001Good [snorts] evening. The board of education organizational and regular meeting for the Cedar Rapids Community School District is now called to order at 5:54 p.m. Is there a motion to approve the agenda for Monday, November 17th, 2025? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. All those opposed, same sign. At this time, I'd like to have the directors elect, Dresimki, Zimmerman, and Burns come forward for their oath of office and certificates of election. Perfect. Do you, Scott Drazimski, Laura Zimmerman, and Ashley Burns, solemnly swear that you will support the Constitution of the United States in the Constitution of the State of Iowa, and that you will faithfully and impartially do the best of your ability discharge the duties of the office of director of the
002Cedar Rapids Community School District in the county of Lynn, state of Iowa, as now or hereafter required by law. If so, please respond by saying, "I will." >> I will. >> All right. Congratulations. You are A [applause] DIRECTOR. >> Thank you very much. And the next item on this evening's agenda is the election of a presiding officer of the board of education. At this time, I would like to open up nominations for the position of president of the board of directors. Are there any nominations? You go first. >> I'd like to self-nominate for vice or for president. I would also like to self-nominate for president. Are there any other nominations? If not, I officially declare the nominations closed. At this time, I'll have each nominated director read their candidate statement and then directors after they
003read, you'll be given the opportunity to ask a question of the candidates before you vote by ballot. >> Okay. So, we can start with director buyers. Sure. >> Hello everyone. There is a lot happening outside of these walls, outside of this room we are all sitting in here tonight. And this board is quite unfortunately at the center of many community and even statewide conversations because a bond that should have easily passed given the incredible amount of effort and support behind it came up 1% short. We should have knocked that bond right out of the park. I know because I was on the ground level witnessing the incredible amount of time, energy, heart, and community centered work that was poured into the effort. And we can certainly celebrate the increase in votes from last goaround. And
004in the same breath, we need to face the reality of our current situation. We have now lost two bond votes. I believe we have a couple options on the table before us. We can blame the loss on varying factors. Vouchers, state of economy, lack of support for public education at the state level. And we can push forward and block out the noise. Or we can take a beat. We can take a pause and we can look inwardly. It's true. We are working against many challenges that are out of our local control. But also at the core of this, we have a trust issue. And despite the hard work and emotional bandwidth we each individually commit to this role as board members, we continue to have a trust issue. So we need to reckon with this
005because without trust, we are going to keep butdding up against an ever growing wall and this isn't in the best interest of our students. I step forward to run for president because I see the bigger picture. If we don't listen, consider, and just move forward as is, we may fall deeper into this hole of mistrust. And I'm not willing to let that happen. I care too much about this district, and I know each of these board members up here and the three who just rolled off care just as much as I do. And that's why we're all here facing these challenges headon, week after week. Right now, I believe we need to acknowledge the lack of trust and move forward with care. Now, I'm not saying this fresh leadership, someone who's only been on the
006board a couple years and maybe someone who's brand new to our board, um, will solve all of our problems, but I know with fresh leadership along with the support of this incredible group of people, we can bring renewed confidence to our district. I walked the halls as a student in our school district from kindergarten through 12th grade. I substitute taught in our district and I now my kids are students here in CRCSD. I show up with integrity, compassion, and a genuine commitment to my role as a member of the school board. I recognize we've entered a whole new chapter of public education, one that requires us to bring new ideas to life in order to remain attractive to families in our community. Progress in in progress and innovation matters. It's important, but so does the
007foundation that supports it. We've seen a surge in the roll out of new curriculum, new instructional models, staffing models. And it's clear to me at this juncture that we've unintentionally stretched our teachers thin. New isn't bad. Change isn't bad. But if we are and we are seeing a lot of great results from some of that new curriculum. But if we are going to prioritize initiatives, we must equally invest in the people who carry them out. I will continue to do all I can to make sure our teachers feel seen, heard, and supported. When our teachers feel supported, when they're in good spirits, and they know we have their backs, our students benefit, and trust is restored. I believe to my very core, that's how we build a stronger, more connected school community. Thank you for
008your consideration of support. [applause] >> Thank you, Director Buyers. And now, Director Newman. >> All right. Um, so I submitted my um, candidate statement for consideration to serve as your president of the Cedar Rapids Community School District Board. Having served since 2019, we've navigated through a period of intense challenges. As director Roundtree said, it's kind of been nothing but challenges in many ways. the pandemic, the damage, then the delays caused by the do and the loss of our former superintendent and two failed general obligation bonds, the last of which missed by less than 1%. These events combined with the declining enrollment, the state of Iowa's shift of public funds to private education have created a landscape of constant flux and uncertainty. And that uncertainty can cause mistrust and strife. Leadership takes accountability. All of us
009sat back after the loss of the bond and thought, "How did this happen? How did we get so close?" And the fact of the matter is the buck stops with the board and it should stop with the board. And we all need to spend time understanding how we get there because our students and our staff need this. Our community needs this. But I don't want to lose sight of the fact that as a district, we've also made a lot of progress over the years. Our new our implementation of new curriculum is showing results in both student achievement and behavior and our emphasis on safe and secure learning is strengthening support for our staff and students. Though there is a lot of work to be done. Crucially, we also went through right sizing our staffing post
010esser funding and prioritizing teacher positions and streamlining our administration. I believe in my heart that miracles happen in our schools every single day and I say that all the time. Our teachers and our staff are the essential heart of this district. Their unwavering belief in every student's ability to succeed is what fosters those daily miracles in our buildings. Our job as a board is to turn that belief into student success. The next chapter demands a united board focused squarely on this goal, leading with accountability, active listening, and compassion. To achieve this, we must establish trust with our community, commit to transparency, and accessibility. And I want to double down on telling our stories of belief and miracles that happen daily in our schools. If trusted to serve as president, I will lead through a model
011of approachability, shared leadership, effective board governance, collaborative decision-making, ensuring that we tap into each board member's talents, ensuring that we tap into the talents of the I'm going to say geniuses who work in our district every day. We have amazing talent right here in our district and maintain the respectful open dialogue that we need to provide the clear results focused direction this district really needs right now. Thank you. [applause] >> Do we have any questions from the board for directors buyers and Newman? >> I do. Thank you. Um, so I want to thank both of you for throwing your name out there. Um, speaking from experience, I know that it does take a lot to step up into the role of president. You are [clears throat and cough] tasked with helping your board move forward,
012also tasked with responding to the community, um, and aiding with that transparency. that word that we're hearing a lot of right now. Um, in my journey the last few weeks as as I've approached the end of my term, um, I've been thinking a lot about board governance and I know the old board, we did spend time in the past working on board governance um, with IASB with table group. I feel very strongly that we need a very clear model of board governance and how we function as a board and that that gets communicated to the public so they understand why we do things the way we do things. So my question to both of you um is around board governance. What do each of you see as the biggest governance risk for our board right
013now? and how would you approach that in the future to help the board understand its role and how we work towards the strategic plan. So what do you see as our biggest risk as a governing board? How do we address that? >> Director Buyers, yeah, if you want to go first. >> Um well, thank you also for your service. um you've been of my years on this board, you've been the president. So, thank you for all the time and energy you poured into that um and I think it is necessary that we uh dedicate ample time to this role and find ways to ensure that we make this a primary focus. Um whether it goes in either direction for us. So, um yeah, we've talked a lot about governance. Um it come it's come up
014a lot and we've uh I think the big biggest risk is that we have not um landed on anything quite yet. We have not taken the time to think through what that shared leadership looks like. Um I do know we have IASB at our at our disposal which is an incredible resource that we can tap into to explore those models right to better understand what that means for each of us and what that means for us as a board. Um, so I think taking the time to learn about that together, agree on things that we can prioritize. Um, so it's not just one person's vision of what board governance looks like. I think it needs to be a shared model. Um, from what I've read, there's a lot that exists out there. But again, we
015need to work from the same grounded space. Um, and be on the same page and as you mentioned, make that visible. Come back to it in our meetings. um be open about what that looks like and how that plays into our decision- making so that we can again build that trust. So I think generally speaking the risk is that we don't have anything and I would love to take time to explore um and find that out together. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So um also thank you for your leadership. Um it's been it's been wonderful to serve with you and I really respect the time and energy and thoughtfulness you put into this. Um, so when you think about the risk of not having a strong bo board governance model, um, and we did used
016to spend quite a bit of time training on it. Um, and we had a board governance model that had been sort of shaped over the years. Um, we don't really have a current board governance model. We're kind of we're kind of flying by the seat of our pants right now. We do, but we don't. So, you know, I only learned probably, you know, maybe six months ago that there are multiple board governance models out there. And I would like our board to work together to select a model that fits our needs, whether that's a really big singular focus or or several focuses. Um, it's how we work together. It will be our norms, our working norms, and it will be sort of our guiding principles of how we work together as a board. The biggest
017risk is that we we don't um buy into that model together. And I think that board leadership really has to work to get um each board member's input and that we we select that model together. But that that risk comes from when we disagree even that that's our our board model. Um, and when we're not when we're not operating together, it's like having multiple people in a boat with paddles, but somebody's facing the other way or somebody's just got their paddle in the water and they're holding it still. That's the risk. Um, and and I I have to say that's sort of been the way we've been um in a in a way without a strong board governance model. Um, so to me, that's one of our first orders of business is reading some really
018boring books um about board governance. Um, I found a good one. I found a good one. [laughter] >> The one I started is um I'm going to see if I can get it on tape. Um, [laughter] but it it's really important that we all have um ownership in that process because if we don't um then it kind of opens that up to well that wasn't the model I chose or that's not what I was interested in. So, we need to hear all voices. Um, but we have to be rowing together and board governance is how you do that. >> Okay. >> Thank you both for those thoughtful responses. I appreciate that. >> Do any of our other directors have a question they'd like to pose? >> Um, I'll ask a quick question. So, um, I
019haven't worked closely with either of you in in a capacity at least such as this. Um, but I just wanted to kind of touch base on just your leadership styles, how you would define your leadership style and how you think that that might um, collectively help unify or move this board forward, especially with the transparency and um, need for better communication. I just wanted to get a sense of what your your thoughts are on that. major faster. >> Um I will try not to bring up Junior League too many times, but um I got I was on the receiving end of a lot of wonderful leadership training during my leadership uh era in Junior League. And how that helped me as a leader to define my own style um was to build that shared leadership
020to be extremely accountable um and open and to be focused. It is really easy when you have a district our size or when you are working with a group of people to chase after shiny objects to get distracted. Um we need to pick a few things and we need to get them done. Um we need to we need to ensure that we are notching some wins for this district and we need to show this community what we are capable of and that takes focus. >> Thanks Kyle. open meeting. We have to have >> Yeah. Um I think just as a person, I'm someone who shows up. I listen to all of the voices in the room and then we can respond. Um I think right now things are very reactionary and we need to we
021need to listen, we need to pause, we need to consider um different vantage points so we can better understand what's not just best for our board, but what's best for our teachers, our students, our community. Um so that purposeful leadership um I'm also someone who shows up I'm you know I spend a lot of time with teachers in schools listening um gathering information so that we can do right by students and teachers alike. Um that's why we're here and um yeah I I know that um this isn't an easy task. I've seen the challenges ahead of us, but um I stepped up because I felt there was a need for maybe to refresh a bit. Um and we've we've tried a lot of different things and I think now if we can come together and
022really really listen, really true truly collaborate, um I think we're going to be really effective. I feel good about this group of people and um and I know that we have some major challenges ahead, but we can't do that without um without listening and without considering um what everyone brings to the table. >> Thank you. >> Other questions for Director Buyers and Director Newman? >> I'll just ask first of all, you're not making this easy on any of us. Um I appreciate you both stepping up and being willing to do this. Um, I guess I'm interested and I'm going to go to something that you'll hear a lot from me, um, sitting up here over the next four years is, uh, the communication and how do we communicate that things well to the community? Um,
023whether they're there things that the community's, you know, excited to hear, upset to hear, um, but but give that rationale and that background. So would you just share briefly, you know, some of your thoughts on what we can do to improve that communication link with our community, with our parents, uh, but also with our educators and staff in the district as well. >> Victor, >> sure. Thanks for these questions, guys. Um, [snorts] you know, I think that we we just aren't very visible right now. Um, we have this model where the uh the president kind of speaks on behalf of the board. I understand that that's important, but I'd love to have a a space for all of us to engage in different ways. We all bring different strengths to the table. Um I think
024that the community would love to hear from each of us in different um capacities, whether that's at a groundbreaking and someone speaking or if that's um a media interview. Um I think that it's really imperative uh pretty vital that we all are represented and that we all are um in this together. But we we are different people. we have differing opinions and and sometimes we don't all agree. So when we keep saying united, I really see that as um when we being transparent, discussing, you know, when when something comes to the table, we we need to discuss the why and share that with the public. Um and then I and then it's okay if we disagree. It's okay. We need healthy conflict because that's the only way we're going to move forward. We as long
025as we can keep a level of respect for each other. Um you know, these aren't easy decisions and we do have differing opinions and that's okay. we need to we need to share that with the public so it doesn't always just look like we are completely united on every single topic. That's not a reality. Um so I'm not even sure what your initial question was but hopefully I've covered a bit of it in that. >> So that's a great question. Um so coming from a couple different places. First of all, revisiting that board policy and we have been revisiting this board policy and talking about it. As long as board members, the board speaks for the board when the board's made a decision, right? Um, individual board members have opinions, individual board members um, absolutely
026should be able to speak to the media as long as they share I'm representing myself. And I think that's really important. Um, I also just think we have all these different areas of expertise um on the board and there might be some board members who are more uh well suited to be involved with and speak um speak in those occasions. But communications is far broader than just how the board speaks to the community. Um, I'm really proud of the work that the communications department um has embarked on in the last I don't know probably six months um to build a system of consistency and clarity across our district. And that they're really focusing inward kind of on our our our staff and our our families before we take this more outward to the community. But
027the board is really we're one of the most visible ways to speak to the community. And I do think it's important we have that voice. But we need to continue on this path of very consistent and clear communications and as that improves and as we we can can show progress with that. Um just the fact that we have we have the days of the week that you can expect the the newsletter. Um we have protocols in place for when something happens how that gets communicated has been a really big change. We need a little bit more time for that to get its legs under it, but we need to keep working and never um take our foot off the gas in that case. And then I said it earlier in my candidate statement, we have
028to tell the stories of the miracles that happen in our schools every day. Those stories are out there. Um I think we have some excellent media partners in this community who are willing to tell those stories and and I feel like they also treat us fairly when when there's something that's not so fun to cover. Um, but continue to keep the drum beat of those stories. Um, because those stories are about our kids, right? And nothing's better than telling the stories about our kids. >> I have one more thing I want to toss in because I just dove right in. Um, those who have worked with me know I ask a lot of questions. Um, and I take a lot of notes. Um, so you guys will find that out. And I just wanted to
029mention part of that transparency to me means continuing to ask questions. We have new people, new insight. And I can guarantee you that the questions that we have are the same questions that the public has. So we need to make sure that we are asking those questions and communicating that because otherwise the public is confused and we um that never works. So I just wanted to also just mention, you know, we're all capable. We're all adults. We can all learn. However this goes, I really have faith in this board. Um, and I think that, you know, making some time and carving out space in our meetings to just reiterate asking questions, being transparent, um, and bringing up those sometimes really challenging conversations and having those at the table is, um, is key. >> Thank you
030very much. >> Okay. Thank you. Other questions? I if I can I'd like to ask a question first of all to acknowledge that how lucky are we that the two choices before us are both of you. Um I'm really looking forward to uh to the leadership and just to work with this entire board uh together. Um Cindy, I'm sure you can attest the amount of time it takes in a president role. Um I don't know if you consider it fortunate to be retired to be in this role, but um we're all volunteers and so want to acknowledge that you both have full-time jobs and so if you can maybe talk to how will you make the time to prioritize this board and the work that we have to do. There are some times where issues
031come up and they do demand immediate attention. Um, so just want to hear from both of you um, how you will address the amount of time it likely takes, which is probably more time than you think. [laughter] >> Definitely. >> Well, thanks for your kind words. Um, and and um, I I think when it comes to how to make time for this, it comes down to focus, prioritization, and being really organized about it. Um, and I think if we can get into routines of communication as a board, because this is not an easy or non-timeconsuming job for any of you up here. Um, and I think with the, um, when we added the core committees and some of these additional responsibilities, I will say this is a more intense job than it was when I
032started in 2019. Um, and not just because of all the events that have happened. I mean, Dr. Grover has done a great job of providing opportunities for her board to be more involved and that that does take time. My staff is is pretty used to seeing things on my calendar and uh knows to ask if it's if it's something they can schedule over or not. Um, but being being very intentional and deliberate about how we spend our time, maximizing that time, being really efficient with our meetings while still having the time to devote to the questions and the the conversations around it will be key. Setting setting that intention and being very respectful of time while making sure that we do that we give it the time it needs. Um, as it stands, uh, there's
033probably no way I could I could do this role as a mother, as a full-time employee, and as a board member. Um, so I had a nice walk with my husband the other day to um, get a sense of how we would make that work. Um, I would I intend to pour my whole self into this. Um, I think that we're at a juncture where that is, um, it's important to do that. Um so uh publicly saying that I I'm I'm considering scaling back um on the work front to accommodate for the amount of time and energy and emotional bandwidth this requires. >> Thank you. Any other questions? >> Okay. All right. I am going to pass out the ballots. There are two things you need to um sign your name at the top and
034then select and I will come back and pick them up as soon as you're done. Daniel kind of appreciated it. Yeah. >> Thank you. >> This is offic Jillian. This is official signature, right? We're not just like Yeah. >> You've seen the scribble before. Yeah. All right. As long as she knows what she's asking for. Yeah. >> I'm just going to put it Did we pass them down? >> Oh, I'll I'll pass them up. >> Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> After I read the ballots, I'll be thrilled to turn the meeting over to our newly elected president. >> I believe this says um director buyers >> voted for director buyers. and Director Newman voted for Director Newman. Director Drisimski voted for Director Buyers. Director Garlock for Director Newman. Director Zimmerman for Director Buyers. Director
035Taminsky for Director Newman and Director Burns for Director Newman. So, congratulations, Director Newman. You have been elected to serve as president of the Cedar Rapids Board of Education, and now you get to come forward for the oath of office. Yay. [applause] Do I raise my hand? >> Believe me, you do. Yes, you do. Dear Director Newman, 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 of president of the board of directors of the Cedar Rapids Community School District, in the county of Lynn, state of Iowa, as now or hereafter required by law. If so, please respond by saying, "I will." >> I will. Congratulations, >>
036[applause] >> Do we move right now? We >> move. You're up. My notebook all my garbage down here. >> Are you ready? Good luck you guys. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, moving right into the agenda. >> Yes. >> All right. It's going to be awkward, guys. Hang in there with me. You're going to do great. >> All right. Election of the vice president. The next uh item on the evening's agenda is the election of the presiding officer. I'm sorry. Yeah. Presiding officer with the board of education. Sorry. At this time, I would like to open nominations for the position of vice president of the board of directors. >> President Newman, I'll self-nominate uh for the vice president of the Syrian school district school board. Uh I believe deeply in the power of public
037education and how it can give all students a chance to achieve great things in the classroom, in uh co-curricular activities, and extracurricular opportunities and long after graduation. This is the kind of opportunity that strengthens our community and rewrites legacies for families. Along with being a district parent, I've also served as a trustee and chair of the Cedar Rapids Community School Foundation and led the advisory board for the Salvation Army of Lynn County. Those roles have allowed me to build relationships across the community, specifically with the foundation with teachers, fellow parents, administrators, and community partners. For me, the end goal has always been the same, to help students in the Cedar Rapids School District succeed. If given the opportunity to serve as vice president, I would bring the same approach used throughout my professional and volunteer
038career, collaboration, organization, and a strong focus on communication and accountability. I recognize that leadership on this board means ensuring meetings are effective, decisions are transparent, and every voice is heard. And in times of disagreement, I believe good leadership means listening first and finding common ground that moves us forward. One of the things that I've been learning and trying to implement is to be quick to listen and slow to speak. My own family's experience in the district from elementary through graduation has grown my appreciation of our educators and the opportunities that they create. I also know we face real challenges. Student achievement, staff retention, and building the trust from our community. Meeting those challenges will take teamwork, clear communication, and a shared commitment to what's best for students and families. If the board chooses me for
039this role, I'd appreciate the opportunity to serve and support all board members, maint help maintain well organized and respectful meetings, and strengthen our connection with the community through clear and consistent communication. Thank you. >> Thank you. Are there any other nominations? >> Okay. If not, I officially declare nominations closed. Do we do ballots for this? >> We do not need to do ballots. We'll do a motion in a second. Roll call. >> Okay. Um, with one nomination. Oh, you already read your candidate statement. We'll proceed with that motion. May I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> A second. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. I. >> I. Oppos. >> We need to do roll call. I'm sorry. Roll call. Yep. Okay. Yeah. Good. Uh, Director Taminsky,
040>> I. >> Director Burns, >> I. >> Director Zimmerman, >> I. >> Director Drainski, >> I. [laughter] >> Director Buyers, >> I. >> Director Garlock, >> I. >> President Newman, >> I. >> All right. Congratulations, uh, Director Drainski. You've been elected to serve as the vice president of the Cedar Rapids Board of Education. Please come forward for the oath of office. Twice in one night. >> There you go. Do you, Director Zimski, 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 do your best of your ability, discharge the duties of the office of vice president of the board of directors of the Cedar Rapids Community School District in the county of Lynn, state of Iowa, as now
041or hereafter required by law. If so, please respond by saying, "I will." I will. >> CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] >> Thank you. [cheering] And welcome, Vice President Drazinski. So, >> all right. >> Okay. [clears throat] >> The last item under board governance is the conflict of interest statement. There is a copy located at each of the director's seat. Please be sure to fill this out and have it returned to board secretary Schulty for recordkeeping. With that, we would like to take a moment to recognize and honor the life of a CRCSD employee, Mary Smith. I would like to invite Carla Hogan to speak. Afterward, we will observe a brief moment of silence. [snorts] Mary Lillian Peter Smith, 81, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, formerly of Clinton, passed away at Mercy Hospital, Cedar Rapids on Sunday, November 2nd, 2025.
042Mary was born March 5th, 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee. She was the daughter of Houston and Lena May Ballard Burns or Peters. Lillian was united in marriage to Leroy Smith. He passed away in 2016. She attended Bethl Ame Church and the Greater True Love Church in Clinton. Mary worked as a food service assistant in Cedar Rapids Community School District and McKenley Middle School for six years and was loved by the staff and students. She served several community organizations in Clinton. She was loved by her community and was considered to be the neighborhood grandma. Mary loved helping others. She enjoyed thrift shopping, bingo, going fishing and loved cooking for everyone. She also loved to dance and interior decorating. Above all, she loved her children very much and will be incredibly missed by family and friends. Mary is
043survived by two daughters, Beverly Brown of Red Oak, Texas, and Patricia Peters of Memphis, Tennessee. She had nine grandchildren and 10 great great grandchildren, one sister and three brothers, and many nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends. Mary's dedication to serving students each day was a reflection of her caring spirit and commitment to her community. She will be missed by her co-workers, students, and all who had the pleasure of knowing her. Thank you. I am sure her loss will be felt by everybody for a long time. Thank you for sharing. Next, we will pass the meeting to the our area chiefs for student highlights. Thank you, sir. All right. Tonight, uh we are proud to recognize fourth grader Dvarius Jones from Hayawa Elementary for the incredible growth he has demonstrated since joining Hayawwa. When Dvarius [clears
044throat] first came to us, school was not always a place where he felt successful or connected. Over the past two years, however, he has shown remarkable perseverance and maturity. His absences have decreased by more than 85%. He has maintained a strong record of positive behavior and his reading scores have increased by an impressive 280%. >> [applause] >> Devarius now spends his days fully engaged in the general education classroom setting an inspir inspiring example of hard work, resilience, and personal growth. We are so proud of the student and the [laughter] young man that he is becoming. SO CONGRATULATIONS [applause] and clearly a great role model to your little brother. >> Yeah. [laughter] I have the honor to represent Miss Kora Clark, fifth grader from Grantwood Elementary. Kora exemplifies what it means to exhibit Griffin greatness. As
045a fifth grader, she is an accomplished student who performs at high levels across all subject areas. While we're all very proud of her academic achievement so far, that only tells part of her story. It's Kora's daily purposeful actions that stand out in school full of wonderfully talented and creative students. Simply put, Kora does not take days off. [laughter] She puts forth tremendous effort and care to her personal best every single day. Her admirable determination and resilience will serve her well in future years and in whatever career path she chooses. Corey is one of the most thoughtful students you'll ever meet. She takes time to treat all students with respect, consideration, and kindness. She's patient and understanding and is both willing a willing contributor and an attentive listener. She is kind. She is the kind of
046person every kill kid is thrilled to collaborate with. Congratulations to Kora. We're proud to call you a Grantwood Griffin. [applause] >> Okay. Jack's not here, right? Feel like I have Okay. I just want to make sure. All right. Um, Jack Byer embodies the ideal Taft Tiger and what they represent as a school. He is someone who is always looking out for others. He has such a motivating and warm nature, making everyone want to be around him. Jack always has a positive impact and is uh and has a friendly demeanor and wide smile is just an added bonus. Lastly, Jack has figured out all the world needs is more kindness and positivity. >> Thank you. CONGRATULATIONS [applause] to Devarius, Cora and Jack. That is what I'm talking about, you guys. [music] That is those are the
047stories we love to hear. So, thank you so much. Um, tonight, director Cindy Garlock will be providing our staff highlight. >> Sure. >> Before we do that, can we get our picture? Our student our students have been waiting so patiently. We'll do that picture quick. Yes. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Stand >> around. >> [crying] >> Thank you. >> Yeah, that's fine. Great. Come on. Come on, ma'am. [laughter] >> Yeah. Principal's up, right? Come on up. Yeah. >> One more. [crying] >> [applause] >> Thank you again and thanks to Darius, Kora, and Jack. Um, and thank you also to your parents. You are doing an awesome job. Mhm. [applause] YAY. [snorts] >> All right. Now, Director Cindy Garlock will provide the staff highlight. >> Okay. I am ready for the staff highlight. Tonight, our
048CRCSD staff highlight. Um, the board of education would like to highlight Molly Lamb Hughes, whose dedication and leadership are invaluable to the team at Poke. Molly is an amazing advocate for both staff and students. Her colleagues consistently highlight her exceptional ability to listen, to understand, and her genuine care for her team. She fosters a supportive environment where everyone feels heard and valued. We particularly appreciate Molly's unflapable nature and her ability to navigate complex situations with grace and effectiveness. She is the person who is able to pull everyone together to develop a cohesive plan. even when things go other than planned. >> This showcases her critical strengths. >> She is a courageous communicator. She isn't afraid to have the hard conversations necessary to move the team forward. She is a strategic thinker. Her ability to think
049on her feet and pivot when needed ensures that the team can adapt quickly and maintain focus on student success. We're incredibly grateful for everything Molly does for the team at Poke. Thank you, Molly, for your commitment to excellence, your leadership and advocacy, and your steadfast support of our school community. On behalf of the board, thank you for your dedication, your care, and the excellence you bring to your work. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor. [applause] Thank you. And Molly had the Newman girls at McKinley. So, shout out. So, I also had Molly. [laughter] >> Her name was Mrs. Lamb though. >> Did we all How many? Yeah. So, be good with the boys. Yeah, that's [laughter] nicely done. >> All right. >> Thank you. Moving on. We will hear from those who have requested to address
050the board. Board Secretary Shely, do we have any requests this evening? >> We do not. Holy cow. Okay. All right. >> Then we will move on to Dr. Grover um and she will share her superintendence report. >> Thank you, President Newman. Congratulations, Molly, as well. And I do want to take a point of privilege to say thank you to our outgoing board members as well as uh welcome to our new board of directors. I look forward to working with you and congratulations to all of our students out there. Um tonight I'd like to start my report again focusing in on our four key priorities. Um just to kind of level set here, our four priorities are to ensure that our schools are safe, that our students are prepared for life, that our parents and our
051staff members are partners in this work and that we're physically responsible. As we turn our attention to priority area number one, safe and secure, we know we have some key progress indicators that we've been monitoring throughout the school year as we continue to provide support uh for behaviors concerns within our school district. So, our targeted strategies, which focus heavily on proactive behavioral supports, deescalation, training, and restorative practices have resulted in a clear downward trend across all key safety indicators. We are reporting a 4% decrease in major office referrals and a substantial 10% reduction in the incidence of physical aggression, demonstrating that our building level supports are successfully intervening and teaching students vital self-regulation and conflict resol resolution skills. Most notably, the use of physical restraints has plummeted by a dramatic 58%. This significant reduction is
052a powerful indicator that our trauma informed approach and robust behavioral support plans are effectively minimizing the needs for physical intervention and creating a safer, more supportive environment for every students. While these numbers are encouraging, we will continue to focus on sustaining this momentum by reinforcing staff training. Um, as I visit with the teachers, there's still a need for us to ensure that while we have rolled out our discipline matrix u, number one, we're still looking to refine at the elementary school where some more clarity is needed and overall consistency across the district. Um, with the continued support of our teachers, um, we will continue to ensure that our schools remain secure spaces for uh, learning for all of our students. uh progress underway uh with more work and attention needed. Priority area number two, prepare
053for life. Um this year with with the roll out of our preparation year, a pilot year of our freshman academy seminar classes um almost three months into school, we wanted to provide an update to the board so we understand how um our freshman academy um seminar classes are impacting our students. So it is definitely powerful to see uh the impact of the freshman academy seminar courses. The freshman academy seminars which were offered as an optional choice this school year are demonstrating a significant positive impact on our 9th grade students. I'd like to also give a special shout out to our teachers who work uh within the freshman academy and the freshman seminar classes. Uh these are grassroots efforts here where our staff members work together to develop the curriculum and the courses um outlined. I
054think that's critical to note um that our very own teachers are kind of leading the way. Um of course they made some adjustments and had to do some finetuning. Um but I definitely appreciate their spirit. Now let's talk about the impact of their work. Um, as we look at an analysis of the preliminary data, it shows that students who are enrolled in the seminar classes are performing better than their non-enrolled peers across three critical measures um that we keep on our dashboard. When it comes to our core credit attainment, seminar students are doing better in the required core credits. There is a 5.39% um more core credits earned by students who are enrolled in the freshman seminar class. The next KPI that we uh key progress indicator that we are monitoring is around the total
055credits that are earned by students. Uh when we look at this particular area, 9.5% more of our students are earning more total credits if they are enrolled in the freshman seminar class. Another key area for us is attendance. We do believe that our students they must attend and be engaged in learning. Um so a focus on attendance and our students who are enrolled in the freshman seminar class they uh their attendance rate is 10% better than those students that are not. Again we give all full credit for our teachers who have rallied around the development and the support for the freshman academy seminar. Again this is an optional course this year. Uh more discussions underway as we prepare for next year. Priority area number three, partners. One of the ways that we continue to engage
056our key stakeholders in being partners with us is through the development of our superintendent cabinets. These are groups of individuals across our students, our teachers, and our community um that I developed when I entered um the school district here. So, I want to talk a little bit about the report out from these uh key stakeholder groups. our student cabinet, we met uh this month and our students were engaged in very candid and productive discussion focused on the critical issue of vaping in their schools. Um they raised key concerns um um and also produced thoughts around how we could improve uh the issue. I really appreciate their insights um as a significant outcome of this meeting. There was a discussion and a formation of a separate task force of students um willing to provide ongoing and
057in-depth input and partnership on addressing this challenge. Um Chad Schumacher as well as RS Parker and folks from our safety team, they were there um to take in all of the information and will be key partners with our students as they navigate. I really do want to elevate the student voice and their leadership in making their school safe as well. Also, another key action of our student cabinet was around um our student board representative. And so, they're probably new to our new folks, but we do have a student board rep. Um and thank you for being wonderful role models. They also had to make a candidate statement. So, I do want to um say great job to uh two of our students. Uh Jasper Garcia, he's a student over at City View High School, and
058Katie uh Hubs. She is a student at Kennedy High School, and Katie will be our student board rep, and we look forward to introducing her and on boarding her um as a new student board representative. We also met with our community cabinet. Um this group focused really on reflecting um on the recent bond outcome. The community cabinet is made up of several different uh key stakeholders from across our community from nonprofit to city to business um just a a vast diverse group of folks uh business owners etc. And so just to set that stage for us too, um as we reflected on the bond outcome, uh we as a community cabinet, they really did feel that there was great momentum um that was gained by moving from 39% to 59.3%. And I guess that's a
059pause commercial break opportunity for me to say thank you to our community. Although we did come up short and as our board of directors mentioned here tonight, we know we want to understand more about that and we want to make sure uh that we're taking the necessary steps to to get what we need for our students. But we we have seen an increase of support across our community, many folks across this das uh that was involved in that effort. So, thank you so much. Coming out of that community cabinet, um it was established that we need to rally more people um around the conversation as we think about the next strategic plan. what role can the community play in developing that strategic plan um and more information discussion with the board um as we move
060forward. Our last uh key stakeholder group here would be our teacher cabinet. Our teacher cabinet um they shared their opinions around homebased learning um as well as the sub shortage shortages that we see within our district in terms of homebased learning. They were able to provide uh some key feedback uh to um our leaders that's working on that project. We've seen a lot of feedback within the change management, but we wanted to give voice uh through that group. And I think I heard today even in our core committee, a number of the changes that they asked for would be coming forward uh for homebased learning. Um so we took time to listen to their concerns and I think we're going to come up with a solution. I think overall they agreed that yes, we should
061do homebased learning. They want to make sure that um we have reasonable expectations for staff as well as students. Um these cabinet meetings are vital to gathering diverse perspectives. I'm committed to it and I do appreciate all the folks that help serve on those committees. [snorts] And then finally, priority area number four, physically responsible. Uh last week, we did uh put out a statement in regards to our enrollment numbers. Again, that was a key topic here addressed by board of directors. I look forward to uh working with our board of directors as we think about how we move forward and being physically responsible. We know that there are a lot of tough decisions that are being made um but as well as a lot of opportunities and so what can our community um expect from
062us next? I think it really does go to what our community cabinet has already teased out for us in terms of really um facing our realities landed all on the table. U we started the discussion by engaging our school district leaders uh to really take a look at um their numbers and asking them to come to the table to really think about how we move forward. Uh we do um look forward to uh working alongside the board to really think through how we create a strategic plan and a community coalition. Uh we firmly believe that this should be led um by the board as well as our community um and bringing along parents, educators, community partners working alongside all of us to co-design a multi-year plan. U when it comes to um there's no one
063single um action. We know that we're facing needs in terms of our facilities, our staffing, our student needs, and we have dreams and hopes in this school district. We we know you mentioned about extracurricular activities, academic achievement, all of those things. We want to make sure that we're retaining our staff. So, we have to look at the resources that we have as well as the opportunity to engage with our families, asking the right questions and design a strategic plan that meets those needs. and we continue to um think through how we might launch a unified enrollment campaign um because we want our families to know that they have a place here in Cedar Rapids Community School District. Um and what does that look like for them? And we're asking all of us to continue to
064advocate uh for continued work at the state and federal levels to secure funding that truly meets the needs of public education. Uh thank you for the opportunity tonight to provide my report and that concludes the matter. >> Thank you, Dr. Grover. Moving on to our consent agenda. Are there any items on which a director has a comment, question, or further discussion? >> Do I think uh we have other board reports? It's okay. >> All right. Told you this is going to be awkward, guys. [laughter] >> Do we have any directors who have board reports this evening? >> Yeah, I have I have a core committee report. Um HR shared updates on staffing, leadership development, and our educator pipeline. Uh we continue to make progress filling vacancies. across elementary and special education and we are actively
065working through the remaining openings. Um we are also working toward a strong teacher pipeline. This fall we placed 37 student teachers with 100% fill rate and 43 spring requests have been confirmed. All good things to celebrate. Um we've supported staff through 19 just in time teacher interventions and two for pair professionals so far this year. Uh big shout out to all those cooperating teachers in buildings that have supported um the increase in requests. Our principal pathway kickoff event took place on November 5th with 25 employees enrolled in the newly approved leadership credit course. It was really great to see the room so full and we even got burgers. They were very good. Red Robin, thank you. Um educators rising positions have been posted at Kennedy and Jefferson. This is our pathway for our own students
066to learn about education careers. Looking ahead, the fall hiring fair on November 18th will offer on-site interviews for student teachers and other candidates. All colleges and universities are invited to participate. And the core board will not meet in December, but will reconvene in January. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Do we have any other board reports? >> Okay. All right. Now we can move on, right? Yes. >> Okay. Are there any items on our consent agenda which a director has a comment question or further discussion on? >> Uh, President Newman. >> Yes. >> I would like to just u make a comment on item number 19. It's the agreement with Hazel Health. I just want to call attention to this uh standing agreement that we've had with Hazel Health to provide mental health services to
067our students. I know this board has identified mental health as uh a priority uh for the last few years basically postcoid. We are extending that agreement at absolutely no cost to the district for another six months. So this is really an example of a great partnership that we have with uh a community organization that benefits our students. and in this time of tight budgets, we appreciate those [clears throat] cooperative agreements. So, just wanted to call that out for the community. >> Thank you. >> Are there any any other questions or comments? >> President Newman, I just uh wanted to to ask a couple questions on the change orders, which are item number 20 through 33. Just for clarification, and I've asked these previously and gotten some good information, which I absolutely appreciate. just wanted to
068make sure that it was public when you see a large number of change orders that show up. Um I think we automatically go to the mindset of oh my goodness what what happened to the price here? Um and so I just wanted to to highlight a couple of these and and Mr. Schumager I may ask you to make sure I I put together my own spreadsheet. Um and uh and and what it looks like is that um >> so that's how it's going to be. >> That's how [laughter] it's going to be. I apologize in advance for the next four years. Yes. Um for uh for Jefferson the change orders actually calculated up to a reduction in cost of about $615,000. Got that right? Okay. Um the the Washington change orders were about $64,000 uh
069uh raised. So that nets out to about $2500 on these two projects. Am I getting that right? Okay. Um and then uh you provided additional information I think is important that so this is one set of change orders. There's been another one other set previously that was uh a reduction by $20,000. Um, so my immediate concerns of look at all the change orders on this agenda that we're going to approve were uh evaporated to a certain extent when when I realized that we've actually done change orders that reduce the cost by $17,733. Um, can I ask one quick question on that and just can you kind of walk through real quick uh for us? you know, uh, some of these are like changes to to metal and things like that. Can you just real quick
070kind of why why do we see these pop up in projects because I think people don't understand always understand you know how this happens and and that in construction. >> So there's kind of three categories for change orders. Heirs and emissions from the drawings um owner request um or uh field conditions that were unknown at the time. So depending on which of these you would take take a look at. A lot of these are things that came about either through um things that we didn't know once we got into soils. Uh we we realized we needed some more um supports uh steel rebar for concrete. Uh the city reviews our drawings after we actually approve the drawings to go out to bid. So once the city reviews them, there are things that they come back
071and say we need some changes on those things as well. Um, so there's some of these change orders that are uh driven by the city review on our drawings. Um, there were some that I can say proudly that we asked to uh for owner request. Uh, those are the uh credits. Um, we we looked for ways that we could save some money. Um, and so we uh were able to do that through changing uh pre-cast um finishes um and other things of that nature to try to make sure that we're value engineering as we go. Um, so we're we're definitely doing that in all of our construction projects as well. So the three things are errors on emissions uh owner request and then just unforeseen uh things on the job site. >> Does that answer
072your question? >> Yes, it does. Thank you. Um are we do using value engineering on these projects then? Is that what we're doing with the con the um construction firm? >> Uh yeah. So excuse [clears throat] me. So as we go through each of the projects, this is the college and career readiness and freshmanies. uh the two uh elementarymentaries as well as Harrison, uh we continue to value engineer as we go through and try to look at things that we can save on. Um and so as uh we um go out to bid and we get our bids back depending on if we're high or low, uh we always look at things that we can try to value engineer. So, uh, having a construction, um, construction firm on board through that process has been helpful
073because they are able to see things that maybe an architect, uh, not that they can't see that, but just having another set of eyes is very helpful for us to have that on board for sure. >> And, and one more newbie question, if that's okay, that that's Larson, correct? >> And they were were they selected through an RFP process? How does that work with with them? >> Uh, specifically for the college and career and freshman academy proh process, they are construction managers. um as agents and that was through an RFP process. We interviewed three different firms. Um and then through that process we had board members on that interview committee as well as community members and other administrative uh people from the district. Uh we went through and scored them uh based on the matrix
074and scoring. Then we selected Larsson Construction um out of a pool of three uh contracting firms. >> Excellent. And again, I appreciate that and I want to make sure that I'm learning and I think the questions I'm seeing when I look at the agenda, I think are probably what everybody else is seeing as well. So I I guess that's a warning for you for the future. [laughter] I'll probably be asking more questions. And before you sit down, um number 38, which is the demolition of structures um at at Talking Lane. Um I assume that's just to clear the property or limit liability. Could you could you go into detail on what that is? >> So, as a condition of purchasing that property, uh the DNR required us to take down any structures that were not
075going to be used. And so, the house and the barns on that property are not being used. We're required by um the DNR to take those down and re rem um re uh make it into green space. Again, the other part of that is to cap off any wells and remove any septic tanks as well. So basically to take away anything that would cause uh that uh property to not be uh eco-friendly at this time. So there is no um there is no intention of doing anything more than just removing uh the structures on that property and removing the wells and and the septic tanks uh per the DNR requirements. >> Thank you. Appreciate the clarity on that. >> Thank you for doing this. [laughter] B+. [gasps] >> All right. Do we have any other
076questions, comments, or discussion? >> Sure. I, while we're on the topic of saving money, um I just want to point out item number 10 on the consent agenda. Um I think we had a savings of $284,000 on the portables at Madison. So, um, I appreciate the work that Chad and his team do to be cost conscious and control the budget as much as possible and still provide learning environments for our students. So, just wanted to call that out. Thank you. I'll be quiet. Now, >> I would just like to make my own um comment on item um number 36, the approval on the core diploma graduation pathway. This is a really important um pathway that we are are putting in place for students who face significant life challenges that may impact their ability to graduate.
077This is our commitment to helping students get across that stage and it allows them to graduate from from their school, right? Um which I think is really important um to a lot of kids. So, I just wanted to bring that up and that's a I'm I'm really proud that that's that's on there. I almost wish it was a separate vote, but it doesn't need to be. Okay. Anything else? Okay. Are there any directors on which a director requires an item to be pulled from the consent agenda for a separate vote? Okay. Um and hearing hearing none. Are there any direct items on which a director needs to abstain? Okay. Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda as written? >> So moved. Is there a second? >> Second. >> This is a roll
078call vote d uh due to the personnel report. >> Director Taminsky, >> I. >> Director Burns, >> I. >> Director Zimmerman, >> I. >> Director Dimski, >> hi. >> Director Buyers, >> hi. >> Director Garlock, >> hi. >> President Newman, >> I. >> All right. Thank you. Um, let's see. Our last item tonight is a presentation of the fiscal year 2025 high uh financial highlights and I will turn the meeting over to Carla Hogan. >> Good evening board of directors. Tonight we'll you'll hear our uh FY25 financial highlights. So, our financial overview, our total revenue for FY25 was 328 million compared to $339 million in FY24. Our total expenses were 334 million compared to 328 in FY24. This was an increase. the general fund revenue breakdown. We received nearly $83 million in state funding, $19
079million in federal funding, and we had $15 million of save revenue that came from the bonds that we issued during the year for the Washington and Jefferson CCR projects. A more detailed review of each specific fund will follow later in the presentation. This is our general fund summary. The general fund recorded a $9.5 million deficit in FY25. This deficit occurred in part because the district used esser funds in FY24 to cover certain allocated expenses and increase our categorical fund balances. Also, in the spring of 2025, our reestimated budget had projected a deficit of $ 8.8 million, which is largely in line with the final result. This uh was due to the enrollment impact from our 2024 uh fall count. The district enrollment declined by 336 students. This includes 275.2 2 additional open enrolled out students
080and there were also 43 fewer open enrolledin students. The net change in enrollment was 318 students just from open enrollment which increased the deficit by approximately $2.6 million. I will provide a detailed breakdown of the components contributing to this def deficit later in the presentation. These are our general fund expenditure percentages. Our salaries in the blue represent $146 million or 61% of our general fund and benefits total $42 million, 17% of our general fund. Together, they account for 78% of our general fund expenditures. The next largest C category is other purchased services at $22 million or 9%. Our general fund historical summary shows the comparison of actual revenue and expenditures for FY2021 to FY25. But before we talk about FY21 to 2025, we need to look at um the prior years. Before COVID, the district
081ran deficits of $1 million in FY19 and $4 million in FY20. Then we received ESR funding and that was used in FY21 through FY24 to generate surpluses. In FY25, we recorded a $9.5 million deficit using our prior surpluses to help us bridge our finances to FY26, where the district made significant reductions. We currently have a fund balance of nearly $36 million, which represents approximately 1.8 months of operating revenue. This reserve allows us to cover expenses during the summer months when we do not re receive state aid but must continue paying salaries, benefits, and other costs. So, as I previously stated, we had changes in our general fund categorical balances. And so, this slide highlights year-over-year changes across key categorical funds. The most significant shifts include teacher leadership which decreased by $259,000. Homeschooling was deficit or
082deficit spent by $88,000. Early intervention had deficit spending of $26,000. Teacher quality professional development decreased by $358,000. This was due to the p the payments that we made for instructional empowerment out of our teacher quality professional development funds and our statewide voluntary preschool over spent by $488,000. This overspending was primarily due to the full day program at Truman no longer being funded by Esser. So in total a million dollars of our deficit is covered just in changes of categorical balances. our unspent balance report. And this is slightly different than what's in the uh board packet uh due to the uh Iowa Department of Education releasing uh new numbers uh over the last several days. Um, so our unspent authorized budget or UAB, better known as unspent balance, uh, decreased from $35.3 million to 34.8 million.
083This estimate is $459,000 higher than what is than what appeared in your board packet. And that's because the Iowa Department of Education updated our miscellaneous income to include the educational support personnel salary supplement which they had uh previously not included. Key components of our UAB are high are the highlighted amounts. The $1.7 million in yellow represents our English language learner SBC supplemental amount for ex excess cost. And this mod modified supplemental amount MSA was approved by the board in November. The $3.7 million in blue is the SBRC allowable growth for one-time funding. And that was approved in December of last year. And that includes $413,000 for English learners above 5 years and $3.2 million for additional open enrolled out. And then the next yellow of 10.9 million is our FY25 special education deficit. The 28.2
084million for other miscellaneous income and 240 million in expenditures come directly from our FY25 certified annual report, the CAR that was completed in September of 2025. All the remaining figures are prepopulated by the Iowa Department of Management. This is our UAB insolveny history. The unspent authorized budget ratio for FY25 was 12.4%. Our annual maximum UAB used was 101%. As you know, uh, we did overspend. Our current soly solveny ratio is 14.1%. And this calculation is determined by taking our unassigned fund balance, subtracting our AEA flow through, and dividing the result by total revenue. The solveny ratio had had grown significantly since FY20, though it declined in FY25 due to the de deficit. But even with this decrease, the ratio remains within the recommended range. [clears throat] The metric is also considered in our standards and
085pores credit rating and it contributed to the district's maintaining its A+ rating in the most recent review in August of 2025. So now on to our other funds. The student activity fund is a special revenue fund used to account for money in student related activities like admission fees and fundraising. And these funds are used to support district sponsored and supervise co-curricular and extracurricular activities such as athletics, band, choir, and plays. All the rent the revenue generated is considered the property of the school district and sub subject to board control with expenditures care carefully regulated to ensure the funds are only used for appropriate activities. So uh there was a deficit of $75,000 in FY25. The management fund is used to cover insurance costs, insurance deductibles, early retirement incentive payments, and unemployment expenses. Our management fan
086fund balance increased from 16 million to 21 million. This growth will help offset the rising windhill deductible associated with our property insurance. For FY26, the windhale deductible for all of our district buildings in a catastrophic event such as the do would now exceed $8 million. In the summer of 2025, the district joined the storm pro protection fund through EMC at a cost of $435,000. But we are still building our own reserve to help us set the deductible buy down. While the district did not participate in the equipment breakdown and maintenance insure insurance program in FY25, we are participating again in FY26 with premiums totaling $1.5 million and save the advanced the secure advanced vision for education or the statewide penny sales tax fund balance was $43 million $5.2 $2 million last fiscal year was being
087held in reserve for the previous SAVE bond issues. And our save fund is used to fund facility improvements through BR bond proceeds and technology purchases of computers, hardwares, and software. Our physical plant and equipment levy pebble fund is a combination of board and voter approved property tax and it's used to pay for infrastructure and equipment. Funds are used for projects like construction and repairing school buildings, vehicles, and making safety and security upgrades. The district had uh has approved a 10-year pebble project list that was updated in the summer of 2024 going into fiscal year 2025. The fund balance in the debt service is a restricted carryover for future payments of our bond debt. The ending fund balance has been growing uh over the last five years due to additional debt being issued. And our nutrition
088fund historical summary uh shows a deficit of $6 million. That's a little deceiving because our employee benefits is overstated because of our net IP pension liability of $5.6 6 million compared to FY24 which was only 3.2 million. The deficit of 2.6 million includes the 2.5 million in change of IPER's pension liability. In FY25, the district consolidated all of our enterprise funds that support student activities into a single enterprise fund, fund 68. This now includes our auto tech program, our school stores, and all of our greenhouse operations. Before that, our other enterprise funds for FY21 through FY24 was our child care account. Are there any questions? A lot of numbers. Really quick, >> I have a couple couple questions or just clarification. So um looking at the general fund that teacher leadership number of 1.8 million
089from what I understand you can't right you can't carry forward that much balance so we we spent that on instructional empowerment. >> Yeah. So um the if we carry forward more than 25% balance um during the year when we do our C in the fall we get a um uh error where we have to validate the amount. So, we validate the amount [clears throat] and we tell the Iowa Department of Education why we're carrying such a large balance and then they expect you to start spending down that balance. Yes. So, teacher uh teacher leadership, teacher quality, professional development, both of those funds um the Iowa Department of Education is watching for us to start spending those funds down. >> Okay. And then just a couple other things for the public to be aware of the
090homeschool overspending. So, that we don't have enough students to cover those costs, right? So reducing that program. >> Yes. And so we did re reduce uh for FY26 by one teacher. >> Okay. >> And then um also if students start with us but they go virtual, we still pay for them. >> Correct. If students start with us and even if they're on our October 1st count as a Cedar Rapids uh school student at any time of the year when they go virtual to any of the virtual schools, we have to pay for the days that those students are enrolled in the virtual school. >> Okay. Yeah. Okay. Just wanted to clarify or just make a few of those things known. And then um the other thing I was noting is so we did have a
091pretty steep um drop in enrollment. What were some of the projections that we we were anticipating a decline? What was the anticipation or the projection based on the reality of the 622 that came through >> 622 for this year? >> Yes. >> Um we did not anticipate the 622. um most of our uh projections uh showed that we were going to lose about 400 students. >> Okay. >> So the 622 was um rather high. >> And can you clarify where those students at this time? Can we can we share where those students have gone or do we have an indication of where the majority of those students left to? >> I don't have that. Um Adam, do you want to cover that now? We it is something that we could ask for a a report
092on cover in depth at the work session on the 5th. Okay. Specific numbers. We do have those numbers. I think it would be better for you to see them. Okay. >> We'll see them. And I think I think that many people are interested in understanding what that breakdown looks like and where those students are going. So, it would be good to offer that. >> Yeah. Just to say into the mic so everyone can hear December 5th. We'll cover that in depth um and have it broken out um where the kids went specifically um by district and school. >> Thank you. >> Other questions? >> I love that the first board meeting you get is a 16page financial report. Um I remember the day um for me uh the first time we saw this. So, just
093to acknowledge that um I think all of us are going to the statewide schoolboard conference later on this week. School finance 101 is one of my favorite sessions as is 2011 and 301 when you get there. Um and I also know that when I started on the board, we did have an opportunity to sit with our CFO. So once you come back, this stuff is overwhelming for just about everybody. Um, so if you somehow retain all of this information, power to you. Um, for most of us that's not true. So just acknowledging that I do think that it's beneficial when you come back from the schoolboard conference, they'll hand you a packet with your actual numbers, they'll talk about a lot of this stuff and I think it will start to make more sense every
094day. And just to know that like the leaders that we've had in finance have been fantastic. And I do have the benefit of sitting on the finance and facilities committee. So Scott, especially for you if you nerd out on this stuff as others might, um the committee is here for us. So there's lots of opportunity to see this and to see some data. Um Carla, you had commented that the district ran a deficit I think in 2019 and 2020 and then we had some years we didn't run a deficit. But one thing that I just want to acknowledge is that on the general fund historical summary spreadsheet that you share, it looks like that fund balance as a percentage of expenditures 15% in 2021 and that's roughly the same in 2025 and then that fund
095balance as a percent as a number of months to expend is virtually the same. So I think that's that's maybe just reinfor >> you know and it really was those the $52 million of ESSER funding that really carried the district forward but then on the other side we're right about back where we started >> and then just be and again just calling this out because on the committee I think we do talk about this that the deficit that we're running you we we have saved enough over the years to be able to do that we just obviously cannot continue to do that at that pace. So that number is definitely something that I think we should all be concerned with and find ways to minimize because you know at some point that number disappears and
096we'll learn so much about solveny ratios um and and and the importance of those but I do appreciate you just kind of sharing this with us. Good luck this week >> along along with um learning finance 101 2011 301 uh this week new board members. Another aspect of our activities in De Moines will be legislative priorities and a couple things that stand out from the numbers that Carla just went over. the full day preschool, which this board has been advocating for for several years, cost us approximately a half a million dollars to do that. Um, and so when we go to De Moine or when you have a chance to advocate with your legislators, please bring up the fact that we know, research tells us full day highquality preschool pays off tremendous dividends and it
097also cost us half a million dollars to provide that. So, um, we could ask the state to to ante up a little bit more. Uh, in the same vein, we always seem to be running a special ed deficit. This time, it looks like about $11 million. And again, that's a federal issue. The federal government has never funded the idea legislation at the full amount. So, that's another advocacy um, opportunity for all of you. Call your senators. Call your congressional representative. These are real impacts. >> Um $10 million is just that's a lot of money >> and we have to make that up. So >> just want to point out those opportunities coming up. >> On that note, an extended piece. So, our money that our district receives flows through the state and [clears throat] we're
098coming off of a government shutdown and um the federal government decisions impact what happens at local levels. So, I'm just un curious what does um what does that look like? Do we have any concerns about funding being rolled back in other categories? Um where do you stand with that right now? >> Yeah, so um most concerned about our title funding. Um there was uh at the federal level there was some concern that they were going to take some of [clears throat] our title funding away for this year this 2526. They did not. Um so we need to continue to advocate for that too. Our federal funding um for for our title programs. We need those dollars. Mhm. >> Uh, Director Taminsky and I were in DC uh when the House Appropriations Committee was meeting and
099um they at that point and that's been a few several weeks ago. They had already decided a 15% cut to the Department of Education. So that that filters down to us in one way or another. Again, an advocacy opportunity. I think I know what somebody's going to do with their spare time. [laughter] >> Uhhuh. Working on a plan. >> And just because we're on our own island here, you know, in our district, can you speak to I'm sure you're in touch with other districts that are dealing with very similar situations and um I'm sure we're not alone in this, right? This is Can you maybe just speak to what that what that looks like elsewhere? >> Yeah. Um I I do have meetings with the UEEN and um lots of concerns across UEEN districts um
100with declining enrollment, possible loss in funding um advocating for as much SSA as we can get. Um I was on the SAI um legislative priorities and typically they put in a percentage saying we'd love to have 4%, we'd love to have 3%. This year we didn't put in a percentage. We need to get as much as we can get. >> Um and for Cedar Rapids depending on what SSA is depends on whether we're on budget guarantee or not. So um lots of districts talking about same same and similar things and trying to navigate it all together. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions to our new board members? um finance 101. Uh I'm embarrassed to admit how many times I've repeated it. I might just repeat it again. So um but um we're
101in for a week of learning together. So >> um all right. Before we adjourn, I want to provide a reminder that the next board meeting will be an off-site meeting at Grantwood A.EA on December 5th. Following that, we have a regular board meeting on December 8th, 2025. >> Do we have a motion to adjourn the the meeting? >> So moved. [gasps] A second. >> Second. >> Okay. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. Oppose say nay. With no further business, we stand adjourned at 7:26 Um,