4-8-2025 Appoquinimink School Board Meeting

001Uh good evening everybody and welcome to the April 8, 2025 Aquacon School Board's uh school board meeting. Uh the board went into executive session at 5:30 on motion of Mr. Abrams, second by Dr. Graham to discuss certain legal and personnel issues. We are now back from executive session and we will start our meeting as we always do with the pledge of allegiance. with liberty and justice. All right. Uh on tonight's agenda, we've got some special recognitions. Uh one person has signed up for public comment. We've got some reports. There'll be some board comments. Nothing under old business. We've got some new business to take care of. A personnel report. and then our next uh meeting dates. Uh Dr. Burroughs, are there any changes to the agenda? There are not any adjustments to the agenda. All

002right. Well, then then with that, we'll move to our special recognitions. The Delaware All State Band and Orchestra I'm Laura. I'm the visual and performing arts coordinator for the school district and I'm here tonight to help celebrate the students in our district that were accepted into the all state band, jazz band and orchestra. These students had their audition back in January and we were planning to recognize them in February but of course weather interfered with that. Um but tonight there's no snow on the ground. So here we are ready to uh cate them as planned. Uh the students in these ensembles participated in a three-day festival where they uh did two days of rehearsal with their conductor and then on a third they completed a concert for the community and the concerts were just a

003wonderful success and I'm delighted to be able to recognize these students for their achievement tonight. We'll start by recognizing our all state band students and jazz band students and then move on to our orchestra students. And to kick us off, we're going to start with our uh students from Appaquin High School. Uh Nicole Pulk, orchestra teacher at Appo High and Middletown High, will introduce them. Um Mr. Mosley, the band teacher there, couldn't be here tonight, so bring on Nicole Pulk. Okay, we have two band students from Aquinic High School, Omisha Royale and Ethan Rich. my public service announcement that parents can definitely take pictures, but I'm always supposed to remind you that all of the pictures will also be available online. And up next, uh, Miss Amanda Stroski will introduce the students from Kwells Bridge

004Middle School. The following students from Kentwell's Bridge is Emanuel Arin, Ben Beard, Calvin Mincy. Okay, you have to pardon me. I've known him for three years and I still trip over his last name and I apologize. Emanuel um Emanuel Oong J. I'm sorry. and we had two students from Reading Middle School that are unable to be here. They are at a track meet as we speak, but Matthew Eldridge and Mackenzie Win Williams from Lewis L. Reading Middle School were also an all-state band. And next, I'll welcome Mr. Chris Parks from Middletown High School. Thank you, Laura. Uh, this year we had two students from Middletown High School represent um represent uh represent the band. Uh, and we had Jonah Carrington on Barry Sachs and we had Brianna Reb on trombone. And next, Mr. Brian Ente

005teacher at Odessa High School. Uh good evening and thank you so much uh for recognizing these students this evening. Uh Odessa High School was lucky enough to have three students for the All State Jazz Ensemble this year. Uh, and they are Gabriel Spinazola, Mr. Enoch Timmons, and Matai Rouse. We also had uh six students make between junior and senior all-state band. Uh we have Mr. Nathan Elman, Parker Enalia Lemus. You might recognize this young man, Mati Rouse. I remember Matai when he was this tall. Braden Stafford. And you may also recognize this gentleman, Mr. Eno Timonss. There are a few students in that group that need to swiftly exit to get to their rehearsal on time. So, please forgive if there's a little bit of movement there. And we're going to transition to recognizing our

006all state orchestra students, beginning with Alfred G. Waters Middle School and their teacher Haley Graham. Hi there. I'm super honored to be able to recognize our students at Alfred G. Waters. Jason Chung, Adriana Curado, Chen Jin, Chloe McCclary, and Opel Verma. We also had uh one student from Campwells Bridge Middle School in all state orchestra who's unable to be here. That's Kinsley Z. And then welcoming back again, uh Nicole Paul, orchestra teacher at Aquacon High School and Middletown High School. Okay, we have one student for all state orchestra from Aquinic High School, Violet Sullivan. Okay. And then we have three students from Middletown High School for All State orchestra. Edison Louu, Daniel Longfellow, and by McKenna. And then last but not least for Odessa High School, their orchestra director, Dr. John Gordon. Hi all. Um,

007representing Odessa High School, um, we have Nate Elman on horn and Lindsay on, uh, violin. One last big congratulations to these very talented students. Thank you. Hi everybody. We're here tonight to do part three of our winter athletic awards. Um, tonight we're going to honor the boys indoor track and field teams and the girls indoor track and field teams. So, the state competition took place on Saturday, February 22nd, University of Pennsylvania. The Middletown boys made headlines capturing the 2025 DIAA indoor track and field state championship title with an outstanding team effort. The team will be recognized in a little bit. uh six athletes from that team brought home 14 individual medals. Odessa also delivered a strong showing with eight um finishing eighth with five individual medalists and Apple High School placed 12th. And at this

008time we'd like to recognize those male athletes who earned a medal or more in the state tournament. Um our first young man, Ethan Barnett, is on here with us tonight. Um he won a gold in the 4x400 relay. Next is Keith Generet from Odessa High School. He also won a gold in the 4x400 relays. Next is Cameron Lanin from Middletown High School. He won a bronze in the shot put. Our next young man is not here tonight. Jabari Mcbine from Middletown High School. He won a silver in the 4x400 relay. Next from Odessa High School is Casai Truit. He won gold in the 4x400 relay. Next up is Derek Bell from Odessa High School. He won gold in the 4x400 relay and hold on and gold in the 55 meter hurdles. Our next next young

009man also won two awards but he's not here tonight. Jir Miller from Middletown High School took home silver in the 4x400 relay and gold in the 4x200 relay. Our next next two young men each brought home three awards. Anni Bernie Green from Middletown High School won silver in the 4x400 relay, silver in the 200 meter, and gold in the 4x200 meter relay. And Amir Jones branch from Miltown High School. Also three awards, bronze in the 200 meter, silver in the 55 meter, and gold in the 4x200 relay. And our final male athlete tonight, Desai Mayor, won four medals from Middletown High School, silver in the 4x400 relay, gold in the 200 meter, gold in the 55 meter, and gold in the 4x200 relay. Well, while they pose for their picture, just something notable. The Middletown

010boys 4 by 200 meter relay team set a state and meet record. And the Odessa High School's 4x400 relay team set a meet record as well as the 4x400 team from Middletown High School. Sure. So, let's have the Odessa boys step out for a second and we'll squeeze in the Middletown boys. There we go. Picture. Perfect. Center yourself up there. Well done, gentlemen. Okay, now for the girls. The district's female athlete shined with 10 competitors earning 14 individual medals. At the meet, Middletown placed fifth overall, Odessa eighth, and Apoquinn placed 11th, showing exceptional progress and promise. So, at this time, we're going to recognize those 10 athletes who earned our 14 individual medals. So, we're going to start with Shila Galloway from Middletown High School. She earned the silver in the 4 by 800 relay.

011Valerie Range Rangeell from Middletown High School earned silver in the 4x800 relay. Shakira Robertson from Odessa High School earned bronze in the 4x200 relay. Skyler Shrader of Middletown High School earns silver in the 4x800 relay. Taylor Stone from Middletown High School earned silver in the girls high jump. Morgan Wallace from Odessa High School earned silver in the 4x400 relay. Following athletes got two medals. Addison Barker from Odessa High School earned a bronze in the 4x200 relay and a silver in the 4x400 relay. Magenta Desashore from Odessa. Bronze in the 4x200 relay and silver in the 4x400 relay. Alexandria Drummond from Middletown High School earned a bronze in the pole vault and a silver in the 4x 800 relay. And Riley White of Odessa High School earned a bronze in the 4x200 relay and a silver

012in the 4x400 relay. Congratulations, ladies. So, we're going to do the same thing if we can have the Middletown girls stay and the Odessa girls step away for a second for a picture and then we'll swap out. All right. Congratulations. All right. Congratulations. And again, um, going back to what we said first, we're going to introduce, um, Coach E of the Middletown High School boys team to introduce his captains and say a couple words about the state champion indoor track team. Thank you very much. Thank you, uh, Dr. Burrows and thank you uh superintendent I mean board me uh board members. Uh first coach is coach E coach Mary Kay. She's the girls uh head coach as well and she also coaches the pole vault and our distance team. So boys and girls. Uh next

013we have coach Stanley who is also one of assistant coaches. He coaches sprints along with me. Uh for our captains uh uh one of our captains actually sir Melly is not here but we have Mr. Chase Stone and we have Mr. John Paulac. Um, and just to say a few words, um, obviously, uh, we all know if you guys were ever student athletes or if you did anything else uh, in high school, it's very hard to be a student athlete. Um, these guys take a lot of time. The work starts in the summer. So, in the summer, we two, three hours a day. uh sometimes waking up early or staying late, showing up, doing what needs to be done to make sure that they were achieving their goals. Uh at the end of the season

014last year, we sat down, we talked about what we want to accomplish this year, and obviously was to win a state championship, and they showed up every day, worked hard, pushed themselves, and um if you ever ask them, I push them to the limit. When they get to the limit, I push them beyond that. And that's what it took. They responded, and our captains did a great job. Um and I always tell the team, the captains are are coaches when we're not around. Uh they did a great job leading the team, keeping the team together. When we got the states, our one of our best athletes actually got injured uh the very first event. They rallied together, came together, um and where some of the athletes were seated. Um you guys heard what place they

015got, they weren't even seated to get as high as they were supposed to, but they stepped up and performed beyond what they're expected to. So that just is a testament to their dedication, their hard work, um and also what um they're willing to do to accomplish everything. But thank you again. Uh thank you AD U. Mrs. Kelly, she does a lot for us as well. We couldn't do this without her. Um to you guys as well too. I know uh when we sat down to have her uh end of season meeting. Um our bus trips was very high cuz we took a lot of trips to uh to New York some 5 a.m. wake up calls uh 1:00 a.m. return. Uh but again, you guys paid for that. So definitely thank you. Um and the

016last thing I'll say, uh don't be mad at me. Uh we are track is the oldest track. Uh so if we can uh upgrade that it's like 20 years old. Um but yeah, they deserve it. They work hard. Uh they push themselves and I definitely think, you know, I mean, thank you guys again for this recognition. They definitely deserve it. Thank you very much. Right. Good evening everyone. So, good evening. So, one more round of applause for our uh track and field teams. I ran track in high school only because my high school football coach made me. I was never a willing participant. That is something special for those young men and those young ladies. Um so tonight I am Dominique Banks. Every day for the past 47 years I am Dominique Banks. But I'm

017here um I serve as the director of talent acquisition and staffing for the district. and I am here to present our behavioral health professional of the year. Um the Delaware State Behavioral Health Professional of the Year is a program um initiated by the Department of Education. Each year the program recognizes um outstanding service by employees who are healthc care practitioners or human service providers and they're working closely with our staff and our students um to provide individuals and help them with their mental health. These individuals are school counselors, school social workers, licensed clinical social workers, school psychologists, and school nurses. There's an entire process for this. All right. So, um we open up the nomination portal for the entire Apoquinic School District community. Um individuals nominate their candidates accordingly. We get this information and it

018goes through an entire wash, right? It goes through um maybe three or four different u processes um before we arrive at our uh winner. and this individual will represent the Apoquinn School District at the state level. Um, I'm here to announce Miss Ingret Carr SD. Miss Carr serves as a school psychologist at the Kent Wells Bridges Middle School. This plaque is for you, Miss Carr. Your dedicated service to not only the Kent Wells Bridge Middle School, but the entire Apple School District. We're going to support you on your journey because it's going to be a journey as you represent us at the state level. So do your thing and bring home the award as the Delaware State Behavior Health Professional of the Year. All right. Thanks uh to everybody who made those presentations and thanks

019to all the people who came to be recognized. Uh it is I think actually one of the best parts of any of our meetings all the recognitions that we do and I continue to be amazed by our students. Um next up on the agenda we have public comment. We do have one person signed up for it. There is a uh strict or relatively strict three minute time limit. Um the clock will appear to my left above the screen over there. Um, you know, we expect the proper decorum to be followed. I have no doubt that it will be, but if it isn't, we can rule you out of order. And when the 3minut mark uh hits, if you're in mid-sentence, he can finish your sentence, but please don't start another paragraph. So, uh, with that,

020we have Mr. Tim Higgins uh, to address us tonight. Three minutes. First of all, in all this rec these recognitions, um I have to give a shout out to the um Meredith Mer Meredith uh school and their rendition of Little Mer Little Mermaid Jr. They rocked it. Um special shout out to my niece Cara who also cracked it. Um my name is Tim Higgins and um you don't those who don't know me, I am running for the African school board. Um we live in Middletown. my my wife and I and our three kids um have all gone through uh the Apple Kunimic School District for over the past 20 years. Um and as an ad and as a vested parent, I have come to understand and witnessed the intricate blends of the challenges and strengths

021of the Apric uh school district. We personally have gone through having celebrated honor roles uh and inductees to on one day and then the next day uh dealing with frustrating meetings about accommodations the next. Uh I'm running to give back to the uh school district that has been there for my family uh when it counted. Uh and frankly after finding out how much hard work this is, I really don't think I'd ever run for anything else again. Um especially for a non-paying job. But um however, I am also running because I truly believe uh APO needs some help. We have hit some rough patches over the past few years and I believe along with knowing a lot of the parents frustrations for having several ourselves um my experience uh from being on many volunteer uh

022boards and as a uh a business owner are valuable um traits that I believe the uh the board in the district would um serve well. I'm also uh running to work with others to bring a better learning environment into our classrooms and direct more of our resources to our classrooms and to give our teachers the tools and support they need to do what they love to do and that is simply just to teach. Um, as a business owner, I look at all this through the mindset and the lens um of a um a sound budget and by uh being fiscally responsible as stewards of the district's resources. Uh, thank you again for your time and I'm looking forward to talking to any and all of our communities, but specifically now just the people that are

023voted. Thank you. All right. Thank you. All right. Next on the agenda, we have a bunch of reports. And the first report is from Jessica Spence on special programs. I'm Jessica Spence. I am the senior coordinator of instructional programming in the special education department. Just providing some updates on our special programs uh growth and expansion. When we're up, I'm going to ground us in um some of the national data uh that's out there and just um just so that we have an understanding about what's happening around us so that we can understand how we're being impacted here uh in Aphromic. So, autism prevalence has increased 417% since the year 2000. In the year 2000, one in every 150 um students or or kids were identified with the diagnosis of autism compared to in 2020 one

024in 36 students um or children have are receiving that diagnosis of autism. This has um we have felt this impact in the aquade school district as far as the rapid number of students that we are receiving with the diagnosis of autism coming into our programs as well as the um the level of complexity that our students are are needing in order to find success within our programs. So, the state um challenged us and all of the districts in the state of Delaware to really look at how we were programming for students with autism and make sure that we were offering services for our students who had typically in the past gone to Delaware Autism Program or the Brennan School um which is what it's referred to now. So, in school year 1920 we um opened

025our RISE program. So, our RISE program serves students with the educational classification of autism. Uh, RISE stands for um, now I can't remember. Thanks. Reaching independence through structured education. Sorry. Um, so in in 1920 when we rolled out um, programming in this fashion, we designed classrooms based off of what our um, surrounding uh, programs were offering. We designed classrooms that serve four to six students with a teacher and two paras. Um students require a level of uh related service through speech therapy, occupational therapy, um BCBA support. We designed the program to house no more than three classrooms within each building. Due to the rapid growth um and enrollment in our RISE program, we have had to kind of max out our classrooms at seven students and max out our buildings at four RISE classrooms um

026in in most places. So in school year 1920, we started the program with five classrooms and 25 students. Next year in the 2526 school year, we're projected to serve around 180 students in 31 classrooms. So next year we have a um kind of an explosion year at the middle school level. Um our students who started our program in kindergarten will be incoming sixth graders. Our current middle school program serves about 20 students in three classrooms. Next year we will have about 35 students that need to be served in a minimum of five classrooms. With five classrooms we start the year maxed out unable to enroll any other students in our middle school rise program. In thinking about our growth and expansion, those students will move to the high school level in the 2829 school year.

027So, this just kind of outlines where we are right now. We currently have a RISE program in um in nine buildings. We will need to kind of expand classrooms within buildings as well as locations at the kindergarten level and the middle school level to support our students next year while simultaneously planning for how we're going to provide instructional programming for our birth to three-year-old students with the diagnosis of autism. The year after that, we'll also need to begin planning for our students in the 18 to 22 program. As our rise students that are currently in high school will continue to move up and need support within that program. Once we open new schools or new campuses, we have a plan to open special programs classrooms in those in those buildings and provide some relief to

028some of the buildings that are currently um feeling the pressure of of being at max um occupancy. So, that's kind of a really quick um a really quick version of of how we have grown so much in a really short um period of time and the things that we're going to need to do to continue to support that growth questions. [Music] One very kind of like fundamental one is like then what? You said 35 next year and we're maxed out. Then what? Yeah. So I think that's part of the planning that has to continue to happen. Um that cohort of students will then move to high school in 2829. We'll have to plan for that. Four years later they'll move to the 18 to22 program. So I think as we plan while this is is

029is considering growth over the next 5 years I think we have to consider what's after that. Thank you. Is there a specific reason why the explosion occurs at the age group that we're seeing at for next year? Yeah, this is the first cohort of students where we have started with full with full classrooms at full capacity in kindergarten and they have kind of exploded kind of all the way up. So when we got to the elementary level, we had to spread kind of far and wide across elementary buildings. Next year we'll have to do the same thing at middle school. Three years later, we'll have to do the same thing at high school. Thank you. Mhm. How I mean this is tremendous growth just in the last five years and like when when Norman and

030I got and Michelle got on the board, we didn't even have this program. Um couple of questions. What how does our experience compare if we know to other school districts? And if we don't know, can we find out? Yeah, we've reached out to the state to to get that data. Um, all of the surrounding districts are in the process of building their programs. Um, I don't know that any of them are are are kind of comparable to where we are. Some of the some of the districts up north could be, but getting the data in what that specifically looks like is a little bit tricky, but we're working on it. And I thought I heard you say that I mean this is sort of a state mandate that we come up with this program and

031do it in district rather than send the kids to Delaware Autism Program or Brennan Brennan. Um I mean are they giving us any funding for this or is is this just something they want us to do because we're good people? That's we are good people by the way. I don't I don't mean to sound facitious about that but so um we do get funding uh for individual needs of students through uh the needs space funding formula uh but we do not get funding for the actual physical school structures within the building. So our buildings are built with the oxygen of having 25 to 30 in a classroom where as just mentioned max size is 6 to 7 in a classroom and so that's not part of the formula when they consider the size to build

032a building. So that impacts the number of students that we can have in the building. Right. Which is why we're running out of space. Correct. Well, we currently still do not receive funding um in the new schools. So, if we build classrooms for that, we're taking it out of the square footage that would is regular. So, regular new school building. We actually So, we actually in planning for reading, we in the middle of it, we had to add another classroom because of the expansion. So, we had to make some adjustments to our original floor plan at Reading. um kind of on the fly which is not how we want to operate but we have to meet the needs of the students is the funding that we get though otherwise I mean cover the operating side

033of it or is that just supplement but doesn't cover it doesn't completely cover that's where um tuition tax comes into play uh to cover that IDA um which is a federal mandate does not they don't completely meet their need um there's supposed to fund 15%. Uh they're currently at 6% of funding um currently. Not sure if that's going to change or not. Um and so the state also contributes through the needsbased funding formula and then the rest is picked up by us in tuition tax. These numbers jumped um significantly. Can you talk about um specifically what are some of the um reasons like two or three reasons this the jump? Yeah, there's a number of reasons. So, one being that our program kind of gained some traction and publicity in the community and people are

034moving into a school district to access the rise program. Um there are a couple other of outside factors. um one being that there was a grant written by the uh Department of Education to partner with Neores in um building capacity with their teams in providing the diagnosis of autism. And so that has um that has caused some people to kind of flood to Delaware to get that get that diagnosis and then they're staying um and and eventually moving down and wanting to come to Apple. Thank you. So, you've done such a great job that now we have to accommodate even more. Yeah, it's good. It's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have. Thank you. Did anybody else have any other questions? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Next on

035the agenda, we have Nolan's Law Policy 6122, Dr. Gero, Miss Peters. Good evening. Good evening. I'm Ed Peters be co-presenting with me. We're here to talk about Nolan's law tonight and this is a new board policy 6122. So there are three major tents. There's another it's another bill code that was just added. There is not funding for it but it does require some mandates from school districts. One is that what's that? I just said as a school board member unfunded mandates are our favorite. Yes. So first one it is to establish a crisis response plan for school connected traumatic events. Um so things such as a death of a student um or death of a staff member. We also have to create district and building level crisis teams and conduct annual reviews and trainings to

036ensure readiness. And the good part about all this is five years ago Dr. Peters and I already established all these things. So, we're really ahead as a district in rolling all this out and she's going to talk a little bit more about the model that we use. But all the requirements in this Dell code are met by the model that we use and we've even been asked we've we've trained three districts other districts in Delaware in the last couple of years and assisted with that as well. So, we really are out ahead of this and really it's just a matter of us putting the formal policy in writing and we have provided that policy for you. Thank you. Yeah, this is work we're really proud of um because as Dr. Gardo said, we have been

037leaders in the state and even contributed nationally. This work is never done because there's constantly unfortunately new events occurring, afteraction reports, research changes. Um so I've been a part of um establishing lit reviews for ongoing additions of the curriculum that we draw upon which is considered the gold standard. So I have the acronym up here which really speaks to the full range of supports that this work encompasses. Everything from preparedness, response, mitigation, post vvention and evaluation. So it's very comprehensive. We have teams at both the school levels as well as the district levels. So that way we can really use a multi-tered system of support to respond to each individual crisis. Since there is harm in both over and underresponding, we need to really make informed decisions and scale up and scale down as needed

038with the range of supports. So using this um gold standard I referred to it which is a curriculum that is um written and run by the national association of school psychologists that ensures that we're aligned with best practices and also puts us in a community so that we can support each other and thought partner as we encounter these very difficult events. Um, so the supports are comprehensive and designed to uh provide everything that's needed for students, staff, families, and the community in the event of a whole range of different crises or disasters. So, we feel very well prepared and um that is the acronym as well. So I don't know if there's any specific questions. Are there any questions? See under law should at the end of every event like time to institute this. there

039be a finalization report submitted to what was done what the event was the initiating event or like a final report to be submitted to the board or to somebody when it's all over. So we do as part of the process we do a lot of briefings after both at the district and the school level. It's not something we've done where we've provided it to the board but I mean that's something something we can certainly do. we can summarize um but that's a key part of the process because everything you do in a crisis even after going through this training so um Dr. Peters and I are both trainers and it takes about two weeks, eight hour days. Um there's nine 10 days of training that you have to get. Um and it's quite intensive. You

040have to get 100% on every exam and you know every piece of it. So there's a lot to it and binders this thick. So even after all that when you actually get into a crisis you're still learning and each crisis and each situation is very different. So the the examine portion is extremely important because what we do now 5 years later is much different than even after we all we went through all that training several years ago because you just learn things. you debrief, you talk with people in checking in with buildings and checking in with people and students and families. Um, you just change your process over time and get better at it. So, um, I mean, we can always provide an update when, you know, if you'd like that saying at the end

041of an event, yes, an events happen, you follow this policy or this law. So, somebody comes back two years from now and says, "Hey, on March 10th, you initiated this event, Dr. Bur can go somewhere, pull out this binder and say yes, we follow the wall here. That's that's yes and we do have that. So what we have is we have a Google drive and then every document that we give out is in there for each crisis event. So any communication we've sent to parents, students, staff members, staff meetings, I mean you name it, it's in there and then we have it categorized in folders. I just didn't see it. That's all. Yeah, no problem. It's a good question. Go ahead. Thank you to your the both of you individually and to your teams. Like

042we appreciate you being proactive and always being an example, not only like in our district but across the state. So, thank you for all of your work. Yeah. And they're tough. They're very tough situations because in a crisis event, no matter how well you handle it or you know how much you know the research or best practice, there are a lot of feelings and rightfully so. I mean, when people are grieving or going through something, people are always going to have feelings. So, um they're very tough, but having a process has really helped us greatly um mitigate or significant significantly reduce that crisis or trauma response in our school community. I just wanted to say thank you to for um taking on that extra uh work um to hold that standard for our district. Um,

043since I've been on the board, um, I've heard many times that we are like the first ones to try things and then other districts follow through with it. So, kudos to you all for just, um, holding it down the Apple way. Now, this is this is being presented as a policy. So, do we need to actually vote and adopt this? And you'll see us the next two months. Also, so this is just mentioned first reading next month and then second and final reading in June, right? Yes. Okay. Okay, you're stuck with us. Just want to make sure we had that procedure down. Any other questions? We have two more meetings to ask more questions. All right. Well, thank you very much. What everyone else has said. Next on the agenda, we have District Conduct and

044discipline code revised policy 6109. Good evening everyone. My name is Ed Small and I'm here tonight as a part of the the EDS team to present um a policy revision for policy 6109 um which used to be called the district discipline code but is now the district conduct and discipline code if the board chooses to accept after the first report first reading and second reading. Next slide. Thank you. Um, so we'll be heavier on the district conduct component tonight because of the fact that we're we're looking to add a civility at school sponsored events component to this particular policy. As I mentioned before, report tonight, first reading May 13th and second reading June 10th. Next slide. The scope of the policy is that it will apply to all stakeholders that are a part of our

045school district. That would include students, parents, guardians, and appropriate community members that are within the school district. Now, I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Ger. And in general, we just want to promote a safe and civil environment, whether it's in the main office or at our sporting events or afterchool clubs. um any sort of after-school activity. We want to make sure those things run very efficiently but also safely. Um so we want we want um we want to treat students, staff and volunteers with respect. We want everyone to behave in a civil manner, not disrupt or interfere with school events. And then this applies to all everyone on our school property grounds or in our vehicles. And then what we'd like to do again if the board approves of this policy is we'd

046like to develop a committee that would then look at all the fine details of this and not only create criteria but then we would be part of enforcing that criteria. Um and all the rest of 6109 which already was there. We did not change any of that. We just added that this civility policy to it. All right. Are you ready for questions? Sure. The first question, um, it says all individuals on school property, grounds or vehicles must follow district rules. Shouldn't we also say that applies to school trips and events, school events not on school grounds or in school district vehicles? Yeah, and I think that's covered it. Can you go back a couple, Steve? Um, okay. I'm just looking at the commitment to civility slide. Yeah, all stakeholders, parents, guardians, community members, and then

047continue on to the last one. I don't have that sheet. Yeah. Third bullet point. It's in my folder. That's what I get for printing. School events is there. And I think in the policy itself, which is a bit more comprehensive, that is then up here. We also have that in there. Yeah. when I printed things out, I just didn't print out for some reason. Dr. Was the committee that you're um asking that is created, is that going to be the same as the current conduct code? No, we'd be asking for a new set of committee members for that. Two are these two different committees, the code of conduct and the district code? Yes, we'd like a subcommittee to really look at this and develop this polic or the procedures for this policy. Okay. Thank you.

048And having just gone through the process, if we want to amend this code, it's a multi-step process, right? So, is there any reason though that we shouldn't get a this subcommittee or committee started rather than wait till this is adopted? I think we can. Okay. Yeah. So, I no reason to wait. I mean, I think I can foreshadow things and provide a spoiler here that it's probably going to get passed. Um, so I would go ahead and get that group started and if you know I'm happy to be part of it if you're looking for uh volunteers. Does anybody else have any questions? Am I missing the repercussions? That's the portion where we're going to have the subcommittee subcommittee address. Yeah, we'd like the subcommittee. So we would like the policy, but then we'd also

049like to develop the specific procedures in that subcommittee. Okay. So, so all the specific things and expectations that we have as well as what the consequences are for those. And in talking with some of our neighboring districts that have similar policies, that's what they've done also is they've created a broader policy, but then stricter procedures. Okay. So, would those stricter policies become part of this policy or go into the code of conduct? We we can I think that's part of the committee's work, but the way that I envision it is the policy is always a broader we're saying what we're going to have and then the procedures are the more specifics. There are it's a student code of conduct, but that doesn't mean we can't put things like that in here because it does apply

050to students. There's a section in there with appendices that I think it would probably fit well in there and I think you could have that in multiple spots. We could have it on our website. We could have it in the code of conduct. We can, you know, post it in other ways to get the information out there, but I think it definitely could live as part of the code of conduct. So, could it go ahead? So, could it live if a parent were to come up and slug somebody? How would that circle back in? Would the parent slide under this policy because they're not inside our code of conduct? Yes. But they'll they'll reside in both places pretty pretty much. Yes. So from a student perspective then what we already have will just be replicated.

051Yeah. Really students are already covered under the student code of conduct. But I but I do think our procedures could be a good spot for this because that's a spot that all parents go to at the beginning of the year. They read through. They sign off on it. So I think it's another spot we can post that. But I we would work with Danielle Pro Hudson and make sure you know we got the word out. But I I do see that as being one of the spots we could put it in. Okay. All right. So, when I first brought this up, I mean, I envision it as a parent code of conduct. And if we have a code of conduct, most of it might apply to students, but there will be a section of the

052code of conduct that absolutely applies to parents. And I think we ought to make that clear and the title to the code of conduct and all that sort of good stuff. But second, my my follow-up question, we get parents to sign and acknowledge the code of conduct at the start of the school year. Correct. Correct. So, backing up from the start of the school year, we have to get the code of conduct printed by a certain date. Backing up from that, we need to get the code of conduct in a final form and approved by this board. We're going to have enough time to get it in place for the 2526 school year. Correct. It's tight, but yes. I just want to make sure. Yeah, I mean, you know, there's no point. I mean, well,

053there's still a point in doing it, but I mean, obviously, we want it to be there at the start of the school year, not try to add it in halfway through. Yeah. If we can get the committee going now and have something pretty solid by that third month that we present, then we're in pretty good shape. April, May, June, we like to get it to the printer late June, early July. There's some editing also that has to take place. Um, but July, that early July time frame is pretty key for us to get those out to the printer. All right. Well, that's that's a short amount of time for very important work. So, I would get that committee rolling. I I just have one followup request as someone who won't be here in late June,

054early July. Um, you'll be here. What are you talking about? My my request would be when we do changes like this that we make sure that we're communicating it with parents because I don't want to say that parents just kind of sign it and send it back, but that might be the case. So, if there's something that's drastically changing and we're requiring them to provide different input or it's different in general, then there should definitely be a separate communication piece to parents like, hey, this is change. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. And we definitely want to work with the communications office on that. Personally, I will say I don't see this as a big change because I think we've all always expected civility on the part of parents and we've all expected parents not to otherwise engage

055in inappropriate behavior. The fact that there have been a number of instances I think has led to this need to put it in that'll be determined by the committee and what you say the repercussions are. Yeah, I know. So, that's the next step. But I mean that's what I would want communicated to parents. Yeah. I don't think the thought is necessarily new, but the enforcibility side I think we need to work on that right now. We absolutely we'll have to make sure that we do the last emails and and communicate and all that sort of good stuff. And maybe it'll up our viewership when we're having uh presentations about it. But thank you for getting the ball rolling and thank you for uh for starting this. Ed squared. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All

056right. Next on the agenda, we have the superintendence report. Dr. Burroughs. Thank you. Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us. Uh just a few things on this month. This month is Occupational Therapy Month. April 2nd was National Parrofessional Appreciation Day. The 4th was National School Librarian and Library Aids Day. Um the 7th through 11th is National Assistant Principles Week. 6th through the 12th is National Library Week. Coming up on the 13th through the 19th is the National Volunteer Week. We actually have two uh Delaware Volunteers of the Year on our board. Um previous winners, Mr. Abrams and Mr. Forston. And then on April the 23rd is administrative professional day. We currently have 32 full-time teaching openings and 18 full-time paraprofessional openings. This um the 20 or actually in the 2526 uh window, we have

057filled 17 positions at this point. Uh last year we filled 649 positions. We currently as we look at um our growth, we're just under being at 13,100 students. uh we have grown 2,000 or excuse me 200 yeah 201 uh since September 30th count. So our official count is 13,098 students. We have been doing a pilot on cell phones at Applecomic High School. Um we have received positive uh feedback from our staff in regards to the uh cell phone pilot. I think I mentioned last month uh they have seen uh more attention paid in class. They've also have seen less um asking for bathroom passes in class um and less referrals. They did a pre and post um assessment with students or questionnaire with students. Um what they see is uh students profession or perceptions really

058did not change. Of course um they have a different perception on cell phones than what we do as adults. Um they uh there were fears of students not having their cell phones uh during class. They all in reading the comments many students agree the phones are distraction but locking and unlocking each class period was viewed as a hassle and uh many students felt lockable pouches should be used for students that are repeat offenders but not at all uh not for all of them. So that's the student perspective. We are going to bring our um cell phone committee together. Actually, a date was sent out today for May 6 to make a recommendation to the board um at our May board meeting. Thank you. That's it for my update. Any questions? Any questions for Dr. Burroughs?

059All right. Thank you. Uh next on the agenda, we have the construction update. Mr. Hopkins, on time and on budget. So, we're rapidly approaching our move in a furniture day. You can imagine there's a lot going on out there right now. As you can see here, as the weather turned, we're starting to get the curbs all poured in the front to kind of mark off the pavement. That's going to be the drop off area here. And for student entry into the building, that's the cafeteria area here. And this is the main entrance coming in to the campus. This will come in to more the gym side. Right at this point here, you can see here the difference in the two buildings. And this this is looking pretty dilapidated compared to the new. So this is

060uh this is welld deserved and needed. Good Steve. I for the architects, I I think that building really looks nice in those photos. They did a nice job. Yeah, it really does. And in person, it's even better. I mean, you walk around there, it's pretty it's pretty neat looking. Now on this side is the gym, you know. So you're coming around the gym side. This is a more of a community area here that that you can come in. There's a multi-purpose area here. There'll be like a wellness center in here. And this leads into the gym on this side. And then it heads off into the main part of the building. This is the back entrance that'll come out of the main or comes in the front, goes right straight through, and this will be

061where the outdoor classroom will be in the future. This will be a grass area in and around. And there'll be a field in the back here. This is more of the kitchen area into the cafeteria on this side as well. So you can come in from this parking lot. Student drop off will be here and come in this way. And Steve, you see here they're starting to get the loading dock in. This is all poured in now. We're getting completed on curbing. We're starting to pour some sidewalks here. They started out here today working their their sidewalks down this direction here. It's really moving pretty quick out there for the We have a May 15th furniture drop off. So everybody's got to get done. There isn't any there's there's no turning the trucks around. Right

062here will be a future sliding gate that'll kind of close off this whole area so it'll be secure. Yeah. See, this is that entrance to the front there. They've got the glass in wrapped up. We still have this in as a protection so it doesn't tear the doors up. This is getting plastered in this week, you know. So we'll start to finalize this. This will be u pavers that'll come out of the front coming in this way and will circle down to pavement on either side. That's Steve. This is that entrance out of the back that comes into the outdoor learning space and this will be pavers and some concrete. We're still working out some of the details there. This is the plinth area. This is this will all be Terzo. This is coming in

063this week. They're going to start setting some of this stuff. These are acoustical panels actually, but they're all out of wood. It really helps to deaden the sound in the space. It's a really neat product. Works well. And that leads into the auditorium. Excuse me. This goes into the auditorium. This will be those wood panels here as well. Auditorium's really coming along. This is your sound panels up here. As you can see, the seating, they're going to start the mill work next week. These will be sound panels up here. They're starting to run in these what they call reflectors to kind of bounce the sound around. Same as these reflectors here. Yeah, Steve. This is your rigging. Pretty soon the bats will come in. You know, they sell all the lights too and all the,

064you know, the the theatrical equipment gets set to that and they'll raise all that, but that's that's actually the cables. They'll support that stuff and it'll all be motorized and come up and down as they need it. Stevie, back up one, please. This is this is the wood pl around the front. So, this is all wood and decorative around the front. And there's also a projection screen in here somewhere. 50. Carters are getting complete. You can see everything's starting to wrap up. You know, so the inside's pulling together, final cleaning, coming along. We're going to start waxing the floors, locking the building down, moving out 9 ft. Yep. So, the ones that Meredith were seven, these are nine. We can't go too wide. You get it's square foot, you know, and it and it all

065costs, but but these are wide enough. Yes. Yeah. So, this is one of the science classrooms. We have the reels and everything for everybody for power. These will be desks in this area here. A lot of light coming in. Just another classroom. This is kind of a typical classroom. You don't see the Smartboard here, but you'll see it in other ones, you know, with the glass marker boards here. A lot of light coming into the room. Pretty nice space. This is the Smartboard setup over here. We also have the monitors here. If you ever had to go to remote learning or you know somebody was out, you could still do that in this situation. But the teachers actually utilize it in different ways now where they project some of their lessons planning and Steve could

066explain it better than me is what they do. But it's not just for that anymore. It's working pretty well. Your new gym's in, floors in. We have a final coat. We're letting that cure out. These will be your locker rooms off to the side. This is a drop down curtain that drops down and splits the gym in half. There's your new logo. Go Eagles. Right. Any questions? Any questions? Uh board comments, Mr. Abrams. You know, I sit here. I think Mr. Forceman and Miss Wall, we've been here a long time. And again, tonight, it just doesn't cease to amaze me what our students are capable of. Whether it's theatrical productions, on the field, no matter month after month, as much as we talk about graduation, sitting here month after month, seeing the students achievements, it

067really hits home and I I'm it makes my night every month and we do that. And secondly, I just want to thank everybody out there who's working behind the scenes to help make our district what it is. Thank you, Miss Dit. I would like to um you know say the same thing that um Mr. Norm stated that um it's always a delight to see our children come up or students come up and reflect all of the uh activity the activities that they're doing by getting gold uh gold and silver and bronze medals um specifically for Odessa who is um I guess in their fifth year but just to see how all of them have just been highlighted throughout the um the year have been pretty cool to see. Um, also wanted to say that um,

068Dr. Burls and I went to the school board conference in Atlanta this weekend and it's really good to see that um, our school board is is is doing the same things in other districts um, specifically um, the cell phone usage policy is one that is a trend and everyone's talking about some haven't started the process, some has start have started. So, just to see that we're already in our piloting stages. Um, some of the same feedback has come back stating that the kids like it. Um, low referrals. Um, some of the same things that Dr. Burl stated. So, um, it was good to get some reminders of what schoolboard members should be doing and, um, even better just to see that we're on a right, uh, start or we're we're on a right journey as,

069um, a district and doing the things that are what's best for kids. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Dr. Graham. Thank you. Um, so I just wanted to acknowledge Mrs. Carr uh again as our behavioral health professional of the year. Um, I know the good work that goes into what she does each and every day. So, I just wanted to acknowledge her again. She was already gone when I ran out in the hallway um to see her. So, congratulations to you um on your award this evening. And I failed last month. I failed to recognize um I had went to Apple I guess the month before last um spent some time there with Mr. Postal and um it was such a great experience. I told uh Dr. Bose if I could have stayed longer I

070would have. Um the culture there was very palpable. The team was so positive. The students themselves were positive. I think you all may know that when I visit schools I like to have a debrief with students. So I always ask the school leader to gather students even at the elementary level to gather a few students for me um to be able to engage with them and kind of debrief and they had a lot to share in that meeting. Um but the team was very open and receptive to their recommendations and kind of in the moment they were already starting to cultivate ideas on how to respond uh to some of their concerns that they had raised. Um, and so I did just want to acknowledge that because as we go throughout the district and we

071visit different schools at all levels, it is always a really good experience, but you can always when you walk into certain schools, you always get this kind of like, "Oh, I wish I could stay longer." And for me personally, I usually book two or three um um schools in a day and I kind of go from one to the next to the next. So I don't usually have a lot of time to stay. I usually all lot about a half about an hour or so, 90 minutes um at each school. And so I just want to acknowledge I know all of the good things that are going on in in our schools um each and every day and I was saying here to the leadership here to my to my right that I certainly um

072appreciate all that you all do each and every day here as board members we kind of get the roll up of things and from time to time we get the details as well but I certainly appreciate all of you um for the good work that you do and the very hard work and so I thank you all and um I'll conclude uh my comments there. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Miss Wall. Um, hello. I just have enjoyed getting out and about to some spring sports. I got to go last night to Middletown High School to the Middletown Odessa boys volleyball game. I've been to girls soccer recently and as the weather gets warmer, I'll be out and about a little bit more because I like seeing kids do their things. Um, I'll be holding

073bagels with a board member on April 17th. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's once a month I have opportunity for people who have concerns about the school district to come and chat. It's always kind of a starting place for a conversation. Um, usually if someone has a question and they come, somebody else has a question, too. So, it's good to find the answer. I'm supposed to kindly remind people that schoolboard's a non-paid position. So, your bagel's on your own dime, but the pleasure of my own comp of my company is free. Um, I know I'm thankful for the addition of Surf Bagel to our community, but I'm going to keep with tradition and leave bagels to the board member at Manhattan Bagel for the rest of my tenure. Um, I

074wanted to give a shout out to both the Odessa and Aquinameck Prostart teams. We had teams um, compete in the state ProStart competition. The AONC um, team had a phenomenal concept with their teacher um, Chefily. They had their kids present their restaurant concept um in English, Spanish, and in sign language to all of the judges and it was amazing. Um unfortunately, they did not they're not moving on in the process, but I just wanted to make sure that they were acknowledged for all of their hard work and what an amazing concept they had. The Odessa ProStart team did place first in the management competition and so they are headed on to nationals um to represent the the district um there. I think that's about all that I have for today. Oh, importantly, next month um

075the May school board meeting is also the schoolboard election. So, make sure you get um to know the candidates, find somebody that you support. Um they'll be filling my space or this my seat on the board. So, as you look at the makeup of the board and you look at the candidates, think about who you think will work well with the other people who sit here. Because when you serve on a school board, you're not running for, as I've said during the school board candidate forum for an individual position like a state rep seat or state senate seat. You're running for a to be one of a fifth. And so, make sure that you're getting to know the candidates well um before that next meeting. I think that's all that I have. All right. Thank

076you. And I will echo my fellow board members comments particularly about the continuing um success uh achievements of our students. It is always and our staff and it's always the special recognitions are always amazing and uh certainly I think my favorite part of these meetings. So with that we will move on. We can skip old business because there is none. We go to new business and we have before us our March 11, 2025 board of education meeting minutes for approval. The chair will entertain a motion. Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion that we combine A and B and approve both the March 11th meeting minutes and the March 25th candidate for minutes at the same time. Second. Motion by Miss Wall, second by Miss Dit to approve the March 11, 2025 board of

077education meeting minutes as presented and the March 25, 2025 board candidate forum workshop meeting minutes as presented. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion hearing? They'll have to abstain from the second. You're going to Okay, but we're having one motion. So So I'm asking you how do I vote? Just abstain from it. They could vote half maybe abstain. So I just want to use sexual. Okay. Uh so Mr. Abrams will be uh recusing himself from this particular motion. Any further questions, comments or discussion on the motion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have the monthly financial report for approval. Mr. Loftess. So the financial advisory committee met on April 1st to review the February revenue and expenditure report and they recommended

078approval of that report. Mr. President, I make a motion that we approve the financial sorry the monthly financial report as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Second motion by Miss Wall, second by Miss Dit to approve the monthly financial report as presented and as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing none. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have the internal accounts report for approval. Mr. Loftess. Financial advisory committee also reviewed the internal accounts report for February and recommended approval of that report. Mr. President, I make a motion that we approve the internal accounts report as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Second. Motion by Miss Wall, second by Miss Dit to approve the internal accounts report

079as presented and as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have the financial position report. Mr. Loftess. So, the financial position report is a report that we submit to the state office of management budget. Um and we submit this four times, three times a year. Um and so this is giving us basically a snapshot of where the district will end the um fiscal year June 30th and how much in terms of local funds we will have in the bank. What we're showing on this report is slightly reduced from what we said in the final budget. So, at the end, what the report is basically saying is that we're going

080to come in just shy of $8 million. We'll be at 7,970,000. Um, a lot going on in here. Um, one month's local payroll has increased slightly. Uh, we're a bigger district than we were last year, so that's reasonable to expect. What we're seeing essentially is two things going on with this report at this point. One is is that due to reassessments, we're seeing a slightly lower increase in revenue collections each month because as the county is focused on the reassessment task, they're not collecting the normal property taxes for new properties that are coming online this year. that's somewhat offset by the fact that we're earning significant interest on the balance that we've had. Um, so when we put the budgets together during the year, we had not anticipated having this level of interest. Um, so

081we're we're earning interest revenue. That's that's certainly I mean it would be nice to have both parts of that revenue, but that's kind of where we're at. On the expense side, we have to keep in mind that at referendum, we funded four items. We funded salaries, we funded it, we funded safety and security, and we funded curriculum um which were operational costs due to growth. What we're seeing though is that the district's insurance bill has gone up, copy leases have gone up, office supplies have gone up, um other things that got cut out of referendum or things that we just didn't even ask for during referendum. um those things continue to, you know, due to inflation and and increased students, increased staff, more buildings than we've had um at any time in this district's history

082continue to increase. Um and so there's some pressure that we're seeing fiscally due to those increases in costs. So, we're continuing to work um with stakeholders throughout the state um and and really looking hard at our expenses to try to tighten up as as best we can. Um the issue though is that there's there's stuff that's needed each and every day. Um so, that's kind of where we're at is we're slightly below the plan that we had hoped to be at at the end of June. And this report was obviously reviewed um and discussed with the financial advisory committee on April 1st and they recommend approval of the report. All right. The chair will entertain a motion and then has a question. Mr. President, I make a motion that we approve the financial position report

083as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Second. Motion by Miss Wall, second by Miss Dit to approve the financial position report as presented and as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Questions on the motion? A question. So you mentioned that we um have not received the funding for the like new buildings let's say. So when do we expect us to receive that funding for the new properties? We've been told by the county that we do we should not expect to receive that funding. What's going to happen is is that generally speaking, a business opens sometime after the start of the fiscal year, so August, October, November, whatever. Um, a property tax bill would be generated for that prorated portion of the year, fiscal year that they would be in operation and then that business or

084residents would pay that property tax bill. Um and then what we would generally see in any given month is um we would re be receiving receipts, revenue receipts, 200, 300, $400,000 in additional revenue the district would see um to help out. And so what we're seeing this year is that those bills are not being generated. They won't be generated until the end of July with everybody else's property tax bills for next year. But it's it's seemingly a one-year pass for any businesses or residents that um came online after July. So, just to put that in perspective, like Target opened on the other side of Middletown, um if you do some back of the envelope calculations, their property tax bill should probably be conservatively about $160,000 a year for a full year. um they opened in

085October as I recall and so what Eric was just describing was the supplemental assessment system. So you get a tax bill for July 1 to June 30th of every tax year if you get a certificate of occupancy or make a renovation to your house during the fiscal year. You don't get a full year free. You start paying with the next quarter and when the CEO is issued that causes the county to come out, look at the building, says, "Oh, that looks nice. Here's your tax bill for the rest of the year on a quarterly basis. So Target should have received a tax bill starting January 1st and in any other year they would have received a tax bill starting January 1st through June 30th for $80,000 that would have come to us. The county took

086the position and some of us had conversations with the county about this that gee we're really busy doing this reassessment. we're not going to do any supplemental assessments uh this year. So therefore, they didn't send target a bill in, you know, November to start January 1st. And by the way, if you bought a new house, you built a new house in a development somewhere. You haven't been assessed yet. You didn't have any property taxes due. Um they're not going to send out those bills until starting July 1st of this year. So we lost a lot of money. I mean, $80,000 would have gone a long way in this district. And that's just Target, you know, and that Sprouse has opened and a bunch of other places have all opened. Um, and I'm I still I've

087had some sharp words with some of the people there at the uh assessment office. They didn't care. It was really stunning. The News Journal, of course, has written nothing about this. Um, I think it's shameful. Um, we rely on the county to do its job, which is to assess properties when they come online, and they took the year off for that because they were too busy with the reassessment. Um, so very disappointing. Um, it cost us money. But my question, Eric, you said, so this is showing a balance of 7.97 million, and I think you said we were projecting an even eight or how close are we actually? How far off are we from the budget? because I didn't see the budget in in the documentation we got. Right. So, we're about three to $400,000

088below where we'd like to be, which is where we said we would be in the final budget. So, the budget was showing like an 8.3 million carryover, right? Okay. Does anybody else have any questions for Eric? Hearing none. All in favor of the motion to approve the financial advis uh financial position report as presented and as recommended by the financial advisory committee. Uh please say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Next on the agenda, we have overnight field trips for approval. The chair will entertain a motion. Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion to approve the following four trips for approval and the following three trips for preliminary approval. Trip number one is trip ID 10621, the Middletown football team to Ohio to play in the Iron Grid Iron Classic. Trip ID

08910632 and 40653. The AHS and MHS BPA students to participate in BPA's national leadership leadership conference in Orlando. Trip ID 107361073810739 Lwood Grove Reading and Everett Meredith Odyssey of the Mind teams to Michigan to compete in the world finals. Those are the trips for approval. And then the trips for preliminary approval are trip 10575 which is Campwell's bridge students to Costa Rica to learn about ecosystems trip 10605 AG water students to Italy for a cultural experience trip and trip ID 10648 to Alfred Gwater students to Quebec for cultural experience and foreign language practice. Second motion by Miss Wall second by Dr. program to approve um six trips for approval. I won't read through the numbers and um three trips for preliminary approval as presented. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all

090in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have uh two adjustments to make to our schoolboard calendar for the upcoming school year. Dr. Burroughs, do you want to Yes. Thank you. So, um next year we're looking at adjustments to two schoolboard meetings. Uh the first one being October on the original calendar uh that was approved. It was on for October 14th. We're recommending October 7th. that is due to the uh state teacher of the year banquet is actually on the 14th and then in December uh originally scheduled for December 9th we're looking for it to be rescheduled December 16th that's due to a professional development that many members uh will be at that we need suggestions second motion by Miss Wall second by Miss Dit to

091approve the shifting of two of our schoolboard meetings in 2025 as presented and recommended. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have something that doesn't come up all that often on school board. And this is kind of one of do. we get to name some schools and in connection with our new high school uh pick colors and a mascot. So, Dr. Burroughs, do you want to give us a little background before we dive into this? Sure. Certainly. Um, as you mentioned, it's not something that happens often. I think we're a little spoiled in this. This is uh at least for me the second uh high school I've got to participate in uh the naming

092of the colors and the mascot. The third um one that I've been in the district that they've done since I've been in the district. So it's pretty exciting stuff. So little bit of a challenge. Um, now you get the four schools to pick colors that are original to that school. And, uh, we we tried to, uh, pick a mascot, too, that's, uh, going to be representative of the the name. We have, uh, I think we have, um, some suggestions. If you'd like me to share suggestions, if not, you guys can feel free to move forward with it. So, I think what Oops. Excuse me. I think what I'd like to do is maybe just before we have a motion or start to actually vote on anything, we ought to just maybe get a sense of

093if if anybody has any ideas they want to throw out for any any of the schools, but let's take them in order rather than try to do them all at once. So, why don't we start with the high school and if you know I mean we can start at my left. Norm, if you have any suggestions you want to make and work work towards me or we can start at the other end with Dr. Graham if you've got some suggestions. I know Michelle's got some ideas she wants to make. Why don't we start? Um, so why don't we start with Mrs. Wall? She's ready. Uh, Miss Wall, why don't we're going to just do the high school though. Okay. Uh, my proposed suggestion would be to call it very original Summit High. Um, I'd like

094to stick with the theme of since we already have a elementary school there that has somewhat of an aviation theme, it would be the Summit High aviators and the colors that I'm suggesting would be navy blue, silver, and gray. I'd like to say that that was what I was thinking before I went to the resource of chat GBT because then I went to chat GBT and I said, if you were naming a fourth high school and these are the names of your high schools and these are their colors already, what would you name? And what would you colors would you pick? And just if you'd like to see it, I could print it out for everyone. The number one suggestion for colors was navy, blue, silver, and gray. So, that was my suggestion as a

095theme. Um, I like aviators. When you do plug it in and think about it's the Mavericks at the elementary school. You have the aviators at the high school. I'm sure somewhere in the middle. We usually let middle schools pick their own mascot colors. That's stupid, but we do. Um perhaps they could be encouraged about some sort of aviation theme that falls through the whole campus or not, but the idea that it's across from the Summerbridge airport, we usually try to tie in with community pieces. Yeah. No. So for the middle school, you middle school kids who are watching Thunderbolts because that was Thunderbolts the P47ators. Uh so uh during World War II, the P47 was the Thunderbolts. Okay. So um navy blue, silver, and gray. Okay. So, silver and gray are two different colors. Silver

096or you could go with silver and black. I mean, I'm a little reluctant only because aren't they the Cowboys colors? I mean, so when you think about our other high schools, just for those of you who are new to turning tuning in, the Middletown High School is royal blue, white, and black. Aquinic High School is maroon, black, and white. Odesso's green, gold, and black. So, it could be that it's navy blue, silver, and black. I'm I'm I'm just trying to make a joke at Matt's expense and we did get a laugh so sometimes I I succeed but um no I like all those suggestions. Um but why don't we continue along the wit what are your thoughts? So um being so the name of that uh area is called the summit. I was thinking about

097calling the high school the summit the middle school the point and the elementary school the hill. Um, I went with summit because it's defined as the highest point of a hill or a mountain. Um, I was thinking about going along with the colors of orange and black or orange, black, and silver. Um, considering we don't have any, um, other schools with those colors, meaning orange. Um, and the logo will be a mountain with kids of different um, ages like walking up. And the color I'm thinking is like the Grand Canyon because it's high. It's mountainous. Um, so I was going from that standpoint. The elementary school is already named on that campus. Yes. No. Yeah. I mean, when you said the the the elementary school is actually on Green Giant Road, it's it's not at

098that campus in Summit. So excluding the elementary piece. Okay. The point in the summit. All right. So Mr. For also had picked summit just to stay with the theme that we've gone along with lately. Um now as far as it being silver, absolutely not. Cannot have Cowboys anywhere near our district. But uh I was thinking orange, red and black. Orange, black, red and black. Something along those colors because we don't have them anywhere else. But whatever colors we pick will be fine. So right. I mean, we I think we purposely now we've got Middletown High School, just the name of the town. Got Appeaquin High School, just the name of I'll say the district, but Aquinamic Creek, but the area Aquinameck. We've got Odessa High School, the name of a town. Summit, actually, if you

099go back and look at the old Beers maps, was the name for that area, and I think there was a crossroads that was considered a town uh back in the day. So, I think it makes a lot of sense to call this Summit High School. Of course, you've also got the airport right across from the campus. So, I I agree that Summit Aviators uh makes sense. I mean, if I had my brothers, but I'm obviously only one of five. I would pick the color scheme of the Oakland Raiders, you know, black and silver and gray or black and because to me that is like an airplane, right? But, um, I am perfectly content to have, um, navy blue, uh, gray, and even some silver. Um, I think that, you know, that would be different than,

100uh, what our other high schools are. I'm not a big fan of orange for uniform colors. I mean, you may remember back in the day the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Uh, right. They looked pretty bad in orange, I always thought, which is why they moved to the Virginia Tech wears orange pretty well. Are you pardon? Jing and your UVA is orange. You got blue though, but blue and orange it's different. Um, would you like to make a motion and if the motion carries, how do you want them? So, uh, the chair will entertain a motion. I would like to make a motion that we name it Summit High with the aviators with the colors of navy, blue, silver, and gray or black depending on what the design of the logo. Gray or black. So, navy, blue,

101silver, and ne either gray or black. Is that your motion? Depending on That's my motion. It can be changed or discussed. All right. Does anybody want to second that motion? Second. Yeah. Okay. Mr. Abrams has seconded the motion. Questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Okay. Hearing none. All in favor of Summit High Aviators Navy silver and gray or black depending on the logo say I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right. Next on the agenda, we have the name, but only the name for the middle school at the Summit campus. Ms. Dit has suggested the point, but I'll start again at my far right with Miss Graham and see if she has any thoughts. I think as the newest member of the board, I'm just kind of learning this, so I'm a bit taken

102aback by the process. So, um, yeah, I'll just listen. [Laughter] Yeah, diplomatic. Um, all right. Miss Wall, did you get talk to chat GPT again? I didn't. Be we give kids so much ownership over the middle school that I didn't. In the past, we've named middle schools after historical or geographic historical figures or geographic places. So, I thought you would be coming up with an idea for those if I'm perfectly honest. But, um, it could be Summit Middle because it's Summit High and they are conjoined campus just like at the Odessa campus. So, I guess if I was making a suggestion, I would go with Summit Middle. So, if I were making a suggestion, I would say Summit Bridge Middle School because Summit Bridge obviously is is the name of the bridge there that we

103all know. And, you know, we have Kwells Bridge. And when we picked Kwells Bridge as the name for that middle school, part of it was because it's the old name for Odessa, right? Odessa used to be called Kwells Bridge, but also because the theory was or the thinking was that middle school is a bridge from elementary school to high school. So I liked when we did that. Um and so we could have Summit High School and Summit Bridge Middle School. Um obviously Mr. Wit has suggested the point. Did you have any other suggestions, Norm? Any thoughts? No, I just remember when we originally looked at the bland, wasn't there a creek that ran through there? Yeah, that's why the Joy Crystal is it's Crystal Run. That's the elementary school. Yeah, but I thought there was

104another I thought Joy, wasn't there? Wasn't Fat Creek part of that originally? Anyone somewhere? Joy. That does. Those names are fine. You can either one of the two that was suggested is fine. Does anybody want to make a motion? You want Summit Bridge? I'll make a motion that we call it Summit Bridge Metals. Is there a second? Yeah, I'll second. All right. A motion made and seconded for Summit Bridge Middle School. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Why would it be? Is it confusing? Can't bridge Summit Bridge if it's better, but it's fine. Um, okay. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next, we come to the elementary school. Now, just a little bit of background on this school. We've been naming elementary schools after like a local

105road. Uh, this particular elementary school is at the corner of Green Giant Road where it makes a 90 degree turn and it's Oh, wait. Hold on. I can't do that right now. New schools. It's very interesting. You better text her that. We think we appreciate that. She said they were interesting instead of oh my gosh, what are they doing? Holy crap. I don't know. That's right. People are sitting on the edge of their chairs. But somehow TV somehow, even though it's on Green Giant Road, I I'm just I just don't think Green Giant Elementary School, right? You don't want the kids to go ho ho ho all the time. Well, they can all be little green sprouts, right? But um but there are some other roads in the area that that might I mean Gre's

106Corner Road, Wiggins Mill Road are both uh right there and then Level's Road of course is is a well-known road. So there's already a school on Level's Road. It's MOT Charter. Sure. Yes. But I just think that might be Okay. Well, that's fine. No, so I mean and and you're right. It's the furthest from uh from the site. So, cuz G cuz Green Giant intersects Greer's Corner and it intersects Wiggins Mill. Do we know if the entrance for the building is going to be on Greer's Corner or Green Giant? Giant. It has to be on Green Giant because that's the only road this borders because it takes a 90 degree turn and the propertyy's right at that corner. You know, I I'm not opposed to Green Giant, but All right. Well, we'll start with Miss

107Graham. Have you have you overcome your shyness yet? Dr. Graham. No, she's still shaking her head. Well, don't worry. Someday there'll be some more schools there because it's a rural farming community. I even researched there's no history of a major intersection that's ever been there other than these two roads and Wiggins Mill. There's nothing like there's nothing farmous, farming and agriculture based, right? I mean, some some of the farm houses in the area had names, but but you know, I think at least the last couple times we've named elementary schools, we've tried to name them after road. I didn't even look there's not a stream or a lake or No, there isn't. So, it's either there is what is it? The river is close to there. Well, and actually Matt, you had said Aquinic Elementary,

108but I think that's too confusing because there's an elementary school on the same campus as a Quinn High School. So, I don't like that idea. No, I'm going to give it the same name. I think that's too similar. So, either Green Giant Elementary School or Greer's Corner, which I think it's hard to say Greer's Corner or an ele like in an elementary school. Not St. Anzone. Wigginsville. Wigginsville. I like Green Giant. Ho ho ho. Norm, what are your thoughts? I think if we go a green giant, that's going to be the that's going to be the legacy and that's going to be a forever. It is an agriculture community. Honestly, you leave here in two months. So honestly, for the next five years, I could say that's the Michelle Wall project. That's her build. That's

109her candy. I mean, I could just I mean, Michelle Elementary has Wings actually Wiggins Mill would be better. Wiggins Mill might be better. Wiggins Mill, how far away is Mill? Not that far. I mean, it's just when we talk about our other elementary schools, Silver Lake, I mean, Lower Woodrove, they're all by the roads that they're named after. No, Old Naple Lane. Yeah. Wood Grove. Mapleton Lane intersects Lurwood Grove, but I think we picked Lurwood Grove. But you have Wiggins Mill, you have Greer's Corner, and you have Green Giant. But Green Giant, do we want to do that to those kids? That's what I'm just saying. Do we want to do that to the kids? I would say no. But that's I'm one of five. The Greer's Corner or Wiggins Mill. They're the two roads.

110Does that have to have a name today? I think it's part of the river like that. It is. I looked it up today. Is Dog Town over there, too? I don't think we can name it a school after Dog Town. Dog Town's probably about threequarters of a mile down the road. We'd have the kids barking all the time. Our assistant superintendent want Green Giant. I was opposed to it, but now with the other choices, I'd say Green Giant. Just thought I'd put it out there. Like to make a motion that we name the elementary school Green Giant Elementary. Is there a second? Yeah, I'll second. It's now the Norm Abrams and Michelle Wall project. It's all I got. I can see the I can see the opeds now. What the hell were they thinking? No,

111it's it's No, I get it. It's fine. It's it's just it's just we have to be you know the news journal sometimes or WDL watches our meetings and there'll be a story the next day. So I'm hoping this is going to be the story the next fun we these are the good kind of problems to have compared to a lot of the other things we have to deal with. Is there any discussion questions comments on the motion? The motion is to name it Green Giant Elementary School and we're going to have Michelle dress up as for the ribbon cutting be the first time I'd ever be a giant. Now you can vote no and then we'll have to come up with a different name if people vote no. So any further questions, comments or discussion

112on the motion hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Everyone thinks it's a good idea. I'm gonna I'm gonna not vote. It's the right idea. Actually, it's the right call because it's on It's a geographic landmark. It's a geographic landmark and it's an agriculture community, so it's a win-win. All right. Yeah, the Little Bean Sprouts will be the mascot. Green Giant Elementary. Ho ho ho. Okay, that did not take very long. that. But um next on the agenda, we have the sche the schematic design approval for Summit Campus Middle. That will be the Summit Bridge Middle School for theatic design of some middle high schools. I mean just a little bit like That's these documents are 33% of the school right now. We're just kind of pulling pieces and

113moving in and around the building. As we do, we pass around the staff. They put, you know, their feedback in about function and how it's going to work. We keep making adjustments. Right now this is about 33% come back to 66 and then we do have some renderings here that I want let the design team kind of go over with you to kind of see where we are in the process and give you an idea where I have Marine Rosanski got Lester with excuse me Buck Simperson and Associates and then AVHA we have got more we'll start off well thank you for having us here this evening um again we're here to present the schematic design documents, you have a full package um of all of the documents that are associated with this. So, um

114but I I wanted to make a a point to really this is a a big milestone in the overall project um design phase and it's we're really here tonight with a lot of programming discussions having preceded this evening. Um we were here not that long ago presenting the educational specifications which were developed through all of those programming discussions um with a lot of input from district administration and the staff and that really helped cultivate those educational specifications which we use as the foundation to then take forward and develop these schematic design floor plans that we're going to share with you and kind of a a way that the buildings start to take shape. Pass it over to Scott. So we we'll start with the site plan and this is what I think you saw this

115previously with the um uh design development for the site package. Um I'm sorry. Oh, it doesn't work. Okay. Anyway, um kind of the roots of this site plan are based in the master plan that was developed maybe five or six years ago for this summit campus and it laid out the buildings and the growth for the 4K to 12 campus. all the fields circulation and such which was really critical um mainly because this is a 143 acre site versus a Fairview site which was 270 acres so it's really compact and we had to work with the placement of the buildings the uh gray shaded buildings that's Crystal Run Elementary School and the maintenance building which is already constructed as is the first part of that inner loop of the circulation uh Yeah. Entrance off of

116896 coming in. And then that feeds into that interloop is just the parent drop off for the main the high school and middle school. And the high school and the middle school are the colored blocks. The um the kind of the yellowish color is middle school. The light blue is the high school. And then the darker blue is the perform performing arts complex. On the back we have the uh bus parking lots which feed into the entrances at the back of both middle school and high school as well as that kind of a green shaded area is a very strong connection between the gym entrance at the high school and the fieldhouse and stadium complex in the back. And both to the right and the left of the stadium main stadium is the bu baseball

117stadium and the softball stadium. Yes. Yes. See, there's in some blowup plans to a little bit better. Um, and also on the site plane, you can see there's a big kind of a blank area on the site between the end of the high school and that field. That would be for the future buildout of the early childhood center on the site with its associated parking. So, if we go to the next slide, I'm sorry. Um that's for a fields for track and field events. So disc work out well. Uh so we have some kind of combined plans. So this is both middle school and high school and performing arts. Um, we'll have blowout plans of each ind individual area, but this kind of gives you the general arrangement of how things are laid out. And

118I think is there one before this, Steve? Yeah. First floor. So, yeah. Go back. There. This one. Yep. So you can see the main entrances coming in off of um the s the drive the parent dropoff drive and the visitor parking to both a high school and the middle school on the back. And I guess the general arrangement we have is that the academic spaces are towards the front facing the green. So classroom functions and office functions are facing that way. the larger occupancy spaces like the gymnasium, the the cap the um cafeterias as well as the performing arts are towards the rear. Um the uh middle school has the bus parking lot coming feeding into the gym entrance. So adjacent there and then the high school also has the gym entrance coming in from

119the bus parking area. And the performing arts also has its separate main entrance. And there is a small loading area which feeds into the um the space between the high school and middle school cafeteria. And then those uh courtyards are they're not shaded or colored at this plan, but you can kind of see the different spaces that are created. We're envisioning an athletics courtyard for the one by the gymnasium and then the one by the cafeteria can open up to the cafeterias and have outdoor seating areas. Those are the ca uh cafeteria spaces. Uh so next slide is going up a level of second floor again continuation of the academic spaces feeding from middle school over to high school and that connecting link between is the uh media center. And then again if you go

120to the next slide is the third floor. Um for the uh high school we have a third floor and that was driven not only by trying to be more space efficient on the site but also trying to have a um a bigger scale larger monument mentality to the high school as a focal point on the site and then we can go to the next one. um starting. Yes. So on this plan, it's the kind of the orer shaded spaces between the gym space and the front academic core. As you go back towards the cafeteria, there's four classrooms there as well as supporting spaces. Um, but as you come into the middle school, the space to the right is the secure entrance and the administration spaces. Kind of the purple shaded area is the nurse. And

121then we have a typical sixth grade pod on the left side which incorporates seven classrooms and three science classrooms as well as a common space. On the right side is related arts complex which then feeds into other related arts type things that are on the high school side of it. In the rear, we have the uh gymnasium with 400 seat bleachers that opens into gym lobby. Again, the bus entrance is at that point as well. And then to the right is the um the blue shaded area is the cafeteria for the um middle school. Yes. Yep. Yes. The showers. So we have Yeah. So um we've got the next slide. Um again on the second floor of the middle school again it's the two pods seventh and eighth grade pods. Again, the same layout as

122the sixth grade pod. And in the center, we have the art room as well as some student services, support spaces, and smack um an administrative presence on the second floor. I think it's 9 ft. 9 ft. So, moving um the next slide, we're um looking at the first floor of the high school. So, there's a lot to take in here. Um in the center area, colors are very similar to the middle school. So, to the right is the in purple is the nurses suite. Um and to the left in that kind of pinkish is administration. Um, as you move to the left, there's a blend of a lot of student services, uh, as well as special programs. And to the right of the main entrance, um, in the yellow and the green is a mix

123of academic classrooms, um, and other supporting ROTC and a number of, um, other program spaces. What you see is a strong uh line from the front front entry there that that goes through uh kind of the center of the building there and out to um the the back entrance to the to the gym. But in the middle there, there's a a number of CTE programs. We've got um you know uh STEM labs and classrooms. Um we've got a spaces and early child uh care, all of which you know benefit from being on the first floor. Um to the left you start seeing some of the performing arts spaces, but we have a a blowup of that later. Um but to the right in all of that green is the are all the uh high school

124the gymnasium and all of the supporting locker rooms etc. And I will note there are officials uh locker rooms that do have showers in that zone. So we do have um showers in that area. Um and then moving up to the second floor. So again, you start to see um that upper volume of the gymnasium. Uh that that area is the wrestling room/multi-purpose space. Um that is contiguous within that footprint of the gymnasium uh in green there. Um the the second story uh you're starting to see a lot on the right are all of general uh academic classrooms. Uh to the left kind of in that brownish color are a lot of the sciences. So all of your chemistry, anatomy, etc. Um and we also in the the pink uh on the left uh side

125there is allied health because there's a strong connection with uh anatomy. So they were located within the the science wing as well. And then again moving up to the third floor you're starting to see a lot more of the academic classrooms um that stack within you know that that threetory space in the center is a grouping of all of the arts. So your 2D, 3D and graphic arts etc. and what's populated throughout here in green. There's administrative spaces throughout on all levels. There's, you know, support spaces for staff, you know, throughout these areas as well. And I'm going to pass it over to Jordan to Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, I forgot the whole center of the building. Good lord. So, this is the performing arts um center, first floor. Again, these are um a lot

126of the benefits that uh are similar to what we did at Fair View campus where a lot of the shared spaces that that allows us to maximize the square footage um and allocate that um the best that we can. So, looking at that main entry coming off of that inner loop again, to the left is the middle school pod and to the right is the high school. As you continue through, you'll start to see the business finance um program components. Um in the orange to the left is culinary arts. Uh and that has that strong connection to that again that um circulation that goes directly from the front of the building all the way to the back. So that becomes your public um entrance for after hours and for different productions with the theater. Um

127to the right is where you know in the center there that largest component is the the theater and then there's also a black box. So these represent the you know middle school and high school theater spaces um kind of reinvented similar to what we did at Fair View. Uh and then in purple and pink all around that those are all of the performing arts spaces, music, orchestra, etc. Um in that zone on the left side you'll see again in that kind of aqua color is the high school cafeteria. Um and further to the left of that is the shared kitchen. So that is between the middle school cafeteria and then the high school cafeteria to have that be shared. And to the north of that is the shared loading area. So you have one central

128receiving um and loading dock area for the entire campus. Again, similar to what um we have at at Fairview that works very well. This is uh the same seating capacity. We're I mean it's basically the same footprint as what you have at Odessa High and I forget where we 840. Yeah, 840 with the blue seats. Um so very similar. And then moving up to the second floor. Uh again, this uh is doesn't have a third story here. The the second um story has the the eighth grade pod to the left. Um and then the high school sciences and allied health to the right. And what you're seeing in the middle there is the shared media center. Um, again, you have that circulation through that space that really connects the high school and middle school. Uh,

129and then to the the top there, uh, is the upper level of the theater space and all of the supporting um, control spaces as well. And now I'm going to turn over to Jordan. Uh, just introducing myself. I'm Jordan Miller with U BSA plus a U. met some of you before, but been working on this campus from Crystal Run all the way back to the master plan. So, um, nice to meet everyone. So, one of the most striking views and most important for this campus is the view straight from 896. Uh, it has a very clear access across the entire campus and the high school uh, creates its immediate landmark and almost a gateway for Middletown itself. So, you're driving down thousands of people a day. first thing they're going to see is this brand

130new high school representing the district. Um, letting them know where they are. Um, and in this image to the left, you can see the kind of threequarters angle of the rear of Crystal Run. Uh, middle school uh wrapping around there and then the high school terminating um the background across the green. Here we uh take down to kind of eye level at the green looking at kind of the tiering of each of the schools. So here to the far left you see Crystal Run Elementary School um which has been completed. Uh middle school is straight ahead. Um and each of these is marked um a little bit differently but in similar manners of kind of these caps and certain treatments of columns. Um and then to the far right we have the um very dominant

131three-story high school um representing kind of the peak of the entire campus kind of what our thought was to that you name the school that's kind of taken off of that center. Yep. So this um center green area uh we can call it a number of things. It's could be treated as a common area for each of the schools. Um outdoor learning spaces, uh walking paths, um some potential landscaping will happen here. But it creates this focal point for the campus as and our thought is to create a mini summit where um graduations may be able to held outside um gatherings uh school photos. So this becomes a very prominent point for the entire campus to share. Show some there's there's options out there. It's a development and it's all budget related how this whole

132thing I think the idea is to make it a focal point when you're coming in is we're going to try to do some architectural things to it to kind of make it a little more function. So, what you're seeing in this is representative of some walking paths, but our thought is to also integrate some possibly pads um gathering spaces which will kind of highlight places of gathering for each of the schools as well. would interrupt the flow and the view and but anyway just just I'm just asking questions to next. Um so here's just a photo of Crystal Run Elementary School for reference. Uh this is done what three years ago now? Two two three years ago. um and the material palette it wanted to feel cohesive across the entire campus. So this was our

133establishment of the materials used across the entire campus especially in the foreground around the central green area. So we have uh masonry materials used throughout uh plenty of glazing providing natural light um and some screening elements on the rooftop representative of manards um as well. So moving to the middle school again carrying the same color palette um red brick we have a taupe colored brick and we start to kind of break from crystal bronze slightly and using the white material which is a limestone product to signify um slightly different areas and really highlighting entrance points. So at the middle school you can see we brought up the proportions of the entrance way a little bit. It's now a two-story colony um and has a much larger presence than the elementary school does representative of you

134know you're moving up everyone's getting a little bit older a little bit bigger so um we want to welcome them in that same manner moving to the high school now we have the three stories which again is very dominant on the site it's an immediate icon for um looking across the campus from 896 um proportionately three stories alone gives it the scale that this is this is the high school on the campus but we also wanted to exemplify that even further by giving it this um grand entrance way. Um you know we have columns spanning three stories with glazing in between each of the columns just highlighting this is the focal point of the campus. We've added a cap with Aspire on top to just really this is the highest point on the campus and

135the high school should be representative of that. And are all the columns intended to be square? I can't really tell on this drawing. It almost looks like they're round. They're they're all square. They're all square. And moving around to the back, we can start to see how this campus then wraps around all the parking um feeding into each of these schools. This is looking over kind of the athletics complex. So in the bottom left you start to see all the fieldhouse and the um primary field for the football and other athletes. Um and then to the gym you see the direct connection marked by that pathway which would almost feel more like a plaza, a boulevard bridging between the schools and the fieldhouse. Um to the slight right you start to see the the big

136mass that's kind of poking out of the roof. That's the fly space. That's going to be your theater and your performing arts center entrance there. And the thought with that is they're sharing parking with the high school and the middle school. And in events, they all feed into that central area um and sharing the program. And to the far right, you can kind of see where the buses are. That would be the rear of the middle school entrance and the student entrance. But we wanted to continue the same material pallet that we see across the front. um we simplified and kind of took some liberties um to really make this feel slightly different from the front. The front is very formal um but this definitely is cohesive across the entire campus. Um again trying to

137maximize the orientation of the building um on the tight footprint that the site provides creates a lot of angles but also a lot of opportunities to make this very interesting building um from every angle. So, as you can see, it there's no back to this. Um, and that's something we're trying to aim for throughout our design. Any questions? Does anybody have any questions for our team? You're asking us to approve basically the layout that we saw, the schematic design documents that I submitted. Okay. Okay. Mr. President, I'll make a motion that we approve the schematic designs as presented. Second. Motion made by Miss Wall, second by Miss Dit to approve the schematic design documents as presented. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. I. I.

138Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have change orders for approval. Mr. Hopkins, it's awesome. just he didn't ask for comments, but I'm just going to say change. I have submitted some change orders. I'm recommending for approval. Uh a couple of those change orders. I showed you the sliding gate that was going on in that back of the school. We added that for to be secure learning back area. That's about 80,000. And then there's a one of the cafeteria projector. You know, we kind of added that in. These are both under requested and to make that area more functional for all our staff. And that's about 68,000. With that, I'm seeking approval of the change orders as submitted. Mr. President, I can make a motion that we approve the change orders as presented.

139Motion by Ms. Wall, second by Mr. Abrams to approve the change orders as presented and as recommended by Mr. Hopkins. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing? None. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next, we have the personnel report for approval. Good evening. Again, the personnel report for the April board meeting has been presented for your review. We're asking for approval as presented. Mr. President, I'd like to make a motion that we approve the personnel report as presented. Second second motion by Miss Wall, second by Dr. Graham to approve the personnel report as presented. Any questions, comments, or discussion on the motion? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying I. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next on the agenda, we have establishment of meeting dates.

140There will be a board workshop here at 6 PM on Tuesday, April 29. Um we're going to uh be discussing the um superintendent evaluation uh forum. Are you doing anything else at that workshop? Nope. Just that. Okay. Not as far. Uh then we've got the financial advisory committee meeting on Tuesday, May 6th in the finance conference room, Daniel and Tony Mario building. And then we will be back here on Tuesday, May 13th at 7 p.m. for our next regularly scheduled board meeting. And as Ms. all reminded everybody and hopefully everybody's still watching on TV because got to watch to the bitter end. Um that's also an important day. It's an election day for school board. So, uh I encourage everybody to turn out and vote who lives in the district. And with that, we are

141at the end of our agenda and we are adjourned. Thank you all very much for coming.