001e e for [Music] good evening I now call the Board of Education regular meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. in the absence of board secretary redstrom it's recommended that vice president timinsky be appointed to serve as board secretary protown for this evening's board meeting all those in favor please signify by saying I I those oppose same sign thank you is there a motion to approve the agenda for Monday September 23rd 2024 Board of Education regular meeting as set forth and each item is considered ready for discussion and or action I move to approve the agenda for Monday September 23rd 2024 the Board of Education regular meeting as set forth and each item is considered ready for discussion Andor action is there a second second this is a roll call vote uh director boring I director
002buers I director Newman I uh I signify with I and then president Garlock I have there been any requests to address the board this evening vice president t mitsky uh there is and there is one with one speaker this evening you'll be given up to five minutes for your remarks please respect the time limit allotted to each speaker vice president timinsky will serve as your timer and indicate when your time has expired if you've submitted a request to address the board and choose to refrain from speaking 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 the board of directors and the public during this time except to clarify the nature of question or comments from
003the individual speaking we ask that the audience and speakers refrain from using inappropriate language and Outburst as a matter of respect for all in the audience 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 information during public comment before we begin I'd like to remind our speaker to State their name and address when called to the podium vice president tinsky please call our first Speaker uh Jana Linderman speaking uh regarding enforcement of Senate file [Applause] um thank you this is my first time doing this so let's let's see how it goes my
004name is uh Jan Linderman I live at 8316 Street Southeast in Cedar Rapids I'm the mother of two children one is a three-year-old who just started preschool and I'm also the mother of an eighth grader at McKinley Middle School um I guess the purpose of remarks is that I both have questions and concerns um I was aware of Senate file 496 existing um but it was brought to my attention at the beginning of the school year through a school district email that the school district here intends to start enforcing this law and pulling books from shelves and providing you guidance to teachers about what they are and are not allowed to say in a in the classroom and some of the questions I have as a parent are are we allowed to know what those
005books are that are being removed from our children's schools are we allowed to see a list of those books what is the process what is the recourse um that parents have and I guess secondarily um I'm here speaking because I felt like there isn't hasn't been another venue for me as a parent to express my concern um with how this is being implemented that it's being implemented in this kind of abrupt opaque fashion and what I can do as a parent and a Community member to protect the rights of my child that's enrolled in school here and also to show that we support and respect our teachers because this bill and its implementation is just another thing on top of years of challenges that our teachers have had and I just feel powerless as a
006community member to do anything about it I want them to know that we support them that we have their backs I want us to actually have their backs um I was I was told I think at the PTA meeting to talk to my legislator my legislators didn't vote for this none of the Cedar Rapid legislators vote for this and I've LED enough Lobby days in De Moine to know that the legislators who wrote this bill and enacted it don't care what I think wouldn't listen to me if I came there for the purpose of disagreeing with them because I've tried to do that before and it's gotten really bad in recent years so I feel like I've used every outlet that I have to express my opinions on this but I want to know is
007what are we doing as a community because what I see us doing is getting ready to implement this poorly written really vague law it's not clear if that's possible to do in in a in a faithful way because it's not not a well constructed bill with conflicting um requirements that aren't clear teachers aren't going to have a lot of room to know if they're following it e if they're actually following it or not I'm afraid they're going to start censoring themselves and that is the example that our kids are going to see from them um I would also say that I just have questions as somebody who went through the public school system I was a sixth grader when I got my period in school I also had a friend that year who was being
008abused by her father and reported it to her teacher and I want to know how educators are supposed to talk to the kids that we place in their care 5 days a week seven hours a day when these kinds of issues come up do they run a foul of the the requirements of this law or not and my concern is is that the legislators who wrote this aren't the ones taking responsibility where the rubber meets the road when our teachers have to start following these rules and maybe facing punishment if they don't get them exactly correct why are we the on on as a community as a school district putting ourselves on the front line enforcing a law that doesn't appear to be constitutional because the United States Constitution is also the law and it
009also applies here people still have First Amendment rights people still have due process rights our teachers and our students have federally protected civil rights that are all potentially being violated here so we're not really following the law and I question whether that's even possible if we're trying to implement this one state legislature what other laws are we going to be violating and finally I guess one of my concerns from the school district email and you see it on the screen here that one of the primary objectives of this school district when we're designing curriculum for our students is to ensure that our students are future ready and my question is when we're doing this what future are we envisioning for them kids face so many obstacles entering the adult world and we can't always take
010those away for them even if we want to as parents but we're teaching them to silence themselves to cage their ideas and I feel like that's indefensible as adults that are responsible for their well-being and I I just I guess I would like some more information and guidance and I'm hoping the school district can think of a way to engage parents like me who are concerned and want to stand up for the rights of our children and want to show that we support our teachers and that's all I had to say thank you I will now give the meeting over to Dr Grover to share her superintendent report thank you president Garlock uh first ID like to express my gratitude to our community for renewing our physical plant and Equipment Levy um as we know
011with 72% of Voters supporting the renewal we're now able to secure critical funding for ongoing maintenance and Improvement of our district facilities uh this was a reaffirmation of our community's commitment to public education and the future of Cedar Rapids um we definitely want to be able to give a special uh thank you to all of our community members um our parents um our staff members who were out sharing uh the relevant information so that our voters could make a very informed decision so on behalf of the 15,000 students that we have in our school district almost 3,000 employees um as in the support of 32 attendance centers we definitely say thank you to our community for keeping the tradition going um and helping to um ensure that we will have pple funding for the next
01210 years um as we think about the support that we have received from our community um we are just as grateful for the feedback that our community continues to provide to us uh both formal and informal feedback uh specifically as we think about the survey that was completed back in the spring with almost 10,000 responses um it aided Us in the way that we approached the pep uh renewal this fall and as we move forward and shift our attention now focused on the bond for Bond 2025 I just want to let you know our district facilities task force committee um they held their second meeting this last week uh the committee consists of community members parents and District staff during the meeting we discussed the funding sources available for our district facilities participants had the
013opportunity to Identify and discuss important values and priorities for the district uh which this is going to be uh important I think a lot of the discussion um senat around there's a lot of information to consider um as we make uh decisions um um there's also um limitations when it comes to funding um and just we really kind of looked at how we compare to other surrounding districts and how they are making improvements uh within their districts some of the funding mechanisms that are being utilized I I think it was a great experience uh we even had an activity where uh the members they had the opportunity to kind of help us decide how would they spend the money um it was quite challenging um I think Chad said this is what um I have
014to do every single so I think we definitely had a little bit of empathy for him as we move forward but definitely appreciation for um these committee members they are spending quite a bit of their time with us each month uh helping us to think through this process I think we do have some Renewed Energy uh with this team one of the things that they asked us for was to make sure that we have transparency of what's happening at the committee uh meetings with our community uh so I do want to thank our team they were able to develop a um a Loc here on our website you can see we have Bond 2025 uh the task force works so the minutes from those particular meetings even if you're a Community member you're um not
015a part of the task force you can still engage with us um there's also a link there if you have questions for us you can submit questions and our team uh will answer and we will continue to uh update this site uh as we uh progress through the progress I mean through the process our next meeting is scheduled for October the 8th I would also like to um next uh thank Lynch Ford of Mount Vernon for their generous twoolbox donation to The Jefferson High School Automotive classes U you can look at the pictures there you can see that they were quite excited U our Auto Tech instructor Jim Schubert um he uh definitely uh was very grateful and we know that he will utilize this new Tool Set uh with our students this is a
016great example of a Community Partnership that is helping our students to become equipped empowered and engaged um in their College and Career Journeys speaking of Engagement so uh later uh here tonight on the agenda uh the board you will have the opportunity uh to support and effort here um as we continue our College and Career Readiness work but I did want to take an opportunity maybe to just speak on it just a little bit um on the agenda tonight you will have an agreement with emblaze which is part of the big picture Learning Network some of you may have heard about it before it's nationally known um this program will help manage student internship opportunities for the upcoming school year students will verify their attendance reflect on their learning get feedback from their intern mentor
017and build their Network on a secure online platform that has been tested across the country in schools like City View um so City View is where we're starting with this initiative uh that's been a huge Focus um as we continue to think about the focus of City View uh the interns will be a big um I guess a signature piece of what it means to attend school at City View um this also aligns with our strategic plan of graduating college and career ready students um City View's internship program is launching in the coming weeks students are getting prepared with resumés personal statements and practicing um their interviewing skills local businesses and organizations are also being onboarded in order to host our students uh so what this looks like is 11th graders will begin internships um
018during their second quarter uh with the ninth and 10th graders which we know we have the ninth and 10th graders will start during their third quarter these internships will be two to three days a week and based on students College and Career interest areas so really exciting times uh to get this program started with your approval here tonight at City View next up I wanted to share two important updates uh with the board surrounding Safety and Security within our school district so always um an opportunity um as we continue to think about safety in our schools uh to make sure that we have a renewed uh Focus that information is constantly out uh with our campuses and our families uh so Janessa Carr our safe and secure learning environment administrator um has been working hard
019to update our district Safety and Security plans uh going for we will be using the terms hold secure and lock down hold is used when we need to keep hallways clear uh due to an issue inside the building that is not related to an immediate threat such as a medical situation secure is used when there is a Potential Threat outside the school building such as a police activity uh within the surrounding neighborhood and lockdown is used when there is an immediate threat inside or near the school that could cause harm to students and staff uh this information has been shared out with families through video um and written communication um in addition Janessa and our um C Rapids Police Department Pals um and our school resource officers will be providing training for all grades uh
020on the Run hide and fight procedures the training is being taught in age appropriate ways um thank you uh to the Board of Education last year for allowing us to uh adopt the crisis go so I just wanted to give you an update um in regards to where we are with crisis go the district is uh working to roll out the crisis go system you can see the timeline there um all staff uh they were to download the crisis Go app on August the 20th I think we are on schedule information to all of the parents is set to uh go out this Friday so we're asking all our parents uh to be on the lookout for more information uh in regards to how to download the app again again thank you to the board
021of education for your um continued attention and support on helping us to create a comprehensive safe and secure learning environment framework uh for our students also wanted to give a quick update on Hazel Health Services um that we announced last month we're finishing up the training with our staff um and um with our professional learning day coming up on September the 30th uh once that is complete uh we will have the full launch of the program um and continue taking student appointments for telea health mental Services uh for our community our District's Hazel Health Website is now live and you can access it via the district website and the school sites this is where parents and Guardians can request services for their students students uh this is another great tool for us um as we
022continue to bring barriers down as we focus on achievement going up um this is not a replacement for any other U Mental Health Services that we have such as manager we still have a very robust uh relationship with them um but this is an addition to um and it is uh definitely focus on providing those virtual opportunities with flexible schedules for our students all right just a reminder always a good time for celebration just earlier this month we held the official ribbon cutting um and Community open house for our newest Elementary School of Trailside so um thank you for to the economic Alliance for coming out to help us uh with this along with um our community and our staff members um this building is certainly certainly a shining example of our future ready facilities
023plan and certainly um it will uh give us another um way to think about um the rest of our buildings as we move forward so congratulations to all those folks over there at Trailside and finally um let's talk about homecoming so Jefferson High School held their homecoming last week our very on uh School Board president um had the opportunity to help uh celebrate and I I think the board is helping us out this year and they we have board representation at all of our uh homecomings going forward so congratulations to the homecoming court and the football team for winning their game that makes it extra special uh so just be on the lookout uh this week we have Kennedy uh their parade is on September 25th their football game is on September 26 um next
024week we have Washington I guess they have a bond a parade and a bonfire okay um that's on October 2nd with their football game being on October the 4th um always a great time to celebrate our students here in Cedar Rapid Community School District thank you and that concludes my report for tonight thank you Dr gromer do we have any other board reports tonight director boring thank you uh last Thursday during a public meeting of the Iowa Association of school boards during a legislative update it was noted that a bill regarding Banning cell phone usage in schools will be proposed by state representative Pat Grassley it is assumed that to be in line with the required State attendance policy private and voucher supported schools will be exempt from this requirement thank you I got one
025as well um finance and Facilities meeting we had a meeting on the 3D of September um again uh this was prior to P so we were really focused on uh the strategy to connect with the voters leading up to um and you know just wanted to reiterate and express our sincere gratitude for all of those who all 72% of Voters who um voted yes there are lots of ongoing needs with these facilities so it is pretty vital uh this type of Maintenance um so appreciate you trusting in us um in regards to Hoover and Van berren we uh reviewed the interview process for an architect uh there were interviews that were actually held on Wednesday the 11th and um there were five firms that were interviewed um the interview committee was pretty robust there were
026teachers community members um parents and um a couple of us board members so thank you to director timinsky we got to be a part of that process and um I had a real pleasure spending the day with this group of people there was a lot of perspectives in the mix um really uh well-rounded conversations so we felt really good about about that day um and then there was some um discussion around different models for design and building um of these projects projects so there's the design bid build construction manager and construction manager at risk uh we decided to move forward with the construction manager at risk model so um we also kind of review the time timeline for the selection of this firm and uh yeah it's a great meeting had by all thank you
027vice president sininsky I think I would just double click on that the ability to sit in that committee um because you know the leadership for those uh two buildings were also there so it's a group of about 10 folks um and I think it was pretty well represented so hearing from folks that spend their time inside those buildings and know about the challenges in those communities and what those facilities actually need uh for those families and for for those neighborhoods I think was was good so look forward to seeing the next step on that and just thank you to uh those involved in selecting that group so I know um Chad and uh Carla and others were um involved in that so yeah thanks Dave uh quick boy report from the policy and compliance oversight
028committee uh we met on August 27th um considered the following Provisions from school board's Manual of policies regulations and procedures so we looked at regulation 6072 which is in regard to public performance by students as well as policy 610 which is a wellness policy which includes reference to regulations 6110.1 and procedures 6101a and 610. 1B the next committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday September 26th from 4 to 5 the agenda is published in assembly accessible through the district's website you may get assembly by going first to the page on the website of the board of education then scroll down um to a horizontal ban blue or green that says board members I think that's actually available to the public as well right um so um if you're if you're on the district website just look
029for that um the committee's review process includes ongoing consideration of state and federal law and Rule s um model provisions of the io Association of school boards and practical implications after reviewing Provisions staff members from the committee present to the superintendent with recommendations of the board members um of the board members on the of on the committee superintendent that makes recommendation to the board as a whole so that's just an update from our committee thank you okay thank you um I have a couple updates myself um on Saturday September 14th I had the privilege to attend an Isa legal issues conference uh there were a couple General Sessions and then several breakout sessions uh one of the General Sessions excuse me was led by state auditor Rob Sand he spoke about education savings accounts um
030his main point in his presentation was that the only legislative uh requirement in that that law is that the private private schools do not give the money back to parents beyond that there are no restrictions on that money and the private schools may use that uh money for any purpose that they deem appropriate so there there seems to be very little oversight or very little accountability for those private schools uh the other session General Session had to do with Senate file 496 which is the book Banning legislation um there was a panel consisting of teachers attorneys um discussing the uh lifting of the injunction um of Senate file 496 that happened on August 9th which then precipitated the enforcement of that legislation uh they had a really interesting discussion about what happens next isca um
031ACLU uh penguin random house which is a publishing company are involved in a continuing lawsuit um while the injunction was overturned there was a part of that decision that was perhaps more encouraging um the decision also rejected the claim that this that this by the state that book Banning is a form of protected government speech the judge did rule um had a ruling on that portion of it which gives some um um encouragement to uh additional taking it to an additional Court um so that that was an interesting day the other thing that I want to report on UE the urban education Network steering committee met last week they're working on legislative priorities for this year we'll get more information about that at our annual dinner on November 20th um so please if you haven't
032made Ryan or Lori aware of that that you'd like to go please do that uh preliminarily the top four priorities are school funding mental health preschool student opportunity Equity there is a work group that will uh continue to work on those and and flesh out some more specific asks in each of those categories uh but we'll learn more about that at our ueen meeting on November 20th and that's my board report so moving on to our consent agenda are there any items that a director would like to pull for comment question or separate vote if I may just a comment on uh item 8 and item 15 of course go for it see no others um so on item eight is the agreement between the school district and the Gad Architects that's the architect that's
033been selected for the Harrison project when I was looking at the agenda I just want wanted to point out to the community um I think this was usually it seems sometimes when we see amended agreements sometimes those costs go up and this is actually a case where the cost is going down uh so the district was able to um actually negotiate our our rate with theat uh down from 5.75% to 5.5% uh which if you know the way the design contracts work that's a percentage on the size of that project so that is a pretty significant amount for this District so I know that one of the one of the areas for concern with Harrison is the cost of that project so anything we can do to look at reducing that cost I think is
034a great thing so just wanted to point that out to the community that uh the district is looking at ways uh at s at saving some money um and then the other item was 15 um and then 15 if I can find it real quick this is the purchasing register so this is an RFP that's going out for employee health and related benefits Consulting Services uh so when I was looking at this the RFP would go out tomorrow and then like a second notice would go out on October 1st and then the due date for that RFP would be on October 8th this is an item that actually came up during our finance and Facilities committee uh meeting uh several months ago uh we were hearing from at least one employee group that the amount
035of raise that the district is able to give because we're consistently getting low amounts from the state um that money is completely eaten up when we look at insurance insurance premium so in some cases uh the the insurance premium increase takes that entire raise away from those employee groups we've been a member of a Consortium uh Carla you can correct me if I'm wrong but I think since the 90s it's been quite a long time I think that Consortium has maybe run its course for a district the size of Cedar Rapids so looking at some Alternatives and ways that we can provide still high quality insurance to all of our employees but hopefully reduce the cost for the district and then obviously for employees so just commend the district for looking at creative ways um
036to try to do what's in the best interest of of our entire staff so uh thanks for the work on that we'll look forward to um the results of that RFP here in the next week or so and that was that was all the comments that I had so thank you it's it's always good to call out those times when we are when the team is trying to save the district and the taxpayers money so I appreciate that other comments questions do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda so moved is there a second second this is a roll call vote due to the Personnel report uh director Newman I director buers hi director boring I I'll signify with I and president Carlock I we have four items under Administration tonight the first
037is the resolution fixing the date of sale of approximately $ 4,995,000 School INF structure sales services and use tax revenue bonds series 2024 approving electronic bidding procedures and approving official statement and taking additional action thereon are there any questions for [Music] Carla I do have a question Carla could you tell us the exact date for the sale and the award of the bonds uh the date of the sale is oh sorry the actual date of the sale is October 8th and then the board will approve uh at their October 14th meeting okay thank you for clarifying that thank you other questions do we have a motion for the resolution so moved do I have a second second this is a roll call vote uh director buyers I director boring I director Newman I I'll signify
038with I I'm president Garlock I the second item is uh also a resolution authorize and set parameters for the sale of school infrastructure sales service and use tax revenue bonds and to approve the official statement do we have any motion any questions for Carla on this item do we have a motion for this resolution so moved do we have a second second this is a roll call vote director boring I director Newman I director buyers I I'll signify with I and president Garlock I next is the request school budget Review Committee special education negative balance for fiscal year 2023 2024 does anyone have any questions for Carlo or crean I do not have a question but I do have a comment and it's the same comment I make every year about individuals IND individuals with
039disabilities and education act so at the creation of the bill there was a 40% promis funding rate we've only ever been funded between 10 and 14% along with the majority of districts in the state of Iowa we run an annual deficit um for special education in the line of anywhere from8 to $4 million annually for crcsd varies by uh the the amounts are different for other districts but again um this goes back to an un underfunded initiative thank you other comments questions all those in favor please signify by saying I I those oppose same sign thank you lastly we have a presentation from Adam McDonald The District activities director around the digital activities entrance procedure at athletic events thank you ladies and gentlemen of the board um again my name is Adam McDonald I'm the
040District activities director um with me joining in the crowd is Chris deem cmaa as the activities director Jefferson High School and Grant Schultz cmaa uh activities director at Washington High School um just kind of a a quick overview of where we're currently at with our activities numbers um if you could Advance this slide um across our three high schools we have over 2400 student athletes currently involved in our activities this year uh this equ equates to 192 separate athletic teams in those grades uh similarly across the activ across the three high schools for our Fine Arts students this equates to 1500 plus students involved in our Fine Arts over 45 different performing arts groups um we also have over 45 different Visual Arts opportunities for our kids so tremendous amount of opportunities uh and things
041that our kids are involved in uh we are currently working on tabulating our Middle School numbers to check on their procedures and their numbers as we have updated or changed their registration process um another brief overview of just the current way that we manage our activities uh we currently utilize the platform of bound uh this is our activities management platform for all of our areas related to um extracurricular and co-curricular management uh it's called the let's go bound partnership so this includes things such as scheduling event entry activities registration facilities management team rosters ticketing which would be the or the uh point of discussion for this meeting uh State reporting and compliance among many other things um we also are look working on utilizing not this platform not only for the high schools but also
042for our middle schools moving forward as part of that agenda uh was looking at moving to a uh fully digital or cashless ticketing system for all Cedar Rapids Community School District athletic events um not only for the remainder of this year but for all uh activities moving forward uh part of the reasoning behind that it's going to bring consistency across the Mississippi Valley Conference as well as the Iowa High School athletic Iowa High School Athletic Association in the Iowa girls high school athletic Union um by moving to this plan it helps to reduce our lines uh in our event procedures our entry procedures provide an overall safer environment without large amounts of cash being handled in a less secure environment and an area in which uh is very susceptible to um potential conflict uh so
043specifically what does that mean uh it means we're looking to be utilizing the already existing bound platform and agreement that we have with bound uh we just simply shift from uh shift to a fully digital event procedure at all of our athletic events so this includes individuals uh buying tickets or activities passes online ahead of time uh on the receptive School website uh scanning available QR codes at entry points the day of the event or prior to the event via social media uh you using Apple or Google pay methods um at our our events or us utilizing a valid credit or debit card uh at the POS system at those events uh so we have been piloting um at our high schools this cashless system for the last month um and if I speak with
044our guys uh Gone extremely well very positive uh results I don't know if Chris Grant if you have anything additional you would like to add to those comments uh so essentially how the system works um is designed to be user friendly with all the activities um communally purchased online through this app and through each High School website uh by utilizing the mobile app that comes with it the uh ticket is securely located within that that app or it can be printed off from from online uh like I said stored on your smartphone printed for convenience we can do that either at home you can do that at a school uh or any point where you need the services uh card readers Act provide touchless pay and credit card payments uh just again streamlining that process
045and making everything very smooth and convenient while we feel this is an important move for us um a lot of it centers around safety so enhance safety of our activities entry points um particularly for our volunteer ticket takers many of which are our staff uh so we want to make sure that they feel secure and safe as we are working through those procedures uh enhanced money management procedures to making sure we are following the appropriate board policy as well as uh maintaining safety of those data collection opportunities overall cost savings conference and state alignment uh Spectators overall convenience uh and environmentally friendly um the document that I provided to you as well this kind of gives a broader list of uh more additional details if you have other reasons to why we have kind of
046um we're pursuing or would like to pursue this opportunity uh for our activities uh so when we're looking to implement this this is looking to be implemented um immediately uh for the remainder of the Fall season and Beyond um for a district we have already been utilizing the district passes for three to four years we've been utilizing digital ticketing uh through this platform for the last couple of years uh this would just be a shift more toward fully towards those digital platforms um bound is a platform that is required by the boys Association and the girls Union for our member schools uh for stat entry and data entry as well as for ticketing for all girlss uh athletic Union events uh we plan to communicate this with multifaceted approach to communication a lot of written
047communication from the district newsletter building specific email social media posts and an FAQ that has been developed um visual communication with postage signage uh at event points entry points social media postings um willing to put stories in The Gazette and have conversations with KCRG about getting that information communicated uh verbal communication has been taking place at all of our high schools as well as our shared events at Kingston Stadium uh as Spectators come in we are preparing them just through conversation about the potential of moving to this Outlet um again we have been piloting that for the last few weeks uh at our high schools to a lot of success uh just what you'll see in front of you there is just some sample signage on the left here would be a uh a sample
048uh digital media or social media post that can go out and on the right would be with some of our visual signage that would be posted at our stadiums and Facilities just to help with this communication to our families uh the number one thing we want to make sure that we are um working towards is the support of the community through this change and making sure that they are uh with any change there always comes challenges so we are committed to making sure we're working with each of those individual groups to support them as needed uh all of our gate workers uh have been trained and will continue to be trained on assisting individuals with uh the walkup process and going through that our bilding administrators are available at each of our events as well
049as uh Beyond that their buildings and are trained to support individuals in this process individuals without credit cards or debit cards can work with each specific building or myself here at the LSC um to work through purchasing procedures uh for passes uh that will save them both time and money at the gate uh we have cost-saving opportunities for our students uh who qualify for for free and reduced lunch uh as well as other low SCS uh factors so we have those procedures in place to support those individuals as well and our high school as a resident experts and supporting those and their bookkeepers um what you'll see here also I provided um is a how-to guide on what can be shared I don't know if we can pull that up also provided to you at
050the board um all these can be customized to the individuals to uh each specific school and written I have them written in four different languages that are our major languages right now across the district but uh just provides visual representation that we can share with individuals to help work them through this process uh some additional support that comes from moving to this is um working directly with bound bound themselves provides a FAQ on their website with how to uh work through this process and understand this process um and they are very receptive to challenges Communications that that uh that pop up on the daily including if uh refunds are available or needed so we can work really well with those those individuals to make sure they are supported um so as we look to make
051forward move forward with this change uh we're just asking for your continued support um as we hopefully change our entry procedures to a more secure more safe but more userfriendly environment going forward thank you thank you Adam do we have questions I do um thank you for your presentation first of all am I understanding correctly we have no cash option at the gates currently we do um at our at our shared facility of Kingston Stadium uh we're still utilizing the cash option the goal would be to move to a completely digital format well I just want to thank you for keeping an eye towards equity and making sure that there are some options for people that may not have a credit card or a smartphone or cell phone to be able to make that purchase
052so that there's that opportunity um in person with cash before the game and also to keep an eye on Equity with uh making sure that we're communicating in our dominant languages spoken within our district I do have a question about um like is there a a like a senior citizen fee or has has that been looked at I know that there's some other schools surrounding us that that offer that discount uh currently um we tend to direct them to our pass options we don't have a a specific senior citizen reduced rate but we direct them to our pass options which can actually give a pretty significant uh Savings of almost up to 50% depending on the passes that they buy um but we've had discussions and we'll continue to have discussions on uh a senior
053citizen pass uh for our local schools okay thank you I I have a related question to that um as a benefit to District employees when they retire there used to be a free lifetime pass to all activities so if we have a retired staff member that has one of those passes do they just show it and walk in or yep that is still valid that would be that doesn't change and it would be the same for our Mississippi Valley lifetime passes for coaches a printed card for a coach that's been a part of the the conference for a very long time they just show at the gate and can enter okay thank you other questions if I can just one is there is there a cost to the system uh by utilizing and going the
054let'sgo bound plan uh for the school itself uh it is a no cost initiative now if we were to uh not go with that plan then there can be a significant cost related to each aspect that we have to purchase and utilize for our management okay than thank you and mine just goes back to um that inclusivity piece because it was noted that everyone pretty much everyone has a phone all the time people it'd be nice if people maybe didn't once a while bring a phone um but I also just want to um note that you know that that is some a reality right someone will show up without maybe a credit card option or a phone is there any sort of like learning curve timeline associated with that that you know if they had
055cash they could electronically uh purchase it at the gate in the time being or someone could assist them with that or is it just a couple emails go out you know I'm just trying to understand the timeline so when we right and we've so we've been utilizing these passes um any of our postseason events for the last four or five years have been totally cashless that's a requirement from the state so we've been utilizing that so that helps with the transition um but we'll be out there uh our event staff particularly for our joint Stadium uh of Kingston sfg is trained and has been out there working with those individuals to to scan and go through that process so yes there'll be a lot of training and communication that goes along with that and that's
056where an individual maybe has a challenge we would encourage them to come off to the side and we'll work with them individually uh at no point in time will we ever deny an individual entry into the game or into an event we will make sure that they are in supported however we need to do that that was probably the question I should have asked great thank you okay thank you Adam very much that concludes the administration portion of the board meeting we have one more section uh board governance we have two items in this section tonight our first is the annual appointment of the 2024 iasb delegate assembly it's recommended that director David tinsky be the delegate and director Caitlyn buers be the alternate for the 2024 2025 iasb delegate assembly is there any discussion
057all those in favor please signify by saying I I I those oppos same sign thank you our final item for the evening is a discussion from board members on the recent Consortium of State School Board Association conference that was attended in Washington DC there were four of us um who were able to attend that conference uh two weeks ago um it was a two-day conference Jennifer director boring was there uh director rry and director humbles all attended the conference it was a two-day conference on the first day uh they brought in speakers um different areas of federal advocacy that we really heard some really interesting presentations that day the chairman of the FCC uh was there to talk about um e- rates and how that impacts Public Schools the deputy secretary from the Department of
058Ed was there and talk to us about their focus on mental health and safe and secure learning environments and uh one that I found particularly interesting was a demographer who spoke to us in detail with a lot of data and charts about uh population Trends in the United States and and basically in a nutshell um people are moving south um and it's going to create it's gonna get hotter down there I I guess they're hearty um it's going to it's going to create some Workforce situations throughout the rest of the country um he also talked about something that I could relate to the silver tsunami uh the number of retired people retired aged people who remain in the workforce for one reason or another um but as we look at college andc career Readiness I
059think um this again plays a factor we want our kids to stay here here uh so we need to prepare them for the job market here we don't want them all to move to the South um we would like them here so that was uh day one day two we had uh arranged meetings with our federal Representatives uh congresswoman Henson Senator Grassley and Senator Ernst and we spent the second day in conversations with them or with their staff um when we went to DC we took took with us uh a very nice little trifold of legislative priorities for the Cedar Rapids district there were basically three Federal issues that we were focused on one of them was mental health funding um we've talked a lot up here uh about the need for more Mental Health
060Resources um and the costs associated with that the second priority that we spoke with them about was um idea funding which director borchering just refreshed our memory um we continue to run a deficit on that and then the third priority that we uh spoke um extensively about was new funding for Child Nutrition um it it is a continual conversation um food insecurity in our community how do we make sure that our kids come to school prepared and ready to learn with a full stomach um and again we have a lot of need in our community um we learned a lot about Federal budgets and how we are reimbursed for School meals and it's very complex um but the short story is we're not being um funded appropriately uh it's hard to provide nutritious lunches and
061breakfasts with the funding that's available to us so um those were our three priorities um director boring is going to tell us a little bit about our meetings with those three individuals uh thank you president Garlock uh I met with representative Ashley Henson once in person through my board seat on the Iowa Association of school boards and then crcsd board members myself directors Garlock cbles and Round Tree met with her staff separately at another meeting representative Hinson and her staff were polite when I met with representative Hinson in person she expressed no opportunity through her role on the Appropriations Committee to increase federal dollars in attempt to reach the 40% designated funding at the creation of the individuals with disabilities and Education Act for reference idea is one of the is one use of specified
062federal dollars historically only 10 to 14% has been designated towards this initiative although 40% was promised at creation uh crcsd consistently runs between an8 and $4 million deficit annually and the majority of districts in the state also run an annual deficit for this initiative representative Hinson didn't however suggest crcsd at another unfunded program that nobody at crcsd to my knowledge has asked for representative Hinson has been invited to tour our district to to witness the excellent programming we are currently offering and learn more about plans to offer additional future programming Joanie Ernst was unable to meet with us in person however her staff indicated that Senator Ernst has an interest in learning more about school mental health supports as she has supported mental health areas of focus in the past the staff expressed an interest
063in staying in touch on the topic Senator Charles Grassley and his staff expressed interest in learning more about food nutrition funding they indicated there may be an opportunity to better fund school and student nutrition through a provision in the agriculture Bill Senator grassly plans to reintroduce crcsd is currently working toward gathering information and will work with state agencies to provide more information as needed before re-engaging with Senator Grassley and his staff thank you director barding um so at the end of our meetings with all all three of these offices we did extend an invitation for them to come visit one of our schools at some point or another um we will follow up with all of them and extend that invitation again um as the second largest school district in the state and the largest
064School District in uh congresswoman hinson's District um I think they do have an interest in having that conversation with us as director borchering said we did we did feel encouraged by Senator ern's staff um they did show interest in mental health and how to be more supportive in that Arena and we will definitely be following up with Senator Grassley we are in the process of collecting some information uh on school nutrition and funding for our own district and trying to see if we can get some Statewide data to to help him as he writes that legislation in the farm bill um so it was it was a lot to squeeze into two days uh we all know that two days it's not the beginning and the end advocacy is a continual process and we as
065board members will stay in touch with with these three offices and hope to see some change in some of the legislation um slightly different topic but um the state legislature will be convening in January and we will be involved in advocacy there as well on those state issues any questions from board members thank you that is everything do we have a motion to adjourn for the evening so moved do we have a second second all those in favor say I I all those oppose same sign no further business we stand adjourned at 6:26 p.m. thank you everyone e