001Huh? I'm on. They're on now. >> Yeah. >> Okay, Beth. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Burman, >> here. >> Mr. Manfred. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone? >> Yes. >> Mr. Townsen? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Wisworth? >> Yes. >> I need a first and a second to approve the agenda. I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. Dan, any discussion? Beth roll call, please. >> Mr. Burman, >> yes. >> Mr. Mayor Leing, >> yes. >> I'm gonna do this again. [laughter] >> Mrs. Stone, >> yes. Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> Mr. Wodssworth, >> yes. >> I need a first and a second for approval of the minutes from the January 12th organizational meeting. >> So moved. >> Brian, >> I'll second it. Linda, any discussion? Beth roll call, please. >> Mr. Manfred, >> yes. >> Mrs.
002Stone, >> yes. >> Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> Mr. Wber, >> yes. >> Mr. Burm, >> yes. >> I need approval of minutes for the January 12th regular board meeting. >> So move, >> Dan. >> I'll second it. >> Linda, any discussion? Beth roll call, please. >> Mrs. Stone, >> yes. >> Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> Mr. Wodssworth, >> yes. >> Mr. Burman, >> yes. >> Mr. Manfred, >> yes. >> I need a first and a second for approval of the amendments from the January 29th special meeting. I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. >> Brian, any discussion? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Townso. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wodssworth. Yes, >> Mr. Burman. >> Yes, >> Mr. Manfred. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Stone. >> Yes. >> Uh, John. Student staff presentation. >> Okay. Our
003student and staff presentation for this month is the Berkshire Early Childhood Center. Mr. Kermavner, the director of our uh preschool is, if you grab that mic so we can hear you talking the mic. He is going to lead the presentation. and I will turn it over to Mr. Kermabner to take it away. >> Very good. Thank you uh board, superintendent, treasure, community, thank you for inviting us here this evening. Uh there's nothing uh I think better. So uh every without me talking but showing what the Birkshire preshood center. So, uh, while I'm speaking, we're going to have our friends playing and we will introduce them, uh, through the presentation along with our staff members. So, here we go. There is a list. It takes a it takes a family. It takes a village to to
004do the things that we do with our our kiddos. And that gives you an idea of all the people it does take beyond even the people that are here. So, couple of uh recognizable faces. Again, my name is Mr. Kermavner or Bill Kermagner, also known at the preschool as Mr. Bill. So, uh, for some of us older folks that are familiar with Saturday Night Live, >> that's part of it. I've got to get used to that. And then we have our administrative [laughter] assistant, uh, Miss Amy. So, we have Miss Stephanie, who is here at one of our centers, and then Miss Chelsea, who is also at one of our centers here. Uh, Mr. Alec is at the back bringing his new one along with Miss Nicole and Miss Megan is right up front here.
005Uh and we have Miss Lisa who was in charge of putting the presentation together. Uh and Miss Miss Dom is right up front way. And then we have another pair professional uh Miss Kim. And then we have our sub and also who does our morning uh care is Miss Chris. also Miss Maryanne who is responsible for the curriculum and putting a lot of this presentation together along with Miss Beth who is right over there at the first center and then we have Miss Alyssa and Miss Michelle again our pair of pros. Our program is divided up into three classrooms of 41 students. We have our buddies uh and explorers and cubs. We also have our related service folk uh that are not here with us that uh work with speech and uh occupational therapy and
006physical therapy. Uh before and after care we handle at our new uh facility too, the big gray facility up on top of the hill. Uh so that kind of gives us what you've heard for the last two presentations is this thing called creative curriculum in which we do it is play-based. School should be fun and we know that over years that that fun tails off a little bit with our kiddos, but this is a great way to get our kids engaged and they love it. Talks about formatted curriculum, assign assignment tools and documentation, tangible resources and mighty minutes, quick activities and digital games that are aligned. Also it goes a little bit more on about our lights unit in which we are featuring and you see our friends uh through activities up front. So again
007this is just one of a number of units that we do throughout the year. Uh and again this is the unit called lights. Also we have highlighted uh the standards uh for each of them. Again, it is playbased, but it's related to our content standards and they're above for each of theers that we have. We have three centers uh tables with our friends. also uh to give you some idea of uh our our our kiddos or our friends that we call them. Uh we're going to kind of go through them, but we wanted to highlight showing them some showing you some of the activities that they do. And if you notice, they're all happy. So, they must be having fun, too. They're all all smiling. And again, we have examples from each of the classrooms.
008They never had these type of units or lessons when I was going to school. >> So, uh we also have what we call uh a dance party on Fridays. And uh this was an example. We put together the culmination of our light unit was the uh uh activity. We had a light uh ceremony or festival uh and Miss Beth really ran the uh of organizing it and putting together. We had parents helped donate some of the materials that we needed. Our parents are fantastic to do that. But look at the fun and things that they are doing with lights. Okay. Right now, what we're going to do is we're going to start off with uh uh Miss Stephanie over there just to introduce our our friends and then we're going to go to uh over
009here to Miss Megan's group and then the center group. So, go ahead, Miss Stephanie. along with our magnet as well. >> And we'd also like to thank the parents for bringing some of our friends along here tonight. Again, a lot of these activities too are STEM based or steambased, which is science, technology, art, and math all put together. Every Friday, we have a neat uh steam activity that we do with the kids so they can actually see and do uh with hands-on approach. So, uh why don't we go down to our table over here, our center over here. Miss Maryanne, you are up. which are like zigzag those kinds of things and then the library is really good for the fine. So also while making pictures that kind of stuff. >> All right. Thank you.
010and our center table. Miss >> M. Here I have Tyler. Thank you. So a couple things last year >> number of we had graduated over 25 kids on to kindergarten. We replaced that and now the program is at 41 and growing. We grow actually almost every week with a new new friend coming to us. Uh and and that that's great. But, uh, it shows most of our students, uh, are in our program all day, every day. Uh, and and they're having a lot of fun. Uh, and and again, you can tell by their their faces, but also by attendance. They want to come to school. Isn't that the way it should be? And they're having having fun. So um I'm very proud of of our friends but also we have a great talented group of
011staff uh and again this program would not be possible uh and the success of the program without such talented people and uh they're really uh showing their uh their skills especially every day with our kiddos. And uh again, we appreciate the board and the superintendent treasurer for putting us in our new facility. Uh it's been wonderful and that's really made a difference as well. Uh state-of-the-art uh just with uh bathrooms. You may laugh at this, but there's a bathroom in each room. That is very important at preschool. uh and uh that that has uh helped us out so much along with the proximity of all the classrooms where they the teachers meet uh weekly and and they're actually teaching the same standards uh at the same time and they they'reing so at this time uh
012again I wanted to show uh the fruits of their efforts and ours and we're very proud of our friends here at the uh preschool level or at at the Berkshire Early Childhood Center. So, thank you for having us again this evening. [applause] I did I did share a um a message that we got from a parent who was really excited. Shared that with the with the board and so they they all got to read that and and that was really nice. And uh board members, do you have any questions for um any of the preschool staff? Well, I all I wanted to say was um yes, you did share that message and in the message it it's specifically talks about all of you that take care of their kids and how it's not easy for
013them to give their kids up and bring them here to give them up, but you're they're very trusting and very appreciative of everything you do. So hats off to all of you because these kind of messages, we don't get a whole lot of emails that we get to see like this. That's a testament of the job that all of you do. So you could take a bow. >> Also, that you can see how comfortable they are with all of you, too. Like hugging and like getting right there like in your faces because they probably just love you guys as teachers. Thank you. >> You're more than welcome to stay, but you're more than welcome to go as well. It's all up to you. >> Yeah. Thank you, kids and teachers and parents. >> Thank you.
014Um, at this point, uh, we have public participation. You're more than welcome to come up with the microphone, address the board for any comments. >> [laughter] >> Okay, I see no one is coming up for public participation. So, we will continue uh treasures report. >> Thank you. Do you let the record reflect the treasures submitted a statement to the board and to the superintendent showing the revenues and receipts, the resources derived, the various appropriations made by the board, the expenditures and dispersements, the purposes and balances remaining in each fund, the financial statements for the period ending January 2026 has been submitted subject to audit and includes the financial summary, appropriation and revenue summary, check register recap, and bank reconciliation. I have a motion to approve the following donations. Uh we had uh a donation from
015Little Annie's Hope Train. Um the Schlink Foundation for $24,381, Katherine Mcranahan for $50 for school lunches, and $500 from the Rotary um Club of Burton and Middlefield for girls wrestling. And then finally, um, the Preston Superstore along with Ford Ford Motor Company. That is the total of what they've contributed in addition to the $750,000 that they donated um to to uh buy the property. So, that was for the um the remodel of buildings A and B. um the building C where the paint booth is and then building a new building for our classroom. >> That's awesome. >> $833,79. >> I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. That's awesome. >> It is amazing to me how much that they have taken all of these people that we get donations from. and we have them every month
016that people want to see success come out of this school and this program and and Pat and his group I I really don't know that you really can't say enough of what they do. One question Beth that um foundation grant is that specific to anything? >> Yes to um IT functions. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Beth. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Burman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfried. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone. >> Yes. >> Mr. Townsen. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Wodsman? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Can I have a motion to approve the following financial amendments as listed? >> I'll second it. >> And Linda. Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Manfred. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone. >> Yes. Mr. Townsen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadssworth. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Burman.
017>> Yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, next is a five-year forecast. So, if you recall, we uh the legislation passed in I guess it was last November or October. Well, must have been August, August or September. Um requires us to do a February forecast. Now, I will tell you there's a lot of um unknowns on this forecast. So we will be doing a May forecast as well. So just to remind you the objectives of the forecast is to engage the board and the community in financial discussions. Um it allows us to do a certification which is a 412 certificate and that's for contracts and then it allows the Ohio Department of Education and the honor state's office to identify schools with potential financial issues. [snorts] So uh just to remind you of our
018tax structure, we are currently at the 20 mil floor. So that means when property values increase, real estate taxes increase and vice versa. Uh we have 1% earned income tax and a 2.45 mil bond levy. Uh in 2023 was the last big reappraisal and home values increased by 29.73%. And then we did have a PI um renewal that failed in November 24, so it's no longer on the books. So, back in December uh 19th of of last year, Governor DeWine signed into law four pieces of legislation that had um a major impact on u property tax reform. And one in particular has really affected Bergkshire a lot. So, House Bill 129 changes the way that fixed sum levies are included into the school district's floor calculation. House Bill 186 cap caps the revenue growth of
019the 20 mil floor districts, which we are. And then House Bill 335 limits the revenue increases from inside Millage and House Bill 309 gives more authority to the local budget commission. So, I want to really uh concentrate on House Bill 186 because this is the biggest unknown and the biggest effect on the on our district. Uh, and it's important to note that that we don't know how this is going to be calculated. So, they passed this legislation and we're required to do a February forecast, but we don't know what the calculation is. So, it's a little bit frustrating. Um, this will limit how much uh a school can grow in property tax based on the reappraisal. It did double the homestead and roll back credits, which is is great for the taxpayer. Um, it's a
020retroactive bill, so those increases we saw back in 2023 are now going to be taken away and and capped at inflation. And like I said, we don't know the calculation yet. We believe it's going to be um a little over a million for one year and then potentially an additional $3 million through the life of this forecast of 2030. So as I said in our special meeting, we will not know that calculation until April 20th. So in May, we we will do a new new forecast. So this is uh this graphic compares the district's 5-year forecast with property tax reform and without it. So essentially the forecast we had in October 25 to today's forecast. So you can see without property tax reform that this district's cash balance was steadily declining and became negative in
02129 and it continued to worsen through 2030. Well, with property tax reform, um we have we've seen the cash um balance decline faster and we will be going into the negative in um 2028. So, that will put us in a fiscal caution with um the Ohio Department of Education. So once this is filed, we will receive what they call a 10-day letter. Um, so we'll be required to submit uh cuts, levy plans, what the plan is to get rid of that negative. So this next fly slide I just want to show you how um school funding has changed and and how it's putting a bigger burden on the taxpayers. So in 1997, which is the left hand slide, the past slide, that's the funding formula when the DAL case was was uh entered into the
022um Ohio Supreme Court or Court of Appeals and um our school funding was declared unconstitutional. So you can see there's 47% was being contributed by the state. Now today the state contributes 31%. So, it's even more unconstitutional and that's forcing the local taxpayers to um fund more of education. And as Dr. Sold has said in the past, you know, it's it's supposed to be a 50/50 split, you know, and and it's not any anymore. It's not even close. So, then uh this next slide shows you that this is it. This is a great graphic and it shows the percentage of change between revenues and expens expenditures versus inflation. It's not an expenditure problem for us. It's it's a a funding problem. You can see the green line represents inflation and you can see that our
023expenditures are are typically lower than inflation but so are our revenues. So that's um reinforces the problem is not how we're spending, it's how we're being funded and how revenues are being capped. >> So shifting of the burden from the state funding schools to local property taxes funding schools >> and and this graphic also um represents that. You can see um the gap on the left hand side, you know, was pretty far apart still, but it's just getting further and further apart. So this is our um our cash balance. You can see in 28 we're in the negative. Uh expenditures are outpacing revenues. Uh you can see expenditures really aren't going up, you know, that quickly at all. But in 28 we we're definitely um in trouble. And then I just want to emphasize we
024do not know um fully what that deduction is going to be for 28, 29 and 30. And you can see in 2027 we are um ending with 7 days cash. So it's imperative that we make uh any adjustments at the end of this school year beginning of next. So, so what's next for us? It's going to be a combination of things. Um, the fact that we'll be in fiscal caution will will mean we'll have to put out a plan, but we will have to have some level of expenditure reductions. And what do expenditure reductions mean at schools? That means cuts. So, we will have to make some type of cut somehow someway. Our ultimate goal is to stay as far away from the classroom as possible and then work inward. So, we will try to
025make our cuts as far away from the classroom as we can. And hopefully between a combination of cuts and additional revenues, we don't have to make drastic cuts. But, um, we'll we'll know that plan better in April when we have the um the exact calculation. We're also going to have to add revenue to replace some of the loss revenue. And the only way for school districts to really add significant revenue is through levy. So there there will be a levy campaign of some sort. Uh we made the decision at the special meeting not to run one in May because we don't know enough. So we will be deciding in April uh what we need and we'll start running that campaign to shoot for next November when we when we know more. And then we're also
026going to have to add more revenue streams. We're going to have to add programs that not only add value in terms of the programming but bring in revenue. Preschool is one. You saw the preschoolers here presenting. Preschool um and Badger Care bring in tuition. So that helps us. Uh our business partnerships, as you saw with the donations from Preston and some other business partnerships, those will bring in um revenue streams as well. seats in our workforce development pathways. Um, currently we have West Giaga purchasing some seats in our mechanical tech. So, they have they have students in our program that's over at Preston and uh we have other districts that are asking us all the time if we have open seats. So, we'll start to make those available. Um, also seats in our vocational program,
027our jobs program. We're working right now with four different districts who are buying seats in our our high school um vocational program. Um right now that's probably bringing in the most consistent revenue for us. And then we're going to have to look at other revenue generating programs. Um, we've been working with uh the the courts and the magistrate on some potential alternative school programs which would be for court-placed students and um courtplace students for us are very expensive because they have to go wherever the court places them and then we have to pay whatever that program costs. So, if we have a program and the courts can place our kids in our program, that will save us. But then also, if other local districts have kids who would need to go into a program and
028we have open seats, they could go into our program that would generate some revenue and also save those local districts the the large expenses that we have from from outpacing our kids in other other programs. So, th those are the things that we're going to have to do. And again, it's going to have to be a combination of some cuts and a levy and some additional programming that that will bring in some more revenue. And and so in April, we should know um exactly, you know, what we'll need to ask for and and then be able to put a plan together and move forward. >> Any questions? Isn't there another factor too in case the tax um the no tax or taxing property taxes get abolished because that would be in this next fiscal year.
029>> Yeah, that's that's a whole another whole another issue. [clears throat] >> Um >> that will likely if if property taxes are abolished it'll it would right now the state is constitutionally bound to support a system of common schools. So they would have to find another way to fund the schools. know whether that means drastic budget cuts or what we don't know yet. But that's where we'll have to uh that that will be a whole another uh animal um a whole another plan of attack when that when that happens. >> Anyone else? >> Uh I will make the motion. Second >> Brian Wilk. >> Mrs. >> Yes. >> Mr. Townsen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadssworth. >> Yes. >> Mr. Burman. >> Yes. >> And Mr. Manini. >> Yes. >> Thank [clears throat] you. >> Thank
030you, Beth. Uh, John, superintendent report. >> I would like to request a motion to approve the following personnel for classified and certified as listed. So, >> I'll second it. >> All right, Dan and Linda. Any discussion? >> Uh, roll call, please. >> Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> Mr. Wodssworth, >> yes. >> Mr. Burman, >> yes. >> Mr. Manfred, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stone, >> yes. >> I would like to request a motion to approve the following volunteers as listed. >> So, move. >> Brian, I will second. Damn. Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Wsworth, >> yes. >> Mr. Burman, >> yes. >> Mr. Ramirey, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stone, >> yes. >> Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> I would like to request a motion to approve the following contracts as attached. >> So moved.
031>> Second. >> Linda. Second. >> Any discussion? Beth, roll call, please. >> Mr. Burman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfried. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stone. >> Yes. >> Mr. Townsen. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wsworth. >> Yes. >> Like to request a motion to authorize the continued membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association for the 2026 2027 school year. >> So move. >> Brian. I'll second. Any discussion? Beth will call please. >> Mr. Manfred. >> Yes. Mrs. Stone, >> yes. Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> Mr. Bodsworth, >> yes. >> Mr. Burm, >> yes. >> I would like to request a motion to approve the following overnight trips for softball to Pigeon Forge and for baseball to Myrtle Beach. Both will be during our spring break. >> So move Dan. >> I'll second. Any discussion? >> Beth
032roll call, please. >> Mrs. Stone, >> yes. >> Mr. Townsen, >> yes. >> Mr. Wsworth. >> Yes. >> Mr. Burman. >> Yes. >> Mr. McFredy. >> Yes. Thank you, John. Old business. >> I I don't have any old business other than, you know, we've already talked about old business um in the um financial forecast um which is was largely the same thing we talked about at our special meeting in January. But um I do have some things in new business because that's not all we're being that's not the only challenge we're reacting. >> Okay. I've got one item in old business. Treasurer sir, >> are we um still getting what what is our dates on that? >> Uh the application window closes at the end of this month and I I have right now I
033have one application. Uh it's for a gentleman from Ketering Schools uh close to Dayton. Um I have heard that there are at least two more that will apply. I think they're waiting till close to the to the [clears throat] deadline. So the the goal would be to um whoever we get the applications for to share that with our um with our search team here, which is myself, Beth, I believe, Mr. Wadsworth and Mr. Manfried and we'll decide if we want to interview all three or if we want to interview two of the three and then see if those three are sufficient to make our choice. >> Well, the one from Ketaring we should definitely bring up during a snowstorm. >> Sure. [laughter] >> Just like we get our superintendent. >> If if [clears throat] that
034doesn't scare him away, nothing will. [laughter] >> Okay. Uh new business. >> Okay. Hey, I want to talk about some more state legislation that I think you need to be aware of that um potentially could affect us. First is House Bill 671. Uh that is a bill that is being proposed to withhold funding for any school district that has participated in the vouchers Ohio lawsuit, which is 330 districts uh across the state, including Bergkshire. [snorts] Um, we actually won in the initial court case. Uh, and it was declared that the vouchers were unconstitutional. That's currently under appeal. My editorial opinion is that the state legislature feels like we might win again. So, they're trying to intimidate us into withdrawing from the lawsuit because the bill essentially is written as as long as we're a part
035of the lawsuit, the state will not give us funding. So that that will go to the House for a vote here soon. Um so we could potentially be looking at no local property tax funding because it's abolished and then no state funding as well because they don't want to fund us because of the lawsuit. So that could be um tough on the horizon. Uh I think it's you know it's just a bullying tactic I think. So hopefully um the rest of the house will will see the same thing. Also, there's House Bill 304 currently on the floor. And House Bill is to mandate all public schools in the state of Ohio to provide two separate 30 minute recess periods in grades K through 8. So, essentially adding an hour of recess to the day in
036grades K through eight. No mention of where to take the time from or how to extend the time or how to compensate staff for the extra time or how to cover the extra time. No relief to any kind of other requirements. Um no curricular relief, no testing relief, just you you know you will add two 30-minute periods of recess. Currently we we don't have recess for middle school. So it would be an entirely new block of recess that would have to be added. So again, that's a mandate if that goes through. That's another mandate that they don't provide funding for. When we talk about unfunded mandates and and people ask how we we spend our money, that's something that we're forced to spend our money on >> that [snorts] we wouldn't have had to before.
037>> I think I know the answer, but uh what about private schools? >> No. >> Oh, >> only public schools. Okay. >> Not charter schools either. Which leads me to House Bill Two. House Bill Two has been stalled. House Bill Two was a bill that would have required transparency, audits, and other things for forprofit educational >> organizations like charter schools. House two has been stalled by legislators. we feel because their lobbyists in the for-profit education have asked them to not make them accountable. So, it's just it's just an interesting uh combination of reductions in funding and now these additional reductions in funding or additions to what we have to do on top of the fact that at the same time they've decided that for-profit educational um institutions don't need any any oversight or accountability. So,
038>> do you think the [clears throat] lieutenant governor would know much about House Bill 304 and how it could be instituted? >> Uh, we can ask him when he comes. >> Be a good idea. >> What What is the logic behind that? That that just allowing kids to burn off more energy throughout the day, too much stationary time. I >> I'm not sure. I think I think rightly kids need to move and be more active. >> Sure. >> But I think um we need to find ways to do that >> within um >> or or find relief in other things like >> Yeah. >> I believe you saw preschool, you know, a lot of play-based preschool. I do believe that kids of all ages need more play and more unstructured activity. The the problem is
039we don't have room for unstructured activity and and our school day is longer than most. >> So this is going to be a strain on a lot of people. Um I agree we should have more unstructured activity. So they should take some structure away, >> right? Not >> um the the difficulty here with with legislation with with our legislators is they always cry about regulation and how regulation strangles businesses and regulation stifles creativity. But they they have no problem strangling us with regulation. Um, if you deregulate us, I think we could be more creative and innovative and do more things and, you know, use our resources in different ways. But it's it's like either the left hand doesn't know what the right hand's doing or the left hand wants to destroy the right hand. >>
040That's right. Does in [clears throat] that legislation in 304 does it have to be a half hour straight? >> I I think so. I it it calls for two separate halfhour blocks. >> Okay. Just so >> currently our longest recess is 20 minutes. >> What is the percentage of the school day that would be recessed? an hour of of how long is is a >> students are in se in session for just under seven hours. So it' be 17th of their day would be >> recess. And don't they like even through project-based learning, they're getting up and moving around and moving to different stations and you know so part of it is that they want movement and free play which >> yeah we and we encourage movement and we have arts and we have uh
041everyone takes um fitness education and we kind of revamped that in elementary to make it even more movement and more fitness. And you know, we have clubs and activities that that get kids moving a lot. I mean, we try to do a lot of things in that in that area. And it's not it's not a bad idea to get kids moving more. It's just where's it going to come from? And you know, the issue is once once the legislators are successful at privatizing or shutting down or doing away with public schools, how where are they going to mandate all these things that I I think they they aren't preparing themselves for the issues that they're going to cause. So, just thought it was interesting and and wanted you to be aware of these on top
042of the other things that have happened, these pending um bills that are further threat to either our resources or our time or the apparent lack of accountability that some of our legislators feel for-profit institutions need to have. >> Isn't there one for the pledge of allegiance? And don't we do the pledge of allegiance? >> We say the pledge of allegiance every day in every classroom. So yes, that that wouldn't affect us. But again, that house or that we've heard gubernatorial candidate Ramaswami say that he will mandate the pledge of allegiance if he's governor, but he will only mandate it in public schools. He can't mandate it in private or charter schools, even though they get taxpayer dollars. So even that they need public schools to be able to mandate those things because they're they're none
043of that's aimed at private schools. Science of reading, private schools won't have to participate in that. Like you see a pattern here. >> Yeah. >> Intense regulation in one place, no regulation in the other >> accountability and still compare the results. And honestly through all that, we're still doing pretty well, but eventually that's going to catch up with us. Yeah, I think the only benefit, and this is all awful stuff, but the more that they push this, the more it brings attention to it and the more people understand what's actually going on. So, they can stockpile this stuff up as high as they want, but at the very least, it's bringing attention to it. And something's got to break. We've been saying it for a while, something has to change. It's just it's unsustainable. And
044it feels like in the very near future that breaking point is is here. >> It's closer than it was. >> Yeah. >> Well, in other states it's starting I mean they're starting to push back. >> Yeah. And it's not just our school of course. Um which again [snorts] just adding more attention uh across the state, not just here but [clears throat] it's just it's unreal. >> Any other exciting new business? Yeah, please. I >> I'll leave it at those for now. [laughter] >> We'll add some more excitement later. >> Beth, do you have any other new business? >> I do. >> Cloud down there. >> Okay. I want to read another email that John Franks uh received today. And I'd like to end on a good note because we get pummeled enough and uh when
045we do receive something that's a little uplifting, I'd like to read it so that the public and the people that are here know um people do appreciate what we do. And for the other board members who got the same email, you know, there is there is some justice of of helping our kids >> and you can say names because this person specifically asked that I share this with all the board members. So, >> okay, >> you can read the email. >> I will. Hello, Mr. Stoddard, Mr. Franks. This is Calvin's mom. Just letting you know that I was just notified that Calvin made the John Carroll Fall Deans List. He achieved a 4.0 last semester. He's doing a lot of great work academically within the community. His areas of study is majoring in biology, second
046major peace, social justice, human rights, a minor in sociology, and criminology. When When does he I mean does he >> He needs some recess. >> Does he sleep? >> Doing some recess for him. >> Wow. [clears throat] >> He spent most of his winter break shadowing an orthopedic surgeon who did his three shoulder surgeries October 23, March 24, and unfortunately June of 25. He observed office hours and several surgeries. He also worked with special needs individual and homeless. He will be studying abroad in London for three weeks after semester spring semester. Thank you again for your support during BHS years and for the generos the generous scholarship that he received. This uh student's name is Calvin Dion. The mother that sent this to us was Karen Sharvat, which is a BSH alum 1988. So we
047do >> we do good work. >> Yes, we do. >> Okay. Any other new business? >> All right. Our next board meeting March 9th here at the auditorium 6:00 p p.m. Uh John or Beth any need for executive session? >> None for me. >> I do not. >> Uh with that I'd like a motion to adjourn. >> So move. >> Brian. >> I'll second Dan. Any discussion? Beth. Roll call please. >> Mr. Mr. Townson. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wsworth. >> Yes. >> Mr. Burman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Manfried. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Sto. >> Yes. >> Thank you for being here tonight.