001This is the regular meeting of the Geneva 304 school board for August 25. And uh Bonnie, could you please call the role? >> Here. Thank you and welcome all of you. Uh we're pleased to have you with us. Next item is the pledge of allegiance and I've asked an audience member to uh lead us in the pledge flag. Right. Take it away, Mrs. Fuller. Mrs. Fuller. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> There is an attendance sheet in the lobby. And if you would like to register your attendance, you may sign that. Item two, approval of minutes. These are the minutes for regular session of August 11th and the executive
002session of August 11th. Bonnie, have you received any corrections or additions? Does anyone have any at this time? Motion to approve, please. >> So move. >> Second. >> I the uh next item is recognition, awards, presentations, and public hearings. And item one on that is the Illinois State Board of Education assessment update. Would you like to say anything or should you go direct to Sean? >> Sure. I'll I'll vamp while she's getting ready up there. Um, you know, we've shared a little bit with you previously about the fact that the state of Illinois has um uh you know made some shift with uh the performance and proficiency levels on the school report card which is going to change how they report. Um, you know, every year the school report card comes out, tells us how
003we're how we're doing. It's gonna and those accountability metrics, they've shifted those. So, we've been trying to give you some information since we first heard they were going to be doing that. Um, and Shaunette has a little bit more detail to provide you tonight and we're going to keep coming back here before that data officially comes out in October. >> October 1st, it is released >> released publicly. October 30th is when it is um public for the parents. Uh yes. So, thank you for the opportunity to share. Um Andy, you are correct that actually there was just information that was released um on Friday that I have not had a chance to digest yet that um so as you said they're going to continue to release bits and pieces of this. the information they just
004released late last week relates to uh the ACT and how they're going to be using that as the um for the new proficiency and cut scores because as you recall this is just this this will just be the second year we have readministered the ACT and we will do that this um spring of 26. Uh so most of this information came from Dr. Sanders the state superintendent's address about a week and a half ago. Again, I thought since it's relatively new, I'll kind of use information that they've shared with all of us that were on the webinar call. So, the first question is kind of why is this change happening? Um, as Dr. Sanders and Ray Clemente shared um when they uh created this cut scores in 2017, they created cut scores that they felt
005were too high and therefore mislabeled students who were on track for college and career as not being in fact uh on track or meeting proficiency standards. And I'll get into a little bit later what some of those standards were. Um but I think it's important on the onset as well as a little bit later I'll share what has not changed is the standards themselves have not changed nor have the assessments that are being administered those are um the same so why the change again as I stated you know there were a couple reasons first of all you know students within the the country were not being compared to the on the same levels um so for example a student may be coming to us from Florida and they were proficient or um excellent and they
006would come to Illinois and because we had different bands and different expectations they would all of a sudden there be not proficient. So the idea was to as a as you know to become on par with the other states. So in the example that they shared, they shared how um if you take Illinois that which they have a um they summize we were the top of the NAPE scale uh in their report. Our proficiency band just captured those last two out of five bands where many other states have not only had four bands instead of five, but the cut scores that were identified to be in those top two or bands, whether it was out of five bands or four bands, Illinois had a higher expected score. So, for example, you'll see that in reading,
007um, Illinois expected a 236 in reading and in math, they expected a 253 for that score. But in Connecticut and Florida, the expectations were lower. Again, it same standards, same assessments. So the problem was that the levels were misaligned in not only the tests but across the grade levels and as they related to those college and career expectations. And so if you recall SAT had some set scores for that and so does SA ACT which we're moving to. But Illinois was taking the eighth grade I AR scores and making those the comparable to the college and career readiness instead of relying on the preac and pretat assessments. So again one of the goals is to make these four >> can you SAT I understand can you just define yes ISA and AR for us? >>
008Yes thank you for asking. I know we have a lot of acronyms. Uh so I AR is the Illinois assessment of readiness and that starts in third grade and that is administered to students in third through 8th grade and it assesses um English language arts and mathematics. The ISA is the Illinois science assessment and up until this past year it was given in fifth grade, seventh, eighth grade and 11th grade. Uh this past year it was included in the ACT. So, it's the Illinois science assessment and then the SAT. Um even with the SAT when Illinois switched to that um in lie of the ACT several years ago, SAT a score of um 480 for ELA was considered the lowest point of proficiency and a score of in English and then a score of 530
009in mathematics was the lowest to be considered proficient. However, when Illinois adopted that, they expected a 540 in each English language arts and math to be the lowest point of proficiency. So, even when we adopted the SAT, we had a higher expectation than SAT who goes by college board um standards expected. So again, we may have had students who took that and through the state of Illinois, maybe they were not proficient, but in terms of the likelihood of them garnering a C or better in a college course, they in fact had met that standard. So the solution that the state had for this problem was three-prongong. They wanted to work on uh the assessment accountability and then that system of supports that the state would have in place for school districts who would need support
010based on the overall performance of their schools. So as the previous slide showed in terms of the assessment they just wanted to rightsize those um performance levels and the proficiency indicators. uh accountability. Again, they wanted to make sure that for the schools, the parents, the stakeholders, that the expectations were clearer and that when those reports were produced and will come out later this fall, um that again, they're clear, concise, and more easily understood by our stakeholders. And then again, that system of support is what is going to be placed by the state board of education to support uh schools that are in need of um improved performance. So two key definitions to keep in mind are uh performance levels and proficiency. Um you'll hear that interchange quite a bit but uh the performance levels that's
011that kind of the range of scores those cut scores that divide those into those categories and the state is going back to or is going to four categories from five. So you'll either be uh below proficient approaching proficient proficient or above proficient. Again, those two green bands um will count as meeting the expectation and meaning that the student is on track and in their proficiency of that state assessment and for their grade level. So again, the one assessment is third through 8th grade. The high school assessment that is measured is the 11th grade and then the Illinois science assessment for uh elementary and middle school. So, what are they doing to realign the performance levels on all the tests? Well, they're taking all three of those tests uh that were are given and they're giving
012them all the same band performance and same band of proficiency. So, they're equating those assessments across the board for all of our students who take those. They've also released the new cut scores. So, for example, in English language arts in grades three through eight for the Illinois assessment of readiness and the Illinois science assessment, you'll see the old and the new cut scores for ELA and math and in science. And then again, in high school years, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade, they have the new cut scores for the ACT. And I'll talk in a bit here about what the impact is if we were to look at previous year's scores for Geneva in this. Oh, I want to add something here. Uh the other thing that has remained the same, however, is that we will
013still have the student growth percentages that we'll be able to compare year-over-year growth of individual students or cohorts of students. So, that will be something that will be the same, too. So, um, while we will have that's just based on the student's raw scale score that they receive. So, that's really where you're comparing kind of year-over-year growth. So, think of that kind of like as you when you go in for just your annual checkup. So the impact of the change from what the state is saying now from what they see on the um kind of um initial run of the embargoed scores they're seeing an overall increase in ELA and in math and a decrease in science. So the decrease in science is because um the data was collected in 2021. And that's the data
014they use to set the the band. And because that was that uh year where there was partial attendance or um on days off days as we were coming back from COVID uh there was limited representation and limited participation is what was shared on the webinar with that um but as we just looked roughly at the previous spring scores because again we don't have this year's in third grade. Shauna, wasn't science also science was one that was only in four bands still, right? Or no? >> Well, yes, but here the other thing that changed with science is for many years. It's only been two years that it's counted as performance. Before that, it was just participation. That's another reason for the dip. Yeah, you just had to have 95% of your students take the assessment to
015get the credit on the school report card where now it's participation and performance. Uh so anyway, in looking at the previous spring scores in third grade, we see anywhere from a this is based on individual schools in Geneva, our elementary schools, we see anywhere from a 15 to a 25% increase. Um in math, we see anywhere from a 20 to a 25% increase in uh overall proficiency in third grade. fourth grade in ELA, we're looking at about a 30% increase, again, more or less in some of the schools, and a 7 to 25% increase in math. Fifth grade, we're looking at anywhere from a 5% to a 20% increase in our overall performance in ELA. And in math, a 3 to 20% increase. Uh, sixth grade, and you'll notice in the um middle school years,
016there's actually less of a of a growth opportunity in the performance. So, we are looking at anywhere from a nine to a 13 or 9% increase in ELA and a 13% increase in math. Uh, seventh grade, 8% for reading and 7% for math. Eighth grade, an 8% in ELA and a 3% in math. So, we do anticipate seeing an increase in overall um percentage of students that are in that proficient or meets expectations uh categories. those two categories at the end. >> Just a quick question. You you've gone through some numbers and talked about the increase in number of kids meeting the proficiency. Do we have the numbers of how much of that is based on the actual growth of of the children being that and how much of it is due to the fact
017that they're changing the they're changing the goalpost if you will. >> I understand what you're saying. Excellent question. We don't have that yet, but that's that student growth percentage that is going to stay the same. So once they release those scores, we should be able to run that report and see like how many of our students actually themselves grew year-over-year. So yes, that is information we can bring back. Great question. We do anticipate I mean that our growth is generally strong and we anticipate it will continue to be um you know obviously but as Shaet says we'll have to take a look at that but what she's talking about is just this preliminary look at to your point they've kind of changed that >> they moved the goalpost >> yes they moved the goalpost so
018now that means we're going to see a difference in the number of students who meet that proficiency level >> but you're correct for us it'll be very important to look at those individual student growth because that's what we want to see is that every student is making progress and growing regardless of what the end result has been moved to. Um in terms of the SAT or I'm sorry ACT, we switched back to that. Uh the scores are very similar to what they were prior to our adoption of the um SAT. So um and they are using the College Board expectations. So, um, an English score of 18, a math score of 19, and a science score of 19, um, you are the likelihood of you obtaining a C or better in a college course is
019what they're looking for. So, those are the scores they're um setting. Uh they also are talking a little bit about uh work keys that is a range of 17 to 19 speaks to the um likelihood of you being successful if you're leaving high school for post-secary endeavors like straight to work or another field such as that. Um that's just they're just talking about that as a Friday. So, and then I shared already with the science and the um limitations with the science that it was participation only. It was limited participation um and that those scores were set during um that intermittent year after 2020. Doesn't want to advance. Okay. Um more of what didn't change. Um if you'll remember that third circle is was you know how they're going to support schools. So here are
020the summitive designations that the schools will still receive and these have not changed. So school can be rated as exemplary and that is just that idea that you know you have no >> turn the mic a little closer to your mouth. >> Sorry. Um, so that's a school district that has no subgroups that are underperforming and that has overall higher percentage of students that are meeting the expectations. Uh, those commendable, those are the groups, those are schools that maybe have one subgroup that uh falls into that category that uh may be um not as proficient but is still um overall they're doing well. And then we get into the targeted support which is if you have one or more subgroups that is underperforming. Comprehensive support is like the first year of a school that is
021underperforming. And then um intensive support is beyond that first year. Uh many of our schools in Geneva do not have a subgroup of those categories that um are identified as such because you have to have 20 or more students in that subgroup in that grade. But we do have a few schools that do have subgroups. Some of those subgroups are free and reduced lunch, uh, e, special education, homeless, migrant. There's about 10 different Yeah, there's about 10 categories. Uh, the other indicators that will remain the same as they um put together the score report card are the percentage of value of all the indicators. So still for the elementary um 75% uh will be um from the assessments that are given the English language arts or I'm sorry the um overall proficiency levels as well
022as the growth and then the I'm sorry this is really small print and then the English language learners progress to proficiency at the high school level that 75% is made up of their overall ACT per performance in English language arts and math, the science assessment which is again now part of the um ACT, their graduation rates and again for them the English language progress to proficiency. And if you recall an earlier presentation um perhaps last year uh this time progress to proficiency is students once they're identified as eligible for EL services. Uh the goal is to have them exited within five years. And then the other 25% is made up of your attendance rates and the climate survey which is the um L&I 5 essential. And then for the high school it's those as well
023as nth grade on track for graduation. So there's still a little bit heavier weight at the elementary levels which is grades three through eight. Middle school counts as elementary as it relates to the assessments um because again there's a larger portion of the high school that's given for graduation rate uh which is an important uh characteristic as well of our um portrait of a graduate. And then this just gives the I just want to share with you um just the weights that each of those categories carry for um the K8 which is really 38 and then the high school just so you can see what um all goes into those overall reportings as they are created. So again we anticipate um the state hopes to have this all put together and out to us by
024October 1st. Um, usually it goes out, you know, to press at the middle of the month. We get it around the same time, then it goes public on the 30th of October. Uh, they did share at the, uh, webinar week and a half ago that to date they're they're hopeful to make that October 1st date, but um, they could be a bit delayed. Any other questions on what they're changing for this year? And I'll do my best to answer because again we're kind of going off of >> I just was wondering is this going to affect placement at all since we now have um policies in place that kids automatically get into classes based on where they're testing or how we are choosing or determining which kids should be placed in AE classes at the
025>> So there's I'm gonna there's two parts to your question. So first part is the accelerated placement act which has passed that is um for high schools. Uh so yes it will probably impact those students who would be eligible for um advanced placement or automatic enrollment in the next most rigorous course which is what the accelerated placement act um calls for. At the K8 level we're expected to have you know policies and practices for identifying students and and placing if available. So um that those scores would be used as well as we talk about placement for A&E in third, fourth and fifth grade. >> So will we change because I think it was last year we adjusted um how many points were given for scoring. Does that mean the score will change that you have
026to have to get in or >> those scores were primarily based on KOAT and MAP? >> Okay, >> for that matrix >> which then leads me to my second question. Um, does MAP already align with these scores or we were kind of doing a different kind of assessment that way? And what will this then look like for parents? Because I know map is probably primarily what parents use in eighth grade and under to determine like where their kids are. And it would show us past years like where they scored. So you can kind of compare, oh, my kid went down a little bit or my kid went up a little bit or maybe this was where the gap year was or something. Is that how is it going to look for parents or they this
027won't be so much individual for parents? >> There will be individual reports for parents that will explain like where their students are at to compare to previous years like if you're taking like your child's fourth grade I AR report to their fifth grade AR. I don't know how equitably you could compare those because they've changed the scores. And then in terms of interestingly, you ask about MAP. They in this summer they just shared uh webinars coming up later this week. They adjusted their norm score norm scores as well. >> Okay. >> And it appears that they've um lowered those as well. >> So that might be important to communicate to parents this year because if we all see a huge jump in scores and we're like, "Oh, our kid had a great year." And it's
028not that they didn't, but maybe there is also just some number leveling there. >> Yes. Yes. That will be forthcoming. Like we're there's a number of us that are going to be attending the webinar this week. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Great question. >> I I do think to your point um parents will still see that map report come as it comes. I think at K8 that will still primarily be the thing that parents will see and look at. This is a the the state does report that they intend to get this data out sooner and quicker. That's been one of the kind of digs on this is that it they get the data to the schools and to parents so late that it kind of is not helpful from a instructional perspective. You know,
029these kids took this test last year, we're going to get it sometime in the middle of this year. you know, how's that helping us that and that's why we still use a tool like MAP as that kind of ongoing feedback. And for now, we'll continue to do that. Right. >> Yeah. We have the annual checkup and then the intermittent check-ins with Matt. >> Yeah. I'm I'm just I'm just a little bit confused. Uh I know first off this is not your presentation >> but the first two or maybe three slides talk about how state of Illinois compares to other states. >> Why I mean are are the other states changing? Are are all the states going to the same rating? Um or what I don't understand why that was in there. It it really has
030no impact on anything that's from page three down unless unless all the states are going to our new Illinois's new rating system. Do you understand what I'm driving at? I mean, the logic is I'm missing the logic here. >> I You want to go ahead first? Sorry. Go >> ahead. I think the logic was that's part of their that's part of the state's rationale for why maybe if you could go back to like slide three, right? Like that's part of their rationale for why they're making this change. They're not saying that. >> Can't find it. >> Uh wait, back one. >> There it is. >> No. Uh >> no, it's it's the >> Yeah. Okay. You were um >> Hang on. >> There. >> This one. Yeah. So they're not saying I think what they
031would say is uh not that all the other states are changing. >> It's that we are >> we are changing because we did not align to basically what how every other state's model is what they are trying to say. >> But we're still not aligning to the other states model. That question was asked at the webinar um if they were going to change what was shared was several would be I don't know what that means but because even if you look at this even the two I mean all three states are different >> so >> and their new one doesn't even match the other two correct >> correct >> that's why I think it'll be best if we really rely on those student growth percentiles so we can look at each student individually and see
032how they're growing year-over-year as compared to the standards and the assessment that they're being evaluated with. And I I might add um you know, one of the things that I think is helpful when we look at this data and when we've looked at some of this in the past, it's that um so I think an easy way to think of it, this like a little assessment 101, but there's kind of two different ways we would look at assessment. There's criterion referenced and norm referenced. criterion referenced is, you know, um being assessed against a certain standard or a piece of criteria, right? And norm referenced is how a student compares to the general population who also takes this assessment. One of the things that's complicated with these state accountability assessments is they try to do both
033of those things, right? They try to give you a they try to do a criterion reference test, but give you this norm referenced perspective. So they try to tell you here's how the kid does based on this expectation or standard and then also here's how that compares to everyone else. Um and that makes it complicated when you're trying to do both things. Um the one of the things that I think is helpful for us to look at as a board team is that norm referenced piece and that's the one where I think we've seen um you know you see how do where does this kid fall or where do our scores fall in like that percentile rank compared to everyone else. And that's where we see that's where we can get a good idea of
034how we're fairing um compared across the state or nationally because you can look at the SAT or the ACT, >> you can look at norms of that nationally, right? And so I think that data we will be able to see regardless like where are we falling on a norm distribution? Where do these scores for our district and our state fall on that norm distribution? And that's what I think will be interesting to see to your question, Paul, because I think some of the preliminary things we're hearing are is that like to be proficient in third grade, you have to be at the 53rd percentile, right? So, you would have to be just above average. But to be proficient in math in seventh grade, you have to be at the 63rd percentile. So, better than 63%
035of the kids. And that seems a little wonky. And we're still going to try to figure out why that like why that might be. Um and again, we haven't even seen all the data yet, but I think it's that norm data that's going to be able to tell us how are we comparing um and how are our kids fairing compared to that broader population who's also performing uh on all these assessments. >> Right. My my only concern about using the SAT or the ACT, those are when your students are already sophomores, juniors, seniors. It's a lagging indicator. It's too late if if I may say that they had I mean you you need something more normative, is that the right word? Earlier on for you in order to assess how your students are doing in
036in that case. I understand it's great to see and how we're doing with our kids that are in near the end of their academic career in high school, but the value would be more early on. And go ahead. >> And that's where those benchmark assessments that we give are so help so helpful because those are what we're using to see, you know, growth from like trimester to trimester across the years. We can look at a students, you know, from well, first grade through 8th grade as they take those assessments. Are there are there correlations between those assessments and and and how students will typically do with some of the ACT, SAT later on in their career? >> Each of the assessments um protocol have concordance tables that they've created that they say will help you
037indicate the level of proficiency. Yes. >> And and I would say that goes back to Stephanie's question too because MAP does that. map is what gives us that at the elementary level, right? So we can see where our kids are falling and how they're making that progress at that level. So that's why that test is so important at those >> and that gives us that opportunity before is you said possibly too late, you know, first through 8th grade to intervene and put things in place. >> Anyone else? Just briefly, I understand in education as in life that there are often conflicting goals and aims. And I certainly appreciate the effort on the part of the state to simplify, which I'm not sure we're succeeding at this measurement. I also appreciate that there are states that
038probably don't want the test to show how their students are doing compared to Illinois students, just as an example. So, I hope that with all of that in mind that that the state board can come up with a pretty rational number to move this situation ahead and show parents accurately how their students are doing. So, thank you for your efforts, Jennet. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, next item four is public comments. Bonnie, do we have any public comments? Would anyone like to make any public comment at this time? Okay. Item five, legislative updates. Anything to report? >> I don't have anything for us tonight. >> Thank you, Jackie. Superintendent report. >> Thanks so much. I'm getting connected. Are you getting Oh, okay. >> Let me try this again here. I'm gonna connect real quick.
039>> We are so fast. >> Yeah. There we go. Please hold. Thank you. So we can all sign into >> I don't know it's not Andy puts that all you're asking about the acronyms. Do you even do we do you know what SAT I had to look it up SAT and ACT stamp? >> I actually did. I had to look it up. >> Classic aptitude test. >> Is this classic or student? Anyway, the ACT is American college test. >> Is it really? >> I don't think I knew. >> Right. Right. Just an R. So, are you connected still by chance? Can you open Can you open board book and pull it up from board book maybe? Thank you. I don't know why. I think I tried I messed it up because I tried to connect
040while you were still connecting and now it's being difficult. It just says available displays can't find. Oh, wait. Don't connect. >> Here we go. All right, it's coming. Thank you everyone. I'm sorry. Come on, baby. Okay. All right. Thank you. I apologize for that. Thanks everybody. Um just a few things for us to to talk through tonight and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share with you um as we uh have our first meeting uh after the school year 2526 has started um with our theme of all together now and um you know working together on important issues because we have a lot of important issues uh and a lot of challenging ones to work through. Um, and you know, our message with our staff when we got back together was really if we
041can approach these challenges with um, positivity and peace and love and joy and a collaborative um, intentionality, then, you know, we really do think we can come together and contribute to something bigger, which is what our school district is. We had a great kickoff acknowledging that last week. Um, and we want to carry that through for the rest of the 2526 school year. Uh so first just excited to highlight uh our first days of school this past year. Um it was a great week last week. Uh getting started with staff on Monday and then uh kids arriving in most of our facilities last Thursday and Friday. Was able to get around uh to see everybody. And today was our last first day with Gelp starting school um uh today. So it was nice to see
042them. Um, and boy, preschool teacher, I mean, getting those threes and fours inside today. I was I was out there and they got everybody in. And then one of the buses rolled up. It was a little bit late because of some traffic. And she said, "I have three to take inside." And I said, "I better go get reinforcements. If there's one, I was going to be willing to try it by myself." But three of them I went to get a little extra help. Um, but sincerely, we've had a great start all the way around. And I just thanks to everybody uh in the community and uh um for for all of that work. And I had to take this picture on the bottom left because is there anything more fun than going out to the
043recess and the bucket of balls is all brand new, right? And that's like that's like the best. >> Uh so I want to take a little time and just highlight briefly uh all the summer capital projects that were done. We've talked about this many times. Um and schools are in this very unique uh space where uh you know we have these big capital things to do and we can't do them when we've got everybody in the building and we have this short two and a halfish month window to get all of this work done. Um and you know kudos yet again to everyone on our team um for being able to help us do that. We had a lot of work completed over the summer. It was sincerely kind of up till up until the
044last minute like it always is. Um but we got everything done and we were ready for kids to come back. We had uh some of the big projects. We've talked about these before, but basically I would say they fall into kind of three basic categories. One is mechanicals um and HVAC kind of work. We had that done at several buildings. And I think this is important to note because that meant that in a lot of our spaces across the district uh you know the AC was off uh you know all summer and um that meant our custodians were working 8 10 hours a day doing all those things they do to get the buildings ready. That meant uh you know in some cases our staff and administration and we had to have back to school
045events and some of that stuff wasn't all operational. So grateful to everybody for working through all of that. Um, but all of that got done. Everything got uh kicked on uh just before school got started everywhere and feel like we're uh in good shape with those. We also some fire systems um that uh got done um you know we had an experience this summer as you all recall with we had a fire in one of our buildings and we saw how important and valuable it was having those systems being up to-date and uh functioning properly. um it protected our building um greatly. So, we're glad to have those. Um then kind of two other quick things. We had several elevators. Our elevators were aging and you know that's obviously a safety issue. So, we've updated
046several elevators this summer and we'll have more coming. Um did a little bit of roofing. And I think um the coolest one that people are most excited about would be the library at the high school had a renovation and it's a much more modern space, much more usable space. Um and I think the kids are excited to see that and be in there and our staff is as well. So it's pretty cool. Uh kind of a more modern learning space. So I want to thank our operations team for that. Want to thank our uh construction partners. You know, everybody was putting in a lot of time. Um, and as you all know, we're now looking ahead to our future needs with our facility conditions assessment that we talked about a little bit at our last
047meeting. Um, we're we're going to uh be getting some dates out about potential retreat for the board to have an opportunity to dig into that a little bit because we've got a lot of needs coming up. Um, and uh, so that's kind of the next big thing on the horizon when we're talking about capital projects. Any other questions or thoughts or comments on that stuff? >> That top right picture part of the library renovation. >> Yeah. >> Oh, cool. >> Yeah. So, they're cool little like >> Yeah. >> learning spaces around there and there's TVs in there. They can sit in there and work on projects and stuff. It's pretty cool. >> Nice. >> Um Yeah. Next, uh I said I'd bring back a little more information on this hearing officer question and then we
048have um an opportunity for uh the board to consider a question here a little bit later in the agenda. So um first I wanted to bring back what it explicitly says in our policy to share this with you. This uh goes to some of the questions you were asking Paul at our last meeting. So here's what the actual language in in this policy says. Before a student may be expelled, the student um and his or her parent or guardian shall be provided a written request to appear at a hearing. Uh the student and his or her parent or guardian may offer evidence and otherwise present reasons why the student should not be expelled. Um the hearing shall be conducted by the board or a hearing officer appointed by it. If a hearing officer is appointed,
049he or she shall report to the board the evidence presented at the hearing and the board shall take such final action as it finds appropriate. So this is this is the exact language that's in there. So I think to the question that was asked um this does not say that our policy does not say that um the family has a choice between the board or a hearing officer. It says that the board has the choice to decide that. Um and the policy also does not say if the board were to um appoint a hearing officer that the family would say still have an opportunity to come to the board. the family has an opportunity for a hearing and it's up to the board to decide how that hearing is facilitated. Um, fair enough. >> Okay.
050The the parents if if they disagree with the board or the hearing off the hearing officer or eventually the board's decision, they still have the right to take to go to court. Correct. >> Correct. They absolutely have the right to appeal that to court. Good question. Yes. So, uh, how that process would look, again, if we did, uh, choose to implement this process. And again, I think it's important for the public to know when we're talking about this. These are very rare circumstances in our community. This is not something that happens very often. And that's why we're talking about it now. So, if that rare instance does occur, we're not behind the eightball and we can have had some thorough and thoughtful conversation about it. So, uh, you know, how this process would work is
051if we wanted to move forward and potentially have a hearing officer in place to use in that rare scenario, uh, you know, I, admin, me generally would review and vet potential hearing officers and bring a proposal for services forward to you all as the board. um you know the board would vote on that proposal and then um should the board approve that proposal. It wouldn't mean that we would have to use that hearing officer in all circumstances, but it would just mean now we do have a hearing officer in place should an event occur at some point in the future that the board decides we need to use one. Um if that hearing officer is requested, I think this is a question uh some of you had. Molly had I think about the hearing officer.
052Generally, it seems like, you know, you'd hire that person. They'd be at an hourly rate. It's around 250 an hour. They'd conduct the hearing um as required by the school code. And again, they come with that expertise in knowing exactly how to do all of that. They provide a written report that would include factf finding. Um how would was everything done uh in compliance with the law and policy and code? um summaries of all the text of all the testimony, exp the exhibits, the artifacts, um their finding of the facts and then they would share the administrative recommendation and then their formal recommendation uh for the board for the board then ultimately to make a hearing and or to make a decision. Um and you know I will share that in some of the hearing
053officers I've spoken to they uh shared that um you know then it's up to the board and you know they can certainly come and share give insight to the board if the board has questions but um boards can and certainly do sometimes make different decisions uh than what's been recommended. So the question on the table and I'm happy to answer more questions or I don't know if this is an opportunity for you for you all to have some conversation. We can have it later on the agenda too. But I think um the appropriate next step would be a vote tonight to consider the question is should should you task me uh with seeking a formal proposal um for services for use of a potential hearing officer in student disciplinary matters at some point in the
054future. And as some of you can see, the next item on the agenda is to discuss this and consider whether to vote or not. That's the next step. Anything else? >> Yeah, I've just got uh one more here. Um and then we can talk about that one next. Just uh as we are getting started for the school year, I wanted to give a shout out to our transportation team and share some transportation fun facts with you all. Um uh that's Mike Heiny. He's an example of our awesome bus drivers. Uh we were making a video for opening day and I called over and I said, "I need somebody to be part of a cockami scheme." And Mike's like, "I'll do it." Um you know, and then we needed to get a bunch of choir kids
055to the opening day. And bunch of drivers said, "Yep, I'll do it." Uh that's just the kind of of people we have on this team. But I thought this data might be important for our community to know. um because I know sometimes transportation can be stressful with your kid and and I think it's important to understand some of these facts that I think are pretty neat. So on any given day we could transport as many as 3,235 kids in our district. Um you may or may not be aware that here in Geneva um we have um a service where families can uh families who don't qualify for transportation by the rules in the law can pay to have that transportation. Uh you may not know the vast majority of districts do not do that. In
056fact I don't know of a district that does that besides ours. That's something we've done and had in place for a long time. And that's why that number is so high, right? You see um you know over 3,000 kids who could be transported on on any given day. That's also high partly because we're that unit district. So then when everybody goes to one spot for middle school, right? So a lot a vast majority of our kids need to be transported over there because there aren't very many walkers who live in that area, for example. Um but that's that's a lot of kids. That's 233 individual routes um any day. Um almost 1,200 unique bus stops. Um and I think that's probably important to know sometimes I and I certainly understand this as a dad. There
057can be frustration about your bus stop. And I think understanding that there's 1,200s 1,200 of those that our transportation department is managing on any given day uh is important to know. Uh, I think you know this based on um information Todd has shared with you in the past, but we have 69 buses covering those routes, uh, 67 drivers and and six monitors. Um, and over 2100 miles driven every day. And I think this is important to note that is just on our school routes. Um, that is not counting any field trips. That is not counting any extracurriculars. Um, kids going to things before or after school. That 2170 miles is just on our kids getting back and forth to school routes. So, um, that's a lot. We're do doing a lot of good people doing
058a lot of work to get our kids back and forth safely every day. Just wanted to acknowledge that. And that's all, Larry. Thank you. >> Thank you, Andy. And those numbers are indeed impressive. I wouldn't have guessed them to be that high if someone had asked. So, thanks for that. Um, so that's the superintendent's report. Item seven, board dialogue topics and pending action consideration. And remarkably, we don't usually have something there, but this time we do. The question is, should the board task the administration with seeking a formal proposal for hearing officer services for potential use in the future student disciplinary matters? I'll address it just a little bit. I have complete faith that this board could arrive at a fair and just decision facing any of these issues. Nevertheless, this board won't be around
059forever and it may be prudent to have such a a resource at our disposal should it be required. Any questions or discussion that anyone would like to bring up? >> I I do. Um if you don't mind, Andy, I'm just going to kind of talk a little bit about how I'm understanding it. Um, if I understand this correctly, should we have a um have this officer, the hearing officer put into place when a matter comes up, the board decides at that time if they're going to kind of hand off to the hearing officer or handle more internally. Then should we hand off that person conducts the hearing, gathers all the information and then presents it to us in a summary. We then read through the summary, determine if yes, we are going to go along
060with recommendations, make tweaks, edit, and then um get back to the family with a kind of the final answer. Yes, I I do recognize that a hearing officer can be can help to appear and have trans or appear as though, you know, more are less biased. Like that's kind of the appeal to it, making sure that it's it's someone a little bit more removed. However, I'm a big fan of making use of our time and resources. It's to me it feels that there's a lot of overlap and a lot of redundancy and time doubling up on tasks and then the cost to it. So, my hesitancy is more in the if we're already going to sit down and kind of comb through what what the matter is, determine if we're going to hand it off,
061have that person do it, and then double check the work. It just seems like we're kind of redoing everything. So that would just kind of be my one where I may be a little bit more hesitant in this, but I can understand the importance should a matter come up that really needs somebody removed. >> Yeah. And I I think that's a great point and I think I would add um two two things quick. One noting that um you know note I guess please note I didn't come with a recommendation on this. I don't have a recommendation on this. I really think this has been a great discussion. I don't have a strong um kind of feeling. I think we could make either one of these things work and and we have. So um I think
062this came up as a question and there has been good dialogue over a series of meetings on that. Um and can I'm happy to help facilitate kind of whichever way it goes. I do think another piece that's probably worth noting is that in most cases I think we would I think we have to be candid and fair to say um if we were going to to go in this direction I think we would probably default to one or the other because in most cases we're not going to have the opportunity for the board to come together make a formal mal decision about are we going to use a hearing officer or not and then go do all of that stuff. So, I think if we were going to have someone, then what you would also
063then likely do is say, well, our default is either we're going to default to empowering the administration and Andy to kind of deciding and making that recommendation about which way we go. Um, or we're going to default to always using that person or default to not using that person and just have it there as a backup. So, I'm glad you asked that process question because I think that's important for us to know because if we get in that situation, you're right. We're not gonna have the time to come together and decide if we are going to do that and then do that. It's going to have to be either kind of I'm empowered to make one choice or the other or the board chooses to default one way or the other. >> Other questions? Sure.
064>> So if the hearing off officer is conducting the hearing, the same people would be in the room as if we had done it except we just as a board members would not be in the room. So we'd have our attorney there assuming a principal, somebody else might be in the room, family. So just kind of how we've done it before. >> Correct. Correct. It would look very look exactly the same. >> Okay. I guess I just have a comment in regard to and I I what are we trying to make first of all what are we trying to make decision on whether or not to move forward with trying to find and Okay. >> Yep. >> Um so this won't be our last kick at the can in terms of we we'd have Okay.
065So I guess my my um I guess my comment is I'm trying to put myself in two position. If I was a parent >> that that had a student that and I wanted a hearing, >> I feel as a parent, and luck on wood, I've never been in the situation, but that I would want a hearing in front of the board versus a hearing in front of an individual. That would be what I would see as kind of a third party person. that would be and I would I would I would as a parent I would rather state my case and advocate for for my student or my child in front of the board versus in front of here and that's just me that's me that's I don't know if that's the case for but
066that's just for would be for me the other thing is I think there's a is there's two things I could say maybe there's more but two things I'm thinking of as a schoolboard member that that we that are important and one is graduation and one is a hearing like a disciplinary hearing and I think in and they're totally polar opposites in terms of but >> but they're important because in let's say graduation we would never have a third party person be the the you know the mediator or whatever that okay we're going to we're going have that person approve the graduation of the students. We do that at the school board. >> Same thing as in terms of just we, you know, I don't know. It just it just feels like there's um I guess
067that's less of the reason. I guess the first reason would be more as a parent would I want, you know, what I want. Those two go together for sure though. I totally agree. >> Anybody else down here? One one last qu one why one I'd like to make a couple comments. One, I did assume that you would be the one we give authority to to decide whether we bring in the the hearing officer or we handle it internally elsewhere. So the second point is tonight is only about whether or not we do go out and source. So that's a different issue. I think the issue that I have a concern about I think you've mentioned it now also that may be the right place to take that is the policy committee and change the policy
068to give a parent the right to appeal if we do use the um hearing at least appeal to the board because to be honest with you knowing how this board and most boards work when we do have the the hearing officer in front of us. We're probably going to go through the whole thing anyway with everybody trying to ask, you know, everybody asking questions, digging as deep because it's such a serious issue. Now, there may be cases where, and we might have had some like this in the past where the parent would say, "I agree with what you're doing. I'm not going to take it further." and which would be fine, but I would I'm still struggling as you might guess with if if the hearing officer says we're going to use the alternative, you
069know, in lie of suspension, we're going to use the alternative and and I'd really hate for this for the district to have to go to court rather than at least have one more chance for them to state their case. They can always take us to court. That's always their right, >> right? But this at least might direct it differently if they feel they have a fair hearing. That's those are my only comments on >> and and in in the process is there three outcomes that could come out of it. So I'm hearing from from your superintendent report there there could be a recommendation from administration, recommendation from the hearing officer and then we could as a board we could make our own recommend. >> Yeah. So theoretically, right, how this would go is the administration
070would be making that recommendation. That's why the hearing would be coming. >> Mhm. >> Um and then if you had the hearing officer in place, the hearing officer would basically preside over that. Basically, the hearing officer would then consider the administration's recommendation and make a formal recommendation to the board on yes, here's what I believe you should do regarding the >> it could go along with the administrator administration recommend or it could be something different. Correct. Okay. Correct. And then would make that formal recommendation that would come to this body who ultimately has the sole authority to make that decision where that group could again, you know, theoretically follow that recommendation or do something different. >> All right. I'm I'm listening to you speak and I'm getting a sense that there is an awareness of
071our responsibility in these cases and a sense that this might be not only increasing the bureaucracy but deferring our responsibility and not doing our job. >> Um, >> can we take an official vote on it? Because that's not how I feel. It's not how you feel. Okay. Uh, we should take a vote on it. I was just expressing my opinion. >> Oh, okay. Sorry. I thought we were just summing up. So, >> well, I am kind of summing up because I appreciate that. The the biggest problem I can see with this is that we're kind of passing off the decision and even though it's ultimately ours to make, the more layers of people dealing with the situation, the more distant and removed it seems. And so, as I said earlier, I absolute faith that this
072board could arrive at a fair decision. Um I guess the question would be um even though we're not really we don't have to have a motion or anything like that or we can if you'd like to have a motion to hire or not to hire such a person. Does anyone care to make a motion? Pick one. >> The motion though that was >> proposed is to hire. >> No. To seek >> Should I seek a proposal? >> Seek a proposal. We have an opportunity to >> still say no >> to still say no. >> Yeah, >> that's what >> that's the way I read it. Yes, that's that's what I'm advocating for today is either say seek seek a proposal or you know somebody say either you move that Andy goes and finds a you
073know proposal bring brings a proposal forward to the boards for the to the board for consideration um for bringing on a hearing officer or not >> just out of curiosity are there are there firms that do this or are the attorneys I I think Andy was saying most districts use a hearing officer. >> Yeah, most districts do do this for that kind of legal protection having someone who comes with that expertise. Um so yeah, my experience is that and the folks I've talked to anyway, uh informal anecdotal, right? I don't have formal data, but most districts, my experience is do use that structure for for some of those reasons that we've talked about in previous meetings. >> We I'm trying to remember we we have we have to have attorneys that come to the Yeah.
074So >> that's why >> Yeah, >> that's why I asked that the attorney would still be here for the >> So I is is it are you is it an additional legal protection then? Yeah. So, if you think about it when um I guess you know very candidly and transparently the way to think about it is when you have that happen, you've got um you know theoretically the attorney who's there representing the district um based on what the recommendation was, right? based on basically recogn uh you know supporting the administrative work that the district has done, right? So you have basically that attorney maybe theoretically you have an attorney on the other side that this person would be coming on almost serving like a judge as it were if you think about it that way.
075>> But we take the final decision. >> Correct. >> The board takes the final decision. So every >> we have that responsibility. Correct. We can't we cannot delegate that. >> No, that's 100% correct. >> Right. Right. Yeah. So I think I can share my opinion. It's it it hasn't shifted much from what I felt in the past. I h like I do appreciate all the perspective and the conversation. Um I think like Deian shared what his perspective was. Mine would be quite different honestly. And it's not because I don't trust anybody on this board, but I just know that this board is not a group of experts on these issues. So, I would like somebody who was an expert of how these things work and maybe what works best. And that doesn't mean that we
076haven't done a great job um and thought through different options for cases, but I always wonder was that the best or just what we knew was available and who was bringing the information forward to us. So I think it's important because whether we have our lawyers or the administrators giving us recommendations on what to do, do we have a more impartial person saying here's what generally happens in these cases rather than here's what generally Geneva 304 does in these cases. And that's kind of important to me because I feel like there's a there's a huge amount of expertise that I am lacking in these matters and I like to lean on experts the same way that there's plenty of times that we have to call our lawyer to ask questions when board things come up
077because we're like we're not really sure, we're not the experts on this. So that's why it's important to me. But I don't think that that means I'm firmly at like this is the best decision. But I don't see why we wouldn't at least seek out some more information and making that decision as we continue to look at this. And and I like Dr. Barrett said, this has not come up that often. So I know it's not something that needs to take all of our time and a deep consideration, but I do feel like it's important to have that as an option. Although, as um Dr. Barrett explained, it's less um of an option than I had anticipated it to be. And maybe that does mean we need to look at the policy. I don't think
078that that I think that that is definitely potential an idea and it made me think like well what this is the press policy and what we pretty much go with what have other districts that already use hearing officers go with and kind of looking at that. I think that that that is a great idea as well. >> Okay. Yeah. >> And I want to mention this too. It gets to your question Dan about legal like for already have our attorney here. Um, it's also so that that hearing officer knows exactly what you can and cannot ask. And we again are not the experts in knowing something that we are allowed to say or not say or ask or not ask. I don't know everything that we're not allowed to say or ask. And it's also
079that legal protection for us. If somebody like Larry said, a future board member doesn't know and they say some inappropriate things in that hearing, well then that family could also sue for us saying things like that. So, I think that's for having that officer because they know that. But I'm not trying to sway anyone either way, but I just wanted to answer that. >> Yeah, the question I guess >> a little bit. >> I'm just trying to figure then what does our attorney our attorney doesn't doesn't provide that information. Okay, these are things that you can't ask or can't. I mean, are we doubling up like Molly said on on services? >> I I don't know if the attorney knows everything that's in the board member's head that they're going to ask >> say. Well,
080I I don't know if a hearing officer does either, though. Well, if the board was asking, we wouldn't have the hearing officer there. So, the board would be asking the question, but the hearing officer knows what they can legally ask and not ask or say and not say and something like that. >> We We've all had one experience doing this. >> I was sitting back and relaxing. We've all had one experience with the hearing and it was a very serious matter which the board dealt with effectively. I think I've done one more since I've got longer service, but it's still a very rare event. Um, I'll go with with the pleasure of the board in terms of this thing, but it's just to look into the process, which seems to be all we're really asking
081now. It seems pretty harmless. >> I agree. Could I get clarification on then what the exact because I just want to know like where when does the vote then come in of Okay, so tonight we're deciding if we just want a a proposal And then what would the next step be? Because I just want to know what my where my voice will be down the road as far as, you know, making that final determination of when we get the proposal. >> Assuming >> yes, we are. No, we're not. >> Assuming that we vote to have Andy look into the matter, he will do so and secure a offer of services from a firm or an individual that does this sort of thing. and then he will bring that to the board and we will say,
082"Yeah, we'd like to have them in our back pocket or no thanks." And um that would pretty much set in motion one way or the other. There may be some changes to the board policies as a result of that decision to make it work more effectively, but that's probably a rather minor thing. Anybody want to add or change any of that? >> I think that's right, Larry. I think in addition that would be the time where we would talk we would need to talk about okay what's if we if that came forward and the board was going to approve having that person in our back pocket then the question would be what's the default until say the policy committee has had more conversation or something like that that would be the time to say what's
083the default it's the default we're empowering Andy to kind of make that decision and is the default to say well we're not going to go in this direction or is the unless um you know or we are going to kind of default to just using that as the practice. So I think that next time we would need to do that at some point because we don't want to end up in a scenario where something that's what we're trying to avoid here with all this good thoughtful conversation is getting behind the eightball when something has happened and then say gosh do we want to do this or not. So I do think it's fair to ask because at some point we have to this group has to decide are we doing it or not. Um >>
084c can one last question. um as we move through this process and maybe this is too early to discuss it, but I would assume if we do have a hearing officer, um he or she would first receive a a recommendation from the administration as to their direction in that specific case. So he or she could easily just say, "Yes, I'm, you know, after looking through this, I agree this is the right thing or we'll have a hearing." But they're not necessarily bringing alternative resolutions to the problem. >> You mean in the case of a specific hearing? >> Yes, >> they might. They might, but they could very easily just say we want to go with what the administr I I agree with administration on this. >> Yeah. Yeah. Their findings could be >> Yeah. >>
085100% we support administrator. >> Right. Right. >> An interesting question that would be helpful to know is in boards that have hearing officers, how often does the hearing officer disagree with the initial recommendation of the administration in the case? Because if it's never, then we're wasting our time. And if it's all the time, then it bears a careful looking. >> Yeah. I think um in my preliminary investigation into this, the candid answer I think would be um seldomly. >> That's more diplomatic. >> So sometimes um you know, not all the time, not not very often, but sometimes they do. Um, and it would mostly be based on if they felt that there were some compliance practices that maybe, you know, some some things weren't done the way they should have been done or things like
086that candidly that I think would be less likely to happen in our district because I think we're good at being by the book. Um, but I think those would be it's seldom would be the answer to that. So let's say we have as Larry said a hearing officer in our back pocket pocket. Um how would the process work again? So then there's expulsion, there's a hearing and a student for request to appear at a hearing and then and then so do what what's the process of the parents get to choose or do we choose or how does what >> I'll tell you candidly what I think. I think um um frankly I think a lot of this goes to how much uh trust you would have in me to basically make evaluate the situation as
087it's happening. um and then make a recommendation to the board and say, "Board, this is coming up. Based on the circumstances uh of this, I'm recommending we go in the direction of using our hearing officer for this issue or based on the circumstances and my evaluation of this situation, uh I don't think we need to do that in this circumstance. Um, and we'll have a hearing before the board. So, I I understand that that's part of what makes this heavy because I I mean I think ultimately you're going to have to empower someone and you know I'm your own technically I'm your only employee, right? So, you're going to have to empower me to make that determination. Um, unless you want to say we're always doing it or I think the board kind of has
088two choices. either say we're going to default to always doing that or we're going to default to empowering the superintendent to kind of make that determination in each instance. I think because if you were going to say we're going to default to not doing it then I think to Larry's point then why do it then you know why go forward and put that in place then we've got a sound group of people here who can make those decisions. So, I don't think if if the default was going to be n don't do it, then there's probably not a need to do that. Does that seem right? >> Any other discussion? >> I think that makes sense to me. I do think that there were things that were brought up tonight that make me think more
089about this and what maybe if we did adopt a hearing officer, what our policies and procedures would be around that. So, I feel like one way or the other, I don't know that I'm ready to say no on it. I just I I almost have more questions or more thoughts about how might that look in with what everyone brought up. >> This might be a possible situation to discuss at a retreat. However, as president, I'm going to use one of my few prerogatives and call the question. SP we've spent enough time to develop some thoughtful ideas. There's no real commitment here. So, uh, >> so I'll I'll make the proposal to have Andy do a search and bring forward to the board a proposal for a hearing officer. >> Second. I >> I >> Nick.
090>> All right. >> Okay. That uh that was fun. Um that's what it's supposed to be though. That's really good. That's what it's that's what this is supposed to be. That's good. >> I'm well satisfied. >> Item eight on the agenda, work study topics, future action, consideration. There's a whole laundry list of policies and so forth. And Stephanie, anything? >> Yeah. So, um, thank you for all that policy discussion we just have, so I feel like I'm stealing the show tonight. Um, these are some policies that have been updated and the policy committee went over earlier in August. You can um, take a look back at that meeting. We did have kind of went through and summarized most of them. A lot of these are just updates, not even updates, but just meant for us
091to review. And just as a reminder, we do have policies in place that we have to review certain review all policies every five years. So there might not be changes. It's just for us to read and make sure that's in line with what we're thinking and a refresher on some of the policies that we have as a district. There are a couple changes in there as well, but nothing um too large. So just let me know if you guys have any questions. Any questions? >> No. >> Uh there's no action required at this time. Um and the item nine information, the board meeting presentation schedule and foyer requests. We've seen those in board book. Um no discussion is required unless anybody has any questions. The item 10, consent agenda. My favorite. Um, item one, personnel
092report, resignations, retirements, leave requests, changes in assignments, full-time equivalent, new hires. Item two, monthly financials for July. Item three, gifts, grants, bequests, $3,000 to Judy Saxton, Jodie Saxton Properties LLC, 1,500 to Elurn Market, 1,500 from GHF as athletic supplies, uniforms, and purchases. Item four, gifts, grants, and requests. $4,500 Biscuit Cafe, Inc., $1,500 Geneva Feeder Basketball, $1,500 girls basketball, and $1,500 for boys basketball for GHS athletic supplies, uniforms, purchases, and needs. We very much appreciate these generous gifts, and we'd like to thank all of the givers for their support of the school system. Uh, we need a motion to approve. So moved. >> Second. >> I >> Hi. Item 11, board member comments and reports. Why don't we start with Stephanie who hasn't had a chance to talk much tonight. So, >> sure. So, I just
093wanted to say welcome back to all of our students and staff and our families. I know it's been a busy couple weeks as we wrap up the summer and all the back to school events and those will continue with curriculum nights coming up and some more events. I was able to attend the cornboy this year and just always a great event, very community based, great to recognize our marching band, our dancers, our athletes across all fall sports. It's something that I think is really unique to Geneva and I love that we we do that every year and thank you to the sports boosters for managing all of that and hosting and ordering all the food. It's just a lot of work and that's all volunteer based. So, thank you so much. Also, I wanted to
094thank um some of the groups that Andy had shared in his superintendent report. So, facilities, you know, there was a time where I was in the school towards the end of the year and I wasn't sure it was all going to come together. We still had some hot areas of the high school when I was first there for registration and then by the, you know, fourth day of walking the freshman schedule, everything was so cold in there I had to go out and get my jacket. So, it had drastically shifted. So, thank you everyone for working hard to pull that all together. Um, and then transportation. I think, you know, I always say we're big Disney fans and that Disney has great public transportation, but really school buses are our kids' first use of public
095transportation and it's just so reliable. Um, and what a great experience for them with all the great different staff members we have. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you, >> Jackie. >> Yeah, I want to echo that. Say welcome back everyone. And it's it's exciting to have everyone and see the buzz in the town again when all the students are back and um excited to start going to football games and enjoying all the band concerts and theater things that are coming up this year. I do want to give a special shout out to Miss Sims tonight for your presentation. It's not easy presenting on a complex topic when you don't have all the information yet, but you're giving us information and our parents so that we can start digesting it with what you have
096and then like you said, you'll come back and share more as we have more information. So, I I just wanted to recognize you for that. And then, Dr. Barrett, the the kickoff was wonderful. I know that you put a lot of time and effort as well as a lot of other people. All the silly videos are really fun to watch and see how many different people participate. And I know that you call on other people too to help put that together, but it is a great way to start the year and um a positive way. So, thanks for taking all that extra time to put that together. Paul, >> yeah, I also would like to thank everybody for and congratulate everybody for the start of the new year, all the students and the staff and
097the teachers. Um, I also really much enjoyed the kickoff. It's always, this is my second time and I just sat back and and it was it was fun. It was a lot of fun and I think everybody enjoyed it. Um, I live close to the Western Avenue school and I get out early in the mornings and walk my pups and I really enjoy seeing all the parents walking to school and bringing the little ones uh to to to school the first days of school. So, it's been kind of a fun beginning uh couple days here to see everybody out before the weather turns. And luckily, it's gotten enjoyable weather. I shouldn't say anything. >> So nice. Now you jinxed it, Paul. >> I know. I'm sorry for that. I'll shut up. >> Way to go,
098Paul. >> I would echo everything that's been said already. Um Jackie, to your point with Shanette, I I share the same thoughts as that, but um thank you to all of our staff across the board. Um teachers, O andM, bus drivers, I you know, all the little letters home to students before the school year and the little packages and prepping the rooms and and everything. Um but also to our families who are adjusting to a whole different routine right now. I know last week and this week is full of um supply drop offs and curriculum nights and back to school events. So I know families are very busy this time of year. Um so to all of our friends and family in the community supporting these events, I I thank you all and I wish
099everybody a great successful year. >> I echo what everyone said and I won't repeat what I but I agree with everyone excited about the the start of the new year. Um, a couple things that uh um popped in my mind as we're starting the new year that throughout this year that I' I'd uh um one thing that I think would be interesting to get a report on um would be um how the new with the high school I'm sorry the middle school and then the new um no team center and all that. I I just would like to get an update at some point >> coming for sure. >> Okay, good. Great. Um uh the other thing was the opening day. That was awesome to be a part of that and I this year um
100with more students being involved in the in opening it that was awesome. So um yeah I think uh outdid yourself again there Andy and everyone that helped with that. Um um besides all the fun, I think it would um I appreciate the um uh one of the themes that you had in there was um we have an important year ahead of us as a school board and with teachers and all that. And so I think that's important just to kind of keep that in mind and perspective as well um of this year. So um looking forward to it and it's it's going to be a great it's going to be a great year and looking forward to everything that's coming. I agree with everything that everybody said and like Dan, I'm not going to echo
101those remarks, but thanks to everyone who works in the district and does such an excellent job. It's a joy to be a part of such a well-run machine. Having said all that, um I appreciate the board's excellent discussion this evening. I thought it was intelligent and well-rounded, and you're all wonderful. So, thanks for that. And then how about a motion >> to >> adjurnn. So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> Oppos. Same sign. >> Thank you very much.