001and begin the meeting. >> Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance 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. The beginning of each meeting, we like to go over our district's mission and vision. Our mission is to create a culture of academic excellence through inclusive and innovative learning opportunities for the whole child. And our vision is to empower all learners to reach their full potential in a globally competitive world. I please get an approval a motion and a second for the approval of the agenda. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. James, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Mr. Balant for your second. Mrs. Logan, please call the RO. >>
002Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I. Can I please get a motion in a second for the approval of the minutes? >> So move. >> Second. >> Thank you, for your motion. Thank you, Dr. James, for your second. Changes, edits. Logan, please call the role. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> hi. >> Mr. Harris, >> hi. Mrs. Bidder. >> Hi. The next section this evening is a very important one. We have our Sycamore High School variety show performances. Mr. Lewis. >> Yeah. So, we have some talented young here. Uh, obviously there were lots of acts at the variety show, but um, these wonderful young women were willing to come to our board meeting and show off their talents a little
003bit to us. So, I think Gwen Mlan and Lexi Mendlesson are going to start with Some Things Are Meant to Be. Um, and then Salem Harts is going to sing Creep. So, we will let them take it away. And you're welcome to ask them questions and maybe we should all move around. >> We can watch them and be talented. on we'll be mad and explore the breeze. Start with my pass. No matter what I do, Some days I'll never for Your skin makes Beautiful. It's so very special. But I'm not I don't care. I want control. Perfect. You're so special. Hallelujah. Let's see. Hello. So happy. You guys don't get away that quick. So maybe for the audience, the people watching online, for the school board, maybe number one, first names, grades, like what motivates
004you at school? What keeps you going? Anything you want to tell us about school? And then I want to know how you pick these songs. >> Fair? >> Anybody can go. I'll call on Gwen if you guys don't know. >> She knows that'll come. >> I um I'm Gwen. I'm a junior. Um we picked our song just because we thought it was a really pretty duet and it's about two sisters. Um and we're really close friends, so we thought that was very relatable. Um yeah, I'm Lexi. I'm also a junior. Um, yeah, we picked the song. I love the musical Little Woman, which is what the song is from. I've always thought the duet is pretty. I've always liked to sing it, and singing it with Gwen has been so fun, and it's just amazing
005getting to sing with her. And she's so talented. And something that motivates me through school is definitely my teachers pushing me to always do better. Um, putting pressure, but good academic pressure, um, to keep my academics up, um, in athletics and in theater. Um, I'm Smart. I'm a junior. Um, I picked this song because, well, first of all, I like this my original song that I really wanted to sing and then I went through a bunch of other songs trying to figure out what fits me the best and I ended up coming back to this song because it really like means so much to me because it's I'm singing what is the opposite of what I think being able to put yourself in other perspectives as what that insecure little person wants to say inside
006of me is just like I get to shove that down and I get to say this is who I am and I'm so excited to be myself. I think something that motivates me through school is definitely my friends, teachers, my family. I mean, everybody around me and motivates me because I know that I can motivate them and helping others and I really love doing. So, I think that giving other people my perspective on things like motivates me into helping others. And >> I'm going to pull a line from your song. You guys are so very special and talented in your singing. I'm super pumped that you're all juniors because that means we get a full another year at next year of your singing before you go off and do great great things out in the
007world. But thank you for coming to the meeting. Thank you. I know I saw Gwen I saw your mom walk in with you. Thank you for probably transporting and being here. I saw Gwen carrying in the big speakers here. Like I know it's tough to recreate that environment, but the variety show was amazing. So kudos to you and your classmates for making it such a special experience for everyone. So let's give one more round. >> Mr. Lewis, I'd like to pull another line. >> You really belong. >> You belong here. Thank you being here. >> Thank you for having us. It was amazing. I also attended the talent show. It's I mean I'm calling it a talent show. It's a variety show. It was amazing. Um every year at the high school just incredible talent.
008All right. Our next item on the agenda is public participation. So, we do have two um people who have signed up for non-aggenda items. And the first is Tammy Cummifford. Can say your name and address in three minutes. Thank you. >> Not yet. Hold on. >> I'm Tammy Commer. and I live at 8460 Calumet Way. Mrs. Bidderb, recently as part of your campaign for reelection, you sent a letter to many in the community. I have heard concerns from many community members about this letter. In it, as the current president of the Sycamore Board of Education, you make several claims. First, you claim leadership you can count on. However, in March of this year, seven previous board members, many who served with longstanding distinguished tenure, sent an unprecedented letter to this board. In that letter, multiple
009policies were cited that teacher Danielle's grace violated. Under your leadership, long-standing district policies were not upheld. How was this leadership we can count on? Second concern. You claim our board has managed taxpayer dollars responsibly. Under your leadership, for the 2024 school year, the district's expenditure growth was at a record high, 8.7%. Yes. Historically, boards have managed taxpayer dollars responsibly with expenditure growth around 3 to three and a half%. Spending under your leadership has accelerated the need for an operating levy. My third concern, your claim, the lowest overall millage rate in 20 years. The only thing that drives millage rate down is increasing property values. Reduced millage was not the result of your claim of responsible spending spending of taxpayer dollars by the board. This comes from my heart. After watching board meetings over the last
010two years under your leadership, learning about canceled financial retreats that are not rescheduled and seeing reports of excessive spending, I am deeply concerned. campaign letter opens with claims of divisive politics threatening our district. I simply do not see asking for truth and accountability as divisive politics. I see community members like me who take tremendous pride in this district are deeply concerned about the future of this district and they quite frankly want board members with strong ethics and financial responsibility. Thank you. And the second person is D. Jackson. Hi there. Uh, good evening. My name is D. Jackson. I live at 1250 Cooperwood Lane in Swain Park. Um, as I've stated before, I'm a proud parent of a Sycamore graduate, former president of the Sycamore Athletic Boosters, and a longtime GSSA volunteer coach and resident of
011this community. I'm here tonight to update you on the open meetings case uh and to share new information that should concern every taxpayer in this community. This board is spending public dollars to hide the truth about its actions in the Grace incident, which took place over a year ago. Instead of transparency, the board is delaying disclosure until after this year's election. That means our communities still won't know what really happened until the appeals process plays out sometime in 2026. On September 22nd of this year, a judge ruled that the public, meaning you, me, and this entire second board community has the right to seek answers about what was disclosed in executive sessions. The good news is we won. But instead of respecting the ruling, the board and its lawyers have chosen to appeal. That means
012more legal fees, more filings, more delays with no financial or final decision until sometime in 2026. What could you possibly be hiding? Why can't we just get to the point? And who pays for all this? Look around. We do. the taxpayers. The irony is really painful for me. My own tax dollars are being used against me, okay, by the same school district where my oldest child went kindergarten through 12th grade and where I volunteered for 14 years to make this community stronger. The disrespect being shown to me, to other residents, and as Tammy noted, seven former board members is staggering. I'm asking for something very simple. I've been doing this the entire time. Openness and transparency. This board's combative posture waste money, time, and focus. Resources that would be better spent um towards focusing on
013the new levy focused on our teachers and students. Instead, these actions damage your credibility and ultimately hurt the very people you are supposed to serve. If you agree with me that you have nothing to hide, let's end the appeal process and let's get this case in front of a judge. I and the entire Sycamore community look forward to your response. This is Logan. The next item on the agenda is the financial forecast presentation. Okay. It's that time. I'd like to say it's that time again. It It is that time again, but it's what we normally discuss the five-year forecast. Um, but tonight we're going to take some time and um review the five-year forecast. We're going to talk about why we have to do this, why we should be doing it. um and go through
014quite a few. There's a lot of charts in here. There's a lot of data. Um I also want to stress that the slides that we're going to review is not the five-year forecast. It's slides that have taken information that's been taken from the five-year forecast, which is uploaded and available on board docs for the community. Um, but the slideshow is is meant to summarize and highlight the very detailed information that's in the five-year forecast. So, um, in review, the five-year forecast, it includes the general fund and any general fund debt. So, what does it not include? It doesn't include our permanent improvement fund, our food service fund, um our state and federal grants. So this forecast and what is required of us is just our general operating fund um and any debt that's associated with
015that. So general fund debt, we have two energy conservation bond issues. one that matures in th this December. Um the other one that matures in 32. So um so that's part of our debt as well as our district office. We have bonds um that mature this December. Um and then we have a third that matures this December for the Blue Ash Elementary. So that's some good news. We've got debt that will be falling off which will lower um some of our expenditures that you'll see on the document. It provides three years of history. So uh the history that is shown on this forecast includes fiscals fiscal year 23 24 and 25 and then it includes five years of projections. So, it's the current year, which is fiscal year 26, going all the way out to
0162030. Now, I want to talk about um why we're still doing a five-year forecast when the state is now only requiring a three years plus um the current, which is essentially a four-year for forecast. And we're still going to do a five-year forecast. Why? Because it's a long range management tool. Um it isn't just about compliance. It's about how do we plan appropriately for the district. So we're going to still continue to do the five-year forecast. >> Mrs. Logan, just one point. Um although it's great that the debt is falling off, just to be clear, that's not reducing taxes because those were not funded through levies. >> That is correct. >> Those were just those were funded through Florida. >> Yes, those are supported by our um our operating tax levies. We have bond millillage
017that is separately voted on and approved by our community which we have two outstanding. Um in 2010 there was a $17.5 million bond issue that was approved for Mapleell Elementary. And then in 2019 um 127.5 million that um was approved in uh 2019. So those are the two that are there's millillage that is directly associated with those bond millage um and these bond millages are supported by the general fund. Was this uh blue ash district office the the renovations for those buildings? >> Yes. So the general fund debt was for the district office the debt that was associated to build that facility as well as renovations for Blue Ash Elementary. The other thing I want to mention on this slide before we move off, um I mentioned that it's earlier this year, we used to
018do five-year forecast in November and May. Um and through the most recent state budget bill, they changed the requirements for um the length of time you are required to forecast out um as well as the timing on that. So this year we have to file the forecast by October 15th. Not even the end of this month. By October 15th and the end of February. Next year it will be the end of August and the end of February. Um legislative changes are not always logical. So next. Okay. Um, notable revenue assumptions. Again, this is not every revenue line item. These are notable assumptions that I think it's worthy for us to discuss. So you can see from the pie chart, we are a locally funded public school district with 85% of our funds coming from our
019local community. 15% comes from the state. So we when when we look at the local taxes um we have a update coming in this calendar year which will be collected in 2027. Now what does that mean? Um, what that means is it does not mean that someone with county auditor's office is going to be traveling around and looking at every property, which is what they do every six years. What a three-year update does is it takes a look at sales data and they take a look at the sales data and they say, "Okay, based on sales data, then we're going to need to increase property values based on that sales data." Then in 2030, um that's when we're going to see the next total revaluation for the county. And if you recall, the last revaluation
020that we saw um was over 20% 24% for our residents in this community. um what we are assuming for that update because it's still based on sales data and what we know are prices are still pretty high um sales data. So we're assuming that we would see an 11% increase um through that update for sales. Um what does that mean as far as revenue? It puts an additional approximately $3 million from 2027 to 2030. So >> total or per year? >> No, that's the total amount. Not per year, not annual. I wish it's over the length of that time. And why is that? If we would look at an 11% increase in the total value of this community, it's very complicated, but as values increase, millage rates drop. And currently we are at 25.7 operating
021mills for this district. So as the value increases then that millage is rolled back so that we effectively don't collect um more money based on inflation. Um why do we get more money? because of inside millillage where we're able to actually get inflationary increases on that. So that's where the e extra amount would come from. Now when we look at state funding um some good news, our last forecast we assumed that they would not fully phase in the fair school funding plan model if you recall. Well, they did. they phased it in to 100%. Um, but what they did not do is they did not update the cost like how much we're actually paying for that things. So, we appreciate um the full phase in of the new funding model which adds about $2 million
022extra for fiscal year 2026. Um, in 2027, one of the extra things that was added into the state budget for school funding for this bienium was um a growth an enrollment growth supplement and we're eligible for that because we have seen enrollment growth and that is approximately $1.4 million for us. But remember, we're funded by the state every two years. though 2026 and 2027, we really can only count on that enrollment growth for those two years. So, we are assuming in the forecast that that $1.4 million goes away in 2028. If they keep it in or modify it, great. But we can't assume that at this time. So when we take a look at our operating revenue, what has the trend been um and what are we predicting? This chart shows you total revenues by
023year going all the way back to 2015 as well as the percentage increase from the prior year. Why 2015? >> The year before the levy >> before the >> the year before the last operating levy. The last operating levy that was approved or requested from this community was in November of 2016. So that's why these graphs are going to start with 2015. So you'll see those increases. The levy was passed in 2016 calendar year. So we started collecting money in FY17. You only get half of that revenue in that first fiscal year. And then the second fiscal year we saw the completion of that new levy. Um if you look through you see the negative 5.5%. Any ideas why we saw a decrease in 2019 >> related? >> Nope. >> Tangible personal property. So, >>
024another leg legislative change that happened there in 2019 was the last year we received any money for tangible personal property taxes. Um, and then in even 22 COVID times um so it was a little erratic. the 8% that you see in 5% of that was due to um remember I said we do get inflationary growth from inside millillage so we did see tax revenue increase from the new values that 24% our residents saw did generate additional revenue for us the other thing that happened in 2024 the state funding model moved minimum funding for schools. So when you look at minimum funding for school districts in the state of Ohio, they calculate how much money you should receive and then there's a minimum funding you can receive no less than it used to be 5% and
025in that year in 2024 that bianium budget changed it to 10%. So we received effectively double the amount in state revenue that year. So that's why you saw that 8%. The new bianium budget is 26 and 27. And then you'll see very very minimal growth um projected out beyond 2027. And that's because you've removed the enrollment growth supplement and you're also not counting for any increases in fair funding, >> right? It's ju we're just really assuming no additional increases in in state revenue assuming at this point there's no increase in no new levy. >> That's correct. This does not assume any levy. Yes. So now we're going to move to the other side of the equation which is the expenditures and so um the notable expenditure assumptions. So our wages if you look at the
026pie graph um our people we are a service industry so it makes sense that the people um make up the biggest piece of that pie. So right at 82% is what um we spend on um our personnel. What is assumed our wage base increase? We are assuming what's currently in our contracts which is um for our teachers association. This year it's 3% next year it's 3.75%. are Oopsy members. They um that contract expires this year and they're hourly employees. So their hourly increase was 60 cents per hour which equates to about a 2 and a half% increase this year. What we're assuming for planning purposes only as those contracts terminate, we are assuming a 3% increase on the base wages. I also want to to mention that there are step increases that are included in
027these wage assumptions and those are 2%. >> on average yes the um no additional FTEES and I put full-time equivalency. I want to explain exactly what this means. So for example um I mentioned hourly employees. So who would be an hourly employee Brad? That would be a one FTE, >> an education assistant. >> Is that what you're >> What about custodian? Because they work eight hours. So an eight >> FTE you're talking about. S >> So a custodian is an eighth hour employee. So we would look FTE. Sorry, I thought it was a softball. >> Yeah. >> They're both Yes. Yes. Yes. >> So if Yeah, it's been a long day. Um, but someone maybe working in our cafeteria, maybe they work four hours a day, so they would be a 0.5. So even though
028they're a full person, their FTE would be a 0.5. So that's how we come up with these equivalencies of full-time. Um, >> so when we, you know, if we're looking at, you know, we've also looked at enrollment growth, that's probably not a question to you, but maybe to Mr. Lewis. Um, you know, we're looking at the district is growing in enrollment, but yet in our five-year forecast, we're saying that there's no additional FTEES. How do we account for that? >> I'm just waiting seeing if she wanted to answer it or not. >> I'm happy to. I will also say that you know Mr. Lewis can answer but also Mr. Levelville is going to talk further about staffing in >> a couple slides. So maybe >> that too and kind of like from a high perspective.
029Are we doing okay if we >> Well, and I think from a high >> I can answer that question >> from a high high level. We're always I mean there isn't a year that goes by that we're not looking at our enrollment. We're looking at our enrollment trends and we're looking at how we staff. Um the decisions that we make come down to what will fit in the budget and what are the needs of our students. So even if our enrollment's lower but the needs are higher, that's going to require different staffing. So I I don't know it works out to just higher enrollment equals more people. >> Oh, I didn't I know I didn't. >> It's kind of both and you got to look at all the factors and determine what's an appropriate responsible
030staffing level. And honestly, that's what we've been doing these past couple of years is really digging into and and our principles have done an amazing job of being very open and transparent with us of saying, you know what, hey, we had a need last year for this. this year we don't have a need for this. Do you need it over at a different school? Those are the kind of conversations that we're having. So, uh kudos to them for it's easy to say, you know what, I just want to keep all my people. So, it it's it's not a uh exact moving on to insurance. Um we are assuming a 10% increase um in our insurance premiums beyond this upcoming January premiums are going to increase by 9%. We have been notified that's happening. Open enrollment
031will be starting um in about a month. Uh 8% increase is assumed for this fiscal year in purchase services. We're assuming a decrease next year because we've mentioned the instructional coaches that we brought on last year. Um those are here and will stay this year and then we're assuming that those will go away the following year. Um >> based on our presentation last being on special needs, a lot of our increased costs over the last two years, last year in particular were around the um purchase services. So, we're still forecasting a continued growth in in those costs. >> We are >> outside of the coaching. >> We are we um what's included in the assumptions in in the numbers for this year are based on what we know right now as well as some contingency,
032some additional contingency that we've built in because they're based on the student needs that we know right now. Um but we're still anticipating increases in like the transportation um and all of those things. So yes, we do have some increases building. >> Is there any uh relation between the lower FTEEs and then the increased um cost on the personal services? >> No. But that is a relevant question because you could say because we are paying for people We are paying for people um which are with purchase services and there are some positions and Mr. Levelville will tell you this and Mrs. Spencer that there are some positions that are hard to fill. There's just not as big of a supply um for some of the positions. So, some of our only options have been to
033contract for those personnel positions. But um we actually are are seeing some of those positions move over to wages and benefits this year from purchase services too. Decrease. We're anticipating a a a slight decrease in materials and supplies this year. Remember we did two um curriculums last year. So we believe this year it will be a slight decrease and then 3 and a half% um moving forward the we talked about the debt and those payments that will mature this fiscal year and so we will see nearly $900,000 less that we will need to pay towards debt payments beginning next fiscal year. And then we're assuming that $4.1 million transfer that we've been making to our PI fund that will continue as well as the transfer to our athletic funds. >> So, I know we're getting
034a little bit ahead because we're going to talk about that on Monday as well, >> you know, but one of the concerns that you've raised to the board is that $4.1 million transfer is most likely not enough. So, why do we not reflect more in our five-year forecast if it's the belief that we need more money to keep our district up? >> Well, if we increase that, the $4.1 million is that target that we're using for prioritization, if you will. Um, if we want to do more, then we're going to need to repprioritize. If we want to meet um financial parameter targets, we're going to have to rep prioritize or >> deal with the revenue shortage. >> We don't want to meet financial parameters and harm the long-term assets of our district either. There has
035to be a balance. You know, we can't just set a parameter and for and and not not be concerned about keeping our buildings up and buying buses and having the right technology. So, I think that's a conversation that I'd like to have on Monday when we look at that is to kind of see what that number needs to be and really make sure we're forecasting out the right amount to be investing in our ass. I agree because there's also additional projects that um that we know are requested out there and so you know how how do we plan for try to hit all the thing? How do we balance it all? Um, so that's >> yeah, we can't do everything on Monday of money. We have to size, but I want to make sure we're
036forecasting enough money to make sure we're we're meeting the needs of the district and assets. >> But but we also are we have on the agenda this evening to vote on parameters, >> correct? Do that. Then how do we go on Monday and potentially talk about changing the 4.1? How would that work logistically? because that would impact the parameter, right? If we increase that. >> That is correct. And what the resolution on the agenda says is it's total expenditures. And so if this board decides to um direct us that, hey, we need to invest more in our facilities, we need to do more with our permanent improvement um planning and expenditures, then it's our job to come back to you and say, "Okay, we're looking at the total budget and here's what we believe we
037can do to meet that financial parameter. So just like the revenues, the expenditures and I want to draw your attention to the the title of this. This is operating expenditures and what has that trend been like going all the way back to 2015 and what are we projecting um moving forward. So you will see that this year the projection is 2.8% increase next year 3.1 and then moving forward uh 4.4 4.6 64.5 what is the average of those.9% of operating expenditures what that is what um that average expenditure growth is projected what I wanted to do with the following slides is try to dive into you can move it to the next slide >> yeah I just I want to just make one comment on this okay I think it's really important that although the
038average is 3.9 which is fantastic Fantastic. >> Yes. >> You know, we've seen numbers much higher the last couple years. >> You know, the reason that we're achieving that is, you know, 93.7% of our budget is around purchase services, people, and benefits. >> Yes. >> We have lower FTEEs. >> Yes. >> Which have driven our costs down this year to 2.8. Um, which is significantly helping that average. >> Yes. So, you know, yes, it's all wonderful and good, but the the way we've achieved that is through scheduling optimizations. >> That's exactly right. >> Not necessarily making cuts on other programs or anything else at this point. >> No, it's all been done through attrition. Um, as people retire, we're reflecting and looking at scheduling, looking at all the the options, um, and making a determination
039whether that position needs to be replaced while also looking at the needs across the district because just because you don't replace that doesn't mean maybe you not might not need to add something somewhere else. but constantly doing that responsible staffing practice um that we'll continue to do. It wasn't just a oneandone this past year. We're continuing to do that. >> It's just based on salary steps and insurance costs. You would be above that number. >> Yes. Yes. So what I've tried to do on these charts is I've tried to look at when we see those um cost start rising was really in 2023. So what I've tried to do here is break it down 2023 2024 25 which is that history and then what are we projecting in 2026. I tried to dive into the
040wages to say okay here's regular wages temporary wages supplementals and stipens vacation in lie of um payment in lie of health insurance overtime attendance incentive and termination benefits I've tried to put it into buckets so we can kind of look at it um because the devil's in the details if you will. And then on um the benefits side, I've broken it down by STS and STS, Medicare, tuition reimbursement, and uniform and tool reimbursement. Our insurance, workers comp and unemployment and severance and annuity payments. Um I just want to draw out just a few things. When you look at overall um increases in wages, one of the things that pops out for me in 20125 was supplementals and stipens. There was a big increase there. Um we we can't forget that we had science of reading
041stipens that we paid out last year and we'll be paying for some of those this fiscal reimbured, right? we do get reimbured, but it shows up in the expenditures and in the revenue. So, it it inflates that expenditure line item. Um, but to your point, it really wasn't a a sycamore expense. It was really a state of Ohio expense, but it still shows up in our expenditures. Um, under the benefits line items, I just wanted to draw your attention to the severance and annuity payments. We know that STS has lowered the years um of eligibility when you can retire. We believe that impacted last year um the total the people that decided that they were going to retire. Um it's still early. We have had some folks that came have already come forward to let
042us know they're going to retire, but we are estimating that we we're we believe maybe that number will go back to normal. We're still estimating it's more than 23 or 24 but less than last year. >> On the cost of benefits, um right now the district is paying 85% of insurance costs. >> That's correct. Yes. Okay. So, purchase services and materials and supplies. I feel like we have really dove into purchase services over previous meetings. But what I've tried to do here again is put it into those buckets um to show where those increases um have been. And >> question on this one? >> Yeah. Uhhuh. >> Are you tired of me yet? >> No. >> Um the one thing that that I was looking at was the CPP. So, I mean, it's not it's
043not a big number, but it is up 11%. >> Um, we brought some of the CPP inhouse, reduced cost a couple years ago. So, I'm just curious, and again, this is probably maybe a Mrs. Lawson question down there. Is this are we having more students take CPP? Is the costs higher or what's, you know, what's driving the the CPP cost up? >> We have new CCP course offerings. So I would say that that's probably contributing to more students taking advantage of those opportunities. And when you look at course offerings, you typically look at them during a course of study process. So during ELA and math, they would have been looking at the offerings, but also we have had a few offerings um through social studies. And then this year, we'll review whether we'd be making
044any additions to science. >> Are more of our staff? >> More and more students are actually taking those courses at the high house. >> Okay, >> great. Yes, it is great benefit to our students and families. >> It's a good expense to have. It >> is. I'm not complaining about it. >> Okay. And so now we're going to move to the um slides that Mr. Levelville is going to review, Chris, which are relative to staffing. >> Yeah. And I appreciate the questions. I think a lot of the things I was going to talk about have come up so I could kind of maybe tie a bow on it a little bit. But I put together three slides that maybe help us understand a little bit about where our certificated staff land and because it is
045such a big expense and we're talking about overall expenditures. Um it'll help us kind of just orient when we talk about responsible staffing what that actually means. Um earlier we talked about the work that's been going on the last few years. Um last year we did a lot of work at the high school and looking at the master schedule um to really capture opportunities that we had there from a staffing perspective understanding that we knew we had retirements and resignations happening. Um, when we had a conversation with the board previously, we really talked about like what would be some of those parameters and I know set that at five years and a mast's as kind of what we targeted any new hire would be. And so I'll show you some data around that so you
046can kind of sense of how did we end up actually hiring because that's a target. Um when I say we've been doing work the last couple years, um one of the things, um if you look at the elementary perspective, we've really tried to do is, you know, when you see the data and you know the data, you can make informed decisions about what you're going to do. And so we put together a dashboard and I think I've actually shared that dashboard um with you all in regards to really tracking where is our enrollment um what are um what are our staff ratios based on what we have our identified targets of K1 22 and then um two up um 25. And so we um regularly with our elementary principles look at that. We have a
047lot of conversations. Um, and by doing that, we've just been able to really look at responsible staffing from a different perspective. Um, and like Mr. Lewis had mentioned earlier, we can have better conversations about how do we move the staff here or there, be a little bit more flexible than just saying we're going to hire another teacher in this building because they have the need, but our class sizes shrink over here. So it really allows us to be a lot more intentional and responsible with the eb and flow of the enrollment because enrollment is not centralized to one place, right? And so that's where we have to kind of work with the bubble and the trends and where the students are enrolling and what building they're at. Um so what I did last year is
048I wanted to really take a look and say, okay, if we had our targets of we're hiring new employees, new teachers in and our target is five years and a master's. So, just for our general community who may not know how this works, um if you hire a teacher, you can hire a teacher right out of college. And for the most part, they're coming in at step zero with a bachelor's degree. Um as teachers um progress through their career, they take additional coursework which allows them to advance on the salary schedule. So, BA bachelor's, bachelor's 15, masters, masters 15, 30, 45. And so as they progress, you obviously are going to increase wages because they're going to get paid more plus they're getting years of experience. And so what we said is when we look
049at the salary schedule, we felt like 5 years in a masters would put Sycamore in a really good place because we want to ensure that we're getting talented individuals that are coming into our schools. That doesn't mean that we're not seeking employees that would be coming out of college, but we also want to look at the dynamics of the team to make sure that they're balanced with veterans um and folks that can be mentored as well. So, it's a it's a really dynamic situation. It's not as easy as just saying we're hiring all everybody out of college and that's what it's going to be because that doesn't really work. So, what I did here was I pulled all the data on our staff. Now, I want to give a disclaimer. So, this is step placement.
050So, as I mentioned, we have a salary schedule that has steps. And in theory, your step would rep represent your years of experience, but that's not necessarily the case because um you could have had 15 years of experience and because of our collective bargaining agreement, we bring you in at step 10. So, really, if you look at the years of experience at the bottom here, a lot of our teachers are actually maybe shifted up. So, they actually have more years of experience than showing on here, if that makes sense. The other thing I want to bring up too, um, in the previous collective bargaining agreement, we had a step recruitment plan. So, basically what that meant was that, um, if we hired a teacher here in Sycamore, let's just say for had 14 years, um,
051and we would give them 10, then what they could do is recoup those additional steps every four years over time. Um, and so we have a big schedule that we manage every year to monitor those folks that are on that to ensure that they're catching up. In the last contract, we dropped that. Um, and now we just give years of experience up to 10 years. It makes it way easier to manage and a little bit clearer. So when I talk about five years being your target, five years in a masters, if you look across here, what I did was um, the bubbles at the top represent the new staff. Now, another disclaimer. This data represents where we ended in July. I did not put we had a few more hires afterwards. So, just want to
052make that clear. Um, but what you can see there is the green bubble represents where was that target in that 0 to5. And you can see that we hired 18 of our new staff members in that 0 to five range. 14 or 15 were above six years. Um, and so you might say, well, you you did a really bad job with your target if almost half of them were above. Um, that's where I really wanted to talk through that idea of we have to get the best candidate and not every position's equal, right? There are some positions that we have to recruit in. If I have a very specialty class, it is what it is. There's very small candidates that we can pull from a lot of our related services, um, special education, things like
053that. When we start talking about, um, employees that maybe need a moderate to intense lure, those kinds of things. Um, but you can see we were really kind of still down in that area, which was great. I also wanted just to show you kind of where all of our staff somewhat land there. Um, so 63% of our staff, our teaching staff over over 11 years of teaching experience. And like I said, that that could be actually a little bit higher based on their actual years of experience. Um, and 70% of our certified new hires had more than two years of experience. So the vast majority of our new hires were not coming in right out of college. We were still hiring them with years of experience. If you want to go to the next slide.
054Um, this right here is step. Is that the next slide? >> Yep. >> Did I put the same? No, I put the wrong title in here. I apologize. This is advancement. Um, so this is what we're talking about bachelor's and masters 45. So this is what I was talking about a little bit ago and how our we can attain more credits, more classes and move. So again, when we talked about masters being kind of our target, so we wanted to hire people that were five years in the masters. You can see that 11 um of our new teachers had a masters and you can kind of see above that um we had additional seven and then um 14 landed in the bachelors and the bachelor's 15. But you can see where our staff lands and
055you can tell that you know 85% of our certificate staff hold a master's degree or higher. uh 56% of our certified staff knew hires hold a master's degree or higher as well. So um when we look at um really what our targets were um it was really important for us to recognize the experience and also again look at that position. The other thing that we want I wanted to mention here too is that our certified staff actually have two opportunities each year um to advance on the salary schedule. So, um it's both October 1st and March 1st. And so, our team works really, um closely with our staff that are taking those classes that then achieve those credits. And then we work with the treasure department. So, then that will change a lot of our
056salary information as well throughout the year depending on the number of folks that are moving across that. >> Can you go back one slide? >> Sure. >> I think this is all great great data and and I commend you know, Mr. Lewis, um, Mrs. Logan and yourself and everybody who worked on the dashboard because I I haven't seen data like this since I've been on the board. Um, from an HR perspective, when you look at a graph like this, is there is there a concern because most of our teachers who come in stay with us for a very long time. Like when you start to look up to the 25 plus years, is there a concern that in the next three to five years, we're going to lose a lot of exposure? >> Yeah. So,
057um, you know, you never know what STRS is going to do. And Miss Logan had brought up the point that they shifted. If you think about it, three to four years ago, they were at 34 years and we're down to 32 years. That's unpredictable. And that doesn't mean um I'm always cautious to say people are jumping at 32 because they're just ready to be done and they want out. I sit with every employee um that says they want to retire and I will tell you they are my favorite conversations because in those conversations you hear and feel their heartbreaking in some way because they love what they do so deeply but they know that it's that moment they have to make that decision based on what's best financially for the long term. So I say
058that because you never know what SCRS is going to do. They could go back up to 33 34 that could change. We do though from your from if 63% of our staff have 11 years or more. Um that does mean that we need to be really reflective and thinking about our hiring practices and how we can balance that out because we don't want to lose the mentors that we have in the system and we talk a lot about the sick way the sick more experience whatever calling that and making sure that that is passed down to the new staff. So that is a reflection point we have some positions it's way easier than others. I mean, I can tell you we could have 250 people apply for a first grade position and two people apply
059for a Latin position, right? Just depends on >> But I also I also think the board should be commended because you've given us some flexibility. >> We do have some people that get to the end that are not ready. Um they still want and they still have that drive, that passion, that excitement for the classroom every day. and you've allowed us to bring some of those back to you and allowed us to rehire um some of those people after they've retired. So, there's a balance there. Um but I think it's allowed us to keep some of those people uh for a little while longer and they they bring that experience back to each school. >> So, um thankful for that that we have had that opportunity to rehire some people. >> All right. Um Oh,
060yeah. >> Excuse me. What What should the the next slide say? You said there was there was something >> uh that was salary advancement. I put step placement, but it's just um uh education experience levels. >> Okay. >> Yep. I'll update that in the >> Yeah. Okay. Next slide. This is my last slide. What I wanted to do is I just wanted to show you the FTE difference between one um school year and another. Um and this kind of speaks to the work that we did last year. Um one of the things I want to make clear, and I I we've said this over and over again because it's hard. Um it's really hard work. Um people are really passionate about how they do things and why they do things. And so whenever you start
061talking about master schedule, um it's it's a hard thing. Uh but what I'll tell you is that our number one goal was we are not um affecting any student opportunity or program. Like we heard that very clearly. Um and so those were our strong parameters when we started to look at this and say if people are retiring or resigning, what do we do? And what that comes down to is um what we know to be true about the collective bargaining agreement. How many classes can a teacher teach, right? Um five of seven duties, plans, all that stuff, the total minutes. Um it also comes down to what we believe target class sizes are as well. One of the conversations we've had as a board a lot is uh conversations around kindergarten class sizes, right? When
062we talk about um half day kindergarten and things like that. And so we I think collectively decided anything under 15 is a hard number to wrestle with with that. So we kind of use that as a parameter from a responsible staffing perspective to look at that. This up here the top is the 25. Uh this is a snapshot in time. So this represents um April 30th. The reason we do that is because as you can imagine we're constantly moving staff. So you have to freeze it and say at that point in time and then this is the current right now. So we're 14.42 FTE um lower than we were last year at this time. Um I I did miss the FTE question. Um but I I want to totally redeem myself here. Uh you know
063when you talk about FTE it's kind of funny because we have folks that work a lot of different hours. You know our teachers work seven and a quarter. Um our EAS are seven. Our custodians are eight. But those equal one FTE in the sense that that's what that equates to. But we have a lot of employees that don't. Um child nutrition, we we've tal we could go on and on. Um our certified staff is down the largest at 14.31. Um our classifi's up three. Now that that's a hard one because we're classified staff are hired every day. And so we could at any point be down eight staff because we can't find an EA or we can't find I'll use that one because it's hard to find EA. Anybody wants to be an EA, you
064can go to syclloreschools.org and apply. Um, but that's why that that could be up, that could be down. It just depends on that snapshot. Um, exempt or up.12. And just um, give you a little bit of idea about exempt. Um, so those would be our district. We have secretaries that are exempt, our child nutrition supervisors, our supervisors also are we have some related service um, that are exempt as well. Um, and then you can see the admin. If you look at this, you might say, "Brad, you're you're you're not telling the truth. You said that um there's no admin, but it looks like we went up one from 24 25 to 25 26." That's the there there's details that I like there's nuances. Um the reason is um Miss Gance uh retired in October. She
065carried on in our FTE because she's here, but she's not actually here anymore. And so I could say the same thing for certified staff and classified. I I would never tell anybody that we'd be held to these exact numbers at any one point in time because it's hard. Uh but they're close. So I just wanted to show you what that looked like from the work we did. And what Miss Logan said earlier is true. We're not stopping. Now, do I think we're going to have massive FTE drops or things? I I don't. Um but there's always work to be done because you have to constantly be looking at how you operate and having those conversations. The other thing I want to say too is that our goal when uh Miss Logan talks about the 5-year
066forecast and we talk about that there's no additional FTE, right? What I want to make very clear is that and I think Mr. Lewis said this um earlier is that that doesn't mean there's not new staff or positions. I don't want people to misread that. Just because we're not increasing our FTE doesn't mean that we can't be responsive to the needs of the district and what's going on. So that could look like we may not be filling this FTE over here anymore, but we need to reallocate it to a new position over here. So I don't want to get into a position where we're bringing something to the board and everybody's like, "But is that new?" Um, what we're saying is we're not going to increase the number of FTE across the district. That's our
067goal. If that helps. You have a question. >> I do. >> Okay, go for it. So I just want to understand you're saying that we have you said we have um a lower percentage of FTEES for positions that we're currently trying to hire in and that would be educational assistance is that >> we don't have lower FTE. No, we we are just having a hard time finding. >> So that's not reflected in this. >> No. >> Okay. >> So why did what can you bring back up why you brought that up? like what was the relevance of that then? >> Um I was talking here about and classified where it says positive3 um what I was trying to articulate there is that um because these are snapshots in time there could be a position like
068at in the end of April we could have been down four custodians second shift and now we're fully filled there but it would look like a gain of four FTE which it's really not. Um, so I was trying to capture how that looked and I just threw out EAS because we're down three I think three EAS right now. So if I did another snapshot in time that FTE would fluctuate up and down as well. >> Okay. Yep. >> Got it. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Good question. >> Based on the positions that are filled doesn't include open position. >> That's correct. That's correct. And um there are a lot of positions too are classified specifically that are directly related to services for students >> um that we it is what it is right if
069you have to add a position you have to add a position. What we can control are really our exempt admin and our um certificated staff. >> I feel like I have more questions but I I I think I'll let you just keep we'll move on. I think I'll have to Yeah. Because I >> Anytime. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> That's all I have. >> Okay. So, we've talked about operating expenditures and now we're going to talk about total expenditures. So, the difference between operating expenditures and total expenditures. Total expenditures include our transfers and advances. So what are transfers and advan and ad advances? Transfers mean that we're moving money from the general fund to another fund. So to our permanent improvement fund to our athletic funds and it's not a we're loaning you this money.
070The money goes there and it remains there. An advance is a loan. So an advance means we're moving money. Here's an example. We moved money to the fund where the expenditures for the baseball softball project are taking place. But part of those expenditures was an advance. So we transferred the 30% of the project which is the district's responsibility. We advanced the 70% which will come back to the general fund. So you can see that the expenditure growth um and the total amount of expenditures when you add in those transfers and advances um you'll see some big jumps in 2023 um as well as you see last year 13.6%. So on the next page, what I tried to do is I extracted out because we talked about, okay, there's also transfers and advances um to the
071athletic fund. What this chart shows is I pulled out just the transfers and advances that went have been going to our permanent improvement or capital projects funds. The yellow the part of the bar that is yellow are advances and those are those 70% those 7030 projects that I mentioned before. So the next chart um gives us the detail what have those been and and these are just project specific. These do not include like the 4.1 wi million that we're transferring which is the the normal transfer that we make annually. What have those projects been? So general fund transfers in 2022 we transferred $1.2 $2 million, which was additional money for roof replacements that were not included in the bond levy plans. In 2023, we uh transferred $3.5 million for the transportation facility. Um $2.5 million
072which was the 30% for the natiatorum project. And then last year, as I mentioned, we transferred nearly $1.1 million, which was the 30% of the phase one of the baseball softball projects. What have those advances, those loans looked like? You can see that list there in 2023, quite a few advances um projects. And then last year, um the advanced for the baseball softball. So the transfers um have totaled over 8 million. The advances are nearly close to 8 million. What is that payback that is assumed of those loans? Those advances we're assuming $1.5 million will come back this fiscal year. And then you'll see the remaining amounts assumed to be coming back through 2028. Mrs. Logan, do we have a mechanism to to ensure that those that they are paid back or is that >>
073I I can tell you that um the Natiatorum project absolutely um is the the total amount is there um the 70% I think it's in January we will receive the final payment um from the Seagars for that project. the remaining projects, the fieldhouse, stadium phase one, and the scoreboard. Um there were many different um donors um and um promises made, if you will, for for those um projects. Those are a little more difficult to try to um track down exactly when we believe all of those will come in because they're varying lengths of time for those. Um >> but we still believe they'll come in >> donations. We believe they will come in. Um there were you know definitely um people signed on the dotted line and said I will donate that >> check that
074>> and and that's being tracked. Um but I can tell you with certainty the natiatorum project will be completed in January of this year and that one will be finalized. um the baseball softball um our major donor um while I believe that gift agreement was there was a long period of time but we've already received over half of that money already. So those payments are coming in >> and our anonymous donor on the stadium is up to date. >> Yes, that is correct. Yes. But either way, we assume it and then that's how we >> That's right. >> So, financial parameters, we've talked about financial parameters um this meeting, but it's been a topic of conversation for quite a while and it is something that the school district um has historically done and met and
075been a promise to the community. So if we look at the financial parameters and we look at okay we've talked about operating expenditures and then we've talked about total expenditures. If we were to look at 3.5% which is in the resolution um 3.9% we still have some work to do if we were to meet a 3 and a half% increase in operating expenditures. we are there with total expenditures which includes those transfers to the PI fund. So the financial parameters resolution that is before you tonight um and being requested is reflective of total expenditures, not operating expenditures. Um and this forecast does achieve that parameter, but there's lots of assumptions included in a forecast. It's based on the snapshot right now. But as we've mentioned, if that resolution is approved by this board, it basically
076is the marching orders for the superintendent and the treasurer and our leadership team to say, "Okay, the board has spoken." But M also part of the resolution is if something changes in state funding or that's correct need in the district to to fix a roof an emergency roof somewhere that you would bring that back to the board. >> That is correct. >> Part of the resolution that you have a mechanism in case there there's a need back to the board. >> That is correct. and things change, but it helps us align our plans um and ensuring that we are, you know, getting those expenditures back in line um and and making sure we're meeting the strategic plan of the district as well. All of those things come into play. Yes. So cash um we look
077at this chart a lot um and so the green bar are total revenues. The yellow bar total expenditures. When that yellow bar exceeds green bar that means you're spending more than you're bringing in which then impacts that green line which is your cash. So, as you spend more than you're bringing in, just like at home, you're pulling down your savings and eventually you run out of cash. And so, what this chart shows is that in 2030, we are predicting that we would run out of cash. That red line is our board policy which says our general our general fund cash balance goal is that that cash balance will not be below 25% of our operating expenditures. So that's what that red line shows. And so it shows that in 2028 we will dip below that
078board policy goal. Um, and this is this is our outlook based on the financial projection that um, and the assumptions that that we're looking at tonight. >> So, there's a couple things that jump out to me that I just want to make sure the community understands. The the process of a levy cycle, you always take in more money the first few years. Yes, >> you're spending. So to see that we're spending a little bit more than we're taking in now isn't really a concern because that's the way schools are funded through levies. Correct. >> Eventually because and let's go to the next chart because I think shows this. Huh? >> I have one more question on that. >> Okay, we can go back to it. But I want to show this the next chart because
079if we look at this chart and in 2016 2017 we started collecting on that new levy and you'll see that the cash balance starts growing to your point Mr. Valent um and then what happens like we talked about values increase but millage drops so you effectively don't collect more inflationary growth is really not there. So how do we get inflationary growth? We have to go back to our voters and ask for a new levy. So yes, that cash balance grows, but then over time you start eating away at it because you do have inflationary growth in your expenditures. Your revenues just do not keep up with it and eventually you overtake it. You spend down your cash and you have to go ask for the inflationary growth that you need. Yes. >> So if we
080can go back to the to the other slide, you know, the other thing is the more you spend down your cash reserves before the ask for a levy is either going to make the ask of the community higher or it's going to shorten the time between levy cycles. So one thing that really stands out to me is in 2015 2016, you know, we were at that call it $35 million in cash reserves give or take. you know, we're seeing that we're getting about back to that number now in 25 and into 26 to where we don't want our reserves to start to dip down farther. Um or we're going to have to ask for a higher operating budget. >> Correct. You don't want to fall off the cliff before you ask the voters >> too
081long. >> You you don't want to wait too long. >> And the you know the things that drove the 10 years, you know, obviously it was responsible spending. We got an increase in state funding. There was er money in there. >> Yes. >> The property evaluations that came back that gave us more money, but we certainly don't want to go too low in cash reserve to start out deeper in the home. >> Correct. So, and that's why we've been talking about calendar year 26. Um because as we've talked about, if you pass something in calendar year 26, you wouldn't start collecting until calendar year 27. So you'd get about half of your money in 27 and get the full amount in 28, which would alleviate where that's going down. So that timing makes sense. Um,
082and how far in advance do you have to plan that if you knew you were I mean is it like maybe that's >> So let's let's talk through um we've talked about the levy cycle. We've talked about what it normally looks like and when you go back and and all of those things that the the way that you approach your community for a levy. What makes it challenging for all of us right now um is this this push at the state level um for property tax relief and it is real. We do have members of our community who saw those huge increases in their value and their tax bills went up. They're on fixed incomes and it's been challenging for them. Um but what we're seeing at a state level um the approaches that they're
083taking is not necessarily just to help those people who are struggling and I'm going to say this and I'm not going to regret it. It it is an attack on public education. >> Yes. Um and so it's not it has it has turned from a tax relief effort for community members who really need it to let's attack public education >> funding of public education. >> Correct. That is correct. >> The funding then you attack correct in and of itself. >> Yes. So we're seeing >> be targeted for the individuals who needed the relief but at least that would be in theory a positive thing. There are there are some legislative movements that would do exactly that. Um, one of the things that is concerning um is that there is a push for a constitutional amendment
084to abolish property taxes, which mean if you go back to that very first or second slide, 85% of our money comes from taxes. Our local community, um, they wouldn't be able to just do that overnight. I mean, there'd have to be some, but I I don't know. I can't even imagine what that would look like, but it's real. They're they are trying to get signatures to try to put it on the ballot. Um, legislatively, um, there's all sorts of things happening. Um, by September 30th, there was a governor's property tax workg group that did issue a report. I do have that linked here the in this um slideshow if anybody wants to look at it but there's lots and lots of recommendations some make a lot of sense one of the things that stood out
085in that link to me was as a property owner we pay I think I think it's we pay the sixth highest property tax in the nation >> yet our total tax burden is like 43rd or 46th so there is a big imbalance on taxes >> yes >> property taxes and where our actual total tax revenue is. >> Yes, that is correct. And for schools, we have two options of of getting money from our local taxpayers. We don't have an option for sales tax. We have either income tax or property tax. Those are our two options. Um, and in this district, like in a lot of other districts that are mainly locally funded, um, income tax is not something that they have pursued because it just doesn't make sense in their community. That would be something
086totally new for us. I do have it in here as, you know, should we look at that? Um, but that would be totally a different concept and the communication that we would have to have with our community to even see if it would be something they would want us to um do. And then the other piece with um with your income tax is we talked about the delay with your real estate taxes. There's even a further delay with income taxes. So, um, we're almost too late if we would want to do an income tax. >> Income tax. Is that by school district or is it by municipality? >> Residents of the school district. So, it would be a school district income tax. We would put it on the ballot as either a traditional or an
087earned income tax. It would be a percentage. So, I've already looked at some math. It uh 1% earned income tax would basically give us what? an equivalent to six and a half mills, which is what we did last time. So, we could go to our voters and say 1% income tax, and that's how it would appear. And how that works is it's not the people who work in our school district area, it's our residents. So, the residents who live here, wherever they work, their income would be taxed. That 1% would just cover six and a half mills, not where our total millage is now. >> That is correct. That would be for new revenue. The existing property tax would remain. So just to >> go away too. >> Yes. You abolish the property taxes in
088Ohio districts like Sycamore. So suburban school districts that are high value would lose. we lose it would just take away all >> shut our every sing >> like it's that it would just shut sycamore down so then we would have to what get money for schools either via this income tax or >> income tax have to just wanted to >> right I there would have to be a replacement and I yeah so I think when I talk to legislators that's why they're trying to come up with these property tax relief efforts efforts because they they believe if they do enough on that end that this constitution constitutional amendment will go away. Um the other pieces that we're seeing as far as legislative changes I and I I want to point this out to even though
089our effective millage is not at the 20 mil floor there's very limited options for levies moving forward. I'm still trying to learn about all the limits that we have. Now I I there's lots of changes on our ability to put um things on the ballot now. >> Was this was the property tax um amendment this was this put in the budget? >> No. So the push for the constitutional amendment there's actually a group um of people who are out statewide gathering signatures. It would have to be vote. It would have to be voted on. >> It would be on the ballot. It would a statewide initiative. >> Yes. >> And I I think another thing that's important for our community to hear, and we've talked about this before, Ohio isn't setting the trend or setting
090the bar for equity and spending for education. We're 45th. I heard a a state legislator tell us this. Our performance has fallen as a state to 37th and it depends on what metrics, but somewhere in the middle to lower end of the pack. And now we're talking about eliminating property taxes and catastrophic effects without any plan. Like make it make sense because we're already at 45th. How much worse do you want to make education in Ohio? I'm not sure what the goal is other I understand the property tax relief >> and I think all of our professional organizations understand it and we're willing to get in the room and work but catastrophic removal is not the answer. >> No, >> there's got to be somewhere that we can move that can I mean it's embarrassing
091I think to be in Ohio and be 45th in the way we fund education. Yep. >> Um other things that are happening, um expanding the authority of a county, the county budget commission. Who is the county budget commission? The county auditor, county treasurer, and county prosecutor. Um, so what this would do is it would take three elected people in the county who um, even though the board of education, you are elected to serve this community, even if you said this five-year forecast is fine, we need to place a levy on the ballot. And yes, we understand that, you know, our revenue will grow and our cash balance will grow, but over time we're going to eat away. What this would do is it would take away the local control. These three individuals would have the
092ability to say we're reducing those levies because we believe you have excessive cash and no, you're not going to get to spend it on permanent improvement things. We believe you have excessive cash. So, this is something that's alarming as well. Um, inside millillage is being attacked um and cashing and capping the cash balance. So just full of good news. >> Cap. >> If the cap of the cash balance comes back, that was in the budget and it was vetoed by DW. If that comes back, that would also severely impact Sycamore because we we have a board policy that doesn't let us go below 25 and that would keep us at >> 25 or 30, right? And one of the recommendations in the report from the governor's workg group is 100%. I'm fine with 100%. Um,
093but if they start looking at 30 or 40%, that's just not reasonable. >> Don't limit your levy. >> And what will we do? Just have a have to have a levy like every >> every year. Yeah. >> Every couple years. >> Okay. >> So, levy considerations and timing. We've talked about this. We can talk about this more on Monday as well. Um but we we've talked about 2026 with all of the um challenges that we're having legislatively. Um you know, you might say, "Wow, that's a lot. Maybe we might want to hit pause or maybe we don't." But it is definitely things we have to consider. Um, the last five-year forecast did predict that we would run out of cash in 2029. That has been moved forward one year. Did not answer any of our
094questions, but it did help um somewhat. If we were looking at a November 2026 ballot issue, we would need to finalize and do a first resolution in July, which is 10 months away. So, we've got decisions to make. Um, and engagement needs to be had to to figure out what what we've sh >> We also don't want to wait till the last minute. I think we need to continue to educate our community and let them know if this is coming, when it's coming, and not wait until the deadline. >> Yes. Why would we press pause? The only reason I'm saying you might press pause is what if we chose a path and we went down that path and said 6.5 mills um in November and the legislative body at the state changed some sort of
095option for us locally as far as the ballot goes or we we can't control what they do at a state level, but they are making changes which impact our ability on a local level. Um that's all next steps and I promise we're almost finished. Um Monday, we've talked about Monday. Monday is the academic retreat, but we are going to also talk a little bit more about finances because we were not able to have our financial retreat to do it all one time. So, we've been piecing it together. Um the financial parameters resolution is on the the um agenda for adoption tonight and uh we're going to continue to talk and figure out which options we think are best deal with the revenue shortfall. Any additional questions? >> We have so many questions. No, >> a
096constant conversation. >> And I I thank you for your patience. I know it's a lot. It's a lot to digest like the the five-year forecast, the assumptions, those notes. It's a lot of numbers. It's a lot of assumptions. It's a lot of slides. Um, but we've got some decisions to make in a short amount of time. And um, but I I do want to say um that 202026 and what is in this forecast, we are those expenditures, they're they're not in the rise. We have course corrected for this year and that is something for us to be proud of. >> Very proud of y >> and there's a lot of work from a lot of people that went into making that happen. But um I am happy to be the person the messenger to say
097that that did occur and and I'm proud of that work for all of us. It was a team effort from everybody not just leadership that that was everyone across this district was involved in that. So, >> thank you. >> Can I please get a motion and a second for donations? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Balance, for your motion. And thank you, Mr. Harris, for your second. Thank you very much for Sycamore Bridges. And I cannot see the full name of the other donor. It says >> I did change it. That's very much for the donations. Mrs. Logan, please call the role. Mr. Balant. >> I >> Mr. Harris I >> Dr. James. Mrs. Bidder. >> I. >> Can I please get a motion and a second for the approval of the
098financial forecast? >> I moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Balot, for your motion. Thank you, Dr. James, for your second. Mrs. Logan, do you want to >> I think I've said enough. I do like I do want to I think you should note that this document is available. >> It is so about what it is and explain the purpose of it. >> So talk about the detail that's in it please. >> The five-year forecast is included on this on board docs as well as the slideshow that we just went through. Um and the fiveyear forecast document shows the actual um financial report that is there with all of the numbers and then following that are the assumptions, the notes of numbers. So before you come up with the numbers, you have to arrive at
099all your assumptions. The assumptions drive the numbers. So all of those details are included um on the agenda for us. >> Can we post this on the website? So someone could find it easily. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Right on the front page. That would be great. >> All right. Mrs. Logan, >> please call the role. >> Mr. Ballot, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I. >> Can I please get a motion and a second to adopt financial perimeters resolution? So move. >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. James, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Balot, for your second. This is Logan, please call. Do you want to talk about it first? That it's I mean the resolution um states what what we were discussing
100which is three and a half% it caps the growth of our expenditures to an average 3 and a half% from 2026 to 2030 for total expenditures. We also have in the event that the Ohio General Assembly enacts statutory limitations on maximum cash balances that we will adjust these financial parameters as necessary. >> Yes. >> And we will still continue to prioritize accountability and long-term financial sustainability. Mrs. Logan, please call the role. >> Dr. James. >> Hi. >> Mr. Bon. >> Hi. >> Mr. Harris. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Bidder. >> Hi. >> All right. Next item. We reverse things today. Liz, are you ready? >> Most unplugged. >> Okay. All right. Well, you don't have to be ready just yet. So, um, >> that's all right. I'll be >> Can I please get a motion and
101a second for the executive leadership coaching proposal for Mike Cleba? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Harris, for your motion. Thank you, Dr. James, for your second. >> Mrs. Logan, please call the role. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. >> Dr. James, hi. >> Mr. Balant, >> hi. >> Mrs. Pitter, >> I. Can I please get a motion and a second for the second read and approval of policy? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. James, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Balance, for your second, Mr. Level. >> So, um, we've spent a lot of time having a lot of conversation tonight. I was going to walk through the 21page policy. I would I would just throw out there that we can, um, maybe do the second read at the next
102meeting. Um, we this is not a rush policy. In fact, I think we had talked about possibly three reads of it anyways because it's a lot. >> So, I would just throw out maybe we skip this one tonight and it's still out there for the community to read and look at. >> Yep. >> I I'm okay with that. >> Okay. >> So, Dr. James, are you saying you're going to withdraw your motion? >> Withdraw my So, we'll do the second one next time. Great. Y >> do we have to do anything when she withdraws it? >> All right. All right. Can I please get a motion and a second for school resource officer agreement, city of Montgomery? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Balot, for your motion. Thank you, Dr. James, for
103your second. Mrs. Lo, >> yeah, I just want to comment on what a great job Montgomery does and our school resource officers do in our schools for our students and our staffs and and I fully support having our school resource officers in our schools. >> I second that. I completely agree. Our school resource officers are incredibly important and I have been asked by members of the community if maybe we should have school resource officers in other buildings as well. I know that's been a concern in some of our elementary buildings in our uh intermediate buildings or junior and other buildings. So the question is always been you know is that appropriate? And I think that that is not on the board to decide that. That's on Mr. Lewis and and your team to decide if
104that's ever necessary and you would bring that to the board and you would have our full support because we have an incredible collaboration with our school resource officers. It's vital to keeping our schools safe and they have great and excellent uh relationships with the students and they're specially trained for that. It's really a wonderful thing. So, >> I appreciate both of you saying that because um both school resource officers work incredibly hard building relationships and I mean they are so critical and officer Payne set the standard so high. Um and we carry on his legacy, but the two that are here are doing a phenomenal job. Um we will definitely I it's something we definitely want to approach with you as we talk about what are things and considerations for um our levy cycle because
105obviously we've walked through a lot of budgetary items tonight. I don't know that it would currently fit in the budget to fit that in, but I do think there are some important components there that we need to discuss. Um, and I've had those conversations with uh both chiefs uh from the city of Montgomery and the city of Blue Ash because right now both of our resource officers are city of Montgomery. So um we would have to look at city of Blue Ash. Um we also have another school in Montgomery and we have Sims Township which is Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. So >> there's a lot of work that could be done there but I think we're all willing to do it. So, we'll we'll certainly keep that in mind as we're having those conversations and
106have that as part of a future discussion with all of you. >> I would I hope too that you will also just stress that all of our law enforcement partners are are connected to every single building, every elementary school, our intermediate school, we have connections with all of them. So that is something that we are very un we are very clear on and their safety drills are done every year. So I think that for people watching this they need to know that this is something that has not this has been a top a top priority for our school district at all times >> and and you're right we have great partnerships. I was Mrs. Schmidt and I were out at SIMS and I was like I wonder why the sheriff's officer sitting here and then
107he just came in and kind of walked around and did a tour and she was like is that normal? And I said, "Actually, it is fairly normal. Blue Ash does it all the time. They just like to be in the schools, be very familiar u with our people and make rounds within our buildings. So, it's it's good for us." >> Y >> and I will celebrate the fact that from a cost standpoint, um the contract itself is just a minimal increase over the previous contract. So, the partnership with the city of Montgomery, obviously, they find it as a resource as well. Um, but there is a minimal increase in the contract, but it's nothing significant. >> All right, Mrs. Logan, please call the role. >> Mr. Balant, >> hi. >> Dr. James, >> Mr. Harris,
108>> hi. >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I please get a motion and a second for transportation impractical. >> So move. Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Harris, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Balant, for your second. Mrs. Logan, please call the RO. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Dr. James. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Bidder. >> I >> Can I please get a motion and a second for out of town field trip approval two? >> I moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Balant for your motion. Dr. James, for your second. Mrs. Logan, please call the role. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. >> Mrs. Bidder, I >> Mr. Lewis. Yeah, >> we have lots of good things going on, so I will go as fast
109as possible, but please bear with me. Um, first and foremost, we had some students, some great junior high students that were recognized um for the Cincinnati Youth Wind Ensemble, um, part of CCM at UC. Um so there students Julia Ogden uh Simon Wagner Cavin Jean Jun Kim Farah Stewart Ethan Go now Kamura Henry Smith Keon Mashuary and Jonathan Schik all made uh that group. So uh kudos to all those students and their uh hard work on their instruments because that's a that's a great honor to be added to a group like that. Um, girls golf is a state qualifier. They will be the entire team made it to state. So, October 12th through the 13th, they'll be playing at Firestone Country Club in Akran uh for the state title. And if you recall, we had
110the individual state title winner last year. So, I hope she has a good tournament. Um, Seager Family Niatorium and Sycamore Athletics will be hosting the water polo final four and state championship. >> Um, which Um, huge thank you to Mr. Seager. I saw you walk in. We could not have had a hosting of an event like that without uh the Natiatorum. And I was there at a a water polo event this weekend. Positive comments coming from visiting people and also our home people just like complimenting the facility and all the thought that went into it. So, um I know that it was a labor of love for you and your family, but um it is being recognized as one of the premier, if not the premier facility in the state. Um so, we love love
111being able to host that. Um tomorrow at 9:30, our business and community partnership breakfast. uh we have a number of businesses or organizations that are going to um do experience ships with our students and give them opportunities to learn. So I'm very excited about that event. If you're able to stop by 9:30 to 11 is the program and then at 11:10 to 12:40 is the experience ship part of the program. So, I'm very excited to have all of those people come and join us and share their experiences. Uh, marching band got a superior rating at OM OMA Hamilton. They qualified for the state finals for the fifth consecutive year. Uh, Bella Voce is joining are going to be at the Miami University Trouble Choir Invitational and they get to work with a renowned composer Dr.
112Chris Christian Graces. So um looked him up and very highly regarded um conductor composer. So Dan Hanky baseball and softball sycamore softball field opening October 18th at 100 p.m. Um I talked to Mr. Hanky at the last game. He is very excited about this event. Um and then October 17th is our last home um game at the stadium football band and cheer senior night uh which is cool. And then uh the last thing I'll mention uh Mr. Cole and I and several of the principles and several district personnel. We went over to OGB's open house today um just to kind of engage with some of the students and I was so thankful Mrs. B um introduced me to a girl named Zamari. She was practicing her self, let me get this right. Um selfdirected conferences.
113They have to conduct the conference at the fifth and sixth grade level. I remember going through it um with Hayden and it was so powerful. And when she got to her last slide, like, "What are you most proud of?" She said, "I am unstoppable and I feel powerful." And that's what she decided to share with us. And both Greg and I walked out and went, "Wow, that was amazing." Um, so it just tells you the power of our students and the things that they can accomplish um when they put it together. The last thing in other that is not student related, I just wanted to mention it to the board and I think we should have more conversation on Monday. Um in in line alignment with the capital improvement portions. Um our our major donor
114for the baseball softball field has approached myself and um several others. Um he has an interest in doing the lighting for the facility. um he he offered up that he would be willing to pay the 70%. Um but he's looking at the board for 30%. So obviously within our financial discussions today, I don't think we're prepared to respond to that today, but I would like to get back to him on where are we with that kind of request and how does that fit in our capital improvement plan u with all the other things that we have to consider. But I just want to put that on your radar that that request um has officially come um and he's willing to sign an amendment to his donor agreement to make that happen. So um but I
115think again as we discuss all of the other capital improvement projects on Monday, this would be a fit for that. So thank you for indulging me with that lengthy other >> Thank you. Those are wonderful those are wonderful updates. Really positive. Hey, can I please get a motion, a second for the personnel consent agenda? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Balant, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Harris, for your second. Mrs. Logan, please call the role. >> Mr. Balant, >> I. >> Mr. Harris, >> I. >> Dr. James, >> I. >> Mrs. Bidder, >> I now move to other board business. Can I please get a motion, a second for Great Oaks Board three-year term renewal? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Balot, for your motion. Thank you, Dr. James, for your second. This
116is for an This is for um Mr. Burke to continue as a board representative. Uh Mr. Burke has done an excellent job in this role and we really appreciate this representation. So, >> is there anything that the board would like me to communicate to Mr. Burke? Because I know when I when we as you considered this, there were some questions and comments. be great if he saw us >> and if you would just like >> I I think I could probably talk to him about sending like regular summaries or >> we want to get the good news >> summaries or something like that that would keep you up to date on >> Yeah. >> what's going on at Great Oaks. I think he would be willing to do that. >> That would be great. That
117would be great. >> Yeah. And and you know I think sending it via email from a course standpoint, but we have in the past had him come once a year. >> Yeah. other kind of give a high level overview. So, I think that would be good because then the community could see it as well. >> Yeah. >> And I just want to thank Mr. Burke for doing a phenomenal job. It's it's a big- time commitment. Um and he's very passionate about it. Actually, >> we're very lucky. >> We are. >> All right. >> And then I'll set up for him to come and just give you a maybe we can do like a year end. >> Yeah. Like a year end. Yeah. And if he has good, you know, information, wants to share with us
118things, keep us up to date, that would be excellent. >> Okay. >> If he can work with us at graduation, >> he does not. >> Okay. Uh, can I roll? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you. I'm Billy's getting a little late. Mrs. Let me please call the role. Mr. Ballot. >> Hi. Hi, >> Miss Bidder. >> I can I please get a motion and a second for the approval of service agreement with Hamilton County ESC to participate in the Greater Cincinnati Business Advisory Council. >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. James, for your motion. Thank you, Mr. Balant, for your second. Mr. Lewis, do we need to say anything about this? Really, >> and it's just >> about it last joining the Greater Cincinnati Business Advisory Council. Thank you, Dr. James, uh, for connecting us with
119that resource. And I think we felt like we were missing out on some things and after attending a meeting um it was clear that we could gain a lot from being a part of that group. So >> with some additional opportunities for students too. >> Additional opportunities for students but also um utilization of some of our staff members that are very passionate about this topic. >> All right. Last item is the uh business. >> Yeah. Oh, excuse me. Sorry. Mrs. Logan, please call the role. >> Dr. James. Hi. >> Mr. Balant. >> Hi. Mr. Harris, >> hi. >> Mrs. Bidder, I >> The last item is the next item is the business advisory council update. Um, Mr. Lewis, Mrs. Logan, Mr. Valent, and I attended that meeting this week and we had a very good
120conversation with our members. We discussed the strategic plan, portrait of an aviator. We talked with them about the aviator experience. Uh we had an incredible presentation from a student um and um >> Dylan Marshall, thank you for for reminding me of that. And we had um a very good very good conversation about how we can help students get experiences um to prepare them for future workforce. Mr. Balant, would you like to say anything? >> I I think you've summed it up pretty well. Okay. Did I miss anything, Mr. Lewis? >> No. Passion. >> I'm like not Yeah, it's a great group. >> Dylan will be presenting tomorrow. >> Yeah. Excellent. >> All right. Um Okay. The next item we want to make sure everyone knows we have our board academic retreat on October 13, 2025
121is going to be here. And then we will also have a portion of our agenda for the financial retreat. Correct. Yep. All right. Any other items for both other board business? All right. Meeting is adjourned. A friend.