001My name is Casey Bruto. I'm the chief communications officer and I'd like to welcome you to tonight's board meeting. Um to start the evening off tonight, I'd like to invite Satie Oric, a fifth grade student from Cottonwood Point Elementary to the front to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> And Satie, we're going to get your picture real quick. And I know Sadie's got a fan club in the audience. So I I think we have mom, dad, uh some other grandparents maybe here tonight. We also have the privilege tonight of recognizing several outstanding staff members whose dedication, talent, and impact are inspiring. So to start the night
002off, we'd like to invite Katherine Hunley to please come forward with your supervisor, Charles Wthben. We are excited to recognize Katherine with this distinguished service award. Katherine is a food service manager at Blue Valley West High School and this is her fourth year in the district. Charles, do you want to start off and tell us what's so great about Katherine? >> First of all, it's an honor to be recogniz. >> Um Oh, thank you. Um Kathy is leads the Blue Valley West team marvelously. Um she really goes above and beyond with the students there and lunch service with her team support is second to none. Excellent. Um, I would say some of Kathy's best attributes is how supportive she is for her team and how she's created such a fabulous work environment and they love
003her to death and they thrive under your leadership and that says a lot about you. Um, other thing that Kathy is always calm and positive no matter what the situation. Um, I'll throw stuff at her every once in a while and she always just rolls with it. So, I appreciate that. Um, Kathy has been in school food service for 20 years and we're lucky that she's been with us for five. Um, she is also one of our leaders that helps train new staff and new managers that come in. So, she's a huge asset for us. So, on behalf of Food Nutrition, Blue Valley West and Blue Valley, thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Kathy, would you like to say anything? >> I just am totally
004honored. I appreciate it. Um, I have an amazing team. I mean, without them, I wouldn't be here, right? So, >> okay. >> We'll get a quick picture. And I think Kathy, I saw her come in with a little bit of a fan club, too. Yeah. So, thank you. >> Next, we'd like to invite Kathy Brocks to please come forward. So, we are excited to recognize Kathy with the Excellence in Education Award. Kathy is a first grade teacher at Cottonwood Point Elementary, and this is her 20th year in the district. Um, her principal, Kate Burroughs, isn't able to be with us tonight due to illness, but I think she's got a fan club here. So Kate did share some remarks that she wanted to make sure we shared with those in the room tonight. She says,
005"I am thrilled to recognize Kathy for with the excellence in education award. Kathy exudes the qualities that we all hope in our own children's teachers. She is warm and loving while also providing a structured classroom environment and high expectations for students. She meets every student who walks through her classroom doors where they are at socially, emotionally, and academically. Kathy's classroom is lively and productive with students learning through highquality instructional experiences that are engaging and personal. Kathy is a fantastic teammate, collaborating with her colleagues and always seeking to do what is best for kids. Again, she's thrilled to recognize um a professional who is so very deserving of this award. Congratulations, Kathy. >> Thank you so much. I'm I'm very honored to receive this. Very appreciative of it. And um want to thank my husband Kevin.
006Don't want to forget that. And our daughters are streaming from afar. So, thanks for tuning in. And then colleagues who are friends. So, I love working at Cottonwood Point. It's the best school. and I love all of you. Thank you so much. staff recognitions this evening. So, if uh for a few of you that's all you are staying for, you this is kind of a natural break before the rest of our meeting continues. Um and if there's any seats opened, we'd welcome those seats to be filled. it. >> Okay. >> I'm not drugs. >> You need it. >> Although I did see my knee surgeon today. >> Okay. I'll call the uh meeting to order. Uh look to approve the regular board of education meeting agenda. Do I have a motion? >> I move that
007the board of education approve the March 9th, 2026 regular board of education meeting agenda as published. >> Second. >> Moved and second. And all in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. So approved. Uh first item would be legislative update with our lobbyist Patty Markley. >> Thank you. While uh Patty is um coming up to the microphone and we're getting her presentation um up to speed, I wanted to um introduce her, but also just to have thank her for going over the current state of legislative work um and our efforts this entire session and really throughout the year. It's never really over. Um that help us provide input on the decisions that impact Blue Valley. And while we've been uh tracking this work, um we don't want to have hope as the only
008alternative out there uh and the only strategy. So um we really appreciate uh you being here, Patty, and being our boots on the ground and um anxious to hear what good news you bring this evening. >> Well, I'm bringing news. So, thanks so much. I again, you my name is Patty Markley, owner of Markley Strategies. I'm a contract lobbyist and I do represent the school board in Topeka. So, uh, when we advocate for our schools, I think it's important that we do so, keep in mind that we do so within the framework of our legislative agenda that the board approves every year. So quickly reminder of those priority positions are we support establishment of a fair and equitable school finance formula which the legislature is working on and there will be a bill introduced uh
009next session because we had one in 2017. There's a 10ear sunset on that. So it's going to be up for renewal next year. Um obviously fund special education is statutoily required. We'll get into I have a whole big section on that tonight. um increase the safety and well-being of our schools and our students. Um that's mental uh well-being as well as their physical safety. Uh support recruitment and retention of our highly qualified staff. Uh that includes uh competitive salaries. We look at uh the type of benefits that we can offer our staff as well as retirement benefits. We're always we're looking at ways that the legislature can um approve or change the way that that we do some of the uh retirement benefits, especially some of our teachers are in capers three. That's it's it'd
010be better if we could move those into other capers programs that um much better retirement benefits on the Missouri side and especially for a district such as ours. we can lose teachers to the Missouri side because we don't have those as great a benefits. Um, as a public school, we oppose tax credits, vouchers, and other public funding for private schools and the overall support of local control in those educational systems. Um, duly elected boards at the local level a lot of times have um a better ear to the ground on on what um what those educational needs are of of their own districts. So, I did want to just talk about this for a split second. How a bill becomes a law in the Kansas legislature. This is a flowchart that um my friend Stephanie
011Sharp has a has a consulting firm and I have this laminated in my office and I've had it for years. Um I refer to this a lot of time as not only how a bill becomes a law in the Kansas legislature but also all the ways a bill can die because most bills do die. Um so for example of that um as of this Friday last year and this year because bills can last for two a two-year cycle there have been 1,321 bills introduced. So that's almost 800 in the House and over 500 in the Senate. So that gives you an idea um how many bills are introduced and then the very few that gets through that funnel and actually makes it all the way through the process. Why is this not working? Uh oh.
012There we go. All right. So, this session, just a quick overview. Um we are on day 38 of the legislative session since it they began um second Monday of of January and there's been over 100 education related bills introduced. So um and the way that legislation can affect our school district are two ways. It's funding and then also policy. So primarily funding that's the budget that the legislature and the governor approve every year and as well as the school finance formula which I had mentioned um is up for renewal next year and that's that's a key of how our schools are funded at the state level. Regarding the school finance formula is an interim committee that met all last year and uh we'll begin meeting again as soon as session ends. Uh and they are
013the ones that will present that bill at the beginning of session. We do have one blue valley area legislator that serves on that. It's representative Nikki McDonald of so if she happens to be a representative just know that uh we do have one local person that does serve on that that interim committee. Okay. So, I mentioned the two different ways. There's funding and there's policy. So, when we're looking at a budget, the legislature looks out two years on a budget, but they do review and approve that budget annually. And each state budget begins the July 1st of every year. Well, this is a lot for you guys. You already know this, but just for everybody in the audience, just to give you an idea. Um, in the last two years, um, they've done the budget
014a little bit differently. Um, in all the years past, the governor would present her budget. the first week of session and they've used that as a blueprint and come up with bills. In the last two years, the um legislature has also presented their own budget. They have their budget bills and you and um they believe as the keepers of the purse and that they should have a bigger role in that. So the legislative arm does have a budget as well. So so far this session we have had a house pass bill and a senate passed bill. The House bill is 2423 and the Senate bill is 315. And each of those have passed their their various houses. Um, and unlike most bills, those do not have to go to the other chamber to be approved.
015So what will happen is the Senate has their version of the budget, the House has their version of the budget. They will get together in a conference committee and start going through line item by line item how they agree and what how they disagree and come to an agreements on every single one of those line items several several 30 40 50page document outlining that and then they will take that compromise and put it into a third bill. So, this is where it always gets confusing is that there's this bill and then there's the second bill. And going forward, the budget will have a different bill number. And um we will probably know that by the end of this week what the bill number will be. There's a chance that it's Senate Bill 181, which is
016a currently a different bill now, but they will gut that and put this new this new budget in it. Um the budget conference report will then go to the two different chambers and the members will have an opportunity to vote again on the budget but it's only up or down. So whenever those conference committee reports come back to the house or senate they can't make any other changes. So they will it will go to an up or down vote and then that will go to the governor for her signature and that is the one bill that she can line item veto specific things in that bill. So she doesn't have to prove it all. And um so once that is done, the legislature can come back and try to override her her line item vetos.
017So there's still a lot of steps left for the budget and funding for schools, but um that's kind of where we are right now. The other way that um as I mentioned we the legislature has a role to play in uh our schools is they can pass policy such as usually um policy is at the state board and our local school boards but the state can have a role in in passing uh statewide policy. So just a quick overview like I said you know there's been over a hundred entered this year. There's still some moving around. I just got a notice about what's on the Senate floor tomorrow. There's actually four education related bills that are on the Senate floor tomorrow. Um, one that we've spent a lot of time talking about is um, House
018Sub for Senate Bill 281 and House Bill 2299. So, the one that's a Senate Bill 281 is actually the House bill and the one that's House Bill 2299 is actually the Senate bill because just, you know, to make it interesting, but it does restrict cell phone use. um K through 12 across the state. Um that legislation passed the Senate last week overwhelmingly bipartisan. I think there were four members that voted against it and the governor has indicated that she wants to sign this bill. So there is a lot of lot of momentum behind this and we have consistently said we have local policies that we we put in place. Local boards have done a lot of work on that. We would appreciate the uh acknowledgement of local control. Possibly there was amendment introduced that we
019helped work on that uh would grandfather in districts who have already uh implemented those plans. Unfortunately, um that amendment was not put on on the final Senate bill. So, uh we anticipate that uh this will move pretty quickly and more than likely the governor is going to sign this bill into law. Uh we have one um tax credit voucher bill this year, House Bill 2468. Um that bill passed the House on a vote of 70 to 49, which is not a really strong strong number. Um and it's on calendar in the Senate and I saw today that it's actually up for debate tomorrow in the Senate and we will see um if the Senate puts a lot of amendments on that and how much they change the House version of the bill. Um it is
020important to note that 70 votes in the House is well below the 84 that would be needed to override an anticipated um veto of the governor for that legislation. So we'll keep following that closely. Um Senate Bill 387 uh Senator Shane from Lewisburg, this was his bill about income income verification and lunch programs and atrisisk funding. Um that bill passed the Senate 22 to 18 and it was actually heard in House Education today. Um and I think somehow with their amendments they could possibly made a not great bill even worse. So we will see um how that that works through on the House side. But again that bill had 22 supporters on the Senate side. There's a lot of concern. They need 27 votes in the Senate to override a governor's expected veto of that.
021So um we are cautiously optimistic that that bill may not move forward as well. Uh heard on the Senate floor today Senate Bill 339 which requires certain number of minutes of daily recess and physical activity not only in elementary school but also all the way through all the way through high school. So concerns about that bill as well. Again local control and the time that is already time constraints on our students that are are taking AP classes and all those things. How do you fit another 30 to 60 90 minutes of physical education into their their schedule every day? Uh Senate Bill 350, age appropriate school device act, which is even more restrictive than the cell phone bill. Um that bill had a hearing in Senate Ed. Uh we anticipate the committee working the bill
022and there might be possible floor action uh next week on that. And so, um, Senate Bill 441, there's some others that, uh, we can talk about, non-existent exhaustive list. There's plenty more and there's a lot that can happen in the next essentially two and a half weeks left of the regular session. Now, one thing when we talk about funding, I wanted to spend a little bit of time on special ed funding. So, the current budget proposals that the House House bill and Senate bill, the House has an extra $10 million for sped this year and the Senate has an extra $5 million um in those bills. Probably the best we can hope for is they take the house position and take and put in an entirely the entire amount of $10 million which when you
023consider that funding needed to address statewide sped shortfall this year is $180 million. You can see the problem that we have because the state of Kansas has been underfunding sped for over 15 years. I believe representative Poskins when she talks later she had sent out she passed around a flyer that kind of goes into more detail about this. Um and what this means for our district is we only recoup 50 some% of extra excess costs. It might be 52. Is it 50? Okay. Um, so what that means is our district alone is diverting $18 million from our general fund each and every year to backfill those costs. And if you think about our district since 2020, there's been a 14% growth in students with IEP IEP plans, students that need those special ed services, while
024at the same time we have an enrollment decrease of more than 3%. So, and it's also important to keep in mind that we are legally required to provide those special ed services. So, that's just a basic kind of overall state funding. And I wanted to kind of pass the baton to Dr. Chapman. She can kind of fill in a little bit more about what that really looks like for our district right now and and the problems that and the challenges that we're facing because of this underfunding of sped. >> Uh, thank you. So, what we are transferring $18 million in order to cover the cost of special ed that has been underfunded by the state. And what that means for every student that's enrolled in Blue Valley School District, the school district gets approximately $6,000
025per student that's enrolled in our school district. So before we even start school, um $1,400 out of every single child's education is immediately transferred to cover the shortfall in special ed. So that equates to for a classroom of 25 students, $35,000 right out of the gate for a classroom. And for a our average size elementary school, that's $850,000 that's immediately transferred to cover the state's statutory requirement to fund special ed at 92%. So, um to give you another uh idea or perspective of numbers, um we are anticipating needing to cover a gap of $10 million this year. So, if we're automatically already transferring $18 million, um if if that part was covered, we wouldn't be having any difficult conversations. And the truth of the matter is that the school district has been um chronically underfunded
026since 2011 in special ed and every year those numbers go up. So last year was 16 million. The year before was 14 million. So we're going up every single year and there's absolutely nothing no control that we have over that component. So we're at the point now in our district where we don't even have that amount in our reserves. So we have to do something and it's not the board of education up here. It's truly uh residing at the legislative level and and absent any any change this year, absent any vote, we are going to be having this conversation every single year. This is the tip of the iceberg. If the if the legislature does not come up with some substantial money to help us cover this shortfall and we have proposed um remedies. Uh
027the state has um overall this is the lowest birth rate we've ever seen in the country. So um the state already had budgeted to have a certain number of students. So they are um there they because we had an enrollment decline statewide. There's $269 million that the state currently has allocated for K12 education that isn't needed because of the enrollment being down. As uh Patty Markley said, uh there's a hundred million $180 million shortfall in special ed across the state. If the if the legislature voted to fund schools the way they their own statute said at 92% they'd still have a hundred million dollars to do the other things, but technically it's our children's money. That's what it's earmarked for. It's not meant for uh vouchers. It's not meant for lowering uh property taxes. It's
028meant for children. and the the $1,400 that comes out of every single one of our children's um education, that is what is um going to fund the programs that this community expects and the opportunities this community expects for our children. So, um I I love seeing you all here. I wear a size medium in the shirt. Um I love seeing you here, but but to be frank, this is an issue for our legislature. We have already made the reductions that we can and everything everything we do involves kids in this district. There's not one program or one thing that we do that I can say yeah we don't really need that. Every single position in this district impacts kids. And I appreciate the the hard work of of Patty working on our behalf of you
029all being here tonight. We really need your efforts to be um focused on the legislature and we have voting coming up. Please register to vote. Please vote. It matters. >> Can I ask you a couple of questions? >> Please. So, this is for both both of you. Um along the same lines as the surplus, um how much are they estimating the vouchers statewide would cost? The tax credit for lowincome student program currently is capped at $10 million. The program, this bill does a couple of things. There is a federal law that was passed, federal tax credit program. It ops Kansas into that program and then it changes the current state program and increases the max to 20 million. Now the House version took it eventually up to 30. The Senate vision version they'll be debating
030tomorrow caps it at 20 million. So depending on what comes out of it, it will double or triple the maximum that can come out of that. It also uh changes the requirements so a family can make certain I forget the what percentage of the um federal um poverty guidelines. It's like I forget what it is, but it's maybe when she gets up can remind it, but it it expands that program and but it expands it. There is a cap on how much can be taken out each year. >> Roughly 20 million of >> 10 to 20 million of additional education money going towards private schools as opposed to putting more money into funding that is statutoily required. how much there's an income verification that they're requiring for uh free and reduced. I believe that bill
031passed. Um it's it's not quite law yet, but do we have an estimate of how much additional cost that will have on our district, let alone statewide, to verify unnecessarily free and reduced children's needs? Yeah, we would absolutely have to hire somebody to um contact every single application that we receive and then ask them to provide proof, which would be um paycheck stubs. And if they have a child that's also working, that includes their child's paycheck stubs as well, because um everybody in the family that's working counts toward that income verification. possibly $50 to $100,000 at least >> districtwide at a minimum. Probably a fifth grade strings program cost perhaps. >> So that's something you can specifically talk to your legislators about. >> It I'll just say it's interesting because that was debated in the
032House committee today and um they had some amendments again. Um the question was brought up actually Representative Featherson said what would be the new fiscal note if if we did this and there wasn't an answer to that. um how much time would needed and how much yeah staff time would be needed to oversee all that. Yeah. >> The last question um I believe you mentioned behavioral specialists being cut out. So there was a mental health bill that went through that is reducing the amount of money that districts receive for mental health services. Correct. >> It does. The >> um the Senate version of the budget Yeah. removed the MHIT program. Mhm. >> So that's a statewide mental health intervention services program. >> So we would lose a certain number of behavioral specialists that are >>
033mental health support staff. >> We currently have um between 10 and 13 positions depending on how many. So, if we wanted to continue to provide those services or had to continue to provide those services because they're in an IEP or 504, >> then that would be increasing the deficit of spending. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. >> We have um we were funded for 13 positions. We currently have 10 at the moment. >> So, that's if you you know did a rough estimate um it's approximately a million dollars. >> I had a couple points. I would like to make if I could too quick. Um talking about the cell phone ban. >> Um it it on the surface it sounds okay, right? U we put our cell phone ban in and and make a little modifications when
034we need to. What this is looking at is an overall ban bell-to- bell in high school. Yes. >> And making for sure that the device isn't even in close proximity. So um that's really problematic in a smaller district. Um maybe you can turn your phone in uh at the office. um a big district where you've got, you know, 1,00200 kids, it's unrealistic. So, we don't know how we're going to pull that off. And then the the penalty, the fines that the district would incur um are tremendous. So, um that's that's concerning, right? Um the voucher um keep in mind um you know, we we have this philosophy, you know, public funds for public schools, right? Well, um the way that that we're seeing this legislation come down, there is no accountability on how these voucher
035funds are used. So, you can't track the money with us. You you can track the money. You can sit down with our wonderful um accounting department um and and follow how we use the funds. It's all public information >> and there's and there's reporting >> there's a a heck of a lot of reporting um to the state um and all. So this is this is where the money goes into a hole and I want to make for sure that my money is being used well. So uh that's one point. Um the reality of the free and reduced kind of breaks my heart. Um it's it's hard enough for for families who need help >> right now to to apply to these programs. this and and we were very good at at at providing these services
036before it was a um it was spotchecking is kind of how it did we did it before right >> 3% >> the federal yeah requirement is 3% >> so we would do that this is going to be everyone and providing payubs what happens is people will not apply >> guess what those kiddos are still hungry >> we will be feeding them but it's not Okay. >> So, >> real quick, I'm going to you guys are done listening to me, but um the session is very much condensed. It's the second year where 90 days is they have defined that as 90 actual days. So, weekends everything we are it's a break neck pace. It's crazy. It's insane. But the good news is we're we're almost done. So, um, one more full week of committee hearings this
037week. Um, and next week there's two days that there can be committee hearings and then after that they're on the floor all day. So, we'll see probably 50 to 100 bills in each each house and then um those are sent to the governor, the ones that are approved once they go to conference committee and those meetings. And again, I talked about conference reports and voting up and down go to the governor. First adjournment is March 27th. So that's like two and a half weeks, almost three weeks. Um, and then that's it. They come back for veto session, two days, April 9th and 9th and 10th. Um, they can do some clean up on some budget things. Sometimes they address bills. Um, but if there's some vetos of the governor that they think they have the
038votes to override, they can they can do that on that. And then the rest of this year, there's there's election. All 125 state representatives are up for election. Uh, they're on a two-year cycle. The Senate's on a four-year cycle, so they're not up for reelection this year. Um, a lot of statewide races, governor's races. Um, there's a US Senate race, all four or US Congress, states, Congress men and women are up for, um, election. Um, and there are primaries for in most of those races on in the Democrat and and the and the Republican sides. And on the primary ballot is a constitutional amendment to change the manner that we select uh Supreme Court justices. So, there's lots of reasons to um I'm going to assume everyone in this room is registered to vote if
039you're old enough and how how you um make sure you have your vote count. So, last but not least, how what can you do? So, contact your legislator. Um if you don't know who your legislator is, uh one of the best ways to do that, you can go to jcolection.org. or put in your where it's voter information. You can put your name and your birth date in and it will populate everyone who represents you from the president down to waterboard and all of that so you can see who your state rep and your state representative is um and state senator, excuse me. Uh you can also go to kslegislature.gov, pull up that name, you can find out the best ways to contact them. Please reach out to your your representatives. Um, the best way to
040do that is by email or text. Um, when it really starts to get busy, they don't have time to to read their emails. Some do, but if you can, um, I mean, they don't they're not in their offices rarely at all, so you can call and leave a message. Um, but the best way is text and and then email for them. Um, if you do call their office, the one thing note I always have to put in is the person who answers the phone is more than likely a part-time office assistant, retired state employee who answers their phone and does their um does their calendar and they are not a policy person. They are not involved in this. So, you know, they are not like a staff assistant that you would think on the hill.
041just be kind to them if you would because they're nice little nice little ladies that you know do and um I think that's it. Now, if you're going to make sure if you haven't registered to vote before any of these elections, so first Tuesday in August, first Tuesday in November, you 21 days out is the deadline. So, you got to make sure you if you are not registered to vote to do that before that time. And any questions, there's my number, there's my email. You guys know anybody can reach out to me anytime they have questions or concerns. Any other questions? >> Patty, I have >> Yeah, >> I have. >> Yeah, >> maybe a couple questions. Um, you said or or Dr. Chapman has said our shortfall is $18 million here in >> Blue
042Valley alone. Um, I've seen numbers out there, proposals to put some supplemental sped funding in the legislation of 2 million, 5 million, and you said the best case scenario right now is like 10 million. >> How much, let's say 2 million got added. >> How much of that would actually be coming to Blue Valley? >> Divi Oh, >> 5%. >> Yeah% divided besides the number of school districts. So 5% >> 5% of >> say >> so under >> under $100,000 >> I believe I believe the term insulting has been said to me a few times by >> by board member. Yes, absolutely. >> Okay, >> that's it. >> Um and if we received, this might be for Dr. Chapman. We received full sped funding. We got the a they actually f did what they were
043supposed to do under the law. 92% of our cost. We still have to pay for 8% of that sped funding. >> Yes. >> Um if we had that $18 million, we could actually consider local property tax reductions here in Blue Valley. Is that correct? >> We could. Yes. >> Okay. because we would actually be getting those sped funds in that are being transferred into the general fund or right now out of the general fund. So, we could actually reduce some of our local property taxes. Um >> there's also a federal requirement that is not being brought in either. So, >> that's the um the 40 the >> 40 some percent. Yes. >> Right. From what I understand, that's an aspirational goal under the law that they can >> they can Just like this, the legislature
044would say >> as per annual, >> you know. >> Yes. So, they can fund up to 40% if the federal legislature if the federal government decided that they so wanted to. >> Um, obviously I think they're funding maybe five% or something, >> I think, >> or 5 million or I don't know. Not a lot of money. >> It's not very much, right? >> Um, the other question I had I mean, we we've had legislators come here and they say, you know, just tell us what you need. Just tell us what you need. We're going to we're going to help you. Um, and we would like to see them actually help us, but everything I've seen come out this term has been detrimental to our students, to our districts. It seems that they are doing exactly
045the opposite. And we have sent you up there. We have had patrons and students and teachers and parents write letters and emails. Um, us board members have gone up there personally to talk to legislators. Dr. Chapman and other superintendents have been up there personally and talked with legislators and they've offered testimony. Um, you've offered a number of things that we can do. Is there anything else that can be done to get their attention so they will actually support our students? >> Short of making your opinions known in the ballot box, >> vote vote them out. Um I don't know how more we can explain our position and and what in the critical nature of it and um it is this session has been disheartening because um I do feel like every day I'm up there
046just whack-a-ole just bad bill after other bad bill and just hoping that the clock runs out and there's just not enough time to get them through. So, it it's hard always playing defense. It'd be nice to have some wins and some some backup from our our elected representatives in Kansas. Yes. >> Well, thank you for your efforts on our behalf and all of the folks out there who have written and have made it abundantly clear to our representatives how important this is. So, I I thank you for that. >> Thanks. And um oh go >> I got a quick followup question Patty. So correct me if I'm wrong but approximately how much of every tax dollar that we pay from Johnson County goes to the rest of the state >> education dollars. >> No just
047if I pay a dollar >> I mean I know Johnson County economic engine of the state and I I off the top of my head a percentage but it's >> it's about twothirds. It's >> I can't say standing here, but I mean it is it is the majority of the funds. Right. >> Right. The point is is every every dollar that every person in this county pays twothirds goes to some other part of the state. Right. >> Yeah. I mean I think there was at one time Oak Park Mall created more tax sales tax revenue than x number of counties in the entire state. So yes. >> Thank you. Thanks. >> I like to say we need really need your support. We need you to get out there, talk to your legislators because it breaks
048our heart. We love strings. We we're music people. A lot of us, our children have, you know, they play instruments. They're musicians. and it breaks our heart to have to put a pause on something that we hold very near and dear to our hearts. So, we need your help. We need your support. We need you to get out there uh talk to, write to whatever you need to do to your legisl representatives because we're doing everything we could possibly do, but we cannot do it without your help and your support. So please, please help us, help us in this district to do our job. Our kids are students in this district and it affects them as well. So please, I implore you to get out there, be passionate, tenacious, don't let them put you off,
049be aggressive, because it's for our students, our children. Thank you. >> And I have one question for Dr. Chapman um on the cell phone policy that is not the cell phone law that is percolating up there in Topeka. Do we have a price tag on what it would cost us to actually enforce that new law that they are trying to implement? Well, the the part that gives us pause is it says bellto bell and we have to store the device that's inaccessible from a student's person. So that would um articulate a storage facility, a room um and then it would of course have to be monitored for the times that a student um you know goes back and forth. Maybe they're a student at CAPS, maybe they have a job. Um, so, uh, a price
050tag I I think we'd have to look at a physical space. Um, some sort of locker type storage. Um, the only thing I can sort of equate is there's a a pouch. Um, they're between 80 and $100 a piece, but we'd still have to collect them in some way and organize them in a way because we have, you know, 1,600 students in um, a high school. We have just to give general numbers um approximately 12,000 more than 12,000 secondary students. So we um it's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. >> And by all reports, as I understand, we we have a current cell phone policy. And basically K through eight, there are no cell phones allowed in classrooms or between passing periods or out during the school day at all right now. So
051through 9 through 12, we have a graduated policy that um no cell phones generally out unless there's some type of academic reason for it during a class period. Um but they're allowed to have them during class during passing periods and um lunch as of right now. And as I understand all all reports are that this has been very successful that students have have adjusted to it, teachers are praising it. it has reduced the use of cell phone use even during lunch and passing periods. Um, so we actually have something that's working and I just want to make sure that nothing has changed since the last report that we've gotten correct. >> Nothing has changed except for potential legislation. Um it would really be better if the legislature focused on having a minimum um age that
052the social media platforms um had in place so that they were it's called agegating. That would be beneficial legislation because that's something that a school board can't do. But as you mentioned the Blue Valley policy was created by students and that's uh and uh and parents and faculty members. So, we have buyin for um the our current policy and it's working really well that doesn't have an extended cost and it's educational in that students were engaged in it and they buy into it and believe in it. Um and I am uh I've talked to a lot of students and um this current policy is uh really going to be challenging and and we're an educational um institution. We should be teaching students and adults frankly um how to appropriately use their cell phone and um
053it's a part of our world and you know just taking them away is not really an effective solution. >> I got a follow-up question. So so on that policy so if I send my kid with a cell phone in his pocket it stays in his pocket it goes in his locker or it goes into a classroom basket right? So if this new legislation goes into place, we're displacing kids with from their phones across all school rooms, right? And so does this have a safety issue implication? >> In my opinion, it does. Um I think that, you know, having it in a school, you know, I guess I would have to do have some sort of a classroom with lockers and I'm just imagining dismissal time and drop off time. um how how to go about
054this. Um it's it's just such a waste of time um for our students and for our faculty. And you know, the real purpose, you know, we all believe that there's value in um and appropriately learning and using a cell phone device. Again, it's going to be it's a part of our world. um taking them away and requiring that we supervise store um and I mean it's certainly a safety issue um for you know for the school district but also um I you know I worry about the responsibility and the liability of having um the devices under our staff control and again I'd much rather have um classroom teachers than um no offense to our security officers uh but security officers, >> right? So, so, so if I give my kid a phone and I can't
055get a hold of him because they're locked up some room somewhere else and some incident decides to surface in one of the schools, how do I know what's going on? >> You know, >> I don't know. Not to extend this, but this bill also uh creates a burden on office personnel, which is is going to your point uh uh it would take us back to the old days where you had to call the office. The office had to send a runner out. The runner had to find the student. Student had to come to the office. had to get permission to use the office phone to uh communicate with parents. Uh I grew up in that system and let me tell you it's it's not efficient. Secondly, if we don't follow this law very closely, there's
056a $100,000 per incident fine listed in this. Now, this is this is going a step outside that has never been crossed in public education in this state. And that is making a revenue statement where it could be a revenue plus for the state to look over the shoulder of how people conduct their business. Also in this bill there's creates a new position that weakens the state department of education because it comes up with a state ombbudsman position and uh you already have uh the ability uh to go to the state uh if you have a special education student and we don't meet their needs, you have the ability to go to the state under federal law and get seek relief at the state board level. Why they would create this, I don't know. Sorry for
057extending the discussion. >> So, this is disruptive. It costs money and it puts kids at risk. >> Puts kids at risk. >> It does. >> Okay. Thank you for your patience, Patty. Thank you very much for your presentation. And this does take us to uh public comments. What you've been waiting for. I love having this many people here. This is great. Um, allow me to read the uh ground rules. Welcome to those of you who are here for open forum. Our goal is to allow a time for individuals to address the board in an orderly, efficient, and dignified manner. The board will enforce a threeminut limit per speaker for up to 30 minutes total. And if you have handouts, they can be shared with our campus officer for distribution. At the conclusion, the board will
058close the forum and proceed with its agenda items for the evening. We appreciate your presence as we value the opinions and the concerns of our patrons. If you're unable to address the board during the open forum, you may address the board by email. I have a few reminders about open forum that will help our speakers have a constructive and positive experience when discussing items with the board. So, when you're making your remarks, please be civil and use respectful language. Please limit discussion to the relevant business of the board tonight. Discuss discussion of matters related to a specific student or employee are not allowed. Instead, comments should be submitted to the superintendent in writing. Please remember to limit your comments to three minutes and avoid repeating the concerns of a previous speaker. Please remain in the
059designated visitor area and refrain from approaching the dis where the board of education is seated. If you have questions that need a response, someone will follow up with you at a later time. So, on behalf of the board, I welcome you and I appreciate your interest in Blue Valley as we provide the very best education to our students. When your name is called, introduce yourself before beginning your remarks. And as a reminder, we ask that all remarks are limited to three minutes. So, let's get started. Our first speaker will be Representative Marilyn Posin. Welcome, Mary Lynn. need to push up. Oh, there we go. Hi, I'm Representative Mary Lynn Poskin and my district includes the Blue Valley North area. I'm also the mom of seven children who spent 90 years in K through2 classrooms, 62
060in Blue Valley schools, and that's always impressive to say unless you're in the room with Clay Nori, who has nine. Kudos, sir. I'm here to talk to the board uh about the board considering cutting the fifth grade strings program and to explain the legislaturator's failures that have brought us here. I got an email from sixth grader Olivia and I'll explain it to you like I did to her. There is a QR code on the handout I brought that you can use to open links and on the document and see the source documents themselves. It can be confusing to understand a budget shortfall when you hear legislators say, "I've worked with the governor to fully fund our schools." No one worked with the governor to fully fund our schools. The Kansas Supreme Court finally declared our
061general education funding formula to be constitutional. Then retained jurisdiction over the case because it knew our legislators couldn't be trusted to fund our schools. airgo full compliance for the last several years but only under threat of court consequences. On the other hand, our separate special education funding formula says special education costs shall shall be funded at 92% subject to appropriations, not part of the lawsuit. So, no consequences for funding, you know, except strings for our kids, right? The appropriators are your state representatives and senators who left to their own devices have chosen not to fund at 92% since 2011 when supermajorities were achieved in both chambers. That's 15 years in a row, dropping to under 65% statewide and to 57% for Blue Valley schools. Every single special education service specified in every single IEP must
062be provided under federal law, no matter the funding level. Johnson County schools alone are shorted $60 million and Blue Valley schools are shorted 18. I had 16 in my notes, but I upped it from what I learned. effectively requiring 26% of every single student statebased aid, that's their general education funding to be transferred to cover special educated short education shortage. And Miss Olivia, parents and patrons, that is why we're having this discussion tonight about fifth grade strings. Every year, our board invites our legislators to discuss legislative priorities. And two years ago, I was in a room when majority leader Chris Croft told the board, "Whatever you need, just let me know." sped funding has been on that list forever and I need you to reach out to your legislators, look at the QR code that
063I left and see how they voted. Remember that every House member is up for re-election this year and I could really use some help fighting for your kids and our fifth grade strings. Thank you so much. It's such an honor to be trusted with this critical work in these critical times. >> Thank you, Representative Our next speaker is Clay Schaefer. >> Good evening, Board of Education, Zona, Jody. Um, wanted to start off uh thank you guys for the difficult work that you do. Um, back in 2010 or 2011, um, I'm sorry, 2020 or 2021, um, I was the board president for BBEF. Um, I kind of had some unique insight to what you guys went through, what the board went through, and it was a tough time. So, I know that you guys have very
064tough decisions and I really appreciate what you do. I spent a lot of the time the past week or so gathering a bunch of data um talking about how the strings program was growing, how the parents were responsible for a lot of the cost and then I realized you guys have so much more data than I do. So I wanted to kind of hit just a personal story about my family. Um moved here in 2017. We found Blue Valley online. Um and within 48 hours I'd contacted my boss and moved up here. We moved up here for Blue Valley. We love this district. Um I'm a band kid. My daughter's a band kid. My son's a band kid. Um we really believe that music is important. Now the thing about music education is it's not
065just playing an instrument. It's not about being an orchestra or band. It's about a sense of community. So when I was with BBEF, one thing that we talked about during those rough years of COVID was kids mental health. You know, what do we do? How do we help the kids? How do we provide more resources? Uh one thing that kept coming up is the kids needed a sense of belonging. Um, this may shock you guys, but um, I wasn't a star athlete in high school. You know, I know, surprise, right? Um, but I was a band kid. You know, my home was in that band room. Um, I I opted I had a band scholarship to a college and I opted to start life instead. So, I went to work. Um, I look back, I'm
066the general manager of Baron now. Um, and I look back at the things that have really helped me throughout my life. Who can I give credit to? Who can I say thank you to? And when I look at all of the life skills that I learned in the band room, those are the things that have helped made me successful today. Now, I know we're all only talking about removing strings for a year. But that year is crucial. We all know that life skills, the earlier we can teach them the kids, the the better the hold, if that makes sense. Um, you know, when band was cut a couple years ago, I wish I'd spoke up. Um, I didn't. So, here I am talking for the strings. Like I said, it doesn't matter what instrument you
067play. Um, I cut this way down because I was at like four minutes, so I'm kind of, you know, paraphrasing. Um, in closing, one of the strategic priorities of Blue Valley set by the board of education is fostering supportive and healthy school communities. I submit removing fifth grade strings is in direct conflict of that board's strategic priorities. I think it is that important to our children. Even if it's just one year, it makes a difference in these kids' lives. We're talking about mental health, we're talking about sped, we're talking about all these things, but fifth grade orchestra can have a hand in a lot of these. Um, if we want to develop leaders of tomorrow, we have to start instilling those qualities today. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Schaefer. Our next speaker
068will be Sherry Kaine. Good evening and happy music in our schools month. My name is Sher Kaine and I teach for Blue Valley for eight years of my 21 years in education. One of the things that brought me to the Blue Valley schools was the music department. We are recognized nationally and at state levels as well as locally for our success and our persistence in the arts. We have uh sent several programs to the Kansas Music Educators Association to showcase what Blue Valley does well in music education. We are recognized nationally by the uh National Association of Music Merchants Foundation as one of the best districts in the nation for music education. We have sent our orchestras at the national level for the American String Teachers Association to play to showcase across the nation what
069Blue Valley does well. The Blue Valley School District is a standard bearer for area districts. There are teachers in this room that do not teach for Blue Valley, but they are so concerned about what's going to happen because of the domino effect. Ours is one of the ones that they want to do. Nobody else does strings for four days a week in fifth grade like we do. We are the standardbearsers. We take 60 academic minutes a week out of the daily schedules. It is just an hour a week and that is enough that we are being that we are making this kind of impact. I have a hard time believing that. Recently, the Blue Valley social media pages were celebrating the K5 reading scores. 77.6% of our K5 students scored at or above benchmark on
070the Aadian reading diagnostic. This was done while fifth grade strings is happening actively in the buildings. Our test scores are strong and strings strongly support and reinforce all things the elementary teachers teach in their classes. I say all of this because I feel like we're trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Our budgetary problems are big, but cutting this problem would not be a big solution. This program has been in Blue Valley since the 1980s. We faced budget shortfalls and changing middle school schedules in the past, and we've always kept this program. We need to persist through this short-term problem and keep doing what's best for our kids. I see the district adding girls wrestling and esports. They are recognizing niche talents our students have and desire to explore. I love that Blue Valley
071does this because it gives more kids an opportunity to find their community. Why are we taking away something that does the very same thing for our elementary students? Thank you for letting me speak to you tonight. It means a lot to me that you're allowing me to come and represent my other orchestra teachers that are doing other things with their kids tonight. One of our teachers is at the Kaufman Center of the Performing Arts right now with her orchestra playing and the I irony of this all is just astounding to us. Please value our students and please value where they see seen are feel seen. Thank you very much, >> Sher. Thank you. FORGIVE me on the pronunciation of this last name. Carter Vices. >> Your time hasn't started. Help me with your last name.
072>> Velicities. Velicities. It's Greek. Good evening. My name is Carter Velicities. I graduated from Northwest High School, class of 2025, and I'm currently studying uh to be a music to be a music teacher and to be a game developer. I have been on both sides of the orchestra program. And with that, I have a very unique perspective and understanding of the importance of fifth grade orchestra. I started orchestra in fifth grade. I made friends who I'm still friends with, still friends with this, sorry, still friends with to this day. I've been able to help others and bring joy to people through music by volunteering. I have taught an entire generation of orchestra kids all while in high school. Some of which have gone on to do the same as I have. I created my very
073own club my freshman year whose whole purpose was to perform for the elderly in children's hospitals. And in my senior year, I would combined all three music programs to create a full symphony. I never would have been able to do any of this if I never joined orchestra. And I likely never would have if I was never introduced to it in elementary school. It is important to introduce orchestra introduce orchestra sorry orchestra kids at a younger age because not only are they more likely to try new things, it is easier to develop um it's it's easier for them to learn the basics of it. Elementary school is a critical time for developing fine motor skills, focus, and discipline. And learning an instrument supports these abilities. By learning rhythm, tone production, and expressive elements like volume
074and articulation early on, students not only improve their musical abilities, but also gain a sense of accomplishment that reinforces persistence and dedication, qualities that extend to academics and everyday life. Music kids perform better academically than their non-m music peers by starting in fifth grade. It allows for smoother sixth grade orchestra experience and so on. Because if we can continue teaching orchestra kids how to hold a bow, where to place their fingers, and most importantly, seating and hand position, all in fifth grade, they can build muscle memory sooner and be able to play more challenging and fun music in sixths. Younger children have higher neuroplasticity, making it easier to form new motor patterns. Cutting the fifth grade orchestra would mean losing the most essential part of the program. Most kids start in fifth grade and most
075of them would never try orchestra in sixths because of the overwhelmingly new opportunities offered in middle school. By giving them the option to try it in fifth, they're able to try more things throughout their entire K12 career. The additional benefit of starting orchestra in fifth grade is it allows is that it makes transitioning to middle school far less daunting because they already know a teacher and will be going into a new school with a familiar skill. Because of these benefits, I urge you to consider the value of keeping fifth grade orchestra. Thank you, >> Carter. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jennifer Gerald. You only have three minutes. >> Yeah, somebody knows me. Sorry. >> Good evening. My name is Jennifer Gerald and I live in Leewood. I have four children. Three are Blue Valley
076graduates. My youngest is currently a student in the district. I've had a child in Blue Valley schools every year since 2002. I have a lot to say. All of my kids participated in either band or strings in elementary and middle school. My oldest began strings in fourth grade at Prairie Star Elementary School and was an allstate chist in high school. All of my children have also participated in middle and high school sports, plus a variety of other activities. Two of them have represented Blue Valley at a national level. So, I'm speaking to you today based on these experiences. And I should add also that my uh two of my children received special education services who've now graduated and my youngest is still a special education student. Way back in 2010 when the district first looked
077at cutting elementary band and strings due to budget limitations, I organized a group of parents to lobby the school board to retain those programs and we were successful at that time. But then I witnessed other programs and services being cut instead. In fact, in the 23 years I have had a student in this district, I have seen lots of cuts. For example, Blue Valley used to offer strings in fourth grade. So tonight, I'm here to ask you to please continue using every vehicle at your disposal to help patrons understand the Kansas legislaturator's role in funding our schools or not funding them. Please keep explaining over and over why the legislaturator's continual refusal to fully fund excess special education's cost, which has been a problem for 15 years, is hurting every Blue Valley student and the
078reason for the cuts that we are now facing. Please help our community understand that to fully fund excess special education costs, that money is already available in Topeka. it's budgeted. The legislature simply refuses to disperse those dollars even though they are legally required to do so. Sadly, Blue Valley has a few legislators who almost never vote for our schools, but they will not tell you that when they're campaigning. I'm here tonight in this neon yellow shirt because the Kansas legislature is once again forcing Blue Valley to make cuts that will negatively impact children. Pit music parents against sports parents. pit general education parents against special education parents, pit neighbor against neighbor, and falsely cast the district as incompetent and uncaring. It's almost like the legislature is undermining our public schools by design. Anyway, please keep
079educating us about why these cuts are happening. And if you can, please save fifth grade strings. Thank you. >> Thank you, Jennifer. Nathan Shy. >> Hi, my name is Nathan Shyiver. Uh 1997 grad of Blue Valley High. I've got three kids in Blue Valley schools, two of which are in strings. Um I appreciate the the hard choices you guys have to make and your budgets. Um, I just want to say that I think the strings program isn't really an extra. I think it's an academic program. Um, I know that it strengthens the very skills that um, we're trying to improve like literacy, math, reasoning, attention, and executive functioning. Uh, national research backs it up. Students involved in music consistently have higher GPA, higher graduation rates, and greater civic engagement. Um, my own family is living
080proof of this program. Um, my wife and I both came through Bali String starting in fourth grade. It opened doors for us, including college scholarships. My wife is now a professional chist. She's actually at her student recital right now. Um, our two boys have followed in that same path. Two weekends ago, we were in Witchah hearing the our oldest son in the KMEA Allstate full orchestra and Blue Valley students made up roughly about 40% of the representation with 69 students involved. an extraordinary number from one district. And that doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of years and investment, excellent teachers, and a strong pipeline that begins in elementary school. In fact, every student in this year's all state orchestra started in fourth grade uh before the last round of cuts. So, removing another year
081of strings instruction would absolutely weaken that pipeline. um all state every year they survey for ACT scores and they compare that uh to the Kansas average which was 19.3 blue valley district average I think last year was 22.8 and the all state orchestra average was 30.4 for that aligns with what randomized controlled studies show that focused instrument instruction improves working memory, attention, processing speed, and cognitive flexibility, which are these same executive function skills that drive math achievement and reading comprehension. Strings instruction strengthens the brain systems that support academic success. Music is also defined under the Every Student Succeeds Act as part of a well-rounded education, and cutting it narrows access, especially for students who can't afford private lessons. So, if the goal is to protect academic outcomes while navigating financial constraints, we should prioritize programs
082that multiply learning benefits across subjects, and the fifth grade program uh does exactly that. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Our next speaker will be Pam Shernuk. Shernuk. Pam. I think she fell ill. >> Okay. Um, Ella Balik. Did I pronounce your last name correctly? It's >> Baick. >> Bailey. Thank you. >> Hello, I am Ella Vic. I am in eighth grade at Prairie Star Middle School and have been doing strings since fifth grade. I have loved strings and really care that other kids get the same impactful experience that I have. Fifth grade strings was a really great time for me. I got to meet other kids with similar interests from the other elementary schools who I'm still friends with. I got to connect better with my classmates and I even arranged a song
083for our class to play in the fifth grade talent show. This helped me build confidence and feel ready for middle school. The biggest thing I got out of it was confidence. The environment is so supportive and it gave me a way to express myself through music which eventually built up to speaking. I would have never been able to stand up and talk like this to you without have been doing strings for 4 years which makes me believe that other shy quiet kids should get that opportunity. The next thing I would like to address is how many benefits learning music has on the brain. Studies done by the National Library of Medicine show that kids who learn music have better verbal memory, more accurate pronunciation of a second language, enhanced reading abilities, and stronger executive functions,
084which is the brain's ability to manage focus, emotions, and behavior. They also have better temporal processing, which is processing sounds and movements through time. All of this shows that kids who learn music have better attentiveness and have brains that work more effectively. The lasting effects of learning music early are huge as well. Learning music increases brain plasticity, which means kids who learn music are better at adapting to change and learning new things. I don't know how anyone could support delaying the start of this development. The effects of starting music early are well researched and very clear. It is definitely beneficial to start earlier. Students have better memory, stronger cognitive skills, and discipline from starting earlier. While these things not only help with learning music, but in the classroom and daily life as well. Fifth grade
085is one of the best times to start learning an instrument. By that point, kids have developed their fine motor skills so they can physically play the instrument, and they have the attention span to focus long enough for a lesson, making it the prime time to start orchestra. Stringed instruments are notoriously difficult to learn. So, when these kids get a year to practice with only one or two performances to stress about, it gives them an advantage over starting in sixth grade. They have that opportunity to learn the techniques slowly and correctly so they can play more advanced and challenging songs later in their musical career. Another benefit to starting in fifth grade is kids have the opportunity to try out stringed instruments and decide if they want to spend their time on it. I started off
086with viola in fourth grade with a private teacher. But after hearing the cello and strings, I switched and because of fifth grade strings, I now play the instrument that I love. It is so great that strings starts a year earlier so kids get to try out this middle school class before middle school and decide which electives they want to take. Don't get rid of fifth grade strings. It is so important to so many people. Thank you. >> Thank you, ELLA. SENATOR Senate Holshire. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you to this board. Thank you to Patty Markley and everyone here who works on behalf of our students. I greatly appreciate you. I'm Senator Cindy Holshire. I represent Senate District 8. The and that area goes from Flum to Mission 91st to 127th. I have all three
087of the major school districts in that area. Proud to represent part of Blue Valley and I also sub in some of our public schools. I'm here to give you a quick update on where things stand in terms of school funding, mainly to provide some clarification in regard to certain concerns in terms of funding and resources and really to sound the alarm. From the standpoint of the state legislature, the most important job we have at that level is to fund our public schools. We're the body responsible for determining how much funding is granted for the year and then it is up to the school board to allocate the resources regrant. If there's a shortage of funds for special education, teacher salaries, the music department supplies, that's the fault of the legislature, not your school board. And
088I will tell you this, it's a very small group of us working to fund our schools. We are severely outnumbered at this point by anti-education legislators. I first ran for office in 2016 at the height of the Brownback experiment when budgets for our schools were being slashed. In my first session, I co-founded the women's bipartisan caucus and we were the group that formulated the plan that ended the Brownback experiment. From there, we were better able to fund our schools. However, ever since then, it has been an absolute battle as the number of extremists has grown every single election cycle, and we have had to battle just to barely get schools funded. We have watched the legislators who will say they support our schools. But I'll tell you this, their votes in Topeka tell a very
089different story. And quite honestly, I'll say this. I need more for I need more friends over in Topeka who support public education. For the school year 24 to 2024 to 2025, Kansas districts were shorted 440 million statewide for sped funding. And you know what happens then? That means funds have to be transferred from general ed. And that means your property taxes go up. We have three weeks left in this session. The fight for funding and the fight to saving your programs is in Topeka. There was a time when you could count on every legislator in Johnson County to vote in support of funding our schools. Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore. Every year, again, it is just a battle to get almost adequate funding. This fall, every single house rep will be on the ballot.
090Often, these elections are decided by less than 10 votes. I need each of you in this room to find five friends who don't consistently vote and make sure they turn out this fall and vote for candidates. And if you need recommendations on candidates, I ask you to check out Standup Blue Valley, a local nonpartisan organization that vets candidates. The elections this fall will be the most consequential in our lifetimes. I ask you, please get out and vote and support pro school candidates. Thank you. >> Thank you, SENATOR. THE DELL Van Leashout. Yay, I got one right. Hello board. My name is Adele Van Leout and I was a class of 2025 Blue Valley North graduate and I'm now a first year student at the University of Notre Dame studying civil engineering. I started playing cello
091in the Mission Trail Elementary 4th grade orchestra. Whether it was the skills it taught me, the lifelong friendships it fostered, or the unique life-changing experiences it gave me, orchestra led me to where I am today, a happy, confident, well-rounded college student. Orchestra taught me many important life skills. String strings required me to collaborate with my teachers and peers to achieve a common goal. Orchestra allowed me to develop my leadership skills as Blue Valley North orchestra president. Strings also boosted my confidence because I learned grace under pressure in auditions and performances which allowed me to better manage my nerves in high stakes environments. Also, if I hadn't been involved in orchestra, I would not have been able to build up the accomplishments that I believe considerably contributed to my academic success and my acceptance at several
092selective colleges. In Blue Valley, I found my love for music and a creative outlet that allowed me to showcase who I am. Using the skills strings taught me, I now continue to play in the Notre Dame Symphony Orchestra and plan to keep music as a part of my life forever. But why is fifth grade strings specifically so important? From my perspective, there are three main reasons that fifth grade strings should not be cut in Blue Valley. One, cutting fifth grade strings would create a barrier to entry into the strings program. If a student hasn't already fallen in love with their instrument in elementary school, they are far less likely to sacrifice a precious elective spot in sixth grade for something that they've never tried. The result will be an overall decrease in the orchestra program
093and many more more students would miss out on the wonderful opportunities that orchestra provides. The second reason, fifth grade strings programs support a smooth transition for students from elementary to middle school. For me, I was able to get to know the middle school orchestra teacher in fifth grade. This made my transition to middle school much smoother. Fifth grade orchestra students entering sixth grade will have a class with a teacher and with classmates that they already know. The third reason is that starting strings in elementary school allows students to develop their musical skills faster so they can reach a higher achievement level by the end of their time in Blue Valley. If students start strings later in their academic careers, they are at a disadvantage when participating in statewide experiences such as Allstate Orchestra or the
094Solan Ensemble Competition. When students start strings earlier, their capacity for achievement is elevated. In closing, orchestra is one of the best investments the Blue Valley School District made in me over my nine years from fourth grade to 12th grade. Don't short change students like me. Keep the fifth grade orchestras. Thank you. Thank you, Adele. So, that wraps up our open forum for tonight. And on behalf of the board of education, I'd like to thank our participants. Uh we appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts with us. And please know that the board and the district administration took notes and we'll follow up as needed. And I've got to commend all the speakers for ending on time. And I credit that to what uh Ella Bailey uh talked about the mental acuity that's developed
095and and being able to Okay, I can keep time and I'm going to end on time when the conductor says stop. This is good. So, um next up we'll call the meeting to order, but we're going to take a fivem minute break for uh closed captions. And if you're if you want to stay and watch the rest of it, you're welcome to. Otherwise, it's a good chance to escape. And if we can clear the room other than those who are going to stick around, we'll reconvene. Or at least I will. We are reconvening. Reconvening. Dr. Chapman. Dr. Chapman, please report to your seat. >> Is this on? Dr. Benson, Patrick, Jody, Clay, Dr. Chapman, >> Dr. Chapman, please report to your station. >> Dr. Benson, >> Thank you. Orchestra supporters. We are getting back to
096order. >> You know, the fifth graders Dr. Evans. Dr. Evans, please report to the board seat. >> Okay. What we need to do now is uh approve the consent agenda. Do I hear a motion? Um, let me let me first say that our rules of parliamentary procedure provide for a consent agenda listing several items for approval of the board by a single motion. Documentation concerning these items has been provided to all board members and the public in advance to ensure an extensive review. Items may be removed from removed from the consent agenda at the request of any board member. Do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda? I move that the board of education approve the March 9th, 2026 regular board of education meeting consent agenda as published with minor edits deemed necessary
097by legal counsel. >> Sorry, >> let me finish. >> Second >> moved by Jody, second by Gina. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? passes. >> This just in. >> Okay. Thank you. Um with the approval of the consent agenda, I wanted to take a moment to um uh introduce some of our administrative decisions. And um this evening we're excited to um announce that while we're while we're sad that uh that Melissa Hansen is retiring um but we're also excited that um Dr. Emily Gil will be the principal at um uh Valley Park Elementary. So I'm going to ask you awkwardly to stand up so we can see you and recognize you. Dr. Gil is joined tonight by her parents, Randy and Susan Knight. And I can attest to the quality of uh her
098mother, Susan Knight. I've had the privilege of learning from her throughout her administrative career and just an exceptional I can't imagine what it was like to be raised by her because she's an exe exceptional leader. Um, she's also joined by her husband, Brent. Her two children, Sam and Anna, are away at college enjoying their freshman year. Emily is most excited about continuing to work with the Valley Park Elementary students, staff, and community that she fell in love with years ago. Her 24-year career in education has included roles as an elementary classroom teacher, an elementary gifted teacher, middle school gifted teacher, and three years at Valley Park as the assistant principal. Outside of school, she enjoys time with her husband, her two cats, her Labrador named Chip, and as an educational leader, she values collaboration, problem
099solving, and fostering a supportive school culture. Um, Dr. Gil would like the board to know she's proud to be a part of the Valley Park Elementary community and she's looking forward to a new role. So are we. Congratulations. I'd also like to recognize uh our retiree from Mission Trail Elementary, Debbie Bond. And when when we went to uh mission trail to find out the um knowledge, skills, and attributes they were looking for in their next principal, they basically said we want Debbie Bond, which is tough since cloning really hasn't worked out uh all that well. Um we have have sort of left that one when Dolly the goat or whatever, I can't remember how long ago that was. In any event, um we're excited that um Jenny Hayes um initially uh resigned from Leewood Elementary
100School and realized what a mistake that was. Um and so we're happy to have Jenny um back. Jenny will be the Mission Trail Elementary School principal. Um she and her husband Brian have three boys, Hayden and Hudson who are 14 and Brock who's 11. Their family spends a lot of time at the baseball fields, which is probably why her dad that was here earlier, Dave, um, and Hudson, uh, had to leave. Uh, our board meeting went a little long, but um, Jenny is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to continue her journey in Blue Valley as as the principal at Mission Trail. She began teaching in kindergarten in Arkansas before moving to Blue Valley to teach sixth grade at Oland Trail Middle School and later transitioned into administration. Um being an intern at Aubrey Bend, assistant
101principal at Pleasant Ridge and Prairie Star and most recently as the principal at Leewood Elementary for the past six years. And while it's hard for her to leave such an incredible um community, the Leopards, she's very excited to join Mission Trail and build on the strong culture that Debbie and the team at Mission Trail have put in place. She loves the opportunity that comes with the new beginning, building relationships, supporting staff and students, and partnering with families to shape the next chapter together. It's a great day to be a Bulldog. Congratulations, Now you guys get to leave. That's all. >> That's all you got. Okay, that's good. I love it. Um, but that does take us to the superintendent's report. So, you're not done yet? >> I'm not done yet. Okay. Thank you. That would
102be great. I'm gonna ask Yeah. Okay, I'm back. Um, we have a group of students who have been waiting um tonight to be recognized and so thank you so much um for your patience tonight. Um so we'd invite our three and fouryear Kansas Music Education Association um students to please come to the front. Um, before I turn it over to Adam Lundine, the district's K12 performing arts coordinator to tell us more about KMEA and these students, um, I want to recognize what you've already heard tonight that March is music as our schools month and Blue Valley students have the opportunity to participate in general music classes, including choir, band, and orchestra. And we have so many talented students who have found avenues to express their creativity. The students here with us tonight and some that
103continue in the audience um are examples of that dedication and passion that our music students encapsulate. So I'm going to turn it over to Adam to say a few words. Thank you, Casey, and thank you for the opportunity to recognize some of our exceptional Blue Valley student musicians. The students before you and some others were selected as members of the Kansas Music Educators Association all-state ensembles. They are among the highest achieving musicians in the state of Kansas. These students auditioned and were accepted to participate in an all district ensemble earlier in the year and then auditioned again to perform in an all-state ensemble either band, choir, orchestra or jazz band. These select ensembles meet in Witchah every February at the Kansas music educators in service workshop where the rehearsals and performance are performances are an
104important part of the convention. This year 140 Blue Valley High School musicians were selected to participate in one of these all-state groups and each area band choir and orchestra in Blue Valley we have the highest number of students in the state participating in those groups. The students recognized tonight not only earned positions within the all-state groups this year, but they were selected for either three or four years during their high school careers. This year we have 23 Blue Valley seniors who are three or fouryear members. We have several of these students here to be recognized. But I do want to note that some of our awardees are not present tonight due to other performance engagements within their own schools, including our Blue Valley North Chamber Symphony who is actually performing at the Kaufman Center tonight.
105So, it's a special night for them. Um, I would love it if our students would be willing to uh share your name, your school, and the number of years you were selected. >> Start. >> Oh, we got a mic. >> Hi, my name is McKenzie and I have been selected for three years and I am a senior. >> Um, my name is Zach. I go to Blue Valley Northwest and I'm a senior and I've been selected for three years also. >> Hi, my name is Helen Connor. I go to Blue Valley Northwest and I was selected for three years. I'm a senior. >> Uh I'm Ethan Steiner. Uh I go to Blue Valley Southwest and I've done two years of full orchestra and one year of All State Jazz Band. >> Hi, my name is
106Addison Reeves. I go to Blue Valley Northwest. Um I'm a senior and I've been selected for four years for the All State Choir. >> Hi, my name is Kale Fulture. I go to Blue Valley North and I have been selected for the um all state choir for three years. >> I'm uh Mining Guo by Go by Bobby. It's weird, I know. Uh uh I'm a four-year Allstate member and uh first year string orchestra, other three years uh full orchestra and go to Blueberry Northwest. Before we go, thank you to our board and district leaders for the opportunity to recognize these students this evening and for supporting all the musical opportunities that have led to their successes. On behalf of these students, I would like to thank their parents for supporting them throughout their musical journeys,
107as well as their music teachers for fostering their love of music and providing truly top-notch instruction from kindergarten all the way through their senior years. Congratulations. I'm going to grab a picture. And I see I see fan clubs in the crowd too of administrators. Do you guys want to shift a little to the center? and thank you very much for your patience uh for that well-deserved recognition. Uh you make us proud. Dr. Chapman, if you'd continue. >> Thank you. Um, Kyle or Casey, I don't have the clicker, so thank you. Uh, this year we have 51 national merit finalists. um which remarkably is the same number that we had last year. Um and again, it's the most of any district in Kansas and this number actually exceeds some of the other states um that are
108um in the country. So, it's just astounding. Um we have a new um Blue Valley unmuted uh Kennedy Zellers um a blue a blue uh a senior and then Blue Valley alum and business owner Eth Ethan Kushner uh joined me and Adam Wessle to talk about um career and tech ready programs and um both of them were just well also Adam was were exceptional but I I really enjoyed speaking I should really rehearse rehearse. I should really rehearse before I talk. They were exceptional and so was Adam. Okay. Um, also in mail boxes is the Blue Valley Today issue. Uh, lots of really great items in there uh for uh people to enjoy. What I like about that is it goes to all the households in the community and so our uh retirees and our
109residents without children can see some of the great things happening in our school district. As usual, it's a really busy month. Um a couple of things I'd like to point out, music in our schools month, theater in our schools month, um youth art month, as well as the National Athletic Training Month. Um, we also had a Blue Valley High School student, Miriam Montara, uh, who took first place in the Kansas Poetry Out Loud contest. Blue Valley North's Joshua Joshua Lobert earned a gold award in the 22nd National Essay Writing Contest. We also have Pleasant Ridge uh middle school student Ethan Swen who was a 2026 Vincent Legacy Scholarship recipient by Starlight Theater and Blue Valley West Dr. Heather Hall was named a 2026 Kansas Master Teacher. This award program is established by Emporia State University
110and it recognizes excellence in Kansas educators every year and uh Dr. Hall was honored on the Senate floor uh last Tuesday. Blue Valley Northwest Michael Richards was selected as the 26 art newcomer promising new athletic athletic director award recipient. And we also have Matt Orman. um our Blue Valley um uh districtwide athletic director was selected as the 26th National Interscolastic Athletic Administrators Association award of merit. Blue Valley High School's Business Professionals of America won the 26th state championship for the sixth straight title. Amazing. And at their wrestling state championships, two students are twotime straight champions. Tad forthsize from uh Blue Valley Southwest and Henry White from Blue Valley West, both two-time state champions. And uh Blue Valley West did quite well at state and a number of individuals won gold medals as well as in
111a uh medley relay. So, a lot of success in the boys swim and dive at Blue Valley West. And we also have seven Blue Valley High School students who earned one ratings at the state piano festival. And Bridget Howard, a graduate of Blue Valley High, was hired as a host and sideline reporter for the Royals TV. She's the first woman to appear consistently on the Kansas City Royals broadcast in franchise history. So, congratulations to Bridget and Jayla Davis. Unbelievable accomplishment. Uh, graduate of Blue Valley North. She earned a record setting ninth consecutive Big 12 freshman of the week award. I sort of feel sorry for all the other freshmen. They might as well just hang it up. Um the nine straight awards are the most consecutive weekly freshman title and she was unanimously picked as
112the Big 12 freshman of the year and all freshman team selection and first team all Big 12. And that concludes the celebrations. Um I did want to take a moment to um make a comment. Um this past week, uh we lost a member of our leadership team. Um a valued member of our Blue Valley family. Uh Brian Daly passed away after a brief illness. Brian was instrumental in building the exceptional technology team that works behind the scenes around the clock to ensure Blue Valley's network and systems run smoothly and support the devices used by our students and staff every single day. He was deeply proud of the team he recruited and the important work they do to keep our district connected and functioning. He has been greatly missed during his recent and very private battle.
113And our thoughts are with his team, his colleagues here, and most importantly, his family. Services to honor Brian's life are planned for March 16th. And we extend our deepest condolences to all who knew and worked with him. That concludes my remarks for uh the superintendent's report. >> You want to take us to >> the next part, >> the board reports. >> Yes. Um normally um board of education members provide the minutes for the various community advisory uh reports that we have in the district. um because the agendas were all interconnected and related, we uh heard uh feedback from um each of the committee advisory committees. And so I'd like to have um Jake Sabbodnik, our chief operations officer, to come and provide the input from those uh community members. And all of those committee minutes
114are um posted on our um uh board book website so people can review them. Good evening. As Dr. Chapman said, my name is Jake Slobanick. I'm the chief operations officer for the district. Over the last month, I had the privilege of attending each and every board advisory committee. Clay, I think you were at every single one, too. Um, getting you all were uh several of those. Had the opportunity to present a list of proposed projects and sought feedback on project prioritization and tax implications related to a possible future bond. I do want to note because there's lots of conversations around budget, bond funds cannot be used to supplement general operating expenses. So these conversations are completely independent and separate from other conversations you've been having. These are the only funding source, this is the only
115funding source for major project improvement and major equipment replacement. Okay. So what did we hear in all the committees related to project prioritization? Committee participants agreed the top priorities for the next bond are one, we should take care of the existing assets that we have today. We have over $1.5 billion in insurable assets districtwide, 4.8 million square ft, 1,200 acres of land. It was very clear we need to continue to take care of those facilities and our assets. Second, we need to expand upon the offerings in our career and technical education through our um expansion of CAPS. Those programs um as recently um reaffirmed by a community or by a survey of our students are construction, auto repair, welding, advanced manufacturing, cyber security. We also talked about and the committees agreed that a priority was
116the renovation of endof life high school science classrooms and continue to support special education projects related to feedback we received around taxes. Committee members largely agreed the district should continue to prioritize a no tax rate increase approach to the next bond. I mentioned we recently comm completed a survey of over 2,000 middle school and high school students to understand what their desires were for a um continued improvement of our CAPS programs. Next step, we're already talking about and you approved as actually tonight as part of the consent agenda to go out for a larger community survey. That survey will take place in April and we'll be looking forward to bring those results to you all in May. So, no action tonight, but I am here for any questions if you have any or wanted to
117provide any additional feedback from what you heard in committee meetings that maybe I didn't mention. If I could just mention, so in the committees that I sat in, um, the students that were involved, >> it was really interesting because really the first thing I heard of with priorities, take care of what you have. >> Yeah. >> Fascinating. Such insight. And, you know, I I just thought that was really great. It wasn't about the new shiny toy out there. It was take care of what we already have. >> Yeah. It was about the day-to-day stuff, right? And in fact, some of our students were able to share some information with me that we could go address right away. >> Yeah. Well, that's a great thing. There are some things we can handle right away, but there
118are some things that are much bigger that require bond. >> There's a pothole up at Southwest. I'm just going to tell you. >> Thank you. We'll go we'll go look at that. >> I got a quick question. Yeah, Patrick. >> So, on the no tax increase, was that explained what that means to everybody? >> Um, as far as how that would happen or what the dollar amount would be? >> Well, what does it mean to have a no tax increase bond proposal? >> Yeah. So Jeremy might be able to speak to that a little bit better, but as we retire and pay off existing bonds. Okay. >> Was it explained to the so that they understand what it means? >> Yes. Okay, that's it. >> Unless anybody thinks otherwise, but I believe yes, that was
119pretty clear. >> I I thought it was pretty well explained and I thought they understood. I >> Interesting. There were a number of patrons in those groups that said, you know, I'm informed. I'd be okay with the tax increase as far as I'm concerned, but I just don't think it's going to fly in the greater community. >> Yeah. >> So, it's really um it's all about informing and getting getting the word out. So thought that was an interesting >> I think the most interesting thing for me was and I wasn't at any of these committee meetings but um talking to students and patrons >> that um the science classrooms I know we've kind of hit some science classrooms and we've gone to the high schools and we've talked a little bit about those classrooms >>
120and when I brought it up to the kids they were like oh those science rooms are danger. Like I mean teenagers exaggerate but they're like we're going to blow up the science room and I'm like we're not blowing anything up maybe not do that but >> we're not going to blow anything up but we do have buildings that are pushing you know average age of buildings is 50 years old right >> and so things get old right just like at home as things age you do have to do some upkeep and work on it and this is one of those things that has risen to the top of the priority list >> but as soon as I brought up the science rooms they're you know what those are kind of not as great as >>
121other things that we have. Yeah. >> So I thought that was fascinating. >> Okay. If no other questions, we'll be back before you after we complete a community survey and we'll be back in May to continue conversations. >> Thank you. The next report is um Jeremy is going Jeremy McFaden, our chief financial officer, is going to talk a little bit about we've heard about some of the budget reductions that we've already made. Um and and uh there's very few um revenue enhancements, but Jeremy's going to talk about some of those. Again, no vote tonight. This is just somethingformational uh for you to give some thought to. It will be before you in April. >> Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Chapman. Uh at the April 13th board meeting, uh we will ask for your formal approval of
122the 2627 fiscal year uh fee schedule. Um with the proposed fee schedule that you have access to tonight, you will see that not all fees are being proposed for an increase. For example, the learning resource fee of $115 is proposed to be flat for next year. The increases are for meal prices, pay rider transportation, and facility rental fees are typically adjusted each fiscal year with consideration given to service contract increases with Durham and underlying food costs and district labor costs to deliver services. In addition, there are four proposed fees that not have been that have not been adjusted in several years. High school parking permits and activity programming fees were both last updated 5 years ago in 2020-21. Early childhood peer model fees were last updated 10 years ago in 2015-16. And finally, the athletic
123pass pricing, which is a completely voluntary purchase, has not been adjusted in 15 years back to 201011. Uh in summary, the cumulative impact of the general operating funds from the proposed fees is approximately $500,000 or about 5% of our operating target for next year. The intended outcome, obviously the proposed fee increase is to allow Blue Valley to minimize the impact of programming changes for 2627. And as a reminder, the district will continue to wave these fees for families that qualify for free and reduced lunch. So more information will obviously be shared at the April board meeting, but happy to answer any preliminary questions you have. >> So my only question was regarding the um family fee to get into activities and athletics. I think it went from $80 to $250. And I know there's some
124um additional benefits, but can you >> talk me through that? If I could jump in just quickly too because we had that conversation, one of the the board advisory committees and honestly the parent the the patrons and the students in that group really brought this up because they valued having an overall pass um instead of one that is so limited because they said and the students said this that it they can go see their friends at other you know at performances or sporting events. Um, and so they it was their idea. Um, and so I think that, you know, we were just being responsive to that. So I thought I threw that in there for you. >> Yeah. So Matt Ortman um worked with the uh ads across the district. Um, obviously leaning into a
125lot of the community feedback. The $85 uh athletic family pass pricing is just for home games only. So if you went to an away game in Blue Valley, you'd have to purchase additional tickets for entry to those events. Um, so the 250 proposal is for all home and away Blue Valley events. So, uh, it's essentially a way for families to, you know, prepay for visiting away games here in Blue Valley. So, that was one change. And then, um, you know, Matt Ortman did a a a nice analysis of how our family pricing proposed would compare to our neighbors, Shny Mission and THA, and felt like it was very comparable in terms of the 250 uh, with Shny Mission. So, we're trying to obviously be aware of what our neighbors are doing as well. >> I
126was really wondering if there was we knew kind of what the estimated impact to families was considering mostly families buy that so they can see their kids go and they go to away games so then they pay the fee to get into all 10 away games or however you know whatever it is. I was just curious how we got to 250. >> Yeah. So, obviously is a reminder it's completely voluntary. If somebody looks at the price and they do the math and figure that it's not a good deal for them, certainly they can make a choice not to purchase. But >> a lot of the feedback we're getting is that families would like the convenience to not have to buy the individual away tickets. Uh the 250 would also get families into tournaments, which our
127current family pass does not do. So, um I think it was well thought out with, you know, Matt and his AD um staff to try to come up with what they thought was fair pricing with added convenience to to our families. >> And we can certainly cover this again in April. We're happy to go over those details if you have more questions between now and then. >> No, I think it's great. It'll just be have to be a marketing point like as we go out to families and you know letting them know the the value in it. >> Yep. >> Yes, Patrick. >> Go ahead. Go ahead. >> So, we're also going to have a just a a home game pass. >> I don't think that was a proposed option >> event want to go
128to Blue Valley events. I don't think there was a home only option that we talked about offering. >> You might think about that because um seems to me you have a lot of parents that want to come to the Blue Valley events and they may not necessarily go to the cross town or whatever. >> Uh yeah, just within Blue Valley. So, >> right, I'm just saying there's a lot of parents we have that they'll just show up to the high schools. They won't go to the the other Great feedback. I'll take that back to Matt in between now and then, you know, that may become a part of our final recommendation in April >> because you can probably offer a cheaper option. I think it's to the point that Gina was trying to make is,
129you know, you go from zero to 250 overnight and is there some sort of medium option of some sort and that >> great feedback. We'll we'll look at that. >> Um, I just want to make one comment. you said something about covering 5% of the target. >> Just want to clarify that you're talking about the $10 million gap uh budget shortfall that we are trying to close that this would um potentially cover 5% of that. Is that correct? >> Yeah. The cumulative effect of all of these wrapped together on the schedule would be approximately 5% of our $10 million target. Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next, I'd like to ask Dr. Collier, your deputy superintendent, to come and talk about the calendar. Good evening. This is um our annual process of presenting
130to you a draft of the district calendar. As a reminder, we have a district calendar committee that has a variety of representatives from across the district that participate in creating the calendar annually. We also took the calendar to the community board advisory committee and we also gain uh gather feedback from the president's council. After this evening, we will post the calendar on the district website. Additionally, we'll be providing the calendar to principles and specifically when principles uh we'll be asking them to send it out to their parents and their school communities and asking them specific questions about the start of the school year and that break during December. Um we felt the committee felt it was important to ask those two questions specifically. There's nothing in this calendar that is um really quite too different
131from the last few years that you've seen a calendar and we anticipate bringing calendar back to you in the month of April for your final review and approval. >> Just a quick question. This is kind of off topic, but we didn't have a lot of snow days this year >> and so now kids are starting to ask when are they going to get turned loose? I know we do that after spring break. Typically we do send that announcement after spring break and um we'll look forward to following similar suit. The uh next item on our agenda um is just a policy update and then when we move to our action items uh we'll get into more in depth. Um, as the the board is aware, we've been working on policies and we're taking a substantial
132chunk today um that will be um considered for approval with um a start date of July 1 and then April 13th will be the G section which is uh referring to personnel and then May is I and J which um would be instruction and and student section. and then June will be the remainder of the sections. Um so um the reason that we're going through it in this way is there's literally hundreds of policies and so we want to have plenty of time to uh work through them and make sure they comport with the state legislature. And um by having approving these now it gives us some more opportunity as some of the kinks get worked out. Um, having said that, I believe we're ready for the action items. So, the first action item would
133be to approve the Kansas Association of School Board Policies in index A. Um, Dr. Chapman, um, are you looking for a motion now? You have anything else to mention about? Do I have a motion to approve it? I I do have some questions first. >> Well, usually we get a motion and then we discuss, but >> I move >> but part of it is what what the motion might I know there's a proposed motion, but exactly what are we going to be approving? Because in the list there are um you know there are edits that have been made on the documents. There are some that are marked for uh rejection to not to be included. So which ones are we actually >> approving? Go ahead. >> So um we provided an executive summary to um
134and this first time it's going to be clunky. I'll just say that up front. So bear with us here as we work through this. Um so the executive summary in section A we have some non-s substantive edits and then we have some that are rejecting that we're rejecting. So in this section there are 11 policies. Our proposal would be to accept um all of them with the edits that are listed and they they should be in colored font and then to reject the two that uh we've made those recommendations on. and um the edits that if it so if if we didn't have it listed in the executive summary, the policy should be our recommendation is to adopt the policy as it's written by KSB. If it has red lines, that means we the the
135district um various departments and our um legal council have gone through them and made edits to the KASB policy that we believe strengthens the policy um or comports to um the the Blue Valley um way of doing things. So, it's our recommendation to accept those with the red lines um as they are posted. Um, and then the rejected policies, we just don't feel like we need them. Um, they feel a little bit redundant for our purposes. So, um, that's the A section. And then, um, the other thing I I failed to mention and I should have, uh, we've had these policies posted on our website with a QR code so that people could take input or pro and, uh, provide input on the policies. Um we've reviewed all of those policies and have um hopefully
136strengthened. There was one uh suggestion that um we um are clear about um how the feedback will be received and um who's working on the policies. So I I feel like we have um adjusted to that one already. And then as every month we'll be adding the the new policies and those policies posted online also do have the suggested edits that we're recommending. So I I'm having a little bit of a difficult time in navigating what I'm actually supposed to be looking at. So earlier I read through all of them and I didn't see there were there were some that that had redline changes and some that didn't. I haven't been going through the summary because I actually want to read what the policy says. So, I'm a little confused actually. I'm a little hesitant
137for me what I could actually approve tonight because I don't know what the final version is. I've got a couple different links on here. And so, yeah. And on the agenda item, I've got index a school district organization. I've got executive summary. Um, and they're, you know, one goes to a Google Drive and one goes to a document. So, I just want to make for sure I know what I am looking at. And if I'm the only one, that's fine, but I am not I'm I'm seeing a couple different avenues here. So, it's it's hard for me. Uh, thank you for that feedback. Um, we were trying to make it easy. Um, but apparently it's not. So, >> well, no, it um and again, this it's going to be clunky. Um, so I I think
138the the most part of it has to do with the fact that we're a Google doc is a live document. So whenever we make edits, it's live and out there, but our final version has been posted on board book or I'm sorry on the school district's website. So that is the version that has the most upto-date because it automatically updates or populates with the suggested edits. the executive summary is intended. So, um those links that are in the executive summary, if it's blue and underlined, that is also a live link and it should be the most recent edit that we have. So, um I'm not sure if it's a tech issue that you're having or >> it's not it's not a tech issue. Okay. So, um, we could do a couple of things. Uh, we
139could, um, provide a paper copy. Um, it's it would be a lot of pages with the red, um, edits in it. Um, that might that might be something that we could do. We could also make those adjustments as we go into the G policies uh, with all the red edits. Um, we could also, um, if the board were comfortable in, um, approving them for the sake of the, um, expediency, we have until July. We can always come back and open them back up again if we had a question. Um, again, the the policies in general were written by KSB that are connected to our state legislature, so they've been through a pretty significant vetting. We've gone through it as well. I feel like it sometimes with the red edits, it's hard to read. Um, but
140that said, if we need to put this in a different format, we could absolutely do that. um and have some sort of a running document, we can just figure out a better way of doing it because if this isn't working for you, then we can pivot. >> So, >> well, and it's fine if if it's just me, you know, don't don't change for me. I'm just I don't know what the final version is. >> That's my problem. >> If I might make a suggestion, since we are we're reviewing these now to take effect July 1. Um, so and right now we have a document with a lot of links in it and it takes us to the live document which has all the red lines in it. So effectively when I if we were to
141move and approve changes to all of a if we could then get those frozen still have a redline version preserved but then have the cleaned up version available and then when we go to make the final changes everyone will have a clean version to be able to see oh wait a minute this didn't make it in or now that I see this clean this doesn't make sense and we can make additional changes. before they go into effect in July. So maybe that's the way to handle it. So we are approving now, but we have a chance to make a changes. >> That sounds fine to me. And honestly, you know, I had read this, but I did not know that I didn't I wasn't looking at maybe a final version. So I had no idea.
142You know, you don't know if you don't know. And when I asked you a question earlier today, that's the only time I realized it's like, oh, what I'm seeing is not the final version. So that that's where it kind of threw me off. >> I totally understand that. Um, and I think we also have a lot of cooks in the kitchen on this and between our various departments and um, and we make we've made significant edits um, as well. So I think that's a good suggestion to sort of freeze where we are. We can make it a PDF version in red lines and then a um we can copy that and then make it a um uh clean version because sometimes too you know when you go through and you accept all the edits you
143get something kind of funky comes out of it. So >> I don't know where >> I did. So, are we proposing putting this off until April for approval? >> I think Clay had suggested going ahead and approving, but knowing that we have a couple months, we'll >> we can edit it after. >> Yes. And I would be comfortable with that. >> Okay. >> It's excuse me. It also says in your motion that uh subject to edits by council and so um I'm happy to work with any of you uh if you've got suggested changes to these I'm happy to talk to you oneon-one or have small groups with you or something like that. >> It's minor edit minor edits Clay. Um >> it isn't. >> So I would I'm just teasing you. So I think
144if we because it's chunked by section and like A for example has very few right >> edits. So I feel like perhaps we can approve A and then move on and talk about the second if there's any questions on the changes on the on B. >> Is that Yeah. >> Perfect. I move that the board of education approve the KSB policies and index A as listed to take effect on July 1, 2026 pending >> minor edits deemed necessary by legal counsel. Do >> you have a second? >> Second. >> All in any discussion hearing? None. All in favor raise their hand. Passes unanimously. Next up is approve Kansas Association School policies and index B. >> Section B relates to school board operations. Um in section um this one again has mainly um minor edits with
145the exception of goals and objectives. The very first one that does incorporate the Blue Valley policies into one. So, that one's um significantly different than what KSB had recommended. Uh but it was basically taking the Blue Valley Board policies that are currently in play and incorporating them under the goals and objectives of the board. The rest are um uh pretty much some of there's uh three other policies that do retain um blue valley policies um related to public participation at board meetings, developing, adopting, amending, and repealing board policy memberships. Um those three are also uh re we're recommending that we retain the blue valley existing policies and then there are nonsubstantive edits um in here and um rejecting two policies as not needed regarding schoolboard records and board self-evaluation. Do I have a motion? >>
146I move that the board of education approved the KB policies policies and index B as listed to take effect on July 1st, 2026 pending minor edits deemed necessary by legal council. >> Second. Anybody? >> Second. >> Thank you. S any discussion? I will note that um the motion as recited does not include those um specific the B305 through B1350 listed under unique policies under the unique policy index. Um >> what we did is incorporate those under BA. >> Gotcha. Yeah. Yep. We basically took those unique policies that the board wanted to retain and put them under >> all under BA. >> Okay. Um, okay. Do we want to set this one aside for the moment, Clay, or you about finding what you're looking for? >> Well, we have a motion and a second, so I
147think we we got a motion in a second, so I think we're going to have to take it up. Um, I think it's probably fine. Let me look at I'm just looking at my notes. No, I'm good. >> You say you're good. >> Any further discussion? All in favor, raise your hand. Passes unanimously. Thank you. Section C relates to general school administration. And in this section, we rejected um quite a few um policies um that we didn't believe required they were either part of the board's duties already um or was redundant. So, we uh are recommending not including those. And then we have um four policies uh that are revising KSB policies with nonsubstantive edits and then the rest we are recommending accepting as is without red line. >> Do I have a motion? I
148move that the board of education approved policies and index as listed effect on July 1st 2026 minor edits necessary by legal >> moved by Dr. Benson. Do I hear a second? >> Moved and seconded. Discussion hearing. No discussion. All in favor raise your hand. Passes unanimously. Section D is fiscal management and um we are recommending um accepting these policies and there are um quite a few that have there are 14 that have nonsubstantive edits that um conform with our practice and procedures but they again have nonsubstantive edits. Do I have a motion on it? >> I move that the board of education approve KB policies and index B as listed to take effect on July 1, 2026 pending minor edits deemed necessary by legal counsel. >> Do I have a second? >> Moved by Gina,
149second by Patrick. Discussion. I do have a I have an issue with DB budget planning. Um maybe we can take that up later, but I um because this is a it's completely new policy that we it's KSBs, right? Um, one of the things that it does is, um, require that the board estimate the amount of time it'll take all students to achieve proficiency above level two for grade level academic expectations and the state assessments. Um, if the budget actions are implemented and that sounded >> like an unrealistic. >> Yeah. Um, I believe that is required in statute. >> Required in statute. The time required. >> Wow. Okay. >> That's a question the board answers annually since we started implementing. >> I think Clay, what we've typically answered is that this is impossible to estimate and
150so we've we haven't given an a >> right >> numerical number. >> Sure. I can we can forward to all the board members the response that's been provided in the past in case that's some language that you'd like to work into that policy. >> Okay. >> Any other discussion? So all in favor of the motion raise your hand. Passes unanimously. Section E is fiscal management and this section has all new policies. We're recommending rejecting one KSB policy related to the special use of school buses and the rest have nonsubstantive edits. There are 13 with nonsubstantive edits. >> This is business management correct? We have uh changed the title. Instead of saying business, we've related it to fiscal management and pretty much all of the policies part of the nonsubstantive edits that we've made. >> Uh
151whoops. >> I think I have a typo. It's business. I'm sorry. Business management on section E. >> D is fiscal. E is business. Yeah. I'm so sorry. Thanks for catching that. Um I don't know what the difference is except for this one includes buses and evacuations and emergency drills. It's not a great title actually. >> And in section E, it refers to crisis planning, crisis management plan in a number of different areas. >> Um there were suggestions in there to strike a lot of the KASB recommend recommended language. um including that the board approve a crisis management plan. Do we have a board approved crisis management plan? Now >> we do have crisis management plans. Um and it is board approved. >> We do have district we do have district crisis plan. >> Okay. >>
152That's updated annually every year. Um, I know one of the recommendations in there was to strike the board approval process on it. Um, which I would advocate that we keep that in there. And I, if that's the case, I would be absolutely fine with removing a lot of the other crisis management plan uh, language from these policies because it would all be in the plan. It really recites what the plan should look like and as long as we approve the plan, I think we don't need all that extra language, but I think it should go up to the board level. >> Great. We can make that edit. I think the reason we took it out was um you know, we don't want the crisis plans to necessarily be posted for someone with ill intent to
153have access to it. So, if the board approval process enables us to get that approved without posting the um specific response, which the plans are pretty specific, >> but we can take that out. >> Okay. >> Sorry, I didn't hear you. >> And I think it's in I I may I don't remember if I made that in a comment or actually put it in. >> It's in here. Okay. It says disagree with deletion. So we can take that out. >> Leave it in there. But the plan would be considered an executive session. So it's not posted someplace. >> Correct. >> Do I have a motion? Do I have a motion? >> I move that the board of education approve the KSB policies and index E as listed to take effect on July 1, 2026 pending
154minor edits deemed as necessary by legal counsel. >> Moved by Gina. Do I hear a second? >> Second. >> Give Sonia. Thank you. All in favor, raise your hand. Unanimous. Section F is um sorry um facility expansion programs. This section has all new policies. There are two that we've recommended nons substantive edits and I was there one that you wanted to talk about um FC regarding memorials, funerals and naming of district facilities. Um the suggestion had been made in the comments to include a five-year waiting period for um naming fields, buildings, parts of buildings after a person. Um, I thought that sounded like a good idea that it should be included. And I also had included some additional language about the caliber of uh in the reasoning as to why we might name something after
155a person. Um it was just to make sure that it's somebody that's extraordinarily has made an extraordinarily positive impact on the district above and beyond the already high expectations that we have for folks here in Blue Valley. >> I think that and I think Katie's probably going to jump in on this. I think there's an administrative guideline on this one that they follow pretty strictly and then they make a recommendation to the board on naming facilities. So currently we utilize um KSC guidelines regarding memorials um for students or staff members as well. Some of the suggestion there is reflective of that language. So if there's a do desire for you to see that guidance um in total prior to June, we can provide that for you if you want to add additional redlininer additions to
156that policy. But you were asking about naming facilities after people, right? >> Yes, that's >> to your to your point, Gina, we do have some of that outlined in um current guideline as well. >> So there yeah, there are so I added just a little language and also accepted um one of the staff's recommendation to wait to have a five-year waiting period. >> Um >> we can add that. Do we currently have facilities named for individuals? >> We do. >> We just recently had a soccer field named in memory of a coach. >> Yeah. So, it's more it's it's it's a field or a a pl. It's not really a facility. >> Yeah. >> So, we try to stay away from that. So, I would lean towards language that stays away from naming it after
157anyone. People get into trouble by that. Doing that all the time. I don't mind it maybe a, you know, a court or a field, but other than that, >> so we need to take out the language naming everything after board members. Okay. >> Clay Clay was hoping it was Yeah. him. >> Yeah. I' I'd like to see the motion to approve this section uh with uh FC to come back uh at a later time with some clarification. Okay. >> I'm not in favor of naming facilities for people. >> We could bring back a another policy in April with this additional language for the board to consider. >> Okay. >> So, do I have a motion on this? So I move the board of education approve the KSB policy index SF F with the exception of
158FC as listed to take effect on July 1st 2026 any minor edits deemed necessary by legal counsel. >> Thank you Patrick. Do I hear a second? >> second by Clay. All in any further discussion >> David does that address your issue? >> Yes. Thank you. Okay. >> Any other discussion? All in favor raise your hand. unanimous. >> And the last section um board members is section H. And this uh relates to negotiations. And we're recommending rejecting three policies and the rest um accepting um and um yeah, that's it. There are no red lines. This one's a little bit easier. >> We'll see. >> Yeah, we'll see. >> Do I have a motion on this? >> I move the board of ed education approve the KSB policies and index H is listed to take effect on
159July 1st, 2026 pending minor edits deemed necessary by the council. >> Thank you, Patrick. A second. >> Second. >> Thank you, Clay. Any further discussion on this? All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. That takes us to approving. We're taking a look at contracts which we approve the contract with Apple Inc. Kent Corser here to talk about that. Good evening. Kent Corser, director of technology operations, here to talk about the middle school and high school um various instructional um courses that are due for a five-year replacement cycle, which is part of our uh bond um initiative. So, fully budgeted for in there. This is for middle school computer science, high school journalism, broadcast, um, uh, classes over at CTE or so, sorry, uh, CTE courses over at CAPS. And, um, it's a variety of
160Apple iMacs and MacBook Pros to meet those instructional needs. Any questions that I can answer? >> So, these machines would vary in their capacity, >> correct? >> Based on the curriculum, right? >> Yep. Absolutely. So, we work with the curriculum leaders to make sure that the uh specs that we buy on those machines meet their needs. And it's actually with their feedback that we've changed some of those uh specifications in this latest round to meet uh the very specific needs of those uh that curriculum. >> Thank you. >> You bet. >> So, just so everybody knows who's watching or may not be watching, what's the uh contract amount for this? >> I believe it is 1.7 million. >> Okay. And how many computers are we buying? >> Uh, I don't have that off the top
161of my head. Sorry. >> Approximately. >> Um, I want to say it's in the 600ish range >> for all high schoolers, right? >> High school and middle school. So, middle school computer science. So, all middle school computer science labs. And then at the high school level, it's broadcast and journalism. And then there's a big uh CTE courses over at CAPS that have a whole bunch of MacBook Pros. >> So, these are not take-h home computers for the kids. These are computers in the classroom. >> Correct. They are they are in shared labs. Absolutely. Yep. Normally running curriculum software that doesn't run on their onetoone device, >> right? And this is just normal replacement cycle, right? >> Correct. Yep. They have this equipment today. It's just the older models that again that fiveyear replacement cycle. >>
162Okay. >> So, I have a motion on this. >> I move that the board of education approve the contract with Apple Inc. Pending minor edits deemed necessary by legal counsel. >> Moved by Jody, second by David. Any further discussion on this? >> All Oh, yes, sir. Patrick. >> Do you want to vote? He's He's moving this along. All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. Thank you. Thank you, Patrick. Next, the contract uh for Circadia Construction. And Jake, >> hey Jake, real quick, I have I'll have the same questions, >> all the same ones. >> The number just just so everybody knows. >> Well, first of all, it's an honor to be up here talking about real bond projects in action because we've been talking about possible bron projects for so long. So, this is
163a again contract with Circadia Construction for special education improvements at Blue Valley Northwest. This will renovate an existing atrium space to create two new lift classrooms and all the support spaces for that exist or for that program expansion. This is funded through the 2023 bond. It is a $1.153 million project. Recommend approval for this to support our special education needs. >> I was just going to ask you to explain what Lyft was. >> Yeah. >> So I do I understand that to be removing the atrium then? So, there is a space at Blue Valley Northwest. As you walk in, there's a commons. You go forward before you go down the gymnasium hallway, you hang a left, right, the atrium. There's a locker bay there. It's where they eat lunch. They've expanded into that area. So,
164we are, it's kind of complicated. There's a section that we're underneath a ceiling and then we push out into the open space a little bit and we remove some lockers that are not being utilized to give back that usable space for the building. >> So, it's not elimination. Correct. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> Do I have a motion to approve this contract? >> I move the board of education approved the contract with Circadia Construction pending minor edits team. >> Move. Moved by Patrick. >> Second by a bunch of people. Any further discussion? >> Go ahead. >> When is this going to be done? So, we're starting the project at spring break barring approval and then we will have it complete ready for the beginning of next school year. Good question. >> Hearing no further
165discussion, all in favor raise your hand. It passes seven zip. Universal construction. >> Okay. More bond project at work. This is a asset preservation task. So, if you looked through the packet and you saw the photos, you probably saw some pretty unsettling images of some foundation and wall settling at a couple of our buildings. This work goes in and makes repairs of those at Oxford Middle School, Liberty View Elementary, Overland Trail, funded through the 2023 bond. $579,000 and sorry, $579,72. That place that work will take place this summer. Do I have a motion on this? >> I move that the board of education approve the contract with Universal Construction Company, Inc. pending minor edits deemed necessary by legal counsel. >> Moved by Jody, >> second by Patrick. Any further discussion on it? Hearing none. All
166in favor, raise your hand. 70. Mike Ducleier. How do you say that? >> This is a contract, a unit price agreement contract with Ducelier Concrete Company. We've worked with Ducelier since 2013. This is a continuation of that partnership. This is for concrete and flat work and general site utility type work um on the exterior of our buildings and and properties. Um you'll see that this is funded through bond and capital outlay. We have an estimated $6 million expenditure. We put that on there so that we have board authority to make emergency repairs quickly. Um and we're not coming back to you to to ask for that. To give you an idea, um, in 2526 to date, we spent $3.7 million on on projects. We don't have, uh, $6 million currently in identified projects. Uh, we
167have about $3 million in identified bond funded projects. The $6 million gives us that immediate authority to go react quickly if necessary. >> And that's a ceiling. >> That's a ceiling, right? If for some reason we needed to go over that, we'd be back before the board having conversations. Do I have a motion? >> Yeah, you mentioned a pothole I need to go repair. So, now we're $6,50. >> Only if she approves this. >> Do I have a motion on the concrete flat work? >> I think you need to say the name. >> I've struggled all night with names. Forget it. Dier. >> Ducelier. Yep. Pretty simple. I still need a motion. >> My name's Nick. >> All right. I move that the board of education approve the contract with Mike Duclier. >> Ducelier. >>
168Dier. Thank you. Concrete flatwork company pending minor edits deemed necessary by legal counsel. >> Moved by move by Jody. I heard Patrick first. So, okay. Any further discussion on it? Hearing none. All in favor raise your hand. 70. Another contract with Circadia. This one on flooring. >> Yes. More bond action asset preservation work. This project will provide polished concrete flooring and corridors and common areas at Oxford and Harmony Middle Schools. I know you've all been out in our buildings. You've seen this in a lot of buildings. Uh these are two of the buildings that continue to have that old square vinyl composite tile that you have to strip and wax every year. This is part of our maintenance program to come in and remove those when they reach the end of their useful life funded
169in the 2023 bond. 1 million66,82 and it will take place this summer. >> Do I have a motion on this flooring contract? minor edits deemed necessary by >> moved by Dr. Benson, second by Jody. Further discussion on this hearing none. All in favor of the motion, raise your hand. It's 70 EF commercial flooring contract. >> Yeah, you can tell we're going to have a busy summer. We've got more asset preservation work, more bond funded out of the 2023 bond. This project will provide full building carpet replacement at Mission Trail and H Heartland Elementary Schools, part of our ongoing um asset work as we as carpet and reaches the end of its useful life. Um this is a 511,466 and some pennies contract. Do I have a motion to approve this? I move that the board
170of education approve the contract with the EF commercial flooring LLC pending minor edits deemed necessary by legal council. >> Moved by Gina >> second by Clay. Discussion on this hearing none. All in favor raise your hand. 70. This takes us to BSN Sports. >> I'll hang out up here. This is a contract with BSN Sports. This is year one of a seven-year agreement. I know there have been some questions on this. Try to answer a couple of those that I've seen. Contract secures best in market pricing by combining all district athletic apparel purchases into one contract in lie of having separate contracts among each of our high schools, even middle schools and elementary schools. We are not locked into a minimum spend through this contract, but as we are buying uniforms, this would be the
171avenue to purchase those. Um, as we purchase those, the more we spend, we do get greater rebates on on those purchases. Want to clarify this is funded through capital outlay and activity funds. This is not funded through general operating expenses. We've estimated a $750,000 expenditure. Um, but that would be a cap. >> This is a renewal of this. >> We had a contract with them that I think um had it terminated at five years. This is a new contract but sort of a renewal. Yeah. >> So, um I know when it we first signed up with BSN five years what however five years ago. Um has and I'm looking over here because we have a high school principal over here. But um have how have the high school have the high schools liked it? because
172I know there was some question as to with the PTO's having to buy through BSN and and there was a lot of uh maybe maybe just at my high school but um you know as far as quality of uniform there was just a lot of questions on how it would go. So I'm curious how the first five years how the first five years went. >> I'm going to answer off of some assumptions. I know Matt Orman has spent a lot of time going through this. I'm just going to say I don't think he would bring it forward as a recommendation if it hadn't gone well the past five years. I may turn to my colleagues and ask. I don't want to put somebody in the audience on the spot. >> It's been going well. Okay.
173It's been going great. >> Yeah. >> I just didn't want to I just didn't want to speak for anybody, but that's that's what I would assume. Yeah. >> Yeah. Thank you to our wonderful audience member. Jake, >> do I have a motion to approve? >> Jake, is this um you're seeking approval for year one of a sevenyear >> contract? Correct. Yeah, this is an annual request. We even though it's a seven-year contract, we'll come back and explain what we're anticipating for expenditures each year of that contract. >> Looking for a motion on this. I move that the board of education approve the contract with BSN Sports. >> Second. >> Moved by Jody, second by Patrick. Any further discussion? >> Hearing none. All in favor, raise your hand. It's 70. Thank you, Jake. It takes us
174to our closing items. Um, other matters before the board. I'm not aware of any other matters, but we can have some board comments. Looks missed. >> Excellent. Thank you. Um, I would just like to uh recognize uh International Women's Day, which was yesterday, and say thank you to all of my board cohorts as well as Dr. Chapman. Um, it it's an honor serving with some really amazing, powerful women. And I I'm going to include my wonderful friends over here, administration and and legal and and our wonderful board clerks and assistant board clerks. Um um we're very lucky to have um wonderful people working with us, but especially these women. >> Thank you, Dr. Benson. to that >> would uh simply say that I was impressed with the conduct and the specific nature of the presentations
175by the music supporters that were here here today. uh it adds a great deal of credence in my view when uh people come prepared and they come talking about uh cogent issues of importance to the board. So uh I want that to go noticed. I had a chance to read to some second graders. What a great experience. >> Clay. >> All right. Oh, holy smoke. Just a second here. >> Do you want me to go last? >> I'm gonna I want to thank Representative Poskin and Senator Holshire for coming to speak here tonight. It was very helpful. Um, also our other speakers, um, Mr. Clay Schaefer, Miss uh Blue Valley teacher, Miss Kaine, future teacher, uh Carter Felicities, um mom, Mrs. Gerald, um other alumni, Mr. Sheber, um student, Miss Valick, and uh Miss Van
176Lash, I believe, was that last one. So, I want to thank them for coming and speaking to us tonight. Um, just to cap the discussion that we heard tonight, um, and remind folks that might just be tuning in right now that we really need help with the Kansas legislature. Um, this session has been particularly difficult on schools. It really does feel like we are being attacked from Topeka. Um, what we heard tonight was that the legislature is refusing to follow the law. They're pushing drastic cuts to programs, academics, athletics, and arts. They're cutting mental health supports. They're eliminating funds for teacher training. They're stifling free speech. They're dishing out public school money into private funds with no restrictions or accountability. They're imposing unfunded mandates that hurt kids. They are micromanaging classrooms. They're interfering with parents
177ability to protect and care for their children. And they're defying local and parent control over our schools. So, those that may still be listening, please reach out, talk to your legislators, tell them to support our schools, and remember how they vote when November comes around. Thank you, Clay. Gina, >> um, I'll just add to what Clay's saying as far as, you know, there's not a single person up here who wants to cut performing arts from any level of our district um, or any other program for that matter. And the, you know, the reason the smoke signals are being sent up right now is because there's still time to influence the legislature. and if we can get enough people influencing in particular um those that don't vote in favor of K12 which would be Senator Warren,
178Senator uh Representative Tarwater, Representative Croft, Representative Turner in particular here in Blue Valley are the ones that um instead of asking people to look it up, those are the folks that need to be contacted because they're continuously voting um against the best interest of K through of education and we also have Senator Rose. Thank you. But he I've noticed he's voted a couple times. Okay. Um so I'll give him props for that. But you know, none of us want to vote against performing arts of any kind or um specialized programming. It's simply a matter of how to make the dollars work. And um that's where we're at. So that's why this information has gone out now while there's still time to have the public influence our budgets. >> Thank you, Gina. Dr. Evans, >> I
179just like to piggyback on my colleagues that we have exceptional students and that's because we have an ex exceptional programs for our students and several of us have visited um musicals, we visit plays, we've visited art fairs, uh science fairs, and we're blown away. And we are so proud of our students because of the programs that we are able to offer them. And all I want to say, just want to just reiterate, we just need support from our constituents and our patrons to help us do our job. And and that's all that we ask from um everyone that's within the Blue Valley School District family. We're a family and we all want what's best for our students. Thank you. >> Thank you, Patrick. >> Thank you, Mr. President. You know, I think um it's important
180that uh everybody understand what that relationship is with the legislature. So, I invite all of our legislators to show up and speak and help us understand how they're going to save our programs, how they're going to save uh education, how they're going to make sure that we continue to have what we've built since at least 1976, and maintain that in the future so that not only our current kids are able to have a great education, but also our grandkids and future generations. And while we've been going through our policies for uh to be adopted from from KSB, the other thing is is that you know athletics is is another big part of what we do. Um Quesia um is is the organization that handles um regionals and and state uh tournaments for for sports and
181activities. And so I encourage all of our parents to take a look at those rules and make sure that the the rules are fair and the policies are fair. We have a couple members who participate in that process. One board member and one appeals um a member and u you know if you if you see a rule uh that's either uh unfair on its face or as applied uh through uh committees or the sort, let us know. um and uh we can step up and uh make sure that those policies treat athletes fair. I know sometimes they get lost in the um fairly myopic um approach to one-sizefits-all in all the rules. We know that kids uh have different needs at different times and no no two kids are the same. And we go to
182great lengths to make sure that every kid has the same opportunity across the district, no matter what it may be. and we don't want to get caught up in red tape. So, I encourage our parents to take a look at those policies and rules and and uh contact us and share with us experiences that you think have treated kids unfairly. Um, and I know that um you know all of our parents, all of our kids, all of our uh teachers, our staff, administrators, they go to great lengths to uh make sure that our kids are safe and secure and we need to continue that going forward. and so uh help us continue to keep what we've built safe. Thank you. >> Thank you, Patrick. I think tonight's public forum was a great example of a
183community who values education who came here was lucid and clear in everything that was presented. You had politicians here supporting education. You had students speaking uh for education and the quality of life and you had parents and you had uh many visible supporters uh just being here to stand up and and say you know we moved to Blue Valley because of the education process, the education uh that's being offered here. And I can tell you when I used to work at the commerce department, when we were trying to recruit businesses to Kansas, uh people weren't looking to say, well, what about, you know, what's the tax rate? What incentive can you get for us? It was what are the schools like and the legislature needs to understand. That's what businesses are looking for. If you
184want to be able to get companies to invest in Kansas, you need to invest in the best assets and whatever it is that's going to invite uh and attract businesses to Kansas. And that is our education system. It's what the people who were here earlier today and making the presentation what they stand for and who we are. And the legislature needs to understand you you can't starve education and attract uh business to Kansas. And and it's not the mountains and it's not the beach. I've looked into it. Um so make sure to be able to go out and encourage legislators to vote to support and actually add money to education. And that's my soap box. You have anything else? Okay. when if there is nothing else we'll stand adjourned.