Second. All in favor? I I I motion carries 5. Okay. Discussion and consideration approval is that oh the 202526 salary schedules. Yes. So this will based on the action on the last board uh agenda item. This will then this is then applied those those increases are applied. So we have a new salary schedule that you need to approve. There are some minor uh changes within some of the different salary schedules, a slight changing on a on a title of a position or if there was an error last year and we missed one. But as a general rule, what you're seeing is just the the increase in changes that you just approved on the last one. So I'd recommend approval as presented. Okay.
So we've um obviously we're uh confident in our construction partners and our architect and then we have a great team in the district office uh and at the schools in terms of the leadership and administration and the you know while we're talking about interest rates and the price of glass um and timelines. Uh we leave that conversation and join the reading conversation and the math conversation and the athletics conversation because it never misses a beat at the district and school level ever. So, I'm I'm confident in our external partners because I know we have the best internal team around. Yeah. And I I just I'll just add and this isn't our first rodeo. I want to go back to delivering Desert Sunrise High School. In fact, delivering more than what we promised to deliver in 15 months with Desert Sunrise High School for the amount of the money that we promised.
Dr. White. Sure. So, in the committee of the whole discussion, um the board had um really good conversation regarding policy 2170. In the updated policy manual, it removed the language. The person or representative from firm selected shall meet with the superintendent in the board of education to discuss responsibilities and scope of services as discussed. Through that conversation um the board members present at last week's committee of the whole recommended because there were some differing um views on this one um after the discussion that it would be brought forth to the entire board this evening for board action. And so the recommended um so what's on what's in front of the board is if you vote in um as a yes, you are voting to add that language that begins the person or representative from the firm selected shall meet. And if you vote no, you are opting to do um to continue um moving forward with the policy as as without language being approved.
It's in 222. Yeah. I don't attach these. Yep. Nope. I'm looking. 222. Correct. Yeah. 222. I'm having a hard time finding the section that says community core beliefs or I'm blind. Yep. Nope. So, I do apologize. That one um was missed when we were adding them as attachments. Um if you give me a moment, I think we can all flip over at the top of our time. If you go up to policies and I'll make I can I can work on adding it, but um if you all want to go over to the policies and it should be there. Yeah. So, I think my suggestion, Katherine, and I was really just firing off quick email to make sure I got my thoughts down so I would remember them now a month later. Um is is the long-term strategy board goal should just say I mean it says we're going to do the strategic plan.
Remember, students are nationally normed. And so, you've got a student one to 100. If a student is performing at that 30th percentile or higher in carry 26, we have said that is demonstrating proficiency. So now I go back to the other one. If a student is performing at that 30th percentile or higher, we are saying the students demonstrating proficiency. That's for this year. We have bumped that up for next year to be the 40th percentile because we've looked at research and we've seen that that's what they're recommending that students should be demonstrating proficiency at the 40th percentile and above would be performing at grade level. So go ahead. only 40% of the students that are proficient in the school. No, no, no. So what you're seeing on the chart, so let's take for example letter names, okay? 71% of our kindergarten population is showing that they know 30% of the letter sounds and more.
One talking about housing. We're certainly currently in the same boat that you are with looking at u raising revenue to help support gap financing for uh neighborhoods and starter homes in our community. and we just broke ground um two weeks ago on the first phase of uh affordable or workforce housing uh at the residents at Sunrise Crossing. So again, uh Dr. Brown and the school board, thank you for the leadership in this because if not for you, it would fall on our shoulders as well. Uh Indiana University Southeast has projected Madison and Jefferson County to continue to grow, which we have every year since 2020 through 2030. Uh and so as as we start to look at what we need to do to continue to support that, it's a number of quality of life issues and our destination Madison is certainly uh taking on that in terms of retail and restaurants and housing and our parks and recreation.
We had retirements in different buildings as well as one in the high school, one in the middle school where the teachers who were part of those teams were able to go into the go into those positions. So, but there's a savings because the retirement of the teachers who who were leaving, we didn't replace with someone outside and keep that position. Um, so it was it was two full-time teaching staff districtwide. You know, we're we're looking at reducing um about 16 positions in this budget. This is not um you know to a tune of $630,000. um our communications director, Esmer Kasus. Um that position uh we eliminated. Uh we have um pair of professionals that are um some that we had positions in the past where uh we didn't fill the role so they were on our books uh and we've we've moved them off in this budget.
Um, I also think that it's very important to um to, you know, co with the school committee is to um, have like I said youth voice is very important. Um, and for me to be a youth on a city official board is actually cool and it's very, you know, amazing. Um, so I feel like if we had more space and more, um, time for students to potentially be a member of the school committee or potentially be a member of the economic committee. Um, those are things that you're going to need in the future to see and hear for what people are actually going to want to hear. Because to be honest with you, youth hear more than adults. They hear it every day when they walk in the hallway. They hear it every day when they go to the store. They hear it every day when they do a jog around the track.
We went to Fairfield University and then Southern the other day. Um, we currently have the Spanish position open. Um, I'm not saying I jumped over the table uh trying to to get after somebody who had Teslaw certification, which is, by the way, not what we need, but it's like closer. Um, but we're trying everything and anything we can under the sun to try and find somebody that is the right fit. Um, but if they're not, then we're not moving forward. Um, you know, and I think the benefit is that we've had a lot of people trying to support us in that role. um you know Lisa O'Neal who's working with us through ESS um hadis who had said you know listen I'm working on this going through my master's program for education really would like to you know connect with a school kind of longer term I've got you know this experience with ASL deaf studies Spanish would like to put that to work and she's been great I mean you know sample size of three days but like the kids love her uh she's doing a really great job so we're excited for that and then you know we're hitting the ground as hard as we can to try and find somebody as a permanent friend um for next year.
Um but they did leave a report for us. Uh our seniors are breathing a big sigh of relief as their big capstone night was last week. For anybody who attended, Capstone was phenomenal. The projects and the were were so good. We have a table back there of a few just a sampling of a few um capstone projects that students wanted to display. So, please be sure to take a look. The lovely pen I was using earlier is made by a student. We're part of his capstone project. So, take a look. They're really great. Um, we hope you got a chance to view a few samples of the work on the table. If not, see it on the way out. This year's plan included an opportunity for all BHS student and faculty to preview senior projects during the school day with the hopes this helps underclassmen start to generate ideas and and get ready for their big day.
I was very lucky lucky to be able to have a mentor, especially during one of the hardest times in my life. My mentor Danielle made me want to be a better person and work hard to get to where I want to be because I knew she'd always be there beside me because she chose to be. So, a lot of our students, you know, don't always say it in the beginning how much our men mean to them, but we hear this at our end of the year um breakfast where we celebrate graduating seniors and they share they're brave and willing um about their um experience and we know that they realize that you are taking the time out of your day to make a difference in their life. And then just um to wrap up with some feedback. Um every year we give our mentors a survey to their sense on um you know what's working, what can be improved upon.
Now because of the calendar change, our second graders um they don't take it only in math, but we're looking at the highest growth that we've seen in terms of ID data um in history. We're hoping and that in giving the assessment earlier, we're going to use that data in the areas of of deficiency to remediate to accelerate and then to really knock it out of the park on smart balance. So that's our hope and we're hedging our bets that that will happen. the data up in front of you and I don't want to read it to you but you can see the we're looking to improve um from fall to spring and you could see on almost all the slides a significant gain again you only have a small a fractional component on the map that's tested so I don't have a full denominator there because of the timing of this particular meeting um you're welcome to come over and uh see the computer after but the the Again, the strength of of the data speaks to the collaboration, speaks to the uh work with principles, the work with the department heads, and it it's paying off.
Yeah but it means time good time face to face with parents time but I mean you know just parents square I believe our teachers do that. I believe our teachers and our administrators have a lot of conversations in lots of different settings with parents and encourage them and give them strategies and skills on how to support their children at home. That is happening. It might not be in a formal flyer. It might not be in a formal parents square. I know that that's happening. Um that's what they do with parents. So are parents privy to this information? Are they let them know exactly where their kids are at. So, are these the conferences that are happening in October or the one right now? Good. Thank you. and on the report cards that go home at quarter two. But I mean just little blasts that you could put on parents where you know for example I had that campaign that Stannis loss had did which I gave him a folder with I know I have that little guy sitting next to my computer screen my phone but it has a lot of statistics on there I thought would be really helpful just to put it on parent square you know hello there's your first wire you know there's your first wire yeah like that they spend this much time on social media they it could cause this, you know, decline in reading.
In addition to that, we've also received over 160 intradist transfer requests specifically for elementary schools and um 48 intra district requests submitted for middle schools. And once again, we're going to be working through those uh requests over the next couple of weeks. Um, one of the big, um, schools that, uh, parents are requesting is Ruskin. And there's very limited space specifically at Rus Ruskin for new students. If we have students that want to leave Ruskin and some of these very impacted schools, we'll definitely approve those so that we can make room for incoming students. Um, similar to uh, middle school, the majority of our requests are for Sierramont Middle School. And the same thing, we're looking at any students that want out of um, Sierramont. And, uh, we're prioritizing um, at this point um, students who are who have siblings at the school sites. So, we have to look at that.
Good evening everyone. It's an honor to stand before you today to recognize someone truly exceptional. Yay. Cardas, a sixth grade student, has been recognized as the superintendent student of the month for her outstanding dedication and exemplary attitude toward learning. She consistently demonstrates independence in her work, taking initiative, and ensuring that every task is completed with care and precision. Gary is deeply determined, showing perseverance and focus in all she does. She embodies the qualities of an ideal student. Responsible, hardworking, and driven to succeed. Beyond her academic excellence, Terry has al also extends her support to classmates, often helping them better understand lessons and fostering a positive and collaborative learning environment. She is truly a role model in the classroom. Congratulations, Yerry, for being a good student and inspiration to others. One, two, three, [Applause] five. Mr. President, members of the board, that concludes our superintendent of the month.
So again, any questions on this one? All right. Go ahead and make a motion. I'll motion to adopt the 2526 salary schedules as presented. Second. All in favor? I I. Motion carries five to zero. That brings us to 8.6 discussion and consideration of approval of the changes to the policy recommended from ASBA um policy advisory 809-818. This is our second reading of this one.
I want to say in the middle of COVID certainly the early part of that project was very much when CO was going on it was delivered and I want to just reinforce that the team that we're bringing in the external resources the consultants etc are the same that we use for that project and there's two projects instead of one but we feel very confident in them their competency and we've got a good working relationship not just us to them but them with them around the different architects and the builders and the suppliers and procurement etc. So, it's it's going to be challenging and I think you got your work cut out. Let's see what happens. Yeah, we're growing and that those are good challenges, but we're we're ready for it. Um, if there's no other comments, I will make a motion to authorize the issuance and sale of school improvement bonds for the district.
I hope that was clear. Y Okay. Okay. May I have a motion to approve 21 170 procurement of architectural auditors, engineering, and land surveying services adding the language. The person or representatives from the firm selected shall meet with the superintendent and board of education to discuss responsibilities and scope of services as discussed. So moved. Second.
So, I agree with you. Maybe it's just the board will do a strategic plan every 5 to seven years and then a link to our current plan that kind of covers that. I feel like this one 222 being under section two school board is guiding the school board and like what we're our responsibilities are um especially um in regards to the strategic plan. Certainly strategic certainly the title strategy development means strategic plan but it doesn't refer anywhere in this to specifically quote unquote strategic plan which is bizarre bizarre yes um but I do think that I do believe that the strate the district's strategic plan goals should be in policy. I'm not sure. I think that this specific policy 222 is more board directed guidance, but I do agree with you that perhaps 130, policy 130 is where the goals should be listed. the strategic plan goals.
Okay. 74% of our student population is demonstrating proficiency with letter sounds. Okay. 86% of our student population, kindergarteners, are demonstrating that proficiency with being able to recognize numbers. So, we're working with two different percentages here. Okay. And that's where things tend to get confusing. So, I get where you're coming from. If I could just explain a little bit too about the percentile, it's different than just a regular percent. So, on a normal curve, if you think of the normal curve, the 50th percentile is dead average. So if you're scoring at the 50th percentile, you are exactly in reaching average scale. The broad average range is the 25th to the 75th percentile on a nationally norm test. So if our kids are at the 30th percentile or higher, that means they are within the average range or above on that. So, it isn't um necessarily just that they got 30% correct.