One of the coolest things that I see during the school year is sitting at uh the art show and having students bringing their parents, their grandparents, their little brothers, their aunts and showing them their artwork and just seeing the the look on their faces and then also seeing the the look of pride on the students face of I did that. I made that. It's stuff I used to put on my refrigerator. >> You should definitely take an art bus. If you're watching this, you should take it real quick. >> Thank you. >> I have a I usually have a question or two. Um, what is your favorite medium and are you going to pursue art do you think in college postsecary? >> My favorite medium is 3D or ceramics. I like working with a 3D portfolio a lot. Um, and then I don't think I'm going to go into art in college.
share that how we do that but it still is coming from the root of the class >> whether it's academics whether they're struggling in for behavior retention it still comes from that classroom teacher bringing it to the admin couns it's I would I would say it's more intentional and more targeted those would be the two words that I focus on intentionality and targeting. >> We're using a lot of practitioners words and things like that sometimes, but pretty much what we're saying is um we're going to go from um no identified consistent framework for these kinds of conversations to a very researchbased specific framework that everyone's going to follow um to make sure that we're doing what's best for our kids at the time that they need. >> And that dedicated PLC time is a perfect opportunity for those teams to come together to talk those groups of teachers to come together to have very specific conversation about is this academic is it behavioral is it and making sure that we have the right people at the table that is a very appropriate conversation based on data based upon the support that's needed to provide students to be successful in the classroom >> but you know the I think Jane thinking about what you said so I'm just struggling in math and and right now you go to the team and go, "Hey, Bill's really struggling in math." And everybody's like, "No, he's fine in my class." So then being part of the team doesn't help me because I'm only struggling in math.
It started during CO um and this is how they've they've gone. But he asks um according to what we heard um the families are asked every year. >> Any other comments for the curriculum committee? Anything else? Miss Colina? >> Yeah. Then we had a multilingual learner update. Um Azra Redzic shared with us that at this time the district has 180 ML students. Um the last links testing was will be concluded um was concluded on Friday March 13th and those test results um we'll get them back in miday to see how our students um are doing at that time. Some students may exit ML services based on their results. Um the ML student data was also broken down by elementary, middle, and high school levels and the top languages represented in the district were shared which include Spanish, Mandarin, Albanian, Erdo, and Korean, but as I said, there's 180 different um languages.
I'm not talking about reallocating like turf to a bridge. I'm saying if in the month of April we have a a hurricane or whatever it is, a massive flood, you we I'm positive we've had it happen before where it just deteriorates so much the bridges that they like need to get done sooner rather than later and it's like you know what we got to just move along. >> So the risk that our project gets put in the >> back because we end up with too much too many reference. Sorry I wasn't clear about that. >> Yep. That makes sense. >> All right, wait room. >> Wait room. This is a quick one and then I'm gonna pass it off to Kevin. Mike, I don't know if you know how to set up that. Great. So, you brought you have a computer. >> Computer. I have a flash drive and I have my voice.
So, we're going to be using the u the other uh translation devices. Uh one of the um ELP teachers there uh uh is going to be staying to do real-time translation. And these are the ones that we have used in the past. Um when when we have translators, it's um it's those uh they look like the UN earpieces. you know, you just hold it. There's a person kind of standing off to the side doing real time translation. Um there's no time lag. It's just, you know, it's it's it's real time and the person is translating and then anybody who has um the earpiece can hear it. So, we'll be using those those devices at this meeting and then over the course of the year as we work out any bugs with the AI devices or figure out a more fluid way to use them, uh we'll we'll slowly start testing those in the in the meetings until we feel confident that those can fully replace the real-time translator.
You'll remember that that road that property is mostly wetlands, so practically useless and invaluable to the district. Um, we are trying to work on a point where we can keep the uplands portion which might have some value to us in the future, but it will not represent any near-term revenue source for the district. >> Thank you. One other question for me if that's okay and then I'll stop. Um, late buses and as it pertains to the activities appropriation, is late busing factored into that number or is it factored into the total transportation cost? Could you be repeat that please? >> The cost of a late bus is in the budget. Is it part Do you have it appropriated as part of the club and activities line item or is it part of the overall transportation? >> It's within the transportation department. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you.
I hope to take it as like a minor or something, but it's most likely not going to be my major. >> Well, you definitely have a talent, so thank you for sharing. >> Thank you.
But where where they get help is Bill's kind of acting out in my class. Does he act out in your class? Does he act out in your class? And you say no because I have him sit here or we don't let him do this or that. So then it's more about behavior and not about academics. And so I think that's one of the things that that maybe sometimes we focus too much on behavior and not about that direct intervention for Bill who's really struggling in math. That's a good example though because um we'll talk about behavior too. But when we talk about Bill's behavior framework framework will walk us through is Bill's behavior because of his will or his skill, right? And then we'll keep going down through the framework to make sure that we um truly understand what are the roots of this. >> So where does Bill's behavior issue in math class?
I do have >> 180 students, 55 different languages. Any questions or discussion on that? >> Thank you. >> Okay. And the um then we had a lengthy discussion on middle school schedule. I'm going to send it over to Marlene to just go through some of the highlights of it for us. >> Sure. Principal Gillow and Assistant Principal Murphy were both a part of our meeting that day and they shared with us how they are exploring master schedule options um with the following goals in mind. They are trying to increase instructional time which I think is very beneficial. They are seeking to add an advisory block to better support social emotional learning types of uh academic infusion. They would like to decrease class sizes especially in Spanish where they're currently reaching 28 29 in a class and they're also looking to reduce the eyeblock. The IB block is essentially a study hall.
So, we can get >> What do you prefer? >> Um, the the pictures don't do much other than just give some pictures on the slides. Okay. >> So, I can just speak. I would have brought more copies. Um, but I can leave this behind. But I'll go through my my speaking points and >> Cool. Great. >> Leave it to questions. I prefer questions anyway. >> Great. So, I'll do a quick wait room update and then I'll pass it off to you and um you can feel free Kevin and John to come join the table if you'd like. Um but the quick um >> we've set the table for >> Yeah, if you'd like. Um the quick wait room update is this was a project that is still in design. We are kind of in the final stages of figuring out um the project cost. This is a um no ask for money update because this is a prior approved capital project that we are allocating to the wake room because we have a an anonymous donor who is going to um be donating the equipment.
So, is this something we want to incorporate in our uh board meetings on site as well, or is this something that I I mean, if we're going to offer it, is this something that we want to offer full-time? >> We certainly could. Um, I would I would leave that up to, you know, the to the board to decide if that's something that that that they want to do. Um, you know, it is it is bringing in another person. it is, you know, somebody who, you know, would be, you know, getting paid hourly to stand there and and and do the real time trans uh translation, but if um if it's something we decide we want to do, we we could certainly move forward with it. >> Okay, just a thought. Thank you. >> Yep. >> Okay. Um I think I got everything on this slide here.
>> Yep. The clubs and activities um number you see in the expenditure side is for the the salaries the clubs the sports stipens coaching stipens and the club advisor hourly rate that we pay out. Are there any other questions from board members on the presentation? No. I have one question and that is under the employee benefits and district costs. Dr. Yates that you had 27 million. What is the other district costs? What falls under that? >> Yeah, good question. So, in the budget sheets I sent everybody, that detail was there. So, if you wanted reference because I won't remember everything off the top of my head, it's all listed there. But the district also has to pay for its contribution to the PERS pension for our PERS employees. That's over a million dollars for us, almost one and a half million. We have to pay for FICA for all of our PERS and non-Taff employees.
>> Does anybody else have any questions? >> Thank you for all that you do. >> Right. Next, we have committee reports. Mr. Member Kelly, >> you know what? We didn't have a meeting. >> They didn't have snow. Okay. All right. >> Education. education. >> Uh, all right. We met uh March 4th. Uh, the meeting began with Dr. Huffman's report that the freshman on track rate is currently 91.36%. A big portion of the meeting or of the session focused on the curriculum writing process and the connection to the district's professional learning series, specifically highlighting the new driver education playbook, which uses the components of teacher clarity and students self assessment trackers to improve learning outcomes. Um they also had a comment um from our presenters about the kids in the back row that were also providing feedback to the driver. So um apparently there is value in backseat driving and in learning to drive yourself.
How does that like rise? Is that the teacher? Is that just the individual math teachers like Bill's being a jerk in math class today? So is that how they get into the funnel? I think >> into the queue. They get in the queue. Yeah. So we look at that data >> and we track how many >> currently but we've already started to utilize AI to help us uh generate really reports and analyze that data so that we can better serve the students. So, for example, I'll give you a quick example. Yesterday, um the dean had the um what we call the champ team at Middle School Central, and it has a couple different prongs to it, but one of them is just really student discipline, and they looked at our top 10, I guess you'd say, behavior students in the school, and we're looking at partnering those students up with a mentor within the building.
So they're f trying to find a better way to balance the amount of students in eye block with the team time. So they talked and brought us through a couple of options that they had, none of which are really solidified until we have additional information on what staffing might be available through the budget process and then also what the candidate pool is dependent upon whether or not we can find dually certified staff. So they looked at both a six period schedule and a seven period schedule. They in your packet is an outline of some of the benefits to each one. Ideally, the sixth period schedule would eliminate all of the eyeblocks and PE and health would be combined into a wellness class that is similar to the wellness classes that have been launched at the high school this year. They would also adjust world language time, meaning students would not have world language at the same frequency that they do this year, but it would be still more um instructional hourswise than the same course at the high school.
But I just wanted to share the update that the design is almost complete. Um one thing is that we need a dedicated unit for that um that room or that space. We did not think we did not know if that was going to be the case. Um, but we do need a dedicated unit for air conditioning and HVAC. Um, and then the other updates, I know there were some conversations. I mentioned the floor needing to get redone, but John has told me that we actually don't need to redo the floor. >> I mean, we we would look at it, but I don't think so. So, at the time when that floor was put in, it was a top-of-the-line product that was put in specifically to protect weights. it um for when they hit the ground and things of that nature. Originally, when I first was looking, I was like, "Oh, would it be nice to put a piece of turf down for doing speed agility and then when we looked at it and someone said to me, "That's not a good idea, not for what you would get out of it." And then when I when I learned what that floor was um when they put it in there, which someone here probably knows more about that than me.
Additional custodian will be there to help with setup and cleanup. So the uh the typical night custodian there um isn't distracted from normal duties. Um translation uh yeah two safety advocates sound meeting will not be recorded. I think that's all I have. That's my presentation.
Um, included in there is the district's uh legal costs, other fees. I would say any uh software services that the district has. I could pull it up here, but it would take me just a couple minutes to do. But it would be every other cost that's allocated not within a department budget and not benefits. Benefits is the largest number in that um in that cost there. >> Thank you, Dr. Smith. I think >> Oh, I'm sorry. And our the a large cost there is also we have to ensure our facilities against risk and loss. So our property, our casualty, our workers comp insurance is all included in that district cost number. >> Good question. >> I was going to make sure everybody understood that this uh the testimony is next week and you have to register for that. There's inperson and there's also a virtual opportunity.
My wife will be thrilled to know. Um so Dr. Huffman also introduced a draft of our artificial intelligence plan anchored by the philosophy that humans are always in the lead. Uh this plan includes a traffic light scale to guide the ethical and acceptable use of AI uh which is slated to begin in the 2026 2027 school year. Uh communications director Jennifer Waterman outlined the transition of the new web content accessibility ADA requirements for state and local entities with initial training slated for April 2026. Uh Dr. Noling briefed the group on several state bills, including a bill to make election day a school holiday each year, a bill to remove the impending world language graduation requirements, a bill requiring instruction on the additive nature of gambling, addictive nature of gambling, and a bill limiting student use of wireless devices in class uh with no new policies or public comments.
So, that's an example of of something that will be done and can continue to be done. It's just the structure is just different. It's not that we're going to stop doing a lot of the that we do. It's just the way that it's structured is going to be different. >> I'm sorry. >> Oh, yeah. Were you done with that last one? >> It's a little bit. >> That's fine. They changed on this side. You guys have seen this slide from the board and nothing has changed on this side. Um, but we want you to to know we just want to make you know, we want to make sure that that our kids are taken care of, right? And so, we're going to make decisions like um making sure our sixth through eighth grade classes are all fussing together, right? So, a sixth grade is not going across the building and upstairs here and out here and over here and all that.