001Heat up here. [Music] Good evening everyone. It is wonderful to see you. I would like to call the school board meeting for Tuesday, September 16th, 2025 for the De Mo public schools to order. Miss Rios, could you please take the role? >> Yes, of course. Miss Alonso, uh, here. >> Miss Compos. Mr. Dixs, >> here. Miss Knox, Miss Marano >> here, >> Dr. Mayberry Mace >> here, >> Miss Norris >> here. >> We have quorum. The first item of business is approval of the agenda. Board colleagues, I'd like to entertain a motion to rearrange the meeting agenda and move the reimagining educations up next. May I have a motion and a second to approve the revised agenda? >> Marterano. So moved. >> Dick. Second. >> We have a motion by Miss Marterano and a second
002by Mr. Dixs. Is there any discussion or questions? Board members, please cast your votes. The vote is approved. 520. We are now Are we doing public comment first? >> Okay. Um we are now going to turn it over to our superintendent to present the topic of reimagining education. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for being here this evening. Uh we have had uh a lot of really exciting um and celebratory days in the past two years I will say but certainly today is one of those that ranks right up there. Um at this point madam chair um I know that we are going to present to you all today um the signatures gathered for us to move forward with putting our reimagined education plan as we pursue a uh general
003obligation bond on the November ballot. Um, procedurally, I want to remind uh our our partners that in order for us to move forward um with a bond on the ballot, uh we needed a community's investment, thumbs up or vote of confidence, and that needed to manifest itself in the form of signatures. Uh procedurally and legally, we uh were required to have, I believe, 7,024 signatures in order for this to happen. Well, as a result of tireless, tireless engagement and hours by so many volunteers in this community, um the De Mo community, you've showed up, you've showed out, and you've said to us, "We are moving in the right direction." And you've given the board, superintendent, and team a thumbs up by setting forth 9,000, a little over 9,000 signatures. And I was told that this
004is the most uh significant amount of signatures of any school district or organization in the history of Iowa who has gone off the go bond. And so community um I know the board chair will echo that I want to say a heartfelt thank you on behalf of 5,000 uh adults and more than 30,000 students we serve every single day. So Madam Chair, with that uh it is only fitting that we present you with these signatures. And uh who else should present these signatures other than those who we are here to serve every single day? And so with us today we have some rock stars and I want to call them to come forward. From East High School we have Aracelli Aguilar and from the Dang School we have Arjun Noragenan and Graham Cra to come
005forward to present. Additionally, Tristan Hodes. [Applause] Kristen Hodgees is also here. [Applause] Arjun, Graham, Aracelli, and and certainly and Tristan, you all are representing more than 30,000 other students in this moment. um as you are presenting at this historic moment uh the signatures that would allow our board to make a decision today about moving forward with a bond in the ballot. Uh I just want to ask you um just if you could share with us your name, what grade you are in, and if there's anything else you want to tell us. Um we're happy to listen to what that is, right? Anything you want to tell us. >> All right. You want to go first? >> He's excited. My name is Tristan Hodgeges. I'm in eighth grade and um a little bit about me is
006I have autism. >> Thank you for being here, Tristan. Let's give it a round of applause, please. >> My name is RSI Aguilar. I am from East High and I'm a junior. My future goals is to become a pilot and I think your plan is fabulous. [Applause] My name is Arjun and I go to DTS and and I'm in fifth grade. [Applause] My name is My name is Graham and I am in fifth grade. I go to downtown school and I'm thinking about being a bioengineer. >> All right. Madam chair, if I can ask at this time that our uh amazing students um symbolically present to you and board vice chair Skyler Mayberry Mays our signatures. So >> you come forward with those. >> You can just grab them and if you want to come
007on up. Thank you. Do you want to come up here? >> Yeah, let's have them all come up. But can we have a photographic moment? And anyone uh who's present here this evening, we would ask that you please come join us at the day for this historic and photographic moment. Anyone, please feel free to join us. Don't be shy. >> Come on. Everybody, this is a team effort. So don't be shy. >> Sorry. >> Don't be shy. >> Come up behind us. behind us. [Music] >> Coming in. Coming in. >> Does that work? >> Come on. Come on. All the way over here. Yeah. There you go. >> Don't be shy. Get in here. Get in. Come on. >> Come on. Greenwood needs to be represented. Come on. Come on. All the way over here.
008>> I've got a >> All right. Bring it in. >> Okay. >> Get in a little close. >> Two. >> Good. Thank you everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> I see in there somewhere. >> Yeah. >> So, at this point, I am going to ask board member Dixs to please introduce the resolution and a motion to adopt. >> Madam Chair, I move the board >> actually. Um, are there any additional public speakers that we would like to be heard on this topic? >> Miss Rios, yes. Could you call their names, please? >> Yes. Uh, first up, I'd like to call Julie Powell Moore. If you can please approach the podium. I'm Julie Palmore. I represent the public school strong um group that's here in mass and I took part
009in gathering signatures for the bond issue and this is going to make me have tears. Um I when as I talked with people about the bond issue uh and the proposal, they were really moved by the stories the story of the um the the passing of that bond issue and they said this is something we can do for our kids and they really they were really behind it. So um many of them talked about this being an alternative to the voucher um uh movement and they talked about the availability of the programs, the STEM program, the trades program, the uh performing arts program. and they said those are things that the public school will be accountable for and the vouchers will not. And so they were they were they said this is something we can
010do for our kids and thank you for for the work that you've done to to bring this about. Um I shared this story of the meeting that I attended the last meeting that I attended and how moving it was and that I didn't have one per 257 signatures. Not one person said no. >> Not one person said no. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker I'd like to call is Sheree Martis. [Music] Hello board. Um my name is Shri M Ortiz. I live on the east side and I'm also a member of De Moine public school strong. and I'd like to sort of present my statements around making a clarion call to the community in response to the proposed reimagine referendum. I'd like to start by saying to people who might be watching and listening
011today, hopefully um parents, guardians, grandparents, aunts and uncles, people in our surrounding neighborhoods and communities. So this really includes all of us who understand how important it is to be invested in our neighborhoods and invested in the success of every school in our district. This is an a very exciting time I think for De Moines public schools. There's a lot at stake with the re-imagined bond issue, bond uh bond referendum because it will create learning spaces for students that will be inspiring uh in a way that can provide an acquisition of skills and knowledge that can propel them into the next stages of their journey and provide instructional staff with a means to do that. And just as important, it can enhance the sustainability of our neighborhoods by making sure that schools are functioning as
012a good lynchpin that keeps neighbors in place and attracts new ones along the way. We want to attract families to De Moines and we want our schools to continue to be huge assets to our neighborhoods. Our De Moines Public School strong members have been having good conversations with each other and with people throughout the De Moines community. People are excited about the possibilities that re-imagine holds for our neighborhood schools. They are happy that this district coordinated a team to lay out a blueprint and adopt programs that will give each student more choices and more opportunities to explore areas of interest. It can have a positive impact on the quality of the educational experience of every student and the ability of every student to be prepared for the next step in their educational journey. And for
013high school graduates, that includes important decisions for their next step in life. Re-Imagine can launch our students and schools forward into the 21st century with schools designed to build skills and new technologies and platforms of information that creates schools and instruction that inspire leadership, critical thinking, cross-cultural experiences, and emotional social growth. Our public school community has faced challenges before and we have come through them with wide community alliances and support. And finally, our students deserve this. Our teachers, support staff, and administrators deserve this. And our neighborhoods deserve this. Thank you, [Applause] Madam Chair. Those are all the speakers that I have signed up. >> Thank you so much. At this point, uh, Mr. Dixs, please introduce the resolution. >> Madam Chair, I move the board adopt the resolution calling for the election on the issuance
014of $265 million in general obligation bonds. >> May I have a second? >> Alonso second. >> We have a motion by Mr. Dixs and a second by Miss Alonzo. Is there any discussions or questions? So at this point I'm going to read a statement on behalf of the board uh Dr. Roberts and I were um reflecting that two years ago this very big bold ambitious vision was put forth um as a board we rethought our vision and our mission. uh the staff put forth a strategic plan and all of those things came together uh and put us in the driver's seat to put forth a world-class education for our district. And there is a lot of gratitude that should go around. The staff was heroic in revising plans and getting feedback. The community showed up
015for a lot of public sessions and provided feedback. And I think it's really important that we call out their sacrifice of time and energy. So I actually want to ask her a round of applause for all of the people that worked on this plan. I also think it's important to remind everybody that we crossed a first hurdle and that was uh getting this community to step up and support this plan. We still have to actually vote and get it approved in November. And so part of what I'm asking all of you to do and we're asking you to do is to spread the word to keep telling the great stories about De Moine public schools to tell about how this facility plan this reimagining education is going to increase access for student learning experiences. So
016please number one do that. Um, there are a couple of other things just because there is so much energy that I think the board would love to call out. Number one, we would like to ask you to embrace the 30,000 students and the 5,000 staff as your own and do everything you can to cheerlead them and champion them at any point that you can because they are very special to us. The second thing is volunteer. uh we have worked through some uh kinks and we are welcoming volunteers and so please go to our website and consider volunteering and supporting our young people and a very good way that you can also help DMPS is to advocate for a very important legislative priority which is prek. We talk about prek a lot but we know that
017it has a very strong impact on literacy results and so that's why you hear prek talked about in this plan. That's why you'll see all of us up at the capital advocating for prek. And finally, um I think what we want to do is end by saying, um Dr. Roberts, thank you. Um you came here and uh right away we put you to work and work together to put together this really big vision. And so we appreciate you and your bold leadership and getting there out in this community and and getting this done. So we appreciate it. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. and certainly want to express that gratitude to um just some amazing amazing teammates who are an integral part of this work over the last two years and will continue to do so.
018Thank you madam chair and board. >> Great. So with that board members please cast your votes. >> The vote is approved seven to zero. Woo. Next, we do have to uh take action on the board's own resolution to support the NE November 4, 2025 general obligation bond referendum. May I have a motion and a second to adopt this resolution? Madame Chair, I would like to make a motion that the um board adopt a resolution supporting the November 4th, 2025 general obligation bond referendum. >> We have a motion by Miss Martano. May I have a second? >> Campo second. >> We have a motion by Miss Murdero and a second by Miss Campos. Are there any discussion or questions? With that, board members, please cast your votes. The vote is approved seven to zero and this
019resolution is adopted. [Applause] Um, you're just double checking with the boss. Um, thank you everybody. I know some of you may drop off, so we just want to extend our appreciation to the families and young people who came. We really appreciate you being here so much. So, thank you. Next on the agenda is the public forum. >> Am I Who's got the consent? >> Miss Knox. >> It's under your laptop. Got it. >> Next on the agenda is the public forum. We provide speakers at the forum an opportunity to address the board for up to three minutes regarding items that are not on the board agenda and up to five minutes for an agenda item. If anyone wishes to speak during any portion of this me business meeting, please email rosa.reosdmschools.org. The same speaking protocols
020apply to all individuals who wish to address the board. Speakers will be called individually and we ask that they state their name and city prior to providing comments. Guests of the board are encouraged to speak to matters relating to the programs, services, and operations of DMPS. Please remember that Iowa law prohibits us from discussing specific employees or their job performance. We ask all speakers to avoid references to personalities or character attacks as those types of comments do not contribute to the purpose for which this public forum exists. The use of inappropriate language will not be tolerated and individuals choosing to do so will be gled out of order and asked to excuse themselves from the premises or es escorted out by district security. As a reminder to the board and public, the board will not
021engage in a discussion with public forum speakers as it is our obligation to discuss only matters posted in the public agenda for the sake of transparency and opportunity afforded to all community stakeholders. Matters requiring attention will receive appropriate staff and or board followup at a time after the meeting. Thank you for your participation. We appreciate your feedback and input. Uh Miss Rios, do we have any speakers for the public forum? >> Yes, we do. First up, I'd like to call Julianne Venloo the podium. Yep. Thank you so much. Good evening. Uh, I've had a brief conversation with this with the chair about this with the chairwoman and with some staff. Uh, but my name is Julian Vanloo. I'm the director of the Poke County Health Department and also an incredibly proud mom of a two-week
022old kindergartener in the De Mo public school system who's having the time of her life. I'm not kidding you. I also need to briefly just commend the presence of the focus on prek in the work you're doing. if there's, you know, a top 10 or 15 public health policies that can long-term impact public health, it's actually prek. And so, just wild about that. But I'm here real quickly just to put something on your radar and give you a little bit of context so that you're aware of something important to our community as a board. There's something called the Iowa Youth Survey that's conducted by the Iowa Health and Human Services Department. It's a survey conducted of sixth, 8th, and 11th graders. You have participated historically in some years but not others. And this year you
023have not yet opted to participate, although you still have time to do so. I'm here because some of the information on that survey is the only public health information I have for kiddos on that topic. So there's really key and I actually have here like to pass around um the actual surveys are in there so you can see the questions but they're asking key questions around food and housing access, mental health and bullying, feelings and perception of safety, access and experiences with alcohol and tobacco. All sorts of information that we as a health department and our partners need in order to best use our resources for the most pressing concerning health issues facing our youth right now. I'll be honest right now I'm using 2019 2020 data and I'm feeling out of touch and I'm
024not sure how many kiddos for example are taking part in vaping and that's something we really need to know to understand to figure out how we create countywide response right um so this is a survey that would be conducted by HHS in coordination with your school district all responses would be completely anonymous no student names no addresses anything just their responses on their experiences and what they're going through this would of of course require parental consent and so that is um a major uh bureaucratic barrier I completely understand and something hard to to navigate. Um but truly I cannot overstate the value. I I have access to vital statistics and I can tell you how many kiddos are dying by suicide. I do not have access to data to help me understand how many are
025progressing along that mental illness journey at what stage and in what pockets of our community. Right? So, in order to work truly upstream and preventive, I'm asking you to help us try try to survey our youth so we can take that data and work with it. There's also the opportunity if you lean into this survey to get your data not only at the school district level, but to work with the state to get it at the school level to really work one-on-one with staff to create and tailor any sort of social and emotional support response systems to what you're seeing in any particular building. >> 30 seconds remaining. >> That's my spiel for you. Uh again, I am working with staff and trying to find the right folks. Um but this has become a political
026survey in some areas in our state and I wanted to be really clear and transparent and make sure you all know why this help helps bring value to all of us as a community and helps us do our job in supporting you as educators. So thank you very much. [Applause] >> Thank you. Next speaker is Sean Boschelle. Hello. >> Hello. >> Uh, so uh, my name is Sean Boschelle. I am a social studies teacher next door at Central Academy and I am a proud DMEA member and a proud public school strong member. And first of all, I want to thank you all for your support for public education. I I've met a couple of you at parent teacher conferences and and I'm really um grateful that you've entrusted me and my colleagues with uh the
027education of your children and uh grateful for your service on this board. So, I am here tonight to speak in support of uh a resolution that Public School Strong is introducing tonight uh asking uh the board to uh resolve to support a 5% increase in allowable growth for public school education. This is in line with what the Iowa State Education Association is asking for in the upcoming legislative session. And we here at Public School Strong are also asking for this. And the resolution is also uh calling for uh the board to support uh revisions to the voucher law with the eventual goal of repealing it. Um, so, uh, I feel that as an educator and you as schoolboard members have an obligation, uh, to speak up on issues of vital importance to public education in
028this state. And most Ians, most residents of De Moines support public dollars for public education and support properly funding public education. And so I feel that uh this resolution is perfectly in line with uh with uh your uh duty to your constituents. uh our obligation is to speak against a system that uh tries to restrict access to uh an equitable education for all Ians. And uh I as a teacher the first thing I try to teach my students is that uh the reason we study social studies is to uh try to answer the question how should we live together with each other. And I think public education is the institution best placed in society to help students learn how to how they want to answer that question to debate that question to discuss that question.
029This is something that private schools can't do. Uh in the same way that public schools can um I uh decided to become a social studies teacher to uh encourage students to become active citizens and >> 30 seconds remaining >> active participants in society. And so, uh, that would be another reason why I'm speaking in support of this resolution. Lastly, the De Mo Public Schools vision statement calls on us to inspire every DMPS student to leave a lasting impact on our community and world, and I feel that this resolution represents a first step in living up to that vision. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next. Next up, I'd like to call the Barlene family, Joy, Luke, and Logan. >> Hi. Um, good evening, members of the board. Hey, come here. Hang on a sec. Um, my
030name is uh Joy Barlene and my zip code is 50312. I am the parent of Luke and Logan uh who both received special education services in this district. Right now, my boys are not in school and have been unable to attend this school year. They are home because the district has scheduled them in unsafe and inappropriate placements that do not follow their IEPs, do not provide the support they need, and completely separate them from their grade level peers. Both Luke and Logan have a history of school-based trauma. Because of this, consistency, trusted staff, and peer relationships are critical for them. It is my boys who desire to continue their education with their friends they have grown up with. Um, they miss school. They miss their friends. Um, and they want to be back in school.
031Last year did not go well and their placement was changed partway through the school year. But even then, they still had access to their peers in grade level applied core classes like PE and health and art at lunch and during advisory. Those were the only general education times they had left with their classmates. And they were essentially essential for keeping them connected to school. This year, the district has scheduled them into off-grade level applied core classes, lunch and advisory. They would not even have one minute during the school day with their own classmates, the friends they've grown up with and built relationships with for years. Every other seventh grader in our district gets to eat lunch with their peers and attend advisory with their classmates and are in seventh grade applied core classes, but my
032children have been told they cannot. And the reason for this are because the special education classrooms must run on a single schedule and because teachers need their lunch and planning time. I agree that teachers need their lunch and planning time. Um but but that should never come at the expense of my children's education, friendships, and safety. No other child in this district is told they have to be in a different grade level because of teacher needs. And my family is not alone. Too often, students with disabilities across this district are being denied meaningful inclusion, segregated from their peers, and denied FAPE a free appropriate public education. IDA requires that children with disabilities be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. That is not happening here. I've tried to advocate. I have raised these
033concerns in IEP meetings. I've tried to get leadership involved all to no avail. No one seems to care and I'm left trying to explain to my boys why they are not in school. They have asked for meetings themselves. um they want to advocate for themselves because they want to be back at school with their friends. Uh so Luke and Logan are both here. Um Luke is going to speak next and I will help clarify his speech. Um thank you for hearing us today. >> Thank you. Luke, you can go. >> My name is Duke. [Music] My name is Duke is Duke. I'm >> Yep. Go ahead. I'm mad at I want to miss my DS miss with my dress and my glasses and my nose and Jesus and know me help me. Please send me
034go back to school. Text me please. >> Good job. All right, Logan is ahead. >> I made no I'm sad about Sue. I want to go to school. I miss my friends. I want be with my friends in class and I want teachers who who don't know me and help me have please help me. Goodbye to who is me and I want to win our dog. >> You want to say thank you >> Dana. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Next up, I'd like to call Colin Coulter. [Music] My name is Colin Coulter. I live in the 50317 over on Garfield by Stow. Um I will be talking a little bit about reimagining education. So I'd like four instead of three minutes to split the difference if I could. Um since there's a little bit about
035that, but I will do my best to stay at three. Uh I'm here today to talk to you about class sizes and staffing. I care about class sizes and staffing as a teacher, as a parent, and as a taxpayer. If I could speak to the public for a second, anytime we talk about class sizes, you're going to hear about money buckets. You're always going to be hearing about money buckets. The idea is that the money for faculty comes from this bucket and the money for everything else comes from this bucket. And we just can't mix the buckets. All I'm going to say about money buckets is it's an excuse that I no longer want to hear. The second thing you'll hear in discussions about class size is a guy named Haddie. Hadti did research in
036a book called visible learning where he claimed that class size doesn't matter. Uh it's gained a lot of traction in districts like this where class size is nearly an intractable issue. But there's serious issues with this research. Meta analysis was a poor format. Uh the experimental conditions weren't really correct. They're studying direct instruction. We don't do that anymore. Um but all you really had to do to know that class size mattered was ask a teacher. The notion that class size doesn't matter is ridiculous for many reasons. My workload and stress levels are largely determined by the number of classes I teach and the number of students on my roster. It seems crazy to say this, but if I have twice as many students, it takes twice as long to grade student work. As class sizes
037increase, the class time spent on student misbehavior, contacts, home, point sheets, and many other tasks. It piles up, and soon I'm missing important tasks for families because my class rosters are over 150 students. The number of relationships that I need to build with class sizes increases, too. All of these district initiatives depend on class size, and my inability to meet the insane demands on my contract hours destroys my feeling of self-efficacy in the classroom. More importantly, large class sizes are an injustice to the student. None of you would tolerate sitting in a room elbowto elbow, sweat to sweat, with 38 other people and try to do work for hours every day. Yet you force East students into this condition every single day. What's really cruel is that these class sizes drive dropouts. When a new
038teacher arrives at East, they inevitably see class sizes of 35 to 40 students and they start to panic. And when they go ask another teacher, "Is this an error? Is this a screw-up?" We have to tell them, "No, it's not, but you don't need to worry because 10 of these kids will stop showing up." A position I have heard from former members of this district faculty district management. It's you who set these conditions. Class sizes matter for board goals, too. I see in reimagining education, we have a goal to have open enrollment into the district be open enrollment out of the district. Uh I know that my east side neighbors open enroll out of the district because they have a perception of large unmanageable classrooms. Speaking of reimagining education, the plan for east side schools
039is two 6,000 ft 3D printing rooms for the middle schools and 12 career technical education classrooms for East High. To be frank, I do not believe that you have the ability or the will to staff these classrooms. What good to the east side is 12 empty classrooms with decaying equipment that goes unused? Never mind that eastsiders want a well-rounded liberal arts education for their children, even if they can't articulate it. Never mind that we don't need to be pigeonhold into roles as trades people. Never mind that east is large enough and hard enough to navigate already. I don't believe that you will put faculty into any of the rooms that you're asking money to build. Essiders won't be upside down on our car payments. We're going to be upside down on our CTE rooms. So,
040since I don't believe that this board or seuite will look at any KPIs or metrics on their performance evaluations, I'm going to change my asks until I can complete the asks that you have for me in my grading and lesson planning during my 8 to 345 contract hours. I'm going to ask my fellow teachers to work to rule. Leave your work at work and stop working at 3:45. I'm going to ask my fellow Eastsiders to vote no on the bond referendum because we don't need to fund VR golf simulators for Roosevelt while our classrooms sit empty. And to the citizens of De Moines, I say vote the incumbents out. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up, I'd like to call Maryanne Cook. Well, thank you. Uh, my name is Maryanne Ko. I live on Woodland
041Avenue and my zip code is 50312. Um, I know that I am only one citizen in this state and in this school district, in this city. Um but I am one person and I do have uh my opinions and my support to give to you. You have very difficult job ahead of you. Um I've been a teacher not in in uh De Moine here but I've been a teacher um in my career and I know the stress that there is with that um in meeting the needs of all of the students that we get. But I am a a citizen now here in De Moines. Um I do have rights and I know that I have responsibilities that go with that. Um as a citizen likewise all of our children who live in this state
042deserve an education. They deserve to have their needs met. I know that you know that and I know that you work for that. But I am just stating I guess the obvious there for all of us. Um these young people have needs that are very diverse. Um but the quality of public education is to fulfill those needs and this is our responsibility our responsibility to support you with what you need and there are many needs there. Um as a member of public school strong we are going to be um continuing to advocate for you and for the things that you need. Among those things are um uh let me start over with that. Excuse me. Um I fully believe that you have that desire and that intention of offering a quality education to all of
043our students. However, how can you do that if you are not given the funding to do that? I know that's a huge thing. Um and without that funding you the teachers can't be hired, the support staff, all of that is difficult. So, we are um offering coming forward this evening asking for um support and putting our support behind you getting a 5% increase in your funding annually. Um we see that a lot of that money or we feel that a lot of that money is squandered on vouchers which belong to the public schools. Um, and so that is another thing that we wish and we hope that we can help um uh move out away from away from the way things are happening. So I want you to know that all of your efforts and
044your intentions um are really supported by many more people than those who have signed all the the uh the petitions for public school strong, the ones that we are going to bring forward to you too. um even though we know that there are many problems that our students and and teachers have. So, uh thank you to all of you for what you do do. Um we will continue to do what we can to support you going forward. So, thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Next up is Marshall James. And just to confirm, you are the last speaker. >> All right. Awesome. Thank you. Hello board. My name is Marshall James. I'm a community organizer with the Iowa Citizen for Community Improvement on our Public School Strong campaign. I'm also the president of the North
045of Grand Neighborhood organization and a parent to a three-year-old who just began his De Moines Public Schools journey two weeks ago. From 1999 to 2008, the United States Mint released a series of commemorative quarters featuring designs for each state in the Union. And Iowa's entry into this popular series did not feature corn or livestock that was chosen by Wisconsin, nor covered bridges, nor a state bird or a flower as so many other states chose. No, Iowa selected for its symbol a schoolhouse and a scene of a teacher planting a tree with her students. The rendering references Arbor Day, a piece by the renowned Iowa artist Grant Wood of American Gothic fame. Under the state name are inscribed the words foundation in education. This sentiment is a worthy one. For decades, Iowa was a national leader
046in public education, a point of pride felt by Ians of all stripes. A variety of factors contributed to this, not the least of which was funding. For most of Iowa's existence, fully funding public education was a nonpartisan mainline Iowa value. However, in the past three decades, funding for Iowa schools has been consistently reduced. Consequently, Iowa's national rankings in public education have slipped dramatically. Where once the state was allocating doubledigit annual funding increases, today the state supplemental aid hovers around 2%, meaning that it is entirely consumed by the higher rate of inflation. At the same time, the ASA voucher program is siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars away from public schools and is already far outpacing the projected estimated cost to taxpayers. In consideration of these factors, I am honored to present the following letter. Dear
047members of De Moines public school board, on behalf of the public school strong and Iowa citizens for community improvement, we are submitting over 500 local signatures in support of the enclosed resolution urging urging the governor of Iowa and the state legislature to fully fund public schools by a minimum annual 5% increase to the state supplemental aid adjusted for inflation. to maintain the income cap for the ESAs, to phase out the ESA voucher program over the next five years, and to use public funds only for public schools. We respectfully request that this resolution be added to the schoolboard agenda for the Tuesday, October 21st meeting in accordance with Iowa Code section 279.8B. And we encourage you to discuss, support, and vote to pass this resolution. At Iowa CCI, we believe that every child, no matter what
048zip code, identity, background, race, gender, or ability, has the right to a highquality public education. That means fully funding our public schools, urban and rural alike. We know how great our public schools were, are, and could be again, and how critical they are to our community's future generations. This is why we firmly believe that we must use our public funds for public schools. Thank you for serving on the school board. Please know that you have the community support to raise your voice and pass this resolution. [Applause] >> Thank you. Those are all the speakers that I have. Madam Chair, you can hand to Patrick. Thank you. Thank you. >> The next item, the next item on our agenda is our goal three monitoring report. And with this, Dr. Roberts, I will turn it to you.
049>> Thank you, Madam Chair. As we continue to sort of partner with all of our stakeholders, certainly uh leaders, teachers, and staff, and the board to just maintain this relentless focus on uh student outcomes. Today we will monitor for the very first time goal three. I'm going to ask I believe in you know before we jump right in as is customary we want to make sure that those teammates who are working in school buildings who are closest to the work provides sort of a perspective and some visibility into some of what they're doing. I believe today we have uh associate principal uh Morgan Shamberg and some other members of the Husky team, Hoover Huskys, >> to share a little bit about their work and experiences. >> Good evening, DMPS. I'm Morgan Schoberg, associate principal at
050Hoover High School, and I'm here with my 9th grade success team leads. We are just a mere representation of the hard work and uh the rest of our team members. So, at Hoover High School, our 9inth grade team has really embraced the collaborative and student- centered approach to supporting our incoming freshmen. Beginning three years ago in the spring, a dedicated group of educators began aligning expectations for our 9th grade students, laying the foundation for a purposeful and unified team structure. What started out as planning for one event, a transition from middle school to high school, expanded into a yearround laser focus, all-encompassing movement um on our 9th grade students. Our team aligned with a shared purpose to equip students with executive functioning skills. The things that we hate to admit that we are maybe not
051great at, communication, time management, organization, but we always want better for our students than what we have. Knowing that our students need to be taught and reinforced with these um to be successful in high school and afterwards. Last school year, our team met bi-weekly after school to reflect on student needs, our implemented policies and practices, things that we could do better. We worked to align our policies to achieve desired outcomes. We wanted students to pass their core classes, all of their classes, skill building and executive functioning skills. We place an emphasis on our curriculum wayfinder in directed study and our common expectations really emphasizing fostering really strong relationships with our students. These efforts led to a 20 percentage point increase in our 9th grade on track readiness as measured by our de mo public schools
052metrics. This summer, our staff took even more steps forward. They gathered frequently, dreamed big, planned intentionally, and now during the school day, thanks to a comprehensive scheduling miracle, um we meet three times a week during the day, um and then twice a week in our content PLC's, our team successfully organized a two-day orientation for our incoming nth graders focused on community building, communicating our expectations, and familiarizing our students with the Husky way. Now, we all know it's pretty hard to get adults to agree on anything. We have a room of about 17 passionate staff members agreeing on an entire experience for our 9th grade students. So, it's pretty magical in there. Students now benefit from consistent expectations around staff language, school supplies, locker use, organization of school materials, daily procedures, entry and exit routines in
053class, which all seem really small in isolation. but with consistency and purposeful effort to raise our expectations and provide an opportunity to elevate the whole child. We are building a culture of nth grade readiness. We are reducing silos, increasing collaboration, strengthening partnerships with families. Our team includes core and extended core teachers, instructional specialists, gear up personnel, academic interventionists, counselors, instructional coaches at our advanced learning placement coordinator and our Hoover administration. the platform of collaboration between schools with our nth grade on track initiative has really helped elevate the responsiveness and the importance of um success in the first year of high school. So we are humbled to share this work with the board and community and grateful for the opportunity to celebrate the beginning of what we believe will be lasting success for our students. The
054work being done at Hoover is driven by, like I said before, a group of very passionate staff members, which is crucial um in reaching all nth grade students. Our goal is to ease the transition to high school, support the growth of our students with high expectations, and propel them for success in high school and afterwards. And this team that we are representing is working tirelessly to answer that call. So, um, I don't know if you have any questions, but before that, we have a little call and response that we do at some of our meetings. So, we're just going to let the vibes come, right? We're we're here celebrating some good things. So, I'm going to say, "Oh, let's do it." And everybody in the room is going to say, "Hey." And do a little
055dance. All right. All right. Good things, right? Oh, let's do it. Hey. And I hope uh everybody saw that on TV on Facebook. That's >> well I mean I I think I guess what would be one behavior that you feel with the two-day orientation has has been mastered far quicker than maybe if you didn't have something like that. >> I think familiarity and the relationship building we could have students already identify people that they as the kids say vibed with so they could scope out. we had so many of our teachers and staff members at orientation with our students. So that relationship, building that foundation, building that trust um and being able to leverage those relationships later on is really going to be useful for us. >> Just one other followup. I guess Hoover's gotten
056so much great attention around your work with cell phones. How do you how does how does that get woven into the orientation if at all? >> Yeah, we use that to really communicate our expectations, hammer it home. Um there is a policy there are policies all over um but we are very clear in how we are communicating with students about the expectations for our cell phones. >> Great board members that >> we hear good things about the students enjoying it. How is the feedback that you're getting from the families >> for the ninth grade team? I mean our families are pretty responsive. We've had quite a few family meetings already. um we are able to address things a lot more quickly. So, we're looking at patterns with our sign in and sign out sheets, like
057who's going to the bathroom too often? Um and what can we do? What are those barriers getting in the way of education? How can we serve our children and get to the root cause of um maybe some behaviors that aren't on the path to success? So, we've had a lot of success partnering with families. Just want to extend my gratitude for you and your team for uh really looking at the areas that we need to improve and taking the bull by the horns and identifying ways that you can over overcome those barriers on behalf of the students that we serve. So, thank you. uh we know there's lots of data and research to show how difficult this transition is for our students and um you are creating a space where uh some of some of
058that transition and some of that anxiety and some of that unknown has been removed. So thank you. >> You talked a lot about and said over and over just magic words to my ears and that's raised expectations. Um how has that gone over with the adults in the building as well? that certainly we have students who have to have raised expectations and then we have to help them meet those expectations but what about the adults and how has that gone with the staff because this is different for them too. >> Yeah, I think we are we were very intentional in building this nth grade team who would support our ninth graders. We uh it's been three years in the making so this isn't uh new. People knew we had some time to to grow into
059these. So, I would say our our team is on board. We know that the work is very important and we try to remain student centered in what we do. It might be uncomfortable for us, but it's what's best for students. >> Thank you. >> Good question. Morgan, thank you and the team for all that you've done at Hoover. Um, one of the things you mentioned is that you feel like part of this works particularly well because you've miraculously found time in the day to get together um three times. I'm curious any advice you would have for other schools that maybe don't have it as easy to find that time during the day. Maybe what are some of the other passive ways that they could see some similar types of results? >> Um, I think other
060high schools are meeting within their teams. Um, we are very fortunate to have a great master scheduler or comprehensive scheduler and uh the support of the district to to accomplish this. I don't think it'd be feasible in in most places, but it is at Hoover, so we're going to capitalize on that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Morgan. Thank you, team Husky. Thank you. >> I actually have one question, >> Maria. >> Thank you. >> We're back. >> Um, I'm just wondering what challenges do you see? It sounds like you're excelling. You're doing great work. Do you have any challenges that concern you? And how can the board help? >> Wow. Well, uh, we are short to some radio team staff members right now. So, if we could get those background checks cleared with HR, that
061would be great. We are down in RSC and two campus monitors. And I think we would, our admin team would and instructional coaches would we would be able to flourish and thrive and focus on instruction if we could get those staff members in our building. >> Thank you. >> Okay, >> good answer. [Applause] Madam Chair, thank you again. Um, so we are going to for the first time monitor while Kyle um sort of highlights for us um goal three, the PowerPoint deck that I want to walk through very quickly. But I want to just bring to your attention that this goal three work um really aligns very strongly to our strategic u priority number one which is cultivating high quality teaching and learning and also it it really aligns to our strategic objective number one
062which is ensuring that every single student graduates with the the competencies to pursue college career in the military. Um I also want to I'm I'm doing some sort of background layering because um the the work that is being done and the board has pushed us to get towards goal three uh really connects to um an anchor that I say serves two purposes dual purposes. one um it's our diploma plus pursuit right and it serves the purpose of just anchoring how we look at instead of starting this work at 9th grade to get towards a 12th grade outcome um it's a prek12 sort of area of focus and then the second it's our northstar because ultimately when students walk across the stage from the mo public schools based on our strategic plan and strategic objectives and
063actions um they will graduate ready to pursue um any of their choices among the three E which is to enroll in a college or university of their choice to enlist in any branch of the military or to truly be gainfully employed. And so the work that is happening right now truly while this is the very first monitoring report here I'm excited by um the work from district level staff um I know we have uh Tasha Brown who's leading the districtwide push we have our CEO Rob Lundine Chris White is doing amazing work with our nine grade on track work that I'll talk a little bit about just to layer this for you and um of course Josie Sturgis and team are just doing incredible work supporting provider mid data and leading some of our key
064conversations s in 2000 and you'll hear this a little bit more in in the presentation to 2007 um and I I had the opportunity to see and read about this work even in pre other districts um the University of Chicago with a consortium of school research they looked at and produced really groundbreaking research and essentially what they found is because some of the highest dropout rates for students is usually between that transition from 8 to 9th or when they are in their ninth grade year. And what they found is students who were able to earn credits to get to the 10th grade having only failed no more than one course are more than likely going to graduate from high school on time. And it's for that very reason with the board's push we have um
065sort of really reallocated resources and are putting a lot of effort into what we're calling our uh NGO. Anyone knows what that is? We know we love to use acronyms. Look at the board. Wow. That's what I'm talking about. So, the nine grade and track work is really getting us some traction. And as you'll see, um I'll jump right into the PowerPoint slide and I'll go through this at a high level. And certainly feel free to ask any questions. Um again, the goal is for a percentage of grade 12 students earning a diploma plus and remember the plus is an industry recognized certificate in four years of high school will increase from 38.2% in the spring of 2024. last spring is where we started to monitor this work to 63.5% in the spring of 2030.
066On the next slide, um we really highlight for you um just where we are and how we're doing with regards to not just the goal but our interim goals 3A, 3B and 3 C. You will note that interim goals 3A and 3B um we are 3A sorry we are exceeding the target 3B and 3 C uh because we um don't yet have targets in this report having we do not have enough datas yet and we will by the spring of 26 then as we continue to monitor this goal we'll then be able to look at each of the three interims but right now um we want to sort of celebrate because we are um exceeding the target which means that we are getting positive traction, right? We we're certainly far from uh what we've aspired
067or set out to do, but the traction that we're getting here looking at the percentage of nth grade students meeting the nth grade on track metric, which is earning again those five credits that I referenced earlier and failing no more than one class. Um excited about this and the trend shows that we are increasing in terms of um accomplishing where we what we set out to do. On the next slide, this provides you at a high level sort of some key takeaways, right? Um, diploma plus is really a starting point. The spring 2025 data really shows us that there is a slight uptick from what we've projected, which is always a good and encouraging place for us to be. Um, the 9th grade and track spring 25 performance. Um, last year nth graders really showed
068meaningful progress in achieving on track standards from the prior year. and and the work that is happening with our nineth graders is not just thank you uh based on just academic input or academic outcomes to some students. Um there certainly is a really robust kind of professional learning communities where teachers who are a part of this consortium at each of our high school they're spending a lot of time on intellectual preparation to make sure that they can deliver in strong um pedagogical practices. Um the map the third third bullet point is map uh geometry and ELA data presented for informationational purposes only and the reason is um map which is a measure of academic progress an assessment uh that is one of the strongest predictors of u most of our standardized assessments around the country
069more than 9,000 districts around the country utilizes a MAP assessment. The map assessment is a tool that we are utilizing and certainly is used by a lot of high performing districts around the country because the map really allows teachers and school leaders to have access to very granular data that then informs how teachers can sort of go about reteing when they're recognizing and identifying gaps in where students are. Um I'll go to the next slide. What's next? Um continue the new actions to 2025 2026. uh certainly there are some key pieces I want to highlight. First is for us to continue the guidance of students around how to make strategic course activity choices under the opaces of diploma plus and this is where we have um our coaches um that are spending a lot of
070time with students again the there's so many intersections between the work that is happening with the pursuit of diploma plus ensure that we're now building and cultivating a robust system that is no longer 9 through 12 but prek through 12 and how are we using our advisement sessions to ensure that students are receiving exactly uh what they need in order for them to be successful. I'll go to one more slide as we think about again the work that has to continue um continuing observations and data collection under nine grid and track implementation. While we're celebrating because we are um exceeding the target, uh we know that we do not yet have a very very strong and robust data set. Uh we probably need a few more marking periods in order for us to sort of
071come back to the board and to provide you with guidance about where we are. And finally um just our continued integration of um IAP content into future pathways and these advisement session that are future ready coaches um the group of individuals who we were uh because of our our financially constrained environment almost lost but with some advocacy from some of our district leaders we were able to keep those and they are critical to the work moving forward. Um, I'll stop there certainly and um may I'll ask Kyle if I may to highlight the report the report if he has that with the line graph so you can get some visibility into what that looks like. [Music] >> While Kyle is doing that, Dr. Roberts. Um, this particular report nor the PowerPoint are available on board
072docs. Can we make sure that those get um updated for our community and for the board to have access to? I know that we received printed copies today, but um I will I will say I don't feel um fully prepared to have this conversation without having had these in advance of the meeting. board, I certainly sincerely apologize and we will make sure I'll work with Rosie to make sure we have that available and if it pleases the board because we are truly enthused about um just not only having this goal in place with the board's guidance, but having created these interims, I would love to come back if necessary at some point and revisit this this discussion so it can be much more healthy and more robust if it pleases the board. >> I think
073I I think that would actually be very good because I think we're all maybe in that boat. But two questions on that. The item that's on the information I only number three update on guardrail 3 interims. Is that different or is that part of this conversation on the board agenda? >> Guard three. >> Oh, thank you. >> Very different. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Very different. Okay, good. Then the real question though is I I think I missed the future ready coach piece. Can you Did we we retained the future ready coaches? >> We did ret retain the future ready coaches. one of the advocates and uh she spent a lot of time Tasha Brung's in the back of the room. Um you all know that her voice is very dominant here. Yes, we were able
074to retain them and even as we move forward, we need to be thoughtful about um how we can budget and reallocate resources because they're such an integral part of this work. If we are going to truly achieve this goal by 2030 of having 100% of our students walk across the stage with a diploma plus um having that support of uh um future ready coaches um will be critical. So, >> and so how did we we didn't because it was grantf funded last time and we didn't have the grant. How did we fund it this year? >> Yeah. So, I'll share uh um that that our Department of Education partners um or Gear Up grant I think was a critical part of that funding and so we're going to continue to have those conversations, but at
075some point we need to think about um in terms of general funds what is possible. >> But who's funding it for this fiscal year? It's a combination of the gear up grant and I believe some is coming from de mo public schools looking for head nods >> or not we didn't >> let's confirm Tasha Brown gear up grant only >> for four years >> and funded for four years gear up grant thank you ma'am >> thank you >> uh so based on this board members do we want to digest this >> and then potentially put it on consent next agenda and then pull it off if we want to discuss it or do we want to just have it as a separate agenda item at the next board meeting? Let me just look for some
076feedback from my board colleagues. I'm okay with that plan. I just want to be sure that the public has um if we are are going to as a board ask our questions to Dr. Roberts in between now and the next meeting that those questions and answers are published with that consent agenda item so that the public is aware of um all the questions that were asked and all the responses um as a part of our inquiry into this work. Um >> Okay. And we'll see how the questioning goes and make that determination as to whether or not it's a standalone item or it goes on consent. >> Yeah, I I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. So, certainly that works for us. Uh certainly we want to make sure we continue to
077um communicate out and share not only our uh uh monitoring reports but also to share and receive questions from the board ahead of time as planned so that we can certainly have a solid discussion at the board table. So thank you. >> Great. Okay. With that we will move to the consent agenda. >> Madame Chair, do we need to um officially table this item? >> Yes. Let's do that. >> I will >> I move to table item D1 goal three until our next meeting. >> We have a motion by Miss Marterano. May I have a second? >> Dick. Second. >> We have a motion by Miss Marterano and a second by Mr. Dixs. Any discussion or questions? I I will say board members, please make sure you um submit your questions ahead of time and
078CC board leadership so we can make sure to package them together. Okay, board members, please cast your votes. So, the vote to table this until next board meeting is approved, 7 to zero. And with that, we will move to consent items. Jenna, do you have the consent motion? >> Oh, is this still me? >> I do have the consent motion. Um, and I can if you want first. >> Is this the consent items? >> Yep. As a reminder to the board and public, we the board will not engage in discussion or deliberation >> with the speaker regarding comments made to agenda items. Discussion and deliberation will remain among the board members at the board table with speakers comments informing the board's discussion, deliberation, and determinations as deemed necessary. Miss Rios, do we have any speakers?
079No speakers. Oh, is this final? >> Miss Knox, I believe you have the consent motion. >> I do. I move that the board approve the consent items in accordance with recommended action for each item on the consent agenda, including bills previously authorized, certified, and approved for payment by the board secretary in the amount of 8,413,18010 and procurement card transactions in the amount of $554,7141. We have a motion by Miss Knox. May I have a second? Marterano second. >> We have a motion by Miss Knox and a second by Miss Marterano. Is there any discussion or questions? Board members, please cast your votes. The vote is approved. 7 to zero. Next, we have information items. Item one is the ISASP update. Item two is the SCAK overview. Update number three is the update on guardrail 3
080interims. Dr. Roberts, did you want to say anything about these or do they stand as is? just information as is madam chair. >> Great with that we will move to other business. First item is G1 personnel recommendation. I will receive and file and take action. Dr. Roberts, would you like to introduce this matter? >> Certainly, Madam Chair. I recommend that the board file receive file and accept the notice to terminate the continuing teachers contract. >> Great. Thank you. May I have a motion and a second to approve this item? >> Dix so moved. >> Morron second. Have a motion by Mr. Dicks and a second by Miss Murderano. Any discussion or questions? Board members, please cast your votes. The vote is approved 7 to zero. Next, we move to items of privilege. Board members, I
081would like to ask if you have anything you would like to share. >> Nobody ever wants to go first. I'll go first. Uh, it was I I just think this is a great evening and a first. I think really well said. This is the first hurdle, but um this was the easy part. Getting signatures, getting the plan together, and all the work that came for the last two years is the easy part. The next hard thing is the vote. And the even harder thing after that is then going to be to deliver on the vision that we've put forward because that's that's going to be the real challenge. So, um it's great to celebrate tonight. It is. Um but I'm mindful of the fact that we've got some work to do over the next month
082to get this passed. Uh if anyone has any questions or wants to engage on this, I think all of the board members, I won't speak for all of you, but I'll say for myself that um I am ready to answer questions and ready to engage on this because I'm enthusiastic about this plan and where it's taking De Mo public schools. >> I second that. >> And just um I'm I'm gonna make sure Amanda, I'm looking at you. I assume there'll be um public forums and sessions that are going to be announced if people want to learn more about the bond. Those will be found on the website. >> Okay, great. So, for people that have questions, um I just want to encourage them to look out for some of these sessions where questions will be
083answered. Other items of privilege? I do. I have a brief statement. Um, on Friday, September 4th, a student was unfortunately struck walking home from school by a car at a crosswalk, but fortunately, the injuries sustained were minor. I would like to express my gratitude to the city and the district for their implementations of measures to enhance safety of our students uh as they walk home from school including uh the expansion of the school zones, the installation of Hawk lights and num a number a numerous amount of hightra schools. The collaboration effort of the city and the school districts has undoubtedly made uh this incident less hazardous uh with the 25 mph speed zones and the cross signals. Um also the hawk lights at the the cross crosswalks uh were all up are all uh working.
084Uh this student involved in this incident deligiously followed all safety proto protocols while walking uh home from school. I would like to remind drivers to refrain from using their their cell phones and adhere to all traffic signals uh and remain vigilant of their surroundings in these school zones. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Miss Campos. >> Okay, so I have three things. Um, lots of ways everyone can get involved. First, I want to do a plug for the North High Booster Club. They are doing a very fun night out, a dueling piano night. It's November 8th from 6:00 to 11:00 at the shop DSM. I'm sure you can find more information on the Booster Club social media. Um, it looks like they're doing tickets uh online on Bound. So, um, check it out. I
085think they're very affordable. I should look at the amount, but they're very affordable. will be a fun night and a great way to support North High uh booster clubs and athletics. And then I also want to put in a couple plugs for the DMPS Foundation. Uh first, we are just about one month away from the DMPS one. So if you have not signed up to participate in the one Run, please go to the De Mo Public Schools Foundation, dmpsfoundation.org, and get signed up. Um there's a link. We have some really great uh technology upgrades for this year's event. It's going to be a wonderful community event. So, please uh sign up uh donate. Again, when you sign up, you get to select a school that you want your portion of the funds for attending to
086go to. So, it's just a great way to help all of our schools. So, I hope everyone will be there. Um and then the second thing for all of the uh teachers and administrators out there is that our uh grant cycle has officially opened and uh we are trying something a little different with the foundation this year which is having uh cycles for applications for grants. Um but that is live on our web page. Applications will be due October 3rd for this first cycle uh of grants. So hop on again dmpsfoundation.org. you can go to the tab that says get support and there's details on applications and our funding priorities. Um and so just just please check it out and get an application in. >> Thank you. >> U really quick comment. Um, I have
087the pleasure of working with recent high school graduates, early age college students every day and I had an experience recently where um, there were a few students who were DMPS graduates and they were talking to me about De Mo public schools because they saw all this stuff around reimagine education. So, we got into a conversation about what is reimagined education and I'll tell you the sentiment and the emotion that I felt after by seeing those students was a a sentiment of sadness. they seem sad. And I said, "Well, you all seem very sad about this. What's going on?" And they said, "Why didn't you do this sooner?" >> Um, and to me that was validation that there is still hope and our students still need this to move forward. But what excited me most is
088they said, "Well, how do we help?" Well, the exciting thing is in recognition of National Voter Registration Day is that all of these students are now 18 years old. So I told them there is a population of 18 year olds who are going to be registering to vote so that they too can be a part in this historical moment. >> Thank you. That's great. Other people >> I just I want to say thank you. Last week was a heavy week. There were some really adult topics that were covered uh as it relates to school shootings and political violence. And I want to thank all of the adults. Uh teachers and staff are find themselves in unique situations at times when you don't expect it. And so I just want to say thank you because the
089kids are watching you. And so thank you for uh for the behavior and navigating through some pretty pretty tough stuff. With that, Dr. Roberts, I'm going to turn it to you. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Certainly good transition for my um very brief remarks and responses and that is uh if there's one arena where when everything else uh seems not to be going well in our world where people maintain a level head have a sense of stability and truly bring hope and optimism to our society, our community and our country is in the prek 12 education space. And I have to tell you, I am incredibly proud of how our teachers, staff, and leaders um have shown up um and continue to show up in spite of uh what is happening around the country and
090around the world. And so uh I want to encourage you when you see a teacher, an educator in the community, um just say thank you because in spite of everything that is happening around us, they're the ones who are continuing to show up to inspire um our students every single day. And so, um, even when I think about those of you who are sitting here at the board meeting today in the front row, your relentless and ferocious support of public education continues to inspire us and encourages our heart. So, thank you for all that you do as well. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Well, with that, uh, we are going to adjourn for the evening at gosh 6:49. Uh, and then board, we're going to take a brief break. We will come back. we
091will move into a close session and then we will move back into an open work session to discuss the board's governance manual. So at this point we will adjourn. There we go. When are we back? Um let's uh come back. Can we say 10 minutes?