001I'd like to call to order the meeting of USC 437 Board of Education on Monday, July 7, 2025. This is our organizational meeting for the year. Um, we do we have anybody signed up for public comment? We do not. Uh, and we will go to roll call. I'll show that everyone's present but Michael White. Approval of the agenda. Would someone make a motion? Approve the published. Second. I have a motion and a second to approve the agenda. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um, the uh next order of business is that we uh elect a board president. Someone might make a comment for the next board president and it better not be me. I'll move the move that Jeremy Wolz be elected board of education president. Second. We have a motion in a
002second that Jeremy Wolz will become the next uh board president. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Congratulations. All right, Jeremy, we're going to switch places and take over and run the rest of the show. Okay. Thank you. I noticed it didn't take Brian long to get up and moved, but why the voting was taking place, I just wanted to say on behalf of at least the administration team, uh Brian, thank you very much for your leadership over actually two consecutive years. uh he did an outstanding job uh serving in the role as a board member in general but in specific uh as a president. So thank you for everything you've done. Thank you. Yeah, Jeremy, welcome aboard. Thank you. All right, so we'll move on to uh 2.04, which is election of the
003board vice president. If anyone has a motion, I would move that Brad Nuller be elected as board of education vice president. Second. Okay, there's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Brad had to think about it for a minute. Uh 2.05 appoint a clerk of the B of the board. I would move that Relle Height be appointed clerk of the board. Second. There's a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um appoint uh 2.06 is appointment of deputy clerk of the board. I would move that Jessica Roberts and Chelsea Clark be appointed co-eput clerks. Second. There's a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Um 2.07 appointment of a treasurer. I would move that Brett Bower be appointed
004treasurer of the board. Second. Motion in a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Um and then 2.08 um appointment of a deputy treasurer. I would move that Patty Clarkston be appointed deputy treasurer of the board. Second. It's a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um 2.09 is appointment of a hearing officer. I would move that move the executive director of learning services be designated as hearing officer with authority to delegate this responsibility to others. Second. Motion a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Uh 2.10 is designation of depositories. I would move that Silverlake Bank be the primary official depository for all district monies and that Core Bank and Trust Equity Bank, Capital Federal Bank, Landmark National Bank, UMB, Sunflower Bank, US Bank, and
005Kansas State Municipal Investment Pool also be designated as official depositories for district monies. Also for the protection of people making deposits and the security of funds that they be authorized to make deposits in other closer banks with such funds to be transferred monthly to the official depository. Second motion is second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um 2.11 does designation of official newspaper. I would move uh that the capital TA capital Journal be designated the district's official newspaper. Second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Uh 2.12, select uh board meeting dates, time, and location. I'd move the board adopt the following resolution. Res resolution be it resolved by the board of education of Unified School District number 437 Shauny County, state of Kansas. This resolution is adopted pursuant to and in
006compliance with state statute. This board shall meet at least once each month. The regular meetings of the board shall be uh board shall be held July 7, 2025, July 21, 2025, August 4, 2025, August 18, 2025, September 2, 2025, September 15, 2025, October 6, 2025, October 20, 2025, November 3, 2025, November 17, 2025, December 1, 2025, December 15, 2025, January 5, 2026, January 20, 2026 February 2, 2026, February 16, 2026, March 2, 2026, March 23, 2026, April 6, 2026, April 20, 2026, May 4, 2026, May 18, 2026, June 1, 2026, June 15, 2026. The regular meeting shall be at 6:30 p.m. and the place of the regular meeting shall be at the Schuler Education Center 5928 Southwest 53rd Street Pa Kansas. The board of education reserves the right to adjourn any regular meeting to another
007time and place. Second. All right, there's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um 2.13 um appoint authorized representative for district uh school reports. Move uh Dr. Mc Williams be designated the board's representative for official school reports. Second. Motion in a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um 2.14 appointment of official spokesperson. Move the president of the board be designated the official spokesperson in conjunction with the superintendent of schools. Second. A motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um and then appointment 2.15. Appointment of board attorney. Move Leslie M. Miller with Stevens and Brand LLP be appointed board of education attorney. Second. There's been a motion and a second. All in favor. Motion passes 6 to zero. Uh 2.16 petty
008cash. Move the board of education approve establishing petty cash funds as presented. Second. Been a motion and second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. 2.17 designation of Kansas Public Employees Retirement System Agent. Move Brett Bower be designated the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System Agent. Second. There's been a motion, a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Uh 2.18 designation of uh compliance coordinator. Move the executive director of learning services be designated the compliance coordinator for federal anti-discrimination laws including title six, title 7, title 9, and section 504. Second. Motion and second. All in favor. Motion passes 6 to zero. Um, appointment of hearing officer for free and reduced priced meal application appeals. Move Rich Jones be appointed the district's hearing officer for free and reduced priced meal application appeals. Second. There's
009been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Uh 2.20, appointment of food service representative. Move Stan Val be appointed the district district's food service representative. Second. This motion is second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to 0 2.21. Designation of individuals with authority to suspend or expel students per student handbook. and um all the way over on page move. Oh, nope. Move individuals in the Auburn Washurn Unified School District who have the authority to or expel students are. Do I need to read this whole list? Okay, I sure will. Um Dr. Scott McWills, superintendent of schools. Dr. Jeff Doda, executive director of learning services. Aaron Bennett, assistant director of student support programs. Morgan Brown, director of elementary education. Megan Geyser, assistant director of elementary special services. Heidi Carlson, assistant
010director of the secondary special services. Jenny Leonard, director of secondary education. Michelle Sidner, coordinator of state and federal programs. Ed Reigns, principal of Washurn High School. Kyle Reid, associate principal. Christopher Refett, assistant principal. Jamie Callahan, assistant principal. Clayton Shreder, assistant principal. Kelly Younger, assistant principal. Charlie Nims, athletic activities director. Chris Apoon, assistant principal. Mike Hair, principal. Brandon Dial, assistant principal. Dr. Charlie Stolenberg, principal. Charles Chesmore, assistant principal. Melissa Wells Martin, principal. Katherine Sundereger, principal. Erin Shiran, dean of students. Chelsea Schmidline, principal. Teresa Plecheki, Dean of Students. Sandra Cromwell, principal. Christina Faggeras, Dean of Students. Deborah Williams, principal. Dan Allander, Dean of Students. Chris Holman, principal. Mark Seregger, principal. Andrea York, Dean of Students. Alex Willis, Dean of Students, and Chris. Kristen Barkmeer, Dean of Students. Second. Go ahead. There's been a motion and a second.
011Um, all in favor passes six to zero. Thanks for giving Brian a break for All right. 2.22 is designation of school attendance officers. Uh, move individuals in the Auburn Washurn Unified School District listed below be appointed school attendance officers. Uh, the uh, Washurn Rule High School, Washurn Rule Alternative High School, Tallgrass Pathways Learning Center, Ed Reigns. Principal Kyle Reid, Associate Principal Clayton Shrader, Assistant Principal Jamie Callahan, Assistant Principal Christopher Refett, Assistant Principal Kelly Younger, Assistant Principal Chris Appam, Assistant Principal, Washurn Rule Middle School, Mike Care, Principal, Brandon Dial, Assistant Principal, Washurn Rule North Middle School, Dr. CH Charlie Stolenberg, principal. Uh, Charles Chzmore, assistant principal, Auburn Elementary. Melissa Wells Martin, principal. Farley Elementary. Katherine Sodenger, principal. Indian Hills Elementary. Chelsea Schmidline, principal. J. Shidler Elementary. Sander Cromwell, principal. Pauline Central Primary, Deborah W, principal. Pauline
012South intermediate, Chris Hullman, principal. Waker Elementary, Mark Solder, principal. Second. There's been a motion, a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. We're uh 2.23 appointment of emergency communications manager. Move Rich Jones be appointed the contact for our district to the emergency information system. Second. Motion a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Uh 2.24. Appointment of Freedom of Information Officer. Move Dr. Dr. Scott McWills be appointed the Freedom of Information Officer and that the cost to get copies of public documents will be 10 cents per page plus postage and an appropriate hourly rate of pay to collect public documents requested. Second. It's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to 0 2.25. Appointment of custodians of records. Move board clerk, deputy clerk, and all building
013principles be appointed as the custodians of record. Second. A motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Uh 2.26, appointment of purchasing agent. Move Brett Bower, executive director of business services be appointed purchasing agent. Second. Motion in a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Uh 2.27, appointment of contact person for governmental relations network. Move Jackie Lycap be appointed as the official contact person for governmental relations representative. Second. There's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um 2.28 uh designation of Foundation Board of Education representatives. Move Brad Nuller and Jacqueline Flight Cap be designated as the foundation uh BOE representatives. Second. There's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to 0. Uh 2.29 appointment of board members
014uh for negotiations team. Move Brian Smith and Jeremy Wilts to be appointed as the board of education representatives and Brad Nuller be appointed as the alternative representative for the negotiations team. Second. A motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um appointment of board of education members for budget subcommittee 2.3. Move Brian Smith, Shinoa Emory, and Joe Fall be appointed as BOE representatives for the budget subcommittee. Second. A motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Uh 2.31 Appointment of Board of Education members for capital outlay subcommittee. Move Jeremy Wilts and Joe Fall be appointed as the BOE representatives on the capital outlay subcommittee. Second. Motion and second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Um 2.32 appointment of board of education members for strategic accountability
015subcommittee. Move Brian Smith be appointed as the BOE representative for the strategic accountability subcommittee. Second. It's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes. 6 to 0 2.33 appointment of board of education members for internal audit subcommittee move Brian Smith and Chanel Emory be appointed as the BOE representatives to the internal audit subcommittee second a motion and a second all in favor motion passes 6 to zero uh 2.34 appointment of board of education members for personnel subcommittee move Brian Smith and Joe Fall be appointed as the BOE representatives for the personnel subcommittee second motion a second all in favor Motion passes six to zero. 2.35 appointment of board of education members for facility planning subcommittee. Move uh Jackie Lyap. Uh Brad Nuller and Michael White be appointed as the BOE representatives for
016facility planning subcommittee. Second. A motion in a second. All in favor? Motion passes 6 to zero. Uh 2.36 Appointment of Board of Education members for employee benefits subcommittee. Move Brad Nuller be appointed as the BOE representative for the employee benefits subcommittee. Second. There's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Uh 2.37 Appointment of Board of Education members for transportation services subcommittee. Move Michael White, Jeremy Wilson, and Joe Fall be appointed for the transportation services subcommittee. Second. It's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. And that brings us to the end of that. Um thanks Brian. You did your motions for the year. We're done. All right. All right, we're going to move on to um section three, disposition of business by
017consent. Entertain a motion. I move that the board of education approve the business by consent, including payments of bills in the amount of $1,115,9414. Second. There's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um we're on to administrator reports. Uh bus transportation update. Yeah, there's going to be a few of us that take the lead on this. Uh we have broken it down. Jessica will take the lead on communications. Uh Chelsea is going to talk about bus driver, parah, and crossing guard recruitment efforts. Uh Rich is going to take the lead on school routes to schools, survey information, as well as some initial um planning on bus routes for the 2526 school year. Um so this will be a team effort. This is a conversation. If you have thoughts
018or questions along the way, don't hesitate to uh to let us know. Uh to begin with, Jessica, I'll turn it over to you for the communications update. Certainly. Yes. So, as you know, we've been sending targeted communications since the beginning of June. So far, we've sent one notification through US mail, four email notifications, two text messages, and last week, we did for the first time since I've been here at least, a voice ROOC call to leave voice messages. Um trying to reach out to those nearly 1300 students that live within that 2.0 mile. um area from their assigned school. We have received the good news is so of those 1,276 students we're trying to hear from, we have received 1,231 responses, yes or no to transportation. Now, the the unfortunate news is we've received a
019lot of duplicates. So, you know, mom and dad both filling it out or maybe they've completed it and then two weeks later circumstances have changed so they've completed it again. So when we ddup all the records, unique students that we've heard from 784. So that's about 61%. So we still are needing to get in touch with those 39% of folks. I shouldn't say get in touch, but get responses from those 39%. So we will be picking up phones tomorrow. There's a couple dozen of us here that are going to make personal phone calls. We have a script created for both a live call or a voicemail um to reach all of those families to try to um get a response one way or the other whether they'll require transportation. Right now, we're trending about 55%
020of those um that have responded are requesting transportation. So, we'll keep working at it. Um we did have a minor glitch in our Infinite Campus system in which we haven't been able to accept payments yet. That was fixed as of I think 4 PM today. So we can take online payments. The issue that we have now is trying to get we said July 15th is our deadline. So trying to get payments between now and July 15th may be a little bit tight for some. So we might have to look at if you know extending that um to help accommodate families who may not be able to do that in the next week. Just as an FYI, the U glitch um that we had with the system was on the vendor's end. It wasn't on our
021end, so it was beyond our control. Kudos to Patrick. Yeah, there he is. He was in um he maintained very continual communication with this vendor to stress the importance of getting this thing turned on. And actually, the solution that we have is going to be a workaround fix. So, kudos to the vendor for giving us a fix. uh the more permanent solution can take place later, but at least we're going to have access to families start being able to pay the fees. So, good news there. Thank you, Patrick. Okay, so I'm going to keep moving on, but if you have thoughts or questions along the way, don't hesitate. So, um as a board of education, uh you improved an increase in bus driver pay as well as giving experience pay to PAR educators, which is
022a big deal. Um, and then tonight on the agenda, you'll be approving crossing guards, which is a new position to us, which is an outcome of the changes that we're making. Uh, so Chelsea and her team have been all over that. So I'll have you uh provide an update. Sure. Yeah, there's a lot to go over, so I'll try to be succinct, but basically you're going to see new signage in new places. We've always marketed and advertised, especially for our bus driver positions this time of year, but we revamped the signage to make sure the new wages splashed. Um, you'll see our standard practices of banners. um but maybe more of them and in different places and on a rotation just so that the eyes don't get bored as people drive along. They might start
023to or continue to keep noticing that. Um we also have yard signs that are planned out. We have last time I checked about 21 different local businesses or patrons that have volunteered to um let us put something in their yard that recruits. So we have that lined up. We have our word of mouth active. our principles have known this might be coming and then they knew when it was official and they've been working really hard just on that word of mouth piece. Um let's see. And then we have our district page that has splashed it as well. So that's gotten some shares. And then we have some um instead of the flyer route, we're looking at doing a um an attractive circular decal with a QR code that could go um at the point of
024sale at some businesses so that someone could scan it or see it and it has the new wages on there. So, we're hoping to hit people in all the different places they might be looking. We'll do a temporary banner on the website that's talking about the bus driver in Paris specifically. Um, and I might be missing some things, but those are the basic tactics that we'll be going through and, uh, the jobs are posted. So, um, the signage will start to splash and we'll continue to get the applicants in with our normal flow. Just as a reminder to everybody, the reason that a change was discussed and then approved at the board level is because there just simply are not enough folks willing to drive a bus. Uh, in the current reality that we're in,
025it's across the country. with as much conversation in our community that we've had with bus transportation now for goodness well since January February that in and of itself has not generated more people to come in to say hey I heard about this let me complete the application I want to be a bus driver so kudos to Chelsea and her team for coming up with new and different ways to try to stress the message but the underlying concern of not having enough drivers is still unfortunately a reality that most school districts will continue to face moving forward. Um, safe routes to schools survey as well as eventually we'll get to some early um, bus considerations when we're putting our routes together. I have some question. Yeah, we kind of chatted u last week, but is when
026are the signs uh that you're setting up at businesses? We talked about some possible spots. When are you looking to put those up or are those going up? Like they are going up. Um, I think we're um transportation department's ordering things and so we're pushing the large banners first and then getting our other signage made here locally in our print shop. So, we're working on that this week to hopefully have I don't want to promise banners by Friday, but I think they'll be coming out here pretty soon. Yeah. Okay. So, if we have spots just to keep Yeah, great question. And thanks for your help and getting some strategic locations. Absolutely. Okay, Rich. Uh so an overview on some information or some key takeaways from the uh safe routes to school survey. Okay. Um so
027we um we partnered with WSP actually one of the main engineers that worked with us Andy Fry is here tonight uh to answer any questions that you might have that that I don't go over. Um we have uh they've been working since uh April uh actually on the safe routes to schools and um come up with some good plans for us. We've got uh basically our are short range plans which are things that we need to implement to get school started um this August. Then they they've included some long range plans and things that if infrastructure would change within the county or city that we could look at for some of the other schools. Um they have um recommended um approximately uh 10 of the reflective uh crosswalk signs, rectangular reflective beacons. I'm learning all
028those new RFBs. Learning some new terminology. Um and then a lot of um signage that uh needs to be revamped or relocated maybe a little bit. Um there's new uh pedestrian signs that are a little bit different color. They're reflective and so that um kind of a greenish color. Um so we're dealing with um the county. We we've met with city of Auburn. Um they're on board. Everybody we've met with has been extremely helpful, willing to work with us. Um Auburn already has their uh new beacon in place. Um and um are uh they're getting ready to change out some signs and repaint some crosswalks in Auburn. Um the city uh WMaker is really the only school in the city limits and basically that's just some signage changes. So we're doing a a permit application
029with them to be able to do that. Um they they said that that would be on us to make those changes. So, we're putting in the application. Um, the county is the biggest chunk of what we need to do and they have been great. We had a one meeting with them. Um, they're willing to do a cost share program with us and um, we've already submitted an email for permit um, to get the rest of the flashing beacons in place. Um, we have those in stock. We ordered those early. Um, we knew about how many we needed, so we have those. And it takes about two days to get them in. They they go in, they set the base and the bolts for those and then they come back the next day and place the
030beacons and they're solar powered. So that's a pretty neat process. Um we should those should all be in place without any trouble. Um and then um there's still um Willard Township is the only one that I have not made contact with and that's Pauline Central and Pauline South. Um currently, um those are just some safety items that we need to do because we're not changing our transportation over there. So, those wouldn't have to be in place by the start of school year, but we're going to try to try to do it because they are safety issues. Um the um we've met with uh building principles. Um Farley Elementary was one that I was really concerned about, traffic and everything. Um and we we met out there a couple times. Um met with the building uh
031principal, Miss Sandreger and her and her building came up with a great plan internally. Um so we've uh Bettis Asphalt's actually been working on that already to just rearrange our parking lot. We still have a plan B there if this doesn't work, but we think that it's going to the way they've got it set up and how they're planning it's going to work out wonderfully for additional traffic load. Um Jay Shidler, uh we have a plan and we have a plan B. Um Indian Hills, we are flip-flopping the uh bus lane and the parent pickup lane. Yeah, it totally is going to um and we've got with the construction that we're doing now, we're putting new sidewalks and pads in for bike racks uh that will tie into the city where we're going to have
032the the crossing guard. So that's already um happening. We've already done some sidewalks at Farley, but yes, I think that's probably about it as far as the building. So, I I feel like we're in pretty good shape. We've got work to do. Um, but that work is happening and we've got people contractors in place to support us and uh help us get there um with the shortterm uh goals that we have. Um and then the um the nice thing about this plan is that it's kind of a work in progress and um when we met with the county um a lot of it was sidewalk infrastructure and things uh for f for the future and they are currently doing a um study to zero fatalities. I I can't remember exactly what it's Safe streets for
033all. So is and their goal is zero fatalities. So they're um actually going to take this plan and incorporate it as an appendix to their plan um for the city council or the county commissioners to look at and um uh consider as they plan new new routes, new neighborhoods, those type things. Um and and any infrastructure upgrades. So this our plan will actually become part of theirs. That was that was a nice thing to one thing that we're going to eventually get in get to is to create an executive summary on the work that the external company did. Um there's a lot of data when you look at it all collectively. And so we wanted to kind of put it down to where it might be a little more understandable just to our own staff
034and families. So we'll create an executive summary and once we have that we'll make sure that uh it's on the website and our families will have easy access to that. So we'll get to it. We just don't have it quite prepared yet, but that'll be a function of this month at least before the school year starts in August. Y have the the next one. Any questions I guess on that? The only thing the county had that open or kind of open forum. They actually invited us to be part of that task force and we've been Andrew and I have been going to those meetings. Okay. And so, um, yeah, we, um, we were maybe a little louder than what they wanted us to be about sidewalks, but, um, yeah, I think there's some parents maybe.
035Um, but yeah, it was um, they had a public uh, session like a forum or something. Yeah, it was um, mid mid June. Yeah. Yeah. The end of June. We There's one more meeting in August that that we'll go to that's a kind of a wrapup meeting for that. But yeah, it's it's been um it been nice to be on that task force to be part of that. And then is there as we get closer to the school year, are we looking at education of students and parents on how to use the crosswalks and you know kind of awareness of it and that is a recommendation from WSP and we've been talking with Dr. Sto about that to see what that would look like and how we can incorporate that. That that would be something
036new to us for sure. Sure. So, we that's going to take a little bit to get that ready to go. All right. Uh initial thoughts on bus routes and some things that uh you and your team have in play for that. Um so, as um the responses have been coming in, they um we have toured the district looking at where we thought physically the best safest places would be. got some guidance from the state u transportation department. Um they have to be 100 feet from an intersection. So we have to be sure we're back at least 100 feet from an intersection. That was something we didn't previously know. Um but we're looking at those and uh the routing program we've been entering in and it actually if we give it the data, it's so far
037been pretty good about uh creating those stops for us. and then we're driving to make sure that those line up with um where we feel they're the safest. Um we will be working on that the next two weeks as we get the rest of the responses in. Um we've also looked at some neighborhood stops for out of district and people over the 2.0 uh as well. So we'll have those in place. Um, we've had some people call and say, "Hey, I how long will my student be on the bus if I do this? If I right now, we aren't able to give them exact times because we don't know exactly how many students are going to be riding. So, um, we might be right down to the 15th on finalizing those routes because we just
038don't know how many are going to say yes to the the transportation. So, but we've been working most of the summer on that really hard the last uh week and a half to two weeks. This week will be the hard hit for sure. So, if we have um families we don't hear back before the 15th if we don't get 100% response is our assumption that they are choosing not to elect transportation or what is kind of our follow up on kind of what we're thinking is if they haven't if they don't get back to us by then, then they've chosen to just take their students or take their students. Yeah. If you think about the motion that was taken, um there is um not bus transportation for the students residing two miles in to their
039home school. So, a family needs to choose to opt in and pay the fee if they're wanting to get back on the bus. Yeah. So, it's a it's an active process, not passive. So, at the end of this, we should have a pretty I mean, it it's not like we're sitting out there holding a spot for somebody on a route. It's we should have a pretty good Yeah. The the only ones that we would add in are ones that move into the district after the that start date would be new to the district that wouldn't have. The only other thing to mention in regards to selecting um stops uh for pickup is we've partnered with the state and we know where all of the licensed daycare centers are within our school community and so we've
040got a priority on them because the assumption would be there would be multiple kids there and so we're going to do everything we can to get as close to those as we can. So the city was able to partner with Rich and his team on that. So that was helpful. Okay. So, this will be a continued uh topic of conversation every board meeting moving into probably through the month of August. Um, any initial thoughts, questions, or something that you wanted to hear about that you didn't hear this evening? I just wondered, Jessica, Jessica, have you tried to like put anything on social media prompting people to check their messages? I mean, I know that we've done it lots of ways. I'm just wondering if that's another um I have not yet because our social media
041audience is so broad and I'm afraid that people would fill out the form if they that don't actually need to fill out the form. So, I've been trying to keep it as targeted as possible. Okay. Just curious. Yeah. All right. All right. Thank you. All right. We're going to move on to section five items for discussion. First up on that is 5.01 the 2024 financial audit. Yeah, we have Cynthia Darding from BTNCO here this evening to present the financial statement audit and uh there will be an action item uh later on to accept. Thank you. Thank you, Brett. Um, like Brett said, my name is Cynthia Darding and I was the partner in charge of the independent audit for fiscal year 24 and I'm pleased to report the summary of that audit tonight. Um, in
042front of you, you should have two documents or you access two documents um, uh, provided to you. One document is is titled the report to the board of education, which is really the document that I'm going to be using for this presentation. Um um earlier I gave a more detailed presentation where I actually did go into the audit report a little bit and I won't be doing that for the full board. Um like I said took care of that with the audit committee. Um so I'm going to start um if you have it in front of you, you can start on page one of that report to the board of education. I'm going to talk about first our responsibilities as the auditors. Our responsibility was to perform an audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing
043standards and those standards required that we plan and perform our audit to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements given to us at the beginning of the audit are not materially misstated. We also assess the accounting principles and policies selected by management as well as assessing any significant estimates that might be present in the financial statements. The ultimate goal of every audit is to render an opinion on the financial statements. And I'm pleased to report that we rendered an unmodified opinion on a regulatory basis for the Auburn Washurn School District. And I also want to point out that we performed a single audit, which is an audit of the federal award programs. Uh because the district spent more than $750,000 in federal money, the single audit threshold was triggered. And so we did issue an
044unmodified opinion on the major programs selected uh for the the single audit as well. So those are both good conclusions overall for the audit. We had no findings reported for any of the major programs or on the financial statements. Uh following along in that packet, we I earlier I I I mentioned just briefly here about accounting policies and practices. Uh the first item there that if uh the district had selected what we thought was really an alternative accounting practice or policy, we would be required to bring that to your attention and we did not note that that happened for the district for fiscal year 24. Uh adoption of a change in accounting policies. If we had if there had been an adoption or change in accounting policy, usually triggered by a new accounting or auditing
045standard, we would be required to bring that to the board's attention. And there were no such items like that. Moving along, significant accounting policies that may have been what we considered controversial or any significant unusual transactions, we would also be required to bring those to your attention and we did not have any items in those areas for fiscal year 24. Um, accounting estimates, estimates are inherent in all financial statements. Um, these financial statements are actually prepared on a KAG or regulatory basis. So, that's really a modified cash basis. But there is actually an estimate that is even um present in such financial statements and that's in this document on page six and the estimate that we noted for uh Auburn Washurn is the disclosure of the caper's liability uh that that is represented by that
046caper's liability for the the district employees that is only disclosed and is not recorded as a liability um in the district employ um financial statements audit adjustments if there had been audit adjustments that we recorded after we received the trial balance. We're required to report those to the board. And we did have two adjustments, but only one was really an an audit adjustment. Uh the first adjust, it's in this packet at the very last page. Um it's a standard adjustment that we make each year to record that held cash for payroll checks. And then the second entry was very minor, just to roll forward equity. Uncorrected misstatements. If there were any uncorrected misstatements that we would be required to bring to your attention, I would report them tonight. And there were no such uncorrected misstatements,
047meaning journal entries that we would have passed on making. Uh there were no such items for for uh for the district. Uh the departure from the auditor's standard report. Earlier I mentioned that the basis of accounting for uh these financial statements was KAG or regulatory basis and um as such we it we were not we did not issue an opinion on a GAP basis. We issued an opinion on that regulatory basis which was an unmodified opinion like I'd said before. Um observations about the um audit process if we had had any disagreements with management any consultations with other accountants any significant diff um is issues discussed with management any significant difficulties encountered in performing the audit or any difficult or contentious matters that required consultation outside of our firm. we would be required to bring
048those to your attention and there were no such items uh for the district for fiscal year 24. Uh the next area that's talked about is the independence. We are required to be independent of the district in order to perform this audit. That is not new um to auditing practice. Uh but this section of the report does just emphasize the fact that that is a shared responsibility between us and the district. uh their responsibilities for both uh BT and co and for the district in order for that independence to be maintained significant written communications. There is one letter in included in this packet that's directly behind um page six and that's the management's representation letter. This letter uh puts into writing matters that are required by management or required by standards for management to represent back
049to us as the independent auditors about the financial statements and the disclosures. And when management signs this letter, that's an indication for us that the report is ready to go to final form. And and we provide this letter to you as a governing board because we feel that by reading it, it helps you understand those financial statements and the disclosures better, which helps you as governing boards fulfill your fiduciary responsibility for the financial statements of the district. All right, any questions before I conclude my presentation? All right. Well, in conclusion, I want to thank Scott and I want to thank Brett for their work on this audit. Um, you know, getting ready for an audit really takes um it's really out throughout the whole year, you know, and it's a lot of work um responding
050to all of our requests and um we want to thank them for their transparency throughout the process and their help. And with that, I conclude my presentation. All right. Thank you, Senator. All right. Thank you. All right. We'll move on to uh 5.02 2 uh needs assessment process. Dr. Soda, it's been a while since I've been up here. Well, good evening. So, this is the first of a few conversations that we will have about the needs assessment. As you know, the needs assessment process is something that is required under Kansas law um before you establish and approve a budget for the upcoming school year. And that needs assessment is based on well the needs of our school community, our teachers, um our schools, our data that supports that. So, in tonight's initial dialogue, I'd like
051to walk through briefly how the needs assessment process and our system accreditation align. Um, at our next meeting, we'll go another step further and talk about our actual goals and then look at some data um and maybe some school action plans and a final meeting before your budget. So, we'll see how time plays out and go from there. So anything that we do with regards to building systems, especially those around accreditation and accountability really need to meet three tests. It has to be meaningful. So it's got to be worthwhile work that we're doing that supports growth of students. It has to be aligned. So we create a system where everything works together. We don't have duplicative processes. Um and we need a variety of needs. And finally, it's school focused. If you if you look
052at the research on school improvement, it tells you that the best school improvement efforts are those led at the building level by teachers in classrooms um not imposed from central office. And so everything we've tried to do um is to meet these three tests. And so tonight I will briefly walk you through how we did that. One of the things you will see me or hear me talk about multiple times and here is Kissa. That stands for the Kansas Educational Systems Accreditation. It is a district level accreditation meaning the district submits their plans and their reports and the associated data to the state and the state accredits the district as a whole. So when I am talking about kissa throughout this it is that process. All right. Um as we work through this there are
053essentially six stages. I'll go briefly into each of these six but I show you this so that um you understand that this has been an ongoing timeline. So we started by getting a group of people together. We engaged with data. We engaged with dialogue with the regional executives. Um we engaged in a school improvement process with like systems. We then drafted an action plan, submitted it to KSTE and now we have to implement that. And we've been working on this um during the last quarter of this school year. And um we have that across the finish line. And so we'll go through each of these processes briefly. So for this year we implemented a district guiding coalition. This guiding coalition serves two primary purposes that are very connected. Um their primary purpose first primary purpose
054would be professional learning communities. Um our district is a professional learning community and to be able to have such dialogue we have to have a diverse team of representatives across the district who can engage in meaningful dialogue about where we're at and where we want to head. Um also as part of this they engage in accreditation work. So this has been the primary team that has developed our accreditation plan. Um and we'll be implementing that with building level partners, building principles, teachers and PLC's in schools. And so we've been very excited to have this group. Um this group has 24 people I think on it. Close 23 um people. And as you can see, a wide variety, elementary, secondary, um, general ed, special ed, dean areas, administrators at all different levels. Um, a very diverse
055group. Um, Dr. McWills and I are also both on that and engaging in this dialogue, too. So, um, we have a very good team. We've been happy um, with the collaboration and the progress that we have made. So, we had then after forming that team and looking at data, we had our regional administrator and system check-in. So, we had Myron Melton and Dr. J. Scott from KCE come and actually visit with us about the life of our district, our efforts to this point and how we um see ourselves moving forward. We also reviewed some data points and answered some um focusing questions. So, where are we, where do we want to head, and are we ready for the school improvement day and the group as well as um our KSC regional executives um all answered
056that question with a resounding yes. So we um go to our school improvement day, a group of about 10 of us went and we engaged more deeply with the feedback from the guiding coalition and we also had an opportunity to engage with like districts. So what was great about this was in addition to Auburn Washurn representatives, we had Manhattan, Seaman and Shauny Heights also there and we had a lot of great dialogue on data on professional learning efforts on just great things that are happening happening in our schools and it's really um invigorating to hear common experiences and and also challenges and solutions to those challenges that a lot of people are facing and those dialogues then helped us develop a draft action plan. So the group developed a draft action plan on that day
057um that we considered and got some additional feedback on. So from there then uh the guiding coalition building principles learning services also partnered to continue to provide feedback and massage this action plan. um some schools engaged with their site councils to get some additional feedback about next steps with this um that were integrated into some building level plans and then we established a system for buildings to create their own goals. So we have the district goal and then we have building level goals. The district goal is very broad. I'll tell you broadly what it is here in a moment. Um, but buildings are in the process over the summer and into the very beginning of the school year of developing their blueprints. So, this is just a a summary of of how they intend to
058implement plans in their buildings in support of their goals. Um, it is very loose in terms of allowing buildings to pick needs that meet their students needs and their teachers needs. Um, but we have one common process that we follow and document that. So it is tight and that we are consistent in creating something that looks and feels similar and can be approachable by anybody including you. Um but it's loose and that we are not dictating at central office what this is supposed to look like. We review them but just for alignment and clarity um when they ultimately get submitted and we'll share some examples of those with you as we approach um the budgeting process. Uh finally um we submitted the action plan itself. You will be pleased to know that as um written
059the plan was approved so we are good to go and so all we have to do is now enact the plan. A couple of things I want to point your attention to. This year compliance was based on submitting the plan and having it approved and that part is done. So check that box off. We're good. Next year um we are required to implement the plan as it is written and there are data points in there that we have to monitor um and also then submit the plan for the following year. So for 2627 so we will implement the plan. We've got a lot of buyin into the plan. So I think we're in a good position there. Um and of course we will submit the next one. The following year is when we get some
060additional performance metrics involved in this. Um, KSDE is still working through what those performance metrics look like. So, I'm not going to go into that now, but they are basically going to look at three different categories feedback that we have received thus far. Um, one is did you meet your goal? Another is are you maintaining your progress in that goal? And a third is um even if you didn't meet your goal, did you grow more this year from where you did last year? And so they look at a combination of those things, but exactly how that applies to say post-secondary measures or to academics that is still in draft. So um we'll talk about that as we learn more factual information for that. But good news is our plan is submitted. Um I shared this
061with you just very high level. Okay, there are lots of options that we had for picking a goal and picking structures. As you can see, there's a lot of information here. So, just boiling it down, we want to ensure that our standards are aligned. So, we're consistent across the board. We know what they are. We know how to teach. We know they're aligned. and and central office in partnership with building principles and building PLC's are going to use professional development to help people understand those processes as they relate to assessment and provide PLC structures to carry out that work. Okay, so in a nutshell, we're working on standards alignment. We're going to do it through assessment. We're going to teach people how to do at MPD and we'll provide PLC's tools to get the work
062done. All right. Um there are lots of options that we could have taken here but we felt that that is where our system um best is right now based on the data. And finally we have to implement that. So over the course of the next year we are going to implement the building blueprints that buildings write. So their action plans as well as the district's action plan and goals. So again providing professional development on standards alignment and how it plays into assessment as well as building tools for PLC's to use um in their buildings with IFS. So I've kind of tossed a lot at you. Um I will just tell you briefly what we'll talk about next and then I'll open it up to any questions you may have. So the next time we visit
063about this um I will share the specific district action plan. I just wanted to give you an overview process tonight so you had some time for that to sink in. Um and be able to ask questions next time if you had any. Um I'll share with you an example of a blueprint. It may be a building one, it may be a district one, but I'll show you what that process looks like and then we'll talk through the professional development plan for the year which aligns to everything that's in here. Do you have any questions or thoughts or information that you would like me to bring back to you to help make your decision-m process more effective or efficient? Any questions? Is this collaborative something newer or it's a new initiative from that? Yes. So, KSD
064has long had KISSA um but they have revised significantly what KISSA looks like. Um, my personal opinion, I'm actually very supportive of their approach because it's focused on good teaching, effective learning strategies, and it provides a lot of flexibility for buildings and the district to be able to identify their needs and chart their course. Um, it has been a very collaborative process. I think it's been a very positive process. Um, I think it has been much more attainable than maybe some variations of this in the past. What's kind of the feedback from those that have been on that uh the term here, the district guiding coalition so far? I think it's very positive from what I have heard. Um, Dr. Mc Williams has been there. I'm going to put Mr. Reigns on the spot. Um,
065how did you how did you feel about the guiding coalition and the accreditation work? Sure. Unless you're gonna say you didn't like it. No, just curious because there's been a lot of, you know, adding the new middle school and changes in some of the curriculum at the grade school level, but you know, do you feel like this was a collaborative worthwhile process? Yeah, I thought it was very productive. Um, and uh some really important conversations that we've not been able to have districtwide in the 18 years that I've been here. So, I think it's going to yield some real positive results. I think as a complement to Jeff's leadership, uh some two things that you're going to easily see moving forward, um one is it's going to be very structured and intentional. Then the other
066one is it's going to be very collaborative. And so, we've got some amazing teacher leaders and teachers in each of our schools. But to have an opportunity for um representatives to be able to pop out of the schools and come together and be at the same table and engage in conversation is a pretty meaningful. So yeah, I think we're off to a fantastic start. All right. Anything else, Jeff? All right. Thank you. Thank you for your time. All right. We'll move on to uh 5.03, which is board policy EBBG. First read. Yeah. So, two legislative sessions ago, Senate Bill 19 was passed, which in summary um makes a this policy cardiac emergency response planning uh mandated in each of the school districts in the state of Kansas. Uh needed to be in play for the
067upcoming 2526 school year. As a result of this, KASB Legal Council partnered with KSDE. They created a uh created this policy. the strong majority of districts in the state of Kansas are going to adopt this one. Uh we bring this to you tonight as a first read. We'll bring it back to the second board meeting in July as an action item and then through our emergency operations plan. We also will have kind of a subset of this to make it operational uh in each of our schools and throughout the district. So thoughts or questions? But in short, we're following the law by bringing this policy into place. Right. Any questions? Great. We'll move on to 5.04. Uh request for proposal for RHS athletics. Yeah. So, for a handful of years, we have had a contract
068in place with a company that had a product in regards to um athletics, gear, apparel. Um that's been in place since I think Charlie's here, maybe 2018. uh we decided to go out and test the market based on some feedback from some of our coaches and sponsors and RFP hit the street a week or so ago. There were two companies that expressed interest. One is the current company and then also a competitor to the current company uh based on the review of the high school administrative team. Um the proposal or the recommendation, this is just a first read tonight, would actually go with the other company and have them come on board. Um and then the details of uh the summary that the RFP uh P team went through is included there uh for you
069all to review. So this would be a new contract with the new company moving forward if as a board you approve it at the next board meeting. So Charlie will be here to answer any thoughts or questions if you have them. Thoughts or questions. All right. Thank you for being here. for the last hour. The motion. All right, we'll move on to section six, which is action items. Uh 6.01 is the 2024 financial audit. Move the board of education approve the 2024 uh financial audit as presented. Second. It's been a motion, a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Um 6.02 is the school uh crossing guard final read. Move the board of education approve school crossing guard as presented. Second. It's been a motion in a second. All in favor? Motion passes
070six to zero and then 6.03. Okay. So I'm excited about this one. This is the what I mentioned at the last meeting. By you taking this action tonight, we don't need a third board meeting next year in June. It gives the business office the opportunity to do urine transfers and then the first meeting in July, Brett will have an opportunity to report the bindings. So that saves you a meeting. I entertain a motion. Go ahead. Uh move the board to authorize year end closeout and transfers 2025 26 needed. Final transfer amounts will be shared at the July 6th board of education meeting. Second. A motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Yes, we are now moving into executive session or I would make a the chair would make a motion
071to move into executive session uh at 7:31 uh for 20 minutes uh to discuss students pursuant to the exception relating to actions adversely or favorably affecting a student under coma. to discuss personnel matters pursuant to the exception of non-elected personnel under coma and to discuss bud the budget pursuant to for the exception of employer employee negotiations under coma. Uh the open session in the boardroom resume at 7:51. Second. There's been a motion and a second. All in favor? Motion passes six to zero. We are in executive session. All right, we are back in open session after being executive session. Um, yeah, I move that the board of education approve the out of district students and transfer requests as presented for the 2025 2026 school year. Second. Second. It's been a motion and a second. All
072in favor? Motion passes six to zero. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Motion to adjurnn and a second. All those in favor? Motion passes six to zero. We are adjourned. Thanks Ryan