001I've lost you. >> [laughter] >> Stand up. Am I right, machine? Cuz I've been struggling. Trying to get an MRI. It's been rough. They gave me medication all last night. It didn't work. >> Basically, I'd like to bring the meeting to order. If you would all stand for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Berman? >> Here. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Here. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Here. Mr. Townson? >> Here. >> And Mr. Wadsburg? >> Here. >> I need a first and a second motion to approve the agenda. >> So moved. >> Brian? >> Second. >> Dan? Any discussion? Beth, roll
002call, please. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. Mr. Townson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsburg? >> Yes. >> Okay. I will make the motion for approval of the minutes, and I need a second. >> I'll second it. >> Linda? Any discussion? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. Mr. Townson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsburg? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Uh John, student staff presentation. >> Okay. This time I would like to turn it over to our elementary school principal, Mrs. Gill, and she can introduce her students and staff who will be presenting. >> Good evening. Thank you so much for having us. Um I am going to actually turn this over to Mrs. Starr. I want to
003just shout out kudos to these 11 students here and Mrs. Starr. She came to me last year wanting to put together a student council for our elementary students and an opportunity for them to lead. Um and you know that's my passion. So it was amazing to see and then to turn around and see 11 of them show up this evening uh to present to you guys. I know they're very excited. So thank you for allowing us to do this. Mrs. Starr. >> [snorts] >> Good evening. I'll step a little higher. >> [laughter] >> First I just want to um thank you for your interest in having our kids present tonight. And I also just want to give a shout out to our administrators across the board. I've um just benefited so much from just the
004open interest and thinking outside of the box and always ready to go with new ideas. So um Mrs. Gill in particular with her leadership class background has been a great help with this. And we've had a fantastic time. We just kind of dove in and we're like, "Hey, let's just do what we can do this year." But we had uh I believe we were nearly 45 kids in fourth grade um apply at the beginning of the year. So um I just want to tell you all too that that speaks to the interest of our young kids in being leaders. And I don't think you would find that everywhere. So that was really encouraging and also very difficult at the same time. But this is just a little portion of our group that decided to come
005tonight to share with you. So we appreciate you being ready to listen to them. All right, kids. You want to go ahead and stand? Girls, do you want to come around and look at the board? >> [clears throat] >> All right, ready? Yeah, let's go around and look. >> Hello Board of Education. We are Berkshire Elementary's 4th Grade Student Council. This is a picture of us. >> What is our mission? Our mission is to provide leadership and service to our students, staff, and community. >> Process of joining the leadership team. First, we have an application with a series of questions asking why you want to be a part of student council. Then the student will have an interview with BES's very own Mrs. Gill, Mrs. Starr, and Mrs. Prante. After all of that, you can
006be selected to be in our 4th Grade Student Council Leadership Team. >> How many people does the leadership team have? As of right now, we have 18 people in our Student Council Leadership Team. We met We meet every Wednesday at lunch, and everyone helps in their own way. >> What have we done so far? >> We are working on an idea for buying new recess equipment such as jump ropes and more balls. >> We make cards for Veterans Day for disabled veterans so they can get cards to if they don't have any more loved ones or if they just want to have something happy in their day. >> Books for donation drives for the library. We collected over 1,000 books in just 3 weeks. This process was we put boxes outside of classrooms and students
007could donate books and put them in the boxes. And kids could And we met every Wednesday and then we took all the book out of the boxes and we met during Wednesday and we did that. >> Ball pumping. Once every month we go out to recess and pump up the balls. >> Some of our members from our leadership team go and be volunteers for our assembly with Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted. >> We have >> Some of our student council members were volunteers for the event at for the assembly on Valentine's Day but they were >> [clears throat] >> Any other questions? >> [laughter] >> I wondered if you could pass the mic down and introduce all of yourselves. Okay, I am Preston I'm Eva Wayne. I'm Rory Wells. I'm Brielle McCaskey. I'm Griffin Wyman. I'm
008Jacob Sutter. I'm Andrea Leisman. I'm Coralyn Saroloma. I'm [clears throat] Josephine Elaine. I'm Gracie Sherman. I'm Annabelle Berry. I'm Savannah Smith. Thank you. >> What was your favorite event that you've done so far? >> I don't know for the other people if that's the best. All right, well >> Correct. >> [laughter] >> I love the pumping up the balls. I think that's a great idea. >> Now, do your classmates know you do that for them? Do your classmates know you pump up the recess balls for them? No. Well, thankless job. Thanks for doing that. >> [laughter] >> Where did Where did the books end up going after the the drive? Where did they go? >> They go to school library. >> To our school library. Oh, okay. I see. >> And I just want to
009say thank you so much to these kids. They have been amazing this year. They every project that we've done, they have truly been just the ideas behind of it and every time that something comes up, they just take it and run. And so they've become incredibly independent and just really a great group of leaders. So, just want to congratulate them on everything they've accomplished this year. And um they're not done. They'd like to do a fundraiser to buy more equipment for the playground. So, it's great. And I thank you for asking that question cuz a lot of what they do is kind of thankless. And so, it's nice to have that recognized, too. I can see you as future leaders at Berkshire. Yep, that's >> Yeah, we're proud of you. >> Thank you guys for
010coming. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, excellent. That was awesome. >> And as we uh always say, you're more than welcome to stay, but you're more than welcome to go, as well. >> [laughter] >> No obligation here to stay. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> Heather, you and your whole staff seated. >> [laughter] >> I thought we got a decent crowd. >> Well, since all of our public left. >> [laughter] >> Um, this is the point of the meeting where we have public participation. If there's a comment or question that you want to um say to the board, please step up to the microphone and address us and please be respectful. >> It's hard to be respectful. But I should have uh read the for the presentation. My name is is Don Horneck and from Burton Township. My
011purpose in speaking to this audience >> [laughter] >> is to give great praise to our superintendent. If you haven't visit YouTube s- uh for the Stat Cats shame on you. And uh we should promote this broadcast immensely. Stat Cats is outstanding. And uh every parent and voter should see it. Uh I found it on uh YouTube at Statcast. Is Is Is it anywhere? >> [snorts] >> It's on our YouTube page and then you can find it from our website as well. >> It's outstanding. And uh thank you for do the good job. >> I'm glad you enjoy it. >> Mhm. >> [snorts] >> And uh that's it. >> [laughter] >> I'm sorry cuz can't talk. >> No, no. >> Thank you, Mr. Hornek. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Well,
012I've asked if there's anyone else, but there isn't anyone else here. >> Nothing. >> [laughter] >> Um thank you. Uh Treasurer's report. >> Let the record reflect the Treasurer submitted a statement to the board and to the superintendent showing the revenues and receipts, the sources derived, the various appropriations made by the board, the expenditures and disbursements, the purposes and balances remaining in each fund. The financial statements for the period ending February 2026 has been submitted subject to audit and includes a financial summary, appropriations and revenue summary, check register recap and bank reconciliation. Have a motion to approve the tax rate resolution for the 2026 tax year 2027 collection year. >> So moved. >> Brian. >> I'll second. >> Okay. >> Who Who is that? >> It's Brian. >> [laughter] >> Oh, yeah. >> The new
013The new guy. >> It's the first time I forgot his name, too. >> Uh any further discussion? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mrs. Stone? Yes. Mr. Townson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsworth? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Uh Superintendent's report. >> I would like to request a motion to approve the following personnel for certified and classified as listed. >> So, moved. >> I'll second it. >> Linda. Any discussion? Roll call, Beth, please. >> Mr. Townson? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsworth? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. >> I would like to request a motion to approve the competition shooting team and the girls flag football team as varsity team sports. >> So, moved. >> Dan.
014>> I will second that. >> Brian. Any discussion? >> I have a question. How long would it would be before girls wrestling could be? >> Um the minimum amount of time they have to spend as a club sport is 2 years. So, if they have two successful years as a club sport, then they can petition to be accepted as a varsity sport, and that's when we bring it here. So, girls wrestling has one more year as a club sport before they would come on to the agenda. >> It was a great first season. >> It was outstanding. >> When would these clubs take effect as s- varsity sports this coming school year? >> Right here in the spring. >> Oh, in spring. Awesome. >> Any further discussion? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Wadsworth. >>
015Yes. >> Mr. Berman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfreedi. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone. >> Yes. Mr. Townsend. >> Yes. >> I'd like to request a motion to approve the overnight field trip for the amusement music department to Disney World on January 16th and through January 21st of 2027. >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> Linda and then Dan. Any discussion? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Berman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfreedi. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone. >> Yes. Mr. Townsend. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsworth. >> Yes. >> I'd like to request a motion to approve the following contracts as attached. >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> Brian. Any discussion? >> Uh John, can you explain a little bit about the Auburn one? >> Sure. Auburn Career Center uh middle school expansion contract is uh
016they are going to provide us some funding um because we provided some middle school um career tech um opportunities for our kids. So, I believe Beth, you can give me the exact amount. It's in the neighborhood of $26,000. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, it's Auburn Career Center essentially paying us for providing those uh services in middle school. >> And um I noticed uh we have the 3-year agreement with Smiles I I want to comment and say it's noticeable and people that come [clears throat] into our school notice that they do a terrific job and it sure means a lot that they're from the community and care so much about the way the building appears. So, want to say that on their behalf. >> And they they renewed for a below market increase. So, it was
017it was a great deal for them and for us. >> Uh any further discussion? >> [clears throat] >> Beth will call, please. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. Mr. Townsend? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsworth? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> I'd like to request a motion to approve the following school fees for the 2026-27 school year as attached. I'll note that we are again not raising the school fees. We're doing the best we can to control costs and not incur more. >> So moved. >> Brian. >> I'll second. >> Dan. Any discussion? Beth will call, please. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. >> Mr. Townsend? >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadsworth? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> I'd like to request a motion to
018approve the following course guides for the 2026-27 school year for Berkshire High School and Berkshire Middle School as attached. >> So moved. >> I'll second it. >> Linda. Any discussion? >> want to say looking at both of them, but especially the high school one, all the detail and everything that's in there, I mean you can if you're taking one path or another, you have all the directions and all the guidance in there and I was very impressed with that. >> put together well. >> Yeah, the high school has really honed that in and and middle school is now kind of following in line to make sure the kids understand what those paths are. So, it is an impressive job. >> Any further discussion? >> [clears throat] >> Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Townson? >>
019Yes. >> Mr. Wadsworth? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. >> Thank you, John. Old business. >> I got one more. I would like to request a motion to approve the high school open campus final exam schedule for May 21st uh 19th through 21st uh 2026. >> So moved. >> I'll second. >> Dan? Brandon? >> Can you explain that? >> So they just come in when they test and then they can >> Correct. Yeah, we had some students and some parents ask us um if we could do an open campus because they felt like the kids' time would be better served either either staying at Auburn or uh staying in their CCP or staying home to study for their next exam. Um but we all
020we do have the option if parents want them to come here, we have a study hall for them if if parents don't want They have to have parent permission before they miss that period. But if they don't have an exam, then they don't have to come in for that period of time. >> [snorts] >> Thank you. Any other questions? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Wadsworth? >> Yes. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. >> Mr. Townson? >> Yes. >> Okay. Now we go to old business. >> No old business for me. I think we talked about it all last last meeting. >> Okay. Um just for the people that are maybe watching, we are in the process of um interviewing uh for Beth's replacement and treasurer.
021We'll be doing that the next 2 weeks. Um and do not have a date yet that we would actually hire. So, just for the record, so people know. That's what we're in the process of doing any new business. Okay. Our next board meeting >> [clears throat and cough] >> is April 13th here in the auditorium, 6:00 p.m. same time. Do we have any need for executive session? >> I do not either. >> With that being said, I need a motion and a second to adjourn. >> So moved. >> Brian. >> [clears throat] >> Second. >> Dan. >> Mr. Berman? >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfredi? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. >> Mr. Townsend? >> Yes. >> Mr. Washburn? >> Yes.