001Heat. Heat. N. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] [music] >> What I love about the community is is the people, >> the working with the families. is good. Um, always good communication. >> Being a bus driver, I get a a little closer [music] to the family, maybe more than a teacher does. >> Mostly I just love building relationship with the kids, uh, the staff, the families, >> and just [music] to see the smiles on the baby face, talking to the parents, praying for the parents, is nothing better. >> These are the people of the Ferguson Florison School [music] District who keep our schools running and who show up every day for our
002children. Proposition S is [music] about supporting them. If approved, Prop S would provide funding for safety and security upgrades, address essential staffing needs, and support [music] competitive pay for non-administrative employees, the staff members who serve students directly [music] every single day. Because when we support our staff, we strengthen our students. For the homeowner of a $120,000 [music] home in the Ferguson Flores School District, Prop S would cost [music] less than $9 a month. Seniors approved for the St. Louis County property tax freeze would see no change. This [music] is an investment in the people who invest in our children. On April 7th, please make a plan to vote. >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music]
003[music] >> Heat. Hey, Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. N. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> What I love about the community is is the people. >> The working with the families is good. Um, always good communication. >> Being a bus driver, I get a a little closer to the family, maybe more than a teacher does. Mostly I just love building relationship with the kids, uh, the staff, the families, >> and just to see the smiles on the baby face, talking [music] to the parents, praying for the parents, is nothing better. >> These are the people of the [music] Ferguson Flores School District who keep our schools running and who show up every day for [music] our children. Proposition S is about supporting them. If approved, [music] Prop S would
004provide funding for safety and security upgrades, address [music] essential staffing needs, and support competitive pay for non-administrative employees, the staff members who serve students directly [music] every single day. Because when we support our staff, we strengthen our students. For the homeowner of a $120,000 [music] home in the Ferguson Florison School District, Prop S would cost [music] less than $9 a month. Seniors approved for the St. Louis County property tax freeze would see no change. This is an investment in the [music] people who invest in our children. On April 7th, please make a plan to vote. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >>
005[music] [music] >> Heat. >> [music] [music] >> What I love about the community is is the people. >> The working with the families is good. Um, always good communication. >> Being a bus driver, I get a a little closer to the family, maybe more than a teacher does. >> Mostly, I just love building [music] relationship with the kids, uh, the staff, the families, >> and just to see the smiles on the baby face, talking to the parents, [music] praying for the parents. There's nothing better. >> These are the people of [music] the Ferguson Florison School District who keep our schools running and who show up every day for our children. [music] Proposition S is about supporting them. If approved, Prop S would provide funding [music] for safety and security upgrades, address essential staffing needs, and
006support [music] competitive pay for non-administrative employees, the staff members who serve students directly every single day. Because when [music] we support our staff, we strengthen our students. For the homeowner of a $120,000 home in the Ferguson [music] Flores School District, Prop S would cost less than $9 a month. Seniors approved for the St. Louis County [music] property tax freeze would see no change. This is an investment in the people who invest in our [music] children. On April 7th, please make a plan to vote. Heat. Heat. N. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Hey, Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. N. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music]
007[music] >> What I love about the community is is the people. >> The working with the families is good. Um, [music] always good communication. >> Being a bus driver, I get a a little closer to the family, maybe more than a teacher does. Mostly I just love building relationship with the kids, uh, the staff, the families, >> and just to see [music] the smiles on the baby face, talking to the parents, praying for the parents is nothing better. >> These are the people of the Ferguson Flores School District [music] who keep our schools running and who show up every day for our children. Proposition S is about [music] supporting them. If approved, Prop S would provide funding for safety and security upgrades, address essential staffing needs, and support competitive pay for non-administrative employees, [music] the
008staff members who serve students directly every single day. Because when we support our staff, we strengthen the States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Good to see everyone. Happy Women's History Month. Under the provisions of the public meeting laws of the state of Missouri, the board must adopt by roll call vote an agenda that includes the time, date, place, and tenative agenda for the meeting. A copy of the notice and agenda for this meeting was posted on Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 at the administration center located at 8855 Dun Road in Hazlewood, Missouri online and also sent to local newspapers. May I have an recommendation to adopt the agenda as posted? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Miss Mansery.
009>> Yes. >> Dr. Graves. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bailey. >> Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Bailey is not with us just yet. Um, secretary votes yes. Mr. Tyson, >> yes. Madame President. >> Yes. Thank you. At this time, we will have an update um with our Missouri School Board Association. >> Welcome to the March edition of the Missouri School Boards Association's Board Report. Artificial intelligence is no longer a future issue for schools. It's already here and it's influencing how students learn, how teachers plan, how information is created and shared, and how communities determine what is real and what is not. School board members and school leaders do not need to be computer scientists to lead in this moment. But they do need a clear understanding of what AI is, what it can do, where the risks
010exist, and how thoughtful policies can help districts respond wisely. MSBA's director of AI strategy and services, Mark Henderson, says that no matter where your district is on its AI journey, MSBA is here to help. It's 2026. AI is everywhere. And it's in your schools, it's in your classrooms, whether you like it or not, whether you know it or not. So, my message to every district is you need a plan. And if you don't have a plan yet, MSBA is here to help you. We've got an AI policy, EHBD. We recently updated it based on feedback that we received from districts. So, if you haven't looked at in a while, please take another look. You might like it better now. And remember, you can always adjust it to meet your district's needs. >> The need for
011AI training and communication became so necessary that MSBA created a whole new department. >> And because AI is so big and it's impacting education in so many ways, here at MSBA, we've actually created an AI department recently. And I am the director of AI strategy and services for that department. My job revolves all around helping districts understand AI. I travel around doing presentations in Missouri as well as around the country. I create resources. I do webinars. I'm here to help you understand this and make good decisions for your district. >> Regardless of your experience level with AI, MSBA has an upcoming workshop for you where school leaders can explore tools hands-on and tackle the big question shaping AI in schools today. So, Spring into AI is a really great opportunity for districts. We've got a
012free workshop coming up in Jefferson City on April 3rd at our new training center, and it's going to bring together a lot of districts from the area as well as some experts on AI and different places to help you understand what it is, how it works, and what you can do for your district. We want you to leave with a plan. Whether you haven't done anything or you already have something in place, we want it to be beneficial for you. We're going to have some really essential conversations as well and our sponsor school AI is going to be there and they're going to provide lunch for everybody. >> Spring into AI is a free workshop being held on April 3rd in Jefferson City. Visit the MSBA website for information on how to register. As we
013reach the halfway point of the legislative session, MSBA senior director of advocacy, Caitlyn Whe says that it's important to stay updated on important issues such as property tax legislation like Senate Bill 3. Um, we have really worked hard this week to engage with both House members and Senate members that are working on property taxes and just raise concerns that there are a lot of moving parts right now as it relates to school finance with uncertainty around the foundation formula. um you know, some federal funding and stability, interest in rewriting the foundation formula that even the small tweaks they're looking at on property taxes, setting aside some of the really substantial changes. Um but even smaller things could have significant impacts on districts and just continuing to raise concerns about um making sure we're not causing
014unintended consequences with our school districts. MSBA will keep you updated on all of the developments that matter to you through our legislative voice newsletter sent to members via email each Friday during the session through critical issue alerts and MSBA's spring advocacy series. The spring advocacy series helps you connect the classroom to the capital and make an impact in shaping education policy. There are still a few advocacy lunch and learns remaining, so check those out for the latest updates during the legislative session. And last, but certainly not least, it's March, which means it's school board recognition month. Missurrians benefit every day from the dedicated energies and countless hours devoted by a group of more than 3,600 men and women from communities across the state. [music] And all of us at MSBA sincerely want to thank each
015and every one of you for all that you do. Your hard work and dedication to your schools and communities are appreciated, and your commitment to all students does not go unnoticed. Visit the MSBA website for materials on how to celebrate. So, with that, thanks for allowing us to have some time at your board meeting, and we'll see you in April for the next MSBA board report. I I just want to say as a board member, it is my privilege to to serve as a board as a board member. I I thank the community for their um their support of myself and the board. Um so I just want to say a public thank you and I'm sure I speak for all of our board members and saying thank you for your continued support. At this
016time, the Ferguson Florison School District acknowledges the deep respect with deep respect the passing of a valued employee during the school year. Uh we honor their service and dedication and the lasting impact that that they made on our students, our colleagues and school community. Our thoughts are with their families, their friends, and those who were touched by their lives. And we extend our sincere condolences to uh the family at this time. And we are speaking of Mr. Daniel Deleo who was a maintenance and facilities worked in the maintenance and facilities department had an opportunity to uh attend the wake and the love that I saw and felt there. There were so many people there was very difficult to even their lines and that spoke volumes to uh who Danny was and also Danny was one
017of our former students in the district. So um to the family uh again we extend our our sincerest condolences. So at this time could we stand for a moment of silence Thank you. Now we will we will go to our public comments. Pursuant to policy BDDH1, public participation at board meetings, the board allocates this 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 reviewed under public comments. The board may limit the number of comments read aloud based on length and repetition. The total time allocated for in-person public comments shall not exceed 30 minutes. Before the public comment periods begin period begins,
018in-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 yourselves 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 period, the board president may provide brief clarifying remarks at the end of the session to correct any misstatement of facts. Following the meeting, Dr. Fields will confer with the leadership team of the Ferguson Florison School District and privately assign a staff member to to respond to public comments. If a response has not been received when within
019five business days, please contact Dr. the fields directly. And at this time, we have one from the audience. I think it is Mr. D. Oh, Mr. Doug Jackson. I'm sorry. Hi, Doug. It's good to see you. It's on. It's on now. Um, so I'm going to kind of wing this because I left my iPad at home this morning. But, um, first I want to say something about Prop S. We didn't have a revenue problem. We had a spending problem and we haven't really gotten a full accounting of why we had a spending problem and where that money went. I think it's more appropriate to ask for more money when we explained where the money went. So anyway, um [clears throat] second thing is uh and this is for all the new people. Um we have
020wonderful educational resources in our district. We have the challenger learning center for uh for space sciences. We have Little Creek for Earth Sciences to bring that stuff make it real uh for our students. Um but we also have something else that we're not using. Um, and this will probably be the last time I talk about it because really I just want to put it in your hands and you guys do something with it because I've been talking about it for three or four years now. Um, on the campus of Mccclure High School, there is a 22 room antabella mansion. Um, which was on that entire property uh in the surrounding properties uh around 20 people were slaves on that property and built that home. I didn't even know it was there until a few years
021ago when I happened to drive behind the building. Um, we have a wonderful resource there, the Florison Valley Historical Society that, uh, thank you to Charlie is helping to mend that relationship so that we have a closer relationship with those folks. Um, but we don't use the house almost at all, um, to its full potential. Um, and if you haven't taken a tour of it, um, you know, we can I can get you in touch with the right people to take a tour of it. I know some of the board members have been there. It's a moving experience. It was a moving experience when I when I took my my kids there a few years ago. Um, you know, the upstairs looks like any other old house, but when you go down in that basement
022and you see the walnut uh floor joists, um, and you know that they were carved by people who were not free, um, it's it's very moving. Um, and we don't utilize the house. I mean, Dr. Edgar a couple years ago uh did an Avid uh uh section in AVID on it and took some of his students over there. Um but you know things around that time um they're they're not always something that you can kind of put your finger on and really understand. But when you can touch something that makes that real and come alive, we should take that opportunity to utilize it. Um, and there's a lot of stories about that house and that property and those families. Um, and also the people who are there against their will. So, um, let's make this
023thing a part, the Tai House, the Taioya house. Let's make it part of our curriculum. Let's make it part of our of our of our school community. um it needs to be and it should be and it'll it'll engender more um questions and answers and you know conversations about that time period and the things that we bring with us today from that time period. Thank you. >> Thank you so much and thank you for continuing to uh bring that up to us and remind us of of that um resource that we do have. Okay. Tonight, we received three emailed public comments that will be acknowledged as part of the public comments process. We also received several additional messages that were positive in nature. However, they were primary primarily related to personnel matters and therefore are
024not included in our public comment records. We appreciate everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and enga engage uh and to engage with the district. The first comment comes from Todd Oberlin and it says, "Good evening members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to be heard tonight. I share these comments as as a high school teacher working within our current modified seven period block schedule. Many teachers understand that the high school bell schedule may remain unchanged for next year, but there has been little formal communication or opportunity for input from classroom teachers, those who directly are affected by the schedule. While there may be may have been no objections at a principal meeting, teachers themselves were not surveyed or consulted before what appeared to be a decision to maintain the current
025structure. There's also practical concerns within the current schedule. On block days, especially those where a teacher's prep period does not not fall, they have very limited time to complete essential responsibilities such as lesson preparation, grading, advising students, and responding to daily building needs. I also fear that we are out of compliance when it comes to DESIE regulations for teachers uh prep time. let alone the amount said by our CBA. Congruent congruently, meetings for IEPs and PLC collaboration can cannot count toward required planning minutes. If the district intends to maintain the status quo, one possible solution would be to ensure that high school teachers receive two preparation periods, especially one on each alternating AB day. This would allow teachers to meet planning requirements and leave time for common prep PLC's while still supporting necessary supervisory roles
026such as hall duty, lunch duty or arrival and dismissal supervision which currently cannot happen. Aiding in the uh supervisory capacity would also help relieve some of the burden currently carried by the building administrators. My goal is sharing this simply to encourage a process that includes teachers includes teacher input while ensuring that our schedule schedule supports both instructional quality and compliance with required planning time. Thank you for your time um and to our district Mr. Oakland and this letter is from Kamar Dale. Hello, my name is Kamar Dale or maybe it's Kamura. I would like to understand where the title one funding is going in our schools in comparison to our neighboring schools that have math and reading specialists by use of title one funding. Why is it that Ferguson doesn't have the resources when there
027is an obvious need for this? I asked the principal at Lee Hamilton and she stated that it's been is being considered. Someone will be getting back to you. This message comes from Lynn Hinton. Good morning. Who was responsible for the potholes coming into Cross Keys Middle School at Cougar Drive off Lindberg? Is it the city or Ferguson Florison School District? There are numerous potholes that are getting larger by the day. Cars cannot avoid many of them. Respectfully submitted, Lynn Hinton. Those are all of our public comments and thank you for your public comments and someone will be getting back with you. And as we stated, if you don't hear from anyone within 5 days, please make sure that you contact Dr. Fields. At this time, we're hear from our student rep. How are you today?
028>> I'm good. How's how's college um [laughter] how's college prep going? >> I'm working on it. >> Okay. >> College is a scary word right now. I don't want to I don't want to hear about my senior year yet. All righty. So, I definitely have a lot to say today. I'm going try to make it a little bit quick. So, the first thing that I would like to talk about is an update with me and Mr. Moore when I've talked about at my last meeting, Mr. Moore came to my school and me and him had a meeting and we came together and we talked about the students. So, a lot of students recently came up to me, emailed me and have told me that the Chromebooks have been fixed. So, that means a lot of
029more students are satisfied. So, I would like to appreciate all the board members for actually stepping in and helping us students. My next one is is that for the feminine hygiene products in the bathrooms. So I also talked to Dr. Moore. He said that he can put um he can put an action on it but it will take time because of the process of things but he said that he will be able to work on that. >> Next is students that attend. >> Before you go on >> I did want to ask uh Mr. more. We did talk about those products that are stored over here. Is there an issue with them? There shouldn't be an issue with them going out. >> No, ma'am, there's no issue. It's a a little bit of a nuance
030conversation. So, the question is, can the products be stored in the bathroom? Well, what we've seen is some of the plumbing plumbing problems, what we have heard from our custodians is that sometimes students are flushing them within the toilet. So what we've done is put our products within the nurse's office. Now we know at Mccclure that um there are some some guidelines that must be followed with respect to getting to class on time and and hall sweeps. So we are putting the products in the classroom at Mccclure in the restroom at Mccclure. However, at Steam and Mccclure North, what we did was have the principal survey the student leaders and they stated that it suffices being in the nurse's office. So at Mccclure, we're going to make sure that those products get inside the restrooms
031as well as in the nursur's office. But as it currently stands, from middle school through high school, any young lady can go to any nurs's office and have access to the products that they need. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. >> Thank you for clearing that up. >> Thanks, Brianna. >> We good? So, the next thing that I would like to talk about is that students that attend Steam Academy that are punished shouldn't go to their home schools after getting kicked out of Steam. I think that they should go to restoration and wellness first which is Mark Twain because I feel as if it's not fair for the schools to kind of get the bad students that come from steam or students that are punished for that could be something very severe or variant of what
032they did. They shouldn't be able to go to their home schools and be able to redo that action and then have to get expelled. I feel as if they should do at least a semester or a full semester at restoration and wellness and be able to go go back to their home schools. The next thing I would like to bring up is how at my school, Mccclure High School, we have a security shaft. Um I'm still working on being more educated on how the other schools are built, but I've heard that Mccclure North and Steam lack that. So I'm hoping that maybe someday we can be able to look more into that because you know a lot of parents tries to come in fights stuff like that. So I'm hoping we can definitely we can
033definitely add that or at least look into it for more safety protocols. And lastly that I would like to bring up is my student survey. I posted a student survey for all students around the whole district to be able to let me know about their issues, concerns, and supports that maybe I can do for them or I can help for other students. So all all of this varies between schools. Every school have different issues. Some schools lack what other schools have. So I'm here to be able to help them to make it more equal for all schools so no one is lacking in anything. My first thing is when looking through the responses, I noticed that there is a huge bullying problem when it comes to being in high school. There's a lot um it
034also goes for middle school as well, but there's a lot of bullying problems and I'm hoping that we can be able to look more into it and hopefully hopefully we can take more action on it, especially when it being in school. I just hope that more students are able to step up about bullying and be able to not be scared with their voice and be able to talk to an adult counselor, principal, it doesn't matter. I really hope that the students are able to are able to be comfortable enough to go to an adult. Next is all schools need equal structure. It can come to discipline or even programs that benefits students. for example, Mccclure McCclure North and Steamhouse structure within policies while being able to benefit students. I think middle schools I think middle
035schools should get that chance as well. Although Ferguson Middle School has good order, schools like Cross Keys are lacking in that field. As in my survey, there are students that have complaints about that teachers may not come together in a way that can help or benefit the students, especially when it comes to their curriculum or their learning system. So, when it comes to students be able to try to have be in a environment where they can ask for help or learning, maybe sometimes the student the teachers sorry, maybe sometimes the teachers might not be able to provide enough assistance for them. Next is some students. And the next is I do feel like that maybe cross keys can get a little bit more structure when it comes to discipline or even just having more programs
036for them because a lot of students especially at Cross Keys has talked about how other schools have programs like volleyball or JRTC but they might not even have that. So, I'm also hoping that maybe we can look into it and see how when it comes to funding or anything, we can try to make it happen for them so they can get some type of middle school experience so they can go into a better environment their high school year. Lastly also that I would like to admit is that also as students we also have to understand that adults can do so much especially being principles the board of education counselors anybody all the faculty. Yes. Okay. But be aware that they try to keep every student on board. Yes. Being patient sucks sometimes. But what we
037what can we do with no change if we don't wait on time? I'm done. Briana Bevanu, thank you so much. We appreciate the time that you put into this. This is a this is a a a really important position and we really appreciate you you taking it seriously. Thank you so much. And I want to say hi mom and thank you for letting us borrow her. She is a jewel. She is a jewel >> and you should be. So, thank you again and we will continue to listen to you and listen to the students. So, uh bring it bring it to us. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. Um FFNA rep, how are you all today? >> Hi, everybody. Um good evening members of the board and Superintendent Fields. My name is Aza Thomas. I am
038a member of FNEA FFNEA executive board. And today I would like to take a moment to briefly discuss with you a couple of concerns about the lack of summer school support available for students who are struggling academically. Um we are at a critical point in the school year and time is running out. And as we prepare for testing, we see many capable students and intelligent students who are falling behind. Sometimes they struggle with reading, sometimes it's with math, sometimes it's simply because they haven't yet developed the habits necessary to keep up with the pace of school. And in my classroom, I noticed, especially with science concepts, um, science builds on prior knowledge. So when students miss foundational ideas, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to understand what comes next. And when a student doesn't grasp
039one concept, the next lesson often feels completely out of reach for them. Um, another issue we see is attendance. Many students are absent frequently and each day they miss creates another gap in their learning. And these gaps add up quickly. When students return after being gone for several days, they're expected to jump back into those lessons that a lot of them have built up on information they've never had a chance to learn in the first place. So summer school should be one of our best opportunities to help close those gaps. It offers students time to slow down, revisit misconcepts, and rebuild confidence in their learning. But right now, many students who truly need this support simply do not have access to it. What concerns many of us as educators is that students often move from
040grade to grade with the same academic gaps. They're not always held accountable for the failing grades in the earlier years. And by that time, they've reached high school and the expectations are much higher. And at that point, consequences are lot a lot more serious. Credits, graduation requirements, the pressure to catch up for the missed learning years is real. At at the same time, we must ask ourselves an important question about attendance regulations. Teachers can work hard to support students while they are in the classroom, but we cannot teach students who are not present. Our goal is not to place blame, but to ensure students receive the support and structure they need early enough to succeed. Our students deserve a chance to catch up, rebuild their confidence, and move forward prepared for the next level. Reintroducing
041summer school opportunities and strengthening their attendance expectations are two essential steps towards helping students close those gaps before they become overwhelming. Thank you for your time and for consideration on how we can better support our students when we need it most. >> Thank you and thank you to FFNA for your continued support of our our students and our scholars. Of course, I know you want what's best for for all of our students and our and our staff and and we do too as a board. So, thank you. We appreciate you. >> So, at this time, we will hear from our superintendent. Thank you so much, Madam President. I'll turn it over to An for our celebrations. >> Good evening board members, Superintendent Dr. Fields, and members of our community. Thank you for giving us a
042few moments this evening to share some of the district's celebrations and recognitions. So, first we have Mccclure North High School DECA students delivered a great performance at the district competition with nine students earning top honors and qualifying for the state career development conference in Kansas City. Students demonstrated exceptional skill and preparation while competing against peers from across the region. Congratulations to Autumn Smith, Aiana Umana, Robert Hicks, Jabori Jones, Jordan McLaren, Bryson Brisbane, Alex Buts, Brent Galvin, Gavin Jenkins, and the rest of the Mccclure North DECA team. For those who don't know, DECA is a national student organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. So, congratulations to the Mccclure North DECA team. Next, we have four Steam High wrestlers and two Mccclure High girl wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament
043following strong performances at the district competition. Lauren Livers placed fourth while Senasia Moore and Zakiyia Humbles Walls each earned third place in their respective weight classes. Nia Ross captured first place and was named district champion in her division at Mccclure. DD Higgins also earned the title of state champion and Terry Gary placed fourth. All successfully qualifying to compete at the state level. So, congratulations to these student athletes and their coaches for a great season. Ferguson Florison's transportation department has earned a 100% approval rating on the annual Missouri State Highway Patrol school bus inspection. So, what does that mean? That means that all 85 district buses have passed the comprehensive state inspection with no defects found. The annual inspection, it evaluates safety components, including brakes, steering, emergency exits, lighting systems, tires, and just overall mechanical condition.
044So, receiving a perfect score means every bus in the district's fleet met or exceeded the state's rigorous safety standards. And congratulations to Mccclure North boys basketball team. They finished a strong 2526 season with a 17-9 record before the championship loss and a 5-2 district record earning a second place finish in the class 5 district 3 tournament. They advanced through district play, had some impressive victories. They um until they came with a hard-fought championship game against MICDS. I think the score was like 44 to 48. The team is ranked 33rd in Missouri. So, congratulations to the student athletes and coaching staff on a great outstanding year. And last, but certainly not least, March is Missouri School Board Appreciation Month. Thank you to our board of education for the countless hours you volunteer in service to our
045students, families, staff, and community. to help celebrate. Many of our students have created letters and artwork to express their appreciation. And we also have a small token of appreciation and a small goodie bag that uh Superintendent Dr. Fields is passing out. So again, on behalf of the entire Ferguson Florescent community, thank you for all that you do. This concludes our celebrations and recognitions of the great things happening in our district. While I'm passing these out, I will have Tony Chance come up to the podium so he can give an update as well. So based on questions received at last month's board meeting, um I'm addressing some of those questions regarding facilities. Uh what was asked of us was what is being required require um according to uh buildings, how much is being completed inhouse, how
046much is being contracted by third parties, and a detailed breakdown of those costs. This is a list, this and the next page are a list of all the things that are being repaired within the district. This most of them u focus on our uh plumbing within the district. um could be lots of things in the bathroom, um piping, faucets, etc. And if you notice, there's um times and then a number. That's how many times that those particular items had to be repaired. And also the question was how much is being completed by uh for staff? Um All repairs are completed by district maintenance staff with the exception of the following items. And these are the things that we have had to contract out for due to um just the capacity of current staff that we
047don't have for these specialty repairs that need to be done. So you see there um most of it's um plumbing um There was another one from Woodard that was in regards to some flooding that had to be um cleaned up. And then Icon Mechanical is one where there are some other like HVAC and some items that um needed to be repaired that we didn't have the capacity in our own staffing to to make those repairs. So, regarding Fry Plumbing, it was about it was uh $44,581. Um you can see there the list of the things that were repaired by that particular company. Another plumbing company was used. These were for the more um the things that were more outside of the building rather than within So you can see the water meter repairs and water
048main repairs. Next is Woodard. It's the restoration services I just mentioned. First on site uh emergency water mitigation service from a pipe leak and um also at Mccclure's emergency water mitigation services from a failed shut off valve. HBAC and Icon Mechanical. Um there was a need for to replace the boiler for the pool at Steam High School. Uh there was an emergency repair that needed to be done at Cross Keys regarding aging gas piping and also there was a HVAC repair also at Cross Keys due to damage by storms. That one was covered by insurance claims. So that's in summary what our contracting services have been thus far. I do perceive that there will probably be more as the year goes on. >> Does the board have any questions? [clears throat] >> Hi, Mr. Chance.
049Thank you for sharing all of that. Um, I wanted to ask, um, I I appreciate hearing what's been repaired and what we're trying to repair inhouse. Um, one of the things that we've asked for as a board over the years, certainly before you were here, was um, trying to have some understanding of what maintenance looks like in general, right? You know how when you have a house, you have certain things you do every quarter. Um, and so it just thinking about whether or not we are being as preventative as we could be to try to maintain some of our systems so that things don't and it could be that that's already happening. I think the challenge for us is that we as a board haven't had access to understanding what the schedule of maintenance looks
050like. So every time we hear that something needs to be repaired, sometimes it's the same thing. Sometimes it's been repaired four times. And I think we feel, and I'm sorry board, I don't mean to speak for everybody, but I think we might feel more comfortable approving those things if we knew that regular maintenance was happening or that every five years we always have to replace the black top or that kind of thing. Correct. So >> certainly there is um and I can uh definitely check with the facilities department to uh see what their schedule is for those things. But in addition to that, there's also things that happen that we did not expect and those are um things that we have to address right away. >> I understand that. And I think what I'm getting
051at is we're trying to figure out how to reduce so many of those. Does that make sense? There's some stuff if you do your maintenance on it, you won't have the surprises. Then there's the things that just pop up. And we know the things that pop up, we just have to deal with. >> I think we are just curious, >> you know, how to you know, >> and there are some some of our buildings that are very old. Those things um maybe things that we don't see like the aforementioned gas pipes that came apart, needed to be dug up and replaced. So, yeah, those things do happen. Certainly. >> Hey, Mr. Chance. So we don't have any um licensed plumbers or HBAC personnel on staff. >> We do have Okay. >> Yet they are because
052of the the capacity because of the vast area that they have to cover and um the different buildings that we have. There's just not enough of them to address everything that's going on. And in order to get those repaired in a timely manner, we have to contract to get those things done. >> Any other questions? >> I don't have any questions at this time. >> Me neither. >> Thank you. Thank you for your report. Okay. Next, there was a question mainly regarding the um the balances for uh our food service, whether or not we were actually taking in more revenue than expenditures. So how much are we spending on food services and how much are we bringing in for this past fiscal year? This is 202425 the last complete year we had revenues of $7.4
053million and we had expenditures of $7.2 million. So in total that was a excess balance of $222,000. Now there have been times in the past where some re sometimes expenditures do exceed revenues but those are also strategic because you can carry a minimal balance uh in the food service program and those are used for equipment repairs um updates to the kitchen and things like that. So, we've never gone past our excess balance. That's always mean at least zero or higher. >> Any questions? Courtney, I think that was one of your questions that you Thank you for getting back to us and letting us and giving us the report. Any other questions or comments? Okay. All right. Good evening board of education community as well as colleagues and happy board recognition month. I will take an
054opportunity to provide an update with respect to third floor forward. Many of this uh many of you have already heard a lot of the information as it is customary to the three areas that we are utilizing to forward the work in the Ferguson Florison School District. The first area speaks again to creating a new future together. Tonight's presentations or dual presentations will speak to those. We also have um an opportunity to meet with staff, students, community, all of the advisory groups. We did it last month. We're going to do it again this month. Um last month as well as this month we discussed Prop S including the timeline the community um engagement opportunities that I will share towards the end of this particular presentation as we expand community partnerships. Um we are excited um to
055continue to engage with a number of businesses that we have. Um but this Friday it won't be necessarily about business. It will be our clergy and community leaders who will be here networking for a brunch andformational session related to Prop S and all information in the school district. And last but certainly not least out of those three areas were to maximize every resource for student learning. And that's going to bring us to the two presentations or many presentations I will share today. This information is the same as last week. It speaks to the need for a demographer and the importance of their work. Not only their work being what we want to do in order to determine projections and enrollment, but also being aligned with third floor forward goal number three. Now, the information that
056we have was from Dr. Charles Coffron who completed the enrollment projections report. It is quite a read, meaning it is very lengthy and we're appreciative of that. However, today I'm going to continue with um communicating not only the overall district level projections, but as stated last um board meeting, I am going to break those projections down by existing residential enrollment. Now, as we continue the information that we share, I would invite the community and certainly everyone here to look at the full report. Um it is quite lengthy but you will see a lot of the methodology a lot of what's used and essentially what's being conveyed tonight. As a reminder there are three different um series and then the fourth being a snapshot. It is considered best practice for us to use the mid series.
057The high level is essentially that a high estimate. The low um level or series is essentially that. And so we use the mid series. And if you do get a chance to look at the data, the snapshot is if you only were to look at the last two years. So the five years take is taken into account for the mid, the high and the low, but the snapshot is only looking at recent trends. Um for purposes of planning, we look at the mid series number and that is what we will continue to look at here tonight. as it pertains to the last board meeting. This is the information that was shared um the mid series based off of the data that we have for enrollment students only and again um when I say enrollment residential
058enrollment for K12 students you will see resident non-resident and the total and then you will see the projections which is something of significance that we would like to pay attention to now the newer information I will go through pretty quickly again all of this information is available on assembly through board docks. You will see our current boundaries for Bermuda, our current boundaries for Central, and our current boundaries for um Commons Lane. All of the data there is uh specific to um K through, in this case, second grade. It does not look at our preK. And then you will see the projections of residential enrollment for 26 27 27 28 28 29 and then continuously through 3031. As we continue you see Duchain, you see Holman and you see Parker Road. Again, this is looking at
059K through 12, in this case, um, elementary data, but it also provides the projected enrollments for our students residential enrollment for the mid series. You will see Walnut Grove, you will see Berkeley Intermediate, and you will see Griffith. Again, all of the same information and you can see some of the school years are up, some of which are not. We continue to Lee Hamilton, Halls Ferry, and Robinwood. We begin to shift. You will see Combmes, Johnson Wabash, and Wedgewood. Again, looking at the midseries data, we yield over to Cross Keys, Ferguson Middle, and Mccclure High School. Again, residential enrollment. And as we're looking at the secondary level, this is residential enrollment. It does not take into account another factor that I will bring into play here momentarily. And last, but certainly not least, from a
060individual school standpoint, you will see Mccclure North and again residential enrollments for the mid series as well as the projections. This is a district-wide snapshot. You will see K through 12. You will see the cohort in terms of a clustered, I shall say K2, 3, five, sixth grade, 7, 8, and 912 as well as K12. and you will see the birth rates for the MID series which is essentially what drives a lot of the methodology and the projections that we have. And now I'm going to revisit the secondary schools starting in sixth grade. And what you are looking at is essentially taking to account STEAM. And so we have a team here that does fantastic work. Um in this case um I would be remiss if I did not thank um Dr. um Carl Einhoff
061and his leadership as well as Travis who does a spectacular job grabbing the data, articulating the data and sharing it. In this particular regard, what you're looking at is take into account not only historical steam enrollment, but what we did was take all of Steam enrollment um historically to see what school they would have attended. And so in this case when we look at the historical value of what percentage of sixth grade students from Johnson Wawash compared to Wedgewood attended steam and that gave us a formula for projections. So essentially what you're looking at now takes into account steam. So it will be lower in terms of enrollment for projections because steam is taken to account. Having explained that you will see Johnson Wawash, you will see the second row um does provide the grade.
062You will see minus steam students. So in theory those students um attended steam andor projected to attend steam looking at the projections and then you will see a new total for not only enrollment but projections. So that is essentially what you are looking at. You'll see that for JW as well as Wedgewood. The same can be said for Cross Keys as well as FURB Middle. Again, it's taken to account historically the percentage of students that attended Steam from these residential areas. And that is how we essentially got the projections for Cross Keys in this instance and then Ferguson Middle. Last but certainly not least, you will then see the enrollment and the draft projections using the mid series taken into account STEAM for Mccclure High School as well as Mccclure North. You will see those
063numbers for the 2627 school year, 2728, 28 29, 2930, and the 3031 school year. Well, Dr. Fields, why didn't you project out for 10 years or what have you? According to our demographer um Dr. Koffran, and again, I welcome um everyone to check out the report. You can project a hundred years, but in terms of the reliability of data, it is best practice to look at five years as the absolute max. And now I do want to provide you back to these data that were brought up previously. And so all of the work that I have been um engaged in for the last 10 months um they build on one another. And so previously I did share at a board meeting our um projected building capacity um utilization. This is from methodology from MGT study
064which was a third party that the district did engage with to determine what's called the functional capacity. Um that is essentially how many students according to this document can be in our schools. Now you will see all of the schools um to the left or in the first column. The second column looks at the functional capacity. on this particular um spreadsheet, you will see 2025 as of January, I believe, was the date. And so now when you get to that fourth column, you're looking at the projected residential enrollment as of at the end of the 2030 2031 school year. Then to the next column, because the way that it was presented, you saw all of the residential enrollment data followed by the residential enrollment data of secondary. when you bring steam into the conversation that
065will provide you with the number of students as projected. Again, midseries residential data is there. And then when we get into the colorcoded columns, you will see the building capacity utilization. The first building capacity utilization takes into a simple mathematic equation where you look at the current number of students for 2025. again as of um the date that we pull the 2526 school year and then you will look at that compared to the functional capacity and that will give you a percentage before I continue over to the far right that percentage is broken down into 110% is considered inadequate 95 to 110% is cons is considered approaching inadequacy um 80 to 94% efficient as well as um adequate 70 to 79% approaching inefficient and then less than 70% would speak to e inefficient for that
066particular building. Well, Dr. Fields, did you make up these numbers? No, these numbers were pulled directly from the MGT study that the district previously utilized. And so as I continue to that second to last column, you will look at the projected building capacity utilization as of 2031 in the event that steam was not part of the conversation because that was just an initial piece. But when you bring steam into the um conversation, you will see a difference for the secondary levels. And so all of this is information that we look at um when we say we are certainly data informed to have conversation. and data does tell a picture but does tell a um story excuse me but it's not the entire story and so we are looking at these data the number that I
067do want to bring to the board as well as the community's attention is this currently we are sitting at a 60.88% 88% utilization rate. If nothing changed whatsoever and if the projections are correct, again looking at residential enrollment, we are projected to have a district utilization rate of 55.18, which would essentially mean we are only utilizing a little bit of half of our school capacity, I'm sorry, of our district capacity. And so having said having reviewed all of these data um we are constantly looking at a number of pieces but more specifically I want you all to be aware of is that we are reviewing the alternative to existing building utilization models. We're looking at alternatives. At the next board meeting I will share some recommendations to enhance the district's projected building capacity utilization. And
068so again I do appreciate the board for engaging uh with the demographer report. when you have such decisions that we are tasked with making, we want to make sure we have as um accurate as data as possible and Dr. Coffin's work speaks for itself and we are interested to dive in. So that's the first conversation. The second one is more so an overview of Prop S. Um for those of us that's been joining us for the Prop S umformational meetings, we really appreciate it. Um, we were at the city of Ferguson, we were at the city of Florison and the city of Dalewood already this week and we're going to continue with being out and having uh making sure that our community have the information that they need in order to make a decision on
069April the 7th. And so quickly, Prop S is our community's promise that every student can learn in a safe school with support um they need from staff who are supported as well. where did Prop S come from? Um, and it's a combination of things. The first of which being from community surveys, public meetings, listening sessions, um, advisory groups where we were essentially listening to hear what do we need and those areas came out loud and clear. Um, it is also part of the um, Ferg floor forward strategic planning. One of the um, sections I spoke to is consideration for all things including a tax levy increase. um the board approved to place Prop S on the April the 7th ballot. And so the four must knows, if you didn't capture anything else um that I've
070stated tonight, I want to make sure you are aware that on Tuesday, April the 7th, um students do not have school that day. Um we want to make sure that folks are getting out to vote. Um, the request is an operating levy increase of 48 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. If you were wondering when was the last time the district went out for operating levy increase, that would have been 2014 in the amount of 50 cents. Um, the local funding, if you're wondering, well, Dr. fields. Why do we have to go out for um this particular measure? In addition to making sure that our students are safe, staff are supported, and we're able to do all of the things that are in the ballot language. 60% of our funding comes from local funding. And
071that's an important distinction when we talk about federal dollars. Federal dollars are not our primary source as it pertains to revenue. Um I will continue to go through just some highlevel pieces in terms of actions that the district um have already made. I would be remiss that was a public comment today um that spoke to you know why why do we give money if we don't know what's going on with the prior money. I would agree um as a newer superintendent here 10 months on the job if we cannot answer that question um shame on us but we can answer the question and that is a opportunity for folks to come out to a lot of theformational sessions one thing you don't have to worry about me is being incredibly transparent and the last thing
072we want to do is ask individuals to increase the tax levy but when we put it on the ballot it is absolutely necessary so we can answer the question in terms of how did we get to this financial space that we are in. Having said that, some of the things that we've done so far, cut $5.1 million from the operating budget, including administrative reductions, reduce staffing, reorganized departments, and closely reviewed every vacancy created um the resignations, retirements before filling. We like to call that attrition. Um continue oversight of regular audits and public financial reporting. and then continue to make reductions that are furthest from the classroom to protect teaching learning and direct student support. That is one of the purposes of going out for Prop S so we don't have to do those other things
073that were previously stated. Again, I don't want to take all of the thunder from inviting you all out to the umformational sessions that we have, but I do want to just speak to a few. When we think about safety and security, sometimes we do not think about cyber security and the amount of files that we have to um be responsible for ensuring at the highest level of security. That is part of the conversation when we talk about staffing pressures. They are absolutely real. And so we want to recruit and retain because it is as hard as it has ever been. And so the specific ballot language speaks to nonadministrative staff. So if you are a non-administrator, the success of Prop S would be a great thing for you. It's going to make the PI larger
074and help us recruit and retain again all non um nonadmin staff. And then we do have the record documentation. I would be remissed if I don't thank our staff. They are working tirelessly to process the number of requests that are coming in. We've had 433 since January of this year alone and over a thousand. And according to Senator Holly's office, once the first check is cut, then that number is going to go up. And so, just to give you a brief visual, if someone is calling and they need transcripts or copies of a yearbook, and it's been fascinating seeing some of the yearbooks from, you know, the the 50s and the 60s and all of that, but that does take time. And so, when individuals are being away from the work we need for them
075to do for students and staff, it does create a bottleneck, so to speak, of the work. Now, I want to be very clear. here. We support our communities and it is our responsibility to ensure that they have what they need. At the same time, we just don't want it to come at the expense of our students, staff, and operations inside of the school district. Um, I can talk about data all day and some of the data that I've looked at, but a few pieces that I want to make sure that you all are um aware of. The first of which is we are a part of a eight district marketplace. And when you see these data, which is from um ED plus comparative data system, which is the most updated information for the 2526 school
076year, you will see bus drivers. And we're happy to have a school system in a district where people want to be in the district and that's great. People stay for a while. But if we have to replace someone who's been in a district 15, 20 years for a number of positions, this is one example, then we have to look at the starting pay. And what we find is that you may love Ferguson Florison. You may be a product of Ferguson Florison, but do you love Ferguson Florison enough to take a five, if not a $10 pay cut, starting pay cut when you can go down the street in this case to one of our competitors and have more starting pay? That's something that we think about. Another example, again, this is actual data that have
077been pulled. This is looking at some of our skilled maintenance. And so we have some fantastic folks and I know there was a question earlier about um some of the work that's happening. Thank you to Mr. Chance and the work that he has been able to do as well as report on. However, at the same time, if we cannot hire people for these positions, we have to go out to agency and typically agency staff is more than what we would want to pay our employees. And so in this case, two things cannot be true at the same time and part of Prop S would be utilized to address these concerns. There are some pieces about um not having students in a district. I will talk about those when I invite you to the meeting. This
078is a breakdown about the costs. Uh we just got some more data um that we are excited about. Um specifically um I'm excited so I want to share it. Fresh off the press. Um, if you live in Ferguson, but you are in the Ferguson Florison school district compared to the Hazeswood school district, what would that do with taxes? The same thing if you were in Ferguson, but your house is in the Riverview Gardens school district boundary as opposed to the Jennings um school district boundary as opposed to Ferguson Florison. How does that come into play? Well, I invite you to theformational meeting because we're going to tackle those conversations. There is certainly the senior tax freeze and closing. It speaks to for the first time seniors who have been approved for the St. Louis County
079senior tax freeze by June the 30th, 2026 would not see an increase in their 2026 or future years as long as eligibility continues. You have to continue to um put in application for it. But this is a a gamecher in a sense of for our seniors, you can support our schools and still not see an increase in your taxes. And so again, we we certainly um encourage folks um to be part of um supporting our schools. Now, this is a breakdown um of some of those um areas that I spoke to. I hope to see many of you tomorrow at the Ferguson Empowerment Center at 6 PM. That's the March the 12th item. Um we do have the March 13th, which is community leadership breakfast. Um we do have on the 14th we're going to
080be canvasing. So we want to see um as many um district folks as possible, family folks as possible, the union, we would like everyone to come out to support because in this particular case when I say support, support us in providing the information to our community so they can make a decision in terms of what is best for them. Um it doesn't include spring break uh for myself and thank you so much to Ane and a lot of the team mates. is what spring break and we're we're pretty excited to have some things lined up because we want to continue to advocate for safe schools, supportive staff, um successful schools because at the end of the day, we know the magic that can happen in the classrooms when we have adequate resources. Our website is
081phenomenal. It speaks to Prop S. any and all questions, anything that you're seeing, please, please, please reach out because this is anformational campaign. And so, if people don't have the information, shame on us, but we want to make sure we're getting back to folks as diligently as possible. And all of that is still in alignment with third floor forward. And so, with that, I really appreciate you all being here. Um, I was going to go longer, but a board member, I won't tell you which one said for board appreciation month, they want to make sure I don't go over all 80 slides and take all night. So, I will accommodate that request and I will yield over to Madame President to see if there are any questions. >> Any questions? >> Hopefully, the uh community
082has [clears throat] gotten a few questions answered uh by your report. >> Absolutely. Again, we hope to see as many community members as possible tomorrow at the Ferguson Empowerment Center at 6 PM. And even if you cannot join there on the 31st, um we will be at the Florescent um library at 6 PM and then there are other opportunities um for you to engage with us. >> Okay, thank you so much. >> Okay, at this time we'll go to the consent agenda. The items listed under the consent agenda have undergone uh board A subcommittee review documentation concerning these items has been provided to all board members and the pub and the public in advance to assure a thorough review. The consent agenda is voted upon in the entirety. Any board member may ask to have
083any item or consent agenda removed to be voted on separately. At this time, I'd like to ask um recommendation to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. Nothing. I'm sorry. That's right. All opposed. Everybody said I. So, and there was nothing pulled from consent. So, at this time, we're going to go to our math curriculum resource adoption. Hi, >> good evening. >> Um, tonight I'm bringing John Math back to you, seeking approval for adoption and purchase as our core math resource in the elementary schools. As you may remember, we brought math uh jump math for pilot approval last spring and since then the pilot building teachers have been trained. Um we can go forward a slide here. Um since that time, pilot teachers
084have been trained and the resources in full use in our two pilot buildings. Um we've continued to gather feedback and monitor progress over this year. um a formal survey for the those pilot teachers went out in February to collect their formal um feedback regarding the resource. Um that feedback from the pilot teachers was shared with all elementary teachers along with um access to a variety of the resources for jump math. Elementary teachers were then surveyed regarding proceeding with Jump Math for adoption. [snorts] Um our ongoing implementation plan is to um I shifted some orders here. Our ongoing implementation plan includes professional learning for leaders and coaches just after spring break and initial professional learning for teachers as well as leaders on our upcoming April 6 PD day. This summer, teachers from across the district will
085have the opportunity to participate in curriculum writing boot camp to align our new resources. Um and then during a week next year, all teachers will participate in deep professional learning provided by the resource vendor as well as myself and other district staff. Um I this is my most uh the most exciting thing to me is just seeing the growth that has happened in our pilot schools. So for reference in the district this year 61% of students made typical growth um in math as measured by the STAR math assessment. That's down by just about 2% from last year. So last year 63% of students in the district saw that typical growth. This year it's down just a smidge to 61%. However, in our pilot schools um we saw 64% of third through fifth graders made typical
086growth which is an increase of 16% from last year at that same school. So huge increase in growth at that site. Um and about 60% of our second grade students made typical growth which is up just about 2% from last year as well. Um when we look at achievement data, there was also a significant reduction in students scoring below basic um compared to students that that same reduction in students scoring below basic districtwide in those grade levels. So you can see the pilot schools are in blue. That's their um representative of their reduction in below basic. The non-pilot schools is in red, their reduction of below basic. So you can see there's um overall very significant differences in the reduction of students scoring below basic. So really promising data um from our pilot sites this
087year. [snorts] Um the result of the teacher survey was that 75% of students or 75% of teachers rather sorry um were in favor of adopting Jump Math as the K5 curriculum resource for the 2627 school year. That was out of 68 responses in approximately 150ish um teachers. So about it's maybe 40% of teachers responding to that. the survey was open for a few weeks for them. Um so 75% of teachers um would be in favor of moving forward. CAC also approved the adoption um at a rate of 92% approval as well. [snorts] And so our recommendation would be to approve the purchase of Jump Math as a renewable yearly resource um for grades K5 at a cost not to exceed $150,000 that would be paid from the curriculum budget. I have a motion to accept.
088>> So move >> second >> discussion. >> Um hello. Um you mentioned that uh I know that there were uh only 68 teachers that filled out the survey. But I was curious to know for the 25% did anybody note any of the reasons why they might not like this particular curriculum? >> So there were a few things that did come through. Um one of the questions we asked was what would be your your feedback regarding it. Um there were many responses to the effect of not wanting to change just the fear of changing something. Um also some responses about just um wondering whether or not there were enough word problems in the um resources. We do have a plan to address that. Um and u just I think mostly not wanting to shift away from
089what we currently have. >> Okay. And is it a is it a so yearly purchase? It's a multi it's 15 not to exceed $150,000 per school year or is this a multi- are you trying to get a multi-year contract or is this a one year? So, at this time, we're just agreeing to a one-year contract. The intention would be to carry this forward. Our usual curriculum adoption adoption cycle is six years. And so, our intention would be to move forward for six years. Um, the cost would not exceed $150,000 in any of those six years moving forward. So, it would be $150,000 in this year and actually it' be significantly less in future years because we wouldn't need to purchase as many of those um upfront resources that All right. And my last question is
090something that probably uh it's just something I'm thinking about, but it might not necessarily be something you have an answer to. um with all of the different curricula that we put in place for kids and the projections around how well students should do if it's implemented properly. I started thinking about the the transient the transients right of of of of our uh student population and the extent to which that might be impacting outcomes, right? So you may not have So when I look at the kids here for the pilot because it was this school year, right? >> Yes. >> Yeah. So, but I think like if you do the pilot in one grade, then next year you may have a whole different batch of kids and it impacts your outcomes. Um, so I don't know
091that I want you to answer anything about that. I think I just call it out as something that makes the work a little bit more challenging. And I'm curious to know maybe if um this curriculum is designed in a way that allows catching up of key, you know, going back and filling in gaps maybe for kids where that might be the situation. Does that make sense? >> And I think I can't answer the last part of that question. And so um part of the premise of jump is that we want to set kids up for success in every lesson. And so every lesson the first few questions in the lesson are really designed to be at about a grade level or so below. And so those first few questions are really to get kids entering
092into the math for that um that lesson in that concept at a at a level that they probably already have familiarity with so that we're continually building on something that they're familiar with. And so the intent is that we catch them where they are and then build from there in each lesson. So the intent is there for that. Yeah. >> Okay. So then it kind of guides kids along at their own pace. Is that what you're saying? Or >> it's the whole class moving together as a typical lesson would be. But um the intent is for in those first few problems that every student would be able to access those first few questions in every single lesson. So by intentionally starting off a little bit lower than what the grade level topic would be, we're
093catching all of the kids or at least as many as we can to get them on board so that everybody is prepared to move forward. rather than starting off at a level where we might have already lost a few kiddos along the way. Um we're trying to step back a little bit, get everybody on board a few steps back and then move them forward through the lesson at grade level. >> All right. Thank you. I just got um I just got a quick question. Um what is jump math replacing? >> Jump math will replace Eureka math. >> Okay. >> As the core resource. >> Okay. And you said this is a time for um the changing or or looking at a new math program after what six years we were >> and this is the
094close of our six-year contract with Eureka. Um and so it was just a natural point in our curriculum cycle when it's time to look for a new resource. >> Okay. And the teachers, especially the ones who did the survey, feel that this is a stronger math program than the Eureka math. I did look at the data that you um supplied. There's a there seems to be a a slight jump in um success for the pilot schools and people are thinking that that's enough to um warrant us going to something different because I know u as you said some like the 25% who said that they part of the problem is change and I know how difficult change can be and especially changing curriculum. Um, but is it significant enough to make that change? >> In
095my mind, I I feel confident that it is. We've been um implementing Eureka Math for six years now um with a lot of fidelity. We've invested a lot of um time and energy into training staff, training leaders, training coaches to give feedback. and we still find ourselves sitting at that, you know, maybe 10 15% depending on the building of students that are scoring in that proficient range. Um, and since we've invested so much along the way and we're still sitting there, it probably is time to make a change to do something different from our for our kids, it seems like we can't continue to keep doing the same thing and expect a new outcome. >> I get it. And I I know sometimes it's difficult too uh the you know the the uh curriculum is
096only as good as the people who are putting forth the work to get it done. And so we want to make sure that we're encouraging u teachers and princ um and we're getting input from u teachers to make this change because I don't I don't take that change lightly either. I I I understand their their concerns. So, we'll be looking at how well this this goes and >> Okay. Any other questions or comments that we need to address um at this time? Um all in favor of accepting um the new jump math curriculum say I. >> I. >> Any oppose? Motion. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Collins. We're at dispersement. So, Mr. Chance is back up. >> All right. Hello again. >> Good evening, Board of Education, Dr. Fields, administration, and community members. Tonight,
097I'll be presenting the dispersements report for the month of January 2026. Uh the mission of the Ferguson Force School District is to provide highquality instruction to every student in every neighborhood while prioritizing equity and compassionate relationships. The vision of the Fergus Force School District is to is for all learners to graduate believing that anything is possible and prepared to realize those possibilities. So the monthly dispersements for January payroll is $8,517,35852. Operational dispersements are 7,87,5710 for a total monthly expense of $15,64,91562. So these fund descriptions are what we use uh in the budgetary process for our revenues. So total revenues uh year to date are 88,514,971 and that represents 58% of the overall budget. And this is a graphic representation of uh our revenues uh compared to the budget expenditure totals. Uh to date expenditures are
09881,46,882 with an available budget of 75,937,311 which represents 51.7% of the overall budget used. And this graph compares um the overall budget with actuals and with the available budget. So these are the different object codes that we use to categorize the different um expenditure budgets. Uh total salary expenditures for the month of January $42,811,000. I'm sorry this is year-to- date expense. 42,811,174 with an available budget of 46,64,177 which represents 48% of the overall budget. Benefits year to date 15,849,66 with an available budget of 14 million7357 $735,791 which represents 52% of the budget. purchase services year-to- date expense is 11,192,854 with an available budget of 4,674,157 which represents 71% of the overall budget. Supplies year to date 4,788,82 and an available budget of $3,967,949. And that 55% of the overall budget. Capital outlay uh year-to- date
099expense is1,630,62 for an available budget of $3,440,438 which represents 32% use. Long and short-term debt total year-to- date 5,135,1 3 and an available budget of2,514,32 and that is 67% of the overall budget. So here is an up-to-date um chart of all of the St. Louis County tax receipts uh through February. Tax dispersements are running ahead of last year by almost $6.8 million. That is the conclusion of the dispersement report. We would ask for approval of the dispersions. >> May I have a motion to >> so moved? >> Thank you. >> Discussion. Uh I just had a question on slide 15 um where 11 general fund and the budget was amended um and we already used 107%. Can you just talk a little bit about that line item and what's going on there? And then >>
100on slide 15 >> which towards the end. >> Yeah, right there. >> Okay. >> Can you talk about that line of what's going on? And then it do you need any support for the board? Should we be doing anything? What does that mean? >> No, that's just um general uh interest on um certain uh debt that we have. So, is this going to continue to go up as the school year finish or >> shortterm debt? No, it shouldn't. Uh, we have two different payment cycles for that. It's usually I want to say September and March that we make these payments to the state for our debt service. So, >> I will get I will get more detail on that particular item. >> Yeah. I'd like to know. Uh it it makes me nervous when I
101see that we're already over. Um and and we're wondering why. >> Sure. >> Any other questions? Huh? I just wanted to ask kind of related to the same thing. So for the general fund, it's it's at 107%. My assumption is that there are other things that will need to be charged to that before the year is out, right? So then it will likely go up. So does that mean that funds come from somewhere different since that budget has been exhausted or am I >> No, that that's just within debt service itself. We we run a surplus. >> Oh, we run a surplus. >> I have to look at the top up there. Okay. >> Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Hearing none. All in favor say I, please. >> I. >>
102Any oppose? >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Hello, Mr. Moore. >> How are you? >> Good afternoon, uh, board of education, Dr. Fields, and community. Tonight, I will be presenting the first read for policy BDDH one, public participation in board meetings. Over the course of this school year, we have lost a number of employees. And as we have seen over the last two uh board meetings, we have uh attempted to honor their service, their time, their talents here across the district, but the board has directed us to enshrine that within policy. So we are adding a public moment of recognition. At each regularly scheduled board meeting, the board will take a moment of silence to honor those individuals who have died and had a connection to the Ferguson Forest School District. Members of the public
103may submit names of deceased individuals with ties to the district for inclusion in this recognition. After the moment of silence, the board shall follow up with a formal acknowledgement of those individuals. So, this recommendation is is just the first read, but we wanted to enshrine um the honoring of our employees and people who have a connection to the district. Um right now, we were essentially in the throws of Proposition S. However, we are on adding a section to the website um so that people can submit names. However, in le until that happens, please feel for feel free to email either myself or uh Miss Jackie Mcwell or Miss Ane Holland with any names that you would like to submit um for this um acknowledgement after the passing. >> Okay. Um, [clears throat] this is for
104first read. >> Yes, ma'am. First read. >> Um, board, is there any reason why we should not or would not >> Oh, did you want to do that? >> Get out of my head. >> Okay, go ahead. >> No, go right ahead. >> Board, would there be any reason why we would not [laughter] um bypass or wave second reading and vote for this tonight? >> Can you motion? >> Can we motion, please? Yes, I will motion. I motion that we um skip second reading and and vote on it tonight. Second. >> I second. >> No discussion. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Thank you. >> Um I just want to um Madame President, I do want to make sure the community is aware that I think this is a fantastic thing. um
105we only can go as far as the information that we have and the board of um education is um dedicated to making sure we honor all names and so we can only honor the names when we have that information. So until we get that level of website where you can go in and provide it, I ask that you send it to us to be specific. Send it to Jackie Mcwell um because it's important to honor um not only the lives of folks who have dedicated to the district, but the li um the lives of those who are dedicating their time to our students. So again, please, please, please, we don't want to miss anyone um but we're only as good as the information that we receive. >> Thank you. And I'm so glad that the
106board has committed to to doing this I think is extremely important. Um especially for our families too who are suffering those losses. Okay. Uh we're at new business. Any new business hearing? None. May I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Some moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. meeting is adjourned and thank you. Oh, and I forgot to um say Dr. um Kevin Martin was out because he had a commitment at at his job and that Mr. Bailey also had to leave early. So, thank you all. Thank you community.