001well call this meeting to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance States of America the for it stands Nation God indivisible andice it's always a pleasure to be here see all these nice smiling faces so thanks for having us this evening Michelle do we have any agenda changes tonight the only thing um I have for changes is an updated Personnel report and I did give a hard copy to everybody very good thank you anyone here wishing to address the board on agenda related public comments tonight oh okay Michelle do we have any Communications I just wanted to bring to the board's attention any of the uh board members attending the Nisa conference uh coming up next week I did include um a hard copy of the agenda for with um some of the highlights
002of the um the conference and there is an app that you can get uh that kind of helps you walk you through the the agenda as well thank you you're welcome well for board and staff reports it is board appreciation week although I think we feel appreciated all year round but it is nice to be recognized especially with these beautiful gifts and I think I speak for the entire board and we say thank you to everyone who made this possible and thank you to those who elected us into this position to represent you um doesn't always seem real that we get to do that but we do always take it very seriously so thank you very much for for everything that you've done us I'm going to move right into uh welcome and student voice
003and I'm going to turn it over to the principal here Mr Thomas and Avenger good okay well welcome board thank you very much for showing uh your appreciation here at Starbucks coming and visiting us we really uh love to have you guys here um wow that switch one of the things we do every morning we walk into Starbuck um is well we greet kids out the door first we greet kids right here in the hallway when they first walk in um we have them go to their classrooms and then you'll hear one of our teachers Mr Burgess will come over the loud speaker say we're going to start our day we're going to start with the pledge of Allegiance we say the Pledge of Allegiance and then we start with the Sherman or Starbuck sorry
004Elementary Pledge uh and the Starbuck pledge we at Starbuck Elementary Pledge to be kind to everyone be responsible be respectful and be safe and we really take that to heart we want our students to be feeling safe here we want them to be responsible we want them to be respectful and it's something that we try to instill in each one of our students as a learner as a human as a citizen it's also an obligation that our teachers have for our students they embody those same qualities so that they can give their students the best education that they possibly can one of the things I thought we could do here tonight would be to show you a little bit of how we do that and how we match it to our strategic plan uh I
005don't know if you came in the front door but our strategic plan is right out here in the hallway um posted right by the front door there so we picked something for each of the five areas of the Strategic plan and just present a little bit about how we uh embody that here at starbon but first increase in the graduation rate this one was a little tricky at first until you really start thinking about it because graduation they tend to think of the high school but when you really think about it here and all the other elementary schools is where students learn how to be students okay they come in they come into our kindergarten classrooms they've never been in a formal School setting like kindergarten or something they may have been in preschool um
006but they come in here and they have all these expectations they learn how to sit they learn how to persevere they learn how to think they learn how to be students and without those skills that they have and they use throughout moving throughout their school career they would never make it to graduation much less graduated so one of the things we do is we give them those basic skills here we want them to be able to learn we want them more importantly to be able to learn how to learn and that's what we do increasing meaningful student engagement it's sometimes hard to see student engagement when you walk into a classroom you can see kids working or playing or something like that but are they really truly engaged one of the things we try to
007do here is to set up the conditions for the students to be engaged to feel safe in the classroom to feel safe trying to feel safe making a mistake to feel safe in that they can make suggestions they can ask questions they can learn and we set that up here at Starbuck we make sure sure that the students feel safe we make sure that those St students know that it's okay to make a mistake our PTO does a bunch of stuff after school to make St students feel like they're part of a Starbucks family that they belong here they're one of us our teachers do it all day long every day talking to the kids encouraging the kids and just allowing them to be engaged so we use that overall student attendance we do or
008we're starting a what's called a uh Starbuck cares phone calls every day we run a a uh attendance list for the students that are absent and I know those students from school tool get a phone call we have our own phone calls we call a live person on the phone this end to the to the family is everything okay uh do you need anything uh is there anything we can get to you so that your student is not going to fall behind or anything like that and it's just kind of a personal touch some people you know might be a little I already got this phone call thank you very much but a lot more are just more welcome oh thanks for reaching out you know thanks for asking simple as that so we want
009to get kids here and one of the ways we do that is show them we want them to be here behavioral supports enhancing behavioral Sports for the students we are one of the schools that has a tier 2 PBIS team um I don't know it's Miss bradle here nope our school counselor excuse me does a lot of work with those tier 2 kids doing checkin check out uh running lunch groups just making sure that those kids again feel connected and feel safe and feel supported infrastructure buildings grounds I don't know if you came in around the side here around the front we have new sidewalks and the prek people are loving it I think it's the best thing ever we're getting some more new sidewalks so that's a really good thing thank you so much
010for allowing us to do that next year or actually in this winter and spring uh coming up excuse me uh we have new window shades in the One Wing down this way we're getting more this way and this other wing and it may see not seem like a lot but I'll tell you the teachers will be very are very appreciative because in the summer the Sun starts beating in those windows and that room heats up like crazy and if you don't have good shades they don't close or they're not there something like that it's wonderful to have Shades that actually work and you can help give you some uh support in controlling the climate in your classroom okay so that's our five uh strategic plan of points what we do helps make that plan successful
011so it doesn't look like it's a direct line from here to graduation but you have to have a base you have to learn how to do all of that stuff first before you can get to Wy or case or the high school because if you don't know how to learn if you don't know how to think if you don't know how to be responsible if you don't know how to persevere you're never going to be successful and that's what we do here we give those kids the tools to be successful what kids are we talking about well we have a lot of student voice here we have a lot of Staff voice here we even have some parent voices tonight through I believe letters right Mr Burgess yep through a couple of letters that Mr
012Burgess is going to read so I'd like to introduce to you four of our students here um you guys want to come on up you see over here and I'll introduce you real quick Ana Christian Ella and where's Italia there she is ladies and gentlemen I'll do real quick they're gonna introduce themselves as well this is Ella she's one of our kindergartens here Christian or CJ one of our third graders this is annia she's one of our fourth graders that's Italia she's one of our third graders and we're going to start with oops we're going to start with Miss Lewis ready Mr up [Music] here that's fine I love coming to I love coming to school every day playing with me I love playing with my friends see my teacher yeah my name's Italia and
013I want to read you this um Story one fine morning Jackie and Annie woke up really early Annie said I want to go back in the treeh house when Annie was about to go to The Treehouse went go out to the front door Jack stopped her and he said what do you think you're doing said Jack I'm going back to the Magic Tree House said Annie and and she went off to find the Magic Tree House Jack yelled Annie stop yelled Jack but Annie kept on walking through the forest and then she was gone in the mid when Annie started off the The Treehouse Trail Jack ran into her Jack yelled Annie where are you said Jack until he saw the tree house jack saw Annie's head sticking out of the window when Jack saw
014Annie's head inside the treeh house in the treeh house jack quickly climbed the ladder when Annie reached in the tree house he saw Annie picking a book at the bookshelf when he found when she found a book she was looking for a page she pointed at the page and she said I wish I went to the Arctic said Annie when when she said her wish the treeh house began to to shake and then it spun fast and then faster until it was still absolutely still when Jack opened his eyes Annie was shivering Jack said what is the matter I'm cold said Annie Jack was feeling cold himself though he grabbed a dirty cloth and covered him and in and he climbed out of the tree house here said Annie Jack looked into the window he
015saw a polar bear running into the Treehouse the polar bear Shak the treeh house both Jack and Annie screamed The Treehouse was The Treehouse was shaking said Jack Jack said go down said Annie just said Jack no way said Annie I'm not going down there well said Jack you have to go down because I'm not going down there said Jack well I'm not going down because I'm scared of polar bears said Annie when Annie climbed out of the tree house she touched some snow and she screamed out her lungs when Annie stopped screaming she said I don't have shoes said Annie Jack said I guess we have to stay here said Jack so they did both of them were freezing cold soon the polar bear was walking another polar bear was walking toward the Treehouse
016when Annie peaked out the window she saw a big polar bear walking to the treeh house Annie yelled Jack Jack came to the treeh house and and he said what happened and then then Annie said there's a polar bear shaking our Treehouse again and then Jack said go down there and say make him make it and then he said that's all the pages trying to add some to it yes good afternoon today I will be reading this story I made on a Saturday morning I woke up to eat breakfast few hours later hear a knock on my front door it was a Raptor I had to let him in would freeze to death so I let him in then I played with him on the PS5 the end we have now anzer my name is
017anas Spitzer and I'd like to tell you about myself I have blue eyes and my hair is blond with some purple I am a fourth grer Starbucks I wear glasses and I like to HS my favorite colors are pink purple and blue I have a lot of friends and I am also 9 years old my birthday is December 20th I have an amazing cool and loving mom and my dad is also amazing cool and Ling my sister is nice and caring my brother is also nice and caring I have two dogs two cats also have two loving and caring grandmas I like to do I like to ride the motorcycle with my dad I also like to gymnastics and I like to right well done guys it was awesome we also have a couple of
018uh staff members teachers that would like to speak and to start with Miss Mulford start with Miss Mulford and then we're going to end with Mr Burgess hello everyone my name is Heather Mulford um I'm a teacher here at starbook I take great great pride in having been a part of the Watertown city school district for the past nine years um Tyler totoi did a fantastic job two weeks ago articulating the significance of celebrating our commitment to our students our achievements and all of the incredibly positive developments occurring within our districts and I too recognize that difficult conversations are necessary as we address our challenges and seek to improve every day and every year within our classrooms our buildings and our district the words that often come up are when we know better we do
019better tonight I will be focusing on only the positives because one I'm here to balance the narrative and two anyone who knows me knows I don't need excuse to talk anymore I'd like to begin by discussing the district as a whole this year all staff in the district have been working tirelessly to improve the outcomes of all of our students that work has started with a team of leaders that have done an amazing job of getting to know the unique perspectives of parents students teachers staff and administrators to ensure that any new position program or curriculum would be necessary effective and for the good of the district and community considering the complexity of accounting for all of these stakeholders while also navigating laws political climates Financial constraints and evidence-based best practices it's a feat that
020I think most of us could agree is so cumbersome It seems impossible while these decisions undoubtedly enhance the potential success of our students effective implementation is crucial I have witnessed firsthand the unwavering dedication of our staff over many years with each new challenge that arises numerous staff members are eager to collaborate and seek Solutions demonstrating a com a commitment that involves long hours unpaid time and sometimes sleepless nights believe it or not this dedication is not for the holiday bonus as Mr Burgess likes to tell us I recognize that from high school down to prek there is an overwhelming number of new initiatives but I would like to focus on the elementary level only because that is what I observed daily in the past year in the K4 buildings we have learned and implemented evidence
021informed instructional strategies based on the science of learning including manipulating curriculum to incorporate direct instruction increase retrieval practice to combat the forgetting curve gradual release structures decreasing cognitive load by adding opportunities to respond in practice and making sure that with each imple implementation we continue to put on a stressfree face to welcome each student with a smile every single day we have implemented a districtwide phonics program to ensure our students graduate from elementary school with essential literacy skills additionally we have adopted a 1.5 math Intervention Program to establish fluency thereby freeing up working memory for solving more complex problems all this is being done while we adapt our practices and reading and writing pilot new tier one math programs teach social emotional skills explore science and social studies and provide tier one tier 2 and
022tier three lessons during interventions the amount of dedication and planning this takes is unimaginable but we get it done for our kids with all that being said every teacher in this building arrives for their students each and every day because we know that oftentimes we are the only piece of consistency in their lives regardless of how tired or stressed we may feel you will find every staff member in this building greeting the children by name with posit positivity and a smile the sense of community in this building is unparalleled whether it's supporting a student who is experiencing a loss or some outside trauma a family who has lost their home or a colleague who is dealing with a hard time we unite as one to make it happen we truly are like family here and
023to quote Mr Lennox sorry Mr here it's a buck we do it all I appreciate you all listening as I rambled on about all the nitty-gritty parts of our daily lives as education ERS I think it's so important for all community members to understand how much work goes into every decision every day and every child in this District your children are so important to us and to everyone in this room I hope that each of you leaves tonight knowing that you have made a significant impact in these children's lives if they fully understood the level of commitment and involvement it takes they would be here to express their gratitude with me it truly takes a village and now Mr burges good evening to those in attendance and to those who may be watching virtually my
024name is Darren Burgess and I'm a fourth grade teacher here at Starbuck this my 13th year at Starbuck and my third 33rd overall with Waterton so you would think I wouldn't be nervous right now I've done this a lot but I am nervous bear with me I'd like to start by thanking our Board of Education members for your dedication and the support you provide to our district I mean that very genuinely I personally have never been in your shoes but I've attended several board meetings throughout the years your job as board members is not an easy one and and I commend you for your volunteerism yes volunteerism which in its truest meaning is the act of contributing free labor to conduct community service volunteers change the lives of their community members out of feelings of
025social responsibility and a desire to give back I know those are the reasons why you serve your hearts are in this and we here at Starbucks thank you so let's hear it to our leaders and in administration Dr schmeel Mrs Gaffney Miss Lane Mrs Durham thank you for your enthusiastic approach you take your job seriously and you believe in the decisions that you make that positively impact our students parents and staff your hearts are in this district and we know you all genuinely bleed purple so thank you Mrs grel who I've known professionally longer than anyone in this room although I did have Mr Harrington in class back in 1992 than thank you Mr grael for always being the best your constant professionalism topnotch work ethic and desire to always do your best has helped
026make our district tick for many years so let's here so we have a dedicated Board of Education and administrators that work together to help make our school the best it can be how about we hear from some of our customers though the ones who really truly matter the most are students parents and staff so these are direct quotes from Starbucks students they weren't prompted they were just asked a basic question what do you think about it here at Starbuck these are short ones I think Starbuck has nice people every teacher at Starbucks is kind and nice Starbucks students are kind also the teachers are nice the playground is nice Starbucks school is awesome all the teachers at Starbucks are unique that means that they are all different and special and the last one Starbucks is
027the best school ever so that's what our students are thinking now I have a few parent quotes and again these parents were not forced to do this I didn't say I'm not passing your child this year they were Vol they they went above and beyond I have three to read and they mean a lot to me and I hope they mean a lot to you this is a parent quote number one we love Starbucks we've made sure all three of our children have attended Starbucks I love the fact that all the teachers know all the kids who go there parent quote number two Starbuck is an amazing School the staff were all very helpful and accommodating for my child and her needs I'm so appreciative of Mr nabinger and nurse Miss Kim and all of
028the staff that took part in my daughter's time there amazing school and even more amazing kind staff parent quote number three I'm a mom of a Starbucks student I would recommend all parents with younger children to attend Starbucks Elementary the love that goes to the kids is amazing the help they get is above and beyond my daughter couldn't read or comprehend right after the pandemic and now she's doing much better in everything all because of the love from school going above and beyond for my daughter I love it here wish he could stay until 12th grade but once again thank you all teachers and staff for making life a lot easier for my daughter that was hard to read that the first time without losing it that that's that one sentence is huge team Starbuck
029for life can't wait until my son attends next year I'm very proud to say I love the school and the staff so those that's what our parents think of it here here are some staff members again these were Anonymous no names attached to them they didn't have to do this was their first gut reaction what is it like to work at Starbucks each and every day I wake up happy to go to work the staff is the most caring and supportive staff I ever worked with they truly care for the children families and their co-workers because of this it reflects on the students students are happy confident and well adjusted it's a blessing to be able to feel that you are part of another family a team that's making a difference every day okay the
030next staff quote when I was asked ask what I enjoy most about working at Starbucks two things came to mind the first being how I enjoy coming to work every day seeing how passionate my co-workers are about their roles inspires me that we're all in this together being able to work alongside such dedicated individuals truly enhances the joy of being part of the school Community second thing would be how it feels like family the support from everyone here during both personal and professional challenges celebrating successes together and offering help when times are tough there's a sense of belonging and I'm lucky to be a part of the Starbucks family okay third staff quote Starbuck is the school anyone would be lucky enough to work at or to send their child to every staff member shows
031up to work each morning with a bright smile and positive attitude each morning you'll find almost every staff member greeting the students when they enter the building or in the classroom a positive work environment has open and clear communication trust respect empathy as well as being understanding not just staff but also for our students and family here at the buck we do just that the community here is like no other there's constant support and help when it's needed between our staff here and the families at home we all have the same goal the success of our students the last teacher quote I wake up in the morning excited to come to Starbucks I know that I'll be greeted with smiles from all of my co-workers and our awesome Starbucks students being able to Witness children
032develop and grow while immersed in a positive envir reement here at Starbucks is the best job in the world I was eligible for retirement two years ago but why leave when all the good stuff is happening right here I wish all Starbucks students parents and staff could truly understand how much this school genuinely means to me I really appreciate all of you listening I know that was a lot but we mean it it appears that we have all the pieces in place to ensure Starbucks has an excellent school year I think pieces are right here some of them most of them our agenda here will always be students first so thank you all for listening that's all I have once again the students staff parents say way better than administrator ever could thank you very
033much for being here with us this evening we appreciate it we we have some uh we have some certificates for our friends who spoke tonight is Ella still here just went there okay let's hope she comes back uh Italia come on out come right up that was a lovely story I look forward to hearing okay what about Christian left okay we'll get the certificate uh and and Ana come on up anybody else have comments before we move on No Sa to the end okay moving right along on our board and staff reports tonight I'm going to turn it over to Mrs Lori conru who's fearing remotely for the policy committee meeting report hi everyone good evening I am here to talk about we met for about 10 minutes after our meeting last Thursday regarding the
034budget for next year and we just talked about policy 8302 making a typo change on page one section 4 and then making a small change on page two um excuse me page two section three and we are going to make the change of the Board of Education authorizes the superintendent of school to convene a reconsidering committee when a written complaint has been received um we were going to present that to the board to review and we do have it um on the agenda tonight um to be reviewed unless um anybody had some things that they wanted to discuss or whatever so that's it that's all we had was that because we just met for 10 minutes since we are not there tonight to do our whole hour meeting so we we convene next month and
035that's all I have thank you very much I think I saw Ella come back in Ella can you come up please I on a round of applause for all right moving along on board and sta reports I'm going to turn it over to Dr Larry schmeel who's appearing remotely for the superintendent of schools report good evening everyone um I would like to as our staff said congratulate our Board of Education uh for their volunteerism um each of you should have a purple bag in front of you and I would this is going to bring back a memory from last Thursday's can you hear yes yes okay this is going to bring a memory back for at least one of you last Thursday as we were going through our Capital project workshop with the board so
036if you could please reach your hand in your bag and you're going to find an object in there it should be a 3D object sitting they're sitting out on the little Legos so the Lego should be a representation one of our board members we talked about statutes and um so there's your [Laughter] statute play I've never been memorialized in Lego before I've waited my entire life for this so I want to thank our stem department for helping facilitate that um and it's just a thank you to our Board of Education who worked tirelessly to support our district um I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your dedication to the Watertown city school district family your commitment to our students staff and Community is truly inspiring thank you for your tireless efforts in shaping the
037district's vision and let's celebrate our shared accomplishments during this board Appreciation Week um just a couple of things on my list for this evening um the uh FEMA application as I mentioned at the last board meeting the FEMA application is due October 16th um you'll be glad to know that that FEMA application was submitted last Friday um Brianne and I worked on that and our goal was to get it submitted uh in advance um at stake with that FEMA application is the $4.2 million in repairs to bring things at Watertown High School pre- disaster conditions in addition to that um was $1.9 million in cleanup efforts and what I do not uh what I'm not prepared to share with the board tonight because I'm still working with appella Osborne is to secure a number for
038the mitigation effort as uh people may recall in previous board meetings I've discussed that it's extremely important that if we're going to bring our facilities back to pre- disaster conditions that we do whatever we can to mitigate any future disasters um from causing future damage um I also um want to congratulate our mayor and our city manager who sent a team to the district and we have a we had a collaborative meeting last week to discuss some City initiatives in collaboration with the district so that we're working you know our um our um storm drains I was looking for wording there thank you being patient our storm drains connect directly to Washington Street in multiple points and so we wanted to make sure whatever effort we do there um that the city is going to
039be able to work with us um so we're excited about that and the other thing that you will see on the board agenda for tonight for board action via resolution and this is for our community's uh knowledge um at North Elementary School if you remember last year during the Windstorm there was damage that totaled up to upwards of $458,000 um as they um the contractors looked at replacing those windows uh it was not at that time determined that the Integrity of the the blocks that those windows sit on were not were in disrepair and so this new dollar amount of 650,000 um will cover the wall to be replaced and the windows to be installed uh as I mentioned uh previously this is something that will be submitted it was already submitted to our insurance
040company so Bri will be working with them to update the figures and this was also as you may recall the board declared an emergency last year and uh this will be submitted for emergency aid and those updated numbers you will see on that application the it has to go in is the original dollar amount but we will be able to make an amendment to increase that uh when that time comes the last thing on my agenda that I wanted to mention was our capital project Workshop I want to thank our Board of education for coming last week uh to that public Workshop uh where we had the opportunity to go through each of our nine facilities and rank key priorities today uh that process as I promised last week that took place today I want
041to thank Tina Lane for facilitating that uh with our student Advisory Group um I am currently analyzing that data and I will bring more information back as soon as possible and that's all that I have for this evening thank you very much you are welcome all right items for consent agenda resolved that consent agenda items a B and C are hereby approved can I have a motion please Millie Millie in a second John John any discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries item board action whereas on January 16 2024 the Board of Education declared the repair and or replacement of the window window Framing and surrounding exterior brid faad at Watertown city school district's North Elementary School as essential for protection of the health and safety of the students and staff and
042for the protection of the district's property and that the project was an ordinary uh contingent expense and whereas the maximum estimated cost of the project was $450,000 and whereas the district has evaluated the extent of the damage and receed proposals for the project work and the amount required to complete the project pursuant to uh proposals is higher than the amount authorized and whereas the revised maximum estimated cost of the project as determined by King and King Architects the project architect is $650,000 now therefore be resolved as follows number one the revised maximum estimated cost of the project as determined by King and King Architects the project architect is 650 $50,000 conditioned on the State education Department's approval of the project the project will be funded by unappropriated fund balance number two the superintendent of schools
043and officers and employees of the district are here by authorized and directed to take all steps reasonably necessary or appropriate to obtain State education departments approval for of the project uh complete the project and to carry out the inent of this resolution and to apply for any eligible State Building Aid and number three this resolution shall take effect immediately can I have a motion please bil in a second Millie Millie any discussion all those in favor any opposed motion carries be it resolve that upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools Dr Larry schmeel the Board of Education hereby approves the following resignations retirements leaves of absence appointments probationary instructional Cyclone Academy permanent permanent part-time provisional substitute instructional substitute non-instructional stem program uh tutors after school appointments uh appointment fall coaching boys appointments uh winter
044coaching boys can I have motion please John John in a second Tina Tina discussion I just have a quick question for you Tina when do we um appoint the uh spring coaches so they I believe they were on a previous report but we some of them some of the folks uh we had holes in our spring coaching vacancy so still looking to fill those they're advertised out there and no loss internally so if we hire those coaches then it will come up for approval okay so we don't specifically wait until like the winter morning okay no in fact I checked all the credentialing and everything of the coaches and then on the personal okay and there is there is contractual language Millie that when those jobs have to be posted okay anything else all those
045in favor I any opposed motion carries resolved that the following revised Board of Education policies and regulations are hereby approve approved and adopted 7500 education records 7500 point4 student privacy furpa notice to reflect the records officer as the district clerk uh 8302 com complaints about curricula or instructional materials uh 83021 uh complaint procedures concerning textbooks Library material and other instructional materials 8302 two request for re-evaluation of instructional materials okay I pleas Tina Tina a second go co got you any discussion yes um I would like so this policy um 8302 and 83021 about the complaints about curricular and Structural Materials would like to table this because the modifications on this um policy are not minor in my opinion there is quite a few changes in here and I think that as a board this these
046changes were looked at by the policy committee which was three people and I think as a board we need to understand and digest what these policy changes actually implicate and what exactly it means in terms of what it changes for the board so I don't believe that we have all of the background information and given the um parents that spoke at our last board meeting this deserves a little bit more look and we should take the time to digest this information so I would like to do that when Dr schmigel gets back from his trip and Lorie's here and then revisit this but at this point I would like to table this can I have a second to table okay all those in favor hearings resolve that upon the recommendation of Dr Larry schmeel superintendent
047of schools that paid administrative leave of an instructional employee effective October 2nd 2024 is hereby approved can I have a motion please John John a second Millie Millie discussion all those in favor I any motion curious resolve it upon the recommendation of clarification on the policy so we table just the one and approve the other so motion you got to table them all together all table uh resoled upon the recommendation of Dr Larry schmeel superintendent of schools the paid administrative leave of a non-instructional employee eff of October 2nd 2024 is hereby approved I have motion please Milly Millie in a second Tina Tina Tina got you I'm slow today discussion all those in favor I any opposed motion carries resolve that upon the recommendation of Dr Larry schigel superintendent of schools the paid administrative leave
048of a non-instructional employee effective October 2nd 2024 is hereby approved and mo John John second Millie Millie discussion all those in favor I opposed carries resolved that upon the recommendation of Dr Larry schmeel superintendent of schools a paid administrative leave of a non-instructional employee effective October 4th 2024 is hereby approved motion please M mil second Tina Tina any discussion all those in favor any opposed various resolved that upon the recommendation of Dr Larry schmeel superintendent of schools the paid administrative leave of a non-instructional employee effective October 8th 2024 is hereby approved can I have a motion please joh second Tina Tina any discussion all those in favor any oppos motion carries resoled that um ruds Town and Country made us um a donation of $79 90 to the Watertown High FFA Club this donation is
049gratefully accepted and approved and will be acknowledged in writing I have a motion please T Tina second John John any discuss thank you knew you were that's like me always asking to get like the stuff that's being thrown away all right all those in any oppos motion carries resolve that uh Lori lone from laser Transit LTD made a generous donation of uh five-star College lined and interactive notebooks with an estimated value of $450 to case middle school and WaterOne High School this donation is gratefully accepted and approved and will be acknowledged in writing motion please second Millie Millie John great app yes all those in favor any oppos motion carries resolve that the uh following student Sports trip is hereby approved the varsity baseball trip to Ripken Way Myrtle Beach South Carolina April 16th through
050the 26th 2025 can I have a motion please John Millie any discussion all those in favor I oppos motion that is the resolutions anyone here tonight wishing to address the board on non-agenda related public comment hello my name is Evony Colmes I'm here as a parent this evening like many I listened to the last Board of Education meeting and heard the comments and concerns regarding the I am Leo assignment in the book The hate you give I wanted to take the time to read both pieces before I before I made a comment so over the last last week and a half I took the time to do so starting with the hate you give I was very disappointed to see such a powerful book was diminished down to one page that completely overshadowed the over
051400 plus pages in the overall message of the book the book taught about adversity family friendships self-reflections and the importance of a good education it showed our students that friendships can be tricky mistakes don't Define who you are the rest of your life and sometimes it's hard to do the right thing ultimately especially towards the end how the hate you give has implications for not only yourself but those around you in order to engage our students we have to educate them with books that are relatable to what they are going through this book hits all of these marks these are the things I would want my own children to learn moving on to the I am Leo assignment I was very taken aback listening to a member of the board make statements like only 2%
052of our students have identity issues it's a minority of students statements like these are not only concerning but can be harmful the article which to sum it up talk about the struggles of Leo who was born female but who felt uncomfortable as such it talked about his struggles fitting in and ultimately embracing who he was helped him fit in and gain confidence there were seven vocabulary words which included words like designated perceived mortifying and testosterone words that no doubt are used out of the context of this article pretty frequently what I took away from the assignment and likely our student as well is embracing who you are and having compassion and empathy for others again a lesson I would want my children to learn according to the Q Center data 72% of our transgender youth
053do not feel safe at school that's in Jefferson County this lesson lasts maybe a few days which there's an alternative option for for our transgendered students who feel unsafe and likely uncomfortable every day they have no alternative options any day board policy 0013 States the Board of Education recognizes that to meet the goal fully of serving our community's diverse members it is important to take action towards ensuing the experiences and viewpoints of all different backgrounds are included in the district's educational programs and also in public discussion about District goals strategies and operations according to board policy 8302 it states no book shall be excluded because of race race excuse me nationality political or religious views of author of its author style or language books and other reading matter of sound factual Authority shall not be
054precluded nor removed from the library of classroom because of bipartisan doctrinal approval or disapproval when we talk about the duties and responsibilities of the Board of Education there are no minority students when it comes to representation the board should be making decisions and policies that include the representation of all of our students this includes our lgbtqia Plus students who deserve to be in a space where they feel comfortable every day in closing when I attended the old taste junior high before it was torn down there was a saying hanging on the wall that has stuck with me since I was 13 or 14 years old that said what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular as a district and for the board it is imperative for our extremely
055underrepresented students that we get this right thank you anyone else tonight okay uh items for discussion SL information Watertown city school district city of Watertown mixed use property exemption um I want to thank the um board of education for providing us questions at the last board meeting so I'm going to just read the question and I was able to secure the answers to each of your questions um this would eventually have to go in front of the board as a resolution um so if there are additional questions I'm going to ask that Tina write those down as she did the last time and I will secure answers if there are any additional questions the first question that was asked was is this a 12-year program and is it set in stone that answer is yes
056question two was what would happen if the city reassesses the property and there is a drop in property value the tax the answer is the tax abatement schedule referenced below would be applied to the reassessment value question three was what occurs if there is a tax rate freeze the answer is I'm not sure what is meant by a tax rate freeze the pilot payment would be calculated annually based on one the properties's assessment two the applicable tax rate and three the pilot abatement schedule summarized question four what was the program duration extended sorry why was the program duration extended from 10 years to 12 the rptl 485 an exemption for mixed use properties is 12 years in duration the school district may be party to the other pilot agreements that are 10 years in duration
057for instance a pilot agreement through the Ida under rptl 485b can be 10 years in duration question five what is the potential impact on our District's Revenue the district's Revenue would stay the same however the tax burden for the Exempted property will be shifted to others six how many properties are eligible for this program the school district will need to collect this data from the city and County to be taken into consideration by the Board of Education when making the decision whether to adopt this exemption question seven how many properties are currently participating in the program the school district will need to collect this data uh data from the city and from the county what is a mixed use property a mixed-use property is a building used for both residential and Commercial uh purposes and
058then there's a description of the mixed use uh mixed property means property on which will exist after completion of residential construction work or a combination of residential construction work and commercial construction work a building or structure used for both residential and Commercial purposes of which at least 40% of the building or structure square footage is devoted to residential purposes or use and at least 15% of the building or structure square footage is devoted for commercial or mix or yeah commercial purposes or use and that concludes those were the questions that were asked I would ask if there are any additional questions anyone okay all right I'm not mistaken that ends our discussion is that correct okay wait is Larry still are you still there Larry I am here and I if there are no discussion
059items regarding that do you want me to bring it forward as a resolution or do we want to think about that and then that that was my question I think we gotta have the data on those questions okay so then I will reach out to the county and the city following this meeting to to get both of those answers because when you say that the difference in in the tax that gets shifted we're talking about shifting that tax burden on the current taxpayers within our district correct uh in our district yes okay is it possible to cap the number of properties that are eligible for that I cannot answer that but I will definitely ask that's a great question anybody else wor exping yeah okay very good go ahead thank you thanks Sor thank you
060uh some important upcoming dates uh Wednesday October 23d uh correction to the 2024 time to the fall National Honor Society induction to 3M and that is in the auditorium at high school Thursday October 31st early dismissal or staff development day Tuesday November 4th uh at 5:00 pm we have a FF committee meeting at Ohio elementary and following that meeting at 6 PM is our regularly scheduled Board of Education meeting in the Ohio gymnasium um all right going around Millie start it off Jason can I just say something I have two questions yeah first I think that our next meeting isn't the fourth I think it's the fifth I think Tuesday is the fifth that does sound right you're right thank you you're right good luck good luck I was on it I have a question
061about tabling the uh policy what why do we do that and what does that mean why do we table something yes uh just to have further discussion as a board and bring up points that might be unclear at this time about some of the changes that were made I would add to that I think we also want to get input from those who the policy affects whether it's the community or staff when I was on this board 20 years ago we always did a first reading and you know policy is one of our chief responsibilities I don't think it should ever be done halfhazard Le whatever the policy is not specific to this one so I'd like to see us get in the habit of having a first reading discussing it being a little more
062deliberative in it and having the opportunity for people have inut so it's not specific to this although there's some merits here I think in general I think we need to be a little more cautious on just approving a policy without discussing it first maybe even putting into place a policy to change and amend policies and add the policies um I'd like to see us be a little more thoughtful in that so um it's my thoughts on that thank you two good points two good points all right back to M Smith oh okay so um is Mr naer still here yes oh so I just wanted to tell you that the presentation was really nice and one of the things that I love about what you said is that it all starts at the elementary level
063everything starts at the elementary level your happy mail showing kindness using matters going above and beyond working hard being here being there for others that those are all fundamental foundations that we need to um do with our children um Dr schmigel has made it very clear I think to everyone in the district one of the biggest things that he's achieved is putting the Strategic plan together and what I'm starting to see is that everyone is embracing that strategic plan and implementing it into their own plan for their own school and to me that just substantiates and strengthens the mission that this board has along with Dr schmigle to bring all those Mission goals to success so I'm happy that you were able to do that and I will disagree with you that when you said
064oh this might not this was hard I think you very explained it very simply how you were able to align everything and I do think there's a straight line from elementary to the high school because it is a linear effect like if you don't get through Elementary you're you're you're not going to the next level so there's definitely a significant and a very powerful linear effect from kindergarten all the way up to high school and I think you did a phenomenal job in highlighting that I think Mr burges and your other teacher I'm not familiar with her um did a great job in communicating how they feel about the district we heard I remember hearing you speak last year you're very passionate about what you do and that's very nice to see so that's something
065that I really wanted to commend you on I love that this is the foundation and we need to move forward from here you're welcome um in second um ebony I don't really know you personally I just know your name so I just want to address some of the things you said I think it's people like you that come to the board meeting and I love the fact that you you said I wanted to read this myself before I State an opinion because most people sometimes they just off the cuff make a mistakes they have a reaction like a visceral rela reaction to something and they're not really you know they don't really have the basics so I as you did the exact same thing I drove myself to Syracuse I bought the book The hate
066you give I highlighted some stuff in it because I wanted to be able to not only substantiate what I said last time but really have some substance the thing that I love about what you said is that you are a perfect example of how we have diversity so your perception from your upbringing your experiences is what you're going to profess but at the same time I think it's important as a board we are here to represent everyone and we know logically not everyone's going to be happy with a decision that gets made not everyone it's never 100% proved right so what do we need to do I think we need to um really understand people's perspective and come to a really good compromise where both sides because you're going to have your side and your
067perspective is completely opposite from what those two other parents represented last week um we do have a Dei committee I'm not sure if you're aware of that oh okay I haven't seen you there okay okay then we missed you so that is a place to you know Converse about all these um adversities but I just want to clarify a few things since I was the one who spoke about both of those things first of all we as you read the policy we have no book Banning policy in in our district we are not in the business of banning any books so I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that no one's talking about banning the hate you get I read it the story is a lot of substance I think and I
068think this is a point that's getting missed I think that the parents and I'm included in that is that we don't believe that this is age appropriate for eighth graders it's not that we don't want the book in our system in fact I personally wrote a letter an email to our superintendent and I recommended because in the forward it clearly says that this is a New York Times best seller and that's why it's been bests seller for 232 weeks for high school and college kids so high school starts at age 145 we're we in case Middle School have 12 13 we might have some 14y old but the age for this book is 15 so I think where the parents are upset is that it's not appropriate for eth grade and yes you highlighted some
069great things about the book but at the same time my question would be and and I'll I'll add a little bit later but my question would be is we this is 8th grade ELA we are supposed to enhance our state scores we are supposed to be showing kids proper English good written English you get the vibe of the story by the way it's written because people are talking and you can see when you're reading the book like you see these people like you can visual like you're living what they're living but my my as a board member myself if we are if one of our mission goals is to raise our graduation rate in eth grade when you're supposed to solidify English language I don't don't think this is the book that does that that
070is something that needs to be looked into so I think that's the perspective that some of the parents are coming from that are opposing this my recommendation was that it would go to the high school and the high school has different variety of English classes where this book would fit nicely I also don't believe in banning books I don't believe in you know Banning things because they have political they're politically driven or or they have racial slurs and then we I'm a minority you're a minority we all have to be diverse so I just want to make it clear that I don't think anybody is saying get rid of the book I just we just the people who are not in support of this is not supporting it in the eth grade um in terms
071of the the I am Leo well one more thing so we have a policy that if someone has an objection to instructional material they can put forth a reconsideration form and a committee has to be formed with community members and I think that committee should have people like you who support it and people who are against it that is how we come to a compromise I don't think it should be one-sided I don't think it should be a homogeneous group I should I don't think it should be one one group versus the other so once that that once that comes to fruition I would love for to be a part of that because I think a lot of stuff that you brought up is very very valid in terms of the I Leo I think
072that no one's arguing that diversity needs to be taught in our schools but I think also what those parents are concerned about is is this appropriate again in eth grade now there's there's a lot of information out there you know now we have all these standards um we we have to talk about diversity we have to talk about gender identity we do we don't have a choice we have to do it so again can we look at this assignment is there a better assignment again we're not talking about banning anything is there something better that can still address the standards and not be this emotionally driven for some parents so that's another thing that we we need to be looking at so I think in in and as a whole the Board needs to represent
073all parties not just one perspective and we need to stick to that and we need to you know find the happy medium in all of that and that's why I suggested that we table this policy because the policy um is I in my opinion right now it's not going to address the things we want address properly so I really appreciate you coming here and taking the time taking the time to read the stuff that's a lot of information and you know I commend you for that and I hope that you become part of our group because I think what you have to say is extremely valid you're welcome so um I think that's all I have for now well thank you very much Mr Kane I just want to thank Mr nabinger and everybody at
074Starbuck it's always wonderful to come here um my wife has been in the district for some time but it's always been on the nor north side and uh Starbuck was her first position as a principal uh and so we got to hold Starbuck kind of dear to our hearts in my home um and always a super warm welcome and and so nice to to come back um other than that I just I know we're going to have a lot of discussions surrounding this materials but I think our district does a wonderful job of giving parents an out for the things that they find personally objectionable um and I think I'll just leave it at that um I've seen an elaa exam I know that the passages that are on that exam uh are not always
075proper English that our kids have to be quick on their feet to be able to understand a lot of things I remember when they those exams first came out how kids in rural areas struggled with the idea of what a stoop was in one of the passages because that's an urban concept not a ro concept so um I don't know it'll be something that we'll obviously be discussing as we go uh beyond that just uh good luck to our teams as they finish off we'll be heading off into playoffs and sectionals soon and the weather's turning at just the right time to make it feel like fall sport season so thanks bu Tina um I just want to thank um Starbuck for the wonderful little um mail things we have here and all your gifts
076and the wonderful gift we got from our other friends um thank you so much for the recognition that was that was very nice um Starbuck is an amazing school I was honored to work here for a few years um it's very warm it's very welcoming everybody is always happy and everybody always plays jokes on everybody else that's my favorite part my favorite you'll have people's pictures hanging up in bathing suits or with their little heads on them or something so it's always a fun place to be and I think the kids know that and I think they feel safe they feel at home because you know we joke around at home and I think that they appreciate that I think that they're very comfortable and they feel very safe here and this is a great
077place to work and Lori Cen as how you're not here I'm going to take your cupcakes home I don't want them to spoil before you get here so I'll take these wonderful things home and I'll let you know how they work thank you again everybody Mrs Converse hey everyone I miss all of you um yes you can have my cupcakes that's um thank you for all the gifts that were given to us I can't wait to see all them when I get back um Mr naer I think you did a great job job it was nice to see the kids and I'm sorry I'm missing visiting your school it's one of my favorite things to do when we go to everybody's schools um to ebony what you said um a beautiful presentation I think it's
078amazing that you read the book in this short period of time and took the care into presenting how you felt um I actually I feel beautifully it was very well spoken um and it was great to see another perspective I'm actually um having very good friend I'm borrowing the book from as well and I want to read it myself um I did speak to our youngest regarding the book he had read it a couple years ago and I got his perspective as well um his was he thought it was okay for 8th grade but with that being said he has three older siblings so I can view that as he might know a lot more than another child who maybe be the oldest in their family so I think it's just different perspectives um but
079I look forward to reading the book as well but I just want to say I think it was Brave of you you had a lot of great points and it's great to see another perspective so thank you so much for doing that and um that's all see you guys soon I have a lot to report back I'm super excited safe travels Lor thanks Mr goer um yes so John I can I can agree with the fact that the weather is changing came from soccer game just now so a couple minutes late I apologize definitely changing um I do appreciate the discussion tonight as well and uh as well as Mr naer and his team the uh the stories and statements from the kids and the students and staff messages I think that really sums up
080the reason we're all here very ready first of all thank you for all staying with us tonight it's always good to have company um every time we come to Star but you know something special is happening here you can feel it um you really do live the district's Mission and values um all the words that we heard tonight Mr Burgess you shared it's exactly what we want for all of our kids and all of our schools and for our community so thank you for doing that um as colly said and I agree this is a good reminder why Schoolboard members do what they do thank you what she say um I've always kind of felt that maybe it's because we get free stuff but when we come to T it always kind of sets the
081tone so I don't I think that you have that going for you but I also think that it's just such a special place um I'm G to be repeating everybody but it's important Mr nabinger uh the culture um has continued since you've been here so kudos to you Heather is Heather here G okay I again was unfamiliar with her I thought which he had to say was beautiful um Mr Burgess 1992 the crazy thing about him uh was that he was the cool guy when I was in school and it's amazing to see that almost 30 years later you're still the cool guy you know it's like I hope that 30 years from now somebody says that about me so um my grandmother also God Rest her soul uh was a lunchroom Monitor and she
082would come home and she would say Mr Burgess is just so [Laughter] handsome well you're you're just a Class Act and we're lucky to have you um we're lucky to have all of you uh in this room and for this school to to be part of our district um and I think everybody's going to leave here tonight feeling pretty good about ourselves so thank you to everybody who made that possible and I hope that you have a good rest of your week that was go of thank you brother so with that I'll take a motion to adjourn Billy Billy in a second Tina Tina all those in favor see you next time