001Good evening. We call to order the Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District Board of Education meeting for June 2nd, 2026. Thank you for joining us. This is a regular meeting of the school board and all items that will be discussed or voted on have been posted as required by state law. We're here to conduct the business of governing the district, to set goals, to hear reports from the superintendent and treasurer, to approve budgets, contracts, and personnel items, and to make policy for the district. We are not here to make management decisions or to solve the problems of individuals. Management is the responsibility of the administration. Miss Laam, will you please call the role? >> Mr. Heights, >> here. >> Mr. Trimbo, >> here. >> Mr. [clears throat] Hashkus Lily >> here. >> Mrs. Howard
002Prime >> here. >> Mrs. Krenshaw >> here. I now turn the meeting over to our superintendent for the awards and recognitions. >> All right. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> As this is the first meeting after the end of the school year, I don't see any of our staff when on their summer break here. [laughter] However, I do want to share Oh, I'm sorry. We do. We did. >> Oh, you going to represent everybody. >> Yes. I [laughter] love that. [applause] >> Yes. >> Thank you for your uh commitment. Um so, our target team members of the month for May have been nominated by their peers for going above and beyond to contribute to the culture of excellence in our district. From Bombgardner, Ariel Johnson. Miss Johnson has truly stepped up to provide support while
003our other security officers have been out. Her dedication and willingness to support the school community are greatly appreciated. From the board of education, bus depot, Dao option center, IT Milikim, Karen Hinesburgen. Karen brings a wealth of institutional knowledge to our district paired with deep expertise in literacy and instruction. She is a highly valued cal colleague who is always willing to serve as a thought partner and offer a different perspective. From Boulevard Elementary School, Tamaita Williams Harris. Miss Harris is one of the most hardworking people that I have ever met. She is dependable, caring, kind, and always eager to lend a hand. She constantly makes my life easier, and I am so thankful to get to work alongside her. from Canterbury Elementary School. Marissa Warick. Marissa is a very caring person. She not only cares for
004the children in her role, but whatever her hands find to do, she does it well. She also has a gift of giving, expecting nothing in return. From Fairfax Elementary School, Olivia Ray. Miss Ray is an incredible teammate and leads with warmth, kindness, and professionalism. She forms meaningful connections with all of her students, and her positivity and sense of humor do not go unnoticed. From Gity Professional Development School, Diananna Belton Daniel. Diananna continues to provide support and leadership in our building. Although she works in kindergarten, students from all grade levels look to her for guidance and support. From Heights High School, Bob Oans, giving his blood, blood, blood, sweat, tears, heart, and soul for 32 plus years in our district. Enjoy your retirement vibe. from Noble Elementary School, Eric Rosa. Eric is incredibly dedicated to our
005staff and students. As our building's learning coach and resident writing guru, Eric works tirelessly to elevate instruction while also serving as the unmistakable energetic voice behind the Noble Morning Show each day. He wears so many hats with grace and truly embodies what it means to support and uplift the entire noble community. From Oxford Elementary School, Taiisha Doss. Miss Doss is the best partner teacher ever. She is always planning fun and creative activities for our students that keep learning exciting and engaging. One example is the first grade ABC countdown where students celebrate the last 26 days of school with a special activity for each letter of the alphabet. From Roxboro Elementary School, Jennifer Thomas. Children's, Inc. is a 28-year tradition at Roxboro Elementary School. Mrs. Thomas puts in tireless effort and hours into making this special
006event a success. She reaches out to community members, provides presents for students and guest readers, invites families, and makes this day exceptionally special. She even honored this year's retirees with a song. And from Roxboro Middle School, Keith Vance. Keith is an exceptional co-teer who consistently goes above and beyond for both students and staff. He is collaborative, dependable, and brings a positive attitude to the classroom every single day. So, if you are here and have been uh announced, please come up so we can take your PICTURE [applause] and congratulate all our all our winners. So, we will come and take our picture. >> Get out of the way. Feel like I should salute you. [applause] And that concludes our recognitions for this evening. Thank you so much, Superintendent Kirby. The board would like to call Mr.
007Swagger to the podium to discuss college and career readiness. >> [clears throat] >> Good evening board members. >> Good morning. >> Thank you very much for giving me a couple of minutes just to give you an update. This is a very exciting time of year with graduation. It's also show a great time to think about some of the work that we've done and some of the work that we're still doing through the end of August when we know we're really working with students to get them to the next phase of their life. So, I'm going to highlight a couple of things today and then um just kind of share where we are. So, of course, as we know, our mission is to provide a challenging and engaging education. Um and we really want to help
008students take that next step into becoming responsible citizens and then succeed in whatever their post-secary plan is, which is college, career, workforce development, military, um jobs, and trades. All of that is just part of our mission here in Cleveland Heights. So, when we're thinking about um tonight's board update, I really do want to highlight four different things. Specifically, the TRIRC direct admission program, the college credit plus, and the associate degree pathway. Um I'd also like to highlight key partners who support the college and career readiness work here in CHU. And I also want to talk a little bit about what we're planning for the post-secary goal for the gear up cohorts of 2027 and 2028. Yes, I know that we are barely out of the 2026 cohort, but we also want to make sure that
009we stay uh firmly focused on the students that will be joining us um in their junior and senior year next year. So, when we think about um what this looks like, this roadmap for readiness, there's a couple of things that we've really taken on as initiatives here in CHU. Um whether we're talking about building awareness or exploration and creating alignment um or making sure that students are ready for that next phase in their life, we really have some roadmap for what readiness should look like. We do talk about building awareness by conducting learning style inventories. Um having students complete career cluster matches uh meet academic goals and then also reflect on those goals. That's something that we do in elementary, middle, and high school in order to help build that awareness for college and career.
010We also really uh work with students to create the personal exploration. That means participating in job shadowing events, um doing mock informational interviews, researching labor markets and trends, and exploring various career paths to see which one match what they want out of their life. We also work hard to create the alignment so then students are not just graduating into a world but they're actually prepared for the world. Um that looks like creating draft resumes, building college lists, um doing applications and scholarships. Um, and really making sure that everybody has got at least one experience around vocational fields. Um, and seeing how that might stair step from somebody can go right into the workforce with a high school diploma versus getting a two-year degree, getting a four-year degree, or even an advanced degree. U many of
011the fields that we do highlight here in CH for our students um are based on jobs that are available to students once they graduate, but they also have lots of um upward mobility where students can stay in that career field even well beyond a master's degree. Um some of our great partners include the Cleveland Clinic uh where they're hiring students with a high school diploma. Many of our students actually internship uh do an internship while they're um students at Cleveland Heights High School. um our career and technical education programs are aligned with some of those jobs. Um and then we also have some job training programs through TRIC that students can go to short-term certification programs. Um and we know that nurses and doctors also can pro um pursue advanced degrees, a bachelor's degree and
012associates degree or even a master's degree. So that alignment into the future career goals is really important as we talk about preparedness for what comes after high school. And then we also think about submitting college um applications and really making that a priority um as students complete their transition into post-secary. And one of the metrics that we continue to look at is not only just the application to college, but also the financial aid completion. Um you heard Superintendent Kirby mention it during graduation that it's still not too late for families to um complete their FASA even at this point in time. um we have support through uh the end of June when students can really get that next phase going um and we know that FAS is an important component of that. So, when we
013think about um some of the programs, the TRIRC direct admit program um really uh is something that we've developed this school year and we're one of four or five schools in Northeast Ohio that has a partnership with TRIC where we've done some data sharing um based on our active student directory to help ease that transition into TRIC programming. So, what this program entails is Heights High graduates are automatically accepted into TRIC. um in order to fully be admitted they do have to do a little bit of um accepting that offer from TRIC and they have to complete their enrollment. We do have a specific launch page that um Heights High students would go to in order to complete um their next steps. So this is a screenshot of what that looks like. You can see
014it's branded for Cleveland Heights University Heights City Schools, welcoming the class of 2026, and then helping them think through that next step in order to become a TRIC student. Uh once admitted, students can access more than 200 credit and nonredit programs. So, this is not just about the associates degree. Um, this is also about those career training programs, those short-term certification programs, those job training programs that students can get um really a leg up on the workforce. [clears throat] We also know that um as students might start at TRIC, they will continue that journey through TRIC um earning an associates degree and then TRIC has done a tremendous job of creating a lot of articulation agreements with um four-year universities. So, their trans their credits from TRIC will then transfer into a 4-year school. Um,
015Cleveland State, Akran, Kent, all have really good agreements with TRIC to make it easy for those um credits to transfer. Next, we want to highlight just the college credit plus um and the associate degree pathway. Um, this chart that you see here that talks about the most common institutions of enrollment in the fall, immediately following the high school graduation, this is really a five-year chart that talks about over the course of five years, where do Cleveland Heights High students, where do they go? What's the next step? Um, and you can see that I've ranked these or the the report, the National Clearing House, um, ranks these um, Kyoga Community College is ranked number one. most of our students over a five-year period will end up metriculating to Cleveland State with Cleveland um with Cleveland, I'm
016sorry, TRIC with Cleveland State and Kent State um coming in at those second and third spots. That's really important as we think about the partnerships that we develop. We know that CCP um is available to any Ohio public institution, but we know where our students typically are um moving. So, we want to make sure that we also build great programs so that way it's a seamless transition from high school into college. Um, right now when we think about those college credit plus um courses, we have 10 college credit plus courses offered at Cleveland Heights High School. That is part of our plan pathway for students in grades 8 through 12. Um, and this includes schools like TRIC, Kenyon College through the CAP program, which is the Kenyan academic partnership program, Cleveland State University, Case Western
017Reserve, Ohio University, I'm sorry, Ohio State University, and Cincinnati are where some of our students are taking classes online through the College Credit Plus program. Um, I know I've been here before talking to you about the associate pathway and to date we have eight rising seniors who are on track to earn their associate degree this time next year, which I think is a pretty dynamic feat. Um, getting a high school diploma is going to be their second degree. Um, they actually will earn their associates degree um, a couple weeks before high school graduation. So, I'm really excited to preview that with you here because I know we want to make sure we celebrate those students and families that have accomplished that um at next year's graduation ceremony. Um so, we are talking about that. We
018also have um a course called EMT 10:30. This is actually basic EMT certification. It's being offered this summer um for students that are going to be rising 9th graders and rising tth graders. so they can um earn that industry credential that is really important for students to have when they start thinking about employability. Um and so TRIC is working with us to offer the credit for that but also offer that credential at no cost to our students through the CCP program. When we think about the spotlight on career partnerships, we have some people who have really helped us be in this space, including the TMCO Rising Stars program, uh, Youth Opportunities Unlimited, which is YOU, and we also have things like the PNC PartnerUp program. Um, I did want to highlight this first video here,
019um, which is actually, um, it was featured on Spectrum News just recently, and I'm not sure everybody got a chance to see it. So, I figured we would go ahead and, um, show this video. Um, Kathan, are you able to click on that video? >> Need to turn the volume up on the >> Is the volume up on the thing, Jiggy? while we get the video ready. Um, and I think this does a great job of highlighting the partnership. It it doesn't overtly talk about Cleveland Heights, but we know that these are our students and the program that they've gone through. Um, and it's really important for us to think about how are we connecting students to the future workforce. Um, when we think about Youth Opportunities Unlimited, we had 35 juniors that graduated out
020of that program that have already earned both their retail and their customer service um, credentials. So, they'll be going into their senior year with um, 12 industry recognized credentials under their belt. Um, we know that the TMCO Rising Stars program has helped really equip students and actually two of the students have been accepted um as employees to TMCO and they are um going to be pursuing the bachelor's degree program at um Kent State. I'm sorry, at Akran. I'm sorry, I apologize. It's at Akran. Um and TMCO pays for that whole program. So that's a free bachelor's. So the students are learning and earning at the same time. Um, and then we also have PNC Partner Up where we had a big job fair just the week before graduation and two seniors actually were hired on
021the spot. One at the Cleveland Clinic and one at Lincoln Electric. Um, and I think that those both talk about students knowing what their path is and taking that opportunity, preparing. Um, they prepared their resumes, they prepared for an interview, they were dressed um to impress that day. Um, one of the students unfortunately did not get his first choice, which was Lincoln Electric to interview, but he advocated for himself on the spot and said, "I'd really like to interview with Lincoln Electric." And so, they made space for him and they ended up hiring him. So, it was just a dynamic opportunity for students to step into their own light and their own path as they get toward move towards graduation. >> Um, we'll go ahead and see if the video is working. at a couple
022of Cleveland area. Why the program started? He's participated in the weekly after school program because he's interested in exploring trade careers. >> The goal is to get young people predominately from inner cities introduced, exposed, and ultimately hopefully in careers in the the world of construction ranging from architecture all the way down to the trades. >> Dave Hutchinson is the CEO of TMCO's Rising Stars. He started the program, which was under TMCO's umbrella, but is now officially a nonprofit. It takes kids on field trips to active construction sites and goes through different exercises like designing and building a skate park. >> We learn about how they're like planning these things, how they're um making the whole project work, you know, from a 12story building to a basic police site that we're just visiting. Student Topi says
023the program got him interested in becoming an electrician after he graduates. >> You're leaving the actual school and going to see the world. You know, you're not in a six block radius. >> Hutchinson says it's all about getting the students exposure to the industry to see if it's a good fit. >> We want them to feel like they're in control and they really have an understanding of what they want to do leaving here. So, if nothing else, they decide construction is not for them. I think that's a valuable tool for someone that's 17, 18 to realize this is not what I want to do, but at least I understand it and maybe in five years they boomerang back down into the industry. >> For Leonard, it's allowed him to realize the options that are available.
024Planning to attend a program at Akran University that teaches construction management. >> I got introduced to the program through Rising Stars. They came in and like spoke to us and offered us the opportunity for free schooling and to learn about different skills that we would have to learn to be a construction manager. And I was like, I got to take it. >> There we go. See, that's what I'm talking about. You have to say >> Cory Larry, Spectrum News. >> That's great. >> And as we move into the last uh slide, we want to make sure that we're continuing with post-secary readiness uh so that all of our graduates have got a very defined plan. Um, all students in the 2027 and 2028 cohorts are served by the Gear Up program, which just to jog
025your memory, that's is a federal program standing for gaining early awareness and readiness for undergraduate programs. And it's really meant to help students um prep and plan for that next step. We do a lot of college visits. We do a lot of site visits to industries. I'm really trying to help increase that exposure while also making sure that students are academically prepared. It's not just about showing them the world that is unattainable. It's about showing them and helping students develop the academic skills so their GPA and their high school transcript can also match the college aspirations that they have. Um our goal for 2027 and beyond is to make sure all graduates have a concrete and actionable post-secary plan. And a lot of our students they say it's in their head like oh I've got
026this plan. We want to say we want to get it down on paper. We want to make it actionable. And so as students are crossing that stage at graduation, they actually know what the next steps are. They're not going to say like, "Yeah, I want to get into an apprenticeship." They actually know who to contact in order to um fulfill their apprenticeship. So we really want to um help students understand the concreteness of those plans and continue to collaborate with grade level teachers, school counselors, and building administrators um to increase opportunities for career connected learning um in K12. That's a little bit of our update. Any questions? >> I don't have a question. Oh, yes. Yes. [applause] >> I don't have a question. Um, but thank you for all the work that you do in
027in this space. As someone who is also in this college and career readiness space, um, I know how important it is to expose our young people to just the variety of possibilities that are out there for them. So uh you know as you mentioned concrete thank you for building these bridges you know um between uh high school and postsecary options for our students. So great job. Thank you. >> Thank you for the opportunity. >> Bob, just real quick question. Could you remind me um kind of yearbyear funding wise for Gear Up because I know you've done some creative stuff to keep continuity in the program as the funding has sort of >> gone up and down. just kind of where we're at in that cycle of sure funding. >> So, it is a seven-year grant.
028Um, and so we are going into year five. So, and it's on the federal cycle, so it will go October 1st to September 30th. Um, and so we will be able to serve students the year after they graduate, um, barring any federal, um, dislocation of the money, right? Um so we anticipate our award um for three more years in order to continue serving students even after they graduate high school and into that year of post-secary. Um so we should go through let me do my math here. That should be 2030 2030. >> Yes. >> Great. Thanks. >> Y I have one question. >> Yes. >> How many students are in the college credit plus program? Do we know? We do um and I just I typically update the superintendent monthly on that just to get
029an idea. Um we so we have the associate pathway which is different than general college credit plus. So the pathway is students who you know I always think about students who come to high like I want to be a musician like they have a pathway right and we'd be like that's not just every high kid that's a kid who really is focusing in on you know music or athletics or drama. So right now we have eight students that are moving towards that associate degree in their senior year next year. Behind them we have 34 juniors that are on that path. And then we have 19 sophomores. So that's kind of like how we think about that pathway coming. We also um probably around 25 incoming freshmen that are on that pathway. Some students will opt
030to come off of that pathway in order to just do individual CCP classes. Um, we had over 350 students earn at least one college credit um, this past semester and I think it's more like 400, but I don't want to misspeak about the exact number, but we have a dynamic number of students who are taking advantage of those smaller increments of college credit plus. And I think that that's mainly because we have those 10 courses that take place at the high school. These are courses that students do not have to leave campus for. they don't need to go to TRIC for half day. They could be doing them online. Some of students come in in ninth grade and tth grade and they take those courses and then they want to balance it out with um
031some AP courses. So, there really isn't that um exclusivity versus when we talk about the associate pathway where that's very it's a very prescriptive path. Students need to take certain classes in order to reach that mark. um it is hard to get 60 hours of college credit at the same time you're getting high school credit too. Um so there has to be a lot of um very intentional planning to make that happen. >> Yeah. Ju just this past weekend I was talking with a family uh who has a rising senior and uh their daughter was is taking a summer class through I believe University of Cincinnati uh through the CCP program. So free college credit and she's getting ahead on, you know, classes that she needs to take next year anyway. So >> yeah, just
032a really great option. >> Y >> in 60 seconds, can you just share with, you know, our audience a little bit about or what this program actually is? I think a lot of times people know about it, they don't know about, they don't quite understand it. >> Yeah, I think that the important the the 30 secondond commercial for CCP is, you know, students are trying to earn high school credit to get their diploma. there are many classes that they can take at the college level that count for those high school classes. So, if students are, you know, planning to go on to a two or four-year school, they could be essentially double dipping into those credits. It's free for students and families um as long as the student has success in the class. So, this
033really is an opportunity to accelerate their learning, accelerate their path towards that two or fouryear degree. Um, and also it creates a lot of space for students to take other classes. So, it does open up their schedule. A semester of college comp at the at the college level equals a a full year of high school English. So, it does create some space and time and opportunity. And I'll I'll give a uh a testimony um from my student who was able to transfer in maybe about 12 credits into her um she so she had 12 credits going into her college career um and was able to ease into her first semester. So yeah, >> I love it. I just think that's one of the the best programs we have out there. I want to add just
034a couple little tidbits too is that so dual enrollment is phenomenal. So kids when they're involved in CCP very often are getting credit for uh college work as well as high school work. So it's it's a fantastic opportunity. CCP also is not nearly as reliant well it's not reliant on a student's performance one day on one test as AP is. Um the sort of caveat to that is that um CCP credit is accepted in Ohio but not always outside of Ohio. Whereas AP credit is accepted pretty much everywhere. It's a standardized test. It doesn't matter if you want to go to school in Spokane or Skenctity or Cincinnati. Everybody understands what AP credit is. So it's it's really something to sort of consider and talk about at home sort of what is the big picture,
035what is the vision, what is what are the interests of the individual students and it doesn't have to be one or the other. >> Kids can do absolutely do both. And it's it's also just really rigorous coursework that I think every college wants to see students who are challenging themselves to do more and do do more challenging. >> It's a really good point. Um Mr. Hansen, I actually wanted to talk about those eight students that we're going to see crossing the stage next year with their associate degree. Um four of them are also going to be certified through the CTE programs that they're participating in. Right? So this is AP, CP or CCP, CTE. These [snorts] are all ways that students are demonstrating and really getting a jump on their future lives, right? These are
036it's not one or the other. It is I'm learning these skills. I'm demonstrating I I have a marketable skill. I also am really interested in learning, right? So all of these things are coming together for the best of all worlds. Um many of those students are heavily involved in extracurricular activities, music programs. So, it's really about um amplifying the high school experience, not diminishing it. >> So, Bob, let's make a point. Eight kids to a meeting. I want to meet all of them. >> That would be great. >> I want to hear their story. I want to hear the I want the community to hear from these kids because we can talk about it all day long, but but it'll be those kids talking about those programs and those experiences that the community needs to
037hear from. >> It's perfect. We can make that happen. >> Thank you. Great. >> Thank you so much, Bob. >> Yeah, thank you so much. >> Great work, BOB. >> WELL, since we do not have any statements from the audience this evening, we can move right on to the consent agenda. Um, may I have a motion to consider the consent agenda? >> I motion that we consider the consent agenda. I second that motion. >> Is there any discussion? >> I have a question. We have 10 or so um student teachers who are working um in our schools this coming year. And I was um and so each one of those kids uh those students, not those kids, those students um receive a uh the the teacher working with them receives a small salary. And [clears
038throat] I wonder if we could find out um who pays that that salary. Is it the uh school district that pays for student teaching supervision or is it the university? >> I'll find out. I'm not certain of that, but I'll find out. Is Sean stepped up? >> Oh, okay. >> And as Sean's coming up, for people in the audience are watching at home, for a full year uh uh supervisor of a student teacher, it's $630.50 is the amount we're talking about. >> Um we receive stipens from the districts or the universities where the students attend and then they provide that to the district and the district works with the union to um give the funds to those staff members that take on student teachers for the year. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Yes, >>
039there's a just also so we know there's a a bill that um Representative Patton uh from the west side, former teacher and administrator has um put forth a bill that would um actually pay um students as they're finishing up their uh education program. It would give the students themselves a stipend and so they wouldn't be quite so much like indentured servants. Um, which I I certainly support because they do a lot of work. They deserve to be paid for their work. >> Almost like an NIL deal. >> Almost like an NIL. That's right. [laughter] >> Um, also just tagging on to the student teaching discussion, I thought it was really cool. And just by virtue of alphabetizing the list, uh, the person at the top of the list was a teacher of the year just
040awarded uh, last weekend. Miss Boils from Noble who's splitting with somebody else presumably. >> It's a lucky student. >> Very cool. Um, other thing I'd like to call out on the consent agenda as I'm scrolling through it is um in just in this meeting alone, we've got um two teachers from the RIFF a couple of meetings ago being recalled back in as there continues to be movement with retirements and um and the like. Um so that's very positive. Um the other thing that I had was towards the bottom. What was it? Oh, this one comes up every year and it's one that I think can jump out at people who are keen watchers of the board packet. Um so we um approve the CH public libraries tax budget document as their fiduciary agent. Am I
041getting the language on that right, Angel? Keep me honest here. Um and so uh it's just a weird quirk of uh of the state of Ohio that um public school districts align with um the uh public library systems uh typically uh and so you know similarly uh every year uh well used to be every year now I think it's we're on a slightly different cadence um but the board of education interviews and selects board members for the library uh and then they go off and act as a independent organization. So, it's just sort of a just I always thought of it kind of a strange quirk that we act independently. Um but uh as the fiduciary agent, we have to approve this document before it gets sent off to is it the Ohio budget commission
042or the KY the county budget commission or something? Um >> yes. Um, so they do not have um they're not a legal taxing authority and so we serve as their taxing authority and then >> they go back to be operating as a independent. >> Yeah, just >> quirky. So that was it for me. Uh, one last thing, we are um accepting the uh retirement of Sean Sullivan tonight and um Shawn I has been a really great member of Tiger Nation. He is um uh a grad. Uh Mr. Sullivan is a distinguished member of our distinguished alumni hall of fame. If you want a good cry, please by all means look up his acceptance speech. It was magnificent. Um and um I just wanted to wish uh Coach Sullivan the very best. >> I'm I'm going
043to tag along with that. Sorry. >> No, go ahead. Um Sean was my coach in high school uh for soccer and he has uh created one of this community's uh most consequential sports programs. There's a reason his name is on the city's premier show turf field. And in addition to that, he has created a a very affordable summer camp, one of the largest in Cleveland Heights. um just somebody who has given back to his community over and over again. Uh so congratulations to him on that retirement. >> I was just going to acknowledge those individuals who have made donations uh to the district um this month. So Akran Derbytown Chorus uh Dr. Joyce Ramshshire Thompson Lamont Fields um and the Waterway Gas and Wash which I patronize. >> I do as well. >> So, thank
044you for your donations. Um, I also would I know uh board member Heights mentioned a student report for our CCP graduates, but can we hear from those students when they come back from the Gear Up conference summer? Go this. Yeah, I would love to hear about their experience and their parents' experience as well. >> Thank you. Oh, last thing because as I'm just moving around, you guys gave me extra time, so I'm going to talk more. Um the um the hiring on here for the summer assignments for uh the kindergarten readiness boot camp are on there, and it's it's a it's a real who's who of our awesome kindergarten teams, uh including my daughter's kindergarten teacher and others. It's just it's just really really cool to see, um that program getting going. So yeah, thanks
045and thanks to Sean and and the HR team for all the work they're doing. This is like I know crazy season. So keep it up. >> Well, if no further discussion, Miss Leam, will you please call the role? >> Mr. Hanks, >> yes. >> Mrs. Howard Primes, >> yes. [clears throat] >> Mr. Tremble, >> yes. >> Mr. Hashkus Lily, >> yes. >> Mrs. Krenshaw, >> yes. All right, moving right along to um item number seven under personnel. Um may I have a motion to reaffirm the continued approval of the May 12th, 2026 resolution number three? >> You're looking for a motion to consider it or >> a motion to approve. Oh, I motion that we re reaffirm that previous approval. Second. >> Miss Leon, will you please call the role? >> Mr. Heights? >> Yes.
046>> Mr. Tremble? >> Yes. >> Mr. Hash Lily? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Howard Primes? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Krenshaw? >> Yes. >> We will now have the superintendence report from Superintendent Kirby. Thank you very much. Uh before I start going through my report, if Kathan, if you can load it for me. Sorry, I forgot to ask you. Um we do have two guests joining us that I would like to acknowledge. Um at our last board meeting, we did approve two administrative hires and they have joined us here since this is a formal board meeting at this special board meeting. So Britney Owens has been selected as the district's new supervisor of federal programs and grants. Britney holds degrees from Lake Erie College and H Highleberg University as well as a master's degree from Wheeling Jesuit
047University. She joins us from Cardinal Local Schools where she currently serves as an associate principal and federal grants coordinator. Prior to that, Britney worked for Solen City Schools as a reading recovery coach and kindergarten teacher. Let's welcome Britney. [applause] Chris Keading has been selected as the district's new coordinator of learning. Chris holds a degree from Cleveland State University and a master's degree from Baldwin Wallace University. He joins us from Stoman Falls City Schools where he serves as served serves probably for a little as an elementary principal. Throughout his career, Chris has also worked for Palmer City Schools as a principal, assistant principal, dean of students, and classroom teacher. Please welcome Chris Keading. [applause] We are excited to have both of you joining our leadership team and joining Tiger Nation. Uh you have very impressive experience
048and we know that we will really uh benefit from that experience and it will really support our staff and our students. So, thank you for coming tonight and thank you for joining our district. Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Would you like to say anything as suggested by Vice President Phil Trimble? [laughter] >> No. No pressure. >> But no pressure. No pressure. >> Okay. [laughter] I just want to thank Superintendent Kirby and all the board members for um hiring me and I'm super excited to to work in this for Tiger Nation in this district. Um um as Superintendent Kirby said, I've been in education for 25 years and I'm really ready to to move into the next phase and work with curriculum and help all of our prek to 12 teachers and students. Um, fun fact,
049Mr. Jenkins and I worked together 20 years ago in Parma. So, [laughter] um, you never know who you're going to run into again in this in this education field. So, um, I appreciate this opportunity and I look forward to working with all of you guys. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Good evening. Good evening everybody. Thank you so much. Um, I think I should probably open my little speech with Mr. Heints awarded me in 2011 the distinguished social studies scholar award at Shardan High School. [laughter] It >> is true. So we worked together in Chardan about 20 years ago. [laughter] >> Yeah. Hey, I'm not that old, Mr. Heights. And neither are you. >> Um I'm so encouraged by today's meeting. I have been basically hunting Mr. Heind down for many years to try to get
050a position here. Um I believe in the work you do. I'm so encouraged by a district that actually cares about students and makes decisions about it. I'm so encouraged by a board that wants to meet students and wants to work with them. I'm really excited to be a part of this. Thank you. >> Thank you. Glad [applause] to have you. >> All right. So, we will jump into our report um for the month of of the very very very busy month of May. May December. >> December. Amazing. >> And so we continue to align our reports to our five strategic plan goals. Um in our first slide you will see an awesome wonderful celebration of the class of 2026. Um these are stu what it was what a wonderful celebration first of all and I
051know for our new board members it was your first time. Um and uh I always really enjoy graduation. Um the students are very happy, very nervous, very thoughtful, very thankful. Um and you see all of those emotions. Um as students cross the stage. Um so we have um you know students they are going to college going to trade school going to two-year schools going right to work. Just before this meeting I was looking at the senior exit survey and just like the class of 2025 80% of students plan to continue their education in some form or fashion upon graduation. So uh that's why one thing I shared was continue to come to the high school. we want to support you in that next step. I have had some outreach which I appreciate from families asking
052for some additional support. Um and so we will be uh working with them. But just an excellent ceremony just shouts out to the team. There are lots and lots and lots of people working behind the scenes for this. Um this was the hundth class uh that graduated from the Lee Road location. So super duper um excited for them. Um, you'll see also though, it wasn't just our high school students that graduated. We also had our middle school graduations. Uh, we were able to hold both ceremonies for Bombgardner Middle School and Roxboro Middle School right next door at WY in the beautiful auditorium. Um, the speeches were wonderful. The celebrations, the teachers, uh, the words that they shared about students were wonderful. We had teachers shedding tears [laughter] literally >> of joy. but also [laughter] >>
053so they just like how much they're going to miss the the eighth graders. So it was just it was a just a great just a great great event at Roxboro Middle School. They had student this is the first time I've seen this. They had student MC's who were doing the graduation. It was like an award show. Um it was really really great. Uh so um on to goal two as it relates to college and career readiness. A lot of these things Bob touched on as it relates to supporting students in their next step. Uh we are still uh supporting the fast for work, but also uh opportunities will be opening up soon for for the class of 2027. So we have information in there about the common app. Uh the spectrum news story on the
054rising stars program was shared. Uh but we also want to share from the middle school and we heard about this during the promotion ceremonies. Both schools took first and second place for the PMCO Power Fluid Challenge, including a fluid powered rotating arm on a wooden base. So, this is our robotics program that is both that is at both middle schools that are led by the coaches Mrs. Statatler and Mr. Diligente. We also had students from both schools visit the new bridge training center in Cleveland for a healthcare careers exposure event using virtual reality goggles for virtual training. Bob was able to share some of the opportunities from Newbridge and uh there are even opportunities for students after high school to get trained to go into very highpaying jobs in the healthc care field. So it's
055something as Bob was sharing this information in our postsecondary committee there were were adults who are interested themselves in sharing that opportunity with more students but also learning more about that. So we're excited for that and just really appreciate how Bob continues to really look for those opportunities and connections to support our students. So, thank you. As relates to goals one and two, just to remind the board, uh, we did change our policy around the the kindergarten readiness screener so that we can offer that opportunity to four-year-olds. That work is underway. We are waiting for screening materials to arrive. We'll be using the Acadian PI kindergarten four-year-old screener. So, Acadians is the platform that we use for our primary students. And so they have something for four-year-olds that we'll be using as a part of
056that. Um staff have completed training for the administration of that tool. As it relates to math pacing guide, we continue to in our curriculum team worked with teachers over the really over the year to get feedback on the pacing guide, feedback, things to change. So they're always making adjustments as teachers share their feedback on the curriculum tools and the curriculum supports. Uh I will say that especially as it relates to math teachers continue to really really appreciate all the tools and resources that the curriculum team have provided and you see actually in all the scores our preliminary scores show another year of growth and we'll share that when they become final. Um but you see the evidence of that focus and support um and really helping teachers who are doing the heavy heavy lifting and
057supporting student achievement just helping to make their jobs easier. So we really appreciate that. Appreciate the work of the teachers and all the staff in the schools. We want to celebrate our height heights high swim team. We mentioned this at the graduation. This team excelled both athletically and academically earning recognition from the national intercolastics swim coaches association. Our graduating seniors, Daniel Bergman, Alex Burke, Henry Dick, Dana Hedzfield, Charles Jalvette, and Jeff Lutum were named academic allameans. The varsity programs were also recognized as all-American scholar teams for their combined GPA. The girls team achieved the gold tier and the boys team the silver tier. This marks the sixth consecutive year for this honor. Both teams also had winning records in advance to the postseason. So, we're super proud of our swim team and they are both
058athletic but also academic accomplishments. >> Six years in a row for that academic accomplishment. >> That's a big deal. >> Yeah. I'm just going to go ahead and say it. There must be something in the water. >> Couldn't resist. >> You're welcome. You're [laughter] welcome. [gasps] >> On Monday, May 18th, the class of 2026 had their college signing day here. Seven Heights High School students signed their official college letters of intent during the spring signing ceremony. This group included four basketball players, one baseball player, one lacrosse player, and a wrestler. All right, on to goal three. The annual 5K fun run was held on May 17th with profit proceeds bene benefiting all of our elementary schools. So, thank you so much to the PTA planning committee for this work. Our gun safety awareness series finished
059its second installment highlighting SEO partners and supports. This webinar can be viewed on the district's YouTube channel. The FA the family and community leaders lunchon is coming up on June 6th this Saturday 11 to 1. This is designed to honor partnerships do a year review and then turn an eye toward fall and review the CH PTA council and AVI food services survey results. And we had lots of people who completed the survey. So, it'll be good to really hear that feedback. Student services hosted the 9th annual field day at the high school for K12 students with low incidence disabilities. This inclusive tradition featured accessible indoor and outdoor activities fostering connection and achievement for districts for students districtwide. A community cookout highlighted the event reflecting the district's commitment to inclusive school experiences and we thank Planet
060Fitness for nine years of sponsorship. >> All right. This past Friday, we had our annual staff awards ceremony. And here you will see the finalists. Let's see if I can get this right. I can tell you who won. Rookie of the year is Tiana Banks. Helping hand of the year, Deja Murray. Administrator of the year, Allison Bird, and teacher of the year, Alexia Boils. So again, congratulations to all those winners for all you do for students here in Tiger Nation. >> A really cool story from that was uh Deja Murray was competing against her mother. >> Against her mother. >> Yeah. They're both up for [laughter] consideration. >> Yeah. >> And her aunt also >> family is embedded. >> Yeah. Um, I'm super excited to announce that our athletic director, Joe Damato, earned the Bruce
061Brown award of excellence from the Ohio Inter interscolastic athletic administrators association. This award recognizes ongoing and consistent efforts on the part of Ohio in inter interscolastic athletic departments that demonstrate best practices and nationally accepted standards in the endorsement and promotion of educationbased athletic programming. Specifically, this award recognizes schools that demonstrate intentional efforts to shift the culture of school-based sports as an ongoing process. So, congratulations to Joe Damato. Welld deserved. Welld deserved. And within the month of May, we celebrated. Oh, truly you are a school lunch hero. That is you are a hero if you are supporting school lunch. Teacher appreciation week was May 4th through the 8th. We also had a staff appreciation week during that time. School bus driver appreciation day May 4th of this past month. School nurse appreciation day was May 6th.
062And then the National Speech Language Pathologist Day was May 18th. >> It's no surprise that we're uh appreciating them all at the end of the school year when they've they've made it. >> Yes. Yes. It's the perfect time to do that. That's when you need your the last boost to get to the end of the year, >> the summer. >> And then connected to some of the discussion from the consent agenda, I just wanted to update uh the public on the reductions in force, we announced at the last staff meeting that 21 individual staff contracts were suspended. Um this largely is due to bumping rights outlined in the bargaining units negotiated contracts. Um, I am pleased to report that we were able to bring people back into the district into different positions. Um, so in
063Oopsy 617, four of the six employees who whose contracts were suspended came back into positions that opened up due to either retirements or resignations. Um, for 795, two of the 10 employees who were on the riff list have been placed in open positions again from retirements to resignations. Um, and we anticipate there will be additional employees, but we'll wait until we have um the final information that we can share. Um, for Oopsie. two of the two employees who whose contracts were suspended were offered uh positions within the district. One decided to take it, one decided not to take it. Uh, so thus far, of the 21 employees whose contracts were suspended, eight have uh been offered positions back into the district. And again, we we think that that number will intend to grow. Uh wanted
064to as we I just want to remind folks that our focus on the uh budget management isn't about positions. It's really about the money. Um and so um you know, we are we're on course again to the 3.4 million in savings even though we have people coming back. I just want to share that because I don't want people to think that we're adding you know, we're losing the money we're saving. Um it's just a bit of a some some bit of uh shuffling around um as opportunities open up. Um finally, is this the last slide? I have a long report. Okay. Um the one thing I want to talk about is the summer. We have a summer reading challenge happening in partnership with the library. Uh so we really want students to participate. Go to
065the library, get your uh book bank reading log and log your your reading all summer. We'll have uh highlights um and uh what do you call those things? Raffles that happen when kids get back in the fall. We are super excited about this. Uh the Heights libraries are excited about this. We have some donor the book bank who has donated books as well. So we want to just continue to get those physical books in the hands of kids and keep them reading all summer. We've already talked about the readiness boot camp. We are still registering students for that. And in addition to our summer programming, we have camp invention scholarships that are also available. Information is there and also in our new news newsletters. So with that, I'm going to conclude my report for I
066guess it's the last report for this actual academic year. Um so thank you. >> Thank you, Superintendent Kirby. I will say back in my day for summer reading, we got personal pan pizzas. >> Yeah. [laughter] be the booket program >> which were delicious by the way. >> Wow. >> Pizza Hut. >> So, next we're going to Can I move to the policy? Next, I will ask uh Mr. Patton to come up for the final reading of policies 3122.01 and 4122.01. Again, this is the uh the final reading of these two policies um related to the Heights 100 Foundation event that's happening at the high school um in the coming weeks. >> Thank you. Um so, may I have a motion to approve policy 3122.01. >> A motion that we approve that second. >> Miss Leam,
067will you please call the role? >> Mr. Heights? >> Yes. >> Mr. Trimble? >> Yes. Mr. Hatchas Lily. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Howard Prime. >> Yes. Mrs. Krenshaw. >> Yes. >> And then may I have a motion to approve policy 4122.01. >> I motion that we approve that as well. >> I'll second that motion. >> Give it. >> Miss Leam, will you please call the role? Mr. Heights? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Howard Primes? >> Yes. >> Mr. Trimble? Yes, >> Mr. Hodgekus Lily. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Krenshaw. >> Yes. We will now have the treasures report from CFO Leam. [clears throat] Okay. So, good evening. Um, I just want to um I decided to do my three things on um the forecast, budget, and appropriations just to give a little bit of explanation as to
068what the the three um are. This is the season um where you will see um appropriations um for this year being finalized. Um the budget will be presented um [snorts] for for FY27 um at the June 30th board meeting um as well as the appropriations for FY27. Um as always um we are aligned to our our goal um goal five um which is to inform and educate all stakeholders regarding district finances and school funding in Ohio. So this slide just and I won't go through and read the whole thing but um this slide just points out um the three different um documents. So the forecast is mandated by the state. Um it is actually filed with the state um in August and February 28th. It um kind of serves as a long-term planning tool. So
069the forecast has multiple years. Um so they have made a change to it. So now it shows current year plus um three additional years. Um but that kind of serves as um like a long range planning tool. Um it includes your revenues and your expenditures that are expected. It's based on a number of assumptions. Um and it's heavily influenced by things like the state funding, um property tax revenue, um and your enrollment trends. Um the budget is something is a process that we go through internally. Um we reach out to budget um managers so department heads um and school leaders and we go through that process of them um kind of looking at how they're they've spent funds in the past and what they anticipate for the coming year. um this focuses on the current
070year and so the budget um that will come out is up is going to be for FY27 will focus on July 1st through June 30th of 2027. Um it again shares how much um revenue and um expenses the district plans to have and it breaks it down by department um and school building. Um, and then lastly, the appropriations. Um, we can kind of consider that the checkbook, that's what we are legally required, the board approves, um, and it gives us our legal, um, spending authority, um, by fund. And so, um, that is one of those documents that you will see, but that kind of dictates what we are allowed to spend. Any changes to that are then filed, um, with the county budget commission. So just a little bit about how they kind of work
071together or interlock. Um the forecast again guides the budget. So the forecast long range planning um but kind of [clears throat] guides where we fall within the budget. So when we push budgets out to our um department leaders, we kind of give them a range or target that we think um is appropriate and allow them to make adjustments as necessary. Um the budget then informs the appropriation. So again, that budget serves as the the practical like backbone um to the annual appropriations resolution that we prepare and have the board spend and gives us our legal authority. And then this chart just summarizes at a at a glance um what the differences are, what the purpose is, um what their legal status um and the time that they they focus on. So that concludes my report.
072>> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. I will now present the board president's report. Um, so good evening. As we conclude another school year, I would like to take a moment to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of our students and staff. Congratulations to the members of to the members of the class of 2026, our district's 100th graduating class at High Thai. Reaching this historic milestone makes this year's commencement especially meaningful. Graduation is a testament of years of hard work, perseverance, and growth, and we are proud of each graduate as they begin the next chapter of their journey. We look forward to seeing the positive impact they will make in their communities and beyond. I would also like to congratulate all students who successfully completed the school year and were promoted to the next grade
073level and the next school building. We celebrate their achievements and look forward to welcoming them back in the fall. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to every employee across our district. The success of students is made possible by the dedication of our teachers, administrators, support staff, bus drivers, custodians, food service workers, paraprofessionals, security, and countless others who serve our schools each day. Thank you for your commitment, professionalism, and care throughout the school year. A special congratulations goes to the employees who were recognized at our recent staff awards banquet. These honores exemplify excellence in their work and represent the very best of our district. We thank them for their outstanding service and leadership. Finally, we extend our best wishes to the student athletes who will be representing our district at the state track
074and field meet this weekend. Competing at the state level is an extraordinary accomplishment and we are proud of the hard work and determination that brought them to this moment. We wish them success and know they will represent our district with pride. And so as summer begins, we wish our students, families, and staff a safe, restful, and enjoyable break. And thank you for another year of learning, growth, and achievement. >> Thank you. Um, so do we have any committee reports? The Heights Schools Foundation is still uh deep in the planning um and um looking forward to the biggest party in 100 years at Heights High School. The uh Heights 100 uh celebration will uh be on uh Friday, June 16th, Saturday, I'm sorry, Friday, June 19th, Saturday, June 20th, Sunday, June 21st. Um and it is
075going to be absolutely amazing. If folks are interested in um joining us for those events, they can go to heights.com. Um it is going to be a whole lot of fun. >> Thank you. Any other committee reports? >> Uh yeah, uh Reaching Heights has summer music camp gearing up. uh if if folks haven't been or seen e even if you don't have a camper, you can go to their final concert which will be on uh June 13th. And it is really really something. When my uh when my daughter did uh music camp and it's for folks who don't know, it's a camp for um uh fifth graders going into sixth grade or kids who are in middle school. Uh so it's like rising middle schoolers and middle schoolers. Uh, and it's just really really amazing
076because they're um oftentimes, at least in the case of of my daughter when she did it, playing with kids who are playing a little bit of a higher level and it really pushes them to kind of rise to that level. Uh, and it's in a week's time, the amount of work that they get done and have a ton of fun while doing it is really really something. Uh, and my favorite part as a parent was going a little bit early to pickup and sitting in the back while they were doing their final kind of rehearsal. And like Monday was really rough. Tuesday was a little bit better. And then by like Saturday it's amazing. Like I mean really really good. Uh, and so um really excited for all the families that are going to get
077to uh see that. And then um Superintendent Kirby already uh kind of read out on what PTA council has going on uh this weekend uh with uh Lisa Hunt in company. So that's it for me. >> All right. >> Uh I'll mention the the um Heights Boosters has uh came up with a plan to put together a scboard at the high school. It is going up. >> Actually, it might already be up. It's not all totally hooked up yet electrically, but um this will >> um kind of dovetail academically. We will have uh >> video and audio classes that will help students design content for the scoreboard. >> Um a really cool program all around and modernizes our sport infrastructure. >> And I guess probably just as a reminder to the audience, the boosters approached
078us maybe six, seven months ago. uh with a sort of a pitch um wherein they asked the school board to front money from permanent improvement funds for the initial purchase of the scoreboard uh with a three-year plan to pay back that investment uh with a with ad sales on the school board school board scoreboard. Uh, and then after that three years, then the boosters would be able to just retain that revenue and use it as a fundraising opportunity because right now, folks probably may have never noticed, but there's teensy tiny little banners uh on the south end of the football field on the chain link fence and you have to have binoculars to see them. Uh, very generous of the people who who uh buy those ads. Uh, but I think we're gonna have a
079much more compelling uh, product for local businesses to be able to advertise on. >> And now was the time to do that work for a couple of reasons. One is that the scoreboard that was there was really outdated. And two, we were replacing the turf on the field anyway, which is the time that you replace the scoreboard. Um, it's also worth pointing out, I know that that folks in the community understand that replacing turf on a football field is a large investment of money. Um, however, we are fortunate that we have a permanent improvement fund, which is the fund that paid for that turf and it um and we actually got more years of use out of that turf than we might have because it was so wellmaintained. Um, and at the end of the
080day, we had no choice. Uh the Ohio High School Athletic Association has very strict guidelines and there are professionals who come and inspect uh high school turf every single year and um and it was time. We were at risk of not being certified had we not replaced the turf. And so thankfully we can now. And um it is lovely. It is a beautiful design. And having a new scoreboard in the facility is is fantastic as well. Well, I don't have a report, but I can just say congratulations to the class of 2026. It [clears throat] was um my first graduation [laughter] and I did enjoy it. And as um Superintendent Kirby indicated, it was just it was a beautiful experience just hearing all the students, they did say thank you. They were so excited and
081just so proud, you know, of themselves. So, I was excited to be a part of that. I am one of those persons who love graduations. [laughter] So, I truly enjoy that. I have I also had the opportunity to go to um Boulevard's promotion and I thought that was exciting too. So again, congratulations to all of our students. Just remember readers are leaders. >> Yes. >> So as superintendent Kirby indicated, please read, read, read this summer. So again, thank you. It's been six months for me as a board member. I've learned a lot and looking forward to the next school year. >> Thank you. Mhm. I do want to announce that Laya Edwards was the graduation speaker at the Fairfax promotion ceremony. >> There is a parade coming up. I think it's June 14th for Cleveland
082Heights for her as well, but she's been very gracious with her time visiting many of our schools, talking to students. I am so appreciative of that. >> Yeah. >> Didn't go to Heights High because she was at a hockey academy, but she's a Tiger through and through. There's no question about that. Um she maintained close close friendships with all of her friends when she was at the boarding school. Her father uh went through heights. He was there with me just a few years ago. Um and uh yeah, she's she's fantastic. Great role model. So excited for her and she's already given back. It's it's really wonderful. >> It's really nice. Yeah. >> Thank you. Um is there any new business? Any unfinished business? Do we have any correspondence and announcements? >> Not really correspondence, but
083uh it was it was great that uh Mayor Jim Petrus came and joined us at graduation. It was in addition to our two new board members. It was his first uh time shaking >> a little over 70 something hands. >> Yeah. 370 something hands, which is I said to him, I said, "You probably haven't shaken this many hands since you ran for mayor." and he said definitely not. So yeah, it was great. >> Hopefully next year the leadership of University Heights will be able to join us as well. >> All right. Well, if no further business or discussion, uh, may I have a motion to adjourn? >> I motion we adjourn. >> I second a motion. >> Leon, will you please call the role? >> Mr. Heights? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Power Prime. >> Yes.
084>> Mr. Trimbo. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hashkus Lily. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Krenshaw. >> Yes. Meeting adjourned.