time telling you how our teams benefit the teaching staff we discuss it in our PD sessions often that teachers who are happy who are taking care of themselves both mentally and physically and who also feel supported in their work environment simply put will be better teachers we are when we are feeling our best we can give our very best to the students and that is what makes for the best classrooms and the best schools teams are those support systems they are our work families and our lifelines when we're just having a bad day or you're struggling through a problem you can't solve on your own I started as a first year teacher in this District 12 years ago Ean was my dream job for all the things I thought I knew there were a million more I didn't it was my team who helped me along the way they have been there for every Victory and every hardship no matter how big or small they have helped me be the teacher that I am today I wouldn't be here without them dismantling this team structure is about so much more than dollar signs or seats on a classroom map apparently that cap out at 26 teams and the structure provides are the essence of what our middle schools are about they create a culture amongst the staff that is then shared and passed along to students in numerous ways every single day a culture that you cannot create with this proposed Junior High model it's not going to happen how could we begin to really know 190 plus students although the N the number I heard today was 230 so I guess it keeps climbing how um we will barely have time to know each other anymore we're moving teams will not just change a bell schedule or a class schedule we're moving teams will forever change the culture and climate of the eve sham Township School District and it will not be for the better I hope this is a decision the board is willing to car on your on their shoulders all of your shoulders if you decide to move forward with this proposed budget thank [Applause] you you said it right good afternoon good evening good night I belong in bed I'm a teacher my name is Shela I'm a parent in this District um first thing first those kids behind me you're setting them up for failure but you don't care about that first thing first Dr Smith aren't you a parent you have kids do you think if you held the same position you would feel the same way being in our shoes back here wouldn't you be fighting you said earlier that you're sad you don't show it you're showing that you don't care what's happening with these kids that's first thing first didn't you come from another District that the same thing happened happened to and you're at this district and it's happening again are you going to leave this this District after when it happens all the way through that's one of my questions for you um I may not know much about what goes on in the school but I have a kid that's in again in this district and when I asked him tonight hey R come with me you know what he said no Mom I'm going to stay home where I know I'm cared about at home because they don't care about my future in school a seven-year-old said that to me tonight um you're trying to do with busing um let's see my kid was late to school a whole week cuz my bus driver was out sick the bus driver told me last week I don't care about this rout because it's not my route that's one thing he doesn't care to get to learn the route and it's a safety hazard because if you don't want to learn the route how are the kids going to be safe getting to and from school um and that was that that was kind of like a a punch in the face but are you still sad about that um also increasing class sizes I'm a teacher again I'm a teacher I'm only allowed to have 20 kids in my classroom in my district I work in Lumberton um you're going to increase it to 35 Plus kids a fire hazard a safety hazard God forbid the a fire breaks out we want them to scramble to under their desk I also want to know why do you think it's okay that you're going to increase class sizes that stops the kids that's in specialed from getting the help that they need that stops the kids from other grades that's not in special education from getting the quality time that they also need I'm an upset parent I'm a Fed Up parent I'm the one that said I came from a trash behind district and this is turning into a trash behind District I shouldn't have to feel that my son is not safe in school because of a safety hazard of adding extra kids and that he's not going to get there proper um care that he needs when it comes to his learning again you said again you are sad tonight that this is happening show up and show out that you're sad don't just say you're sad cuz you're not you look pretty happy to me and as a parent I'm pretty pissed off if you ask me so make the right decision and don't feel our kids good evening my name is Donna danis I'm a math teacher here at Marlton Middle School my eight yellow team is here to support me as well I'm also an e sham resident and I've had two students who've gone through our district um I'm really apologize I'm not feeling that well but as a teacher I'm used to getting up in for a million years but the time has come that we have Prime real estate Evans school and our administration building must be sold and it can be that is a solution to our problem I have numerous numerous ideas of what we can do if our administrative staff comes to our schools we can believe it or not reduce class size we can increase our our decrease our teacher to student ratio what would a beautiful model Middle School look like where we have administrators teachers students collaborating on a daily basis let's put the model of middle school that we want here in e Township should be a model that every other District looks at and says wow look what they did let's take our administrators who I value they are very hardworking and very thinly um sliced as well and let's start taking the duties of administrative staff and creating chair Department committees instead let's have our teachers be department chair share the duties of our administrators let's put our curriculum super supervisors back in the classroom let's have them teach a class teach one class a year one just one so our our parents who are concerned about our curriculum that is a solution to that as well let's put our expertise in the classroom to practice put the theory in practice to see if it really works let's work to build building eam Township better not making it worse I'm proud that my kids went through eim Township I'm approaching age where I'm going to have grandchildren I want my grandchildren to live in this community the number one question that families ask when they move to a community is what's the school district like do we really want our Realtors to say well sadly we had a 7 million deficit so instead of making good decisions to keep our community going we we caught teachers in positions let's make each [Applause] better Carol Larson Baron 114 dear Carol Larson baron4 Deerfield Avenue I'm also a power professional here at Marlton Middle School um good evening Dr Smith and the board I come to speak to you once again regarding the power benefits um Dr Smith I received your uh email on Friday afterno afternoon and I was totally devastated to learn that my benefits were going to be cut my benefits are very crucial to my husband and myself I've been with the district for 19 years and I was the first name on the start of the cut list um I am one of three Paras who work in the self-contained autism class here at moralta Middle School whose benefits are being cut I wrote to all of you on Friday evening after receiving the notice uh thank you Mr peelman and Mr deari for your response I really do appreciate that um I detailed all the continuing education that I've received I have to assist the classroom teacher through direct instruction to educate our autism students the knowledge and the training that I have in order to reach our students is very essential the knowledge uh depending on the day today how the students are acting what have you um the approach that you take on a skill today doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work tomorrow uh that means the delivery of instruction needs to change at that moment you're in that instruction you're doing that onetoone instruction and you have to look out too because you don't want to lose the momentum and you also don't want to create a behavior at the same time as an Autism Aid we are expected to make educational and behavioral decisions on the spot without assistance the continuing education that I have received supports me to make better decisions confidently um reflecting on the day-to-day activities recommending And discussing changes whether it be educational or behavioral happen constantly in our room constantly we meet every week to review anything that need to be done are handled as a classroom losing trained staff will be de detrimental to our autism students education and the success of our program I ask you once again to please consider my play thank you hi Wendy Beach I'm a bus driver from Transportation um I want to put all my uh concerns in emails to the board and I just wanted to say thank you to those that answered um I also want to ask a question as to um eliminating Transportation except for four drivers um you're saying it would be cheaper just to eliminate us so I just want to find out um if this is about the money where um where are Roots put out for bid if so for those bids to use in comparison to keeping our transportation as it is now of the information any other time our runs were put out to bid we were always cheaper I think that's very important in making this decision and I suggest also I put it in my letter to the the um email to the board um I suggest that you watch the Board of Ed meeting from August 5th 2020 uh time Mark is 6 colon 28 colon 05 and here what Mr ficara had to say about Outsourcing Transportation it might be some of help um I asked that the board that voted you in to please or we voted you in please do your due diligence by looking at all aspects when making your decision regarding our livelihood thank you [Applause] my name is Linda masterman and I'm a teacher at Marlton Middle School I don't need a crystal ball to see eam Township school's future my almost 30 years at Marlon Middle School helped me foresee what will happen if these program programs are cut let's look at this time next year in the middle schools come join me on this less than magical journey into the future retiring early moving to other districts and abandoning the profession several teachers have left due to the unsustainable workload of six classes with 190 plus students those who are unable to leave will face physical and mental health issues as they drown in work as they take much needed six time there will be no substitutes since the substitutes have gone to the neighboring districts where there are less students per class leading to less behavioral problems and stress likewise new hires will accept teaching positions elsewhere sadly the only teachers willing to work in eam will be those dismissed from other districts due to poor poor performance unfortunately the students will not fair much better in overcrowded classrooms with overwhelmed teachers since there will be no teams of teachers collaborating many students will flounder academically socially and emotionally of course some will be fine but too many will not without teams these students concerns will take longer to identify because teachers will not have the opport opportunity to discuss the students issues or notice patterns of behaviors across classes or from year to year there will be no independent study so those students who used to receive intervention services or ask for one-on-one reteaching and explanations from teachers will miss out the student who was absent now will have to make up missed Assessments in class missing even more instruction intervention services for our struggling students will be cut dramatically with the loss of teams and independent study as teachers try desperately to keep track of it all inevitably something will be missed parents will begin to wonder if their children's needs are being met and if the education that prompted them to move to Marlton hasn't changed Beyond repair after much consideration parents will decide it's time to move to one of the neighboring towns for Sal signs will appear on lawns sadly for those sellers word has spread that e sham schools are overcrowded and lack Services young families will decide to move to those neighboring towns instead I have literally one sentence this the for sale signs will begin to fade as months pass this is the future if you pass the proposed cuts to our schools I'll try to keep this short um I'm Leah Anderson I am a marriage and family therapist I also did a year of um of contracted um School counseling in the middle schools uh when I was a kid and getting ready for school my parents even though we kind of grew up right underneath the poverty line just you know we my parents bought us crayons papers erasers for me in such a a highly taxed and and highly valued area I'm also putting in paper towels tissues hand sanitizer disinfectant soap more markers for the the teachers to use because they're running out and I don't blame them I blame how the system is working this is ridiculous we bought our home in 2018 it is more than doubled in value so we are paying more taxes now and I assume anyone else who has decided to put their roots in here as parents wanting to raise their kids in a great school system that you guys are also paying more in taxes too now now when you talk about the S2 I'm I'm not a lawyer I'm not a legislator I'm not a teach future but if the system is not working then we need to challenge the system if there are schools that need our tax dollars to help fund them so that they can get just as good of an education as our kids I am for that and I that might not be everyone else's opinion but I am for that but that does not mean that we just give and drag ourselves down as well it's obviously not working so we need to organize go to Trenton and and demand better for all of our students parents are already picking up the slack picking up everything that isn't being paid by by taxes we are I send in extra money for students that maybe their parents can't afford that field trip maybe the parents can't afford for their child to buy books from the Scholastic um uh fairs The Book Fairs I as a kid I wasn't able to I had to go in with my my classmates everyone looking at all the really cool books colorful books and posters and and pens and markers and I couldn't even afford to buy one myself and that's not the fault of my parents either so I decide to give extra money to help other kids as well and I don't know what else you want us to do you're supposed to be leadership lead lead by example and help organize us so that we can tell our state representatives our we can tell Governor Murphy This is not working sorry I didn't keep it short enough thank [Applause] you hi my name is Shane heran I'm a concerned citizen I just want to say a few things here um came up here with no prepar speech or anything like that I I was thinking to myself coming up here what should I say but you know what I I said to myself um the children are our future we should be doing everything in order to make sure they have a productive fruitful future as well unfortunately I don't think that's the case I want to thank everybody that came out here parents teachers you know kids that came and played the with this boort but we already know what you guys going to do you came up here listen to us watch us plead our cases and then you go guys probably going to vote on the budget and that's sad but that's the truth and I have seen this before I know I know what what comes up here you you look at us and say hey let them speak and then at the end of the day you guys going to do what you think it's best but do you guys really know what what's best for all of us I don't think so you guys been elected to do a job but unfortunately I don't think you guys are doing your job how who has stor the lines in terms of salary Cuts have any of you decided to take a salary cut but you ask teachers bus drivers support staff to cut their cut their their their salary got the system as well that's not fair what are you guys doing in order to change that I don't think you guys are doing a job I don't have kids but I know you guys should be doing what's right are you guys prepared to to the line are you guys prep prepared to do what's necessary in order to make sure we preserve the proper school system you guys are asking teachers to add more students to the classroom where we already have limited budgets there is a ratio to teacher to students asking um teachers to do more it's stressing the teachers out giving them more giving them more to do which is little to do we need to do better as a as a community forward uh for each each of us as as well why don't you guys lead properly as a leadership team you've been elected to put the best foot forward whether you you vote for whatever or whatever is at the end of the day we should come together as a community as a as a in order to make sure that Isam education all the T every everybody that lives here have a reason here it's because of the great school system but they have but unfortunately can we continue to say that one one person said out when when you want to sell your house you want to buy a house here you ask about the school system what are you going to say the Rel is going to say well we had a great system um unfortunately I don't know but I just want to come over here to give my peace but thank you [Applause] good evening my name is Colleen Ellis I live in Westbury Chase I have two children in the district uh I'm also a speech and language pathologist in a neighboring district and uh the other day I was sitting in an IEP meeting for one of my students who's transitioning from fifth grade to sixth grade and the parent was understandably nervous and uh the case manager for the Middle School said oh well you know we're really lucky here because we have this house system where kids are really given individual attention and it was like taking a gut punch because I had just sat through last month's board meeting where you're talking about taking it away all these cuts and not one administrative cut and I know the argument I know the arent I've seen the spreadsheets that you know we spend less per student for administration than all the districts in the area that's all well and good but what kind of job are you all doing because uh there's a special education director who takes weeks to return an email there's a director of curriculum who refuses to see the fact that the reading program is failing these kids and we have a superintendent who is CA playing at despair while cutting people's jobs but had no problem negotiating a contract extension and a salary increase for himself during these S2 cuts that you blame for all of these issues this budget is so shortsighted and the overcrowding that it will cause is so detrimental to our students I have a child who is in Mees in a self-contained classroom he is autistic he has ADHD he's dyslexic he's a very complex learning profile he's also doing really well in school right now well enough that last year he was able to be mainstreamed out to general education for math this year we had to pull him back because the classroom's so overcrowded that he can't concentrate and the teachers don't have the time to give him individual attention still sad he can't concentrate in that environment and if you continue with these increased class sizes you're cheating kids with special learning needs out of their right to learn in a least restrictive environment for them one of your budget concerns was legal fees maybe you would have fewer of those if you did write by these kids members of the board you have a duty to vote this budget down and demand this man's resignation because enough is enough thank [Applause] you hi my name is Anastasia trellis I am a resident I'm in alumni vanzan deacy and Cherokee high school so the reason I'm coming here today is Mr Smith was interviewed recently and he was asked about being a superintendent and the one thing he said is it's not about the role it's not about the position it's about making a difference and I can tell you right now the Educators in this room they didn't become teachers for the big paycheck or to get to the top of the corporate ladder show of hands how many teachers here are teachers to make an impact on students every day to grow and to make a difference in their lives thank you Educators students have increasingly complicated academic and mental health needs when you put 30 or 35 of them in one classroom it's impossible to meet their individual needs I'm not even going to touch on the capacity because we've said it a hundred times fire codes I guess we don't care meanwhile the national teacher shortage means educators are frequently giving up their planning time to cover additional classes they are overworked and exhausted teachers now needing to teach another period reading Specialists teaching math science teachers working on writing blocks many teachers have a specialty and you hired them for that specialty you don't ask your opthalmologist to do heart surgery they have a specialty at least that's what my insurance company says while teachers will tell you it is a no-brainer smaller class sizes would help students this would also help the teachers today's Educators again are exhausted a study from National Education Association said that the average teacher Works 54 hours no overtime not an increase in their pay staff are resigning to preserve their own mental health teaching feels more difficult than ever with the shortages they're regularly giving up their planning time to help out and again the students needs have skyrocketed what will happen with less support and larger class sizes nothing positive I'll tell you that 83 positions We Said Today 10% of your current staff this is not the direction eim Township should be going in I was here last month and I cried listening to parents talk about their children not being able to read bus drivers losing their jobs power professionals losing their benefits the families of student students and members of the community who support their local schools should stay in engage speak up for the programs buildings and staff you support Educators thank you for making a difference every day I stand with [Applause] you I'm Kimberly Hensen I live on metaview Circle and I am starting by reading a letter from my daughter um dear Dr Smith and Board of Education my name is dorothia Hensen and I am a 10-year-old fourth grader at berer elementary I understand that there are a lot of cuts this year because of funding and I would respectfully like to ask you to reconsider some of the cuts that you are considering my biggest worry is the cutting of all of the Middle School teachers and increasing class sizes to 32 to 35 kids that is going to be chaotic I am one of the few deaf kids in the district and I get overstimulated easily but I know I'm not the only one kids with ADHD anxiety and anyone who gets overwhelmed easily are going to struggle this will be a huge disruption for kids who need calmer environments again I am respectfully asking that you vote no tonight and reconsider what you cut and what it means please consider not only student passions but also student accommodations I didn't intend to speak beyond my daughter's letter as since last year I have been speaking at these meetings and saying the exact same thing and quite frankly it is exhausting the language and Trust are in my opinion the biggest problems I see here tonight after explaining staff salaries and benefits it was said that those numbers were before we even start talking about educating children I strongly disagree with that statement as ensuring that we have highly qualified trained staff that we are taking care of and supporting is the most important thing we can do to educate our children while I'm sure that was not the intent of your message as our board and top administrator you need to be more conscious about the meaning that your words take on I also speak again that coming to us in January and explaining the devastating effects of lost aid is far too late last year we put together a group of community members and stakeholders who were desperate to help come up with Solutions we were and would have been willing to start campaigning in our home schools in the fall to start communicating with legislators and we would do anything to ensure that the quality of an eve sham education stayed quality we we were dismissed so while I helped my daughter rewrite her letter to not be angry and it was angry I helped her understand that when money isn't there it has to be found somewhere the truth is that these cuts at this point are insulting you have lost our trust and you are not showing good faith to the incredible staff that you serve please remember when you vote later who you represent and that everyone on this side of the room opposes this budget hello uh my name is Brian Connelly I'm a teacher at thec and a resident and a parent um quick story uh 2017 I moved to eam uh I didn't want to move here because of the taxes were very high my wife convinced me I said I'm a teacher I don't want to pay those taxes but I was convinced because of the schools then in 2019 I welcomed my daughter and I got a job at dcy and when I started working there I found everything about the schools was amazing I loved working there I loved the staff I felt supported then the budget cut started happening and Dr Smith since the last few years all I've heard is About Preschool kindergarten two things that as a parent with a preschooler and now kindergartner I had no interest in but besides the point and that we need to go to this junior high model I've been hearing about the junior high model for years now the thing is our staff has been making suggestions a staff member tonight just made many suggestions that I've heard throughout the years one being the selling of Evans and the administration building the selling of the administration building was brought up at the last meeting as well and one of the excuses given early on was that there was too much paperwork in the basement it couldn't be sold because there was paperwork that's ridiculous now I've heard other things since then and I understand selling those buildings might be a one-time short-term fix it won't fix things longterm where the Middle School model might I the junior high model might fix things long term I understand the difference but we're bleeding out here it might be a Band-Aid but if you're bleeding out take the Band-Aid sell the building take the Band-Aid and we'll keep calling we'll keep calling the state and try to get the help for next year but we need to keep this together for another year even if it's a short-term fix we need to look for those short-term fixes we need to take the staff the union let us work with you it shouldn't just be you doing this we are a team we should all work together the last thing i' like to say is as a parent I don't want this many kids in the classroom I my daughter is going to get lost in there and that's not okay with me and just a side know if you've been to decy which I don't know who's been to decy there's triangular classrooms that first of all with I have 26 kids in one of my classes I have to adjust myself constantly so kids can see the board you're asking me to fit a whole another row further closer to the board in this triangle they won't be able to see anything if I'm going over something they won't be able to do it we've had um staff meetings where we don't have enough room in the classrooms there's not enough room in those triangular rooms for 35 kids it's not going to work but that's all I have to say I really hope that we can find some even a short-term solution get us through another year we'll keep calling thank you my name is Megan Boer I have a third grader and a kindergarten at van I was raised to not make waves so it took a lot to will myself to come up to speak but as an adult I've come to realize sometimes you need to start some ripples sometimes you need to make some waves which is how I try to raise my children to advocate for themselves and for those around them I grew up in a school district that faced many challenges not the least of which included economic challenges as a student I've been through the cuts and I've felt the impacts first hand I've been in the overcrowded classrooms with not enough support I've been through no clubs I've been through through the teachers and staff being asked for too much all of it while I did have many standout teachers throughout my schooling who did the best they could despite the circumstances I know that I and my fellow students often missed out on opportunities for as much growth as we could have had both academically and in the many less qu and in the many less quantifiable ways that schools can provide when properly funded and properly managed in middle school I had no art classes as that program of course didn't make the cut Middle School schol is hard especially for an awkward and kind of dorky art kid like myself who then didn't even have that one class in which I could really feel at home my husband grew up in Marlton just like our girls he went to VanZant and eventually to mecy Middle a major part of why we chose to buy a home in Marlton was because of his great experience going through the district and we hoped for the same experience for our daughters please help keep the Integrity of this District we have such caring amazing staff but they need the proper tools they need the prop proper class sizes they need the proper support to give our students the best education [Music] [Applause] [Music] possible uh hello my name is Dan forcier I'm a teacher here at MMS and a former student of MMS class of 2010 I had something longer to say today uh but I decided it'd be better to cut it down and get to the main point so what I will say is this I'm proud of the education I received 15 years ago lending thanks to the hall system teacher teams and class sizes I'm proud of the education IED by a number of teachers who are still here in this room today I've greatly benefited from the education so much so that I was glad to come back and give and give to this district and town that helped raise me my parents worked hard to ensure we could live in a town that prided itself on its education my biggest fear and it's clear that it's also the fear of the current students parents and staff staff that when our current students are my age they won't be able to look back and say they too are proud and benefited from the education they received thank [Music] you hello my name is Alex Andreoli I'm also a teacher at MMS here I'm a social studies teacher in yell Hall um I was going to say something but most of the students that spoke here today already said it and were way more articulate than I could ever be about it um but I would like to point out also and take this moment to acknowledge that I'm as a social studies teacher it warms my heart to see these kids engaging in this kind of activism on behalf of their school district so I just want to say thank you um but also I want to point out on one of the slides you said that the goal of this district is to educate students while costing the least amount of money but education is worth that investment and investing in teachers and para professionals and bus drivers who care about the students that they are our future and that's worth the investment um and it is really sad as a teacher who when I started teaching here six years ago most of the people in my life were like wow like you're teaching at eim like that that is great I don't know how you got that as like your first job um but now uh as a mother and since six years ago I've become a mother and I am very honestly going to say that I'm glad my son's not going [Applause] here hi hi good evening my name is Nicole Lombardo and I'm a parent in the district I have students at jagard and rice we have heard from The Amazing students that shout out to the teachers the amazing teachers that have educated them and encouraged them to speak tonight but we've not heard from as many parents as I would hope and I wanted to voice my grave kid sir my kids have had an amazing foundation with rice preschool both as a paid tuition and also state funded as it is now there are also many preschool par professionals who have been there a long time with extensive experience some of whom will lose their benefits next year these are some of our most valuable people that help all of our students learn I would hate to see them leave if you take their health benefits away as we have already seen so many pray professionals going to competing districts that offer this I'm worried about the increasing class size as my children move throughout the grades how will my children get the indiv individualized attention needed in rooms that have to manage the diverse needs of so many students I also have grave concerns about busz safety as Dr Smith knows from my emails um we were on famous rice number bus number one before I had to rearrange my work and child care to get my son safely to school and it really has tainted his experience to ride the bus however I know that that is also related to administrative failure and operational planning and I'm not sure that all of the proposed Outsourcing of busing will cause lower costs as previous attendees have highlighted we are losing talented teachers and I wanted to come here tonight to speak for those parents who are just starting out in the district and have younger as kids my six four and two-year-old I want to retain these amazing teachers and talent and these amazing Paras that work tirelessly For the Love of their children and always end up picking up what gets left behind by the budget cuts please put students first and consider the pleas of all of us tonight vote no hold on one second let I don't know what project needs to do hold on good okay go ahead hi my name is rosmary bori um I just want to um say how ex I don't know what the word is but the children are the students when they spoke it was so encouraging um to see them articulate the loss of their programs they were able to articulate uh the impact of the class sizes it was just really refreshing and it's it's it's going to be sad to see what the impact of these changes will be on our future students so um just kudos to the students and the their parents uh who brought them here tonight and thank you to the um teachers the Educators the staff members uh the bus drivers the par professionals who are here because everyone here cares everyone in this room cares we're uh everyone wants to be collaborative they want to solve this problem um and I think it's really great 's a very caring collab cative Community I always say that you know when we come together we can solve a lot of problems and we have in the past you know we have uh bill smithman from the e office here uh we have esham parents United um so you know the ETA found additional monies last year so there's subgroups the ptas everyone's willing to pitch in um and it's great to see the numbers uh thank you um Mr Yates for actually giving me Dollar figures um so that we can actually um solve and research and do more things so I just want to give people a little bit of Hope tonight is just the tentative budget adoption we still have time we have until May uh I believe it's 14th to uh for the final adoption I have been in contact I I mentioned last time Ean fiscal allies I've been in contact with councilman I'm sorry assemblywoman cats's office um two things one we might be able she's writing a bill to give us additional time like we did last year at least until the budget adoption so hopefully that'll give us additional time also two um we need to advocate for the state aid money the school funding formula actually worked for us this year we were supposed to get $8.4 million if they ran the numbers and they did run the numbers and they said isim should get $8.4 million but here's the problem they put a cap on it a 6% cap so they limited us to uh $450,000 well we had increase in the number of students from last year to this year and also kindergarteners came online so kindergarteners per pupil cost instead of being 05 it's actually a whole P whole Pur pure pupil person um cost so anyway we I I don't understand why the school district has not really advocated for that particular item with the doe and the governor so thank you to all you in the rooms have made the calls to the governors about this specific issue with the state funding to get our $8 million and thank you for Andrea TI for making my graph because not everyone understands this is issue but we are leaving $1.3 million on the table so um I apologize but here's the other thing too three years we as taxpayers are paying at the end if you guys adopted tonight $8 million in a tax levy for the past three years you went from a $66 million budg tax levy to a 74 million tax levy tonight we are paying $8 million the state needs to pay that 8.1 or 8.4 million also thank you good evening uh my name is John Andrews I'm a parent and resident of Marlton um as a parent I just want to say I'm proud of the kids that came in today and spoke for themselves elves um I'm here because my two sons can't um they're part of the autism program here in the district um we are a diverse Community um and each family has its own needs um mine's no different uh today I want to talk to you about the concerns that my family has with the proposed cuts to the transportation department um we love our bus drivers we love our AIDS uh they know our kids uh we wouldn't trust them with anyone um my youngest son has some OCD issues and he has a poor job uh communicating verbally um his Aid on the bus and his bus driver work with him to get through that um his older brother has uh his triggers just like any student does and his bus driver and his Aid know what uh to do to uh get him uh to school safely um my concern with Outsourcing the buses is well my children still have that high level of care that they get today we've already heard one parent today talk about um outsourced bus drivers talking about not caring about the routes well that is not going to fly with me um the other thing I want to talk about are the uh benefit cuts to our PA of professionals um they have it hard enough I mean I have two autistic kids at home I can't imagine being a room full five or six of them um we've heard from one of them today he's been here 20 years and now you're just going to say sorry oops and cut her benefits the district has slashed benefits for per Professionals for a few years and it just seems that these caring people who have a difficult job already are not treated with enough respect to be deemed worthy of being paid benefits by this District thank you [Music] hello my name is Skyler Lord and I'm a student here at MMS I just wanted to say that even though I'm only a kid I'm still worried about the effects of this budget I have a younger sister who will be going through this system without independent study individual help in her crowded classes and without extracurricular activities to improve her school skills outside of the classroom even though I'm leaving soon this will affect my neighbors friends and siblings I've heard teachers worrying about these changes and what it will mean for future Generations all of my peers and teachers have touched on this and I just wanted to reaffirm it all to you and really hit it deep on how it will affect us I understand the cuts from the state but understand but I also understand that there has been ways stated before me to fix this I didn't come here with the intention to speak but because of my fellow students and my peers and on behalf of my friends and the other speeches have encouraged me to say this you say it's for the students then you should make it for the students and I would also like to thank the other teachers and students that came before me to say what I have said here thank you hi I'm Kim pidala a teacher here at Marlton Middle School I'm here to ask for your careful consideration regarding the proposed changes to our Middle School structure I understand the difficult decisions you face but I believe there are alternatives that will have less of a negative impact on our students and all options need this school year our team in six yellow was moved to what you call a four bucket model we Face the challenge of losing two teachers one content teacher and one inclusion teacher but despite this we have successfully maintained our team structure and continue to support the same group of students while it has been difficult at times we have proven that this four model can work it allows us to maintain a team-based approach and provide independent study that is so crucial to our Student Success without independent study there is no time to catch up with students for misw workk provide extra help interventions and IEP mandated extra time the current proposal however would reduce staff increase class sizes eliminate independent study and ultimately harm the educational experience of our students why make such a drastic change when we've already shown this year that another another model can work effectively by applying this four bucket model across grade levels we can avoid dismantling the team structure therefore I ask board members to reconsider the full elimination of teams at the middle school at this time I urge you to take another year to evaluate the impact of these changes before implementing such a significant restructure the changes as proposed would affect all students in the district and we need to be sure they are in the best interest interest of our students future please meet us in the middle thank you good evening Dr Smith and uh the school board uh my name is Marne Benjamin I am the PTA president at Marlton middle school and the PTA vice president Marlton Elementary School I'm not here tonight in my capacity as a PTA president or or member I'm here as a concerned parent I have an eighth grad and I have a fifth grader um I'm here to share their stories um very briefly you've heard so many wonderful reasons or useful reasons for why none of this makes any sense and and why we need to find Alternatives I just want to share a personal uh story so you can see another side of it um my son my eighth grader is on the autism spectrum um he has fought every day to succeed and to get to where he is today he went from 30 words at 15 months to losing his whole vocabulary by the time he was 18 months old he did not regain his vocabulary until he was four and a half years old it was very hard for him he struggled a lot but if it wasn't for his incredible teachers at Marlton Elementary School um Mrs hop Mrs Atley Mrs Osborne Mrs Francesco so many other teachers there working with him oneon-one seeing him as a student and being able to give him individual attention in a inclus in an inclusion classroom that he was able to succeed this year his incl and his this now he's in eth grade I apologize I'm a little tired and a little nervous I've been running the book fair over at Mees uh today so my brain's a little fried but um in middle school he's had absolutely incredible teachers his inclusion teachers Mrs fudala Mrs stanevich and this year Mrs Taro have absolutely single-handedly gotten him to the point where he is now he is doing incredibly well he has gone from a student who was in pullout math in sixth grade to algebra he's in algebra this year in e8th grade through all of his challenges and everything that he has done he would not be where he is now if it was not for the time and attention that the teachers have been able to give him as an individual 35 students in a classroom is not going to make that possible you need to understand I get your position I realize that we're you know we have you know a deficit and a budget that needs to be dealt with but we need to look at the bigger picture which is not just that there's 35 students in a classroom which is terrible and I keep saying to my husband what what are the repercussions of that what what are the fire codes and so many students got up and made the you know voice those concerns so eloquently but it comes down more to what is going to happen to our students if they don't get this attention what is going to happen to the aand of the world who are just going to fall through the cracks because they're not going to get that attention our students are going to suffer at such a level that it's it's just going to be terrible so um thank and I just really quickly want to say thank you to all of the parents and all of the teachers and all of aon's teachers who are here tonight who I wanted to call out but thank you thank you thank you for being here fighting for the students and you guys are incredible so thanks you're welcome good evening my name is Kelly Huber last month I spoke about the importance of keeping the team the team Concept in middle school I'm going to keep that Focus as I uh make you aware in case you do not know that we are currently using the four bucket model model here at MMS in sixth grade yellow where I am a science teacher and now also a social studies teacher last year DMS started with this same model which is now used in their seven red this is a fully functioning and working model that could be adapted by all 10 teams across both buildings for the next year and could be a Middle Road for this budgetary dilemma we are facing we will unfortunately still have to lose some teachers but it would also enable us to save teachers while still fulfilling the need to increase class sizes and give some budgetary relief but most importantly of all we will be able to maintain the team concept and program that is so beneficial to our students with the class sizes needing to unfortunately increase the 32 to 35 kids per class teachers will now see up to 190 students per day and these students need to have this team program to enable success emotionally and educationally coming into Middle School these students need a home base where they have the place and time to catch up on work get extra help when needed see teachers for reteaching and for teachers to fulfill the IEP modifications and iron RS legal obligations of retesting and assisting students with their work can all students benefit from this time yes this is also a time for our gifted and talented students to get their enrichment lessons in tier three this school year came with challenges but this is an effective way to maintain its structure and give the students the support they need this four bucket model would still be a reduction of staff and increased classes but we but would be much but would be not such a drastic change when we have shown that this can work providing independent study and team time that is so crucial to the success of our students I'm asking you the board to at least try this before completely eliminating teams and the middle school at the middle school and making such huge impactful changes that will have negative repercussions for all students in the district thank you for your time and consideration good evening my name is Tom sea I'm uh VanZant and Dei alumni um and a uh a parent uh who lives in town now um when I went to school uh I didn't I didn't enjoy School uh when I was real little I just uh I didn't didn't fit in I didn't really like enjoy learning um and then in in first grade Miss Shermer van an she took me aside and she helped me do some uh Advanced spelling and um you know a couple grade grade levels ahead and it turns out I wasn't you know I I didn't not like education I just uh I was a little bored and she helped me learn to challenge myself and uh she only was able to do that because her class size was small enough that she was able to recognize me and um now that my son is in in prek at at rice and my daughter will be headed there soon uh I want to make sure that you know they also have teachers who are able to you know see what they need and help them be the best they can be um I believe that some of the budget cuts proposed are shortsighted I believe that I think it you know by cutting teaching positions adding kids to classrooms and also reducing the uh the benefits for par professionals you're reducing multiple support structures for students at the same time and those uh effects are going to Cascade and you know become a parent very quickly um you know I don't want this for my kids I moved back to marleton because I'm proud of the education I got and you know I would really like them to have that same education thank you hi U my name is Kelly um I have four children um I live in Mayfair I my two oldest go to deacy elementary I'm going to share three quick stories about my children both me and my husband went through the Marlton School uh school systems elementary middle and um high school so my oldest he's uh seven he's in first grade in kindergarten he did not accept with reading whatsoever um he did have to do the reading recovery program which we didn't really talk too much about the elimination of that tonight um so my son did do the reading recovery program um in the beginning of first grade he was reading at a below uh kindergarten level um he tested out of the program he is now reading at a second grade level um just from that program alone so he was pulled out of class spent a ton of individualized attention with that teacher um she's been abs abolutely phenomenal for his development um we even now have her tutor him outside of the school just because of that individual attention I could not imagine where he would be right now I have four kids I can't spend every hour when I get home with them so having those great teachers in those special programs are super important um my my uh daughter who's in kindergarten she's doing fantastic she's a middle child so she very much just excels at what she does and that's it so not really story to share about her however I would want to share a story about my four-year-old who is autistic he attended the rice special needs program and when I say he attended I had to pull him out um he was not getting a one to one Aid I was not finding that out till the end of you know the end of the week that he didn't have somebody with him all week I had many cancelled IEP meetings and I pulled him out I didn't sit there and go through the steps to try to get the you know eam Township to pay for him to go to a private school I pulled him out I'm paying for that school for him because I didn't want to see him suffer and I guess the point of my message I have nothing formal planned is using your village you have teachers here who have offered to help you you have the community that's offered to help with Solutions and at the end of the day when we need to get things done we have to Rally together but you're causing a divide here and it's really sad for our children I'm really sad for my three children that are currently in the system and I don't even know if I want my fourth te to go to the system I'm starting to explore the options as I know a lot of parents are out of District homeschooling because what's going on right now is not okay so I just urge you to think about that think about the families think about the teachers and hopefully tug at your heartstrings a little bit and not your pockets thank you hi uh my name is Drew Wilson I live in country farms uh I am the parent of two kids in the uh em education system right now first grader and a third grader um my wife and I moved to Marlton after growing up in camon county in different areas um how many years ago now in 2013 so quite a few years ago specifically because of the schools uh we had friends we had a lot of people that we knew who were buying big giant houses in other areas with poor school systems and the thing that we continued to fall back on was that well at least we're going to have a great education for our kids at least we're going to have that right um I have not regretted that decision for one second it was worth every single penny that we paid for a much smaller house uh on a much smaller piece of land to get a better education and a better Community for our kids everything that's happening here tonight is exactly what is right with eim Township I recognize that it's tough for you folks on the board and and for you Justin but this is exactly what is right about the community here and the parents here in Asian Township this type of advocacy is exactly what I love to see I also think it's important that we address the root cause of the issue it's important for us to take some of this energy and some of this advocacy and direct it towards our elected leaders in Trenton our legislators our governor the people who have put together the S2 bill that have caused us to lose millions and millions of dollars in funding over the last several years have put us in this position it's a position that is going to cause severe deficits for the students in this District it is causing severe problems for the Educators that work their asses off to make sure that our kids come out with the best possible outcomes I don't want to see anyone get cut I want to see everyone stay here I want to see everyone who's put their heart and soul into this education system continue to be able to thrive here and continue to be able to help our kids here we need to make sure that our school gets the appropr amount of funding that it deserves and that all of our money does not go to Trenton and does not go to other school districts in this state where it may or may not be needed we are losing money to other districts because of the rules policies and procedures that have been put in place by our elected leaders in the state government and this advocacy needs to be directed towards them if anyone has questions about how to do that I am happy to help uh if anyone would like to put together people to go to Trenton and advocate for our students I would be happy to help I will drive us there I will fit as many people in my car as I can um give this board and our school district the resources that it needs to help our kids and to make Eve shim the place it once was and I know it can continue to be thank you Bruce Albright resident of Eve sham and I spoke at the last meeting and I wasn't going to speak tonight but I I had to come back up here because of some things that were said Mr Smith you're sad you know who's sad the power professionals families that are losing their benefits the bus drivers who are losing their jobs they're sad the lowest paid workers but yet do more with less but I don't see any Administration cut I don't see you losing your benefits or Administration losing their benefit benefits it's hypocrisy what you're doing I walked through these doors 48 years ago when this school first opened with the new model that they had for educating students 48 years it's been a success and you're thrown it away without really any reason why other than that you think your idea is better and that and and and that's a travesty it's a joke this whole thing is a joke these families they're sad have a good [Music] night hello Dr Smith and Bor um I'm sure you are bored I know we've been going on for a long time many many hours I'm I don't know you're looking at your phones you know whatever you're doing up there but just know how important this is to all of us standing here before before you um I know that so many kids spoke tonight and they did that of their own wanting they wrote their essays um they spoke from the heart because they as children see what value all the adults in their everyday lives have on them um so they care about us we just hope that the rest of the adults in our lives also feel the same and and see our value um many kids emailed Dr Smith and they on their own 12-year-olds 13year olds recognized the fact that his responses were copied and pasted and told them what minutes of last month's board meeting to go to to listen to that same slideshow budget presentation I'm just going to say I don't know what happens to me after I speak so if you never see me again I I don't know you know again there's always punishment um I'm going to reiterate um that cuts never come from the top you always start with your teachers with your support staff now with your bus drivers it's not okay without us these schools cannot run try to run a school without all of us I like what someone said earlier come into our buildings spend some time in our classrooms I know Mr demarcy you said at the parent meeting last month that you're worried you would make us nervous if you come into our buildings we welcome it come and see what we do we don't want to see you once a year once a month if we can come to a board meeting come and actually see what we do with these children and how much they value US uh Dr Smith you've mentioned a suggestion box every suggestion we've ever given you you shoot down you you basically laugh at us you smirk at us yes sell the admin building yes if you don't want to sell it lease it out why are we leasing out a sixth grade pod to another school to the Yale School kids who I feel for but they're in a different placement for a reason why are we adding them to our own kids who have their own needs the last thing I want to say is just as a reminder to anyone who missed it 97% of your staff who voted have no confidence in your leadership Dr Smith I am hoping and I think all of us are hoping there would be some response to that because that's pretty huge that's a statement thank you good evening my name is Evan Scott uh the reason why I came here is because I've been watching these uh meetings for some time now and what I've learned is that no one here is an enemy we came together a couple years ago to get full day kindergart because it was the right thing to do we worked together we got it done but the meeting after that I came in front of this board publicly to say great win we will be here again and we will be here over and over and over again until we rise up together and take care of some business up in Trenton so here's the facts that are demonstrably true objectively true when you look at the state aid notice the uncapped Aid is the formula Aid that we should be getting that's $1.7 million but because of the 6% state aid growth limit cap we're only getting 45,000 in change all right for those people that are writing down that's 1.3 million right there that we're not getting that the law says you are supposed to get that money H if we're trying to say power professionals sounds like we should be going after that money we're trying to say other programs should be going after that money oh by the way if you look at the governor's educational adequacy report there are other deficits there look at CPI for energy they say we're going to have a negative energy growth when we all sitting here listening to 17 to 20% rate increases how is this possible the last thing the geographic cost adjustment for Surfer to be con constitutional the court said you have to have mechanisms in place must have mechanisms in place to review the economic data that Geographic cost adjustment the last time it was updated it's supposed to be updated every five years was 2014 this is 2025 that was 11 years ago it grew from 2008 to 2014 2.4% % if I go back in there and make the same adjustment just that one and I'm being conservative I just allow for 2.4% increase from 2014 to now that's just another $1.3 million so 1.7 and 1.3 we've got $3 million that the state is saying can't have it when is it going to be time to rise up together and go up to Trenton and take care of business thank you hi my name is Christine rora and I'm a teacher at Demi Middle School um I have nothing prepared but I come to speak from the heart after hearing some of my students speak really touched me and my colleagues and so many parents and I just want to br bring it back to perspective I teach because I want to make a difference and Eve sham actually helped me become I think the best teacher I can be you did I really wish I could have a redo and go back to my first year of teaching because if I knew then what I know now I know I would be more effective however I worry am I going to be effective with all these changes I don't know I see this year after year and the things we have been through what we have conquered together we have gotten through covid together virtual learning so much but now so much is being taken away what matters are these students the children I'm a mother of four and Dr Smith I remember your girls I remember them and how they were their best they were through the tier three program I remember Ora Lee and how impressed I was by her and she was at her best because of what we provided for her now we're taking these things away what matters are the connections I am in a unique position I am a reading specialist but this year I am also a Lead Teacher for reading and writing in sever red with the four bucket model am I at my best yes because I have a class of 20 students the same students in reading and writing I can differentiate I do meet with them oneon-one I do have guided reading groups I can't imagine doing that with 10 to 15 more students I can't I tell you right now I put all my heart into it and I wouldn't be able to do that with such a large class size it's what matters the students the connections I am School mom to some of these students that I work with through inrs as a reading specialist it's those bonds that matter these kids have been through a lot covid has changed the social media has changed them they need these people these adults these teachers to be their mentors to be their school parents because that's really what matters that's when true learning takes place when there's trust and caring and now when we have these large cast sizes when we can't meet their needs that's going to be the demise I'm not going to be at my best they're not going to be at their best I can't bring the best out of them it's the teachable moments that matter not the curriculum so please really take that into consideration you're going to have to revise your mission statement that you read tonight I just reread it on my computer this is not going to bring out Excellence we need to keep these class numbers at a manageable size because that's what's important the students [Applause] please hi my name is Aaron Gerson and I didn't didn't plan anything either so I just picked up this sign that says put our kids first I'm sitting here in this room I want to remind us is it still Monday it's St Patrick's Day it's Monday night it's almost 11 o' we all are getting up in the morning and I'm sitting here seeing my friends my neighbors teachers that my kids have had I have a child who's gone through this District we have two that are still in it and as a parent I left my glasses in the car I wanted to see each one of you because if you do not deny this budget tonight and you are accepting putting 35 kids in a classroom and putting that burden on our teachers not only does that academically provve to be detrimental for them it is also a safety hazard and I can't believe in the world that we live in with the kind of threats that are on the table when we send our kids to school every day that you would even possibly consider 35 kids in a classroom to even be an option you have a room of teachers you have a room of parents you have students here and we are all saying that if we band together and turn our attention towards the state level then we could do different things here so each one of you on this board it is your duty and your responsibility tonight to put our kids first and do not accept this budget do whatever you have to do to get a stay on it to figure out another way you cannot accept it as it is with what it will do to everyone in this room in this community in this District it is unacceptable hi my name is Bonnie marpel and I've lived in this Township for almost 50 years and it looks like I'm going to be the last one to speak so I just want to look around this room and look at the faces that I'm seeing here tonight and tell you I am very sad I am sad for the faces that I see on these people out here that are going to be losing their jobs they're losing their benefits I have been a bus driver in this Township for 47 years and I've I've been retired for 19 years and I am still working here because I love my job and I love the people that I work with I love these teachers because they are great to our kids my kids went through this system here my kids went to school with several of you up that are sitting up there my grandson went to school with another one that's sitting up here I want you guys to think when you vote what was it like when you went through the school systems here you had had a good time you got a good education right and you can all relate to it I can see a few of you looking at me but trust me when you think about it tonight you think about how you vote for this because it's going to affect all these kids out here and all these teachers and all these bus drivers and all these support people so think about it carefully when you've when you put your vote in there thank you [Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen uh I'm in the transportation department and I've been here for over 10 years and I just want to say to the board that we transport the most precious thing in the world your children these drivers and AIDS are so dedicated ated to their profession they're the greatest people I have ever worked with and I've been around a long time and they take care of business and they love your children they say good morning and good afternoon and good evening every day so I would certainly think about I wouldn't go to a subcontractor because they would never do the job that these dedicated people do thank you very much [Applause] [Music] is there anyone else who would like to speak seeing none we'll move to the next section moving to item six approval of the minutes we need a motion to approve items 6.1 through 6.3 do we have a motion motion by Mrs null seconded by Miss Fox any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please on the approval minutes Mr Brown Asain your exstension is noted Miss buter MTZ yes Mr demarcy yes Miss Fox yes Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes to 61 abstain from 62 and yes to 63 your exstension is 6.2 was noted yes to arrest Mr peelman yes yes Mr Bach yes Mr conton yes that motion carries thank you moving to item seven superintendent report and administrative items we need a motion to approve items 7.1 through 7.6 do we have a motion motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Miss botes I will hand the floor over to Dr Smith before we vote thank you Mr canthon just want to thank everyone who came out tonight um especially those of you who stayed through the whole uh public comment a lot of wonderful perspectives the um I I would say And as far as the uh there's nothing that there's no combination of words that can be said that can take away the pain and the anger from where we are so you know it's it it means understandably little or nothing to anyone here how it feels to be in the situation as a superintendent or a board member right and I recognize that um the the but the fact is that single one of us thank you Miss Brown thank you the uh when someone goes into education I did as all of you right there there's no no way to imagine that at some point in the distant future you know I went into education in 1996 uh that at some point in the distant future that that person would be sitting in a meeting where we're talking about what we're talking about tonight it's the last place someone who went into education would want to be right because of what we're talking about um the ideas you know we have a liaison meeting on Thursday this week look forward to talking about ideas there um the idea tonight you know for example the uh the admin building selling that you know and each of these can be talked about it's it's difficult to talk about it in a large group because it it could be painful sometimes to talk about the logic of things you know because the emotion is so real the the logic of just that step for example is space right space it's easier to look at that step when there's more space and based on what we're talking about tonight there may be more space and that that is makes that idea more operationally feasible to look at and that's just one example and it and it is good to keep visiting ideas over time because as variables change an idea that wasn't feasible before may become that way I also would say again there were a couple numbers floated tonight one was that the idea presented by ETA last year about the shift dividend which was very welcome idea right and we used that last year and we used the rest of it this year the number shared tonight for the amount of that shift dividend was $1 million okay and in fact it was $381,000 Which is less than half and I only say that not not to you know say it should have been correct or whatever I just mention it to illustrate that when it comes to numbers it there are ways it is easy to look at them and and wish they were different than they are and certainly we all wish we could look at these numbers and they would be different than they are but unfortunately the duty of a board the duty of a superintendent the duty of an Administration is to recommend a budget that's balanced and as as painful as that is which again means nothing shouldn't doesn't have to mean anything to anyone um so to wrap up thank you for the input tonight including the vote and I look forward to talking more with ETA about it starting on Thursday at least thank you Dr Smith any questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please roll call on administrative items Mr Brown yes Mr M MTZ yes Mr Demar yes Miss Fox abstain from 7.3 yes for the rest your exstension of 7.3 is noted yes to the rest Mrs null yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes yes Mr conon yes that motion carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 8 curriculum and instruction we need a motion to approve items 8.1 through 8.5 do we have a motion motion by Mr demarcy seconded by Mr Thompson any questions or comments from the board sure Mrs no I know it's been a very long night and I apologize and you can tell I'm tired but I see our wonderful Eed Foundation board member standing here and I want to give them a a big thank you for always supporting our students here on this agenda we have uh requests for more funding for the eyes on Art which you do every year uh buying frames for that artwork and also for I don't remember if it's one or two active panels with the teacher laptops again every year you always give us um donations and I appreciate that so I wanted to give you a thank you since you're here in person thank you thank you Mrs N any other questions or comments from the board seeing none Mr Yates roll call please roll call on curriculum and instruction Mr Brown yes Miss buter mowitz yes Mr demarcy yes M fox yes Mrs NL yes Mr Thompson yes Mr peelman yes Mr Bach yes Mr conon yes and motion car carries thank you Mr Yates moving to item 9ine finance and operations we need a motion to approve items 9.1 through 9.15 do we have a motion after after the motion yes motion by Mr Thompson seconded by Mr dearcy as is the case with all of our motions the floor is now open to the board any questions or comments from the board Mrs null whatever you'd like that pertains to item N9 9.1 through 9.

1889 million increase the budget that proposed that includes the staff um we have been looking in uh knowledge of this cut what it would look like and what cuts would have to be made with regards to redistricting versus what cuts would have to be made with regards to the district staying status quo for next year um regardless of the situation obviously to meet that number there are substantial cuts across the board from Administration to Central office to facilities Transportation teachers and IAS um great thank you where will central office be if we close the middle school is there a suitable place for you all to move uh no and you also would need to move transportation in um Our IT department along with many other folks who actually are housed there along with Food Services okay and one thing that I remember in past years when you were the assistant superintendent you used to always tell us about the grants that you worked on and you were able to give us the amounts and assistant superintendent Sullivan has been doing that throughout this time so am I correct in understanding that you all bring in more in Grants than you than your salaries are so when people always talk about it being topheavy in administration and then we hear how much you're able to bring in through grants am I correct in that understanding and who would do that if you weren't here I guess is the other part of my question and then I have one more for the mayor so I guess it's maybe not as black and white as we would like it to be as most of this conversation isn't so entitlement grants Ida and um ASA title one those things I would they far Outreach our salaries um they're just those two combined are in the millions of dollars um entitlements 1.47 1.47 four for entitlement grants but then on top of that competitive grants that we pursue um I could certainly for our next meeting or provide number based on what we've gotten in the past year or two um and I don't want to compare it to anybody's salary but um that is those are offsets to the budget certainly I understand I don't want to compare it to anyone's salary either but it's just a way to get it in our minds what is brought in by the people who are working to do this and who else would do this job if it wasn't you I guess it's not something you have to answer it's just the thought um but do have a question for the mayor do you know the cost savings to close GMS and how do you know how many jobs will be lost if we do that do you have a a number no I don't but somebody asked me that I I think somebody s a question didn't St remember Stacy um and and um our superintendent wrote back and she said it would take a lot of thought and there were some things that I would think of that would be changed right away and and this is not up to me I'm just talking yeah okay I think you answered the question you don't know okay all right uh I don't have any additional comments member ston competitive grants and FY 24 was 1.5 million just under 1.6 actually 1.59 so 1.6 plus 1.4 correct okay member ston um I wanted to thank member Childs for very clearly I think laying out where our decisions lie um just based on what I'm hearing from my colleagues it seems like we're and I could be misreading folks facial expressions but it seems like we are not considering closing a middle school or closing any elementary schools radically CH changing the number of buildings that we have in total and I'm also getting the sense that folks are wanting to move forward with redistricting maybe not unanimously but I'm getting getting this but I really appreciate you sort of bringing us back to that's the decision that's on the table um I still I think that that is something that we can decide sort of separately but I am still struggling with not having a real budget number and having a lack of clarity and agreement about what is our actual financial position as a community and what we can afford really because it's a big difference between a 1.8 million cut and a $300,000 cut one of those we can more readily find some space than the other um one of those is definitely going to lead to to um challenges in providing the necessary services for children more than the other would and so I would love for us to get closer to agreement about what that number actually is um and if we don't think that that's possible tonight we should say so I also would just really love as folks are referring to different documents it seems like we have some people have more documents available to them than others and we're not all working from a shared set of information so I would really appreciate as uh members are gathering intel if that could be shared if we could put that in a shared Google drive or something um so that when we are talking to each other we are working from the same set of facts thank you member Martini thanks um I do have thoughts about the redistricting but I haven't been mentioning them because we are currently on an item which is review of the mayor's statement from last Wednesday so I'm reserving it for that um I would uh like to ask the mayor again um about stabilization and free cash so uh member uh sorry chair Johnson mus mad um asked about this as well and I would like to know um what amount of money is currently in those funds and I would like to um just go over what I can see from the budget books which is that last year the city planned to use 200,000 from opep stabilization and 421 from General stabilization and the city planned to use 100,000 from opep stabilization for the past three years running so that seems pretty consistent prior to fy2 the city did not plan to use any generalist stabilization funds for the previous five so it seems like the last time General stabilization was drawn upon before fy2 was fy19 um so it seems like that hasn't been U mostly touched for a while other than last year and uh I have similar questions in regards to free cash um at the beginning of the fiscal year there was 3.3 million um in there the mayor planned to use 200,000 of that in fy2 and uh the amount the city planned to use from free cash has varied quite a bit from year to year so in that it's the average over the last um say 6 years which is 104,000 might not be that meaningful um but I do notice that the plan the city has PL to use at least some free cash almost every fiscal year and the last time that we did not was fy21 so I am curious about this because the mayor um called this 16.5% % health insurance increase unprecedented because that increase was only 4% for the previous 10 years and so I would like to know from the mayor how much is currently in stabilization in free cash and then I would like to know um why she's not planning to use any of those funds in FY 26 because if the city were to use a similar amount of those funds as we did last year then that would bring uh so far as I can tell the total available monies for the City operating budget up to a $3.6 million increase over last year so I'm I'm looking for um clarification and help here to understand the um numbers about the money available that um that were provided last Wednesday and I'm really looking forward to that budget book I can I answer okay um go ahead and respond to member martini and then you can also have a turn to whatever else yeah I know those numbers I know where they are so let me start with the opep stabilization yes every year we've used like $100,000 in from from that fund used to be marijuana revenues went into that there's $100,000 left in it now um so you know we've put that in every year I have no um you know not holding on to it that could go right back in as I said last week what we have left in free cash is after the settlement that everybody's going to vote on this week we have $135,000 left in uh free cash and um again I don't take any of the money home or you know um the steps collaps by the side of City Hall there crime tape around them as I said last week so I said that has to be fixed because it's in a public building um and we have money in um stabilization there's $2.3 billion in stabilization um or 2337 and that will not be being used for funding um anybody's budget um that is a stabilization account that you don't use for one-time expenses just like Andy was talking about having the circuit breaker money in there you there's things that you have to keep for certain things that you don't use that for one-time budgetary something so that that won't be being used for that additionally as I think I said at the last meeting but maybe there's different people here I don't really know um we we were told that we had a one in three chance of having our bond rating go down this is by the bond Council there were other people there not just me I'm not making this up and the things that they wanted us to put more money in stable a if we didn't use all of that 135,000 I would have put like another 30,000 in that but I want to go back also to where we get any of those things that go in are the turn backs um as I said we put money in contract stabilization I want all of our teachers to get a raise I'm actually going through line items right now and I found a couple of places where we could reserve something for next year and and that money that goes into to to um that when there's turn backs at the end of the year every Department that doesn't spend their whole budget it comes back in and then we allot it to things with City council's judgment we have committees that come forward uh and child's is on it um with how we will spend things you go down the list everybody looks at it we prioritize it and then I make the tough decisions there's not enough I'm saying know to people um it is the safety mostly the safety things or a truck that you know if there's a hole and you can see through to the ground on that truck that probably getting another one and so it's it's it's actually pretty easy to make the decisions because they're so obvious like you have to do this the fire alarm panel as I said three minutes to respond to member Martini's question is there anything else you want to add okay thank you um we'll move on to um member Childs uh first I want to say that the mayor really is between Iraq and a hard place right now and probably the mayor of every comparable city is in the exact same place I sincerely hope that as you do your accounting magic and go through the town budget you're able to find more money but it's a bleak time out there and so yeah we just all have to do the best that we can with what we reasonably can do sorry for such a downer statement but thank you thank you everybody great discussion um I appreciate everybody's um working um with good intentions for the best interest of our students and our community um I think we should move on now to our discussion of redistricting um so we'll begin um with the review of the current policy that's in place um superintendent sure the vote that was taken was to adopt option 2B with redrawn lines on our website there are nine streets affected by the redistricting that will be uh realigned to a different home school in September of 2025 it was reconfiguring our elementaries to grades K to 5 our Middle School to 6 through 8 and our high school 9 through 12 thank you um so I think tonight our choices are basically between um affirming affirming our full redistricting plan as is both grade uh changes and um Geographic changes for the elementary schools or to um vote to uh keep redistricting just with regard to um the students uh elementary students and the drawing of the lines of which students go to which schools based on where they live or to uh dissolve the uh redistricting plan all together um so if are are there any other uh options that people are aware of that are viable um that we should be considering tonight given the timeline remember good [Music] one does that redistricting plan include the four new teachers or is that separate from that redistricting plan superintendent if you remain with option 2B it does include the four new teachers students would need ful year science and social studies and can you review the connection with the new Civics requirements sure uh the eighth grade currently has ful year Civics with the Civics project mandatory in eth grade and that would need to remain um we could potentially look at keeping six and seventh grade at halfe science and social studies although um the feedback that the school committee members did receive from community and parents was to move to full years um but we had planned for full year social studies in science in the current schedule that we have drafted for the fall so I think those are the three um mayor I think a lot of people were working on the streets and everything um I think that at the very least we should keep the K through five part I think people everybody agreed with that and we were going to get students together there was a lot of thought that went into that so I am just saying that I would actually like more people to have a little bit of time to talk but I would make a motion that we accept that that we did that part of the redistricting because it made sense and a lot of thought went into it one of the reasons why this was done as I wasn't here when it was done but I did watch school committee meetings when I was on Council was um for inclusion and I think that that's something that we all share um also I think there's a group of all of the there's a group of parents and Educators in fifth grade that knew that that was coming so I would it like so that be something that people knew from today that's where I'd be but I'm going to let other people talk and not shut that off by making a motion yeah I where where I am in the process right now is I'd like to hear I want to just make absolutely certain that there aren't any other viable options that other school committee members know of that we are deliberating about tonight am I missing anything remember good one I'd like to see a third option which is and I'm not sure how to say this or an amendment that there's a third option that the fifth grade remains in the elementary school and we um table the the move for the eth grade maybe to a following year so okay so that that would actually be uh fourth so just to review uh the first would be to affirm the redistricting plan as is uh the second would be to keep only the elements of the redist rting plan having to do with the geographic assignment of elementary schools third would be to dissolve the res redistricting plan altoe and you're adding a fourth option which would be to keep the um change for the fifth grade uh but to um to delay the um change for the eighth grade superintendent can you speak to that proposal I just want to clarify so next the fall of 2025 GMS would only house sixth and seventh grade is I'm asking you is that your proposal yes we have not worked on that configuration so I don't think I could speak to that option right now and what the impact on the district would be I think part of why um I may Advocate that we limit our choices to these three is because whenever we start to get creative again it creates a whole other other budgeting scenario a whole other logistics scenario uh unanticipated consequences so on that's why we had a two and a half year process before we made our choice um so uh but I again I do want to leave it open enough that if there are is some other option that we're deciding realistically deciding again uh deciding for tonight uh for implementation this September um please speak up y okay um so um I would like to um make a motion to affirm the current redistricting plan is there a second second second from uh secretary Den uh discussion member Childs I would like to ask the superintendent um looking at the budget she's been playing with what allows her to preserve more staff and more services with the dire worst case scenario budget status quo or moving forward redistricting that is which way do we keep more of our people with our kids so with the proposed budget cuts if we redist District currently it looks like a potential uh six admin SL central office one facilities to Transportation 8 Unit A and 2 Unit C for a total of 19 1.0 FTE if we remain the same configuration K to4 5 to 7 8 through 12 um potentially 23.6 FTE there is an increase in Unit A losses for the people watching at home that don't know what unit a and Unit C are could you just quickly our teacher uh Union thank you sorry and FTE full-time equivalent okay and would you repeat the whole thing again please thank you um and I just want to preface this this is potential this is not definitive this was us trying to work our budget to this this is um not something I take lightly in discussing nor do I want this to be set in stone because obviously we will do our best to do what we can but in order to meet this number um the redistricting as voted on um it looks like a potential 19 Cuts six would come from admin or central office one facilities two Transportation eight Unit A teachers and two Unit C and District Remains the Same there would be uh five administrators one facilities to Transportation 13.6 Unit A teachers into Unit C currently in the potential cuts that would be proposed thank you remember child did you want to finish so just to clarify if we're looking just at your unit a and Unit C redistricting has fewer Cuts than status quo correct okay thank you may mayor no I just am curious why would that be well no I'm just curious I I'm I'm just curious sure um you would have less uh electives offered at the high school because there would be less students and there would not be um additional needs for some um coverage for meeting collective bargaining agreements so in the proposed plans it is um a configuration of sped needs versus what building versus how many are housed currently in certain grade bands it is not a simple a plus b equals c i just and I know people want a simple answer but this is not something that is easily [Music] um determined based on what is happening with all the different shifts and I really do want to emphasize we are taking into to account current unfilled positions first we've been in communic ation with the union and um discussions about what things would be cut where and why and obviously our uh just trying to meet a number in this huge deficit that we're faced with any other discussion member Martini I just want to um reiterate some uh things from last week for anybody that wasn't um present uh just for a basic understanding the school Department's requested budget uh increase was about 1.8 million a level Service uh increase would be about 1.2 million that is to say the amount of money that would be necessary in order to maintain our existing services and the uh mayor's proposed budget is slightly less than level funding meaning slightly less than the exact same amount of money that was was allocated last year if that thank you thanks any other discussion okay um all in favor uh why don't we do this as a roll call vote um secretary Den the vote to affirm the current redistricting plan sure member Childs yes member Goodwin based on the information that less teachers would be cut I say yes secretary Den yes chair Johnson mad yes Vice chair ston yes member Martini yes mayor dorer abstain motion passes with one exstension thank you everybody uh we are at our uh to our Mark just about so you are entitled to break for 5 minutes and we'll return at um 9:05 [Music] n [Music] n [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] n [Music] a [Music] he [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] he [Music] he [Music] a [Music] a [Music] welcome back to the Greenfield uh school committee special meeting we are now on to item five discussion to determine Cuts necessary that we meet mayor's budget in light of mayor's proposal and discussion to determine School priority school committee priorities based on a less than level funded budget proposal um I think that we now have a vote on our redistricting which kind of establishes some parameters for the budgeting process and um I'd like to hear from um the chair of the budget and finance subcommittee but my thought is that we would essentially um assigned these items to the budget and finance subcommittee to start working through uh well budget and finance will be happy to meet and uh make some recommendations to the full committee before uh we come back to the table great so the process will be the mayor will formally make her um budget proposal to the city council on April or by April 1 then um the city council will be will figure out what our actual number is my my memory if I'm correct is that they can't go lower than the mayor's number but they can go higher if they uh kind of claw it back from other departments um so I think that it's fair to assume that the number the mayor's put forward um is not far off from what it will be uh there there may be some efforts to try to get more for us but um so I guess it's just the com the subcommittee will have to kind of factor in your basic predictions I guess about what's likely to come out of that process um but obviously likely significant cuts um anything else on this item other than just to say thank you budget and finance subcommittee for taking this up okay um let's see so so um discussion and vote to approve entering into the bid process for a business manager and U Mr pette our contracted business manager has agreed to leave the room for this discussion um where we left this at the last meeting was we need to give the superintendent some direction relatively soon in the event that the search for a staff business manager is not successful so that we can make sure we have a a contract in place with someone for July 1 um we've had some uh learnings and some uh developments since then so I guess superintendent I'd leave it to you to share any new contacts that might be helpful for people sure I think one of the questions that came up at uh last month's meeting was if we could enter into the bid process and add a 30-day Clause um which I have confirmed we could so that um if at any time we are in a contracted service agreement with a service provider there would be a 30-day clause for notice to quit if we do in fact find a business manager in that time so that we wouldn't I think there was some question over whether we had to commit for the full two years or three years of a service contract but there is the potential to put a 30-day notice to uh part ways and we could keep either the search ongoing or re-enter into a second round as some folks had wished last time so um you can do the two simultaneously I think was the question that came up and is my memory serving me right that we actually tabled the a motion from the last meeting to this one uh Susan Farber do you have that motion available okay all right I oh great thank you secretary Den notes that is why you have concurrent notes this secretary thing is working we did a motion to go out oh please put your mic on thank you all right we did a motion to go out to bid for the business manager you made the motion and seconded it and then we tabled it and child's made the table tabled motion and you seconded it good one and that was it passed so it's tabled so we have to take it up from the table all right um and uh yes I would oh sorry that was roundabout but yes yeah so the actual motion is in the minutes the draft minutes I submitted and Glen you have those in your email account which I cannot access oh I have those too got it oh yes you do uh the superintendent is pulling it up thank you superintendent I think it was under old business thank sorry I think you went bu old business yeah I thought old business came first um I moved that the school committee authorize the superintendent to initiate the procurement process for a consultant to support the business manager role in case the current business manager search is unsuccessful this authorization allows the superintendent to take necessary steps to secure consulting services in accordance with applicable procurement laws and regulations I made the motion in in second um M goodwi oh wait have we done the motion to take it up yet I can't remember okay so a motion to uh take up the um tabled motion from last meeting and is there a second second uh all those in favor I I I I okay discussion now that we're on that motion remember good one I'd like to make a friendly amendment to that motion to add the part um where where we will also um continue our search or do another round yep okay so to amend it um I guess after the last sentence um it would just be a sentence that says the current search for a staff uh business manager will continue is that acceptable and and do you accept that so the friendly amendment is accepted and that's the motion that we are voting on uh any other discussion mayor um please unmute did you have a lot of applicants how many applicants did you have uh we had five applicants four um who were qualified four interviews um one um offer made and one offer uh denied and we are currently still speaking with one applicant who is potentially still interested and we were um I actually have a meeting tomorrow so should have more updates if this does not pan out we will repost and send to U masbo and mass for um posting again thank you any other discussion I think it's very helpful to know that we can we could potentially contract in July um or Rec contract and um and then still have the 30-day out clause in order if the committee decides you know um at a later date uh it's time to a good time opportune time to try to seek more applicants and hearing seeing no other requests to speak uh we'll call the vote um all those in favor I I I any opposed any extensions motion carries unanimously thank you everybody um we will now move to our vote to enter into executive session pursuant to Mass General Law chapter 30A subsection 21A Section 3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and seven to comply with or act under the authority of any general or special law or Federal Grant in Aid requirements the committee will not return to open session so moved motion for member child's second second from Member Goodwin uh roll call vote uh secretary genive member yes member child yes member good I'm a yes chair Johnson mad yes Vice chair seon yes member martini yes mayor dorer yes motion carries we are adjourned uh we we we are we just voted to enter the executive session now we need a motion to adjourn the regular meeting is there do you want to do you want to do this one go ahead one I move to adjourn motion from Member Goodwin second second for member child's those are funny any discussion um all those in favor I I the motion adjourns at 9:17 p.m.

Joint Committee hearing agenda with our colleagues from the Senate housing committee to consider two measures the first is House Bill 1097 HD1 uh just to note this meeting is being streamed live on YouTube and in the unlikely event that we need to ex uh abruptly end this hearing due to technical difficulties we will reconvene to address any outstanding business on Wednesday March 19th at 10:01 a.m.

for that work study that that works for me maybe even 5:30ish something to five 5:00 we'll adjust whatever works for the board why don't we start it at 5:00 right now and if we have to we can okay do we need to have an agenda for that it is just an open discussion and the topic is just a having a discussion about the uh teacher retention efforts and ideas what we'll do Mr grenal is we'll have our data prepared and then we'll just be we'll be prepared to answer whatever questions the board might have it's a it's a informal type of thing so we'll come prepared and if there are questions that the board might have in advance feel free to email information that you want we'll have that prepared for you thank you if you give us about a week's time to pull that together we'd appreciate it and not on the 21st we'll make it happen but it's easier if we have some time that's a month away there's nothing going to happen this next month let try all right so can we uh have a motion to put on the calendar April 22nd for a uh I have a motion from Bridget I have a second second second from Margaret all in favor say I I all right that also appears to be 100% so uh item 3.4 we're just going right through this agenda tonight item 3.4 Dr Wright we're going to turn some time over to you for just to give us an update you on what's going on thank you I've just got a brief update and following uh a couple of the more key developments by way of announcement we have three people that accepted positions for open jobs this past month and they were all transfers Justin Bernardino it will serve as the transportation supervisor and so that position came open a couple weeks ago Justin's been with us for about six years and doing a great job and so Justin will assume that he'll also oversee the maintenance shop the mechanics the next one is uh Mike Bosley will be our new maintenance supervisor with the retirement of Steve Murphy that will take place on July 30th of 2025 uh Michael's been with us he's the voice of the yellow jackets at the basketball and football games if you don't know him he's got a great voice and he's uh he's been a great asset to the district he's an HVAC specialist and he's uh he's terrific to work with and for and so we congratulate both uh Mike and Justin their new roles we're confident they're going to do great now our Courtney hoffm will be the new business manager and she's accepted that it is um a big transition and it's an important role for the district and arguably be the first time we'll be able to sleep for a while and then we had that one identified because we were we worried to try to find somebody that understands that has the the character uh the Integrity uh the intelligence and the people skills and willing to work really hard it's it's a tough job uh Courtney will be beginning June 1 so she has her training with Kimberly and uh that will continue Kimberly is going to help out I think as a on a Consulting basis and I'm confident Courtney is going to do a fantastic job with her background in education serving as a principal and a classroom teacher she's uh she's going to make a she's going to do a great job and by the way that's how Kimberly came up she was a math teacher and she's the best I've ever been around so I think she'll be a do a great job at that thank you for accepting that challenge and we appreciate you in that role Mr rolloff Jonathan is here and his family um faith australa thank you for joining us Mr ROP is going to be interviewing for the junior high high school elementary positions applicants will be interviewed on March 29th and Mr R will have his decision for his recommendation and decision by the first week of April not on April 1 though Jonathan that won't work out it be the second or afterwards April you know it's noteworthy to mention that we have three new school board members we'll have a new superintendent and a new principal at every school this is an exciting time for bluid it's first new Finance director yeah and I'm I'm excited for everybody within the roles they're doing I think they'll be great fits I I appreciate the transition our board members have made I'll have to make uh note to tell sivana too but you've been wonderful to work with and for and so I appreciate it and I'm sure you'll do a great job I can just interject right here Dr Wright's getting anxious to retire not so we we used to call it trunky when you wanted to go somewhere in it was home but he's uh he's been here 10 years and we've appreciate it every minute he's been on the job and that's been a 24-hour day job and uh we're we're happy for him but we're sad I have a have a knot in the pit of my stomach uh moving forward because it's unknown but I have confidence in the people that are in positions now congratulations Courtney that was the biggest knot that I had in my stomach and now you can share it and so with that thank you for stepping in and and saving me there Dave uh Ryan Grace Mr Grace is is the principal of the high school in 25 26 school year and Mr web will retiring with me on the same day you know so I think their wives are just going to give them a bucket of worms and drop them off at some Lake up there and leave them alone for a while they probably have a plan that to keep us busy doing something together just keep us out of the house and away from them as my guess so and Mr web has done as you know an outstanding job and has served every principal role IM manageable that imaginable and we appreciate what you're doing for us Mr webon for your hard work the last announcement is on the fourth of April Jesus VI HOSA will be giving safety training we're going to have that the church has been gracious enough to allow us to use their wonderful facility for that without charge and so that would be a districtwide uh training we know that there's a track meet going at the same time we weren't aware of that when we scheduled it that's our fault there will be a handful of folks that are going to be supporting coach KF and his then the track tournament we recognize that the track meet rather and so that's we understand that's going on and we'll allow the folks that are doing that we'd ask though Mr web and you're arranging that if they're brand new employees they must go to here if they already had the training from M from Jesus they could go and help out of the track meet and that is my report Mr mer unless the board has any questions uh quick question just thought of are we um the the new principal position hires have those been are those in-house interviews or those have that been out to the public at large so to speak are they have they been announced applicants we're we're announcing that I think just today through social media Linda on the the transition and the openings at the Junior in high school okay so we haven't we haven't got those applicants yet yes and then uh We've announced Courtney's districtwide her transition to the new role and then uh so what we're telling people that interested C interested in qualified candidates were just posting it internally and it has been posted and they will be interviewing the same day and the only caveat is you can apply for one you have to figure out if you're an current employee can't apply for both of them you have to make a choice and then that decision Mr grenal will be made by the first week of a of April did I answer your question because I might not have heard all of it if I didn't I'll be glad to answer it Mr grenal no I didn't I didn't think about the timing of the fact that Courtney's position was just announced so the junior high position hasn't even been available but for a couple days so to speak so yeah no I just I just want to make sure that we're getting applicants from yeah wide and far if possible I mean yeah see who we get and we we'll have uh the meeting the interviews aren't until the 29th and so I think it's the 18th we have a good 10 days to get internal applicants to apply thank you sir I don't have any further thank you uh next item is on the agenda is Call of the public and we would invite anybody that would like to address the board at this time to do so to give your name there's a paper in the back you can fill that out and give your name to Mary so we can know who we're speaking to uh we would ask you to address the board civil take about three minutes uh talk about anything you would like to but we can't address that unless it's on the agenda so turn that time over to you right now going once thank you uh next board meeting will be April 8th we've announced several things but the next regularly scheduled board meeting will be April 8 at this time in this location so uh just announce that everybody is welcome to stay after and meet the new superintendent and discuss and everybody get to know each other a little bit um my wife even came tonight this is the first board meeting she's been to in 10 years it's pretty impressive I think she wants me to quit is why she's here I'm just kidding I just don't want to get mad at me U for get in trouble I know um next item is to ask for for a motion to adjourn this meeting motion second by Bridget all in favor of a jour

3 is our monthly uh Personnel report 6.4 is our monthly approval of payroll and bills 6.5 is the destruction of our Clos session recordings from August 22nd 2023 uh 6.6 is our donations we'd like to thank uh city of bavia bath uh Louise White PTO the Illinois reading Council bavia youth Athletics and beefy for all of their generous donations uh 6.7 is our textbook on display 6.8 is the Fox Valley Career Center intergovernmental agreement 6.9 is our uh IHS renewal for 2025 26 6.10 is the approval of the BHS marching band overnight trip 6.11 is the approval of the elementary uh school supply purchases 6.12 it's our special ed contracts and finally 6.13 is the approval of our consent agenda and you flew right through but you skipped over 6.2 right because that is no longer a part of it thank you anyone have any questions or comments I have a couple questions MH so so on 6.7 the AP textbook um so this is a AP textbook so what is the procedure for to update the textbooks like do in order to be an AP course does the AP governing body tell us hey you have to have this addition or later in order for it to be acceptable or good question you have to go through a process of submitting your syllabus to the College Board um and there are certain texts that are AP approved that match the curriculum that they put out so the high school maintains like a rotational list so every year somebody comes up for review sometimes they're like no I'm good other times there's like a curriculum change by the college board so they would need to like get bumped up on the list so they maintain a list um that they go through to update the AP textbooks and there a little bit kind of on the subject but off so and I see because I think this was 2008 and we were going for the 223 so however many years um 15 years or whatever Elementary so um you're going the approval of the math curriculum is a good example of that so they went through a process they said this is what we want to do they have uh we have a PD plan around that and then we bring it to the board and work it through that process so it's not it it's much more uh timely on a small scale when you get to a bigger scale that you have to have a process that goes around that because there's so many more people that are impacted okay and then uh 6.12 special ed um that cost of that is that did we anticipate that cost or was it above what we or below or do we have not a projection for it yeah we don't because we don't have a projection for it but we do meet with NI every year to talk about what are our kids needs so we look at special education what are the students needs so is it a need for OT and PT is it um a need for vision services and then they craft a plan with Nia to do those services so last year it was about $975,000 this year it's around 850 so it's just based on the kids needs so it's never consistent year to year which is why we try and have that meeting pretty early in the year so that we can budget for it and take a look at what the students needs are for next year is there costs gone up oh yeah okay I mean I figure with everybody's costs are going up I'm just curious like if yeah their their cost per day has gone up significantly but that seems to be pretty common in that field and they're providing pretty highly specialized staff to us um which we really need I have one question too um the assistant principal of special education at RMS is that a position being replaced like that person uh whoever's in that position right now is leaving yeah yeah what happened is um Carol dkey uh is retiring at the conclusion of this year she's an assistant principal um over at Rolo and so a couple of the current assistant principles are changing seats if you will into different positions still all at Rolo so Carol's retirement open up an assistant principal position Chris Payton is currently in that position he's moving into to um kind of the uh uh operations athletic director position Adam Lester is moving into Carol's old position and that's leaving the special ed position open so not a new position just a little move movement internally with the Rolo assistant principles thank you did we get lucky on filling that position quickly we got a fantastic candidate which I is going to be a massive win for the students St and staff for a total so special education's hard to fill you are right and then I disfigure the assistant principal Y and he's had experience in that role at a very nearby School District any other questions okay I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented 6.2 so moved second so moved by Danielle second by Aaron Cindy please lead us in a roll call Vote Yes Gonzalez Thomas yes AR yes sliger yes Meadows yes lock yes than you motion passes uh seven reports we will now hear um in this we will hear our board leaon reports is that when we want to do it right at the beginning or do you want to do it under committee updates uh we'll do it under committee updates okay so item 7.1 for request Tom yep um board you see the report six reports or six requests were filed last month within the last month and uh one was denied any questions on I lost an hour of my life looking at the first item that was on the list I'm not asking questions about it looked into it to understand a bit more about it all right um item 7.2 Tony treasure reports treasurer's report is presented there's nothing out of the ordinary in the treasurer's report this month this what happen when we pick on you right before coming out tell me I'd talk too much this is it all right item 7.3 counseling anybody have any questions on the treasures report sorry okay item 7.3 counseling board report 2024 25 Brad Yep this is an annual report and it's uh dictated by board policy around Counseling and Advising so this report is presented to you just to give you an idea and I'm glad Paige was here of what our cing and Advising departments do at both our middle school and high school so you can see they work on both academic counseling social emotional counseling and really provide our students a great service any questions yes I have a question so the suicide prevention program um do we only offer that to sophomores in seventh grade uh the SOS program is only seventh grade and uh sophomores it's because uh at the Middle School sixth graders and eighth graders have health so that's woven in uh suicide prevention's woven into the health class so we do it in seventh grade where they don't have health and at the high school they have ninth grade health and then they have that program for sophomores and then we do a refresher their senior year 12th grade year so they're getting something pretty consistently but it just depends on who's delivering that sometimes it's our own counselors that are doing that that other times we're working with alysa's Mission and SOS so alysa's Mission that's an outside group that comes in so we don't have any certified staff that holds the SOS certification um they're they're qualified all of our therapeutic staff are qualified to both give the survey which is what Alyssa's Mission does is really looking at uh students who might be exhibiting those signs and then they respond to that as well so they're they're involved in that um so they can give the survey and then do the followup after the survey so is it it just comes from an outside organization so the if I'm hearing correctly the presentation is an outside organization or and then a internal staff member will give the survey yeah they give the survey and then when we get the results of that survey they will follow up with students that need to be followed up with that's my understanding I'm just curious like if uh can any of our staff get certified in the presentation giving that I don't know that's something I could look into I just think this is just me I and uh I guess I feel like I know that they have it in health class you know in the sixth grade um and they get Refreshers but um I just feel like maybe just every single year I don't know how long the presentation is it's like you know an hour or 30 minutes my thing is like even if it's an hour that's a good hour to spend on talking to kids about you know SOS and you know I don't know do we only give the presentation once a year or yeah once a year maybe like just to check in like hey beginning of the year because we know that stressors happened throughout the year and then maybe at the end of the year and see if we made any progress or if there's anything more we should be concerned about I mean that's just I feel MH but I feel like if we if we can have certified staff trained in that not that I want to take away from the Alysa missions people but you know that's something that we can internalize and we can dictate how often we choose it instead of spending the money to have them come in once a year if we have someone trained we can do it not we do it every day but we could do that every that makes any sense yeah and we also have a partnership with SPS suicide prevention Services the local so when we have those situations that do arise they will come into our buildings and meet with families um because we want to make sure they have access to that type of services and that type of counseling so there's multiple Partnerships there but I'm hearing you thank you okay great thank you good questions all right committee updates Tom do you want to lead us off or you want me to start picking um yeah if the board wants to go ahead and do your rundown like you always do it's like I said earlier this is this is an opportunity for us just to put the committe discussions all into one spot togethers and then we have our report that we're providing you so that but now that's a matter of public record um you know with what our major committees have done but so yeah Bor I've had it sue do you have anything for anything you're doing yes um beefy met couple weeks we ago and voted on gave out grants we awarded over $9,000 in Grants as you saw in earlier um they were given uh the high school got a couple Rolo got one um we awarded one to the JB Nelson and I'm going to call it the PTO I don't think that's what they're called there anymore but uh they got one um and then also storm H storm got uh was awarded a grant and also United Way for their Dolly Parton reading project and just to show everyone out there that you just don't necessarily have it's always been called teacher grants but it doesn't you don't have to be a teacher to apply for the grants so next year keep that in mind um we met uh the scholarship committee met last week no Monday I can't even remember anymore voted on scholarships the committee will as a whole will meet Thursday and vote on the scholarship so I can't say yeah months word months the word that will be announced th's day or Friday so but good news is coming soon at right now only thing I'm going to add on beefy is Sue reminded me that she will she's in her waning meetings you going to have one more before the next board meeting two what do you mean beefy meetings do you have any you'll have a couple like updates I'm just saying yes after April she will not be on the board anymore and we will need a new board Le well may may I'll go to May okay I'll I'll do through May okay so the new whoever's on the board would start probably in September so if anybody's interested start thinking about it it's fun not an opening get to help give away money how hard can it be how miserable can it be I actually got to give you know hold a big giant check unfortunately I was not on the receiving the big giant check but it's still fun to give away and surprise the teachers you walk into their classroom and they're like really excited and give out money to students too so that's always fun talk to sue a little bit understand what the time involvement is and yeah for right now that if you're at all interested happy to let you know what goes on drag you to another to a meeting see what it's like it's fun if I could just say a quick thanks to sue um being a non voting board member which is my role uh it's Unique right uh but I've been able to watch Sue work closely on beefy and I just want to say thank you um people don't realize it's kind you're an active working board member on that role so Su has done a lot of work with their scholarship restructuring also creation of some new opportunities for our students students through b scholarships so just want to say Sue thank you for doing that for our students and our staff I've been at B for about 10 years and head of the scholarship committee for probably about the same amount and started working on that kind of not from the ground up because they did have scholarships but starting the rubric and the procedures and everything so it's come a long way been fun very rewarding so anyways Rob about your insurance that's not fun not giving away money spending it rack give money stiping committee I would say that okay um actually so you you know we got we're upon March Madness in basketball here we're going to have March Madness of the stiping committee this Thursday really going to roll into the requests and uh looking at all of that so um Steve is going to bring plenty of Gatorade keep us hydrated during it um but that'll be the the big um you know major task coming up there uh this Thursday and then uh we'll see how it goes it may flow into April's uh usually Tak a few meetings okay so um and then on the rack meeting I'm not going to say too much CU I know Tom's going to talk about one of the items um that we discussed at the rack meeting and then uh Mark I believe will be talking about a few other items items um so they gave us previews on that but you'll get the full details from uh Tom and Mark on those items all right so for plaque um we did a presentation from a company on a new professional development tool and signing up um I know the teachers that were on this committee were very excited because I I don't you some of you may know like but you have to go into something and then into something and copy paste and add one and carry the two um where this is just more like signed up and you're done very simplified um so they kind of looked at that um they talked about a piloted social studies program that was in the elementary schools um for bpsu applications at that time uh I think we had met on the 20th um there was 50 signups already um and then also they just kind of talked about how to make professional develop days more um maximize the time and uh you know if it kind of goes if you're in the morning or if you're in the afternoon and uh so forth like that so next meeting is this Thursday so good meeting thank you policy meeting committee did not meet but uh the Hall of Honor did meet we had a meeting on February 26th and I'm happy to announce that uh with a robust list of candidates we were able to come to consensus on eight new inductees into the VPS 101 Hall of honor and that's out there so I'll read their names now we have uh typically six graduates one employee and one friend of the district we induct uh in the 2025 class it will include Mr Brian dandell class of 1981 Les fos class of 1967 Michael Heaton he's the class of 1985 Jack hinterlong class of 1966 Aon Olsen Cole Haagen class of 2002 and Nicole kley Johnson pakowski I hope I got that right class of 1999 the employee inductee is Miss Kim Anderson and the friend of the district is Mr John Hamill and they will be participating in the homecoming parade and then the following day that Thursday we have a ceremony I invite the community to attend a lot of past inductees like uh Dr and glacy uh are at that event typically and so it's a great way to learn about the past of bavia and what um students have accomplished it's always amazing to see the variety and the different ways people can make a contribution so I would highly recommend uh people attend uh they have the opportunity did uh Tony go in as an employee or as a alumni he's looking for the twofer so the first two time inductee is that what you're looking for he wants two photos in that's all I have you no there you have to have been an employee off like you have to quit you have to quit and then yeah we can make it no that's great to see John Hamill because he's done so much like anybody that's been involved in the schools on any PTO any or organization knows that he will do anything you know if you need pizza or food or anything he's or place to meet yeah place to meet you know he will just step up that's so great to see and you know that's good it's a good group yeah great group awesome and Y uh cacm I'm probably GNA throw it over to Brad but basically my understanding is um the we kind of they spent time to go over uh pilot program and kind of how to um review the process and definition and make sure that it's something that everyone understands and expectations are the same um so that was the bulk of the meeting and I don't know specifically if you want to add in stuff now we at your part but no I I think you did a nice job of kind of summarizing our work in that meeting was really if you look at the the process for a curriculum review it's it's very daunting right and you're trying to get a lot of people on board and a lot of people involved in that process um one of the sticking points that we've had is the concept of what a pilot is because some people believe that's like just trying things out um but there's so many moving pieces that we really have to make sure that everyone kind of understands that process and what that looks like and what the components are so our team has been really looking at that and wanting to make some changes so it's really we probably won't use the word pilot in the future because that is confusing so really look talking about like what do we do prior to implementation and then what does an implementation plan really look like just so that it's clear to everyone in our organization and not we're coming at it with six different definitions so that's our that's our work and we'll do an update this next Thursday or in two days yeah okay Tom yes so a few things here from the administration um we're really excit I'm excited uh Drew Ray and I are our co-chairing the equity committee we're meeting tomorrow just as an update for you all and we're really excited on what we're talking about on the agenda and some next steps and action steps in engaging with uh uh pockets of our community that I think uh will be able to provide some really valuable feedback in the work we're doing here in the district um referencing going back to our discussion about rack um so at Rack one of the things we presented were updates that the city of Aurora has announced in their uh City Vision and planning and at the announcements they've um shared plans for more residential and Commercial developments in the city of Aurora but that will fall in the BPS 101 boundaries um the residential uh zones if you will um will most likely impact what is already on the east side certain School communities and boundaries that are starting to spill over at this point um of our six elementary schools jbn is our biggest uh floating around 450 students and with some of the developments they're speaking about right now them those coming online would put a little more pressure on that because right now that has been consistently flowing with three sections per grade level and so um we reviewed the current elementary boundaries and the busing routes that are being used to support all eight of our buildings and after presenting that and the city of Aurora's developments in that topic uh RX supported that we recommend to the board that we're requesting consensus from you tonight for us to start pursuing a demographer to do a study um there's no action you know I know if anyone watching our board meeting tonight might be thinking you know wait are they changing our boundaries right now no we want to do a study we need to understand what these developments might do if once they come online what you know we haven't looked at this in 22 years um so it's a good time to do that if you look at the maps and the way things were drawn they were drawn for places where there was no home development yet no residential development well they're there now and they're going to come more now so um that's rack supported this recommendation uh we have been Gathering some information you know there are districts in our region that have done this work recently um so you know with your permission we'd like to pursue and engage talking to some of these groups but we would bring that to you back to you for approval um and authorize actual contract work to begin me I anticipate we woulde to do this even without that with probably what's going on down the street right on the um Maybe not maybe not because well because again the the density of the homes in all of our residential areas on the east side of Tavia east side when I say East Side I should make this clear I'm using East Side as east side of the river versus West side of the river that that seems to be our line of so east side of the river uh residential units are tighter um you know the East Side the east side of the river was uh developed a little bit has been here with you know longer the neighborhoods and so I think when you look Westward you know there's a little more spread out um so yeah Tony did I miss anything from our discussions with the city of aora just so you know like Tony and I are usually the ones receiving these communications sometimes actually Tony's getting it directly and then he forwards it to me uh but I appreciate uh the team at at Aurora they've really done a nice job of keeping us in the loop with some of these developments and also we've shared our concerns and the city has uh supported us the city of aora has supported us with you know walkway concerns to school safe Pathways they're working with the developers and making sure that what our requests are are being met um in terms of those concerns are you looking for consensus now or Yes actually because we don't want to wait if we know that the city has made it clear uh that they're going to move on these um I don't think we should wait I think if the the more Runway we get the better and the less rushed this will feel so you could do the good old yeah anybody have any concerns about it at least to go start the investigation process no okay all right go for it I mean I thumbs up I think that is your every time Tony Tony probably gets this question every time we talk about enrollment someone goes well there's houses being built how many kids are showing up and he gives the my crystal ball is no better than anybody else's so that having somebody to kind of come in and look at some data that might help be able extrapolate that over time be helpful y awesome all right thank you anything any other updates on your site I think everything else has been provided here so those were just the ones of specific conversation no uh the only ones I'm going to I'm going to just add real quick is um as we've been starting now having kind of quick sit down uh with uh the Bea and Tom and two board members myself and one other and the other ones been kind of rotating around had a very good uh meeting today to kind of talk about how we can kind of formalize not formalize kind of create two sets of meetings almost of one of them is how do we look at making sure that that the Avenues of for us to be able to get to the schools to be able to kind of you know witness be a part of be present in um events that are happening and how that might be structured um while not about recognizing in the S TOS you know making sure that we're not overloaded with too many things to do so as the kind of the new board comes on that will be kind of some discussions about maybe reorganizing some things I'm not going to get all into it tonight but a ways to be able to kind of handle that and work that out um so that we have maintain kind of two different Visions for what those processes are so it's a very good meeting I think roel for coming today and providing a lot of good insights so thank you all right anything else Tom that I rounded it out no okay next uh no because we'll talk about board matters yep yep okay so uh action item 8.1 mathematics resource adoption Brad sure so we put this on display you approved this to put this on display last month it's been on display uh we haven't gotten any takers yet but um we have our math resources this came from one of our subject area leadership teams they did a really nice job of of working through this process they're really excited about this this would impact students in the elementary uh who are in high ability mat it gives another Pathway to math acceleration in the middle school and it will also affect our students who take algebra at the high school so kind of a a lot of kids that would be impacted by the use of this resource they think this is uh something and I agree with them that is really going to facilitate a lot of growth for our kids the rigor is is up there and I really appreciate them kind of digging into this resource we did some professional development already on this because they were just so ready to do that so we met here um and really started to look at like what does a lesson look like what's the lesson structure look like and how can we get our kids um more engaged with mathematics so that was a really really good session and we're excited about this any questions or comments the only thing I like and I think I mentioned in a previous meeting is um one of my sons was like right on the cusp of getting kind of higher placement in math and had to kind of wait all the way to kind of high school to really get into that and he kind of had to work his tail off to get through that to get kind of caught up so I like this as a better kind of takeoff kind of ramp for them as opposed to jumping into high school at the higher math levels and skipping things as was mentioned let's not skip things let's compact that make sure they got all of that core stuff that they need and our kids will do great right hearing no further questions or comments from the board I will entertain a motion if I page to approve Eureka Math to is the anchor resource for mathematics so moved by Raquel second second by Rob uh Cindy please lead us in a roll call vote P yes sliger yes L yes hilber yes Gonzalez Thomas yes arando yes motion passes thank you item 8.2 these approval of superintendent's new contract so as you all know this guy is up for new contract we've been meeting over time um in it and we would like to effectively kind of reup his contract for it the paperwork's been out there I won't get into too many details about it but does anybody have any questions for me Tony Steve or anybody else it's been a very good process I would just want to kind of commend the board for working together and talking about it and really making sure everybody understands it and Tom for being very um kind of open and forth right through the process so thank you appreciate it all right I will hearing no questions I will entertain a motion that the board approv the superintendent's contract as presented second by Aaron cdy please lead us in a roll call vote Arland yes Gonzalez Thomas yes hilberg yes sler yes yes Meadows yes I majority I know how to four all right you could hit him if you wanted it passed right yeah you did it's already passed all right item 8.3 award bids for Library improvements at bavia high school and Rolo middle school and Mark yes the floor is yours sir thank you good evening um this both at Rolo and the high school um most of the library is as you saw it when those buildings opened um so 92 for Rolo and well I should preface that BHS didn't open in '95 but that part opened in '95 for the library um this process we started well at the high school a while ago but um specifically with Amy the lrc director there in Diana the lrc director at Rolo earlier this school year um we had with our architect drr had three different design meetings kind of the first one the initial one getting back and forth feedback from both lrc directors and basically came to a design that um everybody agreed on even though it's probably still going to get tweaked a little bit had to wait till tonight um for approval but there's still some things going on there and Holly might be queuing up something for me here so you can kind of see um a little bit about what this looks like so the first one you're looking at is Rolo and again these are design images this isn't exactly what it's going to look like rendering sorry renderings thank you Craig you're in this terminology much more than I am um so basically the box or the rectangle that is is not changing so ceilings lighting carpeting um in this space the windows um the windows will be changing that design that you see there isn't going to be exactly what they look like um so this is very important in this space um those windows have um needed to be replaced for a while now most of those windows um come to find out were um not installed correctly um when they first were put in um so that's LED for some fogging and some you know obviously not the best Energy Efficiency that we can use so those are going to get replaced um and really if you want to just kind of go through this hly um as you can see kind of closer different ceiling look different lighting um zones were identified as the needs for Rolo um that space at Rolo is used a lot for you know they have teams there so an entire team so it could be 90 students to 120 ish students so there's a a zone that you can bring chairs in and they can you know see a presentation or something like that and then you can take those chairs and put them somewhere else and use it as a a different meeting space for a class or class of students or you know students coming in small groups and then thank you then the high school um very similar as far as a look but um different spaces the difference in Rolo and the high school I would say say the main one is the ceiling height um at the high school that space was senior Hall that's where classes were and um so a lot of the things as you can see some of those pillars that was a hallway and then the classrooms came off of that we can't change that that there so you have to kind of you know use what you got and you know you create different spaces there I would say the high school more than the middle school a lot of students will go there um to kind of more of like hang out like before after school um to do work a little more than Rota Rota has a little bit of that but the high school so we had to kind of figure that in the other piece in here is this is where Chrome Depot is located so students that have something wrong with their Chromebooks yeah Chrome Depot that's what it's called so I have to go down there and um and get their Chromebooks looked at or fixed that currently is right in the middle of the library so they have to walk through the library go to this space so we put it at one of the ends of the library we're creating two new spaces an actual office for Chrome Depot or a space for Chrome Depot and then that way they can just come right off the hallway and access it right there so this went out to bid in two different phases um one in February and one in um early March just because of some timing of drawings and things like that um for the most part um with happy with the bids that came in and the cost I was happy with but um couple of the trades we didn't get as many biders as I would lik to seen but unfortunately we're kind of at that time of year right now where a lot of biders know that they might have too much on their plate and they say you know yeah we would like to do it but we don't want to get in too much the only piece um that besides that the other concern I have is the casework might be delayed a little bit just because of it's kind of getting in line as far as when they're going to develop it so that might come real close to when school starts but we have a plan B um for that to happen it's not going to affect the library opening or anything like that so this would start like the day after school classes not quite like HC storms work but yeah shortly thereafter schools ends I would say more than like because what we have to do is we have to get all of the books out yeah okay so that's going to take a little bit longer um so the books all have to come out of both spaces and get stored and get organized so then when they go back in you know they know the sections and fiction non-fiction and all that where they go comp I would say the work would I consider that towards you what's that I consider that starting well yes yes that work starting but the actual demolition won't start until after that right any questions thank you for walking us through appreciate it no problem all right I will entertain a motion who award the bids for the library improvements at bavia high school and Rolo Middle School library is presented in appendix a so moved so moved by Aon second by Rob Cindy please lead us in a roll call Vote sler Yes arandu Yes Gonzalez Thomas yes Meadows yes black yes hilber yes thank you all right I'm next is certification of 10 year Health Life Safety survey I'm not going to this all by myself I have Carrie Van Sant here from um our architect firm DLR for she came all this way just to wave at us and say thank you yeah she'll she'll take over here but um 10e he Health Life Safety survey um it is a requirement from the state you have to do this so um instead of my team actually cannot do this so our architect um steps in and um this I would say the 10e health Life Safety is a long process it takes a lot of time to do um really to get the report where it's at and then even after the report of the recommendations um to do as well I will let Carrie take us through that process thanks Mark um hi everyone it's been a bit since I've been here but it's nice to see you all so we the health Life Safety Service as Mark mentioned is a requirement every 10 years on all state of Illinois public school facilities so we started this process we reviewed all of the buildings um went back and did some additional reviews on a couple of the buildings uh and essentially the process uh that we take um as Architects and Engineers of record are looking at the existing buildings under under the codes in which they were originally designed or renovated under and we go through and look for potential things that may not aligned to those and those could be things like penetrations like conduit or things that went through the a firewall that might not have been appropriately sealed at the time that it was done or perhaps based on the use of a school a storage room needed to become an office and because that happens a lot right sometimes spaces turns turn over and by the time we go in and look at it it um it needs ventilation for that particular purpose um and then there are times that maybe La labels on doors or frames that are fire rated may be painted over so they need to be addressed or certain doors might not have closers or might not be functioning correctly when they need to be operating as such those are a lot of the typical things we find they're really kind of Maintenance make sure your things your walls and your doors and spaces are um appropriately meeting the needs of the the code at that time under which it was built and anything that's retroactive acve so ISB does have certain retroactive requirements um in a building like the high school that has 11 additions um over different years there are a plethora of codes that a building could be under um fortunately for most of the high school because of when the seawing was constructed um there was a lot of renovation for the oldest most in the original parts of the building um so then it were EV valuating it under the more current version of the code if you will when we do that so we do a S sidewalk Architects Engineers imeg is our our local engineering partner they've been in the district for a couple decades now so they know your buildings really well um but we take a team in we do a full walk of the buildings and we're looking at potential what they're called violations um not not a nice word but violations they are and then we rank them uh priority a b and c as you see up there priority a are items that are considered more urgent that should be addressed within a year priority B items are um a little bit longer term they're still required items but they give you the isby gives you five years to address those um and the Roe is pretty good in um working with districts if it's a bigger item to be able to take that time to be able to address some of those items uh priority C items are recommended improvements so they're not required and for districts that Levy Health Life Safety funds you have to um address all the A and B items before you could then use hls funds to address C items which include things like Energy Efficiency improvements for Ada um Beyond what's required um by isb's standards and the code under which it was the building was designed or things like Paving so you get special approvals to use funds for those SE items uh so so we walk the buildings we document everything we um there's an IW guide on ISB um I don't know what that acronym stands for for IAS but it's an online platform that you enter in all the particular things that you found that need to be addressed you cite the codes you cite it's a process Craig Craig knows been through it um you cite um how you recommend addressing those items and the potential costs for that today's dollars uh and then you tally it all up and summarize it and you also in that uh process create what are called Safety reference plans so it's a site plan and the building floor plans um that uh show things like the calculated occupancy of a room exiting travel distances firewalls fire areas Etc very code related heavy and related um and then there's also an me um mechanical electrical Plumbing component to that for exit signs and emergency lighting uh and things like that to get documented so every school has that documentation it gets updated every 10 years and then we upload it on the online platform we say okay we're done we sign off on it and then we push it to the district for approval um and then from U all it goes to the regional Office of Education and then from the Roe it goes to the state for final approval because this is just an amendment no request for hls funds that process is typically pretty smooth if a district were to Levy hls funds and do what's called an amendment and say they want to use fire prevention and safety funds for something then that's a whole process and it's a the costs are vetted and that's a longer process with ISP so tonight here is just reviewing kind of getting um board approval to kind of push this into the Roe Court a few things I do want to point out um because when you see the number of $4.9 million when you see the total um some of that 2.2 million was already budgeted so we as we did the warm safe dry we saw some things like um fire alarm upgrades was I would say the biggest one um so those have already been out five years so a lot of those are B items so a lot of the B items not all of them but a lot of them have already been budgeted other things that um when car and team does their report they put for she mentioned door labels for example so they put on there what it would cost to replace a door okay well you might not have to replace the door you have to actually see if it's still fire rated so there's other companies that come through and will do a survey of all of the doors that were a violation so that number could substantially drop but again we don't know that and car's team doesn't know that so she puts the or they put the full amount in that place so again you know I know you know you see the number and I know questions are like what is this budgeted for how we going to pay for this things like that anything any work that either has to go out to bid will I will bring back to you and it will be in a package and the same thing with lrc's it will be the same thing so then we'll know exactly how much that works cost but all of that leg work before that to check will happen before for even have another you know well carries team and our um lamp our construction manager come in to do so we'll do that first as far as getting that number where it needs to be and then bring that back a items the plan for the a items because most of those would have to be done over a summer that would be the summer of 26 so it wouldn't be anything coming this year that wasn't already planned for but some of that work was planned in the HC Storm Renovations for this summer MH so can you I'm trying to process all this so this is aort a lot it's a lot so I'm trying to figure out like what we're doing tonight if we certify like moving the process forward that's all it is yeah and is essentially Erin ex um kind of accepting the inevitable the the the violations in the safety reference plan and the process as submitted on the state's um web portal toll I guess you would call it and then we'll go back and review like you were saying see okay let's go to these a items and yep like a little more granular of like how much it's going once this gets through the process we'll start looking at the a items you know we'll take those identify those between well I would say a few months but this summer up until next summer and do any of those a items make sense to put in what's already planned so for example storm is this summer we have Louise White as next summer anding the same work as storm so things when you look at Louise White might not have been budgeted for or we didn't foresee that would go in there and then that way you already have contractors there as part of that so we would just put that into the bid process and there's other things planned with warm safe dry we would do the exact same exercise for stuff at the high school at Rolo at elementary schools yeah we're not actually certifying it's like right that's car's job we're just certifying that we are accepting it and acknowledging that those items will likely need to be addressed and that the process has been done and the process has been done yeah because they will write NRS if it's not I just wanted to make sure and obviously these numbers are fluid but when I see a number like remove paint from painted label or replace well that's not a good one even um provide accessible door hardware and it's 5,000 obviously it's for the multiple doors is that including labor and doors yes yes okay labor and material labor labor and material that's I just because sometimes the numbers because it's like $75 to remove paint and I'm like yeah and some of those product there the labor to remove the paint so I just want to make sure and many of the items too if there so there's a coding whether um the district can do with their own Personnel so a lot of it marks I would assume like that particular um and then some are they're a little bit larger scale or if you pair them across the buildings it makes more sense to have a contractor come in and do that so yeah because I know we've talked before about your guys changing out door handles stuff like that that the stuff you just mentioned yeah it will be done as I call in housee or own maintenance do yeah you don't need contractors coming in to do some of that stuff but yeah so okay I just have a question to so this is done every 10 years and I understand that codes change and so forth but the P last 10 years this was done was any of this should have been caught then or the 20 years or the 30 years I mean I'm that's I know it's not us it's the company that does this and so I'm just curious It's like cuz I mean it seems like a lot and I don't know if the codes have changed that much in 10 years where it would be and I know that Terry probably can't really answer that to be honest because it's different Architects firm but I would say yes and I came on in this role right after the 2014 one was approved so I kind of took that over and the exact same conversation was happening at that time yeah when at that point my boss we had that conversation board memb had that conversation the same thing so so yes it does um but again I think that's why it's every 10 years because there are things that change in that time frame as well um so but yes just just to reiterate it's that that the codes change because you evaluate it for when it was built so you don't have to update the code outside of some legal proceedings requirements so if the building was built in 1982 you're evaluating under the 1982 code so like you said at the high school there's 11 different additions or Rolo is kind of even worse there's a bunch of different additions with five different building codes associated with it what happens is when you build on to buildings and one to the next different Architects have different levels of comfort about trying to understand what they will accept and so more things come on the list also just stuff happens over the years you know someone comes in it's like oh I'll just replace the door handle and grabs a door handle that's no longer Ada and it goes in there so it's a myriad of issues um it's hard to pin down if there was an ATA for it per se um it's just an important thing that these things get done so that because previous to the 10e they just weren't happening and then you nobody was paying attention to what the buildings were like and things were creating unsafe situations for kids potentially and and the staff that's in the buildings I mean I wasn't looking to blame I was just like it happens yeah I mean yeah like you said I understand this this handle now what does happen is a interpretations of codes change so you might get a new Roe that comes in and that's a whole new batch of things that you they pay attention to and interpret it different and while the architect is the one that's ultimately making the interpretation you get Guided by the Roe because they have to sign off on it yeah what what is there what are the consequences of not you know doing a priority a item or priority B item within five years how much I don't know I I don't know if I've ever had a district ask me that because everybody just does it everybody works real hard at getting them taken care of so the Roe is responsible for ensuring that school districts submit their 10-year Health Life Safety surveys and that they do them and so they would do a permit review they they also do compliance on on the Myriad of State statutes that Brad is usually our Point guy on that but there is a instrument that they use to evaluate all the curricular requirements and and they do much the same for this sort of thing too so that's why the it's one of the key functions of the Regional Offices of Education let me ask this question is this going to cause us to modify warm safe and dry do you anticipate I missed the first part will this cause us to have to modify warm safe and dry uh well these costs are definitely part of warm safe and dry by definition and uh so uh we don't know the full extent of the additional costs of them because as Mark mentioned we know that there's a fire rated door that's supposed to be here we painted over the label or maybe the the label peeled off and now we have to determine whether or not that door just needs a new label or that door needs to be replaced so that that fire rating is maintained so we don't know the full extent of the cost just yet we just know what the scope of the work is that needs to I guess a better way to phrase that and I know you don't have a crystal ball but I'm asking you to pull it up but do you think with if things continue upon this current path run we will be able to address these needs uh within our current oh within our current budget yeah I would tell you that I am concerned about the current budget and the amount of work that we have to do from that Capital basis and and the number keeps growing and there's there's just a lot to do yeah there is there's a lot um there are some new techniques or I shouldn't say techniques there's a new tool in our toolbox uh with our ability to Levy Health Life Safety funds that's a that's a new thing for us being a tax cap District just within the last year uh that's a possib posibility for us um but uh that's something to consider okay thank you any further questions okay I will entertain a motion to certify the 10-year Health Life Safety survey as presented so moved so moved by Raquel second by second second by Danielle Cindy please lead us in a roll call vote yeser yes Gonzalez Thomas yes Gilbert yes yes Meadows yes thank you very much thank you Carrie all right board discussion that was all of our action items thank you to everybody on that uh board discussion uh meeting dates Tom yes so uh board as you know uh we've been soliciting availability of different kinds of dates from you um the first one I'm going to start with is the organizational meeting that will need to be taking place per board policy to callon 210 so u in the policy specifically kind of outlines when that board meeting needs to take place and following with what the district has done traditionally um we're making it a recommendation that we go ahead and move forward with April 22nd following the regular board meeting that the uh reorganization of the board meeting take place and seating our new members and then the board would conduct its vote its own internal election officers and positions so long and short I we'll have our own board meeting first then bring on the new board members that way any kind of things that are action items or whatever else that they might not yet be up to speed on we can address no I'm not voting then um then next part or portion which you you would as a board approve with um the the newly seated board but these are the dates based on what our reciprocal dates are on the calendar from this school year into next school year so those have been outlined for you as well um does anybody have any questions about the FY 26 board meeting dates um I know we've had conversations about how a lot of our um a lot of pot um governmental meetings are all on like Tuesdays and is there any potential discussion I don't probably too late for this the 25 26 year um but whether it's us or any of them to move to like a Wednesday or something like that so that people ourselves included can attend other meetings that is your uh Danielle great question I I turn it over to the board I I think that's a board conversation um as to what um next year's meetings would look like for all of you because the policies don't dictate what night of the week you need to meet are you still following the first out outside of a couple of them like the first Tuesday this is following the Cindy help me out are we on the third Tuesday of the month so we're just solid on the third Tuesday of the month now as opposed to what we used to be the one factor we' asked that you consider is that um you keep that Cadence similar to that because we have to pay bills based off of yeah we used to be the first Tuesday after the 19th or something so we don't like it when you know if you're going to have a regular meeting within two weeks of the last it we don't have a you know it will create gaps in terms of when we can pay bills that's what it falls down to so some of these are not tues because Christmas do that mess with Comm meetings too it could okay um right now part of what our chairs have done on the Committees our Bea and admin chairs have tried to line it up so that they're more coordinated as to when they're happening together um so that they can have cross conversations and timing of discussions are happening kind of in the same window of time so there aren't these big gaps in order to keep them moving in the momentum going yeah that's good right now is the time but just kind of curious because I think I get your point it's like have the school board meeting on this particular night so other members or other agencies can like go to other meetings and such yeah and like just if if people want to are constituents want to be able to go to City Council but then we also hold it and sometimes Park District was having theirs all on the same night so yeah that was my only question so we could either talk about that now or when there's a board Workshop coming up that we've already scheduled I think that's a reasonable time to kind of we did we do that one an open session that one's not necessarily A you know internal working on the board session that board Workshop would be with the new board right yes I think that makes more and then talk about whether we want to amend this at all or just say okay for next year this is what we'll do kind of think yeah they we'll have a bunch of people showing up on the wrong day for a while if not including ourselves um so then if that leads into our next discussion about special meetings um with that board Workshop just keeping in mind if we delay or wait past May for FY 26's board meetings keeping in mind you're turning right around into July so I just want to make sure you all are aware of that okay and how that impacts the operations of the district um so then special board meetings after we finished all of our presentations to the January regular board meeting meeting uh there was discussion amongst the board to consider splitting off the meetings to include a special board meeting as well um we also surveyed the board on that and so um we did contact all potential candidates running for board just so the board is aware for those those of you who are not running in this cycle every candidate was contacted so we could take into consideration their potential needs from a calendaring perspective and their schedules so where we're at it seems that Thursday May 29th had the most consensus that would be the evening we try to dedicate towards our building presentations the administration's presentations would take place on June 25th Wednesday that had the consensus of all candidates and current board members and that would be at 7 pm and that would be the districtwide presentation and then the board Workshop that you were just talking about it looks like the consensus is June 10th at 6:00 p.m.

at this time let us stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and our mission statement Pledge of Allegiance led by board member board secretary Alex hagos and followed by the mission statement led by Dr Hall I pledge allegiance to the FL of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all and Empower our students to positively impact their community and Future thank you both for leading those two Endeavors I would like to move a couple action items or board items up before we go to close session I don't know if I need a motion to do that b yeah you're going amend the agenda okay I would like a motion to amend the agenda to include moving two items up before close session that's number five public comments and number seven administrate I'm sorry yeah number seven administrative updates have a motion to do what I just stated move by Nelson second by Dr Hall any questions or comments if not roll call for the amended agenda miss wol I miss Z Somers I Mr swales hi Mr gigos is an i Mr Alber hi Dr Hall hi president Brown I motion passed so right now we have public comments we have two public comments that was written and submitted the first one we have that from University Park key Lewis children the basketball yeah and is regarding University Park basketball liance pledge presentation good evening everybody good evening um again my name is key chis uh I am truly honored to standing before you uh to do this presentation uh it would it not have been possible uh when I retired in April everybody was blowing my phone up so I want to personally take this opportunity to thank Mr dzel Franklin my community son for understanding the importance of keeping the youth together so we have a football now we have a basketball program being saying that uh having the experience of 30 years um Mr O got a couple more people in the building that know my children when they went to Creon it has truly been an honor to be a part of your family it's never been a hesitation for anybody that I pick up the phone or email you all have been a part of the success of the community programs saying that the determination the hard work the dedication of community volunteers we have them none of this would have been possible for the basketball program without you guys you have no idea the phone calls I've made I'm smiling at you now Mr O I'm smiling at Keith I'm smiling at Miss uh I was going to call her Miss G calling uh them and asking them could we get in the buildings my special thanks to my principles they know I love them Mr Mr hollyfield me and you going to have that conversation Miss Phillips Miss Carr thank you so much because without you all none of this would have been possible now the special people we have to give it to the athletic department athletic department is truly a part of what we do we facilitate bringing the feeder programs in bringing the young people in to be able to work with our athletic department we're starting at the middle school level so they have come out and celebrated with us they've been to games with us it was not possible without uh Mr Ki uh Mr Mueller bringing this in Mr hoser bringing it in the boys and girls basketball coaches anytime I pick up the phone I send Flyers out in the middle of the night I know they wives or husbands be like why she keep sending that but it be on my brain because I want them to be a part of this because I can tell you now doing this for the last 30 years watching our student athletes leave our community is hurtful trying to keep them here is our number one goal this is where we need you all at we need to start a Young Warriors program Rich Township has it HF has it and they starting at the third grade level we have soccers you can have these wonderful young people be the student athlete teachers of that because You' be surprised when those young people walked in that high school and played they were overwhelmed because they never played on such a big arena it was such a delight to have Ford Heights Glennwood Hazel Crest come in that gym we had no fights police were not called guess who won we did everybody know me I'm a stickler with my young people I demand respect and I give them respect we have to work as a team to Mr Robbie he knows security was there coach ktie was there nothing happened but their support meant a lot it allowed us to be able to share where when she comes in her her eighth grade season she's already seen these young people play so she'll piggy back but we also have to remember what about the young people that don't have an opportunity play she can only put 15 on the court that's what we come in at again youth Warriors we keep speaking it it's time for us to put that into position we have a lot of young people that are not athletic inclined you have a wonderful group of volunteers that are willing and able to come and help our athletic department to help these young people be able to their self-esteem like a lot of them don't even know how to bounce the basketball but because we're feeder programs we allow them to come in and we teach them that we're co-ed we don't have biases financially we're a feeder program we don't charge the parents a lot because again we have a lot of parents that financially can't afford it with Mr Franklin along with Moy Township and other private entities we were able to do it but one of the things that I could say looking at it from this side to your side we have to open up the window and opportunity for allowing people to bring water Gatorade popcorn to watch their children cuz if you all have ever been to a sporting event that's the first thing you do you go to the concession and then you go watch the game and you spend more money booster club we need it cuz I wear a couple hats I've been part of the basketball program here at Creek me AKA my son for 30 years I came in when my son was a freshman looked around said hey you all need some help came in never missed a beat then Coach CeCe she was a coach then she begged me to help with girls I'm like I don't want to do the girls please don't make me but again her desire to have person that knows the gang and willing to do it and I've been doing that ever since so so I have something special and I want Mr Franklin to come on up to help me on behalf it says in appreciation to cre mon School District 201u the University Park Youth Athletic Association Lions basketball teams would like to thank you for your valuable contribution toward the program of University Park president he didn't even see this one yet y'all president uh danzel Franklin and myself again thank you so much I wish it was bigger like that screen but you all know it's from my heart last but not least I have to give a couple shout outs because they know again I call them Dr Hall thank you so much Dr Hall I'll call and say hey we got a basketball Dr kin Mr Brown we got football thank you CU that means a lot when the young people see your faces the administrators it it takes them to another level so thank you so much because when you all come out they see your face on TV but they never see you in person so that means a lot to us to have you all come out and be a part of what we're doing but again I'm not going anywhere cuz I'm ready to be a part of our what community youth Warriors thank you thank you thank you so much and a cute little thank you B thank you and I was a surprise thank you thank you thank you thank you any comments on the public comment I just want to say I thank you for the work that you all put in in our community and trying to connect the community back to um the school I Know M childr does a lot with um with our young people uh Mr Franklin does a lot with our young people um and I definitely appreciate all that you do and I encourage you to continue to do what you do because our children need you um and if I can help I try to be there for you whenever I mean if you call me I'm there I got you thank you all right anybody else well I would like to say thank you as well I've been knowing I just got to say key for 30 years than and and danzel I is my daughter and him was senior athletes of the Year Sports athletes of the Year back in the days and key thank you for taking my son when he was just a little bitty things flying paper airplanes to flying jets okay so thank you for all you do and you are always been a beacon of the community and the difference with between you and I in the 30 years you haven't aged I have 50 years okay so keep doing what you're doing thank you thank you okay all righty next public comment we have is from Christine quinland quintland our CM EA president and that's to thank you to the community members who volunteered at borrow good evening um thank you to all the board members who dedicate their time and come here and do things for our district for free for those of you who don't know um and yes I am the cmea president but tonight I'm here as the Bal moral PBIS coach um we have trimester incentives three times a year and we changed all our incentives this year and we were having March music Madness on the first half day in March the first week and it almost became Madness with no music um but Sarah stawicki our music teacher she also works at Balmoral she said let me call some people so I wanted to recognize some of our community members who showed up at Balmoral on a half day to play for our students um they are not a band who um they are themselves not a band they collected a group of musicians local musicians who would play together for the day um but I do have some information if any of you wanted to support them so Bob elely was our guitarist in vocals Susan Williams was the basist in vocals Dale Wright was the basis in vocals Mike stawicki drummer in vocals and they were phenomenal for people who are not a band and who they just called up and had um come play for us um some places that you may be able to find each member is Austin Tavern in stagers um jam nights with Bobby Lee every Friday at 7 minus the summer the station in gladwood uh Jam night with Bobby Lee every Friday night during the summer months Main Street Exchange in cre Jam night with Susan Williams and Dale Wright um the Second Sunday of every month 4 to 7 and the side effects band uh Mike St Wiki's band uh you can check them out on Facebook to find out when they will have another gig and they truly did save the day and all we offered them was to be able to go out with uh Mr Wiki for lunch and Mr Wiki bought them the lunch so all we really did was let them go out to lunch with Mr Wiki and they were fabulous good thank you thank you so much cm EA president okay that leads us to superintendent superintendent the admin superintendent administrative updates by our superintendent great uh it's actually fun to listen to hear all the good things that are going on in the district so I appreciate both of you being here tonight and uh sharing a piece that's going on in the corner of the district so it becomes more um visible to all our communi so thanks for being here tonight um I've got just a couple two things um one I want to share with you I was over at the high school our podcast studio is now ready um we did a practice run today with the microphones and the lightings um I'm going to be working with Miss bernacki and two of our um FAA uh uh future Farm students for a our agricultural program so I'm really excited about that we're going to be doing that this Thursday we're going to spend a couple hours uh learning how to do that and do the podcast so we'll be having that come out at the later of the week so stay tuned for that um it's also gotten quite the attention from many of our administrators and our students uh they are all asking to be able to do a podcast or it's actually a blo uh broadcast but uh video podcasting um to share again some of the things that we're doing in the district you know as I said to you before it it's one thing to see things in a newsletter but it's another thing when you're seeing things on you know interviews and videos and things like that to really show the complexity of the work that we do here so we're really excited about that the other piece I'm really excited about is we've got some guests here tonight and so I want to talk a little bit about how our guests are how they're here and why they're here so as you know with our mission statement you know we talked about engaging empowering students this year that was our new strategic plan mission statement that we came up with so earlier this summer I had talked with uh Mr Franklin as you know he's been working with us I think this this our third year yes we we work with Mr Franklin here in the district uh he's um I think a community Mentor liaison and what he does is he works with the high school and the middle school and he works with our Administration out with students and he um goes out into the community and making those connections um and so as part of our mentoring program last year we tried to start morphing it into something a little different um for this year and with this idea of empowering our students to have voice we wanted to focus on creating an opportunity to work on Civic engagement of our students we have some really bright articulate students that are in our um in our high school and you've met many of them coming up for various things so we we talked about what that would look like and so uh Mr Franklin had this idea of coming up with a emerging leaders Civic engagement program and this would be focused on students that are wanting to at connect with the community so they go out to the Villages um and various boards and talk about things that are important to them or things that are going on in our school district to start connecting and having voice and starting to talk about things that are really important to them because you know we would love to see one of our students come back and being a board member at some point in time um so that Civic engagement is really important so tonight I asked uh Mr Franklin to come with several of his students um to share a little bit about the program things that been working on and so uh Mr uh Franklin I'm going to turn that over to you all right good evening board uh Mr President thank you superintendent uh super excited to be here not only uh because it's my birthday I'm super excited because on my birthday um I'm doing what is considered my why and I'm here and I'm in the community and continue to build something that believe is is going to be outstanding so um super excited to be here as the coordinator of the emerging leaders uh the young men and ladies that sit behind me um this process is about grooming the next leaders of our community uh grooming the next leaders of our schools and school boards uh establishing the next state representatives House of Representatives and I believe that the next president of the United States will likely uh wear uh a blue cardigan sweater and sit right behind us at these meetings all right now um these students were first nominated by um Administration within their buildings and then they went through a rigorous interview process where I interviewed over 40 students uh we narrowed it down to appointments of 10 students and when I tell you this group is dynamic this group is dynamic so we've been on a tour and we've started a tour to where we're touring municipalities and we're acknowledging the fact that in order to sit in the seat and be a decision maker even as a mayor you only have to be 18 in fact in Earl Arkansas the current mayor is 18 so I'm showing them and teaching them that rather than wait until you're 30 and 40 and deciding that you want to have an impact and be be a a decision maker the journey starts now we've yet to uh visit a board where the men didn't have gray hair no offense guys or no hair you just didn't have tonight that street continues yeah you just didn't have to look at and I say that jokingly but that's coming from someone who sat on the on the board as a trustee and everyone to my left and right was old enough to be my parent that's a problem so a part of this program is to fix that problem and I believe that one of the biggest flaws in our political system is the fact that in order to sit in the seat and be a decision making a decision maker there's no formal training required and in many seats no academical education required so instead of complaining I decided that I want to be a part of the solution and put together a program that helps to groom and teach and and and help uh individuals understand The Importance of Being leaders within their community so without further Ado if we can give uh a warm Creon board Welcome to our emerging leaders as they come up and introduce themselves all right hello um I am Terrell Henderson Jr I hope you all are doing well and I um want to thank you guys for having me up here I am 16 years old and I'm currently a sophomore in high school I'm here on the behalf of the Creek community and um I would like to use the Civic engagement program to address numerous um issues in our community and School District now today we've been asked to come here and give um a few things that we enjoy and also don't enjoy about the school district so first I'm going to give you three things that I enjoy about the school district um currently right now and this is like overall not just the high school but the middle school elementary school and things that I've seen um first I would like to say I really enjoy the safety protocol that we have in our district I feel I think as of right now that it's very secure and reasonable and it makes me feel safe overall I feel like that we've done a good job with that and growing even with the mistakes that we've had in the district before um every single time we've learned from them grown from them and um just got better from it so I really do enjoy seeing that improve over the years I also really like um our our like our social media website basically is what I'm trying to say I like our awareness off there and um the way that we are able to it does a good job of being updated and also um sharing every special occasion that we have here in the district which is really nice um and then lastly I would also say one thing that I really appreciate about the district is our staff members the administrators everybody around um I really cannot say that I've not encountered one adult that's in this District that does not care about the kids and that who's not here for us so I've always been very thankful for that and I'm very aware of that so those are three things that I would um say that I enjoy a lot and um feel like our district has done well with okay you can stop right there so um now there's obviously um obviously change for everything and there's a good amount of few things that we could change in the district or even at the high school now I'm going to focus um mainly on the high school and this is one thing that I really haven't brought up before but I've heard students complain about it and I know that I feel also a certain type of way about it it's um known as our fourth period class period also known as hero period um this is a 25 minute class period that is um given for students to help with their work um but the class most of the class like when we're in the class we are assigned other assignments throughout the class which is a little bit comes off as an extra stressor and um more work and um doesn't really kind of allow students to focus on what they already have with their other class periods so um I would just say if we could allow students to um have the opportunity to maybe work I've uh currently I'm applying to be an ignition Mentor which is something you um Mentor younger underclassmen in the building um and they asked us a question uh if one thing we could improve in the building what would it be and a lot of the students brought up uh fourth period and how one of the students came from another school and they basically were saying how at their other school they allow students to go on a website and we could do this through maybe Skyward they allow the students to go on a website and um there was like a 30 seating thing and you click a seat so let's say if I wanted to help with economics I could click the seat for my economics class and go there fourth period and then my fourth period teacher would still know where I'm at and take attendance for me that's just kind of like a solution to do it if that makes sense so um yeah if we can look more into that I think that that would be amazing um and yeah like I said before for me personally I know I'm a student who do a million things so it's just kind of like a extra stress off if that makes sense um but obviously ly I not too many things to complain about at the high school overall it's amazing and um I just would like to leave you with a small quote and that's um that you create opportunities by performing and not complaining thank you hello everyone my name is Malachi Cliff I'm a junior at creep mon high school and as Terrell mention I do have to say three things and one thing three things I like about the school district and one thing I don't like the three the three things that I love love like I love is the F our FFA program you know about it you know about Miss beri she's working hard and uh Mr Brown we got that $5,000 grant that I uh that I wrote that got accepted so we're going to get that community garden and you're going to be able to grow your Tomatoes remember uh another thing that I like is uh our Ed Rising program Miss Valerio is working really hard to have us get out there especially with us going to Nationals later in the summer uh even Terell he's going to Nationals with us me Terrell Aaron and a few other students are going to Nationals to represent cre Moy down in Florida so that's going to be nice and another thing so many things uh I'd have to say the support we get from Administration I don't think i' I wouldn't I literally wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Mr Hy Field's help so I'd like to say thank you Mr harfield moving on to the thing to the one thing that really gets on my nerv sometimes all right next next and it would be the roads the roads around the school are completely ja uh yeah Creek right Village or creek yes so uh one of the solutions that I did find was funding from the OT which is which stands for the Illinois Department of of transportation and this is they provide grants for schools to uh fit repair around three miles of walkable and drivable areas around the school and uh I feel like we should apply for that and if you would like to work with the emerging leaders to get through that process we'll happily assist uh but that's one thing that should be really focused on especially given that we all Drive I drive you drive and you you don't want your car your tires messed up but that was that was my little spel it was nice talking to everyone and I appreciate the opportunity wow just so you know we are getting new parking lots Paving for the parking lots so but he he expanded it to roads too well we're start we're starting around our our parking lot for next year so you'll be safe in the parking lot okay apparently we heard you you have a reason to come back in the fall now yeah just take the side streets okay good evening superintendent Mr President and board members my name is Amaya rice I'm 17 years old I currently live in University Park District and I'm currently a junior at Creon high school now that I have been at Creon for 3 years now I've achieved many goals and been giving many opportunities some opport some have been some I'm sorry uh some have I've been able to do a lot of uh clubs and activities at the school um as I mentioned the clubs and activities I would like to highlight some of my favorites the first the first would be our student government program this is my first year of well this is my first year doing student government in high school I did it in middle school but this program this program allows students to make many decisions um and really it's primarily student run which I love because that's that allows the students to make decisions and feel like they're able to have their input and it's just not all adults the next would be the sad program which stands for students against uh destructive decisions um this club really allows the students to um to just really make decisions for the school and it really focus focuses on students uh under like driving Under the Influence which we know it really comes around around Pro prom time and we want to help with that so that we won't have Lo more loss of students and you know our students won't end up incarcerated lastly I would say um I would lastly like to talk about the the hours the after hours that students are able to come with their teachers after School Mondays and Thursdays from 2: to 2:45 the this program really helps because students are able to get that oneon-one with teachers and they really feel that they're getting helped and they're not embarrassed to by other students that are in their classroom so it's great for them to get that extra help uh lastly well I would I love to talk about all the positive about our school but we all know school have their flaws and one thing I would like to talk about about is students using um students using bad substances uh such as vaping and smoking students are constantly dependent on the substances which affects their work in school um one solution that I would like to make a part partnership with you guys on is making sure that there's only a certain amount of students in the bathrooms there's only four all so there shouldn't be you know 10 students in the bathroom I know girls want to check their hair and look cute and whatever but but we have to make sure that we're just checking in and you know we don't want to inv and invade students privacy but sometimes we have to take that step especially as adults because we don't want anything happening in the school when we're right on the ground um so that's pretty much it and I'm so thankful that you guys are letting me speak to you today thank you excellent good evening board members superintendent and members of the communities my name is Taylor stua and I'm a 16-year-old sophomore at cre mon High School obviously engaged in the Cy engagement program I've lived in cre all my life and when I think of our district the first thing I think of is the diversity for students it is crucial to see other cultural cultures in differences around us and it helps Foster empathy for others which I feel like the high school does a great job of doing teaching Black History Month and Hispanic History Month in women's History Month we're doing a great job with that overall another thing that I am so grateful of you don't understand how grateful of um is the fact that you guys pay for our AP classes and acts as a student who's taking five AP classes right now it would cost me hundreds of dollars to get the education that I'm on course to fulfill so I I just want to say thank you to all of those who decided that you guys would pay for what we need it's it's really appreciated I don't think you know how much another thing that is very near and dear to my heart is the fine arts program at our school I am a member of the band from Wind Ensemble pet band marching band you name it I'm probably in it um it's a lot of long hours at school countless practicing money spent but it's well worth it um just being able to express yourself it's an extraordinary program and I think many students are grateful for it now with that said obviously I would I would like to stop there but um one negative of our finite side is the budgeting um being a kid from Fine Arts I've noticed that especially this year our food budget was cut so much in fact that we couldn't food so we had to get money from sponsors who would only donate a little bit we would go to the football games performing for our awesome football players staying there just as late as they were and we would go hungry we would try to fund raise but fundraising the same 60 70 kids eventually people stop buying so what I would like to do is to partner with you and even the band boosters to get our fundraising out there more or apply for Grants anything that us as a community can help get the band more money because whether you believe it or not it's a great program we're trying to go to Great America this year to compete and it costs around $7,000 um we don't have any of that right now and it's in two months so if we could spread our awareness that would be great now here's a Twist one of our community members is not here so I would be speaking for her um my colleague FIA aiz is a 16-year-old sophomore from University Park who goes to our high school um she loves program such as jrc FFA obviously and many other programs she loves the fact that she can go openly Express herself be with her friends and get the support from admin and staff however with that being said she has some concerns regarding our no passes in the fights that are are constantly going on in our school today we've had two fights while still being on no past restrictions the reason for this she believes is particularly because the fights happen during passing period and restricting the many of kids who don't fight because of the 10% that do it's a breach of trust telling a girl you can't go to the bathroom when she needs to use it is very not disrespectful but hurtful with the security shortage you have to call down security now we don't have enough security guards right now so often they don't come till the next period you're sitting there really needing to use the bathroom because you're not the one fighting but you're getting punished she believes that more positive reinforcements should be made our PB program does a great job awarding those who do it through a raffle system this does not allocate any distributions of awards to anybody who does any good and often kids who are the ones fighting do get rewarded which puts down to others so she would like to partner with you and the PBIS team to just find a solution not restricting our passes but maybe spreading awareness to why you shouldn't be doing these things instead of saying you can't do it because the why is always more important but I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you Mr Franklin for making this possible Mr hollyfield superintendent board members and thank you for letting us come speak it's very crucial to us thank you so we can get on one more round and I just want to thank Mr Holyfield superintendent board um administration at the high school and of course our merging uh call them board members because this is a board and what I've been telling them is soon they'll re realize how powerful they are so I want to thank you all for your courage we are gearing up to fingers cross go to uh Springfield on April 2nd for Lobby day hopefully we can we can put that together um so thank you all for your time truly grateful have a great evening thank you can we can we take a minute and get a picture of all the students please a picture just a quick picture of the students because we will put this on our social media website Mr hollyfield get up there there you go thank you we so appreciate hearing from you tonight it makes such a difference when we can hear from our students what is working and what we need to go back and uh fix you know uh sometimes we're not aware of the things that we're doing that aren't working for our students and so I appreciate appreciate your honesty tonight and you know we are not offended in any way that there are things that we can still do to do better and so I I thank you for sharing that with us tonight you know what's amazing is I appreciate you know the three good things right but whoever come up with the idea of bringing up one negative if you notice they all came up with a possible solution corre so how amazing is that that they didn't just come up here to complain or say good but you guys came with a solution you know and whether you're in you know whatever seat you're going to do being part of the solution is definitely the way to go um cuz as we all know there's a ton of problems and we don't want to be more problems we want to be part of the great job tonight coming up with at least a solution for the the one negative and thanks for all the positive reinforcement too yes excellent I thank you all and it made me really proud to see you all go up there and speak um on what you enjoy about the school and and again like uh Mr swall say come up with a solution for those things that are growth areas for the school I guess the one thing I'm concerned about is the food like I like to eat what I what what's the thing with the budget I I hope that um to hear more about that from I'm Not Who sure who we need to talk to or what we need to do but that falls under Mr keki so I'll be speaking with with them tomorrow okay okay thank thank you thank you for bringing that up because I was going to ask the what's next you know um I like the fact that the ideas came but we don't want them to fall on De ears so what's next and so thank you for your followup that you're going to do I was taking notes as well because I was like oh what did that mean and even if it just meant having an opportunity to explore to hear more of the context behind the areas for improvement as well as the pro the positives as well I think that's um time well spent and so whatever that looks like if that means we go to the school and we have a a merging leader Civic engagement program follow-up meeting or whatever that looks like um I think most of us will be open to doing that I like that I'll be following up with Mr Franklin because I want to get a copy of every single suggestion and solution that you had because as you said you want to partner with us we want to partner with you so I think there is room for that followup and then we'll talk about what that looks like and any board member that would like to participate in that uh I'm sure that they would love to have have you everyone yeah may be able to nominate a member of this group to actually sit in me right so that they can come together as a voice of the school and we have a representative that sit in at the board meeting to represent and and and provide U you know ideas and solutions so that's something that'll be coming next year that we're going to propose um but we are working on that um and they will they will nominate their representative that will possibly be allow to sit in and we're going to propose that same thing with uh the municipality because they represent every municipality that is in the district so we want to have representation on those boards as well as this board so the voice is at the table as you know elction season now and many people run on the platform of the youth so if we have the youth at the table and we have individuals that are able to articulate as they did very well and they're a little nervous now but can you imagine next year after they went to every village they've been the Springfield hopefully we can go to Washington this group of dynamic individuals will be able to talk in front of anybody without any pressure so that's the idea so abely well you you kind of took my thunder a little bit because I can tell you we do have the ball rolling with Mr swales and and Mr guy hagos as far as actually Mr hollyfield too working with or trying to come up and we hoping to have it in place for the beginning of next school year to have a leader from from the student body to have a seat at this board yeah in some capacity so you just validated what these two young men are already looking at already yeah we were just waiting for Shire to finish up and okay so you just yeah and I just you always are danzel and forgive me for not calling you Mr Franklin first of all anybody else any other board member like to say something out this no I mean uh we we have been in the works of bringing a student voice to the board um I'm serious when I'm telling you that we're waiting for Shire to finish up because it's it's it's a lot uh Mr swales does a lot uh for uh our Fine Arts um in that respect and uh you know president Brown tasked us with with working together and and figuring it out uh you know uh last year for the Triple ey conference I did a whole day of learning on how to how to do it with Equity bringing bringing a student voice onto the board and uh yeah I think you Mr K met somebody from was it asigo asgo and we were going to go sit down with a board member to figure out how they were able to how that came about so we we're going to sit down and have that conversation so that we figure out how to bridge that together so so I think you guys have figured out like how to do it in the school with the with the students and stuff like that that's where where we didn't know how we were going to implement that because we're not in the school from day to day you know but I think you guys have figured it out so it's just on us to um get figure out how that's going to evolve right so uh I'm excited for it I'm excited to hear to hear all these voices up here um telling us from dayto day what's wrong what's not working um and how would it get better yeah it's again it's it does my heart well to see our future leaders and again danzel I'm going to call you danzel because I know you so well that it doesn't surprise me with what you're doing and what you're getting out of these young young uh students here to become our Future Leaders they they are already leaders in their own capacity and a young man I love that fro what is what is your day Malachi Mal Malachi that's biblical right some somewhat biblical but you said something that's on a personal level you said something about a tomato and I'll just leave it at that I that was but that was so uh it was It was kind of on a personal level a positive thing that was kind of direct towards me and when you said that you don't I don't think you realize how much that meant to me from a personal level so thank you for moving I had forgotten all about that it was last year I think you mentioned it yeah I think I think you sent an email out oh I must have regarding the regarding that the tomatoes well the garden the garden okay I have to get that I have to frame it right because I might you just hit a soft spot in my heart so thank you so much thank you soone and danzel again you have been a consumate leader in the community and your presence just your presence once you get get the speaking you draw people to you that's your nature and keep doing it okay keep doing it we value all what you do in the community thank you so much all right so you cannot leave with all those cookies you talking about food we had money to buy cookies okay all right going to close that take us right now back to number four uh yes yes back to close session I'll wait till our superintendent get here we don't need her to vote yeah we can just go to close okay go gool all right all right uh coming up on our agenda item close session we do have a reason to go into close session for the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees could I have a motion to do as what was just read so move by Jamie by Jamie second by Bill roll call please uh Mr Albert hi Mr dieo says an i Mr swales hi Miss zit stumber hi Miss wol hi Dr Hall I and president Brown all right so we are close session now and we will be in close s minutes and we will be taking action after close session end e e e for our regular school board meeting and that leads us back to number eight is anybody like to pull anything out of the consent agenda if not can I have a motion I have a question first before I say yes or no um when we get to um what we just discussed do we is that separate do we get a chance to pull I thought so that's I just want to be clear yeah we just go to on the way to Delta number eight for this motion okay okay for the uh the business uh end is that under the consider J yes it is all the way to D Delta okay all right so um the the the approval of the uh almost $300,000 um for the construction is any of that none of that is is with the add-ons correct no the the special special add-ons like water no no we didn't move forward to that real quick just hold your thought for sure yeah we would make the motion first and second it correct and then you open up disc disc that's correct yeah uh the opportunity is now to take anything out all right before we make the motion to approve they're asking discussion so I want to make sure sure yeah we can hold back if you don't want to pull anything out we have an opportunity you have an opportunity sure so again anybody wants to pull anything out the consent agenda if not can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda move by Bill second by no and I will let the superintendent read it out and then we have questions thereafter okay okay um under a a superintendent it would be number one approve regular meeting minutes of February 18 2025 item two approve Committee of the whole meeting minutes of February 11 2025 item three approved Committee of the whole meeting close session minutes of February 11 2025 under business item one approve Board of Education financial report item two approve a payment of 61,2 and 59 cents to be construction for work completed at uh cre money High School item three approve a payment of $298,200 employment unpaid leave of absence resignation and educational support staff employment reassignment and tent to rehire and res resignation under item D for teaching and learning it's to approve the cmhs uh jrtc overnight field trip application that will take place April of 2025 and that concludes the report right do we have any further questions or comments uh yes so we're not touching the add-on men from uh bernon Jones um when when do we um look at those items because we kind of have to have those brought back to us my my assumption Jason correct me if I'm wrong is he would bring that to us we'd have to approve that first so I know we discussed it but this is previous this is probably just invoices from the month I'm assuming with what they've submitted for some of the work they've completed you correct Mr spish and Mr go my intention is to bring a revised short-term facility plan um to the Board of Education hopefully uh Committee of the whole in April okay but then so you'll you'll present it at the committee of the whole and then we'll vote on it the next week in April um yes if we if you if we yeah see something we like any changes added to the money we would have to got it he would have to bring and present to us okay good question good comments any further questions comments on the consent agenda hearing none Mr secretary roll call please Mr Albert I Mr Gago says an i Mr swales hi Miss zit stumber I miss wolfel I Dr Hall I president Brown I MO carry leads us to number nine under action reports Alpha business can I have a motion to approve the bid results submitted by first student for special education and prek pupil P Pupil Transportation Services move by Jamie second second by Nelson any comments questions the only thing I want to say in that is Jason I appreciate the breakdown over the last if I had to guess five years it it was at least five or six years of how that was broken down cuz I know at one point your predecessor mentioned it was 80% I think that number's down to 55% that sound about right yeah I know there was a I'm sorry um yeah there was a variance between the years and it went I did you know when you look at it ISB does say 80% but when I compare what was claimed compared to what we actually received it was it was less so I continue to do my analysis on that you know and keep an eye on that going forward so moving forward is there something in writing that that that the state is going to make sure are they shorting that amount or how are they coming up with that formula is it just pretty much whatever we get every year or how do we make sure that we get exactly what we're supposed to 80% is whatever 80% % is right how do we make sure we get that if that's would you I guess look into that to make sure because at one year it showed 80% but I think this last year it might have been 55% which is 25% lower and we then we that's a big number yeah I look into it and I'll including the FYI I know it did decrease it looked like the 80% was the one year we came out the pandemic right around there and then it's kind of subsequently decreased each year but I'll look into that for you yeah I'm guessing about Nelson correct me if I'm wrong four years ago I think this they were behind so that's why that number was lower but it were because they were behind like six months they were behind in their payment so didn't look like the 80% I just want to make sure that if they're behind just we just want to need to know that yeah no I mean it's looked pretty consistent with the categorical categorical September December March June sometimes what I noticed this year in December it did you know it was vouchered in December but then it was actually uh funded in early January so that was a little bit of a lag I know we ran into that problem last June too I think it ended up being funded on June 28th or something like that but it has been pretty close to those four months so what's the total transportation ballpark 10 million for the bid for this one no no combined uh yeah right around I think it's been around 101 million with claimable expenses figure 10 million just as a guess 8 million doll is what we thought we were supposed to get we got 5.5 million so 2.5 million in our budget's big yeah and then you know we Levy for the difference for that right okay I do have a question um this is very competitive bid I think we had four biders anywhere from $10 million to $14 million and this first student one and they are the existing current vendor for our transportation right first student yes they currently transport our special education students and our regular students too right yes and also reg okay what gave them the idea and I think you might have mentioned it last week and forgive me if I didn't remember what gave them the idea to submit something to you that included a price of 22% more without going out for bid what how do they think that this was not going to go out for bid to your knowledge I can't uh to my knowledge I mean I think they probably took advantage or maybe took for granted you know uh them extending the relationship without someone going out and see what the market had to offer so that was one of my intentions to go out to bid for both of them to see where the market is when we started this school year but we know that's a standard right I think our board policy again forgive me if I misquoting here that we have a minimum when we talked about bidding and procurement that if it's over x amount of dollars I think 25 thou $25,000 that it has to go out for bid except certain situations this is clearly over 25,000 but you mentioned that and again I'm not trying to catch you off guard because you know there nothing you did wrong but you mentioned that it's almost as if hey we're saving you said we're saving first student propose to take on the contract for 22% more but at the end of the day they bid it and it came down to 10% yes sir as a savings right so I don't know if it was a say I mean they proposed a 22% extension they end they end up winning the bid and it came out a gain of of 12% right% a good direction remember I mean it was 10% but a 12% difference Mr Brown remember I think at least two years that I've been here the only one to bid right we out for bid no one would even and that's but we still have to go through the process that was my thing so like how did they even considered maybe because of that that they was the only biders but we had four biders this time and very competitive that's why there was a change in St okay good what what's that change it allowed you to extend existing contracts for a perod years get it why did you let me talk all that time and need if you if you gave me a second president Brown I was going to throw right back to Mr GLE you know prior to this whole process I did I want any of you guys telling me you don't like me talking okay you you wanted me to talk all right good thanks Bill that's why you get paid all the big bucks so they changed the statue and then allow us to extend that without going out for bid okay great so should we change our policy if we said right now $25,000 the base is 35 I I think it's 35 year policy not 25 okay um but transportation is covered as it's an exempt service under the code and it's it's covered by article 29 as opposed to article 10 so you guys are still we still okay yeah you're doing fine got it thank you all [Music] right all right motions on the floor the motion is on the floor further questions or comments we had it moved no further questions or comments hearing none okay I uh have a roll call please on 9A Alpha Mr Albert I Mr G is an i Mr SW I miss zumers I miss wolfolk I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry number nine Bravo personnel and culture Bravo number one can I have a motion to approve approve the resolution authorizing non-renewal of non final year probationary teachers move move by Bill you have to give the name second by J name the name any questions or comments I have um um questions so I have a comment is and we're at you say he have to get a name first or can I for number one for number one I thought that was I thought that was under number five for the ones where people are yeah that's number five here this no that's a different Mo okay okay here here yeah I think she put but that's saying the same thing is that this yeah okay ah okay thank you Cheryl I knew she had it all right let me go back you have a motion I think I stated it but this that's to approv the res resolution authorizing the nonrenewal or non final year probationary teacher of Rachel Lindon Lindon Moulder that's the person that we're talking about here Rachel lindamer any questions I think Dr Hall was no not I don't not that okay so again approve a resolution authorizing the non-renewal or non-final year probational teacher of Rachel lyen M molder and we have a motion and it's been moved any question question or comments if not roll call please Mr Alber I Mr gagos is an i Mr swales I miss zit sters I miss wolfolk hi Dr Hall I president Brown all motion carry under nine Action Report B personel and culture can can I ask a question before you read that because I don't want to read I don't want to ask the question with the name because I don't want anybody to associate my question to my comment and question to any one person okay on this particular motion coming up before you read before this particular one before you read any any of the rest of them not just that particular one but any of the rest of them um I'm ask it now ahead of time so the um I want to make this not just a comment that I made before I'm going to make this a comment first the comment is I feel like we typically do things that affect students first and then and before we do things that affect um adults and I think that we are by affecting the schools first I think that's wrong I think that we should if we're going to look at anything we could have looked at if we're if we're really trying to be um proactive we look at District first then what affects schools next to see maybe we could have found what it is that we needed to find and that area first before we go uh affecting things that directly affect kids first or people who directly affect kids first so I do feel that I am totally against that so then my second question is if a person received a proficient regardless of if they received the proficient or not they can't moved into another administrative position they have to still interview or if they if they have is that or if they have um I just leave it at that if they have a proficient can they be moved into an administrative another administrative position what from what position that from whether it be principal whether it be assistant principal whe can they be moved into another so there's a particular section of the code that deals with reclassifications of principles that assistant principles yes so as defined by regulation assistant principles could be a little bit broader than what you think pursuant the statute you can reclassify and non renew people regardless of what their rating is the statute doesn't isn't dictated by what the rating is it just requires the rating to be provided and then you're you can reclassify them but you can't reclassify them into a lower paying uh position if they're tenured without providing them with the statutory hearing required by section 24-2 of the illo school code so you normally are going to reclassify people from an assistant POS principal or a principal position into a classification of a position that has the salary set on a uniform basis like yours is through a collective paring agreement so if you reclassify like an assistant principle to a d that would so you'd have if you're tenure you'd have to give them a 10e teacher dismissal hearing because You' be cutting their pay into a non-uniform pay position okay but so if Dean is an ad administrative position it's not governed by the dep it's a yeah it's an administrative position okay yeah then that that would that would be the the rub you'd have to provid the hearing to put them into a position that doesn't have a uniform salary attached to it okay and so it doesn't matter if they get proficient or needs Improvement it does matter okay long but if they did okay because I just want your administrators it doesn't matter okay okay but if they did get a proficient then they still can be moved correct okay okay that was a general question regarding personnel and culture all right so going back to action report under Personnel in culture number Bravo number two can have I have a motion to approve for Reemployment of first second and third year probation probationary teachers Bill second by Nelson any comments or questions hearing none roll call Polie Mr secretary Mr Albert I Mr G say an i Mr swales I miss Z stumber I miss wolfolk I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion Carri under nine Action Report V Bravo personnel and culture number three can I have a motion to approve for re-employment and accelerated tenard of second or third year probationary teachers both Mo by Bill second second by Jamie questions or comments hearing none roll call please Mr secretary Mr Albert I um Mr Gago says an i Mr swales hi Miss Z sters I miss wol I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry under nine Action Report Bravo personnel and culture number five four four you skip the start number four stand to be corrected could I have a motion to approve for re-employment and tenure of fourth year probationary teachers move move I bill second second by Nelson any questions or comments hearing none roll call please Mr secretary Mr Al I Mr gagos is an i Mr swales I miss zeit somus I miss wol I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry under nine Action Report under B Bravo personnel and culture number five can I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing reclassification of Administrators that is the board of educational creep Moni Community Unit School District 201u resolution authorizing notice of contract non-renewal renewal and propos reclassification of certain administrators those administrators being Christina Flores Colbert Jennifer Hanigan Caroline Ross and Marquita Phillips can I have a motion to do what I just read move move by Bill second second by Jamie questions or comments hearing none roll call please Mr Albert hi Mr gagos says I Mr swales hi Miss zit somus hi Miss wolfolk hi Dr Hall nay president Brown I motion carry could I have a motion to approve under nine Action Report under Bravo personnel and culture number five approv the memorandum of understanding with the CM EA move by Bill second second by Janine Janine Janine Janine jine sorry I'll get it right we're all sleepy all right uh any comments or questions did I miss it in our package or is there a description of I was thinking the same thing I must have missed it it was listed in your extras yeah mhm it was uh I don't know how the one that everybody have a hard time trying to find it was all those documents it uh Jane were you able to locate that there were quite a few uh this week I can't remember let's see it was a whole list I thought it was 34 of the way down it was like nine of them yeah it was about nine all the attachments were there I saw I never cursed them my life but I did curse looking for that okay I don't see it go ahead may I ask a question sure um is it customary though to have vote to vote for something if we for something that was just placed in the extras and not brought to us we talked about it last week we did talk about all this or that was going to be an extra it's been in your last couple of weeks also yeah was it was a document in there 48 Hours yeah for for the board to look at since there yeah so since last Thursday it was there okay can somebody explain it then since we all since so many people missed it yeah no problem the it's anou we had um involuntarily transferred someone from one building to another due to certifications and needs in uh a building um the building that the person was coming from they had stiens that they were eligible for and were performing the building they were moved to didn't have those eligible because the nature of the building they moved from bmal to the early Center Early Learning Center doesn't have bus Duty and lunch duty stiens so that person we moved because of the needs we needed for the kids due to no fault of their own so theou just memorializes them having the ability to keep their money from those stiens because they did not make that move on their own so it's not their fault that they would be essentially losing out on that money um also create allows us to create other opportunities for extended Duty stiens that might be beyond the contract so for example this person is on the school leadership team the contract allows eight spots she's number nine so that way it's not a total loss to the district on we're not getting anything out for the money that we're spending yeah we we did that because of the needs of the students so that's why we moved yeah and it just identifies certain that this is only eligible for certain High needs positions that are very specialized and I think the way you had mentioned the ELC is a a lot of grand trip it's a different it's not it's not classified the same thing as K2 okay we do have a motion right M and we got it moved any further questions or comments hearing none Mr secretary ROK call please Mr Alber I Mr Goo says an I uh Mr swales hi Miss suus I miss wolfolk hi Dr Hall I president Brown all right motion carry and last but not least of our action items today number nine Action Report Bravo personnel and culture can have a motion to approve a contract for the assistant principal of tala Elementary who's in our presence I believe she is and before you uh vote I'd like to introduce you to Elizabeth um she's being recommended for the assistant let me move this I just got the motion move move by Bill did second second by Jamie okay all right so Elizabeth will be joining us from the tri Tri Creek School corporation which is in L um she comes to us with assistant principal uh experience principal experience um she stood heads and tails above our candidate pool of 11 that interviewed for the position over at tala um she is going to be a true partner for Mrs schoko the principal there and we look forward to all of the great things that she's going to do to help uh our students at tala and move the building forward thank you so much for having me I'm so excited and looking forward to welcome yeah welcome I hope you got a cookie did you get a cookie that here all right we still have to vote so don't welcome her too much don't welcome too much all right or should we vote and you get as scw we're going through bring back the cookies all right any questions or comments hearing none Mr secretary roll call please Mr Albert I Mr gagos is an i Mr swales hi Miss Z suus Miss wol hi Dr Hall hi president Brown hi welcome aboard thank you thank you so much thank you so much where's get the cookies please all right motion carry any old business any new business I have something for new whole business and new uh no new yeah so um I guess we have um I don't know if it's a policy or somebody decided to make this up um on on a fly where you cannot if you are if we allow you as a community partner to use our facilities facilities you can't sell Goods like concessions or drinks or anything um I I think we need to revisit that it's not a policy I don't like it I think that they should be able to sell things even as a community partner um I I know that basketball had a issue with that and eventually we allowed them to sell water and Gatorade because people are thirsty but I guess they can't have any concessions um I wonder I'm interested to see if that rule applies during football season when we let people use our Stadium um I hope not I hope that this is resolved by then and we say yes they can sell Community Partners can sell concessions um even if they're using our facilities for free um so that's one thing the second thing is being able to eat at a basketball game in the gym I have so many people complain to me when I come go to games about why can't we eat in a gym I guess the junior high just implemented something as well where they have put signs up I mean that helps the sales of the of the food because people if they know they can bring it in they'll eat and it's a it's a entertainment facility yes people they're supposed to clean up afterwards they should um we we have custodians that should clean up that's part should be part of their Duty that's very few schools that do that I know Bloom does it and that's one of the reasons like people will go to their games but they complain and they like we don't want to go and just sit outside even if you're playing a game they pay to see the game and eat in the in the gym and it could be cleaned up I don't agree with it it's not a policy it's practice that somebody put in place who I don't know um I don't I think it started before this Administration but I do believe we should and those other schools do the Community Partners pay for the janitorial service that I don't know I I'm not that I don't know but I just um I'm not talk that's not the janitorial service oh are you talking about from selling first you're talking that first yeah if if they're allowed to sell popcorn you need somebody to clean up the popcorn and I wouldn't trust the community partner organization to do that to our standard so we'd have to have janitorial custodians in there are they are they paying for that that I don't know I all I know is it's something I want to visit and I I can tell you is that even during and I think uh Mr guos can can Rouge when we're going to these competitions for show choir the only thing that people are now allowing in gyms is is drinks with closed Lids they're not allowing food in nowhere we went because remember high school kids are at these events and if you even go down to a junior high they're they're kids right and they're going to be messing so um and the other thing is if you bring a liquid in open you bring in open plastic not this you know you know a cup of pop it's kind of spill kids are goofing around they're not paying attention the policy can be amended as long as you have a closed bottle or like everybody has um what are those uh like a Tumblr yeah what what's the name of them St everybody has a Stanley right you bring those in I guess we you could have men something like that but I think that's the basic premise cuz every high school we went that I went to no food in the gym that they didn't allow and they were looking for it but they were only looking for closed bottle stuff no open drinks just because adults are going to take care of it maybe but kids are not going to pay attention they're going to goof around they're going to be kids and they're going to spill I I can say this every gym that I've gone on to with the exception of Bloom allows concessions in the every and I go to a lot of gyms whether it be wrestling basketball I go to a lot of gyms and they allow when we have that spectacular here I was trying to figure out how fair is Creet Mooney compared to everybody else and so you know we allow the the closed or closed bottle with lids and everywhere we went it was exactly the same thing just no food and no open containers cuz you bring in people bringing coffee right you got to have a lid on it you can't have it open so just if we if we say closed Lids but I'm talking concession like popcorn and stuff yeah that and and this isn't the free this is our regular games I'm talking where we pay custodians to be there they're already there and they should be cleaning up that's what I'm talking but I think that to start with that I think that we should they should so it's not a policy I just think that the buildings Administration or whoever buildings and grounds should allow we they should not say that they can't bring get it accidents can happen we have to clean that's just kind of powerful the course I mean they can't they they have to clean up at the football stadium they can't say no you can't they don't say that but I think that they should be able to bring food in if we say drinkwise you have to have a lid on what I I can I can go with that and then even if they bring soda or Gatorade in it has a lid should have a lid on I can I can deal with go with that but to not I think our our concession St sales are lower probably because they people can't bring food into the game and watch it as they eat and watch the the game let's just say this Dr H definitely hear you and definitely agree on some things you said but let's give an action item to our superintendent kind of look at it holistic holistic point of view well one thing I'm I'm firm at is no it's not a board policy obviously probably not an administrative policy but because we want this to happen right now that we have some standard that it is some type of procedure is captured in some type of writing this is how we're going to do it so get if the board is okay have our superintendent look at it bring back best practice you see where we can fit in on this and remember we can change it yeah and then if something happens what one thing is you want to make sure the floor does get ruined because we just finished it 2 years ago yeah but as long as it's protected if something happens you can always change it back yeah right but I mean if you think if you're strong enough how you feel about that then obviously you're right Mr Brown write it up we'll look at it close bottle Lids or something nothing open you know that's I think cuz I see some winds here I see some winds that are allowing you know people you go and get entertained yeah I definitely hear Nelson about who's going to clean up this and all of that and definitely these clubs capturing some monetary value to selling things yeah I think there's a couple things at the table with this um I think you got them all yeah Nelson was on this as well so I think there's our own games yes that's so that's the one piece and maybe it is the closed bottle and things like that so they can enjoy the game we also have facility rentals out there there are people out there that we are giving it to free and we are also paying for our custodians and not charging them for it so I think that's another case though but then if we're allowing the food then then our custodians were paying them were paying them to go clean up the mess so I think that's another layer so I think we really need to look at that if we're allowing to use the facility for free but we're paying for the custodial yeah so that's usually an a normal rental agreement that someone else when come governmental that's just been a practice we have for nonprofits we we let them in for free because they don't come in the buildings without security not now yeah we we but we don't enter a one or two page intergovernmental because there's some liability and all that do they give us a certific insurance yes they have to produce $25,000 so there's no there's no guidelines then well here's the thing I will go look into all of this and then bring something back how's that okay yeah look at some things see what you do it might be don't try to solve world hunger the first time around well obviously there's some wins and we have to just prioritize and see you know how does it and I just wanted to bring it so so yeah because he did bring that to me earlier and we tried to adjust for a particular situation that came up um for this year but I think moving on do we take this opportunity to revisit that and I think we got to get straight the different contracts yeah we need one contract I think you should have learned from the students tonight if you're going to identify a problem come up well I needed the team for the solution yeah you just brought all problems I needed the team for the solu you no you brought more problems than all of those together and if you can't look at the same time his his first question was about the concession stand so if it's an outside organization I I I think there's probably some amending we can do there but the only question question is they cannot use our facility for that so if you have the athletic boosters inside and have all their stuff in there you can't have an organization with their kids kind of rumbling through there it just isn't going to work right because their products in there that they paid for same thing you go to the new concession stand over at this right they have to bring their stuff if they set up a tent with with a grill and they do their own thing like you know everybody knows that you look on the weekends and you see uh the creep bulldogs and you the Mavericks they set up all their own stuff if they played on the field and they set that up that's what we have to look at making sure we're we're okay but I don't have that why would I have a problem with that cuz they're their own thing but they probably can't use the inside of the facility because of all the product and stuff that's already in there you know because then otherwise someone from that has to be here right to just keep an eye on it I'll bring something back can the whole yeah all right any other questions on comments old business this a um I'm not sure but um there was an email from respond now about summer EBT benefits for our students and their families and I think there was going to be some followup I think that was you Jason yeah I can speak to that um Miss Pam's uh Miss pans has been working with that Corporation U she's in communication with getting them to come out to the districts generally we do our Community Partnership the summer food program she'll be out uh the representative from respond now will be there to help uh complete applications and she's working with the Elementary School principles and to get that advertised and publicized so someone will be on site to assist with those uh summer EP summer bucks okay so that was new business that's new okay that's all right thank you good good uh Insight any other comments for new business all I just one if no other I just one I got an email right around 5:00 before the board meeting I got here and it was a taxpayer just kind of sent me an email and say did I know what's going on on Facebook regarding alleged multiple fights at the middle school on the school property multiple fights vocal language and this un acceptable behavior so talk to Dr con and she's going to look into it just can you just send something just that to me that email I will that help very short and I responded back to that person thank you for sharing and I will look into it I got I got one other thing new business or old business or in between new business new business uh so we all got the email from Miss uh cros about the the magazine sure that we found oh yes yeah um and we didn't find anything else were were were other classrooms searched or like were we looking for the other half of the of the weapon I I do believe uh that they conducted a search and there was nothing else found I think I did like a one line comment on that about potentially having detectors over there we don't have currently I thought we were supposed to orig we was actually going down to the elementary school but you know budet we trying to figure out I think we were at the high school to see how it work out yeah and it worked out fine we may want to look at we have a grand at that time okay so I think you know if we can squeeze in something or whatever we come back next year whatever we can look I just don't want to just overlook this to sayy you know C we see what can happen yeah uh um I can speak to that Mr Tobias you have money you say no I didn't say that oh I said um I can speak to that Mr Tobias is looking into the estimated cost to get the Evolve units at the middle school um and you know the number that we'd have with the traffic flow and the uh path that the students take so he is looking into that for me um but uh you know it is not part of the cops Grant we're one year into a three-year Grant but we can definitely see where else we can make funds from available once I get a total dollar amount and bring that back to the board excellent yeah I would definitely look into grants on that in the state because they're definitely talking about that more Safety and Security and I would definitely have somebody look into that yeah excellent I have one more thing is it old business new business or in between this is new business okay you're good or maybe it's just a question does our foundation provide a yearend review of money raised for the board I think we heard some comments you just this conversation just sparked me about needing more funds for additional security measures um I know we have a foundation do they provide a yearend or recap a year summary can we request that you know what you bring up a good point and again memory serves me right I think we have in our board policy that these organizations submit to the board in some capacity that the board sponsor that the district sponsor their budgetary sheets they're financials memory serves the right lawyer yeah you're right your board policy requires that they produce an audit on an annual basis I will follow up with that one too so only a freshman can do that so the Education Foundation does have um they actually had a meeting tonight and I I'm the rep for the board there so I was not able to get uh go to the meeting obviously because I'm here um but I will get with uh Reverend hunt uh to see what uh was talked about at the meeting um bring back um the treasures report and see what what what else we could do as far as was granting that money out I don't know uh if they talked about I I didn't even look at their uh agenda because I knew I was going to be here so uh I have to have a debrief with uh Reverend hunt did I miss something you said money with them to I was say can we still do that something the money out or something you I'm something you said yeah so they they collect money uh they do their fundraising the fundraising event and then they uh collect applications from teachers from administrators from students about dispersements of those like for field Tri yeah right so um if uh say uh a a team wanted needed extra funds for something like can they apply to get money from the Education Foundation yeah and various other sure organizations pto's and what have you I mean I would imagine it's for educational purposes meaning the title so I think that's why teachers and stuff can apply for that because that's what it's for yeah right and essentially you know what I mean if you're thinking groups you got to just be careful when you say it's not for athletics yes it's and again specifically Athletics has a group for that so I just want to be clear you're saying educational purposes so that everybody listening knows that's what that's for yeah cuz he's right cuz somebody from Athletics may say hey we we need to want to go do something in a trip but that's not what that's for yeah definitely good good bringing that up okay you're hired all right if there's no no other new business I have a motion to adjourn move by Bill second second by nson all in favor say I I any nay no Nays we are adjourned thank you public for joining us this evening have a safe rest area evening until we meet again

The development includes 25% affordable units and 391 parking spaces. Public input is encouraged at a hybrid ZBA meeting on March 25th at 7 p.m. Grant opportunities due March 28th, 2025. Ashlin Select Board is offering two grants. The BAA grant up to $4,000 for qualifying 501c3 nonprofits and the community grant up to $1,000 for groups or individuals who don't traditionally qualify for funding. Visit the town website for applications and details. Also, the Ashland scholarship applications are now open and are due May 1st, 2025. Two $2,000 scholarships are available for graduating seniors who reside in Ashland. All students, regardless of school, are encouraged to apply. For questions, contact Susan Roby at 508-5327921 or sroby at ashleymass.com. This week's community shout out. Happy 100th birthday, Gabe McGaryen. A big shout out to Gabe McGaryen who turns 100 years old on March 20th, 2025. A World War II Navy veteran, lifelong Ashlin resident, and former Grand Marshall of Ashland Day.

good morning and welcome to the Hawaii state senate committee on Commerce and consumer protection it's Tuesday March 18th 2025 and we are on our 9:30 a.m. Joint Committee hearing agenda between our colleagues from the Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs committee uh and CPN uh as PSM is the lead on this measure I'll yield to chair elepante okay thank you so much uh chair kle um just a few housekeeping announcements limit for testifiers is one minute in the event of a technical failure we will reconvene in conference room 225 on Friday March 20th at 3 o'clock pm uh with that being said we do have a one minute limit on testifiers we just have one item on our agenda and this meeting is being streamed live on the Hawaii state Senate's YouTube channel our only item on our agenda today is House Bill 472 house draft one this is relating to digital identification this requires digitalized identification card to be accepted as a valid form of identification under certain conditions authorize State and county law enforcement agencies to accept a digitalized identification card as proof of a person's identity and first on our list of testifiers director Ed sniffin from the Department of Transportation on Zoom not available online chair okay and then we have Jak up wine individual in support that completes our list of registered testifiers anyone else that wishes to testify on House Bill 472 house draft one hey members there's no one to ask questions with um ready to roll into decision making if you're okay with that co-chair yes okay thank you so much okay so recommendation is to pass with amendments on page one line S we're going to change the word shall to May on page two line1 we're going to insert a date of July 1st 2027 and then we're going to add a different defective date of July 1st 2077 any further discussion if not acting Vice chair roads for the vote chair votes I uh on hp472 recommendations passed with amendments uh shair elant votes I chair Vice chair Kai is excused Senator fukunaga I I'll vote Yes Senator Dort I recommendations adopted thank you CPN same recommendation any discussion okay if not passing with amendments chair votes I thank you Vice chair also votes I Senator melie yes Senator Richards is excused Senator a is also excused measure is adopted this concludes our joint hearing where J good morning and welcome to the Hawaii State uh senate committee on Commerce and consumer protection it's Tuesday March 18th 2025 this is our 9:30 a.m.

in this room conference room 229 and a notice will be posted on the legislature's website uh this is a 90minut hearing slot uh as such we need uh our committee observes a two-minute testimony time limit if you've submitted written testimony we have reviewed it and you are free uh during your time to clarify or emphasize your written remarks within your time but we' encourage you not to read your testimony in its entirety verbatim because we've already reviewed and Reddit okay again first measure is HB 1097 HD1 relating to public housing evictions uh this measure reduces the time the the Hawai public housing authority is required to store unclaimed personal effects of a tenant evicted from public housing uh first up we have the Hawaii public housing authority in support thank you very much Kevin Carney in support railen tenno in support Kayla Marie in opposition Jennifer Lum in opposition and late testimony from Natalie Graham wood in opposition is there anyone else who would like to testify on this measure members any questions senator flla I understand um you know you're supporting this bill but um my my concern with this bill is that given on 14 days um when they get evicted or whatever the circumstances come for leaving their home um is only going to add to the problem that we have on the streets right now you force them to move out but not you don't take it person but then we're not going to be able to I mean understand the storage thing is is an issue because there's a lot of my question is that is that the reason why you supporting it because of the um holding the things for 30 days instead of um 30 days you put 14 days thank you Senator that's one of the reasons uh the other is we we have to keep that unit uh not touched for 30 days while other people are in weightless waiting for us to go fix it up so you can have housing and also from past experience what's being left uh is usually what they don't want and it stays there or you found garbage and other things if you leave it for an extended period of time you creat some other health and all that we're okay with whatever the decision is we just feel that when somebody's before they even evicted they're allowed actually few months of going uh to through the eviction by the eviction board not the quote by the eviction board the eviction board has one tenant as requirements and before that they have right to grieve uh so there is a process that takes long it's actually the process is more than 30 days yeah the process takes long before much longer before the get evicted uh the the exception uh that we expedite is if it's a crime like like violence or something like that but for rent uh we very first we take a long time before we even send that uh notice and then they have right as I said to grieve and have an informal meeting then a formal meeting then the eviction process process and then after that they are evicted so what is the time what is the timeline to a regular nonviolent procedure what what would what would what would be the timeline for n rant will probably take at least six months before they are evicted because we we don't just because he pay the first month we don't just go ahead we'll send them a violation and wait again and then wait again then you go through the process but once the evicted uh from experience we have there's nothing of value that they leave a just the unit stays untouch while other people are sitting there so you guys don't remove the items and store them like how you guys do it yeah the houseless community yeah we don't have storage yes we don't have storage where we can take that and and also to take all of that for example a lot of it is reely garbage that we can throw away but other stuff we don't have facility and then we have to incur cost and these are most of our properties are federally funded properties we don't have to funing for that that's the only reason an average how much uh evictions you guys uh I do in a in a quarter uh I I can provide that information for you uh it's not many yeah it's not the only reason why I'm saying I mean I understand he's saying that a lot of that is rubbish or whatever but sometimes even though they had six months or whatever months to find a relocation most of our families going to end up and then this is just my my input um they're going to end up on the beach and then we're going to have more situations with that understand the situation that you guys have somebody need to be in the home um and that's a priority for you guys but then the circumstances of having them scramble whatever time you give them to be uh to vacate the property and to find someplace that they can live having some issues with the rent to finding a new location to live um that's going to be an issue um right I think and and I'm not blaming you for how homeless crisis I'm blaming the the vendors but the bottom line is that this is just going to add to the burden of our families being on a street I mean that's just my no I we I understand Senator the only motivation we have is that we can get that unit at least two weeks earlier for somebody also sleeping on the street uh that's been waiting for that place to call home so that's our only motivation nothing else thank you thank you chair I have a followup question what is the what's the size of the weight list at this point uh we we stop taking names anytime we open the weight list there's about 10,000 families or so that apply you stop you stop taking names because we don't have how long do you I mean how many names do you hold on it before you stop so what we've been doing now uh initially we used to keep it open and we had over 30,000 families and every family average about three and a half so over 100,000 people wait in so instead of having wait for 10 15 years now we open the weight list about 10,000 then we do a lottery and from the lottery we do about 1,500 to 2,000 families that we keep on weight lless in hope that we can serve them within 3 years four years before we reopen it at any given year we have four to 500 units that become available so you hold the the weight list at two two to 3,000 yeah we 3,000 yes and you do about 500 a year correct okay thank you okay um we'll move on to our next measure which is HB 1325 hb3 relating to housing requires developers developing an affordable housing project under hhfdc to assist certain tenants who are subject to displacement or eviction by the proposed project by granting those tenants the right of first refusal of a comparable unit in the housing project at an affordable rate or establishing a fund to provide relocation benefits and offer assistance providing information either directly or through a contracted service how to obtain assistance and exercise the right of first refusal and establishing procedures to track and maintain communication with those tenants establishes consequences for developer non-compliance in the interest of time I'll just be uh reading out those who have signed up to testify if your name is not called you can just sign up uh you can indicate your willingness to testify afterwards um first we have hhfdc and support yes uh chair Vice chairs members demon economy white Housing Finance Dev Corporation we s our testimony and support but also want to note that we would support an amendment that would require um both relocation assistance and WR of first refusal in the new project so long as no requirement that the rate uh must be the same as the prior unit and that's because there's no way that we can we would know what the rate was based on for the previous unit might have been a smaller unit older unit a special arrangement with the tenant thank you tagawa for Maui in support medical legal partnership for children in Hawaiian support chair my name is Dei I'm an attorney with the medical legal partnership and we've provided direct legal services to tenants at the K Park kuio Park teros as well as just general um folks in our community who are facing evictions and housing challenges um we're in strong support of this bill along with amendments that hhfd discussed and I'm going to try to talk about my testimony because it's very complex to talk about how does this apply to public housing projects and how does this apply to all of them so we've seen how the public housing Redevelopment at KP it's layers of financing it's a federal demolition of public housing as well as hhfdc 201h as well as low-income housing tax credits for litech each of those programs has its own rules about what you have to provide for tenants because it's a federal demolition of public housing turning into public uh to there is relocation assistance that's required however if that relocation assistance goes wrong which I think you're going to hear about there has not been enforcement mechanisms this bill plugs that whole it creates enforcement mechanisms at a state level it also creates the right to return which is most important so we're asking for amendment to have both to give the tenants a preference to return to the community that you've moved them from um I'm available for any questions to talk about the complex layers but I will just keep my things short to say it's really complex please look at how this applies to projects that use layers of funding thank you thank you next we have Hawaii apple seed Center for Law and economic Justice and support thank you kokua khi Valley CFS in support hello hotair am I on Zoom please go ahead aloh my name is Jesse liman I'm with kok KH valy thank you for taking my testimony chair and committee members on strong support of the bill I've been working with the community here for several years through the Redevelopment process and we know this is the first of several uh large redevelopments of public housing throughout aahu and perhaps the state and seen a lot of our neighbors our co-workers our friends displaced um stressed out having a really hard time with what's happening so we just want to make sure that this bill provides the maximum amount of support for people from the community so they can return so communities can stay resilient and unified um and people aren't displaced to create affordable housing that brings other people into the community um and contributes to the homeless crisis so uh thank you for this bill we stand in strong support thank you um Hawaii workers Center in support morning chair Vice chair Sergio alilo I'm executive director of the Hawaii Worker Center we stand in support of this bill uh mainly for two reasons uh first you know our office is located at kpt or as if they rebranded the towers of cahil Park um and you know some of our staff members some of their families are there and uh you know they're still trying to figure out what to do for um their family members one of the big issues that that we've seen is some of the folks that do require ADA accommodations they're being sent to places and you'll probably you'll hear from a lot of attendants themselves they're being sent to places that's on the second floor um whereas here at KBT they're on the first first floor because they have you know ADA requirements so I feel like that's a lawsuit waiting to happen itself and second we also organize tenants at with the Maui tenants and workers Association so this is something that's an important issue to them considering kind of just the limited housing Supply they are Maui in itself so for for those two reasons those are the primary reasons we want to support and we want to support of course the tenants here um that are going to be sharing their stories and for the organizing work that IAL legal partnership is doing thank you very much thank you Rona mangay mangay in support hello chers and member of the committee my name is Rona mangam the youth services director of kakua Khali Valley we work directly with youth and children some of them are living at lowrise kpt and some of them are already affected by the Redevelopment plan um we ask the I mean I'm bringing some of the voices of our youth some have to move to other places already in halava and have to take a bus at 5:00 in the morning just to be able to attend the school on time in KH one said I don't even know where I come from now am I from halava or am I from khi I lost a sense of identity others one I don't know why we need to leave this is our home for us so it's not just a space or a building to live but it is a home for love and safety and laughter and cries are being uh shared in their families um our youth are experiencing so much uncertainty and being able to have this bill to help them give them an assurance that they will be able to return to their home where they found safety is a great Assurance for them and help them in this time of uncertainty also the questions is that are we coming back this is the question that they've kept asking so I believe that passing this bill will help answer that question and I hope that you will listen to their voices and answer their questions by passing this Bill thank you very much thank you na Hawaii chapter in opposition chair thank you Dina Sheek in support good morning chairs um my name is Dina Sheek and I want to thank you for hearing um HB 1325 um I'll read this really quickly this bill is about enforcement and accountability to hoi residents to prevent the displacement of families facing Redevelopment in the name of affordable housing um you need to only scroll through and listen today testimony for this bill from people impacted by the devastating naui wildfires and also residents impacted by the kpt Lise Redevelopment that's going on right now um pleading for adequate relocation services and a meaningful right to return um this bill provides enforcement measures that that's what's different about this bill right it provides the enforcement measures for when tenants are as we've seen sent to uninhabitable units um when families caring for disabled Elders are sent to um inaccessible walk-ups repeatedly as we've seen and when families with children with serious disabilities are offered units that are far outside of their home school districts and their medical home providers um we it's especially glaring in a place like k and and um the residence that's happening in the current Redevelopment primarily this bill seeks to ensure a meaningful right to return and as such I urge you to change the or to an end which I'm very pleased has a lot of support today so that residents and especially our public housing residents facing displacement are not simply bought out of their right to return because that's what I fear could happen if we keep it as an or instead they should be given robust moving and relocation assistance and offered the right to return not everyone will come back but it it's a right that needs to be preserved um the governor is currently planning to demolish I was going to say 1,200 1,187 public housing um units to build 10,000 units is a very important project for the state um and it also includes things like Marite housing is going to turn into 18 to 28 story housing um the least we can do is to ensure the right to return for all of these residents um thank you for your consideration and um um and and this bill that hopefully will prevent further displacement of local families thank you very much for your time thank you that's everyone that we have signed up to testify is there anyone else wishing to testify in person so if there are several of you why don't you come up together what so as people come up just fill the seats so you guys can take turns and that way you're not up by yourself yeah I hope I time is correctly uh good morning senate committee members my name is donene Willis I'm attendant and longtime resident of Coho homes in the span of five months I have witnessed families struggle as they search for clarity um the plans we thought would have taken place turned out to be confusing unorganized and careless our own house buing office was not aware of the Redevelopment Only By Word of Mouth the 90-day notice was far from promising none of what the letter entailed were ever offered instead we received options that were far from our district units that were dilapidated or decent units only it was smaller than what we currently have so I'm just one voice are part of the phase one project during our peaceful protest I've spoken to a lot of our tenants and they came up to us like with their concerns and they shared with us um some said they were being moved to Towers to the towers in kpt but they don't trust TMO one of them said they're battling cancer and that the project added to their depleting Health a neighbor of mine recently passed before she was able to see her new place and in her last words she wanted comfort knowing that her grandchildren will be well looked after um this is destroying families we look out for each other we respect each other and we Thrive as one I just hope there would be more meetings for the community than individual family meetings where there are things that were kept in the dark this is what's destroying our community but thank you for this opportunity for allowing me to share my testimony so be before you get started whoever is next you can just come up and take the seat so that we always have two people in the chair like call okay good morning good morning everyone um my name is Le Lulu I have been attended at C Park terrorist homes for many years uh over about 30 years with my parents being there and we've been there since until this relocation re Redevelopment that happened with Michaels and the housing um my main concern is uh I do support this bill first of all is comparable because it is stated on the letters many many many times that where they will place us will be comparable to what unit that we were living at at the time I had moved out I had one one of those tenants that had moved out I think I was one of the first few families that had moved out but I'm still here to be a voice for our community and our elders our disabled our youth our children um I am not a person smart enough to speak in front of you but I do believe that our voices hopefully you folks will hear us all we're asking for is somewhere comparable to our elders and our uh disabled especially because they're the ones who are really affected with this there is a unit that I know that they had sent someone to and they said that the paint there's lead on the paint but this family has a child and when we went to see the the our office in KBT the First Choice was you take that unit or sectionate or evicted and that was it and I even bought it but there's lead there how is that possible I'm sure you have a family too you wouldn't want that to happen to your own child too thank you very much for hearing our voices thank you thank you good morning good morning everybody my name is Salu I live in k for so long like 40 years all my kids are born there and I they all grown but I know like move out I'm scared I usually live where I stay I love my neighbors and I love where I live please just come and fix what is strong the building are so strong thank you so much for you my voice thank you good morning hi good morning um Senator and chair and vice chair and um all those who are willing to hear so I'm goingon to sing a song and I wrote this song your name please for the oh my name is Landa tomino is [Music] are watch our children grow that are surrounding you would you take a look at all the faces that are surrounding you because we our King [Music] thank you and God bless thank you good morning hello good morning my name is JIA I'm also a longtime resident of KB um you know I went to a meeting this past Saturday and I know time is of the essence and it was a beautiful meeting very local kind meeting you know so comfortable speak your mind out but when I look at all the plans that they got going for our Island it's kind of hot broking you cannot stop progress but you can kind of help on how high they trying to build these things in the heart of K that don't makes sense to me trying to save save water and they got these luxurious pools these amenities and half of them they're not even letting the residents used that's kind of brokenhearted to me if anybody knows the wahini from Maui that did a commercial that said it's not so much what you do but it's with the heart that you do it please introduce me to her I love her she instilled that so much in me to say that even though our country America has all these flaw in the situation I am so glad that I am under America but there's one thing I want us all to remember that even though we're a state we are still an island within a state please all these things that are taking place on our Island take it into consideration on how they're doing things a lot of the taxpayers don't even know in the in the area of KH they're going to be losing parking we get enough beefs going on in khur we don't need no more problems so these are kind of things that I pray that all of you would take into consideration as even though I may be older or same age as some of you young like we say over and over you're like our parents our AA or Ohana so please continue looking out for our best interest too because maybe everybody who not from Hawaii great grandfather mother sister brother born raised here go back wherever I'm going be here till the day I die this is my evening [Music] thank you very much is there anyone else wishing to testify on HB 1325 if not any discussion or questions members who canot I guess I would um ask for Dina Sheek and maybe hakeim uh want Safi to kind of come up and answer some questions okay thank you good morning um you know with respect to this legislation you know I know there has been a lot of coverage of um a lot of the concerns being raised and some of the um ongoing rallies that set um I guess on hpa's part and you know with the uh supporters what have you done uh with respect to Michaels because this seems like you know something that could be rectified if we got everyone working together um I I think I'll defer to the chair I know for us we have talked to Michael since the very beginning starting in August and we told them we offered our us to be there we said we work with tenants we went to every single meeting that they had with tenants and kind of talk to them how the communication was not going well that your contracted agency that you contracted to do this was not going well and I feel like we were kind of saying this we work with these folks and I felt we were portrayed as kind of Rowdy people trying to stir up things instead of us saying we're we're talking to so many tenants we're providing them advice it's not going well you're not communicating things correctly I was at meetings where Michael straight told folks we don't have to offer you the right to return and we're not going to that narrative quickly changed maybe around November um where they said okay we'll do it because it's the Pono thing even though it's it's in the hhfdc low-income housing tax credit financing the federal program doesn't require that right to return but it is in the low-income housing tax credit financing that's why we need this bill to make it clear now I can see people saying it's already there why are you putting this in a bill well maybe it's not in a low-income housing tax credit financing for another project that's in your your District if we're offering preferences for everyone why can't we have that when it's not when we've seen them say it over and over we don't have to provide this so I know it's you know that's it's it's the contractors agencies um representatives from hpha were at a meeting in November that went really bad I think it's just hard for us to say we're bringing up the concerns what more can we do to put enforcement that's why this bill is important because it says you can pull funding if you hear that things are not going well thank you yeah thank you and thank you for the question and thank you for everyone uh so there's a lot of things I can't specifically address because of tenant confidentiality at the advice of the AG but I can tell you uh certain things whenever we hear an issue we do contact the developer and work with them and to correct it and most part uh it was corrected as of today about 58% selected the Section 8 and others uh just backing up uh for all of the the tenant and that's 60 families phase one that affected by the relocation they were given three different choices depending on availability one that they can take at any given time is tenant production vouer so nobody's sent to a unit but they have the right to choose any unit in fact in the country not just in here and the the company that's been hired to facilitate this and meet uh they've done this relocations many many times and that's that's all they do for living um uh uh on that so uh no one for example that we have documented as a disability will go to a place that it's not it's just it doesn't happen if we don't have a record of it that is a possibility uh the the the the rate of return uh as as eloquently said the federal government and we the PPT is a federal property does not require it however day one we made it requirement on on the developer in writing to to do that and something that would stick with we want it we want to do this but the the I think one of the biggest issues relocation is difficult for everyone and it is really difficult and nobody wants to live to leave where they've been living for for years uh but we also look at our Ohana family at kpt but we all as the state of Hawaii as Ohana as well those people that have to leave Hawaii because they don't have a place that's why we have to do three developments uh the backlog that we have uh if we were to fix this keep 1180 units into 1100 instead of 10,000 uh it's close to $700 million so we have to do this private uh private Public Partnerships we I'm not disputing that I'm more interested I mean we we're working on the Marite project for many years and that you know was a really important Tod project which somehow you know never quite materialized but I think one of the concerns I would have is that this particular developer has been um in the middle of a number of other problematic uh housing uh issues in other locations and so you know it seems that uh hph would be um really aware that maybe additional assistance needs to be provided because in this particular instance you're dealing with really long established you know family networks you have kkv right there right next to kpt it's it's kind of like we would know in advance that this is going to be a a very very difficult you know set of relocations so I don't know if hph has sought to obtain additional assistance for the Development Group because um this is not new yes we have okay and uh I'll update uh this party right after the board meeting on Thursday okay thank you question followed by Richards yeah just not as a preview to the development just listening to the community been there uh lifetime um they doing swimming pools what are they doing over there there are no swimming pools at KP okay so so what is the purpose of the Reconstruction for you because you just came a little bit in the end so is that for Revenue stream to go high what what's you saying about the he to to no just see it can increase density uh this this property is federal properties so we choose them because of the subsidies that stay with the property we also choose them because of the tenant protection voucher that the federal government gives to the people so when they are displaced they have place to go anywhere they want with that voucher so we doing it not what we building is still affordable housing we're replacing one for one one the existing housing let's say we demolish 60 we replace 60 then we add additional affordable housing this is not a uh it's all 60% Emi or less everything that's going to be built at the end of the day so the 34 units the first hour for example it's all uh 60% Emi or less and anyone from the tenants who would like to return they return at the renovated brand new unit and they still only pay 30% of their income Senator Richards yeah woman I was going to call up I think she just took off so if she comes back I'll I'll ask to speak to her Senator Mel oh [Music] yeah picked the heck of a day just everybody knows know he's a good brother but this is business oh yeah and so um I'm looking your testimony and I'm noticing other groups that are for affordable housing yes in my backyard Chamber of Commerce of for the bill you guys do not your testimony is based all on affordable housing I looked at na opi's mission statement you're a commercial real estate development so what is a commercial real estate development entity that is focused on Commercial Real Estate doing testifying an opposition to affordable housing measure this isn't your space is it no so thank you for the question Senator and just to clarify so NAA poai is a commercial real estate development uh Association but we include um our members include developers that are in the affordable housing space as well as many lenders in the affordable housing space um majority of the the major Banks here in Hawai uh are a part of our membership so uh we do typically weigh on an affordable housing um you know measures and we just did want to provide uh the clarification in regards to how this may impact um financing for affordable housing um because of due to the right of first refusal being capped at um you know the current uh a return of a current rate existing rate and rent um that may impact a a Project's viability moving forward on the financing point because it creates additional risk I think these entities should step out from behind you and be testifying here themselves not Nai because it creates a very interesting picture for the public when a commercial real estate umbrella entity is testifying against affordable what is obviously a needed thing given the testimony I especially point to yes in my backyard and to the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii to show that this is about housing affordable housing as such so that's the reason why I wanted to ask these questions of you but thank you thank Senator okay Senator Richards yeah thank you thanks for coming back up did I understand correctly that you have moved um no I have I'm personally still a part of the phase one project there still well over um 20 families there you're the one that has moved okay all right actually stay there because um by the way thanks for coming in today really appreciate it so you have moved yes and you the accommodations you've been moved to are they Equitable are they acceptable actually I moved out out of the housing okay and I didn't I I didn't get the Section A voucher okay yeah I actually if I can just say a little thing about it I actually moved out because my children helped me get a place off the market because um I have a heart condition and I and they know it was really stressing me out I was admitted at Oregon when I went to go visit my son and from there he just said you know mom we'll just take you out of the housing itself and from section 8 because even though you do Section 8 there's not too many units that accept Section 8 and we all know that in Hawaii and there is a waiting list you know we've been because before um moving out I did go to senica trro with Michaels and did the uh everything for moving into another housing and um even the section8 you know and so I did all that with them and um I'll be honest I was one of those tenants who ow who did ow and I did have a balance I'll be honest with that and um but I guess my children seeing how stressed out I was they just felt like just to take me out so the only reason why I'm able to still afford is because of my children who helped it's not because of me and my husband's in come no I will either be living with family or basically living at the beach or somewhere homeless honestly just being honestly you know because we wouldn't be able to afford that the rent that my children are paying for us off the market okay all right thank you and I mean you're here Tes because this isn't front you because of the importance of what we're talking about here yes I'm here for voice for everyone that is still affected in Kio Park Terrace honestly there is more than 13 families left at the property you know I think so I I'm not sure but somebody was saying that it was 13 families left no it's more than 13 families when you walk around and you knock on everybody's door we to um update them with the meetings and what's being going on you know know because I know there's families who are also working you know and have young children or especially the the disabled and the elders so we're here to be a voice if it's just one or two but we'll be here to voice our concerns for everyone okay thank you and for clarification do you support or do you oppose we support this bill okay thank you thank you thank you chair members any other questions okay okay that brings us to the end of our agenda today um we move directly to decision Mak yeah okay so we'll move into decision- making the recommendation on the first measure House Bill 1097 HD1 is to uh pass with a defective effective date of July 1 20150 any discussion chair Senator mckel thank you um I'll support the recommendation with reservations I feel more comfortable if it was a default 30 with um special conditions it could be moved to 14 but I think the way it is now I have some concerns so reservations for now so noted any other discussion not seeing none Vice chair passing with amendments chair votes ey thank you Vice chair also votes ey Senator movi uh reservation please Senator Richards I Senator a I measure is adopted thank you very much and for the committee on housing will make the same recommendation but will defer decision- making until this afternoon 1 p.m.

[Music] call this meeting into order and we'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance which Bridget wood will Bridget wood will lead us I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Bridget you'd like to excuse sylvana she should be here this evening we haven't heard from her she should be here expect her at o clock in any time uh well Dr R I'm going to turn time over to you for these recognition Awards and then we'll go from there thank you Mr Mero the students of the month will start at the elementary and worker way up there Mr Grace we'd like to kick that off student of the month absolutely so our student of the month Kyler come on up our student of the month is Kyler Watson he is a first grader at blidge elementary school um as you can tell he's always happy uh he he loves the outdoors he tells me about every hunting experience that he has ever heard about every day it's great um he tell he came up and asked me if I drew a tag um told me his mom drew a tag that she's got an antalope hunt coming up um he was really excited about that and getting to go on that um Kyler is he's he's always good for a smile he walks up to me every single day asks me how I am um his teacher Miss pbla or first grade Miss pcaa not second grade says Kyler is a great helper he's always willing to jump in and help when needed he's respectful kind and funny he cares about others and wears his heart on his sleeve he's eager to learn and is very inquisitive and he is an absolute joy to have in class um and that is without question the perfect definition of Kyler Watson like he is every day trying to help other people trying to help around the cafeteria and around the building he's a great student and an honor to have at blidge elementary school [Applause] evening for the junior high could I have arowin Al come up [Applause] please everyone told me today for a minute there she thought this meant she was getting in trouble for something so so it's I'm very glad go on over on this side here um I'm very glad to honor uh arowin tonight recognize her um she was nominated by a teacher um in in a couple of instances actually she has been she has so much courage on our campus she knows what the right thing is and she is always exercising um just good judgment um being kind and she will let us know we have a um we have kind of a policy on our campus if you see something say something and she does she lets us know when something is not right on our campus if somebody's being treated unkindly um or if there's something that could potentially be a danger to anybody on our campus she is uh the first one to let us know about that and so we love that I see judge or law enforcement or something in her future I'm not sure but she just has such a fantastic attitude um and knows how to treat people and knows what the right thing to do is so we also love that she is involved in things that sight of school extracurricular things that she loves to share about um so um she's just got this amazing future ahead of her we're excited to have her at the junior high [Applause] all right High School time Owen Larsson come forward [Applause] please all right go ahead and that for me message here so we want to recognize Owen um this evening for the student of the month for the high school and I'm going to read a little bit about Owen so he's recognized as student month for his outstanding achievements across academics Athletics and the Arts with a weighted GPA of 4.42 he excels in honors AP and dual enrollment courses and his natural gift in math is evident in the extra hours he dedicates to mastering calculus Concepts beyond the classroom Owen shines as a varsity athlete in football wrestling and track right you do track no so I'm going to talk to coach clef and and make sure he goes out for track too while also showcasing his talents in Harmony's choir and the drama Productions his leadership on student council and the National Honor Society has been instrumental in building school spirit with a heart of gold a positive attitude and a smile that lights up every day Owen will do amazing things after high school because he cares about always doing his best and he cares about others a winning combination so congratulations Owen [Applause] thank you nice job congratulations to all three of you we now like to recognize our teach teach the month we actually have two this month and we'll start with the elementary school introduce your teacher for us Mr Grace so miss Espinosa is not here tonight she had a prior commitment um that she had to be at uh Kaylee has been at our school as long as I have um in different capacity she actually started as a student teacher um she did her student observation hours she did her student teaching she then became a long-term sub within our sped department and then when we we needed somebody she became a kindergarten teacher um and then next year she will be finishing I think her third year as an actual teacher or a certified teacher and uh going back into the special education department um Kaylee has a huge heart she is a person who cares deeply about her students um she is one that shows up wherever they ask her to show up um whether it's a soccer game or or uh I think I saw her at a ballet recital down in Snowflake or not in Snowflake in sholo um Kaylee is a huge asset to our campus she cares about every single kid on campus she knows most of them by name even if they weren't hers um we will celebrate tomorrow with her kindergarten class I announced it to them earlier today and they were ecstatic U and so I told them that like her birthday we would try to bring donuts and celebrate her teacher of the month um so we will be doing that tomorrow and and she said she was very sad to to not be able to be here tonight but Kaye [Applause] espinos principal hoffm Mr van Anon could you please come up I'm happy to be recognizing Mr van Anon as our teacher of the month for the Junior High um Mr van Aton came to us this year to teach 8th grade science we are so lucky that he came to join our campus he has been such uh such a blessing to our students quickly becoming one of the favorite teachers on campus um his classroom is always engaging um super fun he encourages the kids he listens to them he shares the concerns if there's a if he hears that there's a concern about students in their home lives he quickly shares that with us so that we can help address it um he communicates well with the parents um and he has just been an out standing contributor at the Junior High um and hopefully he'll be there for many years to come we appreciate him thank you we get a [Applause] picture thank you congratulations both of you we appreciate you I'll turn the time over real quickly to Kimberly dugdale for the BR starward good evening governing board president governing board members so Juan could not be with us tonight um but he is a new addition to the bluid team he is a fabulous uh Steve Murphy is his immediate supervisor and he just has raving things to say about him uh one of the things that Steve says about him is that Juan is always willing to do anything that you ask him to do and comes up to Steve and says what can I do what can I do what can I do can I go clean out the gutters can I go clean out this can I go rake pine needles can I do this so he's a great addition to the Blue Ridge team it's unfortunate he couldn't be here tonight but we just wanted to honor him thank you [Applause] it's my favorite part of this meeting makes me more proud every time I participate of the great and outstanding people we have as faculty and staff and students a little first grader that's a character that's a character you can be real proud of that kid uh next item on the agenda would be the consent agenda uh item 2.1 through item 2.4 um board members are there anything that you'd like to take out and vote on that independently if not can we have a motion to um vote on items the consent agenda items 2.1 through 24 as presented so have a motion from Margaret second second from Michael all in favor say I I thank you all right business section item 3.1 well by the way we received information just shortly that syana Sans is not feeling well tonight so she's not not here for that reason um item 3.1 recommendation to approve the hire of the following employees who who would like to introduce and and do we have any of those individuals here they're not in attendance tonight not in attendance yes sir so those uh individuals are holly Brown Bella Scott Salvador Chavez and eliso Ramirez so any questions or comment about any of that if not can we have a motion to accept the the hiring of the following employees I that we approve the hiring of the mentioned employees okay second second from Michael all in favor say I I we can raise our hands too okay item thre Point uh two Dr Wright or Kimberly would you like to just sure I'll speak to that the teacher contracts we we require border approval before they are distributed they'll go out on March 24th and they'll be due that back the middle of April any questions or comments regarding that if not can we have a motion to accept item uh 3.2 contracts for teachers and counselors for the 2025 26 school year have a motion from Margaret second from Michael all in favor say I hi I that looks to be unanimous all right next item on the agenda is uh possible discussion in the approval of April 22nd for work study session to discuss teacher retention efforts a work study session is open to the public it's when uh everybody can express their opinions and uh ideas uh there was no voting uh it's just a quorum designated time and open to the public and hopefully the public could attend and get that information teachers and staff are Ops too so any comments or questions about that Bridget if Mr President we left the time frame open we would suggest probably no earlier than 4 ideally around 5 to give folks a chance to come home and and then so we figured right here in the boardroom 5:00 p.m.