November 9, 2021 Newberg School Board Meeting

001[Music] foreign do you have that um the last ORS number that you had there uh find that email you sent earlier sorry not sure what you're talking about it was the last one are you talking about the legal statements what's that are you talking about the legal statements or what the actual ORS was yeah our last ORS there 192.660 to be um okay everything is up and running um I am still searching for uh our other interpreter and we'll keep looking you're welcome to start and I'll just try and do things as we go did we get Renee back there oh I see really got it okay so we're good to go Jennifer I believe so okay the board of directors of the Newburgh school district 29j will meet um late thanks Fairbank for being

002way patient uh November 9th 2021 for a regular business meeting by assumed conference call to discuss and take action on minutes and other business items so first thing we have to do is director Shannon has uh volunteered to do the flex Loop 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 director Shannon appreciate that um on the review agenda before I do I'm going to add under new business items um it will be uh oh you need to make a motion for that day yeah I'm just looking at the number here I'm gonna make a motion to uh uh add 192.660 to B to new business so make that motion now

003do I have a second what what's what is that motion it's the last thing we discussed in our executive session I don't think you can add an executive session item to an agenda what's that yeah I'll second any discussion all those in favor raise your hand got four all those in the pose raise your hand three motion passes four three do we need to ask who would the four uh the four were directors uh Shannon Brown pal and dehart okay now um Mr chair I believe that was the disposition of um the item I believe there was another item that someone was gonna add to the agenda was that under uh new business number e it would be under new business can you remind me on that one I believe it was to discuss the

004superintendent position what we just added no what we added was the disposition of a complaint okay discussion on superintendent the complaints isn't the complaint already on the agenda no that was that was a different complaint that we never got to so the Dave you wanted okay go ahead yeah so make the motion that we add that to new business for tonight at what they've what's that and what that we add to what we talked about I'm looking at the number 1.9 or 192.660 uh 2B we are a pasta that is for what we just talked about though so which one were you talking about that we're discussing the superintendent's position a separate motion it's a separate item okay I'll make the motion uh under new business and we are discussing the superintendent do I have

005a second any discussion all those in favor of that motion to be put on there raise your hand directors Brown Shannon dehart and uh looking down pal those pose raise your hand protector's pyro structure Pinner and director there we go okay those are added we go back to review agenda tonight we're going through something we haven't done for a long time uh oh Savas is for our student representatives to the board uh we'll have then public comment uh then we'll have a board superintendent comments I'll be bored first student Representatives next and then superintendent uh next up will be consent agenda um I'll read through that then we have reports and presentations monthly Financial from Nikki Fowler academic calendar from Greg Costello under old business uh statement of board decision on complaint zero nine one

006six two one uh under old business B superintendent standing committee for policy gbg under new business uh the two we just discussed uh statement of board decision policy gbg complaint osba elections for Rebecca uh budget committee discussions from Nikki Fowler budget process calendar Nikki Fowler and then supplemental Attorney Services discussion uh those are all in our new business under work session we'll have public and board comment procedures and also complaint process against board members and future agenda items so we're back to the host of office um yeah so on October 26th 2021 the Newburgh school board approved two students to serve on the board of directors for the 2021-22 school year Madison Klink and Rowan Myers these students will take their oath of office now congratulations you too so I'm going to say I and

007then say your name and uh if you guys are ready if we were in person we'd probably be standing up and doing all kind of stuff since we're on Zoom I think we're we're good to go here so um so are you two ready to do that okay thank you very much and congratulations you guys um I am going to say your name I girl Myers pledge that I will support the Constitution and laws of the United States of America of the United States of America and the state of Oregon and the state of Oregon and the policies of the Newberg School District and the policies of the Newburgh School District during my term during my term I will honestly discharge I will honestly discharge the duties of the office the duties of the office

008of the student representative to the Newberg School District of the student representative to the Newberg School District board of directors board of directors to the best of my ability to the best of my ability Ron congratulations hey Maddie are you ready to do all that too okay I state your name if you turn your volume up at all Maddie [Music] it's okay it's all the way up oh you're good you're good pledge that I will support pledge that I will support the Constitution and laws the Constitution and law s of the United States of America of the United States of America and of the state of Oregon and the policies of the Newburgh School District and the policies of the Newberg School District during my term I will honestly discharge the duties of the office

009of student representative to the Newberg School District board let me back up on that one and that's a lot to the office of student representative the office of student representative to the Newburgh School District board of directors of directors to the best of my ability to the best of my ability awesome good job Maddie thank you very much um you guys are the first one since I've been on the board where we've had that so anybody that was involved in making this happen thank you very much um uh you guys are going to be a big asset so we really appreciate you uh wanting to do this um in a few minutes we'll have um uh comments from the board and then you guys will go after us and then before the superintendent does that

010make sense so you have a few minutes to get ready for that you can say whatever you want to say about schools or whatever okay all right again congratulations you guys um [Applause] we are going to public comment Jen how are you doing on that think we're okay um I am looking do you need a little more time Jen yeah I'm gonna need a minute okay do you want us to go ahead and go ahead and go into comments right now let me come back to that I'm going to help you out nope I think I can do it I just I'm searching through a list and hopefully I'll find her shortly one moment please for the night's over tiller thank you if you can in promoting uh Jerry turgidson to the board you know

011um he could turn on your video Jerry hi I'm Jerry Ferguson a parent of the district and a Community member and I work locally here as a psychologist within our community the last time I spoke to the board the mental health of our District's youth had been not a priority and been significantly neglected I would be remiss if I didn't highlight the significant support that Joe has demonstrated for student mental health throughout our community in the time that I have been supporting the school district I have volunteered and partnered with the Newberg School District over the past five years and unfortunately it was a relationship that was initially tragically started after multiple youth died by Suicide within our community I've been inspired by The Passion of people working within this district and those who I've

012interacted with have demonstrated a true passion and commitment to authentically seeing knowing and honoring the use that they're serving we are really in a pivotal space as a community as we consider how we want to support youth mental health we are a community that has been directly touched by adolescent suicide inherently increasing our youth's overall risk in Oregon suicide assistant leading cause of deaths for all youth under the age of 25 and that number only increases for lgbtq and trans plus use nationally and here at home data demonstrates that we are on a trajectory of rapidly increasing rates of depression anxiety and mood disorders rates that have only been Amplified and exacerbated by the pandemic a pandemic resulting in a 50 increase in emergency department visits for youth experiencing mental health crises and suicidal ideation

013we know that marginalized youth have higher rates of mental health considerations higher rates of average childhood experiences which includes community experiences of trauma abuse discrimination and racism the actions at the school board level are directly impacting the mental health well-being and sense of safety the youth are currently experiencing with our within our community if our children are to be able to learn succeed in Excel we must effectively tend to their mental health and honor their whole identities as individuals it is imperative that they be surrounded by and supported within environments of affirmation representation matters our actions matter having visible symbols that you as an individual in your personal identity are held honored and celebrated helps to further that environment of safety it Fosters and supports conversations and dialogues that can give space for all youth

014to be authentically present within their school environment these symbols are essential and support cultures of safety these symbols of affirmation must also be backed by strong unequivocal language of safety and compassion and language that resoundingly rejects racism discrimination and clearly articulates the needs to address the structural and systemic racism and biases that continue to impact our education and community as you consider the gravity of the changes you are making please consider the youth involved the immediacy of their well-being their sense of belonging and the direct impact that you are all having on our mental health as well as a positive impact and importance to overt statements of compassion belonging and representation have for students emotional physical and academic Wellness thank you for your time tonight thank you Jerry promoting uh Rebecca or Becky Ankeny please

015turn on your video thank you for a chance to um address the group when students in our school see the ban of black lives matter and lgbtq pride flags from classrooms they don't see the principle of keeping politics out of the classroom students in these groups face taunting floors and bullying every day on the one day this school year I picked up my granddaughter from Newburgh High School I heard someone yell a homophobic slur in the parking lot students of color or queer students see support being pulled away they feel more alone this is an unintended consequence of the recent ban I'm sure none of you became directors on our school board to make it easier for bullies and worse for their targets please consider how you can identify with and speak up for the

016targets if you yourself feel you have been bullied use the memory of how horrible and lonely that feels to build empathy with those of our students who are bullied and taunted every day how can the Newberg School District Express support for students who face abusive language and outright bullying because of their color or gender identification what is your plan for making students of color and queer students feel safe and have a sensible longing in our schools if teachers cannot use these symbols which are shorthand for supportiveness what can the school board and the school teachers do and say to make clear that all students belong that all are cared for and that abuse and hateful speech will not be tolerated without violating the general ban you have approved one positive step our community could take

017to make clear that we do in fact value all human beings that we recognize we are responsible to work to increase the good in our world for our whole Human family could be to incorporate a curriculum into middle and high school health classes to teach students how to intervene without violence in situations where someone is doing harm to a targeted person this program is called training active bystanders and training is available on their website has a long history of being used in public education and in colleges to help students step in and protect without increasing the temperature and causing violence to take place I think we'd all like to see our students come home from school excited and talking about the great day they had all of our students every day thank you my name

018is Becky Ankeny I'm an NHS graduate I'm married to an NHS graduate I have two daughters who graduated from the Newberg public schools and I have four grandchildren in the Newberg Public Schools thank you Becky Becky thank you very much I am unable to find the next person and um I had one come on tour mention they will not be here so I'm moving on to solely Willow okay thanks uh so they I see her on the panel it's your video can you hear me yes excellent uh my name is solely Willow I use she her pronouns I'm a student at Catalyst High School I live in Newburgh and I'm going to be addressing the flag band today I am a transgender student I was born male and now I identify as female my transition

019has been short-lived for now uh it only happened in April of this year 2021. and uh this school year has been the first time I've experienced school as a transgender student I just uh I've been affected by these bands that I think there's many things that are political in our world and pride and pride symbols are not one of them it shows me that I am accepted as who I am I am accepted and I am safe and I am protected as all students should be in this school I want to encourage the board to listen to the students and mainly the students because that is the board's job is to serve the community and make sure that the students are in a place where they can learn where they can be educated and where

020they can feel safe and respected I feel that this flag ban has not created a safe respected environment in the school district I believe it has created a dangerous and volatile situation I believe that people are excuse me uh give me just a second um people are upset to put it plainly I am upset and it's only furthering Mental Health crisis I beg the school board to reverse this ban because it creates a safe place for the students it creates a safe place for me it creates the sense of belonging that I don't have right now it creates a space where I can go to school and not feel like my existence is Up For Debate I feel that my existence is Up For Debate right now I feel that is that that is what

021the Deport is discussing whether I should be able to express myself or not and it is excruciating to feel that and I don't know if you can empathize but I beg you to empathize as much as you can see how this is affecting students uh I'm solely well thank you absoli thank you very much good morning Carrie Martel hi my name is Kerry Martell I was born and raised in Newburgh I am the editor of the Angel Advocate a digital newspaper where I've been publishing many stories detailing the conspiracy formed against the residents of our town by a group called Newberg equity and education whose stated goal is to indoctrinate the children of the Newberg School District into critical race Theory with the objective of changing the voting culture of our town first two commenters

022on this are members of that group that all sounds crazy and yet it is true as shown through hundreds of screenshotted conversations in private Facebook groups groups that members of the school board Randy Penner and Rebecca pyros participated in themselves and have done so for over a year in violation of public meeting laws all of the evidence for these claims is available in the articles I have published on yeah noadvocate.com school board members names thank you gotcha just this past Saturday members of this group including some School faculty participated in a fundraiser for recall Brian Shannon where a current high school student performed as a drag queen at Chehalem Valley Dance Academy which is owned by Kristen Stoller who also is operating the so-called Wellness Center in the high school that Advocates both critical race

023Theory and the discredited Fringe gender theories of John money and as Kristen Stoller herself said the goal of this is to change the voting culture of Newberg Oregon I am demanding the resignation of the school board directors who were involved in all of this for their participation in the activities of Newberg equity and education which has included literally trying to break up the marriage of one of the other school board members who is currently being recalled or they're trying to recall him because they think it will pressure him into resigning if they do not resign I'm calling on the other members of the school board to censor them and remove them from all committees and for the voters of Newberg to recall them from office and file complaints with the Oregon government ethics commission for

024the numerous violations of public meeting laws they intentionally committed as part of this conspiracy everything they say in these meetings is based in lies designed to obstruct the school in cooperation with the teachers union which is also part of their group I also believe the superintendent should probably be terminated this has all happened during his term as superintendent he has done nothing to stop it he's either complicit or he's incompetent to resolve the problem we clearly need a new Administration in the school district if we are put an end to this Insanity we need to restore sanity to our school district thank you foreign you're muted thank you thank you I am looking for a Mark um we have a few on and I did not receive a last name so I'm going to attempt

025to pull up and see if this one is who asked to be speaking tonight foreign can you please turn on your video hello yeah I'm here are you the one who requested to speak what's that yes okay yeah I just can't seem to get my I don't do this a lot so do I need to turn on I don't know how to turn the camera on okay I can't yeah then we can hear you so if you'd like all right anyway my name's Mark Colby thank you I'm a long time resident of Newberg Dundee graduated in Newburgh High taxpayer concerned citizen I have a comment regarding the enforcement of the new policy gbg staff participation in political activities it is specific and very detailed in what is not to be displayed that being anything that

026depicts support or opposition to a political quasi-political or controversial topic I believe that we can all agree that the symbols Flags depictions revolving around BLM Pride Flags let alone if it was a blue lives matter or Maga symbol are all considered by most to be potentially very controversial in Newburgh whether they are political in nature is up to some debate this policy when voted on and approved by the board it became the law of the land even though there could be challenges to it at that time the superintendent and other administrators who serve at the pleasure of the board they are bound to enforce his policy no matter how they may feel about it that is not an option they are not to be a roadblock even though there may be challenges to a display

027it should be immediately removed till resolved that is the policy not to be drawn out and children subjected to whatever the controversial display may be inflicting on them I would say that any School employee counselor teacher administrator witness anything of this nature that it would that should be addressed immediately no matter what side of the fence they may be on my question is there is have there been removals of any of the displays to date my opinion is no they're seen on Facebook other social media sites photos comments and such the superintendent and School Employees all know this to be true they are in defiance of the policy and not willing to do anything about it the tax being public has difficult access to the schools and classrooms especially with covid to witness what is

028actually going on but with zoom classes during covet the eyes of the parents in the community were open to see what was actually happening and more likely now more indoctrination is being incurred occurred than ever before due to this opposition totally different pictures due to Union involvement something should be done to encourage them to follow the policy requirements but the superintendent and School administration are employees and should be relieved of their duties for not following directions of the board I strongly encourage that the board make this clear in a written directive if needed and if not followed then that person or person should be removed my other point is I would like an answer now on why the discussions and decision vote on complaint 93021 is was not held in Open session so the public

029can know each board member's position on this issue and others that may came up in the future another I think the Board needs to as soon as possible need to get into and investigate the curriculums being taught in the schools in the indoctrination is taking place our time's up at three minutes okay very good thank you thank you uh chair that is all I have tonight um that I signed up that are that I can find present again Jen great job on that I know it was a lot of work so thank you um we are on uh to our student representative comments so um we're moving through this and uh are you two uh ladies ready to go Maddie would you like to go first on your student comments um yeah I can go

030first whatever you want to say with anything whatever it's your time to comment first I just wanted to thank everyone for everyone um both Rowan and I this opportunity I'm really excited and I'm not super sure like about everything that we're gonna do but I'm really excited to figure it all out and I'm just really thankful to be able to do this I think it's really great and as far as like him out things in the as far as like poems in the school um right now I'd say that the biggest problem I think in the school is uh it just feels really like which you probably it feels really like like it feels like their sides which I've never really felt before like going to school it's never really felt like there's sides I

031mean there's always like certain kids and there's different groups you know like that not everyone hangs out with but right now it feels like super divided like there's two separate sides and kids on one side don't want to talk to the kids on the other side and I think that's the biggest problem that's happening right now because it's caused a lot of division and like problems as far as bullying and stuff like that so I'd say that's the biggest problem that we have at school right now is it's really divided like there's very clear sides which is a problem good job Maddie very good thank you very much Roland are you ready um yes my only comment is to thank the board again for giving Maddie and I this offer this amazing opportunity and I

032look forward to working with the directors and you chair Brown and also I'm very excited to better represent our student body for these meetings thank you Rowan you're going to have a future as a speaker I can tell well it's great to have you guys part of this um I kind of went out of order there it was supposed to be kind of the board comments and then you guys you guys stepped in really good right there so um most of us on the board haven't had student Representatives until now so we're going to be learning right alongside you guys and so don't be afraid to ask questions and we will try to get people to reach out to you guys to let you know if we can help you in any way okay so

033thank you so much um kind of want to go back to board comments there can I get that one out of order so I'm just going to go around and uh I'm gonna start with uh Brian Shannon do you have any comments uh no I do not okay uh director Inez do you have any comments yeah um Maddie and Rowan welcome to the board um I really hope that you learn a lot from this experience and that this experience it is better for you than it has been for me but know that I'm here to support both of you in whatever way I can um so feel free to ask questions and reach out um I do want to thank everybody um in this District uh students for showing up school in these difficult times

034staff and teachers for the hard work on the ground administrators for running the show and making sure your buildings are running smoothly bus drivers Cooks everyone um and Joe of course you um yeah thank you okay thank you very much um director Trevor coming to you yeah no no no comments tonight thanks chair Brown okay thank you very much uh director Brandi go ahead thanks Dave yeah welcome Rowan and Maddie uh we're really excited to have you here I have been on the board when we've had student representatives and I've seen how much um your perspective adds to uh this experience and Leadership of our district and I'm so thankful that you're here uh you know the next few months are going to give you a real-time education and local governance please know that you're

035not in this alone um always available so please use me as a support and welcome I'm glad you're here um I had planned on using my time tonight um to celebrate what we're seeing as a slow return to normal you know we've got High School Musical performance happening volunteers are able to get into our schools again Halloween celebrations happened Day of the Dead celebrations um but instead I find that I need to use my time to really plead for our children I know by now that this will fall on deaf ears of four board members but I want everyone else to really understand what's happening our children are being used and thrown out in the name of ambition hatred and extremism in the last three months we've gone from a moderate thriving District to a

036punching bag for those who wish to make a buck and a name for themselves the people making the majority decisions may claim that they care but their definition is a horrendous Twist of caring you care so much that you're destroying the community you care so much that you're suing teachers and parents you care so much that you don't even have kids enrolled in our schools and you care so much that you ignore the pleas of our community and our students you care so much that you're driving our school district to financial ruin these are my kids this is my kids education and Future this is not some theoretical exercise this extremism has real consequences for our community and more importantly for our kids this is destroying us this is an incredibly sad moment for our

037community and most importantly for our children because at the end of the day it's going to be our kids that are paying the price this is their education their shot all they want to do is learn they don't want rhetoric or conspiracy theories or rantings of extremists that don't even live here these are my kids these are all of our kids and they deserve an education not based on authoritarian tactics but on American democracy the freedoms of thought and speech our kids don't deserve this my kids don't deserve this these kids need a shot at a better life and it's being taken away I beg every every person in our community to support the kids tell them they're important tell them they're beautiful and tell them that they matter and thank you to every single

038person for doing everything you can to combat these incredibly dark days thank you okay director Renee you're up foreign and Maddie to the board and um yeah it's great to have you on there and and have some young faces and um and with um Becky Anthony that spoke I I'm really interested in that training um active class I like to do more research on that of um hopefully helping kids go through how to handle bullying and certain tough situations and stuff like that so that was I didn't even know that they had something like that so I'm interested to do some more research on that but yeah um yeah so thank you thanks Ray uh director Rebecca Europe okay this is um I've went on several walks today thinking of what I was going to

039say tonight and um first of all I want to thank um Jennifer our board secretary she was kind of called out on the car but the other day when when an inflammatory comment came up and um if we could understand what she does to get the soon links together and um she's doing a marvelous job and I want to support her and thank her and um I believe in in in in process and following the guidelines and working together and I plead with our board members to to I have tried to be as as working giving you a hand to support you to to find ways out of the mess we're in and I just um I'm fearful of some of the actions that are taking place that are going to destroy our school district

040and like brandy said these kids I don't have any children in the school district now but I was the secretary and I know what what happens in the school district I know how much hard work it is to get the kids to the right class these are my kids too and and our I lose sleep not for my own safety but I'm anxious about what my actions have done to to students in our district what has caused students to to be feel unsafe and I that's why I get anxious or or loose sleep and I just um want to try to find a way through this I also want to say how much I I trust and appreciate our administrative team um and and what they've done to bring to to fill the gaps that

041have happened through this pandemic this didn't get started just because we passed the ban on political signs the education has been working and the Educators have been doing a fantastic job working to get children back up to grade level and and I applaud their efforts and um this is a great School District we have a lot of problems but if we can work together we can get through these problems but but by throwing the baby out with the bath water that's going to destroy what we what we can do I'm going to cost the district financial and personnel and um a a detriment to the to our community to our Newberg community so I really plead that we learned to work together and and join join together to solve our problems thanks Dr Rocca yeah

042I thought about what you're going to say too you know I've heard about everybody feeling want for the kids I've heard about all the we're trying to do everything we can in our school district and a year and a half ago we were told we were going to be divided as a country and as a in a city and we have been we've been totally divided and we've had people in our community part of our our unions going after these school board members because you don't like the way they vote the truth is that director Shannon director Brown director pal and director dehart think that every kid is super important the LIE out there has been that we don't care we do care a great deal there is no racist intent there is no homophobic

043attempt there is none of that going on at all you come to my house on Thanksgiving you will find people of color you will find people that are gay you can come anytime and ask that question there is not that's been a complete lie that's been put out there and we have people that want to hide behind Facebook and they want to hide behind all the things that they do out in this community to harm our community our kids and our schools have been divided because that's what we were told was going to happen to our country a year and a half ago in Newburgh it just happens to be the tip of the spear when we talked about getting the flag ban this was simply about politics coming out of our schools that should

044have never been allowed in our schools in the first place should have never been allowed and it was allowed we shouldn't have any other type of flags we shouldn't have anything to do with mega or Joe Biden or anything else in there but we did allow it and it's caused division nothing but division because you believe in it and others don't that's division that's where the division is coming forth from our young people and so don't sit back behind Facebook or don't sit back behind a holier than now thinking that you've got it all going on for our kids when in fact we need to get back to just School get back to we've had all the policies in place before any of that happened all the policies were there the adults in this town

045have heard our kids the adults have hurt our kids and make no mistake I'm looking a lot of those people in the eye right now and you have to go home and look in the mirror night when you brush your teeth and say I'm part of the problem don't don't point fingers anymore stop it our district has gotten to the point where we can't wait to throw something under the bus we can't wait to do the next mean thing and it's got to stop it's got to end and that's what our kids really need they need adults to just get back to taking care of them I've seen it in the past because I work there also for 20 years I saw great administrators and great teachers put their best effort out and it can

046happen again if we would just simply stop as adults but will ya will we we'll see because it's easy to talk it's easy to to throw people under the bus but it's harder to do it and there's differences of opinions in this community big time there's people that agree with the flag ban there's people that don't agree with it but it doesn't stop with a grant disagreeing people have to be mean-spirited attack go after work go after all kinds of issues all that needs to stop so we can focus back superintendent comments are next thank you chair Brown uh Maddie and Rowan welcome um to uh wait it's been a little while since we've had students on the board so I hope that uh um you've learned a lot from this part of the public

047process it's an interesting uh thing as you will witness tonight and every other night that you're here so please uh dig in and engage and um and learn to think about what public process and true lessons and Civics are so welcome um I'll keep my comments very short I just do want to say um frankly that the um the critical work of educating students cannot be done well without the love and support for each of our students and who they are for a vision of what's truly possible for the strong Community Partnerships um and then of course finally and without and undeniably unbelievably incredible staff foreign thank you Dr Joe next up is consent agenda um I'll ask for a motion here in a minute proving the minutes uh from previous meetings we have some

048donations to go over rendered LLC donated 348 dollars to the black student union rendered LLC donated 348 dollars to the Catalyst GSA so thank you to rendered for that the Newberg rotary Foundation donated ten thousand dollars to the Newberg School District thank you to all the rotarians for for that no matter how big or small your gift is to the district it's always greatly appreciated so thank you very much um under Personnel recommendations uh we're accepting some licensed temporary contracts uh so welcome to Laura Gill teacher at Midway Rush uh Barbara Mann teacher at KOA and Gina Boyd teacher at Maple Rush Elementary so welcome a couple of these were tough ones for me except license resignations Leah Kelly teacher at Mabel Rush Elementary uh uh Shelley Grant long time teacher Mabel Rush fabulous teacher

049Shelly thank you so much for everything you did you were great and also except the retirement from Barbara Mann a teacher at Maple Rush Elementary so a lot of changes at Maple Rush um so the recommendation is move that's an Uber School Board District Board of uh directors approved the consent agenda as presented the sad emotion that's the recommendation I moved at the Newberg School Board director's except the consent agenda as presented second got a second all those in favor raise your hands say aye hi and vote 7-0 thank you very much thanks Rebecca okay that's consent agenda next up is going to be the monthly Financial reports uh first one will be by Nikki Fowler great in light of our um time right now I know we're getting late um I'm sure my information

050is pretty self-explanatory at this point do you have any questions do you have any questions for Nikki you guys Nikki's always got it laid out really well so thank you Nikki for that I'm sure we we do so no questions for Nikki before we move on I would just follow up with there were some questions last month and I did not receive any emails um or any extra information as to what you wanted so if anybody wants to come join me just give me a call or email great thanks Nikki appreciate it okay next up on this would be to present the academic calendar for 2022-2023 from Greg Costco and could chair Brown and board members uh each year we work to approve the academic calendar and there's one sense where it's uh very boring

051but is also very important and very complicated when we need to make sure that we abide by our contracted hours make sure we meet state laws make sure we hit all the holidays in the process so our process tonight is not for any action we're presenting this to you to gather feedback from you from community and staff on these options before we then present it to you for approval at the December 14th meeting and a lot of that is to make sure there are a lot of eyes on this calendar to make sure that we have met all the responsibilities for contract days for prep and for grading and for conferences and for all of the things for professional development all the things that are there with our staff um the calendar this year Falls

052very similar to the one for next year and so the options uh there really are only two options that are presented to you um each of them begins uh September 6th except for um at the middle school level only sixth graders begin that day at the high school level only freshmen begin that day so um the rest of those will start the following day Wednesday September 7th both calendars are the same that way the difference is in option A draft a there is not School the Wednesday before Thanksgiving which makes the last day of school Friday June 16th and pushes the final prep day for teachers to the following Monday the other option in draft B is to have school Wednesday the 23rd which is of November which is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving which would

053allow the last day of school to be June 15th and allows that prep day to happen um on June 16th and not have to carry over the weekend uh as for the con as per the contract we've presented this to the associations for feedback and the feedback is mixed between administrators and the associations at this point on the two drafts there are arguments uh in favor of both um so this is in front of you as the board to give any comments that you have either here tonight or in writing back to us and we would also like to say to the public if you have uh opinions on the difference between the two drafts if you can email me we will tally all those and present that to the board for the next one

054it comes up on December 14th are there any questions at this point on the difference between the two drafts or on the process Greg what will happen um if because both unions are up for negotiation this this spring will that could that affect the calendar the way that it could affect the calendar is if there are negotiations to change the number of school days or prep days uh from what they are now um we are trying to get this one of the things we've tried to do is to get calendars ahead early so that families can plan so we are presenting this at this time as the board has requested of us to get on that as soon as possible so if we approve this and there is a change in the contracts we will

055have to do an adjustment to the calendar as we've done in the past after those contracts are ratified okay thank you Greg which one did admin choose which one did teachers choose can we ask that question um the the association leadership was in favor of draft a and um the administration was uh mostly in favor of draft B with some in favor of draft a did they give any reasons why um it primarily is around that that this year the difference of you know is is the day before Thanksgiving a difficult day for uh people to learn are they going to be leaving anyway um or is it difficult on staff and others to have to push on to that next uh Monday so those are kind of the the things to weigh between the

056two um you know it doesn't seem there's a clear compelling reason in either direction for that but we may have feedback from the public or from others that help us to see compelling reasons one of the uh what what uh I remember last year it was really tough one to put together what's the what's the drop dead time when this all has to be approved um the goal before covet times the goal was to have uh have the calendar planned out a full year ahead so we're not even at at that point yet we're we're a little behind that so at this point the goal that from feedback that we heard from you as a board was wanting to get these calendars set as soon as possible so that families can make their plans and

057know what vacations they can depend on um so the only drop dead date of it is the amount of notice that we're giving to our families and to our staff to make plans for next year so what do you need from us moving forward on this uh any feedback you have on options of those two plans so that I can collate that data along with any data from public or staff if they email to me and I will present that to the board in the packet uh for the December 14th meeting so that then you can have that information when you make your decision on which calendar you want to adopt on December 14th so would you just like us to email you that stuff or do you give us the time to look at

058it yep okay okay yeah and the same goes for the public you can email me any thoughts that you have and for staff as well does Amanda board have any questions now that you'd like to ask Greg Greg I know it's a lot of work thank you thank you okay good to go out that one down well we already had a break earlier so is everybody willing to keep going right now or does anybody need a break board members we should keep going okay um under old business uh we've got a statement of a board decision on complaint zero nine one six two one um on September 16 2021 complaint zero nine one six two one was submitted to the district through the complaint process outline in policy KL slash jfh public and student complaint

059procedure and Associated administrative regulations uh because the complainant was dissatisfied with the findings and conclusions provided in steps one through three of the process the complaintant chose to appeal the decision to the board um on October 26 2021 the board held a hearing an executive session ORS 192.660 parentheses 2 parenthesis B which allows the board to meet an executive session to consider the dismissal or displaying of or to hear complaints or charges brought against a public officer employee staff member or individual agent who does not request an open hearing this is executive session is producing appeals of grievance and complaint decisions and appeals of denials of requests for exceptions to policy construed as complaints against staff members a statement of the board's decision to uphold or overturn the administrative decision was to be given during

060the Open session on October 26 2021 however the board tabled the statement of decision in order to receive more information and a continued hearing during an executive session scheduled for earlier this evening so it's a recommendation um been a long time ago guys since we were in that meeting we in that one ended we decided to uh Mr chair I I move that the Newberg School District Board of Directors overturned the administrative decision regarding complaint zero nine one six two one and direct it to investigate uh the potential involvement of students in the violation so do you just make a motion there sir yes do we have a second in a second any discussion okay all those in favor to uh I'm sorry excuse me Dave I just want to go ahead quickly make a

061a quick discussion point that this uh has been before the board now twice an executive session I don't see that there is going to be any further information gained that would change my decision on it and I will not be supporting this motion okay so all those in favor of to overturn the decision please raise your hand directors uh the heart um pal Brown and Shannon those not in favor raise your hand cryptospiros Pena and Pinner motion passes four three okay we've done with that one moving on next one up a superintendent standing committee for policy gbg uh brought forth by director pyros director pyrus would you like to speak to this yes this is um a chance for us to um let get this the Educators in our district the respect that they they

062deserve to actually work through some of the issues that um like Maddie was was talking about the division in the schools over this issue and that they work together and come to some agreements of what is controversial what is acceptable and that it's an eight-member team with with the the chair being either the superintendent the assistant superintendent or possibly um the director of of teaching and learning that can um work together and that there's an equal number of people from each side and two board members who are ex-officio they're only there to listen not to vote and not to um to give comments but just to listen to observe how how the the committee is working together and that they we can task them with um to come up with what what would be acceptable

063um to avoid count um count countless disagreements or complaints that that could be remedied through this process and I think that it's a way that we can we can um take some of the the um energy that is being worked over on this issue to uh uh showing that we can work together and come to consensus and and um that is why I'm proposing this and that they would they would um a due date would be by the end of June so that we could discuss what they proposed during our board retreat in the summer and if they're finished ahead of time they could come before the board with their their suggestions okay uh Mr chair I have some questions uh for director pyros about this um how does she Envision uh the people who

064are going to be on the committee being selected what is the output uh that she expects to see because it sounds like she's talking about and forcing the policy uh but I don't I guess I don't understand is it Drafting and a recommended AR well I think it's um because the the policy is so broad about what what is political what is quality's political and especially what is controversial that that um P the the committee members should be um um volunteered volunteer and then approved by the um the chair and and um may also that each member um on the team also get together and say yes we can work together so there's some consensus there and that they they could look at okay what's wrong with this sign what's wrong with that sign you

065know and and and and and see well this this symbol is is not couldn't couldn't controversial it's not political it's not quasi-political this is okay you know and it's a consensus so every voice has has meaning and has weight it's no majority but everyone has to agree on the on the situation and so that it it will um provide some some um direction to the admin to the to the teachers what what they can and can't do because in this void that that is so open-minded you we're going to have lots of complaints and your people are going to be trying to to see what what is acceptable and what isn't and and the Educators um I I respect them and I feel that that voice hasn't been been really listened to either side and

066that they they also have listening sessions with the students and with the community members and the staff to see what what what would be what could be worked through this so This policy actually reflects what we want another dividing rod but something that can um can bring us together so I guess I would ask um I you know I appreciate the idea of trying to get a balance of the two sides I guess my concern would be that you know the people who have spoken in support of this policy have been you know subjected to a great deal of vitriol and in some cases have their livelihoods targeted um so what makes you think that people would feel safe volunteering for that position because it doesn't really seem like we are currently in a climate

067where we can have those conversations where two sides can rationally come together and debate this issue and talk about it well if if we take it on ourselves to say this is going to be a safe situation and that we invite we encourage people to speak out and that that during the the meetings at each person's voice is is listened to they might not be be um agreed upon but that they but the the decision of what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable is is a consensus again and so that every voice is heard and that every voice is matters and so through that we showed yes yes people on both sides have valid opinions and have have have the children the students at the heart of the issue what is best for students and

068that um ideology on either side an indoctrination on either side is not is not present and we this is also a point of trust that we're we're saying we're willing to step out in faith that this can work out that that is our objective that there is going to be a safe place for this type of work to get done so direct Powers if this work gets done and it goes against policy of the school board then what well if it goes I mean they they would have to be able to bring back a revision of the policy if that is something that the committee Works through then we don't have we as a board don't have to accept it but we we can listen to the to to and appreciate the work that they

069went through to do this and that that there's hope that there there can come a consensus that both sides can agree that this that this need is there what how do we address this need that every student feels comfortable and that every student feels involved and welcomed and and not like what what um with Mr Willow or Miss Willow said you know that she doesn't feel um connected to the school and so that we we make it so that that um that that we show by example that we can make this work that we are willing to step out of our are sides and offer this a chance for our our Educators who have the the know the students and and um the expertise on this to to to to allow them to to set

070their when you give us an educator uh something to do their brains start going and they really they can become released the creative juices actually instead of hindering them who picks the the committee then who's uh well I I think that it should be volunteer and that um the chairman either the superintendent the assistant superintendent or the designation of of whoever is but um that that um the the committee is then selected and then all the committee members say I can work with these people or I'm having a hard time with this person you know and that they have some also say in in the Dynamics of the committee okay any other questions here you guys for director pyros no questions who little points the initial numbers then under your suggestion the superintendent or the

071the designated chairman superintendent the assistant superintendent or the director of um teaching and learning someone that that that knows how to direct meetings and and work through this process and how would they go about selecting a group that was balanced are they gonna make everything fill out a form as to what symbols they consider to be ideological or what I I appreciate the sentiment it just the actual mechanics of implementing something like that seemed difficult well that's something where I trust the the superintendent and their assistant superintendent or the the director of teaching and learning I I I trust their ability to to find that their goal would be to find a balanced workable committee so they know they're they know their staff they would have the help with the administrators and that that it's

072it's um that we show them the trust that we have in our our leaders to do to do this fairly and if and if there's any problems then we would hear about it and and deal deal with um with problem spin but I I I I feel we need to start showing Trust to our leaders and to our Educators that we feel that they could they could come up with with valid solutions to some of these issues well we have a say and who was selected I don't think I don't I don't think so I I um because I really don't trust a lot of the administrator people that would pick it I mean I would like to have a saying who would is to make sure it's balanced well that could be a stipulation

073if if the board members I I'm sorry you don't well maybe the volunteers that would want to participate in this could come and speak at the board and give us a little bit of insight I guess I'd like to I'd like their opinion so so I think Renee if you would if you are leaning that way that would be more of an ad hoc Committee of the board uh and you could do it as like the equity committee that I'm not sure if that's meeting yet or not but um as this is written as a committee a superintendent or designee committee I don't think the board would play that role in it however you know if you wanted to have another board committee that would play a role in that that is that is an

074option yeah I was just trying to figure out again of how I'd have it balanced because it is I I like that idea I just I'm afraid it won't be fair and balanced because of just things that have been taken place well like I said like I said um the the committee once the committee is the initial committee is is formed then they also would have a say saying I don't feel safe here I don't feel you know um yeah that doesn't seem like uh the problem is is that everyone when they don't like the other person's opinions now we have this idea that of emotional trauma and violence so your ideas are making me feel unsafe so to me that what you're building is a mechanism there for it to throw out any balance

075that we're able to create through the appointment process uh that's not that makes it less workable in my mind and I think if you want us to uh to go along with this we need to have it stipulated how these people are being appointed and it certainly shouldn't be the case that people start throwing around that they're uncomfortable and kicking members off the committee that just doesn't work right you just say that that you were afraid that people wouldn't feel safe coming up to volunteer for the committee because of fear of Oppression or retribution for what they're going to say I mean it I'm just confused because it goes both ways right how do you create a safe environment for the entire group well I think that's you know I those are all good comments

076uh I think direct Powers what I'm thinking is you know for me the concept is there um I just think it needs to can you go back and um I know you got a lot of passion for this um and I think there's some uh you know like you said the trust factor in our district is is low um even with all of us looking at each other the trust factors low um how since this is you're kind of you know you've got the big passion on this um can you come back to the next meeting and just come up with a little bit more of a fine-tuned plan on this I like the concept I just want to know how the mechanics are really going to work so This Could Be an Effective committee

077uh you know moving forward so that that's my thoughts on it um oh man sure yeah Rebecca thank you for the effort that you've already put into creating this um and keep and having brought it to before the board before all the board members and not excluding any board members um while I support your effort and would vote to support this I don't think that this is going to happen um unfortunately given the poor working relationship we have on this board um but again want to acknowledge your hard work on this and also the fact that you included all board members and creating and bringing this forward instead of blindsiding board members you know your opinion uh if you uh would like to Rebecca expand on that thing like I said I I think the

078the concept is interesting uh so I I am listening and uh I think that you uh just try to fine tune it so we can get some past some of the questions that were brought up tonight and let's let's revisit next meeting I'll make sure what Jennifer gets on the agenda and let's talk about it but try to get past some of those hurdles that we were brought up tonight so do you need to table the the motion yeah there was no motion I know there's almost that's what I would recommend I mean well you don't need the table because no motion has been made so we can just move on and you can bring back uh the refined idea when you have it ready yeah because I'd like to discuss it further as well

079um Rebecca I hope so and thank you Rebecca for your tireless efforts in in this area of of bringing attempting to bring some community and consensus I really appreciate your work on this and I'm willing to work on this more if there is a consensus that that this possibility of being being something that would be adopted if I work through this do I do what what does Trevor think yeah Rebecca I I like the idea intrigued it's just that the devil's in the details right so I I uh you know I can get on board with this as long as we address some of these issues you know feel free to reach out out to me and you know we can discuss it further I'd be happy to help you with it I like the

080concept I'll do my best okay thanks Rebecca okay um we are under new business our first one a statement of board decision policy gbg complaint on September 30th 2021 policy gbg complaint zero nine three zero two one reported a poster displayed in a classroom window we didn't go ahead Dave I'm sorry no no um number into this thing here too a point of order Mr chair is this referring to something we're supposed to discuss an executive committee yeah I'm back that one up there I thought that's where we're supposed to be on this thing so um I moved to the table there's no staff members mentioned that's why it's not a Personnel action that's why there are no staff members mentioned in this one that's this is just an outdoor display that's why it's not

081an executive session it's not a Personnel action we can talk about yeah okay I'll read again on September 30th 2021 policy gbg complaint 093021 reported a poster displayed in a classroom window at the Dundee Elementary School to be in violation of policy gbg staff participation in political activities and was submitted to the district through the complaint process outlined in policy KL slash jfh public and student complaint procedure and Associated administrative regulations because the complaint was dissatisfied the complaintant was dissatisfied with the findings and conclusions provided in steps one through three of the complaint process the complaintant chose to appeal the decision to the board on November 9 2021 the board will uh that's where I got a little confused too we we will move to uphold the decision or um yeah overturn the decision the

082board will hold a hearing regarding the complaint as it relates to a violation of a newly passed policy gbg stop participation in political activities and delivery statement of their decision to either uphold or overturn an administrative decision appeal to the board on policy gbg complaint 093021 um yes I moved at the Newberg School Board of Directors um uphold the decision made by the um uh made by the administrator of the school and the superintendent call second are we allowed to ask what that uh we got a motion a second for discussion are we allowed to ask what that decision was yeah you should know what the decision was before it's yeah it's all in the board packet all the email correspondence and decision making is is part of the board package oh my gosh for

083the sake of public meeting Joe could you tell us what the decision was the decision was that the poster as described was not political and somebody told me what the poster was says yeah poster that has a rainbow background it has a white semi-translucent heart and it has the phrase be known which I believe is the George Fox University's uh tagline as well how's that fit in with our policy gbg then now that's what we have to decide anybody got a thought on that is it what we were talking about with this band or was it not because it's the first time going through the complaint process is coming all the way to the board it to me it doesn't um seem controversial or political or quasi-political it has nothing to do with with um

084BLM or Pride or it just says be known and and um if it's George Fox's tied line I don't think we can go against that well I guess I would not try to be mean to George Fox but they're George Fox when we're Newburgh School District so I mean yeah I haven't seen it out there so I guess I would like to see it I'd like to uh overturn until I could go look at it babe there's a picture of it foreign I think that if a private Christian University can say that be known is not a controversial or political statement I feel like as a public school system we could do the same are they cool I mean let's let's be honest this question is is this a pride flag with an image transposed

085over it and it's this is like the greatest of gray areas for me because is any rainbow pattern automatically a pride flag I don't I don't think it is my daughter wears you know rainbow pajamas all the time um so I mean this is a this is a tough one I'm not gonna lie I honestly you know it's late um and we still have a lot to get through I'd like some time to think about this one honestly so I'd move the table foreign I will not support that tabling because we've had two we've had time to look at this we've had this complaint known to us uh the complaintant emailed the board we have seen it uh in you know in the windows of Dundee Elementary School Trevor I assume you have driven by

086the school time and again it's in your Zone I don't know what going and seeing the actual physical sign will change when we have a picture of it in our packet and I think you're right Brian this is the exact issue with this policy of is a rainbow a political symbol just yes or no or controversial or controversial or quasi-political and if it is then that's what you think if it isn't then that's what you think and I don't think that waiting another two weeks will do anything to change any of that well since this is our first time that we've had something come a complaint all the way to the board I would like to table so we can uh go through this this is going to set the stage for the next however

087long how many more complaints are we going to have what if information share has the board looked at the policy to see what the time frame is for ruling on an appeal to the board no I think it's 10 days isn't it it is you also have a motion and a second on the floor so you'll have to vote on that before we can go to the next one foreign I have a question how many has any of the board members discussed this issue with Mr with with the complainant no Trevor Renee Ryan Brandy unless you have some information that's a really weird thing to ask but no Rebecca uh Rebecca I haven't talked to complaint I I don't think it's a an odd question to ask I think it's a trying to better understand

088the full situation just a reminder if we shake our heads or nod Rebecca can't see that she could say it sorry I have not talked to this person about this flag okay neither have I anus no I haven't Rebecca Trevor no I was just wondering why we didn't discuss this on Executive session but um you know I I guess I have some questions you know and I'll just throw these out um you know there's many types of different ducks in the world and uh you know they've got different coloring different shapes but in the end they're all ducks so you know if we if we take a pride flag or a BLM flag or a mega flag and we put a heart on it um does it change the essence of what it is if

089this didn't have a rainbow on it if it was just what what's the saying on it be known be known if it was just a heart instead be known in it would it you know would we both be voting different on this so I'll just throw that out there um you know I just I just wonder if you know individuals are just you know trying to find ways around what's already known just by throwing different symbols or um wording on it um to me it doesn't matter if you know this is a a George fox saying or not um we've got to do right by what what our district needs so I'll just throw that out there that's why it would be nice to have have had this situation discussed and decided upon before we

090pass the policy or we had a committee to to work through these issues beforehand well the idea that you can form a committee that would account for every possible symbol that we would come across isn't really realistic to me so here's here's the thing I think that this is a workaround to get around the the policy and I don't like that at the same time I'm afraid that by interpreting the policy too rigidly or too broadly is the correct word we would be endangering the policy itself uh in court so I would really like to table this so that we can um you know where I would like to talk about this with our lawyer in the executive session I don't what what legal advice do you think I guess you don't know that you're

091not an attorney my my question is yeah around what Trevor and and you said Brian as far as um you know okay I'm sorry excuse me so if it's a rainbow this time um then and you say Okay Rainbows are no good and next time maybe it's baby pink and baby blue well maybe that's not okay because that's a symbol of trans Flags I mean it the the issue of this is that it will continue to be this process in which we are not able to Define anything because they're literally colors um and sure I'd love to hear what Mr Smith has to say about this Tyler should we save this for executive session are you comfortable speaking to this well I was gonna I can't answer questions those could and should probably go on

092Executive session I was simply going to point out that step four of the complaint process does not have that 10-day window there's a 20-day window in step four I was just looking it up uh you have to notify the complainant within 20 days of the board's decision but step four does not have the five or ten day period attached to it thank you Tyler so I think we should table this there's that's the motion I think we should table it so we can discuss this with the attorney uh you already have a motion you do have a motion on the floor though and second and so you have to vote on that one first before the next one uh no the move to the motion to table supersedes that motion then we do that one

093first and we Dr Shannon you make that motion I seconded it so that's our first one so we need to vote on that the motion to tape okay all those in favor of tabling this one raise your hand okay director de heart pal Shannon Brown those not in favor raise your hand directors pyros Pinner Pena motion a table for three okay do that one next one up osba elections uh uh Rebecca can you uh give us another uh this is for your uh thing for the osba correctly right so you first um nominated me for this position and now it's the district needs to vote on me so I'm um I'm on the ballot for Yamhill County and Polk County as the representative to serve on the legislative policy committee for osba for the next

094two years I've served on that for two years already so I'm just asking if our our district will support my nomination okay I think everybody's got the information on us correctly right yep I I will move that the Newberg School District Board of Directors approve voting in favor Rebecca pyros to continue to serve another two-year term on the osba legislative policy committee second okay any further discussion okay all those in favor of nominating Rebecca to continue to serve another two-year term on osba legislative policy committee please raise your hand at vote seven zero Rebecca thank you thank you suck on all that you made that one the easiest one of the night uh budget committee discussion Nikki Fowler I think Nikki kind of covered his earlier but I'll let her go again Nikki go ahead

095okay I think this is in your board packet it's pretty straightforward as you read through it we have several folks that the term expires on December of 21. um so if you go through there and you see your name next to your appointed members um I need you to follow up with those members and see if they want to continue on if they do not I need you to try to recruit somebody in the as a replacement um are there any questions yeah can you go slower on that one it's a little bit late can you say that one more time I know it's only been about 12 hours right so if you read that page the bright yellow folks if your name is in the bright yellow that means you have work to do

096and so your appointed members you need to check in with them and see if they want to continue on on the budget committee if they do not then you need to try to seek a new person um so that's that's pretty much it if you need help with that or need have any other questions you can reach out to me you know where to find me okay thank you this is Trevor do you have the contact information that you can send us on these individuals or individual yeah yeah we can send that out to you awesome thanks no problem death is that it Nikki yep that's it on that just notification we need to try to get these folks on board um as our one of my next items is talking about the budget calendar

097and so um yeah you'll need to start looking for people if you're if your person does not want to continue and when do you need that by when you need to have well our first meetings are in February okay so you have a little time to bring them on okay any questions for Nikki you guys all right Nick you're not off the hook yet you got budget process calendar I guess or did you just kind of allude to that a little bit or do you want to talk about that some more um I did allude to a little bit you can review this um if you have any questions or concerns let us know and we can adjust it a little bit in a nutshell the first couple meetings are training um so if if

098you're new to the process we will go through some kind of nuts and bolts of the budget and how it works where the revenues come from and just kind of the process as a whole and then the third meeting is more of a detailed meeting for the current budget and then we'll get into our legally required budget committee meetings after that and just you know follow it through we'll have our first budget Committee hearing after that and then another detail kind of an informal meeting and then by the second budget committee meeting we need to have the budget committee passing it um because we'll start to run out of time so you have to watch the calendar and if it doesn't look if there's a lot of questions and there's a lot of if the

099legislature is still moving around and the numbers aren't real clear we can always throw in an extra meeting if need be um but the budget has to be adopted and ready to go by mid-june so we meet all of our requirements so um just go ahead and review that calendar be sure it fits into your calendar or be sure you put those dates on your calendar would probably be the more accurate description there um and then it'll be back for approval got it Nikki once again thank you very much okay Dave could we take a quick break you bet take five minutes it's 1004 we'll go 1009 when we come back foreign thank you foreign thank you I want to be respectful of people's time are we ready to go what's the plan yeah I'm

100just waiting for everybody to pop back up on here close foreign board members Brandy I don't see Brandy yet there's Brandi thanks Brandi good I actually saw Rebecca on the attendee side but I don't know if she needs to be promoted back or she's having trouble coming back I don't know now let's make sure she can dinner for a piece of cake day for you but any ideas on Rebecca I don't know zoom's doing some crazy stuff right now with microphones and people so um all right I just tried to promote her so Rebecca if you can have Gene help you click the okay on the screen you'll be promoted back to the panelist that's what I'm trying to do too foreign Rebecca trying again it was declined so I'm trying it again there we

101go there she is there we go okay I'm on gotcha Rebecca sorry about that well no you're fine uh okay we're moving on to new business line e on that one um how long are we going to continue may I ask probably tomorrow I'm thinking tomorrow we'll probably get her done I don't know Rebecca I can't tell you uh a little bit longer um supplemental Attorney Services discussion uh presenter is uh Vice chair Brian Shannon I'll read this one background October October 26 2021 the board holiday work session discussion requested by director Rebecca pyros regarding seizing the supplemental Attorney Services provided to the board by Tyler Smith and Tyler Smith and Associates the board agreed to place the item onto the agenda for the November 9 2021 regular meeting for deliberation and to consider possible

102action Vice chair Brian Shannon requested that the board considered two possible options regarding the supplemental Attorney Services one to confirm the hiring of Tyler Smith and want to see supplemental Attorney Services with Tyler Smith the board will discuss options and take possible action regarding the supplemental Attorney Services provided by Tyler Smith at tonight's meeting I would make a motion that the Newberg School of direct board of directors cease employment of Tyler Smith as per recommended I'll second any discussion I um while I support not having Mr Smith associated with our school district I will not be voting on this because of all of the impending legal cases that are currently part of our board situation right now and um you know there's questions around if he was even legally retained and so I would hate

103to um I would hate for there to be an attempt to try to legally retain him tonight or to to dismiss him and have that have legal ramifications so um because of that I will either abstain or I will not vote to make any sort of movement on this this evening okay any other discussion okay we have a motion on the table in a second all those in favor of the motion please raise your hand we have two we have direct pyros director Pena those not in favor please raise your hand uh directors Brown Powell uh dehart and Shannon okay if he's going to be Rebecca I'm sorry I'm I'm can you please call for abstentions Dave yeah those who uh are not voting or abstained please raise your hand yes the Newburgh School District

104Board of Directors reaffirm the hiring of Tyler Smith as board supplemental attorney I would second that motion okay I would like to know if he's going to be retained that all of us get all the emails that are communicated between Tyler Smith and the board so that that um we are part of the the the situation because um I've asked for to be notified or to be sent emails that of board communication to Tyler and Tyler to the board and I was told to to ask chair Brown I I put in a request three times for that to happen and finally had to turn to the um the school district to ask for a Public's record request and through that Discovery found out that that director Powell actually phoned direct um Tyler Smith with questions

105and Tyler Smith directed Earth our sent uh email to chair Brown asking for permission to discuss with with director Powell and she was given permission to do that and so I I want the same um permission to to have the access of all information that's going on between the board members and Tyler Smith and I would say you know on that one too we need to get um I talked to Lisa from SD and talk to Tyler Smith about this we definitely need to be uh spoken to as a board by them uh in the executive session uh to inform us exactly what attorney-client privileges really are so we don't make any mistakes on that so but can we ensure that the whole Board gets notified of of um that we're aware of what's going

106on I think what Rebecca is referring to and correct me if I'm wrong Rebecca is that we have intentionally been left out of communication which puts it at a disadvantage when participating in decision making so the bare minimum is to let us know what is going on so we at least are not blindsided okay we'll say I've got a few thoughts on this um this attorney was retained in violation of public meeting law and without board consent no other attorneys were considered and there was no conversation among the board on whether we even needed supplemental counsel I agree with Rebecca the only information I have of communications with Mr Smith between the four board members is from public records requests and it's clear that Mr Smith started working on this project on August 20th and

107again on August 23rd there was billable work yet he wasn't even illegally retained until the 24th the bill for August alone was over three thousand dollars I I have the same concerns as director Pena as far as we have this is clearly not a board attorney this is a personal attorney for four board members and now we have no way of communicating there's no actual representation for him um and and it will be interesting to see what the complaint process conversation is later on in this agenda because it's clear that complaints as far as I know so far the little that I do know um complaints against board members are going to Mr Smith who's not doing anything about them and we have no access or anything to them it's incredibly problematic and I don't

108think it will end well and because of that I will not be supporting this motion well that would be your opinion so I would say that uh again bracket back to your question as we definitely as a board need to be uh between Lisa and if tires miss our attorney to be talked to about attorney-client privileges so we don't violate any of those issues so hopefully nobody's violated those issues that would be terrible but it would be also if we're not included in the the we understand about [Music] um lawyer um confidentiality and and um we just want to be included and and part of the the board if he's if he's the board represent if he's a board lawyer we want to be concluded in that board well he's the lawyer for the board

109as the whole not for the individual members of the board and I've never gone to Tyler with a legal question you did have a chance to discuss with him on the on prior to to the um the decision to hire him and um director Powell had a question I don't know what it was about but she had a question and she was given permission to discuss things with him why wasn't I given permission for him to forward emails to me well did you ask the chair for permission I did three times and got no response from the chair and that's why I went to public records well the motion we have on the table now is director Shannon made a motion I seconded it uh so I'd say those in favor of retaining uh Tyler

110Smith as uh supplemental attorney if you're in favor of that please raise your hand uh that's Dr Powell Shannon deharton Brown for those not in favor please raise your hand Rebecca pyros Pena and Pinner motion passes 4-3 to retain Tire Smith Associates a supplemental attorney Dave what time is it it is 10 23 you need a break no I I would like to call for for um for the end of the meeting I feel it's getting um late and that it's um many people who are watching this who deserve to be um part of this meeting have have work or have um have gone to bed I think it's it the the next topics are too important to discuss at the end of the a long meeting and I would wish to to adjourn the

111meeting well we're going to do this next one um we're going to keep going we've done later than this before so it's only 10 24. so we are going to bring up right now what we talked about in executive session and the fourth session there which would be uh line item F that we added earlier a vote on 192.660. Dave I'm sorry aren't there to aren't there two issues before that about public and board comment procedures and also uh complete processes against board members no I know the that we're in new business still not but definitely new business okay so those are questions okay thank you so back to this one uh vote on 192.660 parentheses two parentheses B we discussed this already in executive session so I make the motion excuse me move to

112table what are we tabling oh you let me pull up the executive session agenda uh it's so many versions of it so we while you're doing that we left executive session with an understanding of how this would go without decisions being made and now I feel like you're trying to change that Brian that's why I'm confused no this is this is the complaint item um we were going to recess that yes and because we have a decision on that item and we're in recess and executive session I'm moving to table so that's the complaint item that we were dealing with so yeah so we're tabling the complaint but not the decision the decision is still going to happen correct there are two items I think you're referring to the other right right I am I

113just want we're dealing with we're dealing with the complaints that were discussed in executive session the disposition on those which we I am moving to table and the chair should ask for a sign is there a second second the second by Trevor any more discussion I would like to ask um I I think that goes against what legal counsel suggested to do no it's not that's not what they said Tyler are we doing it right yes the motion of the table was one of the options that was presented for a potential board decision on the complaints correct on the on the complaints themselves this is a difficult item because uh so much of it was done and conducted an executive session that it it's probably going to be a bit clunky for everyone following along

114at home because there's so many things we can't actually say about it um because of executive session privilege that's very frustrating okay we have a motion in a second those in favor of tabling that one please raise your hand vote for brown Shannon de heart and Powell those not in favor raise your hand director pyros and destructive pyros those abstaining director's Pena and and as there we go okay enter Penner and Pena all right next one up I really I move that we table this and adjourn the meeting I feel it's it's too important to push this through no we're going to go move forward you need to if there's a second you can you have to vote there's no more there's no discussion about emotional cable but you have to have a vote if

115there's a second all right we have the motion we have the second let's put on 192. who's second is it yeah Trevor did no no I will second it because I agree with director uh pyros that there has been insufficient public comments input notification and it is 10 30 at night on a school night is that your motion for the that is my second and my reasoning why I've seconded it to stop the meeting is that what you're saying yes okay those in favor stop in the meeting then raise your hand director's Pena pyros and Pinner three those not in favor of stopping to me and raise your hand characters Brown Shannon de Hart and Powell motion fails three four okay number f olding on 192.660 parentheses 2 parentheses B what we talked about in

116no no no no no no no a different item Dave it's just a superintendent situation I thought that was our number right there no we're not discussing anything carried over from the executive session okay I have a quick request or question I guess for Mr Smith Mr Smith since this is a public meeting and we are a publicly elected officials voting on uh something of high importance there has to be some way for the public to understand what this vote is can you please expand on that a little bit further for us uh I think there will be a way for the public to understand what the Voting is depending on what the motion is made what motions are made and what's stated in those motions should should cover the context of the motion can

117I answer your question yep thank you all right I make the motion then that we uh see if I get the language down here correctly make the motion that we terminate the contract of superintendent Morlock and with no cause sure yes chair Brown there's some recommended motions um in the packet you should probably use language that's been reviewed by Council and to just clarify in this the packet that you're referring to is a packet that the board has not seen and is also not a part of the actual public packet is that correct uh there's a packet provided in the executive session you're correct but that most most of us did not get it until the time of the executive meeting think it's that same packet yep we still have not reviewed it just so

118everybody's clear Shannon you have a copy of that I've certainly not had time to review this all right I got it when everyone else right now in the group did uh during the session because because of a mix-up in uh forwarding it on to us apparently not because anyone conspired to keep it from us I also didn't get it until the same time as all the other directors do you have that language to read there Dr Shane I can still make but but that gives me pause to think we need to to have the opportunity to read the information that was sent to us and not move too quickly to judgment I mean we tabled emotion on if we're going to figure out if a rainbow sign is political or not and because people didn't

119have enough time to review the packet that they had for four or five days and the packet that we just received a couple hours ago while we were in a meeting is certainly not sufficient time for me to review it and understand it um Tyler where where in the pack is the language you're suggesting he used um there is a it's in the recommended course possible courses of action there's about five potential motions in there it's on page 11. if you're looking at the pages under the complaint process someone's gonna have to read those because Rebecca can't access that and if we want to provide access you know she should be able to know what we're going to be voting on I should have been given given this information prior to the meeting um so

120page 11 of the PDF document yeah is chapter 342 teaches another school personnel is that what you're talking about I'm talking about the motion to give written notice could you just read could you just give him the language Tyler yeah sure Brown I believe you're when you're talking about was the motion to give 10 days notice of termination for no cause pursuant to paragraph 10d of the employment contract thank you okay is that the one that you were trying to make yes the motion is a 10-day termination written under 10-d of an employment contract that is my motion is there a second okay foreign Brown what what is it what is the motion I'm looking at it it's a 10-day no-cause termination a contract notwithstanding so section one of this agreement yes district from a

121discharge superintendent superintendent and terminate this agreement without any showing of cause upon 10 days written notice and the tendering of the districts certification of willingness to continue superintendent's salary and fringe benefits up to 12 months or pay the balance of the stupid tenants salary and fringe benefits whichever is less with understanding the superintendent shall work for those additional months at the discretion of the board such notice shall terminate disagreement without recourse that was reading from the contract that was page five I think this process is definitely Illuminating the fact that this is not above board we've not had time to review this we don't even know what's happening the people making emotions don't even know the wording and it is illustrating the need for much more time on this and there was no seconds so

122the motion dies I was clarifying what the motion was because you didn't though you just read the contract you didn't read the motion okay can you read the motion again chair Brown I make the motion that we terminate the contract with 10-day notice of termination in a written form which is per part of the contract for the contract for Dr Morlock that's my motion is there a second second so everybody at home following along is clear this will fire the superintendent he will have 10 days to leave we will pay him for 12 months and at some point we'll need to find an interim superintendent in which we will also need to be paying so we will be paying for two superintendents and the financial and legal liabilities for the district are endless Nikki if

123I may could we at some point between now and whenever the next time we meet or get a an estimate of what our total expense will tally up to yes I can definitely get that would you like that just in dollar amount or by staff or a good question I think dollar amounts um for sure and then if I have more questions I'll forward them to you via email I oppose this motion I feel that that the board has not tried hard enough to work with Joe and his Integrity has brought the district from almost crippling Financial ruin to uh to um a bond 141 million dollar bond issue that he has been guiding through us and and we will lose his expertise he we will lose his community um involvement with a rotary and

124with various local groups what a work he has been doing on behalf of Newburgh School District I feel we will lose staff who has has grown and been brought here because of Joe's integrity and and what what he's being um because he didn't rush to do something that he felt was illegal he was protecting the school district from our rashness and that is what a what a CEO does he sees the big big picture and I don't feel that that the other school board members have can see the big big picture and I've worked with Joe and I've worked with others other superintendents and I have found Joe to be open and honest and trustworthy and and willing to to work with people and I feel that this is not financially um transparent in what

125you have uh will commit this the district to and I've gone through a superintendent um search processes and and if we can't even get together with a policy committee how are we going to get together with all of our schedules to do a a superintendent search involving the community I I I'm baffled why you feel this is is needed to be done and why you feel it needed to be done tonight I feel you've just jammed this through and insisted upon it and that does not go we do not work together that way when we feel jammed up and just and just pushed along the way you what you talk about um what was the term you used Dave about oh I I forgot you said something in your board comments about um how how

126to look at one another and um I just feel that this has been on your agenda since day one that the two new board members were were voted on and that you're going to lose we're going to lose so much from from this action I'm I'm just very very very very very um sadden of your unwillingness to work together and to work with what we have and strive and Sh and be an example of bridge building okay any other discussion just want to remind everybody to make sure that there's no um personal attacks or anything like that discussed in public session who said that Smith oh I want to remind you of the legal obligation I heard yeah we heard yeah it's problematic for so many reasons I have cried multiple times today we will

127be losing a leader and I'm certain this will be a 4-3 vote we will be losing a leader who has pulled us out of financial ruin who has rebuilt Community who has rebuilt relationships in the matter of three months four people have completely destroyed that and I I am certain that this will have Rippling effects for months and years to come and I doubt that all four of you will even be here when the rebuilding really gets to beginning and when it really starts to happen this is going to set our district back decade and not only that but like I said in my opening statements it is our children who will suffer and it feels that that is the point I fully expect that this will just be added to the mountain of litigation

128that these four board members have currently got us into I am concerned that we will lose insurance coverage I'm concerned that we will have absolute inability to provide even base services to our children because of this decision and that has been widely discussed in executive session and everybody voting tonight knows exactly what they're voting for that is your opinion Dave literally every time I say something you say it's my opinion some of it is opinion but some of it is fact and it will all come out and this has been the shadiest shadiest process ever and unfortunately like I said it will be our children who have to pay for this because they will be losing resources out of their classrooms and those are my kids those are my kids classrooms that you are taking

129money from and that is not my opinion that is a financial an actual reality fact okay any more discussion all right those in favor of the motion please raise your hand director's Brown dehart Powell and Shannon those not in favor raise your hand directors Pena pyros and Pinner motion or three I protest that none of you had anything to say why you wanted to do this that the public is is is it's done we've already discussed this you know exactly why Rebecca because they're cowards and they know they're gonna get sued we know exactly why we don't need to decide to move on now please do Dave please adjourn this are we going to move on or you want to stop now I I move that we just adjourn the meeting at this point I

130don't think anything constructive will happen with this board again I'll second all right if everybody's in agreement to that uh if everybody'd like to end the meeting right now please raise your hand foreign to Dr Morlock sure Dr Morlock we know you and we trust you and with this pains us terribly and I know that that your integrity has has spurred us to be be faithful servers of to our children and and we wish you well we're so sorry and and we just and and very disappointed in this decision thanks Rebecca just remember that from the the darkest dark comes the brightest light so everything will work out eventually okay thanks again you're a bigger man than I am all right meeting is adjourned