001Mrs. Sebastian, I have five o'clock. >> Thank you, Mr. Nucio. Welcome to the April 9th, 2026 Parma City School District Board of Education regular meeting. Please stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty andice for all. >> Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. Dr. Early >> present. >> Miss Kerpik >> present. >> Mrs. McTagard. >> Mrs. Sebastian >> present. >> Mr. Reyes >> present. >> Before we move into the agenda, I want to thank everyone for the time and the preparation that goes into reviewing our materials in advance. The agenda and supporting documentation were distributed earlier this week via email to support thoughtful discussion and effective decision-making as a board. Adequate review helps us
002work efficiently together and ensures we're prepared for any action items this evening. This aligns with board policy 0123, which reflects our shared commitment to being informed on the issues before us. With that in mind, can we confirm that all members have received and reviewed the materials for tonight's meeting? Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Dr. Early. >> Yes. >> Miss Kerick. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-182. Approval of board meeting agenda. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-182. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Miss Sebastian? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Um, so just recalling some uh some details that happened at the last special meeting. Um, our attorney, David Rose, recommended that
003we have a conversation about board member absences, and I would like to add that discussion. Um, I move to amend the agenda to add a discussion regarding board member absences to occur after the first public comment sess session. Excuse me. >> Are you making a motion? >> Yes. I move to amend the agenda to add a discussion item regarding board member absences to occur immediately after the first public comment section. >> Do we have a second? >> Thank you. >> We do not have a second. The motion dies. Um, we do we do um we we would like to have a conversation about that, but I think we need to move that and have a discussion about doing that in committee because it is a policy. So, um, you know, I'd like to get everybody's
004thoughts on that. >> I'm just not prepared to have a conversation about this at this time. Um, Mr. Reyes, I >> we need we need everybody to to let us perform the board meeting, talk and have these discussions. We will have to remove people if there's any more disruption. I apologize, but please let us go through the board meeting. Thank you. >> I have no further comment. >> Thank you. So, um I would like to move it to policy and have that discussion in policy. Um, also, uh, we were since that meeting, we were made aware by our attorney, Mr. Rose, that there is new legislation, um, that might be fasttracked. So, it might help us with that when we're looking at policy. Um, so, uh, I think that would be a good place to
005start. And you're you're on the policy committee, Mr. Reyes. >> Yeah. So, that would be helpful. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I move to adopt resolution 2026 04183. >> Mr. Special, we did not vote on approval of >> Oh, that's right. We did it. I'm sorry. Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. >> Miss Kerpek. >> Yes. >> Dr. Early. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. Resolution 2026-04-182 has been approved. I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-18 uh 183 approval of the written record of proceedings from the March 26, 2026 special and regular board of education meetings. >> A second. >> We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-183. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. >>
006Miss Kerpek. >> Yes. >> Dr. Early. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. >> Resolution 2026-04-183 has been approved. I do not believe we have any amendments. So, we are going to go right into information to the board. Uh, superintendent. >> Thank you. Good evening, everyone. I have a few items to share with you and then you can see on the agenda we're going to roll into doing something a little different tonight. We have a student spotlight uh as well as a as a staff spotlight. So, I'm going to speak first, then I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Cruz and then we have a couple of other items uh for staff recognition that we'll go through. So, first um just want to report back to the board that the levy committee did meet
007last night um and they're going to be seeking volunteers for their texting program literature drops and other activities that they're working on currently. The committee has also prepared a 10-point fact sheet for distribution. They've updated their website at the parmlevy.com site and they're they're also looking for volunteers. So, they need volunteers uh for the activities that they're planning for over the next uh month. I had the opportunity to meet with our preschool PTA group uh also this week. First step, thank you. First step, um I met with the Fireflies are the parents of our Fireflies. And I want to point out these these are the youngest uh of our students that are not quite into the elementary, middle school, and high school system yet. Uh, but I want to make sure that I wanted to
008make sure that they also had uh all of the facts about our levy. Uh, it's important to point out that we should pay close attention to the needs of our youngest incoming students into our programming. As we begin to plan for the future, it's important to keep in mind that these are the students and families that we're obligated to prepare for the future. And that future that we're preparing them for doesn't exist yet. nor do the jobs that they will step into, they have not been created yet. And so we have a a large uh undertaking with the youngest of our students and their families. Did appreciate the discussion and the questions uh that they asked and their attention to how the district is going to generate operating dollars in the future. Uh this Friday,
009senior prom, uh not junior senior prom, senior prom for our senior citizens will be held here at Normandy High School uh from 4 to 7:00 p.m. uh which is tomorrow. Uh I want to thank Mr. John Schwitzer and Miss Nancy Fedak for their efforts uh to engage our senior populations by connecting them back to our schools. And also as a reminder uh we have scheduled a second state of the schools address. This will be the same address that we provided to the chamber of commerce a few weeks back. Uh so we have solidified that date and we will begin to communicate that widely widely. So the state of the school's presentation will be held on April 28th at Valley Forge High School at 6 p.m. Uh this will be similar to the chamber sponsored event.
010We will have uh students there. So, our CTE programming uh will also be there showcasing their programs during the first part of the event. So, mark your calendars for that. And at this time, I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Cruz. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Hunt. standing here. Shake their hand. Go on the other side. >> Yeah, go on the other side. >> Okay. >> No, probably. >> So, thank you and welcome to our student athletes and thank you for um to our coaches for joining us tonight. We are excited to recognize uh several of our students who have earned many recognitions in regional and state competitions. Do I have the clicker? Thank you. Um I first need to recognize um Mr. Chris Madaglia. Mr. Madaglia, give us a a nice wave
011thank you. Mr. Madaglia is our our district athletic director and um he certainly does a thank you a fantastic job of managing all of our local sporting events um making sure that our students get to where they need to be so that they can compete and then win these amazing uh awards that we're celebrating tonight. So, we're going to first start with girls wrestling. So, if our coaches who are here could come on up if any of our if they're here. Come on up, coaches. Um, so yay. So we have uh Kyle Workman, Tommy Kennel, Tyler S, James Toth, Brian Zeliskar, and uh, Man Kamash, and Rachel Hera Nicholson. So come on up, shake the hands of the board. Thank you. Thank you. And then we'll um you'll be right behind the backdrop over there
012or actually in front of the backdrop would make more sense. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. So you can see here we had many girls participating in our girls wrestling sports teams. We are proud of all of them for their dedication, but we are especially proud of these athletes for qualifying in states and um our district tournament. So, congratulations when if you're here and your name is called, come on up. Brooke Yonttosh, Maya Macauski, Salara, Issa, Hadil, Abuk, Bita, and Joanna Torres. Congratulations. All right. So, if we could have all the girls and then all of our uh board members gather around. You guys can use the stairs there for a nice little photo. Okay. Hi, Martin. How are you? >> Coaches. Coaches, get in there. Come on. Get in there. Coaches, don't be shy.
013While you're waiting, you can enjoy some photos from the season. >> All right, congratulations, girls wrestling. Next up, we have boys wrestling. So if our coaching staff could join us up here we have Vincent D Giovani, Kevin Baras, Nino Serwinsky, Tony Dia Giovani, Richard Dornnebush, Sean Johnson, Jason Cauus, Pat Mcgau, Michael Ryan, Cor Sharpley, Chris Finowski, Kirk Foster, Terry Jun, Thomas Levitzki, Kyle Marone, Mike Pelton, Tyler Workman, and Bryson Zil. And here we have our roster of all of our boys wrestlers from Normandy and Valley Forge. Again, congratulations to all of our wrestlers, but a special recognition to our boys who placed in our state and district um qualifiers. So, I'm going to read through these names a little quickly and then we can applaud at the end if that's okay. So congratulations to James
014Moore, Anthony Catelan, Rasmi Kunoir, Aiden Ao, Aoyao, Colton Burton, Alberto Rodriguez, Amir Abukali, Leil, Nathan Hail, Gage Banana, Baniac, >> Biranic, thank you, Gani Niku, Gabe Wright, Maxim Patrico, and that's it. Congratulations to all of our boys wrestlers. Come on up. >> Sorry, I realized that after. >> So, as they're receiving our awards, some great pictures from the season. Come here. Go everyone. Go. Go. >> You can head over. >> Yes. All right, one more round of applause for our boys wrestlers. Hallelujah. All right, next up we have girls basketball. So, if our coaches could join us up on stage, Anthony Schmuk, Chuck Caldwell, Amanda Malav, Matt Revelock, David Elhart, Lindseay Kercher, Sally Revelock, and Katrina Schubert. Thank you coaches and our rosters for our girls basketball teams at both Normandy and Valley Forge. So,
015congratulations to all of our girls players. And a special Yes. Yes. Yay. And girls, um, as I call your name, go ahead and come on up. Um, and I'll go through them one at a time. And audience, if we could hold our applause until the end, that would be helpful. Lindsay Merryweather, Zy Minnik, Kylie Anderson, Allison Pollock, Gianna Car. What? Oh, >> well, they're coming. Oh, you got to get them ready. Okay. Gianna. >> How do we say it? How do How do you see? Giana Cario Polo. Think I got it. All right. Thank Christina Delano, Gracie Kercher, Lexi Samaran, Delaney Kercher, and Michaela Hang. Congratulations, girls. Oh, no. Take your time. Make sure you take a take note of these amazing awards that these girls have earned. All conference honorable mention. First team, second
016team. Really impressed with our our team. All right, we'll go take a a photo. Very good. There we go. Okay, congratulations to our girls basketball team. Are you here celebrating? We will um recognize our boys basketball team, but I don't believe anyone was able to make it here tonight from the boys team. Mr. from Medaglia. We have no one here from the boys team, right? >> Forge boys. Just forge boys. >> Oh, there's several running track. Well, dual sport athletes. Wonderful. So, I'll just run through the list and if they're here, do we have some Normandy boys here? Okay. All right. Boys basketball. Congratulations to our coaches at Normandy and Valley Forge. Michael Durkin, Andrew Cussen, John Mkins, Vince Paluchi, Joseph Schmuk, John Botch, Mike Ravenelli, Mike Stringer, and Joe Taylor. And let's give a
017round of applause to all of our boys basketball players. And special recognition for our boys basketball athletes who uh played on our allconerence teams. Alex Valentin Rivera, Ryan Durkin, Logan Guadalupe, Gavin Clark, Muel Robinson, Justin Harb, Jaden Gil, Colin Warner, and Isaiah Paltto. Congratulations. Daddy. Excuse me. >> Okay. Okay. All right. Congratulations to our boys basketball teams. All All right, next up, swimming. Girls, swimming. Congratulations to our coaches, Jared Lively, Karen Cowwell, Dwayne Kessie, James Toth, Kyle Ronic, James Toe, and Carla Wan. And a round of applause to all of our swimmers. Just two. Just two. We got this. Congratulations to Kayla Deppenbrook and Jayanna Jones. photo. Hello Next up, oh, congrats girls swimming. Thank you. Next up, boys swimming. some familiar names with our coaching staff. Jared Lively, Karen Cowwell, Dwayne Cessie, James Toth,
018Kyle Heronic, James Toth, and Carla Wheelen. Thank you. Congratulations. Come on up again. I think Okay, we'll just wave at you. Way to go. Thank you. Okay, boys swimming. Congrats to all of our boys swimmers. And special recognition to four of our boys swimmers, Blake Cowwell, Elijah Boose, Andred Deepen Brock, and Aaron Kankowski. Thank you. Congratulations, boys. swimming. Congratulations to our hockey team, coaches Jim Jackson, Bernie Fini, Bryant Galgas, Joe George, Ron Jek, and Nolan Sandy. And congrats to our coaches. Unfortunately, our coaches and hockey players were not able to join us tonight, but we want to make sure to recognize their accomplishments to Cooper Davis and Shane Triscari. Congratulations to them. Oh, we do have one here. Yes. Oh, I'm so excited. Congratulations, Shane. Thank you. All right, let's hear for boys hockey or
019hockey. It's not boys, hockey. And our next athletic sport to celebrate is cheerleading. Congratulations to our coaches, Micah Caracus, Hannah Pulski, Emily Fet, Kathy Fet, Marissa Carl, and Ashley Landreo. And congratulations to all of our cheerleaders for our winter sports season. Next we have figure skating awards. We have from Normandy, Natalie Dearet, >> Natalie, is that you up there? All right. Thank you, Natalie. That's it. Yep. Just the one. Do you see her picture? Look how fun that is. You probably hear me live. Mike, congratulations. This was really an honor to be able to recognize all of these athletes tonight. We know the importance of students participating in extracurricular activities. It makes a difference um in their well-being, in their academic performance. So, we want to thank all of our families for supporting them and
020being here tonight to celebrate these young athletes. Thank you. And at this time, I'd like to turn it over to Dr. Early for recognizing our staff. Thank you, Dr. Cruz. The first Wednesday of April each year is paraprofessional appreciation day, which was last Wednesday. Tonight, we want to recognize our special education assistants and classroom assistants and thank them for their incredible work that they do each day. They build relationships, support student learning, and help create positive environments in our schools. Their impact is meaningful, and we deeply appreciate their dedication. So, we have this short slideshow that we'd like to play. Yay! Next, as we recognize April as school library month and National School Librarian Day was on April 4th, we'd like to thank our school librarians and school library staff. They do so much more
021than manage books. They in sport uh support instruction, inspire curiosity, and create spaces where students feel welcome and engaged. We truly appreciate everything they do for our students and staff. And we have a short video we want to show of our media specialist and our district library staff. At this time, if you are a classroom assistant, special education assistant, media specialist or a member of our district library staff, please stand so we can recognize you with a round of applause. We would like to take a quick photo of those who we just recognized. If you can please come forward to the area where the students had their photos taken. Yes, that means you That concludes staff rec the staff spotlight. >> Thank you, Dr. Early. Um, I just want to uh say thank you again
022to all the staff, the students who came out tonight. It is a reminder of why we do what we do. Um, I have a personal con connection to the paras. Um, many don't know that I started off in this district um while my kids were attending school as a substitute parah and I was never uh so taken care of by an amazing staff. Um, so just thank you all. Thank thank you to the media uh all of the staff uh media assistants paras uh I know that's not your technical title but um so thank you all and staff and students. So uh with that being said we are going to move into our committee meeting reports. I do not believe we have any tonight. No business finance policy. Okay. Uh we will have an upcoming
023curriculum at the next meeting. Um, so that being said, we are going to move into communications from the board. Um, I do have communications. Uh, but however, I'll open it up to everybody else first. >> Thank you, Miss Sebastian. So, I just want to take a quick moment to um recognize the service of Fire Chief Meckllinburgg. um after hearing of his tra tragic passing just want to recognize his service to the community and uh let his family know that my prayers are with them. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Reyes. Anyone else in communications? Uh so I do want to uh acknowledge that it is uh April which is uh autism acceptance month. Um, again, I have a lot of personal connections to a lot of things. Um, so this is deeply personal again to
024me, uh, as both a parent and an advocate. Um, I believe it's important, um, that we move beyond awareness and into acceptance. Um, if you ever hear heard me speak, I talk about inclusion and I live inclusion. Um, so just making sure that every student feels seen, supported, and truly included in our school community. So, I just wanted to acknowledge um April as being autism acceptance month. Also, um we do have something uh I'd like to discuss in communications um and that is our PTA scholarships. Um so, we have all um each one of us donate uh to the scholarships. we were missing um one one donation. Um and so we have to talk about how we're going to move forward with that. Um I did receive uh word that there were um at this
025time two anonymous donors. I don't want to name them if they don't so I I can't tell you at this time who they are if they don't want to be named. Um, I just wanted to talk about this uh together. If we are okay with taking anonymous donations, would we have to lower the amount of the scholarship that we have traditionally done for many years? Um, so I open that up to discussion. >> Mr. Nucio, >> is there any uh technicalities that that would prevent us from taking anonymous donations? I don't believe so. All we'd have to do is accept the donation, which we do at a future board meeting under the finance section. We always have donations. We just accept it under the donations and that resolutions approved by the board. >> Is the
026donation enough to cover the the remaining balance? >> I'm sorry, I didn't hear your question. >> Is the donation I'm sorry. Go ahead. >> No, go ahead. >> Is the donation enough to cover that that there's an anonymous donation? Is that >> Yes, I believe the two anonymous donations totaled the missing part of the scholarship money that we needed. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Um I'm okay with taking that because I think at the end of the day, the important thing is that these students who applied for this scholarship and are receiving our scholarship receive the full amount. Um, however, I do think that it's important that as I mean, as a board, we agreed, so we all should have um upheld our agreements. >> Thank you, Miss Kerpic. Dr. Early, >> I'm fine
027with accepting the donations. >> Okay. So, we will um I think we'll follow up with asking if these uh individuals are okay with being acknowledged. I would love for them to be but I don't want to force them to come forward. So I think maybe we can have a conversation with them because they have provided that to you all. So if you can get back to us on that would that Mr. Nucio can you >> I'm you want me to contact those two? >> Yeah. And ask if they would would be okay with being acknowledged at another meeting and if not we respect their wishes. >> I'll take care of that. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So I that concludes board members communication treasur >> I do not have anything tonight. >> Thank you. And
028PTA council reports the last meeting of the month. So we do not have that tonight. Um at this time um it is public comments for items on the agenda. It's an invitation for the public to address the board of education with comments concerning agenda items to be adopted this evening. Uh do we have any agenda items? Okay. Uh just, you know, really quick, I probably should have brought this up in communications. Um this is something that has come up and I want to talk about maybe uh going into the policy committee meeting once again. Um it's come to my attention that we actually have public comments on um the agenda items. So we have it here, but we also we have a policy that kind of contradicts uh saying that in the public comment that's
029open after that they can only speak on agenda items. So but within that policy it contradicts itself. So can we take that to policy committee? >> Yes. Okay. Okay. So now we are going to looks like move into um business. >> Who has business? >> Oh, we have no business. Okay. No curriculum. Oh, finance. >> Thank you, Miss Sebastian. Mhm. >> Uh I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-185, ratification of investments. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-185. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Mr. Reyes, >> yes. >> Dr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Kerick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. Resolution 2026-04-185 has been approved. >> I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-186 supplemental appropriations. >> Second. >>
030We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-186. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. Dr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Kerpek, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian, >> yes. Resolution 2026-04-186 has been approved. >> Do any other board members have anything to to discuss uh concerning finance? This concludes finance. >> Thank you, Mr. Reyes. Human resources. >> I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-187. Approval of the following certified exhibits. Confirmation of certified replacements. Confirmation of supplemental appointments. Confirmation of summer school administration contracts. Approval of certified non-compensated leaves of absence. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-187. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. Miss Kerpek, >>
031yes. >> Mr. Reyes, >> yes. >> Dr. Early, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian, >> yes. Resolution 2026-04-187 has been approved. >> I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-188 acceptance of certified administrative retirements. >> Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-188. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Miss Sebastian? >> Yes. >> I just want to take a moment to thank both these individuals uh Mr. Cooa, Mr. Liar. Hopefully I said that right. Uh >> and and Liar >> for their uh for their service to the district. Thank you both. >> Thank you. Um yes. I also would like to say uh thank you to Dr. Liar and Mr. Kuka. Um again uh very personal tie. Uh doc um not Dr. Liar, I'm sorry. Mr. Ka uh was vital
032in my daughter's education. Um and uh we worked uh very closely together. Um great with families and parents. So um sad to see him go, but happy for him to live his retirement life. So, um, roll call, please. Mr. Nusio. >> Miss Kerbick. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. >> Dr. Early. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. Resolution 2026-04-188 has been approved. >> I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-189. Recommendation for continuing contracts 2026 to 2027. >> Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-189. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Miss Kirbeek. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. >> Dr. Early. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. Resolution 2026-04-189 has been approved. I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-190,
033approval of the following classified exhibits. Confirmation of classified appointments, confirmation of classified replacements, acceptance of classified resignations and approval of classified non-compensated leaves of absence. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-190. Are there any questions or comments from the board? Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Miss Kerek. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. >> Dr. Early. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian. >> Yes. Resolution 2026-04-190 has been approved. >> I move to adopt resolution 2026-04-191, acceptance of classified retirements. >> Second. We have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 2026-04-191. Are there any questions or comments from the board? >> Miss Sebastian. >> Yes. >> Thank you. I just want to recognize uh Miss Lions as well for her service to the district. Thank you so much.
034>> Thank you, Mr. Reyes. >> Roll call, please. Mr. Nucio. >> Miss Kerek. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes. Dr. Early, >> yes. >> Mrs. Sebastian, >> yes. Resolution 2026-04-191 has been approved >> unless another board member has anything to discuss. >> I just want to add, so I just want you to know we also um are going to recognize our retirement uh staff at uh I think a May meeting, late May. >> Yes. At the first meeting in May, we will be recognizing the certified staff from Valley Forge and Normandy. At the second meeting of May, we will be recognizing the certified staff from the elementary buildings and the middle school buildings. And at the first meeting in June, we will be recognizing the classified staff retirements. >> Thank you, Dr. Early. >>
035Unless anyone else has anything to discuss with human resources, this will conclude human resources. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Kerpek. Uh there are no policies tonight. Um so now um we will move on to information requested by board members. Are there any board members that have information they are requesting? Okay, we will now move into our public comment section. Uh before we do so, um I just want to read our policy. So, the Parma City School District Board of Education is a decision-making body. We value community input. We appreciate those who have taken the time to participate. We will now move to public comments. Um, it is intended to allow the board to listen. The board does not engage in dialogue or debate and back and forth during this portion of the meeting. When
036recognized, speakers must state their name and address for the record and direct all remarks to the board president. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes with a maximum of 30 minutes total for public participation. A timer will be used to ensure fairness, order, and consistency. I will indicate when your time is concluded and will provide a visual signal when 15 seconds remain if needed. Once the three minutes have ended, the speaker must stop. This time limit is enforced uniformly and without exception in accordance with board policy 0169.1. Requests uh to be heards were required to be submitted in advance by completing a request to be heard form and submitting it in person to the administrative secretary. Only those who have completed this process will be permitted to speak. Individuals may not register others to speak
037during public comment. Administration may attempt to answer questions at the conclusion of a speaker's comments. However, in many cases, additional information may be needed to fully address a concern. Questions may be referred to the superintendent or the treasurer for further investigation or study. If information is not readily available, a district administrator or appropriate designate may follow up within 72 hours. However, sometimes we are not able to get uh back in that time frame. We'll do our best as outlined in our board policy 0169.1. Um, also in some instances, a response may be provided at a future regular meeting. To ensure respectful and productive environment, comments must be directed again to the board president. Speakers are asked to refrain from defamatory, obscene, abusive, derogatory, irrelevant, repetitive, or disruptive remarks, including verbal criticism or complaints against any
038individual employee of the district. Personnel matters and certain student related issues are governed by board policy and law and cannot be addressed in a public forum. The presiding officer may terminate a speaker's privilege of address if after being called to order, the speaker persists an improper conduct or remarks. Individuals who do not adhere to these expectations may be asked to stop speaking and if necessary to leave the meeting. If a speaker is unable to complete their comments within the allotted time, additional information may be shared with the board members via email. At this time, we will proceed with public comment. When called, please come to the microphone. Brian Sloan Thank you. Um, I'm retired and my children are grown and and gone. Um, however, I felt very compelled to speak out about some recent developments.
039Uh, I'm not a veteran, but I've had the the great honor and I'm extremely humbled to have known veterans starting with World War II forward. um they deserve our utmost respect and support because they're the reason we get to have meetings like this. This board I believe must there's only one thing to do and that's the right thing and that is to support Ms. McTagert in her absence protecting us and excuse her absence which I'm not an attorney but in my interpretation the law absolutely permits and past history with this board may not be binding but there have been numerous extended absences primarily due to health reasons that that nothing like this was ever even considered. Removing somebody from the board was never even a thought. Um, you are here to represent us and there's
040really only two things in the morning that you need to remember. You need to do what's right for the kids and what's right for this community. And if everything's measured by that, then you're going to do the right thing. There's no part of Ms. Matagert's absences and possibly removing her from the board that meet that criteria. They're not. It's not best for the kids and it's not best for the community. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Sloan. Kevin Kusma. >> Thank you, Madam President. Kevin Kousall, 3160 Hzel Drive, Parm City Councilman, former board of education member. Before I begin, I would like to thank our military members and Ashley McTag Tagard for her service. Madame President, I know I don't need to tell you, but there has been a precedent under previous boards that have
041cast a shadow on this district that we're still living with today. Kevin Kelly era for one. And I'm very concerned that this board is approaching that as well. After the last meeting, I've had many residents of mine reach out to me, very concerned, and they've not asked me questions necessarily about the school district income tax, but they've told me that they're wondering why the district is attacking the military and active service members. And I think this is something that needs to be addressed. I thank board member Reyes for bringing this up for a discussion. I'm concerned that it has not been brought up yet at this meeting. I last night attended a meeting with Congressman Miller, our state senator Tom Patton, and several state representatives who are drafting legislation right now to protect Ashley McTagert
042and other members who are in the armed forces from being removed from their seats. I think that for this district, for transparency, there's something that needs to be said about this. The precedent has already been made where board member McTagert served already on active duty and was not threatened with removal last year. There have been three absences in the last 10 years due to medical leave with one board member, two board members passing away, but one board member with extended absences passing away. And during all of those, there was never called into any question their removal from this board. I'm very concerned if this board approaches this. It seems to me and I really madame president I hope this is not the case that there are po possibly personnel personality issues related to this removal.
043This seems personal and I I hope you can you I will allow you to have directly to you >> Mr. We will we will stop the meeting. We will adjourn the meeting. I'm asking for order. I am allowed to address this. This is our policy. We are not allowed to talk about person. You served on the board. We do not talk about individual board members or they're going to have anybody else who speaks out, they are being removed from the meeting. I am addressing I am addressing Mr. Kusmol. This is the policy. If you do not follow the policy, you will end your time in speaking. You can finish with your statement. >> Thank you. I am saying as a community member who's lived here my whole life, I am very concerned that there is
044not a commitment by this body to not remove Ashley McTagert. And if this body chooses to remove Ashley McTagert, I'm very concerned for our children and the future in this district. We don't have to look very far. There was a article in Channel 5, right? Channel 5 put out an article and overwhelmingly there's not a lot of trust in this district. If this body moves forward with something like removing an active duty service member, I'm very concerned you're going to lose the trust in the community. >> Thank you, Mr. Kusnol. Robert Pansick, we need order. Order. So the other people have an opportunity to speak. If this continues, we will adjourn the meeting. We ask for order, please. We want to hear everybody's statements. We are allowing that to happen, but we need cooperation from
045you to allow that to happen. Mr. Pervasnik, can you please come to the podium? Thank you. Thank you. Um, I'd like to have all the servicemen that are serving or have served please stand. >> Please address. >> Thank you. >> My name is Robert Pvaznik. >> Mr. Passnik. >> Yes. >> We need your name and address. >> Robert Pvasnik, 6202 Renwood Drive. Uh I'm speaking uh my mind before you in regards to uh Ashley McTagard. She's a mom. She's a patriot. She's serving our country and she is a school board member. Do you know the roles of a um military operation? No. Do you have confident I have confidence that she will to the best of her ability as she is overseas. Uh it was come to my attention that someone here uh actually uh
046contacted the military in regards to that about where she is and all that stuff in the future. That can't happen. You cannot jeopardize the unit whether it be the person or the whole unit. Um sorry I messed all that up but you can have you can figure that out on that. Um, you don't remove a military person from uh the school board. They've served proudly here. They're serving proudly with the uniform. You do not do that. My question is why. I want to know why exactly why you're doing this. Ashley did nothing to the school board. She did nothing to the school system besides serve proudly as a school board member and in the military. I'm I'm glad that Tom Patton has introduced the bill to stop this uh insane thing that's going on here
047and I stand with Ashley McTagard uh and uh what's going on. Part of another part with this is what you guys brought up earlier about the tax levy. I asked three superintendents, including the the current one, if they wanted help with a presentation. I gave one in 2002. Board members sat down there. I had the stage for that and I showed how to balance the budget without a school levy. I need that to happen again. I I know you're inside and you're budget inside and out probably better than Sean does. I studied it for three years inside and out. I want to have so I can actually bring the team in like I had the last time or others because some team are some team members are well past retirement that I had that time.
048I did a forensic audit of the school system and I showed what to do and how to do it and when to do it. Basically, you need a 20-year term of what happened, what's presently happened five years in the future. Show what show the public exactly. Show the raises. Show the step tier. Show everything so it's transparent. Lastly, I'm going to give you guys all a book to read. It's a book that I wrote called Living the Life of Integrity. Candy Graves. >> Hello, Madam President and members of the board. Um, I'm not here to talk about Ashley McTagert. I'm actually a pair professional. I have >> Andy, I'm sorry. Uh, name and address. Sandy Graves, 7204 Lingerford Drive, Parma, Ohio. Um, I'm here. I have many hats in this district, as most of you
049know. I'm also the council president um of council PTA. I am a little disturbed that only four of our board members have contributed to our scholarship fund. I'm so happy though for the donations. So, thank you. But, um, today I have my mom hat on. So, um, my name is Candy and I'm a proud mom of four students who have been a part of this district for over eight years. When I think of this district, I don't just think of schools. I think of the people in the community, the educators, the staff who have shown up for my children in ways that have truly shaped who they've become. My senior is enrolled in the career tech program of dental assisting or the dental program. And I'm going to start to cry because he is graduating
050May 30th and he is going off to military boot camp for the United States Marine Corps on June 3rd. Yes, I'm so proud of him. Um, he's not only learning the skills though, but he's gaining direction, confidence, and a clear vision for his future. My junior, my junior gunner, he uh once struggled with self-esteem, but he has been lifted by his teachers here at Normandy and Hillside and at Densler, who they've seen, they've seen his worth when he couldn't. And that means so much to me because he is on the spectrum. He is autistic, but he is doing great. So, thank you to all the educators and all the staff that have worked with my gunner. Uh my eighth grader Joshua, his journey started at Densler Elementary School where his second grade teaching staff helped
051him and me actually myself navigate his ADHD and the the whole IEP process because that in itself is just a lot. Uh they didn't just support his academics, they helped us understand how he learns. And that is also why I transitioned from being a stay at home mom to going into Densler and becoming a pair professional. So yeah, it's it's a lot. Uh that foundation has changed everything for Joshua. He is more confident. He is more successful and he actually enjoys learning this time. It's been it's been a long road for him. Now my daughter August love her. Uh once she was once beginning her reading journey, title one at Densler helped her immensely. She is now a honors student for ELA for 8th grade. and it wasn't if it wasn't for her the pathway
052that was laid before her from Densler and into middle school at Hillside, I don't know where she'd be. So, um this district this district has supported my children academically, emotionally, and personally. It has helped shape their confidence, their goals, and the love of learning. As a parent, there's nothing more reassuring than knowing that my children are in a place where they have been seen, supported, and they are believed in. So, I wanted to just thank you all. I appreciate it. Thank you, Miss Graves, and for all you do for Parma City School District. Sharon Physic, name and address. Just got >> there's a vibe going tonight. Everybody's It's okay. Sharon Fitzick, 6495 Gale Drive, 7 Hills, Ohio. In 1997, my oldest daughter was diagnosed with autism. Roughly 18 months later, my second child was also
053diagnosed with on the autism spectrum. Pervasive development disorder, not otherwise specified, was the diagnostic term I was given. As young parents at that time, my husband and I had no idea what we were facing, but knew we had to place our faith and our trust in our local schools, the Parma City School District. Through endless meetings with discussions involving various therapies and appropriate educational settings, we navigated a system that is not always userfriendly. With guidance from our daughter's teachers, therapists, and school administrators, our daughters were set on a path of success for their academic lives and beyond. During that time, I witnessed the tireless effort of these professionals. So, I made the decision to become a pair professional myself. I saw their work and decided that I wanted to be a part of it. A
054part of an amazing group of people with their students best interests at heart. Professionals who treated my daughters as if they were their own. In 2003, I started my employment with the Parm City School District. For 23 years, I have been a part of an amazing group of people who have given their lives to assist in giving our students the best possible learning environments. Working with teachers, we assist children with their academic goals. Working with therapists, we strive to help students with occupational skills such as writing or feeding themselves independently. We strive to help students communicate to the best of their abilities, whether through their own voice or with communication devices. And we strive to help children learn to navigate their ambulatory needs. I know many of my co-ass assistants have seen children walk for
055the first time, have heard words spoken for the first time, or have been able to independently take care of themselves. Something that may not always be discussed, but I feel it is important to note. Myself and my co-assists have also worked with students who have suffered severe trauma in their young lives. Trauma so great that many here cannot fathom. All the precious students I have worked with, whether with a physical need or an emotional need, are students in our district, many with needs so complex that without our public schools and this district may not have been given a chance at a successful future. Thank you for this recognition. Thank you for this school board and to our district for recognizing the work we do for the appreciation shown for our life's work. For many of
056us, it is our passion. Thank you for seeing us through our students. Thank you for truly seeing us. Thank you, Miss Physic. We appreciate you. I did I apologize. Um I did it just accidentally got mixed up. I apologize. John Ree Rice. Rice Ree name and address. >> John Rice, uh, 1070 Clifdale Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio. I am the director of veteran services for Kyhoga County, and I'm here today to speak on behalf of in support of Ashley McTagert. Um, I have spent the last 27 years since I was 17 years old in public service, whether that be the military, nonprofits, um, or now in at the county. Um, I say that to say that I have served on boards like yours and I respect, um, the decisions you must make and how tough those must
057be. Um, but I stand here today in support of Ashley and in support of our military veterans because it's the right thing to do. I think the board needs to be um careful with its decisions and I make some recommendations um that a this isn't 1950. We do not lead in public service in the shadows. We're forward- facing the these proceedings will be televised. They will be on YouTube and your decisions are going to lead the young minds of those those that you wish to lead through your positions on this board. Um the second thing I'd like to convey and certainly is that um it is important that we recognize the law. And while there are certainly a debate to be had about whether or not um that applies here, I think calling military service
058insufficient for anything is probably an incorrect choice of terminology. I think taking a negative or adverse action against anybody for their military service is something that you should consider and consider wisely. Lastly, you've all taken the responsibility of serving the public here in this school district, and every bit of time at these meetings is important and valuable. Making a decision in an adverse action towards a military member will result in 30 minutes of your time at every one of these meetings being taken up by individuals coming to these podiums and making comments. The military community doesn't forget, and they'll be here every time. It will impact your ability to do the jobs you wish to do. I suggest that you leave the seat vacant while Ashley Matager is gone and when she comes back allow
059her to continue to serve as she was elected or appointed to do so. Thank you. >> Thank you, Crystal Rockwood. Name and address. Hi, Crystal Rockwood, 502 Eastwood Road in Hinkley. >> How's that? Is that better? >> I don't know if our microphone is is it Can you lean in it just a little bit? >> Can you hear me now? No. >> Can you hear me now? >> Okay. Okay. I come to you tonight not just as an employee of the district, but as a very proud grandmother. My grandson is a special needs student. And like so many families, we once carried worry and uncertainty and a deep hope that he would be seen, understood, and supported for who he is. Perma City School District did exactly that and more. From the very beginning, the
060dis the the staff at Densler didn't just educate him, they embraced him. They met him with patience, compassion, and a belief in his potential. They celebrated his victories, no matter how small they may seem to others. But to his family, they were everything. Because of this district, I have seen my grandson grow in confidence. I've seen him feel included and proud of himself. As a grandmother, there is nothing more powerful than seeing your grandbaby thrive in a place where they feel they truly belong. That experience didn't just impact Zachary. It changed me as well. It inspired me to become part of this district to give back to the very community that gave so much to my family. I'm working at Densler now as a par professional as well. Working there is more than a job.
061It's a privilege. It's an opportunity to be a part of something that truly makes a difference in children's lives every single day. Perma City School District doesn't just teach students, it lifts families, builds confidence, and creates futures. And for that, I am forever grateful. Thank you. We appreciate you. Michael John's name and address, but you know the drill. Michael John, 7401 Dogwood Lane, Parma, Ohio. I'm here on the other side of this subject. When you're elected as a board member, you're here to serve your time. If you've changed your career and now can no longer serve that time, you should stand up and say, "Okay, I can't do this. When I'm done with my career change, I will come back and run again." Not being here for the choice of a superintendent, not being here
062for nine months, and not serving the community. I'm a veteran, 82nd Airborne Division. Sorry. Served in the Air National Guard. Did my time. >> We are veteran. >> I said we are acknowledging every veteran in this room. Thank you, Mr. John's for serving. It's >> fine. This is not about personal things. This isn't about politics. This is about being here to do the job. If you can't be here to do the job, you should stand up and say, "I will come back and do it when I can. I serve on other boards. I served on this board. If I had been called or chosen to leave, I would have just resigned my position and said, "Okay, nine months from now, I'll come back and run again." The people that are hired to do this job
063are elected. There are laws in the state that have to be upheld. It is not up to this board to question the state laws. If the judicial or if the legislation doesn't change, they have to be enforced. We can't just ignore them. This is not, as far as I can see it, it's not an a vendetta thing. It's a law thing. There are three laws that adhere to this. 317 33113-11. And even under federal law, if you are drawn and served as an elected official for more than 270 days, you're required to resign your position. This is simple. This isn't politics. This isn't personal. This is the rules. You should have known these rules when you ran for public office. You should have known these rules when you accept a position to leave for this
064period of time. There's nothing else to this. So all this argument and all this screaming and yelling and making big to-dos, the law is the law and it has to be upheld. The board has no choice. They cannot ignore it. It's it's not their job to ignore it. It's their job to uphold it. It's that simple. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. John's Chase Conklin, >> name and address. Chase Conlin, uh 6877 Bearsford Avenue, Parma Heights. Thank you, Madam President. Uh, I have not been involved much when it comes to the schools of the school board. I don't have kids in the school. I don't own a home in the district. Yet, I have been coming to these meetings as of late because I do reside in the district. Starting back in February, I have
065been attending almost every meeting. The meetings usually consist of fighting, shouting, potentially breaking the Ohio code and high school drama. At the end of the meetings, I ask myself, what did the board accomplish? How did this help the kids of the district? In 99% of the time, it didn't help the kids and in some cases hurt the kids by taking away programs and resources that students and parents love and rely on. With that being said, on the proposed income tax levy, you want us to trust this board that has potentially broken the Ohio Revised Code and is morally corrupt and has proven they are not fiscally responsible. Parma Heights, where I live, is already one of the highest municipal income taxes in the state, and you want it to go even higher because of your
066lack of courage and fiscal responsibility. My message to the board and the community is to vote against the income tax levy because it'll hike the income tax for all of us. I yield my time. >> Thank you. Tom Snitzky, name and address, please. Tom Snitzky. Can you hear me now? Okay. My name is Tom Snitzky. I live at 2033 Hillside Road. I'm a councilman in the city of Seven Hills. I've been on city council for about 12 years. Ladies and gentlemen of the board, this is a really bad look. Um, you know, you're trying to pass a new type of tax, an income tax, and this thing where you're trying to get an active duty member off the board. Um, it's just plain wrong. It's plain wrong and it's a really bad look. And especially
067since the state may change the law uh to allow a active duty member to have time off when they're on an elected board like this, I think you should table any discussion of this. Um, the other thing is is that I noticed you didn't make a motion to excuse her tonight, which to me sends an awful message right there. And I want to read you something that I just found on chat. Okay. Can an airman that is actively be be forced out of a public government position or a private sector position? Short answer, no. Both the public and private employers generally cannot force an active service member out of a job just because they're called to duty. It's called the Uniform Services Employment and Remployment and Reemployment Act. However, I guess as an elected official,
068there's a loophole in the state that as an elected position, you can do it. But I again, I say it's a really bad look when you're trying to get past this income tax. And uh you should excuse her from the meeting tonight and you should uh not pursue this action. Thank you, Gary Sers. My name is Gary Sers. I live at 12423 Sunset Road, Garfield Heights, Ohio. I'm here to talk about Miss Ashley McTagard who's been Well, I was told that she had volunteered for this post. >> Mr. Sers, I'm sorry. Uh, we can't hear you. Just a little bit closer to the microphone. I'm sorry. >> And I was told that she was being excused. She was going to be dismissed from her post. Now, I served in the military for 31 years. And
069this actually the Ohio Army National Guard for 31 years, which is a reserve component. And we need the reserve components to be strong. Now, I've been deployed several times. I don't know if any of you guys ever heard of a a air raid siren go off, but I'm sure Ashley Metager has in the past couple of weeks. I don't know if you guys have ever been ushered into a bomb shelter, but I'm sure Ashley Magard has. And she volunteered to do so to keep you guys safe, the same people who were trying to remove her. Now, I am not a political person. I don't know if this has to do with politics. And if it does, shame on you because you are living under the safety and guides of one Ashley Magard who volunteered, put
070her life, left her family, her friends to go protect us so we never have to hear those sirens and we never have to go to a bomb shelter. So, I am thoroughly disgusted that I have to leave that I have to leave my home to come here to stand up for her when you guys should be standing up for her. If there is a law on the books that says that Ashley Matager should be removed, y'all should set the example. Not raising taxes, but making laws that protect the woman who's leaving her children, her husband, to fight for our country. This makes no sense to me. I was an educator. I was asked to run for a board position. Garfield Heights, Warrenville Heights. I'm glad I didn't if this is what it is. And I've
071been to many. I've even worked in your high schools, Parma, Normandy, as a recruiter and recruited a lot of your students. What kind of example are you guys setting for them? If you're telling them, hey, you get elected to an office, you have a responsibility to lead for protecting our country. That makes no sense. So, I'm standing here begging you guys to make sense. Help her retain her seat. The fact that y'all came in here and didn't think that this was important enough to put on the agenda. It doesn't make sense to me. None of this today, right now, is making sense to me. And I have degrees and I can write my name. So, I hope in a couple of weeks I can make sense of this. But instead of trying to get rid
072of her, when she comes back, y'all should be thanking her because it takes a lot to leave your family and your friends to serve your country. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, so that concludes public comment. However, I do want to make a point of clarification. um just because there was uh quite a few people who um have said that the last meeting uh was a meeting to remove a board member. That was not the intent of the meeting, nor was there any action taken. So, I want to clarify that. Um with that being said, we're going to move into new business. Um this is an opportunity for board members to bring up non-aggenda items. >> Miss Sebastian, >> Mr. Reus. >> Thank you so much. Um, so again, just just based off of what
073uh Mr. Rose said at the last meeting and also what the community wants, I think that uh the discussion for Miss McTager's absences should happen as a board and not not in committee. Um, that discussion should be open to the public. People should be able to see what we discuss and uh this decision should be made as a body. Um, if no one else is comfortable having that discussion today, um, I would like to bring a motion forward to declare Miss McTager's absences due to military deployment to be sufficient. >> Do we have a second? >> If if if there's no second, I would I would strongly recommend that the this discussion be put on the next meeting's agenda. Okay. So there you have one motion going. So let's stop with that motion and then
074talk about because if you're making another motion that's separate. So let's stop here. >> I'm not making another motion. >> But you just asked for something else. So can we just stop with what you just said? The motion died. >> Correct. >> Okay. So we did discuss this in the beginning that and I just want to clarify that our policy committees are public. So you can attend and we would have to if it went to policy it would still have to come back to the public and the public would still be able to comment on it and we allowed public comment tonight as well. We are listening we we are taking that into consideration. I am not going back on uh what our processes are um and that is going through policy. So that's what
075that's where we would >> our attorney recommended that we discuss this at the next meeting. >> Right. That was his recommendation. >> So you want to have another special meet. Are you calling So I need you to be clear on what your motion is. Are you calling for a special meeting to discuss absences? >> Is that what you're >> I don't have any other motion. There's no other motion. This is only a discussion. >> So you're asking for a special meeting. I need clarification. >> I'm asking if No, if there's no second to my motion, I'm asking that this discussion be put on the next agenda. So, are you asking for a resolution to be considered on the agenda? >> A motion doesn't go on an agenda, Mr. Reyes. >> I'm not asking for a
076motion. I'm asking for a discussion as a board to be put on the agenda so we can talk about this topic. >> You can bring that up in the discussion on the agenda. Sure. >> I'm not in that meeting for the for the agenda meeting. >> Mr. Reyes, I I'm I'm sorry. I I think you're you're not following what I'm saying. Either you're bringing up a resolution either you're bringing up a resolution to have on the agenda. There's no other way of having something go on the agenda. If you want to have another discussion at the next meeting, we certainly can. I need clarity in what you're asking or we can't move forward. If I'm creating an agenda, when can I hand that to the uh uh to you guys to add to the agenda?
077>> If if you're asking about a resolution, >> correct? >> Okay. So, you would have to work the resolution would have to be worked on with the treasur's office and then you could bring it I I would assume that would come before Mr. Nucio. Would that come before >> the board agenda is set according to board policy is set by the board president, vice president and the superintendent. So that call would come from those three people if it gets on on the next agenda. >> So he could work with you on a resolution and then ask us to bring it forth in the agenda and then we would decide whether or not that would make the agenda. >> Correct? He could work with my office on coming up with a resolution and he could submit
078it for at the agenda meeting to be go on to the agenda, but that's up to the board president, vice president, superintendent. >> Okay. Is that what you want to do? >> Whose decision is it whether it goes on the agenda or not? >> He just said the president. Yeah. The president, the vice president, and the superintendent. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Uh-huh. Okay. So, with that being said, um we do not have an executive session. Um and we are going to move into adjournment. So, be it resolved that the board of education of the Parma City School District hereby Oh, I'm sorry, wrong one. It is now, sorry, we don't have an executive session. It is now 6:37 p.m. Oh, I'm on the wrong one. That's why I'm on the reconvene. I don't think
079I have the right one. >> It's just the same thing. >> Okay. I know. I just want to make sure I have it. All right. I move to adjourn this meeting. >> Second. >> We have a motion and a second to adjurnn. Thank you. >> We got roll call. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Sebastian. Yes, >> Miss Kerpek. >> Yes, >> Dr. Early. >> Yes, >> Mr. Reyes. >> Yes, >> meeting is adjourned.