001Yes. I'm like, "Hello." Cool. There's a picture of my son. >> They're all sick right now. >> This meeting of the board of education is called to order. Please stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Welcome to our meeting. Um, our first job this evening is to approve our agenda. There's a motion on page two, please. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education approve the agenda as printed. >> Thank you, Maryl. Appreciate it. >> Second. >> Thank you, Terry. All in favor, please say I. I. Opposed. Uh, the motion passes and we'll proceed with our
002agenda as uh as given here. And we'll start with the superintendent's report. All right, first up will be uh our superintendent's report from Russ Ker, assistant superintendent of operations. Now I turn it on every time I come off here. Won't forget. Good evening board. Superintendent Edwards. Uh here to give you guys an update on the uh construction progress taking place at Woodland Elementary. Um, as we last time I talked to you, I talked to you about the weather really taking a hit on us being able to really be really effective out there. We're keeping moving. Uh, but the weather was tough the last like two or three weeks ago. I will tell you now things are they're laying brick quick. Uh, the weather's warmed up enough where they don't have to do enclosures. They don't
003have to do anything fancy. They're able just to get there, get the mud mixed, and start throwing the brick the blocks up. So, they're going pretty good. It's going pretty well. I got some uh examples here. What I tried to do in these is I I got a picture of the building on the right. It's a little faded, so I'll get a little bit better one moving forward. A little darker one, but uh the highlight area is where what you're looking at. Uh so kind of give you an idea when you go through these what where we're at in the building. So this is uh when I walk off the trailer site, first thing I do is I snap a picture of the site so I can compare it how it's progressing as a site.
004So that's what you're seeing here. Just uh that's a little bit of unit. Uh I got them backwards here. C and A they're working or C and B they're working on. They haven't really hit a lot of A yet, but they're going to be working that way as they go. Uh here you're looking at the administration portion of the building where the students will be entering the building and those type of things taking place there. Another angle you see the on the left side of the screen you see the place tarped. That's the curved wall of the office area. There's an out curved wall on the outside of the office. That's what you're looking at there. And the big wall to the right of that, that's what you're looking at for your gymnasium of the
005building. Uh fun part is uh they're throwing up roof beams. So they're throwing up the the beams for the roof. You'll start seeing decking and everything going on here soon. But that's that's exciting for me because once they start enclosing it, getting that roof on, they can start doing some stuff inside and get a little more traits on site. But they got to get that building enclosed first. So you see the first B beam going up in the gym there. And here's the electrical room. The electricians will be ecstatic once they get this room done, but they're going across with the beams right now. And then they'll get the decking and all that stuff happening after that. was going well there. Uh just an idea, you can kind of start seeing the the shape of
006the building. This is the back of the building where the as you're looking if you're back by the playground area. Um you can see the shape of the building, the first level at least taking shape. This is the two-story part of the building. So you'll see the second story start popping up here soon as well. Another angle working your way around the playground. Uh just another view of the back, this next section of the back of the building. Uh you can see the elevator shaft there in the background where the elevator will be. Uh some of the uh upper internal uh structure in the center they're building out. They'll get the center done. Then they'll build out the outside so they can start putting the uh the roofing uh trusses in place as well. After
007that, hit it twice. Uh here's kind of some of the internal of the building. This is the first floor. They got the the decking on for the second floor. So, the first floor is starting to dry out. You notice there's no snow in there. It's kind of nice. Um, but they can't really do much in there until they get that roof on and get it really air, not airtight, but weather protected. And you can see these another angle. This is the plumber throwing in. Uh, so that'll be one of the toilet areas with all the bathrooms in it. Uh, is what you're looking at there with the plumbing. But there's some classrooms in the distance in there. But things are moving. Uh, obviously we're hoping we're a little bit further along, but we're tracking that
008if everything continues the way we're expecting it to weatherwise and everything that by hopefully end of March, we're back on schedule and moving forward. So, we're we're happy. We're not ecstatic with the weather delays, but it's not it's not bad. It's just some stuff we got to work through. Any questions? >> It's a great idea putting the diagram on the side. That's helpful. >> Thank you, sir. >> I will try to continue doing that. I just I got to get a darker one cuz that one light. It shows the div division of the building but it doesn't show a good silhouette of the building. So, I'll get a little darker as we go. >> Hey Russ, were those big air handler units that were sitting next to the building or um or was is that
009something else? >> Yeah, that's that's air handling units. What they do is they're so big uh they got to put them before they build all the walls and everything, they got to get them in place. So they'll set them in place and then build the walls around them and put the decking on top and they sit there for many, many years. >> Great. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Anything else, sir? >> That'll be all until we get to board education. >> Okay. Uh our next subject, next agenda item is board education. >> Um coming to us is our ESI director, Dr. and Gordon who joined tonight with four of other colleagues Tand Salisbury, Asia Caleb, Maggie Moon, and Bailey Chapman. And we have some acronyms for the general public of MTSS, PBIS.
010All of which are not common terminology used outside of education, but we throw those acronyms around quite often internally, as well as FE is also joining me. My apologies. >> That's great. That's right. Uh, thank you. Good evening, Superintendent Edwards and trustees. Um, Mr. Edwards here talked about um, I brought a lot of people with me here today to give some examples of some of the things that I will talk about generally. Um, Eye McCarron, Becky Moon, Tam Salbury, Asia Kaylor, and Bailey Chapman. Um, whole child multi-tered systems of support represents our district's commitment to educating the whole student, not just their academic abilities, but their social, emotional, behavioral, and wellbeing. For too long, education operated in silos. Academic instruction operated in one sphere, behavioral support, mental health services in a somewhere else entirely. But
011children do not come to us in compartments. A student struggling with anxiety cannot simply turn that off during math class. A student who experiences trauma over the weekend does not leave that at the door on Monday morning. A student who lacks strong social skills will struggle to participate in collaborative learning no matter how engaging the lesson. The multi-tered systems of support framework allows us to integrate all of these elements into a cohesive coordinated system. Rather than waiting for students to fail before we intervene, we proactively provide highquality universal supports at tier 1. We monitor progress continuously and when students need more, we provide targeted tier 2 supports for students with the most intensive needs, we offer individualized tier three interventions. We apply the same framework across academic, behavior, social, emotional learning, mental health, and all
012aspects of student development. This approach is both efficient and equitable. It ensures that no students fall through the cracks because their needs do not fit neatly into one category. It allows us to use our resources strategically providing the right level of support to the right students at the right time. And it reflects that when we support the whole child, achievement follows. Healthy, supported, emotionally regulated students are ready to learn. This visual represents our comprehensive approach to building a positive school culture and climate that supports the whole child and engages our entire community. We have six interconnected pillars that create a supportive school environment. Our positive behavior support system provides the structure and expectations that help all students succeed. We integrate mental health supports and trauma informed practices recognizing that many of our students have experienced
013adversity and need responsive, compassionate approaches. Restorative practices help us build and repair relationships while holding students accountable in meaningful ways. We also prioritize family engagement, understanding that strong family partnerships are essential for student success. Our focus on social emotional learning and 21st century career skills prepares students not just academically but for life beyond school. And finally, community engagement connects our students to the broader world around them, creating authentic learning opportunities and supportive networks. These elements do not operate in isolation. They work together to create school climate where every students feel safe, supported, challenged, and prepared for their future. Some wonder how MTSS and positive behavior interventions and supports are related. PBIS is one specific component within the broader MTSS framework. PBIS is a part of MTSS, not a synonym for it. MTSS is a comprehensive
014system, while PBIS focuses specifically on behavioral expectations and support. and Abby is going to talk a little bit more about that. >> So why does PBIS matter? Uh PBIS represents the fundamental shift to how we support our students. Rather than focusing solely on the academics, we this approach recognizes the students as whole people with social, emotional and behavioral needs that directly impact their ability to learn. At its core, PBIS is preventative. So through their tiered approaches, we can identify and support students before challenges become crisis. These this is not a program with a start and an end date. It is a continuum of supports that uh adapt as students grow and their needs change throughout their educational journey. Uh PBIS also advances our equity goals. It incorporates cultural responsive practices. We ensure every student sees
015themselves reflected in our support system and feels genuinely valued. We acknowledge that trauma and mental health are real factors affecting learning and we address them directly. So our framework for positive support is built upon the partnership and prevention. We begin by bringing together students, families, and educators in a collaborative defined way as of what positive behavior support looks like in our schools. We also establish some clear expectations and identify the social, emotional, and behavioral skills our students need to thrive. These schoolwide expectations are consistent throughout their entire school day. So, what students learn uh schoolwide is reinforced in every classroom. We don't just post these expectations on the walls and hope the students figure it out. We actually teach them just like we teach math or reading. So, we wouldn't expect students to learn fractions
016unless we teach them. So, we can't expect them to master social and behavioral skills without actually teaching and practicing those skills. When students meet our expectations, we celebrate that and build on their successes. When they struggle, we teach. We treat behavior challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, which protects relationships and supports students mental health. Students feel safe when they're able to take risks, when they know mistakes won't damage their connections with the teachers and peers. None of this work um goes without strong partnership with families. Just like Dr. Gordon said, when parents and schools are on the same page, uh students get consistent messages at home and at school. That consistency combined with our focus on relationships and mental health well-being gives all students uh every chance best they can thrive in our schools.
017So, now I'd like to introduce the wonderful Becky Moon. She is uh one of our fabulous counselors at West Middle School and she's going to talk more about tier one positive behavior supports. All right. So, um tier one. So, we'll start with the tier one. Um it supports the it's sorry, our tier one supports form the foundation of um our behavioral framework. And so, tier one, these are universal strategies that benefit every student. So, think every all universal for the tier one. Um we typically start with uh three to five clearly defined behavioral expectations that are simple enough for everyone to remember and broad enough to apply across all the settings. So for example, you you know at elementaryaries you hear the soore sale uh middle school we have the west way take care of
018yourself take care of each other and take care of this place and so they all have their acronyms and those are essentially those um defined behavioral expectations that you know everybody we want everybody to know but defining them isn't enough like Effie said we explicitly teach these expectations in every area of the building so from the classroom to the hallways to the cafeteria to the bathrooms, um how to behave and not behave in those areas. And so they learn exactly what these expectations look like in each um context. And then to reinforce behavior, our buildings implement a schoolwide acknowledgement system that celebrates students when they meet expectations. Though it might look a little different in each building, um but for example, I'll talk a little later about Minga. Um, but we have attendancebased incentives like
019donuts for days at PC to help reward students for positive behavior. We have activity days in the middle school. We might focus on one behavior for a marking period and then um reward that if we see, you know, a lot of problems in the hallways and such. So, this approach emphasizes engagement and encouragement. Um, and then also staff aim for a 5:1 ratio of positive statements to corrections. um creating a climate where students feel noticed for doing things right. Um and then when consequences are necessary, they're predictable and instructional. So our consequences, there's an educational piece to it um rather than punitive. And as um buildings, we're not guessing at what's working and what's not working because we um each building has a multi-disciplinary team that regularly reviews the data um and to make informed
020decisions about our systems and practices and how the PBIS is is working at the elementary level. Um also we have embedded evidence-based practices like zones of regulation which help students identify and manage their emotions and um morning meetings which kind of build that classroom community and set the tone for the day. in middle school and like secondary, middle school, high school. Um school counselors play a vital role in tier one and some of those things. And um middle school we have like Monday huddles um somewhat like those morning meetings. And then at the secondary level, we have PBIS teams who are setting the tone and supporting all of these these efforts. Um so one highlight they um I'm standing in for Mr. really but we have Minga um at this is one of those um
021schoolwide ways that we have it's all PBIS stuff in one and so Minga is a platform um it provides consistent communication for all students so um we're using this for passes for um instead of our little positive behavior tickets they're getting praises um through Minga and so just kind of a highlight a couple elements to this number one it provides that consistent universal iversal expect um communication. So the same information students receive it there it's on their homepage on their Chromebook um and we can give them reminders expectations like we're seeing a lot of issues in the hallways. Here's a hallway reminder. This is how you know we act in the hallways. It's also positive behavior reinforcement through the we do shoutouts. Um teachers give assign praises. They earn points through those praises that they
022can spend at the school store on Fridays. Um we copied Central Middle too and are letting them into athletic events with some of their Minga points and um so just providing that reinforcement for all students um not just those needing intervention. And it also helps with clear expectations and accountability. We that's how they use their hall passes. Um and so we can you know see trends with students um and see if they need more more support and then the guidances and the praises are given by teachers. Parents get notification now and so that opens up the door of communication between the student teacher and parent. Um and then it is just that p platform to build community. We have interactive features like Mr. Bailey will put up little polls of the day, um, little surveys
023that everybody is engaging with. So, our SST team does use that data to see who needs additional support. So, these tier one supports um, like I said, are the foundation. They create a strong foundation that serves all our students while they also help us identify students who need some additional support in tier 2, which I'm going to hand off to our fabulous assistant principles at Ford Central, Ad. >> Hi everybody. We're going to talk a little bit about tier 2, but it's really really difficult to follow up um Mrs. moon and not talk about some of the fantastic things that we have going on in tier one in all of our buildings. So, I would encourage everyone to if you have an opportunity talk with teachers from different buildings and different staff members. There's a
024lot of good things happening in Portage uh at the tier one level which support all students. Tier 2 on the other hand is supporting specifically students who might need a little bit of a boost in extra support for a variety of reasons. um those students might need additional skill building or targeted instruction to really understand um what it is that we expect from them either in the classroom or the hallways or wherever it is um in the school. And like Dr. Gordon and Mrs. Moon had mentioned um the the targeted nature of these plans requires a team data driven approach. So, for example, here at um Portish Central, we have a team that we call it and we meet weekly and look through all of the students that we need to recognize who might need
025a little bit of an extra support. And um we provide that targeted support in a variety of settings either small group or individualized and that multid-disciplinary team consists of a school psychologist, assistant principles, teacher, behavior support, MTSS coordinator. All of those people come together to decide what specifically a student might need. Um if we're recognizing a pattern of behavior from that student or something else at a whole school level and we might need to target a particular group for additional support. Um so you can see on the screen some of the specific more common and these are not all but these are some of the tier 2 interventions that we utilize across the district. Um, we are specifically going to be talking a little bit about check-in, checkout procedures, peer-to-peer programs, restorative practices and other
026supports and programs that you are probably familiar with. Um, like sensory spaces that you're all designing as part of your facilities management and then also learning opportunities that focus specifically on employability skills. >> Yeah. So, we're just going to go over expand a little bit on some of of the tier 2 um supports and interventions. um we'll start with a check-in checkout process. Um you're pro you may be familiar but some students need a little bit to set the tone for the day and then at the end of the day they'll come back to that same exact trusted adult and kind of reflect on the what went well and maybe some areas where they might want to grow the next day. Um, not only does this provide a consistent touch point for the student, um,
027but also some accountability, um, encouragement, and just opportunities to build relationships with trusted adults. Um, and it's usually a consistent adult, and then sometimes that semester that that adult changes. So, it's just again opportunities for students to to set goals and see some success. Yep. Um, across the district district, we leverage peer support through structured peer-to-peer programs, recognizing that sometimes students respond a little bit more powerfully to guidance from their classmates um, rather than adults. Um, and we have so many success stories to share in our building. It's phenomenal. And I really hope some of our peers become teachers one day because this is their calling. It's it's really pretty cool. >> Yep. Similarly, um staff throughout the district are trained in restorative practices and deescalation techniques and strategies that provide support to students in
028navigating conflict because it happens. It happens all the time to the the students that often don't haven't they've not had conflict until maybe high school and then here it comes. Um and so staff really are a huge support in that. um for students that have maybe sensory or regulation needs. Um most buildings and I love that the new buildings the design it's so exciting to see there are more spaces incorporated. Um but there are they have scheduled sensory breaks in in spaces that have tools but also are really close to services that the students might need support from. Um I do want to to highlight u most buildings in our district have an emotional support dog. Um we have one uh his name is Toby and he lives with my family but he does such
029good work at school. At home you wouldn't always know it but at school he's phenomenal. Yeah. Um and then when possible schools might offer we try to offer meaningful jobs for students um during the school day that give them um some responsibility. Um it builds confidence especially when they get positive feedback from their supervisor and creates kind of a sense that I'm contributing to my school community. Yeah. So all of these again are more intensive than the universal supports that we would offer at the tier one level. And we wanted to highlight one of um our specific examples by talking a little bit about our partnership with Griffin Place who serves in our building for conflict resolution and community building um supports for our students. And just this is a picture of us um at
030the tier one level um using one of our incentive programs for um positive rewards. This is us handing out donuts. Um the people that you see around those adults are all part of that multid-disciplinary team that supports students. Um but we do we do partner with Griffin Place and we will talk a little bit more about that. Yeah, we're incredibly incredibly grateful for the district support um of our community partnerships um that serve students at the tier 2 level. And one of the ones that we wanted to highlight today is our partnership with Griffin Place um who provides restorative practices or restorative practices services. Um, restorative practices focus on providing support and teaching conflict resolution skills with the goals of restoring relationships and repairing harm to both individuals and their community. So, uh, the team,
031like I said, that you see up there around our welcome center counter will meet weekly and we will learn sometimes from a family or from a student that a student might be avoiding a particular space or a situation at school. They might even be avoiding school altogether. And in those cases, our team will meet. We'll try to figure out if this is a situation that we want to refer to Griffin Place. Um, and then we will attempt to communicate with those parties in order to resolve a conflict or um provide support for a particular situation to get them back into school, feeling comfortable about going to class, um, having conversations with a peer, whatever that might be. And in those conversations, in our experience, the students oftentimes actually don't know how to communicate with another
032individual that they need to um maybe resolve a conflict with or um understand a situation or a perspective better. And so then that is the the point at which our team might refer to Griffin Place to support that conversation between parties or within a group of students. So Asia will talk about some of those um specific types of scenarios where we would refer to Griffin. >> Yeah. Um one of the most common referrals is when conflict um occurs between students. Um it may be between just two students or maybe in a group of like 10. Um so we see it all. Um but just some examples of some of the ways that Griffin Place supports our students. Um, one of the most common, um, examples is when a student doesn't like something their friend is
033doing, but they've kind of let it go for so long that now it's been really challenging to communicate to their friend, I don't like that anymore. I don't, this is not okay. And so, Griffin Place will facilitate um, conversations to help the students talk um, and set healthy boundaries and also um, hopefully um, conserving the friendship so they can move forward in a positive way. Um, another example is um navigating a a much needed um change in a group norm. Uh, maybe they've been interacting in a way in their group since middle school and now they're in high school and it's just not okay anymore. So, kind of navigating um having conversations with maybe a group of kids like how does this need to change y'all? It's y'all aren't really happy with it anymore. And
034then um also just relationships evolve and they change and navigating the social dynamics in evolving relationships is really hard. Um and Griffin Place helps facilitate those conversations as well. Um the other example that we use not as frequently but sometimes students need to talk with their teachers and they just don't know how. They they're they're shy, they're nervous, but but things need to move forward in the classroom. And so an example of this, maybe a student has has been absent a lot. They've not been turning in their classwork and they need to talk to their teacher about it. It seems pretty straightforward, but we have students that are terrified. So having them help navigate that conversation between the teacher and the student often helps that relationship move forward. Um, another example, um, is after there's
035maybe some sort of, um, conflict in a classroom and there's this lingering awkwardness that exists that the student is feeling and maybe there was maybe kind of a power struggle. It was a little public um, and the student and the teacher need to talk that through and Griffin Place helps those conversations happen so those relationships can move forward. Many of our staff have been trained by Griffin Place. Um, and they've been a fantastic support for us. Um, mo all of our Bitem team members have been trained in restorative practices. So even when Griffin Place is not available, uh, we would be able to have these same sorts of conversations and that is always our aim. Um, so Griffin Place can also be used for tier three services. So that'll be a good transition to our
036third level of tiered support which requires a longer term more intensive skill building than even tier 2 offers. All right. Um I'm Bailey Chapman. I am one of the multiple school psychologists who work here in the district. Um currently serving at the elementary level. So, um, believe it or not, despite all the wonderful supports you just heard, there's still a small percentage of students, um, who just need a little bit more. So, typically about 3 to 5% of students um, are showing a need for more intensive or individualized interventions based on whatever their unique needs might be. So um at this level we are using um data and you know data database decisions to make comprehensive um plans um through the functional behavior assessment process and collaboration between you know different educators, specialists, parents, sometimes
037even the students themselves providing input on a plan. Um these plans help us identify um the specific functions of challenging behavior. So why is this behavior happening? what are they trying to tell us with these actions? Um so that we can outline proactive strategies to prevent that behavior from happening. Uh teach replacement behaviors for them and then provide consistent responses from staff whether it's positive reinforcement or whatever our responses to when those behaviors um potentially continue to occur. Um so alongside these individualized um behavior support plans, we often are um providing individualized social skills instruction um tailored to whatever a specific student might need. So uh repetition, practice, and personalized feedback necessary for them to learn new skills that they might not um have had the opportunity to learn yet in their in their lives
038or to practice and and kind of um utilize on a daily basis. So the the key to tier three is that it's individualized to the student. So what works for one fifth grade boy might not or likely will not work for the one right next to him. It really depends on what the individual student needs. Um these supports require uh significant time and investment from staff and from families. Um but these have shown that students need these supports or our our most struggling students need these supports to be successful and to feel successful um throughout the school day. Um most importantly students who see receive this level of support um is not intended to replace all the wonderful things that are happening at the tier 1 and tier 2 level that this is kind of
039a third supplement to all of the wonderful things um that are already happening in their buildings that are available to other students too. So, um I'm going to talk through um behavior plans just briefly on this. Um so, I think of behavior plans as having really three primary parts. Uh the prevent component or prevention strategies, teaching strategies, and then reinforcement strategies. So um of course we want to identify a student's strengths whether they're academic strengths, behavior strengths, social, what are their preferred interests or what are what are they into and how can we kind of use that to um help us big build a connection and um momentum with them. Um secondly, we're going to want to make sure that we identify clearly and define whatever those target behaviors might be um that we're trying
040to most often reduce. whether it's the frequency of a behavior, uh the intensity perhaps, um the duration or how long those behaviors are are lasting. Um being really intentional about how we're measuring those um so that anyone could walk in and be able to measure it equally. Um, so those I mean behavior and we've probably written a behavior plan for it. Whether it's um you know blurting out during instruction, um refusing to do work, uh verbal aggression, physical aggression, eating non-food items. I mean any anything and everything we've probably somehow put in a behavior plan at some point. So, um, making sure that we identify those and then also collecting data around the function of those behaviors. Um, in what context do those occur? Um, what happens afterwards? Um, that's reinforcing that behavior potentially to
041continue. Um, so really behavior again is communication. Why do they continue to engage in in X behavior? They're getting some need met because they keep doing it. Um, so how can we, you know, help support them and find a better way to get those needs met, uh, more pro-socially, I guess. Um, so, um, in the prevention kind of area, I I think of it in kind of two ways. One, there are some things that are just out of our control. A student misses, um, breakfast in the morning or their medication or there's a conflict on the bus that never happens. Um, but what can we do to kind of neutralize those events out of our control? Whether it's, you know, they always eat breakfast at school now or we have sometimes they keep their medication
042at school so we know that there's not going to miss it if they need to or um they start um their day in kind of a quieter, smaller environment to kind of ease slowly into the day rather than like starting with algebra or phonics or something that's probably not the most um fun for them. So one neutralizing those things that are out of our control um and then also shaping our environment um and what's in our control to reduce the likelihood that we trigger that behavior um so that doesn't you know is less likely to occur. So you know one kid might hate when you give him 800 math problems like okay maybe don't give him 800 at a time give him five and then build from there. um what can we do both physically
043in the environment to set it up, but also our instructional approach. How can we make it less likely that the student needs to engage in that behavior to communicate what they're intending? Um secondly, the teach component. Um we're going to be teaching lots of things like they've been talking about, but one specifically teaching those replacement behaviors. do you know a the short version is do this instead of that and you'll get the same thing but in a more socially appropriate way. Um so teaching those very explicitly um for example if a kid you know again math I use that a lot that kids don't like math sometimes um but they they walk out of class because they're was a math teacher so what Mr. Oh, I'm so sorry. You were a math teacher. That is
044hard. Um, you know, they walk out of the room because they're, you know, they don't want to do the work or they need help and they don't know how to ask for it. Well, we got to figure out why they're walking out of the room so that we can teach them a better way to either ask for help, ask for a break or time away or, you know, whatever they may need in that situation. Um, also identifying and supporting maybe some underdeveloped skills that I think oftentimes we take for granted that we might have like um, you know, conflict resolution or clear communication or active listening. Sometimes we might just assume that all students have those skills or have been taught or modeled those skills throughout their life. Um, so making sure that we're identifying
045and targeting maybe those underdeveloped skills kind of in tandem with teaching those replacement behaviors. Um, and then lastly, well, not lastly, but the third kind of big component is that reinforcement section. What are we doing to positively and positively reinforce those replacement behaviors or those, you know, desired behaviors that we're teaching? And how are we responding when those target behaviors that we're trying to decrease perhaps? How are we responding to that in a consistent manner across staff members, across time of day? Um, making sure that we're very clear in what our responses are to whatever gets thrown at us. Um, so those are really the the the big three areas of behavior plans. Um, and then I want to just briefly touch on that social skills instruction. Um those are kind of the five big
046areas that a a social, you know, and skills group might be working on. Whether it's um recognizing and regulating emotions, um understanding other people's perspective, um building um you know, appropriate relationships with one another, social norms, all of those sorts of things kind of fall within one of those big kind of domain areas. um making sure that we are teaching these explicitly to our kids and not just assuming that they know it. Um modeling it for them, you know, playing um some role playinging, practicing those situations and then, you know, getting them in those situations and providing feedback, you know, what went well, what can we do next time, um that sort of thing. So, that's kind of the the gist of it. It's very individualized. You'll see to what the student needs. It takes
047a lot of um I'm lucky enough to be on a lot of those teams and it's really cool when you get to kind of fade all of those supports because they're making great progress. Um it's wonderful when that happens. So, thank you. >> Okay, thank you for listening. I wonder what questions you might have or any of our great presenters. >> I know you mentioned working with Griffin Place. How are you letting parents know when a child is working with Griffin Place? >> Really depends on the situation. Um sometimes students will come to us independently and ask if they can be referred. Um, sometimes it'll be a suggestion, but it's always our aim to reach out to our families and know if it's a conflict situation to communicate with our families to make sure that
048they are aware. Um, no student is required. Uh, one of the pra one of the components of restorative practices is always by invitation. Um, so no student is required to participate in those conflict resolution strategies. a forced apology isn't part of repairing community. Um, it's inauthentic and so that authenticity is a a large part of what we're doing and we want to keep our families uh involved especially when it is a conflict laden situation. We want to make sure that the student and their families feel supported in those in those measures. Okay. Okay, just a quick observation. Um, the three Rs I've always thought were really important, but the older I get, the more appreciation I have for social skills and just how crucial they are. So, really appreciate this work and hearing this presentation.
049>> Thank you. >> It just sounds like you guys have to have your fingers everywhere all the time. And I'm wondering what kind of strategies and other support people you have in your buildings that help with that. >> Who wants to touch on that? At the elementary level, we have school psychologists and engagement specialists. Engagement specialists are primarily working with tier one and two. Psychologists are covering two and three. Um at the uh middle school level, we have our counselors. Again, school psychologists there. I would say it's probably about the same kind of situation with counselors covering one and two. Um, and same thing at the high schools. >> Student success coordinator. >> Oh, and we have student success coordinators who also support tier three level behaviors. So, they will we have a student exhibiting
050really challenging behaviors and work with the team to create those behavior plans as well. Thank you. >> Can I can I add something? Um, when it comes to any level of support, universal supports, tier 2, tier three, sometimes that can include anyone on our school teams from our custodial staff to our school secretaries who are in integral um to the intake of a student when they are having a bad day. Um, they're among the first people that a student will come across and then getting that student connected to the multid-disciplinary team is is huge. So, I just want to make sure that I recognize all of our staff members who are a part of that process. And I'm sure you must have a hand a number of pair professionals that are in the buildings and
051keeping tabs on student needs. Yes. >> And just a piece you said something about this is not time bound. Uh in your presentation, can you just give us a snippet about what you what you meant about that? >> So if you noticed one of our slides, you'll see an arrow going up and down. It's more of a continuum of services. So when you're looking at tier one, you know, that's available all students receiving all of that and it es and flows based on what the students need. Um many times at the elementary you may do um retach lessons for the whole team or the whole school, come back from break, kids tend to forget. And so we have to do lots of reminders. So we it's a it's a kind of a cohesive kind of
052um plan. And then some students may need to be and I think Bailey mentioned have some very individualized instruction around some social skills. Um but once they learn them, they start applying them and they don't need that necessarily that level. But it can go back and forth. They may have some things in elementary and then in middle school times change and now they're back in high school and they may need some additional support. So you can't start and stop. It's not a definitive we've got it, we're done, we can check it off. It's more of that supports throughout their educational journey just like in academics. >> That does that answer? >> Yes. Thank you. >> Well, we really appreciate you coming here after working all day and presenting this information to us. It's very valuable
053information for the board to have and we haven't had a refresher on this in quite a while. I mean, some of us, you know, remember No Child Left Behind and now we're on the whole child and it's it's really amazing all the work that has has gone into that. Um, we have a moni a monitoring report that we get on one of our ends, resilience and life and includes the social emotional uh components and um those monitoring reports don't make it come alive like you folks did tonight. So, uh, we really appreciate you coming here and, uh, sharing what you do and thank you for all you do. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we'll move on to comments by uh, citizens. Does anybody wish to address the board this evening? >>
054Okay. Yes, we have one speaker tonight, Colin Thea Bold. Welcome, sir. >> Hello. >> Uh, really quickly, I would like to give the board a photograph for context. Am I allowed to do that? >> Certainly. >> Yes. And you are more than welcome to pass it among yourselves, but it is quite important for what I'm speaking about. So, thank you very much. >> And we'd like a copy of your comments, too. >> Oh, yes, of course. I have it. >> Great. So, good evening, esteemed board members. I come to you hoping for a resolution on a problem that has been a nuisance for months. This image is a layout of a dropoff lane for the high school. You see, I am a student here at Port Central High School. I am a sophomore. And basically,
055the red area is where parents are stopping. The green area is left entirely absent of vehicles. The yellow area is backed up all the way to the intersection. And the blue area is where the cars turn left into the school, but can't due to the backdub traffic. I could arrive at the blue part 10 minutes before school starts and still not get into the building until 7:35 or after. I find it absurd how the blue line can only get two to three cars in at a time with the most right of way with the green arrow. We should tell parents to drop their students off at their respective drop off locations. kind of a middle school student uh must be dropped off in the picture of the line I gave you. Uh they can pull
056way past the green location and to the right and be dropped off just like every other high school student. You see, typically where uh you see, typically the students dropped off at this corner are middle school students, despite the fact that they mostly consist of having their own respective drop off lane over near the middle school. And I am aware that some high school students do end up getting dropped off over there. So I think we should enforce more um proper uh division so middle school students stay in their lane and high school students stay in theirs. And uh particularly considering that every student I see dropped off at that corner is a middle schooler. Could their parents pull forward and have their student dropped off in the normal high school dropoff sector? Uh, by
057keeping this constant flow of traffic, cars won't be trapped in the intersection, accidents will be preventable, and morning traffic will move a whole lot smoother. I propose we put up signs saying potentially, "No student drop off here. Please pull forward." If you have any further questions about this matter or if you need clarifications, please reach out to me at Colin Theoabaldageps.org. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you for speaking this evening. We appreciate that. Um, as I understand it, you've reached out to administration on this. >> Yes, I have before. >> Okay. All right. Very good. Well, thank you very much. And we have copies of everything, right? >> I'll email it to you, too. >> Okay. Okay. Great. Thank you, Colin. >> Uh, we'll move on to comments by board trustees. >> Colin,
058thank you for sharing. >> Yes. before Ka leaves. It's It's always special when a student uh participates in public comment. >> Thank you. Great evening everybody. >> Any trustee comments? >> It's refreshing when students recognize that these are issues and that in my estimation most of the time it's the parents that are refusing to move. not the students who are objecting to being dropped off wherever they're dropped off. So >> I believe that there are signs there that I have seen when dropping off my daughter repeatedly and they're not followed. >> I just comment I want to um kudos to Portage Northern Drama Department and Central drama and music department. >> I was able to do two shows this weekend and they were really enjoyable and a good break from Anything else? >> I just
059want to remind everybody that uh there's an open house tomorrow night from 5:00 to 7:30 at the Career Connect campus on the corner of Sprinkle Road and Van Rick Drive. And everything in the news lately says the future indicates more bluecollar than white collar positions becoming available in the future. And if there's anyone interested in the things that uh career connect campus can provide uh please take advantage of that opportunity. And uh >> can I add to that? >> Yes, you can. >> My daughter attends there this year. The programs are phenomenal. Um the responses of teachers and support staff to individual student needs are incredible, above and beyond. and I highly recommend people attending to check it out. >> Thank you. Are there any board committee reports? >> Oh, Mr. President, um I'll give
060a quick report from the owner linkage committee. We met last Friday. Um we had we had one idea we'd like to present to the full board. Uh perhaps if we had five or 10 minutes at our next retreat and that would be um in linking with the community better, linking with with our owners better. um trying some uh board community coffees where we might stay at at some site perhaps the senior center uh where we could be available in maybe two or three of us with just open times for people to drop in. So anyway, just planting the seed and hope we get a chance to um talk about that next month at a retreat. >> I like it. >> Thank you, Paul. Anyone else? Okay, we'll move to page six, the consent agenda. All
061we have to approve tonight is minutes. minutes from the January 26th, 2026 policy governance retreat and the regular business meeting. Are there any exceptions to the consent agenda as presented? Hearing none, the consent agenda is approved and we'll go to our first monitoring report under assurance of district performance on page 12. Thank you, President Van Anto public school board of education monitoring report um related to our in policy 1.5 for those who are not familiar with it talks about students demonstrating good citizenship through ethical behavior and respect for individual differences and cultures other than their own. There is a series of information throughout this report. As always, I'll give you a highle overview and then give you an opportunity to ask any questions if you so desire. Uh, one, we uh spell out some definitions
062related to chronic absenteeism, victims of violent crimes, illegal possession, theft, student attendance, bullying, and expulsion. We tried to align those definitions with Michigan school data or MI school data, which some of you may be familiar with. Uh the other source we used was the national center for educational stat statistics. Related to that there are three sub areas. One being ethical behavior, respect for individual preference, individual differences and respect for cultures other than their own. Uh throughout this report, uh as you heard tonight, we have a strong partnership with Griffin Place and they um they facilitate our restorative circles and and other mediation services. Uh in addition to that, we have two school resource officers. Uh their home base are our two comprehensive high schools, but they essentially split the D the district in half simply
063seven and seven which they're responsible for. We also have a strong worker relationship with Katie with our local police department uh because they help us out in the mornings uh in terms of providing extra oversight for u morning drop offs and the like. You also heard today about our multi-ter systems to support PBIS by this fine group. Later in the report is a reference to our coordinator of school uh mental health initiatives, Maryanne uh who's done an outstanding job for us coming from uh outside of the uh school circles but now with us the last couple of years has been a great addition to our ESI department. Moving over to page 17 of the board packet. These are just some examples. These are not all of them of some of the things we do related
064to those three areas we talked about. Everything from voter registration drives to bread lifts. Uh we've gotten a lot of notable publicity around our kindness that our students share with breadlift specifically uh their service through IB programs, National Honor Society. Uh we have days of kindness, we have anti-bullying assemblies and activities, online digital citizenship classes which is becoming more and more important as our students as you know have access uh to uh lots of content throughout their uh digital space. Um save students against violence everywhere. Uh as you heard throughout PBIS uh our schools teach character traits uh throughout each month. It also is their schoolwide PBIS practices that was also referenced in today's presentation. pages 18 through 24 uh4 uh is a series of graphs which I will not bore you but they talk
065about how we relate to u uh the state as it relates to chronic absenteeism attendance um victims of violence um we also talked about students involved in certain incidents um as you can see in some cases we follow state trends and in other many cases our data um is better than our state averages as well. Um moving on to page 25 we talk about respect for individual differences. We have a number of programs throughout our district link crew at the high school level is an opportunity where our juniors and our seniors mentor freshmen as they transition to high school. A little below that is middle school web where everyone belongs where primarily our eighth graders uh pay it forward and they mentor sixth graders as they transition to the middle school level. Other programs like
066girls on the run at the elementary level. Battle of the books which I believe is starting round one tonight. Uh robotics club, student councils, Sherman Lake camps for fifth graders. All of these are just some examples that help our students understand respect for individual differences. I also want to just conclude with uh some further graphs on pages uh 29 and 30 uh where it talks about our diversity in our schools and workforce. As you can see on page 29 as well as 30. Uh so without going through all of this information in uh in its entirety uh it does include black history celebrations, women's history celebration as we know that February is black history month and there's a number of activities going on throughout the district. I was able to be a guest speaker virtually
067for um Morris Bridge Elementary School and I was able to talk to the students for roughly five minutes. Um, I'll be doing a black history presentation at North Middle School at each grade level. Then I also be uh speaking to the students at uh at Northern High related to black history uh this month. So those are just some examples of what we've done now, but I think this is a comprehensive report uh to um meet the expectations related to monitoring 15. I'll be happy to answer any questions that the board may have. I I don't have a question, but I just wanted to highlight that uh some some rating services rate us down on diversity. >> And uh it's interesting when you look at uh ELEL students with Spanish as a primary language. That's over
068a quarter of our students. >> Correct. >> And um our students uh our languages spoken by our students three here trend. I mean we're at 57 different languages. >> That is that's phenomenal. and Teresa Ford and her team uh does a great job. She's uh she does a great job primarily because of the fact that she's able to navigate all of our various families, know their specific individual scenarios and provide the resources for that. We probably need to duplicate or multiply her uh in many ways throughout the district. Uh but hats off to to her uh for leading us in this work as well. I just have a question on the graph on page 21 >> 21. >> Yeah, that's the one on incidents of reported bullying. Um, and we seem to be >> still
069kind of in this upward trend. I know it's only hard to read like 152 students out of >> Yeah. >> 8,000, you know. Um so I I'm just curious like why is there this does the state not follow the same reporting guidelines that we do? >> Yeah. So uh Dr. Pasco will do a more indepth he does every June I believe he does a more indepth report related to the bullying and he's not here tonight so I don't want to speak for him as well but we do take it serious uh in our district and um you know that definition around bullying across the state may not be as uniform that's >> so not to say that they don't take it serious they may just not you know individual schools are over 500 plus school
070districts every scenario just may not one district may call something bullying another district may not determine that it rises to that level so it's not uniformity on how every person identify it >> that's what I thought because we certainly have a number of programs within our schools that are addressing that issue >> correct >> so that question thank you >> thank you when he gives that report I'm always amazed at how many of those students are repeat offenders it's the same students you know >> yeah Any other questions? >> Any other questions for Johnny? >> Well, that is a great minor report. I think we should approve it. There is a motion, please, on page 12. Mr. >> President, I move that the board of education accept monitoring report 1.5 ends as a reasonable interpretation
071and evidence of compliance with policy. >> Thanks, Mark. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Terry. All those in favor of approving the monitoring report, please say I. I opposed. Uh the monitoring report is approved and we'll now go to our next one. Monitoring report 2.4 financial planning and budgeting. >> All right. Monitoring report 2.4. Uh this global uh global board policy talks about our financial planning uh shall not deviate from the board's ends priority. We should not risk any fiscal jeopardy or fail to derive from a multi-year plan. I want to highlight a few areas of monitoring report 2.4 for for the board's uh knowledge and be happy to answer questions. Uh so 241 talks about not putting the organization at risk uh in those situations or or conditions that described as
072unacceptable by board policy. Uh in my interpretation uh we make sure our fund balance is not below 7% and the board will hear a little bit more about our fund balance and other things momentarily. We do not borrow any money from any outside sources. We meet payroll obligations as well as all of our bills with our various vendors. Uh 242 talks about not developing a budget without conducting a formal process uh for planning. And so part of our planning includes obviously our uh enrollment projections as they are forecasted but also we do at least two uh amendments uh to the budget. So we bring that information to the board. So the board is apprised of our financial standings uh at least twice uh February and June. Moving further down to 2.43 43. Um that talks
073about spec the specificity around the fund balance not falling below 7%. Uh the board uh received a budget report the 2526 that said that we perceive that our end of the year fund balance for this year would be approximately 15% which is more than double the minimum there. uh 244 talks about shall not develop a budget without employing credible projections of revenues uh and expenditures. There's a number of organizations that our team looks at uh for guidance that includes but not limited to our House and Senate fiscal agencies, our U Michigan school business officials, MASA, MAISA, as well as the governor's office. And as we're going through our various um uh reporting mechanisms, uh our team uh and you'll hear more from Paul and Sammy later, but our team is following the news quite closely.
074They're attached to webinars that are sponsored by these various organizations and they lean on the state guidance to make sound fiscal decisions. Within that, we have different funds. We have our general operating fund. We're fortunate to have a food service fund um building and sightseeking fund as well as a debt retirement fund. That's a high level overview of our financial planning and budgeting of our many things in our organizations both academically and the arts. uh our fiscal responsibility I would also echo is quite strong and I'm confident in the team we have and the board's confidence in us and the decisions we've made financially uh to be a model this in this area. So that concludes my report for 2.4 but I'll be happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions? >> Johnny I think
075you hit them all. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. Great report. There's a motion, please, on page 32. >> Mr. President, I move that the board of education accept monitoring report 2.4, financial planning, budgeting, as a reasonable interpretation and evidence of compliance with policy. >> Thank you, Terry. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you. Thank you. All those in favor of approving monitoring report 2.4, please say I. >> I oppose. monitoring report is approved and we'll now move to our first discussion item on page 39 which concerns the MASB board of directors election. Um at our next meeting we're going to be asked to choose uh someone to uh be on the MASB board of directors for region six. Um Pamela Dickinson uh is the um president-elect of the MASB board of directors and
076um she is also the president of the Comtock School Board. Um when she was uh promoted to uh president-elect, Charlie Fulbright, the president of the Battle Creek School Board was appointed. Um Elizabeth Odell from St. Joseph ISD is the incumbent. she served for a year. And we also have Tiana Harrison, president of the Kazoo Public Schools Board, running for this single seat as well. So, our next meeting, we'll have to choose who we want to support. Um, it seems like we would want to support one of our own in Kazoo County, but uh we'll leave that till uh our next meeting. Any questions, comments? All right. All right. We saved the best for last. the 202526 budget. It's the Paula and Sammy show. >> Good evening, Board of Education and Superintendent Edwards. Tonight, Sammy Stevens
077and myself will present to you highlights from the first budget amendment for the 2526 school year. I just want to take a moment and reflect back on our budget hearing that we had on June 29th. I realize that was it feels like it was a long time ago to me. I don't know about you, but um we didn't have a state budget. So, we had to put in line certain assumptions like we always do, but because it it was a lot more time frame involved before we actually got a budget. So, we adopted we brought to you a budget uh predicting a $392 foundation allowance increase bringing us to $10,000 per student. And we budgeted on a blended enrollment of 8,541.37 students. This is down approximately 44 students from the previous year. On the expenditure
078side of that preliminary budget, we had to take into consideration unsettled contracts with the custodial maintenance group and we had a financial reopener the teachers uh for the 2526 year. We also uh took a new approach to forecasting our salary costs. Um and we we we developed a way that we could budget based on everybody's individual retirement um election with officer retirement services to try to dial in our expenditures um to to have those come in a little bit tighter. The budget that we brought to the board that you approved had a deficit of $3,147,210. So expenditures exceeded revenues at that time by that amount. We went all summer long and the state almost shut down and the beginning of October on the 7th, Governor Whitmer signed our state aid package for this year. Our
079foundation allowance increase ended up being $442 a student funded at $10,050 a student. Um, some of the categoricals still continued. Uh the 22L transportation funding continued, pre free pre-re and lunch continued. Um they reenacted the declining enrollment categorical, which is the 296 categorical for the enrollment stabilization funding, but they did they did shovel around or shift around a few of the retirement categoricals. We we received several different about four different categoricals of for retirement revenue funding through our state aid status report. Bay eliminated one of them alto together, the 147A1 funding, which was about $632,000 for the district, but they implemented a one-time replacement of 27 um L4 and we received $850,000 from that. But I'm concerned if that's going to carry forward because they were reusing um unu they were reusing repurposing funds that
080weren't spent from a prior categorical. So in our enrollment stabilization uh the the 296 came in at 148,000. So this next slide just gives you a a quick snapshot of what has happened to our blended enrollment that we are funded on through our stadium status report starting with the 1920 school year. How we're trending downward. We did bump up slightly in the 22 23 school year, but we we held pretty steady 23 24 25, but we dipped down a little bit more in 2526. So, um coming into the amendment, uh of course we're going to come back and we're going to we're going to touch that enrollment number. um we came within two FTE 1.77 FTE of the predicted enrollment number. So we came very close to hitting our target. Um we adjusted those categoricals
081that came through on the state aid budget and we um adjusted for property tax adjustments because as property tax values increase the um the state gives us less because they they work themselves out. It's kind of like a teeter totter effect. We also adjusted our federal funds to account for um our carryover and I had to adjust the countywide enhancement mill slightly. Um this next slide is a visual of the revenues. Uh we have one of these for uh every budget amendment and a preliminary. It really just lays it all out for us. Um revenues are projected to be up just over $1.87 87 million from the preliminary budget. Uh there were minimal increases across all the categories when you look at the preliminary budget till now. Um local sources were up primarily due to
082property taxes and uh gate receipts as Paula had mentioned with the property taxes. State sources uh that revenue category is a pretty fluid throughout the year just due to some of the adjustments that the state does. Uh like as Paula had previously mentioned, you know, some of the stuff with retirement is adjusted quarterly. So, we've taken a little bit of a different approach this time around for those as well. Um but our projections have been adjusted to reflect more accurate data since that preliminary budget and we are still seeing a slight increase of $1.1 million in the state sources. Um and that also continues to make up the largest portion of our uh revenue budget. uh federal sources like Paula had mentioned our title allocations were adjusted to actual plus including our carryover um that
083is much smaller than it has been in years past just because that esser funding has sunseted and has been sunseted for just over a year now. Um the incoming transfers and other revenue sources are definitely up from preliminary budget. Uh that is primarily due to insurance reimbursements to help with cost offset of uh re uh repairs that we've had to make whether that be to buses or um due to the fire here at Central High uh last spring. Um but there's also revenue in there from bus sales from late in 2025. As for the expenses for the budget amendment, uh this amendment reflects several updates. Since the pre preliminary budget, we were able to uh finalize the custodial maintenance and the financial reopener with the pea. So, those are those adjustments are made in this
084uh amendment as well. Uh we've adjusted operational costs for current trends. As you know, we've had a really tough winter so far. So, some of our expenses regarding upkeep of the district are definitely up um compared to previous years. Um and we're learning these new trends uh by bringing these new buildings online and um figuring out like where you know the electricity might sit or gas or water or um custodial supplies might sit. So just kind of learning a new trend there as well and bringing that into uh the budget amendment for us. Uh we've adjusted the insurance increases and changes. Um we've had all of the schools use their use their carryover funds that they receive uh that 25% or um you know as athletics they have that amount that they can carry over
085from year to year. Um they have all used that this year and that is almost $590,000 worth of um expenses that have been brought into or budget that has been brought into the general fund. That all comes from a signed fund balance. Um and then we also have added in 2425 carryover from state and federal federal funding. This next one is the visual of uh expenses. Our total expect uh projected expenses for 2526 as of right now are expected to be 128,662,868. Um that's an increase of about $2.6 6 million from the preliminary budget. Uh salaries and benefits, as we are aware, are the biggest piece of our budget, and that directly reflects our investment on instruction, student services, and the day-to-day operations of the district. Uh purchase services and supplies make up the next
086uh largest categories. Um and the significant increases that you will notice between the preliminary budget and this budget are primarily due to the 31A funded projects that we are fortunate to be able to um pursue within the district. Um and as we all know just as I the salaries and fringe benefits you know those that's people is the name of the gang and school finance and so salaries and benefits will always be the biggest portion of our budget and we were talking today and um another thing that we should point out is that purchase service a lot of that is people as well whether that's people um who are providing professional development it is our G RBS contract um those who are plowing the side are plow plowing our uh parking lots. Like there's a
087lot of people that goes into running a school district. This next one is a visual of our budget by function. Um and nearly 60% of these expenses are tied to instructional services and then the remaining costs, support, operations, transportation, student services. Uh each category kind of fluctuated, not by a lot since preliminary. Um, but overall the majority of our expenses are either directly in the classroom or directly supporting our students and the classrooms. This next slide um gives you a visualization of where we ended the 2425 school year once the auditors came in and to prepare the financial statements. Um, at the end of last school year, we ended our the year with unassigned fund balance of $24.8 8 million, which is approximately 20.36% of our expenditures from that year. The amendment that we're bringing
088you tonight, um, if every dollar were to be received and every dollar were to be spent, um, we're showing that we would spend $3.9 million of our fund balance because expenditures exceed revenues by that amount. And then it would drop down our unassigned fund balance to 21.9 million with percentage of 17.09%. 09% of expenditures. Now, granted, this is just a a calculation, a prediction on what it could be. We don't know the final numbers until in the summertime when we're closing out the books for the year for the audit. So, this next slide is just a visual representation of the fund balance for the past six years. Um, we ended 2425 at the 20.3 20.36%. Paula and I, we had um predicted us to end our fund balance at the end of 2425 with a
08917.03% um and we did add to fund balance which we all know um that's an increase of 2.97% from the 23 24 fiscal year. But as Paula has alluded to, we are predicting for our unassigned fund balance to fall by $3.9 million, bringing that fund balance back down to the 17.09%. We would be happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> I think we're lacking that our fund Oh, you got one. Oh, go ahead. >> No, no, I was just going to say good report and really appreciate the kind of the fund balance trending and showing us the big picture. I mean, this is this is the one measure of financial performance that we have embedded in policy. So, appreciate the simplicity and clarity of it. Absolutely. >> I just want to say
090I'm pleased that our fund balance is strong because we got a lot of uncertainty going into the budget and the revenue conference that you reported on last month wasn't real encouraging in terms of budget estimates going down and uh so uh hey thanks for the good job you everybody does in this building taking care of our finances. We appreciate it. >> Any other questions? Well, if there aren't any other questions, we can be adjourned. >> Well, thank you. >> I'll send it to you tomorrow. >> Yeah. Yeah. Send it to me tomorrow. Anyway, the board to endorse this proposal that's going forward when we have time again. I mean,