001You ready? Good evening and welcome to the October 2025 board meeting. Great to see so many people in the room tonight. Some of you we spent some time last night uh together. So we will recognize and share that a little bit later. Miss Beam, would you please call roll? >> Mr. Bab >> here. >> Mr. Boyd >> here. >> Mrs. Johan >> here. >> Mr. Keune >> here. >> Mrs. Reagan >> here. >> Mrs. Steel >> here. >> Dr. Jükovich >> here. [Music] And this evening we have some scouts who are going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. It's a combination of Tomahawk student currently a fourth grader, some Tomahawk Elementary alumni who are currently South students. Um but their troop is located in Spring Hill. So we're just checking all the boxes
002tonight. [Music] Please right hand over your heart. >> I pledge allegiance >> 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. [Music] >> Thank you, gentlemen. [Music] And for recognitions, Miss Grub. Well, >> good evening. We're excited to have all of you here tonight. Um, to begin our recognitions, I would like to welcome to the front our director of community development, Heather Skunover, along with our 2025 alumni association wall of honor honores. and those who are here to accept this recognition on the honores behalf. Does she need to call? Okay. So each year our outstanding alumni are selected by the THA public schools alumni association for a wall of honor recognition. The purpose of this prestigious
003award is to recognize tha school district alumni and distinguished persons of honor for their lifetime achievements. Thea public schools alumni association recognized the following honores last night at a special awards banquet. Edward Eddie Hayes, a 1959 graduate of THA High School, a fourth generation law enforcement officer, and a retired captain after 29 years of service. Eddie, wave your hand. Yep, there he is. Bill Hines, a 1954 graduate of John P. St. John Memorial High School, a lawyer, professor, and longest serving dean of the Iowa Law School. And I believe accepting the award on his behalf is Janie Wilson. Adah Mafy, a 1931 graduate of John P. St. John Memorial High School and longtime public servant as a senior aid to Senator Bob Dole. You may recognize her last name as she was instrumental in placing
004the Mafy House on the National Register of Historic Places. Before passing at the age of 101, Ada was remembered as a passionate and determined woman whose political career, community advocacy, and commitment to local history left an indelible mark on tha and accepting on her behalf is Ruth Anne Lewis and Brian Mafy. Uh and finally, the alumni association also recognized one distinguished person of honor during its wall of honor banquet. And this year's honore is Cindy Jones. Cindy dedicated 31 years of service to the tha public schools food services team where she transformed student nutrition through innovation, advocacy, and compassion. Beyond her job requirements, she designed and implemented groundbreaking initiatives to increase meal accessibility and support student learning. Please join me in congratulating these outstanding alumni and honores for their achievements and contributions. Ready? Wonderful. Thank
005you guys. Well, as they make their way back to their seats, I would next like to invite the West math teacher Phyllis Clark up to the front along with her principal, Jay Novichek. This year, Phyllis was named Pittsburgh State University's 2025 outstanding secondary mathematics teacher. This honor recognizes significant contributions to mathematics education. I believe Phyllis was recognized earlier today at the PSU math department's high school math honor day. And when asked about Phyllis, her principal, Mr. Dr. Novichek shared that she is kind, caring, dedicated, and puts everything she has into helping our students day in and day out. She truly loves math and kids, and that combination makes for a wonderful place to learn and succeed. We are so proud to have Phyllis in our math department in representing tha public schools at the state
006level. Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Clark. Thank you. Now I would like to invite Megan Wendleton, California Trail art teacher to the front. Megan was selected by the Kansas Art Education Association to receive the Ad Astra Award. This award recognizes exemplary Kansas Art Education Association members who have exceeded expectations to contribute significantly to the welfare of the organization. According to KAEA board secretary Shannon Wedell, Megan has been a member of the Youth Art Month Committee since 2013 and has committed hundreds of hours of service to youth art month initiatives. The Youth Art Month Committee and the board appreciate that Megan was instrumental in working with the Office of US Congressional Representative Sherice Davids to award the Youth Art Month event with an official congressional proclamation in 2025. Megan is a highly respected Kansas art
007educator and she was recognized as the 2015 Outstanding Middle Art Educator and the 2019 overall outstanding art educator. So, it's no surprise that she has another award to add to the list. We're so proud of you, Megan, for your latest accomplishment. Please join me in a round of applause. Thank you. And finally, we would like to invite our very own Rachel Marlo, Central Elementary School music teacher and the 2026 Kansas teacher of the year to the front along with her principal, Brandy Leget. Rachel's background encompasses teaching special education, general music, vocal music, and instrumental music. She earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Oklahoma City University and a master's degree in special education from Mid American Nazarene University. Rachel has shared, "As an experienced educator in both special education and music, my journey is
008driven by a deep love for both fields. With a lifelong dedication to music and a personal connection to special education due to my hearing disability, I strive to inspire students by example. Fostering inclusivity, I value each student's unique abilities using music to connect, empower, and teach unity and collaboration. Through my teaching and initiatives, my goal is to make inclusive music education a reality, striving to empower students and create meaningful connection through music's diverse lessons. As the Kansas Teacher of the Year, she will travel around the state to advocate for education and provide professional development for her fellow teachers. Kansas Education Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson shared, "Rachel is a true professional who has made the art of music accessible to all students, having overcome barriers of her own. She emphasizes the importance of inclusion and connection
009to empower students to make a positive impact on their communities. We are so proud that Rachel will represent public schools across the state as Kansas teacher of the year. Congratulations, Congratulations [Music] [Applause] [Music] again to all those we recognized tonight. And I would just point out that with Rachel's recognition for Kansas teacher of the year, two of the last three years um have been teachers from THA and the year in between that individual that teacher of the year has chosen to come and teach in THA. So I think three for three is is pretty good. Um board, I skipped the adoption of the agenda, so I would welcome a motion to that effect. [Music] I move to >> Go ahead. >> I move to approve agenda item 2.01 as presented. >> Second >> motion by
010Brad Boyd. Second by Becky Johan. >> Mrs. Reagan. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Steel. >> Yes. >> Dr. Jükovich. >> Yes. >> Mr. Babbett. >> Yes. >> Mr. Boyd. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Keun. >> Yes. Motion passes 70. [Music] We'll move to 4.01, our school spotlight presentation tonight. Um, Tomahawk Elementary School. And thank you for the t-shirts. [Music] Okay. Good evening. My name is Julia Bacham. I am the proud principal at Tomahawk Elementary. Um, so a couple of photos here. The first one is the new educators we have this year at Tomahawk. Um, this was a larger class of new educators, but interesting. None of them are brand new. They are all educators who are coming from surrounding districts and we've had a great start to the year. Um, I have
011my family up there. My own kiddos are in Tha. My daughter is at Frontier Trail and our son is at THA South. And then you'll see my counselor and I, we are in our smiley face shirts. We have a theme every year. This theme is be the reads and someone smiles today. So, lots of smiles this year. Um, you'll also notice our logo and our mantra up at the top. Um, you belong, you matter, and you are loved is um kind of what we live by and that is what we tell our students every day. Um, so a little bit about Tomahawk. We are down bro. You can see lots of elementary schools as you travel down Broome, but we are tucked in there um between 109 139th and Broome. We have early education, so
012preK through fifth grade, and we have about 347 students right now. A little bit about our student demographics. We have about 48% who qualify for free and reduced. We have 21% of our students who are Hispanic, 8% African-American, 61% white, 8% two or more races, and then we have 2% in that other category. So, we have a great diverse population. So, at Tomahawk, we feed into two different middle schools. We feed into Frontier Trail and Indian Trail. And then we split again. Our kiddos who go to Frontier Trail go to either South or East. and our students who go to Indian Trail go to the north. So you will find little tomahawk kiddos all throughout the district. Some of our special programs, we are an ELLL site and we have an amazing ELLL teacher and
013two ELLL paras. We have a reading specialist. So that's our title reading teacher. We have her8 um of the time because we are not a title school. We are at risk but we still are fortunate to have that reading support. We have jumpstart early education and then we have early childhood special education as well as autism level two. Um one of the things I'm proud of is our PBIS implementation. We are on year six. So we have been doing this for some time. Um our motto like I said is we you matter, you belong and you are loved. So similar to that our PBIS expectations are showing that we matter, showing we are safe and showing we are prepared. So, um, we have our students log their tickets into a digital bank. So, we do
014keep track of how many positive reinforcements they have, and every year that annual average has been over a 100,000 positive reinforcements. So, I'm really proud of that. Um, you'll see an example of one of our expectation posters. That one's for the playground. And of course, our graphics department makes it match our themes. So, smiley faces for this year. Um, of course when students are redeeming their PBIS, we have, you know, the little pens and markers and fun things, but we really focus as a building on adult connections and experiences. So, playing Uno with the counselor making a bracelet with our reading teacher. Um, this picture is some kiddos who uh redeemed to do my hair. So, I've got a Christmas tree headband on, and it's definitely not Christmas, but they love doing that. Um, and
015then one of the students is reading to our therapy dog. So, another time where it's just time with an adult and our students really tend to to save up and redeem for those. Um, we have also done check-in checkout, which is a tier 2 intervention with PBIS just without one-on-one time with students checking in before and at the end of the day. Um, and we have had that successfully implemented for all six years. Um, some of the student opportunities, running club, the tha United Soccer we have been a part of the last couple of years. That picture's in the middle. Uh, flag football is huge and I actually I still talk I mentor one of our old kiddos who's in high school now and flag football is going to be like official or something um
016next year in high school. And she said, "I knew in third grade when I played flag football, I wanted to keep doing this." So, I made sure that our PE teacher knew that because the kids love it. Um, math wings, art club, student council, and then PALS is one of my favorite programs. That is the peer program that we run with our autism program. So, it's our gened students who are in specials in class just being that peer. Um, where the students in autism might not be able to come into the general education class, we go the other way and push in and support them and it just makes for a very inclusive environment. Um, some community involvement, watchd dogs is common at a lot of the schools. We typically have about three a week.
017So, we typically have a watchdog. Um, colorwalk is our big fundraiser, but it's put on completely by our PTO. We don't use an outside agency. So, they are working all year long and then we redeem fun activities all year like a phone party. Um, baby books is one of my favorite traditions. When a kiddo comes and says, "Hey, I have a new baby at home." Um, the staff all sign a book and send it home. This one's in Spanish because it's a Spanish- speaking family. Um, but we just like to welcome literacy early on. Uh, lots of volunteers of course in the building. PTO activities. We have wonderful active PTO. We do pastries with parents a couple times a year and then we like to celebrate our students with student of the month. So my
018counselor and I put the signs in their yard. Um so that's fun for them to come home to. Um a little bit about academic achievement. There's obviously lots and lots of data and different things to look at. So what I did is I looked at the group of students who we consistently had through their testing years. So third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade. So if you look at those uh that first column in ELA, what I really want to highlight is the red and orange are at risk. Blue and purple are college and career ready. So just as we would expect through third grade, fourth grade and fifth grade, the college and career ready is continuing to expand and we are lessening um those students who need intervention. For math um same thing overall
019where we are having more students who are college and career ready. This one was kind of interesting where fourth grade and fifth grade we did have a little bit of a bump in that level two, but you'll see our students who were in a level three um significantly bumped up to level four. So all those students who are in grade level, we're still enriching them and um I thought it was good data to just look at the same kids over couple of years. Um so like everywhere we have a lot of um expectations throughout the year and Dr. Jagger the last couple of years as leadership has said okay these are the things we're really focusing on. So we have taken that and we've done that to our school. So the things that we are
020really focusing on this year at Tomahawk what we are calling our guarantees is we're fostering a strong sense of belonging. So that's through those genuine relationships and PBIS um using our high quality instructional material, building in instructional coherence and that use of data to inform instructional decisions in PLC's. So we're doing a lot of things, but these four things we are guaranteeing this year. Um so like I said, our motto is you belong and we show that every day through our inclusion. Um PBIS and PALS are just two of those ways. Uh you matter. We celebrate each student's strengths and those might be in the classroom, they might be activities, but we make sure we celebrate those um and that you are loved always. We make a safe and supportive um environment with those relationships
021every day. So, like I said, we do this with our students every day. So, I have a little clip of that. >> I love >> you matter. >> I matter. You are loved always. >> I am loved always. And that is it. Thank you board. >> Are there any questions or comments? Board. >> What's the name of your therapy dog? >> Um, Scooby. >> Is that the French French bulldog? >> French bulldog. Yep. >> Yep. he didn't come to school today and whenever he doesn't we hear about it and the kids are like where is he? So, um it's been really amazing to see how much kids will talk and trust in us and just be comfortable. Um we have a kiddo who's going through some medical things with mom and that is her check-in
022multiple times throughout the day. Um, I talked with a student with his parents last year when there was some behavior things and the parents said, "He doesn't talk to us like that." And I was like, "Well, he's busy giving Scooby pets. He's not thinking about, you know, everything he's sharing." So, >> the brother of >> Knots. >> Yes. >> Yep. >> Thank you. >> Yep. [Music] >> All right. Thank you very much for being here. Our second presentation is uh Mr. Johnson. [Music] >> Good evening. Thank you very much for this opportunity to give you a update on our uh planning efforts around uh bond 2026. I thought this evening I you've heard me speak about the buckets of money on several occasions over several years, but I thought it's a really good starting point
023for this conversation as we discuss our upcoming bond issue. As you uh will recall, we I'm going to oversimplify it, but we really have three main buckets of money that we operate out of in our school district. We have an operating bucket of money, we have a capital outlay bucket of money, and we have a bond and interest uh bucket of money. The tricky part about bond and interest is it cannot be used for salaries. It has a very specific purpose. It's to pay the principle and interest on our bonds. Capital outlays a little looser. You use it for maintenance items. You can buy equipment for it. You can do renovations, but you can also pay for maintenance and technology salaries out of it. And then all of our other expenses have to be paid
024for out of the operating bucket. Now the operating bucket is funded predominantly by that state funding formula. There are some other sources but that's the main source. The capital bucket gets its money from a levy. 8 mills is the maximum by law and as a board you have uh for this coming year uh kept it at that maximum of 8 mills. The bond and interest also is supported by a uh a levy that the board sets each year and it's b it is set to create enough funds to make those principal and interest payments on bonds. [Applause] Historically, our district has done 18 different bond referendums since consolidation in 1965. Generally, we do a bond referendum about every 3 to 5 years, but you'll see some closer years in there. When we were going through
025some phenomenal growth and exponential growth, they happened much more frequently. Our why for the uh for the last decades on bond issues has been that exponential growth. But our why is really changing. You've seen this graph over and over again about that that describes that exponential growth. Pre2020 we were known as the growing school district. When we consolidated in 1965 for 55 years we grew larger each and every single year. That growth even approached a thousand students a year in in its prime. But then in 2020, we actually saw the our very first decline in enrollment. Now, it rebounded slightly in 2021, but since that time, we've seen that a slow steady decline. And as we look at the future, although um uh we we tend to grow a class um over the years, for
026example, our kindergarten class, by the time they graduate, that class is going to be a little larger. That's at least the trend we're seeing. However, as a district as a whole, we're seeing a a steady decline in our enrollment and that's being caused by several factors. It's mainly birth rate. Whether it's locally, state, or nationally, birth rates are down and therefore there are less students. We also have another added u issue in THA and that's affordable housing. where we used to be the uh mecca for affordable uh starter homes, we do not have that any longer. And therefore, we're seeing a large decline in our elementary uh population. And though although we're anticipating, you know, continued decline in students, that doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to see a decline in our need for bond
027funds. Rather, we're going to see that our why for our bond funds is going to change. And just to better illustrate that, I'd like to walk through kind of some myth some bond myth busting to try to illustrate exactly what those new wise are. The first thing that I hear a lot is our neighboring districts make it work without bonds. That's somewhat true, but um while our neighbors do issue bonds, they are less dependent on those bonds because they can generate, you've heard me say this, for more capital outlay than we can in a tha. And let me just walk you through anam uh example. In 2024, we had an assessed valuation of $3.2 billion. One of our neighboring districts of similar size, who will remain nameless, has a assessed valuation of $5.6 billion. We
028generated $39 million in capital outlay. They generated $47 million. That gap has actually grown larger because, as you know, this year we stopped receiving capital outlay state aid. So now it's a larger gap. Ironically, we have more students than they do. So on a per pupil basis, we generate less which drives us to more bond dependency in order to keep some of our programs going. We just don't have the luxury of leaning on capital outlay as much as some of our uh neighboring districts do. I want to remind that even though our neighbors uh generate more capital outlay, that doesn't mean that they don't do bond issues. They actually do frequent bond issues. they just have more flexibility on what they're going to use those funds for, where we have more dependency on what we
029need to use those funds for, which I'll talk about in just a few minutes. Another thing that's stated a lot is that if you're not growing, you don't need a bond issue. That is absolutely false. While growth may have stopped, we still have an obligation to maintain the investments that the public made in our buildings. And we have to seek any efficiency we can. We even have to consider consolidation of sites in order to gain those efficiencies. And that lack of capital outlife funding causes shortfalls in our ability to maintain the buildings. And it also creates a shortfall in how we can provide technology for our students. You know, I mentioned last month that we don't have a dedicated funding source in Kansas for technology, even though over the decades uh it has really grown
030and integrated into our systems. districts just have to absorb the cost in Kansas and um it's easier for those districts that have capital outlay. For us, we had to turn to short-term bonds in order to uh provide the technology that our our students need. If you can't afford technology, then why don't you you just shouldn't use it. That's absolutely false. our employers in the area and across the country. They expect our students to be proficient in technology. I'd say the use of technology uh is really fairly misunderstood across the masses. A lot of times they think about cell phones and and and social media and in education and it gets a bad connotation. What the kind of technology I'm talking about here though is is really the uh specific laptops this uh the uh softwares
031that that are delivered in a safe environment and and help with a student's education. These technologies are integrated in daily lives of our students uh right now just as they are in every worker in America in their day-to-day life. Uh you really can't uh uh pull that out of uh out of their daily life. those new education demands particularly that integration uh h has occurred without that additional funding and you know the days of when I grew up and you had just textbooks and you didn't have any other device I seem to remember the very first like bricksiz calculator that maybe we were allowed to use in a test they're gone everything utilized by our students comes through their device yes there are still textbooks and yes there are still paper things. But by and
032large, more and more things are driven through that delivery mechanism of technology. And it's incumbent on us to find different way uh find a way to provide the funding uh in order to give our students in LA the the uh same opportunities as our neighbors. And as I said, we do that through uh bonds. We need to allocate more to teachers, not buildings. That is absolutely true. My entire career, I've battled the misunderstanding that we're choosing to buy things versus invest in people. But going back to that bucket conversation, the utilization of bonds for uh as a funding mechanism helps free up capital outlay which helps us utilize those funds for repairs, maintenance salaries and technology salaries which frees up operating funds to invest in the uh teachers who are the heart of our education
033system. So, as we prepare for our bond issue, I just thought it was very important to point out that dependency that we have on bonds and why it shifted, even though we're not growing, that we still uh need to utilize uh bonds uh going forward. We recently had ETC Institute conduct a survey of our public. They mailed 3,000 uh surveys random to random voters within the district. They followed up via postcard, email, text, and then they did uh went out on social media if they couldn't get the responses they were seeking. They requested addresses so that we could make sure that we uh heard from our residents and they received many more than they wanted uh not wanted than they needed. However, addresses weren't provided. So, they couldn't validate the survey. So, the target was
034400, but they received 411 validated responses. And the survey has a a margin of error of about 4.8% and a very good accuracy uh rating. The survey was developed around um several uh questions regarding support of various types of projects all under the guise that we would not increase our current bond and interest tax rate. It's what's called a no tax rate uh increase referendum. So, if we just left the tax alone and we were looking at these types of projects, what seems to resonate with you? What we heard that uh and these are in no particular order. We heard the maintaining of our 6.2 million square ft of facilities is a good they uh our patrons want that reinvestment. They value that. They they want us to take care of the buildings that we've
035built. We also heard that um middle school locker rooms which are in need of upgrades um that emphasize privacy that resonated very well in the survey. Additional playground equipment uh also resonated. Uh while bond 2022 provided ADA accessible playgrounds with some equipment, there's a need for additional equipment. In recent years, we've made some significant uh investments in THA North. And uh you'd be surprised to know South is now 45 years old. And we always think that uh THA North is is so much older. All of our high schools, they would be a daunting task to replace high schools. So they all of our high schools need a reinvestment in order to extend the lives uh of their of their facilities. In addition, the athletic and activity spaces at the high schools, they need expansion to
036accommodate new programming and support the growth of female athletics. That's something we saw uh in the survey and and we've been experiencing. And a similar expansion has to occur with some of our uh outdoor spaces that are utilized both athletically and activities like uh uh performing arts, marching band. Again, this is something that really res uh the resonated with the respondents in the survey. In addition, safety, security, and technology replacements and enhancements um both were supported. And the concept of constructing new schools for uh uh aging elementaryaries. If it becomes cost prohibitive to uh uh uh bring uh uh elementary up to the new standards and it needs a replacement uh that was also supported. When we asked one single question more isolated more on the consolidation of uh low enrollment elementaryaries that need are
037in need of repairs. If we consolidated two into one, how do you feel about that? That had one of the highest ratings at over 71%. I find this important because the reality is as we blind in enrollment, we have to stay we have to remain fiscally responsible and that means considering we're going to have to consider consolidating schools. It's inevitable. In some cases, that consolidation is going to require building a new elementary because the two that are being consolidated, neither neither one of them uh can have enough uh uh improves to it to make to make it work for the new student population. We have to resize our district to meet uh the current enrollment reality. We can't afford to operate and maintain the number of schools we currently have. And that reality doesn't appear
038to be changing at all. So, uh, bond funds and this type of support, uh, would be very helpful in that endeavor. We also just picked two, uh, three different levels of, of bond issue, 200 million, 400 million, 600 million. That doesn't mean we're doing any of those three numbers. We were just trying to gauge acceptance whether or not we should go longer term, shorter term, and in the volume. The interesting thing was it was only a 5% difference between the 200 million and the 600 million. That doesn't mean we're going to come next month and immediately recommend 600 million because it's a narrow margin, but it's it uh the support is there with the right projects uh is what we're finding from the survey. So, at those levels, what would that mean to our um
039to our tax rates? I've talked in the past about our plan of finance, what we call the debt curve. The red is our past mill rates that service our debt or bonds. And the status quo is if we don't issue another bond ever, when will it come when will that curve come down? And as you know from the past, every time we do a bond referendum, we're very transparent and clear. Yes, it can go down, but probably not. It is probably going to shift to the right because the needs do not go away. And as I just said, we're becoming even more bond dependent uh dependent. If we didn't do another bond issue, all of our bonds would be paid off in 2042. At 200 million, that light blue, the curve slides over. It would
040stay where it's currently at at the uh 14 mills for about another 5 years before it starts to drop off again. If you went to 400 million, it's it's still that same five years. It just doesn't come down as much in the sixth year as you can see from the black area. And at 600 million, it's five years at the current rate and it drops a little bit to about 13 1.5 mills for another four and then it can start its decline down. So we'll we'll utilize this data uh and compare it to the uh the projects and the needs as we formate our final recommendation to the board uh for next month. The next steps really are uh it it's it's a it's a process of a lot of filings. First the first next
041step is really to come with a recommendation to the board of education in November which will trigger some postings and filings with the state board of education ultimately in December and then uh additional postings and a mail and ballot election March 3rd uh should the board uh choose to approve uh next month. With that, I'll stand for any questions. >> Any comments or questions? Mr. Boyd. [Music] >> John, thank you for the information. Um, when we're forecasting enrollment, how far are we looking? >> Uh, solidly 5 years. Uh, or I should say more confidently 5 years. Uh, Mr. Galp actually probably goes up a little further, more like 10 years. But as just like trying to project a budget after five it gets a little harder to project. >> Okay. So conservatively asking you know
042do we see our enrollment ticking back up in those 5 years or if you want to stretch it to those 10 years. >> I don't believe so. Uh because of um predominately that starter home piece we have become what I call it like the second tier home. you are living somewhere else and as your kids get a little older like middle school will decide to move and we are not at that now at that price point that you move into we just don't have the abundance of uh of uh um lower priced housing for a new couple. The the other piece I would add to that too is there's there's probably more solidness in in our numbers than there typically would have been and that's a lot just because of the national research happening. You
043know like Markman America Regional Council and other organizations uh they're all seeing the same trends across the board. I think you know one of Chris's challenges in the past has been you know what's happening in THAA compared to the rest of the community and the larger um you know Midwestern region. The reality is it's kind of happening everywhere now. And you know, I think the most recent number I heard is in order for us to maintain our current population of kids entering school, each female would need to have 2.1 kids or something like that. And the number is like 1.7 something like that. So, you know, the the data that's out there is is pretty substantial in terms of we're probably not anytime soon going a different direction despite some of our efforts uh with
044the advantage and things like that. Yeah. The good news is once we have them they tend to stay >> well and if you think about birth rate right now I mean 5 years from now they would be starting kindergarten but if it's dropping then obviously it's not going to be a higher enrollment. >> And I and I and I would mention too just as a side note um we're still working on our final counts for the year. September 22nd is the day that is our official count day for this year. But our preliminary numbers would indicate that Chris Cra was within about 12 kids, which is pretty incredible when you, you know, look at a system that's going to be over 28,000 kids this year. So that's part of the benefit in having him understand
045our community so well and working with us for so long here in Altha. >> Miss Reagan, >> um, so I just wanted to clarify again. I appreciated the comparison between us and neighboring districts. So the 8 mil max um the mill is what is max and I I'm assuming the neighboring districts maybe max that out too. I >> Yes, they will. >> And um but their 8 mil max results in more money than ours does because we have more residential property. >> Correct. Right. >> Commercial property assesses higher. >> Exactly. commercial >> and so um I've tried to avoid this phrase but people often refer to it as you know has always been a bedroom community and I say that because certain demographics understand what that phrase means but um for I didn't know what
046it meant when people started talking about it but basically like we live here and a lot of people work other places they commute from tha and I talked about this last month but I think that distinction is super important You know what makes our community such a special place is because we have these neighborhood centers where we have lots of homes, lots of multif family things, lots of things that are concentrating where people are living and that is something people need to make sure we consider because I definitely I love myth busting. I so appreciate you doing that and reminding us that because we invested as a community in these bonds 18 times in the past to build and do these things to keep our district keep it up to date with the number of
047kids. If we don't maintain that investment, it's kind of a slap in the face to those who came before us and made a good faith promise to provide strong public schools. And so, um, I just, you know, and this is something I think you see communitywide, like it's it's just like how the city keeps up with our roads, right? We we fix them as they break so we don't end up having to do a whole new thing. If we don't keep up with maintenance, we end up having to I'm looking at our facilities guy. Having to do a lot more work for a lot more money. And poorly maintained buildings don't help kids feel safe. They don't help kids feel valued. They don't help faculty, staff, professionals in our buildings feel safe and valued. Um,
048I think, you know, a neighboring district across the state line didn't do a bond for 40 or 50 years and their buildings are literally falling apart. And it's it shows you what you value in your community. And so I just I get money is tense, but it's a zero tax increase bond. And because we have so many wonderful people who live in homes and own homes in tha we don't have as many commercial properties. And I just really want people to remember that. [Music] I just want to make an observation I find interesting on the page with the likelihood of voting in favor. Although there's not, as you pointed out, not a great difference between likelihood with 200 million and 600 million. If you look at the portion that is very likely, that number is
049higher at the 600 million than the two lower amounts. I thought that piece was a little interesting. >> And I don't want to overgeneralize it, but UTC was indicating if you like the project, they're all in. It doesn't matter the dollar amount. If you don't like the project, you're out. Doesn't matter the dollar amount >> is what the data is telling them. >> Dr. Jagger, >> I really appreciate, you know, the conversation about maintaining our investment and all those pieces. You know, I think one of the things that we need to consider as well as that at this point where we are is also our market competitiveness. And that sounds a funny sounds kind of like a funny thing to say when you're talking about public schools, but the reality is is that people in
050our larger community have choices which school district they live in and raise their kids in. And I think it's really important that we keep our eye on that as well because not only do we want to attract families and students to tha, but we also want the kids that go through our system and graduate from our system to have every advantage that all the kids in our neighboring school districts have as well. And you know, as we think about the investment that's been made over time, certainly a lot of that has to do with the growth that has happened in our community, but I also look at bond 22 and things that happened as a result of that. You know, Santa Fe Trail obviously was the right thing to do for for kids in our
051system and really critical important, but at the same time, you know, we're working right now to open the public schools innovation campus and, you know, it's it's one of the things I've always appreciated about our board and our community. I think they've recognized the need to maintain to do things like that, you know, support the kids that walk through our doors, but also continue to maintain that eye of being future focused and what's next. And, you know, so the maintenance and taking care of our community's assets, I think, is absolutely important and really really in a critical piece for us. But I also don't think we can lose sight of, you know, our community should expect us to provide a competitive education for the kids that attend in our school district and the ability to
052do the things we do around technology and innovation um are supported largely by our ability to have successful bond referendums in our district and our community has supported that 18 times which is really important I think in terms of what we're able to offer in tha but with the world changing a little bit in terms of birth rates and opportunities for kids. I think we also just have to remember that there is a competitive nature to this. Not that we want to might be okay if we were better than all the districts around us, right? And we are in most ways, but the the the reality is though that um we want families to continue to choose. We want our kids to leave here feeling well prepared and competitive in the world that they enter
053after leaving. And and we are somewhat dependent on bonds to get that done in our system. this deal. >> I just wanted to also mention something that I think actually matters when you're talking about the timing and thank you for the presentation. I think it's really important to understand when our why changes. Um but the other thing I want to say is we there is a lot of um stability in the decision makers in Altha public schools right now and I actually think that really matters. We have a lot of his historic knowledge on bonds. we have people that have been already a a part of a bond referendum and several to that point. I think that when um you have recent um seat changes or recent um hirings, maybe you don't have the same
054people that you've had. We have a really stable leadership environment in Altha public schools right now and I think that also matters. It is complicated to go out for a bond referendum to hear what the ETC survey is telling us, decide what those projects are going to be so that we are in line with what our community wants, but also presenting the needs that we know about. And when you have the stability and leadership, I think that um is another thing that points to why the timing um makes sense. So just another thought I had on that. Thank you >> board. Any other comments or questions? Thank you very much. Our next presentation, Dr. McMullen will provide some information about boundary adjustments related to the repurposing of Westview Elementary. Well, I thought I'd um while
055Ron's pulling up the PowerPoint, really start with some thank yous because I always get to the end of my presentations and I miss like half the people I mean to thank. So, I decided to Right. Exactly. Go on the front side here. But, uh but first and foremost, want to want to thank um Dr. Harrison and Dr. Smith, our assistant superintendents of elementary school for their leadership and engagement. We had four elementary principles that were heavily involved in this process. Um, Mrs. Capeller, Mrs. Leget, Mrs. Haldderman, and and Dr. Bruto. Um, Chris Garup, our manager of planning that that John referenced earlier. Um, forecasting um a school district of 28,000 and getting within 12 students K through 12 is just incredible. And and his knowledge and support with maps and numbers and everything's just been
056great. Olivia Malone in transportation, Becky Gruba in communications and her team, and then finally just the Westview Elementary staff. Um, you know, they uh, you know, we we made a decision um earlier this year to repurpose Westview. They have kept the focus on kids in that building and um, just incredible work they continue to do each and every day with those kids. So, a special thank you to them. So, but I will move forward here with the presentation. Um and again just start with the why and the reminder that um on August 7th of this year the board um voted to repurpose Westview Elementary starting in 2026 school year. Um then the need was to start the process for determining new boundaries for the current Westview Elementary students. And then uh as previously noted uh
057the Westview campus will now host our new K8 alt ed programming. So we early on set some goals for the boundary process. Um first and foremost was keeping as many Westview students together as possible. Uh there's about 120 students in the attendance area that live within the boundaries. Um and trying to keep as as many of them together as possible was was our number one priority. We also anytime you adjust boundaries, you want to make sure you're not creating any f immediate future problems and or not taking the opportunity to solve some future problems within that area. Um, we certainly didn't want to place any school over 85% of its functional capacity. Again, we don't want to overcrowd a school with the adjustments. Um certainly our goal was to have the board take action in
058November which we're on pace for that uh just for all the transitions that take place both for students and for our staff at Westview and then finally provide ongoing communication support for our Westview staff um who have gone through this change. So, our boundary change process, um, we had parent and community boundary meetings at all of the affected, uh, elementary schools, and I'll explain more later why we honed in on those those four schools, but you'll see we had parent meetings, uh, at Westview, Rolling Ridge, Central, and Ridge View, and also, frankly, gave the same presentation to each staff separately um, and worked with them through this as well. So frequently asked questions that came up throughout both from staff and especially from parents. Uh one were about transportation. How does that work with a
059with a new boundary at the elementary school level? We do have a transportation variance uh in our district that I'll talk more about here in a little bit. But but Westview's attendance area right now as it sits is an entire safety variance due due to some factors. um if we were to touch students at Central and Ridge View, which are were options D and E, um making sure those students would then be eligible for bus service. You know, with busing, uh currently we still have the lowest registration rate in Johnson County, $315 per student. It's $2.65 actually for early bird. There's discounts for multiple family, you know, student or families that have multiple students or bus riders. Families that qualify for free and reduced lunch qualify for free bus service as well. Um, so currently
060all that's being analyzed. And then finally, if there was if the recommendation were options D or E that would move some Central students to Ridge View, um those current fourth graders would certainly have the option to stay at Central for their fifth grade year. So the data, just a little historical data data quickly on Westview, you'll see since the district um consolidated in 1965, it was a very big school. You can see those gaps uh and those drops really start when all the growth in Altha just started booming um in the mid70s to early 80s. Uh Westview held steady in the 200s um for about 15 years and then they've had a pretty steady decline uh the last four years. More recent data for Westview and this is the relevant data here. You'll see the
061previous five years of Westview's enrollment on the left side of the screen. Uh they currently sit today at 145. I will note 30 of those students are there on transfer. So they're really looking at about 115 students that reside in their attendance area. Their numbers moving forward um had the board not taken uh action and and moved to repurpose Westfield, you will see that would have become a a very very small elementary school. So the boundary process obviously our first look is all the buildings within proximity um of Westview on this on this grid here you'll see Westview is in the red and I'll give you one quick explanation. Westview's boundary to the north is Santa Fe to the west is Parker or K7 or Lone Elm depending on what area you grew up in
062THA. Um and then um I hit all three by the way. Um, and then to the east and to the south, we have railroad tracks that that form a natural boundary. You'll see centrals to the green to the east, rolling ridge and blue to the west. Uh, and then some other schools, Ridge View, North View, Fair View, Clear Water, and Forest View. So, of those buildings that are in that that area, we certainly looked at at their enrollment the last 10 years. Um, you'll see Clear Water Creek at the top that continues to grow and I'll share some data in a little bit about them. Uh, Forest View, again, a newer school in a newer subdivision. Rolling Ridge is one that's really held steady over the years um, and sit in the low low 300s.
063And then you'll see the other five schools are really in a cluster there between 200 and 250. So a as we went through this and again the data analysis of what do the next five years look like and you'll see some schools specifically Fairview and Central really hold steady when you're talking over 5 years losing eight or gaining four that's really really a a neutral setting. Um, Clearwater Creek's on the other end of the spectrum. They're gaining 115 over the next 5 years. And we have other conversations talking about how we're going to handle that bubble um as it comes through. But then you'll see Forest View losing 50 students, Westview 28, Rolling Ridge 39, Ridge Viewus 36. So the decline in enrollment certainly um is a common theme. So major factors that that that
064we consider obviously enrollment previous, current and future uh space in the building, additional support programs, um underutilized classrooms. Do we have empty space in in certain buildings? What additional programming are in our buildings? So when you're talking title buildings, you you got to factor in space for title one reading, title one math. Is there an ELLL program, early childhood, special education programs, etc. We look at safety, uh, obviously for students to and from school, and then also their high school and middle school feeder patterns also come into play. This map here shows the actual physical distance from Westview to each of the schools. You'll see Rolling Ridge is the closest at 87 miles. Uh, Central is second at 0.99. So, both of those are under a mile. And then you can see the distance to
065the the other schools as well. Middle school and high school feeder patterns. So currently our Westview students in their current attendance area attend Oregon Trail and Altha West. Central just to the east next door to Westview goes to Oregon Trail, but then those students go to Altha North. If you look to the west of Westview, Rolling Ridge, those students go Oregon Trail, Altha West, and then the other schools are listed there as well. The safety variables that we look at when we uh consider changing elementary boundaries um include really five five main things. One is four-lane roads. um traffic counts that exceed 15,000 cars per day, traffic speeds in excess of 35 m an hour, bike and pedestrian high injury incidents, so areas where we have either vehicle vehicle collisions or vehicle pedestrian collisions, and
066then railroads. And in railroads, we look both grade level crossings and then also raised crossings because those are certainly different from a safety standpoint. So, as we narrowed our focus to the four schools in in close proximity to Westview, uh you'll see their current enrollments this year. Westview sitting at 145. When it says staff to the right, that's that equates to number of sections. So, you'll see, let's look at Westview, kindergarten, they have one section of kindergarten. They have two sections, two teachers for third grade, one teacher, one section for fourth grade, etc. You can see how that plays out at Central Ridge View and Rolling Ridge. And so total K5 sections in each building range from 8 to 17. So the boundary options we certainly as as we um prepared options for folks to
067look at some of these derived directly from parent feedback. Um specifically option A and C came out of parent meetings um in the beginning. Um and so um but ultimately we came up with five that we we felt would meet our needs. Um but but all look a little different. So we'll walk through those. Option A. And uh these are A through E. We've done it many different ways over the years. One through five. A through E. Everyone always thinks A or one is your favorite. Um but the reality is you got to name them something. So um we're going with A. Um, so you'll see option A moves all of West View to Rolling Ridge. So you'll see that becomes that new light blue attendance area. The second slide under concept A, all those
068little dots are students. So those are all of our little kindergarteners through fifth grade and where they reside. If you see dots outside of this proposed attendance area, so any dots in the green or the purple area, those are students that are either on transfer currently to Westview or Rolling Ridge. which is why they're they populate on this map. So the data, what's that look like if we merge Westview and Rolling Ridge, you'll see it puts uh Rolling Ridge at about 87% capacity. Um full disclosure, 85 is really our target in terms of being at our max. Um but I'll share some data in a second that shows you what what that looks like over 5 years. Um, Rolling Ridge currently has uh 20 programs uh or excuse me 20 classrooms designated for K5 instruction.
069Uh, they have another six being used by additional programming both an autism program and early childhood programming. Um, their feeder pattern is Oregon Trail and Altha West which mirrors Westview's current feeder pattern. So what's this data look like in option A over the next five years? So you'll see starting in 26 they're at 479 and then over the next 5 years they drop below 450. Um that that that number next year in 26 479 also includes exactly 79 students who are either currently on transfer to either Westview or Rolling Ridge. So we do anticipate that number dropping a tad as well. Concept B takes all of Westview and moves it to central. So you see that becomes one green big green map there. Second slide is all the little dots. And then the data slide
070um you'll see capacity wise we do okay 82%. Uh we get really tight on classrooms. There's 18 K5 classrooms. We would need 18. It would really um certainly put a little bit of a strain on some of the specials um and and space for those and might have to use some non-traditional spaces. Uh feeder pattern, the students would al still go to the same middle school at Oregon Trail, but then the students who reside in the current central attendance area would go to North. Westview students would go to West. Um you will not see or hear any proposed adjustments to middle school or high school feeder patterns tonight. We're truly looking at the elementary boundaries. 5-year enrollment estimate for concept B. Um you'll see uh they central would start at 365 and then drop down
071to just below 350. Concept C um would be one of our most unique looking attendance areas, but it takes all of Westview and moves them to Ridge View. Um, so bypassing central and and just literally picking up that attendance area and dropping it at Ridge View. We added in one additional slide here to show you just what a the more prominent routes would look like to get from the West View area to the Ridge View area. Uh the dot map shows that that big split there um between both sides of Central's attendance area. And then the challenge with this option um is that it puts puts Ridge View at 90% and they're immediately short of classrooms. They have 14 K5 classrooms. 16 rooms would be needed. Um so this option from a data standpoint really
072is is a challenge. Concept C again uh looking at 387 to start. The numbers do go down uh and and land in the 330s. Concept D, which is number four, looks at moving westview to central and then the eastern half of Central would move over to Ridge View. So, uh, that that purple shaded area in between the green and the railroad tracks, those are currently Central students. They would move to Ridge View. Um, again, the dot map is there. And then from a number standpoint, capacity we do okay, 78% uh at Ridge View, 67 at Central, you end up at 13 and 14 sections. Uh you do have kids going to two different um middle schools and three different uh high or two different high schools as well. And then the 5-year data um again
073uh you'll see what Central and Rididge View do over the five years. Uh they both start um excuse me, Ridge View above 300, Central below. They both land in that 275 285 range after 5 years. So the 5-year data is good there. And then concept E and concept E is a second option of moving central students to Ridge View. Um all of Westview to Central. Again, this this option takes the southern part of Central's attendance area, uses the uh railroad tracks as a natural boundary, and uh moves those kiddos over. You'll see the dot diagram there. And then the numbers there uh come out pretty even. 75% capacity for Ridge View, 69% for Central. Um staff allocation 15 and 13. And then long-term numbers um after five years projects both buildings being just under 300.
074Um so we certainly had some good options here. We did survey all of our parents and our staff at all four buildings involved. Um the data here you'll see we had a really good response considering the size of these buildings. Uh 242 responses. 64% of those were from parents, 36 from staff. You'll see the the pie chart on the right shows the the four different schools and the makeup there. For the first time in our boundary process, we actually asked parents to give us feedback on specific boundary options with maps included in the survey and asked, "What are your top two and why?" And so you'll see here that A and D. So A, as a reminder, is is all of Westview moving to Rolling Ridge, that very first option. And then D is the
075option of West View to Central and the eastern half of Central to Ridge View. Those were the top two parent respondents themes from the feedback. So, um, we looked at that and really families expressed strong preferences um, based on their familiarity where they lived, how it impacted their home and their their children. um you know, concerns about transportation. What does that look like if my child moves schools? Uh worried about overcrowding schools and capacity resources. Um how does does title programming change? Do we get more staff? You know, types of questions like that. Um and then just a a desire for ongoing transparency and and communication. So, our recommendation to the board uh to consider for action next month is option A, which um again, option A is moving all of West View to Ridge
076View. Um >> I'm sorry. Yeah, I got the Firefox there caught my attention. Um so, option A is is moving all of Westview to Rolling Ridge. And here's our rationale um for this. Um, again, keeps all the Westview students together. And I will say I was remiss earlier in not explaining we did have some options where it split Westview in in different directions. The problem was Westview is so small and such a tight attendance area. We really would have been segregating some of our frankly most atrisisk students and moving them to one building and all the rest of the students to another and really would have just put two to three kids per section in their new schools. And so again, making that that number one priority to keep those kiddos together was was a
077big factor here. Uh Rolling Ridge is closest in proximity. Uh it does not change boundaries for the other schools. So Central and Ridge View stay as is. Uh again, while Rolling Ridge will sit at 87% next year, the schools uh projected to decrease by 40 students. Again, we think it'll actually be more than that cuz I think some of the transfers um may return to their home schools. Uh Westview students would go would stay in their exact same or Oregon Trail Lea West Middle School high school feeder pattern. Uh it has the smallest impact on busing which I'll talk about here in a second. Um does provide future option options for school future school consolidation in the future. So, as we look at some of our other smaller schools in the central core, as Mr.
078Hutcherson talked about, uh as we look to rightsize our school district in the future, this option allows uh that without having to go back to the same families and change boundaries 3 years from now, should a bond uh take place. And then, Rolling Ridge has the largest footprint of any of the buildings um included in in this study. Um, one thing that based on feedback and then analysis of of our transportation and the number of students, um, we will be implementing, uh, should the board accept our recommendation next month, a two-year transition period, which will provide free bus transportation for all Westview students. So, as I noted earlier, all free and reduced students would would qualify for free busing. other parents would qualify for pay busing based on the safety variances, but uh we are
079looking at putting in a two-year transition where all families would receive free transportation for that 2-year period. So, that being said, I'll stand for questions. Miss Reagan, >> I just wanted to say that I think it is so cool that the, you know, A through E things that you have shared with us, like some of those were born out of our involvement, our involvement with the community, having real conversations. I think that um there's often a perception, not necessarily in THAA, but just kind of in the world that a lot of these, you know, community conversations people have where they say they're going to listen, it's kind of a bait and switch. And I think that seeing these plans laid out that were suggested by community members and those ideas came up in a space
080where we really were there to listen. that is such a reflection of what what we're trying to do here as a district. So, I really appreciate that. Um, and just seeing how things played out, you know, I mean, I think there's a genuine, you know, if if with when these conversations started, I don't know if any of us could have said that this was the recommendation that was going to come up. But it's amazing to see the, you know, flexibility, agility, and open-mindedness and creative thinking, especially as our district is, you know, moving into the next chapter of what it looks like to be good stewards um of our financial resources in a district that is changing and in a world that is shifting. So, I just wanted to say, Dr. McMullen. Um, thank you
081for your depth of detail and also the care that you've given to helping this process be as as transparent um, compassionate and um, community oriented as possible. >> Thank you, Miss Steel. >> Can you help us understand and I and I know this isn't something that is new to our district, so I have no doubt we have plans of action. What does a building look out like that might be at 87% for a short time period but shows promise in the future that that's going to decline? How do we as a district support that building to make sure they have the um tools in human capital and staff they need to see that time period through? >> Yeah, you know, it's a great question and and something we've we've studied pretty thoroughly and the first
082answer is just adequate staffing. um you know we we've determined there's adequate space to do that. Um but then also you'll see the number of sections increased across the grade levels. Uh so we'll be adding teachers, adding sections um and then certainly being able to um provide additional title and ELLL support for students um will be there as well. So um really and then the transportation and and being able to do a 2-year um transition time for free busing. Um, I think I think the families will experience a pretty smooth transition and and certainly we will have the staff and the resources, the support they need to make sure this is very very smooth. >> I just have a a follow-up question on the um you made a reference to a 2-year busing transition for
083Westview families. How does that impact our current busing and need for buses? >> Yeah, great question. So, you know, as we analyzed all these options, um with the with option A, it actually is a neutral um busing cost to us because we're essentially adding a bus, but we'll be able to reduce a couple assisted transportation vans for ELLL programming. So, um, and then as as we came up with the thought of what's a what's a free busing for all for a couple years look like, um, we're able to do it, um, with two buses in that area. And so, it's really a costneutral but also a great a great offering to our families. I also um would you know ditto the comments about the depth of work and the additional information you provided in this
084presentation with distances to other elementary schools and where our students actually live. I think that's very helpful helpful as we look at this for decision making. I also appreciate the rationale um the breadth of the reasons that option A has been recommended and and personally I I think there's a a real value to keeping those kids in the same feeder pattern for middle school and high school that they are currently in because I think we all know those elementary kids identify early on what's happening next and Yeah. Yeah. So, so to be able to to continue with that too. So, thank you. >> You bet, >> Mr. Babbot. >> Uh, two quick questions. Um, you you mentioned earlier about transfers. The numbers would drop off going forward with that. Is that because we would allow
085new transfers or we would cancel the existing transfers? How would that work? >> It's a good question. Um so right now you know we would look at based on their 87% capacity for next year and this would be the same in any school you know we would we would close it to any new transfers from outside of that attendance area starting for 26 27. Um also though I think we will see potentially some transfer current transfers drop off because transportation is only provided for students who live in that attendance area. And so, um, when a parent fills out a parent initiated transfer to go to any of our schools in our district, it's real clear that that that's a, uh, no transportation provided, um, contract. And so, parents are responsible for that. So, our thought
086is there'll be a certain percent that then return to their home school, um, just due to that. Okay. Thank you. And I know from the comments you received that obviously busing was a theme. Were there any other themes that you guys saw and are considering or >> any concerns? >> Really some of the the largest feedback I think busing was number one, keeping the Westview kiddos together was number two. Um but then on on the other side of of the attendance area, you know, Central's families love Central Elementary and as great as Dr. Bruto and and Ridgeville Elementary is, you know, kind of the biggest blessing in Altha is sometimes our biggest curse in that everybody loves their school. You know, nobody wants to leave their school and it's great until you've got to make
087some decisions or adjustments. So, but hearing from those central families have really wanted to stay and especially as as your children have been there for 3, four years and you've had older siblings go through, you know, it's it's a tough thing. And so I I think we were able to till we hit probably the three to four US feedback areas that we had. >> Would would any changes So if we went with option A, would any changes have to be made physically to the Rolling Ridge school? >> Yeah, good question. Um in terms of changes to Rolling Ridge and inside, no. Um it's a large footprint. We've got enough classes. We may look at programming changes, whether we need to um potentially move one of our outside programs, but again, that's something that happens on
088a yearly basis in our district based off of enrollment trends and changes. Um really the the larger piece that we're currently studying is just the drop off pickup um area and adding another bus to Rolling Ridge and and do we need to look at any alterations? And Mr. Plangi is hearing that for the first time here uh today. um give him some uh stuff to work on this weekend. But um but that's really probably the biggest change that we're looking at right now is just what that if there if we can make any adjustments to to the parent pickup line and the bus line. >> Okay. Thank you. The the only I'd just like to echo your shout out to Chris Gup for the data work that went into these. Those maps are great, very
089informative. So thanks to him as well. >> Dr. Hay. >> Yeah. I just, you know, like you all, I want to thank Dr. McMullen, Dr. Harrison, and Dr. Smith. You know, one of the things that I don't think is very easily seen at a board meeting or community meetings. And and I know you all know this, but I think it's worth pointing out that our group, our district for years and years has had a boundary study group and and that group, you know, is ongoing, working all the time to analyze what's happening across this system. Um, obviously there was a many uh number of years where that group was solely focused on where do we help procure land and build a school, you know, those sorts of things. But the work of that group has
090never stopped. And, you know, it's uh wrapped up really well in a 30-minute board presentation and questions and conversations. But, you know, with uh Chris Growup, Jim McMullen, and many others that sit on the boundary study committee, I I think it's important to note that and and you all have done a good job of recognizing this tonight, but these are things that are excessively studied um before recommendations come forward. Um looking at data forwards and backwards and maps and um you know, Jim shared obviously tonight five boundary options. um it probably started with 25 boundary options and you know you quickly go okay that one is a problem that's not going to work and but the reality is is that um like everything we do in tha there's a lot of study there's a lot
091of forethought and you know while sometimes these things feel like wow where did that come from um it's all being studied all the time to try to make really good decisions and recommendations to our board and and and you know obviously things that impact our community as well But I just think it's worth pointing out that um you know it's an area that is obviously a challenge for all the reasons Dr. McMolan mentioned. People love their school, but um I'm really proud of the way our district walks through this, the way that we try to have an open and honest uh process. Um because you don't have to do all that, you know. I mean, we could just make a recommendation to the board. And the reality is if we came forward and made that
092recommendation to the board, we probably would have ended in a different place tonight had we not gone through all those steps that have happened over the last several months. So I just think it's worth noting that that's been something that's been valued in our process and late the four decades. Um and I think Dr. McMullen and the team with the participation of the communities of the four schools have really done a great job of of helping that be our focus again this time. And this is not easy. It's the first time we've been in this position as a school system, but I'm really proud of the way everyone has responded. >> I would just add that, you know, public facing it may appear that every month the board hears a presentation, which we do, but
093in between those presentations there is a significant exchange of information. people having parent meetings and staff meetings and gathering data and sharing and answering board questions. And and so again, while it may appear that over the last few months, we talk about this for half an hour at a board meeting, um there has been and will continue to be in the next month before a decision is made a significant exchange of information and and questions and clarifying um so that the best decision that we can make for our students and families and staff will be made when we take action. next month. So, thank you Dr. McMullen and Miss Johan. >> It's quite all right. Well, I was going to echo pretty much everything everyone else said because I think it's very intentional and I
094can see the work that's being done and what Dr. Jükovich said and Dr. Joerger and Claire um and everybody else will too. I think that's it. >> Did you say that Julie? I don't know. Um anyway, but everybody said something about how how much work has gone into this and how intentional you've been and the group has been and how knowledgeable I feel about it based on the information that's been shared with us and and I really do appreciate that because I feel like for something that's you know a volunteer activity as a board member I know quite a bit about what's going on and how um progress looks for us over the next 5 10 and what we're going to be doing and how we're going to be doing it and it makes a
095lot of sense to me and so thank you to you. Thank you to your crew that you mentioned before um this presentation. Just really really appreciate everybody for that. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Okay. Now you can thank >> I can't take more than 38 minutes. I can't wait to see my text message. [Music] >> Dr. Sig is going to share some information about a proposed on-site health clinic. >> Yeah, good evening. I'm excited to um share an update with you regarding work that we've been doing to look at the opening of an on-site health clinic for um our sta our staff members. So, I'm going to start first and have us take a look back at kind of how we landed here and um beginning to even look at this as an
096option. So, you all recall last year that we spent some time in buildings throughout the district hearing from our staff in our district dialogue conversations. And those district dialogues sprouted from the responses we received on the 2023 EPIC survey which was given to all of our educators and certified staff. And that looks at drivers of retention and recruitment in education. And the number one area that we knew we needed to work on and that was um shared with us as a need was our support of our educator and staff members um mental health and well-being. So that was really one of the number one pieces of feedback. Um and as we did the district dialogues, we continued to hear that that was an ongoing area of need for us. In addition to that, um we
097have ongoing conversations as part of the um human resources and employee services teams in our work with Lockton, which is our benefits broker, as well as with Blue Cross Blue Shield, our health insurance carrier, and looking at kind of the stats in terms of what is the overall kind of staff wellness um that we see amongst the members of our health plan. And so I'm going to touch upon some insight on that as well. And then of course a third piece to this in terms of the consideration of looking at an on-site clinic is to um help in managing some of our health care costs. So that is something that is everinccreasing um all the time and we have been able to uh negotiate well um and have really appreciated the support of Lockton in
098those negotiations. Um but it is something that continues to be a significant cost and a significant increase every year. So, um, to dive back in to that epic survey, as I just mentioned, as we then held those district dialogues, the resounding feedback we received from our staff was that, um, we really needed to look at some ways that we could support them in terms of that mental health and overall wellness. And then, um, throughout this time, we continue to have benefits committee meetings, which involves u members of our, um, OEA leadership as well. And in those meetings, we are able to review um claims data and that is provided by Lockton and they have provided us great advisement in terms of looking at our health insurance and how um we can begin managing some of
099those costs even prior to looking at the clinic as an option. In addition, I mentioned the stealth the staff wellness piece and so um I'm going to share some stats with you and as we go through these and we reference kind of the norm and where we're above or below the norm and things um I think it's important to know that that norm is based on um the locked in book of business that's specific to education. And so um when we take a look at our members that are on our health plan we have 17.4% 4% of our members that have three plus chronic conditions. The norm in the um education uh world and in looking at the information provided um by locked and info lock that norm is actually 12.8. So we are quite
100a bit above that. In addition to that we have 43.2% of our staff with muscoskeletal related conditions. I have had to practice muscoskeleletal should say it three times. Um but those are things like back pain, neck pain, rheumatoid arthritis. Um and again that is also something that's above the norm um per member for per month costs. In addition to that um we have more prevalent mental health conditions um but sadly we have underutilization of behavioral health visits below the norm as well. We also have seen a um a drop of 3% um year-over-year for preventative visits, especially in those individuals that are spouses on our plan and those in the age group um between 20 and 39 years old. We've seen an increase in ER and urgent care visits. Um while tele medicine has also
101declined, I don't think that comes as a huge surprise. um as we were going through COVID, we know that tele medicine kind of um became something that was a hot topic, if you will, or something that was maybe looked at as an ongoing option and certainly that has not continued to be the case. And then um the last one is that we've seen a $5.4 million in added costs from members who are considered at risk. And so those are going to be members that um have been on our plan for 3 years. and in those 3 years are considered at risk and they have not made improvement. Um when they look again at that norm that is 11.5% above above the norm um in comparison. So as we um explored the option of looking at
102an on-site clinic to help in these specific areas, we partnered with Lockton um and put out a request for proposals in January and then worked through that bid process. So, um, February, we had all of those proposals that were submitted and we reviewed those and identified, um, three vendors that we then brought in for formal presentations with a team of us. Um, I have to give a shout out to Eric Hansen, our director of employee services, as well as Dr. Gillind, the director of our health services. They were an integral part of all of this. And um we then after those uh three presentations narrowed our vendors down to two and actually visited clinics that they host and sponsor um in school districts. Um a really important piece to us was to look at vendors
103that have that experience in supporting um the educational world because we know that there are some really unique pieces to the work and to the staff needs um that are present when we talk about educa education. Um after visiting uh sites and continuing to work through um kind of the areas of top need for us, we identified Marathon Health as the vendor of choice to partner with um in managing our on-site clinic. Um that is the what is before you this evening. But I also have to mention that there were just a number of other things that I could not even begin to include in this that have really fallen nicely into place for us as we looked at the on-site clinic option. Um I mentioned these three pieces big pieces of information and drivers
104for us. But along with that um there was also the availability of having an actual physical space to host a clinic that is typically um one of the greatest barriers when um an employer starts to look at this option. And with the building out of the um public schools innovation campus um we worked with Mr. Pangi and his team to carve out a space. So we've got that already tagged and ready to go. But obviously um we'll begin after having the board's approval this evening. Um pending that approval, we'll then quickly begin work in the construction and then hiring um the incentivization piece and the marketing um for the opening of the clinic. Right now we're projecting an opening of June of 2026. That certainly is flexible um depending on kind of how this process
105unfolds from this point forward. wanted to kind of refer back to some of the pieces I mentioned before in terms of um the basis for looking at an on-site clinic. And you'll see some stats here that Marathon has provided us um as they reference their book of business and specifically the the partners they worked with in the educational field. And so that recruitment and retention piece um which is pairs nicely with what we have seen already from the staff feedback we have received in terms of that being a driver for um for that recruitment and retention of our staff. Along with that the employee ga engagement and satisfaction. So having the convenience of having an on-site clinic that they can easily access and and get into. Um and also then pairing that with high quality
106care. Um, as you can see here, Marathon reports a 99% satisfaction rate across their um, education clients. And so really making sure that um, the care that is being provided is is topnotch. Along with that, number three, that health outcomes and co and cost savings. You can see here that um Marathon share marathon shares that 67% of their engaged members improve their biometric markers with 19% reduction in ER visits. So seeing those actual outcomes in staff well-being and wellness. And then of course paired with that that um lowering of those annual cost um because of their engagement with the clinic. And then last one of course is some of those operational efficiencies. When we talk about absenteeism among staff, um when you're able to go and have easy access to highquality care, you you take
107advantage of that and oftentimes then avoid getting even more sick or thinking you're going to tough it out or hey, maybe my knee will feel better in a couple of weeks and then having it progress to something that requires you to be out for an even extended period of time. And then in terms of Marathon specifically, um I mentioned the importance that um we placed on partnering with a vendor that had experience in working with education and they have 120 plus education partners and you can see there some of the school districts. Um we have a neighboring district, Shauny Mission, that um has worked with Marathon as well. um they have a deep understanding of school district needs um and making sure that educators are engaged with their strategies. They also have a local presence.
108Um that was another key piece that we looked at was you know if we physician that is going to be sick or out you know how quickly and what kind of um assurance will we have that the individual coming to fill in for them knows this model and provides that same level and highquality care. um and knowing that they have 13 health centers and 58,000 patients that they serve in the Kansas region um that certainly supported that. They also have a flexible staffing model. So um while we have identified kind of our initial staffing model which um would include a full-time physician as well as a full-time nurse practitioner as well as mental and behavioral health therapy. um they have the ability to also scale that if we find that we have a need in
109a specific area as we as we get into launching and and utilizing the clinic. And then of course the last piece is that satisfaction and return on our investment. So I mentioned the 99% satisfaction rating um from their education clients. But on top of that, as you can see here, they gave some examples after five years of implementation um that for every dollar invested, Shauny Mission was experiencing a $610 return on their investment. And then Keller ISD in Texas, um an even higher return there after 8 years. So, um we are very excited um to be able to provide this benefit and offering to um our staff um and look forward to continuing to partner with them in terms of um you know sharing all the benefits that this can then can provide. But then
110um also really making sure that as we um identify any other changes or needs that we're able to to partner with Lockton and with Marthon in in addressing those. So I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Board any comments or questions Miss Johan? >> Well as a member of the healthc care field I'm really excited about this. I have to have my token statement there. Um, just because I think preventative healthc care is really important and, you know, on this opposite of the side of the spectrum, we study, you know, health disorders and how people end up in the hospital at the end of the day. Um, and so seeing people and our our educators and staff and their families be able to get care right where they work. Um, and not only uh urgent
111care, but preventative and primary care. And so I'm really thrilled that we, you know, listened to feedback, took the initiative and and are implementing something here hopefully soon um for the for the staff and and their families. So I just want to say thank you for this work. I think this is really great and and really help the health of our our families and our community. Mr. Boyd, >> are there costs associated for our staff to um go see go be treated at this clinic? >> Yeah, great question. So um if you any individual that's a high deductible plan um there is we have to charge something um that is part of federal guidelines. So we will determine what that fee is and it will be a nominal fee. Um but it will be of
112course marketkedly less than what than what anyone would experience in a community clinic. >> Mr. Um would the clinic be open just during school hours or what are the hour ranges? >> Yeah, so that'll be part of what we will work with Marathon and identifying. Um the clinics that we visited had um kind of some varied hours. They had a couple of days during the week where they opened much earlier and then a couple of days during the week where they were open later because they could kind of stair step that. Um and I would foresee that that would be something similar that we we would do as well. Um in visiting the clinics and then in our work with Lockton, we asked about Saturdays and that kind of thing and they said that historically
113um weekend hours just really did not fill. Um and so that will be something too when we talk about that scalability and looking at um what hours do we need to have that clinic open and as we then start interviewing um providers then we'll be able to to determine that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Any other comments, questions? >> Dr. C. Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Mr. Babbot, do you have a comment to read, please? >> At each regular meeting, the board of education reserves limited time for individuals to address the board. We ask that your comments be germaine that is related to the business this board effectuates. Non-compliance may result in the president interrupting to redirect. We request that individual speakers limit their comments to 5 minutes. The clerk will
114monitor the time and notify the speaker when the 5-minute time limit has expired. Please direct your comments to the board and not the guests or staff. If a a response is appropriate, the president will respond or refer to another individual. In an effort to respect privacy, we ask that speakers refrain from discussing personal complaints involving individual staff members or students. Audience disruption is also not permitted. Those speaking are advised that public comments are videotape recorded for broadcast on the district's YouTube channel and audio tape recorded as a matter of public record. Individuals addressing the board should come to the podium at the front of the room and state your name, city, and state, and relationship to the district. >> Thank you. Our first speaker tonight is Megan Brics. [Music] Good evening board. My name is
115Megan Brics. I reside in Dodto and I teach here in THAA. Tonight you get just like a stream of thoughts that are going in my head. First of all, I want to recognize that it's National Custodian and Maintenance Worker Appreciation Day. I know within our building, we had lots of different ways our students and staff and our PTA this year um stepped in and did different ways to appreciate our daytime custodian, Michelle, who's been there forever. And then our nighttime custodian, Maria. I love them both as a music teacher. They support me so much. So, just wanted to shout that out. Another huge shout out is to Eric Hansen in employee services who has taught me how to read my pay slip and understand all the things all the different line items. And so we
116were so thankful he partnered with NEA and we provided a professional development session to allow us to better understand what all the things mean and say. So that was extremely helpful especially when I was talking to my parents and they were like yeah you should understand what that is. So again, again the stream of thoughts um recently I was not here last month and uh my mom has had hip surgery and it's made me um think differently about life. Um just in that you get told one thing and what you experience changes by the second. And I'm kind of experiencing that in my personal life. But I think that applies to us here and in the world on all levels. But for me, it's knowing that all the people up here and the people behind
117me and the staff are doing everything every day when those things change second by second to support me and that I never like I don't have to worry about having a job. I don't have to worry that something's going to happen. I can focus and go in each day and teach music and know that there are way smarter people in the room who are taking care of the scarier things and I can just pour into my kids. And so just recognizing that the work that you do is really hard and that things change and it's really hard and life is really hard. But for me right now in this moment of life, I am very very thankful for all of you especially Dr. Jagger and just leading us and supporting us. So again, I am
118just a truly proud employee. I appreciate you all. Have a great night. Thank you, Nick Kley. I take two months off and you guys just like move around on me. Okay. All right. Um I also wanted to recognize uh National Custodian Day cuz custodians are awesome and I'm very thankful for mine. Um I also want to thank you guys for being wonderful leaders um and echo everything that Megan said. Um also I before I did all the different things that I do now, I was a social studies teacher. Kind of still am sometimes. Uh so I would like to remind everybody that early voting starts this month and that everybody should participate because we live in a civic society and it's important for us to engage in democracy. Um the thing I'm going to share
119tonight is a little bit about credit recovery which is a thing that doesn't get talked about a lot. Um and that's because um rec helping students recover credits doesn't like really like like it doesn't list well in newspapers. It doesn't like really win awards. is not very flashy. Um, but it's a really important thing that we do for lots of different people, including some adult learners. Um, I know that most of you have been up to been to the step up graduation and all of the tears and of joy that come with that. So, um, I kind of want to do some shout outs and I actually have like a bunch of names. Um, so for those of you who don't know, in our district, we primarily use Egeneuity, which is an online learning platform
120for credit recovery. It's really a useful tool. Um, our director of e-learning retired at the end of last year. Um, and we have, you know, adapting to the situation, kind of farmed out his responsibilities. Some of them have been given to me, and I have a new appreciation for some of the stuff that Randy Warner did previously. So, I want to thank him first for all he did. Um, but I also want to thank a whole bunch of other people um that have adapted. So, I did a little bit of looking and just so you know, since the beginning of the year, we've had 700 students that have used Egeneuity um from high school to adult learners um as a credit recovery platform. So, that's a lot of people. Um, and this is giving people
121second chances. It's getting people diplomas. Um, it is helping kids that have educational trauma and it's reaching them where they're at. Um, I want to thank my principles, Seth Swederman and, uh, Dr. Joy Dandridge for being accommodating, um, with like helping me sort of like fit into this new role. Um, I also want to thank Jenny Kennedy at the IRC. She has kind of stepped up and taken over a bunch of stuff and is doing a wonderful job there. um as well as Penny Asherman and Kathy McDonald um who also absorbed some of the egeneuity stuff with me. But there's a huge team in this district of people that make credit recovery possible and get some of our most vulnerable kids diplomas. And so I want to name some of them. At Mil Creek, we
122have Sarah Cleansing, Brad Barbie, and Becky Chang that run the guided study lab. We have Russ Munan who runs the step-up program for adult education. Um at South there's one teacher, her name's Bailey Schmidt. She's amazing and she's doing a phenomenal job. um at a North. If you haven't met Eric Orley, he runs their sort of egeneuity room and he does a phenomenal job as well. Um at uh at East Sharon Madigan, at West Melissa Cup and at Northwest, Jonathan Link all helm teams of teachers that do stuff like that. And then in our other programs such as the adolescent center for treatment and recovery or for um the juvenile detention center, we have our staff Amy Smethers, Dr. Brett Harton, Ray McCann, Jesse Barrett, Steven Burns, and Aaron Barnes. Um, I also want to
123thank all of our secondary counselors. Um, my personal counselor at my school is Dr. Emily Minker, who was at Santa Fe and is now at Mil Creek. She does a phenomenal job, but I have to work with counselors both for hope and for credit recovery at all five high schools, uh, traditional high schools, I should say, and they're doing wonderful. I also didn't include any names for anybody from PLC or CLC. That's Prairie Learning Center and, uh, Clare Learning Center. Um, but they also have credit recovery or credit acquisition programs for kids that require non-traditional approaches to education. They're doing really cool work. And the thing is is it's not like flashy and fun. And but um Amy Smothers, my colleague, said something uh earlier this year, which is that it seems to a lot
124of people like sitting on a computer and watching videos and answering questions is like boring or a copout. But if you get to the kid to the point where they're willing to sit down and do that, you've already put in a lot of work. And that's what all these people are doing every single day. Um, and I'm really proud of them and I really love working with them. And it's honestly I forgot the whole reason I did this. There have been a bunch of changes to the platform. Um, and they've been really chaotic and they've been really difficult and people have been really uh graceful about adapting to those changes and working with being patient with me, Jen, Kathy, and Penny as we tell them things that sometimes they don't want to hear. Uh, which
125I'm sure some of you are familiar with. Uh so anyway, uh I just wanted to share that because I think it's important and I hope you guys are having a wonderful October. Um and thank you for letting me speak. >> Thank you, Nick. To the point of switching around, Ron, thank you for adjusting the microphone names so they match. >> April Fool's prank. >> Okay. board. We are ready for action consent items and I would accept a motion for item 6.01 to 6.15 for approval. [Laughter] >> You said 6.05. >> I skipped right over. >> No, no, no. We just did 6.01. >> 6.01 to 6.15. Sorry. >> Sorry. >> Uh I move to approve action consent items 6.01 01 to 6.15 as presented. >> Second >> motion by Mr. Keun, second by Miss Reagan.
126>> Mrs. Johan, >> yes. >> Mr. Boyd, >> yes. >> Mr. Babbot, >> yes. >> Mr. Ke, >> yes. >> Dr. Jükovich, >> yes. >> Mrs. Steel, >> yes. >> Mrs. Reagan, >> yes. >> Motion passes 70. Action on bids, contracts, and agreements. Items 7.01 to 7.07. [Music] >> I move to approve items 7.01 through 7.07 is presented. >> Second. >> Motion by Mr. Babbot, second by Mr. Cune. >> Mr. Ke, >> yes. >> Mrs. Reagan, >> yes. >> Dr. Jükovich, >> yes. >> Mrs. Steel, >> yes. Yes. Mr. Babbot. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Boyd. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. 70. Action. Other. Item 8.01. Board policy updates. I move to approve updates to board policies BC AE, BCB D, BCB F, BCBJ, BG, BK, G A C, GCB, GCR
127GC, and J E C. >> Motion by Miss Joanne, second by Mr. Ke, >> Mrs. Steel. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Reagan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Boyd. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Keun. >> Yes. >> Mr. Babbett. >> Yes. >> Dr. Jükovich. >> Yes. >> Item 8.02. Kansas Association School Boards Assembly and alternate. Um, we'll actually have two motions. The first will be a motion to nominate an individual to serve as a delegate and as the alternate at the KASB conference in November. Are there nominations? >> Oh, just names or the motion. Do we need a motion? >> You need to nominate in motion. >> I nominate Julie Steel with um Robert Cune being the alternate. >> Any other nominations? [Music] Is there a second? >> I move to cease nominations. >>
128Motion by Miss Reagan. Cease nominations. Second by Mr. I'm sorry. Case nominations by Mr. Babbot. Is there a second? >> Second by Miss Reagan. >> Did I do that? >> I seconded his. >> Okay. Okay. >> Mr. Boy. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Reagan. >> Yes. Mr. Cune, >> yes. >> Mr. Babbot, >> yes. >> Dr. Jükovich, >> yes. >> Mrs. Steel, >> yes. >> Mrs. Johan, >> yes. >> Motion passes 70. Motion to appoint. I move to appoint Julie Steel as delegate and Robert Cune as alternate delegate to represent Tha Public Schools at the 2025 KASB delegate assembly meetings. >> Second. Motion by Miss Reagan, second by Miss Johan. >> Mr. Boyd? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Reagan? >> Yes. >> Mr. Cune? >> Yes. >> Mr. Babbot? >> Yes. >> Dr. Jükovich? >> Yes. >>
129Mrs. Steel? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johan? >> Yes. >> Motion passes 70. Um, thanks to Miss Steel and Mr. for serving in those capacities. Representing Ole Public Schools. Can you say something? >> Yes, Miss Steel. >> Sorry, I forgot to tell Dr. Jükovich. I just wanted to mention to the board that um what we just voted on is is voting at the KB conference for the next presidentele for KSB. The two people that have been put forward have videos out there. I don't know if they're on the KSB website or if I as the region VP I can send you a link so that you guys can then um communicate your desires. I would want to make sure our vote represents what the board wants. The last when I checked um not yesterday, the day
130before only one video had been completed. So, it makes it kind of hard to have a conversation tonight when I don't know if that other video is out there, but that if you'll go out and watch those and share um your desires with for the next who you want the next KB president to be. Sorry. >> Thank you. Thank you. uh future action items. As you can see, there are a number listed. Um two related to presentations this evening with the Westview Elementary boundary recommendation and then the future bond referendum and uh of course that meeting is November 6th. Um so please make sure you review those and that you are there that evening. Uh thanks to those who provided the written information with the Head Start director's report, the bond issue update, Mr. Palangi,
131and then the learning services October report. And congratulations to Dr. Reeves and his wife for their anniversary today as he sits in a board meeting until Yeah. All right. Um board topics for discussion or comments. Miss Reagan. >> Oh no, he he wants to go. >> Oh, Mr. Cute. Sorry. Sorry. >> I had some free time at work today, so I did a little something. Um to piggyback off of Megan and Nick. Um uh National Custodian Maintenance Worker Appreciation Day today. Um, I was on Facebook for about two hours, so I did see that we posted that. Um, uh, it's also breast cancer awareness month and Hispanic, uh, heritage culture, Hispanic Heritage Month. Um, tomorrow is World Smile Day with some of the stuff that's been going on lately. I think it's important that we
132smile every day and smile at somebody else. Um, next Friday is World Mental Health Day. Um, so it kind of piggies backs off of uh World Smile Day and um then I started watching um The Price is Right right after I did this for two hours. So to quote Drew Kerry, uh your boss is going to be calling you. >> He put the TV in my office. That's all I'm saying. Um you know, Price is Right. Bob Barker always closed it with, you know, spaying into your pets. Drew Kerry now um closes it with uh to make sure you take care of your mental health. it's important and that he loves us. So >> there you go. >> Now, Men, >> go ahead. >> Yeah, >> great. Rob, I mean, yeah. Well, I just um
133you know, uh Mr. Kun mentioned uh Hispanic Heritage Month and I did a little just kind of research on that because it is an interesting um you know September 15th to October 15th where a month is normally an entire calendar month and um those dates were chosen because it's a recognition of a variety of Independence Day celebrations in Latin American nations and I just you know the moment we're in I agree with Mr. that it tomorrow is a great day to smile, but I do think it's extremely important that we not take our own nation's independence for granted and thinking about the different chapters we've been through as a country. Um, Hispanic Heritage Month, you know, the recognition of um nations who, you know, have people who have come to our nation and made us
134stronger. And we see that in our community. You think back to the tomahawk presentation from earlier this evening. I believe it was 21% of their student population is Hispanic and that is a reflection of our district. We see a lot of um different um cultures and ethnicities across our district. Um so I just, you know, the the diversity of our community and our country. Um it it's amazing how many different recognition months and and things that we have. But Hispanic Heritage Month hit hit me a little different this year when I was reading up on it. Um, Women's Giving Circle is later this month. Um, if you're not familiar, it's a twice a year grant program where three different educator presentations are made and those in attendance um, who've made a donation that night um,
135that's pulled together get to hear the presentations and um, vote on who gets the grant. It's really exciting. It's a wonderful evening. It's a cup filling evening and I would love to see you all there. And it is women's giving circle. Um national custodian and maint maintenance worker day is so important um because the the state of our buildings influences the students ability to learn in them. And so um and it's one of those jobs where when you do it right, people don't notice. And when it's not done because maybe budget cuts or whatnot or or understaffing, people notice. And so when you do a good job, it's one of those things like kind of like the FBI, right? You don't know about their their, you know, successes. You only hear about the misses. And
136um yes, I just I just compared maintenance and custodial workers to FBI agents. Um but um it's it's a thing that I think can get taken for granted because we have staff who do such a great job. So, um, thank you for the work you do every day. Um, and I've been thinking a lot about just conversations in the world and I think back to my teaching career and my students um, they had to write persuasive essays and and read different things and provide their own take. And one that has just been sitting in my mind is this AP prompt from 2008 that's based on this article or this passage that said that um disagreement is the lifeblood of democracy and dissension is its cancer. And I've been thinking a lot about that. And that
137dis that distinction is so important. And we we can't we wash our hands with friction, right? You can't clean your hands if you're not rubbing against each other with the soap and the water. You can't just put your hands there and hope they get clean. We have to rub up against things that we don't agree with. The way we handle those situations is a reflection of where we want to be as a community. And I think it was just so fitting for Mr. Crayley to bring up recovery of credits. You know, whatever situation that learner got in that they needed to recover here in THA, we want you to have that second chance. We want to give you the most generous interpretation of your ability to succeed in the future. And so, as we think
138about smile day, I'm going to smile so much tomorrow. It's going to be great. Um, as we think about that, get being generous in our interpretation of what others do before we respond will put us in a place where we can disagree and keep going forward rather than dissent and get stuck and cause irreparable damage. So, yeah, that's all I've got. Thank you, Miss Steel. I wasn't going to share this, but to Megan and Eric, when I got my first paycheck from THA public schools many years ago, I called my dad and I said, "What is this thick thing? It's a lot of my money and it's gone." I was 23. I should have known. So, anyway, good for you for going to that session. And Eric, thanks for having it. I needed one of
139those. Um, okay. I had the privilege of visiting our esports program at THA West High School, and the coaches are Curt Parker and Jonathan Stall, and it was a delight. Um, tha is cutting edge and spearheading this sport that Cash is recognizing called esports. And it was just so neat to see these kids who are finding a home within a home at a very large high school that otherwise we weren't getting our arms around. And this program is finding kids that we haven't otherwise otherwise found. So it was a really delight. Um, we got to approve some further equipment for our esports program at our innovation campus tonight and it was my privilege to vote on that and just an absolute joy to see um new things that are happening that are reaching kids in
140ways we haven't reached before. So that was a joy. Thank you Kurt and Jonathan for that invitation. Want to echo what Dr. um McMullen said about Westview. Um, it is seen and deeply appreciated how with every decision we're having to make with this change, your focus does not change, which has been on your kids from the educators to Cindy Capeller. Um, thank you. That is leadership in this district. And um, like I said, that is it is seen by many and deeply appreciated that your focus is staying right where it should. Um, I also two more things just want to continue as I've done before to recognize our paraprofessionals. I've said it, nothing works without them. 30 years ago when I was in the classroom, I had amazing paras. It was a different time and
141our challenges were very different. Um, but they are pure gold to the education we provide our um, vulnerable specialed students. And I know we have challenges today, but the one thing I know that hasn't changed is that there are people at every level of education in this district in leadership um to building level that care very much about our special ed population and that care very much about the people providing that education to our students. Um so Paris, I see you. I have been in a place where I have personally appreciated what you've done and that has not changed sitting here. Um, October 14th is the last day to register to vote. So, if you are not registered, please do that. When I was a senior in high school, it was a presidential election. And
142my very good friend, who is an amazing teacher at Sunnyside, um, turned 18 on election day, so she pre-registered for to vote. And I thought it was so cool that she got a vote for president that year. And so to you seniors, if you're going to turn um 18 by the t Tuesday, November 4th, you too can pre-register to vote and vote in this not presidential election, but little tiny municipal election where I'm going to tell you your vote will count immensely. Um it is widely known that in municipal elections we don't get the voter turnout that we do on presidential years, but honestly it is so important. So again, October 14th, register and then go vote, >> Miss Tan. >> Thank you. Okay. Um I just had to reflect a little bit on the
143presentations and awards that we had tonight and um having another teacher as selected um for Kansas teacher of the year. What an honor. Um, I did a quick Google search and it may be wrong, so fact check me if you will, but there's approximately 35,000 teachers in the state of Kansas. That's what Google said. Anyway, um, so I think that's pretty admirable really, honestly, and several of them over the past couple years, which leads me to my next um, topic was cross country. My daughter did cross country. She just finished with coach buses, both of the busingers, and um, really loved it. Had a great experience. They had a record 167 kids that went out for cross country at Prairie Trail. Um and just I think that the proof is in the pudding there of
144um just a lot of good investment in these kids and doing something after school every single day and just having a fun time with it. So I just want to say shout out to um them. Thank you for that. Um and then finally, not any of the other holidays, but bosses day is this month, October 16th. So there's a lot of big bosses in this room. So, just thank you to all the bosses and all the things that they do. And I think um you know, as a educator, I see that they're a leader in their own in their own room. And so, they're a boss of that room. So, I just want to kind of appreciate them in that realm also because I can see a lot of those traits in every single teacher
145that I've interacted with. So, thank you. Um I also turned 18 on a on the 29th of October several years ago, and I was able to vote in a presidential election, too. And so I appreciate that sentiment and and have uh have uh the same feeling. So anyway, that's all I have. Any other comments board? I would just I believe this is still the case. Um Miss Steele mentioned the esports is still hosting the state tournament. Is that correct? And what is that date, Mr. Johnson? Right now it's the last weekend in uh >> the last weekend in January the Friday and Saturday I can't remember the date 2930 31 somewhere like that >> but it's January end of January so an opportunity to to observe and cheer and and uh experience um all of
146that excitement as well. You know, we talk a lot about quality staff and I think often times people's minds go directly to our teachers, which clearly we have quality teachers. Um, Miss Johan mentioned uh Coach Businger who is teacher was teacher of the year two years ago. Um, his wife is a coach as well and amazing educator. Um but tonight I I want to also draw attention to the presentations that again that we had um related to our bond potential bond um the West View repurposing and then the on-site clinic um because our senior leadership also um is representative of the quality staff in this district and Dr. McMullen mentioned a lot of people who worked with him and I know that is true with um Dr. Sig and Mr. Hutchinson um that they weren't
147doing this alone either. And so thank you to all of you individuals and some of you are sitting in this room. I know tonight um but the quality staff, the senior leadership team, the directors, the facilitators who are supporting our educators in the classroom um because truly that makes a difference as well. Miss Steele mentioned West View uh staff and I had the opportunity this week to attend their site council meeting and I honestly I I went with kind of an expectation of hearing about some of the things maybe that they're doing this school year um to kind of close out Westview. and I I didn't hear anything during the presentations in the information that was shared. So I asked the question and to Miss Steele's point um the staff who were there and part
148of site council said you know at the end of the year we do plan to have a big hoopla to to celebrate the history of Westview the people who've come through here but right now we're focused on teaching and learning and supporting our students every day. And we may add a little extra to some of the events that we have every year, but this school year is not about Westview closing. It's about the students who are attending every day. And I was touched by that, impressed by that, and not totally surprised given um the individuals who are there. But I I do want to recognize again the difficulty that we know closing a a school, repurposing a school, changing school boundaries, um it's emotional, especially when schools and individuals and families have the connections that
149we do in tha. So just wanted to um acknowledge that as well. Dr. Jagger, >> thank you. You know, the the theme for for uh my comments tonight, and I keep thinking of this, is the the saying, go big or go home. Um you know, somehow tonight, we've almost normalized conversations about bonds, boundaries, uh clinics, really big things, and we're just kind of dealing with them as normal business tonight, which if you stop and think about it's it's pretty amazing. And I think, you know, to to kind of reiterate what Dr. Jükovich says, I think that says a lot about the senior team that we have in place in terms of preparing, planning, those sorts of things, but also the engagement we have from our board of education and asking those hard questions, uh the
150important conversations that take place around all of those things that um when we get to the point that things are, you know, moving forward like they have tonight. Um certainly they're all big things. um they've all been studied, but it goes really well because we have great engagement from you all as our elected board, but also our senior leadership. And um that's something I don't think any of us can take for granted. And the the mutual eye is always on what's best for our system. Um and the kids that we serve each and every day. I do want to mention real real quick in term of bond and boundaries as well. Um I want to thank Jim and John and uh again the folks that helped them do that. Um, but I also want to
151say that, you know, both of those things the board is not taking action until next month. And that is intentional because one of the things that we don't want to to be accused of at some point is there wasn't time to provide information. There wasn't time to ask questions. And so I just want to say I hope what's already inherent in our community. And that is that Dr. McMullen, John Hutcherson, they're happy to visit with staff, patrons, um, folks in our community that feel like they need different information, explanations of things that have been shared, those kinds of things. So, um, I just want to offer that up on their behalf tonight, uh, as a way of thanking them for their hard work on those two things. Um, also the clinic that Dr. Sig talked
152about tonight, you know, it is exciting to think about what that will provide to our staff. Obviously, we know that the, you know, the physical health is important. Um, but gosh, we heard so much about the mental health and well-being of our staff as we did our district dialogues last year. And Dr. Sig has done an amazing job with Eric and others of really focusing on yes, we need the physical health and those pieces, but as important are the pieces that come along with that in terms of mental health and well-being for our staff. And you know, I really uh think based on our not only was able to go on one tour, but based on the feedback that that was provided from that, I think our staff is going to be really pleased and
153their families really pleased with what we're going to be able to offer through this, which I really think will be a gamecher in a lot of different areas for our district. I'm excited uh very much about that, but very appreciative of the work. And Eric, I see you back there. So, um, we had one other important event happen in our district today that we haven't talked about tonight, but it's big. Um, and that's related to our accreditation as a school system. That's a really important thing for us. Um, today was our sixth month accreditation check-in. Um, so those are every 6 months uh for our district and our final accreditation is sometime in the spring. But, uh, Dr. Reeves and his learning services team, Julie V and others, general administration, um spent time today just
154sharing about what's happening in our district in terms of school improvement, focusing on academic excellence and achievement. Um and that's a lot of work and that's what we're here about every single day. And so I didn't want the the time to pass without thanking everyone involved with that. Uh certainly Dr. Reeves and his team, our general administration folks, Michelle, Liz, uh Jill, Clint, um and our building principles and our building leadership teams. There's so many people involved in that work. It's just critical to what we do each and every day. Um I also want to congratulate our 19 National Merit Sim semifinalists. Um boy is that cool, you know? I mean, kids in our district representing the um best achieving in the nation just with that, which is really a great thing. Uh Rachel Marlo
155is the Kansas teacher of the year. She'll go on to represent not only our district in Kansas, not only our district, but also Kansas at the National Teacher of the Year competition, one of the 50 best teachers in the United States. I mean, that's incredible when you think about that. Um and you know, we've been in that position before, which is just so cool. Um you also talked about Hispanic Heritage Month, and I I so appreciate all the comments from our board about that. October is also principal month. Um we are really really blessed in Altha to have some of the very best principles around um who work tirelessly to support our students, their families and their community. So any opportunity anyone has to thank a principal uh and smile at them tomorrow. Um that
156is a that is a really great idea. They would appreciate that. It's also Head Start awareness month. Um we've spent time uh it seems like a lot in the last number of months talking about Head Start. I think last month's board presentation, but that's such an important to starting young young people in our community off on the right foot. So, again, just a great month to be aware of of Head Start as well. Um, and as has been mentioned many times, today is custodian and maintenance appreciation day. And as you have all said, we cannot do what we do every day without the folks doing that important work in our system. So, thank you to all of them. And then last, I'd just like to thank Mrs. Johan for reading all those uh board uh
157policy update letters tonight. You did a great job. Thank you. [Music] >> Okay, board. Um 13.01 executive session. If someone would please make a motion and we will need 15 minutes for this. I move that the board go into executive session for the purpose of discussing individual personal performance for non-elected personnel under coma. and the board return to the regular meeting at 8:15 p.m. in this room. >> Second. >> Motion by Miss Johan, second by Miss Steel. [Music] >> Dr. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Steel. >> Yes. >> Mr. Babbot. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Reagan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Boyd. >> Yes. >> Mr. Q. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Johan. >> Yes. [Music]