You you know where the where they are now. And and and I one of those boys and I'm I'm sorry. Stop call me if you want me to shut up, but but one of those boys I had him as a freshman and he couldn't stay eligible because he couldn't pass math. So, two weeks, three weeks into it, I go into the computer room into the math class to find out why this kid can't pass math. And there was a form that he needed to turn in, but he never turned in the form. So, he couldn't get on the computer to do his math. And now he was three weeks behind. And so, we Mr. KC, bless his heart, and I walked all over the school to find that damn form. and I walked into his house and got it signed and brought it back so he could get on the computer.
Um during February, Selena Ramirez, our transportation director, and I met with Humble. Um we figured out a way to outsource our major bus um repairs to Humble. They have a larger cadre of mechanics. Um we our lead mechanic position went vacant in December and we decided not to fill that. That was a position freeze. Um we save $1,000 per repair just by not hauling buses to Phoenix um for major repairs. So we have mechanic staff that can do everything except like really big stuff like transmissions or full engine replacements. Humbults agreed to um charge us very reasonable rates and um we'll pay for parts and pay for their labor. It keeps all their guys busy and um so we're trying to create efficiencies by working with our neighboring districts. Something that when it's mandated there of course are bills in the legislature this session trying to mandate people to work together.
And they've been great and they've been coming together and sharing and really thinking about what else can we be doing to help our students and and and also help our teachers that are teaching in our cluster classrooms. Um this is just kind of an example. um what they're creating in the high ability council is accessible to all teachers as well. So not just the teachers that are at the council, but all high ability teachers are all teachers in our district as well. They are clearly going through all of our essential standards by grade level and really building in evidence-based um activities that will help them and that any teacher can ac be accessible to them as well. So when we think about high ability identification, one thing has changed from previous years with the movement away from um our formative assessment grant paying for NWA in grades three through eight.
We will be addressing that this summer in the work that we're doing. Um right now as visitors come in before they ever get to your receptionist they kind of enter the building and are able to go left or right. So, we really want to uh move that those facilities around so that visitors to the school have to check in with somebody before they get free access to the building. Um the exterior components um there are some areas of damage that the kind of material that's on the outside that looks like stucco, it's called ephus. Um it's just not a very long-term durable material and in a lot of places it's been damaged. There are some examples of of cracked masonry. um around the facade. Uh again, nonADA compliant restrooms and then there's at some of the windows there's some evidence that water is getting in above the lentils.
They give you exactly what it means to have mastered it in multiple bullet points. They give you common misconceptions, things that they expect most kids are going to struggle with. And they give you things that can help you with individual sets of kids. It's normally a two to three page document for every standard. They tie that to the upper right hand side, which is called a blueprint. for every grade level and content area. They give us a blueprint which is a standard what quarter or checkpoint we're going to teach that standard in and it's going to be ac um tested for and then at the very end how many questions are going to be on the the final the summitive and what percentage of that test is on the summitive. It also tells us if all kids are going to get a question on that standard or if some kids are going to get a question on that standard.
Um I do want to preface that like conscious discipline isn't something that you can make somebody do. It's not something that we're like Columbia's doing conscious discipline so get on board. It's not that. You have to be ready. you have to be willing um to learn. Doesn't mean we stop if we have somebody in the back that's like not I mean it's just kind of like our kids that are just like I'm not into this but they're hearing it. So if they're hearing it they're getting a little bit of it even if they're not actively participating in it. Um, and we've gotten a lot of teachers um and staff that were once um maybe hesitant to uh buy in and try to really step in. Um, some are way more comfortable than others even now, but that's okay. Um, and we've not when you when we get through some of these school structures that you'll see, um, these are all things we've not gone and said, you know, you need to have a a safe place in your room.
We want the biggest leads and the least amount of stocks left. Uh the the least amount of stocks that were that were taken away. I guess we don't want our stocks taken away. No, no, no, no, no. Alrighty. And what you saw and what you saw back there um is that when uh Eli grabbed is that when Eli grabbed Link with his cargo throw, he was able to throw him into the stage and uh bounce him off of it. Now, there was a way that Link could have gotten out of the bouncing and that's what's known as a tech. If you press the shield button as soon as you hit the stage, you basically absorb all of the impact and get to recover back to the stage, but he didn't do that in time. So, so Eli ended up taking the stock relatively early. Okay.
So both as a parent and as a sitting school committee at that time there was no traction. So what could happen now is not something that we we could answer. >> Mhm. I guess just I'm just curious like do you know how many Pelum um sixth graders are currently in the school just >> to kind of have an idea like if >> the enrollment would be nice to know like >> have that >> number would be >> the enrollment is there's a sheet in the budget that has the current enrollment. Oh maybe this doesn't have it by grade it was >> it was gave it in a previous meeting. Yeah, it was about it was about half and half for our current fifth and sixth grade. So, it's about 12 and 11 or 11 and 12. >> Yep. I just pulled it up. It's seven choice students that are choice in um or actually we would be looking at the fifth graders.
Uh we're getting ready for summer bids. Those will be presented to you in April uh for our summer technology improvements. I do want you to be aware of a a bill that is in the legislature right now. Uh it's kind of a interesting or scary bill. I don't think it will pass. I I hope enough legislators are uh levelheaded enough to see that there are a lot of flaws in it, but um the uh we all know that they're on technology too much, but the new bill that's been introduced would uh eliminate all technology from K through five or K through six. and uh then middle schoolers an hour a day and then high schoolers 90 minutes a day. You know, I can't imagine what it would be like for one of our high school teachers to say, "I need the computers today." So, uh uh social studies and math get it today.
>> But you would keep that. >> He wants to table it until next month to see what we can get more information from the community and and stuff like that. >> Thank you. and maybe even see what the schools available to do in the community run through still through the building. Uh is them daycarees have outside >> and they got a bathroom in between building >> that transition to community run at some point someone else has to hold the license. >> Yes. Right. you know, and I build deal building dealing with enough daycare to know I mean it would make it easier if it was to stay in the same building just because things are already set up for it. There would be just a lot of logistics on what that would look like. I don't I don't have a lot of those worked out right now, guys.
The fundamental problem is not just environmental. It is structural, operational, and systemic. So, as you've heard, I worked in the old building, and I can tell you there was mold. And I've been working in that building since the last renovation when we were told all those issues would be fixed. And yet, here we are, and it still has mold. And I can tell you that as long as we occupy that 108-year-old basement, that building, it will always have mold. And just one more point point on this topic. I've heard some that said, you know, well, I have a basement in my home and that basement, some water comes in and we take care of it and maybe there's some mold and we remediate it and it's gone. I mean, come on. It's a basement. That may be true and I don't disagree with that. But what I want everybody to consider is what I just described to you is our everyday working conditions.
But now he was three weeks behind on math that the computer shut him out of and he couldn't catch up, right? He would want the boys standing in the alley. You know, I sometimes I think our Native American kids because they're so quiet that they kind of get left out because they they they're not the the rowdy ones. They're not the troublemakers. They're they're the just the that kid in the back of the class that's quiet and doesn't say anything until they're gone. And then suddenly they're gone and they're not around anymore, right? And and so but and I know it's happening everywhere. It's just not happening in Aaho. I understand that, you know, but it just oh, it just breaks my heart when I think about, you know, the these kids and and then I deal with them later, right? I deal with them later.
I don't know how it worked when you guys were little but if your mother told you you had to play nice with your sibling, it didn't always work out so well. >> [laughter] >> But when you got to choose to play nice with your sibling, it usually worked out pretty well. So that's what we're doing. We're trying to learn how to play nice with our siblings. Um we've been able to continue to monitor enrollment and determine appropriate staff levels. That's reduct that's um resulted in one additional staffing um reduction that we'll take that um in addition to what was presented to you in January. So that's a good one. Um we are presenting a contract later in the board meeting that would allow us to use unused classroom space um for a private program that would save us 140,000 and then next month we will have um a recommendation regarding employee health insurance that will save the district about 400,000.
We are now using the ILLearn checkpoints and the percentile the corporation percentile. So we get that from the ILR checkpoints that are given three times a year. Um, and we're using the corporation percentile to help us um, for our grades three through eight. And then we are still using Kogat for the ability measure. And then we also have um a recommendation form that goes out in January until mid um, February. And any teacher or parent can recommend a student for high ability as well if they just don't quite meet that threshold. And then we pull in kind of a qualitative measure um that is called the scales for identifying gifted students. That's really a questionnaire that asks them questions about the students creativity, the students leadership ability. Then we can kind of look whole child at looking at the qualitative and the quantitative measures to really look to see if the student should be identified.
Uh so those are probably either building cycle issues or uh the window system itself is failing. And then at the bottle fillers, um those have been added which is great convenience for the student, but uh the electrical and plumbing we'd like to see covered and and taken care of so that kids can't access that. And back to that slide, we have a contractor that does stainless steel and put a removable shroud underneath there and that would work out really well. Okay, so remember red and green. So red one's the old one. There's one unit on this is the middle school. On the uh one end that's the west end. It's the west end is um is an older unit. All the green ones are the newer units we put on in uh like 20 21. Underneath this was 45 VA boxes. So 45 zones in just in the middle school.
It'll also tell you if it's a multiple choice question or some kind of performance activity that the kids will need to do. Then they tie that to the bottom section where they give us the percentage of kids who've met above at prof proficiency, below proficiency, approaching proficiency, and are seriously in need. And then they give us reports that drill down to individual kids for each one of those standards. So creating a small group of kids who are at proficiency and we want to drive them to above is really simple. We just have to look at the report to find the kids who just barely missed it and probably know it and made some kind of test taking mistake. And so really we just need to review and make sure they really understand it. That's really simple. It's the first time in my career that any of these items have been made available.
Okay, we taught safe place. I want to go in and I want to see all the safe places on Tuesday. Okay. Like we can do that with our um academic stuff. I can say we're doing sentence stems and I want to see you using sentence stems. But like the safe place like you have to know how and be willing to do a safe place or it doesn't matter. It's just a corner in a room that's decorated. Doesn't have a meaning to it. Um so we have not um made anyone do any of these things. Um everybody participates at our convocations and are willing. we, you know, if somebody was not willing, then we don't make them. Um, and there, yeah, um, there's always a pass. So, we're going to talk a little bit about these um, structures. >> So, the power is like for staff, right?
Alrighty. So, they're currently selecting right now. Um, I'm not sure who they're going to select. I don't know who I don't know who would uh oppose Donkey Kong super well. I don't know like a good Donkey Kong matchup. Like all the characters I made, I'm going to be honest, aren't that great against Donkey Kong. So, if you want an easy way to beat me, choose Donkey Kong. All right. So, they are So, they're still selecting at the moment, you know, still selecting at the moment. I'm pretty sure team morale is pretty high right now, but we have to stay focused because I tell you um because [clears throat] I tell you mindset is very important when it comes to these when it comes to these games. You need to make sure you're in the right headsp space so you're making the right decisions. I know when I'm like very low down I don't make the best decisions myself.
So, nine um choice in students that are in fifth grade and 14 pel residents that are in fifth grade. >> Okay. >> Total of 23. >> Okay. All right. I think I think that's a question David that needs to be directed to the Ammer school committee because >> I'm just thinking about it in terms not not I guess my question is not about the opportunity for that. I guess in some ways it is, but since there is a big change locally kind of when we think about projecting how much we spend for kids choicing out that there might actually be a change then um moving forward. And so just trying to get a handle as to like what that potential change would be in terms of spending for kids that may choice out, right? Not saying that they would, not saying that they'd have that opportunity, >> but but it is a pretty big >> change that's happening locally.
in English, you're just going to have to wait and do papers on another day >> to come up to to purchase books because there's even a fiscal note in the in the bill that KSD doesn't know how much it would cost to go to a paperbased assessment seat at [clears throat] the elementary level. So, >> yeah. So, it's kind of scary, but it is out there. So, uh, uh, and it goes back to local control. You know, local school boards should be making those decisions. Um, so anyway, that's out there. >> Um, but you can read the rest of my report. There's a lot of great things happening in the classroom with technology.