001She's upstairs in the conference room. So, I'm guessing she'll be down. You will be excited. I hope I get the chance today. have a support [Music] for taking a long time to do that. Hey J. J here. She's upstairs in the conference room on a work meeting. So I think she'll be down as soon as she can be. It's probably good to start without her. All right. Good evening everyone. I would like to call to order Board of Education meeting. Would you stand with me for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Is there a motion? Excuse me. Yes. Is there a motion to approve
002the agenda? So move second. All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Roll call. Find us all present with I'm Sarah arriving just shortly. Is there a motion to approve the um minutes of the regular board of education meeting minutes of March 11, 2025? So move. Second. All in favor state I. I. I motion carries. Excuse me. Next on the agenda, we have the diploma early graduation. We have uh vice president Heidi Bamer and Rachel Adasma. Um the curriculum and instruction committee recommends um early graduation diploma be awarded to Naa Sharp from North class of 2026. Well, first, is there a second? Second. Any discussion? I got ahead of myself. All in favor say I. The motion carries. Now, is the young lady here today? She's mad. All right. Well, we'd like to congratulate her
003on her early on graduation. If you can um convey that information back to us, we greatly appreciate it. Tell her she's truly missed. We love to see her face, but congratulations. Next we have the Minister of Oath. Um, so I will intro, excuse me, introduce Miss Denise Witstock, newly elected school board member and reelected members Mary Lynn Donahghue and Ali Tashi. Dr. Hine will publicly administer the oath of office to Miss Woodstock, Miss Donghue, and Miss Tashi. Would you like to share? I just wanted to come up. Make sure you use your outside voices. There we go. Are we in unison here or? Yes. Except for when you say your name. Say your name. Yeah. You're right. Do you state your name? I who have been duly elected to the board of education of the
004area school district affirm that you will support the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Wisconsin and will faithfully discharge the duties of set office to your best of your abilities. Affirm that I will support the constitution. Do we have to say the whole thing or are we doing an I do? I think we're doing an I do. I do. I do. Congratulations. [Applause] Go either way. You weren't You weren't about Thanks for letting me know last time. I'm not going to lie, that was awesome. All right. Well, welcome. Looking forward to having you guys um especially with Denise next week or excuse me next meeting. Right. Next we have the student representatives. From North High School we have Quu and from South High School we have Jans. Use your
005rock paper scissors yet or it's quite cool. Does that mean you won or lost? I told him to go first. Very good. Okay. So, good evening everyone. Thanks for having me again. I'm Would you talk loud? Yes. Good evening everyone. Thanks for having me again. I'm Quu Crunchy from last time in February. So, since then, a lot has happened at North. So, starting off on March 3rd, um the week of March 3rd, North hosted a play called Radium Girls, and the cast and crew performed really well for a very difficult play. Um then going into our spring into action volunteer day on Tuesday. Um while our juniors took the ACT, over 250 freshman, sophomores, and seniors volunteered hundreds of hours to local nonprofits. Um we hosted the district solo and ensemble festival at our school
006um March 15th. From our choir program, students earned 26 first place awards and second place awards. From our orchestra program, students earned 90 first place awards and 22 second place awards. Our band students earned 92 first place awards, 51 second place awards, and one third place award. Then we had scholarship night very recently last week Wednesday where we got a total money the total amount of money given was $1.3 million and for myself I got $14,950 which will help contribute to my education. So this was a very nice night to be at. You're here. Congratulations. Um during the week of April 7th, uh 20 students from Luxembourg visited North High School and stayed with host families through the club lux. Um and then on Thursday, April 24th, which is this Thursday, uh the our school
007is going to come together to create the lip dub video that we've been working on and everyone is involved in some way. So, we have clubs that are going together um to do some act within the video to help spread cheer and um energy throughout the school. And people that aren't in included in clubs, they have other ways to be included by helping um being in the video or helping with recording as well. Um, so like for me, I'm involved in four clubs and the way it's going to go is that there's a certain path it's going to go throughout the school and we basically go for our like one section for that club, try to run to the other like in the path that's not there. It's all choreographed. We practiced actually today and
008uh it's going to be really exciting once we get that pulled off. Um, moving on to May 10th, our Botney teacher will Mr. David Miller will lead students and community members in tree planting projects at Pigeon River and North High School. Uh this organization is known as Roots Restoration of Our Trees. They were also the ones that helped tree plant during the beginning of the year um at Middle Schools um yes in the Schwin area school district. Um and then of course we are all excited about our expo event on Saturday, May 3rd. All of you are invited to celebrate the arts, talents, and many cultures that represent North. Then we this year we implemented the elastic pass system at North. Uh this has helped reduce the amount of students inside the hallways. And from
009my personal experience, I like the system just how even though it's like electronic and you have to go to a computer for it, I just think it helps streamline the process and you can even prepare in advance, which is a really nice feature of it. And then this year, uh we're excited for new opportunities for seniors as we're getting to graduation. Uh different clubs and activities that seniors are in there can get cords for them and um implemented. This year we're having where you can get uh stalls from like your culture or from uh family that you can get that approved and wear that at graduation as well. So instant for instance um I'm going to be wearing my um grandparents African stall that they made for me for my graduation. So that will be
010exciting. Um moving on to our local state and national recognition. Uh senior Disney Destiny Dist placed sixth at the girls state wrestling tournament at the end of February. Our esports team won the state championship in March. They beat 90 other teams in the state. The gear which is our first tech challenge team won competed at state championships for first tech challenge for the first time. And then Red Raider Robotics celebrated uh that's our first robotics competition team celebrated its first season with a bra fry at three sheeps. This was followed by our four student reps and their adviser Mr. Pashi who have appeared on the WTMJ morning show for a demonstration. Um Mr. Pashi also received a prestigious Woody Flowers mentoring award at the state competition. On April 4th to 5th, the Science Olympia team
011took 14th place at the state championship in the LAR division, the highest place ever for North team. FCCLA competed at state from April 7th to 9th and three students qualified for nationals. Cheyenne Darling, Estelle Farber, and Amelia Rom. Uh, also five north students from Educators Rising are moving on to the national competition. Cheyenne Darling got first place, Elizabeth Kaufman second place, Brenn Mills second place, Izzy Jax second place, and an Owen Purlot third place. For DECA, Julia English, a junior, brought home the glass trophy and competed in Orlando in the emerging division leader series at the end of April. And then last week, a record number of more students dominated the annual Wisconsin ch Chinese speech contest. That's it from me. Um, thank you for the opportunity for letting me be able to represent North.
012Um, since my family moved here since I was in 4K, I've loved the culture of Shabboan and growing up here and learning education from here has taught me a lot about myself and grant me the opportunities for the future. So I hope this is grant you information that we hold on to. [Applause] Are there any questions or follow for Quu? Just a just a comment quu. I was hoping that we were going to see you again. I saw recently that you won the Shboan Leadership Academy scholarship and I saw a write up about you um going to Vanderbilt in the fall. So, we appreciate that you've left your mark on this district and you're going to make your mark on the world. Congratulations. Yeah. Really? That was my question. Where are you going to school?
013So, thanks, Leah. So, there's a little bit of a correction. I'm now going to be going to WMadison um instead of Vanderbilt. I'm very sorry for the misinformation. Better choice for that school. Congratulations. Right. Better choice. Yeah, I can just a little. Thank you. Okay. Um, well, good evening everybody. My name is Jan Sunni Moa. Since I last met with you guys in February, there have been a number of things that I would like to report to you from South High. So, starting in March, on March 1st, our club Carter held our Black History Month celebration. It was really fun and I had a great time learning about um the black culture. We also on March 4th had the reveal of the student design three sheep's root beer can um which was designed by seniors
014Cory Bang and Evelyn Meyer. On March 11th we had our ACT testing for our juniors and they got to start their day off with a staffmade and served hot breakfast which is a tradition that has been going on since last year. We also had a group of students that went to Guatemala to participate in volunteer service to help build homes. And we had a student we had students participate in our Luxembourg exchange over spring break. In advisory, we learned about women's history month along with some more academic and career planning lessons like our ACT prep, our finance day prep, and some more career decision making. In April, we held our preac testing on April 10th for our 9th through 10th graders. and then did our personal finance experience with our 11th graders. Our GSA held
015their day of silence to raise awareness for the experiences of the people who are the in the LGBTQ plus community with regards to harassment, bullying, and violence. Our jazz band played in their annual spring swing concert um at the three sheeps. Their jazz one jazz performed along with the alumni band and the Paul Zuckerberg professional brand. It was a great opportunity to showcase our music students talents. We also had a number of students attend the Chinese speech contest and take home several first, second, and third place awards. This week we are hosting our Luxembourg foreign exchange students and teachers who will get to see things like the Luxembourg Museum just exploring Shboen and spend a day in Madison. We got to meet some of them today at school in advisory. This month we are take
016we took the panorama survey which gives us info about how our students feel about the school culture and climate and also how they feel about themselves in student skills. Some notable sports mentions is um for forensics they recently competed in their state championship and senior Derek Shihan took the state championship in oratory for forensics in and also is the senior scholarship recipient for the um WFCA scholarship. McKenzie Smith took third in state at farago. Bryce Johnson and Corey Kersner took fifth in group interpretation at state. And our national qualifiers for the memorial weekend in Chicago are Derek Shihan, Rebecca Hall, Mackenzie Schmidt, Urel Roman Sanchez, and Janie Gulig. And for the national tournament in the third week of June in De Moine, we have Derek Shehan, and Mackenzie Schmidt that will be um representing South
017High School. Our track team has been doing very good lately. Our boys track team won the north indoor invite and one of our boys relay teams took fourth or fifth at indoor state. And I would also like to mention that records are being broken left and right at South. We have Olivia Nolles who broke the indoor 200 meter. Carter Culp, who broke the indoor shot put record at 46 feet and one and a half inches. We have the indoor 4x 160 broken by seniors Payton Trimburgger and Christian Callas. And juniors Jaden Weisaw and David Venegas. Our indoor 4x400 is broken by seniors Payton Trimburgger, Nate Moore, and Owen Murphy. And then junior David Venegas. And our indoor girls 4x8 was broken by Esbron Salara, Kayla Wisaw, who are seniors, and Madison Somerfelt, and Annabelle Garrett,
018who are juniors. Another notable mention is senior Tyler Smith started his tennis season at a current 40 record. Some upcoming things is this week's Saturday, we'll be hosting our iconic annual feeds and follyies, which showcases our students and their talents. starting in the day activities from 12 pm um till our later the show at in the evening that should end around 9 or 10 pm. It is also the same day as our annual botney sale. So if you are into plants we invite you to come and celebrate this day with us. Our scholarship night is tomorrow at 6 p.m. at the South High Auditorium. I hope to see some of you guys there and I also hope for myself to be a recipient of some money. Our prom is on May 3rd and our theme
019is romance in Rio and it has been planned by our junior class officers. We also in May have the annual interact club block party coming up on the 18th and it'll be held at the park next to the John Michael Colar Arts Centers. Um as a senior there are some things that I'm looking forward to before my graduation. One of them being SPF scholarship night on May 14th. Hopefully I will be also receiving it tonight. Um our Redwing Pride Day which is on the 28th of May which is always a really fun day to engage with the rest of the school and get awards and recognition. Our senior signing day on May 29th. The senior lockin on May 30th. Our senior cookout on in the courtyard during lunch on June 2nd. our senior grad walk
020throughout the schools on June 4th. Our senior celebrationback laurette on June 4th from 7 to 9ine and then of course our graduation on June 8th at 100 p.m. where I have been honored and um privileged enough to be able to give the speech. So I hope that you guys will all be in attendance. Um, new this year for our graduation students, we are allowed to apply for approval of graduation adornment. And this was a studentled um, request and initiative, something that I am proud to say that I was a part of. And while we know that this will benefit the entire student body greatly, it is especially meaningful for our students of color who have been fighting to wear cultural stos. And clubs are also granted permission to be represented at graduation with a stole,
021a cord, or a pen. That's all I have for you guys today and this will be the last time that I'll meet with you guys, but I would like to thank you guys for this honor and privilege and opportunity to be presenting throughout this entire year. So, thank you. [Applause] Anybody else ask, do you know what school you go to? Yes, I will be attending WMadison. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Maybe we might get some kids to go to Michigan one year. You just say that. Thank you so much. Yeah, if you can't get into Michigan State, you got to go somewhere. Thank you. Thank you. Great job. Thank you very much so much. Enjoy the rest of your school year. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next, we have community input. Is there anyone that
022would like to speak? All right. And if there's no one that would like to speak, we'll move on to the next item, which is the superintendent report. Dr. Conrad, got it. I have about three pages of things tonight. So, we'll go through them quickly, but there's so much to celebrate. Uh, especially at the end of the year. So, we had our 46th annual strings festival. Uh, 550 students across 5th through 12th grade. And Nicole told me I needed to tell you all that it hit 32,000 views on Facebook, which is setting records. So really cool um for that and good good recognition for our kids, for our students and for our district. Summer school is open for registration. So just a notice to parents um please sign your students up for summer school. There's so
023many different offerings. Um really proud of what we do for for kids all summer long. Um so check that out and make sure you get your kids enrolled um if you're looking for some good programming over the summer. As you heard, uh, North High Scholarship I attended on the 16th, I believe, was a great night, um, for our students. Look forward to SELS tomorrow. Um, and then, as you heard, SP to follow. So, we'll see what that total number comes in at. Um, it's already over a million thanks to to Norris Knight alone. So, um, we're going to give away millions of dollars in this community to our students and that's amazing. Should not be taken for granted. That's not normal even for districts our size. Uh really a cool cool support from our community,
024something we should be proud of and thankful for. Um had the opportunity to be a sub for a day uh at Urban Middle School. Jamie raffled me off at the beginning of the school year. Um I I likened it to what my parents say about being grandparents. They love when the kids come over and then they can send them back. Being a sub was great. um and a ton of fun, but also a good um reminder of how hard our teachers work and what they do every single day to bring it for our kids. So, really enjoyable day at Urban Middle School. Great kids, great staff um and a fun day for me. Personal finance day at South High School. Just another example of our community uh coming together to support our kids. 50 community
025volunteers, 27 local businesses setting up an incredible uh simulation for our 11th graders to take part in. So, a great community event that they do every single year. Our techno conference, just getting the date out there now so everyone is aware. August 7th. So, that's always a fun day for uh staff to attend. And Mike does a great job with his team, Mike Jbert. lots of prizes and um things of that nature, but really it's about our staff coming together and getting some um professional development around technology and how to be more efficient in the classroom. Um and a lot of teachers leading that PD. So, it's just a fun day. August 7th, as you know from my emails, Brian Summersburgger, uh South High School art teacher, um was one of 100 recipients of the
026Herb Cole Teacher Fellowship. If you know Brian, you know it is so welld deserved. Uh again, I could could talk all night about what he does for our kids, coaching football, drum line, all the amazing things that our department does. Uh Brian is first class all the way. So, congratulations to him. Uh Red Raider Robotics placed fourth out of 51 teams in lacrosse. They won the sustainability award um for their development of sustainable practices within their um model and as you heard Tim Pashi who's the mentor of the coach essentially won the best coaches award so that was really cool for him. He put so much time and effort into it. U it's an amazing amazing program. So uh really really appreciative of that. all the community sponsors, all the students and mentors that put
027in the time. Really neat thing for our district. Um, and then you've probably read recently in the newspaper about the renewable red wings. So, just wanted to thank uh Dr. April, Mike April at South High School and all the students who are uh working in that club. Again, extra time out of their day uh to go around and make our schools more sustainable. They're also working with us a little bit uh and with Mark as we uh dive into the referendum planning to to be a part of that as well. So, neat things there and it was neat for them to get some recognition in the in the press. Um, one update for you just because I think it will be timely and we we learned of this today is that uh NIL, which is
028name, image, and likeness, if you know college sports, you've heard a lot about NIL, that's going to get voted on Friday. Um, so just so you're aware, uh, my guess is that NIL will be coming to high school sports as of Friday. So, we'll we'll keep you updated. Um, but we just wanted to put that on your radar tonight as as we learned about it today. Um, and then scores are still probably embargoed, so I'm not going to name any names. We'll certainly do that when time allows, but Kelly um, notified me today that we had two students score perfect scores on ACT this year. Oh, wow. That's amazing. Um, I've been at functions when I was in Kelly's role where they would celebrate the school districts that had, you know, one one perfect and
029it would be a handful. So to have two is pretty amazing and a couple others that would have been within a question or two of of being right there as well. So really neat, really neat uh recognition for our students for our school district. And then tomorrow is administrative assistant day. So, we thank Jenny and Jill and all of our administrative assistants for everything they do. If I talk nicely about Jenny long enough, she'll start to turn red and Jenny and Jill, as you know, are great. They make our office tick. They keep all of us organized. Um, I couldn't ask for two better colleagues. So, I want to thank them uh and all of our administrative assistants in our buildings. They they do so much for our staff and for our students. And then
030we also celebrate principal day and teacher appreciation week coming up. So I think I just listed off three pages of things uh that our kids get to do in this district and it's all because we have teachers and principles that go above and beyond. All those, you know, those clubs, those sports, the pay for that isn't what it should be. The pay for anything isn't what it should be for for our staff. And they don't hang their heads or pout about it. they they go the extra mile for our kids. So, we're so appreciative for everything that they do and we look forward to celebrating them in the coming weeks. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Dr. All right. Next, we have a recognition. As some of you know, Dr. um Suheim is retiring. Um this
031is her last meeting. Yes. Let's go get a motion one. Yes. I wrote a few few words for you. Yes. Okay. With deep gratitude and sincere appreciation, we honor Dr. Sue High for her remarkable 17 years of dedicated service on the school board from 20, excuse me, 2008 to 2025. Um, Sue's steadfast commitment to our students, staff, and community has left an enduring mark on our district. As a school board clerk from 2022 through the through the present, Sue brought organization clarity and unwavering integrity to her role. Her leadership in human resources first as vice chair in 2020 and 2021 and then as chair from 2022 to present day demonstrated her deep compassion for people and her tireless advocacy for fairness, equity, and the well-being of every employee in the district. Um, Sue also served
032with the distinction as vice chair of finance and budget in 2020 and 2024, providing steady guidance and thoughtful stewardness, excuse me, stewardship over resources that directly impacted the quality of education in our schools. Um, Sue's legacy is one of integrity, compassion, and purpose. Her wisdom, voice of reason, and genuine care for others will be deeply missed around the table as she enters the next chapter of her life. We extend our warmest wishes for rest, joy, and continued fulfillment that she so richly deserves. Thank you, Sue. Excuse me. Thank you, Dr. Sue, um, for your extra extraordinary service and lasting contributions. Thank you. Just a couple comments. As I leave today, I'm filled with immense gratitude and humility for 15 17 years have passed since I first took on the privilege of serving on the Shabbo
033area school board. It has been an honor and a joy to work alongside each and every one of you and that shape the education journey of our children. I want to extend my deepest thanks to my fellow board members past and present for their unwavering commitment to this district's mission. Your dedication, expertise, and passion have inspired me every step of the way. To our incredible administration, teachers, staff, you are the backbone of our district. I'm so grateful for your hard work, creativity, and the love of teaching our students. You are the reason we do what we do. So proud and have no doubt that you will go on and do great things. To the Shabboan community, your support and trust is so important. We are fortunate to have a caring and engaging community that values
034excellent education and the welfare of our children. We have accomplished so much together from improving academic outcomes to expanding our extracurricular activities and supporting student mental health. While there is still so much to do, I am confident that our district is in good hands. I will carry the time we had together, our friendships we've made, and all the memories. I will truly miss all of you and serving this great school district. Truly, I will really miss this year being on stage at our graduation ceremony in Bworth Bowl. So, thank you [Applause] again. And with that, I will souvenir. Thank you. Good night. Thanks. Good night. Good night. Are you going to sing us a song as you walk out? No. Byebye. All right. Next on the agenda, we have the presentation of the 2025 2026
035proposed preliminary budget. Mark Beli, Dr. Conrad, Rachel Basma, and Jamie Hint. Sounds good. Want to thank Mark for all the work that that he puts into this. So, every single year, uh, even in my previous position long before it was appropriate, I always start bugging Mark for cost to move forward and what our budget's going to look like and where we're going to sit. Uh, he does such a great job of not only getting it together, obviously accurately, but putting it in a way that's digestible, understandable, and working through what we confirm our groups. So, he's just going to go through and explain kind of where we are right now. Obviously, there is a lot of uncertainty in public education right now and that's um going to cause and pose some challenges for us, but
036Mark can explain kind of where we are right now and um some assumptions that we're making on the budget and and we'll go from there as as we learn more. Thank you. So um yeah, so this is kind of our first first crack in uh of where we expect to be at for next year and uh going into the state a new state budget of course we have to use a lot of assumptions especially around revenue for us. So, um I just want to make sure that when we look at this budget, you're all aware of what assumptions we've made so that we know if uh when the actual budget does get signed at some point, hopefully late summer would be nice or midsummer. Um you know, there's going to have to be adjustments probably
037made at that point. But I'll just go through real quick some of the highlights of what we have in here. Um, like Jake said, we kind of start with a cost to go forward and um, that's just taking this year's budget, moving it forward. We don't put any inflationary uh, increases into department building budgets, things like that. Some districts will do that with their costs go forward, but then most likely they just end up cutting that back later on. So, uh, we should just acknowledge when we don't give inflationary increases to department budgets or building budgets that that essentially is a cut to those buildings. They do have to find a way to make those same dollars uh go further every year. Um, we do put in increases um for contracted services that we know
038are going to increase and we really are um contracted to to increase those those things. So you will see some increases there and then we start on our cost for to go forward with no salary increases. So that's all part of our steps to get to a balanced budget. As far as the revenue goes, uh basically two assumptions here. One is that the uh increase to the per pupil amount will be $325. Um, we're pretty confident that that's what it will be now that the state supreme court upheld the governor's pen veto that put that into effect for 400 years for two years. So, uh, so this budget includes that $325 increase, but the other big um assumption we're making here is that the reimbursement to our special ed cost will go up 10%. So
039right now we get reimbursed um for what we pay out of pocket uh a little less than 30% it was last year we get reimbursed from the state. That has been a big priority for districts around the state to advocate for a higher percent reimbursement rate. Um so the governor's budget had a 60 uh going from 30 to 60%. uh we had to kind of choose what we think was conservative but a little bit optimistic. So we have a 10% increase in our spe special education reimbursement in this budget and that's a significant amount of money. That's about $1.4 million. So when we look at our cost to go forward, which shows a $1.5 million surplus, um you can see most of that is reliant on at least getting 10% special ed reimbursement. So we
040may get less, we may get more 1.5 million. Yeah. Deficit surplus because we haven't increased salaries at all at that point. Yeah. Um so really our our expenses aren't really moving up. you do have 10% in for health insurance and like I mentioned some of those contracted services we've increased. So uh so with those assumptions um we start with that uh surplus and then we um add in some expense reductions and expense additions. Um one of the largest reductions we have each year is around staff turnover. So it's um we have um teacher retirements, administrative retirements and other staff turnover. We know that we calculate um what the savings will be from hiring people with less experience in those positions. So that's a rather large number as it is um in most of our budgets
041here. It's about $764,000 for the staff turnover savings. And then we also have in here um 4.2 to FTE teacher reductions. Um that's an estimate right now too. We're kind of watching enrollment in different schools and we may have to adjust that number as we move forward. But uh right now and those are all just due to where our kids and seats projections fall for next year and which which grade levels are at. Um so we will have a decline in enrollment again next year and we know we can reduce in certain areas. Um and that's a net reduction. So some of that is um additions to some schools and some is reductions but still very preliminary and that uh will probably change along the way. Just a a a piece on that as well
042as I speak with my colleagues around the state. I think FondeLac was cutting 83 85 teachers uh or positions this week for Washington's cutting the number. North Fond cutting the number. Um, this we've always held true to our our staffing formula the best that we can, right? There are times where numbers in an elementary school just don't work out. Um, and maybe they're staffed a little higher for their total students, but but at a grade level, it makes sense. When you don't do that, that the conversations you're seeing take place at other districts, that's what happens. So, um, a lot of credit to this district to Mark for making sure that we're staying true to our fund or to our staffing formulas and on top of this so that we don't get ourselves in a
043position where we have to cut 83 staff members at a time. We're not relying on operational referendums and things of that nature. Um, those are the really only two expense reductions we have right now in the budget. expense additions. Uh most of those additions are around salary increases and you can see in there that uh right now we're proposing a 2.95% salary increase for each of the three groups uh teacher support and admin. So that is the CPI uh increase for this year and um so less than what we've seen the last few years. I think it was two years ago where that CPI was so incredibly high. So, um so we're going with the full CPI. Um there you can see the cost for each of those three groups there. Uh the the other
044thing is that we've been working with our uh teacher meet and confer group on uh paid time off language. So what we're working through are some of the details of what it would look like. um to change to instead of uh uh personal days and sick days that we just convert those to paid time off. So um Jamie's been working with some other districts in the state that have gone to this and we've met several times and meet and confer and uh I think we're very close on um having those details in place. Their plan is to come back in May when we update the budget and actually have the language included as an attachment so we can go through that what that'll look like uh for our teacher group. Um we do have uh
045expense edition in the budget for that. Um we have $150,000 placeholder. It's it's hard to to understand or predict what that cost will be. Um but basically we you know we've we've done some models. We think we're pretty close but that'll certainly be adjusted probably um in this you know two budgets from now because we'll have a good idea about what that cost is. Um so it it could be less than that but we're trying to be conservative to make sure we have enough in the budget for that. Um, so you'll hear more of that in May when we come back and do our next uh budget. I think we'll we'll continue to work with me and confer and kind of uh firm up that language. So there's a lot of details to that that
046have to be talked about. Um, and then the last thing is a recommended increase to our capital projects fund. So, uh, again, it's been our goal to get that fund budget up to, uh, $2 million. And some years we've been able to add to that budget. Some years we haven't because, uh, you know, priorities have always been inclassroom dollars, uh, but we understand, too, that we really need to get to a dollar amount that, uh, keeps our buildings to a point where we don't have to defer maintenance every year. And when we went out for referendum in 2016, that budget was at a million dollars. And at that time, we made it a goal to try to get to two million because that's basically we had a maintenance study done and they said that's basically
047what we need to keep our buildings in order. And that's mostly roofing, tuck pointing, black top pavement, um all sorts of painting, flooring, uh and the roofing prices have really gone through the roof literally. So um so that budget is um very difficult for Joe to keep keep on a schedule of where we should be but um you know that number will adjust to. If if happens we are able to get more revenue we can increase that a little or if um we get less we want to make sure we can take care of uh salaries and inclassroom expenses that we may have to do less there. But we always like to make that uh part of the budget. So, um like I said, we'll come back in May and I'm sure there'll be some
048adjustments that are made between now and then. We're getting other expenses, uh insuranceances, things like that, property liability, all those things will come in and we'll have a better idea on those. Um and then we'll come back in June and we'll ask for approval of the preliminary budget. the state budget will probably not be in place yet. So those will kind of be our guidelines until the state budget is uh passed and then uh we have until end of October to pass the original budget. So we typically do that the second board meeting in October. Um, if the preliminary budget is uh passed and it includes salary increases, we hold off on making any salary changes till the state budget is uh passed so that we know that we can actually afford those. Um, and
049then if there actually is a salary increase um in that final budget, we'll retro that back to our employees as of July one so they don't lose out on that. Um, we've done that in the past when the state budget hasn't been passed before. You have to pass the preliminary budget. So, we'll have some contingencies in there. Um, so any questions you have, Glad to answer those or Mark, can you speak to the 325 and what that really ends up being for our district and how that uh correlates to inflation? Yeah. You can see that the 325 um you know it's still only a 2% increase in our revenue uh under the revenue limit. So uh to think that 325 is a windfall. It's it still falls way short of you know where where it
050should be at 295, right? It's we've tried to have them index that number to inflation um so that we don't keep having this structural deficit every year. So, it's hard. We're we're trying to do 295 for our employees, but yet revenue limit just goes up 2%. And that's been a pattern for I think you know forever, right? There's been one or two years where uh inflation has been lower than what the revenue limit increase went up. So, that's problematic for districts around the state. That's why really this this budget is really contingent on that special ed increase. And that's really where we need to see um an increase to help balance this budget. So on that note, I do just want to thank the the administration for what they've been doing in advocacy. I was
051happy to be a part of the WASBY Day on the Hill and also our community. uh taking here tonight and the community response to advocacy and telling the story of what special education funds look like in a reality um is just been something I've been impressed to see everybody coming together. Um so here's to hoping to learn more about that. Thank you. So I know we're in a really unenviable position for a lot of reasons in public education right now. Uh as far as budgeting, it's really got to be tough. Thank you for trying so hard in the face of so much uncertainty. If we were to lose our title funding, do we have a plan B in place mentally? I mean, when would that happen and how would we respond? I don't you know
052when and how. It's just such a guess that I think what we always you'll see districts take different tax even with their budget, right? We could have come to you with a just a 325 and not put the 10% in for special ed and then we'd be talking about cuts and then people would get all worked up about the cuts and then if you don't have to make the cuts but they were on that list they feel really slighted and it just hurts culture and hurts morale and we've seen districts do that. We used to do that a little bit in this district. Um I don't like that. So we try to stay away from that. So to be honest with you, I do not have a plan for if we lost x amount a
053million um in federal funding. Do we have an idea of how we would would go about finding that money? I we talked about I think at legislative breakfast the other day and I just said it or at uh yeah legislative round table just say that's not it's unfathomable. Like how would we cut $8 million, right? It's 63. I mean, it would would be awful. Um, so if that's where this takes us and that's what we have to do, um, I can't like that's it's just not okay. There there isn't any any way to plan for that. There isn't any way to get around it. Uh, and I don't ever want to even give the remote idea that we could make those cuts. um and that we could have a plan to do that because there's
054no plan for that. That is uh gutting our schools of services they need. That would just rip my heart out and it would be awful for kids and awful for our schools like you wouldn't believe. So, we're I think very hopeful that we don't end up in that position and that that funding stays there. We'll see how it all plays out. Would be kids not getting, you know, lunches. it doesn't doesn't really make sense. Like you couldn't really do that. Um it's kind of what we're leaning on right now and and we hope things get worked out and and we're okay. But I think there's a lot of people on edge about it already and we're just trying to keep them calm, keep them hanging in there. Um help them, you know, through some pretty
055nervous times and uh we'll see where things pan out. On a on a brighter note, do you think we have a pretty solid chance of getting that 10%. Yeah, I mean it's it's so hard to say. I think um you know certainly the Republicans will negotiate with the governor and see where they can come up with. I think um you know one end we have the governor with 60. Why did we choose 10? Well, I know we had to choose something, right? Um I guess I will say I I'm very optimistic that there will be an increase, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's it's not going to be nowhere near 60. And what legislators have done in the past, they've done a step approach. So, you're going to get a percent increase in year
056one of the budget and a percent increase in year two of the budget. And you know, that's fine, too, as long as those increases are significant enough. So, um I'm cautiously optimistic with the tenant. you just felt that was a good conservative number to use. The the 10 kind of gets us to break even point two. Um so you can almost back into that number a little bit. So I think we're we're okay at 10. Um but that's not where we should be. Um you know, we should like Mark said, if they step a 45 and a 60, can we live with it? Absolutely. But um the state has been underfunding special ed for so long that anything short of 60 is just disingenuous to our our students with disabilities. So um you know we'll
057see where it shakes out. It's really hard to sit in these conversations um to hear about funds available and where they may or may not go when our state isn't funding special ed like it should. So it's a $14 million transfer for us. Um, and we can do a lot of really good things for kids with $14 million. So, that's our hope. That's our push is that eventually we fund special ed kids at the cost of educating them and not off the backs of of anything else as it should be and as I think our our society would like it to be. So, we just had other politicians there. Uh, conversations have been, I think, positive thus far. And that's where I went with the 325. I there's a little bit of blowback now. I
058think toward the you got your 325 for 400 years. So that's okay. The 325 doesn't even cover inflation. That's not okay. It's a it is what it is. Um but um year after year after year we're putting budgets forward that we're not getting compensated even at inflation and you end up running schools on the on the backs of staff members. That's that's where it comes from, right? So we got to do better. We're going to keep fighting keep fighting for our special ed keeps keep fighting for our teachers. Uh we put a lot of time in with our legislators. Our board puts a lot of time in with our legislators. Our community puts in a lot of time. We're thankful for that, but 10% isn't enough either. So, I don't want you leaving this meeting
059thinking that either. And and and this just builds a little bit off of what Jake said. The 325 for 400 years seem to be a flatfooted, ill advised action. Um my question is your sense of how I'm sure for this year it will will stay at that level but is is there any sense that that is a negotiable amount particularly now that the ledge has lost the Supreme Court case or are we really literally stuck at 32? Yeah, I don't think they're going to come higher. Okay. Their way of kind of saying well that's what you wanted so you got it right. Okay, they talk about lower revenue limit, you know, a little bit. Eventually they're going to have to come off of that 400 years from now. $325, $32, right? So, uh, at some
060point that'll be interesting. But, um, I, you know, I think what a big thing I think you're going to start to hear in this budget is decoupling of voucher schools. And I think what you see is possibly some uh litigation that could could lead to voucher schools, right? There's a state constitution that says equitable for education, right? and schools should be funded equitably and voucher schools when you have schools getting reimbursed nearly 100% sometimes over 100% for their special ed kids and you know we're we're not even getting to the 30% uh that's going to create a problem so they want to decouple and and remove vouchers from that equation um and that I think will be a a piece of the negotiation uh if if if public schools are to get I don't know
061I voucher schools are considered public schools, too. But if schools are to get more than the 325, if we're supposed to get that um special education funding, they very well may lead that to decoupling. And that's going to be a a difficult position for us to to support or not support. So, we'll kind of see how that plays out, but that's what we're hearing right now. um that's what we talk about at legislative breakfast and things of that nature. So, I'm sure you're going to hear about it. You've heard about it from WASPY already. They're not supporting that, but I think that's going to come to the forefront pretty quickly here. Are there any other questions? All right. Thank you for that report. Thanks. All right. Next, we have Um the second readings is there
062any objection to take items C through K all the second readings together out. All right. Um I seek a motion to approve the second readings of items C through K. The policy numbers are 6110 611 1 6610 661 1 7310 and 7450. Is there a second? Second. Any discussion? Just just one. Are these proposals reflecting current conditions or this is what will happen if these are approved and if so how long before these things become active policies? Um so except with the exception of the ones that are here on the uh student activity counts all the rest of these are changes the made to bringing these policies up to current federal guidelines. So um so it's mostly around uh reporting and use of federal funds. Um now those were guidelines that were in place before
063the current administration. So it could possibly change again, right? But it's just bringing up us up to the current federal requirements on uh using federal money. So is is this board approval catching up to what you're doing or after the board approval that's when those changes will take place? Yes, there there are some things in here that will be new for us that around inventory and some of the other uh things about bidding out doing things like that. So there are changes we'll have to make in our processes for when we we get direct federal funds. So, and then a lot of the flow through a lot of money flows through DPI will affect these these policies too. So, um we do get IDA funds um through DPI, but that's federal money for special education
064and then um I think what else? Title. I think that's about all we have right now because we're we're done with all the yes or money that that would have fallen under these these changes too. So then when we're confronted with those requirements, we'll Yeah. comply as they arise. Yep. We're just going to have to keep a a better eye on it. Um make sure that that we are following the new policies because there you can see in there a lot of changes. So a lot of additional language. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions? It has been moved and seconded. All in favor? I. All right. Motion carries. Thank you. Thanks Mark. Next we have the annual planning session. Dr. Yeah. So an enjoyable night and just assuming we want to stick with tradition
065but we u bring it forward every single year. So June 10th is is when we have our annual planning session. Um and like other years. We're just planning on um running that as a meeting. I'm sure we'll have some food here and we'll go through our long range plan for the next school year unless there's anyone who would like to see it done differently. What do we do without seabols? That's my question. That's a problem. I'll make the broccoli. I'll let the I'll pull the board. As long as there's broccoli salad, you know, I'm down with it. But yeah, Kate might have to make it. [Laughter] Look, they have your cookies. The vice president says she'll make it. So, he's in too much. All right. Do we have a start time for that? Five. Was
066it? I know. We usually start 5 or 5:30. We'll get it up. All right. All right. Was that it? That's it. All right. All right. Next, we have the report of the committee. So, we have the curriculum instruction committee. Um, okay. So, we have the uh early graduation diploma. We need to move on that again. Good. And we have DECA student, one student going on the field trip by someone. Move approval. Second. Any questions? All in favor? I have a great trip learn. Uh we got the information on the at risk programming and including the graduation rate for information and discussion only putting this with the uh policies. I would like to these are all first readings. Can I put these all together? All right. So we have um policy 8330 and 9150. Is there
067is there a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Thank you. Um next we have the human resources committee. Okay. Okay. So, we have some appointments that we need confirming action on. Am I am I to read those names or not? No. No. We have an administrator, a teacher, uh, six educational assistants and a rec coordinator. Is there a second? Second. All in favor say I. Motion carries. Excellent. Um, and then we have Leave of absence. We need action on one. Is there a second? Second. All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Separations are listed for information only. We have one retirement Kelly Stouse uh teacher at North High School. We thank her very much for her 32 years of service. Yes. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say
068I. I. Motion carries. And the last item is the transfer of Mr. Collins from being principal first man to North High School. Congratulations. Congrats. Thank you. Next we have the facilities recreation and committee Peter. Okay. First item is tabulation bids for South High Auditorium lighting system replacement. Um I move that we accept the proposed bid from Mainstage theatrical supply. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. Motion carries. Next isation of bids from for North High School auditorium lighting system. I recommend we accept the bid from the stage theatrical supply. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I motion carries. Third is Horus man school middle school auditorium lighting system bidder winning bidder is mainstage theatrical supply. I recommend we accept that second. Any discussion? All in favor? Motion carries. Just a quick reminder on those
069three items uh because they don't get broadcasted on on uh our system for the committee meetings, but when we went to referendum with the removal of auditorium at Urban, we said we would invest heavily on our current auditoriums to keep them up. So that's nearly a half a million dollar investment in those spaces. Uh as we promised, as you promised. Nice. Thank you. Next item is a theater company season update which wasformational. Committee rec department Able in action program is discussed. Uh information theater company financial report uh recommend acception accepting the uh report as provided. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. Motion carries. And community recreation department financial report. I recommend accepting report is provided at committee. Second. Discussion. All in favor? I. Motion carries. Okay. Facility permit report was included and that is
070for information and the city rack program guide. in everybody's mailbox now. Get ready for some. Thank you. Next, we have the finance and budget committee. Sarah. Um, yes. So, the committee is uh recommending approval of fund 41 capital projects statement of cash flow revenues and expenditures report and budget revisions and transfers of appropriations. I can do them all together, right? Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. Motion carries. Um, nutritional service update. That wasformational. Um, the committee is looking for a recommendation of approval on the rental of garden plots. Second. Any discussion? Just out of curiosity, how much are we charging? Um, I believe it was seven. I don't know. Yeah, we've never up charge. I mean, anybody can get a chance to do it. Thank you. All in favor? I motion carries.
071And then gifts isformational. Thank you. Committee of the whole madam vice president. Yes. We'll move down to item three. I seek approval of the agenda. It's just for I was wondering if I had an action on that. Never mind. Procedural only add. Thank you. All right. Next, you have a special board committees legislative round table. Dr. Yeah, I referenced it a little bit in our budget discussion. I really am appreciative um officially Dr. Shehan, Lindy Bril, and uh Deon Lenny show up at every meeting with us and we have good conversation and civil conversation. Um I think they care about our kids. I think they care about our schools. Um so I'm just appreciative of the three of them showing up um month after month to have the conversations with us to to fill us
072in on where they think their parties are at and where we are at at a state level. Um, so I think you heard the 325 is is not where we need to be. Um, but it's something and that the decoupling is going to be probably a lynch pin um with that special education funding. So, um, we'll see how things play out there. There's a lot of work and a lot of discussions to be had, but we do appreciate their time. They're straightforward and they're honest in their their conversations with us. So, thanks to those three for for joining us every month. Thank you. Next, we have the Shabboan Public Education Foundation. Miss Leo, thank you. Um there are two main focuses um that SPE has at the moment. First of all, um teacher grant um
073spring teacher grants are due on April 30th and the grant selection committee will meet on Monday, June 2nd. Um and then the crown well one of the crown jewels of the year, the scholarship night is taking place on Wednesday, May 14th at the Wild Center. Um, as of last week, committees were the subcommittees were still meeting to finalize their selections um of the scholarship winners. Winners will be um sent invitations by May 1st and then we look forward to seeing them on May 14th. Um in addition to that, Speed is working on updating their website um and continuing to uh get the word out on social media about their mission. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Lastly, we have the human growth and development. Okay. You know, the committee committee continues to meet on the
074middle school curriculum. Uh we're finding it to be a little bit more extensive than we thought because compreh one one time. You look at the middle school and it's every year for three years. So, it's taking a little longer. Um we are in some committees. We're putting together information that's going to the larger group Our next meeting is May 12th at North School and health room. Uh in between there we are to get to the chair of the committee slides things that we would potentially want in each grade is the big thing. What what's se sixth grade appropriate versus eighth grade appropriate. Uh and then over the summer, staff is going to look at that and add resources and um a draft of curriculum which they will bring back to the committee in the fall
075for feedback as we go through and any needed revisions and then our intention is to bring it to the board in spring of 26. Thank you. Next item will be communications. Um there was nothing to report. Uh future meeting dates, May 13th, we have the annual reorganization meeting at 6 PM. Then the committee meeting committee meetings will begin at 6:15. Um and then May 27th, regular board of education meeting will start at 6:30. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Second. Second. All in favor say I. I. Have a good night. Stay Sarah. So happy to see you. I'll try not to smile. Hey sis, welcome back. Thank you. It's good to be back. Thank you. My pleasure. I'm so Well, yeah. One of our students. It's hard because she doesn't have when I saw that
076to do this. just a lot of sadness. Good night. the most. So