001All right. Good evening everybody. It's uh the December 16th, 2025 regular meeting of the Owen Deji Board of Education. I'll call this meeting to order. Uh Mr. Jenkins, can you please call the role? >> Mr. Lester >> here. >> Dr. Dabberco >> here. >> Dr. Wall >> here. >> Mr. O'Brien >> here. >> M Shriber >> here. >> All right. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance. [clears throat] >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. I don't believe we have any amendments to the agenda. Great. Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to approve the agenda. not so moved. >> Uh second >> second. >> Any discussion?
002All right. Hearing none, Mr. Jenkins. >> Dr. Dabberco. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wallak. >> Yes. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. All right. This will be a fairly short board president's report. Uh it's uh you know, this is the end of our board year. Uh it's halfway through the school year, but we have an organizational meeting in the spring or in January where we start all over again. Uh so it's a good opportunity to to do a little bit of reflection. This has been an incredibly busy year. Uh we started off this year with uh working through the state budget and trying to educate the community about all the things um that that budget can impact our district and impact public education and how those decisions
003uh really have a very real world real world impact on uh everyone's pocketbooks and and certainly [cough] how the district operates. Uh we went straight from that into a vote to put a bond issue on the ballot that would allow us to build a new uh high school and a new elementary school. And then we spent the next several months really working uh hard to try to explain what that means and how a no new millillage bond works and how it will allow us to build those uh needed facilities without increasing the tax rate. Uh luckily that passed and we we're going to be uh you know jumping right into all the planning that goes along with building those things. And in the meantime, we've celebrated graduations and the beginnings of school. Um, you know,
004staff members who have been here for for decades who have retired and new staff members uh jumping on board and lots of state championships, including a couple just since our last board meeting, uh, which is great. Um, and and through it all, I think we as a board are just so incredibly grateful to everybody in the community, uh, who helps make this district so special. Um, it takes a whole lot of work to make a a district like this work. um from the administrative team to the the building level staff to families and and students and everybody, right? It it is an incredible community that we have and I think we're all just so grateful for that and we look forward to the work ahead. So, um that's it. That's that is definitely my record
005for the shortest president's report this year. Uh do we have any updates for either OSBA or or board committees? >> You do not. >> I don't I don't think so. >> Okay, good. That means we're going to jump right into our official agenda here. So, uh Oh, did you have something? Sorry. >> If it's okay. >> I I tend to look over you a lot. [laughter] >> I'm used to it. Um I do want to start incorporating more career center updates. I've been on sitting on the career center this year trying to understand their issues, challenges, [laughter] and where we are moving forward. So, if you're paying attention, just look look to next year. I'll try and give every time we have a meeting, I'll try and follow it up. uh career center is expanding,
006the enrollment is is everybody always says exponential. It's not really exponential, but it's really growing fast. Um so it's exciting. So more updates to come. >> Yeah, that's great. And and we do uh have the honor of having one of our board members sit on their board. So that's that's Dr. Dreco's um getting that information. So that's great. Uh all right, now we're heading straight into our first presentation, which is the Berlin High School studentled restorative practices [clears throat] group with uh Mr. Stern and Mr. uh Andinaro and a bunch of students here. So, we're always uh really appreciative that you all come and make time out of your schedule to come here. So, take it away. >> Thank you. Uh good evening. I'm Joe Anduro. I'm honored to introduce the studentled restorative practices group
007from Tangji Berlin High School. These students were thoughtfully recommended by OBHS staff um to participate in a district pilot initiative. Um, these students were recognized for their strong character, their leadership, and their commitment to supporting others. Through their work in conflict mediation and culture building, um, they have made a meaningful impact at Berlin High School and across the district. Um, the members of this group are Gavin, Lauren, Brady, Jaden, Ruhan, Kayla, Maggie, Jaden, Allan, and two-time state champions, Vivian, and Maggie. I'm incredibly proud of these students and the leadership they demonstrate every day. The members of this group have prepared a brief presentation where they will show what they've worked on and how it connects to culture building and accountability in Tangi. Jaden will tell us more. Now, Jaden will tell us more about restorative
008practices. After that, Gavin, Libby, Maggie, Lauren, and Jaden will demonstrate a mediation protocol. Bruhan, and Alan will take us through an empty building activity. Finally, the students and Mr. Stern will talk about their training over the summer um and the items they have worked on to connect everything to the portrait of a learner here in TG. Thank you so much for having us. I'll hand it off to the students. Jaden. >> All right. Good evening everyone. Uh members of the board of ed of education school leaders. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. We want to briefly share how assertive practices support our school community. Restorative practices empower students to take an active role in building a positive school culture. They give students a voice and encourage us to take responsibility for how we
009treat one another and contribute to our community. We also teach students practical routines for navigating and resolving conflicts. We learn how to communicate, listen, reflect, and repair harm uh when challenges arise. Additionally, restorative practices equip students with strategies support their peers. This approach strengthens relationships, improves communication, and promotes accountability through understanding rather than punishment. Ultimately, restorative practices help create a positive, inclusive school culture where students feel connected, respected, and supported. Gavin, Libby, Lauren, Maggie, and Jaden will now walk you through a demonstration of restorative practices. Good evening everyone. Today we'll share a few of our practices that we learned with you at uh Columbus West High School and uh the practices we presented with the other district staff that we presented previously. >> So the two protocols we will do are the observe feeling need
010protocol and the standup sit down activity. It will give insight into our training and how we shape school culture around across the district. We will ask for participation in one of the activities. So the O ofN protocol is a communication framework that helps students and adults express themselves clearly without assigning blame or punishment. It's grounded in restorative practices which emphasize building and repairing relationships rather than assigning blame. At West High School, our group along with 100 plus other students work through scenarios like the ones we're about to share to practice these skills and develop understanding with restorative work. We've presented it to staff across the district so far to to show the protocol and encourage accountability and empathy in students. The O the offend protocol stands for observation feel need proto uh and it shapes
011interactions through three steps to create a positive foundation for the exchange. Observation is sharing what happened without judgment. Feeling is identifying the emotion connected to the event and need is expressing what uh would support or repair the understanding moving forward. OFN language can reduce conflict, strengthen peer and teacher relationships, encourage reflection and accountability, and contribute to a pos positive and inclusive school culture. By practicing of students learn to be proactive community members who will help sustain a restorative climate with res respect, trust, and belonging. Maggie, Lauren, and Jaden will now show the scenario that we've been we've been talking about. All right, for this uh we'll it'll be a little bit of a roleplay just to show you guys what we're talking about. And um yeah, so for this uh situation, a student posts a
012group photo on a social media page that is looked at as having a negative connotation for students, having students being caught off guard guard or completing activities that reflect poorly on them. This example will show the uh offend protocol and how it can be used to support the situation. In this scenario, Lauren and Maggie will be the students in the conflict and Jane will mediate uh their conflict. >> Maggie, why did you post that picture of me? Everyone saw it. I could get in so much trouble. My parents are going to find out. It was funny. And everyone goes on that page. You always do stuff like this. You're such a bad friend. Why can't you just be on my side? What if I get in trouble? >> You need to let this go. It
013was a funny picture and I didn't mean anything by it. >> All right, Maggie. What happened in your perspective? >> I posted a photo and I thought it was funny, but I hurt Lauren. >> So, I heard you say, "I posted a photo and I thought it was funny, but I hurt Lauren." >> Yes. >> Are you feeling confused? >> Yes. >> Do you need understanding? >> Mhm. >> All right, Lauren. What happened to your perspective? >> She posted a really bad picture of me that I could get in trouble for. She always does stuff like this. I heard you say she posted a really bad picture of me that I could get in trouble for and she always does really bad stuff like this. You feeling frustrated? >> Yeah. >> Do you need an
014apology? >> Yeah. >> You guys think that you could work it out from here? >> I'm very sorry for posting that photo of you. Sorry for calling you a bad friend. I know you're on my side. [applause] So this protocol helps us uh guide awareness factors that can escalate situations identifying the feelings from their perspective and it creates a sense of understanding for that person without judgment and understanding their needs uh to shape how to support them. Rahan, Jane and Allen will demonstrate the stand up sit down which is another activity we did at West and Yep. We'll now do an activity called stand up sit down. It's a simple way to learn about each other's experiences and find things that we have in common. If a statement applies to you, please stand up. If
015not, remain seated. There are no right or wrong answers. If you uncomfortable responding, you can stay seated. Everyone in this room is encouraged to participate in this activity and stand up as things apply to their time as a student. >> Stand up if you ever had a teacher who inspired you. I better stand up if you ever felt missing a suit as a student. >> Misunderstood as a student. >> As an adult, [laughter] >> stand up if you ever played sports or were involved in a club while you were a student. Stand up if you're in a band of performing arts while you're a student. >> Stand up if you ever got in trouble as a student. >> Daily [music and singing] or [laughter] >> just in general? >> I know. Stand up if you've
016ever failed a class or major component of a class. >> Stand up. >> I cheated real well. >> Stand up if you ever seen a school situation escalate that could have been handled differently. >> Stand up if you experience a situation made it difficult to be a student. This protocol is designed to help create empathy between students and adults in school settings. We completed these throughout the training days at West and it helped us understand our peers and gain a sense of empathy for who they are and what experiences we shared. When students learn to recognize how actions affect others, we more likely take responsibility, communicate respectfully, and work towards repairing than harm than when escalating problems. Gavin, Lauren, Libby, and Mr. Stern will now talk about what we have done, potential next steps we
017might take, and the impact this can have on the entang community. Yeah. So this uh just this past year since [laughter] August, so that's August uh 12th, 13, 14th is when we completed the training days at West and since then we did the training and then we also led a professional development session for district district staff covering the different components of restorative practices. We have also implemented these lessons into our daily interactions with peers and teachers. We have become learners and leaders who are purposeful, kind, resilient, and curious through this training. So for next steps, we were kind of unsure what to do at first, but when we presented to the a few tangi members, they really encouraged us to present to like the middle schools or elementary schools cuz that's really when they're learning
018when to be kind and how to treat their peers. Um, so we're hoping to do that and also probably present to some of our Berlin staff as well. >> They told me to go last cuz I talked too much. So, here we are. [laughter] Um, but yeah, we're excited to have them. I think the one thing that's been a couple things that are great is this really connects to our strategic plan. We're excited about that about that. There's a whole lot of things though. We're improving leadership. We've got a great group of leaders here. Obviously, we want to make uh that sense of belonging for everybody um and break down barriers that we have. So, we're excited about that piece. Um it connects a lot to actually we talked with Vince about this some too.
019Um student agency is something we really believe in and so we want them to learn how to handle these things on their own. Um the interesting thing and maybe hopefully you'll still agree with me because you said this before but they've rather than a formal setting you guys have really found that with peers and with friends like at lunch navigating those things that we've seen those skills be really useful. And I think that sort of speaks to the power of this is that it doesn't have to be this set thing where you know the teacher's going to set this up and do that. No, we're teaching them life skills and they're we're not teaching them. they're learning these life skills that they can navigate these things and actually help other peers when they're in their
020classrooms and at lunch and just in life. So, we love that part of it and we're super proud of everything they've done. So, um we're really excited about it. We'd love to see um as future trainings are uh available and Dr. Dabrico, I thought of you. The training was free, zero dollars. Um so, it was completely free to us, which I love. Um and that was great for us and so we'd love to keep uh keep that going and take advantage when the future um opportunities come up for us as well. So, thanks for letting us present tonight. [applause] >> Any questions or comments? >> I have a quick question. Uh, Mr. Stern, before you completely disappear, uh, is there any um connection between this and the um work with Dr. Bell and the uh,
021student research collaborative? Are any of these students involved in that? >> Completely separate group. >> Completely separate. It's just Okay. It's funny because when in that space this that uh stand up sit down activity was done with a group of students from Berlin. It was very powerful. I just it's an interesting connection. Anyway, >> and it's almost the exact same acronym. So, we're we're really close. [laughter] >> Very, very nice. >> Comments. >> I'm just [clears throat] completely and totally impressed at um what you guys have done, all the work that you've done across different districts and different schools. the fact that you presented for the teachers and administrators I think is awesome and I'd love to see it. Um because I think there is so much that we can learn from you guys. Um
022so I really appreciate all the work you guys did and and um you know restorative practices is something that's a very promising practice in the criminal justice space where I work. It's about um community. It's about relating to each other. And as you said Mr. um these are life skills that our student we want our students to have is how to resolve conflicts, how to reach across and understand each other even when you're coming from different perspectives and I think this is a a really great way to do it and you guys have demonstrated it very well and I look forward to seeing those skills throughout you know all our buildings um and seeing that culture of kindness and empathy um throughout our district. So, uh, normally like Libby gets to geek out over this
023stuff. So, I've actually studied conflict resolution a whole lot, so I get to geek out for something, which [laughter] is good. Um, one of the the obviously, you know, some of the examples you use here are very simple examples to try to to illustrate it, right? Um, one of the fundamental things about conflict resolution is recognition about why you're upset, why other people are upset, getting past what you think they might be upset about, and then learning about what's actually there, and then empowering you to move forward, right? So, I really like the examples that that you put forward because you're you're you're trying to cut through some of that, you know, oh, this is how I think they're going to be or this is what I think they're doing and and really try to
024understand each other a little bit. some of the techniques you use like the mirroring I hear this is what you're saying this is that helps people feel heard and feel understood and those sorts of things sometimes in this context it feels a little artificial when you're trying to demonstrate it it's like you're reading from a script right but once you start actually talking with people actually you start listening you get past some of the um you know the posturing that people do and you're you're actually able to solve problems so I really applaud you for taking the time to to learn about that to learn how these things work and then try to put it in in practice. It doesn't have to be in a I say this and then I say that and then
025I use this tool sort of thing, right? You can take all these ideas and start to to use them in real life and it actually does work, right? It can have really really powerful impacts. Um especially when I I like the stand up sit down thing because there's a little bit of oh nobody could possibly feel this way or nobody could possibly be experiencing this thing this way. We all have sort of imposttor syndrome where we think like we're the only one that's going through this and it allows people to to see that right and then that helps to solve problems too. So really congratulations on on thinking through it, working through it. Continue to apply those all the way through your life. They'll be incredibly valuable skills. >> Well, and you know, I'm going
026to piggyback off of that too. The the thing about the stand-up sit down is it really um it really blows assumptions out of the water, too. I mean, I'll say even sitting here looking at my fellow board members whom I've gotten to know fairly well over the last few years, there were people standing for things, I was like, "No way. I would never have thought that." So, I think the way that that um builds community and understanding is so powerful, too. >> Yeah. Great. >> So, thank you. >> Awesome. All right. Thanks, guys. Uh I will tell you that you are free to stay for the rest of the board meeting. [laughter] You do not have to. So, >> it's exam week. They got >> That's right. That's right. >> They said they need me
027to go escort them out. >> Yeah. [laughter] All right. Thank you all so much. >> Yeah. [applause] >> Second and then Mr. Gordon be up in a second. >> Go band. I guess >> have a good break. [snorts] Thank you. >> Apparently, they weren't all here to hear me. [laughter] >> I'm here. >> Thank you. You're You're always here. Appreciate it. >> Here for you, Josh. [laughter] >> Always here. >> Uh five-year capital plan. Uh I'm [clears throat] going to start with where we were in January. Last time we looked at this plan. It's a familiar format uh as presented at the the January 2025 board meeting. Uh when you look at the uh fiscal year 25, we were using up uh the last of the bond from 2020 that was for the roofing, the
028uh excuse me, mechanical school bus replacements and our outer years were rather bleak. Uh we worked with Mr. Jenkins to uh use funds from the general fund. As you remember when uh the levy on the 2024 when we had the levy and bond issue, we also had PI levy on there asking for PI funds to help maintain the district. When that [snorts] levy was not successful and that bond issue was not successful, it left a gap for us. So, we were trying to fill that gap with some funds uh general fund dollars which you see there in the orange for fiscal year 26 and fiscal year 27. So, this is where we stood in January. Uh fortunately, as as we all know, we went out uh with another bond issue. Along with that bond issue
029for the construction of the two buildings, [clears throat] uh we had what was one of the line items was PI shortfall, and that was to help us with the stop gap to fill us uh for the next several years to help cover some of those uh building maintenance and facilities maintenance uh issues that we were we were dealing with again, and bus replacements, mechanicals, roofing, [clears throat] etc. Other items we had on there, you'll see under fiscal year 26, uh, was the high school stadium updates, uh, theater updates, and, uh, some security upgrades along with, you see down below, we're still spending for this year some of those general fund dollars that we had allocated and had encumbered, uh, to move forward with. Uh, the previous slide showed in fiscal year 2027, we still were
030using those general fund dollars to help with that stop gap. That has gone away. Uh, Mr. Mr. Jenkins has worked on returning those to our our general fund and uh the um costs were going forward were going to be used with those bond dollars we discussed earlier. So uh the bleak outlook that was in the outer years here in the blue in 26 27 28 29 now are filled up going out into 20 or fiscal year third 2031 which is not shown here. It gets us one more year after that because this was a stop gap and it was a five-year estimate for maintaining um those funds will go away and we'll be revisiting that same same spot we were at before passing the bond issue this year. But uh right now we we have
031some funds to move forward. Um, I won't go over every project, but the you see the the uh stadium upgrades, theater upgrades, uh, and some of the security. Those are broken out into two years. There are quite a bit [snorts] to chew. We're trying to take it in chunks and do parts of each each this year and then go into next year. There's quite a bit of planning and and uh uh design that goes into some of those. So, that it'll take more. We need more time to get that done with that successful passage. So, with that, oh, I'm sorry, two more things. Uh you see under roof replacements in the green, we carried forward about 200 thou or I'm sorry, $700,000 from last year to do a bigger roofing project this year. So uh
032we will approve we're planning for the January board meeting, second board meeting to approve the roofing bid, which will be a large roofing bid for the coming summer as well as uh down below you you see that that we had some uh extra costs last year we used PI funds for. So we uh dis or lowered the expenditures this year to make up for what we had spent last year to to keep the budget in balance. So with that, do you have any questions on the capital plan? >> Questions? >> Good. All right. I think we're good. >> Very good. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. >> All right. Uh we will now move on to the [cough] superintendent report. Uh >> if I do it from here, Dustin, can you drive for me? >>
033Yeah. >> All right. Good evening. So, I'm just going to review the action items, the upcoming events. Um, we have some retirements and resignations on the agenda tonight, including Tron Smith, who's in the audience. So, congratulations to Tron. Effective August 1st. [applause] Also, Charlene Koski is in our technology department. Been here a long time and is a treasure of Tangi, who will be retiring in March. We also have some some students who are uh up for approval for graduation and uh some curriculum purchases that we'll be presenting to you in a little bit, a club, and then some business items including on the next slide, Dustin, uh a lease for water, uh a water tower for Delo at elementary 18 site, a pre-anexation agreement with the city of Delaware for the High School 5 site,
034um approval of a contract contract amendment with um Fanning Howy for High School 5 work and the approval of a wetland mitigation purchase agreement with the stream and wetlands foundation for the High School 5 project. And then as far as upcoming events, obviously the semester ends uh very soon, end of the week. Uh we'll have winter break for two weeks, teacher work day on uh Friday, January 2nd, and um then second quarter report cards will be available for families on January 9th. [snorts] And our next meeting will be January 8th where we will do the organization meeting and the first regular meeting of the year. Any questions on the superintendent stuff? >> What happens if we don't accept a resignation? [laughter] >> Uh waterworks. A lot of tears, I would imagine. >> We'll we'll >>
035I don't begrudge anyone the ability to retire. We shouldn't we shouldn't have that attitude. >> We will we'll take the request under consideration to be sure. So, all right. Good. Any other questions? >> Now, I heard that there might be a Fiesta Bowl on January 8th. >> Yeah, >> there might be. >> Ohio State. >> Yeah. Yeah, I know. We can't have our same [laughter] our same uh wager as last year, unfortunately for me. Um, [clears throat] >> got to get in the playoffs. >> True. >> Uh, good. All right. >> Yeah, let's >> That will be a short meeting then. [laughter] >> Uh, good. All right. Thank you, Dr. Fetty. Abley filling in for Mr. Meyer. Uh, Mr. Jenkins. Treasures report. >> You can't get too far into >> I can't wait. Thank you.
036>> Good evening, board members. I also want to keep things uh pretty short tonight. Um one of the items that I wanted to call uh to your attention, there's three different action items that will be separate this evening. Uh each one is actually a a bond issue of some sort. Um the first one is a short-term note which is called a bond anticipation note that will provide us with the uh infusion of capital that we need for the projects that are already beginning. In fact, um some of the projects that are already uh underway and encumbered and spending some cash that will allow for that. Um the actual approval of the issuance of of the big bonds, which would be the 235 million uh which would be uh going to settle sometime around the end
037of February. And then we're back with another uh refunding resolution that will allow the district uh based on current estimates right now to save gross uh principal and interest payments of about $3.4 million. Um that is kind of highlighted on the screen there. It's also broken down into the net present value. Just think of taking a stream of payments that we're getting a savings on and discounting them back to present day. So about $2.7 million which is about an 8.56% savings. The resolution is written in such a way that all collable bonds are a part of the resolution. So you'll see 67.29 million. Not all of them are quote unquote uh in the money uh to where there would be savings. Right now we'll call probably about half of them about $30 million worth. Um
038the Fed cut the rate on the 10th. A lot of that was already baked in. Um they're expected to cut the rates again in January. They're already pre-pricing and baking some of that in. But it's better than the alternative. Um at least the Fed isn't increasing those rates. Uh beyond that, um a long list of action items this evening. Uh some by consent calendar, some uh one at a time. I'll explain the ones that go one at a time. The consent items would be the board minutes, the donations, those are more of your standard fair uh that we see on most of [clears throat] my treasures agendas. The monthly financials uh and the permanent appropriations. Uh also tonight a little bit different. Uh the basic financial statements, I'm asking you to accept those. Uh the
039audit and uh is complete uh for a lot of what we're doing and our financial statements have been released. Um and so I'm just making those available uh for public consumption. The acter will be finished at the end of this month. I'll have you adopt it as well and the paffer. And then finally, three items that will be considered one by one as separate items would be the resolution that actually issues the bans um that will be certified and sent to each county auditor, Delaware and Franklin. the resolution that actually certifies the issuance of the uh $235 million uh per the levy that we just ran. And then finally, a resolution that would approve uh refunding bonds that could go up to 67.290 million, but think more along the lines of about 30 million because
040that would be what would make sense to refund. Uh I would entertain any questions that you might have. >> Any questions? you know, when we throw around the million here, million there, every every [snorts] lump of million dollars is is um is a number of teachers that we're able to bring on is is is more support services for for kids as tutors. So, every penny that you save u makes a difference on the services side. And then it every where are we at? 9 million for one mill. Is that >> um no >> I mean 9 bill we're at 9 billion taxable property. So 1 mil >> about 7.2 million. We're about 7.2 billion in taxable property. So a mill is about 7.2 million. >> All that savings is less we have to ask our
041community for >> and that's the goal. Um certainly our our goal is to obviously have educational excellence, but [clears throat] the second part that we always say um is at an exceptional value. And so that's what we're hoping to accomplish with everything that we do. And certainly the expectation is there, but I appreciate you making known that the audits and things like this are things that are they're in our board documents. They're publicly available. I know much of this stuff is either on our website or they could get it easily by writing to yourself or any other administrator. >> Yeah, I just answered a question today. Um, someone who is a landlord, I think, of some properties uh emailed and said, "I'm confused. The auditor's uh website shows that your bond issue will be 1.77
042additional mills, but I noticed this disclaimer. Do I need to prepare my renters for their rent to go up? And I was gladly able to send him the resolution that we passed that said no additional mills and explain to him that it will not increase the tax rates uh or have an incremental impact on tax bills. And there are no public participation uh forms or interest that I'm aware of. >> I appreciate you adding the interest part. No one no one cares. [laughter] >> What is going on? >> All right. Well, then we will move to the first discussion item. Dr. Fetty, the board the board policy updates number three. >> Yes, we have uh five policies for first reading tonight. The Ohio auditor of state updated guidance on um public official use of credit
043cards. So we would like to modify our policy to match uh the current guidance from the auditor of state. So the exhibit is attached to the agenda and we will bring these back in January for approval. Were there any questions on those five policies? >> Questions? Okay, good. And it I should just clar it goes to sort of the state ethics in terms of what you're allowed to do, what you're not do. So we're just we're going in line with that. So y >> okay uh that moves to our next uh discussion item which is the uh French world language instruction resources. So uh Mr. Datilia, >> good evening everyone. Thanks for having me. Um I get the opportunity tonight to share some of the great work of our curriculum and innovation team. We sort
044of gave the directors and assistant directors the night off tonight. So, I drew the short straw and I get to present all the great work they did. So, I'm I'm proud to do that. Um, we're going to just share our process. Some of it, you know, how we adopt resources, but also um come to you with a to consider a purchase of new materials for uh our French students, our students studying French. Um, it's a mid-year kind of purchase, so it's a little different. I'll explain that at the end and why we're doing that. Um, I think most of you know by now we take this very seriously. The adoption of resources is not something that we kind of just jump in and say, "What do people want to buy?" We have a whole process
045um that we really stay focused on being grounded in the mission of maximizing learning um and making sure we're considering the student experience and also that we're going to manage these assets wisely. We're not just, you know, buying whatever the hottest new thing is. We're really digging in, making sure we have the evidence, the feedback, and the capability to support those um in the district moving forward. So, uh, in the 2425 school year, uh, our process is is a multi-year process. The first year of the process is always kind of getting teachers together and seeing what's working and what's not working in their curriculum. Um, that's an extensive process because sometimes we find out there isn't a gap. Sometimes we find out there's multiple gaps. Sometimes we find out, you know, all kinds of things
046that we didn't know before that. Honestly, in my time here, we haven't really brought together world language teachers. So that was at least 15 years since they've really come together and and done this. So uh there was a need to look at these. Um and this first part with French is just kind of the first part of that phase. Um we use the high quality instructional materials rubric. We've talked about that before. the state has done a great job recently of really helping us understand what a high quality instructional material is, how to roll it out um in in a sustained process that that really makes sure that we're getting the most for our money and the student experience is is being impacted in a positive way. Um after reviewing a bunch of resources um
047the the product is called Chemmens. It's from Vista, the publisher. Obviously, it it rose to the top um and it really did earn the strongest ratings in every area in the rubric that we had um in the fall. uh actually before the fall, even in the summer, we put the teachers through a training prior to the pilot. Even that's something different. You know, we want to make sure when we do a pilot, it's with Fidelity and we actually get people to actually use the resources. You know, we roster the digital components for students during that so they can really experience the whole product. Um and that happened in the summer. And then in the fall, uh we just finished up the pilot with uh pretty much every French teacher in the district participated in the
048pilot. There were a couple who didn't participate fully, but most of them did. Um and it was a rare thing where a 100% of our folks came back and said this is this is the product we would prefer for students. Um the proposed purchase that we are bringing today gives each teacher a class set of textbooks. That's been kind of our way of moving forward recently is not purchasing a textbook for every student, making sure we have class sets, some extras laying around for kids who need to take them home, and then digital access for students. Um the midyear purchase is is unique just because the the the publisher basically said, "Hey, if you were able to purchase this material now for the the contract starting in 2627, we would give you the rest of
049this year sort of for free." So it would really bring continuity. The students have been in using the resource, the teachers have gotten used to the resource. We feel really strongly that this is the right resource. So purchasing now allows us to maintain the resource for the rest of the year and then pick up our three-year digital subscriptions and textbooks for the following year. So it it really for us it it's looked at as kind of a win-win. Um there's there's big support behind the resource and then we also kind of get an additional year um which we think is is is worth coming to the board midyear for that um additional training afterwards. Obviously we don't just drop these boxes on people's you know room and have them open them up. I mean, every
050teacher will be trained. Um, the trainings will go throughout the year, both internally with our folks and also, you know, some funds we've set aside to to make sure that we bring in the experts from the resource. Um, and then it's that ongoing evidence, collecting evidence, what's working, what's not, working through the kinks. This is something we become really good at. It's something we feel really comfortable that when we purchase something now, we really feel we have the capacity to make it impact the student experience. Um, so tonight we're we're asking that the board consider uh approving the purchase of the Keman's product. Uh, we feel like this resource will strengthen our French learners um in the classroom. It will support high quality instruction and it does align with our mission and general broader instructional
051goals. So, thank you. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer. >> Any questions? Did did [cough] they say in board prep that it's been 15 years >> since we've done a full district-wide like look at world language resources when Berlin opened they had to purchase some things with bond money so they did purchase some newer materials um and actually some of the languages actually purchased this product when Berlin opened um but again it's the other schools don't have it >> so I'm just thinking like what does the cycle look like to look at this stuff and then you were talking about textbooks and digital. So, we're getting a hard copy of something and we have online access. >> Yeah. So, in the past, this is this is still kind we're not quite
052sure of what the cycle looks like in the modern kind of phase of resources, but when I started it was it was roughly every 10 years. That was kind of the maximum life of a textbook. Um, we would do rebinding and stuff like that at that time. You know, right now we have to go back in three years, well really in four years to decide whether or not we want to re-up the digital purchase. So the timeline has shrunk because of the digital licensing and also we used to purchase six-year digital license but what we find is tech changes so fast it by the time you get to that third fourth year there's something else going on that people want to look at. So right now we'll do this purchase now and then you know
053after that threeear subscription is up we'll come back to these folks and say you know how's it going where do you want to go with that? But we do have a plan that makes sure we're working through each subject area now in obviously the three to five year framework. Do do other subjects have uh a more frequent review? Because I I would think with technology I mean I know teachers can tweak their offerings and and it'll be based on what the assess what what needs to be taught. But I'm just wondering like man the 15 years or whatever that's a long I know French hasn't changed >> yeah and you know our teachers are great about patching it together so I really give them that testament a lot of their stuff was like self-created they
054do purchase some things with building budget but I think the other thing we found is that when we do it from the district level it it increases our capacity to collaborate also because it brings people together it has gives them something to talk about something to work on together and it unifies the buildings which that's something that we see as a real value in the district and something that makes us great. So, um, moving forward, we're we're more committed to kind of making sure that our cycle and this process is really thorough and touches every subject area, not just the math, social studies, science kind of component, ELA, >> and this goes all the way down to middle school. And they do like that. >> It does. Yeah. This is all this is level one,
055two, three, um, four. It does not include AP. We've done some purchases. AP we kind of treat a little bit differently just because those there's a different kind of different criteria that AP has for textbooks. But um yes, it will go all the way down in the middle school. Same thing. Class sets, digital subscriptions. >> Okay, other questions. >> Thank you. >> All right, [laughter] >> I'm on 72 days and you're letting him leave now. Now that he's done, he can't Yeah, I'm good. >> Okay, I'm here for the entertainment. >> All right, Mr. uh Mr. Gordon, you're really trying to shrink my audience, aren't you? [laughter] >> Good evening again. I have several action items on the agenda that I want to make sure we reviewed with you. Uh most of these construction related
056in one way or another. Uh the big ones uh ground lease with Delco water company and this is for Delko to put a water tower on our elementary school 18 site off Bean Aller that we give up about an acre of land there that we're not using through the lease. In exchange for that, uh, Delko will run the water line for us that, uh, we were picking up for the elementary previously, uh, just north of, um, between Hyatt Road and Clark Shaw Road, uh, at the development there that was being, uh, finished by, uh, Metro. And the cost when we bid out the elementarymentaries previous to the 2024 bond issue, that was a $486,000 item we had, and that was as an alternate that we bid out to get a cost on. So we are
057avoiding those costs uh now with this elementary building with this collaboration with with Delco Water. And as a reminder when we purchased land previously we were paying about $55,000 an acre. So the value of the acre of land is about $55,000. In exchange we're saving the $486,000 on the construction of the water line in addition to continuing to be, you know, good partners with with Delo who always works well with us during construction and when we have needs in the district um as we operate our buildings. The second item want to talk about uh related to high school 5 is the pre-annexation agreement with the city of Delaware. Uh we are working with the city uh to uh eventually submit a petition for annexation into the city. The reason that we need this annexation is
058Delaware city has the rights to water uh service and um sanitary service for the areas north of Bunny Station Road where our high school site is located. So while it is currently not within the city of Delaware, Delaware has the rights and agreement that they made years ago with the the Delaware County on who would provide services to those areas. So in order to get those services, we'll have to annex into that into the city and receive the services with that. So in the we'll approve this, we've worked out the the the reason for the pre-annexation agreements. We kind of worked out the language and some of the logistics of it um prior to submitting the petition. We aren't doing that after we're going through petition process and it's being reviewed by the by the
059commissioner. So, we'll be back to talk about the petition uh shortly. We need to keep this process going to make sure we have all of those utilities and everything to the site when we needed them for the high school. Uh the third item was the fourth amendment to the existing contract with uh Fanning Howy uh in the amount of $1.9 million. When I came in July uh for approval of the original contract and the previous amendment, it was for the design of the high school. And the reason we did a partial at that time was we knew we were considering going out on the bond or out for a bond issue to build the high school. Uh but if we chose not to go or the bond issue had failed, uh we didn't want to
060be committed with Fanning Howy for the construction portion of that of that uh process. So at that time we approved the design of the building. Now we're approving the construction services through the end of end of the building with this. uh at that time in July I did mention how we had our partnership with Fanning Howy and our prototype that we use for the buildings continuing to dawn that we get quite a bit of savings from the architectural side as well as we were able to negotiate an additional discount with Fanning Howy on this building because of the percentage uh fee structure for architect fees um and the rising construction cost inflation that we had between 2020 and 2024. We were able to work with them to discount that that price. So that was another
061additional $580,000 that we're able to save by negotiating that without committing to the future of a lower percentage, but negotiated that off. So that's just a reminder. And again, we did talk about that in in July as well. Uh as a side note, I went back and reviewed the architectural savings, design savings on our last uh projects from 2016 on uh to these including these two buildings, and we were approaching $5 million. And so with the prototype savings we had prior to 2016, in addition to that, almost $5 million here, we're well over $6 million in savings by doing the prototypes and and being able to do that, as well as uh be able to tweak a good design, having built a house recently, talking with other people that built I've never uh had somebody
062say they built a house and they wouldn't change this or change that. So our advantage with starting out with Liberty High School, having a great design with the high school that worked well, we're able to tweak that, make it better. So we've continued to make those tweaks and every time we have built a prototype, we go back and visit with those principles that have lived in that building and have done that. We've done that at all levels and get feedback and then tweak each time. So it's it's been a a really good process for us. Uh the last item on there is approved wetland mitigation purchase. This also is for high school 5. Uh we have some wetlands we will be disturbing as we build the high school. Uh what we are able to do
063is purchase wetlands in another part of the state that will remain wetlands forever in exchange. It's about 1.8 acres. So in exchange at the wetland bank we can purchase that and that's the the cost here. So that will allow us we're still going to maintain some wetlands but what we need to disturb on site is about 1.8 acres and this will offset that. And that is the last item. Any any questions? >> Question. Uh, one question on the first one on the the water. That's not going to delay the construction at all. >> That is not going to delay the destruction construction. That is for a future water tower. Not a water tower that we'll necessarily need on site. Uh, right now the the um flow test. We have the water pressure we need for
064the building. It will only get better when the tower's there. Having that tower closer and feeding that area will just create higher water pressure. But we are well within the bounds that we need without that tower. This is just for Delko for future planning on on their end. >> Yeah, I mean I think you know one of the challenges of this area is it's growing so much and the inf the baseline infrastructure of everything is so important. So whenever we can find a way to to really both serve our interest but also serve the community's interest in helping to build some of that out that that's great. So >> yeah, and we continue to to work with with Delo, the Delaware County on sanitary. You see a lot of easements that we get as we
065build the buildings. We always build a building and then as they build things around us um the easements end up being to the county but the developers will have to build sanitary and do that and we work partnering with the county. It's best for them as well to have that sanitary and connect with us and and so we give easements and and work with them and we'll continue continue to do that and we'll continue to see easements as long as the countyy's growing and and we're the first in an area we'll continue to have to work with utilities to help them expand and as they they work with us as well. Again, we've got a really good partnership with the county county building department and the utilities and and we'll build the same with Delo,
066the city of Delaware as we annex and work with them. >> Okay. Comments. >> Okay. Good. All right. Thank you, Mr. Jordan. >> All right. So, we move on to our board action item. As I said at the outset, this is our last uh meeting of this current board cycle. We'll start a new one in January. So we have to assign a president pro tempor uh for the January 8th 2026 board of education organizational meeting. Uh so I believe Mr. Jenkins we have to do nominations and then >> Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. So I will enter I will open up the floor for nominations uh for president and >> after great deliberation. It's with a heavy heart that I nominate Libby Wallik for president prom at the organizational meeting on January. Is that the eth?
067>> The eth. >> January 8th. [laughter] >> That tracks. >> Uh good. Are there any other nominations? All right. Hearing none, then I will entertain a motion to assign uh Dr. Wallik as president prom for the uh Thursday, January 8th, 2026 board of education organizational meeting. So moved. >> Uh second. >> I will second it. All right. Any discussion? All right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Well, I'm going to abstain. I wouldn't want anyone to think for a minute for the glory. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> Mr. Ryber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dabricco. >> Yes. [laughter] >> All right. We will now move on to our treasures consent action items. Mr. Uh board members, this evening there are five items that I'm asking you to consider
068uh with one single motion and action. Um item A would be the approval of the November 12th minutes. Item B is the approval of the donations as noted in the treasures report. Item C, acceptance of the November [snorts] 2025 monthly financial report. Item D, approval of revised fiscal year 2026 permanent appropriations. And then item E, uh the notice and acceptance of the basic financial statements for the fiscal year ended June 30th, 2025. Again, I'm asking uh the board by one single motion uh and action to approve all five items unless you would like one to be pulled out and separately discussed and voted on. >> All right. Would anyone like any of these to be separately discussed? All right. Hearing none, then I will entertain a motion to approve uh these uh five items as
069a single slate of consent action items. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? All right. Hearing none, Mr. Jenkins. >> Mr. O'Brien, >> yes. >> Miss Shriber, >> yes. >> Mr. Lester, >> yes. >> Dr. Dabberco, >> yes. >> Dr. Wallik, >> yes. >> All right. Now, Mr. Jenkins, you have three separate uh treasure action items. So, [clears throat] we'll start with item A. >> Yes. uh board members. Tonight, item A, as discussed in the treasur's um report, the approval of a short-term note about six six months uh for $15 million, what's called a bond anticipation note. Uh if anyone wonders how that gets paid off when we issue the other $235 million, the first $15 million is used to pay off uh this infusion of cash, but that that payment happens
070actually in June. >> Okay. Uh, I will now entertain a motion to uh approve the resolution to approve the issuance of $15 million in bond anticipation notes. >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Right. He hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dabberco. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Yes. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> All right. Uh, Mr. Jenkins. Item B. >> And then obviously the issue we work so long and hard for. Um, this is the actual resolution that will allow us to sell $235 million worth of bonds so that we may proceed with the construction of elementary 18 high school 5 and then some of the other projects that Mr. Gordon mentioned this evening. >> All right. I entertain
071a motion to approve item B, uh, resolution to approve issuance of $235 million in bonds. >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Right. Hearing none, Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Lester, >> yes. >> Dr. Dabberco, >> yes. >> Dr. Wallak, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Brien, >> yes. >> Miss Shriber, >> yes. >> All right, Mr. Jenkins, item C. And then finally, board members, as we're always doing, we're analyzing any past uh bonds that because of the yield curve and other factors, uh we are able to issue uh refunding bonds that have a lower interest rate and use those to pay off those past obligations and save our taxpayers money uh without extending the life of any of the debt um in any way, shape, or form. So, the resolution [clears throat] is up
072to 67 roughly $3 million in callable bonds. Uh, as noted, we will probably end up only refunding about half of that or about 30 million. >> I like how your your southern Ohio slipped out for a minute and you said live. [laughter] Uh, all right. Uh, I'll now entertain a motion to approve item C, resolution to approve issuance of up to 67.290 million in refunding bonds. So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> I discussion. All right. Hearing none, Mr. Jenkins. >> Dr. Dabberco. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Yes. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> M. Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. All right. M. Uh. Dr. Fetty. Uh, the superintendent consent action items. >> I recommend approval of superintendent superintendent consent action items A through I. A. Specific human resource items
073administrative. B. HR items certified. C. HR items classified. D. HR items classified substitutes. E. HR items supplementals. F. Students for graduation. G. Academic items. H. Business management and facilities items. And I, the consent action item. I'm asking that you approve these items as one single item uh and vote unless you would like to discuss any of them separately. >> Would anyone like to discuss any of these separately? Not even TR. >> I was just gonna say that I appreciate Mr. Smith. I know we still have you for another few months, but um I appreciate your service and um thank you for all that you've done. I know that there will be more celebrations and things in the future, but um just recognizing that this is the official resignation or notice I suppose of resignation. >>
074Uh okay. Uh well, hearing uh no interest to pull that out separately. Uh no does not need to be pulled out separately. [laughter] Just noting for discussion >> that I want to recognize Mr. Smith. >> Uh so I will entertain a motion to consider uh to approve them as a single slate of consent action items. >> So moved. >> Second. I will second it. Any discussion? Right. Hearing none. Uh Mr. Jenkins. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Yes. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dabberco. >> Yes. All right. I will now entertain a motion to adjourn. Uh I really should have gotten the pronunciation of this. Sign a da >> sign. Uh >> either way, I entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second.
075[laughter] Libby takes it. >> I think Libby got first. Yeah. Uh any discussion. All right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. >> Mr. O'Brien. >> Yes. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dabricco. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Yes. >> All right. We are adjourned. Thank you. >> Mr.