001All right, it is now 6 o'clock, so we're going to call this meeting to order. Mr. Burson, could you please read the role? >> Uh, Mr. Balance, >> here. >> Mrs. Bidder, >> here. >> Mr. Gosnell, >> here. >> Dr. James, >> here. >> Mr. Harris, >> here. Um, before we start, could everyone please stand and face the flag? We'll begin with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. All right, before we start our meeting, um I would like to read out our district's uh mission and vision. And again, our mission is to create a culture of academic excellence through inclusive and innovative
002learning opportunities for the whole child. And our vision is to empower all learners to reach their full potential in a globally competitive world. All right. First, uh, do I have a motion to approve the agenda for tonight's meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Bidder, for your motion. And thank you, Mr. Balant, for your second. Mr. Burson, could you please call the role? >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Mr. Gos, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. All right. Uh, do we have a motion to approval of the minutes of our 311 meeting? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mrs. Bidder, for your motion. Thank you, Dr. James, for your second. Any questions about those minutes. Okay, Mr. Buren, could you please
003read the role? >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I. >> Dr. James. >> Mr. Balance. >> I. >> Mr. Gosnell, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. All right. Thank you very much. All right. First thing we're going to do is we're moving into public participation. Just want to explain a couple things with uh public participation. First of all, each speaker is limited to three minutes. We'll give you gentle reminders at 1 minute and 30 seconds. I always feel bad about interrupting, but again, it's more just to kind of keep you on time. Uh there is a 15minute limit on a particular topic. Um so I think we have six speakers on one topic. Obviously that math um you know six times three is so we'll get to that as we come to it. Just letting people
004know uh what as far as that's what's going on with that. Okay. Um when you uh have public participation again Dr. James will keep the time. Remember you're speaking to the board a as a whole. Um this is not time for a personal um comments and things like that towards individuals not at this meeting or individual board members and things like that. Okay. Questions about that? All right. >> And um just wanted to point out so that we did we did have one individual that uh said they were going to speak with us now. So we do just have five for one topic and then one for a separate topic. So that should be good just to let you >> perfect. Okay. So let's get how about our one our individual. Okay. >> Let's get
005that person up. Um then we go and have um have Ellen come up. >> Ellen Ellen, would you like to come up? Yeah. Yes, please. That way everybody can hear you. Yeah. >> The podium. There you go. >> Good evening. My name is My name is Ellen Owens. I live at 7330 Thumbelina Lane. And I would like to personally thank our Sycamore Public Schools Community Voucher Hertz Ohio Advisory Committee for your comprehensive and thorough response to the board of education request for a recommendation on joining or not joining the vouchers hurt Ohio lawsuit last October. I'd also like to go on record saying that and I will not say uh the name uh there were disparaging remarks given by one uh board member and I feel that that was inappropriate as evident by your presentation.
006Your monthsl long research on the ed choice universal voucher program and its impact on Sycamore schools has been exhaustive and left no t uh stone unturned. Your recommendations to our five board members in favor of joining the uh vouchers heard Ohio lawsuit is clearly datadriven. You have demonstrated that because of almost $3 billion in uncapped ed choice voucher funding in this banal bianial budget, the state of Ohio has abandoned the bipartisan fair school funding act and devalued our public school students by giving thousands more dollars in per pupil funding to private school vouchers. 96% of these ed choice vouchers are going to highincome parents, families, excuse me, most of whom have never attended Sycamore public schools. Sycamore has seen a 1700 uh% increase since the Ed Choice voucher income cap was lifted in 2023. Sycamore
007has lost $2.7 million in fair school funding in this state budget. I'm here tonight urging our five board members to follow the recommendation of our advisory committee by joining uh by voting to join the vouchers hurt Ohio lawsuit. All publicly elected board of education members take an oath to follow the Ohio Constitution which states clearly in article 6 section two that our public school dollar public tax dollars are for public schools only. The ED choice voucher program has been ruled unconstitutional. >> One minute please. in Ohio's court on June 25th 25. By following the Ohio Constitution, the Board of Education members are also acting as fiduciary stewards of our vital property tax dollars. Uh by joining Vouchers Heard Ohio, Sycamore will be standing up for the integrity and full funding of our public schools with
008over 330 other Ohio school districts. It's time for Sycamore Public School District to stand up with our neighbor districts to put a stop to the billions of dollars being drained by our public school funds for the unconstitutional Ed Choice private school voucher program that has no legal limits to its expansion and no accountability for the billions of dollars being spent on private school tuition at the expense of our public school community and property taxpayers. Thank you very much. >> Thank you very much. >> That's okay. >> Okay. And I forgot to say before you do that and Miss Owens, thank you very much for reminding me of that. When you go up there, please state your name and your address for the record. So, thank you for saving me on that one. So, all right,
009Mr. Ven, call up our next person. >> Uh, so next we have um we have Gavin who is a student of Sycamore. So, Gavin and the topic is going to be uh the changes to the gifted program. So, an agenda item. >> Okay. >> Hi, my name is Gavin Gunnerson. I live at 8751 Applec Drive. I'm currently a 10th grader at Sycamore High School in this innovation lab. I started in single accelerated gifted math program in the third grade. And when I was in fifth grade, I qualified for the double accelerated gifted math, which then started the next year. These changes were really crucial for me and it felt that I was now put into an area that I was actually being challenged. Within these classes, I found groups of people that I could actually
010understand and get. These programs let me connect with a community of people and felt even closer to being truly understood. Some of the greatest teachers I've ever had have come from this gifted track. These classes have been consistently the highlights of my day and without them I don't know what students like me will do. There are not any gifted classes in the high school only accelerated classes and they're not the same. A gifted class needs to have those students with those specialty teachers to be gifted math. And sorry, if Sycamore goes to just accelerated math, it will be hugely detrimental to students like me being a huge loss of community and challenge that was previously an opportunity for them. If someone was to ask me the best part of going to Sycamore, I would have
011to say this innovation lab and the gifted math program. But if this change happens, I would have to say the gifted math program is a thing of the past. I do not have any problem skipping grades and continue to do extremely well in math. But I like my math teachers now. They do not challenge me like the gifted math program did. And I do not have the same connection with the only accelerated math students. The existing gifted math program is incredible. If other students need more challenge through acceleration, they should get it. But the gifted math program is extremely beneficial for me and many other students. So please keep it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And next up we do have Maggie on the same topic. Hello, I'm Maggie Gunnerson and I also live
012at 8751 Applec Drive. The proposed expansion of gifted services with a compact accelerated math plan is the elimination of Sycamore's current well-respected successful gifted math program that has been that has been in existence for years. There is no cohesion problem to fix for the math gifted students. Publicly available data clearly shows and the administration admits that the gifted students served before the math matrix do not have gaps and are not struggling in math. double accelerated math students who skip two years of math have excellent geometry scores at the junior high even though Sycamore historically struggles in that subject. The existing gifted program is further backed by research in the publication a nation deceived. However, the district uses math matrix students real struggles in the program designed for gifted students as false evidence as why eliminating
013the current gifted program is justified and necessary. The legislation the district cites only requires that well-scoring students have an accelerated option, not that only one type of an acceleration can be offered. To say that it is too much to form a continuum of math options is to deny the reality of Sycamore's own data and to push classroom complexity on our teachers leading to an increased burnout, dissatis disatisfaction, and consequently worse outcomes. formal education matters. The gifted intervention specialists who have been so successful with Sycamore students will only have one quarter of the time with the elementary students compared to what was offered just a few years ago with these changes. The district has already lost the ability to recruit this kind of teacher. This shift away from GIS has started at Green which is now
014the worst scoring school in the district. The board needs to be aware. >> One minute please. Similar changes to the ELA program has caused serious damage to Sycamore's reputation. Sycamore, once the district consistently recommended for gifted students, is no longer mentioned at the Super Saturday program when people ask for recommendations. That's not surprising when Sycamore's own quality profile doesn't even mention a gifted program. Based on what I was seeing at Sycamore, I have found an education outside of Sycamore for my gifted elementary age daughter. I am also not alone in doing so. As a prominent figure in the gifted community, I am regularly asked what school districts families with gifted students should consider. With the ELA changes that have already happened at Sycamore, I do not mention Sycamore. But if specifically asked, I could comment
015on the quality of the math program. If the current math gifted program is eliminated, I will not stay silent. I would actively dissuade families with gifted students from considering Sycamore because of their child's appropriate education is worth more to me than my property value. >> Thank you. >> Just to make note, we did have another ad that is on the same topic. So now we are at six for that topic just so that the board's aware. >> I don't mind if we go over with that extra person. Is that okay with the board? >> Okay, good. All right, that's fine. Uh, next we'll bring up um bring up Morris. My name is Morris Sai. I live on 10920 Yorkway Lane. Um, I'd like to talk about the new advanced math pathways program. And while I
016think the intentions are good, I'm afraid that this new math program may come at the expense of kids that are truly gifted. I have two kids in the Sycamore School District, a daughter, Inara, in fifth grade at Green and Alex who's in second grade at Montgomery, and the changes will affect him the most. Um, right before my son's fall parent teacher conference, the Kogat test results had just been posted in the parent portal. Alex's teacher at the conference asked me if I had seen his Kogat score, which I did. She said that my son was very special, gifted with a 99 percentile in all parts, verbal, quantitative, non-verbal, and composite. He's classified as a 9A profile. Alex's teacher said that she knew that Alex was a smart cookie, but he didn't always perform like it
017because he sometimes seemed disinterested or, in his own world, doodling or not participating in group stuff. she sometimes didn't place him in the top performing kids when splitting up for wind block for um because um he didn't perform that well all the time. But now now that she knows that he's gifted um he he's being pulled out for wind block for enrichment with a GIS teacher and he loves that. Um, one of the things I learned once I found out that he was, you know, that he had scored so well on the on the Kogat, it kind of explains a little bit about his his behavior. Um, some of the some of the traits are that he learns concepts really quickly and needs less practice than other students when learning new skills. He excels on
018tasks that require critical thinking, fluency in producing ideas, and novel ways of solving problems and organizing materials. Some of the challenges he has are, you know, functioning in highly structured learning environments, interacting with age level peers as they may be far below them in academic ability. >> One minute, please. >> Um, Alex has followed up his KOAT scores with 99 percentiles on math on his MAP test both in reading and math. I'm not here to brag about my son's ability. In fact, I feel a lot of pressure as a parent to not fail my son by not giving him the opportunities to fully use his talents. gifted kids need to be nurtured in a different way than other kids. It seems that the new advanced math pathways is in reaction to Ohio bill um House
019Bill 96 which gives more opportunity to more kids. I'm not against that. You know, I I mean I think that's good, but according to the Ohio report card for Montgomery, nearly 70 of 70% of all the kids will be considered advanced. And um and the advanced math will be taught by regular teachers and not by GIS. My daughter was gifted at Montgomery, too, and her math class was 20 something kids, only about a quarter of the grade, and now it's going to be 70% of the grade. That does not make sense to me. So, it seems like a current is a downgrade for my >> um what I'd like to see is three levels of math within a grade. A class for gifted math kids, advanced math for the rest of the 70%, and regular
020class. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Do we have Elizabeth? Hello to all. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Elizabeth Sylvestri. I live at 11259 Ironwood Court and I am the mother of soon to be four children at Sims Elementary. The first time I heard about Sycamore's gifted program was from one of the leading surgeons in the entire world when I was a NICU nurse at Cincinnati Children's. He spoke about how happy he was with the program. From a young age, Sycamore's gifted program was able to challenge his son and keep him from being bored the way that he had been in school. My husband is a physician at Christ and at a social gathering for physicians and their family, I've heard Sycamore recommended consistently as a great school district
021based on their gifted program. I've heard the same thing over the years from engineers at GE, Ethicon, attorneys, and Proctor and Gamble employees. Families love this program. They see it as helping their children reach their full potential. The gifted program helps make Sycamore a destination district and is a key part of our district's identity and success. Parents pay a premium to move here and choose Sycamore over private schools. A mother who could not be here tonight who has six children in this district was originally in All Saints. She switched her children from All Saints to Sycamore for their gifted program. Um, since my own children have started in Sycamore, I've watched the slow and continual erosion almost dismantling of Sycamore's flagship gifted program. Increasingly, I keep hearing stories of gifted students leaving Sycamore. One parent
022who was involved in Sycamore Advisory Council has pulled her two gifted children out for private school. Another mother switched to homeschooling her gifted children following the changes to advanced ELA in the middle school. Another has just moved away. This is very concerning to me because these are parents who care deeply about this district. Were very involved. >> One minute, please. >> And have seen the changes over the years to gifted programming. Administration keeps telling me and other families we just have it all wrong. It's a big misunderstanding and they want to clear it up. It's an expansion. It's putting so many more families into gifted programming, which is true. More children will be in advanced math. House Bill 96 says any student who tests advanced must be placed in advanced math. That will be 218
023more children who qualify. And I want to be clear, these kids should have access to a more challenging curriculum. They have different needs than the 167 children who achieved accomplished, proficient, basic, or limited. But they also have different needs than the 73 students in accelerated math. Currently, these students are identified as gifted in two areas. Superior cognitive by Kogat scores and specific academic ability by MAP scores. We have already have an established beloved program that serves these children's needs. Today, Sycamore committed in their strategic plan to fostering Oh, can I finish a little? I have Okay. to finishing to fostering academic excellence. As you have heard, gifted students have unique cognitive and psychosocial needs that cannot be met by a one-sizefits-all curriculum. An article I read while preparing for tonight referred to gifted education as
024the model minority of special education. And that's a really important perspective. Gifted education is often treated and viewed as a prize, something that you're supposed to push your child into that you brag about rather than what it really is. This is a service. Sycamore has gifted intervention specialists who provide gifted intervention services to help these children meet their full potential. My child will go from receiving 85 minutes per day of gifted intervention service down to just 25 minutes. That is a dramatic cut. The week before spring break, I met with numerous other parents from the district during the day to discuss this. Many people wanted to come but could not because they were at work. >> I'm I'm sorry. Yeah. >> Okay, cool. Can I email you guys the rest of it? >> Yes, you
025may. You can do it. Thank you so much. >> You're very welcome. Sorry about that. >> Yeah, totally. Thanks. >> Next we have Amita. >> Hi, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Ama Sunvi. I live in 8633 Heather He Heatheridge Lane and I have two students at Sims Elementary. One's in the advanced math program. I'm here to talk about that. Um I want to start by saying that I support the district's goal of expanding access to advanced learning. Uh more students should absolutely have the opportunity to be challenged. My request tonight is not to oppose that goal. It's to ask the board to pause implementation of these changes for the next school year to allow time for meaningful community input and thoughtful planning. So, I'm not asking you for
026a change. I'm asking you for a pause to get input as proposed. This is a significant shift. Students would move from a full grade level acceleration taught by a specialist to half a grade level in general education setting while the program expands significantly to include 70% of the students. This isn't a small adjustment. It's a fundamental change to both the rigor and instructional approach to to the whole student. you started with the mission um and the vision of the school board and I I hope you think about that when you hear us all talk because I think that these points really of directly um point to the the mission and the vision when a program includes 70% of students. It raises an important question about whether the model can still meet the needs of students
027with high cognitive ability and other specialized learning needs. The proposal shifts the gifted intervention specialist away from teaching math. Students would no longer receive advanced math instruction from a teacher specifically trained in working with high cognitive ability learners. For students who need that level of instruction, it isn't clear yet how they will continue be to be supported at the appropriate level. >> One minute, please. >> Implementing this immediately next year places many students in a transitional bind. These are students who have already been on one trajectory and will now be moved to a different one without a clear bridge or plan for continuity. It raises questions on whether students or teachers will have sufficient time and training to prepare for this shift, particularly when they're asked to meet the needs of students across a much
028wider range of math abilities. Before making a change of the scale, you must I think it is critical for us to understand how the students will be supported, what training and resources will be provided to teachers, and how the district will ensure the students at the highest level continue to be challenged. Right now, we don't have this clarity. We're being told that these changes are being made to comply with the law. I don't believe that these changes at this level are necessary to comply with that law. You all have done a great job of soliciting feedback on major decisions like the school start times. You survey parents, you survey students, and this is a sim similar change that needs that level of engagement. I would also note that I understand this is a year the
029district is asking the community to support levies or tax increases. At a time when you're asking families for that level of trust and investment, it is especially important that parents and the community feel heard and included in major direct decisions that directly affect their children's education. >> Thank you. I'm sorry I had to interrupt you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. >> And our last speaker is Jesse Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Jesse McFaren. I live at 8739 Tibberon Drive. I have two children attending Sycamore schools, a daughter in third grade at Montgomery Elementary and a son at Sims Elementary in half-day kindergarten. Uh, my daughter qualified for accelerated math and ELA this school year. She also participates in enrichment. Let me be clear. I don't have issues with the expansion of qualifying standards
030for accelerated programming or the reduction of the rigor of the program by expanding curriculum to include third grade math. But I do have questions about and foresee issues with asking general education teachers to undertake this instruction. When I attended the math pathways meeting and learned that general education teachers would be tasked with the instruction of accelerated math, I immediately contacted Jamie Jackson, Sycamore School's supervisor of gifted services to express my concern. My concern stem from my daughter's current experience with accelerated ELA, which is now the responsibility of her general education ELA teacher. She has not received any different, extra, or accelerated instruction this school year. She in fact has informed me that some of the curriculum is a repeat of that which she completed in her second grade walk to read. I was informed by
031Miss Jackson, and I quote, "Often a gifted student may not notice a different assignment on their desk. Instead, the rigor is embedded in the sophistication of the expected output. While the class may explore the same complex text, a much higher level of critical thinking is utilized. The work is not in the task itself, but in the in-depth and well-th thoughtout response produced. While the assignment title might be the same as appears, the cognitive result and the logic required to reach it are significantly increased. End quote. This is absolutely circular reasoning. My gifted child has gifted responses because she is gifted and therefore is receiving accelerated education. With no additional instruction, dialogue, or feedback, she is not in fact receiving anything accelerated. In this situation, I question whether Sycamore's reporting that my child is receiving gifted
032ELA services to the state of Ohio through her WE is fraudulent. Whether it is or not, I am confident that she is not receiving accelerated ELA. Not by the fault of the general education teacher who is already overwhelmed by the vast array of skill levels she has to tailor lessons to in a general education class during a high stress state test year but by the decision of Sycamore to place the onus of this task on that overwhelmed teacher. I am very concerned accelerated math will go the way of accelerated ELA unless there are classes devoted to these students with teachers who want to learn and teach this curriculum. This is the first year that it has not been a struggle to get my child to school. >> She is engaged and excited about her math
033and enrichment classes. She feels challenged and seen. She gets a break from the students in her general education classes that struggle with behaviors. She wanted to return to school following winter and spring breaks. I am sure I am not alone when I say the accelerated programming is important for keeping the high achieving kids engaged and excited. I ask that you very seriously consider the impact of these changes on the teachers, families, and most importantly the students you're impacting. >> Thank you very much. >> All on that topic. >> Okay. >> You Mr. Harris, if if you don't mind, I'd like to um call up uh Mrs. Rebecca Tommpkins who is the executive director of curriculum and learning uh ju just to give us a brief uh insight into this change. Is that okay? >> Is
034that okay with this? >> Okay, good evening and many thanks to our community members who have spoken this evening. Um, in this process, it's vital to hear your feedback and your concerns so that we can take that into account as we move forward. So, I want to begin by really framing our conversation about advanced math. This conversation is not one that has come on suddenly. It really has been a fruition of several years worth of work beginning with our math precourses study that started three years ago because our driving question is really twofold. One piece absolutely goes to our vision statement. So, how do we empower all Sycamore learners to reach their full potential in a globally competitive world? And how might we do that in a way that is going to help them um
035in in a in a curriculum that is well supported over time? The other conversation that's been ongoing is framed around math. So, a math pathway is more than just a particular year. The math pathway really is intended to help students who are interested in higher level math in high school reach algebra 1 or geometry in 8th grade. So our question is how do we identify students who are showing signs of advanced math readiness and provide them a wellsupported pathway so that they can reach algebra 1 or geometry by 8th grade accessing higher level math courses once they reach the high school. Those driving questions have been part of the conversations with teachers um with parents who have uh shared their frustrations with the current accelerated math pathway as students skip an entire grade level worth
036of content and try to um reach their full potential in higher level math. Um and really it has um in looking at the data our doublegated math criteria in the elementary school has raised some questions in some areas of continuous improvement. So let me give you an example in elementary and this is very specific to our elementary schools. Currently in elementary access to accelerated math is based on two gifted criteria. So, it's a specific academic ability in math based on a 95th percentile or above on MAP math and a superior cognitive identification which is Kogat a 128 uh Kogat score and above. In order to access accelerated math, a student must have both criteria. So, let me share some information or some data with you. At this point, we have about 84 students who are
037in third grade accelerated math. So those are the students who have been invited to participate in a a math class that is accelerated one grade level above them. We currently have 132 students who have qualified as gifted in math. Only of those 132, 84 are the only who only students who have access to accelerated math. We have 113 students in third grade who are superior cognitive ability. Of that 113, only 84 at this point have access to accelerated math. So if we're looking at our students who are showing readiness for advanced math, we are leaving out a large population of our students by having these doublegated criteria. In fourth grade, the numbers and trends continue. So about 84 students in single accelerated. Currently double accelerated begins in fourth grade. In fourth grade, we have 153
038students who are gifted in math. Of those, only about a hundred have been invited to participate in accelerated math. We have 160 students in fourth grade who are superior cognitive ability. Not all of those students are invited because of those tight gates within the elementary. So we ask ourselves in looking at a math pathway that is built to help students reach algebra 1 or geometry by 8th grade and do we have data indications that are showing that our students are ready for advanced math. We see that there are some students that we're leaving behind. We also see curricular updates that we can do as far as compacting curriculum and allowing students to reach an accelerated pace. Getting to that end point without missing any essential math standards. We can do that within our current curriculum
039by compacting and working with our our our teachers um in order to um really think about these students who are showing signs of advanced math readiness to move at a faster pace to be able to um embed and stack standards so that they're able to move more quickly reaching that um end end goal of algebra 1 and geometry. Sycamore is very blessed by having many students who are showing signs of readiness for advanced math. We are a district that is capable of so much and has done so much already. We can take a look at all of our students who are showing signs of readiness for advanced math. We can identify who those students are. we can provide them those opportunities so that all students are having access and opportunities to um reach higher level
040math once they get into high school. So that is the intention around advanced math. Um and really thinking about it's not a if it is a gifted math class in the elementaryaries we would have provided opportunities for all of our gifted students to access and we are not doing that currently in our elementarymentaries. So, how might we provide access to all of our gifted students and other students whose data might not show that they are completely or traditionally ready for advanced math but are showing interest and passion and potential. How might we provide them those opportunities so that they might reach their full potential? So, that has been the culmination of several years of worth of work that has reached this advanced math pathway. I will also mention House Bill 96 which came upon us
041um as um part of legislature legislation um in July and House Bill 96 puts requirements on districts. So the the requirement is this. Beginning in the 26 27th school year, any district that offers advanced learning opportunities and the state defines advanced learning opportunities as any math opportunity that is up to two grade levels above the current grade level. Any school district that offers advanced learning opportunities in math, which we do, to some students must offer those opportunities to any student who in the previous year achieved an advanced level of skill on the applicable end of a course or um OST assessment. That's an indication that we want to look at the capabilities of all of our Sycamore students and recognize those capabilities and provide them opportunities in the best way that we know possible which
042we can do. Thank you for your opportunity. Thank you so much for being here. We can continue to uh work together. Please reach out. I will say that um just today we have a web page. It's if you go to to Sycamore's web page and search advanced math pathway, you'll see many resources there that are designed specifically for families. So there's a frequently asked questions. There are family reflective questions that a family can talk about amongst themselves and with their children to think about is advanced math ready for me? The data metrics for um advanced math are included on there. There's a wealth of information that's available to all families around our advanced math pathway. Thank you. Any questions? >> May I ask a question? >> Of course. >> Is a gifted intervention specialist also
043a general education teacher? >> Yes. So a a gifted endorsement is an endorsement that is in addition to whatever license that that teacher holds. So a teacher might have a general education um degree. So that would be their entry point and adding a gifted endorsement. Um a teacher might be any lure and add that gifted endorsement. So in Sycamore, if for math and language arts, do all of our gifted intervention specialists have their general education degree in math and also in language arts of specifically. >> So in the elementaryaries that lure is a general education license. >> Yeah. Are they specialty? >> So all of our GIS's and all of our general education teachers have a gen ed license in order to be able to teach that content. So they're all general education teachers. >>
044And is the curriculum the same the the the curriculum that we use for >> Yes. So um the curriculum so if we're thinking about gened classes and advanced classes and even accelerated right now. So in in um very fundamental terms yes the curriculum is the same because it's math. It's grade level standards. It's just the pace at which students access those grade level standards. So the curriculum resources are the same and we use at the elementary Carnegie clear math. That's the same no matter what class a student is, if it's an a grade level class or if it's an advanced or accelerated class. And it's all grade level standards. So the class in and of itself is um a class that's built on an identical foundation. Will students still receive intervention services? I know that
045that was mentioned that there wouldn't get like it would be a drastic cut. Can you talk about that? A component of gifted services in the elementary schools specifically, which is um a great boon within our elementary buildings is that we're able to provide specific academic, excuse me, some superior cognitive services, specifically to all every student in third and fourth grade who has a superior cognitive um identification receive enrichment services from our incredible GIS team during their win or NNI time. So this is a time that is uh it's designed for intervention what I need or enrichment. During those times are all students in third and fourth grade who have a superior cognitive identification will work with their GI GIS on those superior cognitive enrichment activities. So every day and I know that's transition time. So,
046there's 30 minutes that's available every day to work with the GIS um in order to provide those enrichment services. >> May I Yeah, >> hold on. We're again, we're going to let her present and if we have questions and everything, we can send those in or talk about those later. Okay. >> Min, it's important to to also consider that the advanced math course. So, is the curriculum different? Dr. James, you asked. So, here's where I say the differences with a gened classroom. So, a gened classroom in third grade is going to address third grade standards. In advanced math, that class is going to not only address third grade standards, but also the next grade levels worth of standards as well. So, that is a class that is going to move more quickly. It is going
047to um be more complex. It is designed to move students more quickly through that map pathway. And so that class in and of itself by design is one that is more complex and more difficult. That's why there's data readiness indicators that that are we we continue to have some gates for that class because it needs to be students who are showing signs of math readiness because it will be a more challenging curriculum for students who qualify. >> Okay. So I Oh, you go ahead. Go ahead. Dr. James, you go next. I was just going to ask about, you know, it's 25 or 30 minutes per day, right, of intervention for gifted services. >> Um, can you give us any indication of like other school districts? Is that on track with like the the norm like
048of other high performing school districts? Can you just give us a feel for that? So as part of this process um we our GIS GIS's elementary GIS's and our gifted um coordinator looked at gifted services across the state. So looking at our similar districts and then we also took a dive into our similar districts around here locally and our similar districts across the state because we wanted to get an idea of what do gifted services look like in other districts. What we found is that most districts provide gifted services within the gened classroom through cluster grouping. Now, let me explain what cluster grouping is. Cluster grouping is a gifted service model that our um Ohio Department of Education and Workforce is um it's part of our gifted rule. What cluster grouping does it says that
049building the classrooms will intentionally cluster groups of gifted kids students within a general education classroom because we know that it's important for gifted students to have other gifted students within that same class. Most elementaryaries in the dis in across the state and s certainly our similar districts provide gifted services in the gened classroom through cluster grouping. So, a general education teacher receiving high-quality professional development based on the eight gifted competencies, 60 hours over four years, 15 hours every year. That teacher provides those gifted services. What makes Sycamore unique and what many districts do not offer are those enrichment services with superior cognitive. Most of the time, districts provide all of those services within the gened classroom. What Sycamore does is say, let's provide some some specific superior cognitive stu services with our GIS recognizing that
050that is another area of identification. So, that is a a component, an add-on, an enhancement that most other districts um don't offer because it's all done within that gened classroom. >> Thank you, Mrs. Tomkins. I >> thank Didn't want to put you on the spot, but I wanted you to come up and just give us some >> I appreciate this highlights. >> Does the board have any more questions? >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. And I appreciate all the uh um parents speaking as well. Thank you very much. All right. We are going to move forward now with the superintendent agenda. And the first thing we're going to talk about that is some uh Mr. Levelvel's favorite part of the program is policy. I think you all actually really enjoy it. Um, it's
051actually very simple tonight. These are just the second read of the um, winter update policies that were sent at the last meeting. So, any questions? I'm happy to address those with you. >> Okay. Questions? >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Levelvel. All right. Um, let me see. We have a the next thing on superintendent agenda is a agreement with the Mottz group. Is there a motion for this? >> Oh, sorry. Can I just jump in really quick because these policies actually were for approval. >> These were for approval >> and it says but these were but it just says discussion on the thing. No. >> So we have to amend. Can I I would like to motion to amend this >> the agenda. agenda in superintendent section A to be to vote for an approval
052for the second read winter update 44.2. Can I get a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you for your motion to amend the agenda, Mrs. Bidder. And for your second, Mr. Balant. Um, so, uh, you call the RO. >> Yeah, we're going to call the role and vote on this. And then that this is just the motion. This just the motion. Yes. To amend the Yeah. This is just the amendment. Yeah. Mrs. Bither >> I. >> Mr. Balot. >> I. >> Mr. Gosnell. >> I. >> Dr. James. >> I. >> Mr. Harris. >> I. >> Okay. So, now you need to call >> Now we need to make a motion. >> No. Yeah. For the vote. >> Make a motion to to approve the policies. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the policies? >>
053Second. >> Thank you, Dr. James, for your motion. >> Can I ask a question? >> Thank you. Hold on. Thank you, Mr. Balant, for your second and Mr. Gosnell. >> I'm sorry. >> Yes. So ju just just so I'm clear. I thought we were >> yes >> lump sum approving policies >> in June. >> You are absolutely correct about that. However um these policies many of them have already gone to the second read for the June um big update that we will do when we adopt the manual. These winter updates all have a time frame with them that they need to be board approved. And so we pulled these out through the winter update, put them as a first and second for approval tonight. These will land on the policy page with the other NEOLA
054policies that we had to go ahead and approve due to legislative request, but thank you for I apologize that wasn't approval. >> Okay. All right. Uh we have a motion on the floor. Mr. Burson, could you please call the role? >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Mrs. Dither >> I. Mr. GZnull >> I. >> Mr. Harris >> I. All right. Um, next we have an agreement with the Motch Group. Is there a motion for this? >> So moved. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Dr. James. Okay. And you want to explain this a little bit? >> I think it's always just helpful when we move forward with a project that isn't necessarily bid out. This is our track project. Um this is a state term resolution so it's locked in pricing
055through our um consortium basically and so the state allows us they basically do the work to do the bidding for us to get the best price and so that's what we're doing here in order to move the project forward. >> This is replacing the track >> the track at the um high school soccer field. Okay. Correct. Yes. >> And this was already scheduled for in our 2026 per 2026 permanent improvement fund. >> Yes sir. Yep. Okay. >> All right. Um, Mr. Pson, could you please call the role? >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Balot, >> I. >> Mr. Gosell, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. All right. Um, I don't think we have anything else on the superintendent agenda. >> Superintendent other. >> I would be happy to
056take this one. Good evening. Uh, we have many celebrations uh this evening. We have a Sycamore High School junior, Jaden Pritchette, in the 2026 Overture Awards. He was a winner in theater, earning him a $4,000 scholarship. This comes after he was already recognized on the national stage as a winner with distinction in the Young National Young Arts Competition for musical theater. Uh we also had senior Mave Bachmann, who was also recognized as an overture awards finalist in theater and was awarded a $1,500 scholarship. and sophomore Cristiano Tempy, who made it to the semifinalist round in the Overture Awards in dance. The Sycamore High School Symphony Orchestra earned a superior rating at the state contest contest performance in the double A level. We also have Sims Elementary who was named a governor's science of reading champion
057award. This prestigious designation from the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce celebrates SIMS proven commitment to high-quality literacy instruction aligned with the science of reading. The intermediate certain team uh attended the 75th annual Ohio Junior Classical League convention in Columbus and brought home a first place state title. More than 500 students competed at this competition. our state champs, Dash Finan, Emmy Hayes, Grace Wynawuth, and Rehan Priusa. And finally, some athletics updates for you. Spring sports season has begun, but there's much to celebrate from winter season. Sunnav Adikari won the 2026 Ohio High School state championship in chess. We had one GMC team champion, the chess team. We also had four individual GMC champions. Audrey Hawkins for wrestling, Eleanor Hardy for swimming, Khloe Fox for swimming, and Olly Ark for diving. There were 39 state qualifiers
058as well, 17 from swimming and diving, and 22 from the track track team. So, or sorry, from the winter track. So, just many talented students. Um, and our many thanks to the the staff, the coaches and staff who support our talented students every day. >> Congratulations. Yeah, >> congratulations to all those students. That's great. That's good stuff to hear there. So, thank you. All right. Um, let me see. We need to approve. I'm sorry. Um, the personnel consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the personnel consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Bidder, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Ballot, for your second. C. Can I ask a question on this one? >> Sure. >> I'm sorry. >> Uh, just a random question. There are several leaves of absence
059that are an entire year. I just wanted to make sure that that was >> correct. >> That is correct. That's a great great question too. And I actually had something else I was going to mention about the personnel consent agenda as well. So um yes, we um our collective bargaining agreement with our Sycamore Education Association allows teachers to take up one year leave of unpaid absence. There's two different types of leaves. There's childcare leave and then just a leave of absence. And so, um, we do have quite a few teachers actually this coming year that are going to be leveraging the leave an absence. I will tell you it it kind of eb and flows based on year and this year is going to be a little bit higher one. Um, the other thing I
060would mention as well on the personal consent agenda, you're noticing that we are starting to put on staff for next year, certified staff. So, we're in the thick of hiring season right now. And so, you'll notice that there are a few employees on there that we're employing for the new school year. Um, as with past practice, I appreciate Mrs. Miss Bidder reminding us um we will be putting the resumes on there redacted as well so that um you can all preview those um while they're on the board agenda. So those will continue to come um throughout the remainder of this hiring season. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> All right, Mr. Buren, could you please read the role? >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I. >> Mr. Bon, >> I. >> Mr. Gos, >> I. >> Dr.
061James, >> I. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. All right. Uh to the treasur's agenda. We've got a couple of donations on here and um I think we need to make a motion to approve those donations. >> So So moved. >> Dr. James for your motion and Mrs. Bidder for your second. All right. Um Mr. Buren, call the role, please. >> Uh Dr. James, >> I. >> Mrs. B. >> I. >> Mr. Balot. >> I. >> Mr. Gnel, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. And again, as always, we'd like to thank uh publicly thank all the people who donated to the district. Thank you. Again, it shows what a great place this is to have as many people donate for things like this. I especially love to see the people who donate like to cover
062up the lunch balances and things like that. That's really cool. So, thank you very much and thank you to everybody in the community for doing that. All right. Uh moving on to the approval of summer school tuition rates. Do we have a motion? I moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Balot, for your motion. Thank you, Mrs. bidder for your second. Have anything on these? Okay. All right. >> Yes. >> Just one question. Is this um are these charges the same as they were last year? >> Yes, they're the same. >> Thank you. >> All right. Okay. Mr. Burson, call a roll, please. >> Uh Mr. Balon, >> I. >> Mrs. Ber, >> I. >> Mr. Gno, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Harris. >> I All right. Next is we're going
063to approve the monthly financial report for the month ending on February 28th. >> Right. And um is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mrs. Bidder for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Balant, for your second. Mr. Buren, you have anything to any questions about the financial report? >> Oh, yeah. We can go ahead and if Christian would like to pull that up, we can go ahead go ahead and go to the uh the revenue page please. I do want to point out um so during January I I had mentioned that our tax advances were a little bit behind um but we have caught that up um and that's just that's just based on the county based on collections. So, our tax revenue um it was nice to get that
064cash in and with as with a lot of the districts um even in well for all districts in Hamilton County, they saw that delay in the advances so we weren't just the only ones. Um but it's nice that those collections are coming in and we do uh we will have our final settlement in April. Um but we've already collected the majority of taxes through the advances that the county gives us. Um, still noting uh the increase in the dollars the state um sorry in the in the amount that the state gives us. Um during my pres you know um through my previous presentations we've talked about those those supplements that the state um you know implemented this year um doing that instead of um updating the cost inputs for the the fair school funding plan.
065Um and like I've mentioned before during FY27 we're supposed to be 100% on the fair school funding plan but they're not updating the cost inputs. So, it's like there's no increase at all and they like to find additional ways maybe around the fair school funding plan to supplement um just fully funding that um that initiative. Anyways, um any questions about the revenue side? >> Can you repeat that? Are you saying that they're although we're not fully funding the fair school funding mechanism? >> Yes. So they're >> they're still trying to help make it fun, not funded, but find >> if they would just if the state would decide to fully implement and update the cost inputs, then it would more uh it would give districts more funding. Um so rather than doing that um the
066state did come up with those performance supplements, the enrollment growth supplement, uh they're just kind of rather than updating the cost inputs, kind of finding a a different route to um aid districts. Um >> and you're saying that's what they're doing. >> That's what we hope they'll do. That's what the consensus is that they're doing is is um giving those supplements as a way of not actually updating the cost inputs. Um but if they would just update the cost inputs to begin with supplement. >> Yeah. And it wouldn't meet the supplements. Um and just like to point out in in the five-year forecast, we did not anticipate receiving those supplements past this bienium. Uh just because there's a lot of uncertainty. we we doubt that the state will take funding um you know funding away
067when they do um I'll say get creative on the supplement side that they typically don't take funding away um but there's no guarantee so we're not we're not actually planning for it if we get it nice if not then we at least have it in our forecast that we're not getting it so you know as opposed to um to expend to expenditures on the revenue side um in a conservative nature you anticipate maybe not getting money whereas on the expenditure side you would anticipate uh maybe more expenditures to be conservative. So the revenue side just a little bit different in that nature, right? We can go to the expenditure tab. So for the healthcare increase, um I did want to point out that in January is when we saw the increase for this year's rates
068for this year's uh plan and it was a 9% increase over last year's premiums. Um, and so you'll see that we're at 8.78% for benefits. And that doesn't just include insurance. Um, but that is the biggest chunk of the benefits. There's another piece to that um that I would like to just just bring to note is our severance. Um, so our servers here at Sycamore, um, when a teacher or a classified staff or really anybody retires, they're entitled to onethird of their sick leave and it is up to a certain amount which is spelled out in policy. Um, but that is very different than than a lot of other districts, neighboring districts even to where they're paying out only a quarter um of those days. So, it is a way that we are attractive um
069from from other districts is when you retire, you're going to get more payout if you use those sick days wisely is what we like to say. Um and so last year, we paid out about $1.2 million in severance. And we do offer a um an incentive that's within our oopsy and and sea. there there is a there is an incentive for the exempt and um the admins as well um and that's spelled out in in the fringe benefits package and then for OPC and SEA it's within the contract. So and that only applies if a retiree goes within their first year of eligibility. Um so we did see a lot of the teachers last year take advantage of that due to changes with um with STRS. Um uh and so last year's was tied to
070FY24 because we usually pay out most of the severance in July which is for the previous year and so this year we paid out FY25 which was about 1.4 million as opposed to last year's severance which is 1.2. So there's that accounts for a little bit of that increase as well. Um because we do want to note that you know although the health and care the the healthcare increase was 9% you know year-over-year uh the variance is 8.78 so some of that still does reflect uh the responsible staffing because if we have more staff you would expect more more uh more employees taking benefits. Um but since we've um know through Mr. L uh through Mr. Levelvel um and even Mr. Lewis's initiative of of responsible staffing. You know, we we feel confident about that
071uh that variance of only 8.78% reflecting the uh responsible staffing. Um Mr. >> Person, if you look at the wages line above that, so um you know, >> I don't remember exactly what the forecast for the year was, but do you still feel confident um that we're going to hit the forecast in the wages line? >> Yes. and and and I've already peaked ahead at March since we're pretty much through March. Um and those wage projections are modeling appropriately um through the you know and I don't anticipate any changes through the end of the year and it they're modeling appropriately now. Um, and when it comes to the purchase services, uh, this is one is where I will point to, um, we're still projecting about an eight about an 8% increase over last year. Um,
072this is something we're going to need to dive into a little bit more and and I'll get to that in just just a minute, but to point out that 10 point 10.44% 44% increase. The majority of that is going to lie with uh the investment that we make in in our transportation for our special needs students. Um we've seen an increased need with that. I was actually talking to Miss um Mrs. Spencer earlier today just to make sure we're on the same page with that and and we have communicated back and forth about that increased need um and specifically just just in transportation. So that's where that hits. Um which was no different than last year. We we saw a significant increase in the need for um for transportation and just the contracted services to
073meet that investment we um need to make with students with disabilities. Um last thing that I would like to point out is you'll see that materials and supplies line. And I know it's not, you know, in in the overall budget, uh, the materials and supplies is not a huge percentage, but it's still, um, when we're looking at year-over-year, we see last year we were almost 90% expended based on what we had forecasted. This year, we're only 67% expended. With materials and supplies, we would expect most of that to take place when students are in session. So, in in July and even in early August, um there's there's going to be some some increased expenditures as we as we prepare for the school year, but generally those start to wind down towards the end of the
074school year because we've budgeted strictly for this school year. Um, and so one thing I would like to do is during the next meeting, during our during our work session, is to um bring a little bit more information back to the board because I feel like we may um be overbudgeted in this area and to really uh determine on the purchase services if we may be under budgeted uh just based on the forecast and really bring that to the board so we can dive into that a little bit more. um just just briefly during our next work session if that would be okay. And Mr. Balant, we're still at the 3.31%. So that is below um you know the the cap uh and the resolution that the board approved back in October. >> And do
075you see that that continues through the end of the budget? uh through the end of this year. Yes, it it should and it should actually get better because I I'll point out last year that during um during June last year was when the state was unsure of what that um what the cap was going to be on our cash balance carryover and Sycamore responsibly, the board responsibly went ahead and had to um to advance some of that money uh that we were going to do this year last year in order to um still meet those needs that we had already scheduled for this year. So yeah. All right. And then the last um so just just some basic data here on the you know we've been transparent about our cash balance and we can see
076that last year you know we were at 61% um and right now we're at 48%. And if you if you're looking at this, you're going to say, well, the ending cash was, you know, 51.1 million with the expenditures or 70 million, bro. That's a, you know, that's a that's greater than 48%, right? So we have tied this to what we are projecting as our expenditures to be um for the year for um for our operating expenditures just so that we can we can anticipate that cash balance dropping before you know before it happens because you know uh the 51 and the 70 you know was 80ish% you know so so we're high now because it's we're at the high point right before um thanks to our cash advances that we got from the our tax
077advances that we got from the county and due to our settlement. So, it's it's a high it's a high point in cash for the year. Um then after April, we don't get settlement again till August. So, that's when we're starting to go down, then we'll go back up. Um >> right. We basically we've received all of our revenue for the year so far, but we still have a lot of expenditures to catch up. Yeah. Exactly. >> So, although this shows a $15 million surplus, we're actually going to operate closer to that $9 million deficit in spending this year. Correct. Yes. All right. Any other questions on that? >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Buren. >> Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Buren. Uh, we we need to vote on that. So,
078yes. Could you please call the role? >> I All right. Um, now we move on to other board business and uh, couple of things. First, we did have a PTO meeting. I'll let you go ahead and talk a little bit about that. We had a PTO meeting today with Montgomery. We had a PTO meeting uh yeah with the Montgomery Elementary School and we presented the Sycamore financial perspectus to the to the members of the PTO and uh we talked about the role of the board a little bit less than we normally do and focus more on the finances of the district and um I think that it was a very positive um meeting and now we're going to Mr. Harris is going to explain that we have another opportunity to do the same type of
079meeting um with the junior high. >> So, April 15th at 6:30 is another uh PTO meeting. Um I plan on attending. I was throwing it out to see if any other board members would like to attend that meeting with me. Um so, check your calendars and maybe get back to me in the next day or two and let me know so we can get that all set up. I don't want to put anybody on the spot right now, but check your calendars and all that other stuff and we'll go out and talk to them. Okay. Any other board business right now? >> Yes. So, um you know, we've talked a lot about upcoming levy. Um, you know, and the goal of the board that we talked about in the financial retreat was prior to the
080end of the school year that we would have a little more clarity, a little more focus, you know, but also start to form a levy committee and start to get the work in progress because we all know once the school year ends, everyone scatters. We come back in August, you know, mid to late August and all of a sudden now we're down to September, October before before a levy. So, you know, I would like to propose that we dedicate our next work session to really to to really talking about the levy, making some, you know, um, a general discussion, what we want to see, what the board wants to do, uh, to really be prepared because again, the next meeting, I don't know the exact date, but >> the 9th of April, you know, you
081got about a month left before school gets out. So, I would like to propose that when you guys work on the agenda that we dedicate the work session to the levy. Um, and then I I guess I would like to open it up to the rest of the board to to talk about, you know, what does the board expect or want um from the administration before the end of the school year? Do we want to do a couple listening sessions with the community to where we can get input? You know, and if we if we're going to do that, then we really need to start maybe not tonight, but working on what those dates are and getting them on a calendar. So, you know, I guess I'd like to open that up to the board.
082I I would really like to see us do a couple of u community forums um so that people can understand um what we're grappling with as we decide on what type of levy to put on the ballot and that those forums happen before the end of the school year. >> I agree with you uh Mr. Bell and Dr. James. Um, I'm just throwing it out there for discussion. Do we, when we say community forum, do we say we are presenting information about the finances of the district, about the levy about funding the school district and then or do or or and is it a listening session or are they the same thing or is it two different things? How do we >> Yeah. So, you know, again, I would like to verify with legal just
083to make sure we don't cross any lines. I would like, you know, my my vision is that we present the facts, which we've already done a couple times, but present the facts to the community on the need for a levy. Um, but then also talk about the two different types of levy, property tax versus earned income. And yeah, I would like to get some feedback from the community as long as that's legally allowed. I would like to get some feedback of, you know, we're five members. You know, I would I would like to hear the voice of the community before we make a decision. >> I would I would think by the next work session we could have legal feedback on that. >> Yeah, >> I'll make I will uh make some calls. >> Yeah.
084>> And find out what that would entail and what we need to do for that to >> Yeah. I think as long as we stick to the facts, >> I think we're perfectly good. >> Again, I would just I think we all agree. Just run it by me. Mhm. >> Yeah. Okay. I Yeah, I think that sounds great. >> And maybe if um our administration has any thoughts or ideas or suggestions, please you could take the opportunity to present that to us as well. Um and give us that feedback um about what a forum would look like and how to what types of topics we should be covering and if we have missed something out of those three things that we just said. Yeah, I think I I mean just I mean it was after
085school. The meeting that we just had was after school. So it was like 4:30, you know, kids are coming home from school, parents are coming in. Like we didn't really have any questions. We, you know, we presented, we gave factual information. Uh we asked a lot of times, do you have any questions? And I think that just from this very very small group of people um they did I mean part of I think the issue with PTO's is they themselves are worried that they can't take a stand or say things as PTO organizations. So there's maybe that could have been why or because it's just late in the afternoon and people are tired. Um but we didn't get a lot of like feedback I guess is what I'm trying to say. And that's okay. But
086we didn't I mean we were just there to kind of present and talk about the issues and the facts but just maybe we want to consider like when we do do a forum we tell people what to expect like here's what we're going to present on and then we would love to hear your feedback. Please come with questions or opinions you know tell us what you think that way they know what you know what it's consisting of. We didn't we didn't say that at the beginning. We said if you have any questions along the way, but since we want to specifically do this to potentially get feedback, we may want to make sure we're letting people know that. >> Well, and especially if we're kind of labeling it as like a a community listening session,
087like that's >> that's important, right? To have the the community be leading that. >> Yeah. So, we could say we're going to talk for this many minutes and then the rest we're going to listen or something. So, that way we kind of define it. That would be what I would think. that opening open to suggestions for everybody. >> I would agree to that type of format. >> Yeah, >> I think that's the best getting that input. That's because that's the purpose of that meeting is to get the input, not to hear me talk, which I don't blame them. >> No, I mean it was I think it was I think we covered all the things we should cover and I think it was a very positive meeting. I think it was helpful. I feel like
088it was, but >> there at a listening session, it's noticed as a special meeting. like it's handled a little bit different, right, than than the two of you going to repeat. So >> So So yes, so we'll definitely be working on that. Yes, a question. >> Sure. But that um actually yes, go to the podium, I guess, to ask a question. No, I don't think you have to do that. Hopefully I can give a brief answer and we >> It just occurred to me that you that Sycamore has a large population of residents that don't have students in the district. And I think that really and I think it's a very large I I can't say 60 Yeah, I was going to say 60 70%. And that really needs uh to be addressed prior. It
089it needs to be prioritized. >> Yeah, we we've actually have talked about that large group of people who don't have children in the district and making sure that we put out communication that gets to them and making sure that they're knowing they're knowing they're invited to these meetings and reaching out to them as well. So yeah, that is definitely a priority of all of this. >> So by postcards or something? Well, that's we have to sit down and figure out. >> Okay. I I didn't I don't remember. I think it was postcards for the last levy. >> Yeah. >> Uh listening sessions. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Uh yes. >> Before we go, I before we go, I would like to um bring up the conversation that we had at
090our last meeting because otherwise we don't have an opportunity to talk about it again until another meeting. And the subject of the meeting with the advisory sack last time was they gave us a recommendation um for the vouchers for Ohio lawsuit and we said as a board that we were going to at least bring that subject back up. So my question for the board is you know at least to address and say if we say nothing if we do nothing that is basically saying that we are not entering. So I think that should be understood. Um and that's okay if that's what we decide to do but I just want to I want to ask what is our plan? Are we going to address it? Are we going to talk about it? >> We are
091going to talk about this. I want to talk about this though when the superintendent is present as opposed to him not being present here at the meeting. So again, there are some decisions that we need to make in regards to that and a discussion that we need to have. Uh but we're going to do that when the superintendent's here. >> Sure. So would we do that at the next at the future forward work session topic? >> Possibly at the next work session topic depending on what other things we need to put on the agenda there. >> Okay. Okay. That's Yep. Just want to address that outstanding issue. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. uh need to mo make a motion to enter an executive session to consider the employment compensation dismissal or discipline of a
092public employee uh see Ohio revised code 121.22 G1. Is there a motion? >> Second. >> Thank you Dr. James for your motion. Thank you for your second. Mr. Balant, could you please read the role? >> Dr. James, >> hi. >> Mr. Balant, >> I >> Mrs. Bther >> I. >> Mr. Mr. Gnull. >> Hi, >> Mr. Harris. >> I All right. The board will now move into executive session. We will not be reconvening. Thank you for everyone coming this evening and we'll see everyone in a couple of weeks. Thank you.