001all right we will now call this pre-work session to order at 12:37 p.m. thank you for joining us today for our Board of Education pre-work session our board meeting Cadence allows for board members to prepare for upcoming regular meetings through pre-work sessions these sessions are typically more information Gatherings no formal votes will be taken we will begin our pre-work session with our book study the governance core chapter six governance responsibilities of the board is our reading for this month board member Tracy Anderson will facilitate our board discussion board member Anderson all right so I think I have to admit I'm still using the gray book sorry govern okay so I will tell you I got out of it and then I'll also tell you what I did based on what was in it and then
002ask what yall did u based on what you read sorry um if it matters when I used to teach p and Punishment we a different um version so we could see the commentative effect so maybe we can get together and talk about the stylistic differences so in chapter six for governance culture what I really took away from this because the emphasis is on Norms and so I thought it was kind of appropriate that I would be facilitating this and I'm the recent member to have to learn the norms and I jot it down one that these Norms help us maintain our responsibility um to students and the public um I think they help us get things done and Page 117 of my text it talks about having these Norms these protocols um you know agenda
003so that we can actually do things in a timely fashion and then third it just reminded me that you know effectively the board operates as any other professional entity um I also liked on page 119 in my text it talks about how you adopt these Norms which we have done but then when we have our board evaluations you know we look and see well how did we do and then also when do we need to change things and so you know in terms of change learning then I went back to stuff from last year um and it was kind of enlightening to see why yeah asking about AP test scores when it's on on our calendar probably isn't going to be very effective for the rest of the board right um or the staff um
004but that was helpful um I lik also the idea that sometimes you we're here talking right um but sometimes some of us do need to meet individually to try to figure things out and I really appreciated um Carmen when you and I met just recently so those are the things that I got out of my chapter six James you want to share anything just to piggy back on what you said like I do think meeting with the board is incredibly important and it occurs me with the for example Insanity of my week because I had to go to Roberta George on Saturday that I was supposed to be with you um most of what I learned we just said it um Jen and I were elected in December and covid was March and that's all
005the March meeting was so we had January and February and I remember going to the board meeting and my next door neighbor LLY schaer this was the the first week in February like are youall going to talk about Co and I was like what is co you know or maybe I just read an article something like that and it shaped so much I remember deciding to run a second time and part of it was like I've never actually been a board member I've been a covid response team and SP two years being a board member to make so much eye contact with you specifically J but we lited that trauma together and um um I I liked this chapter more than some of the others this last end about it talked a little bit I
006don't know if it does in your in about it is important that the board educates the public with a unified voice what page the last one 138 right there right before concluding comment so he's going on and on about like it's important to be engaged but listen but you're a policy maker but you're also a community sounding board and it is crucial when the board educate the public at DES over the voice engaging is not to demonstrate conflict disagreements that might exist public unified Board demonstr District right coherence clearly stated Edge and engagement gos they will support the district and I sometimes think about what that means and how we do that in today's society which was at the beginning with like so many different forms of information coming at them and like what is
007the board's voice are we just relying on on meeting people at the coffee shop and Tracy on walks and farming at the hospital like how do you control being out there when there is so much to say so many answers you do a good job talking about like people fill in a lack of information with bad news they just do it's a human factor the tough part that's probably the toughest part of the board but it that was my big takeway I don't have an answer I felt compelled to share the co because like I got elected this board and then I was forced to stay inside you know I couldn't meet anymore I couldn't be that sounding Bo for the public thank you we just moved down okay um so kind of similar to
008all these chapters I think they kind of start out with about three or four key topics and they kind of dive into them yeah and I think um this one kind of talks about kind of outlining what the governor's responsibilities are um James talked about the last one um but this one talks about I think one of them that he um highlights well our strategic Direction um so kind of making sure that in all of our work we are clear about what uh our strategic plan is making sure that we weave that into all of our decision Mak um and that it also weaves into the budget um and there's a nice figure um right before he hits into that figure 6.1 that talks about the kind of circular process how the underpinning of it
009or the foundation of it is always um your strategic plan I got a little lost when uh just in full transparency when they started talking about AI um that seemed like that kind of got dropped in the middle and then I read it twice and I didn't quite understand um yeah what that meant but I think it but once we once if you just pull that out and do that far away um I thought it was important I thought he did a good job of explaining how um although the Strategic plan um seems very finite because it's you know two or three bullet points that come up a lot it is a fluid document and a fluid Dynamic so um so in on 126 he says it's important to understand that setting direction is not
010a single event North a journey to achieving the moral imperative a straight line it is an ongoing almost organic function of governance so we use that to drive decisions um and drive policy M making and budget making um but it changes over time uh what I liked about this chapter is it really talked and I I was very much keed into the budget items as well I don't know if it's because this is our our longest board meeting of the year because we have so much budget work to talk about but the connecting the fiduciary dots of what a board does to ultimately the Strategic plan and outcomes for a school system that that just Rings true for me um around what it is my role as the superintendent in the school system to connect
011that do those dots for all and um I know that there is a there is an honor that was just or an award that was just said to me uh and also board member UTS a little earlier today around our fiduciary uh budget and the way in which we are being recognized ACR nationally for what it is that we are doing to codify our budget practices in budget books and things of that nature and um I'm going to turn it over to boy member because he actually read the full letter and was a part of the bestowing of adult positive behavior system well I I was just gonna congratulate Dr Broom on on that I mean I know we've come a long long way and it's really great to see it being recognized outside of
012just this room so congratulations for that it's it's you can take I can take it from here okay let's go so our budget book was awarded by asbo which is the association of school business officers and um and it just received Awards so um and that was literally hot off the press it'll make the official script of superintendent comments next week but uh Dr Brun was very excited to to hold up her sheet of paper as we were uh getting ready for it this afternoon um so I I am going to criticize this chapter but I didn't want to Echo what I heard um Mr hearnen say I liked I think this chapter more than typically the others um I liked its approach to say rather than just talk about what not to do it
013spent a lot of time talking about what to do and I felt that it was in some cases more specific than it typically is it's opposed to being a little Airy fairy um but summoning up I also wanted to make a comment I find it funny as I look down the line and I see other people looking through their book how many people have it all underlined and highlighted and all of the details written in the margins and the notes and I'm you're going by memory just find a different styles um so the the the the summary or basically the main takeaway that I that I I got from this really was around um owning that strategy and that uh we need to present coherence even through disagreement right it's not saying that we cannot
014disagree but that the the students are served through that form of coherence as opposed to yanking the lever for every flavor of the month I I I did feel and what really resonated with me is that I do feel like that had been historically the approach sometimes it was taken too often I think teachers had felt this in the classroom we'd have a new pedagogy we'd have a new thing a new set of training and get a whole bunch new training and and then the next year it's some new flavor of the month and so having us have a common strategy that we consistently re uh uh look back to and govern from I think has has served us very well and I was appreciated of seeing that in the book um and then yes
015the AI got dropped in as a for the month I thought they sort of undermine their entire Point by doing that but uh we can Overlook that for that well it's funny that you all point out the AI piece because the Strategic Direction portion of the chapter resonated with me and that AIP piece did too um you know in the green box on page 128 they said part of the challenge for the board is to maintain its critical long-term Focus while also comprehending the rapidly changing Dynamic world we live in and I feel like you know 3 months in 2025 the world is changing so is faster than I've ever experienced um including you know the um AI becoming more relevant to me um but with executive orders and impacting you know how we govern
016and instruction and language um that that um statement really in this chapter really resonated with me and I I will speak to um kind of AI is something that we don't necessarily talk about here at this table but when you're thinking about the future of the world the future of America what our students and our teachers need to be able to know understand and do in relationship with AI there will be a couple of things one when we look at our student code of conduct and restorative practices handbook which right now is up for um parent parental review we're going to talk about well what does it mean for academic Integrity when you are considering Ai and use in the classroom but at the same time Gemini which is a part of our Google Suite
017is something that we are teaching how to use that type of Technology tool with Integrity because just as at one time away but it was really foreign to think that one day we would all have a computer we have to be proactive in the way we integrate the use of AI and teach how to use AI responsibly and not fear it and so those are some of the things of where we are going and it's something that when we think about our Bach for next year um we can have some further discussion on if that is what the board would want to include thank you have to read the green chck yes thank you board member Anderson for facilitating next month I will facilitate chapter seven on governance infrastructure in the greenbook that's what it's
018called in here um all right Dr Whitaker please introduce the next item yes thank you chair sutan I would like to call on Mrs Amanda Lynch Chief of Staff to present two policies for feedback good afternoon board chair Dr Sultan Vice chair of a members of the board and superintendent Dr GMA Whitaker today we have two policies on the agenda for fre workor these policies fall into the J students policy code and are JBC school admissions and jbcb non-resident students while J policies were introduced to the board in October in accordance with the 2024 2025 policy calendar we are bringing these two additional J policies now as we plan for the reintroduction of non-resident paid tuition to city schools of decator for the 25 26 school year as a reminder to the public policies that
019are presented during pre-work or new business on which we are seeking board input these policies are being presented as initial drafts they are being shared to gather board input and feedback that can be reflected in drafting or revising future versions policy JBC school admissions is an existing policy being introduced with proposed revisions policy jbcb non-resident students is being proposed as a new policy I will discuss these two policies together for policy JBC our existing policy we are recommending removing the language on courtesy tuition and non-resident tuition students so it can be shifted to policy code jbcb this will allow JBC to primarily address admissions of students who meet age and residency requirements so think of it like your traditional Public School enrollment staff and legal have reviewed policy JBC and outside of the shifting of
020the courtesy and non-resident language we expect to make only a minor language adjustment to be reflected in the next draft meanwhile policy jbcb is being proposed as a new policy it has the language that was shifted this policy addresses both courtesy tuition students and non-resident paid tuition students organizationally both of these categories fit under the larger non-resident student category or the title of this policy code the content remains largely the same as the language extracted from JBC with some modifications and additions highlights of the policy include definitions of courtesy tuition and non-resident paid tuition are now included both courtesy tuition and non-resident paid tuition require an annual application and remain an annual determination subject to enrollment space and program space it continues to allow for the consideration of attendance behavior and academic performance for enrollment
021or continued enrollment for Courtesy tuition the benefit will be extended to employees who work at least a08 time employee where 1.0 is fulltime indication that for Courtesy tuition if an employee separates from service with the school system and continued enrollment for the child is desired an application for enrollment as a non-resident paid tuition student should be completed immediately there's some addition of language that transportation to and from school will not be provided for non-resident students which includes both courtesy and non-resident paid tuition students then for non-resident paid tuition language indicates that tuition rates are set accordance in accordance to law determined on an annual basis and that payments must be made in advance in one or two installments it does allow for the immediate withdrawal and Forfeit of tuition if enrollment if if you enrolled
022under falsified information and then of course also indicates that the superintendent or designate is authorized to prepare a regulation regarding procedures for review and acceptance of non-resident student applications which we will also add should include a method for determining the priority of enrollment so at this time I'd welcome any board input for policies JBC and jbcb that we can um take into consideration before first read next month I have one question and this may be not in our Lane right now now so if we have courtesy tuition for employees and we're looking at paid tuition um for other individuals I noticed something here talks about you know essentially based possibilities so in the event that two conflict courtesy and paid then what is is that a regulation no and we can clarify I think as
023always and and speak up my understanding is the desire that the courtesy to would take preference that's what's been in place is that we fill courtesy as a benefit to our employees and that comes kind of first and then you know as Ren space allow next would be the paid tuition I think it's a fair resident paid tuition based on enrollment actor courtesy EXC build that would be a good make it very clear um some of the questions I've heard has been that and I saw that I think maybe one of the other policies was specific that non-resident tuition with only for specific grade bands so only K to five is that going to be in regulation um and then this I guess the follow-up question to that is what happens when kids age out
024of a particular grade band so you have five for K to five and then yeah so the annual determination gives us the flexibility so keeping at the policy level annual determination based on facei or whatever so I would recommend that it be addressed in the regulation um as far as grade bands so you know this year we're going k235 but that does not mean that we're limited to k235 in future years as we kind of see how this rolls out that would be in the regulatory language and could um change every year so should that be in the policy that grade bands could grade that could change every year and um should that language be there and maybe that the eligibility determination or that we need to there needs to be other factors that would
025determine which grade bands would be eligible we can add in we can specify that we will like it could vary and could vary it it's based on an annual determination and could vary by grade bands you know availability those kinds of things the the reason I I I'm I would be L to get too specific in the policy is because you know we're looking at K5 right now because that is where the capacity is but as K5 ages into the middle school and then ages into the high school that capacity is going to move with them it's just because there's fundamentally fewer students uh in those bands like right now the high school is absorbing the two largest classes in decator history um but that has not been maintained in the 12 years 10 years
026or so since um I am a tiny bit I I don't know the conc con ered is the right word but there is a fairness question if somebody that has been in our school system the entire time ages out of a band and we do not then allow them to continue on in the school I mean there's so much culturalization that go that's where all your friends are that is where your you know contacts have been made moving as a kid that got moved at middle school and then also at high school that is awful it's truly awful to ask a kid to do that and so I I don't have an answer for this I just want us to think about that because I I really am loathed to tell a kid you can't
027continue on into middle school with all your friends I think that some of the thing too you know as we look at those sorry as we looked at those enrollment projections to your good point is that some elementary schools have more availability than others and then when they all come together at the middle school it those enrollments looks different you know um so I don't know I don't have the answer either that's why I was wondering if maybe it does belong in regulation that we that we would it would need to be in regulation that we would need to have a process to determine whether or not you would continue with said cohort because if I am enrolling the child in fifth grade I'm really thinking about that because just next year the following year
028they would go off to the Middle School SCH versus if I'm in Bowling by in kindergarten I would think maybe I have some other years um you know just ahead of me so understood I want to make sure that we think about that as as well and to the extent that we can solicit perspectives on that the other thing that I would like us to ask is is it possible for us to think about two tears of courtesy like our our uh employees people that going to offer this to that's in there and that's priority but if we ever want to maybe offer it to city employees like I would like police officers I would like firefighters I would like that to be an option I don't know that I would necessarily prioritize them the
029same level as our employees we do currently have um an agreement with the city where we have 10 spaces for their city employees under courtesy like full courtesy so not paid or anything like that so we do have an existing um not everybody right now but on a limited basis um we do do that and then if we wanted to expand that to more than just 10 what do we and we don't need to have a conversation respond right now yes um I I know when we talked uh earlier today with the scale students I talked about when I first met with the president of Agnes Scott and discussed future Partnerships and one of the asks of me were how can we ensure um our my staff at Agnes Scott could potentially bring their children
030to the city schools of the cater because you know they drive here every day to come to work so this is an opportunity to extend that through the tuition side of it but um it I think will be helpful [Music] two it's under the button and non-resident paid tuition so it's one and two and the next sentence to attain and retain annual residential status each student must make an annual application to attend C receiver that does make it sound like it's just going to be a onee returning thing so I don't know if we wanted to remove that language pending figuring that out so I'll say a couple things one is regardless of of anything even like courtesy right now for practical purposes we still require an annual application so the actual application just to
031gather the information they attest that they understand the policy you know there's some formalities of just having the application applied to annually so I would caution against you know maybe you know removing that part but leaving that that in there um I think you know what you're hitting on a little bit in the discussion here that we'll continue to kind of um as Dr spon would say noodle over is um thinking a little bit about like again from a policy perspective there's some they were have huge enrollment you know protection about saying that it's know in good practice what we want to do is give students a stability year over year for enrollment as much as possible so there's a little bit of difference between you know um what what we put at the policy
032level and then again at the regulation and what our intent and maybe there's an intent statement about to the extent possible will you know we want continuity of services um but not a not a shall um but a you know an intent we ask one question on page 17 and maybe this is understood but I'm thinking of non-resident students who might be on sports teams uh it's the first paragraph at the top and it talks about transportation and there's a standalone sentence that says non-resident students may not ride the school bus to and from school is that understood to be just for the traditional school day because sports teams will go to an event and then get on in school bus to come back to the school yeah so the incentives to and from school
033um and there are some I'll just say this um and and we can get you some more information on it but there are some um rules around Georgia high school and sports participation for non-resident students as well um so we'll make sure that we follow up with some additional information because often you know there's some stipulations around being able to play on a team if you don't eligibility ineligibility if that's something that will be added to the policy no it's not added to the policy but it would be a link potentially potentially at the bottom where you see State rules and um laws it's just something for you to be aware of um you know not every student when they first come to a school system can they do they have eligibility that first year
034dependent upon where they were in that process and this would more so be for high school um not necessarily the K5 uh not the first Lego league but uh for Georgia High School athletics um it occurs to me that that part of what we're talking about with tuition is ensuring that the student is it's a it's a courtesy that we're offering but the expectation is that the student that is taking advantage of that covers the costs we're not actually putting those costs onto the taxpayers within the district but we fairly dramatically subsidize nutrition are we going to be meals for nutrition I don't know what access they have to our transportation but that's also not necessarily included and so I just want us to be thinking about what the actual fully loaded cost is and
035ensuring that we are recuring that by a the interesting I realize that's probably a substantial amount of additional well no but part of what it part of it is um tuition based but part of it when you're talking nutrition you're talking about nutrition rules and regulations where with sub would actually probably um go on top of what we would want um and those are some legal ramifications we would work through um being in a a school system that does have tuition every school system that does take it they know exactly what you can and cannot um our free and reduced lunch population is significantly smaller than most districts that are taking tuition so the way in which what we would require would be different but that's why that to that Transportation uh line is there
036um even if you're right across what would be our boundary in another school system we need to be explicit that the bus is not going to pick you up we need to be explicit that um you need to arrive on time these are some of the things that um should be be explicit in policy regulation that's why they have to sign the contract annually and be very clear so on what that expectation would be yes any other questions thank you Mrs Lynch I'm sorry you have another question no I'm okay I apologize thank you Mrs Lynch we look forward to the conversation next month and our work session on these policies thank you board members for the discussion there being no further business this pre work session is adjourned at 1:09 and we will return
037for the work session say 10 minutes in 10 minutes at 1:19 1:19 p.m. thank you for joining us today for our monthly work session Dr Whitaker please introduce the first presentation thank you cheriff Salton I would like to call on Miss Mcall Hart marunga chief of community to share the state of the division as well as an update on legislation that crossed over last Thursday good afternoon board chair sulan Vice chair UPS esteemed members of the board super student representative the Atlanta in her absence and superintendent Dr Whitaker WR Direction difficulty very today I am pleased to present an update on the state of communication this presentation will particularly emphasize our efforts in engaging and supporting all all internal and external stakeholders as we strive to optimize outcomes for every student in GV while the
038objectives of the Communications Department support all four accelerators of the Strategic plan our work most significantly aims to Foster an engaging and inclusive culture the 22425 school year marks the second year of establishing a dedicated communication Department with ncsd the division was created following your decision as a board to prioritize Communications and engagement as essential objectives for Dr Whitaker's Administration our five strategic Communications goals are creating systems and channels for two-way communication enhancing the professionalism of internal and external communication streamlining and centralizing all Communications and fostering a strong trust-based relationship with all stakeholders additionally we were tasked with doing a better job of telling the cfd story last year our communication strategy was to introduce the new department and its services to our internal stakeholders and staff with the goal of building a strong trusting
039relationship with all School leaders and staff we also emphasize our Collective responsibility at staff in upholding the CSU bran particularly in terms of the quality accuracy and consistency of our communication then we worked to create a collective buyin for the all indicator strategic plans goals to enhance student outcomes as we wrapped up last year and transitioned into this year we continue to reinforce these messages while broadening our Outreach to engage external stakeholders in this presentation I will outline our progress we recognize that meaningful change takes time however based on the feedback from staff families and the community we are making strides and progress some accomplishments from last year include establishing high quality Professional Standards for district and school Communications enhancing the timelines and accuracy of Crisis and emergency communication responding swiftly to media and State
040C in with challenges such as water main breaks several emergency weather events several Global uncertainties and school related incidents we have had numerous opportunities to begin to build this trust with our internal and external stakeholders we prioritize increasing transparency equity and inclusion in our Communications for instance we ensure that all schools and departments receive the same information as at the same time we were also deliberate in making all Communications ADA Compliant and collaborated with student services to translate districtwide languages including farsy Mandarin Arabic Spanish and K heing I also conducted a comprehensive audit of our district Communications channels to identify further opportunities for enhancing stakeholder engagement this slide showcases examples of our Eng engagement highlighting the growth of our Outreach from last year to this year our team organized districtwide internal and external events such
041as the staff opening day following between the school board and members of the Decat delegation mayor Grant Garrett and other distinguished City and count County officials regarding the district's legislative priorities this engagement continues through one-on-one meetings with these officials we have increased our social engage media engagement contined the soup scoop and staff scoop newsletters from last year while launching the CSD Weekly districtwide Newsletter another platform we initiated last school year was the CSD words of Dr Whitaker podcast listed is a sampling of some of the podcast guests last year we established a dedicated Communications telephone extension and email Communications at csr.pof we received and responded to 800 emails last year from July of March to March of this year we responded to over 3,000 our website engagement on the previous District website has seen an
042increase from last year to this year and we continue to engage stakeholder feedback through surveys and webinars along with year-to-year comparisons available for survey results in addition to supporting the district and schools the Communications Department provides extensive assistance to you the Board of Education what you don't see on this slide are the countless news releases speeches and school and departmental requests for editing Flyers letters graphic designs and other Communications that our part department produces you will also not see the numerous speeches scripts videos letters press releases School based Communications magazine articles reports and other materials we've created and disseminated our various platforms we measure our impact using website and social media analytics survey feedback Audi serious other meod based on all of these n imperson engagement we are making stride in building this trust with
043our stakeholders as we entered this school year we have three primary deliverables I've already mentioned the CSD weekly and District app which aims to streamline Communications for families with multiple students at one school last month we also launched a newly designated a newly designed District website to provide an enhanced online experience and to assist students families and staff in their Journeys to success we have a message on the site which you may have seen asking everyone to Pardon our dut as we make final tweaks but the overall feedback has been positive we will be again training school-based staff later this month as new school websites are coming soon this live provides examples of how we are working to professionalize Communications and our promotions of various events and initiatives if you look closely we remain committed
044to inclusivity in our Communications this year we've also begun to provide more editing support at the school level while we don't have the capacity to monitor every teachers's Communications to students and families we are are working to ensure professionalized schoolwide communication at the beginning of this school year we also implemented grammar as a writing tool and Grandma assistant for assistant for for principles directors and the cabinet we have 43 active users and 90% of them I do gr da in addition to launching the website app and newsletter we are excited about the progress made and communicating the field story this slide provides a snapshot of the stories that have been pitched and covered by various media Outlets including television and online feeds from all major networks local newspapers such as the cateres the champion Rough
045Draft Atlanta and decator focus additionally coverage from the AJ and the supporter report among others last Thursday was crossover day the day that legislation must cross over from the Senate chamber to the house and vice versa in order to have a chance to become law this year with less than a month remaining in the legislative session both Chambers are actively working to pass legislation before the April 4th session as you know Courtney Bernett our legislator our coordinator of community and legis lative Affairs is our design at the capital during this session and she's put together a list of the key bills that we know crossed over and that we continue There were a total of almost 40 educated related bills that crossed over and that we are monitoring and we have provided an agenda that
046outlines all of this assembly however again these are some of the key bills that we um are watching and that indeed did cross over sb1 and HB 267 are both restrict transgender athletes from participating in certain athletic activities designated as being for females H 267 also requires separate restrooms and changing areas for males and females in schools requir sleeping Arrangements on school trips to be made according to sex it provides for definitions through throughout the official code of Georgia annotated of certain terms relating to sex HB 268 this is a speaker safety legislation and is being carried by representative prer from Barrow County the bill creates an office of safe schools within the Georgia Emergency Management and homeland security agency provides technical assistance to local school system to develop policies and procedures for their threat
047management team develops the Statewide Behavior threat management operational process improvised for definitions in the code related to terroristic threats and acts and penalties so as to provide for the offense of threatening the death of or Serious injury to individuals who are or likely to be at school HB 2025 and HB 651 both deal with automatic traffic enforcement cameras and school zon this is one that we are managing extremely closely here in decada and we have become the poster child for this legislation HB 225 would repeal these devices HB 651 is supported by Speaker John Burns and offers a compromise revises positions Provisions regarding the use of speed cameras and school zones the bill defines a school zone lines with yellow flashing lights and speed warning devices will be required 500 ft before entering a school
048zone the bill also adds a 10 mile variance between tickets allowed speed cameras will be allowed 1 hour before school starts and one hour after school starts and then one hour before school ends and one hour after school ends for a total of four hours a day Senate Bill 123 updates and revises provisions of the state's compulsory School attendance law so that no student shall be expelled by a public school due solely to aism and it requires local Boards of Education to adopt policies and procedures for attendance review teams and intervention intervention plans for chronically absent students HB 307 crossover as I mentioned with the other ones and includes uh Provisions for educational programs under the QBE so as to include Provisions for students significantly at risk of not achieving grade level reading proficiency or
049with characteristics of Dyslexia this is another one that is very important here in the city scho of De care s93 prohibits the three queing system from inclusion and high quality instructional materials this pass committee must get on the rules calendar on the floor by um had to get on the floor by crossover day and it did s SP 17 is Ricky and alist law which requires Georgia schools to implement a panic alert system such as cgic which we have here and detailed School mapping data by 2026 to enhance emergency response coordination with Provisions for data integration annual verification and civil liability immunity and we have another slide here a few more sd4 revises the roles of local education boards and superintendent mandate for model ethic by 2025 and gets guidelines for board member conduct and
050training HB 92 provides that districts must follow the opt out process of HB 581 passing in 2024 sessions before March 1 of each year for the homestead exemption to remain effective in short we would have to go through the process every single HB 340 mandate School Li schools to limit personal electronic device use for K8 students during school hours this essentially ban cell phones in schools h fe17 increases from 3 to 5 the number of accumulated sick leave days teachers and other school Personnel may take each school year for personal or professional reasons it does not have a fiscal note this will be an unfunded mandate HB 370 requires property tax bills to disclose Reserve funds for school districts opting out of certain exemptions and mandates a statement printed on tax bills that includes our
051telephone number address and other information here in the school district HB 371 increases Georgia's annual Capital Outlet funding cap from 300 million to 350 million effective fly 2027 there are also quite a few um budget amendments that you'll see in your agendum and we're awaiting the final breakdown of the governor's bill um which will provide additional fundmental safety and some of the other programs education programs again these are some key key pieces of legislation that we are following closely but all of them are on our radar our Partnerships that I mentioned during the legislative update last semester as well as our work with our district lobbyist continues as we worked on behalf of the students and staff of public schools we will keep you updated our development as the session progresses again this presentation serves
052as an update on the achievement since the communication Department's Inception contributing to the all indicator strategic accelerator aimed at building and sustaining and engaging in inclusive culture looking ahead to next year we will continue to build on the foundation we have established some of our plans include School leaders to make sure that we continue to professionalize school communication media training for leaders ramp in the school website and Advance not so social media because we know that that for our demographic of families is the one that people use the most and I'm must say some of our schools have been a little scrimish but we'll get them there thank you for your attention do you have any questions I think one thank you um I love especially that slide with all of the different numbers and
053things that um looking to next year the one thing I'm thinking about is at our board retreat I think we were asked you know what is it about elementary school um parental involvement versus middle and high school and I'm thinking of our student board member and our student councils and so I'm wondering are there any possibilities of you know a student newsletter like the board gives a newsletter which I think is great right but we do have students now kind of if we are amplifying voice I just wondered if there were any ways for students who want to be involved um or for students to be telling some of the story even though I understand we professionalizing um okay so that's just that and then the second thing is that house bill about the sick
054days um so my understanding that if we go from three to five then that would be two additional sck days that we'd be funding for employee correct and then besides that fund so you know someone's retiring and now they have that number of sick dayses we're paying is there a second cost with like covering substitutes or am I not understand yeah that's not um that's not stipulated right now that is still legislation to watch so I would um not suggest that we okay provide any type of clarification as it's still in active legislation drafted thank you I just I just wanted to thank you and your team um I think the best compliments I can give you all is that it's actually hard to remember how bad it was prior to you know engaging but
055uh I love the telling of the story of CSD one of the things that I think we've done a really good job on is not just focusing on the good but actually identifying the areas where we acknowledge we need to improve I think so long we tried to you know sweep that under the rug and and because it's so critical for us to address allowing the community to know that as well is very important for us to be successful so uh thank you I get a lot less texts from parents about Communications now which is good to hear you get a lot less text from you very relationship pretty much one to one fing that trust internally and externally so thank you very much I also want to just point out how receptive your team
056is to feedback um and suggestions and how quickly you can build things um like the uh streamlined Communications that was a pain point for the community I get um you know I have I have three kids still in the system I get a letter from college height and I get a letter from Jor high school and Par it's were like overwhelmed and she was like oh I can fix that and came up with a platform and a layout that was easy to read and easy on the eyes um and that takes not only communication but creativ fness um but was open to the ideas um so I just um want to thank you not only for your creativity um but your openness as well I really like the app quite a lot I'm sad that
057it's only 284 people I'm sad that not more people are using the app we're going to push that really hard and back to school this year because it is a One-Stop shot for everything yeah particularly when you want to keep up with sports but then you have a tally Street kid and a beacan hill kid I mean yeah it's great I love the app speaking of communications Mr Ern please use your microphone okay any any other questions thank you I'll relay your feedback to my teen thank you professionalize Communications was one of a few charges uh said to me as I entered into the city schools of decar the establishment of the division has streamlined and professionalized Communications we still have work to do regarding capacity building throughout the organization but we are making strides
058Additionally the legislative season has been very active many of you received the board packet on Friday but those last couple of slides were updates because the session only closed on Thursday so um I'm appreciative to the board of education for allowing this Administration to have the staff to do the work thank you miss maruna the board recognizes with communication has been drafted by you and applaud your skills Dr Whitaker please introduce the next next presentation thank you chff salon and I would like to call on Mrs Jennifer Burton assistant superintendent of teaching and learning to provide the quarterly update on the new Early Learning Center good afternoon board chair Dr sulan Vice chair esteemed board members and superintendent Dr GMA wher I have the pleasure of providing the quarterly update on the new Early Learning
059Center the construction of our new Early Learning Center falls in the organizational Effectiveness and excellent strategic accelerator at the board retreat on February 25th I had the privilege of guiding our board through the process of drafting a vision statement for the new Early Learning Center board members were asked to Envision what they wanted to hear and see within the school environment key themes that emerged from our discussion included inclusivity or all high quality education Outdoor Learning and strong Community engagement as we continue to continue developing the programming plan we will actively seek input from our community ensuring their voices shape our vision at the board retreat we also reflected on our site visit to the Grand Rapids Community College Early Learning lab discussing key takeaways to inform our planning on February 4th for four board
060members the superintendent myself an early childhood consultant and a representative from the United Way travel to Grand Rapids Michigan to visit a best-in class facility the trip was only about 24 hours but full of information we cannot thank the Grand Rapids Community College enough for their hospitality and willingness to share their time and expertise um with us our visit to the GRCC Early Learning lab provided valuable insights into best practice for early childhood education wraparound services and Community engagement at the board retreat we focused on the four areas you see on the screen we saw Innovative learning environments the lab is designed as a model classroom where best practices in early childhood education are implemented and observed this space is child centered incorporating Hands-On learning sensory play and flexible seating arrangement we also loved the
061incorporation of natural elements throughout the building we saw what teacher development and training looks like the lab serves as a training ground for future Early Childhood Educators offering real-time coaching mentorship and Hands-On learning experiences for both pre-service and inservice teachers we saw rra around Services GRCC integrates comprehensive family support including access to health screenings early intervention services and family engagement programs these Services ensure holistic cow development Beyond academics GRCC prioritizes strong family Partnerships through regular workshops open classrooms and collaborative goal setting reinforcing the connection between home and school and we saw a focus on ensuring access to all students staff is committed to finding a way to provide access for the students using grants or creative scheduling through partial week options the staff prioritizes the you belong here motto and wants all families to feel
062welcome I'd like to share data that show the need for this Early Learning Center the first is that historically there are between 50 and 60 students living at the DHA each year in birth to pre cray range typically about 10 in each age group we also know that there are 60 children at the Frasier Center and that those students will move to the new location and we also know that there are weight lists at both the Frasier Center and College Heights as of yesterday the wait list at the Frasier Center is 17 and the weight list at College Heights is 98 and when we look at forecasted kindergarten enrollment projections through 2034 they remain stable indicating that we likely have that same stability in birth to preap I appreciate the board and the community feedback
063on the need to clarify the oneir one3 one3 enrollment I used in the de M presentation so let me give it another try we plan on using a graded funding model which ensures accessibility and access to all students one strand and frankly our priority is for our students that need it the most which will be scholarship and Grant funded we're committed to providing a space for every student that lives in the decer Housing Authority the next strand of the braid is reduced pay we'd like to offer some sort of sliding scale to offset cost for our teachers and staff currently similar to to what we do at the Fraser Center and then finally we will offer full pay spots these three strands are not divided equally but just an illustration to show that we will
064ensure accessibility to our entire community I'd like to walk you through our next steps in the development of the Early Learning Center focusing on our progress from January to June we've already accomplished several key milestones in January we hosted a board community meeting that included information about our early learning in February we conducted a site visit to Grand Rapids michigans to learn more about high quality Early Learning Centers we solicited proposals for construction man construction management manager at risk firm which will be instrumental in guiding the construction phase of our project today is the final day to submit proposals for that CMR and looking ahead in April The Architects will complete the schematic design and we will finalize our selection of the semar and present the board approval by may we will finalize the schematic
065design with our semar partner and begin design development and in June there will be another quarterly update this timeline helps to keep us on track for our planned opening in Fall 2027 so here you'll see some smaller immediate next steps members from the design team are meeting with the city and from the city that includes fire traffic department of public work works and City management the CSD Safety and Security team is also meeting with the design team in March after meeting with the city The Architects plan to complete the schematic design and then again in April a seamar will be selected this timeline reflects the hard work and collaboration of many stakeholders and we're excited to move forward with this transformative project for our community this concludes my first quarterly update the next board update
066will be in June do you have any questions or would you like to share comments about your experience at the GRC I enjoy visiting the GRCC I particularly um enjoy hearing about how they were able to get funding um from different sources um uh and the whole Community aspect of the um GBC um it was yeah I think I think um the particular period of time when we were there after maybe some of the classes had left but the after school programs were there that weren Inc physically but just members of the community that were there were together playing with their families it was it was just really good to see um to to picture how a space like that might be used so I um absolutely loved um benefiting from the brains and the
067hearts that Stu I do have two questions on slide I think it's five there's a weight list make sure I'm so there's a weight list for the 0o to3 classroom does that mean there is no weight list for the four-year-old classroom or is that four-year-old group treated is it a different foury old is prekay um and so there is not right now there is not a weight list for prek but we're going through prek enrollment right now for next year and then on slide six I think there's the yellow circle in the yeah in the right hand corner that says December 2025 is um the new principle will there be anything in the timeline okay sorry so if we go back to slide five or one of the slides effectively said that you know all
068the DHA um children would have a spot a space so will there be anything in the timeline to kind of measure on the number of people signed up or how that number of students signed up is moving with the weight list for others so we will start our um kind of enrollment campaign in January so at that point then we'll start developing strategy around how enrollment and Outreach will start and I'll just add about prek so prek those classrooms are bright from the start um and so we receive funding from the state for those classroom teachers um an assistance um to make sure that we have enough spaces for all students that need prek and CS um I'll just add as an aside when we got back from Grand Rapid um Dr Whit and I
069had the privilege of or I had the privilege I think you've been there before touring the Frasier Center um I had never been there before I'm a a a dedicated College Heights parent I go there multiple times per day um but I had the privilege of visiting the Frasier Center and I was um overwhelmed by how dedicated the staff were um they take such good care of those babies um I get passionate about kids they make me cry but um the kids were so well cared for um the staff were so engaged they have outgrown that space um they are at capacity um they have three classrooms in the space that one that what we saw in Grand Rapids was smaller than one classroom should be um the poor the infants don't have room to
070um the lighting should be upgraded um and I left and I thought you know this is where all of our staff spend their children um probably because in that braid that's where the reduced funding model is this is where our staff are sending their children and we can do better we should and we can um but I think that what do we do with the space and what do we you know what are we going to do with the space once the Fraser Center moves out and I think when I left there I think maybe we need to just focus on what um the these babies um I think the Fraser Center has done such a great service for the city of decar and for our staff um most of a lot of those kids
071are the children of our staff members um but they are out of space um the playground is out they're out of space they've stacked things and God bless the staff they are doing the best they can um they were taking such good care of those babies but they were like elbow to Elbow um so for no other reason than that the fras Center deserves a a topnotch the little the little ones they just they didn't have any space to roll around and it was big we yes thank you do thoroughly enjoy the visit to the Grand Rapids Community College Early Learning lab I want to thank the board members for attending at as well as Dr and Sultan and I visited the Frasier Center when we returned we both recognize there is opportunity to for
072cfd to provide high quality Early Learning in a space that is suitable so thank you thank you Mrs Burton we look forward to reviewing the construction the construction man manager at risk award next month um Dr Whitaker please introduce the next presentation I would like to call on Mrs Aden Walker chief of Human Resources she will provide the results of our annual climate survey where we are and where we are in the employment Contracting process for next school year and other Recruitment and Retention efforts good afternoon Dr board chair Dr Sultan Vice chair doc uh Mr Utz our Este members of the board student representative Delena and her absence and superintendent Dr whiter I am pleased to provide an update on employee contracts and staff engagement within our district today's presentation will highlight key aspects
073of our employment contracts staff retention efforts recruitment strategies and initiatives to enhance teacher engagement our main our Focus remains on supporting and strengthening our Educators to ensure Student Success as always we ensure our work aligns with our strategic accelerators this presentation is primarily connected to our cultivating and retaining high quality professionals through demonstrating timely contract distribution efficient Staffing processes and Innovative strategies to retain and recruit highly qualified educators for the FY 26 Employment contract cycle we have maintained a structured And Timely process contracts were electronically distributed January 31st the deadline for submission was February 14th if there is a verified issue the submission deadline was suggested accordingly during the week of February 24th we identifi District vacancy the week of March 3rd Staffing for FY 26 officially commits this process included meetings with our principals
074to discuss pre-placement of our staff based upon enrollment projections and finally the internal transfer process will begin March 17th as you can see on the right side of the screen here is the contract data at a glance we distributed 552 contracts 537 contracts were received which is a 97 return rate this is slightly higher than the than last year's at 96 %c the primary reasons for unsigned contracts include eight teacher resignations five teacher retirements and two non-classroom certified retirements in comparison of this time last year March 2024 we had 20 unsigned contracts with 18 un cited as resignations and two retirements additionally we included not included in the contract data are five non-renewals due to perform therefore these contracts were not included not issued at all I'm sorry so in in summary we are so
075proud to say that going into the FY 26 Staffing season we only have 18 teacher vacancies and three of those positions have the candidates have already been identified and we are on part to to uh fill the remaining teacher vacancies by the end of this month with qualified candidates from our job there our recruiting efforts remain strong with a with the focus on attracting top talents from diverse universities to enhance engagement with our current teaching staff we invite them we invite our alumni from these uh universities to participate in these recruiting events one of the largest recruiting events that we participated this year is the Statewide Metropolitan Rea job fair along with uh with our teacher with other teacher job fairs such as University of Georgia Mercer University Georgia State kennol State University Fort Valley
076State Savannah State and several others including other HBCU like Clark Atlanta University where I personally spoke with the College of Education students about our district we worked with their placement Department to have da students attend our jobs there we're also working with CL Atlanta to for plans for a small a fall semester field trip to our district to increase our future student teacher we also hosted our annual CSD job fair this past Saturday March 8th which was a huge success with over a hundred applicants speaking to our school administrators so our principles were very excited about the level of applicant that we they have to pull from and that they interviewed on that day so as we move on to teacher engagement not only is teacher recruitment important but even more so teacher retention to
077help us gain greater insight into teacher retention in the overall engagement of our own CSD teachers we we conducted a fall teacher engagement survey in November we enlisted Handover a third party data analytics uh organization to dis aggregate the data for this survey the data provided valuable insights into why teachers stay in our district by addressing factors that contribute to teacher satisfaction and how we can strengthen the retention efforts the survey examined various of factors including um which motivates our teachers to stay with CSD with City Schools is to cater some of the top responses were School culture with 30% relationships at 19% and location at 15% of the responses from classroom teachers among top responses as you can see is other at 20% of why teachers say in this other category the responses include
078opportunity and growth in autonomy some teachers mention that they appreciate the ability to be creative in instructional decisions and the ability to have specialized roles as esol stem in adaptive clov other reasons include student and family engagement small District size job specific benefits such as job sharing opportunities that allow flexibility in work schedules and last but not least uh past reputation in historical connection a few teachers noted that they joined and stayed with CSC because of its strong reputation in inclusivity and Innovation not only are we interested in understanding why teachers say but we also want to know about areas of safety wellness and overall support the survey results indicate that teachers feel safe and well equipped with the resources they need to be successful in the classroom which reflect positively in these critical areas
079however by them on how CSD can enhance the employee experience higher to higher starting with compensation and pay competitiveness teachers feel that CSD salaries are not competitive among surrounding districts and other others indicated considering relieving due to higher pay and other elsewhere with support and resources teachers want more autonomy in the classroom and in increased support with new induction teachers and as an added benefit priority enrollment in after care programs for teachers children due to the high cost of child care work life balance of administrative task and a lack of planning time were cited as major concerns and included in teacher retention and morale the lack of teacher autonomy and voice and instructional delivery remains a concern and additionally uh teacher bonuses would be a benefit as well as recruitment bonuses and last uh leadership
080and administration feedback in this area spoke to having more teacher input in decision making and teachers receiving increased in timely communication from building and District le as we look at teacher engagement in resources the district has already taken action to address many of these areas as we continually aim to create a positive and sustainable work environment through initiatives and resources in all areas of Staff engagement in the following areas teacher competitive compensation for FY 26 includ Ed in the proposed budget is a minimum of a 3% Cola and 1% raise for all eligible teachers for FY 25 teachers and staff received one of the largest increases in a decade with ongoing efforts for consistently being competitively compensated among other Mentor District our new teacher induction and Mentor program we have increased support for our teachers
081for 0o to three of experience included in our new teacher induction program are non-evaluative observations to model effective teaching styles from experienced teachers as well as our first year Forum which serves as a two-way communication uh medium designed to gather data and assess how effectively we are supporting our new teachers including at our our teacher wellness and resources we have established an HR advisory committee and actively participated in the west Rea as Wellness session as part of our to develop and Implement Innovative strategies to enhance teacher Wellness we are collaborating with the center of black Educators as a think partner for Effective professional learning retention and recruiting strategies for the current and upcoming school year as well as connecting with our Affinity groups connecting our Affinity groups to State and National organizations as additional resources
082of support for our teacher effectiveness we continue to partner with ct3 for Effective strategies in classroom management we continue to offer certification and endorsement opportunities and special education in collaboration with our professional learning Department we are developing a PL catalog catalog that will provide meaningful professional development opportunities for all job categories with expanded University partners for at leadership certification as well as community Partnerships like Google we offer certifications at a discounted rate for staff and reduce tuition for Teacher preparation program and last but certainly not least our leadership Effectiveness last month our principles shared how UVA leadership program is equi equipping them with the skills to strengthen their leadership and build teacher capacity additionally our K12 principles benefited from the Georgia state princi Academy which provided mentorship and development to enhance their leadership Effectiveness as
083we know strong principal builds strong teachers with all of these efforts all of these efforts reflect our commitment to fostering a supportive and thriving educational environment for our teachers thank you and I'll be happy to answer any questions you I have there's I am sorry I should have asked this ahead of time so it may not even be answerable um when we're looking at Slide Five I see that it's classroom teacher and it's other staff yes so is the other and so I know when we looked at the contract certified staff are given contract so if I'm correct we have 552 certified staff and we have 443 classroom teachers so now when I look at this teacher engagement survey who makes up the other staff is that the 109 if I'm doing my math correctly
084certified staff that are not classroom teachers exactly receive a contract yet thank you so I think I want to know more about how we're reaching them because if I'm looking at this correctly there were something classroom teachers that didn't take the survey but they're only 40 something and I understand it's not a pure Apples to Apples but it looks like 60 something per of the certified staff who are not classroom teachers took the engagement survey but only about 38 39% of the classroom teacher right and it's one of those things we push it out and we we try to make sure that it's communicated as much as possible P it out to the principal push it out to making sure that their voice is heard but of course you can't make people you know do
085a survey so we do as much as we can and just disaggregate the data and further I I would say actually you could sometimes skew the results if you forced somebody to take it and they're unhappy about taking it their unhappiness at having to take a survey actually shows up within the survey data and it becomes extraordinarily difficult to disaggregate that so I I would certainly I I would Echo Miss Anderson's comments that we want to get as many teachers as possible to take it incentivize as many teachers as possible to take it they voice is important but yet not slip over to the you know compulsory taking of it no I absolutely agree we were forced to take one and it was weird um I I think what I'm trying to do is kind
086of reconcile the two things so if in the theme slide we're looking at things like you CED you know some teachers wanting after school care um others looking I think that was in the work life balance or administrative path so I think my concern which can't necessarily be answered in a slide and just something I'm wondering is you don't want to force people to take the survey at the same time what if people aren't taking the survey because like you said in terms of these findings there's a concern that my voice or whatever the concerns are either aren't being heard or aren't being addressed I don't I'm not saying that's what's happening what what I would want to add is a teacher survey is not the only opportunity of Engagement with staff through our canvases
087there are focus groups that are conducted in all schools on a regular basis and those focus groups are with teachers those focus groups are also with st with students and so that information is used uh very similarly to this data it's not just one data point but when you're talking about developing a strategy to retain staff all of those different points come together then one final question did the staff then get any readout of how that feedback is being us like obviously we board members here the need for compensation groups is there another step of communicated information or after F I will speak specifically to focus groups at the end of every canvas there is a debrief with the school leader that is part of the ritual and when that visit does happen that is
088where um our Deputy superintendent Mrs Karen Newton Scott and also our Harvard resident Miss P Pascal uh Pascal Pier Thompson they do provide that information to school leadership and then through the instructional cabinet it is also her identify what would be tra patterns and Trends and then think through strategy thank you um quick question about I think it's on slide seven um correct me if I'm wrong Any teacher on this board or how this goes but my understanding is teacher pay is pretty specified based upon degree level and tenure right years of service and so there isn't a lot of opportunity to offer differential pay based on when you're within those bans and so all of these certifications that were offering teachers endorsements everything that's up there just sitting here to me looks like an
089enorm amount of work that doesn't actually translate to any economic paef the teacher that undertakes that work and so why would I do it if I'm a teacher is there any path to differential compensation or some sort of incentive to offer other than obviously the teachers love the kids and want to do the best that they can for the kids I get that right but well a lot of those certifications we we offer cohort so we pay for them for magici But the teacher still have to do exactly exactly and it's just building we have different levels of teacher leaders within the school district so the more that you know you can offer your ability to share with your with your peers and I understand what you're saying as far as compensation and in incentivizing
090through compensation but building being a good teacher and being a good educator building Your Capacity is way far more than just you know something else and like get a lot of time sure and in addition to increasing your toolkit uh you know with certain endorsements so I got my specialist degree um Miss buck and so that put us into a different U pay category so some of these do actually offer if it takes you up to a different uh certificate level from T5 to T6 absolutely that means you do a different salary sale but I think to your question hun so I to got the specialist degree and quite frankly it's because I want to stay in education is the in the classroom and is the only way to get a pay increase each year
091in the degree but I'm not sure I see that specialist in there I thought I saw at leadership tier one is that the special anytime that you increase your certification level going from a T4 which is a bachelor to a master's anytime you increase your certificate level it it it comes with an increase in in compilation yeah no no no I understand that I I think the way I'm reading the partnership or the p is it the fourth bullet Universe I shouldn't be reading with my middle-aged or old eyes here so it's like University partnership and Community Partnership opportunities it says as leadership tier one but we were looking at I think bullet point to okay sorry so under the Google certification no no um under teacher teer Effectiveness certification last endorsement I was thinking
092that oh so okay the degrees would fall into that category but okay so that's what I want to know because I think that's what you're asking Hans so Ed leadership would move me out of the classroom I believe that's what that training would do but to hans's question within those certifications or endorsements I don't see anything that equates to what you and I got so that we could earn more money it does I have AIT endorsement um it is Meaningful but I think the question you're asking it doesn't translate to thus far into cater at least my understanding and I know it doesn't in my school district it doesn't equate to more earnings go from so again we teachers you know I have an English degree and then I have a master's in a Linguistics
093and then I have a specialist in instructional technology so on the bachelor's with this number of years that's my salary now I get a M's with there number years set a salary now I get a specialist all that I did on my own and I do that because I want to learn but I also have a living but when it comes to those certification so if I'm to get eel certified or if I'm to get gifted certified no that does not translate to more money and and to the the core of my question it is two teachers one is the bachelor and that's it they have a bachelor the other teacher has special ed certification gifted certification esol they've done the Google certification their tier one and tier 2 program leadership certified theyve gone through
094teacher preparation programs and they've gone through a dual leaders bachel teacher that has a substantial amount more knowledge and experience and hopefully that translates to capability in the classroom than another teacher they're both still paid the same amount however though does that play into some of what she's saying and the other side some of what drives the teachers is compensation if that drives a lot of people people most of us um but also culture so if you are gifted certified maybe you or like Dr J Johnson Davis who taught a particular cohort of students that certification allows you to pick what school you work in or what class you teach as opposed to have as opposed to not controller specialized classroom instruction so while it may not equate to a difference in paychecks um maybe
095still have the same paycheck but you're teaching a particular population of students that you so desire is that would that be an assumption yes one of the things that and yes uh University partnership and Community Partnership opportunities that third bullet teacher preparation programs what you don't see here is our partnership with KSU our partnership with Mercy University all of these are ways in which we have partnered with other universities it's not an exhaustive list um to say teacher this is if you are interested in getting a master's this is a university could you could go to and for some of them I believe Mercer we actually have a reduced pay um the teachers pay less now in this economy no is no longer at no cost but there is a reduced pay and then if
096you do attain that teacher degree meaning you've gone from a bachelor to a master's you do move from what would be T4 to T5 um same thing for T5 to T6 or even to a doctorate on t7 the that third bullet of teacher preparation programs it's a big it's a lot behind that um and like I said it's not exhaustive but that is the way that a teacher does move and we do provide that information to schools to School teachers and not only that we are working with the universities to even make sure that it is at reduced cost to the teacher and as of next year with a special ed certification you'll get paid a little bit more of this exactly yes so the Adaptive so this board uh did approve what would be
097a retention typen for our teachers who are teachers adaptive classrooms and also the pair profession and recruiting bonus on that as well so um that is where you we are doing it um we couldn't do it across the board for everyone but we did agree to start in the Adaptive classroom so that means that we it is within our control that if we wish to take a look at this we can begin offering tiered pay for some of these capabilities since we already are for a special ed or is that like the state only no no no we we can do it if if the ask was for all of special education and we settled on simply adaptive uh just because from a retention standpoint when we look at the teachers who it's harder to
098recruit as well as harder to retain hard to fill a position special education is the number one and so if you're going to put more money anywhere I would say that would be the number the first place as priority in rank and so the proposal was for all we landed on adaptive with uh looking at it again for next year yeah I think to your question Hans I would support exploring that because I have looked at our award-winning budget book like every page of it that I am as um you know informed as possible in our you moving forward to the FY 26 budget so I think it's on page 2117 that you have the QBE earning sheet and so am I correct in saying that our gifted students and our esel students we get
099more FTE points it's weed differently I I absolutely like the idea of exploring some kind of financial um connection since our school district is getting additional monies for those teachers that are getting those additional yeah I mean we did that's what we brought to the board in November at The Retreat so we put in what would be the cost to have all special education teachers receive that stien so I it it's being a teachers that are OG certified I see some of our parents from uh dyslexia task force is here with us I think anything that we're offering our student or I mean offering our teachers that we wish them to be incentive to do right because there's there may be certifications that we don't need or that aren't as important to us but those
100that are definitive needs that we have I I think you're hearing the board signal a willingness to explore it's not a step I know that's term yeah but like a some pay differential for the folks that earn those certifications and that was pretty much into our um part of the teacher preparation programs as well because we are a Char of District we are offer we can offer alternative certifications so part of that teacher preparation program is a nine month program and I think four months more you can get your Masters they coming in at that t t board immediately go into master so that is a program that we have initially kind of coined with with us our part thank you any other questions I would say board that the return rate for our contracts
101is strong we will continue continue to monitor vacancies and will report on the fill rate at the August 12th board meeting which is the first board meeting of next school year and it is my expectation that we are once again 100% fully staffed on day one which is this year July 31st thank you Mrs Walker for the update I'm glad we are focusing on both Recruitment and Retention As Natural attrition does occur Dr Whitaker please introduce the next presentation CH Sultan I would like to introduce Chief Financial Officer and team I they'll all introduce themselves to provide the use of state and federal funds presentation good evening board chair Dr sulon Vice chair up member of the board student representative Delena community and college this evening's presentation on Federal and Grant budget will include presentations
102by Sarah Garland principal of College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center Sarah Smiley director of Career Technical and agricultural education onique freed love director of school nutrition Tiffany lond director of esol and federal programs and Michelle L director of special education all presenters are program and budget managers for one or more Federal and our state grants both federal and state grants have an impact on all strategic accelerators there is a specific focus on accelerator for organizational Effectiveness and Excellence through financial equity and transparency this slide lists the district's federal grants along with the grant manager the projected contribution are supplement anticipated from the general funds fiscal year 24 revenue and the fiscal year 25 award amount the last column is the difference between the fiscal year 24 revenue and fiscal year 25 Awards to date the
103district has received a little under $400,000 Less in federal awards from fiscal year to 24 to 25 the district is continuing to receive Grant Awards and amendments and therefore the fiscal year 25 award amount is likely to change it is anticipated that school nutrition will require approximately $878,000 from the fiscal year 25 general fund budget to supplement its Revenue in fiscal year 24 the district received a little over $3.2 million in federal Awards as a today the district has been awarded approximately $3 million in federal grants Awards if federal funds were eliminated from the district and the district continued with the program and services funded through federal funds the fiscal impact to the general fund would be approximately $3.2 million this slide let State Grant award the grant manager fiscal year 25 projected contribution are
104supplement anticip ated from the general fund fiscal year 24 Revenue fiscal year 25 award amount and the difference between fiscal year 24 revenue and fiscal year 25 Awards in fiscal year 24 the district received approximately 1.6 million in revenue for state grants including the prek program for fiscal year 25 as of today the district has been awarded approximately $1.8 million in state Grant the District supplement the prek program from the general fund with an anticipated amount of $27,700 for fiscal year 25 fiscal year 25 State award is approximately $185,000 more than Grant Revenue received in fiscal year 24 state grants are continuing to be awarded and amended and therefore the fiscal year 25 award amount is likely to change prior to the end of the fiscal year this is a summary of the fiscal year
10525 grant today the district has been awarded approximately $6 million in federal and state grants and is projected to supplement the grants by approximately $1 million from the general fund up next the grant managers will detail how the largest grants are currently being used to supplement the district Services their projected fiscal year 26 budget and review the positive aspects of their grants challenges and next steps the first presenter is the principal of college height Early Childhood learning good afternoon I'm Sarah Garland the principal College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center the current landscape of this cing school to decator prek program includes eight classrooms including one special education co-a talk classroom there are eight certifi teachers eight pair of professionals and 135 students nine of whom resign in the deicer Housing Authority in order to hold
106the program accountable for being good storage of state and District funding instructural budget decisions are filtered through the parent advisory Council and the structural leadership team to ensure spending Alliance to the district accelerator to the college heits program and Equity missions fiscal year 2025 budget is 1 million 196 68% of the budgets allocated to pre- staff salaries and 30% is allocated to benefits in addition it is a requirement of the grant that each classroom receives $11,000 for instructional purposes each years it's important to highlight two new bright from the start funding initiatives first is an increase in funding for transportation historically bright from the start has only provided funding for those students riding the bus funding is now provided at a flat rate of $80.74 per student for all students enrolled in the program currently
10714% of our pre students ride the bus as a result there is a surplus and transportation funding that will be used for program administrative the second break from the start initi itive is funding for classroom refurbishment starting in fiscal year 2025 right from the start will Pro $1,000 per classroom e marked exclusively for refurbishment refurbishment funding will be awarded every 5 years the fiscal year 2026 budget includes a 4% increase in salaries historically Bri from the start has not increased the $1,000 therefore no adjustments have has been made similarly the per student flat rate for transportation will not be increased and no funding for classroom referment is expected moving on to the revenue sources right from the start funding is calculated on student enrollment and teacher credentials as reported on the four roster count submitted
108each year to the State starting in the 2025 fiscal year R from the start will pay pre teachers on the K2 K12 State teacher salary scale although Bri from the start has increased funding for the pair professional salary by 5,551 they do not supplement for years of experience righta start provides 24% of benefit cost for pair of professionals and 50% of benefit cost for teachers including an increase in funding for the teacher retirement system in addition Bri from the start provides $1,000 per classroom for instructional purposes and will reimburse student transportation % rate overall funding provided by Bri from the start of the prepaid budget which is an increase of 9% from fiscal year 2024 General funds are used to supplement salaries and benefits projected general fund need for fiscal year 2025 is 27,7 next
109slide okay I'm using the lens of all means all it it is important that all college height stakeholders our students our teachers our family and our community are used as the filters by which we assess positives challenges and next steps program positives highlight District accelerator number one supporting Student Success in all areas instructional funding supports the implementation of the ban development screening and assessment and the implementation of star early literacy programs implementing a comprehensive early literacy program is allowing us to align with the K2 work beinging Z of literacy using funding to purchase early literacy screeners and providing professional development allows our teachers to provide the early literacy foundations needed a student transition to kindergarten students are being screened for early literacy skills as soon as they start school Target students are receiving early literacy
110intervention group each week and currently 85% of students are measured at or above the Benchmark for early literacy skills identify challenges Target tier one supports and instruction ver is in need to provide tier one instructional support to Target small group instruction and planning second is the need to strengthen our tier one instruction to meet the needs of a wide range of Learners including students with disabilities to address social emotional Behavior needs at 1% of our overall budget Revenue the Bri from the start instructional budget is very limited however money received through the refurbish Grant will allow us to prioritize materials and resources and areas of sustainability such as tier one Behavior Support looking ahead to our next step our data shows that monies invested in pre-literacy support are having a direct impact on positive student
111outcomes we will continue to focus on supporting pre- literacy skills all teachers will be trained in Handwriting Without Tears Handwriting Without Tears can improve both writing and reading outcomes such as knowledge of letter names sound spelling and word reading in addition we'll be broadening our support to ensure veral alignment to kindergarten math standards in conclusion I want to thank the board Dr Whitaker and the community for their continued advocacy of early learning the dedicated College height staff understands we are creating the foundation of learning however your commitment to early quality Child Care education and your trust in our program commission and vision allows us to be successful thank you for your time are there any questions question so the steps that are being taken under looking ahead as we move forward will those address the
112bullets that are under challenges so are there any other things that any other gaps under challenges that are not being addressed or will these things get it done the great question this will directly impact our tier one instruction and when we're looking at the um needs around Behavior to address all students that's where we're going to be implementing that pan model for social emotional competence and that will help us for Ence through prek so all those are aligned directly to tier one um this may be more of a question for Dr Broom um based on the projections as to what we have to pull from the general fund to subsidize college heits is this about um is this about the Trend or because even with um the increase funding she's getting you're about the same
113but that's probably because her budget has gone up slightly um but is this about what you've seen year overy year around the range that we suffer it will decre this year and next year thank you thank you introduce her hey good afternoon I'm Tera Smiley the p and agriculture education director purpose five Grant funds are explicitly intended to support the Improvement of Career Technical and agriculture education instruction the middle secondary and postsecondary levels every two years we conduct a comprehensive local needs assessment these findings influence how our Peri funds will be allocated to address overarching needs improve instruction and promote Student Success in all areas the left you see that we were allocated a total of 22,000 progr Improvement card for fiscal year 25 through our most recent comprehensive local needs assessment we identified two
114opportunities equipment and supplies necessary for students to create finished products for Career Technical and student organization competitions they enter every year second we needed to increase adult supervision as the students membership and participation in these organizations have increased not only has membership increased so has the number of students advancing to state in their representative in their respective areas of competition we budgeted $1,413 for the Improvement of instruction specifically $643 for expandable equipment students used to create product and $4,000 covering 10 advisors to chaperon students attending conferences and workshops $12,300 of our program Improvement Grant funds have been budgeted for instructional training and travel ctae teachers participate in required summer training to enhance their expertise in delivering ctae courses effec the table on the right represents our projected budget of 29,500 for fiscal year 26 during
115our Advisory board meeting this past fall our committee members recommended additional lab equipment and supplies to enhance instruction for our middle school students combined with our plans to strengthen middle school program I've projected and will request a significant Grant increase of $117,000 for program instructional staff training and travel expenses are expected to remain nearly the same and 12,500 as all I'm sorry nearly the same at 12,00 500 as all required instructional training and conferences will remain in Georgia next year one of the most significant achievements of any CTA program is earning industry certification this certification signifies that a program adheres to rigorous standards set by industry experts ensuring that students graduate with credentials that make them immediately employable in their children Chen field this year we were awarded a $10,000 industry certification Grant which will
116help us maintain high quality instruction upgrade essential equipment and keep our curriculum aligned with evolving industy St our partnership with Cort Center continues to grow as we recognize that computational thinking is essential is the essential literacy needed to navigate the digital world the community of practice lessons taught by the Cort censor to our teach teach participants this year have proven to be applicable across all content areas as a result we are expanding our collaboration with the support center to include professional learning and resources for K5 teachers with a focus on computational thinking and literacy across all subjects we believe that high quality instruction and strong partnership will produce meaningful outcomes for all students the significant impact of ctae is clearly reflected in the most recent data provided by the Georgia Department of Education highlighting the
117CTA Advantage our programs have proven to be a catalyst for improving both graduation rates and post-secondary placement rates ensuring that students are not only graduating but also transitioning successfully into college and careers while our CTA programs have been overwhelmingly successful we are facing several challenges and keeping up with the increasing demand of our most popular path as more students recognize the value of career oriented education we are seeing ex Surge and course requests that exceed our current capacity a key challenge is the limited physical classroom space which is preventing us from accommodating all interested students in these high demand Pathways Additionally the need to expand the variety of Pathways we offer is growing with Industries evolving and new career Fields emerging we must broaden our offerings to ensure we are providing students with the skills
118needed to thrive in high demand sectors these challenges underscore the importance of planning for growth and the continued expansion of our CTA pathway program offerings we have a unique opportunity to expand our programs in ways that are sustainable impactful and address the future Workforce needs one of the most promising opportunities is the phas of Cent's transition into the new Early Learning Center this transition provides us with the space that we can repurpose to expand our ctae pathway ensuring most students have access to high quality Career Training while also meeting Workforce needs as indicated by the most recent house bill 982 high demand CER looking ahead we aim to strengthen our partnership with the technical college system of Georgia to expand dual enrollment opportunities for students by offering classes since partnership with local technical colleges and
119facilitating access access to certification programs in high demand fields we can align curricula and create a clear path for students to earn certifications additionally we will raise awareness about the benefits of Technical College certification with the tcsg and local businesses these PS will highlight career Pathways that include technical certificates diplomas and degrees giving students parents and the community a better understanding of the opportunities available our Focus will also include developing Outreach programs that promote these Pathways and ensure our students are prepared to meet the workforce needs addressing challenges addressing the challenges we Face will require a coordinated effort among all Community stakeholders including policy makers Educators industry leaders and Youth we are committed to working collaboratively to improve instruction in our programs to meet the needs of our students across the district this concludes my
120report of our perfect SP program improve Improvement Grant and I'm happy to answer any questions at this time well I can do a commercial for ctae and the impact it had on my family um my youngest son got the Adobe certification which has helped him to be in the film indust industry in LA and the smiley work with him even though he turning his work study paperwork very late he help him get a DI with he what he got a found internship with um the Georgia public broadcasting um thanks to you know her willingness to help him um but my question is about the um under fiscal year 25 budget under description you have um the TSO advisor dues and fees but I don't see that under um the FIS year 26 budget is it
121is it built into that budget or what happen what's happening with those that is an oversight okay yes we will continue in C year 26 to cover the news of these four hour as okay thank um I know it's I was just gonna say thank you um I have loved everything that we've been given but the bowl is just something I might look at at an Arts Festival and not be able to afford so thank you um I know you haven't listed as a as a challenge but I view it overwhelmingly as a success that you're seeing very very high demand increased demand for these Str so that that's uh as much of a challenge as it I know that it is that's very much also a success um similar to half a dozen other
122things I've mentioned I as an adult would be happy to pay to be able to take some of these classes and courses so I just want to continue to challenge us to think about ways to plug into the community and and maybe offset some of the cost Miss Miss Smiley yes so as I mentioned um the purpose program Improvement funds are specifically for program Improvement so any equipment we purchase have to be you L for the students however um these bows were created by tools that our teacher received other grants with not federal dollars so we're able to share that I learned that about two months ago um and so that teacher and I along with the other Career Tech teachers are talking about a way that we can offer courses to the community um
123their main questions how are they going to become we we'll figure that part and it I could see that as a flow through that's thank you thank you any other questions thank you Miss myy thank you next we'll have the director of school nutrition good afternoon my name is monque West I'm um representing the school nutrition program our program focuses on enhancing children's Nutritional Health supporting academic success and combating hunger our fiscal year 2025 budget is 4,277 th000 we experienced a decrease in fedal a specifically the supply Grant by approximately 100,000 as well as a reduction adults he additionally we Face increased food and supply cost due to inflation and industrywide price a large portion of our funding 2,1 144,000 go towards salaries and benefits for our food nutrition Personnel this represents 25% of our
124total budget emping the importance of our dedicated staff student sales continue to be a significant Revenue Source generating 1,970 ,000 or 23% of our total budget this Revenue comes from student breakfast lunch snacks and Al card items purchase food account for 1,499 th000 or 7 177% of our budget this expenditure is crucial for ensuring we have the necessary ingredients to provide quality meals we also receive substantial support from federal Services fellow Federal reimbursements and grants total 9% of our budgets highlighting the vital role of feral program in our operation the general fund supplements provides um 878 th000 or 10% of our budget demonstrating the district's strong commitment to school nutrition our operating expenses which include operational equipment and supplies amount to 633 th000 or 7% of our budget these expenses are essential for maintaining efficient
125operations fiscal year 26 budget is 4,216 th000 food and supply cost will see a 3 to 5% increase in school year 26 and extreme weather changes will continue to affect produce and other Foodies will also see a 3.5% increase through the rates Federal funding remains consistent in breakfast and lunch reimbursement but the ending of the supply Grant reduces our budgeted Federal contributions and will be added to our food other Revenue sources and contracted services are to projected to decrease due to lower enrollment from our patents and conservative estimates while School nutrition operates as a nonprofit program it's important to clarify that it's non entirely self-funded we receive crucial federal assistance to ensure we can provide healthy meals for our students Federal assistant is provided through a multi-tiered system with funding levels determined by several factors
126including one the school district's enrollment student enrollment which establishes the base funding amount and two the number of Mill served which qualifies the district for supplemental Federal support the combination of enrollment Mill serve and income determines how much fellow reimbursement we receive each M serve this balance funding and expense approach allows us to main the Food Service program have access to healthy meals and that we can effectively serve our broader Community this year brought both successes and challenges thanks to donations we're still able to Aid our families and any accumulated debt by paying off balances we paid balances in July um before the start of school to ensure every student starts with a zero balance SC January before students return from holiday break and we plan to repay any remaining balances for the school year
127on May 30 our Thanksgiving celebration was a resounding success with 1,4 um 46 tickets sold a huge thank you to Carol and I for implementing our streamline payment system which made the entire event run smoothly when is success with our menu innovation our grab and go lunch boxes have been a huge hit across all School levels with the plant-based huncher box and vegetarian pizza box leading the way as best so the styren pilot at Beacon Hill was a Triumph quickly grasp the process is already making a tangible difference in reducing waste and lightening the low of our custodial staff now let's address the challenges we Face we're constantly working to balance of sometime competing priorities of nutrition student choice and sustainability in our food offerings finding the right approach is an ongoing process like everyone
128we're also dealing with the pressure of rising cost for food and supplies which make budgeting a real challenge looking ahead we are focused on strategic price adjustments sales growth staff investment scratch cooking initiative and Innovative marketing campaigns to ensure a sustainable future are there any questions yes um a couple uh first is um when we the increase in student Revenue in increase in student revenue from 2025 to 2026 what is that just a higher volume what's what's kind of underlying some of those assumptions we haven't seen a higher volume we've actually gone down and that's more so in relation to enrollment but with our new menu it's been very successful our students really love to grab and go especially at elementary which is who it was geared towards lighter fair so we have more participation
129with our students students who weren't eating with us before they are eating with us now and that has proved to be very successful that's a that's fantastic news because my very next question is uh when are we going to raise lunch prices um and I want to be very clear to the public we're not talking about impacting free and reduced people that need free and reduced are continue to able to have access to free and reduced um but given everything that you're saying and obviously we see it in regular I mean egg prices we could talk all day long about what has happened to egg prices um those costs need to be need to be passed along we do expect to raise prices next school year um at the end of the year I typically
130will produce a start stop continue type of document to inform not only staff but families what to expect in the new year so if you remember last year we did a lot around um the culture of safety this would be one of those um starts for next year so the the reason why I'm asking is because it will have an impact on our budget right right I think you're right now assuming at about a $1 million just a little over a million dollar subsidy uh from the general fund right um but if we talk about a price increase especially for popular lunches as it seems you've all been very successful at doing I'd want to see what that might impact um price increases on the lunches alone right I mean you're talking about roughly a
13150% prices in order to be able to actually offset the general fund subsidy I don't think 50% not going to do 50% um I want to bring some new leadership in to take a look at that before we do the F the tentative approval in April okay so that's why it's only in draft two I would like to see though a double digit right I mean so we're we're I just want to set it out there for the community to be aware we're not talking about two cents or three cents we we really need to be talking about pace of inflation uh we're talking 10 to 20 % and that should be what we see okay I think the other data point to bring back might be if you remember we raised lunch prices like
132two years ago or something like that and there was a little bit of a dip because the counter to raising those prices is that you have some students that drop out of the program which doesn't help you know you want the same pace of students to participate that's what she was saying so we may just want to look back historically and see when we did that what was the rebound like how many stents we lose for how long and then how long did picture cover person yeah another key piece to that is um where we were in the requirement of payment for what would be purchase of lunch so we have a some different guidelines in place now a policy if you will so um but it's good to hear that percentage thank you f
133um so last year when we were working on trying to eliminate the debt um there was some reminders that went out to parents about you know the processes that were already in place to get them to stay on top of school lunch fees and and um or their account debt and things like that how have are we seeing an improvement in the reduction of our I guess the pting of the redu we have we have seen an improvement um this was a big adjustment across the board so we have seen an improvement there is definitely room for growth in that area um as parents become used to let me go ahead and make sure our members have put money on an account getting used to setting up those um payment options um through um Infinite
134Campus so we're getting there it's definitely seeing a drastic improvement and we do still have donation funds and we want to use them the way they were intended which we are helping to um continue to pay off any accumulated debt as our parents get used to this being now hopefully near the top of the list and their budgeting just had one question about the adults sales and I wondered if I think to the point of where we were last year it looks like the adult sales revenue is almost half for FY 26 that it was for FY 25 is that because when we started last school year I believe many adults weren't paying for lunch and or so what would account for that reduction many of our um adults uh were charging much so at
135this point there should be no charging for adults so as um our staff everyone gets used to that new policy that we have that there is no charging we do expect to see an increase in that because now it's just a matter of you know same with our parents we just need to remember to put money on our accounts so we can't get a lunch because we're not allowing charging for adults just the last point is and this is to the administration as a whole I know I remember there were some kids that came in here I want to say maybe from fave but there were a couple kids that came in here and made a whole presentation about reducing waste and the things that we needed to do to reduce waves now that we've
136been successful with thyrogen and it's starting to be rolled out I would love those kids to come back to hear us congratulate them for it I would just love to kind of make close Circle them yes um you want to kind of talk to styro Janie so that everyone I don't know if everyone knows in the community so you can speak to it and then where we're moving forward with they were from um St because that's where I first spoke with them from there SRO Genie is a company I um got a chance to meet at one of our um gsna uh conferences with fol nutrition and they are awesome program um if you ever get a chance to stop by at Beacon during lunch you will see that process in the effect the principle
137behind it is for recycling as opposed to using the um um um what we call them U combustible trays there's a whole process you have to go through um to actually for that to be effective so it's not as simple it's just buying plates that can be recycled you actually have to go through that process what we're doing is hopefully keep not hopefully keeping our cost down with um continuing to buy cyberform plates this system Cyro takes those plates it is compressed down and to um a small plate large about the size of this Podium here and it's St so maybe every once or twice a year it's picked up it's taken to and it's recycled into more trays or other styrofoam units so there is a complete circle of recycling of this product and
138it also helps a keep our cost low and it also reduces our waste so there's not as much waste we have in our dumpsters and and it produces the trips from our custodians to the dumpster so it helps overall um will this be introduced at the high school at some point or is it just the pilot was initially ran at Beacon because that is where my um B students went to who put in this request and I wanted them to actually see this in motion so we did start there and we are moving we will look into that I don't want to uh you know in full transparency we do have um a new chief operations officer coming in uh when you look at the budget overall and we'll do that you know hour or
139two from now uh when we look at the budget overall there's substantial amount subsidizing into nutrition and I will say I was EXT extremely appreciative to this board when I was hired and named in March April to really be able to take a look at that budget before it closed um that made a difference for how quickly I could move within my first 90 days and we're a chief of operations is one division but in our school system is the second largest um amount that we spend besides instruction so I really want to and that's why I answered um board member SS the way that I did to say before the budget closes or the tentative adoption that's number one on um the new Coo's uh plate to really get to so that we can
140make sure we're putting in the general fund what can be what should be and as well as it's a more of a comprehensive analysis and deep dive into where we have been in spend what is projected for FY 26 and then ultimately it's impact on a fiveyear any other questions okay next is the director of eastall our feral program hello good afternoon I am Tiffany Wy the every student succeeds act or Essa provides Federal funding to local educational agencies to supplement financial resources and support the goal is to ensure that all students have Equitable access to a highquality education regardless of economic status or other Equity factors while Essa offers various federal grants eligibility for each Grant depends on specific on the specific purpose and funding requirements not all districts qualify for every Grant I'm
141going to focus on Title One Part A the largest Esso grant that the city schools of deor receives however before discussing how these funds are used I want to clarify some information about Title One funding in our district Title One funding is allocated to District based on the percentage of students from lowincome families as determined by the US US Census since a portion of our student population meets these criteria our district qualifies for basic Title One funding to help address educational disparities and support Student Success once the title one allocation has been received schools in CSD are ranked based on the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch none of our schools meet the 40% threshold required to run a schoolwide title once program so we use the title One funds to implement targeted
142Assistance programs in a targeted assistance Title One program students are not automatically eligible for service based solely on economic status instead they are identified based on academic need using multiple criteria such as standardized test scores teacher recommendations classroom performance and other assessments once the highest ranking schools are identified for Title One support students within those schools are ranked according to their academic need and services are provided to those students who fall within the determined eligibility range currently eligible students receive services at Claremont Elementary and T Street Upper Elementary over the past 20 years csc's title 1A funding has decreased significantly with a 67% reduction since 2005 in 2026 we anticipate a potential 15% % decrease from the 2025 allocation to maintain consistent Services DSD utilizes the transferability option to move funds from title 2A and
143title 4A into title one we will now review the allocation of Title One funds including how resources are distributed to support instruction parent engagement professional learning and other key areas approximately 65% of Title One funds support instruction including salaries and benefits for two Title One intervention teachers to serve eligible students supplemental instructional materials and supplies and professional learning opportunities to enhance intervention strategies for Title One staff additionally Title One funds support parent engagement initiatives such as family nights that may include academic topics such as math or literacy as well as workshops and resource materials to help parents support their children's learning at home currently the title one Grant with the transfer of title two and title four covers all of our projected expenditures by strategically allocating Title One funds CC remains committed to providing targeted
144instructional support and meaningful family engagement opportunities ensuring that students our identified targeted assistant schools receive the resources they need to the positive impact of our title 1A funding is significant allowing us to provide targeted academic support for eligible students These funds enable us to bridge the learning gaps and accelerate student intervention by the end of the FY 24 school year 71% of our students served under the title one program met or exceeded their projected map growth goals in reading an increase from 65% 4% met are exceeded their ma Mass growth goals up from 67% the prior year while there is still work to be done continuing Services is essential to ensuring our students Thrive academically our Title One program is facing significant budget challenges Title One funding scheduling limitations and a growing need for professional
145development to support effective intervention strategies the most pressing issue is how to maximize the impact of decreased funding while continuing to provide highquality instructional support and intervention services to our students additionally as the need for professional learning growth limited funding makes it challenging to provide training for and teachers who support Title One students without additional Financial Resources sustaining and expanding these essential services will continue to be a challenge even with our challenges we remain committed to looking ahead and strengthening our Title One programs to better serve our students and families by strengthening datadriven decision- making we can ensure that interventions are precisely tailored to student needs using progress monitoring and assessment data to continuously refine and improve instructional strategies additionally we will continue to maximize the use of tital One funds for sustainable impact prioriti
146prioritizing resources that provide long-term benefits such as high quality instructional materials professional development and family engagement initiatives by prioritizing these key areas we will continue to maximize our available funding and maintain a strong effective Title One program that supports student needs and fosters academic success thank you I have a question em said this earlier are we um losing Title One funds because of um a reduction of the number of students who fall into that category or is it because of the federal government that's giving us less money we are losing funds based on changing demographics so our initial allocation is based on expenses usually a couple of years behind but the most recent data I found was from 2022 and we were at a 4% poverty rate so just changing demographic any other questions oh
147I'm sorry next up will be the special education director good afternoon I'm Michelle all areas of special education are deeply tied to the Strategic accelerators focusing on ensuring Equitable access improving outcomes for all students and strengthening Student Success in all areas our initiatives are data driven and student focused addressing both opportunities and challenges identified in FY 25 our Ida 611 grant funding was 995 $485 funds are strategically budgeted to support our district goals instruction constitutes around 80% of the budget this is how we can fund additional pair of professionals positions salaries and benefits to maintain low adult student ratios we also fund contracted I service providers as well as proportionate share services for eligible students attending private or home schools as required we redirect funds from from the Ida Grant to comprehensive coordinated early intervening
148Services better known as CCIS and provide targeted early interventions 72,2 47 is the impact of the 15% of CCIS dis Pro penalty this school year in this area we have also budgeted for teacher training on support strategies this school year we were also able to budget for special transportation services for eligible students students ensuring Equitable access for students requiring specialized transportation services looking ahead to FY 26 we anticipate a slight increase in grant funding which will allow us to continue our instructional support budget for increased salary forair professionals and continue contracted IEP service providers with CCE funds we will continue to fund the student engagement coach to provide the selected interventions as well as training for teachers while it is too early to know we anticipate the special Transportation may not be covered by the
149grant due to anticipated PA professional salary increases these projections reflect our ongoing efforts to balance resources effectively despite challenges such as Grant fluctuations and Rising salary costs Ida funds are supplemental to the general fund operational and staff budget and cannot supplant it Georgia Department of Education monitors this requirement via two annual compliance tests which are maintenance of effort and excess of cost excess costs cfd has passed both of these tests since fy18 our grant is able to cover all of our projected expenditures next steps positives a positive that has already yielded improved outcomes on our most recent ccrpi results is our efforts to equip teachers with research based strategies to improve student outcomes with training on specially designed instruction and high leverage practices teachers are also grateful for the new life transition curriculum which helps
150them have resources to teach independent living and job Readiness skills to students in our adapted curriculum program the implementation of this curriculum is also supported by the school to work program Bridges to Bridges Marriott this program helps to create real world employment opportunities for students with disabilities we have also received positive feedback from teachers and school leaders regarding the support of our new contracted autism Specialists who Provide support to teachers in implementing targeted interventions to Foster positive student Behavior challenges as mentioned in my previous slide we continue to redirect funds to comprehensive coordinated early intervening services bcis and that does limit the flexibility in the use of 611 funds also while we greatly support and appreciate board approved salary increases for our deserving PA of professionals working in special education we are challenged with other
151items budgeted in the grant grants show small increases by staff continue to rise significantly looking ahead we appreciate Dr wher's leadership and your commitment to Equitable outcome with your support we effs to address disproportion it as a part of this work we will expand teacher training and support including ongoing sessions from the Georgia Department of special education rules and instructional best practices are there any questions could you could you clarify this penalty I don't know if I quite understood that this 2% penalty um so when a district is identified as disproportionate and any area such as discipline identification as we are yeah that means okay and 611 and 619 are both two different right but dispropor I mean disproportionality okay may I have to follow up to that then sure on slide 24 is it
152just an Omission or is it a change so fy2 budget shows the pro salary in the left column on slide 24 on the slide 24 on the right it just says CCIS salary and there's no dispro yeah it's the same dat I'm sorry those terms are this little confusing um bcis can mean the same thing it's actually part of how we plan like it's part that includes the plan that we implemented the district so we're ongoing implementing that plan so all right I welcome Dr Broom back to the podium thank you to all the presenters as we strive to ensure Financial transparency in all operations their presentation is now part of the budget development process this is the fiscal year 26 proposed preliminary budget for special Revenue funds the amount listed here our projection and
153as we begin to receive the grants in fiscal year 26 the numbers will be adjusted to reflect the actual award amount and presented to the board for approval grants are reimbursable meaning the district must spend the funds prior to being reimbursed all grants with the exception of the prek grant are budget neutral and that Revenue equals expenditures the prek grant is anticipated to need approximately $ 26,1 from the general fund to supplement their budget this is the fal year 26 proposed preliminary budget for the school nutrition program School nutrition is anticipating a deficit budget of $1 million in order to balance the deficit this amount will be supplemented from the general fund in previous year a portion of the school nutrition budget was budgeted in the general fund this for year 25 is the first
154year that all School nutrition expenditures were built into the school nutrition budget the general fund has supplemented the School nutrition budget with an average of $700,000 per year the box to the right is the school nutrition program fund balance School nutrition is required to maintain a fund balance to ensure funding at the start of the school year to purchase food and pay salaries in I'm happy to respond to any questions is is it required that they maintain a 25% fund balance which that's the number 25% okay um what is I think it's right around $29 million but do you have off the top of your head what the value of a mill is in decator for this year about three million okay so so just to be clear with the community um with with some
155of the the uh I'm going to use the word chaos happening at a federal level right now if we do lose Federal fund fing and we want to continue that programming we are talking about a one mil impact in terms of digest funding just so that I want to state that for the record so everybody sort of knows what it means when Federal funding pulls back it means a mill Bard okay board this annual presentation is more valuable than ever as a change at the federal level breeds uncertainty it is important for all stakeholders to know the funding that comes to us federally and for what purpose thank you Dr Broom and team for this timely presentation and for clarifying that the school year 25 is the first year school nutrition funds were not budgeted
156in the general fund therefore the school nutrition supplement is not is not a new expense but a reallocated expense uh Dr W I see Dr Broom will present again yes you want to think we can keep going we're five minut we're behind already okay very good yes Dr yes chair Sulton Dr Broom Chief Financial Officer will present with fellow cabinet members the use of SPO funds FL is used for instruction technology and operation and has a direct impact on all four strategic accelerators today's focus is strategic accelerator for organizational Effectiveness and estimates to the financial equity and transparency the special purpose local option sales tax also referred to as blo is a 1 cent County sales tax approved by the voters for the special purpose BL six is the most recent flock and was approved
157by the voters in 2020 21 the district receives a proportionate share of the County sales tax receipt along with the Cab County Board of Education and the Atlanta Board of Education distribution of tax receipts is based on student enrollment next year will be the fourth year of the fiveyear cycle blot funds are restricted and that funds can only be expended on Pro appr reference dollars cannot be spent on salar and benefit but where we have an opportunity to to sustainably fund a project or purchase through fysical impact from the general fund spring up general fund resources to put towards the instructional needs of students this evening's presentation on SPL F will include presentations on how splot funds are budgeted to be the year 25 and the proposed usage for fiscal year 26 to restore critical
158instructional Capital life cycle needs presenters will include SD Melton Chief Information officer and Jennifer Burson assistant superintendent of teaching and learning we will conclude by presenting the proposed $7 million fisal year 26 BL six operations the current fiscal year 25 budget for operations is 6.4 million $3.4 million is for Construction and building improvements including back fields renovation at tally demolition grading and installation of new playground at wona parure roof replacement pluming upgrades HVAC compressor replacement and concrete sidewalk repairs at the hospitol hbac compressor replacement at Fifth Avenue portable heat and cool spot units at the wion center and emergency plumbing repairs and replacement at clarem .5 million was for the construction of Legacy tracks and Fields and Professional Services the security District assessment was completed along with the past process for the new Early Learning
159Center and multiple testing for the new Early Childhood Learning Center Consultants were utilized for legacy tracking field and the civil and Structural Engineering of the new center the construction of Legacy track and field is close to completion with two payments L left in the budget the of March is the estimated time for completion for fiscal year 26 operations proposed flot budget is$ 3.7 million this includes approximately $3.2 million for Construction and building improvements consisting of $600,000 were replac at two rooftop units at CER high school and $500,000 for an artificial turf $400,000 for rooftop hbac units at EC and $700,000 for elevator upgrades and adaa requirements at multiple locations some of the positive accomplishments and operations this year are renovations to Wilson Center and the PLC and AD Equity accessible upgrade to motorized lift and
160chair lift at various schools and the successful renovation of challenges for operations are the riseing cost of construction materials and the shortage of manow for major construction projects looking ahead our largest project is the design and development of the new building for the Early Childhood Learning Center and the artificial turf replacement at the high school I will be happy to respond to any questions she may have didn't we have a significant requirement for I want to say Claremont maybe but there was a roof replacement that was did that happen or is that what's part of the next budget I just it's part of this year's budget next presenter is Mr hey good afternoon um proposed technology budget for next year and then I'll transition into Safety and Security a major theme on the technology side
161is cost reductions in services without reduction in quality so that we can accomplish two major equipment refreshes for students and teachers in next year's floss budg this year we transition to a new copier service provider and as anticipated our aggressive selection and procurement process last year has us trending toward overall cost savings this year and additionally we began rolling out reports this year to principles to show high copy users in their school although it covers the equipment and toner schools pay for paper and so we anticipate to continue that Trend maybe can see some savings on the general fund side of things we're also budgeting uh next year to reduce splot expenditures in some Network equipment and voice Telecom Services uh we negotiated a rate reduction with Verizon this year and are starting to see
162savings from that uh and next year we intend to go to market to update our land line system software at the service includes instructional tools like Freckle informative and brain pop business tools like the it and Facilities ticketing system and the district website software as a service continues to be the largest single spending category for spls a thankful addition when voters approve the spls 6 referendum we certainly hope we have support for spls 7 um before we know it of the roughly 60 online tools for which we shepher the budgeting process we are eliminating eight next year uh these are tools that have become redundant or instructionally no longer align with best practices around the science of reading although the proposed budget increase for this function is approximately 2.7% that is weighted heavily by cancellations
163and various adjustments based on enrollment or program scope of the tools that we are renewing next year with the comparable Apples to Apples renewal in terms of scope a number of services um or number of users ra rather the average year-over-year rate increase was 6.11% about double the Consumer Price Index for those following h58 um enduser equipment procurements is our biggest area of increase spending next year and here we we include not only uh some technology equipment but we also include some Debt Service um that I'll speak to in in just a moment uh we have two major fleets of equipment due for refresh our staff device Fleet which is overwhelmingly teachers is due many of our teachers current equipment was issued to them in summer 2020 just in time for a pandemic and remote
164learning and everyone here can well imagine and many of you lived on the student the family side of that experience the wear and tear that that fleet has undergone we plan to bring a four-year lease procurement for your consideration next month but more exciting uh is that it is time to replenish our middle and high High School Ono one fleets we and did the current fleets procurement in 2020 when the supply chain had recovered um our students have put that gear through a lot and it's time to issue new equipment that lease program is included as a consent agenda item for the regular meeting in just a little bit um this debt service equipment lease and bonds payments um includes additional District debt Service uh these are funds for Bond payments to a outstanding certification
165of participation bonds lastly we do have some areas of life cycle maintenance for equipments purchase as opposed to a lease particularly interactive flat panel displays at the middle in the High School uh we do propose reducing spending on those though not eliminating it in order to better accommodate the requested increases for licenses in teacher and student devices on the safety side the board approved a $1.4 million allocation from squa this fall 70,000 of that was approved last month to go toward the design build firm uh for the design uh and uh guaranteed maximum price identification for secure entryways out our schools that kickoff has happened um and we're nearly uh at the contract finalization phase with them um if the board approves uh the weapons detection program discussed at the board retreat last month which
166includes not only equipment costs but also a staffing allocation um we would procure that equipment this year uh for its availability for the opening of school next year but a large portion of these funds is 880 we would roll forward into next year um to support FY 26 undertakings um director Brown and I are grateful to you all for the questions and the feedbacks and setting your priorities and you will see and this is reflected in Dr broom's FY 26 draft number two um we have shifted spast eligible services that have been presented to you a couple of weeks ago on the general fund and the spast so thank you for that we're going to make that happen um this includes subscription as a service that's our CICS that's our crisis go that's our the
167vigilon system and also the life safety system life cycle these are spot El uh the remaining dollars will be allocated toward uh VES uh construction which we hope be augmented by another round of safety grant funding from the state's FY 26 budget um we've also in that we might offer towards the city to help support the cost by orising SRO um we appreciate the work um that you and the superintendent have undertaken to renew those conversations with our colleagues at the city um we've also transitioned the district radios which would function not only for emergencies but also support day-to-day operations um onto the spat budget as a communication system system um I will state as Dr Whitaker pointed out earlier I'm sorry uh Dr Whitaker and I think Mall also there's a lot still that
168has yet to be determined by the current legislative session um we have not yet heard what might be in the books as an FY 26 one time we've had a few rounds of one time security grants um and so we are uh anxiously waiting to see what Spotlight or what the clarity might come from that and as those decisions get made we will work with Dr Broom and director Brown to amend um the budget appropriately overall positives this year um have an eye toward uh an ey toward our partner's ability to work uh providing quotes uh earlier in in the cycle you might recall that during this presentation last year a challenge I listed was the unexpected year-over-year rate increase for licensed tools um so to deal with that we moved that process to avoid
169surprises this year and I want to give credit um to the rest of the entirety of executive cabinet we work with everyone on the team to help shepher their online tool licenses um and to work those relationships uh getting those quotes this fall means that the variance and our team's largest spast spending category should be significantly reduced uh next year so we're not leaving money on the table between fiscal years um and a second shout out specifically to assistant superintendent Burton and the teaching and learning team for another year of partnership to find online learning tools that are just no longer the best fit for us and in the change management process for principles and coaches and teachers um to ensure our colleagues Readiness for those tools to um to Sunset uh before they leave
170for the summer so they can make the necessary instructional changes um and of course the reallocation of funds towards Safety and Security in October is a huge problem not only has it to the community and to staff where the board's priorities sit but it's also given us resources to sustain uh critical resources to continue to improve our culture of safety our first major challenge is nothing new to SPO SPO just simply continues to underperform team presenting today amended the SPO projections downward by about a million dollars in this and we've had to make some uncomfortable cuts a newly resurgent challenge for us is the reality of increased tariffs over the last uh couple of months the prospect of a significant tariff tariff cost is the reason we have the 612 student device uh on the
171consent agenda this afternoon so that our partner who's going to back for us can hold the supply already sitting in a domestic Warehouse to protect it for us and our kids otherwise the price is going to go pretty significantly up um we very much anticipate there that over the next few years the combination of reduced splot dollars and increasing costs not only for electronics but also things like steel lumber aluminum that one up today um will be will be painful for us um looking ahead we are putting greater focus on supply chain sourcing we're also monitoring a pair of Consolidated cases going to the Supreme Court that might affect the future of e rate which provides a 40% discount on eligible Network services and equipment um and again I appreciate the advocacy that someone the
172board undertook uh this fall to speak to our representatives to protect that really critical thank you so much um and likewise we're keeping an eye out for how other changes at the federal level might affect not only eates but also for example the multi-state cyber security and infrastructure security agency msiza has technical expertise and research relevant to both the physical and cyber safety sides of our shop and we really hope that those resources persist this concludes my portion of the SPO presentation but before I introduce assistant superintendent Clon if you all have any questions I can feel just have one question so I understand this is spat funds right now is this budget recognizing any money from the state or no we have to wait until the state makes its final decision and then we
173can look and see what is the state giving here that we can then move those spot money absolutely I really appreciate that question and so this this budget is looking squarely at what we're modeling in terms of a $7 million spot allocation coming in this year certainly if as state budget says we will provide additional resources then we can come back and like okay we know we're getting these dollars from this Revenue Source how might we free up dollars SPO General funds yeah so that's but that's still uncertain for us thank you other questions thank you all I appreciate it next up is this edible well I mean if you're one maybe maybe you want us to pass all good after everyone all right good uh the majority of our es slap funds in the
174instruction budget is spent on textbooks in addition we reserve $25,000 every year to ensure we have adequate Orchestra and band equipment the projected fy2 budget decreased significantly because we're past the initial large purchase of the K8 Ela textbooks we're also continuing to purchase digital textbooks for our AP courses class sets of text for our Ela honors courses and printing math books we're really excited in front of you um that we are going to have science of reading aligned k eight resources I've given each of you a sample pack of just WR reader decodable text each K2 classroom will have a library of decodable text that can be used in the classroom and sent home with students um to use at home we know that there's not just one textbook that's perfectly aligned to the science
175of reading and align to Georgia standards and so as we use our newly adopted uh curriculum over this next year we may have to continue to supplement in some ways our adopted curriculum just as we are with these just WR reader texts looking ahead uh we know that the yearly cost of textbook purchases will decrease from this year um do you have any questions Dr Brim you want to come thank you miss m we are we are proud of the progress we have made so far and are confident that we can overcome the challenges ahead together we can and will continue to make our school district a safe sustainable and productive environment for all based on the initiatives in the district Strate strategic accelerator the fisal year 26 East block proposed budget is being presented
176this slide shows the fiscal year 26 proposed East block tenative budget I will begin with the fund balance calculations as shown in the first table label fund balance calculations as a February 26 2025 slot ended fund balance was approximately $5 million we anticipate receiving approximately $2.4 million from March until the end of the fiscal year $2.8 million in splot funds from March until the end of the fysical year this leades a projected ended fund balance of approximately $4.4 million next in looking at the projected Revenue which are identified at the top of the table to the right we anticipate that we will receive $7 million in slot proceeds although we were slated to receive $8 million each year for spot proceeds the district has collected an average of $7 million due primarily to lower the
177anticipated sales in the count earnings on investment is estimated at $120,000 fiscal year 26 projected beginning spot fund balance at $4.4 million which is the fisal year 25 in the fund balance as shown on the table to the left this brins total projected Revenue to approximately $1.5 million as discussed in previous slides the aggregated estimated expenditures for fiscal year 26 e slot is $9 million which leads an ended fund balance of approximately $2 million I will be happy to respond to any questions can I to clarify this um bonds cannot be used for salaries cor right so any of these um expenditure buckets these are things that's what the team just went over thank you other questions thank you you thank you Dr Broom and the team for this timely presentation and thank you Mrs
178Burton for providing a sample of a classroom library decodable books I will put these get you I saw these books at Westchester about two weeks ago during a site visit I'm glad that we are providing them to all kindergarten through second grade classes and these books are on the consent agenda for tonight and it's have actually seen the teachers Implement them is so very different than actually hearing about it so I would encourage everybody to take when if you have a minute um to go into the classroom the teachers but it's actually look very different than hearing it um Dr Whitaker please introduce the next presentation Cher Salton I would like to call on Miss Pascal Pier Thompson our Harvard resident to present her Capstone project good afternoon board chair Dr sulon Vice chair M
179Miss abon Board member student board representative Delena um and superintendent Dr DEA Whitaker I come before you today to provide you with a final update on the city schools of deada Harvard residency I am in disbelief on about how much time has flown by you may recall my presentation in September when I detailed the requirements of year three in the educational leadership program at Harvard University during the final 10 months of the program students are required to complete a residency experience Implement a strategic project at The Residency site and WR that capsule my strategic project addresses the first strategic accelerator Student Success in all areas which focuses on student experience to how we are preparing all CSD students to lead in September I plan to do so by leveraging canvas walkthroughs to create a feedback
180loop for school Improvement I planned on creating a school leader framework with various support tools for principles my evolving fear of action was much simpler in September I believe that building a school leader framework and monitoring School Improvement would Empower School leaders to engage in continuous School Improvement in their buildings and the work would ultimately lead to Equitable outcomes for all as I engaged with the cabinet School leaders and some teachers my theory of action evolved into a more specific yet complex the if I support the facilitation of candas walkthroughs and design of school leader framework with a specific focus on datadriven instruction then the city schools of decater instructional cabinet can collectively support School leaders in facilitating continuous Improvement within a research-based framework thereby strengthen capacity which who are empowered to lead continuous instructional
181Improvement in favor of Equitable outcomes for all students with the help of my colleagues I concretized tools to empower School leaders and increase the support and accountability they receives from the instructional cabinet CD Now has a school leader Playbook that provides Clarity of expectations and support and accountability structures from the district the office of the sup Deputy superintendent worked together to track canvas walkthrough data seeking to improve instruction by providing feedback and coaching to principles I revamp the instructional cabinet agenda format centering us on work that falls into the big rock commitments that we articulated to the UA team in the school Community most importantly I created a tracker for every District support and accountability visit to school leaders this helped to bring alignment and cohesion between the teaching and learning team student supports team
182and the office of the Deputy superintendent yes I created tool many tools and then I sat down to reflect and analyed for my cap tonee and wondered did I change hearts and Minds in 1995 Harvard Professor Mark Moore published a framework that helped political leaders identify and Implement strategies for the public gr good legitimacy in support come from the authorizing environment you all as esteemed board members have authorized Dr Whitaker to improve this exceptional school system with strategies that address address inequities legitimacy and support influence the public value or in other words the value that this Administration brings to the community the operational cap capacity within the community is dependent on finances talent and many other resources a few Harvard students Revisited this framework in 2018 adding identity in the center the identity of the
183school of excuse me the identity of the leader plays a central role in the approach for legitimacy and support public value and increasing operational capability is a strategy that facilitates adaptive change or behavioral change Beyond just the technical tools that I had created while I got straight to work and created tools I did not consider whether these tools were what the community school leaders teachers students and families found more most valuable although District leaders researched qualitative and quantitative data public value prior to my arrival I had a blind spot this blind spot is at the Crux of a more Equitable system if we are to change the hearts and minds and the ways of being in our community first we must change our own behavior instead of jumping right into the creation of a school
184leader framework with best practices I should have surveyed School leaders teachers students families to determine what they found most valuable in the school leader and ways in which the school might be helpful to them in so doing I would have been more responsive to this school community and could have led with more of an Acy mindset in essence that is what leadership is understanding the motivation of those you serve so that you can find The Sweet Spot between warm support and accountability in service of learning and growing an effort to bring forth the best version of ourselves for the sake of our students this is what everyy is identifying and responding to the needs and the motivations of the community especially our students so that we can be better served I submitted a full draft
185of My Capstone last week I will be working on revisions until I desend in April my residency will come to a close at the end of April but my gratitude to you all will persist thank you for welcoming me into your your wonderful School community and allowing me to be a true learner I'll pause here for questions congratulations thank you congratulations and thank you so much for your for your time and commitment to this I mean I I I think I speak for all of us um when I say that I think we get as much out of this as you have so we very much appreciate your coming is an amazing amount of work I think uh seeing anybody Reach This level of Education or Milestone um is amazing so I'm proud of you
186and best of luck and you've done amazing work thank you appreciate it thank you all thank you well miss Pier Thompson your technical tools for adaptive change Have Been instrumental in creating the conditions for school leaders to be successful thank you Miss Tierre Thompson for supporting our leaders and ultimately our students this year best of luck on your defense next month I am confident you will do well Dr Whitaker please introduce our next presentation yes Chair salon I would like to call on Mrs Amanda Lynch Chief of Staff who will present five policies for first read good afternoon again today we have five policies on the agenda uh for work session these are IC curriculum development igb student support team igd dyslexia identification and support IDF special education programs and gahb sta political activities these
187policies are being presented for first read if approved for first read they will be available for public comment through assembly stakeholders can access any policies open for public comment on the right hand side of assembly homepage simply is linked on our CSD website under the board first is policy I curriculum development as a reminder IT addresses curriculum design curriculum development curriculum guides and course outlines curriculum adoption and pilot projects there were no board requests for change no additional feedback from legal therefore this policy is unchanged from the version that was presented last month may I read the recommendation yes please the recommendation being made is that City School of the cater Board of Education accept policy IC curriculum development for first read do I have a motion to approve the recommendation for policy IC curriculum
188development for first read I move board member Johnson Davis makes the motion do I have a second board member Anderson seconds the motion is there any discussion hearing can I just ask one question I'm sorry should know this but once we do this then does it go to the public correct so if it it'll go to first read edits can still be made it can still be updated we'll collect any feedback from the public or any additional feedback that you guys might you know think of or want or the staff thinks that we'll share all of that and a new version could always emerge and be drafted before next month's second reading any further discussion all those in favor I the motion carries unanimously second we have policy igb student support team based on board
189feedback several changes have been made to the draft presented last month during pre-work the sentence was added to provide Clarity on the team makeup of an SST team it indicates that individualization is a key component of strong SST procedures and thus each SS will be formed according to the needs of the student that each student's will be based on the relevance of the staff in the data based decision making in response to the discussion on meeting frequency a sentence was added to indicate that the regulation will include the recommended meeting frequency may I read the recommendation yes please the recommendation being made is that City schools of theator Board of Education accept policy igb student support team for first three do I have a motion to approve the recommendation for Poli policy I GB student
190support team for first read Mo board member Anderson makes the motion do I have a second second you board member Johnson Davis second the motion is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor I I the motion carries unanimously great third we have policy igd dyslexia identification and support based on the board discussion some of the language presented in the first draft last month has been removed this language will instead be included in the regulation we are also closely following HB 307 and S sp93 these include Provisions for students significantly at risk of not achieving grade level reading proficiency or with characteristics of Dyslexia the CSD policy as written does not conflict with anything in the proposed legislation may I read the recommendation yes please the recommendation being made is that City schools of
191the cater Board of Education accept policy igd dyslexia identification and support for first read I have a motion to approve the recommendation for policy I GD dyslexia identification and support for first read sub Mo board member hearnen makes the motion is there a second second board member Anderson second is there any discussion I I would like just to note that of all of the things that I think you've done as a board one of the things that I'm proudest about is the way that we came together engaged on this question of literacy and this Lexia it it exposed weaknesses that we had in previous administrations some major changes have been made across the entire system uh because of it I think that we are on the right I think that we're incredibly incredibly engaged on
192it their their pressure I think is what drove us in the direction that we're in so thank you to all of them and uh I'm proud to be supporting this continued Direction on dyslexia any further discussion all those in favor I I motion carries unanimously next is policy ibds special education programs last month the board engaged in a discussion of this policy based on an environmental scan of other IDF policies a draft has been prepared using language that largely parallels the language used in policy igc the draft States the board's commitment to free and appropriate education or faith it also indicates that the superintendent or design will develop procedures that enable the district to comply with all applicable federal state and local requirements in a review of the draft legal did propose the addition of
193a clause to clarify the board's commitment to Faith to all students identified with a disability between ages 3 and 21 and then added quote and who require special education services under Ida this update is reflected in the draft policy attached to the assembly agenda item and is available for board members at their seat may I read the recommendation yes please the recommendation being made is that City schools of decator Board of Education accept policy IDF special education programs for first read you have a motion to approve the recommendation for policy I BDF special education programs for first read board member Anderson makes the motion do I have a second second board member hearen second is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor I the motion carries unanimously finally we have policy gahb staff
194political activities this policy was discussed and revised through pre-work conversations in December January and February there have been no changes to the policy as presented last month may I read the recommendation yes please the recommendation being made is that City schools of the cater Board of Education accept policy G AHB staff political activities for first read I have a motion to approve the recommendation of policy G AHB staff political activities for first read move or member hearnen makes a motion do I have a second second Bo member Anderson seconds a motion is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor the motion carries unanimously thank you Mrs Lynch thank you Dr Whitaker we encourage the public to view and review the policies as posted on assembly there being no further business this session is
195adjourned at 3:58 p.m. we will recess and return at it's 425 e e e this meeting to order at 4:24 p.m. we ask that you silence all cell phones at this time we will begin with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance at this time I ask that everyone join me for a moment of Silent reflection now I ask all who are able to please stand for the pledge of elas yes I playance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation indivisible our mission is to inspire and enable student growth through meaningful and engaging learning experiences supported by highly qualified and caring Educators in a safe and inviting environment board members there will be a revision to the order of the
196published agenda we will begin with the superintendent report and then move to tonight's student and staff recognition board members are there any other revisions to tonight's board meeting agenda no do I have a motion to approve today's revised agenda I move or member hearen makes the motion do I have a second second for member Johnson Davis seconds the motion is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor I the motion carries unanimously our next agenda item is the approval of the minutes from previous board meetings do I have a motion to approve February's regular board meeting minutes Mo Bo member hearnen makes the motion do I have a second second board member Anderson seconds the motion is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor I the motion carries unanimously Dr Whitaker please
197proceed with your report Thank You Cher Salton and good evening CSD this month we are celebrate celebrating Georgia school full board appreciation week I want to extend my heartfelt thank you to each board member for being all in for CSD as a governance team team of the school district we work as a team and I remain humbly honored to serve as your superintendent March is also women's History Month I am delighted to announce that City schools of the cater will launch and inaugural Elizabeth Wilson lecture Series this year named after the city of the kar's first black mayor and City Commissioner this annual event aims to enhance the Civic engagement of the catar high school students by providing an opportunity to interact with Miss Wilson who will be present and her guest of Trailblazers and
198leadership in service at Miss Wilson's request we are pleased that The Honorable Michael Thurman will kick off this series the community is invited to join us for the lecture series which will be held in the Performing Art Center of decar high school on Tuesday March the 25th from 9 to 10:30 a.m. last month we celebrated National Career Technical and agricultural Education Month and ran a little behind on the agenda therefore I postpone the career exploration and postsecondary planning presentation each year in June CSD reports to the state how we provide career exploratory and postsecondary planning to meet the requirements of the bridge Bill however this data is much more important than just checking compliance boxes this data informs teachers and counselors on activities to complete before students enter the quote unquote real world the data
199also tells us about further growing how to further grow our programs and which will help ensure students receive embedded Career College and life preparation in diverse and culturally relevant ways this happens to be the third objective under the Student Success in all area strategic accelerator the BRD bill is a pivotal piece of legislation that ensures all students in Georgia receive the necessary guidance and support to explore career options and develop postsecondary plans its core mission is to help students create a clear professionalized Road mapap for their future encompassing academic and career aspirations City schools of Decor is committed to fulfilling these mandates by integrating meaningful career exploration and planning activities throughout a student's educational journey to meet the bridge Bill requirements CSD has implemented U science as one key tool within our schools you science
200helps us align with State Expectations by Prov providing datadriven insight that support per personalized career exploration individual graduation plans development and also access to dual enrollment opportunities work force Readiness initiatives and other college planning activities career exploration is a collaborative process that involves multiple stakeholders within our schools including our school school counselors and teachers this process begins in middle school where counselors facilitate sessions direct directly during classroom lessons on this slide you can see some of the key actions by grade level you will also notice that students in dual enrollment and those considered third year ctae pathway students receive specialized support our career career path completion data reflect participation across grade levels while the data is not due to the state until June at decada high school the 9th through 11th grade completion rates are
20176% in 9th grade 78th in 10th Grade and 84% in 11th grade counselors will meet with individual students in the coming weeks to ensure the percentages continue increased ing especially for our 12th graders completion percentages for individualized growth plans are also very high DHS has made substantial progress reflecting our a proactive approach and adaptability in the face of technical C challenges with the US science platform which the state actually manages theity schools of Decor remains dedicated to ensuring all students meet these requirements in addition to Youth Science we provide alternative opportunities such as completing activities through Georgia Futures and counselor Le classroom lessons CSD will collaborate with the decab Chamber of Commerce the Cab County Commission and the Cab County Schools to highlight education and Workforce Development during the week of March 24th the week
202will begin with a video greeting by CEO lorine Cochran Johnson the cad School County school superintendent Dr Devon Horton and me Tuesday's programming includes an in for hosted by United Way on disrupting the literacy crisis bir through third grade strategies vice president of amiris bank and the executive director of early learning and prek programs for decab County School District the panel moderators will be the decab Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Mr Frankie Atwater and the associate vice president of strong Learners from United Way of Greater Atlanta Miss Corey Kane the remainder of the week will highlight career mentorships work-based learning and higher education opportunities throughout decab County thus far I have discussed inaugural programming to honor our past our renewed focus on College and Career planning and opportunities to share how CSD is addressing
203the literacy crisis through early learning this type of programming position CSD differently in the metropolitan area not only are we academically the choice District but we are also becoming an attractive district for public private Partnerships this positioning has not been by chance it takes staff leadership and Social Capital tonight I will also share how I optimize central office staff and leadership to create conditions for all students to experience success because that is exactly why we are here during my first conversation with this board I shared my organizational leadership philosophy and goals for accomplishing the what of this school system I believe CSD must build the capacity of adults to sustain positive out comes for all students based on what I saw in February and March of 2023 the Demming quote at the bottom of this
204slide rang true every system is perfectly designed to get the results that it does the terms transparency support and pressure otherwise known as a teaspoon remained at the Forefront of my message this board understood that accountability would be new for some in the district but it was necessary additionally my charge from this board was to design an organization that would sustain positive results for all children monthly staff shares with the public how the teams represented in this room are creating the conditions and designing systems to provide resources such as the just right reader text you have in front of you removing barriers such as access to Early Learning and building capacity through Partnerships such as UVA PL so that school leaders will have the executive functioning skills taught through together leader space to fail forward
205through structured canvas visits data system infrastructure but these efforts are in place to ensure teachers will be able standards based high quality instruction that responds to the diverse needs of students academically and effectively then and only then will all students in CSD realize and sustain positive outcomes the upcoming slides will demonstrate how redesigning and raising the expectation of support to schools while targeting areas of improvement of the last strategic accelerator organizational Effectiveness and Excellence helps to advance our work an intentional and well-designed organization is the foundation for realizing outcomes it can enhance productivity improve communication and collaboration facilitate better decision making boost Employee Engagement and allow for streamlined processes John Maxwell said everything Rises and falls on leadership therefore the leadership team on this slide is critical to the first portion of the theory of
206action this slide shows two cabinets one is the executive cabinet these are the individuals who present monthly and oversee the divisions in our school system organizationally four members of the executive cabinet also make up the instructional cabinet the distinction between the two is that the executive cabinet meets weekly and we serve as a decision-making body in executing the Strategic plan present inquiry based dilemas with known significance align our interdependent work and provide project updates on key initiatives the instructional cabinet meets twice a month and focuses on student outcomes both academic and affective also focusing on canvas data and big rock progression schools of decar the executive cabinet had one more individual than the 11 boxes on this slide in December 2023 the role of associate superintendent was vacated instead of filling the role I abolished
207the position and redistributed the oversight for Effectiveness and efficiency the office of the superintendent comprised Rises of five individuals the Chiefs of Staff and Communications the deputy superintendent the coordinator of board and superintendent and then me I will begin counting central office position this slide includes two because I will capture the three leaders at the bottom of this slide in the upcoming slid the office of the Deputy superintendent has 5.5 five central office members that brings our total to 7.5 the principles are listed on this slide because their supervision is Central reporting to the deputy superintendent but they are in local school budgets also on this slide you do not see the coordinator of equity that position was shifted to the local school le level to better align with the work of realizing and sustaining
208positive student outcomes these distinctions are key as we progress through the other offices and divisions the work of teaching and learning is to design curricular and assessment systems provide resources and build the capacity of all School leaders and classroom teachers after the design and delivery are completed otherwise known as the what the implementation is monitored by the office of the Deputy superintendent I firmly believe in grade ban subject-based design and supports for schools therefore changes were made to the T teaching and learning division to align the work of the coordinators to be grade ban and subject specific in service to schools also the Career Academy CEO ctae director for K12 reports to the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning this Administration brought an additional leadership for mtss this midyear Edition was made in December 2023
209you might remember that that was the one area of instructional leadership I was asked to look into that needed the director of academic enrichment programs overseas gifted IB art music and PE in other districts those are multiple people finally DVA reports through teaching and learning but is a school-based program therefore the background of those boxes are green what you don't see on this slide is the movement of one position to the school which now works directly with students and the abolishment of two other positions the count as of now is 19 the student support services division is the most complicated and colorful I will Begin by explaining the legend the blue the blue background boxes appear in the central office budget the positions with the green background boxes are located within schools but due to
210the subject matter expertise supervision is Central the position highlighted in Orange is funded by the US Department of Education finally the underlying text is required by those positions are required by the us or depart Georgia Department of Education some of the positions in green boxes have office space in houses the Wilson Center or a school the St staff and the roles on this slide possess the knowledge skills and dispositions to build School leaders staff and teacher capacity to respond to the affective needs of all students all students is abroad is Broad and includes but is not limited to students with disabilities and 504s students who speak English as a second language are homeless or even demonstrate extreme behaviors and the list really could go on and on what you don't see on this slide is
211that we did not fill a second Behavior par professional position which was vacated instead it was abolished on this slide there are 15 staff members that brings the count to 34 the Operations Division oversight has been reduced since July July 2023 the most notable change in the safety department is merging is the fact that we merg the safety department with technology Services the nurses and medical assistants report to the nurse school supervisor for subject matter expertise but are allocated to schools what you don't see in the count are the nutrition staff the bus drivers facilities custodians and maintenance staff these these individuals also report centrally with the oper Operations Division the central office leadership head count is now 46.5 the safety and Technology division has been in the Forefront lately this Administration is creating a
212culture of Safety and Security and this division has held a safety Summit procured and disseminated needed safety test technology LED change management around our standard response protocol in a crisis and much much more from a safety perspective the safety Associates are in schools from a technology perspective the tech Specialists are in schools this division is the owner and fills the transparency support and pressure of an interoperable data system as well as the Enterprise reporting reporting planning software software otherwise known as the need for an Erp with this division the central office leadership headcount is 53 when I requested new positions the ask was in response to the need for data this data could be qualitative quantitative or even mix meth the office of the chief of staff is in response to the data I saw
213for me the chief of staff cannot be a policy processed political position I needed a chief of staff who knew instruction this position was already a part of the city schools of decator but I changed the job description to close the achievement Gap positions must be able to have multiple folky also I entered CSD when the district was frequently in the news for the lack of structures for investigations no entity can control what its employees do but we can control how we handle the matters therefore I entered with the request for a coordinator of audits and investigations the project manager position is critical in planning organizing and direct directing the 16 initiatives within the Strategic plan all indicator and tangential work such as Safety and Security professional learning and partnership development finally registration for CSD
214is managed centrally this division brings the central office leadership head count to 58 the city schools of thecar has approximately and I say approximately 900 staff members with six staff members supporting the human resources department an HR Director has been added to this department however even with this ad the ratio is 150 to1 I am sure any person employed by the district desires accuracy in onboarding benefits and ultimately their retirement to be accurate that brings our head count to 64 qualitative data from the FY 23 audit inclusive of a finding substantiated the need for a controller the finance department builds and oversees a $100 million plus budget and is staffed with seven people connecting HR to finance is key I am certain the 900 staff members of CSD want to be paid on time and
215error free HR and finance are examples of interoperability and we need an Erp that will allow them to work more effectively and efficiently but that is from a presentation earlier today the head count is now 71 once again quality and quantitative data reinforce the need for a Communications division this board found the legislative season of 2023 to be extremely challenging to mitigate future risk the coordinator position of community and legislative affairs was created additionally I was asked to increase stakeholder engagement professionalized communication streamline communication and tell the CSD story therefore a Communications Chief was hired in the following year a director earlier today we heard the state of the division and the value the systems and structures are adding to CSD the final headcount including Communications is 75 this Administration added eight positions abolished four
216and moved two to the schools to work directly with students that is a net change of plus two by looking at the last 15 slides you will see that 8% of the staff of the city schools of decar is central office over the past year and a half this 8% has created a budget where teachers saw the most significant increase in salary in over a decade systems of safety have been deployed Communications has been professionalized policy manual and constituent Services systems have been enriched and most importantly gains for all children have occurred academically and effectively the support systems have been redesigned and we are beginning to see different results to continue seeing these results some of the students need a little more time therefore we're pleased to announce summer 2025 programs for students in grades
2173 through 12 from May 30th to June 18th between 8:30 and 11:30 a.m. students in grades 3 through 5 will engage in preview and support sessions for both Ela and Mathematics students and grades 6 through 7 will receive tailored instruction in ela Andor math determined by their individual academic needs as indicated by their student data additionally an algebra preparation course will be offered to all students enrolled in algebra Concepts and connections or enhanced algebra ensuring Readiness for the 2025 2026 school year students in grades 9 through 12 will have the opportunity to recover course credits through Georgia Virtual School the initial phases of family communication um of this communication plan are complete school-based teams are currently providing reminders and follow-up communication to families have that have not responded as of yet here you'll see the
218communication timeline initial family Communications like I said is half in but other program details will occur in various meetings in May CSD will provide esy or extended school year special education and related services to eligible students with the specifics regarding service types of service the location delivery model and the duration must be determined by the students IEP team which includes the students parents CSD esy summer services will also occur between May 31st and June 18th which are the same dates as the that I just talked about a moment ago for our general education summer programming offerings the criteria for esy eligibility is actually set by Ida which is federal law there is is no one sole deciding factor on who what qualifies a student for esy so IEP teams have an annual must annually engage
219in the consideration of multiple multiple data to determine eligibility if a student with an IEP why they may participate in the general education summer offering for these students reasonable accommodation are made just like for the students with Section 504 plans however IEP services for summer school Do Not Mirror the same services for the school year genuinely generally students eligible for esy May participate in both the esy and summer school in these cases students who qualify for esy tutorial Services typic L receive their esy tutorial services and then rejoin the regular summer school program that's already in progress IEP teams in CSD should have summer esy decisions made by the end of this month which is March parents can expect to receive more detailed information about a child's esy by the end of April last week
220State superintendent Richard Woods named Decor High School among the 301 2025 AP honor schools in three categories AP schools of Distinction AP stem schools and AP stem achievement School the categories are based on the results of the 2024 AP courses and exams administered by the College Board which also administers the SAT AP courses are one of several ways Georgia students can access college level uh programming at the high school level students who receive a three four or five on an AP exam may receive college credit depending upon the school in which they enroll we are proud of the 63 students who were recognized as 2023 2024 AP Scholars for average score of three or higher on at least three AP TXS finally this month CSD is celebrating developmental disabilities awareness month on March 18th we
221will hold our second annual yes I can Awards a program started by the council for exceptional children that recognizes CH Children and Youth with exceptionality who have demonstrated their determination and achievements in multiple ways we are also excited to host CD's first Special Olympics on Wednesday March the 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at decar high school the public is invited to join us in cheering on the incredible athletic achievements of these students as we continue to Pro provide them with inclusive and transformative experiences both in and out of the classroom sherff fton I have said a lot today and that completes my report thank you so much Dr Whitaker I see some people have joined us do we have recognitions today yes we do Dr Sultan uh chair Sultan as well to facilitate
222tonight's recognition I would like to call on our deputy superintendent Karen Newton Scott to the podium thank you Dr Whitaker for cheer Dr Solon and esteemed members of the board I have the pleasure of making several presentations this evening as we honor students and staff from each school please do not take your seat instead we'd like you to Stage along the wall to my left and your right for a photo opportunity with our board members so if you can raise a hand if you have a seat available next to you so that we can clear a path for our honores and if you are standing along the wall over here if you would please take a seat that will help us thank you so much okay um we would like to begin by recognizing National
223School Social Work week I'd like to invite our assistant superintendent of student services to the front to facilitate this recognition March 2nd through the 8th 2025 is National School Social Work Week an opportunity for schools communities and partners to acknowledge and recognize the impactful work they do to support students families and their communities under the leadership of the school sotion social work contributions of focusing on the whole child linking families to to Community Resources a valuable voice as part of the school's multi-disciplinary team and advocating for the profession of school social work the theme for National School Social Work Week 2025 is unite to ignite celebrating our impact during the school year school social workers are confronted with challenges heightens anxieties and anticipated difficulties however school so social workers face these challenges with strength and
224resilience School Social Work Week 2025 celebrates the collective power and passion of school social workers who unite communities to ignite positive change in the lives of students families and schools this year's theme unite to ignite celebrating our impact highlights the vital role of school social workers play in fostering connections advocating for equity and driving social and emotional growth it's a time to honor the difference made by by empowering empowering others and working together to overcome challenges ensuring all students Thrive academically socially and emotionally the has five social workers who are here tonight for recognition first our lead social worker Dr Melvin rackliff second our newest member to the Social Work team Ria cavina [Applause] we honor you and your dedication to CSD students during National School Social Work week and throughout the school year principal
225Thomas please join us up front Deacon Hill is proud to Spotlight four outstanding student athletes who played a physical role in the success of their respective teams eighth graders Hollis Rucker and Hugh we're both instrumental in leading the Beacon Hills The Beacon Hill boys basketball team through an impressive playoff in the Decap County basketball program meanwhile seventh grader Stella Rucker [Applause] and eighth grader The Ellen Lucas both help Propel The Beacon Hill girls basket basketball team to the final four their exceptional performances on the court earned them well-deserved recognition as all four were named to the region to our County team we celebrate Hollis Hugh Stella and Le Ellen for these remarkable achievements next up iser high school Dr SC please join us up front we are pleased to announce that deada high school senior
226Rashana huy has won the prestigious posy scholarship of full tuition Merit made scholarship awarded to high school students who attend partner col the [Applause] US the posi Foundation selects posy Scholars from a pool of ambitious students from from diverse backgrounds who have the potential to be leaders and provides them with a comprehensive support system through their undergraduate education Bashana plans to attend George Washington University in the fall and major in international business and archaeology she hopes to work towards making archaeology more ethical and accessible carrying on the legacy of her grandfather and archaeologist in Cambodia before the HR come rou thank you Cam Rouge thank you for helping me out Dr spru says Rana is extremely deserving of this honor she exemplifies the importance of leaders being willing to serve others we are so proud
227of her and can't wait to see how she makes use of her posy scholarship congratulations again to you [Applause] this time we ask the assistant athletic director David Harvin and Coach Rory if you are here to please join up Sports Illustrated high school basketball player of the week gives fans the opportunity to vote for top performing athletes from across the country country each week standout players are nominated based on their exceptional performances and fans get to choose their favorites this interactive feature not only highlights rising stars but also builds excitement within local communities and showcases the next generation of basketball talents on a national stage over the years several now famous athletes have been spotlighted by Sports Illustrated during their High School career for example in June 2006 NFL star AJ Green was feature in
228Sports Illustrated where will they be which profile young athletes with the potential to become future greats now our very own Jason Wellborn of Junior ucat High School has earned the title of Sports Illustrated high school basketball player of the week coach Rory Welch at high pra for Jason stating Jason has established himself as one of the top shooting guards in Georgia's highly competitive 5A classification his consistent production tireless work ethic and coachability have positioned him to thrive in one of the toughest basketball regions in the state coaching and mentoring him this season has been a pleasure he's a young man of extremely High character and I truly believe his best basketball is still ahead of him additionally Jason was also named to the Georgia High School Association 2025 All Region boys basketball team congratulations jcon
229and [Applause] next up we have the National Youth cyber education program the Cyber Patriots the National Youth cyber education program is a stem program of the air and space forces Association it was created to inspire K12 students towards careers in cyber security or science technology engineering and and mathematic just mathematics CR critical to our nation's future the newly formed deater High cyber defense team worked out of the spotlight since November to prepare for their very first competition it has been an incredible effort from everyone involved the team participated in the Cyber Patriot competition on January 25th 2025 despite being completely Neal this competition these students achieved the ranks of third and 26th in the nation for their tier of competition as well as the first and third in the state of Georgia out of over
2302,000 team we'd like to recognize Miss Pierce who serves as the decator high faculty advisor the following team members Robert [Applause] gordic Gerald [Applause] Winkler Carter legel [Applause] Lucas [Applause] Medina Jack [Applause] diamond and Ben [Applause] Taylor congratulations to you all on your great accomplishment now I'd like to welcome principal wisan to the front each year for Black History Month the wona park crew teams up with the wona park PTA diversity committee to give our students students the opportunity to take part in our living history museum for three weeks in February and March students from each grade level volunteered to present interesting facts about a prominent figure in black history in community circles students were prompted to consider researching inventors Educators artists musicians authors athletes entrepreneurs and lesser known figures as well students did this
231work on their own time and were well prepared on Friday February 14th 16th second graders bravely stood in front of the entire wona par Community we learned so much about about Catherine Johnson Elma Thomas Cynthia ivio and Clara Stanton Jones among among others then on Friday February 28th it was Kindergarten turn five Intrepid six-year-old students taught us about Jackie Robinson James Earl Jones ARA Franklin and Ruby Bridget last but not least it was the first grade turn on March 7th eight first graders taught us about gay Johnson War dun John M Michelle Melle basat did I get that right close enough and Tyler Perry among others this was the fourth year of Monona Park living history museum it was an important reminder for the wona Park teachers and staff that our students can do so
232much more than we than we and they think are possible is possible we'd like to recognize Katie zoral from the WN Park PTA thank you for coordinating this amazing experience thank you for your time and service to the wona park community and now serving as representatives for the many wona par wild cats who participated in this amazing event is Carter Cole charlon for [Applause] kindergarten and aah SOA SOA representing second grade so at this time I would like to ask our board members to please join our honor read down front for pictures we'll begin with L par e e e before I take my seat we have one more recognition today it is actually a week-long celebration that is held annually in March this year Georgia Governor Brian Kent has proclaimed March 10th the 14th
233School Board appreciation week please turn your attention to the screen for a special pres presentation greetings City School ucat Board of Education I am honored to come before you on behalf of the Georgia school boards Association Board of direct and myself to share our deepest gratitude to you for the work that you've done on behalf of students in the city school of dictator during this school board appreciation week I made a few notes because it's important that I don't miss out on anything that I want to say to you all you know being a school board member in the city schools of theator was one of the greatest times of my life but I can tell you it's not easy I I want you to know that I recognize that the role requires countless hours
234of commitment thoughtful decision making and an an unwavering passion for public education you serve as the bridge between your school system and the community and you are always the advocate for Quality education for all of your students you're not just policy makers the champions for students for educators and Visionaries shaping the future of our schools the work you do often behind the scenes makes a profound impact on the lives of your children the families and our entire community in the city of the their leadership has help to guide schools from challenging challenges and opportunities alike whether it's making tough budget decisions ensuring schools are safe and we can't make sure that they're safe enough in the times that we are currently living in or planning for the future dedication does not go unnoted your passion
235and perseverance set the foundation for success in our classrooms and for that we are truly grateful so on behalf of gsda your entire Community the students that you serve and especially me as a former board member who sat in the seats that you currently sit in I am so grateful for all that you do and we salute you not just this week but every week the work that you do on behalf of the students and the City of deor congratulations [Music] the team members of the board We join Miss Valerie Wilson former CSD board chair and executive director of the Georgia School Board Association and sincerely thanking you all for all you do on behalf of students STA and fam of city schools of the cers please accept these bags as a token of our
236appreciation they include gifts from psba and original art from our talented fifth grade T seat TIG again thank you and that concludes our recognition thank you so much Mrs Nan Scott chair Sultan I would like to call Mrs Amanda Lynch who will introduce our representatives from the city to discuss a tax incentive for Amy at 750 Commerce Drive good evening when once again board chair Dr sulin Vice chair SS Ste members of the board student representative Elena and superintendent Dr Whitaker I am delighted to welcome Angela threadgill and Conor MCN to our city schools of decator board meeting this evening I will introduce Miss Angela theld who will in turn introduce Conor MCN who will be joining her in the presentation Angela frill was recently appointed to the assistant city manager of community and economic
237development for the city of decar and has served the city since 2015 she leads her Department in the areas of Planning and Zoning zoning permitting code enforcement special events tourism parking management and economic development she also supports the Downtown Development Authority of the city of decada as its executive director she works to implement the Community Vision for an equitable thriving and welcoming City for all as outlined indicator strategic plan welcome Angela that introduction Miss Lynch good evening board members and Dr Whitaker thank you so much for having us tonight for your time for adding us to your agenda um so the Downtown Development Authority does have a request before you tonight uh which is for your consideration of a resolution of support um which ultimately um is the development authori decision um to approve an
238economic development agreement for a Redevelopment project at 7 750 Commerce Drive for the benefit of the developer ppf am 750 Commerce Drive LLC not going to say that name not long again I'll just refer to them as am um as mentioned I am joined tonight by our chair Mr Connor MCN he was appointed in 2017 and he has been serving in the role as chair since 2020 we also have Mr Noah Peters Vice chair in the room um as well as our city manager and Arnold and then also Miss Annie Hurst she is here as well um she represents Amy the developer of this project and so I just wanted to give um an overview of of the project and then ultimately um Mr MCN is Gonna Come forward to talk about the structure of
239the deal um that is being proposed as part of that Economic Development agreement um but to begin I just want to say that the Development Authority has has um for many decades has focused on reinvestment in our downtown um to look at underutilized and vacant properties and we are still you know we still have a few underutilized and vacant properties in our downtown uh in our town center plan it's our recently adopted downtown master plan we identified to um several uh opportunity sites and the addresses of 720 and 750 commer Drive um were identified as a an opportunity site um so that that is currently being occupied by the vacant grocery store that was once occupied by Kroger and then adjacent to that is the authority uh the Housing Authority offices that are vacant as
240well and so amle is looking to combine both properties and redevelop it um but in doing so they are requesting Four Financial incentives um with the issuance of bonds to help incentivize the the acquisition as well as the construction of the project um there is a description I don't want to move forward too fast here okay so with the project description um I just want to give a quick summary of the project so family residential is ultimately the developer hope land is the owner of the Housing Authority property um and they are under contract to purchase from Stein investment the Kroger property um they will eventually be combining those properties then ultimately the purchaser and the developer of the property so there's a you know a big team here that's pulling together this project the
241development will consist of 361 residential units of which 36 units will be set aside uh for those households earning no more than 80% area median income so they are complying with uh the local ordinance um for inclusionary housing okay one thing that uh the developer has agreed to do is in the first six months of leasing is to offer those units to faculty and staff of the city schools of decar as well as the city of decar so those who are already working in our public agencies will be offered first um to be able to lease these one of these 306 and then the next component of the development is approximately a 13,000 square foot grocery store um we are not able to quite name that grocer just yet there's still some negotiations happening um
242but that is a part of this deal the the other component is about 12,000 square feet of additional retail States all fronting on Commerce at the ground level there's an additional over 600 parking space parking deck that is being built as part of this it's going to be wrapped by um the residential and Commercial uses we will not be seeing it um but of that 134 of those bases will be set aside for the parking for the retail groceries in addition um the developer will be developing a poo and a retail Courtyard at the street level they're going to be improving um a multi-use path along commer Drive um Cemetery connection obviously utility upgrades will be a part of that but also Street skates to enhance The Pedestrian um abilities as well as um with
243the multi-use path of cycling abili uh so the developer is um contributing and enhancing our downtown in many different ways and as you may know or may have heard through our uh downtown master plan process uh there was a lot of um calls for another Grocer in our downtown um since the proger had closed so we are thrilled that amley um came to the table and were open to this idea that H land um is helping negotiate uh that deal as well and then at this point um I will share that the DDA this is the first time that in its history that it has um entertained an application for financial incentives there were no policies or procedures um you know that we had adopted so in the fall time knowing that this was on
244the horizon um we look to decide the cab um looked at their policies and procedures which have worked well they've done this for um we' you know modified and adopted our own policies and procedures and so we are we are following through with that um just some of the history or the timeline that we have gone through is we had um a resolution of support just for the design of the project um by the decator DBA on September 6th of 2024 um in November we received a completed application from amley for the financial incentive during between that time and February 5th which was one of our um Development Authority meetings we uh had a fiscal impact analysis completed uh which I believe you have a copy in your materials um we also drafted a number
245of um res like inducement resolution as well as the economic development agreement which is the structure of the deal um so you have a copy of that in your materials but we're going to go into detail on that tonight um since then the Development Authority has um finalized uh the inducement resolution um essentially saying we are we are okay with moving forward with with the the bond structure and the economic development agreement but ultimately because there are some tax implications both for the city as well as the city schools of dear we went to the city commission um recently on March 14th I believe I'm sorry no March 7th is when we um were before the city commission uh requesting um a similar resolution of support support which we did receive um and then of
246course tonight we are before you all requesting a similar support resolution of support uh and then this coming Friday is when the DDA will come back together uh to finalize the approval um pending pending the outcome of tonight um ultimately there is going to be um the the bond validation papers that have to be filed with Superior Court and then we also have to have um the publication and notification of that validation hearing um with the cab Superior boort and then ultimately the closing of that Bond lease transaction um however there are some caveat some um things that we have built into that Economic Development agreement that have to occur certain um performance measurements have to occur before we get to that closing of the bond lease transaction and so with that I want to
247turn this over to Mr MCN to go into more details about the structure of the de um the deal as well as some of those tax implications with that I will thank you Angela good evening everyone um so again Conor MCN I'm the chair of the dev Authority been working hand in hand with Angelo over the past number of months on this transaction um and I'm I'm going to move relatively quickly through some of this so but please do stop me at any point and and ask questions I think one of the most important things to get to is the tax implications that's really in the end of the day while we're here there's a significant tax implication throughout the city and the school system walk through those numbers but we are entering into um
248a a bond deal with developer under a of an Arcane phrase a use of structure and essentially what that means is that the Development Authority is going to own the land and the building that the build that the developer builds and we are going to effectively rent that back to the developer under a rental agreement um that has payment terms under uh those terms uh involve the developer paying what are called payments in Le of taxes or Pilot payments um and that effectively is going to give them a discount on the taxes that they would otherwise be due to pay if this agreement were not in place in enire essence of this agreement is that this project and this development includes a lot of things that we as a community and City really wants but
249it is unfin this project could not be built on its own without some sort of financial incentive so our PA over the past number of months has been to work with a developer in as transparent and an open a way as possible to ensure that we fully understand the economics and that we get to a point where we have a structure and Financial agreement that gives just enough financial support to make this project a reality and to get the things that City wants but that we don't provide any more financial assistance in um again the structure we have chosen is a a a relatively underutilized structure in the state of Georgia development authorities really have were set up in the state of to do this amongst other methods of support for T communities but effectively
250cities cannot Grant tax abatements or tax reductions in this way and development authorities can typically those are bonds for title tax abatements where the Development Authority owns the dirt developer owns the building and you get some sort of a discount taxes because Development Authority is is a non- taxable entity in this instance because we will actually own the improvements as well as the dirt we have just more control very big project very important project to the city and we wanted to make sure that we have to make sure project is run over the 10year time period of the of the agreement um is done to our satisfaction so by using this use structure we get a which I'll talk about um we again unlike the typical which is what decid to generally administers these bond
251for type tax abatement we've done a few things a little bit differently given the amount of control that we have here first that we asked the first thing that we asked the developer to do was to come up with a list of City benefits that are Quantified financially that match exactly the financial incentive that they're being and that's not typical usually in a tax abatement structure there's some desire that the municipality has to build a project in an underutilized area or to provide affordable housing and if you do that you get the evab this case we're not satisfied with that we also want want to make sure that we have an accounting of exactly the economic benefit that's being given and that that is equal to the discount that they're getting um the the simple
252math and I'll go into detail in a moment is that on in total over the 10year time period there's a 49% of eight that that changes there's a schedule of pilot payments year by year but if you add up the total over the the 10year period the total discount on the taxes that would otherwise be due is 49% they're paying 51% over that 10year period um and and the final point that I'll make here is that we went through a pretty significant process to make sure that there was no more incentive been given here than is actually necessary and I can tell you you know personally for myself and for the other board members and we communicated this with the city commission we threw a lot of very open and transparent and and quite frankly
253difficult conversations with the developer over a mult three or four month process we did come come to conclusion that that in fact this is the appropriate level of discount to be given and and without this the project would not um as some very quick context for you there the total cost that this developer is paying to build this project um it's about $140 million it comes to about $415,000 per unit so uh to to put in context the fact that that's a very significant investment that that we don't think would be made without some incentive there's um another major project that was built in 2020 in the city a project called Courtland decator East which is over at the Avendale Marta Station that's linked by a bridge and Mar station it was a another Development
254Authority to project that property is actually on the market for sale right now the expected selling price of that is about 240,000 so this developer is proposing to come and build a project which is ostensibly similar un are about the same that project has 20,000 ft of retail this project has a little over 20,000 ft of retail but this developer is going to spend $415,000 building this project when an equivalent project in the same city with the same tax base selling for $240,000 the reason they're doing it is because they're taking a very long-term view at this developer is self-funded they're not building it to sell it for a profit immediately they developed the am decator property andent indicator right beside the high school which has been um a great addition to our downtown um
255and this this developer really taking a long-term perspective which is what we wanted so i' give you those numbers just to give you a little bit of context to help understand that that we really did come to conclusion that this is the appropriate economic incentive enough to make it happen but um so we've negotiated this economic velopment agreement between the Development Authority and developer it governs all of the economic terms of the transaction there's a 10year schedule of these pilot payments um all of these terms will ultimately end up in a rental agreement a 10year rental agreement between the Development Authority developer and there's various other Bond documents that come together um once all of these documents are approved so as Angela said we approved the economic development agreement at our um at our meeting
256in Fair uh we went before City commission we're before you tonight um at our meeting Friday of this week uh we will have our bond Council has drafted all of the bond documents that follow the economic development agreement um presuming that we approve those on Friday of this week they will then go to the cab Superior Court to be validated by the judge and at that point it'll be up to the developer to get themselves get all their plans drawn to get everything ready to start construction and when they are ready to start construction they will move forward one of the most important uh criteria for this deal was getting a dant grocery store as Angela talked about that's been a major Topic in the community once the proger closed there was no walkable grocery
257store downtown so that's probably the most important reason for us to be even having a conversation about this um this deal structure is set up so that until and unless we see a 10year lease with a qualified grocery store talk about what that means at the moment until and unless we see that 10year lease this deal will not happen so the developer doesn't get there's no economic incentive unless we actually see the lease and they attest that they have 10 year Le um so to talk about the economics um fairly quickly we pulled together this chart um I'll walk you through the bars from left to right this is a view of 10 years of tax revenue for these two the the bright green bar on the left is what would happen if nothing changed
258on that property for the next 10 years so based on the cab County's current assessed value of both of those properties which I will point out was the assessed value when they were both operating unless anyone think that the value of these properties is low because they're vacant the value has not changed with these s so when the groger was operating and the office building was full they were they were producing about today's tax revenue is about $300,000 year between the two projects so if you take that over a 10-year period with 3% annual growth we would expect to get $3.4 million of tax revenue between the city of dear and dcat County for the 10-year period we're talking about if this project was developed and there were no tax abatement the the taxes due
259over the 10 years would total 28.5 I will point out that that's a very hypothetical situation and our strong opinion is that without this tax abatement this project doesn't happen so to say you could get $28.5 million is actually somewhat of a fallacy we're putting it on the on the chart here just so you can see the numbers what will actually be paid under this agreement 14.5 mil that is the amount of the pilot development agreement calls for over 10 period And so in our mind the most important bar is the one on the far right incremental taxes that the city and county will collect over the next 10 years if this project happens with the economic development agreement compared to doing nothing doing nothing would be leaving the properties as isn't even even if
260a new store went into GR space we would expect it so our our incremental is 11.1 um and then if you fast forward to years 11 through 20 as a community in a city we don't just take a 10year perspective persective on these things we take a 20 30 40 50 so in order to make this math seem a little bit more more reasonable or understandable we looked at the second 20 years so years 11 through 20 and in that instance um the the taxes due by this development would be $39 million and that's exactly what they will pay because the economic development agreement will end after 10 years it'll go on the tax rols and so the incremental over years 11 through 20 is 34 so if you take a 20-year view in total
261we're we're looking at by doing this project we generate $ 45.5 million over the next 20 years more than if we did um to to put that into a little bit more context for the for the school system I I looked at some of the math we have so um the the $14.5 million that will be paid over the next 10 years if you look at an estimate of how much tax revenue goes to the school system today the total tax uh on the property is about $300,000 you take the city of the cator portion and the school system portion which equates to about 50% today that's $131,000 about $130,000 is what the school system has been receiving annually in tax revenue that will stay about the same during the construction period so at the
262start of the 10-year period uh we can expect about $131,000 um our estimate um I'll talk about this in a moment but our estimate as to the number of students that would ultimately live in a development like this with the 360 units is about 43 44 students um so in 2028 the first year that this property delivers uh we estimate there's about $130,000 in taxes or about $6,000 per student in the first year the properties in leis up you only have about half the number of students halfway through the 10year term in 2033 this would generate $617,000 of taxes for the school system that equates to $14,100 per student and at the end of the 10year period and and going forward for the next 20 30 40 50 years the property would generate $1.33 million
263of school system tax revenue which equates to $30,500 per student that just gives you a little bit of context as to the the ramp up during the 10e period um we had an economic impact study done as part of our application process and very quickly just some highlights of that the the $108 million in total construction spending is is estimated to produce 287 annual jobs um over the two to threee construction period and a lot of those will be will be local but then more importantly the recurring impact to the city is that we'll get um conservatively $17 million a year in new retail spending from the grocery store and the other retail 88 new full-time jobs with a payroll of 4.6 million and 325 new households generating um spending of $8.8 million all loly
264um I'm going to move a little bit more quickly through the key terms there was a lot of detail we went through here with with the city commission and with our own board this is the same presentation and so I don't want to um if if please do stop at any point if you have questions but I don't want to spend too long and bore you too much on the the details of the bond documentation um the grocery store is the most important thing that we were seeking to get here um there is the developer is in very late stage negotiations with a grocery store and so it's not just a a conceptual thing where they're going to go try to figure it out later they can't disclose who that grocery store is because there's
265not disclosure agreements in place but we put in this agreement to make sure that we get what we're bargaining for at definition of what we call a qualified grocery store and that needs to be a first class grocery store that has at least 200 stores or outlets in the United States and that meets various other requirements but we put an example list in here um Fresh Market Kroger public Sprouts all the Trader Joe's whole food so this is not a you can't just get a a a local purveyor who's you know doing a small local grocery store this has to be a a national chain um the developer needs to come back to the Development Authority and present their final plans before that pull building permit so we can make sure that the the design
266and setup of the building is is what we expected to see and the layout of the grocery store is what we expect and during the entire term the Development Authority will get annual reports from the developer we have rights of inspection um and any change in ownership uh of this property will have to come through the Development Authority so that the developer can't assign the rights to somebody else or sell it to to any other group without our EXP it approval so that gives us control to make sure we know he's zoning and operating um this and again I won't go into the detail the bottom right hand corner you can see a total of 13, 994 th000 this is the list of community benefits these are all of the explicit things that add up
267to the total amount of the tax abatement or discount been given over the 10-year period um so again we we we made as a requirement of this process that the developer justify every penny that they're been given um and so these are a combination of specific improvements that they're building and then you know the the the difference between the cost of building the grocery store and the actual value and a similar calculation for the 36 inclusionary housing units that are being built at the same cost as all the other units but have a significantly lower value just because their rents are being capped and kept at lower um some of the control that we've been able to have as well as having a lot of clawbacks and termination rights so again a lot of detail
268on this slide but in summary the the developer has to get the grocery store open within a reasonable time frame um that's six months after completion of the project and if they don't they start having to pay us a fine so in addition to not having any rent from the the grocer they're going to be paying the Development Authority $56,000 a month in penalties and so that makes sure that we you know there's an incentive and an alignment of incentives here to make sure that the store opens we have um penalties in place if the store is closed so we you know if you think about the krog situation that store closed because Kroger decided that it was economically unviable still lease there was they in fact still today are paying lease payments on that
269store even occupied but we've put a provision in here to say that the the grocery store over the 10year period can only be closed for a total period of 12 months anything more than 12 months and the developer has to pay that keeps just another incentive in place to make sure that we get what we've ARG for which is an open and operating CL um and there there's you know a handful of other Provisions in here about delivering the city benefits investing the amount of money that we expect um we can also terminate this agreement if the bonds don't close by the end of 2026 so we're approving all this and setting it up and now it's up to the developer to finalize their plans and get started construction can be delayed and you know
270I economic the economy can change but there's an outside data Sunset data being fix um the developer has to make all of their payments any failure to make a payment uh any failure to comply with theary housing ordinance gives us the right to ter um so that's really it in terms of the um the transaction itself I'll I'll stop there I've gone through a lot and just make sure there aren't any questions that I can answer for you I just want to confirm publicly that the pilot payments will be distributed to the entities pra per current digest distributions yes great point I'm sorry that I forgot to mention that that is a provision of the economic development agreement is that every every dollar of tax revenue and every dollar of penalty payment any other Revenue
271that comes in under this agreement will be distributed exactly Pro between deat County and the City of decar and then within the city of decar in the school system he exactly PR as a typical tax can you uh repeat for folks who may be listening um again the total number of estimated students you think we may we may be absorbing as as well as the total number of units I think sometimes with apartment complexes community members think that it's yeah multiple three four or five bedrooms and that equates to the equivalent number of children so could you yeah repeat that absolutely absolutely so our estimate and I've got some backup information on that if any of the board members would would like to see it was not included in the packet but I'm happy to
272share if you'd like to see um we we went back there was a study done back in 200 I think it was 2019 um a yield study that was done for the school system that looked at all the different housing types in the city and an estimated yield per housing type um in that there was an expected yield for a group of for a group of properties that were entitled multif Family Properties that yield was it was pretty high was 37% so if you had 100 units you would expect 37 schools unfortunately the way the data was grouped together in that report was really not done in a representative way it maybe was understandable because this was a report done across every heising type across the city of Decor but for example all of DEC
273decator housing authorities properties were grouped in with conventional new multif Family Properties uh there were some condominium buildings that were so what we did was go in and pull out the new high density over a 100 units market rate apartment communities that were in that report and that were developed at that time and there were three communities the place on ponts which is now called Portland on ponts at the Arlo which is the the one over by the Dairy Queen um and the train tracks um and then what would used to be called lexen which is now called 1133 square and by pulling those communities together and looking at the the yield for each of those properties that came out of this this report that was shown to the school system we we were able
274to pull that data together and show that you would expect yield of 12% so if you had 100 multif family units like that you would expect 12 students and so applying that that that is consistent with the number of students that that am deor deal has um my uh day job is is actually a real estate developer and I was a developer of the the place on pants Apartments back in 2022 and we um were were keeping track of the number of school children that were in the community at that time and the number that we had at that time was exactly consistent with this 12% so we we firmly believe that a 12% yield for this type of community is what we expect to see and if you apply that 12% yield you'll get
275to 43.6 students are rented to 44 students and just to help because I get the the same question as a developer sometimes too that that these apartment communities can can he very high numbers of students you have to remember that a one most of the the PC Community about 60% of the units are one-bedrooms those one-bedrooms will lease for $18 $1900 per month two bedrooms will leas for 26 $2,700 a month and three bedrooms will be $3500 a month they're small units and so it's at that price point and at that square footage and size you just don't get that many students and in fact I I when we were tracking this data back at at the place on bonds not only were we looking at a yield of about 12% of the total number
276of units but about half of those students were actually students of divorced parents whose parents had already been in the school system one parent stays in the house the other parent moves into the apartment and so yes the child is Reading in that apartment unit but that was a child that was already in the school not a net I think often times these numbers are misperceived or or exaggerated but the the 44 estimate is based on a very thorough analysis of the report that was done to just running those numbers really quickly if if you are seeing roughly half as not incremental instead of it being 14,000 per student at full rate it's really more 28,000 per student and it would be actually on the order of 80k if your number is you said it
277was about no no no it was in the 30s so 60-ish K per student for the incremental students that aren't already in our system yeah so at at full build that at the end of the 10year term when the incentive has gone away we're estimating tax revenue to the school system of 1.33 million a year which if you assume there's 44 students that's $ 303,000 a student but to your point if increment if half of those students were already in the school system prior then yes it's $60,000 per yes now I I will say that that 50% estimate was something that was done in 2015 on the place on Fond departments in particular I've not asked that question of other department owners so that's that's an estimate from what we have I just ask one
278clarification the 36 units that are set aside for the 80% of the average median income of that 36 is that where the eight or 10 for City Andor School District employees or is it an additional number no sorry to clarify that there's there's 36 units that are set aside um permanently to to to have that rental disc they're for they're at 80% of area median income so their rents are going to be set based on HUD publishes data every year for the metropolitan area that says what those rent should be the developer has agreed in in in just trying to get through this negotiation to make sure that we're getting good Community benefits we ask that for a period of 6 months so when the property delivers for the first six months of leasing those
279all 36 of those units are going to be kept and marketed only to employees of the city school of thear and the City of dear and so anyone who anyone who who works for either of those entities who wants to apply can do so within that six-month period and only the six months has expired will those be offered for lease to the broad market and those are there's a significant that's a 20 to 30% discount on those rents so it's it's actually a very attractive proposition and this is similar to what at the Development Authority we developed the um thecar Cottage cor that small little community on on Commerce and did a similar thing those are for sale haard what we did at Su thank you any other questions sorry just to finish sorry that's
280a question oh no no um just to finish on the timeline um you know we uh at our February 7th meeting we we uh approved the draft of the economic development agreement we went to City commission a couple of weeks ago we're here tonight with you anding the night again the Development Authority has the jurisdiction and authority to go and approve this Sal are the cities and the school systems as well and we certainly didn't want to be out um doing this ourselves so um pending the outcome of tonight we would go to our meeting on Friday uh if the the bond documentation gets approved on Friday um it would then go to the cad Superior Court and then at that point we'd be waiting for the developer to complete their plans and get ready
281to start construction and then once they're ready to do that and they evidence to us that they have the lease with the grocery store they would start construction early assessments of that would be late this year or early next year that construction would actually begin and it takes two to three years to the 10e clock starts when construction starts correct so actually no that's a great question the 10e clock typically in these deals the 10 year clock starts when construction is finally completed um so you have a final certificate of occupancy we've set this one up to have a a clock starting on what we call the inservice state or when the first residential tenant moves I'm these large projects you you often they can be open and operational but it can still take another
282six months to get all of the documentation and the final completion done we wanted that 10year clock to start earlier than the very final piece of paper so it'll start as soon as they get their their first residential tenant and run for well it it starts it the the period has to run on a calendar year because when the when the incentive period is over this property has to go on the tax roll and therefore has to be on a calendar year so actually it'll start within six months of the inservice date that inservice dates in the latter half of the year the start of the 10e clock will be January following January 1 if it starts in the first half of the year so the um can you give me the numbers again on
283the kids if current assuming no changes I appreciated you doing the math is like uh 44 children no and then 44 kids assuming no changes is how much per kid you you had that's the start of the 10 years it's about it's um 6,000 the the school tax revenue would be $6,000 per student assuming 44 well that number in the very first year is assuming 22 children so in year in the first year you're leasing the community up it takes it'll take about four on average in the first year we're estimating you've only got half of the number of students um and then halfway through the term in year five you're generating $617,000 total which is $4,150 per child assuming 44 kids and at the end of the incentive period you're generating $1,330 th000 which
284is $3,500 so if there's an explosion of children year five were made whole more than and it's also we should be clear that that those children are still earning QBE so half from the state is going through right um and then some amount no no no I'm just making it clear for the record sorry okay I know you um so those students are still learning QBE uh and whether we have a a very very tight number or not some amount of them are not incremental they're already in the system so yeah yeah no I appreciate you doing this numbers that's really helpful because I think that's the Fe right like years and Slot of students you are correct that is unfounded appreciate and yeah the student shows up there than thank you so much appreciate
285thank you Dr Sulton may I read the recommendation yes please it is recommended that the city schools of theator Board of Education approve the resolution of support of the down Development Authority of the city of thecar for approving the financing of a Redevelopment project for the benefit of Prime Property fund am 750 commer Drive LLC do I have a motion to approve the resolution of support of the Downtown Development Authority of the city of dear for approving the financing of a Redevelopment project for the benefit of Prime Property fund am 750 Commerce Drive LLC Oren makes the motion do I have a second second board a motion is there any discussion at this time only as so far as that I think that this is a longterm thinking I like that he focused on this
286is a smart move for the school system and a brilliant move for the city and U appreciate them taking time out to walk through those numbers here here any further discussion all those in favor I the motion carries unanimously thank you thank you very much all right we'll move on to the chair's report good evening on behalf of the city schools educator Board of Education I want to thank you for joining us in person and virtually for our March board meeting this week Georgia is honoring the dedicated individuals who serve on local school boards across the state during school board appr appreciation week on behalf of the board as a board chair I want to thank the staff again for honoring the board today I also want to personally thank my fellow board members for
287your dedication to serving the stakeholders in the city of dear and your vital role in shaping the policies and priorities that directly impact students Educators and families today's robust pre-work and work agendas reflect our ongoing work towards achieving The Five-Year all- indicator strategic plans goals as we move closer to the end of the 2425 school year during the pre-work session we resumed our book study on the governance core which exemplifies the board's commitment to professional development focusing on improving student achievement and organizational Effectiveness during pre-work the board reviewed revised policies for school admissions and tuition for nonresident students I must pause here to reiterate that tuition would not only be implemented for families that want to attend our schools but do not reside in the city of decada after last month's discussion on tuition there
288was a bit of confusion amongst members of the public after some media reports did not make that clear families with students who are in fact residents of the city of decada will continue to attend school tuition free as is constitutionally mandated the work session today included six presentations the first three presentations included updates on the state of communications which included key legislations to watch in the remainder of the 2025 Georgia legislative session there was a quarterly report on the progress of the new Early Learning Center and the human resources update highlighted key aspects of employment contracts staff retention efforts recruitment strategies and initiatives and initiatives to enhance teacher engagement two of the presentations were related to funding including the use of federal programs funding on special purpose local option sales tax or BL fund the
289final presentation was the culmination of the our Harvard residents work we have also reviewed policies on instructional programs related to special education dyslexia student support teams and curriculum development the work session ended with the board's accepting of a policy on staff political activities for first read all Board of Education meeting presentations are available on the district's website and assembly every month the board looks forward to hearing about the fantastic I learning experiences in our schools and the achievements of our students and staff today we applaud the selection of a DHS graduating senior to receive the prestigious cfee scholarship we recognize the accomplishments of Our Winning fall and winter student athletes at Beacon Hill Middle School indicator high school we also saluted our dedicated School social workers for school social workers month the board congratulates all
290of our students and staff on their achievements with spring just around the corner our schools are full of activities I encourage all of our families and the communities to check School newsletters through the CSC weekly email to support our schools and upcoming events and activities I have a few dat that I want to bring to the Public's attention the next community meeting will be held on Tuesday March 25th 2025 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Fifth Avenue Upper Elementary School the Legacy Park ribbon cutting is March 29th 2025 at 10:00 a.m. and finally the next Bo meeting will be Tuesday April 15th uh 2025 this concludes my remarks for the evening I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable spring break for members do you have any thoughts you wish to share all righty Dr Whitaker
291please introduce the next presentation thank you Sheriff Salton I I would like to call on Dr lonita Broom our Chief Financial Officer to share the second draft of the FY 26 budget good evening again today's presentation is the second draft of the fiscal year 26 general fund budget of funds federal state fol nutrition and Flo fisal year 26 preliminary budget were presented at this evening's work session although all budget decisions and request tied into one or more of the district's strategic accelerators the finance department operates with a specific focus on accelerator 4 where organizational Effectiveness and equity and transparency this slide is a snapshot of the current fisc year 25 budget and actual revenue and expenditures as of February 28 2025 the district has received 77% of the budgeted Revenue due largely to receiving 95%
292of local property tax revenue which is normal for this time of the year last year this time the district had collected about three % less property tax revenue and had received 73% of the budget Revenue so revenue is trending as projected the district has expended 58% of the budgeted expenditures which is the same percentage expended last year this time and it's normal for this time of the year based on where we were after February 28 2025 in the budget fisal year 25 projection is that Revenue will come in short approximately $1 million due to anticipated low collection of local taxes and other local Revenue other local revenue is trending low and K12 tuition payment traditionally we have tuition paying students for new Property Owners under contract after we have had just a few short-term tuition
293paying student syst other miscellaneous taxes such as Surplus sales and facility rent rentals are also coming in slightly less than in previous years state revenue has been reduced due to the state reduction of pup Transportation by approximately $64,000 from the preliminary QP allotment sheet to the initial sheet based on throughout the year it is projected that approximately $600,000 may be under spent in expat if the projections were to be correct the fiscal year 25 ended Bond balance as shown in the bottom table to the right highlighted and yellow would decrease from $16.3 million to approximately 15.8 million again these are just projections and as we get closer to the end of the year projections will be revised to reflect more accurate numbers last month the board was presented with draft number one for fiscal year
29426 preliminary budget since that time and after budget discussions with the board the fiscal year 26 preliminary draft number one budget has been revised the fiscal year 26 preliminary draft number two budget includes Personnel changes and miscellaneous adjustments since the last budget presentation revenue for other locals has been increased by 7% of $350,000 to account for anticipated revenue for out of District tuition paying students instruction decreased by less than 1% based on HRM Finance annual review and staff and meetings with principls a position was recategorized for example a principal reallocated a vacant teachers position to a pair of professional based on current employment and need enrollment and needs current teacher vacancies refilled with employees whose salary was less than their predecessor elimination of two vacant positions due to current enrollment additionally a few employees collected
295not to participate in the district have benefit miscellaneous adjustments including the addition or deletion of heal benefits and compensation differences for past and new employees were made in pupil Services educational Media Services School admin maintenance and transportation in general Administration a new executive director position for the deputy superintendent's office was added for sucession plan and support services business salary adjustments to place an employee on the correct salary Safety and Security Personnel changes included the addition of three school safety Associates funding for three contracted School reso officers and reallocation of SPO eligible budgeted expenses to the sply subject transfer to other funds includes a $935,000 increase to supplement the school nutrition fund anti the year 26 overall the revenue and expenditure changes from draft one to draft two is less than 1% with the changes the
296ending fund balance from draft one to draft two decrease by $1 18,450 as shown on the table to the right under dollar amount changes the ending fund balance Remains the Same at 8% please note it is normal for school expenditures within a budget to change the budget is a financial plan of the dollar per parameters we aim to stay within the budget is a projection of future revenues and expenses as we build the budget it will change frequently as employees receive certifications choose to add or delete health benefits and various Personnel changes once the board votes on the budget we lock the budget in and although expenses continue to change we do not change the budget without board approval and the fiscal year 26 if the fiscal year 20 if the fiscal year 25 five
297budget ends exactly as budgeted as shown on the column title P the year 25 budget expenditures would exceed revenue million as shown highlighted in blue in the small table on the right under the fiscal year 25 budget power the fisal year 25 in and fund balance would be approximately $16 million as shown highlighted in yellow in the small table on the top right under the fiscal year 25 budget col mindful that the fiscal year 25 ending fund balance is the fiscal year 26 beginning fund balance and looking at the fiscal year 26 preliminary Budget on the table to the left the budget was built on the assumption that local property tax revenue would increase by 5% and that other local and state revenue would increase by 36,000 which is a conservative projection for out of
298District tuition pay students the projected Revenue increased from year 25 to fisal year 26 by 2% or $2 million as we progress through budget season and the state budget is approved and the tax assessor provides a projection on the tax digest growth Revenue will be updated to reflect the changes I have spoken with the tax assessor and he should have a projection later this month fol year 26 draft number two expenditures reflect both operational expenses and salary and benefits as discussed in the compensation package including a minimum of a 3% increase for all employees and a step increase for elgible in fiscal year 26 expenditures increased from fiscal year 25 to fiscal year 26 by 6% are $6.8 million 5% of the increases due to salary and benefit increases the engine fund balance from fiscal
299year 25 to fiscal year 26 decreased from approximately 16 million to 99 million and the end the ending fund balance decreased from 15% to if additional revenue is needed the only source that is available to increase will be property taxes currently the district millage rate is 20.30 increasing the millage rate by one mill would generate an addition of$ million in Revenue at this time we are not recommending our proposal increasing the m notable budget changes from the fiscal year 25 budget to the fiscal year 26 draft 2 budget includes a 5% increase in instruction due primarily to salary and benefit increases a 9% increase in general Administration due to the addition of an executive director position as required for sucession planning and anticipated increases in attorney charges an 8% increase in support Services business due
300to a vacant position filed by an employee with a salary above the average budget salary and 18% increase in maintenance and operation the district facilities with exception of the two upper elementary schools are an average of 79 years old the cost to maintain the buildings is substantial the 18% increase is due to increases in preventive maintenance custodian outpouring cost energy and water increases pressure washing painting and the addition of two maintenance technician for legacy part and operational supplies to maintain the part the board has made a commitment to ensure the safety and security of all students and staff although Safety and Security show a decrease of 15% additions have been made to Safety and Security including three new Safety and Security Associates and funds allocated for contracted operating expenses for three Rec officers from the
301city of DEC Safety and Security expenses that are spots eligible eligible were moved to the spot budget which account for the negative percentage 11% increase in the support services Central is due to a one-time increased cost for the district portion of pan City ucat contractors to identify fiber cables prior to construction increases in other in other salaries and compensations including enance incentives s for special ed teachers and parents CRS increases State Health increases and new hires qualifying for salaries above the average budgeted salaries and the consolidation of all siphons into the HR budget 177% increase in school nutrition is due to the increased cost of school nutrition services for EC and brancher 75% increase in transfer to other funds is due to the supplement from the general fund for the school nutrition program this is
302the pro proposed fiscal year 26 budget as discussed on the previous slid total anticipated revenue is 106 mil 22,2 total projected expenditures $3,834 n28 expenditures exceed revenue by right at $8 million whenever expenditures exceed revenue this is considered deficit budget the approximately $8 million will be deducted from the fund balance which leades an ending fund balance of 8% this percent is within the 4 to 15% range as required by for policy DC the fiscal year 25 amended budget and the fisal year 26 State proposed K12 education budget highlights of the same as suu last month month including amending the current fiscal year 25 budget for a one-time security Grant of $2,635 per K12 scho for fiscal year 26 the governor is proposed an additional funding for K12 Transportation reduction of prek class from 22 to
30320 also included in the state proposed budget is once again the unfunded mandate to increase heal benefits this propos increase will increase the district contribution of health benefits over the last three years by $940 per month per employee are $1,280 per year per employee this unfunded mandate would have a fiscal impact right under $1 million for the general changes include reducing the student to counselor ratio from 1 to 450 to 1 to 250 currently the district has one counselor per bill for cas2 schools two counselors per building for upper elementary schools and one per 450 students for middle and high school changes to the state QBE funding are also referenced as a proposal however the details of those changes are unknown the district's contribution to TRS is proposed to increase from 20.78 to 2.91% and
304codian have proposed deceive a one time Grant of 1,000 the year 26 budget priorities in December 2024 the 2026 budget is in the budget Pro FAL year 26 highlight since draft one includes under building and sustaining and engaging in inclusive culture the addition of operating funds for three contracted school resource officers with the city in the addition of three school safety Associates under Student Success in all areas the addition of an executive director to the deputy superintendent to ensure a possession plan and cons continuity of leadership the fiscal year 26 budgeting process began in October with adoption of the budget timeline and has been ongoing since this time the board was presented the use of federal state and spot funds at today's work session a community meeting for Budget questions and answ will be held
305on March 25th at F please also be mindful that the budget feedback for fiscal year 26 is active and located on the finance website the fiscal year 26 tenative budget scheduled to be approved in April and there will also be a board of education community meeting on April 23rd at Wiest two public budget hearings will be held in May followed by the final adoption of the fiscal year 26 budget and the tenative approval of the mill rate three public millage rate hearings and the final adoption of the property tax millage rate will be held in June the budget book will be presented in AUST the appendix consists of the state various function categories with a description for each I'll be happy to respond to any questions or provide clarification as need just one question the
306brief presentation we had earlier I it might be for you or for Dr Whitaker is the was the executive director in that remember how we went through the no because EXA that's a position and that position has to be paid for out a general fund um so on on slide four I wanted to make a comment just really good job on tightening up um expenditure budgets uh we're coming in like a fraction of a percent off and so that has historically been a problem area so this is this is good news um revenue is harder to estimate since we don't actually control it we do actually control the expenditures but but I think um you know continuing to focus on trying to get really tight there is going to be a good thing um we
307need to have options for cutting on this budget all right we are we are definitely in an uncomfortably red area and right now we're basically 2.2 Ms off uh in terms of of a balanced budget so we you know I know we anticipate that we're probably going to see some things in terms of digest and we probably are going to see some things from the uh from the state um but I also think just given timelines we should be having conversations about hard decisions yes um uh Vice chairs we have had that conversation in this budget you do not see really any of the local state funded um or state funded information we zero it out specifically because the amended budget of FY 25 as well as the proposed budget um from the state we
308don't know that yet so we keep it at zero know that April 4th is uh really the end of the legislative session which is still before our next board meeting which is on April the 15th uh so we will be able to make those decisions and no we will not have a no we will not one have a fund balance in single digit percentage you know I will not allow that and then two I will I will make sure that the expenditures still are coming in where they should and making other decisions like what we did talk about with um nutrition and things like like that because that is really having an impact on the budget so there is definitely more room to be done that's why we have multiple drafts but we want to
309bring the board and the community along as we do so part appreciate you pointing this out six the other grants Georgia doe was zeroed out is that intentional and I just miss it yeah if that was intentional because we don't we're not sure what other grants we will get but we want to count it but it's never been zero no but every month I'll bring it to you as I'm get but that's budget neutral CU your expenses will increase the same that your well but except for security but then yeah sa security Grant we'll know about that state approv but for those grants usually Revenue okay it's like kind of the CPA E Grant you know on the state part you're saying they're not accounted for in the expenditures part either no question no I
310already said it exactly I just say okay thank you Dr Broom we know that the budget will shift in the next 30 days also so we invite the community to join us on March 25th at 6:30 p.m. at SP for a Q&A with the board about the fiscal year 26 budget as we look to tentatively adopt the budget next month all right comment as it is now 6:30 p.m I will go through the public comment speech the following information is included in the board's policy manual and memb of the public also acknowledge this information when they sign up to speak this serves as a reminder for all speakers and members of the audience the opportunity to address the board during public Sumit is limited to District parents students residents employees businesses and organizations persons wishing
311to address the board during public comment must sign up by 5:30 p.m. and in doing so will be asked to State their connection to CSD and or the city of to allow time for the board's other business public comment will be ordinarily be limited to 1 hour or 20 speakers at the board's discretion the public comment period may be extended for a specific amount of time or a specific number of additional speakers the time limit for all speakers will be three minutes person speaking during public comment will not be permitted to yield the floor or transfer unused time to other speakers comments during public comment should be addressed to the board as a body and not to any individual board member at the chair's discretion persons violating this policy may be asked to St down
312speakers should be courteous and professional speakers are not to list complaints about specific Personnel or individuals connected with the district in a public session the board strictly prohibits abusive language threats comments jeers Applause or shouts from the floor disruptive persons will be asked to leave the meeting room the chair May terminate public comments that are profane vulgar defamatory or disruptive if any speakers to the areas of hate speech or defamation I will have to ask the speaker to end their comments speakers may not address confidential student or Personnel matters but may may submit such concerns to the superintendent in writing members of the board will not address persons presenting public comment or speak to the substance of any comments made during public comment instead a member of the administrative team will follow up with the
313person speaking at the board meetings Dr Whitaker will you please call our first Speaker Mna Clayton good evening I am Mera Clayton I am founder and executive director for showability we are an organization that has been in existence for 16 years we are based uh we have operations in city of decator uh this being March na naal disability awareness month we work with talented performing artists across the disability spectrum that is singers dancers musicians um we primarily support those that are 21 and up meaning they've transitioned out of school that's because it's hard for us to identify people students um that are talented within the school system because we work with adults we know that there's a huge need and opportunity to increase healthis increase their career trajectory increase their life possibilities and that needs
314to start when they're in the six uh six through six grade through 12th grade because we don't have access to those students we're wanting to get access to those students it is not unusual for casting agents to contact us looking for young Talent young actors that are in the area because we can't find them we started a pilot program that was house indicator on at cor Dance Studio March of last year I'm looking for talented middle to high school students within disability Community just want to make you aware of that because we're very much so looking for talented students often times if any of you are in this or have performed in school youit that typically starts in sixth grade exposure to that and then it goes on through and then who knows what comes
315after that well we are very much wanting to tap into those students and make them aware of their possibilities a students those with low incidents and high functioning that may not necessarily be in Special A classes but when we say disability the assumption is that they're in disability classes there are students with go CHS Life Death that are within the student population we want to kind of again make you aware of that and going to go on record of having presented to you guys we're excited about what's the possibility for indicator thank you you so much thank you the next speaker is William bagos bag good evening my name is William bagin I'm a junior at theor high school I'm in the IB career program late Friday afternoon roughly 25 students received an email from
316the IB career program team I'm among those 25 and we compose about onethird of the juniors in this program the email reads there's there's strong evidence of academic dishonesty on your ethics paper which is a required assessment for the IU career program this is a violation of the DHS academic honor code and first school policy this has been reported to both the IB coordinator and the school admin you should expect to hear from them regarding any disciplinary consequences and your continued participation in the IB career program for the purposes of your grade in third period this is the major assessment for this course currently your grade on this assignment is a 50 your grade for this course will appear in the transcripts for colleges uh to see you will need to rewrite this if you
317plan to earn a passing grade for this course your rewrite is the one week from this email I'm inocent and knowing my friends I suspect that a majority of them are twoo this note exemplifies problems with the current academic bony policy as it pertains to gener generative AI which refers to artificial intelligence programs designed to create Med media such as images videos or text here are some examples the accusation was sent with a poor basis of justification software seems to be the sole basis on which these ACC accusations was made uh in the process of this accusation as students were not granted access to the reports without a significant effort when I eventually read my report I found that the school's detection software was also misused um though administrators and faculty have not responded to
318my parents emails to them regarding this matter we have received another form of another form email about the accusations yesterday the uh this latest email shifts the burning of proof to students and indicates that leadership is slowing its process and is asking us to await for their communication while I wait I ask of you please revisit the CSD academic honesty policy in regards to a usage and develop a new policy in collaboration with the cf's parents and staff in an attempt to minimize the number of false accusations academic diplomacy made in the future please revise the policy to include transparency and investigations of students ensure accuracy of the tools used minimize the recipient for potentially harmful uh Communications and make sure that CSD staff is 100% confident before making any accusations against students please consider
319in this process that many esteemed universities including Vanderbilt have done away with the use of AI detection sof Ware entirely and instead has worked to create assignments where it is very difficult for AI to be used thank you thank you thank you we would like to thank all of the speakers for taking time to be here tonight as board members it is important for us to hear the concerns from our community who will take your comments into consideration right we'll Shi back up to cant okay Bo will now move to the consent agenda items which include monthly items such as Financial nutrition and Personnel report the first ad the first item includes a report there will be a motion to accept the consent ad consent agenda in totality Dr Whitaker do we have a monthly
320financial report yes chair Salton Dr Lita broom Chief Financial Officer will present the monthly financial report evening again the January 2025 Financial reports and definitions of function codes are located in assembly agend the finance department operates based on the district's four strategic accelerator with a specific focus on accelerator four organizational Effectiveness and eff through financial equity and trans the general fund budget is7 m278 71 as of January the district collected 73% or approximately $75 million of the budget of Revenue here today which is in line with the percentage that was collected time last year $28 million was collected for the month of January which brings revenue and Li total collection for last year this time revenue is trended as anticipated expenditures are normal for this time of the year the district has expended 51% of
321the overall budget are approximately $52 million here today for the month of January expense is equated to approximately $9 million for the month of January there's a surplus of approximately $23 million which has been added to the fund balance which is normal for this time of the year the general funds fund balance as of January 31st 2025 was approximately $42 million which includes a beginning fund balance of $19 million the fund balance last year at this time was approximately $40 million please note the fond balance will continue to decrease as expenditures increase December revenue for Capital and debt funds consisted of approximately $700,000 from earnings on investment and Slot collection expenditures are normal for this time of the year and the $181,000 deficit was deducted from the fund balance which was approximately $5 million in
322January thisal year 25 anticipated expenditures for capital is approximately $12.7 million special Revenue funds are Grant funds including federal and state funds not budgeted in the general fund the district has collected 44% of the anticipated fiscal year 25 gr and expended 42% food nutrition revenues are coming in less than projected and exp spages are trending within the same range as previous years the approximately $41,000 deficit for January decreased School nutrition fund balance to approximately $2 million last year this time the school nutrition fund balance was $2 million I'll be happy to respond to any questions you may have any question thank you uh chair sson may I me read the recommendation yes please I recommend the city schools of the cator Board of Education approve the consent agenda items one through six do I have
323a motion to approve consent agenda items 1 through six [Music] uh board member Johnson Davis makes the motion do I have a second second member Anderson second is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor I the motion carries unanimously moving on to policy Dr Whitaker thank you chair Sultan I would like to call on Mrs Amanda Lynch Chief of Staff to present two policies for second read action good evening again tonight we have two policies for second read action first is policy Ka public relations goals and objectives this policy was presented last month for first read and has been available for public comment through assembly no feedback was received from public comment and no changes have been made to the version presented last month may I read the recommendation yes please it is
324recommended the city school is theor Board of Education approved policy Ka public relations goals and objetives for Action I have a motion to approve the recommendation to approve policy Ka public relations goals and objectives for action or member hearen makes the motion do I have a second second or member Anderson seconds the motion is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor the motion carries unanimously and second is policy kmbb possession of weapons by visitors this policy was also presented last month for first public comment through assembly no feedback was received through public comment and no changes have been made to the version presented last month may I read the recommendation yes please it is recommended that the city schools of the cater Board of Education approve policy kmb possession of weapons by visitors
325for Action do I have a motion to approve the recommendation to approve policy kmb possession of weapons by visitors for action or member Anderson makes the motion do I have a second second member Johnson Davis second is there any discussion hearing none all those in favor the motion carries future date the board will host our next community meeting on March 25th at Fifth Avenue Upper Elementary School at 6:30 pm. the topic will be the fiscal year 26 budget this meeting will be a two-way dialogue between the community and the board inclusive of a substantial amount of dedicated time for questions and answers our next board meeting will be held here at the Wilson Center on April 15th there being no further business this meeting is adjourned at 6:46 p.m.