Olentangy Schools, Board of Education 9.11.25

001All right. Good. Good evening. Whoa. >> Sorry about that. >> That's why I do this. >> Uh good evening everybody. It's uh it's a September 11th, 2025 regular meeting of the entangi board of education. I'll call this meeting to order. Uh Mr. Jenkins, please call the role. >> Mr. Lester >> here. >> Dr. Davco >> here. >> Dr. Wallik >> here. >> Bush Shriber >> here. >> All right. Uh, would you please join me in the pledge of allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. I should have known Mr. O'Brien unfortunately has another work commitment tonight. Was not able to be here but uh you know

002certainly says his best as we're working through uh everything. Uh we have I don't believe any uh amendments to the agenda. Anyone? No. >> All right. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? All right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dabberco. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Yes. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> All right. for the board president's report. Uh just to have a couple uh of items to touch on and I hope everyone excuse me for what we in the legal field called a brief frolic and detour here but I promise that it will it will relate back. Uh so today is the 24th anniversary of September 11th uh which is kind of amazing uh when

003you think about it. um for you know for me and for probably a number of people of my generation it was u sort of the first largecale change the way you look at the world moment right it really just had a profound impact on the way that we do a lot of things um and maybe it's it's getting older or maybe it's becoming apparent or maybe it's just recency bias I don't know but it feels like these sort of major change the way you think about the world events are happening quicker now um and that can be a little destabilizing it can be hard and and make you feel a little bit like you've lost your bearings and and whenever that stuff happens we we try to think about well you know what what's the

004easy solution to that what's the quick solution to that what I would suggest is that it's not easy or quick but the solution is through education um one of the things that um that impresses me the most about the district and it predates I think any of our time on the board so none of us could take credit for it but uh it's the portrait of a learner not only are we educating students in specific subject matter areas is where we're, you know, passing on, you know, specific knowledge. We're focusing on the characteristics of what makes a good citizen. Having students be purposeful and resilient and curious and kind. And we're tying this into all of the lessons that we do. Those are the sorts of things that help you deal with these really challenging

005sorts of moments. Um, they help provide context. They help give you the ability to cope when you when you face tragedy. They help you find connections with other people through, you know, curiosity and kindness and empathy and all those sorts of things that that build a strong citizenry. Um, that's the stuff that we have to lean into as a community. And that's the stuff that the district does an incredible job of of really trying to promote among our students, right? And it's understanding those the needs that people have and the sorts of things that make a better community. So, it it is um really a wonderful thing to see where we're not just sharing knowledge about English or math or whatever, but we're also sharing knowledge about what it means to be in a civic

006community and and so I I don't think we take enough opportunities to recognize that. Um but especially on a day like this where it's a day of remembrance, I think it's a good lesson to move forward in that. So, as part of uh the president's report, I'd like to just take a brief moment of silence and recognition for September 11th and also just sort of a moment of reflection along some of those um those some of those ideas. >> Right. Thank you. Um, so, uh, the second thing I want to note is, uh, as we've discussed frequently, we have a bond issue that's coming up this, uh, November for people to, uh, decide on as to whether or not we'll be able to build, uh, two new schools, a new high school and a new

007elementary school, uh, on a no new millillage. In other words, it will not increase the tax rate on the community. Um, I realize that these are very complex issues. There's a lot that goes into school funding. Whenever we start talking about it's like, well, you got to you got to consider these 50 different things, right? So, as we go out and have conversations with the community, we always want to be thoughtful about the questions that people are asking, and I've been trying, at least in the past couple of meetings, we'll continue to do this uh all the way up through the election in addition to the stuff that Mr. Meyer and Mr. Jenkins are highlighting in their reports, um want to talk about some of the questions that we're hearing and um some answers to

008them. So, the one that I want to highlight tonight is, you know, a number of people have asked me this. All right, let's say that we pass this. We are allowed to build the new schools and it does not increase the tax rate. Of course, you're going to need to come right back and ask for operating funds to be able to do that, right? And the answer is no. Uh we have already budgeted in the budget for these two schools where we are able to operate these schools with the ex the existing money, you know, in the in the five-year forecast that we have. But I want to put an important clarification on that, which is that we are an incredibly rapidly growing district. We have 500 new students coming every single year, which when

009you think about the fact that, you know, an elementary school is about 625 students. It's threearters of an elementary school every single year. Or another way to think of it is if this were to pass and we were to build a high school, in the three years it would take to build a high school, we have gotten enough students to fill a high school, right? It's just coming very, very quickly every single year. Um, so at some point, we are going to have to come back to the community and ask for additional operating funds. We're going to have to ask for additional schools. the growth is just coming this quickly that we're going to have to manage that. Um that's going to happen. It's not going to happen 20 years from now. It's going to

010be sooner than that. And we're going to continue to try and, you know, make sure that we're being smart about our financial decisions, that we're we're budgeting appropriately, that we're being efficient where we can be. Um but this is part of what happens in a growing community. So these two schools, if it's passed, we've budgeted for these couple of schools uh in the the current five-year forecast. Beyond that, there's going to be more growth and we're going to have to keep responding to that. Um, we want to have a conversation around that. We want to be thoughtful to the community. Um, but it it it sort of is what it is. We we know that this is baked in and we're going to continue to work at it. Please, please, please, if you have questions,

011please reach out to us. Let's talk about it. Let's think through this. If you have ideas, we're happy to listen to them and talk through it. But this is sort of the situation that we're facing here. Um, okay. So, that was tried to make as quick as I can. So, uh, any committee updates since the last one? I don't think we have mental health committee next week. Uh, if we had, uh, facilities. >> So, um, facilities, I could not be there last night because of work. Um, I appreciate Mr. Gordon's update. More to follow. Monday, we have a, um, finance and audit meeting. Um, reminding folks that would happen to stumble across this audio, uh, the the board committee meetings are open to the public. We welcome people. um it's always hard to find people

012to volunteer, let alone just come and listen. So, we talk about all the things that folks are really asking now um about the bond issue and and even looking forward. I also want to comment on your what you just talked about with the bond issue. It's important to remember that we don't just think about the state budget when they're working on it. every $125 or $150 we get from the state is per student is one less mill that we need to collect for our families. So from from to to to operate the way that we operate to offer the entangi experience. The reason I'm bringing that up is we're able to not be asking for operating right now because we did better than what we thought we would do at the floor. So now is

013the time when you're waiting for a football game to start, just send a message to one of our legislators or or anyone and say, "Listen, I'm still thinking about the state budget." And um that's all I wanted to ask. And that's actually part of the advocacy committee, too. So three committees. >> Don't forget that >> 162nd and you're gonna freak out your legislators at like seven o'clock at night if you're thinking about the state budget. You know, >> won't be the first time. >> That's true. Uh any other uh any other things? All right, good. All right, we will move in. We have two presentations tonight. So, our first presentation is our annual transportation update with Miss Carter. >> Well, good evening board members. It's always a pleasure to talk about transportation and our initiatives

014and how we connect students with their school day, allowing them to have those high achievements and exhibit those characteristics of a of the portrait of a a learner. So, we know that mechanical things sometimes have unexpected things happen, even welloiled machines. So, just imagine you're driving down the road and your warning lights display on your dash. Do you panic? Well, maybe. Do you have a teen to rescue you and send you on your way within minutes? Well, I'm not sure, but what I am sure is that if you happen to be an old tangi bus driver, that help is on the way. And in one call, our mechanics will be there. we have because of our mechanics. Um, I just want to take a moment to recognize them. They're very capable. They they've joined us

015this evening. And so, Kyle, Mitchell, Ken, Keith. So, I do want to say that our mechanics have also impressed our highway patrol and our inspectors, um, our state inspectors. They come around with a list of of buses that we don't know. It's unexpected. And they pull a few buses and we've had the comments made that this is one of the best fleets and that was even this summer that was made. >> The best. Okay. >> The best fleet. So, so thank you. Thank you for your work and you know just your commitment to keeping students safe. Also here we have um some of members of our office staff and they stand ready to communicate with parents and parents visit our office and they greet them. They fit them with with students with safety vest and

016I'm just uh pleased that they took the time to come this evening. So I appreciate that. So this evening I'd like to share our goals um and talk a bit about our staffing um talk more about our fleet our performance what's new this year and our strategic strategic direction. So we of course we aim to deliver safe effective efficient transportation and fleet maintenance services. Um we want to provide outstanding customer service. That's what we're trying to do each and every day. So, we're we're looking to do that. Um, our primary focus and commitment though are to our students and our stakeholders. Um, this includes having a committed, professional, caring, and courteous staff. So, it's important for us to hire great people and to provide that the training. So, our driving force of drivers, that's our

017strength. So, we have Kevin Vanelof here too from um OBC Local 322. Thank you, Kevin. And so I'm proud to say that we do we have a strong partnership with our drivers. So I want to talk about um our staffing. Also this year we did add a couple of members um over the last year. We have uh Julia Barnhouse here and Chris Trussell and we are glad to have their expertise coming from the middle school as an assistant principal and also from the high school as an assistant principal. So that does help us to connect even better with our schools. So, just to talk a little bit about our our drivers. So, we have a strong hiring and recruitment program. And we actually have a secret weapon because we have Jennifer Bowling. Jennifer Bowling is

018is our secret weapon because when somebody sends in their application, she's on it like, "Okay, I'm calling any candidate. I'm setting them up for the interview. They're in here very quickly." I mean, we we through some some people, but they get an interview pretty quickly. Those that work out, they don't have a license. Um Jennifer is on the phone. How are you doing getting your permit? So, we're glad that that um we're continuously staying in communication with those who are interested in driving a bus. And it has paid off because we had a smooth start this year. We have we had everybody in our subs, all of our drivers, and we have 163 routes this year. We have 166 drivers. So, we've reached that point where now we have more than we have we have

019more drivers than routes, which is good. We still want to have more. So, we're still continuously interviewing and hiring. Um, we even it shows we have five on the way on this chart, but we actually have more than that because we have the applicants that we just didn't add on here, but we have people that are very interested in in working at Tangi. So, we're we're glad of that. So pretty soon we'll have 171 drivers, which we haven't had that in a in a long long time. So even our substitutes, some of our retirees are coming back to sub for us. We haven't added them yet on this chart. Um right now we have 15 additional part-time substitutes and we have um the a couple of uh subs that are in training. So we're very

020pleased with that. Some of our drivers are uh full-time substitute drivers. So, they're able to stand in if we have uh open routes, vacancies, or absences. So, that that helps us to make sure that we're providing uh consistent service. So, our want to turn to fleet maintenance. So, we have seven mechanics um plus we have some substitutes. Some of our drivers are actually actually sub mechanics um and they're they're wonderful. They do a great job in between their routes or you know or after they they help out the mechanics. And then we have a retired person who was a head mechanic who is reporting every day to help uh maintain our buses. We have 190 buses. We didn't think we would get there so quickly, but we have 190 um 163 of those buses are

021routes routed buses and 27 we have as spares. So right now 94% of those buses are no older than 15 years. So our plan is not to have a bus on the road that's older than 15 years. Um we are accomplishing that and with this next bus purchase that will will reach that 15 years where we won't have a a bus older than that unless the bus is running well and we should keep it longer. Then we'll keep that bus as a spare if we if we need to. So, so we're really pleased with that. Um, 89 of our district vehicles, we have 89 total district vehicles that our mechanics also maintain and 14 of those vehicles are vans. So, as we reflect on our performance with with transporting over 11,000 students using 190 buses

022and nearly 200 staff members, we certainly have opportunities for growth as we strive to make our operation a welloiled machine. But we do take pride in our safety training for students. We have a team that visits the elementary schools the first first uh month of school every year. They dress up in their costumes. They go to the schools. It's a big hit with the the kids and with the students and they um they just love when that happens. We have somebody dress up as a bus, somebody dress up as some of the students crossing the bus or crossing the street or whatever whatever role they play. They show the students exactly what they're supposed to do and they love it. So, um also a bright spot um was our professional development this summer. It's always

023good when we have professional develop development. This year it attracted the attention of news media. So I think we had three different um stations there that um they were interested in seeing what we had to offer this year. Um the other thing that we're doing this year actually on Monday uh start refresher and that's where we have um deescalation strategies um able to mitigate a crisis or any active threats. But I want to roll this video so that you can see. Where am I rolling it? Yeah. >> That smoke is so dense you cannot see, you know, your hands right in front of your face. And it comes in quick, which is exactly how it would be in a real fire. >> Noah Clark has been a bus driver for nearly a year. And he

024says this lifelike simulation can be the difference between panic and composure in an emergency. >> That bus engulfs so quickly. so quickly, so much faster than people understand. It's great that the smoke machines can simulate exactly what it would be like if this bus was actually to catch on fire. >> Bus drivers also brushed up on their pre-trip inspection knowledge, navigation skills, and inclement weather preparedness training. Transportation supervisor Amy Morgan says her drivers need to know how to react during a tornado warning or when water covers the roadway. I hope that they feel like they can breathe in case of emergency situation that they just they keep it together and just keep our kids safe. That's what's important. >> Tangi drivers got a refresh on their safety procedures ahead of the first day of school.

025And Morgan says now it's time for parents to talk to their kids about behaving on the bus. >> Please, please encourage your children to listen to their bus drivers. if there is, god forbid, an accident or an emergency situation, listen to the driver and do what they say. >> So, we're always looking for new ways to uh train our drivers um for to be ready for any kind of unexpected situation. Um, we've even talked about possibly next year one of our older buses maybe doing a burn bus burn and see how a controlled fire um with the fire department. So, and inviting other uh others from other school districts around so that we know exactly how to deal with that. So, we also have um new technology that we're always looking for if it fits

026what we need, if it fits our operation. So, this year we're introducing, we've researched um over the last couple of years uh what type of tablet we might purchase, integrate with our fleet. The best one is the one that comes with our routing system from Tyler Tyler Telmatics. And so we now have a tablet on every bus. We well we're we're equipping our buses with mounts. Our mechanics are doing that also sub mechanics. So we'll have a tablet on every bus. And right now our drivers they when they come into training they hold paper. So it's a challenge but that a number of districts that's how they train and that's that's that was the only way. So instead of holding the paper, we're looking for them to have these mounts on their buses when they're

027learning the route when they come in for training. Um this these tablets, they have there are a lot of features they not only will it have the route directions, but they can it can track riders. We can also have photos and our IT department have they've been working with us. It's great. We had now have the photos of students for we're ready for our training on Monday to roll out these tablets. um drivers can see whoever's supposed to board the bus. Um and and that's that's very helpful. Eventually also these tablets receive field trip information. Uh they can track mechanical uh information, timekeeping, time clock system. So we're rolling it out slowly, but pretty soon we'll be able to pretty much go paperless with a lot of things that we're looking at, which falls under

028our um digital systems that we're looking to uh implement. And also our we've updated our camera systems on each bus. All of our buses um there are some of our buses that had old had older camera systems on there so they weren't consistently working all the time. So over the summer all of our buses were almost all of them were updated with camera with newer camera systems. Usually we get a new camera system when we purchase our buses. It comes with it. But now we went back to go ahead and equip the older buses with an updated camera system. So that's been very helpful. So let's talk about our strategic direction. So as we move forward of course we always we fall under the internal proc processes and we always want to exemplify a culture

029of operational excellence and we do that through our efficient routing and datadriven decisions and training. So we're looking at our data this year in the past year just to change how we train to see how do we we help the drivers to drive safer. So, we're looking at um data such as acceleration or braking, whatever we are able to capture through our GPS, through our um we have Geotab units on our buses that tell us a lot. So, we're studying that so that we can change our training to to help our drivers. Um and also, it helps us to implement a safe driver program where we can recognize our drivers for the safe driving. So most of the data that we have it shows that the drivers are are driving the buses safely and then

030where where there are opportunities um then we will introduce some safe driving techniques and training. So as I mentioned we're advancing our digital environment through our tablet implementation. We also implemented a trip program this year and we're also working with our digital library training library. So, if drivers miss um some of the training because maybe they're out for a field trip or something or they're absent, then we can direct them to our digital training library where they will have videos that are made within Tangi by our own drivers and then some professional videos as well. So, also um students and stakeholders, that's our primary focus as I mentioned um our drivers um in their buses. That's the buses are a rolling billboard for us. So we want to make sure that we are um showing

031the community professionalism and ensuring parent making sure that parents feel that their students are safe on the bus. So with doing that we have um comm community our community partnerships. We're proud to say that we have a great partnership with Orange Township in Del in the Delaware Health District. We actually joined hands with them to apply for a safe routes to school grant. um that's not for our buses, but actually for pathways and bike bike paths. So that we we also of course care about students who aren't on the bus. So we want to make sure that they're still able to access access the school safely. So that was that's an important um venture for us. Um also we have a partnership with the SRO's and the Delaware Fire Department as as you saw in

032the video. So, we're very pleased with with those partnerships and we're pleased to say, as we always when I come here, I talk about the rodeo, but this time, you know, and I mentioned last year that we would host a rodeo. Well, we're going to host the state rodeo October 18th at Berlin High School. Everybody's invited. So, it's whoever the champions are in the state, they will compete at Berlin High School. So, we're proud to be able to do that. And another thing and I want to recognize Kayla Mlane who took the initiative to um get uh students engaged in a t-shirt contest for that state rodeo. So they'll design a t-shirt that most um everyone can wear at the at the uh state rodeo just to represent Tangi. So very pleased. As you can

033see, I'm really pleased with my staff and they do wonderful work. So I'm glad that they're they're here to support this evening. So with that, just um just to conclude, our department exists to support and provide service to all stakeholders, especially our students. So we're intentional about raising the bar and continuously improving from the way that we hire, train, maintain our fleet, and the way that we assign our staff to various tasks and responsibilities to our rolling board billboards that everybody sees. So when anyone sees an old Tangi bus, we want them them to think of a safe, effective, and efficient operation with outstanding staff as that's what we're striving to do. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh so uh couple comments real quick. First of all, thank you to everybody for showing up in

034the room. I think sometimes it's um you know it it's one of the sort of behind the scenes things right to do mechanic support or it's the bus drivers who are there for you know for a little part of the day but it's one of the most important parts right it it has the ability to make or break the entire day for a child if if a breath breaks down and and a child standing out in the rain it's going to severely impact their day and parents I mean this is the number one concern is the safety of their child right and so making sure that we have a safe efficient effective process um is essential and the work that you all do. I mean this is this is not typical of trans you know

035we there are a lot of transportation departments that have trouble you know attracting people that have you know trouble maintaining people. It speaks a lot to certainly the leadership but also the culture that all of you provide every day. You're all a big part of that. So um it is absolutely incredible work. The results are amazing. Um we could not be prouder of it. Um, and it just it speaks to the efforts of all of you every single day um to create a culture of excellence. It it's amazing work. So, thank you all for being here and thank you all for everything that you do every single day. >> Well, thank you. >> Any comments? >> Anybody else? >> Definitely rolling billboards. Um, and you know, with a fleet like that, it doesn't matter where

036you're at in our 95 square miles, you see them throughout the day. And uh, and I'm always proud when I'm like, "Okay, look at you not trying to beat that light. Thank you for keeping everybody safe. You know, we can move. Makes me happy. Um, but definitely, yes. Rolling billboards. Speaking of which, are we ever going to We advertised to recruit at one point, literally using a bus like as a billboard at one point, right? Yes. Uh, we do that. We place our bus with a sign at different schools. We've had it placed at Bergkshire Middle School, also Orange Middle School, and along Sawmill Parkway. >> Awesome. I just know that you guys do a lot of work. Um, you guys probably get some of the most feedback from parents and I don't envy the

037um having to put together 163 routes and the number of kids that ride the bus every day. Um, it's it's great to see um all the hard work that your entire team does. So, I'm very appreciative of everybody and I don't even want to think about the logistics of putting together 163 routes. So, thank you for doing that for us. >> Well, thank you all. >> I love talking to your team before the meeting started, sharing with them. Um, thanks for a parent communication I received where the the the driver had gone out of their way to introduce himself, give the parents uh like kind of like a letter like the my, you know, first day of school letter. >> It was the parent was absolutely floored at the professionals. I mean like you know

038this driver and I want to know the driver. You're driving the most important thing, the most important cargo on the planet and that's our little ones. >> So, thank you for doing that. Um they you don't hear it enough and you should. I'm proud of what our team does. You take care of my two little ones every day. Um you get them home, you take my daughter to school and they're safe and they're happy. There was one other thing I wanted to >> and they play K-pop demon hunters on the bus, by the way. So that's exciting for them. >> So this is the last thing I'm going to say, and I hope people appreciate this because this is a big deal. I really believe when you're faithful in little things, you can do the

039big things, right? So, last year, I don't know if you know where I'm going with this. Last year, I was able to show up for the first day. You you these people show up, I don't know, was it like midnight or something, some ridicul I I I could have stayed all day taking notes. I'm like, man, there's a place for everything. And and it wasn't like a plan visit, you know what I mean? Like people show up, they're like, "We better get the tool big." It was beautiful. I couldn't even find a screwdriver today at home looking in my house. And I've got 78 flathead screwdrivers in every drawer and every tool. That's why the big things work, right? Cuz you take care of the little things. Everything was It was pristine. It was beautiful.

040And I'd love to come back and visit and just take notes. So, thank you for what you do. We're we're we're blessed to have your the fruits of your labor taking care of our baby. So, thank you. >> Thank you. >> One other quick thing I want to know is all you mentioned all these people coming to compete in the rodeo. Yes. Coming to compete for second place, right? >> Exactly. Because we have a number of drivers that we want to win the re regionals so they can go to the state. So, >> all right. Thank you again much. Appreciate it. >> All right. All right. We're now moving to our annual staffing presentation. So, Miss Freeze, Miss Andres. >> Good evening, board members. Thank you for giving us this opportunity to share our annual

041staffing update and the accomplishments of the human resources department over the past year. My name is Melanie Andres, director of human resources, and with me is Nancy Freeze, our chief human resources officer. So, in previous presentations, we have emphasized our recruitment and hiring practices to celebrate our success. Tonight, you're going to hear more about the broader scope of the human resources department and the direct impact our work has on the student experience. While much of our work happens behind the scenes and outside of classroom spaces, our team has a significant influence on the quality of how students receive their education in Tangi. We will share trends in the labor market, give a department recap of efforts from last year and the results of those efforts as illustrated by our staffing metrics. And finally, we will

042end our time with goals as we look ahead to the upcoming school year. Sorry, I didn't click the overview slide. There we go. Tangi is considered a destination district because it is a place where we pride ourselves on students and staff flourishing. If you weren't aware, there is a recent global flourishing study from Harvard and Baylor universities, which is a Gallup poll of over 200,000 people across 20 different countries. The study shows young adults report low well-being driven largely by isolation and lack of belonging. The results of this study impact both our students and our staff members in this age group and speaks to our focus on the student experience districtwide. The current research on workplace health mirrors these same results. The strongest driver of employee well-being is a sense of belonging. What is true

043for our students is also true for our staff. If adults do not feel connected and supported, they cannot impact our students in a positive way. The role of the HR team then is to create the conditions in which staff can flourish in a healthy, supportive workplace. Flourishing staff shape the environment, belonging, and achievement of our students. You've heard Mr. Meyer used this phrase repeatedly and you saw this reflected at our last board meeting when he celebrated all four Olant Tangi high schools being ranked in the top 12 in central Ohio and top 50 in the state by US News and World Report. That success, as he reminded us, is not the result of high school work alone, but the cumulative effort of every school and every staff member from preK to 8, as well as

044our operations teams. You will continue to hear about the strong correlation between the staff we recruit and hire and the success of our students at next week's board meeting as well when Mr. Meyer shares the annual state report card data. Ultimately, the health of our workplaces drives the success of our students. Supporting staff from recruitment to retirement is our team's essential purpose. Guided by research and strengthened by our recently revised HR metrics, we are measuring and addressing the health of our organization. so every employee has the opportunity to thrive. We cannot have flourishing students without flourishing staff. In addition to outside research, we also continue to monitor the job market in the field of education. Across Ohio, the teacher pipeline is shrinking. Enrollment in teacher preparation programs has dropped 19% since 2015, and completions of

045these same programs are down nearly 26%. Newly licensed teachers fell from over 7,700 in 2014 down to 5,000 in 2022. At the same time, more than 43,000 credentialed indivi individuals in Ohio are not currently using those credentials to teach in public schools. Locally, our growth intensifies this challenge. Like many districts nationwide, we are experiencing the effects of a shrinking population of new teachers. The imbalance between the number of teaching candidates and our rising student enrollment creates significant staffing obstacles, making it more difficult to recruit and compete for high-quality educators that our students deserve. Proactively addressing this issue through recruitment strategies, partnership, and internal pipeline development are all essential strategies to sustaining success as our district continues to grow. As evidenced by the chart on this particular slide, Tanggi employs nearly 1.8% 8% of all teachers

046in Ohio, which is a staggering number to think about. We compete with over 600 districts for the same shrinking pool of candidates. The average district employs 156 teachers in total, while we continue to hire between 90 and 120 staff members each in one year alone. In addition to less candidates, certain lensure areas are becoming increasingly harder to fill. areas include family and consumer science, computer science, business, world languages, physical education, intervention, and more. Even elementary licenses, which were once abundant, declined 19% over a 5-year span. Beyond teachers, national labor shortages are also impacting custodians, bus drivers, and other key roles. Retention pressures also add to this challenge. A change in our state retirement eligibility last year increased overall teacher and administrator retirements. Additionally, exit surveys of departing staff site stress, workload, and compensation as and

047promotion as top reasons for leaving. As stated, while these results are not uncommon in the field of education, our strategic efforts within our department need to focus on alleviating these barriers. Our reality is clear. Student enrollment is rising while teacher pipeline is shrinking. Addressing this through recruitment, partnerships, and internal strategies will be critical to sustaining success. The HR team is responding to all of this research and all of the current labor trends by recognizing these challenges and developing annual departmental goals and work plans. While hiring the most qualified candidate is an obvious priority, the best recruitment strategy we have is to keep the amazing people who are already part of our district. This past year, we focused on several key projects to gauge our organizational health and focus on staff retention. First, we created a

048new administrator handbook. In addition, we advi revised the existing employee handbook. Both handbooks are easy digital access, allowing staff to receive the most accurate information possible as the content is reviewed and updated consistently. To date, the revised employee handbook has been viewed 1,350 times, demonstrating a strong awareness of this resource, and that's just in the past month since August 1st. We also launched a new employee satisfaction survey and revised our exit survey. The employee satisfaction survey was issued to all new staff hired in the 2425 school year. Results show that 87.3% of respondents are satisfied with their current position, citing the level of support provided as their number one reason. The exit survey includes a measure of success in line with national business industry standards by calculating what is called a net promoter score. 73%

049of departing staff would recommend Olan Tangi as an employer while nearly 58% are promoters of the district which is well above national benchmarks of 25 to 35%. These tools serve as leading and lagging indicators giving us meaningful feedback throughout the employee life cycle and assisting with the identification of both strengths and opportunities for improvement. Also in alignment to the strategic plan to enhance our talent management, we revised our HR metrics to expand the information gathered and better mirror both education and business industry benchmarks. This data enhances our ability to inform current and future practices and allows us to remain competitive through all phases of the employee experience, not just hiring. We also introduced new recruitment data tools to strengthen our hiring pipeline and monitor effectiveness, which you will learn more about in the presentation. Finally,

050we updated our Title 9 training, ensuring compliance and reinforcing our commitment to safe, supportive environments for staff and students. Title 9 training was completed for all administrators, and a schedule for retraining and initial training compliance for new staff was established. A student curriculum around anti-harassment has also been developed and vetted with the wellness department, high school health teachers, and a student focus group during the 2425 school year. The lessons will be presented to students via the high school health curriculum beginning this school year. Next steps include a long-term plan to expand training and awareness for additional stakeholder groups. In addition to the department goals, last year the HR team executed 51 new or updated processes and efficiencies to help elevate the employee and operational experience. This summer alone, 14 additional projects have been completed to

051further advance various elements of the district's strategic plan. The slide shows just some of these enhancements, including our transition to final forms as an integrated platform for coaching staff, compliance with the state expansion of the wrapback background check program, and the creation of an internal retirement step sheet. Aligning our goals with the district's strategic priorities ensures that our systems for recruitment, retention, and compliance are not only efficient, but are addressing the needs of our staff. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. F to talk about some of our results. Thank you. So, how did these goals and projects translate to results? As Mrs. Sandress mentioned our recruitment strategy was updated to leverage technology and merge our researchbased talent acquisition program with targeted training to ensure we identify and select the most

052highly qualified candidates. Principles participated in training strengthening their ability to evaluate candidates effectively thereby creating a much more efficient screening of sought out after cap applicants. These efforts create a consistent data-informed approach to recruitment, helping us build and retain a strong, talented workforce. We continue to expand partnerships with colleges and universities and create unique opportunities for aspiring educators and professionals. By building relationships with candidates early in their career journey, we strengthen our visibility as an employer of choice and also recognize top talent to consider our district for future opportunities. Two specific examples include our virtual roundt with Ohio Wesleian University to support rising educators with questions related to their job search, interviewing, and also our upcoming work with the Ohio State University to assist teacher candidates in resume writing and application completion. These external partnerships

053are critical to the outreach and pursuit of candidates with a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We maintain a healthy balance of prioritizing the need for outside recruitment efforts while remaining committed to maintaining a strong internal pipeline. Again, the best recruitment strategy we have is to retain our high achieving people by investing in professional growth, leadership development, and career mobility. We not only retain talented employees but also ensure that new positions are filled by individuals who embrace our culture standards and our commitment to students. The approach builds stability, stren strengthens organizational capacity and demonstrates our investment in the growth of our people. Our internal staffing pipeline continues to be significant and a positive outcome remains critical to balance our growth with the increasing teacher shortage across the field. This slide demonstrates the effectiveness of these

054efforts through key data points including our very own TNG graduates which includes four teacher academy participants who are returning to the district post-graduation as well as classified aids completing programs to actually return to hold certified lure. Let's take a look at our recruiting class of 2025. The HR team continued our new tradition of assigning day at our certified teacher orientation where new teachers, yes, that's Greta, where new teachers are celebrated by the entire Oland Tandy administrative offices staff and literally they sign their commitment to the district mission. Here's a brief clip that shares the energy of this experience. [Music] [Applause] [Music] I will take a picture. Woohoo. [Music] Thank you, Mrs. Janei, for leading that charge. You didn't know that was happening. The HR department received so many positive responses from new staff, including the

055following quotes. The warmth of the staff made sure we felt great about our place in this district. By far the best new teacher orientation I've ever participated in. And also I'm so excited to welcome to be part of the one and TNG family. The warm welcome from the HR staff and admin and positive vibes were simply amazing. These events happen in collaboration with multiple departments in order to make them a highly successful experience. The data on this slide demonstrates the sheer volume of teacher hires, the average years of experience, and all while remaining under our targeted budget. Our process continues to yield top candidates year after year. In addition to our recruiting class of 2025, I'd like to highlight some of the entire staffing snapshot. As Miss Lorie Carter Evans referenced, we're currently operating 163

056bus routes with 171 drivers. This ensures reliable transportation for our students every day. This is a huge celebration. We accomplished this through creative hiring, monthly interviews, incentives, increased substitute pay, and a strong relationship with our drivers association. Thank you, Kevin. I want to extend a sincere thank you to the transportation team for their continued collaboration. On the academic side, we are proud to have 100% licensed teaching staff districtwide, maintaining an overall studenttoteer ratio of 14.2 2 to one which supports personalized learning and strong student outcomes. We are addressing hardtofill positions by leveraging alternative pathways for lure offered by the state which includes hiring teachers in supplemental licenses. This allows teachers with credentials in a different subject area to complete additional coursework obtain new lure while also serving in their same position. From a financial perspective,

057a unique strategy that we use for our experienced talent is our retire rehire program, which generated nearly $430,000 in savings. Adjusting our previous district pool substitute model saved over $670,000 while still averaging a 90% average daily fill sub rate for our teachers. Finally, we're pleased to report that all of our intervention specialist positions are filled, which continues to be a challenge year after year. Other notable statistics to celebrate are that we're well over 3,141 employees that we maintain and work with on a daily basis. Over 78.44% of our teachers have advanced degrees. And we still continue to manage an average year of experience with of 16.1 years which shows we have a nice balance between those that are experienced veteran teachers with our new teachers coming out of the education. These results reflect the quality

058of our staff and the efficiency of our systems and directly contribute to the strong student experience we provide. Professional growth. One of our greatest strengths and strategies to retain our staff is our commitment to professional learning. Our culture of continuous improvement sets us apart. Ensuring staff have access to mentorship and resources that directly impact classroom instruction. Simply put, when teachers are learning, students are learning. The HR team helped set this tone from day one. The team successfully onboarded 247 individuals throughout the spring and summer with nearly 99% of new staff rating their experience favorably. The HR team presented sessions to teachers and administrators of all district-wide professional learning opportunities last year alone, including sessions on handling conflict and accurate steps for lure renewal. Our team helps the district to mitigate risk while ensuring a safe

059environment, making sure all public school works courses are aligned with state requirements and also our district priorities. This year, we expanded bus driver training to include deescalation and behavior management and also added drug and alcohol reasonable suspicion training for our administrators. In 2024 and 25, HR facilitated the renewal of 470 certified staff license in addition to processing permits for over 600 aids, coaches, and activity sponsors. We also approved 169 educational advancements, which indicates the strength that both of our staff and expertise have in the classroom. Finally, we are partnering with Vince Datilio and the Department of School Leadership to update our current evaluation tools. These revisions align with our strategic plan and leadership framework while reinforcing this year's PD focus on assessment and resilience. Providing feedback, coaching, and opportunities for growth not only improve instruction,

060but also strengthens our retention and employee experience. We have highlighted the department's direct impact on student experience by creating the conditions for staff to flourish all the way from recruitment but also to retirement. While rising student enrollment continues to be a hallmark of entangi success, we have shared how this also presents ongoing staffing challenges. data, research, and internal structures will help assess the workplace health of our district. And it will help inform two strategic areas. Number one, how we identify innovative ways, excuse me, to recruit highquality staff and continue to elevate our brand. And two, retain top talent through professional growth and opportunities for advancement, all while keeping the students experience at the forefront. While student success is a collective purpose of all employees in the organization, Mr. Lester posed an interesting question at the

061last board meeting. He said, "What does Oland Tangi do for community members without children in the district? We offer employment." The answer to that from the HR perspective is that Delaware County remains the fastest growing county in the state and exceeds the national average. You continue to hear week after week how this growth is impacting our student enrollment and our finan financial picture. But this growth also yields positive economic benefits for the entire community. As the second largest employer in Delaware County, we offer a community of a variety of employment pathways as well as topranked outcomes for students. Tomorrow we will hold our very first open interview day of the school year here at Oland Tangi administrative offices where we will be in interviewing classified positions, intervention, building aids, classified aids, food service, bus drivers,

062and more. So it's not just an annual thing. We continue to hire day in and day out all year long. In conclusion, we shared relevant data tonight while also highlighting department successes, goals, and future plans that aim to have a positive impact on our staff and ultimately our students. You may have additional questions specific to staffing data. Our team will be sharing an executive summary of all completed staffing metrics within the next coming weeks. The HR team helps ensure each student has a capable, caring adult in every classroom, on every school bus, on every playground, and in every support role. When our staff flourish, our students flourish. Thank you for your time. And also, I'd like to extend a sincere thank you to the HR team that they worked so hard behind the scenes to

063support our staff and to ensure that day one it's operationally set for our kids to have a successful year. So, at this time, that concludes our presentation and I'll open it up to any questions or comments. >> Questions? Can we go back a couple slides and I'll stop you when you get there. Um, go one more up. I don't know if there's one more. Yeah. >> One where you talk about every position that's filled. >> I think in the sn the snapshot. >> One more. One more. There. Stop there. >> Uhhuh. >> I'm not sure if there's any school district in the state of Ohio that can claim that. They may have all their buses covered, but they don't have enough intervention specialists or they have enough intervention specialists. um but their ratios are out

064of line because you can always fix uh staffing problems by making huge classrooms. So the fact that you can still consistently deliver the entangi experience while staffing is unbelievable and I hear it all the time from districts in central Ohio. So thank you for putting the best in front of our kids. We had a little um blip on the radar for at August one. We have a metric uh we measure our the status of our fill rate and June 1, July one, and August one. And at August one, we were 100% filled. So, we were really excited because that was well before the first day of school. And then we got two late retirements in in August that threw us for a little bit of a panic, but we still managed to get highly qualified

065teachers with the right credentials in front of our kids before the first day. So, >> very impressive. I'm still just in awe about the statistic you gave very early on about the number of the percentage of teachers that entangi employs >> versus the state. Yeah, I I'm still trying to process that. >> What was it like two almost 2% of the teachers in the state of Ohio work here? >> 1.8 correct. state data shares about 95,000 total teachers in across the state and we have 700 1740 of them. So it's about 1.8%. >> Yeah, that that's just mindboggling. >> Where do you teach Old Tangi? >> Yeah. >> Any idea how many applicants came in this year? >> Yes, we actually have that data as well. It's a little hard to um identify because our

066system allows for an individual to apply for multiple positions. So, I will tell you that we have fewer applicants themselves, but equal to slightly higher on the number of applications for specific jobs, but we've seen a substantial decrease in our candidate pool. Um it's hard to make that generalization, but it is across the board. not only with the hard to fill positions, but we're not seeing hundreds and hundreds of candidates applying for single positions anymore. >> Is that an industry trend? Like >> as as long as they continue to make it so welcoming at the state house, it's getting diff more difficult to bring folks into the profession. >> Absolutely. >> Very much so. And part of that is hard to calculate year-over-year because our number of job postings and available positions change. Obviously we

067have more positions that are open when we are opening a building and therefore get more applicants just because of the you know >> demand but um so but the number overall is is definitely decreased and that is in large part due to the climate of education. Um the state to their credit has allowed for some more flexible lensure pathways though that are giving us more flexibility in terms of how we can credential people um and to move forward whether that is a certified license um an interim license or even a substitute license. So there is more flexibility for us to find people who can pursue those different paths. Yeah, I I I'm I'm happy that they're providing some flexibility, but I w I would suggest that the long term you don't want to make it

068like anybody with a pulse because teaching isn't >> isn't always intuitive. You've got to understand how to use research and you've got to understand how to use that to make a difference for kids. So yeah, I agree that's a good thing in the in the short term, but if we still continue to see the numbers drop and their response is to just drop the requirements to teach, I think long term that's a problem. >> Yeah, I agree. >> Agreed. Agreed. >> And that's where our professional learning comes into play. Not only do we have to have a robust process to interview to make sure we're getting the best candidates available and that we're getting a lot of different people through those interview processes, but then once they get here, making sure that they have the

069tools and the resources to provide high quality instruction in the way that we do things here in TG >> and and that's what I was going to say. It's so important that we emphasize bringing people who are here because you have no idea what it is to be in Tangi. If you're not from Tangi, the expectations are rightfully high and that's why we'll hear about the unbelievable performance of our students um and staff. But um yeah, I mean what's the percentage again? I know this is coming off the what's the percentage of folks that work here that either live here or >> I think it's close to 60%. >> Yeah. I mean that matters the climate and culture of our community. It should be reflected in the expectations. >> My daughter's first grade teacher last

070year was teaching in the same classroom that she had for first grade at Arrowhead. So that was a great um full circle moment of someone who went through the whole district, you know, went to school, went away, came back to her exact same elementary school because she cares so much about that community. Um one question that I had is um how common is a teacher academy in other districts? Do you know if that's something that other districts do? >> It's not. It's not. It's unique to Olan Tangi and I know that because I used to teach teacher academy and the mentorship program as well. So I helped develop that program. Um it's it's this program in particular um is definitely number one in the state. Um and that is due to Sunday Weekly who runs

071the program but also due to the level of the rigor within that program and what we have found is even those individuals that don't enter the field of education immediately post-secondarily um a lot of times they come back and we have right now some teachers that were aids that said I'm I'm willing to come back until I can as I indicated earlier move from an aid position to a certified position. Mhm. >> So, the the trend downward statewide scares the crap out of me. And it um just and I mean some of this is out of our control, right? It's statewide conditions. It's national conditions. Some of it is, right? And it it's a local community issue. Um I I tell everyone we have great schools not because our buildings are great, although Jeff they're

072they're great buildings. They're great. But the it is it's because we have great staff, right? and how we as a community talk to those and interact with those people makes a difference. >> Um if if we come into it attacking, if we come into it distrusting and all those sorts of things that has an impact and it make it it um it it ties into the willingness of people to even be in this field. It's a hard job to engage with the community on a daily basis. Um, and whether it's teachers or whether it's aids or whether it's bus driver, I mean, any any folks that's the the possibility of being harassed or yelled at or attacked. It doesn't mean we're above criticism. Of course, we could be criticized, but um the tenor of some

073of these things um gets ugly sometimes and I think that's probably driving a lot of this too. So, it's really a challenge to the community of if we if we have a concern, how do we bring it respectfully? How do we bring it thoughtfully? And how do we engage in a way that doesn't drive out the people that we need to be successful as a community, right? And this is a critical part of it. So, I'm I it's it's very worrying to me to see that number dropping in the way that it is. And I think we are well positioned as a district to respond to that. Um, but it makes me worry about the state. And >> Mr. Lester, I'm gonna add one thing because this is a really important discussion because the more

074we do things differently to set ourselves apart and one of the biggest things that teachers, administrators are reporting when they leave education is they feel like they're not supported. And that's why I think our team does a great job of helping people feel like they are supported. So even if you know people are leaving for other reasons um hopefully it's never because they're not supported there there's a whole bunch of reasons why and some of them are good reasons right they're relocating whatever it is but um I appreciate our administrative team's effort to support everyone that you know people can do amazing things in this world if they feel like they're all rowing in the same direction and you can move mountains when you do that so that's what I feel like we're doing Right.

075Well, and that's Oh, go ahead. >> No, I was just going to say to to that point, I mean, all you need to do is hop on the district social media pages and go back a few weeks to to um convocation and and the first days of school and see the candid pictures that were captured across this district. I mean, I think it speaks volumes at convocation when you start to see these people who are these colleagues who are being reunited after a summer apart or whatever and they're happy, they're smiling, they're hugging, they're laughing, like it is a what do we say? Joy. Joy was the resounding theme and you could feel it and see it. And when that's how the adults feel, I mean, I say this a lot in my line of

076work. When the adults do better, kids do better. Um, when the adults are happy, the kids are happy. Um, and so this I do think we we're really setting a a beautiful tone here, >> right? >> It's the small I mean it's not all small gestures, but the the little gestures that go a long way to show that, right? So I think back to cuffocation when Mr. Meyer asks all the new teachers, new staff members to stand up and there's a big round of applause to welcome them to the community, right? To show listen, we care about you, we support you, right? Um it's it's just all those little things and they make a big difference and it it's the level of intentionality here is is very very high. So thank you all for that.

077It it it is though an ongoing challenge, right? And so >> certainly is. What I would ask is think of ways that we can be supportive in that regard to if there are cultural issues that we can, you know, whether it's working out in the community or other things that we could do to try to to to support that because it's I I don't think that trend is going to get better in the near future at least. So, what do we do to start turning around? Right. And that's >> perfect. >> Yeah. >> All right. Great. Thank you. Thank you all. [Applause] All right, Mr. Meyer. >> All right, thank you. So, uh, just to to recre recap, uh, um, two great presentations and we have a lot of transportation folks here, but you know,

078we talk a lot and you got, the board has talked a lot and and you know, first and foremost, I want to thank the board because again, our board members are sitting in the all five of those seats for the right reason to support the mission of the district. So that goes a long way. Um, you know, and we talk about we're a large organization, but it is about the people. Um, and and the value that people bring to the organization every single day to ensure that we have a positive student experience from getting on a bus in the morning, going through school, um, to getting them home safely. Uh, and and I I said this to the drivers, I don't know, four or five years ago, and I talk a lot about unsung heroes,

079and we have so many of our 3,000 employees who are unsung heroes because they're behind the scenes and they make the operation just work. And the complexity of this department and um transportation is is it's unbelievable. And when I was a principal, I just wanted the yellow bus to show up in the morning and show up in the afternoon. But then as chief operations officer working closely with the transportation department in the eight years I served as a chief operations officer just um so much appreciation for the complexity and the work that they do to um serve our community and again not perfect and that's why I love Lori as the leader of the department because she's solutionoriented so transportation does hear a lot of feedback and they want to hear feedback because at the

080end of the day genuinely want to provide the best service that they can um for our our students. So, thank you uh for all that you do. Um I do want to recognize because we have two of our association presidents sitting back there too because partnerships a big part of this and when we talk about alignment, we talk about intentionality and rowing in the same direction. Uh we're partners. So, they're not here to impede progress. They're here to help propel um the district moving forward. So, um, thank you both. And I don't think Allison, we don't have Allison's not here tonight. She's not here tonight, but I would say the same thing. All of our association presidents, the same thing. And then, um, you know, the common theme from the HR department because again, it's

081just so complex. And you're right, it's it's challenging in education um with the shrinking pool uh you know but um for us and the HR team when you connect it back to students right and that's our fundamental purpose of why we're here and then the adult collaboration that they have with the departments in our organization again it speaks to the alignment the intentionality um how we're all here uh for the same reason. Um so you know just extremely proud of the work that that goes on because again behind the scenes so much happens. You know people just think that you know we close up shop in May and then start in August and we flip the light switches back on and schools open. You know that's just not the way it works. Um so again

082thank you uh for all that you do. So with that I want to highlight this is just another good thing technology support night. So I I many departments so technology department, communications department, wellness department, pupil services department. Um this is something that we do uh to support uh parents who have questions. So this was held uh on September 2nd at Orange High School. So 100 families attended um and again we collect data on everything because we want to provide a good service and we want it to be a positive experience. So 96% of families rated the evening as very helpful. 91% left feeling confident in the technology tools their children are using. 98% said the sessions offered uh covered topics that were important to them. And 100% of the families who responded would recommend this

083night to other families. So, uh, kudos to all of our departments and for taking the time again, uh, to welcome parents, uh, at the beginning of the school year to make sure that they feel comfortable, uh, with technology. So, I want to highlight this is next week, uh, September 18th, uh, bridging the future. So, we will have Lieutenant Governor Jim Trestle here and one Columbus followed by a showcase with local industry partners. So again, our bridge ed program and uh Molly has just done a fantastic job the last couple years uh working in this space and then obviously um creating partnerships with a lot of area businesses uh locally and then in the Columbus area. So, we're looking forward to that uh next um week, September 18th, uh starting at 7 o'clock there at um

084Tangi High School. So, I wanted to make sure I put a plug in for that. All right. So, I'm going to get right back into uh the bond issue. Mr. Lester mentioned uh in his president's report about the bond issue. Um, and again, and I'll say this again, and I said it, I think the last meeting, it's a straightforward issue for us. Um, it's about enrollment, and we say it, and I'll recap here at the end, in the last 10 years, uh, we have grown by 5,000 students. We're going to mirror exactly, we're projected to grow by another 5,000 uh, students the next 10 years. So, just I want to put a little context here um, about enrollment growth. And and I want to say this again, it's already here. We've experienced 5,000 students growth.

085We continue to grow. We're growing now and we will continue to grow. So, uh, our preschool enrollment is 57% larger than it was 10 years ago. So, preschoolers, it contributes to our growth. Elementary school enrollment has grown by the equivalent of seven classrooms of students each year for the past 10 years. Uh, and the pace of future growth is increasing. So if if you say seven classrooms times 10 years, that's 70 classrooms. That's equivalent to two elementary schools. And this is kind of what you were talking about, Mr. Lester, at the beginning. Um today's actual enrollment in grades 5 through 8. Okay. So those four grades is larger than the enrollment in grades 9 through 12. And it's um it's about 150 students higher in grades 5 through 8. And as as kids uh students

086metriculate through um obviously we'll see an increase there. And then again want to emphasize because we hear a lot about this too about development, anti-development, stop the development. The new homes and roads are already uh underway across the district. Um and this is the macro level. So >> and that we have no control over >> correct those >> and we have no control although we are partners and we are we are sitting at the table but you're right >> but we don't get a veto right >> we don't we don't we don't so and and this is just another context piece to put it into perspective. So from the 2020 census 6500 plus children ages 0 to four currently reside in Tangi. So some of these students are already in our schools. um 7,000 plus

087single family homes already zoned for construction. And again, our yield from 7,000 single family homes is a point8. So this is >> zoned for construction means they're building >> uh or or not maybe not building yet. They may not be going vertical, but they could be going vertical soon. So >> 7,000,000 family homes >> and then the multif family >> trying to understand these numbers. Okay, >> multifamily. Um and this is from our last report. Now, this will be updated. We're going to do an updated enrollment report or yeah, enrollment report in October. So, we will be updating that. >> And there's still I'm not going to I'm just saying the number. Sorry, I don't mean to take away from your >> Well, 7,000 additional acres still able to be developed, >> right? >> That

088right now is currently zoned a residential. And you know, obviously that could change too, but >> you were talking about how many students we yield from single family homes. Did you mention how many students we yield from multif family units? 22 from multif family and point8 from less following >> that is a um >> so even us liberal arts majors can can still follow that >> that is a common misconception >> so that was a macro level of the micro level so Dr. Fetty uh pulled this report. So in the first eight months of the year and when we do enrollment projections uh we look at um housing starts. So you can see permits building permits uh for Home Tangi district in the first eight months of the year uh 520 single family, 266 multifamily.

089So 786 um permits pulled. Uh and again it just goes to the growth that is already here and that we as a district uh have to continue to plan for. So uh for us impact on of enrollment growth on our existing schools. So existing schools without building additional buildings. So larger uh class sizes diminished student engagement. And we we talked a lot about student engagement and how important that is to the student experience. uh trailers needed um specialized programs fill quickly um which then takes away from potentially opportunities and then strain on facilities and resources and then reduced extracurricular opportunities. So those are some of the challenges with continued increase enrollments uh in our schools. Um so again just to reiterate the last 10 years we've grown by uh 5,000 students. We're projected by to

090grow by another additional 5,000 students in the near future. Um so this proposed bond invest in facilities to meet enrollment growth without increasing the tax rate on our residents. And and again I'm going to go back to reiterate what Mr. Lester talked about in his president's report and this is shortterm. So these two buildings we're going back to pairing back from the five building ask from 24 to ask for two buildings immediate need for elementary 18 and high school 5 um with this bond issue. >> I'm ready when you are. >> Ready? >> Yes. >> All right. So just some put the growth in context because we talk about numbers and it just seems 5,000 here, 10,000 there. Since co 2,480 kids have come to Tangi that weren't here >> since 2020. Over Yep. Over

0912,400. >> That's 300 more than all of Bell Fountain City Schools. 300 more than all of Buckeye Valley. more 300 more than all of Jonathan Alder, 200 more than Athens City Schools, 200 more than Tiffen, Greenville, and here's some heavy hitters, 150 more than Bay Village, Salina, Tip City, Bowling Green, Granville. We've added a Rocky River since co >> Yeah. >> We need more buildings. Yeah. Yeah. And >> look at those p pictures. Um >> and it's a it continues to be a challenge, >> you know, we we uh you know, we it it it's a challenge, but we continue to do such a good job of um providing such a a awesome experience for our students and we do produce a really really good product. you we need to highlight that for a second

092because I've heard folks and we it seems like we're together >> uh a lot talking about growth and and folks will say things like well >> the levy didn't pass in 24 and everything seems to be going fine. That's because we have a great team that is mitigating the impending problems that were and not impending the the problems that we're running into with overcrowding. It's not because they didn't come. We are experiencing overcrowding, but we're just dealing with it. But you can only deal with overcrowding until you can't, >> right? >> And I and I said at the last I mean the level of care that our vaults provide for our kids here is unbelievable. And I gave the example of preschoolers coming to school for the first time and you know the staff meeting

093them out at the car door and uh welcoming them into the building. But in every one of our buildings uh that happens. >> Yeah. And I think some of the other presentations we've seen that Berlin is high school is one of the ones that's the most overcrowded and is slated to be the most overcrowded in the next few years. Um I have family that goes there and my niece um at my daughter's birthday party was just talking about the start of the school year and you know her different teachers and things like that and then she said, "Oh, but lunch uh you have to throw elbows to find a place to sit there." And so >> that's just like a, you know, a a true to life vignette. Like we've got all these numbers here,

094but you know, ask your kid how easy is it to get a seat at the lunchroom. >> And Berlin's now our second highest uh enrolled. >> Um so it's one student behind orange. >> And so next week or when I get the next report, I'm sure Berlin will pass orange. But um yeah, absolutely. and and you'll ask when you when you just have conversations with whether it's students or um staff, it's a big difference in a building between 1,200,600,800 and 2,000 students. >> It's a big difference. >> Well, we I think that we as a community can take it for granted that people can deal with this stuff, right? >> Because as you said, they can deal with it till they can't. And we have we were talking with the some of the teachers the

095other day and you know like we you know we're professionals. We we're able to get them like I know you're professionals. I know you do a great job. We can't put so much stress on you that you break. And this goes to the same issues you're talking about. We we cannot expect that you just keep, you know, adding people and adding people and adding people and we take up every inch of of a building and we we force people to work in trailers. We do all this stuff and think it won't have an impact on whether they want to still be here. >> We just can't. >> Absolutely right. And and again, the level of service because we we really drill down to the individual kid in our buildings and the again the level of

096care and how intentional we are with that student experience. Um, you know, the larger our schools get, the tougher that is. And >> I mean, there's no this we can't no one's questioning the performance of our students. And I've even had people say, "I get it. You're awesome." >> And and not me, but you know, the district, the kids perform at high levels. But what they don't understand is that doesn't just happen magically. It >> doesn't happen by accident. And with our growth, I I I would argue with our growth, in order to sustain and maintain that, it's it's it's not that easy. It doesn't happen by accident. And again, we it it goes back to alignment intentionality who are bringing the organization, the people that we have in the organization, level of care that

097we provide uh here. >> There's no research that says if you want to maximize academic achievement, put as many kids as possible into a lunchroom. If you want to maximize achievement, max out the class sizes. If you want to maximize achievement, do all your itinerate specialists in the hallway. If you want to maximize achievement, do interventions in a closet. It doesn't work that way. You have to have space to grow. You have to have space to learn. >> And that's why this is really important for for our kids. >> Absolutely. and the intentionality of what we in Tangi do for K2 and how important that is when uh students come into our schools in kindergarten through second grade. Um extremely important and those ratios uh we keep them that way for a reason because um

098it it helps students grow and develop. Uh, so I think we're set. >> You're making me go grayer here. >> It's challenging. >> Yeah, >> clearly. >> Yeah. >> All right. and and you know, I'll just end because I'm going to get to superintendent action items, but I again want to reiterate and thank the board for your leadership and again uh for your service to the community and for sure for our district and and many many many people and you may not hear it enough, but do appreciate um the service and your leadership. So, thank you. Um so, with that, superintendent action items. Um we are already getting retirements uh for um you can see through August 2026. Um so we have uh three teachers um there and then we have a classified retirement. So

099I always do this. So these four retirements 91 years of service uh in TAN you add it up. So um I do want to thank them for their service but new this year what we're going to do is we're going to recognize our retirees two times a year. So mid year, so December, January, and then again at the end of the year, and we'll do a recognition at a board meeting with our retirees. So um but they're on this agenda. Uh and then also, uh have a recommendation for students for early graduation. And then I do have a recommendation for a senior at Berlin High School who no longer resides in the district. And this is a board uh recommendation from from me as a superintendent. So we have a policy where if a senior

100starts the school year um day one or the first uh week then we do allow them to uh complete um their senior year here in all in Tangi and then um we have uh declared transportation as impractical for students as one business management and facilities item and then a lot still going on. So classified as Mrs. Freeze uh mentioned uh classified interview day. Uh our first professional development day of the year will be Monday, so no school Monday, September 15th. Um state report card results released. Now we have the preliminary results and actually I was so pumped about our school report card results. I was walking around today and I was talking to HR, but actually uh Mrs. Brunswick, you're going to present the state report. You want me to help you next week? Next

101time. It is. It is. So, I know that they said I was going to be presenting and you were probably like, "Maybe I'm getting off the hook." But I can help. I can help. But um so the actual the state will re uh release state report card uh results um on Monday, September 15th. >> Do those go through Power School, too? We have to go through and check up >> through >> Are they immediately in power school? >> No, we'll be on OD. >> Yeah. OD. Yeah. I do have the preliminary if you want a copy I can send you. Um the uh and then building our future so community conversations. So so we are doing those around the community. So you can see a few there and we have sent that out to the

102community where uh Mr. Jenkins and I and district leaders are um going around the community to answer questions about the uh upcoming bond issues. I just want to stress like this is what transparency is, right? It it's putting all this information up. It's going out and talking to folks about it. It's showing it in the community every sing we're we're not afraid of questions about this stuff. We want people to ask questions and we want to be out there so that people can ask questions. >> And we have a great story to tell. >> Yeah. >> Great story to tell. You know, I would argue it's more meaningful and beneficial to go somewhere, be in person with district officials who can answer questions openly and honestly than just, I don't know, like putting it out

103on Facebook and seeing what your friends and neighbors think >> to maybe get their in terms of >> beneficial feedback and information that might might be more >> might be better to talk to >> primary sources, right? primary sources and >> and what people in the community are going to find is that people know their stuff. You're going to go out and you're going to ask questions. You're going to get them answered, right? It's not going to be a well, I don't know. See you in a couple weeks, right? >> Like people have this information. If you have questions, reach out. >> Absolutely. And then next board of education regular meeting uh right here September 25th at 6:30. >> Good. All right. Thank you, Mr. Meyer. Mr. Jenkins. Good evening board members. Um I also

104have some things that I want to talk about uh that try to put into context uh you know know your facts when it comes to Tangi schools the levy. Uh we have some preliminary data uh for our expenditures for the 2425 school year and you'll notice that the EMIS data u you're not going to find it on OD's website. Uh they wait I think to publish the financial reports until the report cards go live because the two are intertwined. Uh but I've pulled some of this out of our what's known as our EMIS data collector. Uh I also have some information from the foundation uh final payment report which uh happens at the end of June. Our state formula funding was about $1,574 per pupil. And and what I did there was just simply take

105if you go to OD's website um it's line M which is the very bottom of the report which is all the state funding that comes uh via the funding report. our uh base cost, our special education, our CTE, our transportation. It's just easier to throw it all into one big pot and then divide by uh our funded enrollment at the end of last year of about 22,582 students. And I didn't misstate that uh our headcount is 24,000 and some uh but the uh enrollment count as far as for what we're funded for has some adjustments that are made to that. that $1,574 per pupil. Uh if we then compare it to our cost per pupil for 2425 is about $17,264. We don't have the data for the rest of the state yet, but I fully

106expect that number to still be uh at or below the state average because it always is. Um we are as efficient as efficient, excuse me, as we can be. So when you take those two numbers and you subtract them, that $15,690 in the 2425 school year really represents what level of funding our local community uh needed to provide. Or if you want to say it alternatively, uh the state funding formula, even though I'm pleased that we've made advances, we still receive the 28th lowest formula funding per pupil uh in the state of Ohio. So said differently, there's only 27 schools uh across the state that get less per pupil than Tangi schools >> out of 600 plus >> 607 68 something to that effect depending on yeah which which report you look at I've seen

107as many as 611 when you throw in I think the island schools um Bass Island and and those schools. >> So just go back to that slide because it'll be easier than trying to go back. I didn't do too well going backwards slides earlier. So, just kind of putting that next to the idea that um highest median income in the state, highest a whole bunch of different metrics for for financial resources. Number one per capita I believe contributing to the state out of 88 counties. We send the most to the state per person in in taxes number one. So that would be 87 other counties send less per person but 57 something get more per pupil. >> That would be accurate. >> I do get a lot of thoughts and prayers. So >> well I'll

108tell you. So the other thing I would also offer is as as that number grows our money we can still get more from the state without even I mean total aggregate without that number going up. Right? So if we add a thousand kids times$1574 that number goes up. Woohoo. But and I'm happy it does but that doesn't mean >> so the claim to say well we getting more from the state than we ever have before. Yeah. Because we're growing 500 kids every time we turn on 23, right? >> Yeah. The aggregate funding is going up. Um, what you struggle with at times is the, you know, what you're getting per per student can go down if the denominator grows faster than the numerator. That's correct. >> Love that. >> That's what you said, right? There

109was 22,500 at the end of 24 and we started the school year with 24. >> So, I I I pulled a fast one on you there. That that that's >> it's not apples to apples. So the 22,582 is funded enrollment. So for example, >> because you we get money for each student who's enrolled and attends, not >> and for quite literally every second that they're here, but not a second more. >> Um and for example, if a student is here, student who enrolls um at the end of October will get about threequarters of an FTE for that student. uh a student who attends half day like a a kindergartener will only get regardless if they're here the entire year will get a half a unit of funding for that child. So that's why the headcount

110is one number and you know I I didn't bring this up to try to be difficult but it just depends on the lens that you're looking at enrollment through and the lens I'm looking at it through with respect to funding is always a kid isn't always a kid isn't always a kid. They're going to break it down to how much that child truly is being educated uh in that year in that school. So 24, uh >> 400 and some is absolutely correct headcount 22,582 is correct for FTE and again for last year. Uh as an example though, our forecasted funding number for this year is going to be almost 22,989. you still have that 388 uh student growth that I'm forecasting in our funded enrollment. >> Yeah. >> I think what's more critical is what

111we do with it when we get it. Um we talk all the time about our efficiency and about how the money we spend goes into the classroom and that is borne out in in this particular slide. Um preliminary calculations show of that 17,264 we're going to spend quite literally uh $1 more uh 13 than $13,000 and that is 75.3% of our total expenses. So building operations as you can see are about 15%. And then we've heard a lot recently about administrative overhead and having too much and and too many administrators and too much in a in a administrative layer. We've actually decreased our administrative expenditure per pupil by 9.57%. So we in one year increased our per pupil expenditures for instruction by 8.8% 8% while simultaneously dropping our administrative uh expenditure per pupil by 2

112and a.5%. >> And just to be clear, that's not the 15% threshold from the state. Correct. >> That is correct. >> That that number is central office only and that number is 15%, right? And then ours I think is 5.7 something. So we're barely a third of what the state allows for central office. We're a third of that. >> That's correct. >> What Dr. Dabbero is speaking of is House Bill 96, the fiscal year's 2627 building budget, building budget, state budget, um, now has a provision that says that no school district, and when it originally came out, you know, we we didn't have enough of the details. And at first we heard no school district can have more than 15% of its uh instruct or of its per pupil expenditures be for administration. Well the

113clarity in the budget bill is that that is in reference to central administration. So yeah um we are well below 15% for central administration. Um as Mr. Meyer mentioned, Dr. Dabberco mentioned 5.6 5.7%. Our all-in administrative cost is not even 10%. >> I think we should have a recurring statement what Dr. Dero is speaking of. >> So how do we get there? How do we achieve these results? What do we do? And I would say it is through meticulous attention to details of trying to do everything we can to keep our residents tax bills from going up. Well, I know some folks may say, "Hey, I've lived in this community. We've grown like crazy." Yes, when you grow like we've grown in this community. Um, you're going to have over time a natural growth as

114you continue to try to fund schools and other programs so that you you continue to have all the government services that you would need in order for families to be, you know, safe with things like police, fire, and high-quality public schools. Despite all of that, we have in the last two tax years reduced our tax rate by a mill and a half. And I know that may not seem like a a massive amount, but we are putting quite literally our money where our mouth is. And we are saying if we don't need to collect something from the community, then we won't. Uh we openly passed resolution uh a resolution as a board of education that 1.5 mil reduction is going to save the owner of an average valued home which uh you know some people

115are sometimes shocked to hear that the average valued home in our district now is about $500,000. So that 1.5 mills there's no other way I know to look at it than this. Had we not reduced it, that person would be paying an additional $230 in annual property taxes. That that is a mathematical fact. There's no way around it. Now, I'm not saying that their tax bill dropped from a previous level, but it absolutely did not go up another $230 because we cut the rate. Those are the kinds of things that we try to do all the time as a district. The other things that we do, we're constantly looking for ways to save. We have done two refundings here in 2025. Remember, a refunding is very, very similar to a private homeowner um refinancing their

116mortgage. Those two refundings have saved our taxpayers just in 2025 $5 million in future debt service payments. Another uh example of that $5.4 million would be something that our community as a whole owed between now and those two debt issues uh run through about 2031. That would be $5.4 million we would be collecting from our residents. But for the fact that we did that refunding, if you go uh to a larger scale and look since 2012, we've done this 14 different times. In that 14 uh roughly um number of refundings, we have saved on future debt service payments $42 million for our taxpayers. That is one more way of of basically saying if we hadn't made those moves to reduce our amortization schedules for those outstanding debt payments, we would again be collecting over time

117$42 million more uh from our community uh than than we're going to. So I think um overall what I want to highlight in all these conversations is that um yes we are coming to the taxpayers for this bond no new millillage bond issue to build more schools because we are growing at at the same time I think there's this undercurrent that like we need to still be communicating with our elected officials about the importance of funding our schools because the percentage or the amount um the ratio I suppose of the the responsibility of the schools has fallen more and more and more on our local community over the years. And I think there was a really good episode of the OSBA podcast recently where there was some discussion about school funding over the years, which

118frankly like as a parent who was running around before I got involved in district level stuff, I didn't really know about. But I'd really encourage people to listen to that to hear that it's just been shifting more and more to residents and the local community. Um because as much as we try to take care of our community, take care of our teachers and our buildings and our staff, um we do it the only with the only mechanisms that we have, which is these local taxes. Um so the more that we can take that off of our residents plates by appealing to our state u officials and saying, "Please give us more funding for our public schools," the less that we will have to come to the community and ask for. >> That's exactly right. um

119I think 15 20 years a probably longer than that 2530 years ago the um split between local residents and businesses was much much closer to to 50/50 which I I suppose in a perfect world you would think it would be close to 50/50. uh it is now almost 7030 tilted towards residents and some of the things that cause that to occur would be the elimination of tangible personal personal property and certainly I'm I'm I'm not here to speak against uh you know business owners u you know we we want to be sure that Ohio is a thriving economic um state but you know how far you go with those kinds of things is certainly a matter of public policy and now uh there has been a significant tilt. Um, >> well, and I think that's

120what we feel when you open the tax bill at home cuz, you know, I'm a homeowner in the district. I've lived here since 2009. Um, I certainly don't want to pull the ladder behind me because I happen to buy a house here back in 2009 versus in the last two years or someone who's coming in to be a part of this community in the future. Um, but we feel the we feel it. And just because the state sees us as a uh relatively wealthy community compared to others in the state doesn't mean that we don't have families that struggle to pay their tax bills either. >> Yep. Mr. Lester, I think it's important uh in the board update for our community to know that we are not neutral on development. We are not saying uh

121whoever gets to develop first, we're fine either way. We're actively looking for ways to encourage non- studentent yielding development. And and I've had some folks say, "Well, why don't you just let development happen? If we let development happen, we're pretty sure we're going to get what we've gotten, which is um suffocating growth." And so I I think if we can put in the board update the great work you did on on your treasures website that shows where we because there's so much overwhelming misinformation about what we're trying to incentivize and what we're not. We are actively engaged in discussions to make sure that the development is non student yielding and adds to the the am I saying it right? Commercial tax base. >> Yes. as opposed to the residential tax space even to the point

122of every acre that we can develop that's not residential is actually a net positive um on the forecast. >> That's correct. And what what makes that calculation really work is this slide. We know for every new residential home that we get and and this is I get it's a statistic. If we get a new student, I don't have to run to the expense ledger and add 17,264. But you you get you get the gist. For every student that we add, we know we're adding statistically $17,264 in education. When we are able to encourage responsible commercial growth, we can get the tax base expanded on commercial and at the same time we don't have the uh cost of educating the student or students and I want to qualify. We're thrilled to have every student absolutely >>

123that comes to this school and we're honored to educate them and we welcome everyone to our community because we got a great thing here. But we also want to be sure that um we're doing everything we can, as we just talked about with Miss Shriber's question, to try to mitigate uh the continued um rise in how that burden has shifted to our residential taxpayer. Only other item I have this evening, um we every year review the booster support manual and what you'll see in front of you tonight is just um essentially making sure that um URLs still work. Uh you know, there wasn't a ton of change. The only substantive change that you will see, you may recall in July, uh we adopted a new facilities uh fee schedule and that fee schedule has been

124implemented uh into this document. Uh really other than that, uh as I mentioned, the only changes are just making sure that when you click a link, you don't get a 404 error. Why did they decide that a page not found is a 404 error? I want to know that. [Laughter] >> I I I just want to stress on this. This this is a really important document and not every district has this. This is for our booster organizations to help them understand how to do the stuff that they do and not get in trouble. Now, it's not legal advice. they have to get their own like that's that's not our role. But these are volunteers at PTO's and booster organizations and all of these other sorts of things that may not have the expertise in this.

125I've talked to people at other school districts, other prominent school districts that are looking at this and going, "This is incredible, right? And this is a testament to the work that your office does and it is an incredible service to the community. I'm thrilled that we do this. This is something that when you volunteer for school, you don't you shouldn't have to have a law degree to do that. Everybody loves lawyers, right? Everybody Everybody loves lawyers. Uh but you shouldn't have to have a lawyer uh to to be on a PTO or be in a a music booster or something like that. Um so, thank you for doing this. Our community, more people should understand what an incredible thing this is. >> And I also want to give credit where credit is due. Um when

126I came here, the support manual was already in place. So, predecessors uh to me really did a great job of of creating the foundation. Uh I'd like to believe that obviously I've tried to keep it up, add some relevant items to it, enhance it. Uh but I definitely appreciate that because you are correct that most of your booster officers are just hardworking, caring parents who do not have uh the time or the energy uh to take a deep dive into uh finance. They're just trying to do a good thing for their kids and for other kids in their school community. So we want to give them every resource that we possibly can to make sure that they're successful. >> Yeah. All right. >> And we have no public participation this evening. >> All right. Thank

127you, Mr. Jenkins. We will then move expeditiously through the rest of our agenda because I know we have people that have been very patient with us here. Uh so, uh Mr. Jenkins, would you like to present the treasur consent action items? >> Yes. Board members, um tonight, as usual, the treasur's consent uh agenda is going to be presented to you for a U motion and approval by one single vote. Uh those items are item A for the uh board meeting minutes from August 27th, item B the uh approval of the noted donations, item C accepting the monthly financials for the month of August. And again, as noted, item D would be a motion and action by one single vote unless you would like to take any item, pull it out and discuss and vote on

128it separately. >> Would anyone like to do that? None. Okay. May I have a a motion to approve these as a single slate of consent action items? >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. >> Dr. Dabberco. >> Yes. >> Dr. Wallak. >> Yes. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. All right. Mr. Meyer. Superintendent consent actions. Thank you, Mr. Lester. Board members, I recommend approval of the following superintendent consent action items A through G. A. Specific human resource items certified staff. B. Specific human resource items supplementals. C. Specific human resource items classified staff. D. Specific human resource items classified substitutes. E. Approve students for early graduation. F. Approve uh tuition free enrollment for J. Moore, senior at Berlin High School, who no longer resides

129in the district. And uh G, approve business management item. Declare transportation as impractical for students. I'm asking you to approve these items by one single action and vote unless you'd like to discuss any of these items separately. >> Anyone would like to discuss any of these separately hearing? None. Miss, may I have a motion to approve them as a single slate of consent action items? >> So moved. >> A second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All right. Mr. Jenkins. >> Dr. Wallik. >> Yes. >> Miss Shriber. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lester. >> Yes. >> Dr. Dabrio. >> Yes. >> I will now entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So move. >> Second. Any discussion? Okay. Mr. Jenkins, please call the RO. >> Mr. Shriber, >> yes. >> Mr. Lester, >> yes. >> Dr. Dabberco, >>

130yes. >> Dr. Wall, >> yes. >> All right. Thank you.