Olentangy Schools, Board of Education 6.26.25

001All right. Good evening everybody. Mr. Jack here. Dr. Wallik here. Mr. O'Brien here. Miss Shriber here. All right. Uh please join me in the pledge of allegiance. There's a flag. There is. Uh well, the flag is here symbolically in our hearts. 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. Uh I don't believe we have any uh amendments to the agenda. No. Hearing nine, can I have a motion to approve? So move. A second. Second. Uh, any discussion? All right. Hearing none, Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Lester, yes. Dr. Dabberco, yes. Dr. Wallik, yes. Mr. O'Brien, yes. M. Shriber, yes. All right. Uh, it's on to the board president's report. Uh, these are

002always some of our favorite meetings to have when we get to uh welcome members of our community, to recognize them for all the wonderful things that they do. Uh whether it's students or uh staff members or community members, we're always uh just so excited to have you all here. appreciate you taking time uh out of your your busy summer schedules. It may just be an excuse to get into the air conditioning. I don't know, it's been a little rough recently, but uh but so very much appreciate having you here and uh getting the chance to recognize uh all of you for for everything that you've done for the district. Um in terms of the board president, one thing I'll note is that um after uh after we recognize you, you are absolutely free to stay

003uh and hear the rest of our meeting. We always appreciate people staying and listening to the business that we have and and we do in fact have some important things on the agenda tonight. Uh but you're also free to leave after that. We recognize that people have other things going on. Um in terms of the board president's report, um we have been talking a lot over the past several months about the state budget and uh we took some big steps forward this week with the legislature finally passing their version of the budget that now goes to the governor for review and signature to determine, you know, is he going to accept it? Is he going to veto it? there there's a lot of decisions that that have to be made there. Um and we'll talk

004a little bit more about the impacts that some of that has on Alen Tangi. Um and you know how that relates to a district that is growing as rapidly as ours. Um and what I wanted to do as part of the president's report is put that discussion in a little bit of context. Um, first and foremost, the the the thing that overarches all of this is that us as board members, really any elected official, whether it's township trustees or city or legislature or governor, we have a lot of responsibilities. But the most important one of all of them is to listen. It's to listen to our community. It's to understand the perspectives and the things that are important to our community. um to really try to inform our decisions by what's actually going on, by

005the the needs and the wants and the perspectives and make the best decision that we can based on those sorts of things. I am constantly in awe by my fellow board members uh who do a a wonderful job of of communicating with the community, but that's really important. Um, and while everybody always has something that you know is is the most important issue to them, one of the things that I hear more than anything else in our community is that people by and large are satisfied with the types of services that we are providing. They like our academics. They like our athletics. They like our artistic programs. They like the support services that they that we provide, but they're concerned about the financial impact, right? about the rising cost that we see both you know

006the state and local and the national economies and the impact that it has on people here as we see home values going up as we see you know the cost of everything going up um that's something that we take extraordinarily seriously and that's a sort of thing that you know that that someone's in a political position says and then they don't back it up with anything but I think the data actually backs that up when you look at how the state measures how much school districts actually spend what their budget is they do it in terms of cost per pupil. And each year they do this massive report with every public school district in the state and they lay out how much they spend per pupil. And when you multiply that by the number of

007students that a district has, you get a good sense for what their budget is. And when you compare cost per pupil, it gives you a good sense of how, you know, that district is relative to its academic performance. Um, as of the last data that we have, the statewide average, how much each an average school district across the state spends per pupil is about $16,000 $16,300 per pupil. Every single student, that's how much an average district spends on their on each student. And again, you multiply that by their students, you sort of get the sense of it. Now, you might look at a district like Owen Tangi and say, look, it's a very high performing district. It's very large district. Surely they spend well in excess of that. And when you look at other districts

008that are our size like Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, we're the fourth biggest right behind those. They're all spending between 22 and $25,000 per student. When you look at other high performing districts like like Tangi, like New Albanies and Dublin's and and Beexsley and Grand View and those sorts of districts, they're spending in the 17 to $20,000 range. and Tangi's average as again as of the last data was $16,019 per student about $300 less than the statewide average and yet we're in the top 10% or higher in in all of these academic areas. That to me shows that we take very very seriously our focus on keeping costs as low as we possibly can for our community. That doesn't happen by accident. You don't just sort of accidentally come up with a a number that much

009lower than the statewide average or or than our peer districts in terms of size or in terms of of output. It it's something that this board, you know, talks to Mr. Meyer and Mr. Jenkins about all of the time. And it's part of our focus to keep the costs as low as we possibly can. And there are a variety of other ways that we do that as well. We just over the past couple of years we've actually reduced the bond millage on the local community by working with the audience the property reevaluations came in but had that not happened if you would have looked at your bills they would have actually been going down a little bit because we reduced some of our millillage we've put in cost-saving measures we've been doing all these things

010to keep our costs as low as they possibly can on the can be on the community at some point though there's a limit to how far you can go and still keep all these services that we hear that people are interested So, how else do you get relief? Well, you look at the state share and how much the state is actually contributing the state of that 16,000 or so, the state on average pays about, it depends on the year, but around $8 to $1,600 of it. So, 10% or less comes from the state. The vast vast vast majority of the rest comes from you all as local taxpayers. So, we have been extraordinarily active in trying to speak with our state legislators about trying to keep those costs, trying to keep their share of it

011up up so that we can keep your costs lower. And when we get to these state budget cycles, we've been talking about it every single board meeting and encouraging people to learn about it and and and speak out about it to try to make sure that we're we're getting as much as we can so we can keep these costs low. Um it that's why it's a little disheartening that when we see the state budget come out, we're kind of about the same place we've always been. We're not seeing the increased state funding come from the state. Maybe it's a I mean maybe it's slightly different. I mean, but it it's it's basically the same. And in the course of doing that, they're adding in all these other restrictions. They're adding in a clawback provision that

012that limits how much you can carry over unless you designate it into some special funds. they're changing the ways that you can go about um actually seeking additional, you know, support from the community. It's a very very challenging situation for public school districts to be in where we are trying to do the best where we're trying to save as much money as we can for our local community where we're doing everything that we can possibly do and year over year over year state funding stays minimal, minimal, minimal, minimal. So, we're going to talk about this more as we go through. We're going to talk about how we have to adjust and react to what some of these impacts are. But what I want you as community members to know is this is something you need

013to continue to pay attention to just as we have to listen to you, your legislators, the governor, they have to listen to you as well. That's important and it has very very real impacts on what you know what the day-to-day experience is in this district. So continue to be informed. Please reach out to us. Let's talk about it and understand what those impacts are going to be. and we're going to keep trying to to do it the best that we can. Uh, but we appreciate this community's commitment to excellence and we we really appreciate um that we have a real duty to you all to to try to deliver that in as affordable and thoughtful way as possible. Um, so that's the sort of context for how we're going to uh you get into the

014rest of the discussion. Um, do we have any other committee updates uh since the last I don't think so. Okay. Uh with that then we're going to move into our community recognition uh after I've spoken for long enough. Uh so Dr. Dreco is going to uh to you know uh introduce all this. Mr. Meer and I will be over there for pictures with everybody and then we'll um down the show. Good. Tonight's meeting is a special one for us because it is the evening that we as a board get to recognize students and staff members for their outstanding achievements in co-curricular, extracurricular, and athletic activities. We're excited to celebrate some of our students, coaches, and advisers on their outstanding accomplishments this evening. As I announce your name, please walk to the stage and have your

015photo taken with board president Brandon Lester and Superintendent Todd Meyer. These photos will be mailed to your home in a few weeks. In academics in the area of academics from Olant Tangi Liberty High School, Ben Currion first place in C-SPAN 21st annual student cam competition with his video, The Road to Vision Zero. [Applause] On April 11th, the Ohio Scholastic Media Association Awards were announced recognizing excellence in yearbook, broadcast, magazine, and newspaper. Recipients here this evening are from Olantangi Berlin High School, Kyla Anderson, 2025 Ohio Scholastic Media Association, superior rating non-editorial art and design. [Applause] McKenna Killian superior rating yearbook sports copy. [Applause] Lily King superior rating yearbook coverage in a single spread. [Applause] Ava Consulman, superior rating. Yearbook student, lifespread, [Applause] receiving a superior rating. Olantangi Berlin High School journalism staff represented by Aninsley Delaney.

016[Applause] The River yearbook with first class rating and overall yearbook social media promotion represented by Ansley Delaney and Ava Kunelman. [Applause] [Music] from Olant Tangi Orange High School. Isabella Bcher, superior rating. [Applause] Grace Bozac, superior rating. [Applause] Abigail Queen superior rating McKenna Miller superior rating accepting on behalf of her dad. Sorry. Thank you Laura Morehead. Superior rating. Audrey Selzer, superior rating. Molly Sullivan, superior rating. Recognized with an OC journalism award is Laura Lauren, sorry, Lauren Rder. [Applause] Congratulations to all of our journalism. I'm sorry, our student journalists in Yeah, absolutely. Athletics, we now turn to recognize our phenomenal student athletes. Many students, teams, and coaches have received individual state level honors in their sport this year. The board congratulates the following students from Oland Tangi High School. Kaden GB Hart. [Applause] 2024 All Ohio Defense

017and Football. Maya Curtley, 2025 OC Player of the Year, girls lacrosse cardinal division. [Applause] Ty Monroe 2024 all Ohio track and field fourth place 4x 800 meter. [Applause] Shayla Rankin 2024 all Ohio track and field second place high jump and 2024 state champion high jump. [Applause] CJ Sana, 2024 All Ohio Track and Field Second Place Discus. [Applause] Coach Liz Yanz, 2024 OC Coach of the Year softball Cardinal Division. [Applause] Many of our spring sports will be honored this fall as their sports did not come to a conclusion prior to tonight's awards deadline. Please congratulate our students athletes one more time and coaches recognized here tonight. In the area of visual arts from Olantangi Berlin High School, Emma Belaloo 2025 Governor's Art Competition top 300. Grace Battton, 2024 Governor's Art Competition top 300 and top 25.

018In addition, Grace was named a gold key winner at the 2025 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Kamya Panchaw 2025 Ohio Governor's Art Competition Top 300. [Applause] Victoria Warner 2025 Scholastic Art and Writing Award. Silver Key [Applause] from Olant Tangi Orange High School. Briana Rajio 2025 Ohio Governor's Youth Art Competition Regional Ex Exhibition. [Applause] Congratulations. On behalf of the entire board, I want to once again like to applaud the many outstanding students, coaches, and advisers recognized this evening. We are proud of your accomplishments. Let's clap for them one more time. [Applause] Tonight, the board will also recognize community members who have given their time and talents to enrich our schools. The Oland Tangi Board of Education established the community service awards in 1986 to honor community residents who have had a major impact on our children's

019education through their volunteer efforts or significant monetary or inind donations. I will name each of the award winners and read to you some comments provided by those who nominated them. When your name is called, please come forward to accept your award and have your photo taken with Superintendent Todd Meyer and board president Brandon Lester. We would also like to take a group picture of all of our outstanding community service award winners. So, after all the awards are presented, please gather for a group photo outside the theater. Abby Booth nominated by Tyler Run Elementary School. Abby Booth has held the position of PTO treasure for the past two years at Tyler Run Elementary. She has demonstrated outstanding leadership in managing the PTO's finances, overseeing processes, and collaborating with others to maintain the budget. Abby plays a

020vital role throughout the year by partnering with PTO board school staff, providing essential support for events, functions, and field trips. Abby, thank you for your service to Tyler Run and Olant Tangi schools. Cynthia Fry, nominated by Cheshure Elementary School. Miss Cynthia Fry goes above and beyond in her service to the Cheshire Elementary School community and PTO. She steps up in multiple ways, coordinating events and volunteering to ensure that events run smoothly. Over the last several years, she has consistently increased her responsibilities in response to school needs. Mrs. Fry is a valuable member of the Cheshire community and the school would not be the same without her commitment to students. Thank you for your service, Mrs. Fry. Jason Manley, nominated by Shanahan Middle School in Berlin High School. Mr. Manley has devoted his adult life and

021service to our nation, and now he's willing to share that experience with the next generation to help them understand the true meaning of sacrifice. Jason's willingness to be vulnerable in front of hundreds of strangers helps students gain a greater understanding of patriotism and service. He has volunteered countless hours at multiple schools in the Olangi district sharing his stories. Mr. Manley, thank you for your service to our country and our schools. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Claire Akmonic nominated by Olangi Meadows Elementary School. Claire Akmonic has been a co-PTO president at Tyler Run Elementary for the past two years. Known for her exceptional organizational skills and focused approach, Clare brings an infectious, positive energy to her involvement in PTO events, school functions, and volunteer opportunities. She consistently goes above and beyond to create a fun and welcoming atmosphere

022for everyone at school while effectively coordinating events for families and staff. Claire consistently demonstrates exceptional dedication to our school community, volunteering countless hours for various PTO events, school school events and initiatives. She plays a crucial role in ensuring that all events are successful. Her commitment to the students is truly inspiring and she continues to go above and beyond to ensure that all students and staff feel supported and valued. Thank you very much, Claire. Andrew Ritter, nominated by Berlin Middle School. Deputy Andrew Ritter has become an integral part of the Berlin Middle School community through his role as a school resource officer. In his position, he consistently fulfills the multiaceted responsibilities of law enforcement officer, educator, and mentor working to ensure the safety, well-being, and positive development of our students and staff. Deputy Ritter brings exceptional

023dedication and heart to his work. He engages daily with students, building relationships and earning their trust. He collaborates closely with our teachers and staff, participating in classroom instruction on topics such as community awareness, student safety, and constitutional education. His ability to connect with young people and enrich their educational experience goes far beyond the standard expectations of his role. One of the most compelling examples of Deputy Ritter's commitment to his school community is his effort to support the eighth grade Washington DC trip. Recognizing that the cost of the trip can present a significant barrier for some families, Deputy Ritter took it upon himself to personally reach out to local organizations to request donations. His outreach resulted in generous contributions to ensure that all who wish to participate in this powerful learning experience could do so. Deputy

024Ritter's actions reflect the highest ideals of public service and the Berlin and Tangi community communities are proud to recognize his exceptional contributions. Thank you. [Applause] Bruce Renan nominated by the Tangi School District. Bruce Renan has served both as a vendor and volunteer to tangi schools. Bruce has gone above and beyond to support our schools and community. In add in addition to providing quality services as a vendor, he has generously donated his own time in effort to assist with various district initiatives. Whether working on school improvement projects with our our support organizations or volunteering on district committees and programs, his dedication has been unwavering. His willingness to offer hours of service without compensation has had a significant impact on many of our programs. Bruce exemplifies a spirit of community involvement, selflessness, and dedication that we value

025so much. His contributions have not only helped strengthen our district, but have also fostered a sense of collaboration and goodwill. It is rare to find someone who combines professionalism and personal pride with such a genuine desire to make a positive difference for our schools. Tangi schools would like to thank Mr. Mr. Renan for his exceptional service and dedication to our district over the past three decades. [Applause] Vicky Shear nominated by the Oland Tangi Administrative Office. Vicky Shear is an extraordinary community volunteer whose dedication to Olant Tangi schools has made a lasting impact. A retired educator, Vicki generously donates her time and bilingual skills to support Spanish-sp speakaking families, ensuring they feel connected. She provides critical interpreting and translating services, offers guidance and material resources, and serves as a trusted advocate for students and families in

026need. Vickiy's work fosters a strong collaborative relationship between school and school staff and families, bridging cultural and language gaps with empathy and care. Her unwavering commitment not only addresses specific district needs, but also promotes a culture inclusivity and service. Miss Shear exemplifies what it means to be a true community partner and we thank you for her generous service to entangi schools. Katie Sprag Sammon nominated by the Tyler Run Elementary School. For the past two years, Katie Sprag Sammon has served as co-PTO president at Tyler Run Elementary. Her unwavering commitment to the school community is evident in her role in organizing PTO events, school functions, and volunteering within the building. Katie's leadership and dedication reflect her passion for ensuring that the best resources and experiences are available for our Tyler Run families and staff. Tangi schools

027thanks you for your continued service and dedication to the families of Tyler Run in the Tangi community. Terry Troutman nominated by Walnut Elementary School. Miss Mr. Troutman has been a steadfast and enthusiastic supporter of both Walnut Creek and Indian Springs Elementary Schools. His dedication to our students and families exemplifies the spirit of community partnership. Mr. Troutman regularly volunteers his time to support students in a variety of meaningful ways. Whether working one-on-one with students, assisting with small group reading, or helping with schoolwide initiatives, he brings positivity, patience, and a genuine commitment to making a difference. His present presence is consistent, reliable, and deeply valued by staff and students alike. Beyond the school day, Mr. Troutman is actively involved in community outreach efforts, including his ongoing work with the People in Need holiday toy drive. His contributions

028help ensure that families in our district have the support and resources they need during the holiday season. He understands the power of community and continually shows up to serve where there is need. Mr. Troutman's impact is felt not only in the smiles of the students he supports, but also in the strength and sense of connection between our schools and the wider community. He is an outstanding example of what it means to be a true partner in education. Mr. Troutment Tangi schools is incredibly thankful for all you do. On behalf of the board of education, Superintendent Todd Meyer, treasurer Ryan Jenkins, and the district leadership team, we would like to once again thank each one of tonight's honores for their passion, commitment, and service to Tangi schools. Thank you. [Applause] All right, we're back on. All

029right, our next presentation, excuse me, Davis with communications. Good evening, um, board of education, Mr. Meyer, Mr. Jenkins. Tonight I'm going to share some information about a survey that we did with our staff um in February about surrounding communications. So we'll start with an overview. Um in February we opened up a window for the first time to gain insight into communication preferences of our staff um and and how they receive communication, what our best practices are. Uh we had a survey response rate that we were pleased with. Um and that nearly 80% of that group that responded have been with us for four or more years. So have had definite experience with communications in the district. Um if you'll recall, we also conducted a survey, an external survey um with stakeholders in the fall of

03024. And so therefore we are combining all this information together to inform best practices. You can see that the type top five information sources are topped at the head the top of the list with email and what um people uh use to receive their information within our staff. The feedback that we received um looked looked encouraging to us um and our overall effectiveness. 85% of our staff rated uh the district's internal communication as good or excellent. 2% rating it as poor, leaving us uh seeing that very few staff feel disconnected from our district messaging. Specifically at district level updates, 83% of our staff say these updates often or always keep them informed and only 1% felt that they were rarely informed and no one reported never feeling informed. Effective communications and leadership go hand in

031hand. So it's important that Mr. admire and all of us as district leaders are represented as represented are visible and engaging with staff through various communication strategies. So 85% of our staff felt that feel that sup superintendent meer and district leaders are present and visible in communications helping to guide the district and provide clear expert expectations and information. I cannot talk tonight. As a department and district, we're committed to meeting staff expectations when it comes to timeliness, transparency, and relevance. And these are three considered three of our key pillars of effective communications. So, in timeliness, nearly nine out of 10 staff members who responded felt district communications arrive when they need them. In transparency, over 80% believe district updates help keep them informed in a mostly or very transparent way. And then in the bucket

032of relevance, 87% say the information they they receive is meaningful to their specific role. For our department, this demonstrates that our communication practices are strong with staff feeling informed and supported. We do want to have continued focus on clarity, accessibility, and consistency to help maintain and build on this positive momentum. So, our key themes and takeaways from this in um the area of department communications, staff reported that communication from departments has improved in clarity and frequency over time. However, respondents also express expressed a desire for more consistent, transparent, and inclusive communication from various departments. Staff and specialized or non-classroom roles often feel left out or overlooked in district level messaging. Included in this theme was a desire for department leaders to regularly share updates, highlight ongoing projects, and provide clarity around who is responsible for

033what. Additionally, staff want to feel more connected to OAO both in terms of knowing personnel and understanding the direction of the work that we do there. Related to message volume, survey feedback from staff members acknowledged that it's better to be overinformed than underinformed and there's appreciation for the district's commitment to sharing information. Still, however, message overload is a common concern. Staff can feel inundated with emails and updates, many of which are long, repetitive, or not relevant to their role. While the intention to keep staff in the loop is valued, there is a clear desire to balance quantity with clarity. Suggestions include consolidating messages, reducing repetition, and sharing only what's necessary to avoid overwhelming staff and risking important information being missed. Continuing forward in the area of newsletters, staff recognize that newsletters are a valuable tool

034for staying informed and enjoy seeing the district-wide highlights, especially when they include celebrations or good news. The format is familiar to them and appreciated. However, many indicated that the number of newsletters received, especially when multiple departments and buildings send them separately, has become overwhelming. respondents expressed a desire for a streamlined centralized newsletter that is well organized by audience or topic. Their support for continuing the practice but doing so in a more efficient, less fragmented way, which may include a new staff newsletter and platform for streamlining all staff or mass district updates. In the area of relevant and targeted communication, there was a strong appreciation when communication feels personalized and role specific. For example, some staff noted that department updates or professional development invitations tailored to their position were especially helpful. However, many respondents, particularly those

035in classified support or non-traditional roles, reported receiving frequent messages that are not relevant to them. This contributes to frustration and a sense of being overlooked. Staff would like to see more thoughtful segmentation of communication so that everyone receives what they need and not what they don't. In the bucket of streamlined communication, staff value having access to a variety of tools and appreciate efforts to improve systems like SharePoint and the staff portal. At the same time, many find the current systems scattered and hard to navigate. There's broad support for creating a more centralized, intuitive hub for communications and documents. Under timeliness, staff appreciate the district's handling of inclement weather updates, noting that these messages are generally timely and clear. We got that down. Text alerts and roocalls for delays and closures were frequently cited as effective.

036However, inconsistent timing for other updates like building level crises, curriculum shifts, or leadership changes has caused some frustration. In some cases, staff learned of changes through social media or parent groups before hearing directly from the district. Staff would like the same level of urgency and clarity applied to non-weather related updates, particularly those that directly affect their work. And then under transparency, the the staff app appreciate the superintendent's messages, board meeting recaps, districtwide updates, offering a high level view of operations, um giving a commitment to um those those highlevel things that we do. The these efforts signal a commitment to transparency and are valued. That said, there's still a desire for more direct, candid communication about complex and sensitive issues. Legislative changes, curriculum decisions, levy levies, and staffing shifts are important. Staff wanted to understand not

037just what's happening, but the why behind it. So, follow up on feedback and clear articulation of district priorities would help strengthen trust and foster a greater sense of shared purpose. So, as you know, we created a strategic plan in the communications department this year. Our strategic communications plan serves as a comprehensive internal framework that guides the work of our department in strengthening communication across our district. This plan serves as a roadmap for effectively engaging with and informing stakeholders in support of the district's mission. So obviously acknowledging one of our district's values is that we can always get better. We're working to introduce department-led professional learning resources for administrators, teachers, and district staff to focus on topics such as content creating, crisis communications, best practices for classtoome communications, and existing district platforms. While acknowledging staff feedback

038around message volume and communication platforms, we've been actively working on strategies to streamline our mass and targeted mass communication. We're looking at a phased in approach that enhances the overall effectiveness of an internal of internal communications to meet the needs of our staff. Obviously, enhancing district communications, both internal and external, is an objective in our strategic plan. We're committed to engaging and strengthening relationships with all audiences to ensure they're aware of and have access to information and resources related to work happening across the district. We recognize that our families and staff play a vital role in shaping the perception and success of entangi schools. Their perspectives offer an opportunity to strengthen understanding, build connections, and foster support for the district's vision and goals. So, part of that falls on the work of this department. This

039is a slide that I shared with you in February when we talked about the external staff communication. Some of the things that we were able to accomplish in the last couple months was the thank you Olan Tangi, your tax dollars at work series for transparency, a continued re-evaluation of our district level communication cadence. We've enhanced available training for staff. We've shared the application for community members with experience in communications, PR, and marketing to join our communications committee and added a handful of new members. This spring, we have uh launched our non-parent resident communication and we have well over 200 residents at this time signed up to receive that communication. Our communication tool audit had the outcome um of looking at other mass notification systems than the one we currently use and we have determined that

040we we will be launching a uh platform called parent square. The goal of Parent Square will be to increase family engagement with interactive two-way messaging and communication based school services with communication-based school services to keep families connected. We'll meet parents where they are so all families can receive communication and dictate their preferred method. hopefully have an equitable reach through contactability monitoring, language translation, and ADA compliance to ensure that every single family is connected and then improve communication support for all staff. This easytouse platform with integrated school services best support staff communication and streamline workflow and increase job efficiencies. This aligns with our district expectations of student data and privacy. So, a little bit about Parent Square. We're very excited to launch this um simple, easy to use, secure platform for all school, classroom, and group

041communication with Parent Square. Our community can will be able to receive communication via email, text, or the app, view calendars, and respond for events. sign up to volunteer or bring items and much more. So feedback from both the parents in the fall and the staff in February helped us identify an opportunity to enhance building and classtoome communication. The guidance around student data privacy in Senate Bill 29 caused clubs and teams to search for new communication tools for their programs and this fits that need. Parent Square unifies a number of functions that existed in multiple areas of the district like talking points for EL families, sign up document, attendance notifications. We uh vendors that we evaluated were P school, parent square, talking points, aptagy, final site and bright arrow which is our current provider. We had

042focus groups in our um quest to find the the right fit for Olan Tangi. Our focus groups were secondary athletic directors, building administrators, classroom teachers, and club and program advisors. We had um Parent Square coaches, employees of Parent Square, communications and instructional technology uh members also hosting multiple trainings already for staff groups. We've been providing as a communications team office hours for staff this summer and um hopes that we can easily move into our implementation of parent square. This uh this platform should allow for 100% contact contactability for families, meaning that we could send a cancellation or mass notification and reach all families right now with little to no delays. students automatically are connected to parents and guardians in P school and we will be working on a staff data migration this summer obviously um

043with powers school and powers school ERP um staff with children would also have district and parent communications streamlined through one account so they will no longer have a need for multiple loginins as we look at our parent square launch um and con conclude clude our testing. We're looking at June, July, and August is obviously having a lot going on. Some of our statistics related to our pilot are that we've had 100% contactability for district families that we've engaged with. We've had over 2,600 current registered users. We have over 2,000 mobile app users and 168 district or school group level school level groups piloting the program. We've sent over 14,000 messages over 1,400 posts over almost 1,000 images and photos have been shared and 718 calendar events have been created. So we've really been able to

044extensively pilot this program so far. As I referenced, we have a lot going on as we wrap up June. You can see that we've had um some orientations, presented resources, led some trainings um and continue to have those office hours I mentioned. Beginning in July, we will have a back- toschool postcard that will be our district announcement that shares uh the parent square information as well as a call to action to download the app um and and get set up with the uh parent square app. Um we also are building a resource library for users and continue um we'll continue to um finalize the data sync elevate our training provide office hours and promotional material and then in August at convocation we'll have a table available um to hopefully answer any questions that staff have

045um technology Rob Ston will be um activating our class rosters and then we will be present at our technology support night for parents and staff who might need that. So as you can see we are fully moving forward um with launching this this tool. Um all users that I have talked to that have been part of the pilot have spoken about how dynamic this tool is um compared to what we were using. Um just some some facts about Parent Square. Over 38,000 districts use this tool nationally um including some of the nation's largest districts. Um you may have noticed at different times we've had difficulty during um Calamity Day messaging with a lag um in when everyone hits the uh link at the same time. Um, the platform delivers 500 text messages, 200 phone calls,

046and 10,000 emails per second in a 30 minute window. Currently, we deliver 900,000 texts. We could deliver 900,000 texts and 360,000 phone calls. So, our goal is always to get that out within 30 minutes so it more than um adequately meets our needs. So, those are just some fun facts. With that, I'm happy to take any questions that you might have. Any questions from Miss? Um, I just Well, so I'll note um we use Parent Square for one of my kids athletic teams. I found it very easy to use. Okay. Um and it was um it was easy to to get in and get all that. I think you said this, but I just want to be clear. If someone doesn't want to download the app, we could still contact them. Correct. Otherwise. Y um

047is there an option? So because we're you know the the school level stuff is obviously going to be specific to people in those schools but for district level if you have someone that says you say is not affiliated with the district but wants to get our information is this something that would be available for them or they still going through like an email route like what does that look like? We will still send a separate email. We'll have a sign up for special non district specific related communication that we would like to do that we've been working on. Um, so as we have initiatives as a district that we want to share out electronically versus our hard copy newsletter, we'll be able to do that just like we've been doing. Okay. All right. Anything else?

048All right. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. [Music] All right. Uh, we have, uh, the OST preliminary district results. Uh, so, uh, Mr. Brunswick. Yes, good evening. Thank you for having me today. Um, I'm excited to be able to share some really good news from the Spring Ohio State test results. Uh, while I'm the lucky one who gets to share this information, I do want to definitely credit the hard work of our staff, our students, and all of our families. Um, because they're the ones who really are the ones who produce these results. When we do talk about data, we try to frame it and keep it in context. So while there is a lot to celebrate in the data, we also don't want it to define us. We like to identify those successes and

049identify the areas that we want to continue to get better. Um we also like to remember we're talking about state testing today, but this is only one of the ways that our students show us what they know. They also do this every day in their classrooms, their performances, their visual art creations, and on the athletic fields. So, we are fortunate in Tangi to have so many opportunities and elective and unified arts classes that create such a well-rounded um educational experience. So, just to give a little bit of context, the Ohio State spring tests were given between April 3rd and May 6th this year. They were spread out and there were 20 total tests administered, which you can see up here in the different areas, English language arts, math, science, and social studies. We do receive

050the results pretty quickly now that all the state testing is online and so all of the individual student reports were mailed to families on June 4th. We're going to spend the next few slides looking at um our specific results for each different level. And in those charts, you'll see both the advanced accomplished, so our percentage of our students who performed at the top two levels. You'll see our proficiency percentage and then you'll also see the state proficiency percentage just to give a little bit of context to it. After we review all the data, we'll go over some of the kind of general district celebrations, areas that we identified for improvement, and then we'll look at some trend data over the past nine years as well. [Music] So, to begin, here's our elementary data. You can

051see the third, fourth, and fifth grade there. Um, we did a couple of highlights just at the elementary level. Um, all of our tests we are performing at that kind of 80% benchmark or better that we always look for. Um, we also saw increased proficiency in third and fourth grade math compared to last school year. And then we saw increased accomplished and advanced percentages in third grade ELA, fourth grade math, third grade math, and fifth grade science. So, we saw, you know, an increase in a good amount of the subject areas there. So when you say an increase, are you saying the third graders last year improved as fourth graders this year or are you saying the fourth the third graders last year comparing them to the third graders this year? So we're looking at

052how the third graders last year performed compared to the third graders this year. That's a good question. [Music] Here's our middle school data. In the seven tests that middle schoolers took, we have six of our seven um areas that did um achieve that 80% benchmark of proficiency. We did see increase in proficiency for sixth and eighth grade ELA and sixth and seventh grade math. And then we saw an increased accomplished advanced percentages in sixth grade and eighth grade ELA and in sixth grade math. You'll notice that one area that we tend to talk about each year is that eighth grade math that we're at that 70% um proficiency that we continue to work to get um to raise that and get that higher. Um and just to to be fully transparent, one of the reasons

053that we see that dip in that eighth grade is that about half of our students are taking the algebra 1 assessment. So this is representing our students who are taking the eighth grade math test, which is about half of that eighth grade population. And that's our decision, right? Because other districts, they'll take both tests. They will not. And so some districts, depending on when that acceleration happens, they might see a lower percentage in seventh grade math. Depending on how they compact or accelerate students through learning. So it's when you pull them out of the queue, you'll see the dip in that year. Mhm. And that's when you go back to the 48%. Other districts, that's a really hard comparison to other districts, even though we do really well because some districts don't offer and don't

054have if you have 50% of your kids taking that and they're out of the out of that number out of that 70%, the 48% we're seeing that that's not even close. Half the kids statewide are not taking algebra 1 in 8th grade. Any idea how many are? It depends. We I meet with some central Ohio districts um and I was having a conversation with Upper Arlington recently and they're similar to us where they see that big dip in the eighth grade math because they have I think 60 to 70% of their their students taking that algebra 1. So it really just varies by district and again oftentimes you'll see that in either the seventh grade or eighth grade math scores depending on when they accelerate. And then finally, the high school results. Um, all of

055these tests we have reached that 80% proficiency kind of benchmark. Um, we did see increased proficiency in all of the subject areas at the high school level. And then we saw increased accomplished and advanced areas in all but the American government. And one of the things to note about the American government when we get to the state report card, the numbers might look slightly different because this is the results from the spring assessments. And about since government is a semesterized class for us, about half of our students took that test in the fall. So this is just our students who took it in the spring. So the kids that take uh government for example in the summer, why do they take the OST like way before the classes? Cuz how much is left in summer

056school? A couple of weeks. I'm not sure exactly when it's over, but they took the test today. They did. And that's because of the window that the state sets. So students have the opportunity, we just finished three days of OST testing for that summer opportunity. Uh students can take it in the summer or they can choose to take it in the fall, which usually falls into December. So it's a decision that students have to make. Do they want to take it now or a couple months removed from the content and those are just based on the state windows. [Music] So overall as a district some of the celebrations that we saw in the data uh we did see an increase of proficiency percentage in 12 of our the 20 tests which was more than we

057saw last year. Uh an increased accomplished and advanced in 12 of the 20 which again was more than we saw in last year. Um we also outscored that state proficiency by 16 to 38% depending on the test. Um on average it was 26% higher than what that state proficiency level was. um our high there was uh geometry we were 38% higher than the state proficiency. One of the things that we also looked at is if you look at the percent of our students who fall in that advanced accomplished at those top two levels, our advanced accomplish percentage is higher than the state proficiency. So we have more kids at those top two levels than the state on average even has proficient um in 17 out of the 20 tests. So in looking at that this

058year that's that's a huge celebrations. our students aren't just passing, but they're doing very well. And then another celebration, we had 772 total tests um for students who earned the highest possible or perfect score. So 772 is a large number of students who maxed out what they could have scored on that test. Um as we know, one of our values is that we can always get better. So, in that spirit of continuous improvement, we're always identifying areas that we can focus on, implement, you know, action plans to to get better. And so, a couple of those areas are to increase the proficiency level of our third grade ELA and our eighth grade math. Um, our third grade ELA has declined in the past two years a little bit and we're just at that 80% benchmark.

059Um, so that's something that we've been watching that we'll be talking about. And then as we mentioned before, eighth grade math um continues to be something that again we want to make sure that we're supporting these students before eighth grade, but we want to get them to the point where we're seeing that those results by that eighth grade math test. And then we also were looking at our accomp accomplished and advanced percentages um and found that the two probably areas that we could improve and try to work on is that 8th grade ELA looking at opportunities in the curriculum to make sure that we're truly stretching and providing those enrichment opportunities for our students um as well as American government. Uh quick. So the um third grade testers Mhm. entered the system after CO, but

060the eighth graders were third graders during CO. Is that right? Five years ago. That was my daughter's year. Yeah. Oh yeah. So she she's in eighth she just finished her eighth grade year and she was in third grade when CO hit. Yeah. So is some of the eighth grade challenges you think related to co I don't know I mean I think that's kind of hard to to parcel out because they have at least had several years of consistent education back in school where we do try to focus on filling any of those gaps. Um so I think that's starting to be less of a concern or focus just because we're so far out from that. But can't we follow that cohort Yeah. of kids and go year by year because we can backfill as much

061as we want, but you can't replace that so easily. And so Brian, I was thinking the same thing like following those those cohorts through um and thinking about where were our kids cuz I know my daughter was in third grade during CO and it's hard to learn math facts for the first time in that context. So, guess what she struggles with? And we've had a back fill for like 3 years. And that's okay. But it you just have to recognize it does have an impact on the scores. So, yeah, I'm jumping ahead a bit, but you can see on some of these eighth grade um line graphs that there's improvements and then kind of dipping back down. So, I don't know if you have any other theories or of what Yeah, I think that's one

062of the next things that we would want to look at. Right now, we're comparing different cohorts of kids in the individual grade levels, but then following that cohort, those cohorts and looking at those trends on how did they what was their proficiency or trends look like. That would seem like it'd be more valuable data because it's hard to compare different years. You don't know what you're getting with different groups, but you follow that same cohort from third all the way through high school and you can see who have you lost, who have you gained over time. I I would a couple more questions. Um, I'm very curious about the value added data. Um, that comes out in December. Is that right? Typically end of October. Okay. I would be curious, Mr. Meyer, if at some

063point we could know how we're doing because you could have a cohort that your expected growth is is um [Music] your actual growth is way outpacing expected growth. And that to me is a bigger high five than what we did compared to the state or or whatever. I I'm also always curious about subgroups. Um on our report card online, it shows last year that 20% of our economically advantage k disadvantaged kids were chronically absent. I would be curious to see how our students are doing in all the subgroups with this. But I don't I'm guessing you don't have subgroups yet. not that specific yet, but that will start to come out. Um, we're starting to get some of the preliminary state report card information, which all of those subgroups will be part of it. And

064I agree with you. I think um achievement data is is good and it's important and there's a lot that we can gain from it, but looking at growth is really important, too, because we want to make sure that not only are students achieving in the way we want them to, but are they truly growing to their maximum potential? So, probably last question. Um, do you ever line these up with grades that kids are getting once they get out of the standardsbased report card? So, when you get to sixth grade, do you look at, man, this kid got all A's but um they were barely proficient or this kid got C's in math but they were advanced accelerated. So, any inconsistencies? Do you are you able to run that to see what it looks like? We

065could probably do some exploration. I think the one challenging things with grades is that can be so subjective in the classroom and look different. Um, but that is something that we could take a look at that we haven't in in a while is that correlation between grades and performance. Well, you want to know who the easy graders are and who the hard graders are. And you always want, of course, as a as a kid, you want the harder graders cuz then when you get to the norm test, then you can really see where you're at compared to your peers. Mhm. Do you do any AP reporting to us like how our kids did on AP stuff? I don't think we've ever done a presentation or a memo on AP testing, but that is something we

066could do. That data comes out usually the second week of July. So, that will be coming pretty soon. Um, and then that some of that AP data is now factored into the state report card as well. Thank you. you brought up absenteeism, which I think um was something that was top of mind to me when we were talking about cohorts of children and whether you know the coy year kids um have any correlation of absenteeism due to you know increased anxiety or other you know mental health um effects of the pandemic. So that's just another thing that I thought of that you know would be curious to see. Yeah. I mean, if you think the economically disadvantaged is twice the chronic absent rate as everybody else in the district, I'm I'm wondering if they're like

067transportation or other supports, whole bunch of stuff. But then you go to the test, those kids are going to struggle being just being here for the test. Do you know what percentage of our kids didn't take the test? Usually it's less than 1%, isn't it? It is usually just right around one. Yeah, it's pretty low. So next we're going to look at a couple of graphs that show some trends over about the past nine years. Um we know that there's always going to be some natural variation in data from year to year. So we always want to not overreact to one data point but look for some of those trends or patterns um for successes and areas of growth. Um we also know that data is often going to cause more questions and wonderings than

068answers. Um which is one of the reasons I love it. Um so the department of teaching and learning as well as my department data and continuous improvement do plan to collaborate around the data to identify the areas look for um evaluate implementation of new resources and monitor those trends of student achievement to create some of those action plans. So this is going to show you the elementary um ELA on the left, math on the right. Um couple things to take note of and this will be true of all of the different graphs that we're looking at. You will notice that um there is no year 201920 and that is due to the fact that there wasn't any testing at that time. And then I would also um say that we would need to uh interpret

069with caution the data from 2020 2021 because that was the year that some of our students chose to be in the CDL program and so not all students tested. So it might not be an accurate picture of um student achievement in that year. So in both of the graphs you're going to see third grade in red, fourth grade in blue, fifth grade in green. Um in third grade for ELA we kind of see the most variation in that data. Um and we do see that in the past two years we see the big dip in uh 2021 most likely due to number of students testing as well as other factors. Um but we have seen kind of a slight decline in the past two years. So that is something that um an area for growth

070and something that that we'll be continuing to look at. Fourth grade we saw some variability um a little bit less than in third grade but still an area to keep watch of. And then fifth grade does tend to be the most stable of the elementary grades. Um in math third grade we did see a slight decline but then a slight increase um in 2025. fourth grade was pretty stable for the past uh three four years or past three years. Um and they kind of are a consistent top performer as far as proficiency um in elementary. And then in fifth grade, we saw a very slight downward trend over the past three years. So something to to keep an eye on. Um we also have recently implemented the bridges program at the elementary level. So, we're

071going to be working with our district statistician to kind of create a plan for how can we evaluate the impact of that program on our student data. And we can see this is going to be our middle school grades. So, we see uh sixth grade in yellow, seventh grade in purple, eighth grade in the teal color. In sixth grade ELA, we have had a slight increase after two years of decrease. So, we hoping that we're moving in the right direction, but again, something to keep an eye on. Um, that achievement is pretty much flat comp compared to 2017, so 9 years ago. We're back to where we were then. 7th grade, we did see a slight dip this year, but overall that percentage is up about um 4% compared to 2017. And then eighth grade

072does show a little bit of variability there um with that big jump in 20 spring of 23. Um and then it fell in 24 and has started to rise a little bit but remains pretty flat. Do you do you have this sort of relative to other state like you know how the state's line is looking great how other comparable districts are looking I mean it's it interesting and I and obviously when we see sort of downward movement we want to be thoughtful or frankly upward movement either way I mean you know let's say we have a 500 person you know third grade class overall you know we're talking about the difference of you know a percentage point or two here. We're talking about 5 10 15 kids difference. It's not as big enough sample size

073to, you know, be able to draw a massive massive conclusion from it. Um, but I would be curious to sort of see how that maps to, you know, are we out of touch? Are we dropping when the state is increasing? Like that would be helpful. Yeah, I do. And I don't I didn't put the state on here. It became a little bit too busy. But I do have um another document that has by so it would have just third grade you know and then the state graph as well because we do like to see did the whole state see a dip did the state see a dip we saw an increase like how are we doing comparative so I can share that with you too. Um and then in middle school math we have seen

074um obvious a little bit of obviously the dips are the kind of more volatile graph for the eighth grade. um most consistent is going to be that seventh grade, that purple line. We can see we've been pretty consistent past uh the pandemic years. And then sixth grade has been up and down a little as well. Um this is something that we're looking at right now with uh middle school math looking to adopt a more consistent uh program. And so that's something that we'll we'll take into consideration as they're doing pilots and looking at um additional curriculum there. And then finally at the high school level uh in ELA we just have that one test and that has been probably the most steady reliable data since 2017 overall. Obviously a little variability but nothing nothing out

075of the norm. And then in the high school math algebra 1 is going to be that pink and then geometry is going to be in the green. And algebra 1 we have seen a steady increase since 2021. So that's looking positive. And then for geometry is a little bit more volatile compared to that algebra 1, but we have seen an increase um in this past year and that was that area that we outperformed the state the most. And that algebra one does account for the middle schoolers that are taking the it does and geometry for students who take geometry in the middle school. Yes. Yep. So it's just that test, not necessarily just the high schoolers too. [Music] And with that, I'll take any other Questions? I think I've used mine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All

076right. Thank you so much. Thank you. You said probably my last. That was like Yeah. All right. Good evening, Mr. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Brunswick. Thank you, Miss Davis, for those presentations. You know, on the uh uh state testing, I do just want to echo what uh Mrs. Brunswick said at the beginning as far as our entire staff um as well as our central office departments so our department of teaching and learning academic department as well as department of continuous improvement because there's a we talk a lot about this there's a lot of um thoughtfulness and and intentionality in what we do in the district and alignment in what we do in the district. So, uh, extremely proud of the work that, uh, our staff does, um, and will continue to do. And, and

077you, you heard it a few times, tonight, um, about the continuous improvement mindset with our core val one of our core values. We can always get better. And that's what I really like when I show up to work today or every day here in Tangi. Uh, we have staff committed to do just that. uh really trying to provide the best uh educational experience we can for our students. So um thank you for those presentations and thank you for all the work that uh our staff does throughout the year. It is telling on that. I mean that's just as I was doing the rough math in my head, which is always dangerous as an English major, but that like I mean if you've got one teacher that's not pulling their weight, they can drop us several

078percentage points, right? five kids out of their class, 10 kids out of their class where they're not doing could have a really significant impact just given the size of that. So, it really does reinforce how important a team effort it is. Absolutely. And and and you bring up a good point because we hire so many new teachers every year. And so when we bring teachers into the Tangi culture, right, into our organization and how uh purposeful and intentional we are with how we structure our school day, professional development and how we provide opportunities for teachers and staff members to collaborate. Uh it's unbelievable. So again, that's a big part of it. Um and in our success. So, um, all right. Well, I have some more success. Um, you thought you were done with the state

079champions, uh, after the last meeting, but we have one more. So, um, want to congratulate Tangi's, uh, baseball team for winning the first ever for Tangi High School uh, state um, baseball state championship. So, um, I was, it was a great uh, I think it was a Sunday afternoon. and drove up to Akran. Nice sunny day. So, it was a a great venue and a really really good game. And you always wonder like when you're sitting there, you're like uh you get to the um state championship. So, what's going through each of the coaches minds, the athletes minds? And obviously, you know, it's got to be very stressful and challenging, but I'll tell you, they they just they they showed up and just played a great seven inning game. And I was really impressed with

080um because it was two to one, so it's a close game, but um just how they stayed in the game and especially with their pitching uh down the stretch. So uh congratulations to Coach Lucas and Olant Tangi High School for that uh state championship. Um and if you're if you're counting, that's nine and two years, six this year uh team state championships. It's unbelievable um for uh any district. And we've got D1 basketball, baseball, and football all in the same district. All Yep. All in the same year. Yep. Um so wanted to recognize our summer intervention academy and this is something that we do and do really really well. So uh we identify our students who qualify for extended year services. So this year we have 126 students over two sessions uh June 9th through

081the 18th and then session two will be July uh 14th through the 24th. So again it's an opportunity for um students in our SLC's to uh continue to work on their core academics specifically in math and ELA. So um uh just wanted to recognize the work that our staff and our students are doing over the summer. also want to rec recognize um Sarah Dy. Uh she presented at the school safety summit. So uh you can see a picture of Sarah there with uh uh director Suazi. Um and her presentation was on what uh the athletic director Darren Mer connected Sarah with a sports psychiatrist from Ohio State University and she developed a project around creating awareness around mental health for student athletes. And again um in uh today's day and age it's very competitive whether

082it's in academics or athletics. Um so it it's good that um we can provide resources around that and that we have students obviously that uh have an interest and want to uh increase awareness around that. So um also want to point out Junior Hamishka K will serve on the 2526 Ohio Student Summit Advisory Council um next year. So, I think I want to say and uh Deputy Swazis is not here, but I think this is the third year in a row that we've had a student rep on the state uh safety team. And um you know, we talk a lot about student voice and how important student voice is. Um well, when we're able to amplify that voice at the state level um about uh school safety and and uh student safety, then obviously um

083I I know that for sure those committees listen to our students. Also want to one final call here. Uh this is um nominations are still open for legends of Tangi. So this is a first ever um partnership with Oland Tangi Alumni Association and uh OEF. Um so far we've received more than 50 nominations uh of alumni um and three awards. So we're going to select a distinguished alumni award. Um the criteria for that uh would be award recognizes the professional achievement, leadership or outstanding personal accomplishment as an alum. Um nominees must have graduated more than 15 uh years um prior. Uh and then the young this will this the young alumni achievement award would be award recognizes young alums for outstanding post-secondary academic achievement, professional achievement or leadership. So it's no more than 50 years.

084So the first one's over 15 years, no more than 15 years. And then um there's also one for a community service award which is open to uh any tangi alum. So, uh, nominations will be accepted through July 1st. And again, there's no cost to the district, uh, for this. This is again in partnership with our alumni association and, uh, OEF, but a a great way for us to recognize some of our alum and, uh, continue to build community partnerships. Uh, superintendent action items, just want to highlight a few. um administrative employment. Uh Allison Fiser uh we're recommending as a new assistant principal at Berlin High School becoming uh used to teach in uh Olan Tangi went to Westerville as an administrator. So coming from Westerville and excited to recommend uh Greta Janei as executive director

085of school leadership. Um you know extremely proud of uh Miss Janei and the work that she's done in the district. uh she's been in the district a long time and every step of the way. So whether it's a coach, whether it's a teacher, assistant principal, principal, has uh shown tremendous leadership in whatever capacity she served the district in. So um we're excited to uh bring her on board to uh lead all of our principles. So um so that's on the agenda tonight. And then Cameron uh Shams as a mental health specialist. And then one item of note uh outside of the HR agenda, recommend approval of the purchase of ESIC uh interactive TVs um in the amount of 133,429. And as the board knows, we have uh um grant rounds. This is round 11. Um

086I I think the technology department does this three times a year uh purposely because you can they can only we only have so much resource and they can only uh work on so many at a time. So this I think is the final round uh well for sure for the summer and then we'll get into next year. Um, and then looking ahead, board meeting, uh, July 9th, we'll be back at the, uh, tangi administrative offices in the Berlin room at, uh, 6:30 p.m. Great. Uh, any questions for Mr. M? All right. Thank you, Mr. Meer. Mr. Jenkins, treasures report. Good evening board members. Um couple of slides this evening that are packed with some information that I want to make sure I review uh for your edification. Certainly for those uh who are tuning in

087uh watching either online or in the crowd here uh this evening. One of the resolutions that you'll be asked to consider is called a resolution of necessity. And this is uh taken from Ohio Revised Code. Um it it essentially says that we are discussing the passage of a of a resolution that would potentially declare the necessity to issue a levy uh beyond the 10 mil limitation for the purpose of a bond issue to build facilities. So what this uh resolution quite literally is is a initial way for the board to say we want to explore and we want to know if taking action to have a levy is really what we want to do because there is a subsequent resolution called the resolution to proceed. So what does this resolution do? Well, it would say

088that in this exploration process, you would have to say, "Hey, uh there's the need for us to have a bond issue. This resolution uh would have to say that um at the next uh election that we're considering, which would I believe be November 4th. Um what is the question that would be submitted to the um electors of the district?" And certainly that would be the question of whether the bond issue should be issued. Um it also uh has to state the amount uh the approximate date uh estimated net average rate of interest and the maximum number of years over which bonds uh for for these purposes would be repaid. Number three is kind of the interesting one. Um most of those outside of the amount are estimates. I mean we don't know for sure until

089we uh would sell debt what the actual interest rate is is you know we know by calculation what the maximum number of year years would be that that is called uh the certificate of maximum maturity but you don't actually end up issuing uh any debt instruments for exactly that number that's a not to exceed number. So what's in three uh also has to be something uh that is explored in that resolution. And then ultimately uh in order to pay back that debt, you would have to have uh in number four a levy uh that would do that. But notice that this resolution goes to the county auditor. So, I like to think of this resolution as a board of education's way of saying, "Hey, county auditor, given all of these conditions, we're exploring, uh, if

090a bond issue is something that we would want to do." And the auditor then has to certify all of those items that we are essentially asking the auditor to certify. You know, what would be the um average millage rate that would need to be collected? um they would certify and say yes we agree uh with the certificate of maximum maturity and then that comes back to us in the form of a certification where the auditor says I certify that the value of the district is X and that the millillage that that would need to be collected uh is Y. This first resolution then is essentially those questions. We get that certificate back so that we may determine whether or not to actually proceed with a bond issue. So the first resolution is an initial step

091and if we decide to go on the ballot, there is a subsequent step again called the resolution to proceed that would have to be passed no uh later than 90 days before the November 4th uh general election. In our case, we also uh have an 8- day window that is um 98 days. So, we we have eight extra days because we have to ask the Ohio Department of Taxation and the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce for their consent uh to exceed a 4% debt limitation enacted uh by the section of revised code that you see. So tonight we are recommending uh as a a administrative team that we explore uh with this passage of this resolution uh what a bond issue would look like uh then uh knowing that there's still one more step

092um and there's still the opportunity for discussion over the next uh 5 to 6 weeks um about a and ultimately it's a $235 million bond issue uh the proceeds of which would be used principally for a high school uh and an elementary school and other district um facilities. So questions about what the resolution of necessity is and what this recommendation is. So not a question, but I think it's important for for folks that are listening. Obviously, we've been talking um since well before the last levy uh certainly since the last levy about the fact that we are continuing to see growth in this district at an incredibly rapid rate. Um and in line with what I, you know, said at the outset, obviously we want to try to keep costs as low as we possibly

093can on folks, but we also have to be realistic about the the way that growth is impacting us and our need to make sure that we have appropriate, you know, spaces for folks. So, you know, obviously this is a step for us to consider that more fully to look at it um and, you know, determine whether we want to pursue knowing that at some point we're going to need to to seek, you know, authority for more schools just given that that space. When we went up before, we had five schools that we were asking for. This is a request for two schools along with some, you know, associated maintenance and things like that that goes along with all of that. um you know we we will have to sort of see how this comes out

094but ultimately if we were to do this this could be a no new millillage you know approach in other words for those listening that if this goes on the ballot if we approve it that if they vote on it would not increase the millage that that folks would you know would be required to pay um essentially at a no cost to people. That is correct. Um, on a couple of points, I'll rewind. Dr. Fetty uh presented at the last board meeting and we know at the elementary and high school levels, uh, we will be above our forecast 100% capacity by the fall. Uh, so we are targeting and focusing on our most immediate and pressing needs, which is a high school uh, and an 18th elementary school. And we are very confident uh to address

095the second part of your comment that we will uh issue this as the strategy is called no additional millillage. And that quite literally means that even though a ballot by law, as we can see here, has to have an estimated uh millage collection, uh just because there's an estimated millage rate does not mean you have to collect that millage rate. That strategy is known indeed as no additional millage. And uh should this ballot issue first of all should we decide to proceed and then should it pass uh there will not be any additional mills collected that would increase uh taxes for our residents based on that added millillage. And I just to put a fine point on what we did last time. We paired the bond which at that point we said was no new

096millillage which you know would have been the intent had it passed with an operating levy that would have had millage. This resolution of necessity again not a final thing but is not being paired with an operating. That's correct. This is a bond issue only. No operational dollars. uh for lack of a better word, this could quite literally be the authority to issue the bonds to build the buildings and the taxpayer will generally not see their t uh tax bill go up at all. That's correct. The millage or the tax rate wouldn't change. Okay. So in the as far back as we can remember, have we ever offered a no new millillage bond thing like this before? That is our standard memo. Um that that is exactly what we do and it is one of the

097upsides to a rapidly growing district is that your capacity to be able to issue debt without increasing the tax rate for debt collection. Obviously, everyone knows that we have multiple buildings that we've built over the last 20 to 25 years. And because property values increase, the tax rate can stay unchanged. Or even better yet, uh, as Mr. Lester noted, over the last two tax years, we've actually dropped the bond millage tax rate by a mill and a half. So, we've worked exceptionally hard uh to keep uh our our promise to our taxpayers uh to be as efficient as we possibly can be. Um so, this strategy is one uh Dr. Dabberco that we have implemented uh in practically every bond issue that we've issued since the early 2000s. I want to say I think I

098did the research back in 2008 there was a minimal increase in millillage uh I believe because we had had a couple of bond issues that were pretty close to each other but that's correct practically every other bond issue except for one since the early 2000s has been issued this way. We've not had to increase uh the millillage for debt collection. You're saying Mr. Brian put a stop to it once he got on the board. Other questions? The other item I want to review this evening uh because it may catch u a little bit of um wo when when this resolution is looked at um as Mr. Lester noted uh the legislature has passed uh House Bill 96 and it is now on the governor's desk uh awaiting signature. one of the provisions that we've talked

099about uh quite literally since April Fools um because that was the day uh that this provision in in the House's amendments were released was the first time we saw a concept of the carryover cash in our general operating fund having an upper bound and certainly there's been a lot of good discussion uh a lot of back and forth uh the house originally started at 25% um it moved to 30 when it went to the Senate. Uh the Senate at one point had as high as 50 and so it settled on 40%. So what this provision says is is that the amount of cash in your general operating fund cannot be greater than 40% of the most recently completed years uh operating expenses in that general fund. If that happens, what this law would do is

100it would sweep or uh ask essentially the county budget commission and the county auditor to reduce future levy collections dollar for dollar above that 40%. You know, we've talked a lot about how uh our schools in this community are highly successful. Um, you know, outside of the levy that failed in March of 2024, uh, we hadn't had a levy fail since the late '9s. So, our community has continued to give us, uh, a lot of support for what we do for kids. And certainly, the levies that have been passed that have allowed us to build what we believe are reasonable cash reserves. We know those cash reserves uh are needed in order for us to continue uh to address student needs uh and and what our community expects. So what uh this transfer will do

101is preserve that charge. It will preserve our ability uh to be responsive to things that we know are coming, that we've planned for, that we know uh are a reality. My uh recommendation this evening would be to move the excess uh and I only say excess because the law says so. Um you know our our cash carryover is right around 50% right now. So we're about 10% uh too high according to the new law. Uh my recommendation is to move those reserves and this is perfectly consistent with revised code to four different funds. It would be a self- insurance fund that we're going to use uh to help to uh stabilize uh and pay for our insurance loss costs for our health insurance. Our self-insured workers compensation fund. Same kind of concept. Uh we self-insure

102any workers compensation uh payments for injured workers uh within our district. A capital projects fund and then finally um a severance benefit fund. Uh one of the benefits that is afforded to a public employee uh any public employee not just schools but state of Ohio uh townships uh is that unused sick leave per a formula can be converted at at the time of your retirement into a severance payment. Well, all of those costs that I just mentioned are going to come out of the general fund. It's part of what we've planned for. It's part of what we know is coming. So, we believe that, hey, uh, understood. We'll comply with the law. Uh, we'll we'll we'll move along, but that $50 million is needed for us to meet those needs. So what we will do

103moving forward is those expenses will also which are in the general fund will move to these stabilization funds uh to allow us to continue uh to meet uh what we have uh you know been asked to do by our community without the loss of this funding. the loss. If the next question would be, well, man, wouldn't it just be nicer uh for the $50 million uh to go back to the community as a type of tax relief? And we would quite literally uh be turning right around and asking for it back within the next year. Um that that would look like about a seven or eight mil levy to cover that. That's correct. Which they which our community has already passed. They they passed a 7.4 mil levy in 2020 almost ironically. That's right. Yeah.

104to make up for $50 million lost on right now assessed value of just shy of $7 billion would be a 7 mil levy. And if they were to not approve that again at that point, $50 million is hundreds of jobs. Hundreds of jobs, right? I mean, this is a significant amount of money. This is where I I think you we have talked a lot about this idea the past couple of months and and this is I think the way that is being pitched from the legislature is this is tax relief that the challenge is if you have a school that has very large you know like has a lot of functions has a lot of people in it um those services are there people depend on those services and if we take such J I

105mean $50 million is what 12.5% of our operating budget of our overall budget. I mean that that's a massive amount of money and it's not something that has been accounted for over time because this was just sort of sprung within the past 2 months. Um it it is frankly just it it's part of our fiduciary responsibility to make sure that the district remains in in good operating function and taking $50 million out of it is would seriously impact that and start pushing us toward fiscal emergency types of levels. So you know these are sections of the revised code that allow us to have these specialized funds. We have not used them before in this way but we're allowed to use them. What it does is it limits the flexibility of those funds and how they

106they can be used. So it changes that. But I think the overall message of this is this is just putting hurdles for districts in in terms of what they have to do. It is not providing meaningful tax relief unless you do it at the expense of being able to carry out your basic operations. And it's not helping us with our overall, you know, challenge that I was talking about at the outset, which is we've got people that, you know, the state share is low. It's not increasing that, right? I mean, that it's it's just a very frustrating sort of thing where we have to go through all these machinations and it doesn't address the underlying problem. Another way to think about it, uh, to quantify it, um, Mr. Lester, as you were were thinking, uh,

107if if we assume that an average staff member in this district with salaries and benefits are somewhere in the neighborhood uh, of $60,000, let's just say um, that that's kind of the the allin and we have some that obviously higher than that, some that are lower. Just use a straight up average of $60,000. So, you're talking about close to 800 jobs to reach $50 million. Now, we're not trying to instill panic. We're not trying to create any type of fear. We're just simply quantifying that the loss of $50 million if you wanted to look at we're a people business and the types of reductions that when you get in financial distress as a government entity uh the types of reductions that move the needle unfortunately we all know this uh are reductions in people that

108offer the programs and services. So we we we believe that we cannot uh it it is our fiduciary duty and we cannot uh continue to serve the way that we have been expected to serve by our community uh by not um you know thoughtfully and wisely uh moving these resources to places where we are still able to use them. uh knowing that our five-year projections, if you look at them, you know, if you look at what we're planning for in terms of growth, we just talked about a bond issue. Uh we know we we grow 3 to 500 students every year. We're we're adding, you know, 40 and 50 new teachers. um you know in a slow year. Uh this is a substantial commitment in my opinion uh to continue to be a part of

109the the financial responsibility that has made Tangi schools uh the great school district that is to begin with. Could you um could you put the 40% cap in context? What's the uh city of Powell's surplus to revenue? So, we we took a quick look and this was at one of the board meetings. I I want to believe um and and the date I had available at the time uh could only be uh calendar year 2024 I believe. Um but I I want to say that their carryover cash was around 220%. And another way to quantify that is that means that that particular entity would be able to quite literally last for essentially two and and a fifth years uh without having a dime of revenue come in and all of their expenses would be covered

110just by what their cash reserves are. U I want to say Delaware County was somewhere in the 70 to 80% range. Um some of our townships are above 100%. Um it it's you know a little bit disheartening um that it was just targeted at schools um public schools pardon public schools. Yeah. But it is um and we'll deal with it. And and the 40% is just an arbitrary negotiated number. There's no math or science behind why 40% is the right number, you know. I suppose someone could have made a decent argument on 50 because as a school uh like Tangi that's mostly funded by real estate taxes, our real estate settlements, you know, we we for members of the community who wonder how we get our money uh in real estate taxes. You know, we

111we don't get monthly payments. Uh you pay your real estate bill 6 months apart. You know, one half roughly in February, the other half roughly in July. Well, that's when we get a settlement. So, we have to be able to last or you know, imagine as a as a private individual if you got paid twice a year. You you you know, not not twice a month, but twice a year, you would need to plan accordingly and have reserves set aside knowing that you don't get your next paycheck for six more months. So, I I probably could have connected to 50% and thought, well, you know, we've been wise as a board. We we've passed our own um cash balance policy. I think we have thought about what this law is intended to do. Uh but

112yeah, the original 25% I have no clue where that came from. And yeah, I believe that 40 was just quite literally a okay, fine, split the middle. And and I'll just say I think this and all of the other laws that are targeting public education right now are intended to undermine public education and to undermine the will of the voters. It it's uh it's been a challenge. Um but you know we will that's very diplomatic of you. We'll persevere. I I mean it's it's one of those things where just think about it as your own personal finances, right? I mean they they you good financial advice is to have at a minimum three months of you know savings. Now recognize a lot of people that you know that everybody has their own sort of thing

113but as a matter of sort of good financial planning if you've got the resources you want to have a few months there when you've got an organization like this where you have thousands of employees that depend on you right I mean we're not even talking about the human cause that depend on you you want to make sure that you have money so that you can you know support them if something hap if something goes wrong right we've got to be there because quite literally the children of this community and 3,000, you know, employees depend on that. I it's it's just staggering. And I also want to recognize that this is in the consolidated bill that was passed, it's still waiting for signature by the governor. So, if people so choose to contact Governor DeWine, it

114was not in his original budget is my understanding. Any sort of clawback provision. Um so making that heard at Governor Dwine's office I think would be important between now and Monday. The governor has line item veto authority. Um which means quite literally if you look at the budget bill there's like 180,000 lines and you go to the line and you strike out either the whole line or parts of lines. But that that is correct that it is I guess 2/3 of the way there. It's through the Senate. It's through the House. Um I guess you could say three force it got through the conference committee um that worked all out all their differences and and now the governor does have some choice in the matter of some of these items. And I do understand that

115it's important to do this now in order to preserve um the funds that we were anticipating to use in the future. Much like I might have a checking account, but then I might have to divide it out to separate savings accounts for That's correct. you know, a big tax bill coming up, a new car, a car repair that I know is coming in the next few months, those sorts of things. So, you know, the section of law that we're using, um, 5705.13, it's been around for a long time. Um, hey, we'll we'll give it a spin. U if that's what the law requires, that's what we'll do. Mr. Jenkins, legislatively, are our local legislators, are they allowed? So, if Mr. wine takes out the clawback and then it goes to a vote. Are they allowed

116to say, you know what, I voted for the budget, but I don't want to vote to override this veto. Are they allowed to do that? Yeah. So, they get another chance to stand up for their schools. they after the governor has made decisions on any line item vetos, it goes back to uh one final opportunity for uh both chambers of the Ohio legislator legislature to override that veto. They have that choice or to allow the veto to stand. and they I'm pretty sure they go line by line and look at each veto that the governor would exercise and then they can choose to yes uh let it stand uh meaning let the governor's veto stand uh or they could choose instead to override I believe they have to have a 2/3 priority to override a

117veto. So I found um the original 25% right we're trying to figure out where they came up with it. It's a quarter That's how they came up with it. A quarter. It's a quarter. 1/4. I think that's where they the origin of that. That's math and English. Ranger. Can I understand questions about um what this does? Again, tried to wrap up in the last sentence what we believe we're doing here. Certainly reasonable minds can disagree. Uh but we believe that we have been given the commission to uh take care of public education in this community and in order for us to do that uh with fidelity uh these funds will comply uh and comport with all regulations and we will spend these things out of these other funds that we've created here and we'll continue

118to be successful as a district. Okay. So, all of that turns into action items. Uh outside of the resolution of necessity, which is a board action item, uh then the items on the treasur's agenda are the approval of the minutes from June 12th, the financial report from May of 2025. Uh, I I invite you to take a a little deeper dive into the financial report from May of 2025. If if you um have kind of done some homework, it's different. I made some changes to it that hopefully are a little more appealing uh to the reader. I realize that reading financial material is a cure for insomnia, but if you would humor me and tell me that it looks good, I'd appreciate that. um the updated appropriations for fiscal year 2025. Uh one of the

119biggest reasons you have an updated appropriation measure in front of you for fiscal year 2025 is that we had to budget for the transfer that we just talked about a minute ago. Uh the temporary appropriations for fiscal year 2026 technically by law uh in order for us to legally spend money at July 1, uh we have to have a budget in place. And so that's what that does. Uh and then finally, um you can see the specifics of the resolution, uh to transfer the funds from general fund, uh $50 million from the general fund, and we will put um $20 million into our self- insurance claims stabilization fund, $20 million into our capital projects fund. If you're wondering what capital projects, that's in the resolution. school buses, technology, the types of things that kids need,

120the types of things that we know we have to spend uh in order for our kids to have a good experience at school. Um $5 million then into our workers compensation stabilization fund and then $5 million into the termination or severance uh benefits fund. And that wraps up uh the items that I have and those will all be presented as you might expect uh as a consent agenda. All right. Thank you, Mr. Jenkins. There are no um public participation forms and so we're ready to keep right on rolling. All right. We will then u move on to our board action item which is the resolution to declare necessity to approve a bond issue above 10 mill limitation to get auditor certification and dist to seek state consents which as we just discussed in Mr. uh

121Jenkins's uh presentation. That is a uh an initial step for us to uh then make a decision later as to whether we officially want to go on the ballot. The idea would be that if we did that it would be for an elementary and a high school along with associated um you know work goes along with that and that it would be a no new millet millage uh bond issue. Uh can I have a motion to approve uh that resolution? So moved. A second. Second. Any discussion? Right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. Dr. Dabbero. Yes. Dr. Wall. Yes. Mr. O'Brien. Yes, Miss Shriber. Yes, Mr. Lester. Yes. All right, Mr. Jenkins, the treasurer consent action items. Um, ladies and gentlemen of the board, uh, this evening I have, uh, five items that I will present to

122you to be, uh, voted on by one single motion, uh, and ultimate action. The items are item A, the minutes from the June 12th board meeting, item B, acceptance of the May 2025 financials. Item C, approval of the final um appropriations for fiscal year 25. Uh item D, approval of the temporary appropriations for fiscal year 2026. And item E, the resolution to create reserve funds and to approve transfers to same. Uh again, all of that, unless you would like to talk about an item or items as a pull out separate item, uh are being recommended by one single motion and vote. Well, would anyone like to pull any of those out separately? Right. Hearing none, may I have a motion to approve them as a single slate of consent action items? So moved and second.

123Second. Any discussion? Right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. Dr. Wallik. Yes. Mr. O'Brien. Yes. Miss Shriber. Yes. Mr. Mr. Lester. Yes. Dr. Dabberco. Yes. All right. Mr. Meer, the superintendent consent action items. Thank you, Mr. Lester. Board members, I recommend approval of the following superintendent action items A through G. Uh, A. Specific human resource items administrative. B, specific human resource items certified staff. C. Specific human resource items supplementals. D. Specific human resource items classified. E, specific human resource items classified substitutes. F uh student overnight and out of state uh field trip and G technology items which are the uh um uh equipment that I had my superintendent report. 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. With a would like to

124discuss any of these separately hearing none. May I have a motion to approve them as a single state of consent action items? So moved. A second. I'll second. Any discussion? Right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. Mr. O'Brien. Yes. M. Shriber. Yes. Mr. Lester. Yes. Dr. Dabberco. Yes. Dr. Wallik. Yes. Right. I will now entertain a motion to convene into executive session as permitted by Ohio Revised Code section 12122G1 to discuss the employment or compensation of a public employee. I'll note that uh we will only be uh returning to adjourn, not to take a substantive action. Uh may I have a motion to commit to executive session. So move. Second. I'll second that as well. Any discussion? Right. Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Shriber. Yes. Mr. Lester. Yes. Dr. Deco. Yes. Dr. Wallak. Yes. Mr. O'Brien. Yes.

125All right. Thank you. All right, it is 8:34 p.m. We're back from executive session. I now entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. A second. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Mr. Jenkins. Dr. Dabberco. Yes. M. Shriber. Yes. Mr. Lester. Yes. Dr. Wallak. Yes. Mr. O'Brien. Yes. All right. We are journ. Thank you.