001Call the meeting in order. I'll rise for the pledge. >> 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. Can we get a roll call? >> Yes. Wonder >> here. Hi >> here. >> Sephus here. Gardin >> Here. Dehan >> here. And fin. >> All right. We have quorum. Uh please note as a courtesy of members of the audience, the board of education, please silence your cell phone. Public will only be able to speak during public comment if signed up. Do we have any quorums? >> All right. Thank you. Uh item number one, approval of agenda. Can I get a motion? >> Move to support. >> All those in favor? Yes. Opposed? Motion
002passes. Uh item number two, the reports agenda. Board member reports. We'll start with Mr. Dhan. >> All right. Well, just uh a lot of us were there, but the academic awards ceremony was awesome as usual. It's uh great to see all the and see and hear all the things that our students do and it's always amazing every year everything you know that they've accomplished. So that was awesome. I think a lot of us were there for that. And then um a shout out to the baseball team to coach Tuskin and a couple of parents, the Wies and the Shakamiers because they went down to Detroit this past weekend for a tournament, which is something that, you know, they don't have to do, but they took I mean give Tuskin a lot of credit for to
003to take that on and and then get some parents to help uh organize that. But they they went down there and they did well and the boys I mean they were all at graduation parties yesterday talking about how awesome that was. So that's, you know, a great experience for them to be able to stay overnight like that as a as a high school team. And then uh Wednesday morning, my company's Dematic is donating some basket or gardening planters at Central. So I'll be there Wednesday morning for that if anybody else is interested, but I think it starts at 9:00. >> Very cool. >> That's it. >> Awesome. Thank you, Mr. Stephus. >> Thank you. Um well the year is coming to an end very rapidly so uh and I have a senior this year so
004it's been interesting a lot of lasts or first laugh lasts for him. Um it's exciting to see. Uh just a big shout out thank you to all the staff uh the parents uh the coaches everything that has molded him into the young man that he's become and all the other uh kids too. So just thank you very much. Uh just awesome. Okay. Thank you. All right, Miss Gardine. >> Um, lots of music going on this spring. Um, we had, um, the MSBA honors. They performed did great. We had, um, other students who were in the honors, um, brass band, which was great. We just had our banquet and the amount of kids who are getting scholarships and um, going on for music. It's been really beautiful to see. Um they just we have several students
005who are in the Grand Rapids Symphony that just ended. Um and then there are three students who are going on for they're actually practicing every Sunday so that they can do on J or June 1st and 2nd they're doing uh Millennium Park and then downtown Grand Rapids they're performing jazz. So they're in a jazz honor band too. So there are so many kids doing so many extra things in that organization. So it's really neat. Um this morning was the senior assembly. Super cool. Adam did a great job also with you know Avery Terry who is just a rock star and then Sarah Win and then our singer was did their class song which was she was so good. Um love that Adam brought up you know Great Gatsby and it was kind of fun to
006have a little you know language arts shout out analogy going on. So, um, lots of energy, excitement going on this time of year. Yeah. >> Cool. All right. Thank you, Bob. >> Uh, just one quick thing. Um, shout out to Ian, Joe's stepson. He's an incredible young man. Incredible young man. Um and uh the Granville is better for him to have been attended. So good kid. That's all I have. Good. Sally >> um had a few opportunities to participate in school district stuff. I um was able to uh go to the Vinnies, which is always fun, where the AV kids showed their their stuff that they've been working on all year, and some of the their short shorts were amazing. It was incredible. Um I went with one of my grandsons to his immersion experience
007at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, which is just a great partnership that we have with um our district and them. and just they are exposed to so many wonderful pieces of educational opportunity. I mean to coin it all into one little phrase that would be it. And then um the other thing that what was the third thing I was going to say? Can't remember. But anyway, it's just been a great great season of being able to be involved and see all the things that are going on in various places. So yeah. >> Great. >> Thank you, >> Sally. Is there a way for the Vinnies to be I was looking for the shorts and stuff. Are they >> I think they'll be dumped on YouTube. >> Okay. >> I do believe. I'm not sure exactly
008the name, but I imagine Grandville High School Vinnies, something like that, but I'll check. >> Thank you. >> I've got an in. >> Yeah. Uh I have been spending some time at the middle school um for some of their musical performances. I saw the middle school's musical Legally Blonde, which was great. Um, I was very impressed, not just the f with the fact that seventh and eighth graders can really pull together such a good show. Um, but also, you know, they really had the confidence to go out there. Um, and I was very impressed. It was excellent. Um, seeing the end of the year middle school band concerts is always exciting. Um, when your child first starts in band in sixth grade, you kind of wonder like, how is this going to turn out? Um,
009but it's kind of amazing to see how quickly they progress. Um, and they just did a great job and they're also having a really good time doing it. It was nice to see those interactions. >> Great. Great. >> Thank you. Yeah, I mean, a lot of stuff happening here. I mean, we had the musical, um, which was just fantastic. Um, if anyone got a chance to see that, the Chicago musical was great. Gosh, it's believe hard to believe it's been that long, but yeah, we haven't talked about these things since then, but that was great. I got a chance to see some the girls soccer team. Um I like to go to some of these events and I just kind of like hang out in the corner, right? Not, you know, just just kind of
010hang out in the corner. And one of the moms called me after the game. She goes, "I was going through my photos and I looked, you were right there. Where were what were you doing there? Why didn't you come say hi?" And I'm like, "I just kind of like to sneak in and just not the same night though, I had an opportunity to go up to the the women's water polo game." And that's when they played Jennison. And that what a fantastic finish that was at the end. It was tied up or we were up by one. Tied it within the last couple minutes and we scored with like less than a minute left. It was fantastic. That was really a lot of fun to watch that game. So, and it's always fun to see
011Jennison go home. Sad, but um yeah, so we had that and we had the senior uh um uh uh assembly this morning. Uh that was a lot of fun. Uh we were talking a little bit about it. I mean, I really like that one. Um even more so than graduation cuz it's a little more personal with you. The kids are all coming in. the the rest of the schools there and they're they're cheering for them as they come out and uh they're kind of waving at their friends has a kind of a last goodbye as they're leaving the building and then they go out to the the elementary schools and I think even did Oakstown a little bit this year. So, and that's always a fun time. So, just a lot of stuff coming to
012an end and this is our last one here in the school. So, it's a bittersweet. >> Yeah, bittersweet. So, there we go. So, that's all I've got. >> All right. So, you guys did a nice job covering a lot of things. Just a reminder, graduation is this Thursday. Um really looking forward uh to that. All the events have been going on been incredible. Talked to coach Tuskin today actually and he said they did so well in Detroit and loved the experience. So reiterate the same thing. But just a lot of great stuff going on. Uh a lot of great laughs for kids, a lot of great laughs for me and uh just enjoying it and taking it all in. >> You know, if we if you don't mind, let's just talk real quick about graduation.
013Just a reminder for those that haven't done it before, we go through and we pick some rows of that. I saw the list out there and I saw Bob and and Amy had already mentioned something. So if you have a preference, we'll throw it out there and we'll go from there. So >> I think have you you've all been >> has everyone been gradu and arrival time is around 6:30. Would that be? >> Yeah. Get there early uh 15 20 minutes early to get to the stage if possible because it might be a little tough getting in after that. >> Parking if nothing else. >> Yes. And we have our we have our um a lot of our principles and staff are helping with parking and ushers and so on this year. So it's really
014a group event. We're excited about that. >> We get our own parking our own special >> just like every year by me in the back somewhere. >> Fair enough. >> There you go. Like Sentry Club, right? Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. You probably get some takers on that. Smoking like a true business person. If you auctioned off seating, you could get you could raise money. >> Yes. Yes. >> Getting all kinds of ideas. >> Yeah, I'm good. >> All right. Very good. Um, any old business? >> No old business. >> All right. On the consent action agenda, can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> All those in favor? >> Yes. >> Opposed? Motion passes. Regular action items 5A, the K5 uh resource adoption amplify CKLA. Where's that? All right. It is recommended the board of
015education approve the purchase of the K5 uh ELA resource package to for amplify CKLA for a total cost of $522,38848. materials include text and instructional material for all classrooms, teacher and student digital licensing, and three years of student consumable print material. This recommendation provides a comprehensive tier 1 ELA resource for grades K through 5, and is fully funded by the state's 3M grant. Can I get a motion? >> So, we'll support Dr. Merkel. >> Thank you very much. So, this is uh this has been a a while coming, probably 24 months almost in the making. The grant hasn't been around uh quite that long. Um but we started applying for this grant just about this time last year. Um and then a number of things have happened and I'm really really proud of our committee
016and how they have steered this just because there it was not a simple straightforward grant process for a couple of reasons and I'm going to get into some of that. I first want to introduce uh some members of our committee and they're going to talk about their pilot experience. Um, and Ashley Dickinson who was a first grade teacher at East Elementary, Alexis Lefver was a second grade teacher at East Elementary, and Megan Bacon is a fourth grade teacher at Graham View Elementary. Um, and we had a tremendous pilot uh committee that that guided the process, but we knew this was a long time coming. We had been utilizing uh the MESA units uh that were developed in Michigan for K5 reading comprehension for uh over 10 years. We had paired that with unlocking the reading
017code for our foundational skills and grammar components. Um and we knew that the MEA units were outdated. Uh so we were looking ahead for a time to replace those. And then the 35mm grant came out um which was was funding for a new tier 1 uh resource uh at the same time. So we were going to look for a new piece to replace Mesa and we started doing that. When the 35mm grant came out, the state of Michigan, it didn't plan it very well. they put out this grant and you had to choose what you were going to uh spend on the grant before they even gave you an opportunity to pilot it. So, we went on, we had to pick some things and they had a very specific list that you could choose from.
018Then, they backtracked and they said, "Well, you can go ahead and change it." So, we had to readjust our pilot time. Um, and in the meantime, separate from all of that, separate from the grant list, the state uh passed the dyslexia law. And with that legislation, they said we will be putting out an approved resource list that everybody has to use for tier 1. And they said that list will be out in January 26. Well, that was that comes after you have to identify what's been populated in your grant and everything else. So all these moving pieces. So what we did is we had conversation in around what would land us in a really good spot where we would meet state requirements, have a very solid tier one resource um and something that our teachers
019uh really felt would meet our needs. So all of those things drove this process and this decision. In addition, and I'm going to talk a little bit about it later, is that uh uh Amplify CKLA has is fully comprehensive, and that's the information that I put out there. It has the knowledge component, which is knowledge and vocabulary, and it has a skills component. Um, initially we were looking at the skills component, but with the 35mm list, I'm I'm sorry, with the dyslexia law list, uh, unlike the reading code has been submitted for approval, but we don't know that it's going to get approved. And so this recommendation puts us fully in compliance with the law and uh will get our teachers a comprehensive resource and the teachers will talk about why they felt like that
020was important um through the process. So, the pilot process was a little interesting. Like I said, it was different than we've ever done before. Um, because we had to identify these things. Um, but we opened it up to all K5 teachers. Anybody that wanted to participate, anybody that wanted to have a voice was willing to do that. We had 26 teachers from six buildings K5 and we did three data points of collection. Once they started their pilot, they had training in uh the resource that they were going to be piloting and then three times we collected data based on the same questions, teacher resources, student experience and how things were going um for the teachers. We formulated a rubric that was very specific based on nine categories of quality. Um and then our pilot teachers
021came together. They shared everything that they learned. They got to see all the data, reviewed all the data, talked about their experiences. And each group filled out a rubric based on their pilot experience. And so these are point values on the rubric. CKLE scored 31 out of 36 points on a rubric. Uh, Wind Wisdom was the other one was only 47% based on um, uh, their experiences in the classroom. I mean, those percentages were pretty clear where the direction wanted to go. That that top box with the check mark is important because we we've never seen this before, but the pilot committee um of everybody that voted on that committee um it was unanimous to adopt CKLA for a lot of reasons. Um uh number one, uh they felt like you see there Megan Brown's
022comment on to the left that it was just very organized and teacher friendly. um teachers felt like it gave them everything they needed to just pull everything together. Um and additionally they felt like it was really really high level instructional. So I'm going to kick it over to you guys if you uh could each share a little bit just about the experience, the conversation that we had as a pilot committee and what led to that decision and why you feel supportive of this. >> Sure. Um, I thought science of reading was like the number one thing I was looking for was we know that struggling readers need explicit phonics instruction. And so that was the number one thing I was looking for. Some of the curriculums felt like they were taking something that pre-existed kind
023of retrofit in some phonics instruction. This really felt like science reading was at the core of how it was created. So that was kind of the number one for me. Um, the second thing was just that everything is integrated. So before we had a great phonics curriculum, but my reading, my writing, and my phonics were all kind of siloed. So sometimes I was teaching a reading unit about fiction, but then I'm doing non-fiction as my writing, and then I'm teaching something in phonics that's great, but it's not necessarily found in the reading passage that I'm teaching. So what I really like about CLA is all of it is integrated. So now if I'm reading if I'm doing a phonics unit and we're talking about a C can take an S sound then I'm going to
024find the examples of those words in the reading passages as well. And then whatever we're reading about is going to be integrated into the writing as well. And so we know that they're not just decoding what they're reading, they're also encoding it, which is just having that having it all integrated together, I think is going to be so much more effective for for the students. So that was what stood out to me. They get comprehension, phonics, writing, vocabulary all intertwined and supporting each other. >> Awesome. >> Uh so what I found as a second grade teacher with uh the CLA um originally I did pilot wood and wisdom and then when uh we unassa um I decided to p the skills and start doing the domains which is the knowledge portion. My students were so
025engaged in every single part of it. there like there's worksheets but the worksheets are fun. They are ones that the kids are actually wanting to do. Like we were doing a the PH says and all the kids even though we had learned that earlier in the year they were very uh they wanted to learn about it. They wanted to um make sure they were spelling the words correctly. They wanted to learn the new words that we were learning and some of them were like like third and fourth grade words but they were being exposed to those type of things. I also found that with the ski scales portion, the writing and the reading together were very intertwined. So, for example, um I started doing the war of 1812, which is wild for second graders to
026learn about, but they're very engaged and they want to write about the war of 1812. They want to write about their experiences and what they believe is uh like white and broad, what is going on during this time. And I just just found that when I started doing the domains with knowledge, the kids are comprehending really well because they are engaged in the books. they are engaged in the stories that are being written for them. >> So in fourth grade I the engagement again was extremely high. We were learning about geology and how the earth changes constantly and the kids are coming up with more and more questions and some of them are being answered but the things that weren't answered in the unit the kids want to do research and find out themselves. Um
027engagement is a huge component. you know, if the kids are going to buy in, they're going to retain all of that knowledge. Um, which previously has been an issue. Uh, the other thing is that when you learn something in CKLA, they continue to use it. So, we teach them about the index in the glossery and books and the table of contents. And previously with Mesa, you'd teach a lesson on that and great, it's done. In the teacher manual, it no longer says, "Please tell them to turn to page 63." It says, "Please tell the students to turn to chapter 2." They have to go to the table of contents to figure out what page to go to. Um it will you'll say, you know, can somebody tell me what this word meant? It was bold
028in the book. And they know to go to the back of the book and look it up before they answer. Uh and that again continues throughout all of the units. So we don't have to intentionally create spiral review and make time for that because it is literally built into the program. >> Thank you. >> Can can I ask a question? So how when you were piloting did you um I understood if I'm correct that they're integrating URC with their during or is it just supported by can you explain that a little bit more clarify that? >> Yeah. So we're going to move to so um let's transition here. Excellent question. So the the unified coherent system, so the CKLA skills portion is separate in K2, but it like um Alexis and Ashley both said, it's
029woven into what they're doing. So their foundational skills in reading, their science of reading, they'll have decodables that are built in, but then they're also woven into their stories. In third grade through fifth grade, all of those skills are built in. the morphology, the orthography, it's all built into the knowledge pieces. So, it's not separate. So, we're moving to this system. >> Okay. >> The URC, and Ashley and I specifically had a very specific I I went right to her because I know she uses it, is the URC will provide an instructional foundation that will benefit all of our teachers. They will have such a skill toolbox to pull from when kids aren't getting things that they'll be able to fit that in. Can you speak a little bit to that? Yeah, the URC and
030the CLA skills are very similar. They're both giving you that explicit instruction on different syllable types. So, you're going to learn what our controlled syllable type is and CLA just as you would with URC. The difference that I have seen is that after you learn the R controlled syllable type, then CLA provides a reader where there's multiple um examples of that in the context and they actually bold it, which is so helpful for the the younger reader. So if it's saying tiger, the eer is going to be bolded to draw their attention that we learned er says or remember. And so all throughout that unit, that specific phonics is highlighted with bolding at the lower L level. And then as they've mastered it, it fades away in the next unit and the new thing um
031becomes bolded. And so it's really nice how before it was, okay, here's phonics, here's reading. Hopefully you're going to remember what we taught you in phonics and bring it over to reading. But now it's okay, we're doing the phonics lesson. Now open this book and let's read a story that has that exact phonics um skill embedded in it. >> On a scale of 1 to five, how would you say this is the efficacy of let me get CKLA is compared to just URC alone? >> Um I would say I would say five. I would say it's in it's enhanced. I don't see anything that is provided in URC that is absent in the CPLA phonics. Um but then it adds in I would say more assessments and I would say um the connected text is
032just to be the crucial part. >> It sounds like that. Yeah. >> Do any of you use Ufly? >> I have used U usefly as like a tier two instruction for my small groups. Um I do enjoy UFly because it has like a really good foundational skills. It does provide like um like little passages like like what Ashley was saying about like connecting whatever sound we're working on to what uh passion it is. But I found that with the CKLA book specifically, even though I'm in second grade and like we have learned all like the syllable types, they still have a syllable types coming up from the skills that we're doing into the book. So I've uh looked at the very beginning book that we have for CLA and it's a lot shorter sentences and
033doing all that stuff and that still works all the way up until the end which is the very last unit which I'm currently doing with my students. And it does grow the vocabulary. it grows their um just overall ability to read and using longer sentences and uh trying to read paragraphs and I've seen that my students are a lot more engaged in that and they are able to read it because we learned that skill whatever uh like the PH for example that PH down is going to be in our book somewhere. >> Yeah. and and you know some some of the standards that you've been working for is getting kids to understand the why of learning and do you feel like that is building that that answer of why for the students as they're going
034through that curriculum? >> I do and I also think the knowledge um base portion is just building so much background knowledge that is that is something that really stood out to me. You know, in first grade a lot of times you have fables and fairy tales and and the CQI curriculum still has units on fables and fairy tales, but it also had astronomy. It had one on Egypt. It had one on the 13 colonies. So, there's all these different opportunities for them to have stronger background knowledge that I think will help build up the vocabulary overall. They intentionally, we didn't put this in there and we didn't talk a lot about it as a pilot team, but they intentionally uh align their unit uh content with science and social studies. >> So, there's some powerful
035overlap. >> Scott, I got two questions. Do you have more to present first? I don't want to interrupt you. >> Yeah, a little bit more. But go ahead. No, I'm fine. >> So, I just want to know, we've heard about how it's awesome it is and that's fantastic. Is there anything that you wish was added to this? Um, so our entire fourth grade team, minus one teacher piloted and for the assessments they do, their written assessment is very different than their digital assessment. So it's a matter of are you trying your writing skills out of your kids or are you truly testing unit content. Um, and if you do the unit content digital, there was nothing for us to give the kids feedback. there was no way to give the parents their grade. Um, and
036we brought that to the attention of CPLA and they said, "No problem. We will make it. You'll have it in time for next school year." So, uh, anything that has come up, they have fixed very quickly um or given us a time frame on when we would have it. Uh, if anything, truthfully, sometimes we feel there is too much. um often, you know, right now I'm doing a novel study uh in fourth grade and every chapter has 10 new very large vocabulary. Whereas, you know, we're all going, "Wo, this is a lot of vocabulary for these kids." Um, but as we all know, it's in the news. Michigan's reading scores are very low. And if this is truly what's expected of them, um, we've talked about this. It's hard right now. We are having to
037scaffold and scaffold and scaffold. But we can very much see that in two three years after these students have come up with this expectation, they're going to meet this expectation. The one thing uh that's missing for me uh in this um is independent reading because we're making a shift away uh away from a workshop model where things based on independent reading back to some common reading. Vocabulary is key, content is key, and we're going to we're going to see some tremendous improvements because of that. But there's powerful research in and around independent reading and self- selected reading. So, we as a committee will set some priorities uh for implementation and maintaining that kind of on the side just because we know how important it is. But I appreciate the question. That's really good. >> And
038then I just had one more for you. Um, with the dyslexia law that changed, did that affect the militant at all? >> Okay. Is there any is it going to be money in money out? >> It is. >> Okay. Yes. >> Guaranteed. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Nothing's guaranteed, right? I want to get close to 90. We have not paid it out. >> Okay. It includes all the materials that the teachers need. We don't have like >> limiting copies and stuff. >> Correct. Correct. Yeah. So, compliance and legislation is a big one. Uh we knew that this was important. Uh we have done tremendous work K12 uh in and around uh meeting the requirements of the dyslexia legislation, meeting the requirements of this 35N grant, making sure that the two fit together. Um, and then just
039making sure that we're in compliance for the future. That this is something that isn't going to change. Um, regardless of how their uh the approved list it is a rolling list, like they're going to be adding new pieces to it, but this is here in front of us now and we have needs now. And so this gets us in line uh with all of those things. Um, and then also importantly that this is a high quality program. Um it has strong evidence in ess which is um a nationally known review organization. It's the it's the one I go to first all green rating um statistically significant research studies in what works and then again on that 35M list. So just a really solid recommendation. Um, and then everything that our teachers talked about in terms
040of why, but that upper right corner in terms of teacher buyin, there are a couple of things that struck me from our pilot committee. And you, you all said it too, but the level of engagement was one of them. Every one of them talked about how engaged their kids were, even to the point where they got emails and comments from parents about what's my kids talking about at home all the time. Um and we even heard it at at DEIT from some teachers who were parents who had a kid participating. So that is big. The other thing is uh teacher usability. Our pilot teachers spoke about they had one half day of intro training before their pilot and they said they were incredibly impressed with how well they could just jump right in and utilize
041everything. The one thing I haven't talked about in terms of timing is on the heels of some math changes K5. This is probably not when we would have chosen to throw in an ELA change, but the timing was there. Uh $530,000 in grant funds to help us fully fund uh a resource. So, that resonated with me cuz I went back to a couple of teachers and I said, "You gota you got to tell me how this is. How's it going to be for our for our other people?" and they were very confident in our pilot meetings about how well they their own efficacy to utilize the program um just very very quickly uh was important. So again to Joe's question total investment 522 38848 um that is uh fully under the grant I finagled with
042them for a number of different things um it includes some teacher professional development we know that's important um uh and Brent to your question all classroom text and instructional material so we know ELA is different in that it it comes with significant text decodables student reader texts um as well as then uh teacher materials, a teacher package and and then online materials as well and 3 years of student consumable print materials all included in that price >> with any other questions. >> Sorry with that with the cost for these materials. So, I actually CKLA before it was purchased by Amplify, I actually it's open access. You can go to CKLA's sort of to the website and download almost everything. I pulled units for my kids during co um because they were really good and they're
043awesome. >> I will note that there are some differences because I was using when I pulled a small group Yeah. Yeah. I was already using CPL readers and I will say that the ones published now do have some differences and things like that. There's a few things that they've changed. So, um there may be the ability to use some of the open source, but some of it would refer to characters by different names. So, there would be a >> Yeah, it's a it's a really solid program. Um I think every it was very smart to do the skills component as well. Um the last I checked I feel like MDE just put out an updated list and I don't think URC was approved but I believe like nobody's really sure why things are or are
044not getting approved. So I was like okay. Um but I think it's really smart especially because of that integration. Um I know that's what's really tricky is that um the other thing too just to comment to in addition to like ed reports all the those things um this is one of the only core ELA curriculums that has independent peer-reviewed research. So, we're not just looking at, you know, studies that the publishers give you because they're trying to get you to to sell that, you know, um and and that's like ed reports is okay, but Ed reports, you know, it it it this actually has very very good independent research, long-term research that shows not only does it help kids reading the basic skills, but it's also building that background knowledge, which we know our kids
045need for comprehension in the middle grades. Um, so I think this this seems great. Um, one of my questions was, you know, I always think about implementation and the steps you need to implement, but like are there things that we're going to have to also deimplement or stop doing? >> Yes. >> Because that sometimes gets really tough because you just keep adding adding adding and so like how what is the plan for? So, we're gonna implement, but also how are we gonna sort of stop doing some things? >> And and I'd like to add on to that because that was gonna be one of my questions, too, because as I look at the list of schools, right, we're we're we're kind of light on some of the schools um for representation in this trial. Um
046and there's probably a number of different reasons, right? And that's okay, right? But one of the things we hear at times is when we do bring something new in, there's hesitancy to adopt it, right? So, we've done a number of different things. We've brought in and and and set the curriculum, new curriculums. We've hopefully learned a lot of lessons about okay, what went well, what didn't what go well, right? So, how do we approach this one differently than we've done in the past with different curriculums to make sure we have closer to 100% adoption as opposed to having >> Yes. buying. Thank you. And adoption as opposed to So, that's not necessarily a CKLA question, but more of adoption of the curriculum. >> Yeah. So, let me go in order. Um, yeah. He Heard is
047a good example, right? We added heerty for phmic awareness uh based on our data as something that we knew we have this specific need uh we need to add something to help that that is all layered into this. So we will have following this hope hopeful approval our team uh or part of our team will come back together to plan that implementation and all of those things will be laid out um particularly looking at different grade levels and the different things they have and how they structure their day to fit >> everything in. So so we'll be looking at that >> um uh kind of an analysis to see what else needs to be set aside because it's all integrated here. to your question then that team will also be planning. So there are two
048things that make me very confident we're going to we're going to get 100%. Um uh number one that team is going to plan our implementation for everybody how this is rolled out from training to ongoing support where to go for questions how do we layer that in and the second thing is in with our PLC process. I was just working on it today that as we unpack specific standards and what we're teaching next year, we're going to layer in time to make sure that teachers know where does that fit in the resource. So, our QPD, we talked about QPD last time. Our QPD committee met and at the elementary um they started talking about identifying focus area of vocabulary for next year. We'll lay out vocabulary, unpack the standards and line them up with followup
049instructions. The plan that I'm developing now is that we'll have our half days where they'll work in a complete grade level on the vocabulary standard. They'll walk away with a planning guide for how they're going to implement some lessons. They'll gather data on the next one. They'll be bringing that data back. So, they're going to they're going to have to teach it because they're going to be talking about it as a grade level. Um they're going to be bringing student uh data formative assessment as well as uh artifacts to talk about are we getting there to what Megan said exactly. are we getting to what the standard says and and how's the resource getting us there. So, >> can I I'm really excited about the timing of all of this. >> Can I add something,
050Scott? Of course. So, um teaching is a second leg for me. I I been a teacher for 4 years now. Um and something that I'd really like to point out about CLA is as a new teacher, these other resources that we have been given, they are hard to implement. Uh it takes a lot of work a teacher especially a new teacher to even understand them to feel comfortable teaching them. Uh and that's for URC. Uh I can't tell you how many questions I shot back to the trainers and had to ask other teachers and even for illustrative math. It's a little easier to implement than URC but we have a lot of questions. CQLA is laid out so easily for the teacher and there are so many tools uh for us. They they just made
051it so easy to use. >> You're not going to get a lot of push back because you can literally I can leave a sub a CLA lesson. >> That's a great measure. >> It is a great measure to go by >> guess how good the teacher manual is. Uh, fantastic. >> And then being the home room teacher, I also have slides. They already have all of the images ready for me. Um, they're very easy to click through. There's extra things that I can pull from the computer again easily. So, I do think there's going to be a lot less push back than you're used to seeing just because of that. Can I just ask along with that um in your pilot group, did you have any teachers who were involved in that who might not
052have been so hot on URC but then experienced the Cal LA and and just kind of felt this is it. Yes, I won't name names, but abs. >> No, you don't have to. A teacher who just everything she, you know, uh, I'm just going to do this my own way. Yeah. >> And she was on board with the other two of us on the team. >> We were all nine. We ran her meetings every week and and even she was like, "Oh, this is great. It hit it right on the net." >> Good. >> Perfect. Tom Jason, just to clarify too, there was just one school that didn't participate and they had people lined up and I I it had to pull out I think it was doing a leave or something like that. But
053>> well and like Cummings only has one, right? Correct. >> Um and I I looked at I was like did Grand View really do a pilot cuz I mean there's so many Grand View and that's great. I I'd love to see that we had you know a kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade. Maybe we're missing one of those grades but that's great. I mean that's I'd love to see that that you're sit all in one building and they're all able to communicate and talk about it. I just want to make sure we had representation on the list, >> right? >> So, okay. Um, I have lots of questions, so I'm going to try and put them in order. And at some point, John gets them, too. Because one of the things that occurred when
054we were interviewing John was curriculum. So, we had teachers that felt um I mean it's it's great that we had these teachers that were here, but maybe the information isn't getting drifted down to the other teachers in the buildings because it was a hot topic. >> Mhm. >> Curriculum was a hot topic, John, was it not? >> It was. >> So, real quick, how long what's the deadline on this grant? How long do we get? How long is it open? >> Um through May 17, I think. >> No, sorry, that was yesterday. And and end of May. We we we had to push the limit in order to get a solid pilot time in there. >> Okay. >> Because they changed it so often. how how the state's going to take this initial investment of
055over a half a million dollars and again it's curriculum it's important I'm not cost is big >> right um do you see anything in the distance where this grant will be funded again >> yes >> okay is the funding coming from the department of ed. The state department of ed? >> Yes. This is a state grant. >> Okay. All right. Good. Unlocking the reading code. >> Yeah. >> How many districts in the state utilize it? >> I don't know if it's matter. >> I'd like to know that information. >> Okay. >> Because the one thing I hear from teachers is they do not like it. Now, I'm going to tell you, I was number one banging the drum in the symbol when that came around. >> Yep. >> For the for the schools that piloted
056it, and it is not maintained its credibility, reliability, and I got a teacher that just backed up everything that I've been hearing is it's difficult. It's not on the approved list. >> Are we killing? >> Are we going to end it? is. >> So, we're not going to keep that in our budget anymore. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> And it hasn't been in our budget cuz that has been grant funded as well. >> Right. >> Okay. You know what? As long as it's not coming out my general fund, that's fine. So, when it comes to you fly >> Yeah. >> Right. We had this fantastic demonstration last year. >> I think it was last year. It was very cool from South. Um, so is the skills portion of this replacing UFI? >> No, because UFFL
057is a is an approved tier 2 resource. So for those kids, this will be our main tier one resource. What's nice about UFFL, we talked about UFFL. We talked about should we have some conversation about how UFly could fit in here? And it comes down to the cohesion of this program. UFly is a great program a because it's cost effective. You can buy a set for a school for like $80. >> Training is free online and it's a couple hours. So it's a great tier 2 program. So when you do an assessment and a a child has actually give me a first grade skill >> magic E >> they you have six kids that are struggling with magic E as a tier 2 intervention we can train paras to pick up the UFly manual and
058do specific magic E as a separate >> just just from the demonstration we had no >> oh my god it's magic >> it is magic >> and what's what's nice about that is that is that it's not the same thing over and over again. So, a student who doesn't get Magic E in the first lesson has an entirely new approach at the tier 2 level. Um, and so the cohesion here is that you fly would be another silo to move to is what our teachers felt like and they said it really well. Um, and then all of it's woven in here. 35 and UFly is coming out with a 35 version. Um, we expect it'll be on the list because the K2 is on the list, but um, >> okay. All right. So, I think
059I got the acronyms right, but I'm not sure. So, you got the knowledge, which is reading comprehension, and then you have the skills, which is the phonics. Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay. I was make sure I was listening correctly. >> Of all the teachers that were on this are is everyone here of the 26, did everybody pilot both of them? >> No, they were in two separate groups. That's why this pilot was a little unique because we didn't have time for both groups. And then they filled out the rubrics. They reviewed each other's data um and talked about strengths and weaknesses and had all kinds of conversation and digging in to learn about everybody else's experiences. >> A lot of us switched over though too as well. Like I originally piloted it and wisdom. I
060wanted to pilot pilot CLA because their presentation was stronger, but I was assigned and wisdom. after we finished and had kind of agreed and unanimously that everyone preferred CPLA, then we were given the opportunity to switch over and also try to pilot CPLA. So, we've been doing that for about the past month. So, in the true pilot, >> I I didn't I piloted Wits and Wisdom, but I've since been able three four weeks now to also do CPLA. >> Okay, great. Thank you for that. Um, what kind of a time frame I I know you're talking about professional development. What kind of a time frame are you getting for compliance? And again, this ties into John now, right? >> The new superintendent >> who wants happy staff, >> right? We want to poo poo and
061all that stuff to go into the vapor of negativity with regarded, you know, curriculum. I think every board member heard about the curriculum piece. What's the time frame to bring everyone on board and how are you going to measure the compliance that they're actually using this? >> Yes. So, we're going to implement in the fall. Um, if you approve, uh, my first task tomorrow is going to be to finalize this order and set shipping because I told Heather we'd get it in this budget year, which means we take delivery before July 1. Um, and then we're going to weave all of that into our PLC process for next year. Uh, including training, support, and compliance because the implementation of the standards is going to be part of their PLC conversations. So, they're going to have
062to be uh doing the lessons and bringing student data back for those conversations. >> Can I I haven't asked. >> Yeah. >> Um is it possible there's no hurry, you can give it to us in September. Can you provide the board doesn't have to be a presentation um a timeline and measurables so that we have compliance. The board never gets that. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. >> You probably weren't expecting it, but you know what? >> No, it's fine. >> It was a big ticket item. >> Yep. No, I >> And I'm paying attention and I'm I'm I'm convinced uh I joked with some people after that interview that this is going to be an immediate win, I think, um uh for morality here. These teachers talk about it. I can tell you Jason, I've already heard
063from Cummings about when can we get the materials we're so excited about. Um so, absolutely. The other thing we're that that's part of that compliance is within our PLC process because it's part of our MTSS system. One of the things we need to do uh that was low on our assessment is training effectiveness data. So that's one of our goals for next year. I can share that data uh after some of our trainings and things like that. So, okay. And then one more thing, and I don't want to beat it into the ground, but I just want to just want to note it very clearly that whether or not unlocked reading code came out of our budget, I think it has served its time and especially with these tools. Um, that's one of the reasons
064I want to see that plan. Yeah, >> cuz I want to see what is planned for you for that. >> Okay. >> And this replaces that. >> And I understand that >> the fact that you put it up there is non-compliant yet. >> Oh, yeah. That was okay. Thank you for that. that the intent of that communication was just that to say it's not compliant yet, but the fact that it's unknown compliance gives us the motivation to step aside and to say we need to go in this direction instead. >> That's fine. >> So, I apologize to them as >> that's okay. You know, it's it's good that we're having the discussion. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> And you know me, I'd rather just be direct, get everything out there >> so that we all know
065very clearly what the expectations are. You know, again, we want a happy staff. We want very intelligent students to come out of Granville. >> Absolutely. >> Nice presentation. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> What is there a plan for tier three? >> Cuz I know that this is fitting the whole idea of, you know, the to teacher total classroom initial instruction, right? That's what this is for, which is great. I love that. >> Yeah. And I hear you have um the you fly for tier 2 is there for what's the plan for? >> Yes, we have approved tier three resources as well. >> Okay. >> Um K6, but I'm really excited that we are having conversation around secondary reading for tier 2 and tier three at the middle school and high school. Finding
066that more and more than >> that's required under the dyslexia legislation as well. >> And I'll tell you, we're leading the area in uh in that work. >> Yeah. But I've also heard that we're we're meeting more and more of that as time goes on. >> Oh, for sure. We always have. >> It's just hard. >> Yeah, >> it's it's hard work, but we have really good group working on it. >> Good. >> Any other questions? >> Nice job. >> Thanks, Scott. Thanks. >> All right, let's do a roll call vote. >> Hibwood, >> yes. >> Stephus, >> yes. >> Gardin, >> yes. >> Dhan, >> yes. >> Campal, >> yes. >> Van, yes. Wonder, >> yes. >> Motion passes. Thank you very much and thank you ladies. Appreciate you being here tonight. >> Thank
067you. >> Have a good end of your year. >> All right. On to the next item. The 5B. The Kent ISD 2026 2027 budget resolution is recommended to Board of Education approved the attached resolution expressing support for the Kent Intermediate School District's 2026 2027 general fund budget. Can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Sure. and Kevin Phillips is with it with with us uh from the ISD and he'll do an overview of the proposed budget. >> Thank you for the invite. I was here last year so this format will look relatively similar to what we did a year ago. Uh just to give a a refresher, I'll go through what our fund structure is. We look a little different than a local district. We're more than just a general fund. So I'll go
068through that kind of where our sources of revenue come in. Talk about our budget assumptions for next year. Keep in mind that we really get going on building a budget for we want you fiscal year starts July 1 uh right around the beginning of January actually and we have all our budget assumptions kind of in place by the end of February. So as we'll get into this you'll hear that we always use the governor's budget proposal because that's the only one that's really available to you in February. Uh so we have to really kind of get out there early and make some assumptions well before we know some things. uh also want to talk about some top issues that are going on. That'll be at the end and then we'll show you all the proposed
069budgets for the various funds. It's meant to be kind of a high level overview, but don't hesitate to stop and ask any questions you might have as we go along. So, uh first from a fund structure fund structure perspective. Um we've got four major operational funds. our general fund, which is uh where our instructional services, our early childhood programs, adult ed, a lot of our administrative services, whether that's executive administration, our business office, HR, uh would include truency, pupil accounting, things of that nature, are originally booked within the general fund. We do move some money around at the end of the year, but that's what's in the general fund. our special ed fund which is our largest fund. Uh a big chunk of that money gets distributed out to local districts through the act 18
070distribution through IDA funding through Medicaid funding. Um we also have services and coaching that come out of our special education fund to support local districts. Separate from that but kind of rolled up when we do a fid report is the centerbased special education programs. As you know, we started taking those over back in 2019 and we assumed all of those over the course of a couple years. That's a separate fund. We'll show you where that's at. Uh and then finally our career tech fund which is all the CTE programs uh the career prep 2030 initiative if you're familiar with that and our desire to double the number of students getting the CT experience uh launch youu and then our IT department and our facilities department are originally charged within this fund but similar to some
071of the expenses in the general fund we move some of those around to be other funds at the end of the year to our data warehouse transfer. Uh we have three capital project funds that kind of go along with those operation funds. uh general, special ed, and career tech. Kind of self-explanatory. Uh general, it's not specific to anything. Uh special education, that's where we do our center program facility work. And then career tech, it would be for the KCTC facilities, uh my school, lunch, you so on so forth. A couple smaller funds, a co-op fund, that's the my school at Kemp program, plus any services we do for local districts, whether that's payroll, accounts payables, technology services. And then finally, our community service fund, which is the enhancement millage that we roll 100% of that
072funding out to the local districts. So, from a sources of revenue perspective, we're more property tax driven than a local district. Obviously, you're pretty reliant on state funding. uh we're probably about 6040 when it comes to local revenue versus a combination of state and federal. Uh you can see the millage rates for fiscal year 27 are in there. We have a very low general fund millage. Um lowest of the 10 largest ISDs in the state. Uh you can see as you read across there what special ed CTE and enhancement are. It's about 5.29 mills in total. You can see what the tax collections are off of those millages. So when you look at general and compare it to special education, it's a whole different ballgame, right? 3 million versus 132 million. Uh you can see
073the state funding for the various funds uh within the general fund that's really the two largest areas is the GSRP grant which is for the entire county. That's been growing rapidly. That grant alone is probably bigger than a third to maybe 40% of the local district's general funds in Kent County at this point with just it continuing to grow, grow, and grow. And the other major grant would be a delta. Um from a special education perspective that is uh the same type of cost reimbursements that you see here the 28.6 on operational cost and and then transportation reimbursements uh within a special ed fund on the federal level. Uh the general fund's got the title one grant special ed's primarily IDA and then CTE is the Perkins grant. Oh, let me go back one. Oops.
074Maybe I can't go back. Well, what was on the prior slide is out of those millages for the special ed and the voced millages or CTP millled the the Kenn board sets aside on one/10enth of each of those millages to go into those capital project funds that I was mentioning. So for the special ed and the CTE capital project funds, they're getting an infusion of in today's dollars about 3.9 million each year to help with those facility needs. Uh I mentioned the millages and and how they kind of compare to the other 10 ISDs. You can see there on the top left is the general fund millillage. You can see where Kent is the smallest. Do you want to make that a little bigger? That was not slideshow. I got talking and forgot about that.
075There you go. You can see it a little bit better. Um Kent at the 0841 mills and that was this current school years. Uh how that compares to the other 10 ISDs. So I was joking with our board today. We had our budget hearing that God, I would love to be Genese or Ingam when it comes to general fund and have four to five times the amount of money we have. But on the flip side, it's a benefits of uh taxpayers in the county, right? That it's a little bit lower. Uh special Go ahead. >> I was going to say on this one, um this is I like this because it helps me understand we're spending our money where I'd want to see us spending our money, right? Um so I'm glad to see that.
076And you know, obviously I don't know if special education if that's more population based if you have to raise and lower that, you know, as for your population or not. Um or is it uh what what's been approved by the by the taxpayers over the years. So there's been three or four times where there's been some sort of millage request for the ISD and hasn't happened in probably 15 20 years. But and from where where we sat, you know, obviously all three of these millages are subject to headling reduction. And so they they keep dropping each year, >> okay, >> with taxable value increases. >> So then they look at the vocational one, right? Majority of them are kind of right in the same area. >> But what is Ingram getting for 30% more than
077what the rest of them the rest of those uh uh higher ones are getting? >> It's a good It's an awfully good question. I mean, I'm not >> knowledgeable of what Ingram ISD does. >> Oh, come on. You guys all talk in a comparison. >> No, I don't compare it too often. um you know in the military's one thing and then there is what is the you know the basically the taxable value of each of these ISDs right and that can be widely different so you know Kent County is a a bigger county it might be a little wealthier than some of these other ISDs it might bring more money in for that same amount of millage so I'm not sure you know in Ingum does 1.29 29 really get them 30% more than what
078we see in Kent County. I don't know. Um so I really can't answer that question as to what they're getting. I obviously if it's apples to apples then they have the ability to maybe offer more programs than than we would and Kent. >> Is is Ingam is that Lancing? >> That's Lancing. >> So they got they got they got GM they got right they got tax >> in Lancing. There's some GM in Lancing. Yeah, there you go through. >> They got the government, man. I talk about money. >> They're not taxable. >> I think the overall point of the slide is that, you know, at the at when you look at all three of them, we're no higher than mid-range of these 10 ISDs. We're at the low end on some of them. So, we
079provide, you know, in my mind, a lot of bang for the buck for the millage rate that we're charging residents. The budget assumptions for the upcoming year for the ISD budget as I mentioned property taxes and tax collections is our big one. Uh taxable values are increasing by 6.44% for the upcoming year. Uh the headly in inflation rate is 2.7. So obviously our millages were subject to uh the millage reduction. Uh we tried to put a calculation to that uh a few months ago and I came up with okay I think we'll get about 5% in terms of incremental revenue. Uh, we just received, I'm sure Heather got hers too, last Thursday. Got our L4029 Headley packages. After looking at that, our actual revenue increase is going to be 5.26. So, we were pretty close
080to what you're seeing in these budgeted numbers. Um, as I mentioned, it's the governor's budget proposal within here. So, state section 81 funding is kind of our foundation allowance within our general fund. Uh, 2 and a.5% that kind of matches the $250 increase in the foundation allowance you're seeing from all three budget proposals. uh section 51E something that you have here that relates to center programs uh students for us 10,300. Uh the big one for us is where GSRP might end up. The governor proposed a 6% increase. So did the Senate. The House has a 2.5% increase to kind of match the K12 foundation allowance. So um GSRP funding has been going up pretty significantly. I think that's a big deal for the governor to not only offer free preschool across the state to all,
081but then also to uh get it to a level where it's funded above and beyond the K12 foundation allowance now because it is a more expensive program when you think of 16 kids in a classroom and you have to have two adults. Uh the math on that a little bit more challenging than maybe a a class with 30 kids and one teacher. So, uh you see some of the other ones on the revenue side there. Uh investment income that that's been a big deal for us the last few years. If you went back to the early stages of CO when interest rates were zero, I think it was fiscal 21, we uh we had $40,000 in investment income at the ISD and it's a $400 million budget. We got a lot of money in the
082bank. Uh year or so ago, we were up to 5.8 million. So the differences with with the interest rates have moved along uh has certainly been a big benefit for our budget. Uh we're just over 4 million for next year. uh kind of expecting at least back a couple months ago expected some rate cuts to come uh between July and the following June here in 2627. That might happen a little slower than I would have thought just with what's going on geopolitically, but we'll we'll see how that plays out. On the expense side, we're in the third year of three-year contracts with our collectively bargained groups and we're in for 3% plus a step for next year. uh with health benefits just like you would see here the PA52 increases we don't have any impact
083from what might come with the House Bill 6058 as you know the Supreme Court heard arguments on that last week we actually budgeted for the impact last year and it didn't happen um I'm kind of in a position now or I was back in February that even if the Supreme Court rules to move these bills to the governor I'm not so sure the governor will sign the bill my prediction is she might veto it and we might see something different because there's a state budget impact as well as school budgets when you talk about house bill 6058. So, uh Mipers governor's recommendation fundamentally, you might know this, uh there's no change with the exception of the programs that have health insurance coverage within them. They went down by 2.4% on that contribution rate because the
084healthcare trust is over 140% funded now. So, they were able to reduce those rates a bit. And then you see some of the minor assumptions there at the bottom. So that leads us into where we are with our funds for next year. Uh starting with the general fund, the projection is to add to fund balance by about $350,000. It would leave us around $7.6 million in fund balance. You can see that's quite a bit different than what this year looks like, right? We're we're using almost $2.5 million this year. That's really due to two things. One, we've been uh doing a renovation project at our educational services center building over the last couple years. And this year we transferred 1.5 million out of the general fund over to the general fund capital projects. It was
085an $8 million project. Uh the general fund over the last couple years has contributed about 4 million of that 8 million to the project. We also paid for all the costs of the enhancement millage election from last November and for this year that was $833,000. So it wasn't a cheap endeavor to um to take on all those costs, but it was the right thing to do. for all the money the local districts are going to get over the next 10 years. Certainly an investment that it's going to pay off very nicely. Uh CTE fund, you can see that we're projecting using about $1.5 million of fund balance, but keep in mind we are transferring $5 million over to our CTE capital projects fund uh for the satellite campus that we're planning at the Dutton Elementary
086site down on 68th Street. We had a $10 million transfer this year and we'll talk about this here in a slide or so, but the idea is to use about $25 million out of reserves as kind of a down payment on getting that building built. Then I'll talk about the rest when we get a couple slides down. So, if you took that $5 million transfer out of these proposed uh budget, you'd have about a $3.5 million structural surplus. And keep that number in mind, too, because that'll be important as we talk quickly about what operational costs for that second campus might look like. special education proposing a $4.7 million surplus that includes uh $3 million in supplemental act 18 uh payments. So really your structural surplus is approaching $8 million there and we have about
08720 20.5 million in fund balance. That's a number that's probably a little higher than I'd like it be to be for the long term. But we also have a lot of capital uh improvements to center program facilities coming down the pike in the next few years. And we're working uh with Progressive, our architect, to kind of do a master planning study. And once we know what the results of that are and kind of get our arms around what these facility needs are, my goal would be to get that fund balance back down to about 7 or 8 million. And that's really where we should probably keep that. And the long and the short of that would be we get some of the facility work done, but I would love to be able to even up
088the act 18 distributions to local districts to help them with their unfunded special ed cost going forward if we can. Uh center programs that looks a little different than our other funds. uh we total up all the revenues and expenses from those programs and historically expenses have exceeded revenues and the difference uh was paid for by the local districts through a what we call excess cost or tuition for those programs. Uh for the upcoming year 2627 we're projecting that cost to be about $3.1 million. It's the second line item you see that says excess cost or district contribution uh for the current year that says $187,000. But if you look down below, you can see that we started the year with a fund balance of 1.5 million. So the excess cost is really actually about
089$1.7 million this year. So we don't really have a $3 million increase from year to year on the excess cost. Um I think the 2526 numbers are going to get quite a bit better when we do a final amendment. to 187,000 will certainly go away and I think we'll end the year with some sort of fund balance remaining a portion of that 1.5 million which will then assist with 2627 and bringing that tuition cost down for the local districts cooperative fund as I mentioned that's my school and some of our local district services uh proposing and projecting a deficit of about 170,000 that's primarily my school u when COVID hit our enrollment at my school went up pretty dramatic radically and therefore we had to layer up some staffing to kind of accommodate that additional
090need of students and now we're coming down the back end kind of like you guys have done with co funding. We really didn't have co funding so we didn't go through that bubble but now we're trying to deal with that bubble that we have less students in my school because some of those co needs have gone away plus a lot of districts started creating their own online services and maybe we don't need to use they don't need to use my school as much as they have in the past. So, we're trying to right size through some staffing reductions and whatnot. You can kind of see there when you look at 2526 compared to 2627 that change in fund balance is dropping. Uh we still have some work to do. The the deficit is fundamentally in
091summer school. Uh part of the the Labor Day waiver for the county is that we have to offer free summer school to all of the county. If need be, we do that through my school. So, we've got about 165,000 in summer school expenses with my school, but no revenue. So, the school year portion of it pretty much break even. It's really the summer school where we're we're losing some money. Uh those three capital project funds, uh things are pretty quiet this year in the general fund. We wrapped up that $8 million project at the ESC building. Uh we've got a couple very small things planned for this year. Not much in the way of revenues. We're not transferring any money into that fund. Uh we've got about 50,000 sitting in there. We move money in
092there kind of on an as needed basis, unlike special ed and career tech where we're setting aside a tenth of a mill for an ongoing revenue stream. Uh with special ed, you can see about 4.1 million in revenue, 3.9 in expenses. We're going to add the fund balance there a little bit. We've got a handful of projects. We're going to be doing a lot of uh parking lot improvement, site improvements on the Lincoln campus. We're going to be doing new boilers at Pine Grove. and we're going to be starting uh major renovations at Empower Youth Central and Empower Youth South. So, uh there's other things that are still coming. That's why we got that fund balance in here of 14.4 million. We transferred 10 million this year from the special ed fund over to that
093cap projects fund to kind of get prepared for that. Then with career tech, you can see revenues of about 9 million. That includes the $5 million transfer in from the CTE fund expenses of 16.3. uh 12 a.5 million is uh budgeted right now for the satellite campus. Uh the plan is for design to be done around Thanksgiving time on that facility and then get started with construction uh in early 27 February March type time frame. So the estimate is we probably spend about 12.5 million before June 30 there. We also got about 3 million budgeted for some significant HVAC renovations at the current KCTC campuses up at Nap Street. the two buildings, we call them east and west. So, uh that leaves us with about 5 million. Uh we will certainly transfer some more money
094in as we uh get a little further into the project for 2728 and then uh pretty soon here we'll talk about uh what the plan is there. Just to give you an idea of what our fund balances look like, we've had a wonderful 10 years in terms of taxable value growth. It's gone up 60% in 10 years. So when you think of the foundation allowance for you guys as a local district, I don't think that number's gone up 60% in 10 years. So our revenue stream's been a little more robust than the local district. And it's allowed us to build these fund balances over uh the last 8 to 10 years. You can see we've started to, you know, you start to see some decreases in fund balances and that's really all facility driven where
095we're moving money into capital projects. Uh these funds have been structurally very sound now for a decade. So that's a really good thing. Um you can see where the fund balances are projected in red for the end of this year and then the end of next year. So certainly solid in all three of those funds. Getting into a couple items that we were talking about at uh in in depth with our board is first is the satellite campus. It's looking to be about an 85,000 square foot uh facility down there on 68th Street. The goal is to have a thousand students attending school down there on top of the 2200 we have out on Nap Street. uh over two sessions. So right now the rough estimate I'm using kind of the line I drew in
096the sand with the architects and the CMS was that we got to keep this to $50 million. Uh I mentioned the goal of 25 million down and then uh financing 25 million at the end of this year we should have about 30 million in combined fund balances between our operating and our capital projects fund. Uh the idea is to open this building in the fall of 29. So the goal is to have an operational fund balance about 8 to9 million. That would leave us with about a 20% fund balance in that fund and then still have about 5 million in the capital projects fund for things that we might need on the NAV campus for those facilities. So if you looked at basically putting a 50% down payment down and then borrowing the rest, what
097we would do is what's called board resolution bonds in the marketplace. That would look no different than if Granville went out and asked the community for a millillage and then sold bonds. it would look the same from that perspective, but we're not going to go to the community and ask for any approval on a millage. We're just going to take on kind of traditional mortgage debt, for lack of a better word, through a board resolution. Um, if we did those over 25 years at a rate of 4.2% that u PFM, our uh financial adviserss, gave me a couple months ago, you're looking at about 1.6 million a year in debt service. I talked about that a tenth of a mill set aside. By 2029, that should be bringing in about 4.2 million. So in year
098one there, you've got about 38% of that set aside. Um going towards debt service, you'd have a little over 60% of it still there for facility improvements. Certainly that hopefully would improve over time as taxable values continue to grow. So that's kind of the construction side. The operational side, uh I mentioned that structural surplus about 3.5 million for 206 27. you start talking about, okay, what kind of costs are we going to have to layer on? Um, and this is these are numbers that are moving around, but if we had to have 12 additional CTE classrooms, whether it's a combination of NAP and the South Campus or whatever, um, you're looking at about 2.3 million that there and then all the other things you might have to layer in uh, in terms of, you know,
099a counselor, a security officer, an IT person, you know, some administration, administrative assistance, uh, supplies with the non-personnel budget, and then facilities, which is, uh, Pine Grove is about an 85,000 square foot facility. So mereed often what it costs to heat and and run electricity and whatnot in that facility is about 550. So you can see pretty quickly you get up to a pretty big size number, right? You're approaching $4 million. So this is going to be a big challenge for us next couple years to make sure that when we get to the fall at 29 that we've got a CTE budget that remains structurally balanced with this second facility brought online. And we're working on that already. We're going to continue to work on it. Uh we do have a pretty robust what we
100call capital outlay budget for the CTE fund where we've historically just set a couple million dollars aside and let programs just it's Christmas morning and they put in for whatever they want. We're going to spend $2 million regardless. We're kind of shifting to where administration is really spending time with these programs. They're looking at things in a three-year process now and really does it fit with the curriculum or is it you just wanted to get this because it's the newest thing that's out there and we had the money set aside. So, my whole point to that is I'm hoping the $2 million or so we were setting aside each year will probably trail away and get a little bit lower and we'll provide some additional room within that fund. The other thing I wanted to
101mention with our general fund, which is our in my mind our fund with the tightest uh finances because we have limited revenue growth u because that low millage we were talking about that's about $3 million a year. Our section 81 funding is about three million a year. So you're only looking at 150,000 a year or so in revenue growth if you get about a 5% increase. So um one thing that we've been living off of and you were just talking about a 35mm grant. We have a ton of grants at the ISD. So this is really an ISD thing and our general fund is about 75 to 80% grants. It's a 90 million fund. 75 million of that is grants primarily GSRP and adult ed. You're probably familiar with the state's support of the retirement
102system out of the school aid fund. I don't know if you guys have talked about that all at all or not, but for unfunded liabilities, anything above 15.21% that the local district or an ISD pays, that additional need of money comes out of the school a fund. And they use a mechanism called section 147C where if the state portion of support is say 10.58% use that number there on the slide we pay those expenses at the local district level but then the state sends that money to you and you become net zero because the school a fund supporting that MD guidance on grants when you have personnel within grants is that they actually want you to charge that 147 C expense to grant dollars. So the example there is if you had a million-doll grant
103and you had $900,000 of normal expenses and the 147C cost within that grant was $100,000, you would charge that against that grant and you've spent your $1 million in grants grant revenues, but then the state sending you that $100,000 in 147C revenue to make that equal because it's a school a fund supporting it. So the long and short of it is you're getting two streams of revenue for that one 147C expense and we've been kind of living off of that for a few years. So on this slide if you look at 2122 2223 and 2324 you can see we added 1.6 to 1.8 million a year within our general fund uh to our fund reserve. But if you look at that number in red below it that's the amount of money we were double dipping
104on these grants so to speak. And then that third number you can see 169,000 139,000 and even a negative 171,000. That's where the general fund for us would have been had we not had this ability to charge this expense against grants. So it's a conversation piece with our obviously the administration with our board as the retirement system gets healthier and I can see this 147C rate coming down over the next few years. we need to start preparing for the fact that we don't have this supporting the general fund any longer and we're going to have to figure out that we might not be able to offer all the services we currently offer within the general fund and start making some decisions. So, we're just trying to get out in front of that four or five
105years before it actually happens. This is just another way of looking at it and it kind of shows in red that's kind of where our structural balance is for the general fund when you look at this 147 C impact. So you can see we were in the positive up through 2425 but now we're sliding into the negative and that's why it's becoming an emerging issue. >> And with that I can take any questions you want. >> So Kevin >> again great presentation. Thank you. Um a couple things I'll give you the kudos empower you. They fantastic program. >> It really is. >> It's been a challenge that's the enrollment's doubled in that over about the last five six years. And you're going to see that right with when you look at autism, when you look
106at everything else, right? It's not going down, it's going up. But the service you provide there >> is strong. So that's great. Um, so you've got this second campus going out in Dutton, which makes sense because you've got Kentwood right there, which is a major feed into that. Um, is there any discussion with regard to just doing more within the four individual regions as a whole instead of having and building on a huge campus? Maybe add on utilize existing buildings for services where we can keep our kids off the bus for a long period of time. >> That's a good point. Um, you know, I think the career prep 2030 initiative is really multiaceted, right? There's the ISD piece, which, you know, we're roughly 2200 or so. We're trying to add a thousand to that,
107but the goal is to get to 10,000 students by 2030. So, we're only 3540% of that. Then you've got the local district CTE component. And then we've got some regional programs that are kind of scattered around the county. West Michigan Construction Institute is one that comes to to mind right off the top of my head. So, it's kind of a three-part strategy. Um, you know, obviously the the districts in the north would like to see something in the north, but the the weight lists have been more weighted to the districts in the south. So, we thought and then the opportunity with Calonia and Dustin Elementary was there. It just seemed to kind of line up. >> It's it's it's makes sense, don't get me wrong, but >> instead of building the third campus, maybe do
108something with the regions >> and that might be the solution after we get the second one built. I think, you know, to get to 10,000 probably we're completely tapped out on the Nap Street campus in terms of space and the way that building's kind of shaped with spokes and whatnot doesn't really lend itself to um expanding there. And then obviously we've noticed just being where we're located, it's really difficult, especially in these southern districts to get up to nap because of just Grand Rapids has grown. Traffic's heavier. It's almost easier for Sparta, Cedar Springs, and Kent City to get down to our campus than it is for Thorn Apple Kellogg, you know, Kentwood, Caledonia, and all them because you're kind of fighting M6 and fighting the belt line and and 96 and all that kind
109of stuff. >> Yep. And then my my final one is so there's um especially in this election season, but it's even happened with the state legislatores where they're talking about um rolling back state millages. Is that what kind of a discussion are you? >> Property tax bills that are out there. Yeah. >> Uh we'll just have to wait and see on all that. Um obviously they they introduced and I'm kind of getting into Dan Beam's language here. the legislative guy, but they've introduced all these bills to eliminate property taxes and then introduced a bill to supposedly replace all that revenue taxing luxury services. And I heard Dan presenting um I think it's over $4 billion in property taxes they want to eliminate. So you think of the state education tax and some of the other
110ones if you're using that 6% sales tax, how many luxury services do you need to be consumed in Michigan? And it's 75 billion. So, as much as I like to play golf, um I don't think it's any of 75 million and limo services and some of the other things. So, Dan's contention would be this is all political, Bob. Um it's really the House trying to set up for November. And what they're doing is okay, affordability is the big buzz word both nationally in the state of Michigan. We're going to do something to make your life more affordable. we're going to eliminate all your property taxes knowing that the Senate's going to shoot it down because they're democratically controlled. Then they can go out and campaign on that and say, "Hey, we tried we tried to
111eliminate property taxes." Uh, but unfortunately the Senate said no, and that'll become the big battle for November. >> I I I sort of agree with you, but the other piece of that is when you I mean, you said it yourself, property values have increased, what was the number you gave us? >> 60% over 10 years. So when you look at that, you're talking about paying, okay, when you talk about price of gas, paying at the pump, paying at the budget, the family budget for even a home. So I don't see that going away. Just saying. So as you begin to noodle it, I would >> add that to your daily. >> Could there be could it be a meeting in the middle or some sort of tweak or some sort of credits? It's probably getting
112a little out of my lane, but yeah, something we have to keep an eye on. I would agree with you completely there. Yep. >> And and this, you know, the state school aid fund is still in pretty solid shape. The state's general fund is not. So, it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out as they try to work up the state budget here in the next few years. >> And how often do they pay Paul when with regard to that? >> Well, we're seeing that with all the higher red expenses going into the state schooling fund, right? >> Yeah. >> Thanks. >> Question for you, maybe just more of a request. Now, I'm one of one board member out of, you know, on this board out of what 20 some here in in
113the county, right? Um, but would be helpful for me because you talked about Lincoln, talked about NAP, you talked about Dutton, talked about Pine Grove, right? >> I would love to see a map that showed here's where we have locations and you talked about the West Michigan construction maybe partnership. I maybe you do have partners, maybe you don't. Here's a map of where everything is. Here's some of the other individual partnerships and what are we servicing there. Maybe this one's more adult education. Maybe this one's more special education. And just to understand a little bit more, talking about big numbers here. We're talking about a lot of things going on. You guys do a lot of great stuff, >> but all I know is NAP. >> Yeah. >> And you know, if you were to
114ask me, everything's done out of NAP, and I don't know if anything else going on anywhere else. Now, that may be where 90% of it is, but it sounds like there's more. And I would love to be able to see that and visualize that a little bit better. So, I >> No, I think that's a great idea. We can put something together and get that sent out. I think a county map of where everything is. there might be already something that exists. If not, I'll, you know, we can put our communications team on trying to draw something up. But yeah, the Ken ISD is fundamentally different than it was in 2019, right? The center programs came on. I mean, there's >> three empower you buildings that are spread around the county. You've got the Lincoln
115Pine Grove like you mentioned. We're I think we have 15 different buildings where they're spread out all over the place. So, um, yeah, I think that's a great idea. >> It wouldn't be bad. And then just give a quick blurb >> what services they provide. >> Right. Right. And how many students >> when you mentioned Lincoln, I mean I know it >> very well. >> I don't think a lot of the school board members know that piece of it. >> Yeah. And then and then how many people, you know, whether adult education or whatever it is, right? How many people are being serviced out of those locations, right? Um I I don't know. That's just be by preference. I'd love to see that if you guys ever come. >> I think it's a great idea.
116I'm curious on something because we I I mean I read and we hear that student enrollment is going down overall, >> but if your enrollment is going up, does that mean like the the districts around have lots more capacity in their their existing buildings? >> Uh I wouldn't say that. I would say uh Bob mentioned empower you. So that's the 18 to 26 year old transition program that specifically has doubled uh in the last 5 to six years. There's a lot of group homes that have come from the southeast side of the state and have taken up shop in West Michigan. That's really kind of driven some of our numbers. Um overall, I think things are pretty static otherwise. We're seeing a bigger weight list for CTE programming, but that's your kids that want to
117come into the programs, but you're right, the the 20 districts in general are decreasing year-over-year. Now, the M6 corridor is staying pretty consistent with with enrollment at the local district level, but most of the other districts have been falling quite rapidly, but it's I don't think it's really got anything to do with our programming. So, to see I was just wondering if that was >> is a trend statewide >> bringing giving more capacity to the schools or in their buildings. >> Is there more capacity in the school in the school individual districts because more students are going to like your buildings? But you you said like a lot of it's adult education also. >> Uh well certainly an 18 to 26 year old program isn't going to be in your local facilities. I mean if
118I guess if you had more students coming from a part of the day to our program whether it's at Nap Street or down in Dutton there's going to be a little bit of a gap there and but I don't know if it's something that's going to be a significant change to your overall building utilization. I'm on the advisory council for the print and graphics and they're down one teacher because their enrollment is dropping in that. But I still think skilled trades is where you're going to see the growth. >> I mean, especially at the cost of higher education. I literally do not want my grandsons to go to college. I want them to get into a skilled trade. I want one to get into plumbing and the other one to become an electrician and make
119a lot of money indeed. >> Anything else? >> My son wouldn't agree with me. >> Well, thank you very much. >> Thanks. Appreciate it. >> Appreciate it. >> All right. Any questions? >> All right. For the uh proposal, all those in favor? >> Yes. Opposed? Motion passes. All right, that is all we have. No public comment. Um, the next board meeting of the Granville Board of Education will be Monday, June 1st, 2026. The budget hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. So, just a reminder there, 6:30 p.m. followed by the regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. at the administration building and then what time on Thursday? >> 6:30, right? 6:30. >> 6:30 at um >> Pres. All right. Fantastic. And that is all we have and we are adjourned.