April 22, 2026, Board of Education Community Meeting

001Hallelujah. you. Brother speech. Hallelujah. We are hallelujah. Glory to God. Where are you? to the moon. Um so we have three topics on the schedule for tonight's board meeting. Um we'll begin with um a feedback opportunity on board management oversight. Then we will take a look at the preliminary draft um the second draft for the FY27 general fund budget. and then we'll close with the new early childhood learning center and there will be an opportunity for two-way dialogue after each agenda item. So, as a reminder, community meetings are an opportunity for two-way communication between board members and you all, the community. We will use the following norms for our meeting tonight. The time limit for speakers will be three minutes. By keeping to three minutes, you will be able to have dialogue regarding all three

002topics. Mutual respect is welcome. Respectful descent is welcome. The board will not tolerate abusive language, hate speech, threats, steers, or disrespectful commentary from the floor. Disruptive persons will be asked to leave the community meeting. Time has been allotted at the end of each section for Q&A. I will now turn it over to Dr. Sultan, board chair, and board for Tracy Anderson. Hey, I spoke about you last time. So, if you were here, um you might make that connection. Um we have the slide that I shared or we shared in March. So, yeah. So what you're seeing here is the schema that I think we started in May 2024 and then have effectively um tweaked and we'll tweak or revise again this May 2026. Um the document is designed to keep us focused on our strategic

003plan uh as well as our functions of the board and content on the is aligned to one of the four strategic accelerators in our strategic plan. The areas of the student data, budget, and policy are also included. The structure keeps us focused on ARG. Last month, we also shared how to access the current year's Bmont. We charged you with taking a look at it. So, I hope you did. There'll be no quiz and thinking about any input you might have. If you haven't had a chance to look at it, this slide should detail. I know that there's a section for questions, but is there anyone who needs to to pause or walk you through how to find the net? Excuse me. So, here you can find a QR code and a link to the form

004where you can provide input to us board members to consider as we develop the 2026 2027 VM. We'll be working on that during our a May 19th board retreat and any feedback you could provide before or by May 14th would be especially helpful to inform that conversation. Last month we talked a little bit about the board authority and the superintendent authority. Recommendations for the Bmont should fall within the board's authority or our oversight of management. And so please, you know, put a pin in that if when I finish you want you have questions about what that looks like or how you want us to explain that. Uh for example, one recommendation that has been discussed and will be reflected in next year's theme is two FTE updates following the FTE count dates that came out

005of our school utilization conversation. Again, please review the current year's theme and if you have any recommendations, access the form to provide your input. And May 14th is a particularly helpful date. Um, is there any two-way dialogue about this agenda item? As in, do you all have any questions for us regarding the VIMO? Because I still have questions. >> Okay. So, excuse me. I would charge you if it's okay with then maybe looking a little more closely at it and figuring because this is what I've done as a board member. So, as you think of questions you have about the school district um running, for lack of a better word, performance perhaps that is going on, I would then consider when you look at that, where do those questions get answered or how are we

006doing whatever it is that you're thinking we should be doing according to that? Uh, so again, I'd love to help you if you're still trying to figure out how I take a question or concern here and apply it to the Vmont there. Thank you. Now, we'll move on to the next question. I believe that will be uh James Harden speaking about the budget drop in. >> Welcome. Thanks for coming out this Wednesday. We got a lot of places to debate, but told some people appreciate you showing up. I'm going to be talking about the Yeah, the preliminary budget. This is draft number two. I'll be giving you some details and hope any questions you have. Um, as you can see here, as of March 25th, the district has received 79% of the budget revenue. is

007that's a normal percentage at this time as 97% of the tax revenue has been collected. 60% of the budgeted expenditures have been expended which is also normal at this time. And currently revenue is trending higher than expenditures driven by the share of tax revenue received and the remaining months of the fiscal year the receipts will begin to decline and expenditures will exceed and we hope by the time we close the books they be um as you can see here included in the FY27 budget preliminary draft option number two is option four for salary increase that includes a 3% salary increase on the scale for every position so every first year starting teacher classified as a starting figure will get a 3% increase over what the previous person would have in that position, but they'll also

008get a step. So, they'll also move up the scale. Um, that is based off of Mrs. Walker's presentation at the door option and last month's budget draft number one was then built on draft option number two. Uh, for expanding the administrative scale by three steps, uh, that means that you can't max out. One of the early complaints I got was, "If you've been here long enough, you kind of flattened out. You can't get any more raises, so you might as well retire. This is helping us retain some of our most valuable members." This is the same summary of the FY27 of the board in February. Salary only costs for teachers equate to $1.3 million. That's a 3% salary increase and a step increase to place the teachers in the top quartile when compared to other

009metro Atlanta districts. You can see over on the right side. The one-time expenses that we included in the FY27 preliminary draft budget are the same as those presented in budget draft one. So there are no changes in one or two. The only changes on this slide are the percentage of the fund balance. 1 million of recurring expenses were removed from draft number two which c changed the percentages of the fund balance for one-time uses from 39 to 29%. Changed the percentage of designated funds from fund balance from 34 to 50%. Personnel changes budget draft number two are the same as those that existed in number one. the elimination of four central office positions, two and a half school positions, the creation of seven and a half local school positions, three positions that were reclassified, which

010will not impact any fiscal numbers. The changes from the FY27 budget, draft one and two include changes in compensation. Draft one was built on compensation option two. Draft two was option four if you're going back and looking which is a decrease of $2 million in salaries only. In draft one million recurring cost was reallocated from slot to the general fund. And draft number two reallocated the recurring cost back to slot eliminated the proposed change in draft one. Local property tax growth was set at 4% in draft one and after discussion things happening in the capital and presentation we heard we've set local property tax growth at 3% for this table is a comparison of FY27 general fund graphs one and two the decrease in property tax growth to 3% decreases revenue by about $641,000 additionally

011there's a slight decrease in state QB E funding that's due to enrollment declining for expenditures. The change from option four to option two for comp and the removal of recurring costs previously budgeted in swaps in draft one reduced expenditures in that budget by about $4 million. Uh that table to the right shows a fiscal impact of a fund balance. The amount of funds needed to balance the budget decreased from draft 1 to draft two of about $3.5 million. The new estimated ending fund balance for draft 2 is right at 13 million in training in fund balance up from draft 1 by 3% to just under 11%. This is the FY26 budget the FY27 preliminary draft two budget starting with the table on the left. The first column is the current budget. The second column is

012the preliminary draft number two. Revenue was anticipated to increase by 1% approximately $867,000. This is based primarily on a 3% increase in property tax assessment. Local other remains the same. Although we are accepting tuition, the budget is slightly overstated. So until tuition numbers are solidified, choose to keep that flat. If someone want to anticipate tuition, it doesn't show up. State revenue also decreased by $28,000 due to that lower enrollment I mentioned. Once the state finalizes their budget, we will have a better idea of locking down the revenue from PBE. All grants, so if you hear me say the word grants, with the exception of 120,000 you know about have been removed from both FY27 revenue and expenditure budget. But grants come with an expected expenditure budget. So those would always just be if there's a

013dollar coming from there, that dollar is automatically earmarked for something. The sale of student district was eliminated and it was anticipated to bring in approximately 1.4 million. Total expenditures have increased by 6.6 million. The majority of that increase or approximately 4 million of that is for salaries. Budget number two expenditures are approximately 7 million more than draft number two budgeted revenue. The 7 million is intentional and it is deducted from the beginning fund balance of $20 million leaving a fund balance of 13 million or 10.85% of the fund budget. The 10.85 fund balance percentage is within board policy ECL range of 4 to 15% and is considered sustainable. the auction done by third party outsiders deemed us for having too much of a fund budget balance carrying too much money and so intentionally that's why

014I gave you the thing of moving a lot of one-time expenditures into that part of the budget so they can be more easily identified for future revenue this table summarizes changes across all function categories which the state requires us to use some of the notable percentage changes between the FY26 26 and 27 budget include one federal grant reduction of 100%. That's due to the reception of a one-time grant which obviously went intended for instructional staff training reduction of 91% due to the removal of a grant. So may come back if it does for other support services. This includes a reduction of 68% that's due to the result or a removal of several consultant services. The CFC was paying for the 29% increase in transfer to other funds is due to anticipated increase in the general

015fund to supplement school nutrition prek funds transfer to other funds um that are used to supplement it. So those programs need money as needed. If the funds are not used, they would just remain in our general fund. Uh you'll see a 19% increase in support services central. This is almost exclusively certainly primarily due to the one-time cost for a new ERP finance and HR system to help us keep on top of not funding positions. Remember us has been on a I think a three-year tie. There's a way that this system can save us lots of money in the long run by tightening up HR questions. I think he's right. And a 15% increase that is in maintenance and operations due to higher salaries and benefits as well as onetime repair and maintenary budget draft 2.

016Total revenue is 112 million. Total expenditures are estimated 119. The 7 million is essentially pulled from the fund balance to balance the budget. This leaves an ending fund balance of just under 13 million or 10.85%. The state mandates and we have had an annual financial audit by an external agency. We contracted M Jenkins. They've issued a clean audit for FY25. We'll hear from them again. They did recommend for the second year in a row the district engage in reducing the fund balance. At the March community meeting, we were asked to create a pie chart for the draft budget. This chart shows a budget by function category, which again are statemandated categories for containing funds with instruction for 56%. The second largest category is M uh and those are for district facilities and that's at 11%.

017This is a five-year review of the actuals and the budget. The last column is what we call a compound annual growth rate. So the average yearly growth rate over the five-year period. This is an represents an overall increase of 5% revenue. The district's largest source of revenue, local taxes, increased by 5%. Local other increased by 6% with tuition being the largest contributing factor. QBE has grown the least with an average annual growth of 2%. That's our state funding that we received per student. Overall, the annual expenditure increase is 7%. The largest average annual growth was in the safety and security function category. You'll see that at 133%. Going back to 2023, you'll notice the district does not have any salaries or benefits budgeted for safety and security and it's approximately $800,000 in safety salaries and

018security benefits. Safety budget in FY23 was solely for fingerprinting. In FY27, it has an operational budget of approximately half a million. That now includes fingerprints, equipment, repair and maintenance, dues and fees, supplies, communication, travel. They enable essential investments in security infrastructure, staff training, threat assessment, emergency response systems to prevent violence and manage crisis. And many of it we live in a brand new world is statemandated that we spend funds on security world. On average the school nutrition program decreased by 21% transfer to other funds. You'll notice in FY23 and 24 a portion of the school nutrition pro budget was in the general fund. So it's just shifting where that was. FY25, the full school nutrition budget is reallocated uh which is funded outside of the general fund and the general fund supplement then goes to

019the school nutrition budget and transfers from other funds. The budget also includes prepay supplement. Uh the school nutrition function category. The general fund consists of funds budgeted for services for the early childhood learning centers only. School nutrition program received a grant in FY25 that helps subsidize the program. However, we have not received the grant this year and we do not anticipate receiving it in 2017. Transfer to other funds just general funds that are intentionally set aside to supplement our program and school nutrition programs as needed. If these funds are not needed, they would then remain in the general fund budget. Obviously, comparing fiscal years is difficult. I appreciate the start, but uh these are not necessarily apples to apples. The state makes changes throughout the years on whether certain positions should be paid. For example,

020the district recently received communication from the state that advised that counselors, physical therapists, and occupational therapists should no longer be paid out of instruction and should be reallocated to pupil services. In reviewing this chart and comparing the FY25 actual 26 budget for instruction and pupil services, it appears that the district only increased instruction by 1.3 million and pupil services by 3.8. But you dig in the fact where we reallocated between the function code because the state said we want this in a different function code moving forward. Additionally, different superintendent and boards have different vision during my time. Sometimes departments when positions are eliminated or create space or they just do departments differently. For example, we currently have an experienced professional investigator who has budgeted chief of staff budget. In the past years, we did not

021have an investigator that would look into events, students, and staff. FYI23 actuals versus FYI 27 budget draft. Number two, um support services central. Those are considered central office activities other than administration and business services. Uh the largest increase was operational which increased by 335% which should stand out to all of us. That's due primarily to the $800,000 ERP system budget for 27 and benefits increased at 98% and salary increase at 60%. Uh there's general administration that includes budget for the board activities performed by the superintendent, admin, deputy, associate and assistant superintendent. The largest increase in that category again is benefit those been following the state mandated. More funding has to go towards benefits and retirement. Um salaries increased by 220% operation by 52 and the attorney fees as well. Uh, pupil services largest increase was

022benefits at 174%. Salaries are 110%. Operational costs are all within the same range. Support services, um, that increase 105% benefit. Salaries are 70%, operational costs actually decreased for support services by 30%. Student transportation is on there. Salary increases for student transportation have been a specific budget item for the board the last two years and have increased by 32.5%. And benefits have increased by 30%. Operations increased by 92. That's mostly school bus grant supplement and the cost for energy repair and maintenance on our buses. Uh finally of note on there is maintenance salaries decreased by 2.7%. That's almost due exclusively to outsourcing outsourcing from custodian services. Benefits though increased by 15% and operations overall was 124% increase primarily due to um service costs, outsourcing contracts, increases in energy costs, office supplies, uh and new building. As

023we build the FY27 budget, changes will be made. This is not set in stone. The board is discussing and making adjustments. Uh and as the state builds its FY27 budget, we'll be informed of new things. The state has not finalized this budget. The district is still awaiting final approval of the state's proposed budget and that's what very much have and we do here. The FY27 budget is intentionally aligned with our strategic accelerator, the board's budget priorities to ensure financial resources support our long-term goals. We remain financially and fiscally responsible, fund the things we have priorities for without having to increase the millage rate and do so. Next steps in the budget process are in May. There are two special call board meetings for public budget hearings. The FY27 budget and millage rate are tenatively approved

024at our May board meeting. The final budget will be approved in June at our June 2nd meeting. And we have three special call board meetings on the millage raid exclusively as you can see up there. The budget book for FY27 will be printed in August. And the FY26 budget book is already available on the district's finance web page. It provides indepth information on the budget and most of the data that we pulled there can be found in that book. I am open for questions for myself or other members of the board if want. Hey, I'm Phil McInness. I um live on Westchester Drive. Actually have a line item I'd like to just mention. Um one is the sale of the two houses. Dr. Whitaker and Mr. Adams came. such as your neighbor with us kind

025of explained what the situation is with those buildings. Neighborhood is very supportive of returning those back to and so the neighborhood uh welcomes that and would like to help out in the property. I understand that the space is occupied by staff and they need to be relocated. One house may be absorbed. Another one is kind of contingent on maybe the ETLC space. But I also wanted to say that there's an option of possibly leasing some just right near the YMCA. There's a three-story bank building that's available. That could be a very short-term solution to maybe adding a third house at sale. So, positive feedback on the uh $1.4 million line. >> Thank you. appreciate that literally >> thanks for walking us through that. My head was spinning trying to all the different numbers. Um, one

026of the questions I had for you is that uh, oh, Christy Norman, um, um, one of the questions I had for you was around, uh, feedback regarding the surplus um, that results in that uh, fund balance um, overage that we've seen from year to year. And in the budget that you showed for FY26, it appears that there would be a shortage. Um, and so I was curious to know if you're expecting that shortage to come to fruition by the end of this fiscal year. Um, and if so, how that might carry through into FY27. So, are you expecting that we'll do better than budget as we've done in the past or are you still expecting that shortage? >> Several questions there. There's a slide. >> There's there's let me tell you to stop. >> Yeah,

027right here. Okay. >> So, first off, I want to say we have done better than projected every year I've been on the board, >> right? >> Part of that is the budget to fill every spot and they may empty for a little bit and that's one of the reasons we want that HR system. >> Okay. >> Second, and Dr. B could probably go far deeper on this than I but she's right up here. But the um those the receipts for tax digest local other that includes things like sales tax revenue we get from the schools. Um there's a commitment in education and bookkeepers to be overly conservative I think with a lot of those numbers intentionally right you don't want so it it will come in over and then one of the things that we've

028charged the superintendent with is we would like that percentage to continue to go down because being 17% over >> problem >> right >> being one or two% over that's fine we can we can live with that but that has a direct impact on the taxes. Um, in terms of do we expect it going forward, the not last month's meeting, the budget meeting before, there was a heated board discussion about, you know, whether we move stuff to slots out of slots one time, two times. And so the finance department currently, if you track it, the questions I've had for Dr. room by intentionally moving stuff that is going to go away into it so that we know yes we're overspending by 7 million but we're doing that intentionally to be more fiscally responsible so we can

029tax less >> okay so let me rephrase my question I'll just walk through that so let's say that you're accustomed to having that 17%age overperformance if does potentially reducing that overperformance to 10% help to close some of the gaps for FY27, >> the 747 million gap. >> Yes. Yes. >> Do you have any ideas about how much or is it still TBD pending additional support session? >> Yeah. The three big variables there that we don't the state literally has set their budget. one of the frustrating board members. We started coming in January and they're literally still in in that >> uh good evening everyone. Uh prime example is literacy coaches. So, um I had a meeting today with the metro superintendent and we all said um well, we said the literacy coaches are a part

030of law that you will receive. You must have a literacy coach. Now, there are a couple stipulations on that. One, you don't know the amount of money they're going to give you for a literacy coach. So, the number being tossed around is $56,000. that it's not even our starting teachers. And if the school is less than 200 students, you're going to get half of whatever we are allocating. So that's an example of there are a lot of things that come out of the legislative session that has implications for the budget and until the state gives us direction um specifically everything around benefits whether it's health insurance whether it's TRS all of those sorts of things really have major implications for the budget but it could be today April 22nd. July 1 is going to be

031July 1. And unless you're going to take out a short-term loan, you have to have budget in hand ready to start the new fiscal year July 1. Regardless of when the state gives us our information or when the county gives us our timelines, all of those things. Um, and we're even intent approving of it a month later than we had in previous years. And that's because we have found that the state sometimes later. So, we're really trying to plan for what they're going to be. >> That's helpful. Thank you. >> Want me to throw in if you listen to other c improved. Hopefully the World Cup is the new sales bash which benefit schools heard commissioners talking about. That would be really nice. >> Yeah, I think they said 186 million. >> Um I love

032Christiey's question. I wanted to sort of pile on a bit and >> Molly has questions too apparently. Um >> a little bit on the projection piece. So, um I saw that you you mentioned you went down from 4% to two to 3% of the revenue projection growth. Um kind of going with what Christy said, it seems like from 23 to 25 there was about a 23% increase in tax revenue, which is about 12 million. And so, like you said, it's about 44.6 million every year in growth. I was thinking that maybe the projection piece um is we could look at it in a scenario planning kind of way instead of just a reduction because to Christ's point I think that creating the it's it's wonderful to always say you're going to budget and then beat

033it in revenues but it can create that scarcity mindset and the cuts seem to be coming to instruction um more than the other pieces from budget drop one to drop two. I was just curious if you had looked at on the actual Yeah, because see you're projecting at 3% and I think actually it was 23% increase over the last couple years. So just curious how you how you map different scenarios there >> bill. So one of the things that the board we just kind of like is this going to happen is it gonna happen people but I I think that the finance department respond like we this may be the new legal normal let let's do that um if it comes in over that great um obviously we've kind of seen that and then the

034other thing that I'll say and I'll let other board members talk is that we have a tax commissioner come each school year and talk about something Dr. literature uh brought to us and not this year but the last year he essentially said I need you all to be less optimistic than that this is not we can't expect it he told us what did he say about like three and then it ended up being >> so I think the point is academically absolutely correct on that I think part the plan commissioners tell us to be more conservative and there's laws out there that they want to do This is and if it comes in 7% I think that there's a very real chance even if everything passes that everyone's afraid of if we have that tax

035there's a possibility of lowering the rate and >> yeah that's like um well yes the second question and noticing from oh do you want to talk >> no no no go ahead >> um from budget draft one to two I loved the January conversation that the board had about teacher and cola and I noticed One of the biggest changes from budget wanted to address draft too was going from the step changes to the 3% cola. Um and Dr. Burme, you replied to another parent's email about um 3% cola basically maintains our position as number four but doesn't increase our competitiveness in teacher pay. Um and I think you use the APS example of like they have 10x our budget so they can make that choice. What I was also interested with the pi graph was

036I'm pretty sure APS has future pay at like 65% of their total budget and has maintained it there whereas for us we're even with the re I recognize the reallocations but we look more like 56%. And so and that's I think that should be apples to apples and say that but categorize the things the same way. So curious if we're if we're thinking I guess there are two things there. If we have been not super conservative, we've had extra money, we still have extra money. Is there any way to think about teachers and instruction having that taking some of that percentage that we're pretty confident about or at least have been and because it's again not just about maintaining our positions number four, but can we be more competitive with other districts? >> So, I'm

037getting a lot of like let's go let's do a jump of 16 starting out and as exciting as that is and I would love to do it we have been on a slow and steady increase that if you look back and I I don't know the numbers but I asked Dr. But like what was a starting teacher making in 2018 indicator? What are they doing now? It is shocking. It could always be more. I I had it could always be more. We need to pay teachers more than society. But I'm like absolutely. Um it's been increasing. So this one does fix the steps in some ways because that first category we're obviously very competitive but something that as a board and as a community we value is I think the teachers who have stuck around

038for 10 11 years or so uh the Sandersons of the world not the James Hearns of the world who jumped ship at year five and and went to college and so there is a part of being not just for everyone but let's be a little more targeted and fix that. There's a little bit of that built into this budget as well to to levelize those to be attractive. And I'm with you and every year that it comes in more and we look more sustainable, we'll continue to do the 3%. I don't think the 3% plus the step does I think it will move us up. I feel pretty confident having listened to other board meetings because other members of the board have said like, well, yeah, this is bas comparing our future versus their current

039year. Um, I think we all know that that times are tight. APS have just gone through some massive increases in their salary over the last three years. I think a 3% increase plus a staff which will work out to about four and a half 5%. Don't quote me on that. Dr. Burn is the one that gave the number. It's going to be a pretty nice raise for each teacher in our system in terms of their take-home. I'm excited about it. We'll continue to do it. It is one of our priorities. It's just hard to do it all at once. Can I clarify a question that I think I heard you ask and I just want to make sure it sounded like so please correct me if I'm wrong that you were asking two things and

040the one that I think I heard was that if we keep maintaining the same three out of nine are we actually competitive? >> Okay. Um yeah and I I wanted to make sure I understood that because I'm not sure we could say we are. It sounds like we met the goal that the board started with I think before I got on the board, right? Which was this metric of getting into the top quartortile, but I don't think I've thought about it the way you just asked. So I would like to hear from the board how we end up maintaining that competitiveness. And I think to your point, what I noticed, which is what I think we talked about in our fall retreat, is it is the people that appear to have the most experience and

041we're assuming those people are sticking around, right? We don't know if they're coming from another district or at that point they're deciding to go somewhere else because it's closer to home or there's some other benefit. So, I think the middle bit is the part that does seem hard for me to explain competitiveness. Um, so this is obviously I'm now speaking as just myself, not on behalf of the entire board, but I I very need if not this year, next year, we need to be looking at those steps and and making that um rationalization really because you do start running out of space and adjusting those steps. um disproportionately isn't the right word, but adjusting those steps has a much larger impact in kind of that middle cohort of of teachers. Um and and you can

042see that when you do those comparisons. So I think if not this year, um it's something that I certainly would intend and I think other members of the board support us coming back and taking a look at that next year. One of the one of the other points that you made was around the uh cost of instruction versus other associated costs via the APS. Uh the the biggest difference there is just economies of of scale, right? And and and the fact that we're a proportionately small district and we intentionally maintain small schools is going to skew uh us a little bit more towards administration than just um instruction. And so rather than EPS, I would say a more viable benchmark would be something like Marietta City Schools for example. Um but even there I mean

043that's a I don't know the numbers off the top of my head but my guess is we are probably even heavier um towards administration than proportionately just because we do our schools are tiny. Um and that's not going to change. I mean I think we all learned a lot lesson having that conversation. Um, and so that is clearly a value that the community has. That does not mean that we shouldn't look at driving efficiency through all of the administration and trying to make that number uh swing as much as we possibly can towards instruction. But it's it's just not going to be practical that we would look like APS on that ratio. And finally, um, the City Schools of Decator is the only school system in the metro area that is not title one. So

044you you really cannot compare our instructional percentage to a school system that has access to the title dollars that Atlanta public schools has access to. Um this is because they are funding various types not teacher salary in multiple ways through other funding sources that we do not have access to. And so there are ways to move around in a budget when you have access to title dollars and city schools indicator. We literally have to grade our funding of title one, title two to to work to even have a title teacher where when you look at Atlanta public schools, the only clusters that are not titled are the Atlanta and um probably greatest that that's it. So everyone else has access to dollars that the taker does not have access to. >> I love that explanation

045just what because I think in the the email you said Dr. Bett was brought up APS and said the reason we're not number one in Metro Atlanta's financial resources and so I think it's really helpful to explain that those resources are federal funds versus like a choice because right now just the messaging comes across as choice. I think it could be really helpful to explain that it's not a choice that we are being really intentional about the >> All right. Uh could you bring up the slide for five years? >> Yeah, the five years that's it. Y >> So the debt service overall over the historical has been like $300,000, >> correct? um in 2019 I think uh tally was this how is tally there does that is that debt service line include the capital

046debt on >> there's going to be spl right so this is just showing debt service that is that is financed out of the general fund right and so there is a is this the go bond payments that are that are required of a percent of the millillage Um but there are other funding mechanisms that that fund not not just tally there are other capital projects that you'll see reflectives lost. Yeah. So our total debt service I don't know the number Dr. Broom do you know off the top of your head it's a couple one and a half. >> Yeah the total of all debt payment >> two a little over two. So the bulk of that is out of the capital financing by a swap. >> Okay. So we're at two million right now. If

047go with this bond issuance on that I know that the pay >> what would be the million service would it go up to four >> I think it was fourish right in that range. Yeah >> will that debt service >> no that would be >> that line can not be compacted. So that is that line as a category or geo bond. Geob bonds force a tax bill. We did not exempt people out of them. So currently you get an exemption for seniors and so as the city that's go that route that okay all of our >> correct >> I have a question um okay I'm going to explore Lorraine, I'm just looking at the transfers to other funds and I see it go up quite a bit. I'm wondering if you guys let me just

048reread that nutrition. >> Yeah, that's Yeah. >> So, we have a half a million dollar grant for our school nutrition in FY25. >> That went away. away that makes sense. >> A lot% of it huge amount of it. >> It's a huge amount. And then there was also some revenue decreases in nutrition um as well. >> There's another small one that I can't find it. >> There's some data caused by some changes. Well, >> okay. Um if you >> um I uh I just had a reflection. I thought that your explanation on the title one differences between us and FPS like was really helpful and I think that's a type of information that would be well served that CSV and the board like provide more to the community so we can have a better sense

049of how we really compare against others. I think that's something that I felt you know we you know a lot of us have looked at over two years of information like on board and that type of comparison isn't there and it feels like at times we compare ourselves just to metro Atlanta and use that as a reference point but then at other times we say well but that isn't actually like comparable to having the right benchmark like against other systems that are similar to ours where that's appropriate and other similar other systems in Atlanta because this is our market and this is what we're competing against like for talent that would be helpful. That's the type of thing corporate world is having that benchmarking mentioned before I'm part of a nonprofit board for we compare

050ourselves boards that are similar size similar footprint similar like structure to have that that right benchmarks and I I've struggled to find that information in the past would be really helpful going forward to have more of that transparency like as a community of how we compare versus the right benchmarks for the right things transparency is a weird word there because when it comes to teachers and staff, um I think the nine is correct. That is who we are competing with. They are people who would live in Atlanta and could theoretically commute to any of those places. As a teacher who moved to Atlanta looking for a job, um I literally remember going through these nines saying like, "Oh, this is great. Let me pull these nine. I could drive the car. I could drive this

051boom and settle on Fton at the time." It's like a $12,000 difference that motivated me to want to drive to a particular place. In another context, the nine make no sense. Like M for comparing us to EPF or nutrition is a great example. Mr. Adams talking about that in depth. If Fulton County says they want to buy apples, Apple farmer is going to bend over backwards to complete that sale. And you can see it in their bottom dollar. We do not have the ability to move the market when it comes to food. and that and so there is no one universal screener and it's not being nontransparent to not tell you that these sorts of things. I think that the budget department has if you look on any of this has gone bend over backwards

052and say like this is how this compares for this one and why I mean we're not saying it every time but but it's it's there. I think that's what I'm trying to say that it's not there in the data. It's shared it might have been shared you guys in other documents like but in the data information that's available to the community like over time those references and those benchmarks aren't as clear. I will say um so I'm a reason why I can speak to APS's budget the way that I do or I can speak to Fulton's budget the way that I do because I tell executive level cabinet level leadership in both of those districts prior to coming here. So one of the things that I did when I in preparation to come here was

053pull the budget This was the question I could. This is what was on the web expedition. Now, knowing what I know about Lance public schools budget and knowing what I know about budget and we were in the midst of co all the different requirements that are required for all of compliance across federal state dollars. This was not sufficient. So we had to move probably too much but this is extremely comprehensive but it's not comparable because the condition we're going to compare in this way think about Coney County because of the per capita income of an OKR. You're going to also need to think about I think is Bryant County is on the by Savannah. Is that right? >> Brian. >> Yeah, Brian by Savannah. Those are when you think about the conditions that create what

054would be your revenue. That's where you're living. But when you're thinking about your expenditures, you have to think about the conditions for which you operate, which is your metal. So it's just like when we look at policies sometimes we pull policies that are specifically Atlanta metric and we will pull the cabin uh uh Maretta but C or even Buer operates three schools is a different you know so and so it it varies and specifically All right. Like what I'm trying to say is that's the type of information that what is the right benchmark that we should compare ourselves for different line items is what we need to provide that disability because we are smaller. We don't have scale of others for the efficiency negotiating service. We don't have footprint. We have different scale of schools.

055that that's what urging board at CSD look at how you can provide more of that information upfront up so that we can scan better. I think that's that's actually a really good idea and and I think the budget book is the right place to have it. I think um it's a living document obviously and so that's going to be evolving. It also I think what you're you're hearing us say here is that it's it's more complex than a single benchmark, right? There's going to be differences for but I think that the point of having a living document is to evolve it towards perfection. And so that's great feedback. We'll uh we'll see about trying to start to incorporate some of those. And I just wanted to clarify I think the question the pie I'm sorry

056excuse me the pie chart that started this conversation that is how much we're budgeting to spend correct not the revenue >> because I think now I'm confused as to how it would be much different >> okay >> right so we are budgeting this amount which I believe is like 66 million um for instruction and that is uh 55.7% of FY27 budget track correct those facts are correct yes okay so I think where I'm now confused is the comparison to APS because I understand APS may get different revenue APS will get increased title one funds but teachers are teachers and so in our instructional budget I realize that you know we are paying for the teachers uh we're paying for certified subs we're paying for um art music PE foreign um language teachers but is the

057explanation that APS is paying for more title one teachers that would be paid through addition Title one revenue because that's where I'm wrong. >> Yeah, that is one of many. >> One of many. >> Okay. I'll give you another example. >> APS earns a different rate on their sick leave that they fund locally for their teachers when they're out. That is not what is funded by the state. So once you go to retire, they remove that sick leave from your actual state calculation. They put that in there. So that's an example of more money going into the instruction percentage than what other districts do or or us. So that's an example. That's where you cannot just look at pie charts and say this is what one district has in a percentage and therefore you must

058have that percentage because the conditions and and and why do I know that? Because I've worked in APS and I know how much they they actually put in. But if you're looking from externally, superintendent or CFOs or chief HRs do not sit down and compare. Oh, what do you put in and what do you put in? It's it's very complex, but that is one of the reasons why. So there are multiple reasons why actually that that percentage is so much more. >> Give example from a school level. The title one Cton County. My last year I had eight teachers funded strictly from title one. So I my regular budget from the county which includes state money but on top of that when you take eight teachers figure about $95,000 a teacher finishes and packages. All

059that goes part of my budget as well. Plus both my instructional coaches were funed to title one. So the county wasn't paying that all that money >> and they will split where one will take the salary like put all the salaries in high and put all the salaries in general but put the benefits over it here. I mean the way districts do that guess what we don't have that option. It's all right there. Hi, my name is Lisa. Um, I think I saw between the first budget draft and the second budget draft a difference in consultant costs. Can you speak to that line item and what has been removed in the second draft? If that is indeed what I understood, one where you are. Right. >> So yeah. >> So other support services reduction in

060operational expenses. That's what I thought you was there. Is there an increase in result cost >> overall? I remember there being there's a decreased overall consultant expenses function not to go back. that I remember this being a negative because I looked at everything that was negative or positive double digit. Consulting services was a decrease of more than double digit. >> The other support services category is a very small category to begin with. And so the reduction of a of a single item out of there, for example, a single consultant out of there has a high like 40 odd percent reduction in the overall line item. But we're still talking $40,000 or something proport I I don't quote me exactly on the numbers, but we're talking small dollars in a relatively small line item. When I

061looked at other other services, I think it was like $150,000 before and it's $50,000 now or something that So it's >> it is over 40,000 46,000. You go to the next one. Yeah. other support services is at 48844 >> 46844 >> I'm thinking I'm that close to it and I feel >> the last board meeting we did say quit putting percentages without whole numbers because of it where we'll do something like about 400% increase next an extra $48,000 which is a significant amount of money >> period my understanding is there was several services that was cut from the budget >> it goes from 146 >> I do not which ones they were. >> Yeah. Yes. I have to ask question. >> Okay. I will turn it over to All right, everyone. We're uh going to

062move to discussing the um new early childhood learning center. So, my portion of this presentation is really going to be a recap over what we discussed in the most recent board meeting. And then I believe Mr. Adams is going to come up and present um some some options that are reflective of what the board had requested coming out of the last meeting. Um so tonight's update focuses on three critical pillars. location, transparency, and design. We've heard from the community that there the importance of honoring our history and uh we'll do that. Placemaking is one way to celebrate Beacon Hills site's identity uh alongside the new ETLC. Examples of of placemaking uh include green spaces, walls, walking paths, etc. and we've explored working with student architecture groups uh to be a part of of this design

063process. So this project began with a path process which is a framework created by the architects uh to ensure that the building's design directly reflected the community values. Uh we actively sought input from local specialists including experts in early learning, pediatrics, green space and safety uh to ensure that we had a well-rounded and representative vision uh based on these design principles. The planning team integrated the voices from across the district and that included staff from college heights rather center schools that are going to be most impacted by it. So the data gathered from the past survey placed families and children at the heart of the project ensuring that the community's highest priorities drive the design. The vision statement was created. The project is committed to creating an inclusive, accessible, safe, and sustainable campus that fosters

064a sense of belonging for all children, educators, and caregivers. That design is anchored by seven key pillars. The first is inclusive and accessible design, safety and security, sustainable net zero goals. Uh though I believe we are seeking uh natural light and comfort, architectural harmony with the neighborhood, flexible community spaces, and child oriented standards. Beyond its immediate function, the campus is designed to be a vibrant, adaptable space for both current and future generations. These principles were further validated during a joint meeting between city school educator board and the city commission in October of 2024 ensuring alignment across the city. The project is driven by the scientific reality that the first three years of life are a high development. The center is designed to capitalize on that window and build strong cognitive and emotional foundations for educator's

065children. We've maintained an active two-way communication through board community meetings, superintendent listening sessions, and direct outreach like the 2025 back to school back. Throughout every engagement, there has been zero opposition. And I think this is important to note, there really has been zero opposition to the concept of early childhood education. uh the community remains united in the belief that highquality early education is in fact a priority. So uh community has been clear there's universal support across the cater for prioritizing this to address community concerns regarding congestion along electric avenue and frankly to provide uh better access to the facility for safety vehicles and things of that nature. uh we are giving a portion of the property over to expand and widen Electric Avenue. So Electric Avenue is the the portion of the building that is

066between uh the Wilson Center and this lot. Uh that's going to provide better access and traffic management for the area. Following the project's core security principles, the playground is situated within the building's interior, providing a protected and secure environment for the students. The design includes open green space that will be available for public use after school hours, fulfilling the commitment to creating a flexible and accessible community asset. While not every suggestion can be implemented, we listen to all feedback and integrate it along safety operational requirements and fiscal responsibility. The office and support spaces included in the design are consistent with every other school in the district. They are essential for day-to-day leadership, student services, and instructional support. These are the offices that just came up in the blue. This is like nurse office, uh, director's

067offices, for example. The the building includes these nine spaces considered necessary for a functioning school uh such as a clinic, security office, etc. and specialized areas for interant staff like speech pathologists and babies can't wait specialists. A small portion of the footprint that you just saw highlighted in uh green highlighter uh will house existing school psychologists currently working out of districtowned houses. These are the houses that uh the gentleman came up and spoke to about a minute ago. This is a relocation of current employees uh not the creation of new positions and it allows the district to sell those residential properties near Westchester. Uh while it provides necessary workspace, the primary purpose and the majority of the footprint remain dedicated to being an early childhood learning center. The new facility replaces the outdated and cramped

068conditions at the Frasier Center, providing a modern environment that can that finally reflects the high quality care and education that Decar expects for its youngest learners uh and staff. Now, Mr. Adams, I'll turn it over to you to present some options. Good evening everyone and thank you vice chair H. Again this is our current design. We have a guaranteed maximum price of $22 million. Once we are funded we can begin construction. What you're looking at here is our first design, first option design, which represents a targeted adjustment to the current plan. The redesign 18,00 primarily office space for the school psychology. You will see on the diagram in the top right corner where that reduction occurs. It is a surgical cut to one side of the building, not a full redesign. As a result, the

069overall footprint is slightly reduced and you will also also see a small increase in green space and a reduction of seven parking spaces. This option allows us to preserve the core of the instructional program while making visible adjustments to the building footprint. Option two, redesign number two is more impressive. In this scenario, we're reducing by over we're reducing the footprint by over 10,000 square ft for our architect and consulting which requires a complete redesign of the building. You will see a much larger portion of the building footprint removed along with the reduction of 13 parking spaces and an increase of contiguous green spaces. However, this level of square foot reduction does not come without tradeoff. To achieve this, we would we will be removing key components of the instructional program, including prek spaces, indoor play

070space, conference, and support areas that are part of a fully functioning early childhood learning center. And we will be ignoring a key request from the community to provide a community amended space. So while this footprint is reduced and green space is increased, the impact on children's programming is significant and we ignore the request for community amenity space. This slide summarizes the impact of all three designs. Current design, the office reduction, and the aggressive reduction. From a cost standpoint, the current design is a guaranteed maximum price of approximately $22 million. The office reduction estimate cost is slightly higher due to fees and other soft costs. The aggressive design lowers overall construction cost but introduces additional cost and risk. It is important to note that both options introduce escalation risk including rebuilding construction inflation which is over

07112% nationally in the first quarter of 2026 and market volatility. Both options increase contiguous green space. However, those games come with major tradeoffs to core programming components, community amenity of spaces, indoor play, and critical support areas. So, while each option provides a different balance of footprint, cost and green space, it also introduces varying levels of impact on programming, the timeline, and the overall project risk. At this time, I turn it back over to board member Aria. to discuss the upcoming special call meeting. >> Good evening. Tonight's meeting is an important opportunity for committee input and insight on the ECLC and I appreciate everyone taking the time to be here. I also want to be transparent about where we are in the board. While we may not be able to answer every question tonight, at our

072last board meeting, I made a motion to further explore the proposed archaeological study, which required administration to gather additional information from the archaeologists, as well as engaging with the Beacon Hill elders and the city commission to gather more facts. Once this information is gathered, the board of education will hold a special call meeting on this Monday, April 27th from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. where we will publicly discuss the archaeological study and the potential implications of SB 625. As many of you know, SB 625 was recently passed state bill that requires a referendum for PFA bonds exceeding $20 million. We're still waiting to see if that will be signed by the governor or not. And it raises important considerations for the this project which was approved in October to build the CLC uh and do

073important renovations here at Decatur High School. Um that included I think the addition of a blackbox theater and an auxiliary gym. So I believe that any significant shift from what was originally approved by this board whether related to disclosed funding or direction should be discussed transparently and acted on. So we are going to now open things up for public discussion. It was discussed at the last board meeting the observation rooms and there was a fear that there weren't enough students for them. Do we have more information on how many kids are currently in early childhood education? How many kids signed up for early educ child childhood education and were not accepted into the program? And have we asked eighth and ninth grade students if they would have signed up if there was a spot for

074them? because my kid wanted to sign up for it in eighth grade and was told it's not worth your time. You can't get into the early childhood education program unless you are a sophomore. And if you don't get in when you're a sophomore, you're kind of out of luck in the IB career path because you have to have two years of we have those numbers because as we talk about gutting the building, losing a lot of that early childhood education space, our high schoolers are going to miss out as much as our teachers children, our hopefully non pregnant teenagers or young mothers. Certainly no one in my house and um you know children of our community. Um do we you have >> Hi, good evening everyone. Um this came up at the last board meeting

075and so for next school year we have 18 that are registered in the ECE um classes. Uh we only have one ECE teacher right now. Um but certainly if our um you know if we were able to expand then we could have more than just one school teacher. So there if we build the building as originally planned there would be space for more kids to get in. We could Yes, we would be able to Yes. >> Yes. Maybe not someday for another teacher. Maybe not. >> That's right. >> Promises. >> That's right. And my kids will be graduated by You're um I want to say two more things. I want to say that I did not understand the CPA program until my kid got to the high school and I thought that it was for

076kids for whom college was not their first choice. And that is 100% not what it is for. It is such an amazing resource at the high school, especially for kids who are so sick of looking at computers and other kids who are doing graphic design or architecture or other things that I don't even know go around. So, um, the one thing that I want to say is that I only want us to do this if we do it right. These children that are going to use this building deserve for us to do it right. and we seem to be acting like these children do not deserve our what we would expect for our children um as a community there last year at this time there were turning over chairs about the word equity in our

077charter and then and now come today I believe in early childhood education but it's not going to benefit me so I don't want to pay for it seems to be a theme throughout that community and I am embarrassed by that so I want to see us do this, but only if we're going to do it right. >> I had a question because me >> Okay. Um, this has now come up multiple times in the last board meeting and today, the guaranteed maximum price and I'm curious like is the board aware that there are numerous exclusions in that guaranteed max? I mean I think I understood that's pretty much the way a lot of these contracts >> and aware that it has exclusions for tariffs for actions from government. So directly war an action of government

078that that could pass through increased prices. There's exclusions for storage of materials. there's there isn't explicit protections against inflation like in the terms. So I think it's a little misleading to continue to emphasize to the community that the guaranteed maximum price is just $22 million without being clear that there is a plausible number of scenarios where that cost is more than $22 million actually seeing that type of scenario analysis. Um I wanted to like as a question on another scenario. Now, have we looked at HB116 and the impact of the likely downgrading of Georgia debt and what that would cause for the cost or interest either public loans or bank loans. There's an article from UPS saying that they expect that the ratings agencies will downgrade Georgia debt that will impact the financials for current

079projected finance. So do we have those sensitivity analysis looking at if there are downgrades what would that mean rates that we can actually afford the pay >> I mean >> yes we are aware that there are exclusions in the contract yeah absolutely I mean all the contracts when you work with big capital groups when they have that they'll have exclusions and 22 they would have to come forth and they would create legal stuff with doing it. I think it's pretty common to refer to that as a maximum and that sort of stuff. Um, as far as the debt, I mean, I'm >> do we know how much exclusion might be things like >> what would be the cost of >> I think Mr. Adams can >> what would be the cost of >> this is

080this is a great thing where I think we've had in previous where this is this is what Mr. Adam's job is and why we hire people. >> So construction here who's guaranteed that at 22 215 guaranteed maximum price and we still have over $3 million of contingency built inside of that. um as well. We meet once a week um discuss project where we are with things. Um in Paris they can come up but they have not mentioned anything to alert us that hey we're going down a rabbit hole that we're not going to be able to to hold to that guaranteed maximum price that you give. One thing before you turn >> is that accurate or you want to add >> no you have contingencies built in to the amount to cover any of those

081>> parents has been building K12 schools for a long time. They're pretty good. >> And I would just want to add more this is an urban site bill. So the rough order magnitude of budget and specifically cost per square foot was one of the questions that we have received multiple times. But one of the reasons why your cost per square foot or your brown budget is what it is is because it is an urban bill and the ways in which you have to lay dirt looks a little different. So when working at a former district and it was more of a suburban area, not main street in College Park, it was done a little differently. Um, but it was the same district but more of an urban site versus a suburban site. The your second

082question was a fascinating one about the debt and the downgrading in Georgia and that there's an argument that in the right time there's an argument that we should have acted on the bond already. There's another argument that as interest rates go down we may benefit from delaying from the increased costs. I know Dicap County just got a downgrade from the S&P. I also know that that UBS report is more about state level debt as opposed to city and municipality debt. A lot of times when states get downgraded, uh there is a run towards municipalities which can save us money. That's just it's a very complicated answer. Um I'm aware of that as a board. We're not discussing it or anything like that. We're not discussing anything unless it's public. >> But I guess I pointed

083scenarios and curious. I I don't disagree and and I think moving around the chairs and and advocating things are happening, but the truth is that Parish has built buildings reliably using a comprollers uh in this city in this state repeatedly that our own director of operations has given them a thumbs up than the board. They've passed my muster on what I think should pass, etc. And then we got some advice from a bond company and and they talk to us all the time about what it can happen and do it. But I I don't think any you should not expect your board members to be breaking down bond prices and making you know like nuance decisions about that. >> Yeah. They should be asking school district if they've done that analysis so that you have

084the comfort that it's there responsibility and that's what I'm curious like have we done that scenario now? Oh yeah, >> likely at this point and there are paths like where that could have either very significant detrimental impact to the cost of debt or potential beneficial versus like what that looks like before we're making decisions. >> So Davenport is our finan is the financial adviser for the city and the municipality. They have given a presentation on that. They also have brought to in my time on the board three times when the opportunity to refinance debt um has created an opportunity. They reached out to us and and recommended we take action. Dr. Broom brought it to the board I believe three years ago these scenarios. So they do their job and and bring it to the

085board I think fairly well. I've complimented Dr. room multiple times for the way she used Davenport to come to us in 2021 in 2021 and say like we knocked about $300,000 a year off of the budget because the adviser was doing their job >> 2021 in 2026. So it sounds like we haven't done the scenarios right now for HB. >> They they they've been here twice to discuss this project in front of the board. Those options that they showed were not considering HB16. Those were considering simply different options of public deadline. >> I think they've al to put those estimates together as well. So that's another consideration like I'm sure we'll do deeper analysis. And can I just clarify because I think you started with the GMT and are you aware of um you know

086these possible cost increases and so it sounds like we're being told there's a contingency plan. It sounds like we're being told experience doing this. I think the one thing I'm a little uncomfortable with is just I think the current environment is different. I mean, I don't know how much y'all are paying for gas, and I keep reading, I might not be able to take my daughter um to the next soccer tournament in a month if there isn't um fuel. So I guess I would like to be comforted that parish has built in the option C contingency because it sounds like you know since the US is engaged in international affairs that might be a more extreme thing than you know your garden variety cost increase because of X. But I I wanted to know are

087you also asking about the contingency plans at the operational cost or you're simply talking about the GMP or I'm sorry the scenarios that we've run through for costs. Are you asking solely about how we would pay for this or are you also asking what the scenarios are for the operational costs of the ECL? I think the current model is 50/50. So what happens if you don't have 50 that are um getting full funded? What happens if it turns out that we only have 25 staff that need to use it and therefore >> do you want scenarios just for construction or you want scenarios for operations? >> Well, I was asking about two different scenario construction and financing. There's expenses like on construction which alluded to having some question. There's scenarios around financing based on the

088rates that you're able to get from the market. Like when you go get financing market right now from the corporate side, we're looking at a very closely given the overall uncertainty in the markets right now separate from HB11. There is also a terms sensitivity analysis around the operating construct of how you fund it. Can you get grants? Like you know the last community meeting there was a question around let's talk funding heard on who have we actually talked to we would have broken ground a few months ago should have >> thank you I appreciate it. So good evening and I'm allowed. So you guys they asked the question was have we taken those I can speak to construction. Yeah like again we meet once a week meet externally with parish team and our architect and

089our consultant and then we meet internally on Friday as a PS team and that's where we kind of run through all our scenarios and everything that's going on. We're very positive of what's happened in Iran and the impact of what it does in America. We've seen what happens with the Middle East impacts us in America before. We've seen this before. We don't know how this is going to end, how long it's going to be, but we see I never know how long it's going to be in the Middle East. Um but part of the weekly conversation with our construction team and our design team make sure that we're all looking at the same that we don't want any surprises and we just said that parish speak exactly you all can hear from the voice mount

090this so as parish we are still confident in the $22 million GMP that we have um I would say that our cushion the longer we weight and we can't start moving dirt and doing parts and pieces. The code was at risk. Um, but the cushion's there. It was well thought out by the design team, your program manager as well as parish and our historical knowledge. Um, so again, we're still very confident in it. Um, and it go and it's not anything I can use just willy-nilly. Uh, I have to report to Jarvis and the rest of the team on what all that looks like because you've obviously seen our contract. All these things are open book. There's nothing hidden. Um, we use transparency quite that happens a lot through the whole process. >> Thank you.

091>> Wade Roberts also live on Westchester Drive. I just have a question about um the cost savings that you were on the slide you you showed for the alternative design. So the building the original design is about $35,000 square feet. That's a $22 million building. So that's that's implying I realize there's there's ground work and going what that implies roughly a yeah roughly $625 square foot building cost. Let's go to the aggressive cut. You're cutting a third of the building, roughly 30%, 10,000 square feet, and you're saving only 10% of the cost. You're saving 2.24 million by cutting 10,000 square feet. So, that implies that that section you're cutting is $224 a square foot. So, I would just like some transparency on where those numbers are coming from. I realize some of that's ground work

092that still has to be done, but if it's a $224 square foot building, this should be a 7 building at 35,000 ft is coming from. And if it's going to be a 25,000t building that still cost $20 million, that's an $800 a square foot building, right? So, what what am I missing here that we're cutting a third of the building? We're hardly saving anything. I mean, if if I was you guys and I was looking to put forward evidence to support a position that says, "Hey, we need to stick with the original plan," I would obviously do what you guys have done here and say, "Look, we're not going to save any money. We're going to get a smaller building, not too many money, but why are we not saving more money by cutting a

093third of the building?" >> Well, no, no, you're going to have to. So, so I'll be I'll be entirely honest. That question lines up very clearly with one of mine, right? I I don't I think it's probably wrong to look at it as saying it's saving two it's 220 a square foot for the part that we're cutting and much more why is it $800 a square foot once you've cut that and so I do want to hear the answer to that question >> um I think one of the folks earlier did mention that this has all happened in lesson so this is off our historical data just simply cutting off a certain amount of square You make a great point. Site work doesn't change. Other things have to be added in when we start taking

094these things away. For example, the playground has to remain protected from the rest of the outdoors. It can't be just open. So, you're deleting a part of the building. We're adding back what we believe the city of Decator is going to require, which is a high-end brick type wall or facade or something like that. So there's cuts and then there's advance on top of that. We're talking about a fence, correct? >> No, no, we're not talking fat. >> Yeah. >> Gold. I mean, what kind of wall are we talking about here? >> Sir, I'm giving you anam one example for for how this goes. So we went through and there are things that delete and there are other things that don't change at all and they increase. We also had to include escalation because if

095either of these options happened, we'd have to rebid the entire project at today's prices. We bid this project originally and went into GMP back in December of last year. We have locked in all of our trade partners off those numbers from last year. So, if we have to rebid this, you're going to have that 12% escalation that was uh in the books for quarter 1 of this year plus three quarters or two to three quarters because the design team has a redesign. We don't go back to bid until July, August, somewhere in that area. So, we're we are including the escalation to try to give you a real snapshot of what the impact is. I I want to say I think your question's good. I the first thing was what Han said which is like

096we're seeing this for the first time as well as a board. It's not like we've discussed this or whatever. And I wrote down in my notes as part of the slide, okay, so we're saving about 10%. What is that $1.5 million in additional cost? I got an immediate response like a lot of the expenses in a school building are in the technology and the equipment and like that has to be there regard. That's not good enough. But to I want to say very clear, I also want answers to what would $1.5 million look like? >> Yeah, that would just be helpful for all of us to understand. We see the we see the number. We just like to know the thinking that went into that. Obviously, somebody did a calculation, right? Be nice to see

097>> is it safe to say, this is the question to administration and parish. Is it safe to say that with more time there will be more refinement on these numbers? These are estimates that that you've come up with in a relatively short period of time, but with a little bit more time and and some more pencil sharpening, we might see other estimates. I and I I understand inflation costs. I understand that there's going to be an increase in some of these costs. Going from 625 a square foot to 800ish a square foot is a lot more than the 12% that we're talking about, right? So, uh, I guess I'm just asking is that something that you anticipate or do you think you've done the work and these actually are the numbers that we would anticipate?

098>> I mean, there's always a option of it approving with more time, more effort. Um, this is not enough to send to the market to say, hey, what would this cost? >> Yeah, that's that's kind of y >> because the numbers would be wild. Um, and unfortunately I'm, you know, opening the curtains a little bit here. They're under contract because of the nature of what we do. Folks don't give full credit back. So that's why I say we have to go into a whole new bidding process in order to be good stewards of the money that goes into the facility. >> Yeah. And I guess the the the followup question is with that with that aggressive cut, have we just ruined a lot of the spirit of the building? Like we taken away some of

099what we need the building the functionality of the building space itself. You've cut out some of a significant portion of the play space. Um you removed a lot of the community amenity space. Some are said although we cannot get to you know a 50% green space option we have provided some of the accessible spaces that the community was looking for and we just put it into that doesn't serve what the building goes on the same get down to half of that 750,000 in additional cost but you're left with a building that just doesn't serve the purpose that it's meant to serve. And what it have we really gained anything, you know, um it's also created, if you look at the start date, you know, you're continuing to push your your opening day out further and

100further. >> Yeah, >> sure. I think that's a good question to ask, right? I think that's a separate question. What what are the purposes we want building to serve? But just seems like the calculation u I still think the math matters to be honest. I mean, if it's $225 a square foot for a third of the building, why building? I mean, what are four times as expensive on a square foot? >> It's it's probably more accurate to say that this is a conservative estimate based upon presumptions about inflationary growth and there is an opportunity as as I think James was saying for us to look a little bit harder and dig a little bit deeper. The numbers going to be higher, but we'll we'll work on that. And I I think to add if we

101went to bid on the current design right now, we wouldn't be under 22 million if we had to rebid the job. And if we had design three months from now, >> price is going to continue to escalate. >> Yeah. So the price per square foot or what as the gentleman there sitting behind you said as things in the middle change we can expect the price per square foot to increase each time we go out to see >> I'm guessing too that these prices when they're comparing square foot you know smaller buildings are higher Right. >> Yeah. And you wouldn't have those soft costs which are redesign, repermitting, extra everything that I have to do, everything that y'all's team have to do, all that. >> Two hopefully very quick things. Um, one is what I'm hearing,

102a couple things I'm hearing is that timing and groundbreaking and all of that is is likely pushed out. Um, Hans you mentioned earlier that no one I certainly haven't heard anyone against the idea of early childhood and supporting it. And one of the things was wondering is is there a way that many of us could come together to commit to saying let's get those kids in seats this fall, right? where we could say we can raise the buns and if you keep the spots open at college heights she's on the list but we could push her down um to to keep those spots open and and at Frasier I think that would maybe give a little breathing room because it would say we are committed to early childhood the whole community is going to come

103together and we're going to make sure every single child who wants it gets that service and then maybe some because what I'm hearing is a lot of angst about the timing and so maybe if we could just commit to saying there's not a single kid in the city at DHA who lives in DHA who's not going to have early childhood who wants it in August like we could make that I think we could make that commitment um and the second is wondering about SLP functions like if this is already starting as a school maybe it's worth if you know there are other there staff I know already in mind that we think about having an SLP already come together in a PHA parents and families to because I don't know the answer to this. Maybe

104it actually is a $50 million building if there areund 86 kids in ECE and I have no idea. I actually don't know what this building needs. Um and I think maybe part of that timing is get the FLT together and say maybe it is a $50 million building and we'll all support it going to referendum because that's what we actually need. Um I'm just not totally sure what the >> great question. So the original t session actually included SLP members from college. So that's one one of the things that we did to help inform what was being completed in that's how we came up with you know where we are today. Uh so they have been a part. Now granted we're we haven't charged a new SLP. Uh uh we haven't hired the principal for

105the school. We haven't done any of that as of yet um just because it is truly conceptual at the moment. Now, as far as current programming meetings, are the rosters complete here at the Fraser Center that I'm going to be honest right now really is it's the people that serve our children every single day. That's the primary makeup of the Fraser Center. So, we do have some children who are from the housing authority right now there, but that means pull back from the staff who actually who have children in the early learning center. No, not the I will say the Fraser Center. Not really the early not really college Heights as much, but here at the Fraser Center. So those are some things that if that's what the community wants to do know that that

106will have implications for the teachers who actually teach our children K12 in our system. Um, one of the questions that I that I'd have in in uh the spirit of expanding early childhood education, we we have I know we haven't had a full conversation as your board about this, but I would like us to we've talked a little bit around the edges about moving prek uh some of the classrooms of prek out of uh College Heights into some of the schools on the north side. Claremont probably most likely if that happens um does that increase space for zero to three at college heights does that give us any options for No you want to explain that to the community because I think there's some questions around >> they're in trailers and foot or slip free

107in trailers >> yeah so then so then but so then that means that we have prek in trailers can we move prek into the schools on the north side. Um, I realize that's a lot for this fall, but what would it look like? What would it look like if we were to commit to doing that and have that conversation as a body and to and to talk? I think I mean I'm seeing a lot of nodding around the table. There's probably some will on this board to have that discussion. >> Good evening. Um, I have a question about the two, well, really the three design options. Like it's a very basic question. Can you share more sort of more context behind why these judicial how how are we as the public to digest this information?

108Is this options the board is voting on? Are these options the superintendent is actually considering? Why is why is this being presented? >> I can provide. So at the board meeting there was a discussion about listening to the community and cutting costs. And so we asked could we before the community meeting get a presentation of what would it look like if we step back to increase green space. There was a robust conversation about what if we got rid of the needed offices over to the side. Um there is no vote like this is the conversation. We'll have another conversation on Monday. the special call board. We're still waiting on a funding conversation which we'll also do on Monday and then we'll we'll go from there. There's that's it. >> This this is part of Monday's

109board meeting is a discussion about the redesign options. >> Uh the lastly yeah >> maybe I misheard I didn't think >> to be very clear Monday is about the archaeological monitoring and SB 625 which is a funding conversation. So I guess as a you know just to be transparent as a parent and community member hearing this >> I'm wondering >> am I why am I being told this information right are these options that Dr. Whitaker or the board is actually considering or is this sort of, you know, is somebody alluded to? Is this being put up here to strike something down and say, "Well, it's not realistic." Right? Like, and how I hear it now, I think folks here hear it depends on what is the the point of sharing this, right? That's where I'm

110going. Um, if you love one of the options and you hate two of them, please tell us. I think what we're looking for is some perspective from the community. sounded like she's very much original option. Let's we picked that. Let's go with that. But we'd love to hear from the community around your perspective, right? Understanding the conversation about numbers that we just had, etc., etc. But, but if you have a perspective or a particular strong feeling in one way, I think we're actually soliciting that perspective from from y'all. >> Thank you. Yeah. >> Okay. That was that's helpful. I appreciate that information. Um, I want to just let's address a couple things and I think maybe you can you may not be able to talk about it because it might be for Monday, but we've

111got a bill that might get passed that keeps the project at $20 million or under. Um, we've got designs that we're considering that might be different. I would assume part of that reason is to get it under the $20 million threshold to not slow things down, which then likely means that DHS and bond refinancing has to come out of the project. So, there's all these balls in the air, right? And I know you guys are frustrated because you want, as you all said, you want you want to get baby butts in these seats, right? I actually think you have an extraordinary opportunity right now that I asked many a couple of you personally starting a year ago. There is a chance to take whatever pause you have in front of you and include the community

112in meaningful ways to the community. Right? I know we've seen all the charts and the lists on how we the past sessions that was in 2024. It's a long time ago. Like the world has changed since then. We can all agree the world has changed since then. I would strongly encourage you to collect the community input to talk about what this new building looks like to talk about how you can honor history in a real and meaningful way that exists on that site. It can be done together to what Caroline said, we can find a way to get this next cohort in seats in early education. The community will do that. We have got your back. We believe in early child education. Take this minute so it's not a rushed. Well, it could be and

113maybe and we might save one point. You might say $2 million, but we're not really sure. And how does that work? And what like just you have been given a gift. I don't I know it doesn't feel like it. I know it feels like it's a pause and it's resetting the clock and not serving kids. Take the gift. Be transparent. I'm so excited that you guys are having the meeting on Monday. It's awesome. Keep doing that. Show us the needs like the current need. Let's really look at what the CTE needs are. Let's look at what the current housing authority needs are. Let's make sure that whatever building is designed really meets the current needs and its right size. And I will be the first in line supporting those. and you just think about that

114for a minute since you're already having to do all of this. I just beg, I'm begging, please burn the trust from the community back. You are our friends. You are our neighbors. You are our leaders. We we want to believe in you again. Badly, desperately, we want to believe in you. >> A quick question. We get that a lot. um take a pause, take a reset, take a you know, take a time to do this. And we've been at this project for um if I if I if I may, um I think we've been at this project for the better part of um yes, two years. >> And when I hear that, the terminology sounds vague. I want to take it to heart. I want to be able to put it and it may just

115be my personality that um needs uh details, but um I need to know what that means. We have we just had CPA numbers. We can get you housing authority numbers. We have the construction folks here that can tell you what the GMP means. So when we say if we're saying take we don't uh build on that land then how long are we talking? Um because if what we can't do is continue to have that land sit and sit undeveloped. Um it can't sit and um just sit there like it's been. I think there's a lot of reasons why it's been that way for a long time. But um we also are a school system. We're the board of education. We're not the city commission. There are a lot of things that we do, but our

116primary goal is to educate children. Um, that is what we're here to do. So, I want to take that feedback to heart with everything in me. But I I need to understand exactly what a pause means. I need to know exactly what you're expecting me to do with that time. That's productive. That also doesn't mean redundancy going back over the same data points that we've been through before. And that's good use of the the folks on this team that like you said they meet every week. Um >> but we're not in those meetings. So that so this this is part of it. Okay. One I don't I don't mean a pause like because you're you're listening and deciding to take a pause. I mean I think there's a pause, right? Like I think I think

117there's a delay when you're looking at real numbers for potential new buildings. When you're looking at what does new permitting look like? when you're looking at HB 625 like there there is likely a natural uh oh hold up we're going to have to we're going to have to come up with a plan and may or or stick with the same one and do a referendum which is great like that may be the perfect size and and everything everything may still be the same as it started in 2024 right we may find that that building is the right one the problem is we understand that you had all these meetings but the past sessions were a long time ago and they were with small groups. I think now is the time to engage the community in

118showing the need through very clear data because the survey that we all have access to is is not a strong data, right? The one that's on the website, it there are a bunch of people who make more than I do to fill it out. So go get us get the community real data. Have them come in, explain the real data, go through the evidence-based practices that you want to do about the need. Talk about the need globally in the US with education because we hear a lot of that like we need to serve these babies. We know this. Well, I've read the evidence stuff. So, so I get it, but there's a whole lot of people in this community who have not. It's cumbersome and dense. to explain the need from an educational efficacy standpoint.

119How many kids do we actually need to serve? How can we serve them? Can we restrict these spots? Can we not? Can we find funding? Let's do that. There's 10 babies. There's 24 babies. There's 50 babies. What >> in the in how that actually I I think maybe we should also not just talk about low low income. So low income. How many low-income children could potentially be served by this period? Right? What do we want to what do we want to accomplish here? Why do we want to accomplish it? How do we want to accomplish it? That also includes CTE. How many students are there? What's the projections on how does that line up with our long-term um population studies, right, that we that so many people have done? Do that. let us come sit

120and work with you guys. And then let's look at doing an archaeological study so you know ahead of time. My husband's builder, he really wants to know that stuff ahead of time because you get caught with the with the body for lack of a better term and build you're in trouble, right? Do that goodwill all. That's an easy one. That's an easy win. Take it. Do the things while you're stuck anyways. How many of those data points do you feel like you already have or that maybe you have but need to be updated to current? >> No. Um, so very simply, this original design was built to uh serve 150 students, children. Um, and the programmatic portion of this design is modeled after college height. This is where we have children on weight list that

121want to go. Um we know that the Frasier Center is at capacity and 90%. >> Let's let her real numbers that make sense. >> But maybe that's not like maybe wait like did it >> I got it. 61 children are at the Frasier Center. we would like to move those children into this new facility. So right there, that's 61. We've always said that we would like to offer between 40 and 50 spots for as you you said lowincome families. That includes VH, but that also includes many other families in the city of Decar. So right there you have 60 and you have 40 to 50 that we would like to offer and then remaining would be the families that would pay full tuition just as they do at College Heights. So the need is there.

122The programmatic structure is set and that is also there. And like I said before, we have 185 CTAE students that are enrolled ready to go in our ECE program. So the children are there. >> If if I could just add maybe something and I think it was a question after um the request for a pause and I think then Dr. consultant, they're like, "Hey, we've been working on this for a year and a half or two years into it." So, that is part of the problem quite frankly for me. We shouldn't have to keep reexplaining this. And so, I do appreciate those of you that are asking for the information because maybe it's the teacher and me, but I'm just not comfortable telling students to keep going and looking at the Google slides. But what

123I learned from the last meeting and I think from one of the first comments is we have very little data points of the CTA. We have an aspirational thing which sounds great and so I'm hearing people want to know a lot more since it seems like excuse me that programming for the early learning is pretty clearly understood but it's the CTAE component and again it's the teacher in me who has lived through this so that you want to do culinary and you want to do early childhood and you want to study German and you want IV and so I I think I'm hearing for more of those data points that show projections so that we do understand that as much as students want to perhaps be in like my daughter wanted to be in teaching

124as a profession and she locked out and got into it, they are high um interest programs from what I know anecdotally. But then we have staffing and so I think those are the are those kind of the things you're asking about in terms of CPA? >> Yeah. And and I will take more time. Think what if anybody's ever built a house or renovated a house, you know when you like get into a budget crunch and you're like, "Oh, let me cut the laundry room, but you've got three kids and you end up with like a laundry closet." Like what I don't want to have happen. I don't think anybody does. I'd honestly rather the district spend $52 million of bonded and have a building that meets the needs than cut stuff quickly because of some

125threat of a threshold that you need to get under. I I think we may not we may not have enough CPA interface and we may not need there may not be 40 to 50 spots for low income, right? Do do you follow what I'm saying? Like I I think the world has changed enough and there's a pause that has to happen right now lightly anyway that's manufactured outside of of public interest public input requests take it like really go back and look and say if you've got to change the building anyway. >> So I think that that's great feedback and we we hear it. I if we can move Yeah. Go ahead. I hope it is kind of building off of what you said, but I think um a lot of us like I learned

126today for the first time. I've been studying this for a while. I wasn't paying attention back when it first started, but I heard today for the first time that a significant chunk of the the part that got cut out support community activities and that the building can open up and let people come in during events and potentially use the cafeteria and kitchen space and sort of like be that community amenity. And you guys you guys know that that's in there, but but I didn't until today. And that that that's something that's like a selling point that could merge like the Beacon Hill folks that want to do Decater Days and other festivals and sort of we have to figure out a way to kind of like build excitement and sell it and sort of answer

127questions that people in the community are asking. They're being like it's in the design, you know, and that's why this is the space is here. double the space in here because they did >> like this is this is actually a comment towards Parish and the architects. We we would love elevations because elevations demonstrate some of the stuff that people are commenting on. I I think like you see the doors that open. You see the things that like just knowing uh engineers can look at or architects and engineers can look at a building from the top and tell but I think the community wants to see what it actually looks like. So, I I would love to encourage us to start getting some elevation so folks can see some of the things that she's describing and

128that the community is describing >> and and with our if we're kind of thinking of a new executive summary for the community that's kind of demonstrating the need there and what we're projecting and who we're serving and these are the spaces. Can we maybe more completely flesh out what's happening here at the high school which is part of the program too? And one of the things I have a lot of questions about is what are actually all the programs in the career center and how much do they need to grow which is causing the need to move the Frasier center out to make space for all of those because I think understanding how it's supporting the older kids in our community and what all I I just don't know the full list of of what

129all those growth things are. And so when we're telling the story, I think it's really important to share all of those other great things that are causing the need to move it, which is why the building needs to grow, you know, and and that those kind of things can really help people like me in the community that are just like, why are we building such a big building? Well, it has to be bigger because code requires more space for kids than what the Frasier Center is. And and there's more bathrooms required. and just kind of being able to tell the story a little bit better, it helps settle people and be like, "Okay, we can kind of wrap our brains around that, you know." But I think just kind of that overall arching like the

130the needs and what we're trying to meet across the whole thing and just distilling it so it's easy to find that that's been a problem. >> That's great feedback. >> Feedback. I think the other thing too um something that Caroline just mentioned I think I would love I would love for the board at the next board meeting to look at how we can um figure out how to get some of our students that we are trying to um get into this building into one of our two facilities this fall. >> I'm sure that um either we can come up with a funding option the community can come up with a funding option or some uh kind of monitor the two, but even if it's just a handful of students, I know the DEF funds some

131um seats at college height. Um but it may need some adjustments at the standard creation center making some adjustments of our waiting list. It may need some um massaging of things, but you know, the sooner that we can start um getting buses, I think the better >> the better. I would love for us to look at that in May. it won't be, you know, 150 or 60, but if it's six, then it's >> Thank you. Um, and I'll try not to take too long. Um, in the letter that I sent you all prior to spring break, um, one of the points that I highlighted was the opportunity for broader communication, collaboration, mediation, um, with all of the key stakeholders. I want to make it clear though and one of the things that I do disagree

132with is a pause. Um the reason why I say that is because um I don't know that there's ever any answer that you're going to get to as a board that is going to satisfy every constituency of this community. And so I do strongly advocate that we proceed, but we do so with the spirit of collaboration. And the reason why I say that is because early childhood education shouldn't fall solely on the backs of our board and our school district. Um, one of the surveys that the city sends out, um, which is a survey of the entire community each year captures how the community feels about education, arts, and culture. And we typically score higher than similar cities in in this demographic. One of the areas that we score the lowest in is access to

133ava or availability of affordable quality child care preschool. While our school district um it's K through 12 education scores in the 90s and 80s. Um in 2018 our score was 59% scoring as excellent or good for early um affordable child quality child care and preschool. 2020 it was 62% 2022 49% 2024 49%. So there the need is there. The community has identified it as being an area. And so what I'll urge you all again to do is to think about how you get people to the table to one better communicate what the intentions are two to get feedback and how we're going to proceed in a way that there isn't a stigma there already is a stigma to be honest with you associated with what we've identified as community need because I think that's ultimately

134what it came down to me my knitting friend in the I've been sitting in board meetings for years and it wasn't a surprise and so but I do hear the community and it not being clear. Um so that's just my feedback on this piece. >> Thank you. >> Can I speak to that if possible? >> Yes, of course. >> Can we pass? >> Thank you. >> Just a second if you don't mind me. >> Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah, I'll I'll try to be short, but um just speaking to that, I think I've I said this in the last board meeting, but I really believe that the problem right now is a community trust problem and not a problem with the TLC design itself. Um I also do believe that we are taking advantage of this

135cause. I feel like looking at these cuts and looking at the cost, um I believe that is part of the due diligence that we need to do for the CCLC. should a referendum happen like I even though I won't be on the board anymore I will knock every door indicator to convince every single person that this design is what we need for our children design one um so you know I feel like even if we look into the numbers for the aggressive cuts even if we go through every line item to why that cost might be so you know I believe in the experts that we've hired to do this I really believe in this staff of educators and experts who have said this is what the cost is going to be is what it's

136going to take to pivot. And I also believe in in what the original design is and what it did to serve community need. I've really have not seen maybe besides the offices like an opportunity for something to be removed without the heart of this project being lost. And I also just want to say with a lot of progressive projects like this, um there's always going to be friction and that friction and that delay is what slows down processes like these. And so I'm just resistant to any, you know, it's it's been months. You're supposed to break ground in December. So I'm just like, we we have the information. I think we got to keep it moving. I don't really understand how the referendum plays into this, but if it happens, like I will knock every

137door indicator to convince y'all that I believe in this design. And so, you know, we care about the children. We can put the the data behind the need, but we all know in this room that the need is there. Um, and so, you know, I really think community trust, we need to build that by showing all the facts and showing all the data that we want, but I I don't think that should come at, you know, this this aggressive cuts that takes out the community spaces and the prek and the whatever. I just don't think that's an option. >> Hi, this one. Is it? >> Okay. Yeah, this is working. >> Oh, I just heard it. Hello. There we go. So, I think it's no secret where I stand on this project. Um, one of

138the reasons that motivating me come up is H said we put this up here so people can give us their input about what they want. And I look at this and it's very clear that I do stand behind currently where we are. Um, it makes sense why it does become so much more expensive given inflation, given everything that happening system previously did. I do not agree with the fact that we should pause and continue to pause. You know, this really reminds me of MLK when he wrote in the Birmingham jail and I pulled it up because I can't believe in 1963 he was saying the same thing that we're saying right now. You talked about the white moderate who keep saying we need I agree with the goals that you seek but I cannot agree

139with your message of direct action who continue to say that we want you to wait for a more convenient season. And so when is the time that we do the right thing? I know we live in a community that says that we're about DEI, we're about equity, about all these things. And I sit here and I'm listening to people say we will put those kids in seats. We will make sure they're educated. Where was this community when this wasated? And so now we're saying we will educate them. We care. But there was no care before we started talking about investing in these children that we said previously we were here to serve. There's so many community members who are coming for us saying we will sit in these rooms. We want you to tell us

140everything. We want you to explain down to the line item why we are doing what we're doing. But those are the same individuals who are not showing up. And so many of you are here in seats that were uncontested. And so it is very difficult for me to believe that these individuals will continue to come forward when they get what they want, which is it really appears the center cannot be built. And I really struggle with living in a community that prefers a green space to walk dogs over educating babies and children. And I really struggle with living in a community that tells me they want to honor my dead ancestors, but they will not honor the black babies who live in these communities. So, I thank you in spite of all of the push

141back you're getting, in spite of all of the time, in spite of all of the money that you are spending to prove that this is the thing that makes sense. I know individuals in this community that live in homes that are 1.52 million for a family of four and five and they are saying that a $22 million price tag is too expensive. So, thank you. I've said thank you. I've been public with my thank you. And I know that this is challenging. I know there is so many barriers and so many roadblocks. But I do want you to know as people talk about building trust and transparency that there are people in this community who trust you, who see your transparency, who see how you show up on a week night. It was hard for

142me to come because I'm busy and I know every single one of you are equally as busy, but you continue to show up. You continue to answer questions. You continue to say, "Send me an email. Send me an email. I'll answer your question and I'll answer another question." And you continue to do this. And I just thank you. >> Okay. And that is a wrap on the meeting. Thank you very much everybody for attending this evening. Seriously, all of you.