001All those in say I. Anyone opposed? Okay. Are we We went through everything, right? I was just going to say someone like so rearrange second motion by Leah second by [Music] Sarah. Thank you. [Music] Yeah, I got some stuff. [Music] Yeah, they don't have because they're all anti Oxford. [Music] And then all of these I don't Thank you so much. Great [Music] idea. Heat. Heat. [Music] Thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for calling in. [Music] Heat. Yeah. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Not yet. I mean like with your actual name what your name is [Music] Adam for 2 minutes autograph. I didn't read the [Music] Oh yeah, [Music] those Heat. Heat. [Music] You [Music] starting everybody. Call this meeting to word. the Montour Area School District Board of Education. It is 6:32. Um, would anyone
002like to read our mission statement? Yeah. Sure. The Mount Area School District in partnership with the community is dedicated to nurturing, educating, and challenging all students, preparing and empowering them to be productive, responsible, and self-fulfilling members of society. Thank you, Jessica. We'll flip the order just slightly into a roll call at this point. Joel here. Leah here. Jessica here. Sarah here. Nola here. Tom here. Myself. Dr. SL. Is this meeting properly as fantastic? Uh, could we do we stand for this one? Absolutely. 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. And everyone, I present to you the agenda for tonight's meeting. And I would recommend uh that we would move items 7D
003and E to a future meeting. Cardinal Fisher who's the chair of the committee in the advance that is not here to discuss those letters. Motion to approve the agenda with modifications suggested. Second. We have a motion from Joel and a second from Sarah. Is that right? I had my head down. Um all in favor? Any oppose? All right, move forward with that agenda. Um, we the meeting minutes meet minutes from April 21st are regular board meeting minutes. Do we have a motion to approve those? So move second. Motion by Joel, second by Jessica. All in favor? Any opposed? All right. Motion passes. Addressing the board number three, Dr. Well, you know, we've got such a great student showcase recipient and uh the very beginning of her story is her academics, but that's not her whole
004story. She is truly a remarkable young lady who represents, in my opinion, the very best of Mora High School. And I have my friends and colleagues from the high school here with us today. Good evening, Principal Al Budquist, Associate Principles Corkran and Ness. Welcome this evening. Tell us all about this library. Do you have a couple days to do anything? You're like, "How does this person watch your step here? You look so nice tonight." You do. Um, you know, as we said, we think about uh honoring students and uh the name pops pretty quick, right? I think you were there with that. um you know and all that she does for the community, all she does for our school um just really exemplifies as Dr. you said kind of what it really means to be
005like um and whether it's volunteering in the community um participating in do you know how many things you're in if you know could you count on the top of your head I feel like it's 10 10 probably 10 right yeah and uh right there's so much more to come we cannot wait for the next few years to see what else she brings in but I will tell you just even from our observations and all things do her actions um teachers had so many wonderful things to say on how come they talk about it but just so we've got a you, but um I'll stick to one otherwise and we could be here for a long time. Um she's an amazing student. This is Miss Tzner. Okay. She's an amazing student both in and out of
006the classroom. In class, she is a leader with her participation and takes great pride in all of her work. She is willing to share her thoughts and her efforts. Her classmates respect and appreciate her contributions. Outside the classroom, she's too busy in the best way she can. She sees that her education goes beyond learning and is willing to share herself with important organizations like club interact student council sources of strength. She goes above and beyond always to make sure that Montford High School is a great place to be. Um be well Marley. Um and Lauraai has been instrumental in the beginning of our sources of strength group this year and Miss Mcanual had a few words to say about you. Um, so she said, "Laura is a great selection for student spotlight. Um, she has
007been an outstanding member of our sources of strength group this year. Sources of strength is a is about building a community of wellness and encouraging healthy behaviors within our school. And Lauraai has embraced that mission wholeheartedly. From the start, she stepped into a leadership role with ease and confidence. Driven, dedicated, and above all kind, Lauraai is a natural leader. She consistently brings new ideas to the table and takes the initiative to lead our campaigns. her passion and positivity have made a lasting impact on the group and the wider school community and um she's truly driven by that mission. Um there there was a a situation where she um was there first on a weekend and um got them help that they needed and I just think that goes to show what kind of a person
008you are and how you're going to continue to make a change in any community that you're in. Thank you. join me because I got a chance to start my school day with Laura as our club interact president who was just elected by her fellow classmates. So this is someone who not only is highly regarded by her uh teachers and administrators but also her fellow students. Um, it is with absolute pleasure that I share this certificate of appreciation to commemorate this special day. Yes. Let's give another round of applause over here. How are you? Good. You have to be so proud of this one. Well, both of you remarkable family you have. Thank you. Would you be willing to join us in a picture outside? We have a newly uh crowned high school lady. I can
009speak to the fact that she's also a very good friend. That's lovely. That's lovely. Can we take a moment, Mr. President? Just let off for a second and let's just take a picture outside. [Music] One, two, Is that right? [Music] Okay. Okay. It's a lot easier. [Music] interesting or something have been super Yeah. Yeah. [Music] Yeah. Is this your hair? [Music] She's literally [Music] sometimes too. Yeah. [Music] Um, so I can talk also just about some of the great things happening in the high school, right? We kind of close out the school year. Um, gosh, gosh, we're like 5 weeks away. I'm sure people are counting. I don't count. That makes me anxious cuz I have too much to do and that gives me a very short amount of time when you see that list.
010Um but you know we have students starting AP tests this week right today we um so things next weeks are kind of intense for many of our students. Um, it's been fun to see our ACT scores kind of coming back and hope, you know, we'll be able to talk more about that and I think, you know, continue to grow. We higher this year than last year than the previous year. The previous year, you know, where our averages are sitting over right pre-COVID times now, right? I think it's really kind of is positive to see us starting to to hit that stride and we know there's a lot of growth. Um, but big band concerts are coming up on Thursday. Um, that's always a really fun one. So, that keeps the week busy with AP testing
011and that. Um, so yeah, just a lot of great things happening. Deca had a really amazing uh you know ICDC down Florida for promise weekend was successful um uneventful which for me is always uh the best type of thing uneventful at the dance and then you know eventful be the next morning to make sure we get home safe and do what they did to do so always makes me feel pretty good when uh we can get through that so yeah I'm just excited as we kind of close out the year and um it's just busy it is a busy time of year as a high school open I guess I don't know when busy but Would you be willing to give a reader digest version of the outstanding results your school received um relative to
012belonging and oh yeah what our students told us about this yeah so the last two years we partnered with school perceptions it's a survey organization that does surveys across the country um and what we were able to do last year was the first year so we only get national data they have over 10,000 high schools 20,000 high schools they norm data with which is good to see right it's good to see that where we sit um 28 question 28 questions kind of really basic one through five and an emoji smiley face kind of see where students are at. Um and 27 to 30 went up which is always great. That means that the connection is but one of the biggest things that was really exciting was um we're kind of around like the bullying piece
013of it. Like I know where to go where if I'm being bullied um if I'm being bullied um as support systems like a couple questions around that. We were actually in top 4% in the country for that response rate and we'll be able to share more too. But I would tell you that if pulling happens, we know that. But when someone comes to us and says, "Hey, you know, there's this epidemic and this bad accident." 81% of our students fill the survey out. The average for this company is 65%. So the data we got was from the data. It is not like it's kind of a small group of people. Um it was 81% even at 81 that it said that the students who graduated early didn't take it where they probably would have. Um
014and there were students who probably like 84 85% which is we're really proud of the data. There's certainly room for growth things for us. Um but really the data points for belonging and connectness to supports and students connecting with each other. We feel like they batch ours back was really strong to be in the top four or 5% of the country being that data point shows that we're doing the right work. We're addressing going the right way. There's still obviously always room to grow. Um but that was really just very promising data to know that the work that we're doing and addressing those things headon students feel they can come to us when they need to or go to somebody get support. Um you know the peers treat that with respect which was a great
015one. Um those are the things that we're really proud of. We always feel like you feel a safe environment then you can start working on the academic. If the students feel safe and you feel supported then we can really hone in on the academic piece right that basic needs of feeling your data. So, uh, you know, that that was very exciting. I shared with Dr. last week really can't wait to dive back in. Um, especially bringing that data to sale in August and see if we can come up with some goals to kind of point in those things that we can do some work on. But it was just really tremendous data going up in all 27 and actually double digits even some um, which was really really fantastic. So, it's it's an exciting time
016and um just proud of the work of our staff uh do such great work in helping the students and then um our administrative team really our staff are the ones that really kind of putting that out there to feel students feel comfortable and safe. So, yeah. Thank you. Thank you for your support. We wouldn't be able to do without your support. So, actually, may I ask one other question? Uh I know it's a team effort and um but maybe you could also speak to the conference that you've been invited to speak at the I just registered to attend. Oh. That's a pretty big honor that you've been asked to Yes. Uh it is one of those things that you just kind of it was based on some data um and I uh I don't I
017mean it was a data was put together of kind of they take all the data we get um and they talk it's called kind of closing gaps looking your students low socio economic status but also your achievement levels and um we went from the 40 41st percentile in closing gaps or kind of um with students of low socio economic status to 92nd percentile in the state as one of the top 15 high schools in the state to close that gap within and um within a 3-year period. Um and I, you know, I get to present about what we were doing and I would tell you it's not like a thing. Actually, what I'm presenting about is just being consistent um and being able to try to get rid of get rid of barriers, right? We
018try to really remove some of those barriers. Uh physical science is an example. One of them, right? Like we started tracking students and let's not track students, let's put students in the classroom with their peers and exposing them to high high content, high rigor. Um, and then I think our student services staff being there to support students to really kind of get in those pieces. So, yes, it's an honor. It's one of those things where you get asked to present as principal and you're kind of like, well, yeah, this wasn't just me. This is, you know, you want to bring the whole staff with people because it's really a team effort. Um, it's not one person, but um it's an honor. I know it's the first time that they've held this conference to kind of
019take schools across the state that are doing really um do really good work. Um, and so it's an honor to go speak there. Um, and again, quite humbling that haven't really done this before. It's a new one for me. Um, but again, I I've really enjoyed a lot of the staff and the work that they've been doing to kind of raise that bar and support our students. Um, we wouldn't be able to do without them. Um, we'll continue to to work on those and make sure and also it's about keeping high um high achievement. You guys want, right? You can close gaps. We send you close the gap by lowering your achievement. Uh, we were able to do it by keeping achievement high, which means that we are we're raising that floor up um at
020a 3 years is a pretty quick pretty quick clip. go from 42nd percentile to 97% time to see um I still work to do we can still get better and we'll continue to focus on those things but yeah thank you for bringing up I I can't do it and I didn't know if anybody else yeah one of those things just yeah so I'm still working the presentation or just starting it and I wrote an article about it um maybe months ago they had a student so thank you Laura's not the only one deserving of a round of applause So, thanks to the team at least coming but also our whole staff because seriously I couldn't do without their support and that consistency of them. So, cool. I'll send you all right. Thank you so much.
021[Music] Thanks. 3D citizen comments Dr. just learned it. All right. Well, then we can continue right into 3C. We'll keep the stu school news coming. Anyone have anything they'd like to bring forward? I will start. Uh, actually, Mr. Lquist took some of my good ones. I can speak a little bit more to AP testing this morning. Uh, a lot of the exams have now gone hybrid digitally. And uh this morning we didn't have any major issues. I was the only one who had any issue. Um but nobody else had anything. Uh I saw a few other schools around the country had you know like their internet went down or fire alarm went off but we were lucky to not have anything and we finished actually pretty early in the day. Uh Promwell band concert on
022Thursday. That's the 6th through 12th one. The big one. There's a show in the afternoon and then one in the evening. And then sustainability Saturday promoted by the energy team that is May 17th at the PC. Uh and essentially just encouraging the community to be more environmentally conscious. I think there's going to be a smoothie back. [Music] The smoothie bag is usually here for the uh blender blender. Can I give you all? I want to just take a note to express congratulations to our very own Nola. Uh she is one of the top 10 academic scholars uh here in Bachelor Conference. She along with a couple of her classmates were recognized at a program a couple of Sunday afternoons ago at Wanke High School. I had the pleasure to attend and get to visit with
023your parents. just lovely, lovely people and uh they have to be so very proud of you. You've worked very hard and and I'm just excited to all that you're going to achieve moving forward. Um from our seniors to our young people, uh this Friday is a very special day. It's our annual peace program that's taking place at the intermediate center. There's a program that gets underway at 8:30 and I believe there's a repeat performance uh I think at 2 or 230 2:00. Yep. Thank you. Uh so I'm really excited about that. Mrs. Byer always just does such a super super job with that. Great. Staff appreciation week. Um, so uh big shout out to K&A greenhouse who donated a couple hundred plants for us for the PTO that went to the uh ELCP and IC.
024So theoretically and the bus garage I think. So theoretically there's enough for everybody to take home plant. I thought they'd be little and they were huge. So it's awesome. And then there's coffee truck tomorrow for there's one here at the high school, but then there's one K5 at the it'll be at the ELCPC and then it'll move to the IC. Fantastic. Anyone else? I was made aware of this. So, business in the backyard kids coming back. So that'll be on the 11th where employers come align with 8th grade students um educating them on jobs and career paths. Um so I think that was just important to note too. That's really that's really beneficial for both employers and for for our students. Absolutely love that connection. And I I had uh the chance to visit with
025all of our 4K partners that last week of April and that was really uh that was a great experience. Three of them were in one day. Kind of chucked them all together. Um it's got a lot of excellent feedback in terms of the partnership with the district district uh and ask to clone Nicole to you because she does so much and and is trying to keep track of that on top of her on top of her other responsibilities in the district too. But um very very strong positive feedback. Um we did talk a little bit about the pressures of declining enrollment and how that has affected their business. A lot of those are built in with child care in mind too. And so they've just looked at where they can pluck gaps from a an
026economic standpoint to make that work. But all very curious to see um what we could do in the next few years to turn around those numbers and make the one other development that's out there at this point was that one of the um child care centers in town closed uh rather abruptly, but there is a new one coming in that um according to at least one of the leaders who's had some initial interactions. Um very favorable. uh very much excited to get them into town and to have them um start partnering up whether officially eventually with the district or not. The the one thing that showed through in all of this was how much those organizations have really worked together the past few years. um make sure that there's some a lot of communication, some
027level of standardization in terms of the experience that they're providing and kind of looking out for each other's backs almost as a brand of 4K partnership and um um and so they they uh um are very looking very much looking forward to welcoming the new partner and also um say protective that's the wrong word but proud of the reputation they built and wanting to share that going forward. Yeah. Yeah. Anyone else? Any other schools? All right, let's move on to item number four, personnel transactions. Dr. members, there is an amendment to today's transactions. Motion to approve of the addendum. Second. Uh, Le Joel won the punch for second. All in favor? I I any opposed? Motion passes yours. Thank you, Tom. An abstension will take you on that one. Great. Now to our consent agenda
028number five. Is there anything that anyone would like to pull out from the consent agenda for discussion? Otherwise, we'll accept a motion to approve. Motion to approve consent agenda. Second. Motion by Tom, seconded by Jessica. All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed. Motion passes. On to item number six, discussion. Committee member reports. Let's start with BGT. Tom Sh. Thanks, Adam. Um, BGT met on 428 and we started with the buildings and grounds update. Uh, we are fully staffed. Some of the managers were taking some vacation time. They need to be used up. So, that's good. Um, an evening custodian at the middle school will be moved to the ELC for the next two years to cover retirement and then move back to the middle school. Um, ground crews are busy mowing and prepping
029uh five ball fields and soccer fields and doing all the painting to all the practice fields. So, they are really really busy in the spring. Um, claiming is also underway for summer work and we should be receiving a list of summer workers. Um, it should be coming to the full board for approval sometime soon. A new sidewalk is getting put in front of the bus garage along Bluemont Street. So, that's um good, but it's also creating some uh maybe some issues with the buses and stuff coming in and out of there. Um, we had a discussion on a letter that was going to be sent to the village regarding the district possible needs at the L Pluckin development, mostly related to um possible bus routing to and from facilities or pickup and drop off um
030areas for for school bus routes. Um, also on the transportation side, they discussed that they were fully staffed and they were getting one substitute driver that was getting licensed, which will help. Um, especially in May because it is a very busy month with all the sporting events that's going on. Um, they're starting to plan for fall driver needs on 421. It was school bus safety and rear emergency door. Uh, drills were completed by the the drivers in the school. Um, and it was a it went really smooth and it was nice to see the older kids um helping out the younger ones uh during that safety drill. Uh, we received the funds for the electric bus and we should be getting the bus delivered probably in late June. Um, currently there's a lot of spring
031road construction going on. um that's causing some delays in some routes. And we just like to say thank you um to families that are um maybe having to deal with their kid maybe showing up a little bit late because of some of the rerouting. Um and thank thank you for their patience when it comes to this. Um and tonight in tonight's meeting, we're going to talk about the unusually hazards transportation plan um through Teddy, which was last done in 1995. Maybe just one quick note out of that. um the number of students doubled in grades K through 12 that would fall in that area. Um so like I said, we're going to be discussing that tonight and then it has a few more steps after that and our next meeting will be a written update
032um because meeting date would fall so we thought we could get a written update. Sounds good. Any questions for Tom? All right. Thanks, Tom. move on to our finance committee report. Well, I can keep it short and sweet. We met on April 14th. Main point of the meeting was to discuss the meal pricing for uh school lunches, breakfast, things like that coming up. There is a very slight increase. Uh but as we're looking at uncertain uh food markets and uncertain uh just everything uncertain at the moment, um it seemed like uh that minor increase would would help offset some of the costs. It doesn't appear that it's going to do everything that we needed to do necessarily. So, um that's what we spent most of our time discussing. Um, and then we went over a
033budget calendar uh just to uh make sure that we're still on track with everything you need to do budget-wise. Of course, we're coming up on the end of the school year or end of the fiscal year, excuse me, end of the fiscal year. Uh, so I know that, uh, Scott and business office are working hard to prepare some of those kinds of things as well. So, um, and then, uh, we get to meet again on May 12th, next week. Wonderful. Thanks, Joel. Any questions for Joel? Right. Carly is not here to deliver the safety and wellness committee update. Um, I can give a report from the park recreation and forestry commission that Jessica gets to take on. At this point, we had an an on-site visit to both Grandma Foster and Grond. Um just thinking
034about some of the investments that could be made in either of those locations. Grandma Foster is in a holding pattern at this point. Um they're they do have a master plan for that if they would ever choose to develop it a little bit more. But um between Lucken being a priority and Grundo being a second priority and maybe some uncertainty over how that area might develop, they're mostly kind of just trying to do the main uh the maintenance and keep that place in good working order until maybe some more clarity comes around purpose of it. uh at Grundo Park. Uh the they have fresh lights in uh at the softball diamond, the adult softball diamond. That's used a lot for youth sports as well. Uh there the the cool um uh focus lights with strong
035LEDs and not a lot of no light pollution into the atmosphere, which is great. Um they've been trying to figure out a plan for uh more storage on that location for both the village and the frolic. And right now they're exploring a plan to tear down and rebuild the kind of the concession stand by the baseball by the old time there and build that out a little bit and make that a little bit nicer. Um they uh are they have to go to an architect right now for plants. We'll see how much the the cost of that is. Mostly they're just trying to be the main focus which is looking at this point uh but the planning on that is going to be coming up very quickly there's already a community planning session if I'm
036remembering this correctly it's on the same night as our skull where it's senior presentation but JSD is the firm who's doing it out of Rona they're going to have I believe it's total listening session so anyone who wants to u from this group or from anyone watching who wants to weigh in there's going to be plenty of opportunities to shape the future of that park and they're appreciative in advance of our note about uh what our preferences were and how we wanted to see that parking form. Any questions about parks? All right, let's move on to uh number three information and advocacy report competitive compensation insurance retirement package that would be considered center. Hello. Well, I have um a report here that I'll try to break down in some chewable pieces. Um just a a
037little background about the data and how we collect it. Um we are part of a statewide compensation partner group which is really helpful to gather that data. They are actually this group is now partnering with Skyward officially and um this really helps in uh getting the data um input and then ga um gathering it for accuracy and analysis. Um, in addition to the statewide compensation partners, um, I have a close connection with the Dne County HR professionals and this partnership, um, even helps drill down more than just the surface level, but to have deeper conversation on things like compensation and, um, benefits. Um, that partnership is really, really valuable. Um, we meet monthly on that. Um, but any comparison has its limits, I think that's important to note. um in our compensation group. Um as
038you can see up here, uh this does not take in um take into account the size of district, the growth of the district, um contracted services that um districts might um have as well as just unique community needs. Um you can see here, these are the enrollment numbers for the 2024 2025 um school year. Um, also to note in the data, Evansville does not participate in the statewide compensation group. So, we do have their data, but it's just compiled a little differently. So, um, just something to note as we as we look at that information. Um, as we look at the compensation piece, it is um, important to note that the total value of an employees compensation does come with benefits as well. Um, health insurance for one I would say is really important. Um,
039and we have been incredibly fortunate in the last few years. Um, we've had stable um, and minimal increases where many local districts have had sizable increase, sometimes double digit increases um, in their health care premiums. And it's not as simple to um compare apples to apples because there's really no such thing in healthcare. Um but you might be looking at all sorts of different pieces, not only premium pre premiums but out of pocket cost as well as what network you're um involved with. Um I think it is also important we have wonderful partners with USI which is our um benefit um and insurance um uh organization that we work with um they are have been instrumental in in our review and our negotiation process um moving forward. Finally, and we're rounding out just to give
040you a full picture of the data. Um, especially when we're looking at support staff, the compensation alone, it's important to note that our part-time employees, fewer than 30 hours a week and fewer than 20 hours, do receive an additional siphon that because they're not receiving insurance. So, um, you should note that, uh, 30 hours um to 20 hours receive $1,000 and then also 24 less receive 500. So that's important. Okay, ready for the data. Right, here we go. Um this is one thing for that um our um support staff uh have is our longevity model. So um that's important to know when we look at all of our compensation piece. I'm going to break down each um category a little bit and um give you an overview and just some highlights. Um, as we look
041at our custodial staff, you'll see that all of the data is broken into beginning, um, median, and maximum. And then you'll also see the comparative average as well as the range in Mount Forward's um, rates there. So, um, this year we have really remained steady in comparison to last year. Um, uh, la you'll notice that some of the rankings I note are five of nine because Evansville did not report their data last year. So now we have um six of 10 right where we would like to be. Um overall our goal is to be right in the middle, competitive, not on top, not on the bottom. Um and we're able to do that. I think our custodial pay is is um right there. Um if you scroll down to the next section, the general education
042care professionals, this is a little bit unique. Um as you as you note that um some districts do not have general education pair professionals. So you can see that um we remain seven of nine in 2023 2024 and five of nine um in 20 sorry 23 24 of nine five of 9 2024 2025. It's important to note over the last two years, $3 per hour increase. So, we were a little ahead of the game and more districts are um kind of coming back to that. Our special education pair professionals remain really competitive. Um we're ranked seven of um of 10. Um and we maintain um some good competitive rates in that area. Nothing really has changed since last year. Um our food service this area has definitely increased. Um we are really competitive. Um it
043is important to note Evansville um still want to heat they do contract out um their food service staff. We have very low turnover. We have lots of interest of employment and then most of our positions in the food service area are part-time. Okay. Administrative assistance. I would say this is probably the most variable. Um and really um we have remained rather steady. Um this year ranking four out of 10. Um the average uh beginning wage increased $3.16 last year and an additional um 98 this year. So this this comparatively is really increasing um over the last few years and this is something that we'll want to keep an eye on in the future. Um, also you might notice like, wow, look at look at the range here from from $19 to $56. And really that
044has to do with um this the the variance of our of our comparative districts. Um, some districts have a lot of uh administrative assistant positions that we just don't even have. Um, for instance, um, bilingual and translation um, administrative assistance. So, so it's really hard to compare apples to apples in this category because it's just very very vastly different. Um, I think that was all I was going to say. Yeah, this is a unique category to compare because there are very few um districts in our region and especially in our comparatives that have their own bus service. So, um, we are ranked one of three, though we're pretty competitive. Um, but I think this will be an important piece to watch, um, in the future as well. Our bus drivers do have incentive pay, which
045is important to note. So, if they remain through the through the year and then return, they do get an incentive bonus. So, um, that does not account for that in our hourly wage. Um, I also pulled up um some information just to see um how are we in compared to the private sector because there's not a lot of public um transportation companies that we can compare to and and when I look at you know companies such as rightway for student movers um their ranges begin from $1950 to $25 an hour. I think it is important to note in this category too, some of those private companies can provide full-time employment because they can contract out for weekends, evenings, all different things which we don't have the ability to do that. So, um it is more
046of a challenge, but we have been able to maintain a good set of drivers and are always looking for more. Then finally um yeah finally our faculty um again we are right where we'd like to see um uh seven out of 10 for 2024 2025. Um we have a competitive um salary. Um we also also often do not hire folks though at the beginning um starting wage. Um Sarah I think spoke to that at the education committee. We don't have a lot of first year teachers joining us. Um but uh we also don't have many retirees either this year. We only have two faculty members retiring. So as people come to the district they stay at the district. Um you can see that illustrated in the next um uh graphic here where we look at
047Mount Corora in compar in comparison to the districts in our comparables um we have folks staying here for many years um and are above that of our peers. So that's great to see as well. Um I think just to emphasize um we are a destination district for many reasons. Not only our geographic um location but I think uh also our strong um instructional supports that we have in place and our great leadership with Sarah Stra. Um we have respected and knowledgeable staff. Um other districts come to us to um see what great things we're doing. Um and I think our faculty is growth has a growth mindset and that really um sets us apart and um when other teachers talk to faculty um outside our district um people want to be a part of it.
048So that's important to know. Um, I think also my last piece uh before we end is there there are national teacher teacher shortages um state and regional teacher shortages and this isn't um an easy feat to keep um good quality teachers and staff here. Um we've done a really good job of that and I think it's it's um speaks to the reputation and the hard work that we do every single day. um not just being comp um competitive financially, but to to be a district that people want to be a part of. So, what questions do you all have that it could be answered? Less of a question, more of a comment, but just the appreciation that you were able to do a lot of work on salaries because of our operational referendum. Yes, most
049definitely. There's been a lot of work done to decrease salary the past few years. We understand the longevity for support staff. Uh what was in figure two there? That's just based on years of service that gets added to wherever their base wage is at. How does that exactly? Yeah. So yeah, they this would be added to their wage um yearly. Um this is on top of any um increase that comes from the district. So, um if there is an increase, a percentage increase to our salaries or to the um compensation for our support staff, this would be on top of that as well. Has that been updated along with everything else or is that just something that was has been like this for say there was some work done on this about 10 years ago,
050Scott? Is that right? Yeah, I'm looking at Leo. I think it was a little sooner than that, but yes. Yes. And those numbers are included in the numbers we saw below or do we hold those separate? We hold those separate. Um obviously they're not in the beginning, but um if we look at our some I'm just looking and thinking again about the enrollment sizes of the various districts. How do you feel in terms of the comparatives there? I appreciate probably in some ways being compared to the larger districts because that's who we're competing against for talent a lot of the time. Is that a fair way of looking at it, but we are the smallest uh you know other than Evansville which only reports half of it. Do you do you feel decent about having
051enough data to judge? Well, I think there's various points to look at like the who who are your local districts that you're competing with, right? Because regionally when you're when you're just thinking regionally, um that's important to know. Um I do think it's it's important to know that there are larger districts and they have um and not just larger districts, some are growing districts, right? are not declining. That makes a large difference. Um and also their tax base and and their community that greatly changes things. So I think the enrollment isn't part of the picture. Um if you look at districts that just have the same number, but they're in a a vastly different um geographical area, that might not be a great comparable, right? um you know, northern Wisconsin might be very different than
052Day County, but um again, I think when you look at the whole picture and you think of our size district and what we can want for our employees, um is competitive yet we have something different than some of those large large school districts, too. So, um yes and no. I think it it gives you enough of an idea, but then you put all the pieces together to say, "Okay, um it's one of many things, I guess, if that makes sense." I think it's also a good selling point, right? Like we're middle of the pack, but we have less students, right? And so less per people ratio, right? Mhm. [Music] I think my only other specific question similar to what Jules was driver sements were those factored into the wages also the driver statements that's well
053that's different. No hourly wage retention bonus for um the statement for um part-time employees is not factored in. Okay. Um, and that doesn't, you know, that doesn't show up at for an employee in their wages, but they do re do that as a supplemental each paycheck. Okay. So, um, yeah, that is not back given at all. Got it. Okay. And just a quick followup to that, just to clarify, part-time all qualify for the stipen. We offer no health health benefits unless full-time at the district's 30 hours. 30 hours a week. 30 hours a week. Thank you. And there's lots of, as you see in your well written report, there's lots of additional benefits for our drivers that maybe a private company might not need uh those kinds of things. We're very fortunate to have outstanding
054crew of drivers, their safety record, and that's that starts at the top with Brian and what he does to ensure safety. Well, I know we pay them by route. So, it's true, too. If they drive extra fast, they can do no seriously. Is is retaining is it retaining drivers that's I mean we've all I know there's been issues with not having enough bus drivers. Has that gotten better or are we still I guess me not being here too more than two. I think it's it's even better. This year is better than last. Um but we've we've done okay with our drivers. I wouldn't say we have we have an overabundance of drivers, but we haven't been But it's gotten better. I think it's gotten better than like 3 4 years ago. I would say recruitment
055is the biggest hurdle. retention we do okay with here for a variety of reasons. Um I could talk all day about the differences between districts and contractors. Um having experience in both, but if you would have me point my finger at one would be recruitment. Is there anything that you keep your eye on in the private sector? I know you talk about lane busing and teaching is different than other characterist other careers but is there anything you look at in terms of either you know um compensation benefits anything along those lines that we should be considering? Well I think um I always keep my pulse on other benefits offered in the private sector. Um I think in general um education is usually better than private sector in a lot of areas not all. um uh
056especially and I think I pointed alluded to that in the healthc care benefits you know most private sector um or in public sector for that matter um are getting um renewals you know in the 8 n double digit pieces so we've been really fortunate in that area um that's really important I guess for me to keep my eye on um and Um there are other I would say other when you're looking at not te comparing teachers but you know in the area of food service or drivers um those are important to compare to and and we're doing just fine in those areas. Any other questions for another super job there? Thank you so much for your leadership. [Music] All right, move on to our number seven action items. Consider the approval of the unusually hazardous
057transportation plan. Brian to Good evening everyone. Um before I thank Bernie for being here and I think I've thanked them many times leading you to this meeting. Thanks for going. Um um I also want to thank the safety committee um and Leah, you were fortunate um we were fortunate that you were there to engage in dialogue on this topic with the safety committee. Um and they met you know as you know a number of months ago we did have a bus ride that particular evening. Um but then the the buildings and grounds and transportation committee for those of you that have served on that committee you know we talked about this on a number of occasions and as Tom pointed out um just a few moments ago um last Monday um the committee recommended it
058to the full board. So thanks everyone for um your participation and development in this topic. Thank you for letting me speak because he is really the guru on this and can certainly um provide leadership in his department to get us to this point. All right. Um so definitely as Scott mentioned um just the support through buildings and grounds um just kind of really allowed that partnership with um Tatty which is a traffic analysis and design uh incorporated um which is the company of traffic engineers um that work on plans like this for school districts. Um so they've really been very helpful um as of the past few years especially um with multiple districts throughout the state in regards to either creating or updating uh unusually hazardous transportation plans. Um and through spending time with them
059is uh this is the plan that you see that they've kind of put together and recommended with their expertise. Um so why update the plan? Uh so first of all our plan that is currently on file with DPI is from 1995. Um and as you can imagine anything over 30 years um sees a significant change uh in the landscape of our village in our community. Um uh the roadways, housing developments, apartment complexes, um speed limits, traffic patterns, things of that nature that just kind of evolve over time. Um so it's helpful to have a updated plan um on file so that you can help um gear any conversations around transportation and what that can look like. Um it's also recommended by DPI to update uh the plan if we haven't and there's though there's no
060um statute on you know how often you need to do that. I feel like 30 years is probably um and not only that but especially the role of traffic professionals that play or the role that they play in updating these plans nowadays. Um in years prior um you weren't leaning on a lot of the traffic engineers that school districts lean on now. Um you were leaning a lot on sheriff's departments. uh and though they are still a component to getting your plan officially updated on file with DPI um it is uh largely the work of the traffic engineers and the professionals that evaluate um communities and help create these these plans. Um that said, um you know, having an updated plan allows our operational team to um kind of get a baseline when it comes
061to having in conversations in regards to transportation or um what that looks like for our school district or for our community. Um, you know, some examples are, you know, changes that we've had to already make in the past, whether it was, um, staging and running double routes and having a couple of routes stay at the IC for a year, or whether it was, um, having some of our out of town routes absorb some of our in town routes, or whether what traffic um, and transportation will look like for us when there's new um, neighborhoods to get to and to bring students to. So, um, anytime we have a conversation about what transportation looks like for the school district, we should be able to lean on, um, on something that, um, kind of points its head
062towards safety and where our areas of need needs are and how we can kind of build off of that. So, I think pretty sure most people have uh, in this room have at least heard me talk about the unusually hazardous plan. So, I kind of wanted to just go over why we want to update it. Um, is there anybody that wants me to give a brief like what is an unusually hazardous area? Looks like we're good. Okay. Um, so that said, this is actually a step in updating the unusually hazardous plan. um it would need to be approved by the um by the school board to bring it to the next step which is actually to that sheriff's department. Um and then for they would need their own approval and um any recommendations if they
063have them and then we would then submit it again to um DPI for final um approval and then we would be able to adopt this updated plan. And just to clarify with the adding of additional students to it, which makes a ton of sense when you look at the maps because of the roads there and all that kind of stuff, but that's we'll be able to integrate that easily within our existing routes and things like that. You're not anticipating undue stress on drivers routes and no the main thing we already transport. Um, so I think the most beneficial thing right on the surface level is going to be how we report to DPI. um because we are able to receive funding for um for transportation and um anything within 2 miles that is in within
064an unusually hazardous area we're able to receive that funding for. So creating a larger area for our um K5 kids and then creating an area that doesn't exist right now for our K2 kids um will at least allow us to um submit that to DPI when it comes to funding um and not necessarily change how we provide the transportation um because we already provided but it'll shift how we um how we report it. So those calculations and how we come to those numbers will get a little bit more complicated but um you know with technology everything should be a little bit more complete even if it is a little more complicated. a little disappointed. The one that's in our board packets normally highlighted, right? There's a there's a drawing that's been photocopied a year over
065year that's highlighted. This I can read the names of the road. I mean, it's really that is too true. As soon as I got hired and saw that, I thought to myself, well, first of all, I had professionally done and updated. I got rid of that coloring. Um, but I absolutely wanted to work on the unusually hazardous plan from step one. As soon as I saw 1995, I was a [Music] tit. I would make a motion to approve and adopt the new unusually hazardous traffic plan. Second. We have a motion from Joel, a second from Sarah. Any further discussion. All right. All those in favor? Any opposed? [Music] Thank you for the not highlighted. All right. Item 7B, consideration the 2025 2026 Wisconsin school nutrition purchasing cooperative show. [Music] Come on up. Come on down.
066Um well, ever since I have worked here, which is already 16 years, um we have been in Wisconsin nutrition purchasing cooperative. It's one of the largest in the state and pretty much covers the southern half of the state. Um, Middleton Cross Plains is our um, fiscal agent. Um, the yearly dues are only $300 and there's um, the benefits of it, cost savings. They write all of our um, do all of our procurement, our RFPs and things like that. And just because we're a large group, we save a lot of money with them. And we also get rebate checks and education, everything. So, yes, we just need to read this every year. Any questions? Motion to approve. I have one real quick question. This I didn't see it in there, but there's nothing in this agreement
067that pre precludes us from doing any other of our own cuz I know there's other programs out there that you also take advantage of locally, but there's nothing. Okay. No, this is strictly for our prime vendor and everything else is optional. I I take advantage of it because they know what they're doing when they're writing our all our recipes. We do milk bread. They do have a um paper and fruit and veggies, but I just compare with what I'm getting to see if we we can opt in and not buy anything, but we just have those options. So, what percentage do you think of your food or everything on characteristics food u falls under this? Um I would say 80 to 90. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Good return on that $300. Oh, absolutely. Actually, the um
068they they had such a fun balance that they actually they took a percentage of that fund balance or each school got a percentage depending how many years you've been in it and how many cases you buy. So, we just got that refund check and then so that's their plan going forward is just have one your operating expenses and then give it back to the group. Yeah, it's great. Any other questions? We have a standing motion and a second. Yeah. And a second from Jessica. Thank you. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Excellent. And that will go into 7 C uh considering the 2025 26 school fees. Dr. SL. Yes. Good evening. Again, board members and uh as Treasurer Craraven mentioned to us at the onset of our meeting tonight that we are looking
069at an increase across the board uh to fees relative to the kind of food um particularly because as we just heard our commodity prices continues to escalate. We're proposing a 20 cent increase uh for each uh of our uh school lunch meals uh save our milk. Um and then you'll also note board members that we're also looking at an increase in our lock fees. Uh as you'll see uh student locks are finding uh a bit of an increase uh as um we've gone from about $9 to about $10. Uh but we haven't really changed that lock fee too too much over the course of the past couple of years. do want to foreshadow for the board um a a consideration not this year, definitely not this year, but certainly something that we should probably consider
070as we go into the next two or maybe even nearer year. Uh our transportation fees for families. Um as you know that that has held steady that $200 uh per uh traveler who's not impacted by the UHD. And uh that figure has been the same for as long as I've been here and that's going on about 10 years. and Scott and I have been chatting I I want to say that and that's what 14 15 years ago to me like I said 16 years so I mean that's quite quite a a deal and we know what's happened with diesel prices and the cost of vehicles just in the 10 years I've been here buses have almost doubled in price so uh we may need to look at that uh going forward but as of now
071no such recommendation and we ask for your consideration of the proposal you see before you Right. I wanted to ask real quickly about the athletic fee, please. That tell me what that covers versus I mean I know some some athletics are very equipment heavy, some are not. Uh help me understand how we've arrived at that. Yeah, actually that changed I want to say maybe about 6 years ago uh Mr. Craven and it covers everything from transportation costs uh getting our students to all the different conference uh games that they have as well as the increasing costs for um our our our officials. Um every year the WIA establishes a rate for officials and we must comply. We don't have a choice in that. Um but you're right, other things such as um uh uniforms, um
072materials, those sorts of things. Uh we have increased costs, uh as you know, our our uh coaching costs are indexed to our base teacher wage. Uh so that also as that goes up, so too would be our fees to help offset that. So whole whole cascade of things really kind of play into that fee. And we've not touched that fee. I want to say in probably five or six years. I could be wrong about that. couple whatever the year right before I think this was I think to 75 if you upped it to 80 there you have we didn't go very very high but okay and then most sports that have a booster club will ask for an additional fee like for sub sandwiches away games and things like that but and offset's probably the
073right word in that in terms of the total cost of running the athletic department word yes Yeah, that's a big expense in school districts, but it's such a worthy expense. It's so good for our kids in our community. The only uniform thing doesn't cover is anybody's shoes. Any play that's the one thing you have to cover. Yeah, I know. Yeah. NHN will help with shoes in case anyone needs help on on paying for shoes and for any other athletic expenses too. Uh just because you asked and I would expect you to have this number handy. How many students would be affected by that change in transportation fees? You know, I really don't know the answer to that, but that is certainly something we could research uh if it's important to the board to figure out.
074Right now, it will likely change based upon when we make any such recommendation. We will have, as Brian mentioned, more students will be covered um by the UHT. Um, so all the more reason that those who are utilizing this tool um might um it might be necessary for us to make some kind of modification to help cover the the freight for the price. I would say save it till it's permanent. Thank you. Yeah, wait and see how the factors line up. Anything point of curiosity. Excellent. Um for a motion. Yes, that would be important to do. Uh we have a motion for the to approve the 2025 202 26 school fees. Motion to approve. Second. Motion by Tom, second by Leah. Any further discussion? All in favor? I I. Anyone opposed? Motion [Music] passes. Uh
075to number eight, citizen comments. Any further signups? Nope. on your fifth day. Thanks, Michelle. Excellent. Uh schedule of next meetings, Dr. Seno, anything that you'd like to call out? Uh just want to recognize uh thank you to board member for recognizing that uh building jobs and transportation. They'll have every courthouse. Uh KO will meet on Tuesday, I believe that's the 27th of May, uh 5:30 p.m. virtually. Um cuz we have a couple things we want to button up. [Music] Yeah, absolutely. Item 11 contemplated close session per section 19.851C Wisconsin statutes to consider employment, promotion, compensation, or performance evaluation data of any public employee of which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility. Deliberating or negotiating the purchasing of public properties, the investing of public funds, or conducting other specified public business whenever competitive or
076bargaining reasons require the close session to it. Negotiation planning plan access and superintendent midyear review. This would be a roll call to go into close session. We need a motion. Thank you, cler. Leah moves. Tom seconds. Announce the roll call. Joel, yes. Leah, yes. Jessica, yes. Sarah, yes. Tom, yes. Myself is a yes. We allow about five minutes. I think that five minutes would be great. Perfect. Thank you.