001All right, welcome everybody. We are so glad that you are here and we have a full house tonight. Uh today is Monday, May 12th. This is our regular uh Oakwood Schools Board of Education meeting. And if we could, Miss Aubber, please get the roll call. Miss Dorenzo, here. Miss Kawai here. Dr. Middleton, Mr. Mr. Ryder Garcia here. Mr. Wilson here. Would you all please rise and join us in our pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands indivisible. All right. Okay. Could I please get a motion to adopt tonight's agenda? So move. Second. Miss Auburn. Dr. Middleton. Hi. Miss Kawaii. Hi. Miss Dorenzo. Hi. Mr. Writer Garcia. Hi. Mr. Wilson. I. And can I also get a motion for onee? The approval of the Oakwood Board of Education
002meeting minutes from April 14th, 2025. So moved. Second. Miss Saber. Miss Dorenzo. Hi. Mr. Rder Garcia. Hi. Miss Kauaii. Hi. Dr. Middleton. Hi. Mr. Wilson. Hi. Next up is uh superintendent reports, public comments. Okay, good good evening. Good evening everybody. Um great to see a full crowd here today. Uh today is special. I would say that um we do a nice job here in Oakwood schools of um each month recognizing our our talented students and talking about the amazing things that they're doing. We know that's predicated based on our amazing staff and the volunteers that that make that a reality. Um obviously it's tough sometimes to figure out how we would actually appropriately recognize staff members without leaving out other ones. Um but this one is special. Um we're here to uh recognize our retirees.
003And so, um, what I'm going to ask is, um, one at a time, um, uh, as I call your name, you're going to come up, um, over here to the podium with me for a little while. You don't have to speak. I'm going to go ahead and do that for you. There's been some people that have prepared some, uh, positive comments that that I'm going to share. Um, after that, uh, you're going to walk down the line and and the board members would love to, uh, shake your hand. Um, at the end, President Wilson will hand you a clock and then, um, go ahead and take the clock. You'll get a picture with Mrs. couch and then stay standing up in that gentle area right there. We'll get a group picture right after that's over.
004Um after that time, I'm gonna I'm gonna like this is my teacher, you know, trying to be structured sort of thing. After that time is up. Um we're I'm going to give you the the honor and um say that it's okay for you to be excused from the meeting if you'd like to. You don't have to stay for the entire meeting. Um, I always kind of say that uh it's an opportunity for you to go celebrate more into the evening and graders ice cream is something that you know you could you could go out and get some ice cream for. Um, as you get your clock uh from the front area, there's a box behind actually our administrators back there. There's a box with your name on it. If you'd like to grab that box
005to put that uh clock back in, you'll have that also. Okay. Uh, so with that, I'm going to go ahead and begin. These are not in alphabetical order. I don't even know the rhyme or reason for these, so don't even try to guess. uh just I guess be ready for this. Uh the first one is Jay Lane. Uh today we celebrate Jay Lane, a dedicated part of Oakwood school staff since 1998. assistant treasurer and former high school math teacher shares, "Jay, your study presence, your quiet brilliance, and unwavering passion for students and math, have made you a grounding force and inspire those around you to become better educators. As we retire, those are in quotes, know that Oakwood High School, especially the legendary third floor, won't be the same without you. Congratulations on your retirement,
006Jay. Wishing you the best of luck in your next chapter. The next one, Mary Hawk Davis. [Applause] Congratulations on your retirement. Um, Oakwood Junior High Principal Tim Baitenhop shares uh, Madame Hawk Davis has inspired a generation of French students in Oakwood since 2004. When she won the Parker Love of Teaching and Lifelong Learning Award in 2023, I could not help but to think back through the many above and beyond examples of her teaching that I've been privileged to witness. From creating green screen videos during virtual instruction to acting out the silliest stories to sharing her student insights with colleagues, Madame truly stands out as an exemplary um individual. Boon voyage, Madame, and we look forward to hearing about your future travels. Thank you. Next one is Pam Maro. Thank you, Pam, for 20 years of
007dedication to Oakwood students. Again, junior high principal Tim Maidenhop shares, "I first had the opportunity to work alongside Pam Marorrow when I was a school psychologist, and what stood out to me was her tireless work ethic to provide individualized support and instruction to our students with educational disabilities. For the past nine years, I've had the ongoing privilege to watch Mrs. Marorrow advocate, collaborate, teach, and otherwise provide for students varied educational needs. She has truly help students build their skills and future opportunities. We'll miss having her at Oak Junior High. Enjoy your retirement. Next is Tammy Parker. Today, Oakwood Schools thanks Harmon second grade teacher, Tammy Parker, for her 30 years with the district. Tammy is a loyal and honest teammate. She is someone everyone can rely on both in and out of the classroom. gushed
008her second grade colleagues, Tina, Molly, and Aaron. She has strong values and a genuine respect for others. Tammy always puts students best interests at heart and has wonderful parent communication skills. She's an irreplaceable member of both the Harmon faculty and the second grade team. Congratulations on your retirement. Oakwood will miss you. Next is Kathy Cash. That's right. Today we honor Kathy Cash and thank her for her 20 years of dedication to the students of Oakwood schools. Smith principal Cassie Shock shares Kathy is always willing to help her peers, finds humor in almost any situation, and takes pride in using her skill set to do what is best for kids. She'll never gives up. She keeps pushing and provides lots of love to our students. You'll be missed at Smith School and across the district. Congratulations,
009Joyce Dunham. Honoring the retirement of Joyce Dunham, a beloved teacher, teammate, and cornerstone of the Harmon community. Known for her student centered teaching, unwavering support for colleagues, and thoughtful guidance, Joyce brought heart and humor to every corner of our school. From her love of nature and animals to her deep roots in Dayton, she infused Harmon with curiosity, creativity, and care. As both John Edwards and Shawn Fry shared, Joyce's impact will be felt for years to come and her absence deeply missed. Thank you, Joyce, for everything. Linda [Applause] Forner. Come right here. Come right here. Although operating behind the scenes, Linda has been impacting Oakwood schools for 25 years. She's consistently helped coordinate substitutes for openings across the district and is certainly one of the reasons all of Oakwood schools runs smoothly. Congratulations on your retirement.
010Linda has been the quiet hero behind the scenes, ensuring um every classroom and position was covered every day. Now it's our turn to show our appreciation for the countless times you made sure everything ran smoothly. We celebrate a well-deserved retirement and thank her for the difference Linda has made to our schools. By by Suzanne B. Thank you. Kathy Newberg Today we celebrate the retirement of Kathy Newberg, a true gem of the Oakwood School's Board of Education office. Since 2005, Kathy has been a steady, supportive force, always one step ahead, ready to help with a smile. From onboarding new staff to assisting in countless ways, she's been the heart of our office, says Allison Couch. Kathy is an incredible lady, but she is so much more. Thank you, Kathy Newbert, for being the heart of our
011office. You are steady, supportive, and I love this word, fierce, and always one step ahead with anything and all of us that all of us might need. You are kind, organized, and help everyone with a smile. Congratulations, Crystal Melor. Since 2005, Crystal has dedicated herself to meeting students diverse educational needs as an advocate, collaborator, and inspiring educator. Her impact continues to shape lives and learning. Um she has made an impact focusing on solid ed education that emphasizes the whole child. She's strengthened community relationships um by her work with her students and the families that she engages with and her creativity and kindness will be missed. Uh thank you and congratulations. and Kim Lang. Today we celebrate the upcoming retirement of Kimi Lang, whose warmth, wisdom, and unwavering dedication have left a lasting impression on our
012district since 2011. Kimi brought a wealth of knowledge and a deep commitment to ensuring every student feels seen, heard, and valued, shared assistant superintendent Allison Couch. Her leadership in curriculum helped shape our schools and instructional practices while welcoming her while her welcoming spirit and ability to form deep meaningful connections with teachers across the district made her a trusted colleague and friend. She'll be deeply missed. Thank you, Dr. Lang. [Applause] Okay. Uh we did have one more person. Uh Suzanne Batton, our Lang principal and special ed supervisor for the past three years. Um has made a special impact uh in our district. Uh could not be with us tonight. So want to thank everybody again, all the family members and friends that were able to join. Um you can stay for the board meeting. It is
013a public board meeting. You can definitely stay, but won't be offended if you choose at this time to go get some graater ice cream. Perfect. Oh, Kimi. Oh, she's got a Oh, you got a little time. You got a little time. Yep, you're fine. Yeah, she's introducing the curriculum showcase. So, she got a little time. And then don't forget to come back and get your or take the box with you. So, you have those. Perfect. At this time, I'm gonna introduce Emma Butler with the Oakwood Schools Foundation to share about the spring grants. She just took a seat uh that but you could get a chance to get set up because they're they're going to take that. But come on up. Well, that is a hard act to follow. My goodness. How many years does
014that represent? It's many, many. Okay, we'll go ahead and get started. Um, so thank you, Dr. Gupta. My name is Emma Butler and I'm an Oakwood Schools Foundation trustee and the chairperson of the grants and programs committee. Oakwood Schools Foundation along with the Oakwood Fine Arts Boosters and the Junior Senior High School PTO collaborated for this 2025 spring grant cycle to support six allnew teacher-led initiatives with nearly $40,000 in combined support for our schools. So, I know they're a little loud, so it's $40,000 of this amount. Oakwood Schools Foundation is delighted to fund three of these with more than 32,000 in support. So, grants supported this cycle. They're having a party. Yeah. Yeah. They're they're out of here. Um grants supported this cycle include the installation of built-in microphones for the Rick and Jane Schwarz
015performing arts wing. So, that finishes off that project, which we're really happy about. Um, iPads for the high school science department, a set of choir microphones for the auditorium, a set of five digital video cameras and accessories for the video production courses at the junior high, a vacuum pump to enrich high school STEM courses, and six art displays. um or panel displays for use in art classes, shows, and exhibitions. So, that's quite a bit. Um Oakwood Schools Foundation, as always, would like to thank the school district for their collaboration and recognize the care and generosity of our donors and the Oakwood community. We thank them for their annual support without which we would be unable to administer this collaborative process which has funded well over $1 million in grants since 1991. Oakwood is an incredible
016community because of our ability to collaborate between community groups and come together to dedicate resources that support innovation and enhancement for our students and teachers. On a personal note, this is my final time presenting in this role. I don't have 20 or 25 years of service. I have seven years as a trustee. It's been a true privilege to serve in this role. It has been a meaningful and rewarding experience to contribute to our schools and support the incredible work that's happening in our community. And with that, it is my honor to present this check that Mike is going to get for us to the Oakwood City School Board. Is that who Well, whoever would like to receive it on your behalf. So, it's over $32,000. So, these are for you. Thank you so much. Oh,
017thank you. Okay. Where do we where you want to set us up for this? That is so sweet. Right over there. I'll leave my bring my flowers. That was so Thank you so much. Okay. And keeping in with this information, um I also want to share the good news of last week uh with our our uh bond issue 12 vote. Um last week our voters approved a 4.74 mil bond. I I heard some clapping. We can go ahead and do that. Um the 4.7 mil bond issue for Oak City Schools. I'd like to thank the community for their support of our schools, our students, and our staff. In addition, I'd like to thank the Oakwood Schools levy committee for their hard work and support for the bond issue initiative. We're grateful to our community for
018the future plans of our facilities. The bond will issue will provide crucial funding for phase two of the Oakwood's master facility plan, including focused attention to Smith Elementary School and Harmon Elementary School, as well as other targeted attention across the district. This approval now launches an extensive project timeline work that students and families will see and some that they will not behind the walls. Following the passage of the bond issue last week, our team jumped right into action, including holding construction manager at risk, interviews, issuing a notice of most qualified firms to Heapy for phase 2 design work, and meeting internally to plan for some of the smaller projects within the bond that the district will be organizing. Work will continue to occur throughout the end of the school year, over the summer, and into
019the next school year to uh to be able to begin major work at the beginning of summer 2026. In the coming weeks, we'll be sharing more information about the projects um how this may affect operations of our buildings this summer and into the next school year. And please know that we aim to complete the work in a phased approach to minimize disruption to students and staff as much as possible. We appreciate your support and your patience as we move through this exciting time here at Oakwood Schools. Uh next, I'd like to just share the Oakwood Junior High Second Semester Success Breakfast winners. Um it is a special time. I keep hearing positive things about it uh when the students are uh recognized. That's Jack Arbor, Claire uh Cla Kumer, Mary Dow, Rimple, Liam Deer, Howie
020Ding, EMTT Dodson, Haley Gestner, Connor Gibson, Alex Ganerys, AJ Hutton, um Aam Iser, Ben Kite, Peter Randall, Scarlett Russell, and Raphael Zelic. Now, I'd like to introduce uh three people we'll be voting on later. Uh I'll be providing recommendations later and ask them to come up uh to the all three of them to come up to the podium to just share a little bit about themselves. Um we'll be voting later on you later in this. I'm going to allow you the gift of time to also if you'd like to stay you can stay or you can be excused after that um and and go and celebrate and have some ice cream. Um Hannah Tenbush as she comes uh up uh she'll be serving as our a Smith intervention specialist. uh Wendy Barhost, community relations coordinator,
021and Carrie Kiss, assistant to the assistant superintendent. We'll go in that order. Uh Hannah, if you'd like to share a little bit first. Hi, I'm Hannah. I am originally from Indiana. Came to Ohio for university where I got my double major in special education as well as primary education. I then got to student teach overseas as well as student teaching in Zenaia which is an awesome experience. And then for the last two years I have been teaching in a in excuse me in a second grade inclusion classroom. And honestly, I've just been in that inclusion classroom with having the gen ed and having some students with special needs and just grown my passion even more for students who have special needs, which is why I'm excited to start this role as an intervention specialist here
022at Oakwood as well as I just truly believe even just seeing these retirees that there are some great staff and administration that I look forward to being part of that team and learning from them as I am still young in my profession. So, thank [Applause] you. Hello. Hello. I'm Wendy Barhorst and I have been working in um public education, marketing, and communication for more than 20 years. I started in the higher ed side of the house and then moved over to the uh K12 world. And I have always admired Oakwood City School's reputation for excellence and your strong community values and commitment to your students. and I really look forward to working alongside this talented team here and lending my skills and uh experience and building a stronger relationship between our schools and the communities
023we serve. So, I appreciate your opportunity here. Thank you. Hi there. I'm Carrie Kiss and I have um both K12 and also um higher ed experience as well. Um, I come with almost 12 years of experience um, in that world. Um, I'm so excited to be a part of this community and the school district. Um, I've heard nothing but phenomenal things about it. Um, and I'm really excited to be a part of this community. Thank you guys both or all of you for the opportunity and um, I look forward to working with all of you. Thank you so much. Um, so, uh, I'm gonna kind of segue a little bit into, uh, giving an update on the state funding. Um, I've written a couple blogs about that, shared that in my weekly updates and kept
024you apprised of things that are happening at the state level. Uh I've I've felt at most often that it's important that for me as a superintendent to inform our community and I've done that through like I said uh just public conversations that I've had sharing them at board meetings through updates and uh writing the blogs. Um I've also gone monthly to uh Columbus. there's a legislative uh committee as part of uh my super state superintendent association shared my concerns and believe that they're listening like believe that our state associates association is taking that information uh to to the legislators. Um I'm at a point now where I feel like I need to go myself and so that senate education committee has a hearing on Wednesday and I plan on on going and providing testimony to
025it. This morning I submitted my testimony to them and um I plan on doing that. So, I I will write a blog or I do have a blog already written and I will uh post that uh it's it's scheduled to post Wednesday morning as I head up there. Uh but I thought I I could read it out loud and just make sure you get a chance to kind of hear what I'll be sharing there. Um so, some of it may not make some sense because I'm going to introduce myself and that sort of thing, but I'm going to read from the script. Uh Chair Brener, Vice President Blessing, Ranking Member Ingram, and members of the Senate Education Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on House Bill 96. My name is Dr. I'm
026Neil Gupt. I serve as the Oakwood school superintendent located just outside Dayton with a little over 2,000 students. I serve in a community that has has community members and staff who believe in the power of public education and are highly active in wanting to do the best for students at Oakwood schools. I appreciate the work of this committee and the general assembly in supporting Ohio's public schools. And I respectfully offer the following comments on several provisions in House Bill 96. Like many of the colleagues across the state, I believe that the fair school funding plan is a student- centered, transparent, and predictable model that reflects the actual cost of educating students in our communities. Replacing that fair school funding plan phase in with temporary bridge funding would reverse years of progress and reintroduce uncertainty into
027a system we and many of you have worked hard to stabilize. An important piece of current funding plan is the guarantees that are in place so that districts like Oakwood can maintain at least the amount of funding it received in the prior year. Guarantee districts have a chance to get off the guarantee and into the funding formula only if the phase in of the funding fair school funding plan continues and the inputs are updated every year. Without updated base costs, districts like mine risk being penalized even as other formula inputs such as property value valuations or income data are refreshed. This creates a structural imbalance and shifts more of the funding burden onto local taxpayers. We urge the Senate to remove temporary bridge funding and maintain phase in as proposed by Governor Dwine. Update the
028base cost inputs to reflect current costs such as staffing, class sizes, and services. And number three, maintain guarantees until full implementation of the fair fair school funding plan is complete, including updated categorical funding. I'm also here on behalf of our students, staff, and the broader Oakwood community to oppose any proposed legislation that would mandate a 30% or any specific maximum carryover limit for school district budgets. In Oakwood, we face a unique financial reality. We don't have a large commercial or industrial tax base. 95% of total district property value is residential property. There are no malls, warehouses, or major business parks within our boundaries. Instead, we rely almost entirely on our residents, our local homeowners to fund their schools. In fact, 67% of our total budget district budget comes from local revenue sources. If a 30%
029cap is imposed, Oakwood's 52% projected cash reserve of FY25 would need to be reduced by 7.5 million to meet the cap requirement. Falling below that 30% threshold doesn't just hurt our ability to respond to emergencies. It also undermines our any chances of earning the AAA bond rating. We've been working hard towards it, which would ultimately save taxpayers money through lowering borrowing costs. As the educational leader of Oakwood, I understand the concern about some districts curing what might perceive to be as excessive balances. But a one-sizefits-all solution doesn't reflect the diverse realities of communities across Ohio. Some districts have growing enrollment, others are declining. Some rely on business taxes while others like Oakwood rely almost solely on residents. Local control is a bedrock of public education in Ohio. It allows elected boards of education who are
030closest to their communities to make decisions in the best interest of their students and taxpayers. That's why I respectfully ask that you consider allowing districts to set their own ceiling and their own floor for cash reserves and allowing the local boards of education through feedback from their community so that they could vote on what makes sense for them and their local needs. Transparency and accountability are critical and I welcome a process that encourages open dialogue with our residents, but let local control be the driver. There's been a lot of misinformation circulating, some of it from legislators and county auditors suggesting that carryover caps would lead to tax relief. But this isn't a permanent tax cut. At best, it's temporary. What it actually does is force school districts to come back to voters more frequently and
031often earlier to ask for new levies. That doesn't make the system more efficient. It makes it more confusing. The public already struggles to understand school finances. Levies don't rise with inflation. So even with prudent financial planning, we must return back to the ballot. The addition of arbitrary caps will only lead to the confusion and fuel mistrust. bonds, emergency levies, and permanent improvement levies are already create layers of complexity that most voters don't fully understand. In addition to replacing the five-year forecast with a three-year projection would weaken our ability to plan ahead, monitor for emergency deficits, and communicate with our communities. Deficits often appear in years four and five, particularly in districts dependent on levy renewals. So, I urge the Senate to remove the 30% cash balance provision from House Bill 96 and reinstate the five-year
032forecast requirement to ensure long-term financial transparency. I've I've dedicated over 25 years to education in four different Ohio school districts. My background is in instruction, not finance, but I've learned how important financial stewardship is in my role as superintendent. I've built systems to enhance learning, improve literacy and mathematics, and implement the science of reading with my colleagues. I've led STEM initiatives that connect students to real world experiences through internships and partnerships with local industry. I'm passionate about setting up pre-apprenticeships to help students not only graduate through an alternative pathway, but also prepare them for life and beyond high school. Over the last five months, I've spent countless hours in meetings about school finance both locally and at the state level. As superintendent, I expect I accept that responsibility. It's part of my job, but those
033proponent proposed changes would fundamentally shift how I spend my time. Um, instead of focusing on student achievement, I'm spending more time explaining why we have to go back to voters again, trying to build and rebuild trust, and navigating uncertainty on how we attract and retain our staff and sustain our programs. This doesn't serve our students. It doesn't help us lead effectively, and it undermines our ability to help with confidence. Please reconsider imposing arbitrary restrictions that ignore local context. Let's instead empower communities to make informed, transparent decisions together. Thank you for considering these crucial next steps in supporting Ohio's educational excellence. Chair Brener and members of the committee, thank you for your time and attention. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have. That concludes my testimony hearing. So, I again thought it
034was important that that uh you knew about that. Um, one special note. Um, I did not write that all by myself. Uh, Laura Sabber has been a huge help. Um, she's been a huge partner uh working alongside me and I just truly truly appreciate um how smart she is. um how she's able to give great feedback to me and help help me to just understand better about school finance in general and we're just really lucky to have her also. So that concludes my superintendent report Okay, I'd like to uh invite now uh Dr. Lang uh to uh introduce the curriculum report on the Holocaust course. Yes, thank you. Matt Deers, one of our high school social studies teachers, is here tonight to present on the recently launched Holocaust and Genocide Studies course at Oakwood High
035School. and it's offered as part of the college credit plus program with Sinclair. And Matt, if you would come up, I'm going to let Matt introduce the students that are with him [Music] tonight. The world was made for much shorter people. Good evening. I'm joined up here by four of my students, senior Natalyia Alvarez, Robert Einhorn, and Emory Oskin, and junior Ruth Glazer. So, uh, before I get started today, I wanted to thank the board, the administration, and Dr. Lang for their support and for allowing us to speak and present tonight. Think we have a presentation? Perfect. Um, before I get into this, I wanted to share a statistic. Uh in 2023, The Economist shared uh the results of a poll in which they found that one in five young people believe the Holocaust to
036be a myth. Uh that's 18 to 29 year olds. Our students today exist in a media environment that too often allows denial, hate, and conspiracy theories to fly around unchecked. And so it's in this environment where our department decided to support the course about such a difficult and important subject. So this is our history of the Holocaust and genocide studies program. I have a little brief outline up here of the nuts and bolts. As Dr. Lang mentioned, this is a semester course offered in conjunction with Sinclair Community College. Um students upon completion receive three semester hour credits in history. Uh because we have more time than a typical college course would because we're taught during the school day. Uh I have added in materials on genocide studies which is a survey of other genocides that
037occurred largely in the 20th and early 21st century. So so the question is what do we study in this class? Well a very a lot of very difficult things. put a a smattering of some of the things up here uh from Namibia, Rwanda, Cambodia, and obviously the Holocaust itself, Armenia, uh even some modern examples in Sudan, Myanmar, and China. Our big subject, however, is people. Our focus is on people. And so I'm going to show you who we study. So our big focus of study is obviously on victims. People who deserve our attent attention. people so often who are broken down as simple numbers. Our goal is to encourage empathy among students and I'm going to come back to that uh here at the end. Um but really humanizing the dehumanized people uh who were
038not only attacked by the governments and the people who u murdered them but people that we so often sum up as simple numbers. uh pictured there second bang uh pictured there on the right you'll see the book of names which is a uh collection of all of people who were victims of the Holocaust is maintained at Ashvitz Burk canal today I wanted to show you an example of some of the victims that we studied so this is the Greenman family uh pictured there are Leon and their son Barney Leon uh was a barber was a seamstress and their son Barney there was born in 1940. They lived in uh Roderdam in the Netherlands. Barney was born when the Netherlands were already under German occupation. In 1942 after two years of living under German occupation, uh
039they were uh removed from their homes and sent to Vestborg which is was a transit camp in the Netherlands. Uh a later person who would be forced to move through there uh Anne Frank In early 1943, January 18th, 1943, this family was deported to Avitz. They did not know what that name meant. Nobody uh living at the time in the Netherlands probably knew what that name meant. So, as Leon spoke with his wife on the train going over, I have a quote there from him. Uh, we are going east. It's very cold there. If I don't survive, I want you to be happy. I want you to marry again. If you do, find someone that will be a good father to Barney. On arrival, they went through a selection. Leon was separated from his wife
040and son. They were sent in onto a truck uh and they were never seen again. So, we have there arrival date, January 21st, 1943. That we believe that is the date when Barney Greenman and his mother else were gassed. When we go over these things in class, obviously it's very difficult. Um, these are emotional stories. These are real people. And so, we try to ask questions to get our students thinking. Why did I put probably up there? We have no record. The last record we would have had of them was the train manifest. When you think of people who were on the books at Ashvitz, people with the tattoos, it wasn't people like Barney. They only did that to people who were selected for work. We ask the question, how can we know? Again, we
041don't have the sources we could possibly want to ultimately answer all of our questions to our full satisfaction. But we know we know what happened to them because we have the sources. What happened to other people? We know what the Germans did to people on arrival who were put into the other line when they weren't selected for work. And we talk about why children were specifically vulnerable. uh children suffered greatly during the Holocaust. They simply weren't useful laborers and so they were the first ones sent to gas chambers along with their usually their mothers. We study survivors. We look for stories to uplift us, stories to inspire us, triumph over adversity. We read for example Primo Levy's survival in Ashvitz. A tale of a Italian Jew who sent to Ashvitz relatively late in the war
042and manages to survive out of mostly dumb luck. These are primary accounts and we have lots of inspiring stories and one of those inspiring stories is Leon. Despite losing his wife and child and never marrying again, he spent the rest of his life, going to schools, speaking out, raising awareness, and most importantly of all, telling the truth. We also study perpetrators. Who were they? What did they do? Why did they do that? Pictured on the right is Adolf Ikeman. Mr. Ikeman was one of the chief engineers of the Holocaust. He escaped Nazi Germany at the end of World War II and ended up making a life for himself in Argentina until he was eventually captured by Nazi hunters and put on trial in the 1960s back in Israel. The question I ask students when we
043talk about Mr. Ikeman or people like him is what can we learn from people who do the most evil thing possible? What can we learn from studying monsters? And so one of the things go back. Thank you. One of the things we talk about is uh Hannah Rent uh was a journalist who attended the Nermberg trials. Not the Nurburg trials, the trial of Adolf Ikeman. And after watching Mr. Ikeman's trial, she pens the term the benality of evil. Benolity. Some of my students don't know what that word means, but the word means boringly ordinary. The people who committed these crimes for the most part weren't mustache twirling villains. You have your Hitlers and your Himmlers. Those people are easy to hate, easy to demonize. But the honest truth is most of the people who did
044these awful things lived regular lives outside of these things. They went home to their wife and children. they otherwise seem boringly ordinary. The other thing we learned is what evil is. And so Gustav Gilbert was an American psychologist who went to Nuremberg and he interviewed a number of the perpetrators. So here he says in writing, I told you once I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I've come close to defining it. A lack of empathy. It's the one characteristic that connects all the defendants. A genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy. These are some of the lessons I have in class for our students. Who were the victims? Who survived? What did they tell people afterwards? Who were the people that did this?
045How could they do this? So those are the things I teach, but I can't tell you what the students learn. So I wanted each student to come up and turn to share with you what they've learned from this class. So Natalia, hi. Thank you so much for having us this evening. When we first took this course, I learned that about the statistic that Mr. Deer shared about how one in five young Americans believe that the Holocaust is a myth. This statistic should emphasize the importance of Holocaust education as this is so alarming people our age range that don't believe in these atrocities. Before this class, I only had a very limited understanding of the Holocaust. By now, I've learned how systematic, intentional, and organized it was, and how similar patterns have appeared in many other
046genocides, including modern ones. We listened to survivor testimonies. We watched interviews. We read Primo Levy's survival in Awitz. And we're currently finishing up our projects um focused on genocide survival. For my project, I researched Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Girdle Wiseman Klein, who recently passed away a few years ago. Um and I answered a prompt about how her res about how her resilience has shaped her lifelong commitment to education and to human rights. Um, researching stories like Gerta's made me realize that behind every statistic is an individual with a story worth remembering and sharing to others, worth reviving and keeping alive for many other people to learn about. We also talked about other genocides such as the Rwanda, Cambodian, Bosnian, and Armenian genocides. And we compared them in places where we could evaluate comparison.
047Um, for example, both the Bosnian and the Rwanda genocides occurred in the 1990s. That was not long ago. Um, and even in the world today, we are seeing warning signs of genocides in Nigeria and Ukraine and ethnic cleansing of the Weer people in China. Um, in a time when anti-semitism, violence, and racism are very still real threats, a class like this is not just about education, but about prevention. Understanding how hate spreads is the first step of containing it and preventing it from turning into a genocide. These are the main takeaways that I have for this course. I'm very grateful that it has had a very high turnout. I know that Mr. Deers has put so much effort into the curriculum and the four of us are all very grateful. Um, so now I will
048turn it over to Robert. Thank you. Hi everyone. Thank you for having me. I don't have a script, so bear with me. Uh, so I'm not going into anything in this. I'm going into chemistry and medicine, but I would say that this is the most important class I've ever taken. uh this class has taught me a lot about human nature and about how really tragic and terrible things can happen very easily. So an example I want to talk about is the Rwanda genocide which like Natalia was saying happened in the 1990s and we learned about it in this class. So just for some context basically it's much more complicated than what I'm going to explain but the Rwanda genocide began because of ethnic tensions between two ethnic groups in the Rwanda region the Hutus and
049the Totsis. These ethnic divisions existed mostly because of European colonialists hundreds of years ago who came and kind of arbitrarily decided who fit into which category. It wasn't like it was really any scientific or real ethnic divide that existed. It was mostly just Europeans arbitrarily categorizing them. And so this what ended up happening in the 90s is lots of tension between these two groups that eventually culminated in this genocide that killed about 800 million people. And what I want to emphasize about this genocide is going back to this idea of the benality of evil. So we looked at Adolf Iman up on the screen as sort of this bureaucratic man who kind of seems normal but at the same time helped orchestrate the Holocaust. So the Rwanda genocide might even be a more extreme example
050of this because the perpetrators of the Rwanda genocide weren't even Adolf Ikeman types bureaucrats with tons of power. Instead it was just everyday people's neighbors just slaughtering each other with machetes on the streets. not in a very peaceful way, in a very brutal uh way of murdering other humans. So, what this I think has taught me about this subject is that it doesn't really take much for everyday people who we just consider our neighbors to do awful things given the right conditions, that being fear, misinformation, and ethnic tensions or any kind of tension of that sort. So, that's I think the biggest takeaway I've had from this class is how easy that is to happen. Another example is in Armenia where the government spread a lot of rumors and lies and tried to end up
051killing a lot of the Armenian population in Turkey. Um, and this was not just the Turkish government, the Ottoman government doing this. It was also everyday people participating in the massacres. And really any genocide is going to happen on a large scale by definition. And that requires lots of people to be perpetrators. So, I take this class as a warning not to be not to spread information, misinformation, not to spread hatred, and to make sure that we don't become one of those perpetrators ourselves. Another thing I learned, I'll be quicker with the next things. Another thing I learned is that um the international community doesn't do very much to prevent genocides. It's difficult geopolitically to to gain the support to actually do anything. It's hard to say we're going to send troops to this country
052to stop it, but that ends up letting 800,000 people die like in Rwanda or thousands of other people in other places like Bosnia. So, what what my message is to the international community, not that this is the international stage I'm speaking at, is to do something when these things happen and not get caught up in our own geopolitical agendas. Um, but that being said, Mr. Deeders has been an amazing teacher in this class. Uh, he's really, really passionate. uh you can tell that he cares so much about the subject and he's doing it just because he wants to and because he cares about it, not for some reputation or anything. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Hi everyone. Um so Mr. Dio's already introduced me. I'm a junior um at Oakwood. Aside from that, I'm also one
053of the few Jewish students there. This class has become increasingly important in my daily life. Um I decided to take it with the rise of anti-semitism. Maybe you know, maybe you don't. It's happening. Um, and it again this class is so important because of that. Um, I have learned so much in it. Mr. Versus did not touch on the fact that he has designed this curriculum to be easy. He has designed it purely for the form of education, not just put it on your credit or get this done, like Robert said, for reputation. But it's easy. It's just completion grades. There's no huge test. There's no No, it's not a bad thing. It's it's educating and that's the whole purpose because one in five Americans don't know that the Holocaust even happened and deny it.
054Um, I've learned so much. Uh, the Holocaust needs to be remembered just in its whole. And the Rwanda genocide, as Robert touched on, just happened because two ethnic groups were against each other. These all happened before the rise of social media and how that has polarized every group against every group. Um, this has impacted me because it has given me arguments when I'm sticking up for my religion and my faith. Um, and I've learned beyond anything. Our project we're touching on resilience and how people have survived. My project is about a survivor of the Holocaust, Eva Moses Core. She publicly forgave the Nazis after her treatment. Um, she was a twin and was experimented on in the camp. And so, just imagine how much it takes to be able to forgive that treatment because you
055want to let go and move on. And that was so impactful to research and be doing all this time. I truly believe everyone needs to take this course. Um, I've experienced little anti-semitism, but it's not nothing. And so I, if I could tell any student to take a class, it would be this one because it truly is amazing and so educational and I've learned so much. Mr. Versus is a great teacher. So, thank you so much. Hello, I'm I'm right. I'm a senior. And what I think was most important when I learned this class is like first off, you know, it is very important to know what has happened in history. What we do not know, we are, you know, doomed to repeat. Not exactly. As Mark Twain once said, history does not repeat, but
056it rhymes, right? And so it is important to know the atrocities and the victims of the past. What I believe is just as important is to know who did it, right? Because for my project unlike our final capstone project of the class, I am researching the Warsaw Ghetto uprising which was the uprising of the Warsaw of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto when they realized that the Nazis were going to liquidate their ghetto. And they came together and they decided, do I want to lay down and die or do I want to survive one more day, one more week, one more month? It was one more month. And during that uprising, there were like four groups of people in the city, right? There were the Jews in the ghetto who were fighting for their lives
057just to survive another minute longer. There was the Polish resistance who was arming the Jews and who was inspired by them and would just months after their uprising like do a similar uprising trying to liberate their city from the Nazi occupiers that controlled it. There were the Nazis who were actively suppressing these people. They are the perpetrators of the genocide and they are what we would view as monsters. And some of them were just monstrous people. Others were operating under that as a formentioned benality of evil. This lack of empathy towards a certain group of people that allows people to commit such monstrous acts. What I think is most important that we learn about in this class are the civilians of Warsaw who did nothing. They just stood by and let these things happen. And
058I think one important thing that we see in each of these genocides is so many people stand by and they allow it to happen. In Armenia, Turks either stood by and let their Armenian neighbors get slaughtered or helped the forces. In Bosnia, Serbs watched people they lived by their whole lives get ran through by Serbian forces and brutalized for the crime of what? being Muslim, speaking the same language with a different accent, they just stood by and let it happen. In the Holocaust, people across Europe saw the Nazis coming in and instead of protecting their Jewish neighbors or even just pushing the Nazis a little bit, they gave them up. They let it go. They didn't say anything. What I fear most in the world is being one of those people. to be one of
059those people that stand by and let horrible things happen to innocent people because some people lack an empathy that is needed to be able to interact with the world. And I think one very crucial thing this class arms us with is to know how not to be a bystander. It's to know when a genocide is happening, to know what are genocidal ideas, and to know why people commit it and what we can do to help resist them. And I think this is why this class is very important. Mr. Deeders was like an amazing teacher and he helped us get through some very difficult topics which is like really hard to teach. These things are heartbreaking to learn about and I even more heartbreaking to know enough where it is like good to stop in what
060you can tell students and what you can't. And I I really respect Mr. Deers for being able to give that to us and this is a very valuable class. So once again, I want to thank the board. I want to thank the Oakwood community, the administration. Uh we're part of a bigger mission to try to stop this from happening again. But as we've studied and as we've learned, it's happened over and over and over again in our history. And only by continuing education and speaking out can we ever possibly achieve the dream of never again. So thank you very much. [Applause] ice cream. Uh Mr. Deers and students, just thank you very much for coming in and fantastic to hear about all the things that you have learned. uh the passion that it has uh
061instilled within you. Uh absolutely uh one of the best presentations I think uh we've ever had of students coming in and sharing what they have and what they've learned and uh how Oakwood how lucky Oakwood uh is to have you, Mr. Deers. So, thank you all for taking the time to come in this evening. Go get some ice cream or whatever it is. You know, you do you. Exactly. We're sponsored by graders. Okay, next up is public comments and uh first up is Ashley Tolman. You're first. My gosh, that was incredibly moving, but also like to have to follow that. Wow, that was really important. Hi, my name is Ashley Tom and I'm proud to call Oakwood home. For the past four years, I have been part of this wonderful community, raising my four children,
062three of whom attend Smith and Oakwood High School. I have been deeply involved in our schools, serving on PTO's and most recently as Smith's PTO president while also working as a substitute teacher. Previously, I was a title one teacher for Beaver Creek Greek schools. Education has always been my passion and I firmly believe that strong public schools are the foundation of a thriving community. To remain strong, our public schools need adequate and fair funding, much like what Dr. Gupta spoke about earlier. Currently, all public schools in Ohio, including Oakwood, receive less state funding than they need due to Ohio's universal school voucher program. This program siphons about $680 million from our public schools each year. The number the number will grow by an additional 500 million in the next two years according to the current
063state budget. That is why I'm here today to extend a personal invitation to all of you including our esteemed schoolboard members and community leaders to attend an upcomingformational session presented by Oakwood Advocates for Public Education. This session will focus on school vouchers and their impact on Oakwood schools and Ohio public education as a whole. This discussion will take place at Wright Memorial Library in the community room on May 14th at 7 p.m. We are honor honored to welcome John Patterson, former Ohio State Representative and co-creator of the Cup Patterson fair school funding plan as our guest speaker. Together, we will explore the history of school vouchers, examining how the fair school funding plan works, and discuss the implication of vouchers for Ohio schools, including Oakwood specifically. Most importantly, we will share ways in which the
064Oakwood community can actively protect and support our local schools, as well as advocate for our neighboring districts. This is a conversation that affects not only our students, but the future of public education in Ohio. I encourage I encourage each of you to join us to listen, to learn, and to engage in this crucial discussion. Our schools are at the heart of our community, and the decisions we make today will shape the educational opportunities we have tomorrow. I hope to see you there. Thank you. [Applause] All right, next up is Michelle Barry. Since I'm standing in a microphone, I also have to say that I'm so glad that course is happening. That was so profound and I am grateful. Um, good evening. My name is Michelle Barry and I want to thank you for the opportunity
065to speak tonight in strong support of our district joining the vouchers hurt Ohio coalition. I've lived in Oakwood for 13 years. I'm the proud mom of a sixth grader at Smith and the daughter of two lifelong educators. My parents instilled in me a deep belief that public education is not just a service, it's a cornerstone of our democracy. My husband, who also comes from a family of educators, shares this belief. In fact, not surprisingly, we chose Oakwood because of its exceptional public schools. But as many of you know, that foundation is under threat. This year alone, Ohio is expected to spend over 1 billion on private school vouchers. Money that should be strengthening our public schools, not siphoning off resources away from them. Vouchers weaken the system that serves the vast majority of our children
066and increases the burden on local taxpayers to make up the difference. Public schools are built on the promise that every child, regardless of background, deserves access to a highquality education. Vouchers chip away at that promise by creating a system of winners and losers. Joining vouchers hurt Ohio is more than a legal move. It's a statement of values. It says we believe in our kids and our educators and in our community that we're willing to stand up for fairness, for equity, and for the future of public education. Let's be part of protecting that future together. Thank you. All right. Thank you. And our third and final public comment is from Joseph Fulford. My name is Joe Fulford. Uh I live at 219 Orchard. Uh my spouse Leanne Fulford spoke last month. Uh was genuinely embarrassed uh
067her remarks when 30 seconds past the 3minut mark. Therefore, tonight to rebalance the Fulford family public remarks ledger, my remarks will be two and a half minutes. Uh before I start though, I'd like to thank John Wilson and uh Bob Ross, I don't know if he's here, um for answering our many bond lever questions a couple weeks ago. We're glad it passed and uh that work needs to be done and the vote reaffirms the strong uh confidence we have in Oakwood schools. So, back to school vouchers. You listen patiently now uh as several parents voice their negative opinions on Ohio's universal school voucher program. I won't recover the same ground, but like Leanne and the others, I'm not in favor of the voucher program. In researching this issue and boiling it down, I see two
068basic things in tension. The Ed Choice Group favors universal vouchers to inject marketplace competition uh and purportedly help students. The voucher vouchers hurt Ohio coalition sees vouchers draining away resources and thus hurting students. This coalition, as you know, has fou filed a lawsuit and over half of Ohio's 600 plus school boards have joined this coalition. Um, many others like Oakwood still uh need to join the Frey. That is 300 school boards voicing their opposition in a lawsuit is good, but 500 or more boards voicing opposition is absolutely powerful. So, where does that leave us tonight? Joining a state level dispute when you're on a fiscally healthy when you run a a fiscally healthy well-run high performing school district is about thinking big. Oakwood needs to join not so much to protect itself in the near
069term but so as to help protect Ohio's public education system in the long term. In closing and striving valiantly to stay within the Fulford family budget time. Uh please consider the strategic view as elected official officials. You and the other 600 plus school boards represent taxpayers like Leanne and I. Uh taxpayers who are asking you to join the lawsuit to protect public education funding. Oakwood just can't afford to sit out this historic moment. Thank you. Thank you. And at this time we will do the same thing that we have done with other groups. you are welcome and encouraged to stay, but I also understand that graders is calling as well. So, um, whichever one works best for you, we'll give you a moment. There we go. That's right. Sponsored by Okay, moving on to item
070uh next item is board reports. Do we have any board reports? Yes, go ahead. Oh, okay. I was looking in the wrong spot. Um, I've received feedback from multiple community residents on several recent bill passages and activities, and I have concerns with targeted changes to public education and attempts to ostracize communities that have already been made vulnerable. With House Bill 96, I echo Dr. Gib's concerns to the negative changes upon the overall financial stability of our school district. Additionally, both House Bill 96 and House Bill 8 include targeted attempts to erase the existence of people who are transgender, non-binary, and gender expansive. This anti-LGBTQIA plus language further marginalizes populations that have already been made vulnerable. This not only chips away at trust, rapport, and feelings of safety within school buildings, it also fails to prepare
071students for a globalized workforce. Additionally, I have concerns with the status of Ohio's growing voucher program, which poses additional financial impacts for public education. I'm continuing to research and learn more in an attempt to be more educated about the full scope of its impacts. And I do plan to attend the May 14th panel at the Wright Library hosted by the Oakwood Advocates for Public Education. Thank you. Are there any other board reports? Okay. All right. Thank you. Uh moving on to item uh four, budget and finance. Miss Thober, good evening. Thank you. Uh the monthly financial report for April of 2025 uh is included in your board packet for your review. Um Dr. Gupta did talk a lot about uh phase two or he at least mentioned uh the phase two work that that is
072going to be starting up here really quick uh now that the bond issue has passed. um you may see on your agendas um over the next couple of board meetings some actions that need to be taken by the board in order for us to sell the bonds. And so uh the finance team is working hard to get that process going. We've had some initial meetings. We've got another one scheduled in May and um we're targeting a first week of August sale of bonds. And so there's a lot of prep that goes into that, a lot of documents, um a lot of work, uh to to get a rating from Moody's um and then to actually sell those bonds. Um that it's kind of um the Super Bowl for the finance team, I guess, if you
073will. And so we're working hard on that. Uh and then also on your agenda tonight, we've got our five-year forecast uh for your consideration for approval. This is an update um to the November forecast. It's the second of two required filings for the fiscal year. Um we have not uh incorporated any changes for the state budget bill into the five-year forecast because it's not there's nothing law in law yet. And so uh stay tuned. Dr. Gupta uh you know relayed his testimony. All of that is stuff that we have been talking about regularly administratively uh through our cabinet meetings. Um just the central office specifically. Our team has been talking about this now for several months and we continue to make this a weekly part of our dialogue and and how how will we react
074to some of these uh pieces of legislation as they as they evolve, I guess. Um because there are changes all the time. So, um I guess for your approval is the five-year forecast and notes. There really is is not significant changes from the November version you saw. And if we do make changes, I'll bring a different version back to you at that point. Can I get a motion for item 4B, please? So move. Miss Aubber, Dr. Middleton, hi. Mr. Raider Garcia, Miss Dorenzo, Miss Kawaii, hi Mr. Wilson. Hi. And then uh we have one uh then and now item. This uh is for some contracted services that uh had to be put in place um before we could get all the proper paperwork uh lined up. We this doesn't happen very often. Um but it
075that sometimes it does sneak past us. Um but this is part of our south community is part of our regular operations. Can I get a motion for item 4 C please? So moved. Miss Aubber Miss Kawaii Dr. Middleton Miss Dorenzo Mr. Ryder Garcia Mr. Wilson. I thank you. Unfinished. Unfinished business before the board. Any new business? All right. Moving on to item number seven, administrative reports and superintendent recommendations. Yes. Uh 7A is the elementary and uh the secondary, the high school and junior high student handbooks. You saw those last month as a for first read and I'm coming back uh uh to make a recommendation for um adoption. All right. Can I get a motion for item 7A, please? Second. Miss Sabre, Mr. Ryder Garcia, hi Miss Dorenzo, Miss Kawaii, Dr. Middleton, Mr. Wilson. I
076Okay. 7B is a special education resolution update. uh we work with uh Niola, our policy uh partner, and uh provided an update to us based on uh some changes that happened with legislation and just want to make sure we're staying in line with that. Uh so you'll see that as it proceeds uh later in the action 7B. Okay. A motion for item 7B, please. Miss Saburn, Dr. Middleton, Miss Dorenzo, Miss Kawaii, Mr. Writer Garcia, Mr. Wilson. I uh number eight. Uh moving to number eight. It is uh amending a retirement date uh for Mr. Lane uh from the date of May 31st to June 2nd. I get a motion for item 8A. Please Miss Auburn. Miss Dorenzo. Hi. Mr. Ryder Garcia. Hi. Miss Kawaii. Dr. Middleton Mr. Wilson. Hi. Okay. Uh we're on number nine.
077I'm going to be uh asking uh us to take it under one motion. But for letter N, we're going to go nine A through N. I'm going to read all the the subject headers for all of those A through nine or A through N. But for letter N, I need to uh pull is it for N? J. J, sorry. For J. Yes. Uh A through N. But for letter J, uh we have a list of supplementals. And I'd like to pull Yaku Kawawaii, the assistant boys soccer coach, and place that uh as uh 9. And then also uh pull Richard Begin, the varsity girls basketball coach, from that list and that will become 9P. Nope, we're just pull it. Just pull it. Okay, thank you. So 9 A is the employment of Hannah Tenbush. Letter
078B is employment of Carrie Kiss. Letter C is the employment of Wendy Barhurst. Letter D hiring summer intervention program employees. Letter E is the employment of educational aids for summer intervention program. Letter G is a stipen for bold. Letter H is the employment of extended year services. Letter I is the flexible contracts. Letter J uh is supplemental contracts for in volunteers for 2025-26. Letter K are flexible contracts for 202526. Letter L is the renew of 2526 certified contracts. Letter M is the renew 202526 classified contracts. And letter N is substitute teachers nine uh 9 A through N. Can I get a motion please for items 9A through 9N? Miss Saber, Miss Kawai, I Dr. Middleton, Miss Dorenzo, Mr. Writer Garcia, Mr. Wilson, I. Now we'll take nine, the new letter O, uh, which is the
079employment of Isaku Kauaii as the assistant varsity boy soccer coach. Can I get a motion for item 90, please? Miss Saber, Miss Dorenzo, Mr. Ryder Garcia, Miss Kawaii, Dr. Middleton, Mr. Wilson. Hi, And that takes us to item 10 which is executive session. Uh the board will uh enter into executive session for the specific purpose of considering the employment of public employee or official and to review negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment. Can I get a motion to enter into executive session, please? Miss Saber. Mr. Ryder Garcia, Dr. Middleton, Miss Dorenzo, Miss Kawaii, Mr. Wilson. Hi. Thank you all for coming out. We really appreciate you staying here the whole time. Really, you get a double scoop at Craterers. Congratulations. All right. Any
080cookies left? Oh, yeah. I know, right?