I'm just thinking about uh I'm just thinking about how difficult it is to just recruit coaches. Yeah. Um it's it's a challenge and uh if you tell a coach, "Hey, now you got to do this as well." I I I can't imagine that being something more enticing that they have to go and like look cuz ultimately it's going to I I mean, yes, the the responsibility should be with the kid, but nine times out of 10, it's the kid with the parent and the academic teacher and the coach all behind them saying, "You need to do this." Very few kids are truly independent. And the kids that would fall in that category of failing, the passing kids, I don't have to worry about. They'll they'll be fine. The ones that I worry about are the failing kids. Um and it's it's I don't know. I I I And maybe I'm hung up on the wrong thing, but I would I I would appreciate it uh going to the APs so they can provide feedback.
Feedback [clears throat] from teachers included comments that included that the curriculum is well organized, helpful, differentiated, and will keep students engaged. Parent feedback noted that the curriculum is organized with resources transparent, and easy to follow, and helps families better support learning at home.
He's probably going to switch back to Pyra soon. >> Yep. Right there. Ooh, could have punished that. Could have punished that counter by grabbing him. All right. Oh, does a side be for some decently good damage. It covers a lot of room. And there we go. Mithra Mithra uses her upbeat and Scott is good to go for another round. Heck yeah. We're moving on. Moving on up, I tell you. Good job, Scott. Yeah, he's probably bragging over there about how amazing that win was. Oh, yeah. He's got the smug face. He's got the moves in the game, I tell you. currently just growling trying to trying to see trying to see if they're uh ready and to see if we're ready to go, you know. Oh. Oh, looks like they brought out Bowser Jr. We actually didn't see a Bowser Jr. in the previous in the previous um in the previous match.
We're having to sit and run two to three payroll or reports and combine them all into one nice simple software um spreadsheet so Craig can look at it and see it." Um our K time has always been an issue. Um it's a separate system that all our employees will clock in and out of and it's at one station within each building. Um our time server is always going down. we're having to restart it quite often and Chris has informed me that that server will eventually have to be replaced which is an additional cost to us. Um when we are on board new employees as you know they come in our office we hand them an envelope with papers. So they're filling all these papers out. We're having to input input those items into our system and it just doesn't flow very well for our employees.
Um, but I think to to to her first point was >> I don't want people to look at an override and say, "Oh, this isn't too bad. What we need to do is figure out a way to articulate what happens." And I'm not even that terribly concerned. concerned. I am concerned, but the biggest impact isn't year one. Isn't even really year two. It's what the hell happens after that, right? To be to be very frank because we've we've we've pushed all in >> and you know, we pushed all in and we lost, right? >> But there's good practical examples in your deferred maintenance is going to help that because everyone's upset about the field. So, we can just >> No, I understand. But yeah, this again by FY28 that school choice funding of $1 million is gone. Right. >> Right. We we we have not nothing else to draw from.
And is that because of age and that's a trend that we typically see or is that because we are just seeing higher identification and need going forward? Yeah, Jordan, I appreciate the the specificity of the question and I'll answer part of it and then I'll and I'll I'll likely decline trying to answer some of the specifics to ML answering. >> Um, across the state and across districts, we're seeing an increase in prevalence rate. You bring up a really good question of this. Are we seeing higher case loads at the at the elementary level versus the intermediate level versus and and I would say that we're seeing increases across the board right now but relative to each other over time I don't have that information >> but it is a phenomenon that is happening across the state >> it depends upon class in the book there's classes that when if you have class that has 92 kids in and there's >> let's say 15 kids are identified it's going to show a higher percentage based on the number of kids that are in the class.
Um but at the but the end of the day we are one community here. Um and uh this board again uh and I know this administration uh we respect um you know anything that you feel is important to your family. So please if if those days are important, please take that day off, let us know. Um tell your uh building principal or building secretary um that is a religious observance and will be excused. Um if there is an issue with that, which I know there won't be, but you can always contact my office and I'll make sure that uh that we clear up the miscommunication. So, I just wanted to make that really clear. Uh, but moving into that, uh, what's recommended, uh, what's going to be recommended tonight for the board on an addendum is to, um, we have the ability here in in Garfield because we don't have, um, a locked in graduation day.
Yeah. I also think too, James, I'm in the same I do agree with that. Like why am I checking this one kid and like giving him to the logistics of it where it's like, no, I got four failing kids. Those are the four kids I've got to worry about every week. What even I would be fine with. >> Um So I think that yeah, it it just feels like it's a lot. Well, and ultimately, that sport may be the only reason that kid's still showing up for school. So we we don't want to lose their connection to their learning experience, right? So so we whatever we're doing like you know, who cares about it from a disciplinary perspective? It's not about, you know, making a kid feel bad or, you know, having some sort of draconian measure. It's about how do we reach this kid to help them understand that yes, you love playing the sport, but this other stuff's also important.
At this point, we'll take any questions. Board members, >> Mr. Watson, good to see you again. It's been a while since I've seen you. Um, so my question is, um, it's actually two. Uh, why are we looking at two vendors for K5 and one of them goes down to preK, right? Um, and then, and if you address that, I apologize. Um, and then the other question is the integration between the two. Touched on that just a touch. Um, you said that there was going to be support to make sure that they meshed. Um, but I'm kind of curious what that kind of looks like. Okay, I lied. It's a three-part question. Third question, uh, fifth to sixth grade. What does that transition look like from McGra Mcgra Hill Spalding to Savas? Is that going to be a completely different type of a learning? >> You know, we're going to do things totally different.
Now, keep in mind their JV team has five members. So, chances are we aren't going to see Chances are we're going to see a new one. All right, so yep, Scott is Jumping right off the ledge right there. Good job. Alrighty. All right, both have taunted and both are ready to go. Bowser Jr. stepping in with a side special and a down special to send out a Mecha Koopa as they're called. Tries for a drill. Tries to drill into Mithra. That is that is not good. All right. Uses a fork and uses a Mecha Koopa right there. Uses a neutral special, but um but but Bowser Jr. answers with a down smash and an up special sending him flying across the stage. All right. Does a dash attack. does an up special. Ooh, knocks him. Knocks him, but not knocking him out, I will say.
And then once they're an hourly employee they're put in the system. you have to go to the high school, do a fingerprint, so then they can clock in and out on our system. Um, purchase orders are pretty basic. Um, but everything is paper. So, we have paper purchas orders, paper invoices. Um, all of our vendor contracts are paper. So, a storage system um, besides file cabinets would be really great as we try to lessen the cost of paper that we have. Um, so those are just some of our pain points. So what we're looking at is just a fully integrated a modern system that you know is in the 2020s. Um and it just has the workflow processes to make it easier for us to be more efficient back there in the business office and here at the corp office. Um so those are just some of the benefits and the things that um we've seen that we think will make us a better customer to or better for our customers which is employees in our school corporation.
>> That's right. >> I I would almost because that is so key, Jim, and it gets lost in all these arrows, make a slide that shows just that like your unrestricted funding goes to nothing in three years and then you don't have a plan >> like to sustain. Yep. >> Um great. >> Yeah, this is good feedback. Um, so let's let's move to what the town is asking me to do. >> Yeah. >> Um, which is, you know, come in with a level funded budget and level funded in in their um parlay is the exact same amount of dollars, all right, that we've gotten this year that we've received. Um, so what you'll notice is that um we then jump to 25.4 faculty and staff that are reduced. What you don't, and this I'm just dealing with staffing here because what you don't see here is we have built into the budget $300,000 in athletics for in the operations of athletics because we know historically ath the athletic program runs a deficit of $300,000 on a yearly basis.
So what we were showing in the budget book, we were also showing special education kids, 504 kids in healthy. Okay. Also, >> I guess what I would like to know is are we budgeting correctly for special education? That's the overarching question. >> We're budgeting what we know. >> I know. So that's always the answer is we're budgeting for what we know. But is that the best way to budget for special education? because there was a a member of the public who came to the board of finance meeting and she and I'm paraphrasing here, but she spoke it I'm going to paraphrase and maybe it I wish she was on the call to actually say what I'm trying to butcher potentially, but it was when we have to go to the board of finance or the town for an an appropriation, it's special education. So, it's always for special education children.
Uh, we we are going to extend the recommendation is to extend the year one day. Uh, which bring will bring graduation out to the 24th uh, to make up for the um, snow day that we are now under. So we are minus one right now in snow days. No, it's this one. Yeah, just one day. Um so originally right now we're at the 23rd. Um we are now going to move to the 24th. So uh again that will keep us at 180 days barring that there's no other event which we'll take care of if it does happen. So um but that's the recommendation tonight. So it's basically just extending the school year one day. uh which would just mean that that would be the day back for um for the uh 18 days. Okay, so I just wanted to explain that. All right, we talked we talked about HVAC a lot and I think one of the things that we are finding and again I I'm very careful with um I want to be really clear that this is this is not a reflection on any past administration, on any past maintenance, none of that stuff.
And so we need you putting effort towards this in order for you to participate in the sport. Mhm. >> Yeah. Our um the APs are meeting next Friday. And I know one of the things on our agenda is sports cuz of all the issues that have come up this season of sports. So maybe we can add this to that conversation. Um and see if we can kind of settle on something. I know like we played a game uh last week and the other school, I won't rat him out while we're here, but uh there was a kid who showed up to play in the game and the AP was like, "Whoa, you weren't even at school today. Like you were not allowed to play in the game if you weren't at school today." But it was their last game of the season. So the kid had come, his parents were there, jerseyed up, like ready to play in the game, last game of the season.
>> You follow what I'm saying? Wondering. >> I'm going to take the third question and we'll let Dr. Barry take the other two because she speak to Spalding much better than I can. Um the transition from fifth to sixth is not difficult because if you haven't heard us say it enough, we teach standards. We don't teach curriculum. We teach standards. The curriculum is just a way to deliver the standards. So in terms of any kind of transition, it's very easy because we're following standards and we have alignment. We map everything. We make sure that we have crossgrade level articulation to make sure that we are not missing a step, if you will, in the progression of standards. So quite honestly, if you threw any of our vendors in any mix, we'd be okay because we're following the standards and we plan our alignment as such.
Tries for an up smash, but just barely misses. Does a down. Does a down air to avoid the drills from Bowser Jr. does a sidebe launching Bowser Jr. up, doesn't up air. Oo, tries for an up smash, but Bowser Jr. hits him. Dodges that. Ooh, Bowser Jr. is at a really high percent. Any good hit from any good uh good powerful hit from Pyro will kill at this percentage. So Scott's probably just looking for one of those. 172. That is up. Oh my gosh. And speaking of ups, Pyra's up. Special happened to take out Bowser Jr. So, let's see if he can take out another stock. Potentially beat his record from the previous game where if you weren't here, he took four stocks. All right. Does a down air and a neutral air and a neutral air again. Man, he's building up the damage with Pyra.
Um, so what Tyler offers us, so it's one fluid system. Um, all of our reporting is said point and click. So Craig comes back and says, "Hey, I need to see this group of p people, what they were paid for this week, and how many overtime hours did they have?" We can easily select what we want, spits out the report, and it's easy to run. Um, time and attendance, it'll be it'll be a desktop system or we'll have a remote access. sorry, excuse me, access to a mobile um system. So employees are able to clock in and out on their phones. They're able to go onto the phone. If say I need to change my direct deposit right away, I close that account. I can easily join through the viable app, click on what I need, alerted back to payroll. She's able then to say, "Yep, approve it, and it's done." There's no um them printing out the paper, filling it out, and sending it back into the office.
We know that in terms of what we bring in for user fees compared to what all the expenses are that relate to the athletic programs. We have could we adjust user fees? People have asked that question. We could. We are still overall if you look at the totality of user fee um costs. Ashlin is higher than all of the TVL, not every single sport, but the majority of sports, right? We're already at the upper end. That being said, um you know, we don't have a cap. Do we want to cap it? If we have a cap, uh it decreases the amount. You know, those are different questions we'll have to ask at some point about athletics. But there was $300,000 that was built into those first two scenarios, 2.55 and um the override to help with that structural deficit. in this deficit, in this scenario, we have to pull that out because I can't look at saying, how am I going to reduce five more educators, if you will, because that's what we'd take, say a roughly $60,000 salary line, right?
are we budgeting correctly to their needs? And I just that's what I want to make sure we're doing. And it's not always it's for special education and this is a problem we have to solve. Are we proactively budgeting correctly to serve our students? >> Yeah. So, you've heard me say this before and I've said this at the board finance meeting and I've said it here. Um we are budgeting for what we know that is public schools right now. We certainly and this is a discussion that the board of education can have as board of education and definitely with the board of finance and it's definitely been discussed at a board of finance meetings. Um if you look at a 10-year trend with special education weekend schools we've always gone over budget. So, is it time to say to the superintendent or is it time to say to the board of finance to say, "Let's put it $300,000 more into the budget." And then the board of education is entitled to have a non-lapsing account.