001Do you have time, Marjorie? Let's move into that a little bit more. Yep. Do you have time? Awesome. This is patient, Chase. Close enough. 6:00. So, I'll go ahead and I guess welcome everybody first to the uh school board meeting on April 8th. Um and we'll go ahead and call to order. Jenny Jordan? Yes. Chap Neely? Yes. Jody Goodrich? >> Yes. Pastor Finkenauer? Yes. And our first item is uh to administer the oath. Well, Yeah. Well, I don't have anything. I'll send it. You didn't give it to me. Shoot. I didn't get it though. Get it over. Did you get it yet? He's supposed to be fixing it. Definitely I didn't get it though. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Stand by a second. Sorry about that. I should have heard it on the phone. No. Uh do
002you want to just read it from here? You're going to read this first. Would that be enough? Yes, it would. I'm not that long. Uh yeah. Okay, well, obviously first I want to congratulate Chase on the election and I will go ahead and I guess you would you raise your right hand? I guess we can just say No. To my left. To your left. I'm sorry I got to read off of here. Good option. But that's right behind you. You can sit it on there. Oh. No, I don't think so. Okay. Raise right hand. Do you solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Iowa and that you will faithfully and impartially to the best of your ability discharge the duties of the office
003of board of education director in the Atlantic Community School District as now or hereafter required by law? I do. Oh, thank you. Okay. Uh okay, now, I'm sorry. I guess we already did roll. Let's do roll call now. That was my fault. >> That's okay. Now, roll call. Okay. Jenny Jordan? Yes. Jody Goodrich? Chap Neely? Yes. Josh McLaren? Yes. Chase Roller? Yes. Okay. Uh next is the approval of the agenda. I guess I just I don't think we have any changes except obviously Dr. Johnson is ill tonight. So, as far as the closed session, which is item 12 on here, um we will uh obviously not have that. So, other than that, I don't believe there's any changes to the meat and potatoes of it. So, if there's a motion to approve the agenda. I
004move we approve the agenda. Second. Sorry. Jenny? Yes. Josh? Yes. Jody? Yes. Chase? Yes. >> Jody? Yes. Okay. Uh welcome any visitors here tonight. Uh we have no special presentations. I guess did any of you come up with the to talk? Okay. Um no special presentation tonight, so we will move on to uh reports. I don't know how you guys want to do that. Do you have assigned or Do you want us to anybody? I was just going to go through a little bit on science. Okay. Yeah. And then we talked last month. So, yeah. That's not No. That was just going to be my report. Perfect. Yep. Um So, last month I talked to you guys about science. We talked through some of the other teachers. Um when I talked to Dr. Goff, she
005leaves She suggested I do a little presentation and then give a little bit of information from these teachers. And I got one back there, too. So, if he wants to add I know. Yeah, I was going to say that. I know. Who? But I just thought I'd go through just a couple quotes uh from the teachers that I talked for uh pretty meaningful and I think um kind of hit home. So, Chase, uh you weren't here last week, you were here last month, uh but we talked through curriculum on we're adopting a new science curriculum for this year. Our new program. Um so, I'll kind of just go through the you know, look at them. So, I apologize for everybody else. But we talked last month um about science. And so, just kind of the
006the elevator speech for you. And if you have questions, please ask as much as you want. Um we talked about how we're mystery We're going to go with mystery science at the elementary at Washington. Uh it's something that they use already. They feel really comfortable with, but they want to add some They want to add some to it if that makes any sense. So, they're going to add some different units and some lessons that bulk it up a little bit and make it a little bit more inquiry-based and and things like that. And then at Schuler, uh going with something called Science Penguin, which gets kids I mean, the beauty of it all is they want hands-on. And the teachers want hands-on. They want inquiry-based. Uh and they want the kids to be learning through
007doing the the work themselves. And that was something that was evident all the way through the board uh for every level. So, the Science Penguin piece will support the same thing. Uh the teachers that I've talked to, they piloted Science Science Penguin and they're like, "Yep, this is good stuff." Um the hands-on is like beats the stuff that we've been using. Uh so, I think that's been really good. Uh one of couple comments from teachers uh teacher Schuler, "My students students have been so much more engaged with the learning since switching to Science Penguin. I went from three to six kids answering questions to having to draw names from a class lottery. Uh they've been able to connect the vocabulary with the daily lessons and then apply it to their experiments. And the writing portion
008has been a huge addition to our curriculum that were just previously missing what was going on in science. So, those are just I wanted to share some of that stuff. Uh and then middle school, secondary levels, the middle school high school, uh they're going to go with uh LabAids. And so, LabAids is very hands-on and very much like the These guys saw last time. There's like they're going to get a drawer for every unit or a couple drawers for every unit. They're going to pop it out and it's I think 66% or 60% of it is supposed to be kids doing stuff with this with the science, which is again what the teachers were hoping for. Um and so, some really positive things. So, couple comments from secondary teachers, "I think that the students will
009love the science lab uh for practices that are built into each unit in the curriculum. Looks like there will be a ton of hands-on opportunities. I like that it incorporates some math concepts as well, like graphing. This is something that I have lacked in my own planning. I also like that it still has some reading and writing-based concepts because it is important for the students to be comfortable with. Um I'm I know you guys can read. I was just going to read that last one. So, I apologize if you guys don't like my too. So, [clears throat] I'm just going to open that up. Uh my favorite part of the program uh are the emphasis on real-world application. So, the LabAids is a like especially at the middle school level, are they they like here's
010a problem, here's a real-world problem, let's figure out figure that problem out. So, it's kind of a neat piece, too. Uh the structure support it provides for both students and teachers in a way that promotes engagement for meaningful learning experiences. I especially appreciate how the program encourages collaboration, critical thinking, consistency across classrooms. Having clear expectations and quality resources helps teachers focus more on student growth and less on constantly reinventing materials and looking [clears throat] at things like that. Um Another quote the part that will be the greatest impact on student learning is the program's focus on intentional instruction paired with ongoing feedback. So, when the students can clearly understand learning targets and receive consistent support, they are more likely to stay engaged and take ownership of the progress. Um so, you can tell positive feedback.
011I'm going to start stop being up. This is my last one, I promise. Uh I'm hoping that these activities in the units really build critical thinking skills that students need more of. Uh I think we originally wanted even more inquiry-based activities, but I think in the way that these are structured and the analysis aspect of each activity, students will have to go thoughtfully make a sense of their observations and draw conclusions based on the evidence that they learned. It's stuff we want our kids to be doing. So, um we're we're excited for it. Um It's been great talking to the teachers through it. I think like Schuler was like, "I wish we had LabAids, too." because that's middle school. Uh high school seemed to be pretty happy with it. Quote time. This is stuff you
012guys really need to know other than like we just think it's going to be good for our kids. Uh but the high school middle school quote came in at $248,000. Uh almost 249. Elementary quote came in at about $12,000. I want a little bit over what Lisa told me. If you If you guys when you if you go to approve it tonight, if you decide to approve it tonight, um if you approve it for no more than this, it gives me a little bit of wiggle room. So, whoever approves it, pay no more than this amount for science. Uh we'll be under We'll be under 240. There's one aspect in the quote of the high school that there's like really fancy lab hub sets. We're in a debate whether we really want that. Does that
013make sense? So, like I It's not It's like fancy like Bunsen burner stuff where the teachers at the high school are like, "Okay, is that really necessary?" because >> Is that something that you could all a cart next year or something? I mean, could you Uh I I don't know. Yeah, if you decided to So, I think the partner now, could you then just turn next year and you can get I don't I don't know. At least they'll still give you more This is good. That's exactly why they might be a little bit of leeway. Like, I think we need to really decide exactly what we want. When we do the science thing, then Lisa isn't going to give me money next year for science. So, you know. And it's a it's a it's a
014big investment. The opportunity is pretty cool, but we need to like we want an extra science that just take a look at what we have. It's having to make sense. So, like we want to make sure that if we're going forward, we're going to go on for the you know, the right things. Um but this would be the most we would spend. We would bring it down. Like I said, a significant amount. So, they're really cool, but at the same time my teachers are very used to the boxing burning down some of the stuff they have here. Is it worth the extra expense to go? So, those are the questions that we need. We still need to just tweak them or what we want. Hopefully we'll have a deeper conversation. But this is the most
015I already called Lisa today to talk to her and say, "Can we do this?" She's like, "Yeah, we can make this happen." That's a good thought. So, if you're asking, "Hey, do we have enough money?" Well, at least I think that she was okay with it by Dr. So, Um do you know what the average 20 budget is for curriculum each year? That seems like a great Lisa question. Average budget for curriculum each year right now, Lisa had told me it's about 300,000, but there's other stuff that goes in with curriculum. Uh so, if we keep it closer to 50, then it makes it easier for the for the people to say, "These other shops that have occurred in the budget they are curriculum to get off of it." Uh for bigger pieces like reading,
016you spent half a million dollars last year. 240,000 So, so it depends on like the need is a little bit of that based on what people know. What we're reviewing. So, for next year, it's probably going to be a little bit lighter year because reviewing foreign language and art. Um music, fine arts, foreign language, etc. And CT, thank you. Um can we go back around to review? Every 6 years. And we're going to have to stay pretty tight. For a while we were like a little bit looser on that, but we're going to have to stay pretty tight on that in every department because with everything being online, it's you have a 6-year contract. And so, everything 6 years now. So, we're going to have to be a lot tighter on the 6 years. Um
017obviously, like I said, there might be a little bit of leeway. Small 5-year years coming up really quick. Yeah, we're going to have to be fairly got to keep the contract in and we're back to math and Adele 3 years cuz it's crazy cuz I feel like we just did math like looking back at that curriculum. It's a big change, but we'll be back to math in a couple of years too, so we'll just have to get that. Thank you for all of that. So, any questions for me um as we go through? Okay. Okay, good. I'm not picking on you. I just want to make sure you get out of my way over here. So, all right, I'll just leave it. I'll probably just turn it off. Thanks, guys. Okay, does anybody else Anybody
018else want Do you have any questions about it? Yeah, I was going to ask does anybody Do you have the reports from the other men? If anybody else has any questions? Um I don't I guess we can Superintendent report is next. Not really. Obviously, we can't have any discussions there. So, um I guess we'll move on to board reports then. Will be having any again? I just have one thing. I did uh um last week I went to the HSAE home school assistance. I was out there for a while talking to those ladies. Not out there with where going. They were at We're in the middle of the There were no kids there when I got there, but they were in the middle of some science project. They were something with uh what food they
019of stuff. But it's I didn't You know, the value in that experimental I didn't You know, the value in that experimental stuff is is really nice. And that's what they were in the middle of doing. They were They didn't really have any complaints or anything. It was kind of a yearly check-in with them to see how it's going. Um I guess my only other thing is it's that time of year. There's hundreds and hundreds of activities going on and lots of kids. And there's all kinds of opportunities to watch our kids succeed and and compete. And it's also times to volunteer and look at our new facilities. Not that they're not new anymore, but there's a lot of good things going on in the spring time. And so, I welcome everybody out to one of
020the one activities. So, that's really all I have except this. Anybody else has anything? Good. Just real quick, I just want to take a couple minutes because uh uh because we're not proceeding with the superintendent evaluation, um we're at a point where we have like bear with us for a couple minutes. Uh the ISBE has like certain forms that we fill out. And obviously, we have a new board. Um and so, I just want to work through one of them. Just nothing generic or specific or anything like that. Just work I want everybody to have a copy. So, moving forward from tonight, we still have the um opportunity to do some of our evaluation of Dr. Johnson that we do outside of meeting. Um so, we don't in essence lose a couple weeks here because
021we won't be able to um to proceed tonight. So, if everybody would just look The first one um is in Lisa just handed these out. So, there's two different components. The first component is just like a score. Um just like a meets, does not meet. I think that's page Yeah, page four and five. So, those are the 10 standards that the ISBE um evaluates a superintendent on. So, obviously, those are fairly I mean, meets or doesn't meet. So, that So, I don't want to spend um but then so, she printed off page seven. So, obviously, our evaluation goes on our goals and and our our goals. So, just the the first one would be um and it's provided there, you know, like what her first goal is. And then she will also align it to
022a standard, which is one of these. Um as to where it meets. And then we would move forward with obviously ineffective, developing, effective, highly effective as far as the And then um I guess the hard part is like with the comments. So, we can go through like the things that Dr. Johnson has provided us or things that we've heard from administrators or ourselves that we've seen, we can put those as comments. So, let's just if let's The first one under superintendent is just We'll just say academic. So, we could add that we had three high school students that were all all conference character people. So, that That could go into academics. Or we're looking at um new curriculum, those type of things. It could be and our test scores are absolutely horrible, um you know,
023type of thing. So, we can put everything in that. And then what I will do um is then uh every comment will be seen if you want it to be seen. So, we'll put everything in a list. I'll shuffle them around a little bit so you can't Sometimes you can be creative and figure out who said it or not, which doesn't really matter. But um and then we'll look at a a total theme um or you know, a a general that that the board can all agree on that goes on to that for each superintendent goal. And then that obviously becomes her official um her official evaluation. And then with that being said, after we all compile everything and then I put it into one document, then we'll obviously Dr. Johnson will have an opportunity
024to see that. And then we can have at another meeting that we can discuss that. Obviously, if she has a question, a redirection, or like, "Hey, I think I did this or didn't do this." or whatever. Um so, that can get us to that. So, those comments really do stir further conversation as far as that. So, um does that Um Right. Yeah, it will send it Yeah, so you can It's easier to do it electronically, but I want everybody to have one in front of them. So, as far as that. So, does that make sense um as far as I know it's I know Trent's never done it and Chase never And you guys have probably done it once. But you know, um so, it's not I mean, it's cumbersome, but it's obviously that's part
025of our job. And and it's valuable to do that. But the really the more comments we have in the in the um I don't know. Let's say like more detailed comments we have, the better of evaluation we can have to try you know, applaud good things or talk about things that need to address or or whatever. So, that's um I just wanted to You know, we're going to go through that at the closed session, but that's not any personnel issues. So, I wanted to do that now so we have time so everybody's kind of on board. If you have questions, but Lisa, I know we can move forward with this. But I just want to I want to get that evaluation done. And then um you know, so she Dr. Johnson will have sent different
026things that she thinks that you know, fit those categories as far as that. So, Do you want to go over it [clears throat] right now? You can clear all of that out. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think I mean, I think realistically, well, I guess let's look So, I would hope that we The 22nd. The 22nd would be our next. So, if we obviously then since we're not having the superintendent evaluation tonight, I'd like to bump up to the 22nd, our next meeting. So, if we could have it I mean, if I could have it Friday before. Well, if that If If we get it to me that Friday before, does that give I mean, I can I mean, I can do it in a day, put it all together. And then that gives us
027time to have it all compiled but as well as Dr. Johnson to look at it. I think that's fair enough. If you have it by a by Friday or Saturday, it gives you till Wednesday if you, you know, want redirection or more information or whatever. Does that make sense? Is that Is that Think that'll work? Yeah. So, that Does that work, Jeff? So, we'll do it by the 17th and then we'll just bump tonight's evaluation down to the 22nd. Good? Good. Okay. All right. Sorry. But, now we're going to all be on the same page, hopefully. Move forward. Okay. Anybody else on have anything to Once again, welcome Chase. We're glad to There were Dan and I also want to shout out to the other two. You know, it was There were There were three
028good candidates and and there was an election that was, you know, once again, fairly close. So, people care out there and that's a good thing. The numbers were down, but you can't do anything about that, I guess, but you know, now we're back to a full board, so we can gather it up and let's go. So. Thank you again. So. Okay. Enough of it. I don't like talking like that anyway. Go ahead. Financial stuff. So, I don't want to put too much on the board, so I'll try to do best I can with financial stuff. Um so, we're We have 3 months left of our fiscal year. So, we have April, May, and June. So, we are 9 months into our budget. Um our cash cash position is good. Um we still have As of
029that, the climate students we're always looking to see if there's anything we can do better this year to help us get a better starting balance for next year. Um as James mentioned about uh curriculum. So, curriculum is supported through property taxes. So, we have what's called instructional support levy. It's called the ISL and it's for any of your instructional programming, curriculum, annual subscriptions uh that are used in the classroom, things like that. So, that goes up or down depending on what we set as that property tax rate. Well, as you know, we didn't want to increase taxes any more than the dollar 10 that we told the public we would commit because of the bond. So, that meant all other numbers had to decrease to make sure we stayed at that dollar 10. Um because
030of that, the ISL was one of those that decreased. So, last year we got about 550,000, which is why we did 550,000 worth of curriculum purposes. Uh this year we're going to get 301,000. Oops. And so, I originally told James, you got I'll give you about 250 of that and we'll set the rest of that aside for other needs we might have within the district. He needs to creep up to about 260. I said, I think we can make that happen. That'll leave us about 40,000 to do for other subscriptions or some other stuff. We have some other funds, so there's all these different categories. So, there might be something with reading that they can get to another place. Something with It is a little bit crazy, but the big piece of curriculum comes through
031that ISL money. That's all driven by property taxes. So, when he says, "Well, how much do we have?" I can tell him that when I when we set the property tax rate, how much he's going to get from ISL. Our biggest expense is still salary and benefits, which it should be. They're our greatest asset. Um we've spent about $10 million so far on salaries and benefits. We look like we're going to spend about another 7 million. So, 17 18 million is pretty common for us. Um so, think about we have a $21 million budget and we spend 17 million on it on people. So, that just tells you where our focus is and the rest is spent on supplies, other stuff, utilities. So, that is our best our best asset and hopefully not our best
032liability. I'm glad we're financial. Uh as always, is there any questions for Lisa? No. Somebody has a motion, we can move forward. Move to approve financial report. Second. Josh. >> Yes. Chad. >> Yes. Chase. >> Yes. Jody. >> Yes. Jenny. >> Yes. Okay, the next um is the consent agenda or the consent items. Um I don't Chase, if you're not familiar with the consent agenda, we uh you can approve them all at once. Obviously, it depends on the motion. Um if there's a certain specific one you want to pull out, you could say, "I would approve it, but I want to talk about item E or whatever." Um we can do that, but it's kind of the consent agenda, so we don't have to hammer out every one of them singularly. Um so, if uh
033like I said, if if you want to do the We want to do the whole thing at a time, we can or we can pull out a specific item if if somebody would choose to. Move to approve consent items as stated. I second. Okay. Chad. Yes. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. >> Yes. Uh the first discussion item is to review trash, bread, and milk bids with Mrs. Wood. I have all of them. Uh if there's anything to >> really have anything. Um my recommendation letters are uh uh below that. Um trash cooked, obviously, cuz uh Hepler's is no longer. Um bread uh Pan-O-Gold, which we have this year. Um every other um one that I sent out, they sent back uh that they can't uh get to us, so we got no option
034there. Um and then recommendation is AE um only because they've been our milk bid for a long time and they have the lowest prices. So, that's what I'm recommending. And then following that, and do you have any any other questions? I don't know. >> [clears throat] >> It's a lot easier when it's that way, isn't it? Yeah. We did actually get back um bread uh milk bids from Kemp and uh Highland, which last year AE was the only one that bid. So, it was nice to get um a couple of extra bids to kind of see where we're sitting and um AE is still where we need to be. So. Well. It's apples to apples, too. It's not like you're getting two exactly. Okay. Okay. Uh discussion item two is uh Mr. Warren and a
035high school camera project. Uh last meeting or last uh Yeah, the last meeting or the one before that, I told you I was going to be here. Uh I've been This is what I've been working on for a couple of years now. Uh give you kind of a background. All the cameras that are in the high school, uh when I took the job in 2011, not long ago, uh within that next year, year and a half, I started adding cameras to this building because we got rid of the antiquated uh analog system and started putting digital in. Uh at that point in time, it didn't matter what kind of camera I put in. Just figure it was a thousand bucks per camera. Five hundred bucks for the camera and five hundred dollars for a license.
036As time has moved on and technology has advanced, uh I can I can buy a single camera that will do the job of one of these down here, one of them, for about 129 bucks and never pay a licensing fee after that. Now, there are some if you notice on the on the spreadsheet I put in there, there are some external cameras or ones for the perimeter. Uh what I'd like to try is uh Ubiquiti is the company that I go with. That's where I'm um moving on. But, Ubiquiti has what they call a pan-tilt-zoom camera. And the idea is to put them on a corner of a building. For example, back here, I guess the example I'll use is back here where the uh uh the athletic doors is. If I put it on
037the corner where the existing camera points the athletic doors, this camera actually, when it sees movement, it follows it. So, but it will and it uh it's got night vision up to basically a football field. So, what I want to find out after I put the first one up is what kind of coverage am I going to get with that? But, I can cover that whole back parking lot and the athletic doors. And yes, you're going to say, "Well, they're different entrances and stuff like that." But, think of the actual traffic. The only thing that I Most of the time, if you're going to have something go wrong, it's going to be an individual trying to get in and it's going to find it. Uh the other thing, you know, you got people uh wanting
038to see how how uh my how much money they can spend on tires, you know, the back parking lot. Okay. We can uh we can actually get those in the bid. And I still haven't got quite how I'm going to do it, but with the new sign going out here uh um on the the high school sign going out here, uh I want to get the power out there, but I want to run some uh network out there and actually put license plate readers for all the entries. So, we've got two entries. I want to get a license plate reader on the entry. Uh I have one right now that's hanging off the catwalk. It's amazing. I mean, it it is clear crystal clear and it's in the perfect position. So, I need one more
039at the middle school, but then then you've got a license plate reader coming in and going out. So, you know, yeah, you can identify these people. I guess the the thing is if we if we nail a I hate to say it this way, but if we nail a couple of them, they're all going to get the idea that no, we don't need a nice clean parking lot tore up with black marks. Maybe that's just my pet peeve, but we'll go from there. Uh you can see that the the quote or whatever, I put the cameras together, I put a few extra in there. But it was a the actual number was around 23,000. I said, you know, on the letter uh quoted it 25,000. I figured about $5,000 because I'm going to have to
040have Browns come in and and uh run some cabling and things like that to get that done. But the nice thing is is all those cameras that I pull off the ceiling I can use some place else for more coverage in some of these other buildings. Okay? And until then it's time to replace them. Okay? But we get to use out of them. But uh over the last year and a half, 2 years, I got the the infrastructure ready to go that all the camera system will be in one I mean, be stored in one location. Right now we're dealing with two systems. So that's kind of a pain. So it's been in the works. Uh like I said I'm going to be able to do all those cameras for that kind of price and
041it was like I think it was 50, 60,000 just to get started the first time and that was back in 2012, 13. So uh it's came a long ways. And uh I like working with this and that'd be my summer time project. So on this Excel spreadsheet you gave us though, that has all the There's two There's two There's two I noticed There's two sheets in there. The second sheet shows all the cameras the proposed cameras. The first sheet is the existing ones. My bad. Okay. Yeah. I I I I I forgot that, but there's there's two sheets on there. But uh the second one shows the the type of cameras that I'm looking to put in those places. The first one was what's existing so I can make sure I can match them. Okay.
042So but uh so then I'll let you guys ponder and go from there. Any questions for Roger we'll come back to that in a little bit in a little bit, but No. Lisa said I can spend the money. All right, we'll move on to uh the third act or third discussion item, excuse me, is recommendation to add bowling for uh next year, the 2026-2027 athletic year. Um Mr. Mitchell, do you want to speak to that? Yeah, um I was approached by a couple students back in probably November of what it would take to add bowling. We are one of two schools in the Hawkeye 10 that does not have bowling. Glenwood being the other one. But every other school from small to big has it, including Carroll that's coming in. Uh with the So that
043that's a great thing and I said to you need to, you know, start with a petition. Get us some names of kids interested, the people interested in that they you know, there was well over 50 kids. Enough. Will we get 50 kids to come out for bowling? No, we won't. Um but I'm pretty confident uh on the boy side we're talking anywhere from 12 to 15. And on the girl side I could see us at six to eight. Uh great thing about bowling is bowling often reaches a kid who's not out for another sport right now. Um there's the we've the very few that I've dealt with in the past they weren't basketball players, they weren't wrestlers. Uh they weren't in cheerleading, they weren't speech and debate. Not saying you can't have that throughout the
044years, but anytime we can uh find a way to reach a kid and get them involved in something and not harm other activities at the same time, I think it's a great thing. Bowling as you see cost-wise very minimal. In fact, he's got some really good news. Uh Dan Duskin owns the owner of the Superbowl. I talked to Dan back on March 23rd. We went there, we had a nice little meeting and yeah, he's super excited about the possibility. Uh I talked to him again tonight. And I said, "Dan, can we come up with what a lane rental costs?" In the Hawkeye 10 it's anywhere from two to three thousand dollars depending what school it is and that's for boys and girls combined. Dan's like for this first year he goes, "We're not going to
045charge you for practices." He goes, "That's free." So we're talking just meets. And we don't have a schedule set yet. Hawkeye 10 knows that I put them on pause at creating the schedule because I've never been involved in it until we have this meeting tonight. So we can get added into the schedule. We might have one or two home meets. So I think this cost for lane rental is going to be pretty minimal this year, this first year. Uh the biggest cost is going to be coaching stipend. You know, at times we talked about uh is it difficult to find coaches? I don't think we'll have any issue finding a bowling coach. Uh uh here on staff somewhere. I even heard he even goes for nothing for the first year. >> [laughter] >> Um but
046I actually I've had I've had a couple people approach me uh about it. They're they're very very very interested in in in bringing this on. Um And like I said, you know, when I was over in Illinois in the '80s we added bass fishing as a state sport. We've already got bowling as a state sport. It's a conference sport. I think it's an easy win-win uh for giving our kids a great opportunity. Um Their cost of everything else you see there, the one thing they're going to have to do is they're going to have to fundraise. That'll uh offset some of their cost stuff. The I don't I mean, you know, it's not going to be a huge thing. I think we'll get great support from the community and I you know, Dan's already said
047it'd be a great for his business if they're going to support us and we'll support them. I think it's I think it's just a win-win. Anybody have any questions on it? I don't know much about bowling. How many people does it take to make a bowling team and when is bowling season? >> Bowling season is winter. Girls start 2 weeks before the boys. That's changed. Uh they did that to separate so they'd have uh state bowling which is I believe in Waterloo. Um They did that to not overtake the lanes too much and have a little more time uh between them. It is a winter sport. Uh typically, unless it's changed, it's four kids to score for a team, right? I thought it was five. Yeah, yeah. Four four to five kids it takes to
048score as a team, but you can always bowl as individuals as well. So is it So then I assume it's similar to golf. There's a team winner and then there's obviously going to be an individual winner in the state. Exactly. Yeah. So it's very similar to golf and cross country. Similar Yeah. Is there I I guess my just a clarification. How does uh like equipment, I guess, is that um how how do you I mean, I assume that some of the kids will probably have their own balls cuz they have a custom ball or whatever. Is there Sure. I I I don't I don't coach I still call him coach. I know coach Duskin has I don't know if they can Do they have access to use the balls at the Superbowl or if they
049were to go to Glenwood I just don't So that that's something we talked about. Your kids who have been bowling for years or are truly getting into this, they're going to have their own ball, they're going to have their own bag, they're going to have their own shoes. Um For a kid who's just wanting to try it out here or where when we're here at Superbowl they can use that what's called the house ball and the house shoes. Uh we're we're good with that. The question would be if we're going on the road I I don't know. Never been had bowling. Uh but I'm assuming that when we go to those places um they would allow us to use house balls and house shoes as well. Even then that's might be some of the fundraising
050we do. And the problem with with bowling balls is they you know, it's the hand size and if you have a kid can get their own custom ball that's great. But it's probably not going to be good for any kid after us. For us to buy a whole bunch of bowling balls it's going to be a one kid using it and it's worthless after that. So uh most of the kids will probably have their own on that aspect. But we have house balls and uh shoes we can always you know, that might be some of the fundraising we do is to buy some team bowling shoes. You know, besides jerseys. But you know, Dan's they're on their own. So it's just just the top that we worry about. Have you talked to other uh athletic
051directors in the Hawkeye 10 and gotten their feedback and comments on about their programs are and Yeah, we In fact, Hawkeye 10 is one of the better programs in the state. Um we've had recent state team champions. Uh Denison won this this year for the boys. Shenandoah has won within the last 3 years with the girls. Um And I think there's two classes. It's a 1A and a 2A. Uh yeah, so they've had a lot of success. I asked, "Does that have any impact uh on your winter sports?" And they one said it had an impact on in the past 7 years maybe two kids. Uh and they weren't varsity of of that sport, but otherwise no impact. It truly reaches the kids who aren't already participating in the winter activities. Uh I guess swimming
052would be another one that we have in the winter besides wrestling and basketball, but really has no impact. It's a completely different type of kid. Uh and they would love for us. They they want us to become a add a bowling team. They really They said cuz we're losing LC, Shenandoah, and Red Oak who have bowling and we can bring in Carroll so we're down to uh as adding anyone would be down one team. Is it similar then I guess I would use wrestling as an example. Is it like do What's the normal I mean, do you have like uh Atlantic versus Glenwood like a two teams or then maybe like three and then I assume like you might be a weekend tournament where you have five or six teams or whatever, something similar to
053And so that's why I put in the estimate a for for entry fees that would be for two to three tournaments. Right. >> That we can go to on the on the weekends and there could be something during the week as well uh depending on how many teams are there. You could you could do a tournament at night. Um But uh yeah Yeah, otherwise you have to do all the main tries. We've got enough lanes that we could have you know two or three four schools here pretty easily. Um but with with nine teams in the conference next year, eight of us have bowling. It's going to be real simple to set up the rules at minimum. I mean I think I you know it's a I didn't look. I think it's a 10 10
054event schedule. Somewhere around there 10 to 12 events a year. Uh as we get into specifics on that with the state that changes every once in a while. So it's not going to be a huge impact. Transportation wise, it depends on how many kids we're taking. We're going to be able to take with our 12 passenger mini van. If we take our varsity and JV, no problem fitting into that. We'll have one coach. Um If it's up two varsity only, we could take an S to me. We won't necessarily need to have a bus driver group. Most of these instances. Uh it'll depend what it'll depend on is if it's co-ed nights. You know, we'll have a few more that we might need a bus for. It's Yeah, we um We we we'll make it
055work. Well, I just like to speak to it real quick. I I appreciate the students. I I talked to one of them on the phone a couple times. I appreciate them. I don't I don't know if you call it starting this but but wanting to to get this going and and and putting themselves sticking their neck out a little bit, you know, um Truly student And and I I applaud them for that and and and then I I guess I'd also like to thank Mr. Applegate. I know that we've been doing this as a club, you know, in the middle school and so I think it's you know, it shows some value that those kids know that there's I think we know moving forward that there is some interest, you know, and not just a
056let's sign a petition cuz oh boy it sounds like fun, you know. I mean it's always one of the most enjoyable uh Well, units that you do in gym class anyway. You know, they still do that I assume but And the other thing The other thing like golf and like cross country or track running, it's a it's a sport they can do for the rest of their life. You know, and so that's that's always a a neat thing to add to it as well. So I I I did bowl for Andy either so I I do have a little bit of a I've just never been in the school attendance. This is new for me. Good. Thank you. Yeah, I guess the only other comment that I would like to say is, you know, I
057think it's great that you know, to get other kids and people involved in something they're not already previously involved in anything. Um and even if they are, you know, to try something new. Um but one comment I did have, you know, from the public was just, you know, the impact on, you know, other sports, you know, whether it's um you know, is it going to take away from you swimming or is it going to take away from, you know, late season cross country or, you know, basketball so or wrestling. So something to, you know, just consider about. I heard I heard one other comment as well but it was similar. So Good. You guys get over that something? Get you anything? Okay. We will move on to uh the first action item is item A
058which is uh the board policy. This will be the second reading of board policy 501.09. It's Chase, I don't think you were here for the last one. Um Can catch you up on that or I just don't know. Do you want to catch you up on real quick? Yeah. So there was a policy that's out there. Um so how board policy works is legislature makes a decision. They send it to the lawyers at the Iowa Association of School Boards. Lawyers draft it up and put a few phrases in it that allow a school to feel like we're individually get to choose. And then they send it out to all the school districts and say, "This is your policy. You get to choose either or or you get to say whatever." So not only completely a
059lot of local control. And so those come out about three times a year that we get big board policy changes. So we'll get a whole bunch more after the legislature closes April 20th. So we'll see some more and but this was one of them that Beth was working on the report. And even though we updated ours at 2023, the board policy had changed sometime after that in December of like 25. And it changed it to where they made some other reasons that a student can be gone that's acceptable. Like uh some military, some weddings, some funerals, some things that hadn't been in there before. So those pieces have to be added. The other piece they added is I apologize. This is the I might be able to two different ones. Is this on the chronic?
060Yes, this is the chronic. This is where the I got more the distance learning I apologize. Too many things going on. So this is the one where you had we the choices we got where we could choose whether we were using hours or days or semester or year for the choices that the state gave us to put in as measurements on a student's absenteeism. But they also put in some additional reasons why a student could be gone. So well it used to be pretty skinny. It's pretty big now. Um So I think did she bring it to you all? I have this. Okay. So I think she took it to the principals and said, "What do you want?" And you guys chose days and semesters. Is that right? Okay. So Beth went in and filled
061in those fill in the blanks. The days and semester. And so then the board would vote on that and then we establish that as our Usually you do two readings. You do a first reading and you can approve first and final reading or you do a first reading, second and final reading. There you go. There's our And that's why we're we're at the second reading because we didn't we wanted clarification from them. I I mean we kind of said we don't really care. Whatever they want, you know, if they wanted the cuz I think the argument to it a little bit is the hours whereas you have some students that have an orthodontist appointment at 8:00 in the morning, well, they come back at 10:00 or they take the whole day. Um you know, so
062that's kind of I think that was the thought process behind it. So that's why we generally like you said generally when the IASB comes back with some type of policy change, it's very minor and a lot of times we'll read the first and wait the second um and just pass it but that's why we chose to single it out this time. So that's all the the only difference in the two editions is the what or what the the administrators want it. So there's motion to approve that. I motion to uh board policy 501. Second. Yes. Chase? Yes. Jody? Yes. Jenny? Yes. Josh? Yes. Chad? Yes. And uh likewise we uh so I don't actually item B is to set the public hearing date for next year's [clears throat] budget which is hearing number two. Uh
063we had our first one last meeting. So uh we just have to publish that that we're going to have our second hearing before the next meeting on the 22nd. So it's just a clerical to make sure we have that second hearing. So Need a motion to approve that motion we approve that date to the hearing. Okay. Second. Okay. Jody? Yes. Jenny? Yes. Josh? Yes. Chad? Yes. Chase? Yes. Uh item C is the approval of the graduating class. There was probably nothing to This is what it is, right? Is there any I always ask this every year. Is there any that are close to being on there or off there? Hopefully just a couple. Yeah, that's why it gets sent twice. Yeah. So you'll see them again in June. Pending graduation committee. Yes. Then we'll approve.
064I motion to approve that I graduating class. I'll second. Okay. Jenny? Yes. Josh? Yes. Chad? Yes. Chase? Yes. Jody? Yes. Uh the next item D is the 27 uh special ed uh 28E agreement. I'll I'll talk a little bit about this. This is something new. We're going to take it in. Enter in. Uh we Harland School District reached out to Beth and I um in the fall. They started a program where um last year they worked with five schools to hire someone um to participate kind of in a shared agreement among school districts to um utilize someone who used to work at the AEA to help with special ed um administration things. And they had a lot of success at it. Now I did reach out to the superintendent and the SBO and neither one
065of them got back with me because I wanted to know some details as to what this person specifically does, how often are they going to come campus, do we see them once a week, is it so many hours per year? Um the SBO didn't know and the superintendent hasn't gotten back with Pete. So, Beth reached out to Harlan and said Atlantic would like to be a part of this. There was a cost involved. I also reached out and asked the SBO what the cost was cuz that's not listed on the agreement. And so I heard back from them either. Um because I wanted to know what we were talking about so I could budget appropriately for it. You know, is this a $16,000 a year? Is this $5,000 a month? I mean I wasn't sure
066but we are partnering with other school districts. They'd all be utilizing this person. It might help with special ed. Again, I don't know enough about it because I couldn't get anyone to to return phone calls. But I know Beth spoke with the superintendent and had she been here she probably could have filled us in on more but that's just the information I know on it. Is that uh Is that a I assume that's a contract and service thing. It's not a contract. It's It is It does come out of the It was said. So much second semester or an annual agreement. But they had a lot of success last year and they asked if Atlantic wanted to join in this But we still don't know specifically what that person is going to cost. We know
067We know the name of the person. >> Can we hold off on approving until we get that? >> can. We sure can. And again, if Beth would have been here she might have understood. I just when I reached out to them I didn't get any information. It It's for the next school year, right? Yeah. So it's not anything that I don't think we couldn't wait. And I guess if if it comes down to it in the next 2 weeks before the next meeting we find we can change it to a special meeting if we need to approve it for some time time by some timeline but I would I would probably agree that if we don't know what it's going to cost us and what it's going to Okay. Do we have to move to
068table? We got a motion to I move to table. Okay. Second that. Okay. Okay, Josh. Yes. Chad. Yes. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Okay, item E is the 27 Iowa Western Community College Educational Services Agreement. Do you know anything about this one? I It's first I've seen this. Okay. So Iowa Western sent to Beth We usually get an MOU. That's how they describe Yeah. It's a memorandum of understanding. This says we're going to partner with them to allow our students to take classes there. They kind of provide some costs in there. They have some lab and some different expenses. Um I think it's been a standard agreement but Beth had shared it with me and so I didn't go into it much detail. I think we do it every year, don't we? Or every
069other year or something. The only thing that is important whatever wants to consider at some point specifically identifying which courses. Um when we first started and we don't really have what we had in the building. Right. So and then it's just grown and grown and grown. So Do you know and you might not know if that is that about what it has been the price? I mean pretty similar to Yeah, it's I don't recall it. I don't know but honestly it's grown and grown. We're like each of the credits Yeah, it just says it's $85. It costs the district 85 bucks per student per course. Oh, probably 150,000 a semester. But that's just that that fluctuates how much we pay. We have the lower rate for what's taught in person. We pay that person's salary.
070Yep. Well, it's a it's it's a heck of a it's a good thing for our kids to take dual classes. So There's a lot of kids leaving We all Yeah, there are specific criteria to be eligible to take them. And so that's why I always have people on the side ask kids. So that's one component of it. And then they in fact they put in a change this last quarter that affected some of our kiddos with college assistance. So they're also implementing some additional prerequisites to try to Do you Do you see the um like the course credits for Iowa Western transfer to your four year four year schools? And then depending Yeah, and so that's something that Mrs. Bolt really has done a nice job of working with uh some kiddos that have the
071cell program which I've only heard a little bit about. But in the four year planner and like I remember for my own kids when you go through and say this from my They yeah, we take that. Oh, we take that but we would take it as this. And so with our REI score index, so that's with the region colleges. So there's they also have Iowa Western classes identified on there as well for different uh subject areas. So it's got it's pretty extensive. And then whenever we have a question because we have some kiddos who you know who go to out of state schools. They just have a generic uh community college. Like a lot of times if it's an out of state like East Coast, West Coast, they'll just state those as like generic. But
072that going to one of them either. Does that make sense? Yeah. It I was just curious on cuz my past you know experience I know you could take you know, classes every class from Iowa Western because it was the only biology class I could take that you know, over the summer that you know, would count for my degree at my school that I went to. Yeah. But so I just didn't know if that was you know, still I think it is. Oh yeah, absolutely. And so like and I I got a little piece of this this spring from Mrs. Bolt. So when asking you know, what school are you going to and then kind of then comparing that to specific colleges and especially when it gets pretty you know, chiropractic physician or dentistry. There aren't
073depending on where you're going what else that they want. So you just kind of try to connect people as we can. Yeah. And then I think it's too just for clarification and I correct me if I'm wrong. I think the way the community college system is set up in Iowa by the legislature I'm right? I know we've asked the question before if we could choose another institution and my understanding is Iowa Western is the only one. Correct. Like it's if you'll see Creston they do a lot of stuff obviously Southwest in Creston. You know, but I Is that correct? Like we couldn't have a kid do dual enrollment at Southwest? That's just not how the system is set up. So kind of just for clarification really all we have to off if we are to
074continue offering is through Iowa Western because of how >> Yeah, unless Iowa Western doesn't have a specific course that one of our students needs then that's where we get permission from Iowa Western to then go to and typically we will go with DMACC. Um so like Iowa Western doesn't have a calc two or calc three. And so we partner with DMACC and go to those classes. I know a couple boards ago that was a discussion that we had as to if we could Yeah, it just No, it's Yeah. Yeah. We spent about 12 to 18,000 last year at our district. And is that just once again another and if the we pay that unless the student fails, correct? >> No, that's no longer the rule. We pay it regardless. We pay it regardless. Yes, that's
075the legislature right now. Still alive. They changed that. They did. Yeah, still alive that they're talking about that. So it's going back to it. But you'd be able to go through and pick out like the classes that you know, the majority of the population take. You could change that number or decrease that number. Yeah, I think so. Yes. Right. As far as which courses they take? Yeah, absolutely. Yep. Yeah, so it wouldn't be like the whole Southwest board but that would have to be specifically identified in that memo of understanding. So all those courses would have to be listed in that MOU. We have like a cap of how much money set aside to spend on that, Lisa? Or how does it vary depending upon the >> five year look back. Is that usually the
076about the same number of students each year? Mhm. How many students? Do you have that number off the top of your head? >> students. Um I would I think in the junior and senior classes the online option has opened up and um I could look it up but I want to say around 50 to 60 kiddos. It's It's a good amount of kids. And they take multiple courses. Yeah. So The state has two things up. One is they're looking at eliminating online classes and making it person to person only for the high school piece. And then the other thing they're looking at saying that if you fail you have to pay the school back. So those things are still at the legislature and that will determine you know, everything we do is based on the
077legislature if those pass. You need to approve all to move forward with that. It's I move to move forward with the Iowa Western Community College Educational Services Agreement 2026-2027. Second. Okay. Chad. Yes. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. Yes. Uh the next item is uh item F, which is the 26 27 Hawkeye 10 uh conference uh school change. Uh I think we just have to officially approve that, right, through our minutes? Yeah, it's been approved by the uh by the state uh board. It's just got to be official officially approved by the schools. It's uh Lewis Central leaving the Western Iowa uh to the Missouri River, Shenandoah and Red Oak leaving the Western Iowa conference, and Carroll joining us. And I know we have a word for word I move to approve the Hawkeye
07810 athletic conference changes. Second. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. Yes. Chad. Yes. Uh item G is the uh follow up to our discussion on the 26 recommendation of the 26 27 bowling program uh to be offered to Atlantic. The only thing I'm going to add is anytime we add a sport, it does have to go through collective bargaining cuz it is a part of the union. And so um they will have part of that. But the salaries were set to match up with the rest of the positions. Um but they are involved with that. So just be aware. It's been in the contract It has. Yeah, it's been I'll wait to Yeah. So just uh So I move that we add bowling to the athletic programs for the 26 27 school year. Second.
079Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. Yes. Chad. Yes. Chase. Yes. Yeah, item H is uh once again going back to the discussion item. This is the high school camera bid uh that we all uh discussed just a little bit ago. This is paid for out of the 36 fund. So it's called our Apple fund. Um special fund that we use for things such as this. So this doesn't come out of the general fund. I move to accept camera bid as stated above. Anything else from the Atlantic? I second. Jenny. Yes. Josh. Yes. Chad. Yes. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Uh item I is the 27 recommendation for trash. Believe it's obviously it's got to be Cook's Sanitation. I move forward to accept the bid from Cook's Sanitation for trash services. Second. Josh. >> Yes. Chad. Yes. Chase.
080Yeah. Jody. Yeah. Jenny. Yes. Uh the next is uh 27 recommendation uh for the bread. I move to uh approve the recommendation for bread bids. Second. I'll second that motion. Yes. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. >> Yes. Uh next one item K is the uh recommendation for the milk bid for next year. I move to accept the recommendation for milk bids from Anderson Erickson. Second. Chase. Yes. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. >> Yes. Chad. Yes. Uh item L is the 27 science curriculum quote, and then the the recommendation for purchase uh that Mr. Norby spoke to earlier. I think you have I think to take into account, too, is that that is a lot of money, but it's also district-wide. You know, I mean it's probably you know, I mean it's not like
081it's one building or whatever, you know, it's in. So I I mean that's valuable to me knowing that we're that's a lot of money, but it's going to be a new direction all of us are going to go out, so. I'm excited to move forward with the new science curriculum. Make motion to move forward. I second. Jody. Yes. Jenny. Yes. Josh. Yes. Chad. Yes. Chase. Yes. And the last action item is the 27 uh budget recommendation. was uh provided. So where where this stems from um we talked about this a couple meetings. Well, kind of catch Chase up a little bit. All times not have my voice. Um so we are down 77 students. So our our count in September that we do determines next year's funding. So once September's count came in, we realized
082we were going to be 77 students less. Each student is worth around $8,000. So we were seeing seeing a decrease in revenues of $395,000 or around 400 to be easy. The state has a mechanism that you can do what's called budget guarantee where they will guarantee you money to give you an extra year to make cuts to equal what you're going to lose in revenues. So the state, and that's all done through property taxes, the state is giving us $511,000 to help us so that we can make it. So it's as if whatever we got this year for money, we're not going to take a $400,000 loss. We're going to get 511 with the idea you're going to make enough cuts in a two-year period to offset that. Now, caveat, that's based on no less
083students attending next year. That's based on a 2% state aid continuing. If state aid would go down, or if student enrollment would drop, then there could be additional dollars that we have to reduce. Normally, some people would say, "Well, let's just raise property taxes. Let's bring in more revenue." Well, that's always makes you popular. And so that wouldn't be something we'd probably consider. Um I'm not sure any of us would want to sell plasma or anything else or sell books. So we have to find a way to reduce the expense side of things. So 400,000 over a two-year period. And also keep in mind, there could be new expenses. So for instance, if we give increases in salaries, that's new money that we're going to be spending that we didn't spend this year. So that
084has to be So you take all the cuts and all the new money you need to spend, and you hope you come up with this matching number. So I've been talking to the board for some time saying, "Why don't we look at making a fairly substantial cut this year? So in case enrollment goes down, we don't have to make as many cuts next year." But we have to make the equivalency of 400 in a two-year period. So uh Beth and I have been working for some time. We've met with all the principals, all the directors, group meetings, individual meetings. Everywhere that we can think of. And if we are looking at copier costs, we're looking at subscription costs, we're looking at everything we can. And as I mentioned in our earlier finances, our biggest expense,
085as well as our best asset, is our people. And so when you spend 17 million out of a 21 million budget on people, that might be something you have to consider as being an area that you trim the fat. And so Beth has put together a proposal of positions uh that maybe weren't filled. I think the top half is positions that weren't filled this year cuz we didn't find candidates. So it's like, "Okay, we need to cut that, probably." Then we went down and looked at what are just some general supplies we can reduce. Um it's still a very uh fluid number there. And then we looked at um are there upcoming positions that we shouldn't fill? Can we find someone else within the district that can do that for even a year until we
086see what next year looks like. Um you know, maybe it's not a complete cut. It might be just a hold for one year, and then we'll see what next year. And then we also put some recommendations as are there positions that we need to just not have at the district. Maybe we've outgrown them. Maybe they've been comfortable to have, but when you have to cut 400,000, you might have to make those decisions. So this uh report is what Beth recommended to the board that she would like to see happen. The board's motion is the total dollar amount at the top is what you'll approving. Uh not not the individual decisions. Those really come down to the superintendents and the principals. If there are true reductions, and you approve reductions. She would bring back those specific
087positions to you and you could yay or nay those specific positions. But what you need to approve tonight is the total dollar amount you want the district to reduce our expenses by. And so the document we were provided correct and correct me if I'm wrong, the green amount is her what Dr. Johnson proposes, correct? Which is 152 and a half. So the green amounts I went through and put what I could down on the amount, so those are real numbers. And then tried to put a little bit of an explanation of how that came to be. >> I appreciate that. It makes a little bit of We're not part of those conversations, so that's to know what the >> Is that the top green number we need to approve or is So the top green
088number is a combination of all of those cuz as you'll see in the middle there's two expenses there because if you look at salary increases then you have to you have to adjust for that. So the top number represents all the green column. So what you're approving is an amount at the top. How she gets there that's more the superintendent's decision unless there was a reduction in a position then those she can bring to you individually at a meeting in an open session. And then and we haven't issued contracts yet. Our deadline is April 30th to let anyone know if their position will no longer be at this district. I just wanted to let Chase know too our school district is not unique in having less students. It's a Iowa's like wide issue. 199 districts
089out of 300 are in the same situation. You've watched the news with Iowa City, Des Moines, even Boone. Boone had to make a $600,000 cut and when you talk to them, which I reached out to them, it's because they didn't do enough cuts the first year. And I don't want to be in that situation where we're having to cut 600,000 next year. I mean we we can't really discuss too much here though. Yeah, I right. I mean I I think we we need to stay to the dollar amount. I mean obviously we can't discuss any personnel issues which would mean a you know, probably a position in itself and or a person. Uh but I think we can discuss on that. I just think 152 is too low. You know, for the first year. Um
090personally. So. I just think you don't know what's going to happen next year and I think you If you I mean if you know you're down I mean not at 152 is a start. I I don't you know that It's not fun guys. I've done a stop off for anybody. Um trying to reduce dollars but uh No, I just like you said, I just don't want to get in a situation where we're looking at this again next year and then and you know, we're trying to recreate it now. We we don't do enough or we you know, and unfortunately we don't know what enough is. That's dollar that's a variable that we are dealing with. But if we don't you know, if we don't get ourselves off on the right step on the first step
091then we're then then we're What happens if we approve a number like 300, she comes back and we decide that maybe we don't want that, you know. I mean can we do that? I mean can we go back on the on the number? You know, like go back to 152 because we're just getting one option here. And you know, it's 152. Like and she kind of broke it down for us or you guys did. But one or the other, I mean if we go to 300, I mean can we see that option? If we don't like that option, come back to 152 or no? So maybe maybe it is worth tabling and talking at the April I I feel better if she was here. I I feel like I'm representing her and I don't want
092to represent her wrong. Uh it might be worth tabling and talking at the 22nd. To but your timeline gets real tight there. If you are doing any reductions if you make any decision on the 22nd on the 23rd actions would have to take place to meet the April 30th. Now is there still time? Yes, but you've shortened that window a little bit. This is what she's recommending. Um I'm just confused why she came in so low when we have to cut so much. Um And maybe you can't answer for her. >> I really I really can't. Um but I like you said, I think it's a good start. Right? Now I was hoping I checked with Janet who does our student enrollment uh reports because we do a spring uh count as a you know,
093see where we're at. And we've got so many errors within JMC that she couldn't give me some numbers cuz I asked for those today. Maybe before the 22nd I'll have last time we did a count in the the winter count, we were down seven more. I in the winter count. So we were already seeing another trend down. But I I don't know what that count is now because we have had kids that open enrolled somewhere change their mind. So maybe we wait and I I don't know what to tell you. So if we if we if we motion to for 300,000 and she comes up with a plan and and I mean if we don't like the plan we want to revert back to 152 we can't. Like that's just what I want to know.
094I don't know. The board has a lot of control. So the board could say we want 300,000 unless you can show us something. I don't I don't know. I think I think you have the right to set a number and then April 22nd you could come back and go, "Okay, now we've looked at the numbers. We're actually getting 15 more students. You're not as much. You know what? I think we're we're going to revert back and we're going to make a motion to approve just 152. I I'm I'm really not sure. I've not had that before. I Here's the unfortu- here's where I'm at on this is and and you just said it is the board has all the power. You're right, we do. But I don't want to make that decision. I I feel
095that it would be valuable and I'm not I'm not uh discredit anything that's been presented to us or anything like that. I would like to and it doesn't have to be me. I I would like to see if we can as a board since we are the ones that ultimately going to decide that that I don't say that we have to have our hand in the decision but I'd like for somebody to be part of that conversation if it's a you know, a couple of administrators and Dr. Johnson and you and a couple of us to like because in the end it's going to We're the ones that are going to make the decision but it's going to affect you guys every single day and everybody else and our kids every single day and to
096be I hate when they say well the board has all the power. Well, you're right, we do but I I want to make an informed decision and I want to make sure that it's the best uh for for our kids and whatever that is I I don't know what that answer is but I guess I'd like to feel I mean the part of this I mean you guys probably don't have this document but like at the end there's little notes as to why we you know, like positions will not be filled from a previous or whatever. You know, like that makes sense but like maybe a little more clarification would make me feel better to know uh that's where I'm at because I do agree that that number's low. Um and but once again maybe
097there's a reason for that. I I don't you know, maybe maybe we can have that conversation and it doesn't have to be you know, it could be a smaller group or whatever. Um that's just my There's not any There's not a right answer and that's the hard part about it is you're dealing with potentially you know, with dollars. You're dealing with student impacts or you know, to our kids and but you know, but I and I don't I don't think we are really in this situation but you know, you could potentially dealing with somebody's job um or or you know, a job that we don't try and fill or we don't you know, I know some of those positions are hard to fill but I still think that that affects our kids if we don't
098try and if that person's not out there to hire then that person's not out there to hire but if we're not looking for them then we're in essence that's that's hurting our kids because they can't have whatever that opportunity is. So I I I understand it all. I just it's really hard for me to not maybe feel a little bit more informed if that's the right um you know, and I don't agree. Yeah. I mean I would like to see a a bigger amount but if we can't get to a bigger amount then I guess we can't get to a bigger amount but I don't know what anybody else's thoughts are. I mean Chad I guess Chad did. His but if you can't what do you think? If you don't get to a bigger amount
099now then you're going to have a way bigger slung later. I mean if you have to cut $400,000 in 2 years that's that's a pretty solid number. This watch is a not it sucks but I think we got to have a a bigger number than 152. I mean common sense say you have to be at least halfway there. You have to be at to at least 200. Um cuz if you're coming in next year and the minimum you have to get is 250,000. It's going to be a lot more painful than than this. I know it it's it's a time constraint. I I understand that. Um I I don't hearing the comments to the board members, I guess I'll make a motion to to table the budget recommendation at this time till we can get
100some more information and possibly different number. And and I think with I mean that's a I think with that being said, maybe we can get another option or two, whether that is, you know, this is what 250 looks like or this is what 300 looks like or something. Uh I would feel a lot better with that and I don't want to step on your motion, but you know, I think it's uh that covers some more clarifying conversations or communication as well. Yes, sorry. We can discuss. Sorry, I'll second. No. I. Now we can have the order. Um Now we can have the discussion here. Yeah, I just think I think that's viable as you said. I think we can, you know, a little bit more and and and maybe a different option or two. I
101mean, we have other things on our form that but that just shows a you know, a service or a person or whatever. Well, that doesn't really answer. It's an option, but that it really doesn't bring it into context, I guess. You know, because then you have to whatever thing we might have to flip-flop around and stuff. I'm good with that. We can have another meeting if we feel like the 22nd is too late. We could have another meeting specifically for this so that your timelines aren't quite so crunched. Is it an option? So, I have a first and a second, so I'm going to take a vote uh to table making a recommendation for the budget cuts. Uh Jenny? Yes. Josh? Yes. Chad? Yes. Chase? Yes. Jody? Yes. Thank you. Um I think so. Is
102that it? Yeah. Um like I said, the upcoming day will be uh the next uh work session is on the 22nd and we'll have that hearing prior to that, probably right at 6:00. We'll we'll all change the time. Let's do that at 6:00, the budget second budget hearing, and then we'll go right into the meeting after that. And if anything comes up between now and then, we could have to change it from a work session to a special meeting if we need to take action on things, but I'm good with that. I think we need to have a motion to adjourn. I move we adjourn. Do you have a question? No, it's my second. Oh, okay. All in favor? I. I. Okay. Uh 7:21. Thank you. Alpha is gone. Yeah. How are you doing? Are
103we not doing our closed session then at all? No, we can't do that here. No, we obviously can't do that here. It has to be recorded. You want that back? Congratulations to appreciate you stepping up. I appreciate you saying that. Well, for you doing something else. That was Yeah, it's still on the table, so I need my definitely. I totally understand. Right, but I'd rather do spend 5 minutes Yeah. The others are fine, right? Yep. You broke You broke yourself in. You made a motion. I was wondering why you were talking about all that stuff.