001Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Hey, Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Hey, hey, hey. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music]
002[music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Hey, [music] hey, hey. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Order. Will we begin the meeting with 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. >> Good evening everyone. Now be completely transparent. This is my first time sitting in this seat. And when you watch other people drive, it looks easy, but when you drive yourself, it tends to be a little bit more difficult. So, give me
003grace, please. Amen. Hallelujah. Um adoption of agenda for regular meeting under the provision of public meeting law of the state of Missouri. The board must admit by roll call vote an agenda that includes the time, date, place, and tenative agenda for the meeting. A copy of the notice of the agenda for this meeting was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, at the administration center, 8855 Dun Road, Hazel, Missouri, online and sent to local newspapers. The recommendation is to adopt the agenda as posted. [snorts] >> Some moved. >> Second. >> Call for the vote. >> [snorts] >> Dr. Thurman, >> yes. >> Dr. Morton, >> yes. >> Miss Maserie, >> yes. >> Secretary Rose, yes. Dr. Bob Walker, >> yes. >> President Tyson, >> yes. And now we'll move to MSBA updates. This portion of the meeting
004is allocated to show a short video from the Missouri Boards Missouri School Board Association to provide a report of current activities and events that may be of interest to the board of members in the community. >> Welcome to the May edition of the Missouri School Boards Association's Board Report. If you're a newly elected board member, welcome aboard. If you've been around a while, this time of year is your chance to keep growing with multiple training opportunities from MSBA's leadership development team. MSBA's leadership development associate executive director, Katherine Haristen, says that new board member training is about more than just fulfilling those training hours. >> So, the first big thing is new board member training. Um, that is something that is legally required. It's in state statute, 18 and a half hours, which is a lot
005of training, but I think that's good. It's really important. Um, it's also a great way to make connections. Um, we are an association for schoolboard members and then also get connected to other school board members who are serving for the first time as well. >> During MSBA summer summit, there will be a workshop just for school board presidents. >> And so during that workshop, we're going to cover parliamentary procedure, which I think is great for anyone who's a new leader or someone who's vice president for the first time looking to be president at some point. Um, just to know how to run meetings because you may have to do it if the president's not there. Um, we're also going to talk about how to onboard new um, board members during the workshop and then also
006just talk about leadership as a board president in general. It's really hard to do that job and I don't think we talk about it enough. >> For all board members, Katherine says that there are some misconceptions about refresher training and when to take that. >> So, there's a common misconception about both kind of new board member training and refresher training that somehow it lines up like with a calendar year or with a school year. Um, but actually refresher training or board required training resets every election, so in April. And so the new new board member training begins now. And so same with refresher training. >> Katherine says that as summer approaches, it's a great time for boards to engage in professional development. >> Um, so districts kind of take the summer off or students get
007the summer off. Um, but teachers actually do professional development, administrators do professional development. I believe schoolboard members should also take the summer to do professional development. And having a summer retreat, I think, is totally valuable, especially if you have a new superintendent. Having that retreat with them in July to set expectations, you're onboarding a new employee. I think that's really important. Um, but also, you may have a new board um or a new board member. And so, getting you guys as tight as you can during the summer when it's a little less stressful will really help you all survive the es and flows of the school year moving forward. >> Visit the MSBA website for dates and times of all the training opportunities that Katherine mentioned. One of those opportunities will be during MSBA's summer
008summit in June. Make plans now to attend June 14th through the 16th back at the Lake of the Ozarks in Oage Beach. This year's summer summit is built around what matters most to Missouri schoolboard members, emerging trends, and the hot topics shaping public education. The summit offers expert-led discussions, 12 concurrent sessions, the awards lunchon, and plenty of time to connect with colleagues from every corner of the state. Also, be sure your board is represented at the June delegate assembly to be held in conjunction with the summer summit. Delegates will be electing MSBA state officers for the coming year at that meeting. You can watch video interviews with the candidates for state office posted on the MSBA website. Registration information for the summer summit is also posted on the website. And finally, MSBA's Center for Education
009Safety held its first Missouri school safety conference recently in St. Louis. The event was built specifically for those at the forefront of school safety, principles, superintendent, school safety coordinators and directors, mental health professionals, first responders, school resource officers, and school board members. They all gathered for this outstanding event, and a huge thank you to all who attended. CES's chief operating officer, John McDonald, said that these conversations are extremely important to have right now. The reality is there's never been a more important time to have the conversation that we're going to have over the next couple days. The challenges facing our schools are complex. They're evolving and uh in too many cases they're becoming unprecedented. >> Malena Deandria spoke on the second day of the conference. Malena is the senior manager of strategic projects in recovery
010and resiliency for Jeffco public schools in Colorado. In that role, she focuses on helping schools and communities navigate the long-term impacts of crisis. Melena emphasized the importance of training and preparation. >> I would ask that you go back to your district and implement, take one thing, if not multiple, and implement them with fidelity. Right? We never know the gift we are giving until the situation happens. But we can always be grateful for the steps we made prior to something bad happening. For more information on upcoming CES training events and other CES resources, visit the MSBA website. That's it for this month. Thanks for allowing us to have some time at your board meeting, and we'll see you in June for the next MSBA board report. And at this time, we have a public moment of
011recognition. Okay. Um, the Ferguson Florison School District acknowledges with deep sorrow the passing. You can't hear me? Okay. Okay, that should be it. Okay. Thank you. The Ferguson Florison School District acknowledges with deep sorrow the passing of Cross Keys Middle School 8th grade student Benta Kai on Friday, May 8th, as well as former board of education director Mrs. Connie Harge, who honorably served the Ferguson Florescent School District Board of Education from 2016 to 2019. Benda was a bright and promising student whose presence made a meaningful impact on her classmates, teachers, and the entire Cross Keys school community. Director Harge dedicated years of service to the students, staff, and families of the district through her leadership and commitment to public education. On behalf of the Ferguson Flores School District, we extend our heartfelt condolences and continued
012prayers to their families, friends, and all those affected by these tremendous losses. their lives, service, and contributions to our school community will be remembered with great respect and admiration. Let's have a moment of silence. >> Thank you. >> And at this time, we'll have public comments. Pursuant to policy BDDH1, public participation at board meetings, the board allocates a portion of each meeting to allow stakeholders the opportunity to comment on agenda items. The board president will read aloud comments that have been submitted in advance. All written comments will be included in the board materials for this evening and may be viewed under public comments. The board may limit the number of comments read aloud based on length or repetition. The total time allocated for in-person public comments shall not exceed 30 minutes. Before the public comment
013period begins, in-person participants are asked to complete a comment card including their name, address, phone number, email address, and topic to be addressed. Speakers will be allowed up to three minutes to present their remarks. Individuals wishing to address the board are asked to speak from the podium, identify themselves, and in keeping with policy BDDH1 and personnel law, refrain from making personally identifiable or negative comments about individuals. While the board will not directly respond to speakers during the public comment portion, the board president may provide brief clarifying marks remarks at the end of the session to correct any misstatement of fact. Following the meeting, Dr. Fields will confer with the leadership team of the Ferguson Florescent School District and assign a staff member to respond to public comments. If a response has not been received within
014five business days, please contact Dr. Fields directly. And just to acknowledge uh again uh we have several here and according to our policy uh any comment or statements should be on agenda items and we have some requests for public comments that are not the agenda items. So we're going to give these to the administration and then we'll follow up with you. Uh, Kim Stradman. [clears throat] Hello everyone. My name is Dr. Kim Stman. Hello. The agenda item I thought that was a new addition. I just had a comment to make. Okay, here goes my three minutes. I would like anybody that has attended a Ferguson Florison school district school please stand up. You've gone to school, high school, elementary. All right. Thank you. Remain standing. Have any of you >> teach in a Ferguson Florison
015school district? You are custodian maintenance bus driver employed by the Ferguson Florison School District. Please stand up. It's getting bigger. I'm looking at my board now. You didn't you, Miss Thurman? Yes, you did. Thank you. All right. Anybody in this room have students as your your children, grandchildren, you have a vested interest in Ferguson Florison School District. Please stand up. Double hands. There you go. I just wanted to make a note that we learn about all of you, right? But all of us who are standing have worked here, gone to school here. We are stakeholders here. And I hope that you hear us because we really care. We're here because we want to be. And a brief point about me, I'm retired. I've been teaching still in our district 36 years. I got to work
016with Dr. Chambers. She was my principal. I'm a math teacher. You bought me out. You gave me $30,000 to leave. I wrote to all of you who were in the board at that time and I still was here because we had no math or science teachers. You offered me a sub job. That's what you did. Yet, I was the only math teacher. I taught geometry, algebra, and eighth grade math on the same eighth grade at Ferguson Middle. Please look at all of us. We're here, okay? We care. We're here because we want to be and I know you have our hearts vested. So, I just wanted to know if you knew who we are. That's it. Thank you. [applause] And again, I thank you. And again, I just want to clarify one more time. And
017I know that there are some that came tonight to speak to the board of education and public. But uh according again to according to our policy BDDH-1 any public comments to the stakeholders and in our meeting from the stakeholders uh are to be comments on the agenda items. So we will be enforcing that policy moving forward. President Tyson, just so you know, our student representative is not here. Priana Beaven certainly wanted to be here. However, she had a soccer game today over at um Hazlewood Central. So, go comments, but she certainly wanted to be here. Wish her well. >> And at this time, we'll have uh Dana with FFNA. There's no more. I'm sorry. My minute. All right. Good evening. Every child in Ferguson Flores deserves a school district that keeps his promises. Tonight, I
018want to share why that promise is in question and what this board can do about it. On April 8th, Dr. Fields told this room, and I quote, "We are pro- teacher. We are pro- union. We are pro-CBA." End of quote. Two weeks later, the board told us the current contract, the one Dr. Fields just praised, would not serve as the foundation for our next agreement, only the table of contents. That is what 50 years of negotiated protections were reduced to. What does this mean? It means that when kids come back in August, their teachers may be working under entirely different conditions. New hires starting fresh, buildings run by interim administrators, a fifth chief financial officer, another reorganization, and no contract language to protect anyone. That contract exists for a reason. It is the promise this
019district made to the teachers and support professionals who show up every day for kids. Without it as the foundation, every protection ever negotiated, every agreement reached can be erased at will. Article 3, section two of our contract says the successor agreement must be built from the current one. In plain terms, you cannot start from scratch. The language says so. and continuity, consistency, and trust for the people in this district depend on it. So here is the question, and it belongs to each of you. When you choose not to uphold the agreements you were elected to protect, where do these teachers, these paraprofessionals, these custodians and cafeteria workers go? On April 22nd, the board approved the reorganization plan without hearing from the people it will affect most. Now, educators throughout this district are hearing the same
020thing. The administration plans to ignore article 12, the section that governs how staff are reassigned and transferred. Teachers are being told their placement will be decided slowly, solely by the chief human resource officer based on certification and district needs, bypassing the process this district already established and already agreed to honor. When agreements get ignored, kids lose. They lose experienced teachers who can no longer count on stability. They lose the tr trust that holds a school together. This board has a choice. Honor the agreements you were elected to uphold or explain to every family in this district why you choose not to. Thank you. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you, Dana. At this time, we'll have a superintendent update. >> Thank you, President Tyson. Good evening, everyone. I'm going to yield over to An Holman. We'll
021get us started with our celebrations and recognitions before we proceed with the third floor forward update. Miss Holman. Good evening, board, Superintendent Dr. Fields, and members of our community. Thanks for giving us a few moments this evening to share some of the district's awards and honors. Tonight's recognitions will look a little different from our usual monthly recognition celebrations. We hold board recognitions quarterly, and this evening's awards and honors portion of the board meeting will highlight a broader collection of recent achievements and distinctions across our schools. When your name is called and you're recognized, please come forward to receive your certificate or your trophy and remain at the front. Once all honores have been recognized, we'll take a group photo to celebrate everyone together. We are going to sp start with our spelling be winners and
022Miss Anderson, I think she is here. There she is. And so we're going to start with our grade level um winners. The third grade winner from Halls Fairy School is Olivia Pitman. [applause] >> Fourth grade winner from Combmes Elementary is Roman Willis. [cheering] [applause] Fifth grade winner is Alana Cheryl from Griffith Intermediate. [applause and cheering] >> Sixth grade winner is Gabrielle Clark from Steam Middle. And I think they have a ceremony um this evening. [applause] Seventh grade winner is William Ralph from Steam Middle. [applause] And our eighth grade winner is Thoren Davidson from Steam. [applause] And our district spelling be championship. Um for fifth grade we have Kylie Smotherson from Combmes. [applause] >> [applause] >> She could not break it. [laughter] [applause] >> So those are three spelling bee champions. First one was Kylie Smotherson
023>> and Gabriel Clark and Aaron Manori. Let's get the picture. [applause] >> All right. And congratulations. Next, we are going to recognize and give a congratulations to our high school wrestlers who made it to the state championship. [applause] >> [applause] >> There are five Steam High wrestlers and two Mccclure High School wrestlers that qualified for the state tournament following strong performances at the district competition. When I call your name, please come forward to pick your certificate up. Dee Higgins, [applause] Dee is not here, but we have Dr. McClendon. He's going to take that award. Terry Anne Gary, [applause] Zakiya Humbles Walls, [applause] Lauren Livers, [applause] Senia Moore, [applause] >> [cheering] [applause] >> Nia Ross [applause] and Warren Kaine. Congratulations to these student athletes and their coaches for a great season. [applause] Next, we would like
024to recognize our 2025 2026 building level teachers of the year. If you're here when I call your name, if you could please come forward. from Bermuda. Rachel Frank [applause] from Central. Patrick Crangle [applause] from Commons Lane. Megan Miller [applause] from Duchine. Robin Small Bryant [applause] from Holman. Jenny Opelt [applause and cheering] from Parker Road. Peter Ruthenberg [applause and cheering] and from Walnut Grove, Nerissa Waller, [applause] Jillian Clasby from Berkeley, [applause] Heather Mandel from Combmes, >> [applause] >> Rebecca Lee from Halls Ferry who's also the district teacher of the year. [applause] [cheering] Sarah Smith from Griffith. [applause] Monica Benolicanin from Lee Hamilton, [applause and cheering] >> Ben Martin from Little Creek, [applause] Jennifer Mites from Mccclure North, [applause and cheering] Tara Gronenberg from Mccclure, >> [cheering] [applause] >> Jennifer Williams from Robinwood. [applause] Patricia Palacer from
025Steam High. [applause] Rhonda Holmes from restoration. [applause and cheering] Christopher Walls from Johnson Wabash. [applause] Michelle Hissing from Wedgewood. [applause] Hi Gardner from Ferguson Middle. [applause and cheering] Arthur Arthur Vanbecketes from Cross Keys [applause] and Hillary Clay from Steam Middle. [cheering] [applause] Thank you. Next, we will move on to our scholarship recipients, and Mr. Bradley Johnson is going to uh present those awards. [applause] The Ferguson Flores School District is excited to support our high school graduates postsecary endeavors. With the generous support of alumni, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and other stakeholders, FFSD is awarding $38,250 in scholarships from named and general scholarship funds. Yeah. Give that a round of applause. Yeah. [applause] I'm going to ask the principal of Mccclure North, Dr. Kaylin Holloway, principal of Mcllora High School. Dr. Iris McClendon, principal of Steam High. Dr.
026Jeff Camper to join me. Come on. Dr. Matt Mooney, the proud senior prince with Mccclure High School. Come on. Yeah. Let's get going with the names. [applause] Our first recipient is uh a recipient of the General and Shirley King scholarship, Jade Oberham from Steam High. [applause] >> [cheering] >> Our second recipient is receiving the Ferguson Florison School District's general scholarship. Kenya Isabel. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Flores School District General Scholarship is Trinity Atkins. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Flores School District General Scholarship is Mariah Richardson. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Flores General Scholarship is McKenzie Mansory. [applause] [cheering] Receiving the Ferguson Flores and General Scholarship is Elijah Sanders. [applause and cheering] Receiving the Ferguson Flores General Scholarship is Malachi Miller. [applause and cheering] Receiving the Ferguson Flores General Scholarship is Evan Tate. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Station
027Business Scholarship is Lola Monzerati. Receiving the Ferguson Flores General Scholarship is Taylor Given. [cheering] Receiving the Ferguson Flores General Scholarship is Shauna Van Tree. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Florison General Scholarship is Noah Strong. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Florison General Scholarship is Jamaica Young. [applause and cheering] Receiving the Ferguson Florison General Scholarship is Cadesia Kai. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Florison General Scholarship is Taylor Moody. [applause and cheering] Receiving the renewable Illanburgger scholarship is Robert Andrew Flick. [cheering and applause] Receiving the Ferguson Florison General Scholarship is Deanna Benz. [applause and cheering] Receiving the Ferguson Florison Scholarship is Jayla Moore. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Florison General Scholarship is Kirsten Young. >> [applause] >> Receiving the Ferguson Flores and General Scholarship is Alyssa Woodward. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson Flores and General Scholarship is Joy Buchanan. [applause] Receiving the Ferguson
028Flores General Scholarship is Alana Walker. [cheering] >> [applause] >> Receiving Mccclure's class of 1968 scholarship is Mai Connor or Micah Connor. Receiving the Ferguson Flores General Scholarship is Jada Gmerson. [applause] Receiving the Johnny Landolf Chevrolet Scholarship is Isaiah Isaac Gates. [applause] Receiving the Johnny Landolf Chevrolet scholarship is Diara Tatum. [cheering] [applause] Receiving the Mccclure High class of 1968 scholarship is Walter Smith. Receiving the class of 1968 scholarship from Mccclure is Aaliyah Baggley. [applause] Receiving the Mccclure class of 1968 scholarship is Demetria Higgins. >> [applause] >> Receiving the Mccclure class of 1968 scholarship is Kobe Knighton. [cheering] [applause] And to round it out, receiving the Mccclure class of 1968 scholarship is Kenyan Smith. [applause] Congratulations to the class of 2026. Please stand and and celebrate these students with us. [applause and cheering] >> [applause] >> You
029got this the gate scholarship [cheering] stuff too. >> Okay, here we go. We have a few more things that we're going to acknowledge tonight. We're proud to recognize students who have earned selection as Gates Millennium Scholar program recipients, one of the nation's most prestigious scholarship honors. The Gates Millennium Scholarship can provide support for the full cost of attendance, helping students pursue their college and career goals with reduced financial burden. In addition to financial assistance, the program also provides mentoring, leadership development, network opportunities, and academic support throughout their collegiate journey. Ferguson Florison School District has two Gates Millennium Awardees, McKenzie Manory and Malachi Miller, who are both graduating from the Steam Academy at Mccclure South Berkeley. [applause] [applause] We are excited when students earn their high school diploma. But imagine earning both the high school diploma
030and an associate degree at the same time. That is the opportunity the Ferguson Flores School District offers to our scholars, but it must be accompanied by hard work. We are excited to recognize one Ferguson Florisonian student, Ammonata Sack of the Steam Academy at McCclure South Berkeley, who will earn an associate in arts from St. Louisis Community College and high school diploma from the Steam Academy at Mccclure South Berkeley on Sunday, May 17th, 2026. Congratulations to Ammonada, who will be advancing her studies in the fall at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. [applause] Any student [cheering] elementary have come up here for >> all students who were recognized this evening, please join us at the front for a quick picture. All students >> spelling B2. Everyone who was recognized tonight >> like you have them come
031around over here. Oh, she got him. She got him. All right, I'm stay And then after >> Let's give it up for our students. [applause and cheering] And if we can have our building level teachers of the year, if you can come forward, we'd like to get your photo. Okay. >> [applause] >> Let's give it up one more time for our staff, our students. We have some fantastic students doing great work because we have fantastic staff. And so, thank you for that. Before we transition over to our third floor forward update, I will give you permission that if you want to leave, but you don't want to come across as rude because you have other things to do, this will be the most appropriate time. We will not take offense to it. So, again, thank
032you for coming out. for the awards and recognitions. And we're going to proceed into the Ferg floor forward update. All right. Good evening again, community, colleagues, board of education, as well as our students. Today's for third floor forward update. We're pretty excited to highlight all three areas. When we speak in terms of third floor forward, more specifically, it is a commitment to immediate strategic steps that I will lead to help our district overcome both current and existing challenges while simultaneously making sure that all learners graduate believing that anything is possible and prepared to realize those possibilities. Those three areas of the third floor forward um goals are create a new future together, expand community partnerships with intentionality and maximize every resource for learning. I am going to focus on the first area and then subsequently
033go through the other areas. The first of which is as we continue with creating a new future together. That is not possible without the work of a lot of individuals but also as a collective our staff as well as our community. We will have our final advisory group meeting on Thursday, next Thursday, May the 21st here at this particular building at se at 6 p.m. That agenda will include what are the next steps for Proposition S as well as the 2728 school year restructure. And so again, it's not too late to sign up. If you sign up formally through the QR code, that'll be great. And if it's a last minute thing, please, we welcome all staff as well as community members as we continue to create a new future together. As we go to
034goal area number two, which is to expand community partnerships with intentionality. Most of the time when I say football, you all may or may think I'm talking about the NFL, but in this particular case when I say football, I am talking about soccer. Do we have representatives here from um City SC soccer tonight? Can you all help me greet our community partners? We are so excited. [applause] You all can work with any school system you would like, but you're working with us and we truly appreciate that. And so it is an honor to talk about, in this case, highlighting a community partnership with City SC as it relates to our PE classes and it's at no cost to our schools. Now, a little bit more um about this program that we are excited about. It
035is an exclusive one an inclusive oneweek unit of soccer foundations led by city future coaches. Um our students and staff can also redeem two city 2 tickets for select 2026 matches. And when we talk about having partners come in, they're not just coming in to do things. It is in alignment with the goals that we certainly aspire. And you will see that our students will learn not only teamwork, communication, goal setting, but emotional regulation, and last but certainly not least, confidence and leadership. The area that is not stated is more so a love for soccer and the skill set that comes with that. As I stated tonight, our student representative, Pria Bevanu, was not here. She was at a soccer match and I had a chance to stop by and they were having a lot
036of fun. And so with that, we want to teach our students life skills and we know it requires partners. So thank you so much again for being a partner of the Ferguson Florison School District. We're lucky to partner with you. As we continue with the partnerships, we also have a partnership with Washington University, the Institute for School Partnerships. Although I highlighted this, I wanted to bring up not only brief one, but brief two, which I'll speak to momentarily. But if you're just joining us, to support our 2728 restructuring review, the Ferguson Florison School District is partnering with Washington University St. Louis Institute for School Partnership to provide independent research and policy analysis connected to grade configuration, student transitions, and district restructuring. Last um time we were together, I talked about brief one and that spoke
037to student outcomes. The research was pretty clear as it relates to the various transitions. Well, tonight um community and board of education as well as colleagues, I introduced brief number two. And in this particular brief, what we learn is that support for transition starts now. Disruption begins at the announcement. So that would have been I believe the last time we were together, not on the movein day. And so that will continue. The research is clear two to three years after the official transition. And so what we want to do is co-create new school identities rather than asking communities to assimilate being intentional having community building before, during, and after the move. I do want to thank the staffs who are most um impacted because I had an opportunity to go and speak with those staff,
038have conversations, get that level of feedback. The research is pretty clear and so that's not a one-time opportunity to engage with staff and hear from them before the actual board of education had a chance to accept the recommendation for the restructuring, but also during as well as after. Brief two from Washington University Institute of School Partnership speaks to engaging families genuinely. Also go to the neighborhoods, ask real questions, follow through transparently. The research supports that support for principles with their peer learning communities and acknowledgment of dual role that they carry Paul's non-essential initiatives. And so one of the things that I've learned um in this first year and we will certainly continue with that. It's not how many things we're doing. It's more so what is absolutely necessary. Those that I've worked closest with often
039hear me refer to this as priority of the priority. And so this um second to last item speaks to pausing any non-essential initiatives for not only next school year but the subsequent school year. And so we're looking at that as we make sure implementation of the restructuring is certainly effective as well as something that will benefit our district for a long time. Last, but certainly not least, individualized transition planning for students with IEPs is absolutely essential. And so, while we can assume these data points are accurate, what we know is that the data is actually clear when it comes to us transitioning, we can't just adopt a transition. We have to go through elements. And so, the last brief that we will have that will be presented at our next board meeting, it speaks to
040the operational considerations. We are going to be successful in part because of our partners that we have, but also we dive into the literature, have feedback from those most impacted, and continue to revamp and strengthen the various areas that we have. Bless you. The last area that I'll speak to, and I'm going to need some assistance um here in a moment, it speaks to maximizing every resource for learning. And so, as the community and board of education are aware, when we talk about the summer of 2026, that budget was adopted for the 2526 budget. And so, we did not have summer school for the Ferguson Florison School District in the summer of 26. In our initial preliminary budget, we do have it in the budget moving forward. However, that is not until June um or
041summer of 2027. that does not mean we're not going to partner with our community to provide offerings for our students. And so we believe this is essential to continuing the teaching and learning that will take place. And so I would like to introduce um Shemica Green who's going to talk briefly about just some of those summer learning opportunities. Afterwards, Board of Education, I will yield over to President Tyson for any questions. Good evening to the board of education staff, students, parents, and community. I am happy to be at the podium to talk about summer learning. So, while we will not have district-wide uh traditional summer school, we wanted to ensure we provided families with opportunities for students to engage in learning all summer. So, this is a list of opportunities and partnerships that we will
042detail in the following slides. The CNI department will be hosting a one-day summer learning event. Um, it will be held on June 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. right here at the administration center campus. What you can expect from this particular learning opportunity is interactive learning stations, subject-based activities, giveaways, snacks, and more. Each of these content areas will be represented at the extravaganza, including technology, CTE, and college and career readiness. Instructional technology is hosting several activi activities this summer. one of which is coding and robotics. This opportunity is geared towards students in grades three through five. This tech opportunity is a fun way for students to sharpen their creative and problem solving skills. There were 50 spots total, but there are only 25 that are still available. So, if you are interested in signing
043your child up, please see your child's building principal. Another tech opportunity uh comes through earn a bike with STL Bike Works. This opportunity is also geared towards students in grades three through five. They complete six 2-hour uh classes focused on safety maintenance and teamwork. They earn a bike and safety equipment at the end. There were 24 spots for this particular opportunity, but it is currently full and weight listed. This next opportunity is particularly exciting for us in the technology and CNI department because it is a hometoschool connection through choice boards. So students can access fun interactive learning experiences from home ranging from virtual field trips to exposure to career exp uh exploration. We will be posting this on the web page and sending out emails through communications regarding access to these opportunities. This is just
044a still image of what families and parents will see once they get into the choice boards. And as you can see, there's a variety of opportunities for students to learn about different topics. And at the June 6 summer learning extravaganza, we're going to do a live demonstration to support parents with navigating the choice boards. College and Career Readiness will be offering some summer learning opportunities. One of which is ACT prep focused. We are partnering with uh top tutors. There be they will be providing a six to 8 week ACT prep program for 30 rising 11th and 12th grade students. This opportunity is designed to boost composite scores. There are opportunities still available, so please check your emails for details. Another college and career readiness summer learning opportunity is the dual enrollment early college seminar. This
045opportunity is for rising 11th and 12th grade students. It is designed to prepare them for success as dual enroll students at the Florison Valley Community College and High School. There are 75 spots and spaces are still available. So, please check your email for that. The Prime program, it will be located on the campus of Wu University. There are 10 FFSD students that will engage in virtual tutoring and be exposed to a variety of health care settings and health care professionals. This opportunity is currently full. We will also be offering credit recovery this summer. It will be held asynchronously and it's geared towards 11th and 12th grade students who are credit deficient. and it's designed to support and help those students to obtain a high school diploma. There are some fine arts, at least one fine
046arts summer learning opportunity. Summer music camp. It's geared towards students in grades 6 through 12 interested in instrumental and vocal music. There are 120 spots and registration will be open soon. Special School District will be having their ESY this summer. It is geared towards students who receive sped services to promote skill retention over the summer. And those locations are McCord North High School and Berkeley Intermediate School. We have a few specific community partnerships that we're going to share tonight. One is the newspaper in education STEM cap. In partnership with the St. Louis American, students in grades 5 through 8 will engage in a hands-on and field-based learning at the Little Creek Nature Area. If you want more information on this opportunity, please visit the St. Louis American website. The Challenger Learning Center is also offering
047summer camps. They are offering eight I mean sorry they're offering six different summer camps with hands-on minds on experiences ranging from mission simulations to drone exploration. There are 10 scholarships available for two specific camps that begin on June 1st. One of the camps is astronaut training camp and the other one is drone explorer camp. So you can apply by contacting the challenger center via phone. So we hope that students are able to access and engage in as many opportunities as possible as we continue to encourage, promote, and scream the theme of learning all summer. >> Again, thank you so much, Miss Green, for not only your words, but your leadership. I will yield over to President Tyson to see if there are any questions. Board of Education. >> I don't necessarily have a question, but
048I just wanted to make the comment that I really appreciate the effort that has gone into um just trying to find opportunities for our kids for enrichment this summer. Um because it's not something it's not the it's the kind of thing you would hope someone would do, but it's not the kind of thing, you know, that had to be done. So, I just appreciate that we have leaders on board who are looking at it in that way. >> Appreciate you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. And it also um that also brought up the idea that this list is not all inclusive. So if we have community partners who are watching or even individuals in the audience now who would like to partner with the district, we want our kids to be
049successful. We understand that it requires opportunities not just during the school year but also during the summer. So again, please, this is a ple out for our community. It really does take a village. If you would like to partner with us to provide offerings for our students, please be in touch. And I'd have another meeting with Miss Green as well. So that list should get longer. So thank you for that. >> All righty. There's no other questions. We'll move we will move to our consent agenda. The items listed under the consent agenda have undergone board subcommittee review. Documentation concerning these items has been provided to to all board members in the public in advance to assure a thorough review. The consent agenda is voted upon in its entirety. Any board member may may ask to
050have any item of consent agenda removed to be voted on separately. So our recommendation this evening is to consent agenda to be approved as posted. >> Some moved. Second >> comfortable. All in favor? >> I >> All oppose. Any abstensions? All right, it passes. Hey, Dr. Chance. Uh, so we'll now go to the dispersement. >> All right. Good evening, Board of Education, Dr. Fields, >> administration, and community members. Tonight, I will be presenting the dispersements report for the month of March 2026. The mission of the Ferguson Florison School Districts is to provide highquality instruction to every student in every neighborhood while prioritizing equity and compassionate relationships. The vision of Ferguson Florison School District is for all learners to graduate believing that anything is possible and prepared to realize those possibilities. For the month of March
0512026, payroll was 7,884,168. Operational dispersements were 1,889,319 for a total monthly expense of $9,773,487. So this is a chart of the descriptions of the four funds used in the budgetary process. The revenue totals for March of 2026 uh current revenue for uh is19,221,49 which represents 70 79% of the overall budget. Uh you will see a variance of 121% in the capital fund for revenues. This is due to a few different um revenues that come in better than um budgeted. That includes current taxes, Eminem tax, interest, and also earlier in the year. You may recall that we had some unexpected SR3 revenue. And this is a graphic representation of the uh budget versus the actual revenue expenditure totals for the month of March. The uh the year-to-ate expense is 13,214,451 with an available budget of $54,129,244
052which represents 65.6% of the budget. This graph compares the budget by fund, the actual expenditures to date, and the available budget. These are the descriptions of the six object categories used in the budgetary process. Okay. For salaries for the month of March, year-to- date expense is $55,337,620. Available budget is $34,77,731 for a total of 62% of the overall budget for benefits. Year-to- date expense 20,79,387. Available budget $10,56,10. And the percent used to date out of the budget 66%. Purchase services year-to- date expense is 14,343,489 with an available budget of 1,500,853 which represents 91% of the overall budget. So there you will also see uh a variance that's over 100%. Uh what that relates to is um there were expenses build in June of 2025 last fiscal year for SSD instructional services which weren't paid until
053July of 2025. So that expanse actually crossed over and went into the next fiscal year. So that's why there's that overage for supplies 6,13,543 as of March. Uh the available budget is $2,675,657 for an overall budget percent use of 70%. capital outlay. Uh to date, 2,189,51 have been used with an available budget of $2,880,999 for a uh budget percentage of 43%. Long and short-term debt. Year-to- date expense $5,160,911. Available budget 2,487,994 which represents 67% of the overall budget. So, these are the uh year-to-date county tax receipts compared to the prior year. As you see down in the very bottom right corner, uh we are up almost uh $5.7 million through April as compared to the prior year. That's the end of the dispersement report. We ask for approval of the report. >> Can I have
054a motion? >> Some move. >> Second. >> Any discussion or question? Okay, I do have two. No, actually I have three. Um, you had mentioned that one of the reasons for the overage was for expenses that were incurred last year that were paid this year. Do we anticipate that happening again? No, I have been working to try to make sure that we get invoiced from SSD in a good enough early enough time so that that crossover does not happen this year. >> Okay. And then also on one of the earlier slides there was mentioning of U Mckin Vento and how that's looking. Where are we looking with that? I mean because I know early on we were >> right >> struggling to get our money. I know support services has been working yeah very diligently
055on that particular issue. Um we are paying our bills. Um but we have some delinquencies in some other school districts and we are reaching out we've reached out to Desi. We've reached out to the school districts themselves to try to get the funds that we've invoiced so far. So yes is an ongoing process. And if I may, um, President Tyson, we also are now engaged with our legal team as well after going through those other, um, avenues. >> My last question, how are we looking on our tan >> our tan? So, this year, uh, we're we're completely finished with that and paid back the balance. It just ended, uh, at using $10 million out of the 25 that was allotted to us. Um, is this all in favor or all in favor? >> I >>
056Any objections? >> Look like the eyes have it. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Chance. >> Is it Mr. or doctor? >> Okay. Are you a doctor, Mr. Chance? >> Okay. [laughter] All right. Okay. >> All right. Now, we have policy updates with Dr. Charlie Moore. >> I'm not yet. [laughter] >> Good evening, board members, Dr. Fields, and members of our community. Tonight, Dr. Chambers and I are presenting 18 separate policies for updates for first read. Of the recommendations, 11 are updates advised by the Missouri School Boards Associations, and they're primarily related to board operations and governance. MSBA has revised these policies for clarity, brevity, and in several cases has consolidated the policies to streamline their use and application. For example, three of the policy recommendations are that they be rescended. Additionally, there are seven
057administratively driven recommendations intended to clarify existing policy language and ensure alignment with operational needs. All of the policy recommendations presented this evening have been reviewed and vetted both by our district legal council and the attorneys with the MSBA um prior to being brought before the board. Within your board packet, you will fi you will find a summary explaining the rationale for the recommended changes along with guidance regarding implementation and application. In the interest of time, I will allow those summaries to speak for themselves rather than reviewing each policy individually this evening. However, administration is fully prepared to address and discuss any of the recommendations in detail. For example, policy JGD, student suspension and expulsion. As this policy is currently written, when a student is referred for a long-term suspension, the student and the parent has
058the opportunity, as it's written, to meet with a group of district representatives. We currently utilize a hearing officer, a role presently held by Mr. Eric Harris, the director of restoration and wellness. The proposed update would allow the hearing officer to conduct the meeting either virtually or in person with the student and the parent to hear any mitigating circumstances and then that person not a group of people but the person who is the hearing officer will then present the findings uh to the district expectations committee where there will be a there will be an official recommendation back um for an official decision. Members of the board, these policies are presented tonight for first read and I'm happy and we are happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Motion. >> It's for information only
059right now. Yes, sir. >> Even better questions. Hearing none. Or are we still looking? No questions. All right. >> Thank you. >> Any new business before the board? This agenda item allows board members to raise up fresh ideas, make new motions, and bring emerging concerns to the table, often following the review of old business in committee reports. Um, great. So, Board of Education, we were talking about um the MSBA video. Um I would like to have a little discussion so we can give administration some direction on how we're going to move forward with that. And wasn't the question, do we want to play it before or continue to play it during the board meeting? >> When you say before, what are what are you talking about? before six o'clock or at the beginning of >>
060Yeah, it was it was suggested that um and I don't know if we had a time frame like when it started playing, but I guess when the doors unlock uh people start sitting that it's playing while they're waiting for the board uh meeting to start. Can I make a suggestion that we play it um right at six o'clock when the community knows that that the meeting's going to start? It kind of gives us also a breather time to come in and and get settled in and and all of that. So, it's like I timed it today. It was like five, six minutes, something like that. So, maybe that'll give us an opportunity to and you as president to come in and get things started. We can just make a decision if that's if it's okay
061with everybody unless you want to vote on it. What are we saying? >> I move that we move the um MSBA's um video to the six right at six o'clock at the beginning of every meeting. I second. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> It looks like it's going to be moved to six o'clock. >> Awesome. >> Thank you, Board of Education, for that direction. U we'll make sure we u make that adjustment and we'll be ready at the next meeting. And also, uh congratulations to President Tyson for your first meeting. >> Yeah. And I didn't do too bad. >> [applause] >> What? Well, because we have to adjourn. Yeah. Um motion to adjurnn. >> So move. Second. >> Call for vote. >> Dr. Thurman. >> Yes. >> Miss Maserie. >> Yes. >>
062Secretary votes yes. Dr. Paul Walker. >> Yes. >> President Tyson. >> Yes. Hold on.