001e e [Music] he [Music] oh okay yeah we told be super hot do good evening everyone I now call the Board of Education regular meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. is there a motion to approve the agenda for Monday February 24th 2025 the Board of Education regular meeting as set forth and each item is considered ready for discussion Andor action is there second second this is a roll call vote director borchering I director Byers I director humble hi director Newman hi director timinsky hi vice president rry Hi president Garlock hi we have three public hearings for the city Rapids Community School District tonight the first one is an asphalt repair project at Kingston Stadium the second one is track and softball update project at Franklin Middle School and Washington high school and the third one
002is the College and Career Pathways project bid issuance number one for Jefferson High School Board secretary Sten have we received any written correspondence related to the public hearings on tonight's agenda we have not thank you do we have anyone who has requested to address the board this evening regarding the published hearings we do okay um we have one speaker okay we have one speaker uh secretary Sten could you announce the speaker and state the specific public hearing they're address addressing we'll have a time limit of five minutes Mary arenus on the topic of mental health that's just excuse me we're we're doing the public hearing comments I speak about public hearing if we're going and also speak to the board it one just one no I believe you can speak you can speak at the
003public hearing you can speak right now we're doing the public hearing yeah public [Music] hearing what is your topic Mary um right now it's for the improvements of the schools the tracks okay later it will be mental Health okay yes that will come later so right now we're doing public hearings okay I think that the um tracks in the softball feels I feel just as a mom of many and foster mom to many that um those things need to be taken care of for for the um health of our students doing the track oh I live at 315 kenri Terrace Northeast Cedar Rapid Iowa 52402 um and for the College and Career Pathways Pro project that um what is that 30 million for Jefferson is I believe that is cuz because it was our 60
004million um I uh I went to a private school and um and for the last 55 years they had been partnering with business around Cedar Rapids Iowa and they had been doing onsite um training for the last 55 years and we didn't get a new building when that started and I just don't know why but that's just my that's just my take on it that's all okay thank you okay we'll move on to addressing the board have there been requests to address the board this evening yes how many requests do we have we have one okay thank you with one speaker this evening you'll be given 5 minutes for your remarks please respect the time limit allotted board secretary Sten will serve as your timer and indicate when your time is expired if you have
005submitted a request to address the board and choose to refrain from speaking in the general in the interest of equality and fairness your time may not be yielded to another speaker to abide by the open meetings law there will be no dialogue between board directors and the public during this time except to clarify the nature of questions or comments from the individual speaking we ask that the audience and speakers refrain from inappropriate language and outbursts as a matter of respect for all in attendance this board has zero tolerance for profanity vulgarity demeaning language or threats of any kind lastly I'd like to remind our speaker that the board cannot address personnel and student matters the board policy outlines the process for addressing and resolving concerns we ask that speakers refrain from using personal names and
006information during public comment before we begin I'd like to remind our speaker to State her name and address when called to the podium board secretary Sten please call our first Speaker Mary arenus on the topic of mental health Mary arenus address 3015 kenridge ke n r i d g Terrace Northeast Cedar Rapid Iowa 52402 parent of a student in the Cedar Rapid School District okay I'm here tonight to talk about a mental health that used to be more taboo than it is now um I believe there's 16,000 students at your Cedar Rapids Community School District if we say the Lesser number one out of four people are affected with mental health challenges and I'm talking about ADHD because the brain develops differently and I've showed you a tin before a 10 picture before of the
007MRIs and the the images that from ad a brain that is affected with ADHD anxiety also a brain that is different than a typical developing brain that has anxiety if we have the 16,000 students in the Cedar Rapids Public School Districts one out of four would H there would be 5,333 students in the Cedar Rapids Community School Districts that have mental health challenges some are extremely severe and it and it goes down to Steel barriers but they are still in your in the district if we say one out of three which is a more realistic number it is excuse me one out of four is 4,000 one out of three is 5,333 th000 children so are they getting served I don't think so um the governor says that all students are allowed a free and
008appropriate public education we have students free of mental health challenges I was speaking with a student here that does very well and he did not have a background of trauma so that's really good for the first three years of their life that they were in just total chaos and dysfunction like some of the students whose parents call me all the time for information um ones who may there are some that kids that don't have an IEP or a bip are maybe not being followed parents keep close tabs on those IEPs I'm telling you right now some children have been suspended maybe eight times this year here for the meds not being successful are you communicate to or they communicate to a um behavioral specialist one being the lowest number having a real bad day so
009they call in they say uh our text in she's having a one that's a lowest on the scale five is good day good good day so you call so they call in and they say she's at a one she goes to the um checkin person that she checks in and just says I'm feeling nervous I'm feeling confused I'm feeling sad and angry and then then you get notes from the psychiatrist and I have a release so I will just pass these on to you look at him or not one was you want to look at them or not I'm we're very open to this m health challenges um they explain it but then the school doesn't quite understand so I explain it again and she sends another letter and another letter and another letter they're
010reading it but they're not taking it to heart they're not showing the empathy and the things their needs are not being met so I just hope that you'll continue or try to meet needs for these kids that we talking about are those getting passed on the papers so the board can see please right now okay thank you and um I have dressed similar things to the board but I feel like if it wasn't a money maker then oh well it's just kids out them in foster care oh well it's just um they're not even trained when the um I just want to go back to the buses the the vans that pick them up those those um they haven't even been trained about children of trauma and I think that's something we need to look
011into and take it take in account sometimes they're short of Staff many many many many times short of Staff but again like I said if you're going to pay poverty wages um you're not going to get the help and they're not to not have their needs met when they need something extra that day so I'm going to beg you again to please pay not poverty wages so they go to DHS and have to get services and yep I work for the Cedar Rapid Community School District and I make poverty wages and I need government help let's not do that anymore please let's set that up for success and not failure and there's ever communication they're trying to tell you something and um I know there's a no Hands-On policy see but hands were put on
012on um the 20th I don't mind that to help prevent things getting thrown or people getting hurt but I do mind having a risk being held and I don't care for that at all thank you for your time thank you I'll now give the meeting over to Dr Grover to share her superintendent report thank you president Garlock I do have have a few updates here for the board as well as the community on some of our strategic priorities uh first of all uh just like to start with we hosted our superintendent Community cabinet here uh this continues to be an important group of community uh folks that will come out to help give us input as well as feedback on our initiatives today we talked about the upcoming Bond information we focused in on communication
013some of the key feedback that we received from our community cabinet was to continue to uh give voice to very specific stories from students and staff and really highlighting the needs uh that exist within the buildings going a little bit beyond just maybe the data and the numbers that we currently have out also U there was a request for us to consider having focused groups in some of the neighborhoods that are impacting uh specifically uh the Franklin and McKinley area so that people can really understand some of the changes um that are being presented within the bond speaking of the bond there's still an opportunity for a greater voice from our community um all of our voters uh should have received a bond survey in your mailbox our families also received an email along with
014our staff right now we've already received more than 4,500 responses but we want to continue to hear more uh so we are asking our community to please complete the survey if you need a copy you can visit us here and we will provide you a copy or we will provide you a link the survey will be open until March 5th also want to take an opportunity U as we've been reviewing the surveys as they are coming in uh I want to share tonight maybe the top five questions that we're hearing on the survey so if you're still out there uh and need to complete the survey and need answers to the information uh here we go top five questions being asked now around the bond number one how long will the property tax rate uh
015increas if the bond passes and how long before the district will ask for another tax increase the tax increase for this bond is $222 Cent per $1,000 taxable property value and that would last for 20 years if approved by the voters um it's been 25 years since the Cedar Rapids um last approv a bond referendum and as a school district we will only come ask our voters when we absolutely need it and it is necessary uh just like we're doing now uh question number two coming in as the top question is why move Metro to Franklin um well for those of who may have know the history of metro metro has been around they celebrated 50 years uh last year and so the program um continues to be important uh to our organization but it
016has moved locations um it started out over in the Wellington Heights area and now um they're at the former Tyler Elementary uh School building um which is an elementary school um much of the the property is still built according to Elementary standards and so it doesn't necessarily fully support the needs of high school students and so we want to maximize the resources that we have and we know that uh we wanted to keep our historic building so in an effort to make sure uh that we are being Mindful and physically responsible Metro now is our most costly building to operate as is and we would uh see cost savings by moving them to the Franklin location so that is the reason why we want to move but we do want to continue to keep the
017relationships with the newo uh District that the students uh participate in quite often number three will Roosevelt be renovated to accommodate the Wilson students the answer is yes uh the district plans invest $26 million in Pebble and save funds to renovate Roosevelt these would be existing dollars that we don't have to ask the taxpayers for again helping us to maintain our historic buildings why does Kennedy uh need a new cafeteria that is question number four um Kennedy is our largest uh High School it has the largest student enrollment but yet it has the smallest cafeteria and kitchen um the students at Kenny day have to go to lunch earlier and they have to eat later uh so expanding the space will ensure students have a better dining experience and that our food service operates more
018efficiently number five why not build the new Middle School on the current Harden property well the Harden site is surrounded by the lmar our school district which limits our options for expansion um in addition to that right now we have 16 buses that go in and out of Harden transporting our students if we're able to get to a more centralized location we will be able to reduce those bus routes and as you know that will also help us improve our transportation services uh we do know that this is a very important topic so as we talk about focus groups uh our team we will be holding a neighborhood meeting about the new middle school that's going to be at Harden middle school um at 6: p.m. on Wednesday of this week if You' like to
019come out and join us uh certainly we welcome as we will be talking specifically about the new middle school project moving on to our student cabinet update um always great to hear from our students we are sharing information about the bond with them but we spent most of our time this last meeting talking about safe and secure learning environments um as we know um that that is our top priority the students give us feedback that we'll be taking on to our leaders I would say uh the hottest topic probably came from Malik's table over there and that was simply to enforce the rules that we have uh that exist and that came from our students so we'll be talking about uh that uh with our administrators and how we continue to um improve uh behavior
020in our schools also we talked about the program of study guide the students were very excited to receive the program of study they even stated that every student should receive a copy of it so uh Staffing we know that that is another one of our top priorities just wanted to quickly update we're making a lot of progress in the area of Staffing but my update to the board as well as to the community is to really just as we move through our staffing model I really do applaud our business office our HR team for really uh taking a look at the resources that are allocated to us as we know uh Carla is uh constantly coming to us letting us know the State of Affairs as it relates to the budget we wanted to accomplish
021three things out of going through the Staffing process number one we want to create a transparent and consistent way to staff our buildings and having a staffing guide uh that is consistent and that everyone is aware of uh we believe that we have accomplished that we also want to make sure that we are taking a look at the number of students that are in our buildings but also looking at their needs right now the way that uh we allocated it was mostly based on just a number of students but we know the needs very by doing this we're now able to offer autonomy to the buildings where they would have a certain enlightment that would allow them to best meet the needs of their campuses and the last one uh number three would be creating
022a staffing model that would allow us to have resources that align to our priorities right now our number one priority is safe and secure learning we've heard time and time again that we need to improve behavior in the school so by working through this process we have now identified funding that we will be able to allocate towards that initiative and more information to come our principles They will receive their Staffing allocations and the supplemental uh backpack information this Friday and so uh really do appreciate them working alongside us as we continue to prepare for uh the spring I've already mentioned about the course catalog uh with our students but for the public uh we want you to know that it's available on our website just go to our website and you will see crcsd program
023of studies I do encourage you to take a look um where we have the opportunity um students are now building their schedules and you can see all the classes uh that we are offering so some updates and highlights uh for this year uh the science and social studies uh course sequence you can find that on page 25 and 30 we know that um we've heard uh some questions on that also course requirements I'm added grade specific course requirements that's on page seven our freshman seminar uh class uh is also included with details that's on page 46 um as well as um all of the Kirkwood career acmy and iack programs they're all in one place if you want to take college classes from Kirkwood you can just go to our program of study guides it's
024there for you on pages 73 through 86 great job to the office of academics all right shout out really quickly to Metro high school and big congratulations to Metro high school and Iowa big they were both recently awarded the stem business engaging students and teachers program award it's called the best award how about that Metro and Iowa big both right here in Cedar Rapids Community School District okay let's keep the drum rolls going for our preschool expansion I I just feel like preschool deserves a round of applause for our Board of Education I believe this is their top legislative agenda item here um and as they're trying to figure things out uh in De Mo our board is trying to figure things out here in Cedar Rapids and we're excited about that and so uh
025on Friday February the 28th we will be kicking off our preschool registration this is so important space is limited so I want to go on record that I'm letting families know space is limited but this year you will have the opportunity to customize your child's preschool experience here with us in Cedar Rapids Community School District registration open online at 6:00 a.m. and you can register in person at truman Early Learning Center from 8:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. what's exciting this year is that we do have half day uh offerings we also have half day with wraparound Services where the students can stay all day we also have full day programming coming so pay attention um to our social media as well as our website and let's get those early Learners registered on Friday February the
02628th um as you can see that our early literacy is uh quite important um in conjunction with our other grades as well so just a quick CK update thank you to the board of education for the adoption of the resource and we are looking um to at least meet 80% reading proficiency and you can see that our students are well on the way um as a result of their implementation all right yay now this is a very special award here um that was announced today um we would like to recognize Jenny Wagner she's one of our teachers from Kennedy High School for winning the first ever individual Dan marber mentors in violence prevention advocacy award she's a special education and Ela teacher at Kennedy she has been a leader uh in the MVP program since
027the start in 2017 and winning this award honors her dedication to Foster ing safer School environments through um violence prevention so thank you so much Jennie for all that you do to keep help keep our kids safe thank you and that concludes my report for tonight thank you thank you uh so much going on and so much good news I just really want to take a minute and call out the the preschool efforts that District staff has been working on now for quite some time as Dr Grover uh reference that has been a very high priority for us in terms of legislative advocacy um as Dr Grover alluded to they're still trying to hammer things out in De Moine so we don't have an answer from them in the meanwhile we were proactive and putting
028together our own program so really excited to see our preschool Early Childhood Program expanding across the district so um I hope the community takes advantage of that any comments questions um I do want to also remind everyone about your bond survey let's let's get those get those surveys back in by March 5th uh board reports director Bing thank you president Garlock on January 30th 2025 the superintendent core committee for policy and compad oversight met to hear a presentation by Karen Swanson from the cedar RIS committee School Foundation she spoke to efforts to coordinate and optimize major fundraising efforts within the district committee members asked questions concerning fiscal agents and the distinctions between major fundraising campaigns and smaller efforts such as bake sales and similar events thank you director tinsky I'm just down to one president
029gar I think I told you that three um the academic and achievement advisory committee met virtually on February 17th uh with President Garlock um the attendance to the D mg conference on improving academic success amid declining uh public enrollment was one of the topics that we covered um key themes included the need for bold changes in education and evolving special education um Adam zman also joined us uh provided updates including visits to 9th gradey local school Renovations and upcoming Community input uh plans for City View um and its recruitment strategies uh Jillian schy announced the elementary and magnet school Lottery deadline and discuss the advocacy uh for msap funding uh Karen highlighted the need for improved scheduling for special education Chris Gibson a reported on better attendance and referrals but raised concerns about um the
030impact of uh what's happening with Katherine McCaul and its effects on immigrant families thank you other board reports director buers you bet um at the finance and Facilities meeting for February we were updated on multiple facilities projects from bid openings for the McKinley science lab project to an overview of the design development phase of the Harrison and Madison project uh we also got a quick review of the pble updates that were coming in under budget Yahoo Chad also spoke about the bond surveys and answered additional committee questions about the location of the new Middle School uh and we ended the meeting with additional conversations around green schoolyards which is one of my personal new favorite projects uh and so thank you to Chad and Chris and Carla and the committee for all your your hard
031work thank you lots going on in facilities any other board reports okay next up D director Newman will provide our staff highlight for the evening director Newman hello it is my pleasure to um carry out our staff highlight tonight so tonight for our highlight um the Board of Education would like to highlight Mr thus Scott who's in the audience give us a little wave that is the first district contact in the operations department when there's an emergency um so you always want somebody on your team like like that he facilitates correcting those issues and is always willing to go above and beyond when tackling an issue whether it's coming in on the weekend or taking calls in the middle of the night he's always available to solve whatever comes up that is knowledgeable on all
032of our Min systems running our school district and you can often find him reading a manual of a new piece of equipment learning exactly how it operates he's not only a great coworker but an amazing friend to those he works with bringing humor and levity to all dad would be the last to take credit but the first to offer support many times having things solved before the work order can even be fully processed thank you Thad on behalf of the board and your fellow co-workers for all of your dedication and your commitment to the Cedar Rapids Community School District thank you sad moving on to our consent agenda are there any items the director would like to pull for a comment question or separate vote do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda
033so is there a second second this is a roll call vote due to the Personnel report director Byers hi director humbles hi director Newman I director tinsky I vice president rry I president Garlock hi we have one item under Administration tonight Dr boring hi sorry thank you we have one item under Administration tonight the only item is for the publication and scheduling of public hearings for fiscal year 2026 proposed tax notice and budget and I'm going to hand it over to Carla and Derek good evening board of directors um tonight for our fiscal year uh 2026 certified budget process Derek is going to go through the timeline and uh information uh that will be forthcoming to the county auditor's office all right hello thank you for having me so all right so um today we'll
034go over the certified budget process set those public hearing dates and then go over the proposed property tax notice um and what goes into that tax rate um so here you can see that annual budget cycle um and you can see we're early in the in the cycle in that process um and you know just kind of know that some of these dates will come pretty quick as we hold those public hearings and um The Business Services office will continue to provide updates kind of throughout this process over the next couple months um you know and just kind of know that we're always evaluating reviewing monitoring um the kind of budget throughout the year and um just kind of always keeping fiscal responsibility and sustainability at our Forefront um so um as we go through
035the budget process um we're continually uh reviewing um and reestimating uh the budget through route um and so to kind of touch base on where we're at today with the um general fund deficit you might remember we were at about a $9.6 million deficit um when we origin originally put the budget together knowing that this was a bridge year coming off of Sr funding um as we've reestimated um we have freed up about $900,000 total um and got that down to $8.8 million and that's uh through the position rebud getting cycle um we've freed up about $610,000 through uh unfilled vacancies and uh salary and benefits to this point in the year and so it's kind of important to note that of that $8.8 million deficit still about 1.5 million of it is still tied
036up in vacancies um salary and benefits uh from this point through the end of the year um budgeting for that assuming um that those positions could be filled um through the rest of the year um we've also been able to shift uh $600,000 to pble eligible expenses for building repair needs um that through the SR funded years we kept in the general fund as a um as a funding strategy uh but now that Sesser funding has expired um we're going to be looking to ship that back to those peple expens and then kind of one setback that we've ran into is due to State Legislative changes and how um open enrollment billing is affected um so our original estimate for open enrollment billing is now about $260,000 more than are reestimated just because of State
037changes and little change in language kind of can make big impacts all right we'll get into the um um FY 26 budget year and so here um you know kind of knowing that we're coming off of that bridge year um for Esser and covid funding relief um we're starting to take kind of new approaches to how we look at the budget and school funding um to be able to curb that deficit going into um next year um so kind of what we've done to um make improvements to how we look at things is we've rolled out um a strategic budget plan for our administrative departments um which was essentially a zerob based budget model so um instead of giving allocations and spending down we've asked administr um administrative staff to really justify expenses and really
038build a budget from zero up um so we're kind of looking at that differently and we've really been able to free up about a million dollars um in in expenditures just from um the EOS C administrative departments um and we are also in the middle of that Staffing study with DM group um just kind of knowing that we need to realign reallocate um staffing needs to meet um student achievement student uh needs at the buildings and so really just trying to um be as efficient as we can through that process um while taking on the challenges of declining enrollment I've also laid out out some key dates here um so through the budget uh cycle so um that the proposed property tax notice that'll go over on the next slide um will be mailed out
039by the county auditor on uh March 15th um and then we will go over that um property notice uh at the March 31st uh board meeting um where where we'll hold that first public hearing and then we'll have a hold a uh special board meeting uh April 7th to hold the second uh separate public hearing um to go over the full proposed um certified budget for FY 26 um and then kind of finally we'll get down to April 28th board meeting will um propose adoption of that certified budget and then the all important date of April 30th where we'll get that adopted budget to the county auditor and then next slide here we have what that proposed property notice looks like um that will be mailed out by the county auditor um it's important to
040know in this um notice that we are making the Assumption of 0% uh State supplemental Aid um as that is kind of worst case scenario um if things fall through and as that would generate uh the least amount of funding for the district and would put us on the 1% budget guarantee so we're taking that worst case scenario in this model knowing that our property tax rate cannot exceed the proposed $13 88457 there which is still less than our current rate of $13.90 um and also within this notice um that's going out they do assume a 10% of assessed value increase um which results in a residential and Commercial um percentage rate increase of about 12% and 13 1.5% respectively um and then I'll go over on the next couple slides here kind of more
041apples to apples comparison all right so using a $100,000 residential property here um and we have our roll back rates that are set by the state legislators and the proposed tax or the proposed tax rate there um we're showing uh kind of more apples to apples taking out that assessed value increase of about 2% on a residential value and then the next slide we have a $300,000 commercial property um and this is the first $150,000 of a commercial property is subject to that same residential uh value roll back percentage and then any value on a res uh commercial property exceeding 150,000 is subject to a 90% roll back percentage so using a $300,000 commercial property um we see kind of a more realistic uh proposed property tax rate increase of 0.39% all right and then
042now we'll get into kind of what uh drives the uh property tax rate um so kind of the two major components that drive the tax rate is the district cost per pupil and the our enrollment District enrollment um so kind of from this point forward we're going to I'm going to assume a 2% SSA rate um uh that's what was in the governor's original proposal that's where the Senate currently sits and then the house is um currently ated 2.25 uh percent with some Thro inss um so we'll assume 2% kind of here going forward um all right and then on the next slide here I have just kind of what those Trends look like as far as what our District certified enrollment has been that District cost per pupil and then what that SSA rate
043using 2% um for the Assumption for the FY 25 or 26 I'm sorry all right and then here is uh the trend of what our property tax rate has looked like over the Last 5 Years um this is made up of the general fund Levy management Levy uh physical PL and Equipment Levy and then Debt Service if we had any govern um General obligation bonds that had passed um so using that 2% SSA rate in this model um kind of that more realistic property tax rate we'll look at um will be around $13.65 compared to that maximum rate that we could be at of 1385 and then here we have kind of the largest impacts to that tax rate over the last uh few years um you can see the cash Reserve Levy um has
044decreased over the years and that's due to as our man uh as our general fund uh balance has um increased over the Sesser funded years we've been able to cash Reserve less um so that's where we're seeing the impact there um and then the instructional support Levy um is we're seeing a uptick um direct impact there which is due to um the state of Iowa has decrease the the income tax uh the state income tax to a flat rate of 3.8% so kind of what that's directly impacting is that income base um that our income s tax for that instructional support Levy um the dollars that we pull from that so with that base being less it's shifting more of that instructional support Levy being funded by the property tax rate as opposed to um
045income so that's where you're seeing the impact there and then kind of finally we see the management fund Levy has um decreased and that's as we've been able to kind of level off that Levy um that supports uh Property and Casualty Insurance needs and um early retirement benefits all right and then we get into who controls that rate and then so about 25% of the rate is board controlled um so between the instru support Levy the cash Reserve Levy management Levy and then that 33 Cent pep um note that the uh ISL the instructional support Levy is expiring at the end of fy2 uh6 so we'll uh present that in about a year's time um to look to um to extend that um and then we have the community um the voter controlled about 10%
046which is uh the voted pull um that passed in back in September with over a 70% vote um so I just want to be able to use this as an opportunity to really thank the community and those voters uh for their continued support for the district and um our initiatives um and just kind of knowing that that um voted pepal alone goes a long way it's essential for our 10-year P plan um to really improve um and maintain uh District facilities and equipment so thank you and then finally we have the state funding formula makes up the the last 65% there and then we have our uh just our uh trend of where our the district's tax rate has been over the last 10 years um after it was leveled there we've seen a slow
047kind of decrease over the last handful of years and then finally we have um just a another chart um that shows where Cedar Rapids um in the second uh bar there shows where we compare to surrounding districts within uh Lyn County um and you can see that we are the lowest in the surrounding districts and then I will open that up to any questions or comments you have thank you Derek um I have a quick question about the uh tax notice that that we're mailing out yeah so the example that you put up there was with a zero SSA right y so if if we can assume KN on wood that they settle on an SSA before March 5th we would use that number in the tax notice so the tax notice though this is
048the maximum that we could possibly exceed um is that $138 if we get if it comes in at 2% like we're assuming um it will be closer to that uh $13.65 that was shown on a later slide I believe the tax notice will still go out knowing that this is the maximum that we could exceed okay yeah so the district has until March 5th in the department of management system to put what we want so we we'll hope that they settle on what the tax rate is by March 5th and if they do we'll put in whatever is the actual but since we don't know that we're going to assume zero and um we have to push a button on March 5th in the system to push the rate out so we'll wait until March
0495th and watch but if it if they don't sell on SSA we'll push it at zero okay so this might be a good advocacy time for folks to contact their legislature and say in order for school districts to plan their budget we need to have an SSA by March 5th correct and every school district across the state is in the same boat we're watching for that to get passed so um we can update it in the Iowa Department of management system and then it will update our tax rates automatically yes okay thank you so I I hope everyone heard that and they will send an email or make a phone call um in the next day or two other questions director boring I have a question there also on the proposed uh property tax notice
050that if it is a 0% which of course we hope it is not that there would be an explanation of budget guarantee and there is it says here crcsd has a potential to be on the budget guarantee due to declining enrollment and that language will be on the tax notices okay and if it if we get our our tax rate or our supplemental state aid and it's 2% we'll take that off that will the reasons will say whatever is at the time so there won't be a formula explaining what budget guarantee is and why we need to use it and how it's allowed and um we probably have more letters in there we could put in yeah we can put in a longer explanation I think it's might it might be confusing to people that
051don't know what budget guarantee in our world yes yeah we can we we have more words I can't remember how many were limited to 150 characters there's a certain letter but we can make that longer absolutely okay and then I do have a different question if I could and then I'll be done with my two um so I just want to understand something so because income tax is decreasing we're having to make up that in property tax to be able to maintain uh a budget where we can continue with our programming my question is the the roll backs that are being allowed um I'm assuming that those are projected to pull more money from companies and and uh Industries so does that also increase property tax the roll backs okay so let's go back to
052the roll backs if I can get there so the roll back went from 46 . 343 to 47.4 57 the reason the roll back went up for percentage instead of down is because um Statewide uh there were allowed 3% growth and um on property taxes last year was a re-evaluation year so because um more counties had re-evaluation years it made that number drop typically it stays pretty close so it doesn't fluctuate back and forth okay thank you yeah and that 3% is class of property it's not specifically a property it's just that class of property Statewide perfect thank you it's about all the rules questions for other board members um there's something that stuck out the staff justifying expensers freed up a million dollars was this just at like an admin level you said here
053at the ELC or was this across School just at the LSC the administrative departments here at the LSC um did their budgets for FY 26 already and um it freed up a million dollars yes yes thanks other questions no more questions thank you Carla and Derek thank you all those in favor of approving the publication and scheduling of public hearings for fiscal year 202 six proposed tax notice and budget please respond by saying I I those oppose same sign thank you I would like to take a moment to recognize and honor the lives of three of our cherished Cedar Rapids Community School District employees Brad teal Kelly Leighton and Max Pike I would like to invite poke alternative education center principal Michelle Lu lukovski to speak about Brad teal followed by Chief of Human Resources
054Darius Ballard to reflect on Kelly Leighton and Washington High School principal Ian lamaster to share thoughts regarding Max Pike afterward we'll observe a brief moment of silence in remembrance of them Brad teal passed away on January 24th 2025 Brad grew up in rimson Iowa and was a graduate uate of Ren St Mary's High School he began his college education at the University of Iowa then transferred to Brier Cliffe where he graduated with his ba in 1999 from there he received his Masters in 2006 from Drake University in educational leadership and went on to earn his EDS in 2018 Brad began his role with the Cedar Rapid School District in August 2011 during Brad's tenure at pulk he initially served as a special education teacher before transitioning into a facilitator role in both capacities Brad was
055an invaluable resource and leader not only within the off-site programs but also through the Special Services Department within the district he wore many hats and took on numerous responsibilities with dedication and professionalism Brad served as a man and more recently safety care trainer he took these roles very seriously ensuring that all those he trained adhered to the highest standards and expectations every single day another of his key responsibilities at pulk was overseeing Medicaid billing ensuring that it was always accurate and up to dat we are struggling without him he also worked closely with staff to monitor data ensuring IEPs were submitted on time and progress was accurately tracked however perhaps his most important role was supporting both students and staff in managing behavior and fostering a safe and secure learning environment Brad was a safe
056space for students and adults alike he made a significant impact on countless lives his ability to deescalate even the most challenging situations and his unwavering respect and compassion for everyone around him were truly remarkable he was a kind gentle soul willing to ask difficult questions when necessary yet always offering support with a great sense of humor and a tough exterior Brad was someone everyone could rely on for guidance for many students Brad was the adult they could lean on for support and Direction as a colleague he knew exactly when to offer praise and encouragement and he had an innate understanding that a child's behavior is a form of communication he worked tirelessly to understand and meet the unique needs of every student in the months that followed Brad's illness a void was felt throughout the
057building there wasn't a day that went by that someone didn't say Brad would have known exactly what to say or do he left behind big shoes to fill within the district and his absence will be deeply felt by both students and staff while we will miss him dearly we take comfort knowing that he is no longer in pain and he is at peace as we observe this moment of silence in memory of Brad teal please remember the lives of the students and staff that Brad has positively impacted as an employee of the Cedar Rapid School District thank you thank you Michelle there he [Applause] is Kelly Leighton passed away on October 9th 2024 she was born in Cedar Rapids Iowa and attended our own Jefferson High School Kelly began her role as Cedar Rapids or
058in our Cedar Rapids Community School District on February 21st 2022 she was a food service assistant at Kennedy High School as we observe this moment of silence and memory of Kelly leaden let us remember also the lives of the students staff and families that she positively impacted as she helped feed our kids every day thank you Darius Ian Max Pike passed away July 24th 2024 Max was born in Cedar Rapids on November 16th 2000 and graduated from Jefferson High School Max then attended the University of Northern Iowa graduating with a bachelor of English teaching degree Max student taught at Washington High School during the 2223 school year and we immediately knew that Max was a warrior we were lucky enough to hire Max the next year to teach language arts and be the lead sponsor
059of our GSA while words can't express the pain and sorrow that we all felt and continue to feel regarding the passing of Max we are also so incredibly thankful for the opportunity we had with Max in our lives Max was a true advocate for all and will forever be remembered in the Warrior family and certainly Beyond I want to extend my gratitude to his parents Shelley and Ryan who are here today thank you for being here and thank you for raising such an amazing compassionate and caring individual as we observe this moment of silence in memory of Max let us remember the lives of the students and staff that he positively impacted as an employee of our school district thank you thank you Ian we'll have a moment of silence please thank [Music] you we
060have several items under board governance tonight the first item is a motion for a closed session for confidential records do we have a motion to move into Clos session so moved do have a second second this is a roll call vote director Bing I director Byers hi director humbles hi director Newman hi director timinsky hi vice president rry I president Garlock I the board will now move into close [Music] session e for