001[music] >> All right. We are back in open session. Cathy, is there any public comment? >> There is none. >> Okay, I'm still going to just read just a little bit about public comment. So, the board welcomes and encourages community engagement at all board meetings. Therefore, it is allocated at the beginning and at the end of each meeting [clears throat] for audience members to address the board. We kindly ask that you limit your comments to 5 minutes. Please note this is a board meeting in public and not a public forum or town hall. The board does not directly respond to questions or comments during the meeting, but may ask the superintendent to follow up with you as necessary. I guess the next thing on the agenda is any Are there Are there any changes to
002the agenda? Okay, that brings us to the superintendent's report. >> All right. Thanks. So, I um you know, years ago this used to be a much bigger deal when we had to adjust for class sizes and the board would have to approve the class size policy, etc., but I do like to keep everybody up-to-date just on where we are with our kindergarten enrollment. You get a monthly enrollment report there under the informational items on the board agenda. But, we right now have 150 children uh registered and enrolled. Some of them may not be fully fully complete. Um and then you have some enrollment data, enrollment comparison. This is the time of year that we um use our student [clears throat] assignment algorithm process and assign children um with our goal of being closest to their
003home within the capacity of the school. So, one of our goals is to balance class size across the district um and it's really an an informational item for all of you um with the 150 we have What is that? 16.something children in every class if we were to be balanced that perfectly. Um we do already know that I think there are 23 children in the Hollywood community, most of them siblings, and so likely the kindergarten classroom at Hollywood will be um that size and it has been that big before. We know that kind of in the low 20s is our is our our preference, a bit of our goal, um and sometimes, as we know, class sizes fluctuate and getting a perfect balance across all four of the elementary schools um is not perfect. Families
004have certain needs and childcare and families who help with transportation, etc., etc. So, our goal is really to make sure that families are placed at the school that they really want our children to go their children to go to and I think we're so fortunate also that our schools are all really strong and families for one reason or another, everybody seems to be making special requests for one or the other. So, information for all of you and then I have um the other information that we reported every trimester and just the timing of this one makes most sense to bring it to this meeting is our report on chronic absenteeism. So, I appreciate Jonathan Hoffman over in our district office and Molly who works with him to make sure that we um continue to bring
005you the the data that's um helpful as we all continue to know we know that attendance is such a key critical part of uh a child's success in school and uh being able to look critically at these numbers every trimester is part of that process and it's not just about looking at numbers for our principals and our teachers and um our teams at the school, it's looking at these numbers and then understanding [clears throat] what's behind numbers and how do we make sure we really are supporting children um to be in school um as many days as they possibly can. So, we have that for you. I don't know if there's any questions, comments. Um and then um just also want to share just this week uh we had um a wonderful donation from the
006Riverside Junior Women's Charity Group. They came in, they did this last year also where they uh made a donation and their request for their donation is for us to reduce um lunch account balances for children that may have outstanding lunch account balances due to financial need. So, I appreciate that. It's a creative way to offer money to the school district and we really, really appreciate it. So, I want to thank them publicly and make sure that you're all also aware that this is something that Riverside Junior Women's is doing for the district. >> I I recall them doing that last year. It was very >> very thoughtful and very considerate about that. >> [clears throat] >> And and thank you. >> Mhm. >> Thank you. >> And that is the superintendent's report. >> All right.
007Uh next up is the uh approval of the consent agenda. Can I ask uh actually the I guess the interim board secretary, Dan, if you if you feel to read tonight's consent agenda, please. >> I got to the right page for it. Let's see. Here it is. Okay. Uh tonight's consent agenda consists of minutes of previous meetings. Uh from May 6th Committee of the Whole, uh special meeting in May 6th Committee of the Whole, excuse me, May 6th May 20th, excuse me, 2026 regular business meeting minutes. Uh personnel report and payables pre-list for May 29th, payables pre-list for June 17th. A review of closed session minutes of the previous 6 months. Uh non-union salary recommendations for 2026-2027. >> Okay. Thank you, Dan. Is there uh any items that people would like to take off uh
008for further consideration? All right. So, can I have a a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Uh is there any discussion? All right. Uh Kathy, can you please call the roll? >> Okay. Mr. Hunt? >> Aye. >> Mr. Olin? >> Aye. >> Ms. Klapcsik? [clears throat] >> Aye. >> Mr. Barsamian? >> Aye. >> Motion passes. >> Uh it doesn't look like the Riverside Educational Council is here. >> Correct. >> All right. Um I guess next up is uh is there any board member kind of comments? >> All is quiet on the Western front, as it were. >> Yeah. Although the storms seem to have uh definitely missed us today, so that's >> That's what I heard. >> Yeah. >> Well, I guess there's uh definitely a lot
009of construction equipment that's observable from uh Central One Hauser. >> Mhm. >> And that's part of what replacing windows and tuckpointing. So, it's good to see that uh work underway. In a similar fashion, I've seen fencing go up around the playground at Blythe Park. Uh and it's good to see that underway as well. >> [clears throat] >> All right. Okay. Um next up is So, we have old business. Uh tonight we have the approval of the strategic plan. Is there Can I have a motion to approve tonight's uh Yeah, I move that Can I have a motion to the Board of Education approve the 2026-2031 strategic plan as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Uh I know we've had a lot of discussion about this. Uh do feel uh this is a
010very valid and a very good plan. Um I guess Marsha, I don't know if you have anything to add or there's any comments or discussion. >> I feel like it always deserves a lot of fanfare. It's a it's a big deal. This represents a lot of work, a lot of work um with board members, community members, teachers, students, uh other staff members, parents. So, this is a a great plan. It's a kind of a next iteration of the plan that we've been working on for the past 5 years, and yet And really speaks to continuous improvement and where we need to grow and go next. So, I'm I'm excited about it. As you know, this is a this is the kind of work that administrators do in the summers. Sometimes people wonder what we do
011in the summer. Um working on really refining the uh more measurable goals um that to you know, to go along with the strategic goal target areas. So, I anticipate that this will also really launch for all of you um a regular process for our communication, our feedback, and presentations, discussions at uh Committee the Whole and and regular board meetings when necessary, too. But, uh looking forward to launching it um and so, yeah, I appreciate the board's endorsement and and approval. >> Okay. Uh having participated in in it and sat next to a lot of uh folks in the community, a lot of folks and a lot of uh teachers and staff who had uh great time and attention put into it and a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of good-spirited discussion. Students as well, I
012should say. I almost neglected to say that. >> [clears throat and cough] >> I definitely appreciate everyone's time. I'm glad we put together this uh this plan uh for approval tonight. Something that that I keep coming back to repeatedly that's that's been on my mind and I think it was from the first session where they asked everyone what was their best memory of that they remember from growing up in elementary school. And I think what was said was or everyone seemed to come up with examples that were outside of school. And I remember myself I I remember saying and saying to the group that uh I remember in third grade, it was an annual trip that we always went to the Valley Bell Dairy uh to see, you know, the production of milk and see
013the production of the the bottles and everything like that. And at the end, everyone got ice cream. Which was very important for me. It's probably why I still love to do factory tours uh to this day. So. Uh what, we do have a candy factory up the road on Harlem Avenue, just saying. >> [laughter] >> If I was a kid, I would love to go see that factory. I have seen it as part of a grad school class once, so. Just saying there. >> [laughter] >> But, oh Uh but yes, again, I appreciate everybody's time and attention to that and I'm glad we are able to present this uh for approval tonight. >> Yeah, along with that, the core values on the on the plan, I think those are tied into what people remember most.
014Kids remember the most. It's Yeah, it's not ELA lesson three, you know, [clears throat] chapter two. It's it's everything around there, how much they enjoy being there and they belong in their community creativity. It was a great process, too. >> All right. Kathy, can you There's nothing else. Kathy, can you please call the roll? >> Okay. Mr. Olick? >> Hi. >> Mr. Hunt? >> Hi. >> Ms. Klatt? >> Hi. >> Mr. Bersani? >> Hi. >> Okay, motion passes. >> All right, next up is the uh new press policies. So, uh can I have a motion that the Board of Education approve press uh policies 121 along with I'm sorry, this >> You said few District 96. >> Yeah, my got this thing that just keeps popping up on my It's that issue that I had
015with the with BoardBook. It's blocking my view. Yes. Uh so, let me start over again, I'm sorry. Uh can I have a motion to that the Board of Education approves press policies uh 121 along with uh six District 96 added policies as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. I know we've had uh there's a lot in here. There are a couple of questions in here as well, specifically uh like the policy for types of Board of Education meetings um and the Title IX grievance procedure uh as well as the equal opportunity and minority recruitment, uh, leaves of absence, uh, in here. These were all we've all selected as the, um, we've accepted the default on any of these, but I guess is there any questions or any further discussions on this? >>
016I as you mentioned, I think we had some questions. We have answers that aren't other than default. >> No, they said they are they are the default. >> They are the default. Okay. >> They're the questions that yeah, we discussed them at the Committee of the Whole. So, they're the ones that are representing from those discussions. >> All right. If there is no discussion, um, Cathy, can you please call the roll? >> Okay. Ms. Claps? >> Aye. >> Mr. Ollick? >> Aye. >> Mr. Hunt? >> Aye. >> And Mr. Barsanti? >> Aye. >> Motion passes. >> Um, next up is some new business. Uh, is first one is, uh, the Five Essentials Survey Alternative Considerations. Um, I know Martha you put in a memo in here and then you and I had a bit discussion
017on this. So, I I'll actually get to put this turn this over to you if you don't mind. >> Sure. And this this doesn't necessarily require board approval in a formal way, but board input is really valuable because this is a survey that we share with all of our community. And as you know, for a number of years we've we we've been required, um, to give Five Essentials as a survey. It's been around for I don't have the exact number of years, but I'll say 15 or more because I know certainly since longer than I've been here in District 96 I've been using it in another district. Um, we sort of feel like participation is pretty bland, right? I mean, we do a lot to push and encourage families. We get some feedback that it's
018feels like a complex and cumbersome survey. We hear that from our staff, from our students, and from families. Um, interesting that the state is at a very limited State Board of Ed is at a very limited number of alternates to Five Essentials, um, but they have added this Panorama Survey. Um, Panorama is a company that kind of focuses on social emotional learning for students. They offer an array of tools and services. So, it's a it's an organization that I've been familiar with. As a matter of fact, during COVID, they had a lot of surveys about gathering community opinions about school reopening, which is really the time that I think I became most knowledgeable about their work. Um, but they have a survey that's now an allowable alternative per the State Board of Ed. Um, an
019alternative to the Five Essentials Survey. So, I have, um, really over several months have talked to our district leadership team, have talked to our parent leadership team, have talked to what we call our Goal 3 High Quality Staff Action Team, which has been the action team really focused on our morale survey, our staff morale survey. Um, and just feel like And then I then I went ahead and reached out to individual districts that have made this change this past year from Five Essentials to Panorama. And I would say the key themes, there are not a lot of districts that have made the shift. I think it's not well communicated, and it also does cost some money, which I want to, um, touch on and share there. Um, right away everyone says, it's a much more
020understandable survey. Therefore, they feel much more actionable in terms of their use of the results, and their participation numbers have gone way up because families just feel like it's a And I feel like those are the two problems we've been trying to solve for. So, um, it is my recommendation that we make the change. I have to let the State Board of Ed know by September 15th. Uh, there is a fee for the for the survey, and it's $11,000. I really feel like we can offset that because we've been paying for our staff morale survey through a different organization, different professional educational organization. And actually the Panorama Survey, and we're really just buying the survey and the survey analysis tools, um, from them would still give us a a net savings of $7,000 by discontinuing
021the EAB morale survey, picking up the Panorama staff morale survey, but also including it for the students and families as required and being the alternative to five essentials and save some money. So just thoughts, discussion. I know you all have taken the survey as parents. We spent a lot of time on finding best ways to dig in on the staff morale survey and using that as a meaningful tool. I really anticipate that that's the staff morale survey piece is going to continue to be a key performance indicator under the new talented and invested staff goal area. I also think that if it becomes more actionable and usable that it could very well be part of the key performance indicators under the family engagement as well. It's just been hard to sort of bring in five
022essentials in a meaningful way on that goal area. So I'm really seeking your feedback. >> Well, it's as has been said and someone who's taken it numerous times and I remember having the reaction of what when the first time I took it however many years ago. It's it's really a very dense and opaque survey and it's really hard as a parent to see what is it my really rating here. I think it's a four-point scale which doesn't really give you a good middle point. Doesn't give you something to anchor it. It's either kind of okay or kind of bad which would tend to force things into kind of good in my opinion just cuz people don't like to be negative. So it it's it's data's been suspect to me. The answers what what's in there
023is just not the greatest. So I'm all in favor of of a new alternative for this and if this is a net savings of money that's an added benefit, a surprising added benefit. >> Yeah. >> And if you see a problem with moving away from five and we lose the longitudinal comparative data? >> I don't know that it's been well utilized in that way. So, um the other thing I know, the state report card will publish our student participation rate. That is the indicator that goes into the state report card. So, we give our students time within the school day to complete the survey. So, our student participation rate has always been good. It's really our families um that's been And that's the group we really want to hear from, right? I mean, we have
024had other mechanisms to hear from our students and our staff, but hearing from our families uh if we can improve on that opportunity and how we do that, I I think there's a real gain there to be had. >> So, where the five essentials used to show up online in the school report card, will the Panorama now show up in its place? >> Yeah, but it's interesting when you dig in and look at it cuz I had to go back and look and I went back and looked at a couple of the school districts that shifted last year. It just gives a participation rate. And that's really all it's been giving for us in the in our current state report card, also. So, that your grading, your rating, I should say, comes from the participation
025rate. But you can still access the survey. Like the the survey results are public. So, we would look to make them in the same way we've done it with the staff morale survey. We've brought it to the board. We've brought discussion and um Yeah, we got some kids out here. >> [laughter] >> Might be public comment at the end. >> I think like I I do think that there is some benefit to trying I I'm all for moving towards a survey that is well, you know, more usable for our families and for us as a district, right? But like I do think that there is some benefit if we can tie Five Essentials to Panorama and not just as we move on to Panorama say like, "Okay, well, this is what it is." And and
026not try to tie it to like sort of our past um performance on these surveys. So, I I get that the questions are going to be different, but I think maybe we just need to be creative to make sure that like like you said, we're going to lose the longitudinal data, but like um not sort of use that as a like uh excuse of like, well, this is our first year, so we don't really know what to compare it to and like >> But but yeah. But won't and I guess the this you know we're going to still have like similar sections. >> Yeah, so >> [clears throat] >> five essentials defines like ambitious instruction, involved families, engaged teachers, high-quality leaders. Like it's I may not be citing, but it's it's all there's there's a
027a box that So, you have to have questions in all those same areas. You have to have questions that correlate to those same >> Right. >> areas because those are the areas that are defined as making a high-quality school district, right? So, so I think that's really important and I think it's going to be doable. I think it's going to be more easily doable. >> I mean, we won't lose the data completely. >> No, it's it sits in a like a >> Right. >> a a a state data receptacle or whatever. >> I think the first year when we do this and we get we were going to have to spend a little bit more time sort of comparing to cuz I my guess is there's going to be some differences and they might be
028significant differences one way or the other, so we need to sort of dig in why that is to see what that is. I mean, there's it's not going to be a like for like, but I think it would be I think it'll be similar. Um and a- again, to to Dan's point, the five essentials Good to you, Dan. I stopped taking the five essentials cuz I just did not like it. Did. [laughter] It was >> We we meet like what is our 20% threshold [snorts] and >> Yeah, because it >> a lot of begging. >> I took it twice. >> [laughter] >> I I did take it I think at least twice, maybe three times, but >> I mean, in the same year. >> Oh, >> [laughter] >> on the same year. I I I
029found it it was it was I I just very disappointed. I didn't think we It didn't ask the right questions and I didn't feel that it was uh really giving us anything that we wanted. So, I'm very excited that we have another opportunity to hopefully a better company that's going to provide us more meaningful and actionable outcomes. >> But that's a I think it's a great point cuz there's a lot of questions we weren't even really clear on >> Right. >> We can just have better questions, start over. >> Maybe we'll see something cuz the question will be clearer for longer. >> Right. >> what the teachers shared when we talked with the Goal 3 Committee and even Family Community Partnerships, teachers shared, "These questions are confusing for the kids." You know, so then they
030would try to read them, but you're not supposed to interpret them for them, but it's So, I I do think this is a step in the right direction. It's a one-year decision, right? So, we don't see this better participation, better use, you know, might be that we need to try it more, but you know, we could always go back to Five Essentials, I guess is what I'm I'm saying is that you don't you know, the state will stay steady unless the state changes, you know, their their plan. [clears throat] >> Okay. Any other discussion? >> Thank you for that. >> Unless all right. All right. And then I I I guess next up we have the life safety uh 10-year um survey proposal. So, uh Martha, I'm going to >> Yeah. So, I'm going to
031invite um Steve up here to just give some background about the 10-year health life safety. >> I'm just going to stand here if that's okay. I'm just >> Uh I think they want you to Is there a microphone to Here. >> Wherever you want me to be. >> [laughter] >> It's uh it's fine with me. Um >> At least don't amplify. Just this way you'll be [clears throat] heard on YouTube. >> State Board of Ed requires that school districts perform a health life safety survey every 10 years. Uh there's no choice. It's required. You have to do it. Our last one was done in 2016. Um DLA is our current architect, so I reached out to them for a proposal. Uh, I did compare their rates with some other architectural firms just to kind of
032do our due diligence. They're kind of in the middle of um, multiple firms that we've reached out to. They're not the cheapest, but they're not the most expensive, either. So, um, again, it it's got to be done. What they will do is is go through our schools, anywhere where there's our our students, so they won't they won't do the district office, but they do all five of the schools, and they will focus on compliance issues. They have a very complex survey instrument that they use to walk through the schools and and check for compliance. They will not audit the facilities and and make recommendations in terms of how the district should use the facilities maybe differently. Oh, I did ask for a proposal for them to do that. Architectural firms do that. We reviewed that.
033I didn't think that that was um, going to be useful at this time uh, for a variety of reasons. I talked to Zach Pros, our director of uh, facilities and and maintenance. Talked to Martha about that, as well. Um, we're just recommending that the district move forward with DLA to do the the 10-year health life safety survey. Um, when that's done, they'll they'll go through it with us. They can do a presentation to the board, if you like. That data is still very valuable. It helps us to um, get a sense of how uh, how we're in compliance with um, state codes. That can be part of the uh, the five-year facility plan. Um, so that will be a part of it. We'll do some more work on that, as well. It's part of the
034strategic uh, plan, but um, just want everybody to know their focus will be compliance. Um, not necessarily how the district is using the facilities, so glad to answer any questions that the board may have. >> We would bring forward like a MOU from that from DLA, then? Before like proceeding, so the board would make a formal approval of it, but in terms of just exploring and sharing what Steve's has with a couple different firms and >> Yeah. So, what what what were they I guess the the high end and low end? >> Um so, what I asked for was um and and DLA put this together. I'm not >> I guess the high end of and low end of like what did you what proposals you got back? Cuz DLA's uh 45,000, so like that.
035>> Um so, what I asked them to do was give me square, you know, price per square foot. So, I think their price per square foot, this is off the top of my head, so I apologize. Um I think their price per square foot was 17 18 cents a square foot. We saw some proposals, not proposals, but some rates as low as 8 cents per square foot. We saw some 8 8 cents per square foot. >> Okay. >> We also saw some that were like 30 35 cents per square foot. So, they were right in the middle of you know, the pricing that that we researched. So, uh in addition, we've got a relationship with DLA. They know our facilities. We can go with somebody else even if they're cheaper, um but they're really starting
036from scratch. You know, DLA knows our facilities, can come in and and um get a sense of where things are at and and they know the history and what's been worked on what hasn't, things like that. So, um if you'd like more information, I'd be glad to gather that. I just didn't bring it with me tonight. I apologize. >> Well, I I do wonder because DLA has such we've had such a relationship with DLA, is there any kind of danger moral hazard there in the fact that they've done all these things they're going to be reviewing themselves on to say, "Oh yeah, we did a great job." >> That's a really good uh really good question. Um having been through this before, that that's something I've kind of asked myself. I think there's value in
037them knowing our facilities. Um uh at the same time, you know, the district always has the opportunity to to kind of shop around if if we would like. Um the last survey was done 10 years ago, so we've got till the end of this year this coming uh school year if we if we decided to delay it a little bit. Um >> And Leggett did the one 10 years ago. >> Leggett did the one >> the one 10 years ago, and that's when we made the shift shortly thereafter to DLA. >> I mean, there's also moral hazard in that they're our architect of record, and so suggesting work out of the evaluation is in their best interest. >> Yeah, that's a good good point as well. >> So, I I I think you make a
038good point. Um Is there an obligation now that we have like don't we as a as a district have to go through a bidding process on certain things? And now that we've sort of done that, are we required to now go with like the minimum responsible bidder? >> Not necessarily. Architectural services are professional services. So, there's not a bidding requirement at uh um an RFP would typically be issued for for work like this. So, the district has a little bit more flexibility with this than than bidding for a piece of equipment or or work to be done. Um because it's considered a professional service. >> We have like an overarching that AIA agreement with DLA. >> Mhm. >> We'd have to dig into it to really understand what it says about the health, life, safety.
039>> Yeah. >> If we're going to go with a different >> Yeah. They're also in the midst of of assisting the district with all the work that's getting done this summer. >> Yeah. >> The windows and the tuckpointing. You know, they're they're on site to oversee that. This would be a different project for them. Um to me it made sense to ask them to do this work because of the familiarity. But it if at any point in the future the the board would like to consider other options or just kind of you know, test the waters, which there's nothing wrong with doing that. >> The this note has um this proposal that they put together for us says that the work is beginning on June 1st. That hasn't occurred yet. >> No. That's They have
040not begun anything. I've not made any commitment to them. They know that this is the board's reviewing that. They put that in when they submitted the proposal. Just kind of as their, you know, proposed start date. >> Okay. So, then would this be would the board vote to approve this at the next board meeting, Martha? >> Unless we'd want, you know, this summer's a funny time, right? I mean, it's a a good time, I suppose, to get started with the health, life, safety if we if we're going to go that route. >> They they would love to do it during the summer because the buildings are empty. Yeah. >> But they don't have to do it during the summer. Um with only four of you here, is this something we want to have more discussion
041with with the larger group? I think we're going to have also just have a basic quorum of four in July. No disrespect to any of the people that are here. Thank you for being here. Um but it's it's it's a it's an important decision. I know there's been some conversation at Facilities Advisory. We could certainly take it back to Facilities Advisory for more conversation if that would be a comfortable way to have that conversation, but ultimately comes back to the board for formal approval and it really wouldn't start until there is a formal approval. And it has to be done by the end of this school year. So, we have time if we think time is what we need. >> So, so I guess the the question I have is are we looking are we
042looking just for a different firm for the cost or we looking for a different firm who hasn't been in the school before so that we don't have any potential conflicts? I guess that's my question and I'd also be a sort of interested in that what they what was like Facilities Advisory thought on this. >> I don't recall us going too deep into it other than having to be done. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I don't I don't remember us actually thinking if we needed to go with another firm. I think we're coming with my thought of it's safety violations, I can't imagine any firm could not report something. Right. Like you kind of have >> Yeah, but they're not looking at our facilities for expansion or design work. It's very much like I recall from last
043time it was elevators, a lot of ADI like the ADA part is what I remember. Like even where you have like a small lip. I don't look out there cuz that area's perfectly done. That kind of it's pretty nitty-gritty at the state requirement. There's a certain form and format that they submit directly to the State Board of Ed. This is not like a capacity or design improvements kind of work. >> I don't see the ethical dilemmas much because I I don't think they would If something's violation, it's violation. If they did or something [clears throat] else did it, they can't say. Whoever it is can't say No, it's safe if it's not. >> Am I correct though that like it's a little bit more of a whole systems buildings review? It's not just like like
044like I I remember in our conversation that like this would have even caught like the boiler issue. Is that >> It would have or wouldn't have? >> It would have. >> They'll look at everything. They're looking for compliance issues, but they will look at everything. They may have caught the the boilers. It's hard hard to say. But they'll walk through the boiler room and places like that, the mechanical spaces, the the roof. They'll inspect the roof. So they'll look at things like that. Often times architects will complete the 10-year life safety survey. They'll give you the document that includes everything, but they may also say, "Hey, while we were in the mechanical room, we noticed this. You might want to take a look at that. It's not going to show up on the survey." So
045they'll have eyes on everything and very well you know, can catch things like that. >> Was it a plot the actual format? I think I can still see it in the hallways. >> And to echo what Martha said, I'm I'm not interested in pushing the board into a decision. It is a big decision. It's a It's a high cost. So, um if the board you know, considered it [clears throat] and came back in July and and made a decision then, I think that's plenty of time. They can do some preliminary work before school starts and then and then finish it afterwards. >> So, I guess do we want more discussion on this? Do we want more >> More data and discussion, yeah. >> or more firms on this or are we okay? I guess just
046>> Well, it's it's good to hear a little bit more of the background in terms of is this this is a form that this is pretty standard. I guess what I'm wondering is if or if we're getting a lowball bid, is that a firm that we really want to be doing business with or is there an award-winning firm that's has a lower bid that we really should be doing business with? That but it I guess kind of what I'm hearing is that maybe there really are no award-winning firms. >> Well, I guess the I guess so I have a question is like does it not that these firms aren't different, but does it really matter what firm we use because if there's like a issue with a like a sprinkler, they're going to find it
047regardless regardless who the firm is. >> They're They have some liability if they see something and and don't report it, you know, I think that To your point, if it's a violation, it's a violation. >> Right. >> So, um you know, each firm is a little bit different, right? But I think by and large there's probably not a whole lot of variation between architectural firms when it comes to this this work. >> Mhm. >> I mean, I'm just you know, toggling through the report from last time, fire prevention, um certainly ADA sidewalks, playgrounds And there's just like some stand like how many classrooms do you have? What year was it built? What year did it have addition? So, it's a it's a formal record of your facility, which the state requires us to have updated
048every 10 years. >> So, I guess can can we maybe take a a straw poll to see where I mean how we want to proceed. So. >> I am in favor [clears throat] of proceeding with ever whatever the district's recommendation is on this one. >> That's where I go to him, okay. Well, does the district have a recommendation, I guess? >> I Well, I'm not I don't want to speak for you, Steve, but I'm assuming that this is your recommendation based on the survey here before us tonight. >> Yeah, I would I would recommend that we move forward with with the LA on this. Um again, it doesn't prevent the board and the district from considering other options in the future. Um but I think because it's it's due this year there's a a relationship
049with the LA. They're doing some work for us right now. I would recommend that that we move forward with the LA on this project and we would have other conversations after the fact. >> And I'll just say no I mean Steve, you've been here a short time, but you came in knowing that this was a requirement that was going to be due this year being our requirement year. And I feel like really objectively did some research and analysis on you know, the pros and cons of of working with somebody else potentially. >> Yeah. Yeah, I'm comfortable with the LA. >> I think it's the district's recommendation. I'm fine with it as well. >> I think maybe the it's worth noting, right? Like this we're not expecting any big issues to arise from this, right? But
050like we're the facilities and finance committee is in the process of putting together a longer range like five-year plan in terms of what the costs will be for our district and on related to facilities and so um while there I don't think any surprises are expected like this has the potential to add additional expenses onto that five-year propo- uh timeline that we presented to the board when like last was it the last board meeting it was in the board pack? >> Mhm. >> And I'm just like things um like recalling from last year so anytime we touch an area and you know help me here where you know we touch an area for improvement we have to make sure it's ADA. So I'm going to use the example of the central library is not ADA
051accessible. You step down into the library if we decide to renovate the library it has to become ADA access- accessible. It will show up on our health life safety report that that library is not ADA compliant. Um we're fully aware of that and we plan to fix that would be part of probably a much larger more significant renovation and so the health life safety will point it out but it doesn't mean that it has to be addressed. It would be addressed if we were ever to do a renovation there. That that's just one example that comes to mind that it doesn't automatically relate to things we must do because I actually think we've taken care of many many of the must do's and just the renovations and improvements that we've been able to make across
052the facilities. >> Any anything that they see that they will they'll call a violation and when I hear the word violation I think oh well the state's going to come knocking on our door. State won't do that. Everything that they see that that is that needs to be addressed or or should be considered to be addressed is is violation uh using their vocabulary. They will also assign um a priority level. You know this needs to be done um within 12 months um five years or needs to be done or at least reviewed before the next 10-year life safety survey is done. They'll help prioritize things in that fashion. But again in my short time and I think you know, what you're speaking to is that the district has done a lot of work. I wouldn't
053expect anything glaring to come out of this. But when you walk through five schools, they're going to find something, [clears throat] right? That's just kind of the nature of it. I would expect it to be minor. We can probably fix it ourselves for the most part, but um Yeah, that's I think what we're looking at. >> Okay. So, I'm also comfortable going with with DLA. So uh I guess it is Any other discussion? So, the next We put it as a formal action item at the next meeting? >> next board meeting. >> Yeah, okay. >> Thank you. All right. Uh that sort of brings us to the end. I guess it does not look like we have any more public comment. Uh the future meeting dates we have uh the July 1st uh 2026 meeting
054is canceled. Uh we The next one is July 15th, 2026 regular business meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Ames multi-purpose room. Uh August 5th, Committee of the Whole meeting, 7:00 p.m. in the multi-purpose purpose room at Ames. August 19th, 2026 uh regular business meeting, 7:00 p.m. at the Hauser Learning Resource Center. Uh September 2nd, Board Self-Assessment Committee of the Whole meeting at 7:00 p.m. Location is still to be determined. Uh we are going to be going back into closed session, though there will be no action coming out of that uh session. So, can I have a motion to go into closed session for the purposes of collect to discussing collective negotiating matters or deliberations concerning safety schedules for one or more classes of employees and any matter involving a student. >> So moved. >> Second.
055>> Kathy, can you please call the roll? >> Okay. Okay. Ms. Class? >> Hi. >> Mr. Oley? >> Hi. >> Mr. Hunt? >> Hi. >> And Mr. Barsotti? >> Hi. >> Okay.