MCSD Board Meeting

001All right welcome to the board And we want to excuse board member Jill Waite who is joining us through the zoom link But that will she will be unable to vote this evening, but she will be present in listening and participating in that manner and With that we'd like to welcome Grant Elementary for our Pledge of Allegiance tonight. Thank you All right. And we have an exciting evening tonight, and we have an administrative appointment to take care of tonight. I love nights like tonight. Thank you, President. I am inviting Sam Salinas to join me here. All the way up, I know! All right, well it is my pleasure to present Sam Salinas. He is the individual we have selected to be the next principal of Hillcrest Junior High School. He is currently serving as the

002assistant principal, and his principalship will be effective beginning July 1st when the current principal, Dr. Reynolds, moves to the high school to become the high school principal. Sam has an amazing wealth of knowledge, both in administration as well as in teaching. He has been an administrator not only in Murray, but in Park City and in Salt Lake School District, as well as in La Paz. La Paz, Mexico, which is fantastic. We appreciate all that both he and Dr. Reynolds have done together, and we are very excited that Mr. Salinas, I want to make you a doctor. Do you want to be a doctor? Okay. I don't have that ability, but we'll just pretend. We are excited that Sam will become the principal of Hillcrest Junior High School, and we know that he has done an

003amazing... A lot of amazing things for Hillcrest, including with some of our multi-language learners and families, and we appreciate his passion and all that he has, and we look forward to him kind of helping us through the transition when we move to the middle school model in the 27-28 school year. He has done that in a previous district, so we feel very confident in his leadership there. So I would like to ask for a motion of support for Sam Salinas as the principal of Hillcrest Junior High School. Thank you. Is there a motion? I move that we approve Sam Salinas for the principal of the Hillcrest Junior High School. Is there a second? I second. All in favor? Aye. All right. Thank you. Fantastic. Well, congratulations. We'll do the congratulation handshake. And I'm going to

004just give him a few minutes because I always like people to get to talk up here. So give Dr. Salinas, I don't know. We're going to give Mr. Salinas, Assistant Principal Salinas, soon-to-be Principal Salinas, a few minutes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. So thank you, board. It's a pleasure to take on this role. I'm really, really excited, especially with next year and moving forward with moving on to a middle school model. Excited and know that there's a lot of work to do. But we have a wonderful... community and the culture when you step into Hillcrest is just amazing. I recognized it the first day I got in there, just seeing all those. flags on the ceilings and knowing that all of the students that have gone through Hillcrest can be represented that

005way. And just the camaraderie with our teachers. We have some amazing teachers in Hillcrest and I feel just humbled and honored to accept the nomination to come in. And looking forward to working with Hillcrest. So go Gladiators. Thank you very much and then also exciting tonight we have some special recognitions So I'll turn the time back to superintendent Covington for more fun fantastic So I would like to invite assistant superintendent Wee Hongi up to present the teacher of the year and the licensed employee of the years for the Murray City School District All right, the celebration continues. We, every year, have the privilege of recognizing and nominating outstanding teachers and licensed employees at all of our district schools. And the nominations are all sent in by their administration. And the write-ups that the administration send

006in to us are just amazing. We have just some... high caliber educators in our district and it's very difficult when we have to choose just one teacher of the year and one licensed professional of the year because they all are deserving of it but there can only be one. So I would like to first invite up our teacher of the year for 25-26 school year and that is Miss Katie Graham. So I'm just going to read a couple of excerpts of what Principal Burnside, and we appreciate her being here tonight to support her teacher in this award. This is what Principal Burnside said. Katie's been actually teaching in the district for 12 years. 12 years is your entire career, right? And then currently teaches fifth grade. Have they all been at Grant Elementary? Yes. Okay,

007been at Grant. So obviously she's beloved at Grant Elementary. But these are a few things that were said about Katie. Parents regularly share their child's year in Katie's class. That their child's are in Katie's class has been the best school year they've experienced they appreciate the clear communication the positive Relationships she builds with students and the confidence their children develop as learners in the classroom I honestly cannot say enough good things about Katie. She has this incredible calming presence that makes everyone around her feel at ease. But she's also one of the most innovative teachers I've worked with. She's always coming up with fresh, creative ways to keep the kids engaged. And because she's so hardworking and prepared, her lessons always land perfectly. What really sets her apart is how much she genuinely listens and

008cares. She treats students, parents, and fellow teachers with so much respect that everyone naturally rallies around her. She constantly is looking for new ways to help every single person succeed, and that's why she is so deeply respected by the whole school community. Grant is so lucky that she is a part of the school community, and she is definitely worthy of the Honor of Teacher of the Year. Congratulations. I just wanted to say thank you to the administration at Grant and the district because I feel like they really have supported me and all teachers with whatever we've needed, especially when it comes to what we feel is right for the students. And I feel like we've really been supported that way. So thank you very much. We also have many educators in our district who are

009not specifically in teaching positions, but they are licensed educators that serve in important roles. And those are our school counselors, our social workers, our media center coordinators, and so forth. And so the licensed professional of the year that has been selected for 2026 is Carolyn Martinez-Ross from Murray High. Now, Carolyn was actually my last hire as the principal of Murray High, and then I left. And so I take responsibility for this one. Thank you very much. But Carolyn is an amazing educator. She's been four years here in Murray and a total of 20 years in education. These are some of the things that Principal Indy has said about Carolyn. One of the most powerful examples of her impact is the creation and growth of Murray's. Murray High's Student Book Club, an initiative that has transformed

010the school library into a vibrant hub of conversation, curiosity, and community. What began as a small gathering of a few interested readers quickly expanded into one of the most dynamic student organizations at Murray High. One of Carolyn's most important contributions is the sense of belonging she has cultivated among students by intentionally creating opportunities for students. from different academic programs, grade levels, and backgrounds to gather and discuss literature, she has helped break down social barriers that can often divide a high school community. Because of Carolyn Martinez Ross, Murray High School is not only a place where students learn, it is a community where reading, conversation, and empathy are celebrated. Carolyn's mindset is rooted in inclusion, curiosity, and student-centered learning. She approaches conversations with belief that every individual has something valuable to contribute, and this perspective shapes

011the way she engages with the school community. As a result, Carolyn has earned a strong reputation among colleagues, students, and parents. She is widely respected for her positivity. reliability, and dedication to supporting students' growth both academically and personally. Congratulations. I'm a former English teacher. I wrote stuff down. So thank you. This is a tremendous honor and I can't express how grateful I am. As some of you know, the first 14 years of my career were spent as a military spouse. So Murray is my fifth school in four states where I've been an educator. I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. And so I feel confident when I say that Murray District and Murray High School are very, very special places. I am only able to do my work the way that I

012do it because Murray has made a commitment to student achievement and literacy by allowing its librarians to actually be librarians. Unlike my colleagues in other districts, I'm not expected to fix Chromebooks to provide ed tech support or to manage student systems. I'm allowed to devote 100% of my time to making the library an inviting, engaging space full of the best books, makerspace materials, games, puzzles, and resources we can have. I'm allowed to work with my colleagues in their classrooms to teach students research and information literacy skills. And I'm allowed to try new things, to be creative, and most of all, to encourage kids to read. Not every district makes use of its school librarians or our expertise the way Murray does, and I don't think I could do any of the things that you recognize

013tonight without the support all our libraries and librarians receive from Superintendent Covington, the board, and our principals. On a personal note, I would also like to express my appreciation to the people who have, from the minute I walked in the door, as a new employee and an applicant in some cases, that made me feel welcome and cared about. Superintendent Covington, the first time I met you, I went to introduce myself and you said, oh, Carolyn, I already know who you are. That is the first time in my career a superintendent has known my name. Emily Bird, whose genuine warmth and care walked me through more than a few bad days. Assistant Superintendent Wahongi, whose decision to hire me has led to the happiest four years of my professional life. Dr. Eschler, who's been incredibly engaged

014and eager to work with me and my fellow secondary librarians this year. And of course, Quinn Lindy, who immediately saw how valuable a space our library is, and who has given me unflagging support and trust over the time we've worked together. And I need to also extend many thanks to my closest colleague, Linda Harris, whose friendship, advice, and dedication to our work makes possible everything we do. And of course I need to thank my husband, Vaughn, and children, Cog and David. It's not every husband who will tell his boss that he needs to leave work early twice a week for three years to take care of his young children so his wife can get a graduate degree, much less to say go for it when I decided to go back for a second one only

015a few years later. And it's not every kid who will read every book I put in their hands, especially when sometimes they're books they don't really want to read, but I need the opinion of a teen for library reasons. I love you all more than I can say. And while they are not here tonight, I need to acknowledge the amazing students of Murray High School. It's a privilege and a pleasure to be their librarian, to introduce them to new ideas, cultures, places, and stories through books, and to see them grow and mature into the remarkable young people they become during the three years they are with us. The work is nothing without them. Thank you. And now I'd like to invite Director Taggart up to present our Education Support Professional of the Year. Laurie, will

016you come up here, please? Well, if you get nervous, just grab the flowers. You'll be all right. Well, it is my pleasure to present Lori Aloy as the Educational Support Professional of the Year for Murray City School District. Here's some items that are written about Lori. Lori Aloy has been working with our students in small groups since 2003. That's 23 years of impact on student learning, and that is commitment. As a teacher, Laurie's students know they are cared for by the way she greets them and treats them, all with dignity and respect. Students are happy to be placed in her groups. Her expectations are high and reinforced with gentleness so that they reach their full potential. As a colleague, Laurie is hardworking and dedicated to her work. She uses her prep time to not only

017prepare her lessons, but also to ask questions about what is best for the students in her groups. She is willing to adapt to the needs of the students, the needs of her peers, and train new ESPs as they come on board. By her words and actions, she displays the attitude of, I'll make it work. Laurie embodies Murray's mission of every student, every opportunity, every day by making the most of the time she has to teach her students for their success. She was punctual, planned, and positive in her work ethic. She is a vital part of the We Are Murray team, and Parkside is proud to have Lori working with us. Congratulations. Well, I hope not, because I didn't prepare anything. But thank you so much. As I was thinking after I received this, which was

018total shock, I remembered I have three sons. Two of them are here today, tonight with me. And I actually started in the Murray School District when my youngest, who is... the biggest of all three sons. He's on the end. Anyway, I started in McMillan Elementary in Kathy Reynolds' first grade classroom, and he was in that classroom. And then from there, the next year, I went to Parkside Elementary and have been there 23 years ever since. And it's been great. I've worked with some wonderful... These three ladies in the middle right here. Wonderful, wonderful ladies and men. And it's been great there. And thank you so much. It's been an honor to receive this. Thank you. Thank you, and congratulations to everyone. We'll move down to the consent agenda, and do we have a motion to

019approve that? I move that we approve the consent agenda. Is there a second? All in favour? Aye. All right, thank you. That passes. And then we'll move to our delegations. And first up, we have the Grant Elementary PTA. And Holly Hills is here with some helpers. So welcome, welcome. Okay, don't tell anybody, but I'm making this up as I go. So I just have a little quick snapshot of a few things that we've done this year, and then we have some of our sixth graders here to talk about our Bulldog Boutique that our amazing Kelly Sanis is over. And are you doing yearbook too or just Bulldog Boutique? Yes? Okay, great. I think we've had a successful year at Grant. The PTA has sponsored several fun events and activities this year. We had a great

020carnival in September as our big fundraising event for the year. We had holiday shop in December. for the students to shop for friends and family, battle the books with lots of books read, and then test it on through competition and fun. Students and teachers have been able to take extra field trips this year because of a PTA grant. We have field day coming up, our sixth grade and teacher kickball game, and other fun things left for the crazy month of May. So I think we've had a great, successful year, and take it away. We did this so we can raise money for the tech club and so we can have more money to purchase things. Nice. Could you guys tell us what your name is and something that you love about school? Everything just makes

021sense and there's always a right answer. My name is Deirdre and I really like Mrs. She's really fun. My name is Excellent. Hey, thank you. Thanks for coming tonight. Our next delegation is the Murray Education Association and we have Mr. Bay and Mr. Bay. Welcome. Hi, thanks for having me. So first of all, we just finished negotiations with the district. We've always had a really good relationship with the district. Those always go fairly well, pretty quick. And we really appreciate what the board was willing to approve. Our constituents, our members have ratified that. And so we're going to move forward with that, and we really appreciate that. So that's working out great for us, and it's really important for you to know that we appreciate what you do for us and what you're willing to

022kind of... the things you're willing to do to help us make this a better place to work. And it's for the people that are here now, and it's also for attracting the best talent that we can attract in the classrooms. And I hope that the community understands that the school board really does put a lot of work and time. effort in making this a place where people want to work. And I think I can speak for myself at Murray High School. We have great teachers. We have great people working there. And my kids have all gone through Murray School District. We've always had really good people that have worked with our kids from, you know, licensed professionals to teachers to our paras. Everybody that's been working with them has been really good. And that's because

023the district puts a priority on making this a good place to work. So we really, really appreciate that. We... are having some leadership changes so Mark Allred is his term has ended as the vice president and Jessica Demand is going to be filling that spot and then Crystal Norman's executive board seat is opened up and that's going to be filled by Andy Hokanson. We want to thank Mark and Crystal for their service. Mark and they've both been going for quite a while. Mark a really long time. And we appreciate them a lot. So that's about it from us. That's kind of what's going on. And we appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. And the next is the Murray Association of Administrators. And Mr. Cox. He has asked to be excused this evening. Thank you. Perfect.

024And then the Murray Education Support Professionals Association. MESPA. I like saying that one. We've got Mr. Burnett with us tonight. for MEA. She'll throw me under the bus, what she'll do. No, we want to appreciate, say thank you for the negotiations and the many things that you've done. We've also done, added to our executive board, Marcia Hanson in transportation is our current vice president and Dane Cowell in... Can't think of the department. He's in the paint crew, but I can't. Maintenance, thank you, will be our secretary at the moment. So we're moving up and we're doing good. We're grateful for the many opportunities that we get to help with making decisions. We have had a voice in helping with insurance committees and other things. And so we just want to express our gratitude for letting

025us have a little bit of a say-so into. those important things in our department and employees of the here at Murray School District. And, you know, we've been here at Murray for many years and we're grateful to continue to push forward. So appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. All right. And we've got for the Murray Education Foundation, Mr. Perry. Thank you. So tonight's report is I preset for you is a copy of our. Connections report so each of you has a copy of those and in there you can see highlighted all the activities of 20 25 26 school year in summary it was a great year and I know our board members are proud of the organization and are proud of the support that we receive and are able to render the Murray School District

026we have a lot to look forward to in the 25 or 26 27 school year including our golf tournament, which will be August the 28th. And we're already 65% sold out. If you want to play golf, you better hurry. But we're much further along than we were last year. So it's going to be another great year. We're excited to jump in and help teachers and students with these teacher grants that are so important to the learning experiences of our students. So thank you to the Board of Education for your support of the foundation. and of all of our activities, and all of you, I look across, have shown up for the foundation throughout the year multiple times. You're everywhere we are, and we appreciate that. We know it's an extension of the collective work that

027we do together as a Murray family, and we so appreciate all of that effort that are put forth for teachers, students, and their families. So thanks a lot. Thank you. And that picture from the pinnacle of Mrs. Watts in this brochure, that is priceless. Yes. Great job on that. And then did we have patron statements tonight? All right. Thank you. Oh, yes. Okay. So now is the time to hear from our public, and we welcome your comments, which are important to us. Please note that all comments are limited to three minutes, with a total of 30 minutes set aside for public comments. And then if you are speaking for a group, if you'll just state that at the beginning, so Richard Reese is our timer, and if you're speaking on behalf of a group and

028presenting that, then you get five minutes rather than the three, but we need to know that up front so he can set the right timer. So public statements are welcome for new issues, new program or policy suggestions, and other issues that have not recently come before the board. During this segment of the meeting, statements are not allowed regarding bidding, contracts, employment or personnel issues, criticism of individual district employees, and complaints where other appeals are available. Repetition of issues recently discussed in a board meeting are items which have a separate public hearing. During this portion of the meeting we ask that the audience refrain from clapping or cheering and when your name is called please go to the podium to comment and it's helpful for the board if you give us your name and please address

029your remarks to the board chair. And note that we will not be entering into dialogue at this time. The purpose of this agenda item is for you, the public, to inform us, the board, about your views. And if members of the public have factual questions, staff will be glad to address them after the meeting. So first we have Jody Holman, and it looks like it's noted that you are representing a group, so that will be a five-minute time on this one. Thanks, Jody. All right. Hello, Board Chair. Thank you for taking the time to hear from us. My name is Jody Holman, and I am representing a group from Longview Elementary. I know you have received many emails, phone calls, letters, and even a video message from many of our community members vocalizing their thoughts

030and concerns related to the decision regarding school closures and boundary adjustments. We know this is not easy on anybody, but we would also like our voice to be heard. We have been told that you as board members are using this data-informed approach that considers school proximity, realistic walking distances, major transportation corridors and existing neighborhood cohesion. A central priority was to keep neighborhoods together whenever possible. Additionally, you have mentioned you are ensuring students continue to benefit from optimal class sizes and access a range of academic programs. We would like to note that in looking at the maps from the last month's study session, the map indicating a long view closure and extended liberty boundaries resulted in a total resident and non-resident count equating to 252 students. That number is less than what Longview has today and

031does not feel as though it is creating a more balanced enrollment across the district. Additionally, this same map creates a boundary from the north side of our district to the south side of our district, which splits neighborhoods, decreases the realistic walking ability of many schools, and more school boundaries cross major transportation corridors. We understand that bus routes will change as boundaries are realigned in the district, but there does not seem to be much benefit to any of the proposed points of consideration with the Longview closure map. For these points, we would like... to state that Longview should remain open. Now to address what we feel are points lacking from the criteria previously mentioned and posted on the district's website and yet should be at the forefront of this discussion. Students, their education, and the community.

032Longview has a synergistic community that has strong parent backing. Today, Longview received a Utah PTA award for doubling our membership in just this past year. This shows parents are involved and care about our students' education. Just this year, upwards of 30 activities were held to support the school, its teachers and staff, and its students. These events also created a unique opportunity for the community involvement and learning. Murray police officers, individuals holding various work positions, Murray Library, etc., were all able to come and interact with the students at Longview. These types of enhanced educational experiences don't just happen. They happen because the parents have bonded together in care. And yes, you may say that these same caring parents would adjust to the new environment, but that takes time, and time is something that is fleeting for

033our students. Don't blink, because if you do, our kindergartners will be graduating. Our students matter, and disbanding Longview community will not help our students' education. There will likely be a decline in these learning opportunities, as parents also will have to have an adjustment period to feel welcomed and supported. Longview has a robust community supporting it. As many of you have heard, in just three and a half months, our community raised $60,000 for two new playgrounds. This was done through an auction where over 120 items were donated and auctioned off through various bake sales and through straight community donations. The majority of these funds were collected from individual families and local small businesses that want to see Longview thrive. This type of involvement and care show the heart of the community and our love for Longview.

034Longview is a school that welcomes everybody and has exceptional staff to help those with individual needs. While I realize many schools have these types of programs and professionals, Longview's staff and the students' daily schedules have been structured to create an inclusive environment. Interventions to accommodate students' needs do not just meet the minimal requirements, but instead highly prioritize making the student feel as though they are like anyone else. This is one of the reasons that Longview is so special. I will speak to one instance that I know of where an individual who has both educational and dietary needs that are required to be addressed on a daily matter. Although on an IEP, the student simply goes to reading and or math groups just like any other kid. Their unique individual needs are met by the highly

035skilled Longview SCAF. staff while also allowing this child to still fit in with their peers. Similarly with their dietary needs the Longview lunch staff goes above and beyond to make sure their obligation to provide lunch is not only met but that the student has food choices that are kid-friendly, nutritional and similar to their peers. Longview truly has people that care. Longview is embedded in a neighborhood that provides safety from speeding cars on many busy streets. Its limited access points provide the security and visibility of knowing who is coming to and from the school In talking with other parents, many parents in Murray don't even know where the school is. They just know it exists. That's the way that we like it. I still have 20 seconds. With all of these points, I would like to

036reiterate that Longview is not the school to close. We are happy to welcome new students and families to our already thriving, supportive, and safe community. We are the Longview Lions, and we hope you will continue to let us roar. Go Longview Lions! Thank you, Jody. Right next is Amelia Gallegos, and she will also be representing a group. Forgive me. Can you hear me? Yes, I'm representing a group to talk about the closure of Longview Elementary School. Deeply against it. I have a seven-year-old daughter who goes to Longview Elementary in first grade. I also have an almost three-year-old son who will... I am planning on him going to Longview Elementary. I just want to talk about a little bit kind of what Jody was talking about, is how we have in Longview a sub-community within Murray.

037When you think about Longview, it's completely surrounded by neighborhoods. It's completely surrounded by houses. And what you don't know about this school is that it's such a strong community ties. People in our neighborhood have specifically chose to stay in the Murray borders to stay in Murray City Because of this school and where it resides people have planned their where they're going to live, whether to add on their houses, whether to retire elsewhere. I speak for a family, the Wack family, who has had three generations of their family members at Longview Elementary and have come upon an opportunity to take care of their granddaughter. And what is specifically keeping them here is the community here at Longview. This is a student that would have not originally been here, but has... Chosen to stay here because of

038what longview contributes to this community you have Sarah Erickson's family is also another three generation that has been at Longview and has specifically bought property in this neighborhood specifically to go to this elementary school I know I personally have chosen to stay in Murray Murray boundaries and in this location specifically because of where this school is located This school itself, it's not even just the Longview Elementary family that's all going here. There are communities from neighborhoods over that come to this school to engage with neighbors and friends and family. Honestly, children bring out the best community in any neighborhood, and the fact that this elementary school resides in this neighborhood brings out our community. When we first moved here, we had no kids, and within a year and a half, we had a daughter. And

039what engaged me to go and talk to my neighbors and my community is being out there with my child. Going out there and meeting the neighbors, knowing who they are, it gets you to talk to your neighbors, gets you to talk to the people in your community, find out what's going on, how can you help, how can I help, you know, what. What resources can we give to each other? And that's literally what Longview is. It is a resource for the community. And honestly, I do personally believe that if you close this school, you will have rippling effects throughout Murray City. People will choose to move out of this neighborhood because this is what is keeping people here. This is their ties to the community. You talk about how the studies of students. Where they

040have their biggest impact is in fourth grade and fifth grade in elementary school that is where you will make your biggest impact of community influence in the best education you can give and Why not keep it here? All the other schools that can come here and come and join our school, our community will accept them and love them and show them and see how an amazing support we have, an amazing staff, an amazing pair of professionals that live in the neighborhood and work in this community specifically. It would be absolutely devastating to close this school, and I promise you it will have rippling effects. That I hope you guys are collecting the proper data and if you're using the census that is so outdated And I'd like to talk to you guys after to find

041out where you guys are collecting your data Because on my street alone six new families have moved in and you are they are not aware that this school is closing and they specifically moved to this neighborhood because of that school so we had to go and talk to them and let them know hey by the way, they're looking at closing this school and They would have never known because they're not part of the elementary just yet. They have two more years before they're going to be coming. And I don't know if that's even properly taken into account. That's all I have to say. I think, honestly, closing the school would be damaging to Marie. It really would. Thank you. Thank you. All right, Adam LaFortune. You can probably guess what I'm going to comment about.

042So my name is Adam LaFortune. I'm a 12-year resident of Murray and a parent of a first and fourth grader at Longview. I'm also an architect specializing in K-12 design, although I'm mainly here as a parent, not... as a representative of my firm. But I just wanted to strongly urge the board to keep Longview open. Frankly, I was surprised to hear that it was closing. I think of all the sites that Murray has, Longview hits so many boxes and is so exceptional that I was surprised it was even being considered. Of all the school sites I've seen in my work, I've been on half a dozen or more elementary projects around the state and toward many others around the country. I am confident in saying that Longview is probably one of the safest sites I've

043ever seen just by virtue of its location, the houses surrounding it. It's one of the few schools we have that's not right on a major street, so many kids can bike and walk safely. And it's very well monitored. And as the state has been moving forward with its state security chief, Matt Pennington, in guidelines, so many of those hard-to-achieve guidelines, which involve the site and the security, not just... the building those are already well above par in my opinion so this this location matters a lot and that's something that we can't replicate or or change or duplicate I also feel like this site is very valuable as a long-term district asset Because of its proportions its shape where the current building sits it's probably one of the most feasible sites in terms of building replacement

044or Consolidating campuses whatever direction that goes Just for fun on my free time. I took a Elementary school I recently worked on and was playing around with the footprint on this site It's double the capacity of Longview, and I think it would be a very viable option But as Ms. Gallegos and Ms. Holman have already said, what really matters to us is the culture, the staff, the community that Longview fosters. It's a place where the staff knows the kids by name and, in many cases, the parents. I've shown up on a couple of occasions to pick up my kids for some reason, and they'll remember me on the second visit. It's a place where my kids enjoy getting up and going in the morning, which is not typical of their personality They love their teachers.

045They love their community. They love the carnivals and the open houses the extracurricular programs of choir drama art it's We had no idea Longview existed when we moved in and we are so happy that it's there. I think it's a real hidden gem for Murray and for the state and I think closing it would be a great mistake. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Adam. All right, we have Cherie Larson who is speaking for a, or representing a group. I am not speaking about the same subject. I just wanted to say thank you. I am at the end of my three years as your PTA president for the district. And so I wanted to introduce our new council president will be Ashley Maples. So I'll turn some time to her. But I just wanted

046to thank you for working with us, for being so supportive of PTA. Again, this has been said earlier, but Ms. Covington comes to our meetings. She knows everyone by name. Jill Waite has been so valuable as a part of our PTA board, and I feel like our presidents are well informed of what's going on in the district, and we are so grateful. Thank you very much. And then I'm going to introduce Ashley so you'll know who she is. She will be our PTA president moving forward after July 1st. And I'm going to yield my time to her because she also, as part of the Longview community, wanted to make a comment too. Thank you, Cherie. Thank you, and I am excited and nervous to fill Cherie's really big shoes. But I'm very excited to be

047part of and to continue supporting our teachers and our parents and our students in this capacity. Now, if I may speak for just a moment, as a parent and not as an official PTA representative of this district, as a parent of four children who have attended or are currently attending Longview, I would like to make a few short statements. We are in support of the decision of the district. Our children are some of the many. who are bused to Longview each day due to the access issues with the Jordan River. We recognize that due to this, our kids will always have to ride a bus to school. We are okay with that. However, attendance to Longview has sometimes been a challenge, but given the distance. While we adore the school, we adore our teachers and

048all of their friends, we sometimes have not always felt welcomed because we do not live in the neighborhood. Furthermore, our kids are bused to, because of the bus. requirements, they go to Riverview, where all of their friends go to Hillcrest Junior High. And so that creates some feelings of loneliness, some feelings of alienation, some feelings of not being able to, you know, really fit in in seventh grade because they're with a whole new group of kids. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you, Ashley. All right, we have Caitlin DeMoss, who is speaking on behalf of a group. I am representing Longview parents and also some of those who recently in the community business side of the community donated towards the new playgrounds. And I just want to say, Kelly, thank you

049so much. I already sent a letter and thank you so much for your very thoughtful response. It was nice to feel heard. And I just wanted to, again, state why this school is such a gem in the Murray School District and why we just. hope and pray that we can keep the school for many many many generations to come my husband went to longview elementary school his father went to longview elementary school and now three out of our four boys have gone to longview had loved it never had to fight them a day to go from the very first day that our oldest one went to kindergarten and our youngest will be scheduled to start kindergarten there in the 2027 2028 year when this closing decision is going to have impact. And I didn't fully

050appreciate why it was so important to my husband when an opportunity to move within the Longview boundaries opened itself that he wanted to live there until my kids started going there. And it is a very tight-knit community and Longview is literally and metaphorically speaking the heart of this part of Murray. And I've seen how everyone bands together to nurture this school and its staff and its students to provide them not only with quality education and art opportunities and physical education opportunities, but just nurturing in their character and to give them a space that feels safe where they can belong. I do definitely sympathize with those who are not in the immediate boundaries because that was my... experience growing up. I went to a school where I had to be bused in. All my other friends

051went to a different elementary school and I went to a different junior high. But I wouldn't trade that elementary school experience at all because the teachers were like the teachers that I see here at Longview where they saw me, they took time for me individually, they knew my parents by name. My youngest is so excited to go to school, he already thinks of himself as a Longview Lion because when he walks through the doors, the principal greets him by name, the secretary greets him by name, the teachers all know him by name, half the students know him by name and cheer him on. He recognizes the hallways and... and the classrooms, it's a safe space for him where he looks forward to learning. The school, as it's been stated, is surrounded by the homes of

052those who go there, who volunteer there, who teach there. I feel comfortable sending my kids to walk to school every day. I think it's an important part also of their learning to be independent, getting from point A to point B and feeling confident that they can do it and that mom trusts them. And additionally, you know, as I've been reading... For example, that book, The Anxious Generation, where it talks about how important it is for kids to be able to have autonomy and to be able to go out and practice social skills on their own without parents hovering. My oldest, who is now 12, he gets together with his friends. They go to the school after classes are over, and they play games, and they do night games, and they play sports. And I know

053that I can call any of those parents around the school and say, do you have eyes on my kid? Are they there? Can you yell out to them and send them home? And I don't have to give them a phone, and I can send them. out to practice those social skills and those values that we've been talking about at home and in the classrooms. And this community has demonstrated how committed they are to the school in that recent fundraising event. And those businesses, they value having that school there because it does have a rippling effect. And it really is just more than a school. It is a family. And it would be a tragedy to lose that. So thank you so much. Thank you. And that is all I have for tonight, but I just

054wanted to recognize those that have their name on the paper that chose to give their voice to a representative. So we see you and thank you. Then we'll move on to the report of the board, and we'll start with Jaron, if that's all right. Sure. This last month, we've had the opportunity to... Celebrate that our professionals and teachers for the lunch as well as our support staff with a lunch I always enjoy attending that and getting to know some of the staff a little more intimately than Usually on an official capacity and learning who they are and what magic that they bring to the district So I appreciate those opportunities and I'm glad that we do find opportunity to recognize our staff as much as possible Lastly, I want to just acknowledge all the emails

055that I've received. I have read them all. All the handwritten letters I have read from all the parents, alumni, and even some students, which I think were my favorite. So I just wanted to just voice that I have read them, and I appreciate your input and comments. Thank you. And Elizabeth? Okay. I do not have much to report from the last month. I just want to say welcome to the home stretch. Hope you guys survived the last couple weeks of school. And coming up, I will be attending the retirement dinner next week. And tonight, I will be excusing myself early to attend my son's band concert at Hillcrest in about 20 minutes. Thank you. You know, I don't really have anything to report tonight. I just wanted to start by thanking the city for recognizing

056Liberty Elementary and their kindness crusade. And their most kind student got some fun recognition, but they treated them to a night at the movies at the Murray Theatre. And I really appreciate the camaraderie that we have with our city and appreciate that we really are a small town disguised as a big city. Also, I am very excited that the press release and information has become public and out there about the APEC Center that we get to enjoy here. And working with such a great team of people and the hard work that went in behind the scenes for that to create this opportunity for our students is astounding. And I just wanted to speak a moment into that and just how fun that the team that... We're meeting with big people in the state and representatives

057and having conversations with national people and just really excited that this opportunity has come our way. Just wanted to highlight the multicultural night at Murray High School. I really enjoyed seeing what those students did that night and appreciate their advisor for giving them the freedom to own that evening. And it was really fun to see what they came up with. I really appreciated attending the Fill the Truck event with the Murray Education Foundation. There was an architect firm that invited lots of people to come bring food and bikes for the students of Murray. And car after car pulled up with just the entire car full of Costco Run. And we just moved it into this big truck. And it just warmed my heart to know that people in Salt Lake who don't even know our

058students and these businesses that don't really have much tie to Murray gave from their hearts and were willing to take care of our students. The school plays that we have are phenomenal. Our district, I just love this place. And so just the efforts of the parents and the directors and the... families and the kids that are brave enough to do that. Thank you. I really love watching the school plays. Really enjoyed attending horizons fun run That was really fun to My daughter's a para there, and so it was really fun I didn't think I'd see my child in a fun run ever again, but there she was running with her students And then the Murray partners for prevention committee that I serve on is really getting the ball's been kind of pushed up the hill

059and it's starting to kind of roll now and it's That's a great thing to see happen. And so they're pooling right now resources. They've kind of defined some things to focus on, and now they're working on pooling the resources to see what we have established already to see kind of where some needs might be that need to be filled. And then always enjoy attending the attendance committee meetings. And we have, I don't know if our community is aware of this, but there's a team of... people serving at the district level that their sole focus is on attendance. So they look at data and they have campaigns and they have such great ideas moving forward and I just really am glad to be part of that committee where I can see that there's so much care

060for the students and the families because sometimes it's more of a... kind of a wrap around looking at the family and what is needed and resources and sometimes it's as simple as giving the kid an alarm clock so that he can wake up on time to get to school. So I really enjoy being part of that committee and echo Jaron's sentiments on the lunch. the luncheons that we had to celebrate some of our special people. And that is all I have for the report of the board. So we'll move on to board business. And we have an initial notice of consideration of school closure. I would like to make a motion that pursuant to Utah Code 53G-4-402, I move that the Murray City School District Board of Education... Provide initial notice that Liberty Elementary School

061is under consideration for closure effective for the 2027-2028 school year. Is there a second? I'll second. And any discussion on the motion? I just want to make it known that this has been a long time coming, and closing one school hopefully will be all that we have to do. And it has nothing to do with... anything other than attendance numbers, but students. So I hope that as we make these boundary changes that all of our schools will... Make adjustments as new people come and new people will leave the boundaries boundaries will be changed and that will be Difficult, so I love that we've had viewmont here tonight representing, but I think that Longview sorry I had viewmont down on my paper I think all of our schools have that same community feel, and so hopefully

062as we know that this will be a disruption to some students, as they will be assigned different schools, our boundaries will change, and especially our Liberty community, that we will continue that spirit of Murray and welcome all of the new students and all of the changes that will come with this. All right. Any other discussion? Okay all in favor aye and any opposed I oppose With that it passes so we'll move forward and I just wanted to take a minute to just kind of talk about the next steps, but This is a difficult moment for our district While the data regarding birth rates and housing costs makes the structural need for this decision clear. We're fully aware of the human cost A school is more than a building. It's a cornerstone of our neighborhoods and

063a place where lifelong memories are made. Closing a school is a profound transition and we do not take that lightly. I want to specifically acknowledge the families who engaged with this process with quiet, thoughtful reflection. And we appreciate those looking closely at the data alongside of us, processing the difficult realities of our enrollment numbers with grace. and a deep commitment to the greater good of all Murray students. Your strength and your trust in the facts have been invaluable as we work through this data-driven process. Our focus now must be on moving forward together. We're not just realigning boundaries, we're weaving communities together. And we're committed to ensuring that every student, teacher, and staff member feels welcomed, supported, and valued as this process unfolds. We're providing this initial notice early in the process so that the

064board and the community have time to evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed school closure including possible boundary realignments So here's some dates. At the August 13th Board of Education meeting, the board will consider motions related to boundary changes associated with the proposed closure of Liberty Elementary School. And this is all. We have a timeline on the website. But initial notice regarding the proposed school closure and potential boundary realignment will be distributed via ParentSquare and U.S. Mail on August 24th, 2026. to all families who may be affected by the proposed changes. Then a public hearing regarding the proposed closure of Liberty Elementary School will be held on October 1st, 2026. In addition, public comment will be accepted during Board of Education meetings on October 15th and November 12th of 2026. And the board is scheduled

065to take final action regarding the proposed school closure and related boundary realignment on December 10th, 2026. And so this would be in effect for the 27-28 school year. All right. And with that, we'll move on to the report of the staff. And we've got the after-school programs report from Director Taylor. All right. I'm going to invite my Hillcrest Horizon and Parkside friends to come up. And while I'm doing that... We just wanted to highlight, we have amazing after-school things happening at all of our schools. And those look different in every building and are funded in a variety of ways. But we are exceptionally grateful to not only the Ron McBride Foundation, but also the Andrus Family Foundation and friends of their foundation. In addition to at Horizon and Hillcrest, we've also had the opportunity to

066partake of the 21st Century Grant and provide some... pretty awesome opportunities after school for our students and we just wanted the opportunity to highlight that and to continue to push the importance as We never know federally what's going to happen to continue to fight for that funding There's a new opportunity for us to reapply for the 21st century grant moving forward and we are including more schools and that request this time around So that we can continue to open these opportunities for all of our students and I think we're going in alphabetical order and Superintendent has given me her All right, so I'm Gabe Smith. I teach at Hillcrest. I run the after-school program with Sam If I could zoom in, I would. But for those of you right at the top, Sam's getting pied

067by his mom at our after school fundraiser. And the best part, if you could, if you could zoom in is like just totally aghast with just how crazy it was. Yeah, right there. It was such an amazing time getting the whole community together. But the after-school program for us at Hillcrest has been something that we've been working on for years. We've had countless support. It took me and Ms. Lamy years. Her and I have been teaching at Hillcrest for eight years now, and it took until Sam and Dr. Reynolds to... give us the green light. He's been our champion of after school programs for us at Hillcrest and it impacts hundreds of kids. We've got kids from seventh grade all the way to graduating seniors that come down to us every single day except Wednesdays

068and it's amazing to see where we've been, where we are and where we want to go. We are always thinking in a growth mindset when it comes to the after school program. It takes A lot of hard work to convince teachers to stay after work to be with our kids, but we offer so many programs. We started with seven teachers. We offered only 12 at the time, and as the year finished, we learned a lot of the mistakes, and we continued to progress, and we were able to really... grow our programs. Currently to where we are right now, we've got over 350 kids that are registered for our after-school program and throughout the year we've got different populations that do come in on a day-to-day basis, but what we are able to provide our kids

069is an opportunity to work on homework, be in a really great scenario where they have access to licensed educators. We've got upwards of 10 teachers. in the after school program every single day that are able to help these students and we've been able to see a very large increase within participation within clubs or programs within The grades that we have, and I think some of the best, the music that I hear, the music to my ears about the after school program is when a seventh grader that I don't know, because I don't teach them, I teach eighth and ninth graders, but they'll come up to me and they're like, Mr. Smith, this is the reason why I come to school is to come and do this program. And, you know, I'll get phone calls from

070parents that. They're like, my kids' grades did a complete 180 since we joined the program. And we've got kids that are experiencing new things that they never thought possible. We've got our climbing club or our climbing program that's going up into the Cottonwood Canyon tomorrow. And we do field trips. We have so much fun. We've got pickleball field trips. I take all of my Magic the Gathering and D&D kids on field trips because that was the initial start, and then it just, it's. It's been to so many different clubs and I could stand up here, honestly, for hours talking about just how incredible this program is. I couldn't do without the fellow teachers, the amazing L.A. that I've got. I couldn't do it with my my fellow horizon nights. I couldn't do it with, you

071know, the support from you guys. And if you ever have any questions about how we run it at Hillcrest, I'd love I honestly. I could bend your ear for hours on this because after-school program is so needed for these kids to stay off the school or stay off the streets, not doing nefarious things because they're in our programs, doing fun things, climbing. They get to go and experience novel ideas. And, yeah, just, I don't know, Sam, anything else that you? We do have lots of vision for the future on how to grow the program. We're not going to read all that stuff, but take a look. Gabe here is selling himself short. He's a powerhouse, and he's a way to convince those teachers, hey, you really want to be part of the after-school program. But

072the real power is seeing the kids go through, and it is amazing. Definitely worthwhile. These are a couple of... Oops. You messed it up. You messed it up. What'd you do, Sam? What do we do? How do I click it? Hold on. Oh, you got it. Sorry. Yeah. So... Here are the clubs that we offer all the way from prop making to climbing to nature walk. That's a recent one that we just got started. It's really cool. We got our math teacher involved with our social worker to take these kids out on walks to the park. We got the trading card game. That's my baby. The after school program is my baby, but trading card games and D&D is my baby baby. But Makerspace is amazing. Every single one of those has everything from sports

073to creative things. Laurie's going to kick my butt if I don't give her time. Thank you, Gabe. Thank you, guys. Okay, I'll move to the next slide. I'm Ari Treviso. I teach fourth grade Spanish at Horizon Elementary. And I'm Nicola Barron. I teach third grade Spanish as well. We're both site coordinators for the after school program. And I just wanted to start off with talking about how we started off the after school program. Horizon, I think, was chosen in the beginning because it is a Title I school. There was a high need for an after school program for our students to be in every single day. We started off kind of slow, one licensed teacher, one paraeducator. We had high schoolers coming in and being high school paras with us too and supporting our students.

074Where we are now, it's grown immensely. I'll let Nicole talk about that. Yeah, we just have grown a lot over the years like Hillcrest. We've been able to expand our staff, expand how many students are enrolled. We offer program every day and then on Wednesdays we offer it from 1-15 to 5-15 which is great because that is a need since we do offer it from kinder to sixth grade and so we're able to help those parents out as well. Just with the impact of our program, we've been able to help increase our attendance of those students at our program, help with their academic performance. We have licensed teachers providing the interventions for math and ELA and Spanish since we are a DLI school. And so they just get that extra academic help, which is awesome.

075Here's just a list of some of the enrichment activities that we offer, some fun pictures of our kiddos engaged in those as well. But I'll let you go ahead and take a look at that. But we really want to focus on where we're moving on and what we hope to accomplish in the future. We're hoping to expand our staff so we're able to have more students enrolled. We'd love to have more teachers to be more involved. Hillcrest is great at that. We're trying to help get more of our staff to see the benefit for them and the students in their classrooms, help get more transportation for our students. We used to have a bus to help our students get from school to home, and so we're hoping to have that again. and then just to

076continue to collaborate with classroom teachers. We really appreciate you guys when you came to our fundraiser and participated and the pieing in the face. We really appreciate all you've done for us. We appreciate Director Teo and, again, the staff at Hillcrest that we've been working with collaboratively. So it's been great, and we appreciate it. Yes, thank you. Sure, if you want to click. I wouldn't want my nails to get in the way. Parkside's in a little bit different situation. These schools have a lot of funding that comes to them. Our little program started a couple of years ago when a parent of ours had a connection at Thanksgiving Point, and we made that connection, and they became our business partner. They started coming two days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, providing science activities for our

077students. And each night there's 20 different kids that come to that program. Thanks to the Ron McBride, we started out the first time with $10,000, and they have upped that for us for $15,000. Obviously, you cannot run an after-school program with $15,000. So we're hoping to match what goes on over here because I do know Hillcrest is. doing some pretty amazing things and since Parkside our students go there we'd like to make sure that we're in collaboration and and letting our kids have those same activities. There's obviously we are a title one school we're about 90 percent right now for reduced lunch so our kids need this our big expense right now is our activity bus obviously we have five buses that come into our school. So getting those kids home, we want to make

078sure that they have the opportunity to attend those activities. They like it. It's fun. And I just have a slideshow. It's better than me talking. So I won't touch it. Thank you. And I just want to end by saying these things aren't possible without these dedicated people. And you can see their love for their communities and their students to continue to spend all kinds of hours off contract to make this possible for them. And we just wanted to be able to highlight that and the great things that are happening around our district. So thank you. Thank you. Then we'll turn the time to food and nutrition program yearly update with... Our Gwen Haycock, welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for letting me be here. I appreciate it. I just wanted to do a recap

079of what our child nutrition program does each year. Not only do we obviously provide meals to the students of Murray City, but there's some other things that we do that we get to have a little bit of fun with. So we help MEF with the golf tournament and provide breakfast and lunch for the attendees. We also get to participate in the holiday catering that... the district provides for the staff at each of the schools. This year we did our second Future Chef competition. And that was really fun. We had half the competitors this year, but it was still really fun, really enjoyed that, watching those students get in the kitchen and create. And then we participated in providing the meal for the Pinnacle Banquet, and that was a little bit of a challenge because we

080had to make some last-minute adjustments, but we did it, and I think it was well-received. Sorry, I have to put the glasses on. We also still offered meals during the close down of the high school due to the small fire that was there. We didn't serve very many, but we tried. We offered those meals out the front doors of both of the junior high, so the high schoolers had the opportunity to come and get breakfast and lunch and take it back home so they could. finish their or do their online learning. We provide meals for field trips. We've provided some special meals or treats for test days. We did a Waste List Month February, which we did last year as well. And what we do is we track our waste and hopefully reduce what we're

081wasting by the end of the month. Parkside was our winner this year at the end of the month. Only wasted a total of 36.91 pounds during the month. The average through all of the there were only three schools that made it the whole month in weighing their food and out of those three It's a challenge because our you know, we don't have big massive scales and so it is weighing a little bit at a time but Out of the three schools the average was sixteen point seven pounds of waste during that time period and then Riverview has a special program, I talked a little bit about it last year, called LeanPath. And they actually, Sodexo has actually invested in a program and a scale with a camera over it. And it's just programmed. They come

082and put their food on there. They tell the computer system whether it's pizza or beans or whatever. And it weighs it and it tracks it. And so last year... Let me talk about this year first so this year from August 18th to May 13th they had 832 pounds of waste for a total of 1495 dollars Most of that is from our salad bar from the lettuce and the vegetables that we provide on the salad bar So we'll be focusing on Putting out less each time we put out so we're throwing away less because once it's on that bar at the end of the meal It must be thrown away so we can't we can't save it What that kind of computes to is? 11.3 43 pounds of overproduced vegetables in that time period which actually

083equals 10 meals. So that's just another way that we can look at it. Compared to last year, they actually didn't do as well this year as they did last year. Last year they only had 705 pounds that was a little over $1,200 worth of vegetables. So again, we'll be focusing with Riverview and getting them to come back down on their waste. It is a focus. for all of the schools, but. where we really have that scale and stuff at Riverview. It's really easy for us to do that. Summer meals are going to be available this year again. We have four schools where the meals will be doing breakfast and lunch at different times. So those schools are Viewmont, Liberty, Parkside, and Hillcrest. And then we have two apartment complexes that qualified again this year, and

084Hunter's Woods. And because Hunter's Woods has that really busy road through it, we actually provide meals on both sides of the street so that the students don't have to cross. And then the other one is Fire Clay. I think I always want to say that one, but Fire Clay will be providing meals over there as well. And that's all I have. Thank you. Thanks for feeding the kids. And that data is really interesting. Thank you. All right. The next is Director Taggart with the Bond Project update. Okay. Things are still progressing well. With the high school, we'll start with the high school addition first. Tile is almost completely finished on the first floor. They're doing a few portions of floor tile, and then they were finished with all the tile on the first floor, preparing

085the... The main hallway on the first floor is polished concrete, so they're making preparations for that to do an initial polishing of that. They'll continue doing mechanical and fire protection, electrical on the second and third floors. And then they're doing a lot of tile work on the second floor, painting on the third floor in preparation for the tile that will follow. And then they're also putting up the panels, the middle panels on the exterior, on the corners. And windows are all put in on all floors. And then the big push is the preparations for the courtyard for this summer. where they've had the covered walkway into the gym coming in the south side. Over the course of the summer, once school's out, the gym will not be accessible on the south end. That'll have to

086be closed down because they'll take down the walkway because they're going to pour concrete and make the preparations in the courtyard over the summer. So that part will be open to students. Not the whole courtyard, but the... the access into the gyms from the south side by the time school starts. With Riverview Junior High, once again, there's different stages across the whole site as they're tackling different things. First off, masonry, they're just killing it. They're doing such a great job. Very very little structural masonry left the main focus is the the brick veneer on the south side of the building And that's going up really well. They're still doing structural steel in multiple areas, but primarily The structural steel in the commons area is what they're they're placing now They have a little bit of

087roofing left and once they finish that structural steel that they will be able to dry that in The hope is to have the entire building completely dried in. That includes windows as well by the end of summer. So they have the next year to focus completely on interiors. And yet there are portions of the building that are sheetrocked already because they have been dried in. So like if the picture that's up there with all of the blue skin on the side, all of that is, those are... classroom, those are the classrooms on the first and second floors and those have been dried in so a lot of that's all framed, a lot of the plumbing is all done there and they're starting to do sheetrock in there. And then they're working on the kitchen areas

088and then the big push this summer is they're drilling the heat exchange wells. out on the area where the softball fields used to be and this summer the section that is directly east of the existing river view, they will start doing the underground water storage because we have to retain the water off the site in the long run. And so that will be put in and then they'll do electrical and utility work coming to where the connections will be on 7th West, as well as there is some water lines in conjunction with Murray City being taken care of on Triplane. So it'll be a busy summer, but things are moving forward. One thing is we did discuss a little bit in the meeting today is that there is starting to be a little bit of

089an escalation of pricing on things. However, we've... Hughes has approached the different subcontractors and vendors and trying to get everything here, even if we have to store it. The storing it in a warehouse is still way less expensive than waiting to procure certain things six, seven, eight months down the road, and so they're looking for options of doing that. Any questions? I just had two thoughts. I do appreciate how thoughtful they are in purchasing and being aware of those things. And just as a community member, I really appreciate how I've seen several times they take their little thing and clean up the street at the end of the day. And any time I've gone by, it's been really clean around the area, and I appreciate that. And then I wonder, does Murray Community Dance meet

090during the summer? They don't need during the summer. We're good. Oh, all those little dancers need to go in that door. Perfect. Okay. We have made contingencies. And there will be access to the gyms. It'll just have to be on the north side. Right on the north side. Perfect. Appreciate all that you do. Thank you. All right. Next we have Assistant Superintendent Weehongi for a couple items. Got a couple of policies. This is a first rating for these policies tonight. And the first one is, policy 403.2 this one addresses student residency and enrollment during temporary out-of-country travel There have been a few instances that have popped up that we don't really have any guidelines for. So the purpose of this is to put in place policies regarding those situations. So the purpose of this policy

091is to define requirements for student enrollment, residency, and participation when a student temporarily resides outside of the United States while accessing educational services through Murray City School District. The policy statement there says a student may remain enrolled in the Murray City School District during temporary out-of-country travel only if the student maintains legal residency within the district boundaries and continues to meet all enrollment, participation, and accountability requirements. The Murray City School District shall not maintain enrollment for students who establish residency outside of the state of Utah. So we have put in some requirements in this policy to allow them to continue to participate if they are out of the country for more than a term, and then also extends to two terms with permission from the district. And typically, that goes through the director of students

092services. And so beyond a semester, though, that is the limit. They will have to withdraw on that. So the policy puts in a few guidelines for our school principals to work with those families in those situations that sometimes they do leave the country during the school year. And it goes through a workflow and also a request for this situation. And there is a template form on the back of the policy to allow them to submit this request to the school, to the school counselor, and then to the administration. A lot of the work that can be done outside of the school can be done typically through online services, including the student. online education program that's run by the state. Is there any questions or anything on this policy? Can I ask just a hypothetical how

093this would work? So you talk about the end of a semester or if they be gone a full semester. So hypothetically, a kid, one of our students or a couple students, grandparents live in Portugal. They pass away. They're going there. But because of the cost and all that, they're going to be there for a full month. But it trends from one semester to another. Does it limit them from the end of the semester or will they be allowed to say continue from one semester to another just because it's only a month? Yeah, it depends. To me, it depends on what point they are at in the actual term they're in because... I mean, if they're within the last two weeks, they can probably do a grade freeze and then go from there. But if they're

094in the middle of the term, they would obviously have to work through that term and then kind of work on when are you actually returning. The school would have to work with that student because if they're going to come back in the middle of the next term, it's a little bit different. So those are scenarios that they might have to work through. I know we have some situations that do plan ahead and say, hey, we're going to be gone for it. all of third term, can we move forward with that? And that's what this would apply to. But those are some unique circumstances. It's a unique situation, I get it. This would still apply. I mean, there's still regulations. There would still have to be some agreements made and some expectations for those students and

095the families as they leave the country. But that would have to be an individual basis at the school level. I did have a question, too. I didn't notice this the first time, but at the very beginning it talks about they have to live in Murray City School District. So if they're a permit kid, then this doesn't apply? Yeah. The intent of that is to make sure that they're not leaving. So if they're leaving to a country, their families are still either residing in the district or they plan to continue to move forward with the permit. And so they can still work with a permit, but yes, this is to ensure that the families understand that if you're leaving the district, you're no longer under this policy. They would have to apply for a permit. And

096that's under the residency requirements that is listed in the state code under 53G. That's one change that I think I need to make on this policy. It's not Title 53G, but it's state code 53G. So they still fall under those requirements. So we could still work with them on a non-residency permit. And we can have some more discussions on this, so as you think about it, at our study session in two weeks. Great. Any other questions on that one? Okay, that's the first reading for that one. The next policy is a program that the Utah State Board of Education has created that allows our high schools to create a hybrid pathway to graduation, which includes GED. So the at the top there is the policy is established under the authority of the Utah State Board

097of Education and the Murray City School District Board and governs the implementation of the focus graduation pathway within the Murray City School District the purpose of this policy is to outline the standards and the procedures for implementing the FTP to provide eligible students with an alternative route to high school completion through the use of the GED or the general education development exam the state board requires local districts who want to implement this program to have a local policy that has to be submitted to them as well for approval of the program. So that's what we are doing here. So essentially anyone who's behind a certain amount of credits when they're a junior or a senior they are able to take advantage of this program and still walk with their peers at graduation. So they have

098to be at least 16 years old. They have to be at least a junior and off by so many credits to participate in this program. So this requires that the school have local subject area experts to help with the GED test preparation. So that has to be built into the school's schedule or into their plan and then a student can take as many of the GED tests that they prepare for as they want so they could actually graduate with up to four credits of English credit which is the requirement to graduate or they could just do two so it depends on what they want to go for and if they do pass the exam that then qualifies them for those credits and they can still walk with their graduating class. So that is the focus

099graduation pathway program that the high school would like to implement. Any questions on that? I love it. All right. All right. Hey, thank you so much. All right. Next, we'll turn the time over to Dr. Eschler. Good evening. Utah Code and State Board rule requires LEAs to have an annual... report regarding section sex education instruction in the district so this is part compliance we have to provide insurance to USB part of that is to hold a committee for sex education instruction sex education instructions typically given in set and health one and health to health one is in seventh grade course health to is a 10th grade course addition we have classes especially in science and CTE that may cover sex education instruction topics so so part of these assurances is holding this committee. This committee

100is made up of, let's see, yes. So we had our meeting back in March, just right after spring break. It includes both parents, employees. This includes both nurses, teachers. I'm the administrative representative on that committee. We appreciate President Taoli being part of that committee. We met and reviewed some changes and some additions that, in particular, the junior high wanted to add to their current approved curriculum. Those additions mostly related to filling in some gaps. In particular, there were some just stats and information that had out of date, as you know, health information changes. And so our middle school teachers wanted to update some of their slides, their quizzes, just so they have the most. up-to-date information. In addition, they had a vendor who that was using in the past, it was an approved vendor, CBS,

101I believe it was the name of that vendor, who is no longer involved and no longer is willing to just provide their resources to schools. So the schools needed to kind of fill in that gap. Linked in this document are just all the changes that we've been made the committee reviewed them and approved them for For implementation for next year, but obviously we need to bring them towards the board before we can move forward on that So so part of this is making sure that the board doesn't have any questions about the curriculum piece So I'll pause there for a minute before we move on to some of the other parts of our insurances We have to kind of report some Salt Lake County health information Are there any questions about the changes being proposed?

102I wasn't able to get my links to work, so. Would you like me to open them? Well, this is a first, is this a first reading? Typically we only do one reading on this, but we can do two. We can bring it back in June, that's not a problem. Were you guys able to get the links to work? I don't think I did either. Okay. We'll bring it back. Okay. I'm interested in STD slides. Wow, here you go. Just because you're interested. Here's a little preview. Yay! The other part of our reporting is there's very specific information USBE requires us to present to the board and that relates to public health data that we collect this from the county, current data. Reported by the county, it goes back to 2023. This includes teen birth rate.

103So within the slide deck, you have the birth rate for Salt Lake County, which they don't have a specific Murray city. So in addition to that, we have to report on sexually transmitted diseases. So we have rates for gonorrhea and chlamydia in the county. And finally, two other assurances we have to report on are instances of pornography distribution in the Murray City School District. So this is reported. This data is polled within our Aspire student discipline data. We compare this to the data that was polled last year. Last year we had seven instances. This year we had seven instances when we compare the data. And then finally, instances of child abuse in the Murray City School District. This last year we had 71 referrals. These are referrals that are made via our student service director.

104And in addition to, and that's down this year. Can I just clarify, that is not child abuse involving any of our employees. That is, those are reported as part of our mandatory reporting status as educators. So this could be when we're reporting to DCFS and things like that. Questions about these slides? Oh, this is just making sure we have our assurances. When are the assurances due, though? They're due at the end of the month, aren't they? They're due in June, the end of June. End of June, okay. Yeah, so we're fine. Okay, great. Sorry, I should have pointed that out prior to the meeting, but I wasn't able to look at those. Okay. Thank you. All right, and next we have Director Dean with a list. Seven through 11. It should go fairly quickly. Mr.

105Dean, you're busy. Yeah. Well, I think negotiations were busy. That's most of it, and Superintendent Covington helped out immensely. So this first one, as the school-based... Health qualified personnel grant and this is a grant that we've been receiving for a number of years now and it funds 1.5 FTE of our school social workers But they have now added a requirement that the goal has the goals have to be approved By the school board before we apply for the grant and so this grants do at the end of May so I'd like to present these goals that On behalf I guess of you know Sierra Marsh was working on this and I was saying these are great. Let's go with these So our first one and they were actually specific to the personnel we have personnel

106that we assign that are based for this 1.5 FTE we have Alexa Casio at Hillcrest junior high and then we have Chelsea strong at horizon So the first goal would be at Hillcrest junior high and it's vaping prevention initiative and we do some programming there and Alexa would be as part of our duties working on this vaping prevention where we can get lessons to 90% of the students in the first year and then we would train some staff on what's called the good behavior game and it's to help with classroom management and student behavior. And so that would be going on. and then as far and then it has multiple years and then goal two would be specific to horizon elementary and our school-based mental health personnel all have caseloads assigned to them and so

107we have a goal designed here to see an improvement as far as helping students with coping strategies and so those are the two goals i would ask the board for a motion to approve so we can apply for this grant to obtain funding for our social workers all right is there a motion I move that we approve the school-based mental health. I second. Any discussion? All right, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Great. Thank you, and we're excited to see some of these outcomes. I'm especially excited to see the vaping prevention because I know that's a big issue. So it will be interesting to see how that works. So these next items that I have are things that were brought forth in the – Oh, yes, because I'm the third. I am also in favor.

108Thank you. So the next items we have are items that came out of negotiations where we just need to update our policy because we'll be updating the master agreement. And this is a first reading on all of these. So the first one was our sick leave provisions. And we extended the number of days for our provisional teachers as for family sick leave. It was three to five. And then for our career teachers. from five sick family sick days in a year to seven sick days in a school year. So that's the first one. Then I'll let Superintendent go to our second policy. And our second one is a personal leave policy in our negotiations. And this is... No additional personal leave was added. It's just a changing of how that personal leave is awarded So

109you can see that in the years there we used to have this long gap from 4 to 16 years Where they were stuck with three personal days we changed that four to ten years and then once they reach 11 years they would obtain those four personal days in a year and the language below is just some clarification on Either under 17 years or over 17 years for how many days they can carry over into the next year The next one our learning environment This is for Wednesday on the early out day the preparation day That they can use that period of time for parent-teacher conferences And that's, I think, been a practice, but they still would be required to be there for the duration of the conferences. So we just wanted to have that in

110writing, to which the union agreed. And then the last one, our grievance procedure. We felt that some clarification was needed, and so as we met with the... The union we worked on this just to add some language to kind of tighten it up and instead of having it go directly to the superintendent it would come to me first in the HR realm and we would then it would advance to the superintendent then the rest of it stays primarily the same. So this is a first reading on all of these. These were things that were part of our negotiations. So thank you for your consideration. Thank you. And next we have a fun time with Richard Reif. Okay. It's always my favorite time of the year. Do you want to connect since you've heard? Okay. I

111mean, there's like five slides. Okay. So if you want to drive, that's great. You betcha. So this is just a preliminary high-level look at. budget issues for this year. Of course, we have a formal budget hearing in our first meeting in June. We want a lot more detail and information and actually have a formal budget hearing at that point. So just on a high-level basis then, some of the legislative highlights, of course, you are aware we had a 4.2 increase in our... the value of the weighted pupil unit that and went from 4 674 to 4870 which would provide a significant increase in funding were it not for the second bullet point of which we have a legislative estimate of decrease of 134 wpus in our k-12 program So that offset probably almost a third

112of our new funding because that we lost because of the decrease in potential enrollment. The legislation, legislators, I should say, did increase the educator salary adjustment of $311 per teacher for a total of $10,661. And this is over and above any COLA or steps or lanes that have been negotiated. One of the big winners in the funding program was Students at Risk with an increase of $276,000, which was a significant increase. The TSSA funding district-wide was decreased by just over $49,000 from $1.91 million to $1.86 million. The state code does allow the district to utilize 25% of that TSSA funding for district purposes. We make that available for negotiations. In this case, it's a decrease in the funding, so that will decrease that. percentage that is allocated to teachers by $30 The TSA funding decreased

113is that at the state level or is that for people it's it's based on per pupil So because when we have a decrease in enrollment that also decreases And then our School land trust funding to increase again significantly to over $200,000. So over a 20% increase in that as well Some district highlights because of our Declining enrollment district wide our staffing for next year will be we budgeted to reduce three teaching FTE But man it being more than that depending on how things shake out, but that's what was built or was prepared for and leading to negotiations Our total net increase in K-12 funding and that particular line item for unrestricted purposes is $400,000. Last year it was probably 50% larger than that, but we had our decrease again in enrollment. Employee compensation packages, this

114was prepared prior to our negotiations. We did have a zero increase in our insurance premiums, which was a blessing. We have talked to all three groups, employment groups, employee groups, I should say. We are funding steps and lanes and a 1.25% cost of living adjustment as well, and all of this with no proposed property tax increase. Capital Outlay Fund, the third bullet down. Our total small capital projects that have been approved this year just over four hundred thousand dollars that's significantly lower than in previous years So that that is good We have of course two major projects that were funded with general obligation bonds Which are bonds that are approved by our taxpayers the Murray High School addition the ninth grade edition and then the Riverview junior high rebuild And then one project that's beginning

115to take shape that is the Apex Center at the high school, but that is a state-funded project. There's no local funding involved. And just some of the projects that have been approved for capital outlay at some of the schools. Just our debt service schedule for next year and moving forward. It's budgeted. We already... Hit a point with refunding and everything where our total debt service had dropped and now we were layering in new debt service in June of last year and again, there will be a Issue of the second tranche of the approved bonds This summer Potentially June maybe July August depending on what the market conditions look like and what's the most favorable for us and when we need the funds. At the very bottom, you can see our legal debt limit is $315

116million. That's about three times the level of debt that we currently have right now. So we have quite a bit more debt in current capacity. Not that we are going to use all of that, but that's just a good indicator. And then finally, some of our pass-through taxes and our redevelopment agencies. We are required by accounting practices to record the revenues and expenditures of redevelopment agencies that are approved within our boundaries. And those tax increment revenues... and expenditures are to the tune of about two million per year for the current year and they would expect them to be about similar in the next year or two for this year and for the next year. The current year we received $644,000 in mitigation payments. Mitigation payments are those payments that we have negotiated with redevelopment agencies

117that they are not required by law to pass through to us, but we have negotiated that to receive those funds. instead of those being budgeted for improvements in or other expenses within that within that redevelopment project and then if you'll notice on your tax notices there is a line that is tax on behalf of charter schools that we have to assess and it's basically a tax pass-through that that shows that we have no control over the tax rate is set independent of the school board but those funds do then flow to charter schools so and that's all I have for now well much more to come in June I have a question on the RDA are you still in who are The representatives from the district that's on the RDA board. That is an excellent

118question. Yeah, so it's changed actually. Now I believe it's called a CDA. Right. And that was one of the questions we did ask at one of our city meetings and haven't had a response back. So I will reach out to the city on that. Yeah, I just know that at a last meeting there was some potential discussion about a new. So it is called CDA, not RDA? I want to say, but I do believe he told me that they don't have a committee anymore. They just come to us, but let me verify that because I don't know what the state law is. Remember, we had a conversation with him when he came over with the city. Right. I will reach out to them and get more information for them. Thank you. I just want to

119make sure that we have a voice at the table on that. It used to be Gail. Yeah, it's almost just a negotiation process at this point versus a formal committee membership and a vote kind of a thing. So it's changed significantly over the years. Okay. Well, and I'll just say on this, there was a lot that I didn't understand about school financing when I became a member of the board. And one thing I did not understand is how property taxes work. And the League of Cities and Towns has done a great video that helps explain that, that just because the value of your property increases doesn't mean that cities and... school districts get more money it's we only get what we got last year and it explains it in a really good way so if

120anybody wants to learn more about well to the public if anybody wants to learn more about how school financing works and how your property taxes are at work there's a great video out there does the city have a certified tax rate Pardon does the city city has a certified. That's a statewide. That's a statewide Program yes, yep, so they're in the same boat that we are that you just they get what they got last year Plus new growth, so I hope we now move on to the superintendent section And there's a few things to go through here all right. Thank you so my first agenda item it is time for us to approve the school fee requests for the 2627 School year we have had these out for a bit for you to look at

121and so I'd entertain any questions that you might happen if there are no questions I would ask for a motion to approve the school fee requests for the 26-27 school year as published and I don't think we've received any kind of feedback or Communication on the school fees at all Then I move that we approve the school fee requests for the 2026 2027 school year I second. All right. Is there any further discussion? All right. All in favor? Aye. And no opposed, so that passes. Okay, we'll get those ready for publication and finalized on the websites. My second agenda item is, this is a second reading of the overnight educational travel request for the 26-27 school year. Just as a refresher, this is only for high school. High schools are the only ones that are

122authorized for overnight educational travel. Anything that does... involved travel does need to also have an associated fee on the fee schedule we double check those to make sure those were all there so um i would if there's any questions again i would entertain those and if not i would ask for a motion to approve the overnight educational travel request for the 26 27 school year my only question that i had on it was um you know What this month we had the baseball team was it the baseball team it was the baseball team the baseball team? Can we make a provision for that in the overnight travel that we don't have to do a special thing for that or can we? We could if you'd like we would need to update the policy on that

123so our policy does not currently allow for that So I'm actually bringing overnight travel for a first reading tonight on something else and so if we want to look at If the board wants to look at adding a provision for UHSAA state tournaments, we could. I just think that we might have that come up more often than not. Given our 4A status and we're having to travel farther and longer. I mean, most of our schools are outside of the valley, so there's going to be some kind of travel component if we have any kind of state. Yeah, absolutely. So I can work on that and I can have some language, proposed language for our study session on the 28th. I do think we need to approve the overnight educational travel or the policy in June

124as it stands only because it's going to relate to those two trips that we've talked about that are in statute now from the legislative session. But yes, we can absolutely do that. Let's work on that. Love it. Sorry, that was a lot. No, that's great. All right, is there a motion? I move that we approve the overnight educational travel requests for the 2026-2027 school year. I second. All right, all in favor? Aye. That passes. No opposed. Okay. Moving on to the second readings. This is the second reading of the 2026-2027 school land trust plans. We have had these out for over a month now. We had our community council chairs as well as our administrators come to our study session in April. So, again, we'd be happy to entertain any questions. If there are none,

125I would ask for a motion to approve the 2026-2027 school land trust plans as written. I move that we approve our 2026-2027 school land trust plans. All right. Is there a second? I second. All right. Any discussion on that one? I do have a quick discussion on that. With the Balancing Act law, is that what it's called? The Balance Act. The Balance Act law, there may be some amendments to all of them, correct? The Balance Act does not take effect until the 27-28 school year. We have to wait. We are waiting for the Utah State Board of Education to produce the model policy, and they actually have until December 2026 to do that. So the provisions in the law state that we do not need to take action on it until the 27-28 school year.

126We're going to do some things, I think, to kind of prepare for that and sidestep into it, but I don't know that any of the plans will need to change at this point. Okay, great. And I remember a few of them had written in provisions so that they wouldn't have to be amended. Okay. No, great question. All right. All in favor? aye aye and no opposed so that passes all right and uh those actually now go on to the school land trust administration for their approval and so if i get them in by midnight tonight they will get them reviewed so that we can get our funding in june for the next school year so that'll be great so i will be here getting those approved And then my fourth agenda item is for approval

127of the 2026-2027 school improvement student success plans. These are also known as the TSSA plans. These include the school land trust plans plus the use of the TSSA funds that each school receives as part of that. Again, these are pass-through funds that are worked on and planned for by school community councils. So I would be happy to answer any questions related to these plans. And if there are none, I would then ask for a motion to approve the 2026-2027 School Improvement Student Success Plans. I move that we approve the 2026-2027 School Improvement Success Plans. All right, is there a second? I second. All in favor? Aye. We need to get our other board members back. We've had to do a lot of work tonight. And no opposed on that one, so that passes. Okay, and

128those just stay locally, so those will be approved, and I will let the principals know that. All right, my fifth agenda item is a first reading of PS417.2, which is cell phones, emerging technologies, and smart watches. In the recent Utah State legislative session in the 2026 session, there are a couple of provisions that are things that needed to be put into policy. The first one is AI glasses. We do need to have their AI glasses or smart glasses are not allowed. And so I have put a provision in for that, what AI glasses are and what smart glasses are. And you'll see that referenced. At this time, that is the only change we have made. And so Utah law, the law that was passed, does allow for a local board of education to decide what

129their policy will be. So if you recall, this time last year, we updated this policy. to include that we have a bell-to-bell ban on cell phones, smartwatches, and other emerging technology in our elementary schools. In our secondary schools, we have a ban during classroom instructional hours. And so for now, as we've talked to our principals, our secondary principals, they feel like what they are doing is working. and they would like another year to kind of flush it out without doing a bell to bell ban. However, that is up to the Board of Education to decide. So I know I've sent this policy to you and kind of think about it. I wanted to present this for a first reading with the smart glasses and the AI glasses with no other changes at this point except

130for this one right here. that parents may, this is also now in Utah law, parents may request an accommodation for the parent student to briefly use a cell phone, smart watch, or emerging technology in the school's main office during non-instructional time. And so that would primarily be for our elementaries. The parent would need to make that accommodation. If you recall in our secondary schools, they are using the pouches on their desk to put the technology into. I do think a bell-to-bell band could be challenging at a comprehensive high school, especially where you have students coming and going a lot for off-campus classes, on-campus classes. There's a lot of things to consider in that. Apparently my time is up. There's a lot of things to consider in that. think our administrators have a lot of things

131that they need to do during the day and Tracking cell phones during passing times could become very cumbersome and very challenging that is my own perspective Those are already provided for it here, so if they do have an IEP there are some are allowed to be used right here in number seven. So there are provisions for IEPs to respond to an imminent threat, to access the Safe Utah Crisis Line, if it's written in an IEP plan or if it's written in an ILDP plan, which is our language development students. We have students who need them for medical reasons. Those are written into health care plans. All of that is in there. And then in the event of an emergency, one of the things that we have been told time and time again as we've been

132practicing emergency drills is not to have students be using these during the emergency itself. It clogs up the lines. It provides chaos. And so this is not anything new. This has been in our plan, but that they will be allowed to use them once it's deemed safe to do so. Does that answer your question? I do have a little bit of heartburn on the bell-to-bell for the passing periods. How do you enforce that with your junior high and high school students? I just wonder if we could do a little bit better at our classroom instructional time in defining that, and I don't know. I mean, I have a senior at the high school, and she texts all day long. I mean, it's constantly, you know. And so what do we define as classroom instructional time?

133So we actually have that in here. Yeah. I mean, do we do a bell-to-bell class period time? And that is what it should be. Well, instructional time, I mean, we're done instructing. Now it's your work time, and they can pull out their phones. But the kids don't work during that time. So I'm almost wondering if we say... And I'm just proposing I'm just thinking out loud and maybe we need to do this in a study session but classroom Instructional time means from the time the bell rings Till the bell and is that Bell the bell or is Bell the bell from the more so Bell to Bell they have defined as Start of the day to the end of the day we could certainly in ours say from the start of a class period till

134the end of the class period Absolutely, we could change and actually that's one of the things I put on here school their classroom hours. I had made a note perhaps we want to define that as From the minute the first bell rings for the class to start to tell when the last but to the final bell I guess I we'd need a little bit of input from our our Administrators as to how would that affect all classes because some classes do use phones for different Well, we have some other things and I will say I think this policy is only as effective as our Employees that enforce it. And really right now the enforcement level is at the teacher level. And I think we have some who do an amazing job and we have others

135who could do better. One of the things that we did say that this could be something that could be included in their evaluation if teachers were not following it. But we do have, let me go down to here. We do have in here, let me just. Well, while you're looking for that, during the community councils at the high school, we've talked a lot about this. And they have good data because the teachers have that hall pass system. They can note when there's a violation. And so they have good data. And they are seeing improvements in... They used to have, I don't have the numbers, but they have good information to show that the amount of infractions have decreased. And so my next question was... are teachers not marking it as opposed to, but he did

136say that they do drop-ins and that is part of their observations is they'll just kind of pop in classrooms and see if, because there are clear pouches right on the desk so you can see. And if students have devices out, then it is a direct conversation with the teacher. So I think they have a great plan and I appreciate more time to flesh it out and it'll be interesting with different leadership. if things need to change or want to change. But I do really like, and I was speaking to, I didn't realize, but it was an administrator at another high school, and we ended up talking about how it runs at Murray High and that it's not a teacher-to-student battle. The teachers just mark it, and then those infractions go to admins, and there's conversations

137had. And so it's not really an immediate thing, but I love that they have that tool. And so that administrator was like, what? That's awesome. So I really like what's happening at our high school. Yeah, and maybe we're at the point where we do watch with the new administration and just give it time for this to continue. I'm not for the bell to bell. I just think that would be a nightmare to enforce for our students. I found what I was looking for. Sorry, I was kind of fumbling. So number eight on our current policy does say teachers shall not allow cell phones, emerging technology, smart watches, then the addition, and earbuds, earphone devices as part of reward or free time. So we do have that in there, but maybe maybe let's talk maybe in

138our study session We can talk about some ideas of how to better define classroom hours Like it's not when you're done the teachers done with direct instruction It is at this point and then we do also have provisions that we have had in there previously That we will allow For right here, so we do in our secondary schools We did add this in our previous policy that when required by the teacher to complete curriculum or testing online They can use I mean that's something of course not every student has a phone so we want to be careful with that But I know that's something we had a discussion with last year when we did this policy that we wanted to make sure that if it was Something they needed to use their phones for that

139they could so So maybe we just look at the first reading as it is now and without making any of the changes and move forward with that for the next. Do you want me to look at some potential language on what classroom hours means and shore that up and we can look at that in a study session? Yeah, I think so. I will get that. We'll get some potential language on that and look at that in our study session. Great feedback. Anything else you'd like me to look at on that policy? And I would say, I think in fairness to our families and our students, we will want this approved before the beginning of next school year. So if we do add some additional language as part of the study session, we bring it back.

140That'll be the board's decision to approve it on a second with those amended things, second one on the June. 11th, I believe it is, board meeting. If not, we could always use our study session in June and do the first part of the meeting as an open meeting to approve it if we feel like we need a little bit more time on it. But that way we can put it in registration and make sure people know. Is the cell phone, and I apologize for not seeing it because it was the first reading, is the cell phone fee in this policy or is that a procedure in the high school? Are you talking violation that's a procedure in the high school? So we have left those procedures up to the schools Elementary is aligned on there's

141high school has theirs and the junior high I think are very aligned as well as what they do but that is the enforcement and the The fines and things that come with that are done at the school level just so you know, I've paid a lot of those Okay, let's go on to the next one, which is PS430, which is overnight excursions. This is the one that I was mentioning to you that I was bringing forward. And we can certainly look at adding some other things in for high school activities. But as a result of legislation that was passed in the 2026 legislative session, we now, our fee waivers on trips are limited to no more than two trips per student per year. Then as outlined it's also in our school fees policy, but we

142needed to refer to it in here so in our overnight travel policy Letter K just says expenditure should not place an undue burden on families to provide travel funds and travel costs are subject to feed waivers This does then now clarify that new state law That few waivers on trips are limited to no more than two trips per student per year as outlined in board policy PS 428 school fees We have a student who's maybe in student government. They go to their leadership training in the summer. They also may be on drill, and they go to a drill thing in the summer. And then if there's a drill event that it's an overnight stay or trip, that would be the third. That would be the third. It would not be able to be fee waived.

143Yep, and I actually have that. So any questions on this, and then we'll go to the other part. So that's all there is in this one. It's just to clarify that in PS430. And then further clarification in PS428. And this, I think, Jaron, will kind of hopefully answer that question. So in here, they can't, they have to, there's an action plan by law. Their first one is fee waivable. The second one, they actually need to sit with their principal and make an action plan. And that action plan. will outline reasonable steps that the student will take to contribute to the school community in exchange for a fee waiver. So the first one is fee waivable. The second one requires an action plan. And this is all, again, out of state law that was recently passed.

144Trip. Keep in mind that a trip means a school-sponsored activity of two or more nights. So if they're just gone one night, that's not considered a trip. It's two or more nights. And the trip does not include a travel activity related to an in-state activity sponsored by an association as that term is defined in Utah Code 53G7801. So what this means is if they go to the playoff game like our baseball team did, that does not apply. So any of those in-state activity, if they have to go two nights for a state finals, or it could be the drama finals or whatever it may be, this does not apply. And then down here. We have to annually approve a dollar amount cap on total fee waivers. For now, we've just done the regular $7,500 for

145everything. So moving forward, we will need to do that. We had already been into our process. So at this point, we don't do that. And then here's where it is. Fee waiver for a trip is limited to no more than two trips per student per year. Trips eligible for fee waiver will be processed in the order they occur. So if you go to the student government. And then you go to, I don't remember what you said, second? Drill. Drill. And then you go to something third, it's that third. And they were two. But nationals would not count, actually, because that's also a CTSO. It provides for CTSOs. So if we have a DECA student who makes the DECA nationals, that's not considered this. Those are good clarifications. And I think those are the only changes

146to this. I don't want to cause extra work for anyone, but... Tell me. This is me, so... Is this... Would we have any students that would have... This would have affected this year? I... That I don't know. I mean, I can ask, but it might take a little bit because our financial secretaries are in the thick of everything right now. Right. I was just wondering if... My guess is it would be very limited because if you look at our two or more night trips, overnight trips, there's very few that are... It is... Drill drill cheer music They had there was one but they're not going next year. They go every other year. Sorry. No, you're all the group. Oh, yes There's not a lot that do two or more nights. Okay, so If you'd like

147me to ask the secretary. I don't want him to do it. As long as we communicate it up front in the packet, I mean, that's our best we can do. And I did make sure A.D. Smith was aware of it, as well as the high school administration, that the policy was being updated. So once it's updated, we'll make sure that gets out to them. And I appreciate you pointing out that this is a legislative decision. Yes. Because perhaps some of us do not agree with this. Yes. It was not us. And there isn't. Yes, that's us. And then my fourth policy that I'm bringing for a first reading is also based out of legislation, IN 307. And this is the disclosure requirements that our secondary schools are required. Utah Code now allows a teacher to

148include up to 10% of a student's final grade in a course in grades 7 through 12 based on the attendance in the class. So they can use up to 10% of the grade based on attending the class. And so if a teacher, what we've put in this policy, that if a teacher chooses to include up to 10% of a student's final grade in the course based on attendance, it shall be stated in the disclosure statement. So parents and students know beforehand that 10% of the grade in that course will be based on attendance. I'm curious to see how many in our secondary take advantage of that next year. Yeah, it will be interesting. Okay. Those are the first readings and we've got some work to do in our study session and we'll get all of

149those queued up for that and Then we I would like to request that we go into closed session to discuss personnel and legal and I would like to suggest Maybe we move into the conference room to make it a little bit easier except several things We need to papers you all need to look through so all right Yes, I am. Yes. Thank you. Thank you Board Member Waite, if you are still with us and can hear us.