March 9, 2026 School Board Meeting

001That's what I'm asking. Okay. All right. Perfect. if you have questions. She gave the legal advice to but she's just going to in the event I tell you this. Oh yeah. >> All right. It's 5:00. Call to order the March 9th, 2026 D Lexington District 5 school board meeting to order. Do I have an motion to approve the agenda? I make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Any discussion? >> Yeah, Mr. Her uh Mr. Acting Chair, I make a motion to amend item number 15 under the discussion agenda to read discussion of the spring 2026 bond issuances. >> Is there a second? >> Second. any discussion? >> Did you want to clarify as to why? >> Yeah, I'll explain. Um, the way that it currently reads uh makes it sound like it's only targeting

002or specific to the bond referendum bond issu issuances, but it um but with what the purpose of this was to discuss both the bond referendum bonds and the 8% money bond issuances as well. So this amendment allows us it expands it to allow us to talk about the referendum and a percent. Any further discussion? So uh all in favor of Mr. Scully's amendment. Okay. And that takes us to the original motion. All in favor of the motion to approve the agenda. All right. And that carries. Uh 65 five to zero. Is there a motion to enter executive session? >> Make a motion to enter executive session to consider the following. Selected employment items in exhibit A for action. Selected employment items shown in exhibit B. Information only. Selected employment items shown in exhibit C for

003action. >> Second. >> All in favor? Any discussion? All in favor? All right. carries 51. We go to executive session. Test, test, test, test. See, I don't feel like I sound that tenny, but also I'm a female and not a male. >> Well, >> maybe >> Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. It may not have been on before and that will make a huge difference if we don't have everything exactly the way it goes. I've been turning that speaker that way because now Satderfield is down there. >> Okay. Right. >> well, he's >> he's um what's his name? The speaker. Yeah, hearing is here now. Wait, he's there. Where was empty? He's complained that he can't hear. And that's why I'm like, I can't I can't help everybody. I know. I can't help everybody. >> Which is

004weird because it seems like the same hole would be over there. Anyway, doesn't matter. Sounds good now. like to call to order the um actually I need a motion to reenter the public session. >> Make a motion to reenter public session. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? call to order the March 9th, 2026 schoolboard meeting. Um, I'm happy to step in tonight as Miss Snipes is absent and appreciate your patience. If I make any mistakes, I'll try to do my best. Uh, and I think I speak for all my colleagues. It's an honor to serve our community here as a D5 trustee. We thank you for taking the time to be here either live or um in on the live stream. So, um, I'll now turn it over to Miss Barnhard for the

005invocation and pledge. >> Thank you. Let's pray. Before we dive into business tonight, we just want to stop and acknowledge, Lord, that you are here with us in this room, and we are grateful. You know every child in this district by name. You know their hopes, their struggles, their homes that they go back to at the end of the day. We don't always have that full picture, but you do. So, we're asking you to be the ones steering this table tonight in this meeting. Because frankly, we need that. Give us ears that really listen, not just to respond, but to understand. Give us the courage to make the hard calls when they need to be made and the humility to admit when we've gotten something wrong. He We know this work matters. We know the

006decisions made in rooms like this one ripples out in ways we never fully see. So let's treat tonight as we do every week with humility and respect. Lead this meeting, lead this board, and lead this community towards something better than we could build all our own. We trust you in Jesus name. Amen. Please stand for the pledge. All right, we have our school board spotlight. I have Mr. Taylor come up to us. All right, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board, Dr. Ross, good evening. I'm so glad to be with you tonight to share with you two very special groups of people. The first group we have tonight, two stu school district 5 student athletes were crowned state champions during the South Carolina High School League wrestling individual state championships. First Dutch Fork High School

007senior athlete Jackson Stalker won the class 5A 132 pound division. It was his first state championship after he placed runnerup in 2023 and 2024. He's been wrestling for 12 years, five of those with the Dutch Fork program. Jackson's coach describes him as relentless, disciplined, and extremely competitive. But what truly sets him apart is his commitment to serving others and leading the right way. So, congratulations, Jackson. Come on up. Jackson is here tonight with his coach Brian Bush and principal Reed Gunter. Yeah, Jackson, if y'all hold on just a second, we'll do a photo at the end. Okay. And then also tonight at Irma Middle School, Gage Bruces won the 285 pound division. Gage's coach said that he showed a ton of progress this season and he pushes himself and has the dedication needed to perform

008well at the highest level. And a little fun fact about Gage, he was also a member of the undefeated Irma Middle team that we recognized at the last meeting. So Gage, come on up and be recognized there. Gage's principal, Mr. Mansa Joseph, is here as well. Mr. >> Congratulations, guys. And then our second group of folks that we are recognizing tonight are our seven school district 5 seniors who have been nominated as candidates for the presidential scholars program this year. These students are selected on the basis of superior academic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character, and involvement in community and school activities. These this is one of the highest honors bestowed upon a high school senior. So, we are so very proud of these students and happy to recognize them tonight. I'm going to

009call your names and I think we have principles here as well. So, Anthony Kiglio, Leo Ha, Athena Kale, Dylan Reynolds, Hunter Taylor, Jaden Juan and Elizabeth Young. again Mr. Gunter and Dr. Loftton is here as well. That's perfect. >> Congratulations As always, as you're settling in, I'm going to just give you a couple more little good news items to um get us started tonight. We just celebrated our fourth annual first jobs signing day. The first jobs initiative was designed as a unique way to help the district with labor shortages as well as help students find jobs during the school day. This year, the district has hired 29 students to work in jobs in student nutrition, clerical positions, as well as custodial positions. Among these participants, 19 are seniors who will be receiving their first job

010graduation cord, signifying their readiness for the workplace. The student participants come from all four district high schools showcasing the collaborative effort across the district for this great program. So we welcome them to the school district 5 family. And then I also want to share with you that Burlington Stores has donated $5,000 to Harison West Elementary School Global Magnet through its partnership with the national nonprofit organization adopt aclassroom.org. This is in celebration of the new store that opened last Friday on Harbison Boulevard. According to principal Dr. Thomas Turner, the teachers will use the funds on new items for their classrooms. A number of students and staff, as you can see, were on hand for the ribbon cutting there Friday. So, um it was a it was a great time and we are just grateful to our

011friends at Burlington for their support of our schools and our teachers. So, thank you so much. Thank you, Miss Taylor, and congrats to all those students and uh tremendous thank you to the Burlington stores for supporting our district. We are very appreciative of our businesses here in District 5. Uh at this time, I'll turn uh the program over to Dr. Ross for the superintendent's report. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. At this time, I will go over the our superintendent for it, but I'd like to thank our social workers. Last week we recognized our social workers uh for school social work week and the amazing work that they're doing and they continue to do. Uh so I want to uh just make the community aware of uh two events coming to us to mark your calendars

012for as we talk about substance abuse um disorders. We talk about vaping in schools. What can we do to address those issues with alcohol vaping and substance use disorders? Well, shatter the myth series was such a huge success in the fall uh the office of student services and planning uh will be hosting another one. This will be Thursday, March 26th uh here at the center for advanced technical studies. So uh this is for parents and students. Uh please come out. us opportunity for family discussions and resource sharing uh so that we can share the myth about these matters and get ahead and continue to stay on top of those those matters of vaping uh alcohol and substance use disorder. Also, uh Community Connections uh has an appreciation breakfast for those in foster care and foster

013parents. Uh that'll be at the Meech House from 9 to 10:30 on April the 16th. uh please register. You can see the information on our website. Uh but again wanted to let everyone know of the amazing work that our social work team, the office of student services and planning is doing to provide for our students. Uh that's who we are. We are a system guided by three critical questions. Why do we do this work? How do we accomplish that? Why? And what are our outcomes? Our why is that we love and grow our students. Our mission is that we're focused on the academic, social, emotional growth and development. And we measure our success through our strategic plan outcomes. Four performance goals, 24 strategies, 266 action steps, all to the day where every student feels loved

014in our schools and has demonstrated academic growth in our schools. Measuring the growth in terms of our graduation achievement. Uh on Wednesday will be the 135th day of school, meaning that we are in that fourth quarter heading to the fourth quarter of school and so uh tracking our graduation on time graduation rate getting very very close and so I want to thank the board for all the resources you provide uh our school district uh so that we can meet that strategic plan goal. We're also students will be taking their last of the three required formative assessments uh through measures of academic progress as see the difference between the the fall and the winter and we look for growth in the spring. uh as we uh look for spring testing you can see that um last

015year uh we had a decline of.3% in English 2 passage rate but on all other measures uh increases how do we continue that upward trend and address the areas of uh opportunity well it's going to be through t targeted tier 2 interventions strong tier one universal supports but tier 2 interventions As you heard in the last academic uh report, 792 students attended tier 2 tutoring in the first week. Uh incorporating 167 teachers plus counseling services that were provided at seven schools. That is our mission to turn I can't into I can. Uh with this year, we have a lot that we're doing in terms of operation transformation. We're restructuring, we're redistricting, and we're doing a bond referendum uh all at the same time. So, executing this uh is it's hard for a district to do,

016but we do hard things in this district. And so, we have u put a lot of information and resources out to our parents about magnet and choice opportunities. If you look at um how we go through this process, we have established the applicant pool through our random lottery system. Remember that this district is fortunate to receive $9.6 million for federal magnet grants. On that application was the fact that we would do a random lottery. And that's why we uh we ran a random lottery. Did not have siblings. Uh that was a preference. Uh preferences like siblings or employee choice um are not in a randomized lottery. But once the families who accepted and declined their lottery choices, we were able to go back and do those preferences, preferences for uh self-contained classes, employee choice, siblings,

017and assign uh and so we were in the process of assigning staff and contracts based on those locations and we're going to continue this through mid July. So what does that look like as of last week? This is a snapshot uh but we had a 165 total applications of that. It's important to know that uh we had a lot of interest from people who are not in district five. So people went on our website from all over the state and applied for choice. Uh but you have to be a D5 resident to be in the choice. So uh that dropped it by 112 applications. uh 34 of them never completed the application. We can only process complete applications. So, uh the adjusted total was,459 applications. 8 88% of those received first choice. Uh from that

018we had 59 students that 4% received their second placement offer. Um we had um 111 that are still applicant pool. Uh however, we have 195 that declined their offer. So, the applicant pool will continue to turn. Um uh and then uh 128 uh that we're waiting to hear back from the parents. So, this is just want to give you a snapshot of the results of that, what our team is working through. And I do want to thank the uh student services plan and academics the choice office for going through all of these different applications and giving uh that level of attention and care and choice to our families. This takes a lot of dexterity, a lot of communication, walk between um as we as we do choice in school district 5. Uh so why are

019we doing this? This will be the result. The result of this will be a a highly structured um feeder system that allows us to uh strengthen the supports that we can give to our students elementary, middle, and high. And uh really look forward uh to uh when we have this in place as well as uniform start times. You know, we have like four different elementary start times right now. We'll have one. Same high school. So, uh July one this takes place. Also just want to give a a shout out to the office of student services and planning. Uh we've been asked by this body, what can we do about chronic absenteeism. That is when you've missed 10% of the year or half of the day. you miss half the day. Um cons continuously you can

020have chronic absenteeism uh as you are in a goal of meeting your your minimum instructional hours. And so uh our focus in March uh is through a really cool initiative started in student services called March attendance madness where schools compete uh to get the lowest uh the highest attendance rate and the lowest absentee rate week by week. So, we have a spirit week districtwide next week. Um, interesting enough, Sunday, March 15th is selection Sunday where everybody's brackets are out. But, you can see our our our spirit days that we have. So we ask if you can participate as we drive our chronic absentee rate lower and lower each year. Uh do want to give an uh update on supplement study and ban supplement funding. I know there was some questions about that. Um, if you

021remember in last year's uh budget, we had $30,000 total for supplements and this was for supplements, but you all approved um uh in that budget additional band supplements for those. Uh but uh there are other related costs that are with ban. Uh but we do need to take care of the operational um supplement needs of all of our arts and and so uh on the same day you actually approved the study and I just want for the public to know what you all have approved that will help provide a sustainable solution for ours programs. And so um currently if you look at our salaries we have four classes of salaries uh but three classes of supplements and what we were doing is under special duties did not have all of the supplements needed for our

022arts programs. Well you've approved the study to have a separate arts schedule. And in that art schedule, just like you see with athletics, there are opportunities for coaches for uh band or other other arts. And so we're excited about that. Appreciate the feedback. Had opportunity to meet with uh bands to to to get some clarity on on this. So um I'm looking forward to what comes of this uh supplement study that we can have. And you think about in, you know, football, you may have a wide receiver coach, but in a band, you may need someone just for for brass. And so to be able to issue those supplements just like you would for for athletics, uh, while having a structure for special duties and grant funded supplements that will look a little different. Uh,

023we will name them um by the the duty functions, the essential job functions. So we will have uh class A, class B, C and D supplements uh that will be for special duties and those will serve as a guide for our grant funded supplements. And so the amount that each person receives for the special duties will based on the size of the club they're working with and the frequency in which they meet. So this will bring parity um and consistency in how these supplements are are phased out. So um here's our timeline. Uh you approved it on the 23rd of February. Uh we're working with this uh 17week timeline here and we'll have a draft recommendation April 2026. We will have by May by first reading the final to be incorporated within the first reading

024and then um pending the passing of the budget in June we will begin preparation for implementation to take place July one. >> Can we take a pause for a question? >> When um we're doing the like transportation funding for the the high schools. Say if the um the football teams do well and they go into the postseason, which we all hope they do, if if that's above the budgeted amount for like the transportation for the bands, is that something that each school has a option to do a transfer or is that something that we would need to do for the future? Because I think specifically I think Dutch work ran a little short due to the postseason. >> Yeah. So, uh, right now the receipts are turned into, um, uh, to finance. Finance covers those

025those trips. And so, you know, by doing it just like athletics, you you don't say to the football team, hey, you made it to the championship, but you don't have money to for for a bus there because you went over budget. We take care of those. So, um their local account um may not had that at the end of the year, but when the receipts are turned into finance, we take care of those. Uh and so one of the things that we're um is just ensuring that they're and her can correct me if I'm wrong, but the South Carolina Band Association has their kind of track towards state championship. Um and the South Carolina High School League has another, but they both need to operate the in the the same message. >> Uh, yes. I

026I want to back up just a little bit more. I'm not sure who's responsible for this. Is this Dr. Harris's chart here? This is really good. This really gave us gives us some clarity. Um, I'm afraid to give him credit if he's undeserved. >> It's a combo. Dr. Harris and M. >> He's not denying anything. So uh but uh you know during this process we were we got those emails from parents and understandably so out of concerns and things but they were independent emails and independent concerns and we had some discussions about that. But I really appreciate this. This really gives us an idea that you guys are doing a yman's job on on helping to get through this whole process. And uh um I guess I should have asked Miss given Miss McCascal credit

027because she's fixing to grab the microphone. So >> no, I really want to make a shout out to Debbie Hill in the magnet office because Debbie is the master of the program and the master of all the numbers and crunching things for us. I really wanted to just give a shout out to her because I appreciate the work that she and Miss Wheeler have done in that office. They've they've been a great asset. Um you you mentioned on the um the no response. I did have from at least one parent that mentioned that it went to spam. So um I think y'all are reaching out to those that if there's no response from them. We are reaching out uh to I think we had 128 families that we were reaching out to. >> I'm sorry.

028>> Was that me? Oh, I apologize. I won't drive anymore. You have it. >> Yeah, thank you. Um, I just wanted to bring everybody's attention back to this slide. Um, and the program in particular on Shatter the Myth. Um, I would highly, highly, highly recommend everyone who has a student in middle school or high school to attend that program on March 26, Thursday from 5 to 8. Um, they had one in the fall and I attended that as a as a parent. I have an eighth grader. Uh, me and my wife went, we dragged our eighth grader there kicking and screaming. She did not want to go. your kid will not want to go. Um, but afterwards, uh, she thanked us for taking I actually had to drag I dragged my wife kicking and screaming,

029too. She didn't want to go either, but they both thanked me for making them go to that afterwards. That is it's a the program. I love the name Shattered the Myth, but it also it's a little bit deceptive because it doesn't exactly describe what the program itself is. And it's it's a way to get your children to learn about and talk about um peer pressure, vaping, drug abuse, um and just uh substance abuse. And as we all know that peer pressure is highly highly present in middle school and high schools. Um, and it gives you ways to shatter the myth that everyone else is doing it >> and allows you ways to talk to your kids uh about those those issues. I I cannot thank the district enough for putting that program on. I'm so

030glad to see it back. I want to challenge all the board members who have a middle school or a high school student to please attend with your student. I want to challenge. I know there's a March Madness for attendance going on in the district. I want a a March Madness for shattered the myth. I want to know what school has the most turnout for this program. Please do yourself a favor and do your children a favor and attend this program. Um there's a QR code on this flyer. Scan it to um to reserve your seat. And I promise you, you will not be disappointed. You will be glad you did it. So, um, thank you for Dr. Harris, uh, for running this program. Again, please take advantage of this opportunity. >> Thank you, Mr. Kelly.

031Any other questions at this point? >> It's a much better commercial for it than that, but I appreciate it. At this time, coming to the lect turn is our CFO, Miss Heather Tucker, to deliver our December monthly financials. Good evening. Tonight we have for you our December monthly financials. So to start off we have our December revenue report. Um we are a little behind in uh our monthly reports and I will say that that is due to um one of our counties um being a little bit behind on getting our the reporting to us. So um you will see them as soon as as I have that information to share. But December is really the first month we start to see our our collections ramp up with our property taxes. And so we're really starting

032to see what the um reassessment values look like. And so over January, December, January, and February, we'll really have a good idea of what our revenue looks like from the local perspective and where we kind of on the mark last year with increasing our collection percentage to 98% and um what those reassessed values look like. So right now for December, we are essentially right on the mark with where we thought we would be. Last year we were at 45.5% of our budget collected through December and this year we're at 45 even. Um we saw our property taxes increase for the month of December which we would expect as we start to see those um those come in. And then for our expenditures um again if you have bought anything recently um you know that this

033is not a surprise. Our expenditures are up of over where we were at this time last year. Um but the cost of everything has gone up and we will continue to see that go up. Um we've seen our power go up. We've seen um increases across the board. And so we are at 40 45% expenditures through the year. Um last year we were at 42% through the same period, but again we've just we've seen that across the board. Things are costing more right now. And so we will be planning for that as we start building our bud budget for next year as well. So that said, I will stand for any questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any questions? >> Right. Coming to the lect turn to deliver the operations report is our chief of

034operations, Dr. Joe Gary. >> Thank you, Dr. Ross. Mr. Hering and fellow board members. We are here to um present our quarterly operations report and join Mr. Knots is joining me and later in the presentation we'll be joined by Karen Hampton, principal of Irma High School as we talk about some of the good programs that will be going in that fantastic facility you see going up currently on St. Andrew's Road. >> Good evening, Dr. Ross and members of the board. Uh this is the, you know, time of the month, I guess, quarter that excites me the most. I get to present to you all some of the latest and greatest updates uh through our uh capital, our construction and our the bond referendum process. Um the first uh school we're going to take a look

035at is Chapen Elementary. The addition uh we we've we've shown this before. Here we see um the existing site on the right hand or the lefth hand side that shows the portables and then after uh you can see the portables have moved and then the little L shape is the uh the new extension. Here are some renderings that we we have shown before that just kind of give you an idea a little glimpse into the classroom. Here is our actual progress on site. You can um you can see where we we started laying the footers and everything down on the lefthand side and then today um not today we we actually see the the building and then putting on the roof of the of the new extension. Uh we are I think a little ahead

036of schedule with this project. Everything is moving extremely fast and um later on in the presentation we'll get to actually show you what it looks like inside the building. uh Lake Murray uh the Lake Murray edition. Same thing. You can see where we had the portables and then we removed the the six portables to put the twostory edition on. Another um visual of the of the um conceptual renderings of what it could potentially look like. And u here's some progress shots of of the building itself. the roof will be going on relatively shortly. Uh once they get, you know, that completed, then they can start in the um the drying in phase where then, you know, they can install the windows and start doing additional prep on the interior of the building. So, um we

037are right on target with that project. Yeah. Go ahead and play. This is the interior of Chapen Elementary. So, it's just a little sneak peek of what's to come. As you can notice, we have some massive windows. I know um throughout my my time here at the district, everyone is like, "Hey, we need light. We want that natural sunlight in the buildings." And um and we're we're we're making that, you know, pretty much a standard. As we go into Irma High School, you'll see the same thing is the larger uh portrait style windows in the classrooms. Next, I want to u cover the um the road widening uh on Broad Broad. So, I believe last week they did the groundbreaking ceremony for the u for the road widening. uh spoke with with the folks with

038the county um last week and they're saying this is going to be about a three-year process. Initially, they're going to go through and they're going to start running all the utilities. That's that's kind of like phase one. And then they'll get to the phase where they're actually going to go through and start um um you putting down asphalt. Here you can see um you know the the view headed toward um back toward I26 and just goes over the the overall 3.2 miles of of the widening. Uh I believe they are going to actually put a stoplight in near the uh the Brooklyn Pizza or some kind of caution light at some point. Um that will come in relatively soon. They they've already installed one caution light and I believe over the summer they um they're

039going to be doing some some work to the bridge as as you head down 76 towards Chapen. you know, we can see the new uh road markers and the um yeah, and the easement marker. So, that kind of leads us into Dutch Fork Elementary. Um we saw the why behind it, you know, we know one part of it. Now, we're going to go into the Dutch Fork. Um we're still working through getting this approved through OSF. the architect, they actually have um they have the ability to get the the prints, everything to uh to the state so they can go through and do the review process. Here's just an overview of the property itself. And this is what the the final rendering will look like of a site with a site plan. Just another rendering

040of the school. internal hallways, sunlight. Everyone wants that natural light. So that that is a focus point for the for the new school and more sunlight, you know, in the the dining area. Now on to the Arnold High School update. Um we're we're seeing a lot of progress here. Um the here in the near future the uh the contractor is going to turn over the the wing to us. Um it's it's definitely coming along. Um and then you could actually see some of the progress that they've made with the retaining walls and the footers for the student center. So um you know the the goal is to make sure that we have a very good product um deliverable and um you know that we are serving lunches and breakfast and you know in the dining

041facility as soon as possible. Just a quick site overview of the the current campus. Uh you can see over here in the yellow on the right hand side that's where the student center is. Um, and just kind of gives you an overview of where we're currently at. Um, here's the the floor plan for the student center area. It'll be kind of a twotory. First story will be underassman and the kitchen area. The second story will be the um it'll mainly house I think that's the senior loft area. in the senior loft area and on the first floor there will be um you know the breakout classroom areas for um you know for various meetings or or whatnot that are being programmed into those spaces. side view from Wescott. The interior and as you can see

042where all the um storefront glasses at the top, you can see that that's the the senior loft area. And this is what it'll look like when you're in the loft. These will be the breakout collaboration spaces and then we'll have an outdoor dining area. So now we're going to take a look at the new professional development and administrative building. Just please keep in mind these are all conceptual renderings. We're still working through um the layout of the of the facility. Here's our site plan. notice that the the site plan shows the new um the new building will actually be on the where the baseball field is. Um we are working with some with the developer um in the back that houses the um little shopping center. Um we're trying to get access to that back

043private drive. Here's a exterior rendering. And that I think that is the um this is the rear view. Um I guess the the view where if um somebody's coming into student services or whatever else, they're not coming in from the front. So if there's a hearing or something along those lines, they can enter the building from the from the back entrance. And overall, this is the just another aerial rendering of what the facility in the overall district office site could look like. Now, we're going to cover the Harvest and West and Nursery Road uh conceptual drawings for the new layout for the walls. So, this is one of the one of the plans that we're looking at here. This would be uh K through 2 grade. It allows um each classroom to have access to

044a multi-purpose, multi-use restroom. And this is pretty typical with what you see in K through 2. Um we do know that these we're going to work on these sizes of the rooms a little bit more. And here's the rendering um for the third through fifth grade classroom. And I think this is pretty similar to what we have at Leart Elementary. Just it's just it is there are some some differences. Chapen uh High School Auditorium for the fine arts program. As you see here in the dark blue on the right hand side that this is going to be the the new home new site location and in the purple here this is what um this is where we are rendering wise with the um with the over with auditorium. So we just um wrapped up the

045CM risk. They've already been through their 10day waiting period. So now we could really, you know, bump this up and get things moving now that we have the contractor and the architect on board. I know during our last meeting that we had there was a lot of questions about the data that we had with um you know that was shown. We were able to show like a screenshot in a sense of of um a tool that we created to help us with all of our bond um our bond projects and also the um the renovations that are going on in the school. So, here tonight we're going to give you a just a um a brief overview of the tool that we use and how we utilize this tool. Um we're going to start off

046here at our main dashboard. What this right here shows us is we have about we have 10 projects that are active. It shows us our projects by cluster and then our expenses to date. Uh we're still we are reviewing the last month's expenses to make sure we have everything right before we upload it because we do have some folks have access to this um with our cart advisory u committee and we want to make sure all that information is correct. One cool feature about this is if I want to go click let's say a cluster, it tells me how much we've spent in that area, how many active projects we have going on in that area and then here it highlights the projects that are actually being worked on. We can kind of go through

047and click the different projects and kind of or different clusters and see what's active in that cluster. So if someone from Chaping's like, "Hey, you know, what are we doing our with our projects?" And then, you know, um throughout the, you know, in the bond referendum, I can pull up my phone, click the little light blue here, and say, "Hey, this is where we are and how much we've spent." Going to the next page. This does a little deeper dive into the projects. Um, let's go here to new Arma So here we can see what we spent to date of the overall budget, who the contractor is and who the architect is, and then where we are overall with the design and the construction of the of the project just to kind of give us

048that bird's eye overview of where we are. So I'm able to look at all the projects, the large builds that we have within the district through here and just do a little deeper dive. And this is what you also I think the last ping was was the screenshot of this page. Um this has all of our projects that are um that have been or all of the I think it's like 3,000 occurrences that have been compiled into projects from the NPS report. Um we have 410 overall projects here. uh it's easier for us to track things this way because like we have ADA, we see where we are ADA wise of of overall for the for the district. Um it just kind of helps us track things a little easier. We can kind of see

049where our money is going and what's next in in Q for us to you know, you know, if we have to get a contractor in for electrical or something like that, we can do things in chunks. So, as I go through here, I'm going to just click a couple different schools. I'm going to go to Dutch Fork High School. As I click Dutch Fork, Dutch Fork High School, it shows me I have two pending projects and 12 active projects. Within this right here in the PI, it shows me what I have highlighted. So, within Dutch Fork through the NPS report, um you know, we have a compiled, let's look at flooring for or safety and security. we have um five active or we have five things that we need to tackle. Now that those five

050projects that may have um 50 occurrences or whatever within those overall projects it just you know for tracking purposes helps us streamline that. Um so we can kind of see you know also look at this you know we can tell hey maybe one school may have more ADA issues than others. Um it just helps us get that that overall view of what's going on. If we click another school, nursery roads, um you you can see that hey um you know they may still have um flooring issues and and other things, but it just kind of gives us an idea of where everything sits at within the overall subject groups. Then if we go to the actual pie itself and we click something, we're going to click flooring. It shows us how many overall projects we

051have within each school, which is it helps that that kind of helps us. So when we go out and we say, "Hey, we're going to go bid this stuff out." I know, hey, I'm going to go through I'm look at this right here and every school has has a need where uh we may go through one subject and and maybe several schools may not have the same issue. So it just kind of helps us dial this in as we put things out to bid and try to tackle this um this massive area of responsibility that we have. >> Does anybody have any questions about the PowerBI dashboard? Yes, ma'am. >> Um, now this is the software that you said that y'all use internally, correct? >> We do use it internally. I believe the the CART

052team has access to it. um that is it's it's one of the groups that's after um after every board meeting we had the parent advisory committee then the following day then there's a a group of of of um of people in the comm in the community that kind of they they stay and just kind of get an overview of how everything's doing on the district. >> I gota updated fairly regularly I'm assuming every >> the goal is for us to get this updated at least once a month. >> Okay. And I just just a suggestion maybe and I do not know the technological or logistical aspect of it, but I I wonder if it would be something that we can maybe work to make public like throughout the website or something so that people could

053keep up with and track this thing. I've seen a lot of different things and other um ways that the public can go on and kind of interact with the same thing just to be able to keep up with the projects that we're doing because there are some people who pay no attention. There's some people that pay a lot of attention and um just in a transparent way. I'm wondering if that's something we can maybe look into. >> Yeah. Well, we can look to see if that's um if that's a possibility. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Tonight we had to jump through a little hoops and loops because uh we could not embed this into the slide. So, it's just something we need to see if we can make that happen. >> Mr. Sfield, >> I

054have one or two a couple of questions actually. Um first of all, I agree with Miss Barnhart. I this is great. This really is gives it a lot of clarity and e easy to understand and I mean it's just great. So I appreciate this format. So I hope that in future board meetings when you give updates we can use a similar kind of format that really um gives us a lot of information. I did have qu couple questions. Dutchwork Elementary School when they complete the ro the road project it's going to be five lanes. >> Yes sir. It's going to be >> there's not going to be a median. >> I believe it's four lanes and a median. I'm just curious about buses and parents getting in and out on that. You know, it's going

055to be a busier road when you make it double the lanes. Um I know you're ahead of that game, but I just it is a concern. I couldn't imagine. I'm I'm just glad we don't have walkers. We do have um >> there is a solicitation that's out for engineering services to reroute some of that but that's the best we can do until we can move that school. >> Just I know that if we were building a school that would not be a good spot. >> Um the second thing is and Dr. Ross might be able to answer this. The incubator what uh when will we get an idea of what that is going to kind of look like? Have you I know that you have visited some other districts and things and looked at that

056program. Um I'm excited about the idea. I think that's going to be a real feather in the cap for Irma High School, but uh >> so Dr. Hampton is here and at 16 she's going she going to show you some things. >> Oh, she's going to show me. >> Yes. >> Okay, Dr. Hampton. >> Yeah, we we have a um several good, you know, we get a good presentation for that also. I think everyone's going to be impressed. >> Mr. minute >> on the uh let's see Chapen Elementary and Lake Murray Elementary. I think it is, but uh they're going to have covered walkways or to attach the new to the old. >> Yes, sir. The um Chapen Elementary will have a a fully enclosed walkway because it's only one. Lake Murray Elementary will have

057one that's fully enclosed and one that's that that is covered because we still have to get equipment into that courtyard to cut grass. um and maintain the courtyard. So, yes, sir. >> And then we may have talked about it last meeting. What was do we have a total for the Chapen High Auditorium that we're shooting for in design like seating capacity? >> Um I want to say it was it was 500. Yeah, somewhere in that. And I think we had a a motion that if it went I think plus or minus uh yeah 50 seats that we would bring that back but 500 is the target. >> Any other questions about the dashboard before we hop off this? >> I had one. So uh Mr. Nas, how deep are you able to drill into this?

058Like can you go and see the floor in hallway X and Y school? I mean can you guys get that deep into this? not into this right here. Um, we have another work order system that kind of does a deeper dive to it. This right here just kind of helps me kind of track everything or if we're doing a presentation or something, I want to be able to get that high level overview so everyone can kind of see, hey, what's going on? You know, where where are the issues at across the district and um, we have these really great interactive tools. I'm like, let's let's utilize them. So, um, you know, number one, so I can kind of keep track of things, but then also if, um, somebody else just kind of wants to dive

059into it, then they can, too. I actually let my, um, 12-year-old play around with this and he's like, I I bet I can break it. And that did not happen. >> I think we all appreciate this and how informative this was. >> Thank you, Mr. N. >> Yes. And before I conclude the uh superintendent's report, I'd like to welcome to the podium our 2025 district support employee of the year, Miss Cammy RP for her year reflections. Good evening. Uh thank you for the opportunity to address you today. Um, it's been my privilege this past year, let me put it where um, this past year to serve as the representative for the support employees of our district. I have loved being a part of the superintendent support advisory committee meetings, engaging with the district 5 foundation

060board members and witnessing what goes on behind the scenes to make this district and its program successful. I've enjoyed getting to know other support staff and I've grown because of my experiences. My remarks tonight are addressed to you, the board members, but also to our D5 community as a whole. As I've reflected upon my experiences of this last year and what I might share tonight, I've decided to focus on two things. The first is a spotlight and the second is an invitation. So, first the spotlight. There is a psychological concept called the B Minehof phenomenon or the frequency illusion. It's the experience where once you've once your attention has been drawn to something, you begin to suddenly see it everywhere. For example, my son recently pointed out a very unique truck color. I'd never really

061seen the truck color before he pointed it out, but now I seem to see it everywhere. I'm sure you've had the same kind of experiences. My hope is that as I share the spotlight that it will heighten your awareness and draw your attention to the vital role support staff play in our district. That maybe you will start suddenly noticing their essential contributions everywhere you look. Support employees in district 5 are absolutely essential to the success of our schools and our students. Our team is made up of individuals with diverse e expertise, all of who are dedicated to the success of every student. I would say we work behind the scenes, but the truth is we are typically on the front lines of any school experience. We are on the buses, in the front offices, in

062the cafeterias, and in the classrooms. We are behind cameras and computers, in health rooms and media centers. We are therapists, sign language interpreters, and technology specialists. We are vested. We are invested in ensuring that students have the resources, support, and care they need to succeed. We are the ones who provide the structure that allows schools to function successfully. We work every day um together to create an environment where teachers can focus on teaching and students can focus on learning. this um these are just a few of the members of my support village that I work with every day. I'm proud to call these professionals my friends as well as my colleagues. I've had the opportunity to communicate and interact with support employees across this district. I've been impressed with the life experience and talent of

063this team. When you take a closer look, you might just be amazed by what you see. Our support staff have a wealth of experience and expertise far beyond what their titles suggest. You will see individuals with advanced degrees in education, business, or the arts. They have military experience. They're uh they have professional certificates or specialized training in fields like counseling, technology, and healthcare. Some have entrepreneurial experience, language skills, or community leadership roles. Others bring life experience that shape how they connect with students, colleagues, and families every day. With that said, I want to take a moment to pause. These men and women work tirelessly taking pride in their work and and often go well beyond their job descriptions. And while applying their abilities is part of their personal and professional growth, there is a fine

064line between contributing and being taken granted being taken for granted, especially when their expertise becomes an unspoken expectation without proper recognition or compensation. Please honor their dedication, celebrate their contributions, and ensure that their hard work is respected, valued, and fairly acknowledged. To quote myself, "Support employees don't just make a difference, they are the difference." Oops. Sorry. Now, my second thought, the invitation. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with the newly elected support employees uh for next year from each of the schools and offices. It was so much fun seeing their enthusiasm and excitement. They were so supportive of each other as they mingled together. It was once again obvious to me how dedicated and committed the support staff are in this district. This year, the district theme is operation transformation.

065At the beginning of the year, we had an awesome kickoff. We had giant balloon creations, a transformer, and loud music. But now I want to take a moment and look at at transformation from a more delicate point of view. After a after a caterpillar becomes a butterfly and is ready to emerge, it must struggle to break free from its cryis. The rumble, as it's called, isn't a flaw in the process. It's essential. As the butterfly pushes through the crystis, fluid from its body is forced into its wings, strengthening and expanding them. Without Without this effort, the wings remain weak and underdeveloped, leaving the butterfly unable to fly. The struggle is what transforms potential into strength. And resil the res resistance and the rumble prepares the butterfly for the life it's about to live. Our district

066is in a season of rumble right now. We are facing real hurdles and diff and difficult conversations. The recent bond referendum and resoning, though needed and exciting, have brought uncertainty and discomfort for many. But growth rarely comes from comfort. Our personal lives in our cla in our classrooms and across our district. It is often the hard seasons that shape us into something stronger and more beautiful. As we learned from mother nature, just when the caterpillar thought it was over, it became a butterfly. No matter where our feelings or opinions fall, we all have an opportunity to to become something better than we were before. Like the butterflies rumble, our district's challenges don't have to break us. Uh they can strengthen us if we handle them thoughtfully. That means careful, responsible decisions from our board and

067district leadership. It means patience, perspective, and partnership from parents and community leaders. We all share responsibility in this transformation. If we choose collaboration over division and commitment over criticism, our district can emerge something can emerge stronger. Every one of us has the power to change the culture for the better all around us. Our lives intersect with other people all day long. How are we using these opportunities? I I invite each of us to take advantage of more butterfly moments, encourage others, lift students, and model what excellence looks like every day. This is what is truly transformational, and amazing things can happen as we spread our wings. Thank you. >> That concludes the superintendent report. >> Um, thank you, Dr. Ross. Thank you, M. for your comments as well. Uh, are there any questions left for

068Dr. Ross about the superintendent's report? >> Okay, hearing none. Um, do I have a motion to approve the minutes of the February 23rd, 2026 meeting? >> Make a motion to approve the minutes of the February 23rd, 2026 board meeting. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? That carries five to zero. That takes us to public participation. Uh, the board welcomes and encourages public participation. We respectfully ask that you adhere to the procedures provided in board policy beh participation at meetings. Your comments should be limited to three minutes and must remain on either the topic noted on your sign-in form or a listed agenda item. Questions asked during public participation will be handled in accordance with board policy BEDH. Miss Taylor, >> thank you. We have one speaker tonight. Kim Murphy is here to speak

069about lack of information in the board packet. >> Good evening. I'm curious about two agenda items and also the amendment that was made to item number 15 on the agenda earlier tonight by Mr. Scully. First, number 15 on the agenda states discussion of bond referendum resolution for spring bond issuance. Mr. Dr. Scully amended the item to read discussion of spring bond issuance plural stating that there would be discussion related to two resolutions to borrow money. The bond referendum bond issue and the bond issue for capital projects. In other words, the 8% money. However, there is no information in the board packet related to this item, which seems very unusual. I'm not sure how Mr. Scully would know to amend this item, but without info in the board packet, board members have no idea what is

070going to be discussed and neither does the public. And it is troublesome that normally when an item is on the discussion agenda, that means at the next meeting it will be voted on. So out of the blue, there are two bond issues that are going to be discussed. bond issues that will be millions and millions of dollars which may be voted on at the next meeting with no information in the board packet to inform board members in advance of the meetings so that they can be prepared and educated enough at this meeting to ask questions particularly if these items will be up for a vote at the next meeting. In addition, it is premature to be talking about borrowing millions of dollars for capital projects when the capital projects budget has not been approved. nor

071is the budget or any information about it in the board packet. The agenda item number 14, which is a vote to approve the budget calendar, a vote that has never been done before and is really not necessary and would take a vote to change it, is missing important information, like a vote on the capital project's budget. Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like the administration would like the board to blindly approve a a schedule and blindly approve borrowing money without knowing specifically how the money will be used, which is not a good policy. I'm hopeful that you will not approve the schedule, which is incomplete, which may lock you into things, um, and also require a vote to undo it. And at the next meeting, the capital projects budget um may be placed on the

072agenda so it will be up for discussion and that there will not be a vote on borrowing the money for it. And that bond issues will be on the agenda for discussion again and not a vote. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Miss Murphy. >> That takes us to number 12 on the agenda. Are there motions on matters discussed in executive session? >> I make a motion to approve selected employment items shown in exhibit A. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. All in favor? That carries five to zero. >> I make a motion to approve selected employment items as shown in exhibit C. Second. Discussion. Seeing none. All in favor? And that carries. Five to zero. Make a motion to approve the fiscal year 2026 2027 budget calendar shown in exhibit Oh, I'm

073sorry. I skipped one. Make a motion to approve the budget transfer request shown in exhibit E. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion? Well, we're going to hear from Miss Tucker. >> M Tucker. Yes. Mr. >> Tucker, if you can present the transfer request, please. So, the budget transfers that are below 10,000 are part of the monthly um the monthly financials that we we've been presenting, but these two budget requests are over the $10,000 threshold for the um for the board to approve. They are essentially the first one is five has requested to move exactly $10,000. It's staying within the same um program, the high school programs. It's moving it from um a supply account to a technology services account. So, supply to purchase services. And then the second

074one, accountability is really trying to streamline their budget, looking at all the different products that they use. And so they are keeping everything within the same function. Again, just I've laid it out below, sub moving it between supplies, purchase services, technology, and printing and um and technology software. So just really aligning things within the same function but within different object codes. So I wanted to bring these to you for approval. >> Any questions from Mucker? So, we have a properly seconded motion on the floor. Um, all in favor? That carries five to zero. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Make a motion to approve the fiscal year 2026 and 2027 budget calendar shown in exhibit F. Is there a second to that? >> I'll second >> and discussion. >> Yeah. Could I ask could I ask Dr.

075um Ross to kind of review some of the concerns that maybe have been expressed? I know we don't typically converge back and forth, but uh Yes, sir. So, we've been talking about the budget calendar uh for about three meetings now. Um this does not mean that you can't change it. Uh but it does uh there are some legal requirements that we have to um notify our public of the second and final reading of that. Um we have in previous years been doing three readings of the budget and it's our goal to commit to uh two to notify our teachers of our staff what our pay is to be very um competitive on that. You can see that we're committing the board to our April 20th budget discussion to prioritize and submit our capital requests. Uh

076I find it very interesting if when we do commit to times that we're told not to commit uh and then when we ask for action then we don't have a set time to act. uh this locks us to action and so we're asking the board to commit to action and so that's what the administration requests are. Uh sometimes when we ask to do uh capital presentations they're delayed or uh they're put off or they're not committed to uh the administration cannot put together a budget if there's no commitment from the board. So today is just a vote of the commitment. We can hear from the board's will then the administration will follow suit. Thank you, Dr. Ross. Any other questions with Mr. Bannon? >> On um April 20th, the um budget discussion is that when

077we'll get the um the focus groups, kind of the data from the different ones throughout the district to kind of see what gels with our priorities from our budget workshop in February. >> That's correct. And you'll have some of that around March uh I'm sorry um we hope the March 23rd meeting we can have uh as much of that as possible but definitely by the April uh budget workshop and in that budget workshop we'll have our best case uh revenue projections expenditure projections and then options there. So um we can't handle this day by day or meeting by meeting. we need a long-term outlook uh in which to act. And so we don't want to be um in special call meeting situations or uh June 23rd, the last week of of June when we have

078a regular schedule trying to approve the budget. One of the things that we find too is that teachers want to know what they make for next year uh as early as possible. uh being able to commit to a first reading at May the 4th. Uh that is um before the May 10th selection of the contract dates that puts us in a competitive advantage to be able to tell our our teachers and staff this is what you make before they sign those contracts on May the 10th. So, I just think having a commitment from this body that says this is what we now if you change it, it's your we can change it, but it lets the the staff and the teachers know when can they expect to know uh what the will of the board

079is. >> Mhm. Just for timeline purposes, will we be getting, let's say, the the full packet from y'all, the budget book, all of that before, I miss after the March 23rd meeting so that we can go over that before the April 20th. We'll be getting that like how we normally get our board package. >> You'll get it um how you normally get it before that that that I think the Thursday it goes out the Thursday before uh the workshop. Yeah. Um I guess I likewise I I don't really feel how there could be any objection to this to to me this is only serving to increase transparency. So it's here's the plan for our calendar for our budget. Here's what the steps they're we're going to take. And just confirm for me if you will,

080Dr. This vote is in in no way, shape, or form approving dollars or committing dollars to anything. >> No, sir. >> Okay. So, it's just merely a vote to approve a plan. >> That's correct. Okay. >> Any other discussion? Uh, properly seconded motion on the table. So, all in favor and that carries five to zero. That takes us to our discussion agenda. Item number 15. We'll turn over to Dr. Ross. >> Um, thank you. And I'm going to turn it over to Dr. I mean, I'm sorry, Heather Tucker. >> Please note that this is an amended agenda item to talk about the spring discussion of spring 2026 bond issuances. Dr. Turner, >> thank you. I'm sorry. >> Thank you, Dr. Ross. Um, we also have Jay Glover from PFM, our financial advisor, and Franny Heiser

081on the phone as well. Um, the only thing we wanted to bring to you today as far as discussion for the bond referendum um, resolutions. So last year, if you remember, the bond referendum passed and so we did instead of doing a collective borrowing um through SKGO, we actually went out to the public market and did a an open um solicitation for our um our bond referendum debt as well as our 8% debt in order to get a a better a better rate for those. And so we wanted to bring this up for discussion to say we intend to do the same thing again this year going back to the open market. um we need to start having conversations with our rating agencies S&P and Moody's um and just wanted to go ahead and start

082that process. And so that's really all we wanted to have discussion tonight is that we want to go ahead and start that process um so that everything is in place when the board does approve a budget for our 8% and for our bond referendum um borrowing this time. And so, like I said, uh, Jake Glover with PFM and Franny are both on the phone. If you have any other questions or Jay or Franny, if you have anything that I've missed or want to add, please jump in. >> Nothing to add. No such questions. >> Thank you, Jay. >> Same here, >> Mr. P. When we had the budget workshop, there was um, you know, going back a few years, each year that we did the the spring bonds. There's, you know, buckets of projects that

083the money was, you know, borrowed for that's not been spent. Um, one I was just question, have we already borrowed that money as in it in like a reserve fund waiting to be spent on those projects or is it not yet borrowed but allocated for that? No, the the money has for all of our previous capital projects, that money has been borrowed. Um, and so that is that is, you know, essentially set aside in our capital reserve fund. Um, but basically, like I said, all we're all we're asking the board for discussion tonight is is to to allow us and to essentially say we we want to stick to the schedule that the board just approved. Um, we did two readings of capital last year before we approved the budget, but we want to go

084ahead and start having those conversations um with with the ratings agencies just so we can get the best credit credit rating agency so when we do go out to the market, we can have the best um we had great um great um interest in our debt last year. And so we were able to get a really good rate and so we we would like to do that same thing again this year. And and as far as like going forward and this may be more of like a you know administration goal with the the projects that we've previously barred for going forward moving to new projects. Is there a way to get some sort of timeline on like 2022 2023 24 projects that start completed before we commit to borrowing a whole lot more? What we

085have done is um if if you can refer back to the um we had a kind of strategic capital workshop. In that strategic capital workshop, we listed all of the series uh bonds we had in the last five years. And so you can follow it uh spring 23, 24, fall uh 24, and spring uh 25. And we have uh to the same uh dashboard system that you saw with MPS. There is a similar accounting of those uh projects for uh each one of those issuances. Uh what you'll see that um it's safe to say that we go back spring 22 most of that is already used uh 23 as well 20. So what'll happen is um some of the projects that are done over the summer are encumbered won't be spent until then. So um

086what we'll do is uh show that presentation again. Uh but our goal was every five years within the strategic plan to pull forward any of those unspent pieces. U and so that will happen next year. But, uh, we, uh, we're on target with with all of those, uh, projects. So, uh, again, as they, as we go through the 2026 spring issuance, uh, we can go back and show you where the other projects are. >> Dr. Ross, when you say um, bring forward any unspent portions of that, does that mean that the projects either didn't cost as much or they haven't been completed? Is there still a plan to get those completed? >> So, uh, and I want to speak with to real numbers. That's that's any any dollars that would that aren't spent would come

087forward. Not saying that we have those right now. Uh, I would leave that to Miss Tucker to to tell us how much are in each series. I think the last time we looked at it, most of those are kind of zeroed out. Um, I think we stopped doing contingency a lotments, which after that that means that if we weren't hitting our numbers then we were over budget on some of some of those things. So, uh, I think, um, we'll go back and and re redo that strategic capital planning presentation, but just shows all of those all of those projects. And you can see what we're asking for in the future though is to not do um so much as we heard earlier today is to present a project, have the board approve it, but annually.

088We found that is a very inefficient system to keep our facilities updated. If once a year I have to bring to you that I need these toilets at this facility fixed and we go through the capital cycle by the time we get to fix it. There are other issues other places we like to switch and that's what we said at the strategic uh capital planning session. We like to switch to the buckets that were in the uh NPS report. if you could fund those buckets in the NPS report. Um, ADA issues, >> things like building envelope and and mechanical electrical. >> As soon as it breaks, we can fix it through the capital and just report those. This system here that, you know, it's very antiquated. It's it's almost like a one room schoolhouse and

089we bring all the capital matters here. We do two readings of it. We fund it through the spring issuance. We put it out for bid. Something else is broken by that time. If the NPS report gave us a a system, building envelopes, uh site condition, structural safety, and these are buckets of funds that you approve, and preventative maintenance dollars are are sent to that. Now if we spend more in ADA than we have allotted and less on building envelope or mechanical or plumbing then we would come for budget transfer uh to address those but we need to give the maintenance the ability as soon as the issue breaks that they can issue funding to address that. Um what we are what we heard today was a system that's not working for us and you know

090maintenance is 91% of the things that are they're getting, but we're still behind. We like to get to preventative, we we will get that. So, that's why I think a commitment to this model uh would uh of putting those into those particular buckets of funds. What what will happen is you'll fund the buckets every year. You do it with technology. And so when we go to issue, you're issuing a just a refuel of those preventative maintenance buckets and not a project by project approval piece. Now, if we get beyond that and it's something beyond preventative maintenance or then we would bring that as a 8% piece, new building, a wing or something like that that is not in one of those buckets. And so that's that's our goal. That's what we're trying to get to

091uh so that we can stay on top of the the maintenance issues. >> Other stuff. >> Yeah. Um and I'd like everybody to remember that the MPS study when they showed all our schools in the state of disrepair and we had them colorcoded. Remember that? And some of them there was to the point of you'd probably better just to tear it down and rebuild. And the problem with that is that I can remember going through that many years ago is when you would submit all your capital requests, you're always behind instead of ahead of the game. So you're reactionary. So what happens is your schools get older and older and you can't get to them and you can't get to the repairs. And when you get there, they're worse than they were before. I don't

092care if it's your heating and air conditioning systems or your plumbing or the floors or the roofs or whatever. So, I I do like this idea of being proactive instead of reactive. Those are our choices. We can be proactive and and and have those buckets as Dr. Ross alluded to or talked about um ready to go and start addressing those things. Or you can wait till it breaks down and you have uh holes in the roofs and leaking into classrooms and things like that. So, I do like this. I I think of all the uh different things we've talked about, I like the idea because I have been on the end of what happens when you just wait and wait and and when it's your turn, you get some of that money because it sometimes

093it's not your turn. But uh I do like this whole idea. So >> any other questions? Uh Mr. Scullies first. >> Yeah, Dr. Dr. Ross, I understand the the concept of your approving basically the uses of funds at the bucket level um and not at the line item project level. Um I guess and I agree that that's definitely a much more efficient system. And to Mr. Siderfield's point, I I don't know that we can ever truly be ahead of the game or ahead of the curve on when it comes to capital m maintenance. is more of a question of how far behind you are, whereas we won't be as far behind. We'll be able to catch up. Uh whereas today we're probably very far behind on certain issues. My question to that point though is

094how would you assure the board and the public that all the issues or particular issues would be addressed and not overlooked or to the point about potentially I you know being ahead of the game. I don't know that that's even the best answer, but that you wouldn't spend money in one place or doing one thing and it's hard. I I don't know how I'm saying it and not spend it where we need it. How how would you assure the board? Whereas now on a line item level, you come and bring the project and I agree it's inefficient. You come with a project, we approve it and that's what you spend the dollars on. At the higher bucket level, you don't have that detail for individual transactions. How do you assure us and the public that

095all the items are getting addressed appropriately? >> I'll let the gentleman responsible for that. >> It's I'm glad you brought that up. So, if you look at what we've done capitalwise several years ago, we actually did a bucket with HVAC. I know when I first arrived um the district was like, "Hey, you know, we're going to replace five units." And we did a great thing. And yes, five units is great. When you replace none, five is more than none. So, what we started to do was to have a bucket for HBAC. And it says districtwide. What that does, it gives us the the tools that we need to move at a lightning pace. So, we have contracts that are out there with our internal contractor. We have contracts. who are on a co-op. Um, and

096then we can also use some small and minority owned companies to to speed up that process. So, you know, for us to go back and look holistically where where do we sit at? And we'll have this report probably this summer where every year I show where we our baseline of our average life expectancy of our units and then where we are the following year. And we're seeing that number trend down. And that's good because a lot of our units we're you know if you once you get to that 15 year life expectancy you know it it is probably not going to be running or there'll be a new refrigerant or new technology or whatever else it may be. So that's one way from a 100,000 foot view we can actually look at this stuff. Uh

097but then also in addition to that we also have to keep records of what we're purchasing. So, if we're going through our co-op or our own internal group, we're able to look at that and um and we have seen a drastic drop off in requests for for you know um you know conditioning requests through our work order system. I know this past year we replaced a bunch of heat exchangers. we got we got a good jump on it before winter hit and then and in turn that reduced all a lot of calls for us and we still have a long ways to go but you know in addition to the overall equipment we also have the building automation system we have some stuff that it might be 30 years old and it's end of life

098you can no longer get parts for those systems so we're having to go through and replace all the wiring all the controls for those units by having those buckets it gives us the opportunity to move a a lot quicker on things versus it being earmarked for a certain unit at a certain school because, you know, we might be able to repair something, get it back up and operational. Uh we could have, you know, an issue where something else fails, a lightning storm or whatever else it may be, and we need to address that because you you're not going to get it running. So, it it it has helped us over the last several years, and that's just that's just HBAC. >> I'm going to jump in on the accounting side of that, too. um just

099from the perspective of having a bucket. So like right now if we say in the capital the capital budget only has roof replacement at Dutch Fork Elementary and Chapen Elementary in certain things that that was what was the line in the budget and let's just say those were kind of the next up in our plan. But now there's been a massive roof leak at Seven Oaks. Well, if if if operations wants to do the Seven Oaks roof, that's not lined out on the budget. So, now we've got to figure out where we're going to pull that money from. If we just say this amount of money is allocated for roof leaks and Seven Oaks is the major priority right now. Accounting doesn't have to go back to the board or work on a budget transfer.

100We can say, "Okay, operations go do this." And we're still creating a project for that. We're still accounting for it in that we're working this at 7 Oaks. Okay. Now, Chapen and Dutch Fork are going to be the next two, but we've now had a major an an issue. And that gives us a little bit more flexibility to not tie operations hands up when we're saying we don't have money allocated for something if it's if it's more generalized in a in a bucket and then we will create those kind of projects as we go along. So, it just it speeds up some of those what end up becoming emergency procurements because there's not money associated with it. it would help it not get to that point. That makes sense, >> Mr. B. >> So maybe

101this is a legal question. So with the bond referendum like the the big one we did in 24, there was legal requirements where we have to we can only spend what was voted on. So I'm guessing there's not the same legal requirements with the the spring bonds that we do. So if you say you're going to do roofing only, you can't switch to do something totally different. >> Correct. So, if the board approves $5 million for roofs, then we can only spend $5 million on roofs. We can't, you know, move that in and out and say, "Okay, well, now we're going to use that to go create an athletic field." Like, we we don't have that flexibility. We have to stay within those buckets. But with the bond resolution, we are tied by the language

102that was in the the bond resolution that the voters approved. So, we if we have a question, we always go back to that resolution and read the the legal language in there and what exactly does it say? So, we're not um we're tied to that. So, What? More specifically, so the past I would say what maybe three years where there's still remaining projects. I guess my question is that money and those projects that are not completed and unspent, we can't pull that forward to use on different. It still would have to be for if we had it allocated for River Springs roof, it still has to go for that or you can transfer within roofing. >> So if it's allocated for River Springs roof, then it's that's where it's allocated. The only flexibility we have

103in prior capital budgets is what was in the contingency line. So if something goes over, then we have a little bit of wiggle room, but that's really the only flexibility we have is that contingency. But that's what Dr. Rossa said we would like to do with kind of moving the capital budget in line with the strategic plan is as we finish out that cycle. We would like to take anything that was under budget or contingency money that wasn't used and come back and say, "Okay, this is what's still, you know, uh what we still borrowed on capital. What would the board like to reallocate that to?" Sir, >> Mr. Seter, one one more question. Uh, with regard to the 8% bonds, um, are we do we sell those independently or do we join SKGO? >>

104So, in the past, we've joined SKGO when we were just doing the 8%, but last year we put both of them out to the open market. We did a series A for our bond resolution and a series B for our 8%. And we were able to get a lot more competition by doing kind of bundling them both together for sale that way. and we got essentially a better a better deal that way. So, we would like to do that again, especially since our bond referendum borrowing this time will be more than what we borrowed last year. >> I've just worried way the market is and the instability and all that. So, thank you >> Jay. Do you have any comments about that or >> Yeah, I mean I agree the market's been very uh by

105the way Jay Glover from PFN were the district's financial adviser and assist when there's need to access the capital markets. Um totally agree. I think the recent action in the Middle East has sort of rocked the financial markets. Um, you know, I'm I'm hopeful that over time that will stabilize, but but borrowing rates are actually still relatively attractive. Um, you know, US treasuries and and safe municipal bonds are very attractive. So, it's it's it's rates are still relatively low in terms of borrowing when you look back over the last several years. So, I'll also just add one more thing about the SKGO versus the district doing bonds sort of on their own. A SKGO is a program that you really can only issue one-year bonds through. So, when we did the 8% one-year short-term debt,

106that was a very coste effective way to do it because you had some economies of scale with the cost of issuance by pulling those financings together. With the referendum, we're issuing, you know, up to 20-year debt, which requires you to go out on your own. But I agree with Miss Tucker that doing those two in combination with each other, you know, creates efficiencies, and we competitively bid those to the market. Uh, and whoever is willing to offer the lowest true interest cost is award those bonds. And all of that would be outlined in the bond resolution that you will likely consider at uh your next uh couple of meetings. >> Thank you, Jay, >> Miss Tucker, or Jay. um what are the things in the control of the district that we do that has positive

107or negative effects on the rates at which we're able to borrow for those of us that don't really have as much experience with bonds. >> Um thank you for that question. So one of the things that the rating agencies does do look at are our kind of our um what we have in our reserves. So the board policy we brought last year for our operating and our debt service reserves and they look at that they look at just overall operational capacity and Jay I know that there's a kind of a checklist that they look at and I'm forgetting a lot of those things right now um but we did get some questions last year from one of the rating agencies right after our um cyber breach just wanted to know about our response to it

108what we were doing um so those are some of the things that they'll consider but Jay you can speak much more accurately about that articulately about that turn it over Yeah. No, you were right on point actually. I mean, if if someone asked me what the one thing that is most important in terms of a credit rating, it is those fund balance levels. You know, they want to see that you're structurally balancing your budgets, your operating, you know, revenues or meeting your operating expenditures and you're maintaining a strong fund balance for uncertain times. Uh so that that's the one thing that I think is most important is having a healthy kind of stable or growing fund balance. But they also just look at general economic conditions. They look at how much debt you have outstanding.

109They look at management policies and leadership. So there's several things they look at, but one thing that's most directly under you all's control is is maintaining that, you know, fund balance is is the one key area that I would say is most important. >> I'm sure you're keeping a careful eye on it, but looking at our December financials where we're about on par with revenues, but already we're seeing expenses up 3% or so. I guess we'll have to really keep a healthy eye on that >> and we expect that a little bit this year because we realize that we um especially with the tier 2 tutoring that the board approved that's essentially over budget like we plan on dipping into our fund balance as a one time for this year. Um so there are things

110that expenditures that we were were not in our budget this year that we know we're going to see those. So um so we do anticipate a little bit of that but again that's that's the reason why we have that fund balance there and and we're we're planning for that but also planning for that in the future. So Any other questions from the >> Thank you, Jay. Thank you, Brady. >> Uh, that brings us to item number 16, which I can't find. The discussion of Irma High School phase 2B, Dr. Ross, >> and our director of facilities, Mr. Alan Knox, and principal of Irma High School, Dr. Karen H. >> Good evening. Tonight we're going to um um present to you all the um what's that? The 2B 2C and the partial demolition of the east

111wing. So here is our current layout of Armo High School. You see over here the yellow we have the new uh student center that's being currently built. Um here are the renderings that we looked at earlier. As we move in to our future phases, um you can see the student incubator and the current uh cafeteria location and then the existing east wing. We are looking at a proposal to um bring down certain parts of of the building. And these are the I guess the some of the oldest parts of of the school that um you know are are kind of beyond repairs. Here are some of the um some of the visuals from the exterior of the of the the business incubator. Uh, as you can see, we're utilizing a lot of the existing shell

112of our current of the current building. Most of the work that's going to be taking place will be all interior. And please keep in mind, these are just conceptual views. I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Hampton to review the um the programming side of the interior of the business incubator. >> Thank you. Good evening, Dr. Ross here and members of the board. Wanted to update you on our programming for our small business incubator. It's a multi-purpose design space that combines in one space career and technical education, learning, creativity, business, and community experiences. So, Mr. Satderfield already called me out a little bit about some of the spaces. So, let's let's get right into it. So everything in this space is designed to be flexible for the most part. If you look to the

113left where it says the culinary lab classrooms, that space is going to be designed for mobile business. The idea is to use um food truck, but not necessarily the production of food or creation of food. It's just creating what that mobile business might look like. If you look up in the upper right hand corner where it says studio, that's uh space is flex. So it's recording studio that also can include some podcasting, but then podcasting is movable, so it can go into some of the um student incubator classroom areas. The idea is to create multiple spaces that we can use um in multiple different ways. So, you'll see a maker space. Um the beyond the maker space, if we were to open all of that up, which everything can be moved, is where let's say

114our art students, because we are still a school for the arts, um will have an opportunity to host either art exhibit or something to showcase their art all throughout um those spaces. The the school store will actually be a production space. So students will be able to create the clothing that um we would either like to sell or they create and then they like to sell. Um all of these are areas where students can then create a business, operate that business and then allow the community to come on the weekends to be able to um to purchase said products. So the overall focus is providing our students with future ready skills that are aligned with our academic programming with the support of engaged business partners. So we will be asking um are asking for those

115who um would like to participate to become business partners with us. We are working on um an advisory board that will continue from the beginning of the project. So now right around July time frame and then moving forward as it um exists and then even after it opens to be able to support all of our students. This gives us an opportunity for students to again operate those businesses and be able to to shine in ways that we haven't seen. This idea is is very new. Um there are none in the southeast that are going to function in this manner. So we are the very first to be able to do that. We'd like to keep it that way. Um so that way our future ready skills and we're modernizing what um education could look like

116in sort of a a micro space. Um so if you look at come a couple of the other areas, we've got the think tank pitch area that can also flex. And then um that very first classroom right there, if you're looking um beyond the reception area to the left, that one can also be a flexible space. We're looking at um aligning it with uh barbershop because we also need to have some some practical skills, things that we can use, some hands-on. So, um not all of the podcasting and things that um are digital, but also some skills and services that can be provided to our community. Any questions? >> Oh, yes, I have some questions. >> I I'm very excited about this. I was in when I was in high school, I was in something

117called DECA, distributive education clubs >> and uh it really gave me direction. Um now, how will you decide which businesses to involve? >> Good questions. >> So the students it'll be a progression. So the idea is that you know they sort of get an idea in the ninth grade and then 10th grade, end of 10th grade almost where they have to make a decision of where they want to go. So for us um so lots of different programs that we offer. So depending on whether um students are continuing to be a CTE completer and that completion then wraps into one of these programs or if they're one of our IB career students it could connect to a career. So we've got to make a decision sort of at the end of that that 10th grade

118year. Now um the center does something very interesting. They do um a take off of Shark Tank and they call it Piranha Pond. Um, so we want to have our own yellow jacket version of that to where at the end of the 10th grade, we're taking the idea and then getting those funds um and be a being able to execute in a portion of the junior year, probably the second semester and then definitely in the senior year to be able to have those. So, it'll be a combination of um the academics and then the business support um to be able to have that financial backing to make those programs happen. So, so the um so students that want to get involved, will this be a these aren't just like an elective class? Are is this

119like steam or is this like um kind of like IB but in business or is I mean will students progress >> from the 9th to the 10th? >> 9th through 10th >> right on through. So it'll be something that they that sticks with them. >> Yes sir. and it's all going to fall in line with our existing CTE pathways. So, we're not changing any any pathways. There are some pathways that need to be a little more developed. Um, but we've already sort of got that the ball rolling for those. >> I I'm thinking I mean I'm looking at this drawing and I and I do like it and I'm glad I waited for number 16. Um, but um, I will tell you I think that it's kind of like we talked about before about the

120cooperative program with Midlands Tech and the associates degree. I got a sneaky feeling this is something that will grow. I I'm hoping that it will grow and help give some students some direction, but uh, um, this might be just the right spot for this program. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying for you guys. I hope it grows and you have lots of kids that are applying and good luck in um deciding which ones get to get out of that program. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Skully. I saw you. >> Yeah, I'm just kind of thinking off the top of my head. I know in my day job that um business incubators are very popular and valued in in the business community. um the agency I work for, we issue grants for the purpose

121of building and developing incubators. So I guess my I'm wondering is have you thought about or is there a mechanism perhaps and and kind of tying this in with the whole um press box issue at other schools? Are there fundraising opportunities or collaborative opportunities available for us to use this incubator in collaboration with other businesses or organizations that would like because I know the demand for that those types of services and spaces are are there. Have we explored any of that or even I and I I don't know if that's even possible from a a fundraising. I mean that'd be really cool if it served as a revenue stream for the school, but >> have we thought about that? >> Yes, we have thought about that in in two spaces. So, um definitely here if

122you look Mr. Skully with the with the school store. Now, I don't want to make it sound like just average old school store. No, no. Um the idea is to have some elevated things that the students then create, not just our regular, you know, our traditional, right? Like the black hoodie with the white lettering. We'll produce that, but then there will be other things that the students can So items of their choice that then can be in turn sold and then allow for for some fundraising opportunities. The other piece is I would love to have and this would be a I don't know couple months down the line conversation some uh corporate sponsorships or sponsors that then come in and partner with us to provide um some opportunities for students for their entrepreneurial aspirations. My

123idea is very much like a an arts uh internship. So we have an artist in residence. Every now and again we have an artist in residence. We'll have someone come for dance. We'll have someone coming for visual arts. My idea would be to have someone almost like a business in residence. So an entrepreneur in residence that stays for I don't know two three weeks and then the students produce something. Or it could be an extended project where we have someone that is um partnered with a company and they come in and work with our students during class time and as that goes along the students then can either partner with their company um or they can come back and and partner with us almost like an exchange. So kind of working out the details of

124what that's going to what that would look like and um how it would fit into all of the programming. So once we have a a better idea of how all this lays, then to be able to lay that on top of that entrepreneurial idea and having um them come in and partner with us. >> I I think this is just a fantastic uh addition to our our schools, Hermo in particular, but uh I think the benefit for for our district and our students is just going to be off the charts with this. >> Mr. briefly. Um we were I think it was our 23rd meeting we had the um special education students with their studentled businesses. Will there'll be an opportunity for them to display some of their creations? Yes. >> Maybe in the school

125store. >> Like the the Bes and T's, >> right? >> Yes. >> Okay, that's great. Um also, will it be open to the public? Will they will there be an exterior entrance where they can come in? It'll be secured from the the school. So, as you can um back up. So, if we if we look right here and you and we'll we'll hop to that here in a second, but the um where the existing east wing is located. Um by dropping the east wing, what it does, it provides us uh with an opportunity to add some additional parking and then have a secure but a central to enter, you know, the the focal point would be to head toward the um the business incubator and we'll see that here in a future slide. >> Okay.

126And then lastly, I know with the the main bond referendum we approve for the construction, I wasn't privy to um what's the yearly budget? How is that going to be funded? like to to supply everything for the the different classes and different programs in there. Is that going to be allocated differently? >> So that's currently within the bond referendum. So all of these phases are uh phase uh 2B, 2, I'm sorry, 2 A, 2 B, and 2 C with all within the bond referendum. >> Well, like going forward, like down the road, like every year, >> all the supplies, >> the operational, >> right? for the maker spaces, for the art supplies, all of that. >> Yeah. So, our initial upkeep is coming through referendum funds, but then your annual um you know, they comes

127through just like we do everything else. As you're Dr. Hampton say, she's really taking her existing uh pathway and those teachers and just it's going to be very robust with this lab. So, now as student interest gains, you'll have more teachers that you would need to place to this, which we we think would be a great thing. Tom, >> just a quick one on the culinary lab and classroom. Could you explain that in a little more detail? Cuz I guess I was under the impression that it was going to be a more actual culinary program, but you said something about like food trucks and there wouldn't be any food. >> Let's show Can I show you the next couple slides and it'll make more sense. Is that okay? Okay. So, our next the next few

128slides, we're going to take a look at the interior uh conceptual designs for the business incubator. Here we have the the maker space and, you know, potentially what it could look like. Then, you know, as we look at the the breakout spaces, the you know, um you various rooms within the business incubator, we're still sticking with the themes that we are seeing in the the new wing. Here's another rendering of the maker space. This is the um area that's the existing kitchen um at the school. So, um, we've we've looked at various models, um, of what this could look like and what it would support, um, and then what equipment could we retain to utilize potentially from, um, the existing kitchen. So, um, this layout will will change. We're looking at a little bit different

129layout to where it's it's not fully we're not fully gutting the entire kitchen. We're still utilizing some of the existing uh hoods and and stoves and equipment. Not everything, but most of it. Another interior rendering. So, as we get to the um the exterior, um this is the the conceptual view by um if we were to drop the existing wing and um and and bring that out to where we could extend parking. And then also, it's kind of hard to see, but there's um along the perimeter of the facility, you can see where we have um some some new fencing. And basically what this radio does, it keeps the campus secure. It'll assist with that, but then also it gives us that one focal point, and you can see the the brick pavers that kind

130of lead and point to the small business incubator. So that would be the focal point to bring people into to the into the space. And then just you know one of the renderings that we that we're looking at right now uh you can see on the left hand side that is in a in a sense the the pass through the arch. Um like I said we're looking at various things that we would put in that space. And um Dr. you want to talk about what we would you know any of the other external stuff outside of the fencing and the the additional parking. >> So some of the the focus would be to allow some of the things I believe Mr. Bay referencing where families can come in um it becomes almost an entryway from

131because St. know road is very busy so there's there's lots going on so having that parking and then creating a focus area part of that would be for shopping on weekends events that we may have it creates an easy in easy out space um where we don't have um multiple entrances and exits high school has lots of of different ways to get in so it almost centralizes how exactly we want families to come in community members to partic participate and gives it a nice clean um focus in addition to keeping um a portion of this the courtyard area. If you've ever been going into um into the cafeteria, we want to honor that space. Um we've got the the Dan McCullum garden. Um we've got a couple other areas that have been dedicated to to

132community members and we want to keep that as a part of it. So that creates a space where folks can come in and can see those things and then be able to progress on in. Um, I kind of like the idea and several of you have attended our very first football game of the year is called Stingfest. Stingfest has grown in the past two years. It kind of went away for a while now that it's back and it is back with the vengeance and we love it that way, but this gives us a lot more space to be able to have that event. um when we have seaweed events or band competitions or um even if for Special Olympics, we have different ways to be able to engage the community in this space um in

133a way that's useful and and creative. So um one of the things that we were bringing to the board, this is just again discussion is how to reference the campus now. Um we are referring to the new east wing uh as the new east wing but it's it's west of the west wing. And so July 1st, we're going to have a a very confusing uh operational layout. Uh now only the board can name buildings and the building is Armo High School campus, International School of the Arts, but um having a just a reference point on the buildings, we wanted to bring some ideas to the board. Uh, and so we can't keep on saying the east wing and the new east wing, but the west wing is east of the west east. So what we're

134proposing is four building names. These are for kind of internal use only. Uh, but uh, building I will be on campus I. Campus I would be the athletic complex. Uh, building R is the arts building or the auditorium. uh currently CFA. U the west wing would be building M and then building O is what we refer to as a new east wing. And so when you're on campus, we can refer to to what section of the very large campus high school. So if there's a Saturday event or a band competition, that would be on campus eye. But if you need to go in the building, it'll be in building eye. Uh if you want to go into the new building, an O. So it all spells Hermo. And this is just again we have to

135name them something July 1st, but new east wing, old east wing, west, that's the second word. So this is just a recommendation to the board. It would have to be part of our naming policy, but we wanted to share that with you for discussion of that. >> I'd like to go back and ask M. Did you get a answer to your question? >> Kind of. >> I just wanted a little bit more information on it because I have a student that is very interested in go back to this one. >> So, the idea is not a fullon culinary um program because that exists here. So ours would be more of a micro piece of that. Um allowing students to learn certain portions of operating a mobile business or food truck thing, but then also more

136than just the food truck. It could be a mobile something else. Um but the idea and the basis would be the food truck idea. >> I like that using the existing infrastructure to kind of bring something new to the table. I like it. So >> and being able to reuse some of that equipment. um I think is is critical one to the budget, but then also um allowing us to already know exactly what it is and being able to teach students and not have to learn the equipment and the content at the same time. >> Great. Thanks, >> Mr. Satderfield. >> On that note, just so you know, um two of our former Dutch Fork High School students were on the Today Show and several others. They had the food truck called Wings Too Fat

137to Fly. That was uh Fanny Simmons. Actually, Miss Simmons, who was our math coordinator here at the district office, that was one of those fellows, was her son. Um the the question that I had uh about um well, I didn't have a question. I just want to make a comment and I brought this up before and that is that my hope is that when we have this beautiful I like the beautiful renditions. I love them. They look beautiful, but I want to make sure that the other part of the existing building on that back walkway at Irmo High School and that gym and the walls and everything are really well lit, number one, and really cleaned up so that it just looks spiffy. I mean, for those kids, this is for our kids. And I

138if we're going to do all this to that school, I think we ought to make it as beautiful as we can. So if you walk around behind the back there, it looks like a 50-y old school and that's nothing to do with you. That's just because it's worn and it's been worn a lot. So um I just hope that that we will and I'll say that in front of Mr. KN too because I know he's very attuned to all that kind of stuff. But I would just like to see those all that concrete cleaned and the walls cleaned and and made it make it look really nice. So when we have this big opening, it'll be awesome. >> So that that's one of the things that that we've noticed over the last couple years during

139ball games, we have to rent um portable lights. So as we go through this right here and um you and make these these changes and modernizations, we are um going to be improving the lighting system. Um and then the goal would be to continue that into other places um throughout the the campus. I have two very brief questions. Can you describe very quickly what happens in the maker space? >> Yes. Um just about anything. Um no. So the idea is to have um the uh we have some already the 3D printers so students can create those or if we wanted to have different art projects um students can create whatever. So there'll be a a myriad of supplies. um that can happen in that space. So, it's a it's more of a creative, artistic, technological

140sort of all matched in one. Um but we've got we already have some of the equipment to make to make that space operate. >> And finally, how's the parking going now? And when we for example are most known for hosting some band competitions there. So, are we going to be able to get back into a position where those can be effectively host and efficiently hosted with the new parking situation? >> Yes, I'm saying yes. And then part two of yes. >> So, the goal is for us to recoup the park the the parking spaces we lost with the new wing would be we recoup those with um you know, dropping the older parts of of the building. So it would be, you know, we would be exactly where we were uh or or in better

141shape um several years ago before the project started. >> Just for events like that, all parking is not equal because you can't put bands warming up right by the stadium. And so we've got those kinds of things to figure out. And I I'm hopefully that my remote band people will appreciate me asking the question at least. >> Yes, sir. So, the last part um for our our conversation is that we would like for the community to have some input into what needs to happen or what the needs exist in the portions of the building that will be staying. So, we're going to offer a community input meeting on March 26th. Um it is I know Mr. Scully it's the same day as the shatter the myth but come early. So, it's 3 to six. a

142little bit of a crossover time, but three to six um allowing families and community members to come in. Uh we've done this, we did the very same thing with the beginning of the new east wing, if you'll remember. So LS3P um will be taking the lead. Um but they'll have some renderings up and then some suggestions and ideas. Uh so all of Main Street will be open um with lots of chart paper, tablets. Um, we're putting together a survey for folks to be able to put in exactly what they would like. And then that will then um help us engage or continue the conversation for what uh the what is it? M potential M will look like. I'm learning all the how the letters are going to go. Anyways, so what that space is going

143to look like. Um, so we'll have some renderings there and then everyone can can give input and that will inform our conversation moving forward. >> Anything I missed. >> Any other questions for Dr. Hampton or Mr. Nelson? Oh, Mr. >> Sorry, real quick. Um, for sentimental types like me who class of 92 grew up in Armo with the demolishing, you're going to be taking away a piece of my heart. What are you thinking or what's our message to folks like me? Um, are we have any I mean that want to honor the uh >> Yes, we definitely do. And I think that's part of what this input meeting is about is to get out what what what our plan is, but also know that in our design the uh the east wing or the will

144always be there. Uh now that front section uh will not but I think it gives the opportunity for you to take those last walks through and we're going to have an opportunity, you know, to walk through. We've seen models where other districts have done this uh where they do have you have that moment. But I think too people get to realize what's in there now and how much has changed since the 70s or the 80s and the 90s. And I think once people walk in and they see, you know, what those kids are learning in now, they understand why the renovations are so are so important. And then we you can also buy a brick. And we haven't decided the the amount of the bricks yet, but we would like that' be a great little

145fundraiser. Uh the >> fundraiser. >> Yeah. The contractor has uh promised that they could uh have a stack of of of that part of the building uh for those that would want it. So, uh, part of that input meeting is to talk about all of these things and that way we could bring that that that back to you all. >> Any other questions? Thank you, Dr. Hampton, Mr. N. >> Thank you. >> And that finally brings us to number 17. Uh, turn that over to Ross as well. >> Um, 17 is just mark your calendars. Uh we have uh some exciting opportunities coming up uh for ribbon cutings. Uh we will um Miss Amy White will kind of poll the board on availability. These are dates that the board uh the administration is suggesting. Uh

146ribbon cutings. The first one will be uh in in June. So we're just a month months away from this. June 30th at 9:00 a.m. will be at Irmmo High School uh as the building O or new east wing until the board names it um will be open and so we'll do the ribbon cutting. We're excited about that. Dr. Gary has the furniture um getting ready to come on in. And so we're really excited to have that turned over. And that's where the students will begin for next year. And uh July uh that that uh day we will have two ribbon cutings on the same day, July 23rd. We'll start out uh at Lake Murray Elementary School in the morning and then once we do the ribbon cutting there in the afternoon we'll have it at

147Chapen Elementary School. So excited about that. Still working on our groundbreaking for Dutk Elementary School. Uh but Chapen's auditorium and the admin professional development building those will be groundbreaking in October. So, we'll pull the board for dates that you have in October uh to go ahead and start groundbreings there and also uh proposing a series of dates uh for Nursery Road and Harvest West. You've heard of barn raisers. >> We're going to do wall raisers. That's right. So, you can't break ground in a building that's already built. Uh so, we'll stack a wall. Uh we'll do a wall raising uh in these two. So, really excited. I really appreciate all the work uh that you had to to bring these projects to reality and looking forward to finalizing these dates for the community and the

148board uh to publicize. >> Thank you Dr. Ross. Any questions? >> I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> Move that we >> second. Uh all in favor.