001This time I'd like to call the, uh, EBSC >> School Board of Trustees meeting to order. Welcome everyone Monday, June 8th meeting. Uh, roll call. Amy? >> Mr. Duckworth, we have a full board present. >> Thank you. As is the custom, I'd ask you all to stand and join me in 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. Thanks again for being here this evening. Uh, we will move now into good news, Jason Lichtenberg. Good evening, Jason. >> Thank you very much, President Duckworth. We'll talk about good news. I will say, um, I'm not going to get into graduation because Andrea came and did
002that during the district spotlight, um, to talk about graduates, but Mrs. Dressel had pictures on the screen beforehand and you all, of course, were in lots of them from the commencement ceremonies and I will tell you we have shared those so many times. Those pictures have now been viewed over 900,000 times. So, people have just loved seeing those great evenings of celebrations. So, appreciate you being part of that. Um, let's move into good news. We do this, you'll remember from previous years, uh, each week HR has new teacher orientation. This is always a crowd favorite during the summer when new teachers come down, uh, on Tuesdays during the summer for their orientation activities and then we always get a picture and people love seeing these and you get so much excitement, people saying, "I know
003that person. Welcome to K's. Welcome to Highland." Whatever the school is, um, and you'll see proud parents sharing them and spouses sharing them. So, it's always, uh, great just to see our new teachers getting ready to join the EBSC team when school starts. Uh, lot of athletics Uh, uh, uh, athletic success lately. So, let's talk about that. Congratu- congratulations to the North High School boys baseball team. They won the sectional and they won the regional and now they're on their way to semi-state. They really had a strong program here recently. So, best of luck to the Huskies as they continue through the state baseball tournament. Track, wow did we have success this year. The state tournament was just this past weekend for both boys and girls track. All of those names listed were individuals who
004qualified to go to state. So, that is amazing to see that many on the girls side I think girls represented two of our schools. On the boys side I think every one of our high schools was represented. If you look at the picture of the boys standing there that is Harrison High School. They actually qualified as a team for state cuz they won [clears throat] the regional. So, great success and then of all those names you see I believe six of them medaled in at the state tournament which that is outstanding as well. And speaking of state track let's talk about Deja Nay Lane. You may remember her because this weekend she became a two-time state champion in the 200 meter. >> They all tried to get her down here. >> next board meeting so
005that maybe we can get a picture with all of you President Duckworth but that is incredible accomplishment to think one day she will be able to say I won a state track title two different times during my high school career. And I will say I guess just for fun she ran in the 100 meter and she finished second in that. So, that's nothing to sneeze at either. So, incredible accomplishment. That young lady is on her way on a scholarship to Indiana State University where she's going to run track. So so proud of her. Um about Titanic the musical. In fact, I'm going to show you just a short about a 45-second clip. So Summer Musical Theatre Company has been working so hard on this. Um I happen to be there with media this afternoon. So
006much excitement and just a sense of calm. I mean, the students, uh whether it's cast, crew, orchestra, you can tell they've got this. You know, they've been working on fall uh or on monthly weekends uh throughout the school year. And now there's two-week intensive summer stock type professional theater experience. And you can really see it's coming together. In fact, today they were doing technical training. So they were not only singing numbers, but stopping and starting as they got the lights configured and the audio worked out. So it is really coming along well. So let me just show you a very short clip from today just so you can get a feel for what they're working on. >> [singing] [music] [singing] [music] [singing] >> So they will open the show this Thursday evening. It's at Shanklin
007Theatre on the campus of University of Evansville. Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, and then Sunday afternoon. The young lady who spoke with media this afternoon, she is a senior. She's been involved with our theater programs for many years now. She is not only a lead in the cast, but she also then splits her time with doing stage managing and working closely with Robert Hunt and Tiffany Ball in the production side of things as well to give her some more training. So, it's going to be great. We hope you can join us, and that is it for good news. >> Thank you very much. A lot of good news. Appreciate it. Uh next is our public comment, and uh I got a feeling we're going to have 2 minutes with Larry. Anything else, Dr. Scholl?
008>> That will do it. We will have a sample of Larry. >> I want to make a brief announcement to help report PTA. They won a state-wide contest this spring. The state PTA sponsored a contest to see which local PTA could recruit the most members. Help report recruited 32, and due to the size of their enrollment, they won the the middle school contest. So, no presentation this spring, but there'll be a presentation in fall for winning that award. Uh Audrey Donald is the president of the Help report PTA, and she does a great job there. Been doing it well for a few years now. And I want to make a couple of comments about those track athletes. In track, IHSA track, there's no class system. When you win a state track meet, you compete against
009everybody in the state of Indiana. And also in a track meet, there's no time outs in track. It's an individual sport. If you're running a race and your shoe comes off, you finish the race with you one shoe on and one shoe off. Or if you fall down, you get up and keep on running. You got to do it right here, right now. A lot of pressure. >> Thanks, Larry. Thank you, Larry. Appreciate it very much. Okay, that moves us into the next section, and that is consent items. Dr. Duckworth, good evening. >> Good evening, President Duckworth and members of the board. Trustees, we have nine consent items for your consideration tonight. They are as follows: 3.01, consideration of the minutes of the May 18th, 2026 regular board meeting. 3.02, consideration of the allowance of
010payments that include invoices, net payroll, payroll obligation for a total allowance of payments $20,343,875.34. 3.03, consideration to approve grant proposals. 3.04, consideration to approve the resolution authorizing transfer of education fund to the operations fund. 3.05, consideration to approve the agreement with child care centers for food service. 3.06, consideration to approve contract bus driver agreement. 3.07, consideration to approve the agreement with New Tech Network. 3.08, consideration to approve the agreement with Mass Insight. And 3.09, consideration to approve the renewal with IXL. These consent items are presented for your approval. >> [clears throat and cough] >> I'll move. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second regarding the consent items. Is there any questions or comments? >> I have a question. >> Yes, ma'am. >> President Duckworth, and I'm so sorry the coughing stopped. Regarding
0113.08, the consideration for Mass Insight. So, of course, I had to write down my long question. And what I had is, how we are how are we exploring whether our current approaches to school readiness and emotional management are meeting the needs of all of our students, and the opportunities to strengthen our efforts to ensure every student is prepared to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. >> So, several ways. Um, you know, a lot of this work has been student behavior-based. [clears throat] So, we're looking at a couple of indicators. One is our response to student behaviors. So, the number of incidents is one one thing like how many incidents are students having, what's the response to those, and then we're also monitoring restorative practices and the frequency with which we're using those. Then, in addition to
012that sort of data, [clears throat] it's more in the discipline behavior world, really looking [laughter] at student survey and perception data about how they're perceiving school and supports at school for them. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> Any questions or comments? Hearing none, all those in favor do so signify by saying aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? That [clears throat] passes. Next on the agenda is personnel recommendations. Mr. Williams, good evening. >> Good evening, President Duckworth, members of the board, Dr. Tonight's personnel recommendations include the following: retirements, resignations, end of assignments, termination, regular appointments, transfers, temporary appointments, resignations from extra duty appointments, extra duty summer appointments, and consideration of the administrative appointment of Britney Barrett, principal intern at Oak Hill and Stockwell. These recommendations are presented for your approval. >> Good move. >> Second. >>
013We have a motion and a second regarding [clears throat] personnel items. Any other questions or comments? Hearing none, all those in favor do so [clears throat] signify by saying aye. >> Aye. >> Opposed? That passes. Thank you, Michelle. Next is our district spotlight by Dr. Hofer. >> Yeah, so tonight, if you recall the last board meeting, B.J. Watts was here to talk about the opt-in program and students who are entering the workforce, what their opportunities are, what the numbers are there, what that looks like. So, tonight, Andrea Campbell's with us. She's our chief administrative officer for high schools. She's here to talk to us about our graduates who are planning to go to college after graduation. So, she will give us a report of scholarships and graduates and where they're headed. >> All right. So,
014good evening, President Duckworth, members of the board, and Dr. Hooper. It is a pleasure to be with you this evening, and I want to begin by thanking each of you for the time and commitment that you put forward to uh attend each of our EVSC high school com- commencements, and uh we had a great time honoring and celebrating all of our seniors and their graduations. Um and each of our three high schools, I'm really proud of the events that we hosted. Um you've seen this before, uh previously, but the class of 2026 has over $42 million in scholarship offers for just over 1,500 students, or graduates, that we have this year. And so, this is quite the impressive number. I'm also happy to report that we are currently uh continuing the upper trajectory when it
015comes to our graduation rates again this year. Um the graduation rate will not be finalized until October, so we still have some movement with summer school and as well with some of our cohorts, um so the planning that goes on with that. So, I'm um really optimistic in thinking that we may reach the goal that we had set forth for this year of 90%. Hoping that we make it there, um but it is due to the collective efforts of student support and engagement across all of our EVSC high schools, and we are showing some positive results and outcomes for our students. When we look at um transitioning into the high school uh new diploma, that will be taking place, and it will have more of an emphasis on readiness skills, and that will better align
016with diplomas uh directly with post-graduation pathways, such as enrollment, employment, and enlistment. But, the Core 40 and the Honors variants remain the benchmark framework for the students in this graduating class. So, as you can see, over half of our graduates achieve a Core 40 diploma, with nearly a quarter of them with additional academic honors. Um 4% of those students also have achieved that technical honors diploma with over 6% of students both getting the academic honors as well as the technical honors diploma. Each year we also collect information from our graduates asking them what their plans are next for next year. And so over 53% have reported that they are planning to attend a four-year college. As you can see a little over 13% for a two-year college, 7% of our students will go to a
017vocational school and >> [clears throat] >> a little over 2% have said that they will enlist with the military. And when we think about some of the institutions, we'll be able to pull information from the clearinghouse once we get into around that October time again. But if we based it off of our graduates, these are really the top universities and colleges that we can anticipate our class of 2026 to attend. However, when I look at the list overall, we have students that are attending places such as New York University, the University of Michigan, Brigham Young in Idaho, University of New Hampshire. And so really EVSC is represented all over our region as well as our country. And so when I do count those up, we're looking at over half the states throughout our country that
018our students are attending currently. So I appreciate you having me this evening. Are there any questions? Yes. >> Jeff Owen, and I know you probably know don't know the exact percentage, but how many of our students do you think are taking say concurrent credit with them to these you know, these colleges and universities? >> Yes, I would have to say, I mean really if you looked at at least that academic honors number, you're going to each of those at least. But I would say it's well more than that. If you'd like the exact number though, I can >> No, I don't know. I figured quite cuz I I we do have a lot of dual credit and a lot of people are, you know, doing a lot of different ways to get their college credit,
019but I'm just I was just curious. >> Is there a percentage of like not undecided or >> Yes, and then you would think it'd be a little higher than it is. Um currently, what I'm seeing in my report, I think it's about 2%. >> Uh what was >> [clears throat] >> the number there? >> Hold on 1 second, cuz I did pull that information. Yeah, the unknown actually, uh just just about a percent of our students really weren't quite sure what they were going to do, and they had listed unknown. >> Thank you very much. >> I do have a question. Oh, that's okay. First and foremost, thank you for letting me use your umbrella during the rain that we had that we had. >> [clears throat and laughter] >> At least come prepared and
020be ready. >> I think the safety pins. >> [laughter] >> And the question that I have for you, and I probably ask every year, do [snorts] you have any feedback or any um information regarding your students that are going to be going to any HBCU colleges and or universities? Do you have any information regarding >> I do have some data that I can get for you. And so, yes, that's something that I can collect and provide. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> I would also point out, in addition to all of this, and the students furthering their education in the secondary uh facilities and and programs, I was so impressed with signing day and the number of students that uh are have opted to go into a career with a local business or
021or um you know, just take another route. And it is great that they're doing that, and I'm telling you, some of them are going into a workforce, and they're making pretty good money, and they're they're building a a great career with some of our our local industry that uh I think really needs uh an infusion of youth and an infusion of bright ideas, and and we're providing >> Yeah. >> Absolutely. >> And I don't think a lot of students maybe realize that when they want to get into trades and they're going through the apprenticeship program that the vast majority of them are coming out with a two-year college degree. Okay, and I don't think sometimes they realize it when they're doing this part of it. >> Exactly. >> But when they come out, they're coming
022out with a two-year college degree because we work with all the you know, the trades with the apprenticeships that Ivy Tech at least. Thank you very much for the report. Very good. >> This doesn't answer the question exactly, but the most one data point around how many kids are taking dual credit, it's not a percentage, but in in one given year we had 2,600 students. So some of those are juniors and seniors, but it it's a large number of kids that are taking dual credit. >> Yeah, I think we and we do and I think we should continue to you know, provide that to them and and and advertise it where uh you know, when they leave they're they've got a a jump start on on their future. >> I don't want to I don't
023want to keep going with this, but if I don't think but you know, you know, a couple years ago when we were really worried about a lot of teachers getting credentialed so we could keep receiving that and then we gave them a certain amount of time. Whatever really happened with that, did most of get to the point where they can get the dual credit or they were credentialed? Do you know you know what I'm talking about, right? >> Yes, and there's always kind of that give and take depending on which university you're working with, you know, what are those credentials. So it hasn't been something lifted as of recent that we're having that struggle, but I think it's it's always a continued effort as staff changes, obviously that credentialing and the needs for that changes
024as well as what students need to take, especially as we're looking at the change in diploma. You think about a course like an advanced speech course versus just teaching the regular [clears throat] speech class, those credentials are very different. And so I do anticipate that there'll there'll continue to be that um but basically that need for us to continue to address. >> Thanks. Let's go ahead. >> You know me. >> One more question. I'm curious from all of the high school graduates, of course, that just graduated, how many uh that went through the early college program are now going to one of these colleges and/or universities? If you happen to >> I do not have that information specifically. It is probably a data point that I can get um but yes, let me take a
025look at that. I don't know if we have them specific by each program. I know I have it by school, but I bet I can drill when they matter. >> I can get it for you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. All right. We're going to move into action items. 6.01 consideration to approve the maintenance contract food service. >> Thank you, President Duckworth, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. This item was presented to you as information during the last board meeting. Tonight, it is our recommendation to award the contract for heating, eating, and air conditioning. Asking for your approval. >> I'll move. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second regarding the maintenance contract food service. Any questions or comments? Hearing none, all those in favor should you so signify by saying I.
026>> I. >> Those opposed? That carries. Next is 6.02 consideration to approve updates to policy 4307, the wireless communication devices. >> Good evening. Good evening, President Duckworth, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. Senate Enrolled Act 78 amended Indiana law governing student use of wireless communication devices during the school day. Notable changes include defining the school day as the entire time a student is present on school property during an instructional day and requiring the devices be powered off and inaccessible to students throughout that time. The proposed revisions align policy 4307 with updated statutory requirements while establishing clear and consistent expectations for student devices used during the school day. To meet the July 1 effective date, the office of chief of staff recommends approval of the proposed updates to policy 4307. >> Move to approve. >>
027There's a motion and second [clears throat] regarding the approval of this. Uh I know it's it's gained a lot of attention and notoriety. I know that uh students uh they a lot of times depend on these devices. Um and I think the you know, the the gist of of this uh and I don't know what their thinking was, but um to get them focused on what they're there for rather than what's on that screen. And um but there are some other considerations, I know. Um and I've heard through the legislature that there are some that um are representative of certain areas that um want students to have access. And so it's also [clears throat] my understanding that this is still a kind of a work in progress uh in regards to uh how they're going
028to move forward and what exactly it's going to mean when school starts. >> Um I would say I mean legislatively, it's >> This is what it is. >> It is what it is. >> I understand that. >> But you know, just like things about the term inaccessible, I think there's a lot of conversation throughout the state about what inaccessible means. >> We need to get this done because we got a July 1st deadline. And then do we then establish the guidelines applicable to this corporation on how we're going to implement this policy? >> Yeah. >> That's what we're looking at. >> Policies are what, and then the guidelines will develop the how. >> Right. >> I guess yeah. The >> [clears throat] >> policy comes to us from ISBA. It's been approved by their counsel.
029It's been looked at by our legal counsel. So, the policy aligns with the law, aligns the board with the law, and then we'll look at how that gets implemented. We're also awaiting I mean, IDOE is to issue some guidance around this, and we're still awaiting that. Every Friday that update comes from the state superintendent's office, and we're we're awaiting that guidance as well for the implementation of it. >> Before school starts, we should have a clearer look at what they're talking about, and that will help us put together how we're going to enact it. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> Anybody that thinks this is done, it's not. No, this is going to get tweaked a lot. What What do you see the differences between this policy and the policy we had before? The only difference I
030saw was the management of it while it's in the in the school, what do you call concealed or whatever verbage they used. >> Inaccessible. >> Accessible. >> The putting the school day, whereas before you could allow access to the devices, say during lunch time, or other times passing periods. I think there was some option there, and this policy defines that school day from basically from bell to bell. And then, like you said, making them inaccessible to them at that time. >> What What I don't like, and I think what I'm hearing is, if I'm hearing you correctly, is that they can't use it during lunch. Is that correct? >> That's to me these are learning devices, or and Dr. Hoover and I talked about this this afternoon. Like if a kid sitting by himself, he's
031got to sit there and and be alone, whereas maybe he could entertain himself with himself with a game or something. But if it's not distracting from the instructional time, I don't see a problem with it. With with that said, I like everything about it almost. I think it needs some tweaking. But there's a particular part in there about medical devices that I I've got a person, a friend of mine who has to sit there during lunch and and he gets numbers as of what he's eating and he can go and needs to be an 80, he'll be a 700. He's got to watch what he eats. It's used for medical device It's a medical device, so those people are okay. >> Absolutely. >> Who's sitting there during lunch? I'm using the same same scenario. They're
032sitting there during lunch. They are going to have to have it. That is a literal thing. And I don't know who And I don't think teachers need to be tasked with something else. What are you doing on your phone? You know, well, this is a medical device at this point. It's not a phone. I mean, I don't know Are you know, are we trying Are we creating them to be a maybe it's officer sort of thing? That's not their job. I don't I don't like it in that way, but if I just don't understand why during lunch period, when it has to be out, why it can't be out and who's going to force what? That's the part I'm kind of waiting on. Um One of the one of the things that I saw um
033in the policy and I'd like to ask um number two, in the event of an emergency as authorized by the superintendent or designation the designate. Um what what Dr. Hoover what kind of emergency can you can you tell me a scenario? We talked about this earlier. I just want the public to know. >> Well, when I think about an emergency that where we might want students to have access to phones where they Let's say they are under this new policy. For the sake of this conversation, let's say they're in their lockers. They're They're put away in their lockers. They're powered off. On occasion, we have a need to release early from school. It may be a power issue. It could be weather. Say instead of our normal dismissal time, we're sending kids home at 1:00.
034We would send a message from the district through talking points and send and let families know. But, [snorts] we may also say, "Hey, we would like for students at this time to be able to get their devices and send a message home." So, that the way that their parent, their guardian gets message that you're coming home early. We may ask for that and say in that communication we send home, "Your student will be communicating with you." That may be an example of a time when we'd say, "Get your devices for that purpose." >> Okay. And I And I I I hate to use the scenario of a a school shooter cuz that's like most makes me want to cry almost because But, that is your worst nightmare. That's what keeps you up at night. If
035you know, so during that time, there are pros and cons. We talked to Mr. Trump. We asked him for a safety analysis. He said it during one school shooting, if I remember the story correctly, the school shooter was in front of the gym and Susie texted so-and-so who texted somebody and then it went down the line, "Oh, he's in front of the the gym or wherever it was. Let's run. And the teacher literally had to stop him. Well, the shooter wasn't there anymore. By the time that notice got done, the shooter was in front of their room. So, we got a dilemma here because as you just said, your um our our teachers they they we need to be able to know that their kids are safe. They need to know that. Because that's that's
036going to cause a panic. You're going to talk You're talking about hundreds of parents showing up at a school. >> We are looking at other ways for two-way communication between a student and home. And so, we are investigating other options so that that same the same capabilities that you have by text, you could have on devices that what we have in students' hands. So, when when I have that information I and I understand how it's going to work on all devices, I plan to bring that to the board. But, we understand that parents, if they're the angst that's around this is about knowing that you can reach out to your student when you need to quickly. We've become really accustomed to being able to send a message right now and everybody sees it. So, we're
037looking at ways for that to to work that would be outside of cell phone usage. >> Do you think that'll be in front of the board anytime soon? >> Mhm. For this school year. >> Awesome. Looking forward to hearing that. >> So, I just want to make sure I understand. Tonight policy cuz we've been mandated by the state by July 1st. We are going to come up with some guidelines, right? This might be one of the things that we have available to us, okay? And uh we also have a safety study that's being done that I think that's important because in any crisis situation, it's so fluid that you can't always count on whether somebody's got a phone or they don't have a phone. We have protocols that we have in [clears throat] place that
038we're going to follow, right? So, >> tonight's the policy and then we can expect guidelines, right? Thanks. >> So, has there been much um any contest or protest from adult parent guardian? Um are we kind of early in that yet? In terms of >> None that have come my way. >> Yeah, none that have come my way either, but just paying attention to what's on social media and talking to other superintendents across the state, like there is some angst about students not being accessible that quickly. And so, that's why I think it's really important for us to investigate other ways for that to be possible. Like you can use email right now, but outside of that this text is so much faster and so we're looking at a a way through our own devices to
039have a similar capability. >> And Ms. Ragland, I did misspeak. Uh I did have some protest come my way. It was from my niece who will be a senior next year. She will remain unnamed here. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, she was not a fan of the new law. >> So, has there um I know some of the conferences I've been in there's been this the discussion of storage, you know, not lockers, but having a I guess a classroom having I don't I'll just say for instance maybe little little baguettes. Yeah, and but anyway, some type of where they're all in one place at one time and not accessible. >> Yeah, I do think we've moved away from that just from the liability standpoint of the school taking the being liable then for everybody's devices as
040far as putting them all in either the lock pouches or other even though like Dr. Hoover said, >> [clears throat] >> the lockers are an option that are considered, but it's not the only option. But, I don't think we're considering mass taking everybody's devices, storing them away ourselves, and then giving them back at the end of the day. >> Yeah, I know. The latest thing is started so stringent and then it's, you know, like some tweaking and and all that, but you know, that was >> I I I got to If you don't mind. I think the board needs to be receptive to everyone's thoughts and and and uh >> [clears throat and cough] >> how we implement this. I will tell you that if you think we're not going to be criticized, uh regardless
041of what direction we go, uh that's just not right. Some people will not agree with how we do it, if we do it. Uh we many times are under state mandate that we have to follow. And I will tell you that just like with security and everything else, we are going to gather the information. We are going to look at it to see how it best um is pertaining to our schools, to our students, to our facilities. And once we do that, then we have to implement the best practices. Is it's Is it fail-safe? No. No. I think people think that because you do this or that, that it's going to wipe everything clean, that we're not going to have any problem. That is just not the real world. I'm sorry. Uh you can go
042to these conferences like we have and talk to many, many school board members and school administrators. They will tell you they do everything they can to keep our students as safe as possible, and it's not fail-safe. I I'm just sorry. It's It's not. We want it to be. We don't want there to be an incident whatsoever. And uh but we're doing our due diligence and listening to those that uh are experts, that have dealt with this before, and I think this board is committed to doing the absolute best that we can to keep our students safe and to keep them focused on why they're there, and that is to get the best possible education they can get. Now, I understand the social aspect of it. I get that, you know, but this is what we're
043focused on now, and we are going to do the very best we can and take all the input that we can, and then we will, at some point in time, move forward. >> I got a quick question for our esteemed attorney, Mr. Pat Showers. What if we decided to not follow state law? That incorporation You know what? Cuz I've heard superintendents say, "I don't care what the law is, we're going to do this." What I mean, what are the consequences? >> Put yourself at risk of sanctions from the Department of Education and funding threats and all kinds of things. I mean, it's a same thing that any citizen faces when they say, "It's just a law I'm not going to follow." >> Okay. So, we need to take this >> I mean, that's the thing
044about this whole thing. It was visited upon us. This is We have no discretion here. I appreciate Mr. Duckworth's comments. The analogy I've given is if they make a state law that no speed limit will be more than 55, you can't pass a policy to say we'll drive 65. >> Well, we will, again, do our due diligence and listen and take that information, and yes, what we're doing tonight, we're we've got this uh this law that Everyone knows we can't risk any more funds. Um so, with that being said, I believe we've had a a of points made. Is there any other comments need to be made at this time? Hearing none, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those opposed? That carries. Thank you, Mr. Cameron. Next, we go to
045information item. Consideration to approve school meal prices, Dr. Underwood. >> Thank you, President Duckworth, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. I am bringing to you proposed meal prices for the '26-'27 school year. The office of food and nutrition has done an evaluation and is proposing these prices. We have looked at our neighboring school districts and this brings us in line with what other school districts are charging. This is an increase for next school year, however, we have not increased our school meal prices since the '20-'21 school year. So, these would be our prices for next school year. Also, remind you that we are part of the CEP program, so four out of five of our students would continue to receive prices at no charge. >> I guess we don't have the [clears throat] information
046over the last few years how much our cost has gone up. >> When you consider all the costs of all goods and services, it's been considerable. It's been 6 to 8%. So, we've been able to maintain that. Large part to do with the way the efficiency of the way the program has been run. But at this point, we're at a a point where we need to make an adjustment. >> So, so is the co-op that we've become part of now, is that have we realized savings from that? >> We have, for sure. Part of the state contracts. >> Currently, 80% of our students are in schools that are CEP. >> Yes, 80%. >> free lunch. >> They will continue to receive free meals. >> Any other questions or comments on this information item? Yes, ma'am.
047>> I do have a question and one comment. Hopefully, more Bosco sticks with extra cheese sauce. Or round pizzas. >> Um but the question that I do have for the adult lunch, I know it's proposed at 5:20. Is that also the price at SciTech, or is that a separate Is the pricing separate from >> This is separate. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Okay. Anything else? [clears throat] Thank you, Carl. Next, we are going to move to 7.02, consideration to Wayfinder Future Ready Skills curriculum. And then, good evening. >> Good evening, President Deckworth, members of the board, and Dr. Hoover. The Office of Schools and Instructional Core is recommending the approval of the adoption of Wayfinder Future Ready Skills curriculum for grades pre-K through 12. This curriculum is designed to support
048the development of durable skills, leadership habits, and workforce ready competencies that contribute to student success in schools, post-secondary ed, and future careers. Wayfinder provides a research-based framework that promotes consistency in school student skill development across grade levels, and emphasizes competencies such as self-management, collaboration, communication, goal-setting, and responsible decision-making. Some of the benefits of this curriculum include ready-to-use lesson plans, a digital instructional platform, differentiated supports for our diverse learners, professional development for the staff, and digital tools for monitoring student growth in identified competency areas. The total cost of the 3-year contract is $549,512.50, and it would be funded through the education fund. And I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time. >> I got one. Can I ask extra? So, I think this is good. But as a as we utilize
049AI more and more and more, I mean, we'll be able to We should be able to get down to Chris Kiefer has X learning whatever it may be, you know, we can create some curriculum just for Chris Kiefer with the use of AI as this right? I mean am I seeing this right? And I'm sure this is partially what they're doing. Is is that right? I don't know. I've just >> I I think lots of possibilities with AI, absolutely. The nice thing about this particular curriculum is that yes, it's going to be tailored to a specific student. It can be tailored for um small group instruction with counselors or behavior folks. So it gets at both sides of it. A teacher can use this curriculum for just their classroom looking at their students and where
050they have deficits and um pick particular activities and lessons for their classroom. And then it also, you know, transcends. So it's building skills and competencies pre-K through 12. So we have that continuum, which is really nice. >> Well, and the reason I bring that up is because a lot of times we're going to get what we get from AI is is the um prompt that we put in. So, you know, if it's a particular group or whatever it may be, we have to put in the right prompt to get what we want, right? This is the This is kind of telling us this is what will work best for particular groups. Okay. All right. >> I don't know that we've discussed AI as a board in public at this point. How are we looking at
051that as a corporation? Are we assessing it in some way and giving guidance to our our teachers and our parents as to what we can do? Joe? >> Oh, yes. We currently have a director of AI, former teacher, here, Dr. Vic Chamness, and he is leading our mission on how we're approaching AI as a as a district. Our first approach is always how can we save teachers' time in the classroom and get back to teaching and less administrative work. Second pillar of kind of like we're looking at right now is student safety. AI there's a big safety concern with AI chatbots and companions. And our third third pillar for AI is looking at uh workforce development. Uh companies are not hiring kids without AI prompting knowledge and and general understanding of how AI works. So,
052we're looking at that as well. So, we're working on that. We have a meeting uh this month um with the AI subcommittee with OSEC um to discuss our AI mission, our AI values, our AI goals. Once we get that approved, we take it to a larger uh committee with principals, teachers, and other stakeholders to review and hopefully get our stamp of approval to move forward with [clears throat] how we're going to approach that. >> Are there state standards that we have to follow or that they're providing to us or >> There's a lot discussion statewide, IDOE and IOT, about how we do this. Um but there is no real consensus. I think we're on the forefront, one of the few districts that who have hired an AI director to look at all this and that's
053her dedicated job is to how do we integrate this into our district and and help our students. So, it's still a a little gray area, but we're trying to make that big gray area, the wild west, into something a little smaller in chunks so we can take care of. >> I I think the the more information that you you attain that you can share with the board, at some point in time, I'd love to be able to provide that information uh through um our website so parents have access to it in case they have any questions about some things that their students are doing and whether or not it's compatible with what you know, schools are doing. So, anyway, uh keep us updated. >> Yep, can do. >> [clears throat] >> Anything else, Pam? >>
054Thank you. I'll be back in a couple weeks. >> Okay. >> [laughter] >> Thank you very much. Okay, now that brings us to continuing business. Dr. Hoover and board. >> Start. I mentioned to you all before that we have over 2,000 students enrolled in summer programming. And last week and this morning I I've been trying to get out and visit sites and I want to have some presentations for you because I think you would be very proud of the summer programming offerings. One example is Carlotta Patterson is our director of extended day, which is our afterschool program. It's not the 21st century, it's truly extended day, but she runs an extended day summer camp. 268 students. It is educational and so fun. There are 268 kids there at Dexter from 6:30 a.m. The programming goes
055to 6:00 at night. They're doing field trips. When we were there >> [clears throat] >> we were at a time where they were doing clubs. They had puzzle club, science club. Um, they're doing some reading. They had fitness club going on. It's like a school. You go in, there are enough kids and and adults that it's it's like running an entire school in the summer. This morning I was at Bossier High School for the summer school. We have 208 students, grades 9 through 12, primarily focused on credit recovery. And um they have when any student finishes a credit, they come to the office. They have a little mini celebration there to acknowledge that they're making progress, but as we you know, certainly for seniors who didn't have their credits to graduate, like this is a
056real opportunity for them to finish. And Andrea said, you know, looking at our graduation rate, students can still be part of this cohort if they finish by October 1st. So, we put a lot of effort and energy into try to get seniors to graduate on time by October 1st. Also getting into elementary schools, we have an I read focus to our summer school. Uh students who are not on track really to to pass that I read exam. Also getting into K-Camps, which are partnerships with United Way and there's another one with Potter's Wheel that our students, mainly students who didn't go to pre-K and then are in for a sort of a kindergarten readiness camp and they're doing some academics, but also just how to do school. How do you walk down the hallway? How
057do you sit in a circle with your friends? What is What does it look like to be in a kindergarten classroom? So, there's lots of exciting things I'm looking forward to putting a few of the people involved in front of you in the coming weeks so that you can maybe get some pictures and some videos and a better sense of what that looks like, but really proud and good opportunities for our students. >> You mentioned I read and I read something recently that, you know, we are looking to ensure that students have a reading proficiency by grade three. Is there and maybe I read it wrong, but is there >> [clears throat] >> starting to be a focus on math skills by grade three as well? >> There is. There's a I keep thinking of
058it sort of like the science of math cuz the approach that we had in reading is some guarantees, there are some screeners and if students aren't on track at a certain point in time, you have a guaranteed intervention and math is going to be that same way. For next year, we'll have to do a a math intervention for students who are not on track. So, it will look very intentional, very similar to that and I think it's because across the state there was success. The approach to reading has been met with success from schools and so we're going to do that same thing. The state is going to do that same approach to math, so. >> They'd done that in my day, I'd still be in the third grade with that. I'd be there right
059now. I'm glad they're doing that because that I think will really help some students that are struggling maybe move forward and and be more successful. Anything else in continued business? Mr. Thompson. >> Oh, go ahead. >> Wait. >> Oh, I thought you were going to >> Oh, >> I've got I'm going to read this. You go ahead. >> So, I was just going to say um a couple of weeks ago Our Times newspaper >> [cough] [clears throat] >> did a uh celebration for the educators and they actually recognized three black educators of the year. One was Ms. Tishida [clears throat] Adams. I know she is at AIS. The next and she was voted the female black educator of the year. The next was Ms. Dawn Sutton and Mr. Keon and if I'm pronouncing his name
060correctly Boyd with an E on the end. >> Yes. And so, congratulations to them. >> Absolutely. >> That's right. >> Thank you for bringing that >> Next. >> Yeah, I just you know, there was an article in the paper where I think uh the board took some criticism for our safety and security. I just want to read you part of it. This is coming from me as a board individual board member, but I would think it would be uh the the board would believe this, but I just want to write this is coming from me. So, I just want to say I I want to brief briefly respond to the recent criticism of the EVSC's board decision to invest in safety and security study. Taxpayers have every right to expect the public dollars are spent
061wisely. That is exactly why a safety and security study makes sense. When we are talking about safety of our children, staff, and families, the responsibility the responsible thing to do is not guess, react politically, or make decisions based on slogans. The responsible thing to do is gather information, >> review the data, >> listen to experts, and make the best decision for students, family, staff, and taxpayers. A study does not commit the district to any one solution. It gives the board facts, options, costs, and priorities before making major safety decisions. Spending a smaller amount on expert guidance can help prevent the district from spending millions on solutions that may not not address the highest risk that we may have. The EVSC board is a good mix of trustees with a wide variety of professional and life
062experiences. We may not always agree on every issue, but I believe this board looks at decisions from the perspective of what is best for the EVSC, our families, our students, our staff, and our community. I also disagree, and this was a comment in the paper, I also disagree with the idea that board members with 20-plus years of experience should be replaced. Experience matters when it is paired with accountability, openness to new ideas, and a willingness to make decisions based on evidence. Institutional knowledge matters. Understanding budgets, facilities, school safety, student needs, and community expert expectations matter. This is exactly why partisan politics does not belong on school boards. School safety should not be a Republican issue or a Democrat issue. It should be a student issue, a family issue, and a community issue. Our responsibility is
063to make thoughtful, data-driven decisions that protect students, respect taxpayers, and keep politics out of public education. So, my two cents. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. That was spot on. I think this board represents a lot of that, and you know, you know, it comes with the territory. You're going to get criticized no matter what you do. Uh we do the best we can. We we try to spend our dollars um the best we can. We hire the best we can because we want we want our educational system to be excellent and we want our kids to leave here with a good start on life. So, um anything else from the board this time? Nothing else? I had been entertained a motion to adjourn.