001Oh, sorry. It is 6 o'clock and we're going to call the meeting to order. Welcome everyone. Thank you for coming uh to the community out out in uh TV land. Um welcome. And we're going to start off with making sure that the board understands the pop, not policy, but our norms. And then we're going to go into the pledge of allegiance. So, let's stand for the pledge. >> Oh, she's already up. Okay. Under the provisions of the public law meeting laws of the state of Missouri, the board must adopt a roll call vote and agenda item that includes the time, date, place, and tenative agenda for meeting. A copy of the notice and the agenda for this meeting was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2025 at the administration center located at 8855 Dun Road, Hazlewood,
002Missouri online and sent to local newspapers. May I have a recommendation to adopt the agenda as posted? >> So move. >> Second. >> Call for the vote, please. >> Manserie, >> yes. >> Martin, >> yes. >> Graves, >> yes. Secretary votes yes. Mr. Tyson, >> yes. >> Dr. Thurman, >> yes. We will now have a presentation from the Missouri School Board Association. Welcome to the October edition of the Missouri School Boards Association's Board Report. Filing for the next school board election is only a couple of months away. There are many things that districts can do between now and the start of filing to prepare. MSBA's associate executive director of leadership development, Katherine Haristen, says that this is a great time to start communicating with the community about the upcoming election process. >> So, what I
003think districts and boards should be doing to prepare for candidate filing is getting the word out, letting people know, informing the community. Um, it's so important to have the best people serve on the school board, the people who care about the district, um, who are advocates for the community. Um and so getting the word out about the openings that you have and then also informing people what is it really like to be on a board. Um and we really encourage you to have some sort of a community forum of sorts and we actually have a um like a draft presentation that you can just download free off the website. Plug in your information and it's good to go. >> Katherine emphasized the important work of school board members and how having an informed community affects
004elections. Because of the importance of schoolboard members and the impact that they have on the success of a school district and of a community, helping community members understand that voting in this election truly can change the trajectory of a district and of a community. >> Katherine also says that MSBA has numerous resources to help potential schoolboard candidates from filing to election. >> For candidates, we have a whole page just devoted to a candidate with like what does it mean to be a board member. We have some flyers on how to um actually file the law behind it. Our attorneys wrote this really great thing which I is awesome for that's new this year. Um and then we also actually have a module that you can work through at your own rate. It's interactive that really
005kind of explains what does it mean to be on a school board? What does it look like? What are your duties as a board member? >> Visit the MSBA website for all of the resources and training modules available to school boards and potential candidates. Additionally, you can learn about required notices, dates and times for filing, candidate qualifications, financial disclosure statements, and more at MSBA's board candidate filing and elections webinar held on November 4th at 1 p.m. This webinar is recommended for superintendents, board secretaries, and other central office staff involved in candidate filing. Find more information also on the MSBA website. Did you know that MSBA's Center for Education Safety team has a book? The Essential Five Field Guide from the CES team is a must-have resource for school leaders facing the unthinkable. Designed for board
006members and superintendent, this practical handbook breaks crisis response into critical phases. CES's Chief Operating Officer, John McDonald, explains how the book was created and why a resource like this is needed for school leaders. And what we've done is we've talked to schoolboard members, superintendents, and principles across the country that have experienced uh significant tragic events, and we interviewed them for the book. And and this is really a CES project. We brought in all of our team members at CES. They were all part of the development and writing of this book. From preschool through high school, we train our kids. We train them on lockdown, what to do in a threatening active shooter environment. We train them on fire drills, where to go, how to evacuate. We train them on what to do in a tornado
007and how to shelter in place. But what we're not doing is we're not training our leaders on how to manage those crisis events. So, we train our kids, we spend time with our teachers, we train our principles, and then it stops. Who's training the leaders? Who's having the open, honest, direct, relevant conversations with those leaders who keep schools safe? Those leaders that are making the decisions moment in time in the first 5 minutes, 5 hours, and 5 days that define the next 5 years. >> John says that after a crisis, lost time is lost trust. And that's where the handbook comes in. or following crisis, you often have a limited amount of time to win back your school. And if you don't win back your school, then you really face some pretty significant issues, including
008loss of trust from your community. And and trust is hardearned and harder to keep. So, how do we keep that trust that we've spent so much time, so much energy building only to lose it because we're not communicating well, because we're not transparent, because we're not getting the information out fast enough. All of this matters moment in time. Our parents demand to know, our kids want to know, our teachers expect us to share um what we know. That transparency is key. We we try to lift that up through the book. The Essential 5 is available in paperback and on Kindle. Visit the MSBA website for more information. And last, but certainly not least, thank you to all who hosted and attended MSBA's fall regional meetings. Meetings were held in all of the state's 17 regions
009as attendees gathered to network, learn, and share with fellow public school leaders to ensure all students succeed. That's it for this month. Thanks for allowing us to have some time at your board meeting and we'll see you in November for the next MSBA board report. [Music] >> Okay, we're going to move along to our public comments. Pursuant to policy BDDH1, public participation in 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 and repetition. The total time allocated for in-person
010public comments shall not exceed 30 minutes. Before the public comment period 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. Uh, individuals wishing to address the board are asked to speak from the podium, identify themselves, and in keeping with policy BDH1 in personnel law, refrain from making any 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 brief may provide brief clarification marks clarifying I'm sorry, 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 Flores School District
011and privately assign a staff member to respond to public comments. If a response has not been received within five business days, please contact Dr. Fields directly. So, we do have one person who wants to speak and it is Dawn Wilkins. if you're here. Hi. Come on down. Can you hear me now? Okay. Communication has gotten a little better, but we still need to get it better better. I have heard many parents say they starting to receive things to know what's going on, but me being one of those because I'm giving it, I don't receive it. So, I don't get that feedback. I guess because I'm the one that's putting the communication out there to have it come back, I don't receive everything. So, as far as their events going on, I've tried to figure out
012how to get them to like the internet for it on the district. I didn't get a response on where to send it to. So, I just been sending it wherever. So, if you got it, it's me. It's a fall festival at Ferguson Middle. I put it out there. I try to anything I find out about, I'm trying to put it out there. But, our parents are not seeing it. So, we got to find a way to pull them in. We got to They want to be a part, but I'm only one person. I can't pull everybody and go every which way. But when I get a group, they don't hear nothing. We only hear you. I need some help. Um, as far as the fall festival, you might want to fly here. I got those
013with me so we can pass it out and get it out there to the community. What I haven't done on foot and where my three parents haven't done on foot, any help we can get, we be pos will be positive. But I do want to thank the schools where my children are at, they have gotten better with communication is getting there. But as a as a community, we got to talk, y'all. If if I know what you're doing, I can help you. If you know what I'm doing, I can help you. We got to talk. We got to get it better. We talking about making it a better place for our students. If I don't know, I can't help you. But I'm everywhere. As much as I can be, but yeah, the communication, I can't
014stress it enough. It's just got to get better. for we I'm not trying to be funny but for a Zoom walkway when we go out there for they football games I know what they doing in one football game for a whole month we got to get there we got three high schools and I don't know what nobody else doing but Mccclure so if we can get there we can make us we can be we can be grade a all of that too but we got to bring it home that's all I ask is that we get the communication better and as much as you need me to talk and reiterate it at every board meeting I will stand here and do that cuz our kids need us. Thank you. >> Thank you. We appreciate your
015advocacy and and speaking up and being an active parent. So, thank you again. We have one comment that was um emailed in from Dale Kamar. My name is I'm sorry, it's Kamar Dale, community partner. And I would like to submit this comment. Post reconstru restructuring meetings there were oh are there discussions we had to implement changes for 2627 school year. I'm a parent of students that were negatively impacted by the restructuring. After review of the data presented at the meeting, it seems that all areas except one graduation rates were also negatively impacted by directly or indirectly by restructuring. I will also like to mention that the the constant transitions for our kiddos aren't beneficial to their developmental to their development either. They build connections and learn routines in one school and within two years they're
016leaving and creating a larger gap for uh building any foundation. Thank you. Someone will be getting back to each one of you who who brought comments today. Our student representative is out today. He's on a college visit. So, we want to say hi to him and and >> travel. >> Yeah. Safe travels and all of that. And and also that's we're going to have a FFNA come up at this time. I also while she's coming want to say that uh Mr. Bailey is out uh excused. Um so that's why he isn't here today. >> Good evening. As a member, my name is Rebecca Lee. Sorry. As a member of the FFNA executive board, I would like to take a moment to address a significant concern that many of our school buildings are currently facing. The
017ongoing absence of full-time nurses in our buildings. Currently, nurses are being shared among multiple schools. This situation often leaves untrained staff members in difficult positions of managing medical situations such as broken bones, asthma treatments, and other health conditions that extend beyond their professional expertise. Classroom teachers, counselors, office staff, and building administrators are stepping in to meet these needs, which not only places them in uncomfortable and potentially risky situations, but also pulls them away from their essential daily responsibilities. While we all share the goal of ensuring that every student receives the best possible care, our members have reported that some schools are noticing a decline in student attendance on days when a nurse is not physically present. This raises a critical question. When will the district address the nurse shortage so that every building can have
018a certified nurse on site each day to properly meet the medical needs of sta students and staff? Additionally, we would like to acknowledge the district's recent com community meeting which revisited the 2018 restructuring. The FFNA leadership team appreciates the positive and collaborative relationship that is developing with Superintendent Dr. Fields and the new cabinet members. However, some of our members remain hesitant to participate fully, citing past experiences where they felt their voices were not truly heard and that feedback sessions were perceived as merely procedural formalities. We are optimistic that through ongoing dialogue and transparent collaboration, we can continue to build trust and demonstrate to all staff that this new administration is genuinely committed to listening to and valuing every stakeholders's input. Thank you for your time and your continued partnership. >> Thank you. And I'm sure
019you will address that in your in your comments. So, this is a superintendent update time. >> All right. Um, good evening, Madam President, members of the board, community, and colleagues. We have a number of items that we're going to get to, and I will have the final two. And so, I am going to yield um over to I'll start with um Dr. Ebony Shaw. Well, I'm sorry. I'll go ahead and go with an first um with regards to celebrations and recognitions, followed by Dr. Ebony Shaw. Good evening board, Dr. Fields and community. Thank you for allowing us some time this evening to share district celebrations and recognitions. First, we would like to recognize the students from Mccclure High School who shined at the St. Louis Fashion Alliance event held at the Ritz Carlton in Clayton.
020They joined over 150 students and teachers to explore career paths in fashion and connected with more than 40 industry professionals. It was an incredible opportunity to learn, network, and showcase their knowledge. Congratulations to the students at Mccclure High School. Next, we would like to um recognize Mccclure North and Steam High students who represented their schools at the regional DECA leadership conference. This was held at University of Missouri in St. Louis and the event brought together more than 200 students from 12 local high schools competing across 37 categories. Winners from this competition are advancing to the state level DECA competition. We're proud of their stu we're proud of their hard work and congratulations to our high school DECA students. And next, join us in celebrating Terresa Davis, our lead social worker here in the district. She
021has received the advocacy award from Girls in the No. She has more than 20 years of experience in social services, including four years of service in the Ferguson Florison School District. Teresa is a passionate advocate for youth and families. She continues to inspire hope, encouragement, positive change in every child she meets. Congratulations to Miss Teresa Davis. And that concludes celebration and recognitions. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, uh, Miss Hullman. I'm going to go ahead and yield over to, uh, Dr. Ebony Shaw, who will provide us with, um, an update with regards to community engagement. Hello. Good evening, board members and community. I'm excited to share an update with you on the Red Tales program. See if uh oh, I'm struggling. Okay, it's coming. There we go. I'm excited to share with you an
022update on the Red Tail Cadets program which is now in its fifth year here in the Ferguson Florison School District. The Red Tail Cadet program is a six-week aviation and leadership summer training program and is open to our high school students. It honors the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, which is the first black military aviators in the US. We are grateful to our partners and sponsors, the Crossing Church, Boeing, Elite Aviation, and Holland Law for making this program possible. This past summer was a milestone year where we celebrated our very first all female cadet class, which you whom you all have met before, our next slide. Oh yeah. The Red Tail Cadet program opportunity is designed for students who show both strong academic performance and character. To qualify, students must be enrolled in Ferguson Florison
023School District in grades 9 through 11. They must be at least 16 years old by July 1st of 2026 for the upcoming class. They must maintain a 3.25 GPA or higher. They must demonstrate high achievement in STEM programs and be uh recommended by teachers and or administrators. It's not just about flying. is about leadership, teamwork, and preparing our students for future careers, which there are very, very many in the field of aviation. Recruitment for the 2026 class of cadets is beginning. We'll host school-based recruiting events on Tuesday, October 14th, which is next week, at Mccclure North, Mccclure, and Steam Academy at 9, 11:15, and 1 p.m. I have it memorized. will also host a parent information sess session and Q&A on Wednesday, November 12th here at the administration building from 5 to 6 pm here
024in the boardroom. The November 12th session is open to all parents who are curious about how their children can participate in Red Tales. Overall, we want to make sure that every student who meets the criteria and has the passion to pursue this opportunity knows how to apply. Brad Johnson, our director of career readiness, um has pulled a list of students who qualify based upon the numbers, meaning that they have the right GPA and they'll be the correct age and they're in the right grade. There are approximately 91 students who qualify right now for the Red Tails program who can apply coming up soon. And their college and career readiness specialists will be pulling them out to talk to them about the the session. They're also invited to attend the sessions that are happening inside their
025schools. They can come with their parents here to learn more about the program. And we'll also be reaching out to parents because we want the whole family to know how everybody can be involved in the program. Where are they now? There have been 28 cadetses that have completed the program to date. Three have received their private pilots license. Four are enlisted in the military and they're on the aviation track. Six are pursuing their bachelor's degree in aviation. and one of them is on a full ride. So, they've done very well in this program. Also, all of the recruitment events will be promoted on the district and the high school social media sites and there are posters up in all of those buildings and also in the middle schools right now. The middle schools will have
026their recruitment dates in the spring. So, it's really um to build up in them to let them know that the program is coming up and to kind of get them excited about it when they get to high school. So, I also want to give you all an update on the work of the Ferguson Florison Foundation for Education. Recently, this past August, a couple months ago, the John Lang Memorial Fund provided a $31,000 donation to support our third grade teachers. So, they're just finding out about that today. So, they'll they'll be excited, I hope, about that. In addition, the John Lang Memorial Fund has pledged an additional $60,000 in support of helping children go to college for 2026 and 2027. So, thank you to Terry Lang for that gift. Our fall grant cycle is now open
027now through October the 20th. Any Ferguson Florison School District employee can apply for up to $2,000 in grant funding. request for resources must directly fuel innovation in our classrooms and enri en enrich learning for students. So, as long as it supports students, you're able to um apply for it. Some examples of what was funded last year is a community garden at Mccclure. There were a lot of field trips that were included in that. We rerung all the violins at Commons Lane, provided uh shelving for large instruments. So, it's really runs the gamut, anything that you kind of need help with. And then finally, I want to draw attention to the radiation exposure compensation act or RA. If you attended school, lived or worked in the Ferguson Florison School District for at least two years after
0281949 to current day, you may be eligible for conf compensation. We are hosting anformational session and Q&A on Saturday, October 18th at the Steam Academy in Mccclure South Berkeley. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. and the session runs from 10 to 11:30 a.m. So, it's a perfect time to come get your questions answered, to figure out how to fill out the very long 24page application, um, and to also gather any information around the RAT. This is really an important opportunity for our community and we encourage anyone who may qualify to attend and get your questions answered. In all of these efforts, the Red Tail Cadetses teacher support through the foundation and connecting our community to vital resources. The common theme is investing in people. We're creating opportunities for our students, supporting our educators, and standing with
029our community. Thank you very much for your continued support of our district and our families. Do you have any questions? >> All right. Thank you. >> I just want to take an opportunity to thank um Dr. Shaw again for a few things. Uh first and foremost, we see the uh radiation exposure uh compensation act that that really birthed from being responsive um to the community. Um we were at an event together and there was just so much um that was provided so many questions and it was really Dr. Shaw who stated, "Hey, I think this is something that our community would certainly benefit from." So, I do appreciate um not only your support in that regard, but your vision for bringing such umformational opportunities here to the district. I also want to thank you as
030well as Mr. Johnson. It is fantastic to hear that 91 students are eligible across all of our high schools, but also want to thank um our our teachers, our administrators for those letters of recommendation, having those conversations. We we have to believe in our students until they believe in themselves. And so I love the quote that you stated which was um it's not just about flying, it's about leadership, teamwork, and career opportunities. And so while someone may think that they're going in um over the summer for 6 weeks um for exposure in a plane, it's really so much more. And so I don't want that to be taken for granted. And lastly, um I do want to mention that um being here next week from 5 to 6, if um folks are here, we do
031encourage you to stay for the board meeting. But outside of that, the work that the foundation is doing, we really appreciate it. Again, all of these are opportunities for our students and staff. It truly does take a community, and you continue to exemplify that. So, thank you so much. You're >> welcome. >> At this time, Madam President, I will turn it over to Dr. Carl Imhof, who will get an opportunity to provide the uh fall, I'll call it behavior report. Um, and so I'll turn it over to Dr. umhoff. >> Great. So, I get to follow all the uh the positive praise and now I'm going into the uh the behavior. But I do want to say uh good evening uh Madame President, board. Uh I'm excited to be here uh community and and our
032cabinet and leadership team. Uh what I want to do is just kind of uh give you a little uh brief overview in regards to where we're at as of right now from our uh behavior that has uh taken place for the August and September. One of the things that we want to try to do is make sure that we're being transparent to everyone uh to the to the community to each one of the um the buildings and and providing all the information. But before I do that, I want to say uh special thanks to our support service department uh working together to uh pull all the the information, the data, uh executive directors, um Dr. Lamers, Mr. Joyce, and and Mr. Murray all working with uh taking the information and passing that out into the
033um into the schools. Uh building administrator administrators for uh taking all the information and uh developing plans to to really assist and and work to try to um change the behaviors and and help our students. And then also uh our council work uh workers and social workers under the leadership of Teresa Davis uh for social and Dr. Thomas. We want to uh thank them too as well. And the the SEL team as far as um you know constantly working to to keep our um information our SEL teams in each one of the buildings. So, uh, some of the things that we were we kind of, uh, took a look at with with the data, we wanted to look at some of the demographics, um, in regards to, uh, what what's been taking place, what are
034some of the behavioral trends. Uh, so when we look at it, we look at, uh, the incidents uh, regardless went across grade spans. Uh, the not notable number of incidents were uh, pretty much middle and high school. Uh the detailed report uh with actual information, grades, um schools, uh all that is, you know, pretty much it's it's all confidential so that you wouldn't see that. But they bu the building administrators do receive that so they can actually um identify uh the students to help provide uh supports. the um like I said it goes from the names, the grades, the schools uh behavior issues and uh tiered interventions. So each one of the building administrators will work with that. The behavioral trends that we see across the district and a lot of this is is probably
035uh we we've seen it in the past is um non-compliance uh physical aggressions, disruptive behaviors. Incidences that are reported from elementary and high schools are usually vary as far as the re revol our uh resolutions in regards to the severity of behaviors. All the information that has been um pulled was on so it pulled from August in infant and campus and in September. So all the all the uh the data was pulled up to uh the end of September uh 29th with the last day being on the 30th. The um the student behavior resolutions and overview the various behaviors such as disruptive behaviors, fighting uh were some of the uh uh larger issues as far as that we really want to make sure that we um uh are taken care of. Uh the resolutions range
036from parent notification, restorative uh actions to school inter uh school um in school suspensions and out of school suspensions. The incidences recorded uh some of those were um common um incidences were verbal conflicts, disruptive behaviors and fighting. Specific incidents like skipping class, non-compliance were frequently noted uh throughout the discipline reports and the the recorded areas they ranged from uh various multiple locations from classrooms to um hallways to restrooms to the uh cafeteria areas. So when you when you look at the chart that we currently have, you can kind of see the overall event totals by school and then with that there's a correlation you know from the events there's also the OSS total and then it gives you the the percentage of OSS to each one of the events and also the same you you'll
037see the same with from an ISS perspective the total events per school with the um in correlation we also put put out the um the percentage wise. So you can kind of look at uh uh some of those areas and and the administrative teams not only from the buildings but from executive leadership team. We're all looking at that data and and we'll be working with each one of the building administrators, the social emotional leadership team, uh uh student expectation leadership teams in each one of the buildings to to work and to uh develop uh plans based off of this data. Uh this actually breaks it down as far as overall percentages. uh highest percent was uh skipping class. Then it went to physical aggression, dress code violations, out of school areas, non-compliance, fighting, and then
038uh we have our uh I know that there was some areas where we wanted uh admin uh board members kind of wanted to hear see what it was with electronic devices and cell phones. That range is about 5% of the overall um percentage of events. Then it goes down to inciting disturbance, drugs, verbal conflict, um threat and intimidation. The other 13% uh total events equal less than 1% um of the overall totals. Again, uh when you look at inschool suspensions and out of school suspensions, you can kind of see uh what causes uh the events that cause them to get uh in school suspension or out of school suspension. Uh in schools, it'll range from class class disruption, aloping, inciting a disturbance to verbal conflict. Out of school can go from fighting to disruptive behavior,
039out of out of assigned areas, physical aggressions. If if we look at the total resolution in days, uh we're looking at 1,121 days and the resolution for uh OSS is 1,399. Again, that's all uh data that was pulled from Infinite Campus. So if we would look in comparison to where we were uh last year at this time uh we're we have uh total event counts were 3,213 uh last year was uh 1,784. So, one thing that we I will say that uh we're making sure that uh we're working with each one of the building administrators where they're tracking everything and putting everything in infinite campus so that way we can get a a true assessment of what's taking place. Uh again, the the report summarizes the various resolutions uh that are applied. Uh the common
040resolutions would range from parent notifications, inschool suspensions, out of school suspensions. They also uh are utilizing restorative uh practices sessions um to address behavioral issues. And the other is um that we use a lot is our uh parent conferences and keeping in contact and relationships with the parents. That kind of uh sums sums up the the overall behavioral uh incident reports for the first couple months. Is there any questions? >> Thank you for that report. Um board, do you have any questions? >> Okay, we'll start with Dr. >> Okay. >> Hi Dr. >> How are you? >> Thanks for sharing that information and it's really encouraging to hear uh that our numbers are down as compared to last year. I just wanted to ask her. >> Huh? >> Oh, I thought he said it went
041down. It went up. >> Oh, okay. Well, it's not encouraging. >> It's not encouraging, right? >> The numbers. I thought >> it wouldn't be on a celebration moment. >> Okay. All right. One of the things I wanted to ask about, you noted that for resolution, some of the ways these things are being resolved, you noted parent notification and restorative actions. And so I was curious if you could speak a little more to like when parents are being contacted about a disciplinary concern, what do those parent notifications look like? What is what is and I don't know if you know this, but I'm just curious to know what's happening when we're contacting parents. >> Yeah. No. Uh that's going to be from a from a building level perspective, but being a prior building level, it would
042be a phone call home. You would also be uh correspondence. A lot of times now it's more email than it was in the past. that might have been more mail in but um that that contact information should be taking place on a regular basis. >> So it's literally it's just a notification and then the restorative actions are um just kid getting together talking with the kids. What do the restorative actions include? >> So it it it could look at um we could look at um uh mediation, conflict mediation. Uh there could be opportunities for small group sessions. There could be a restorative people to those those effects. >> Okay. Because one of the questions I was curious I was curious about the role of um counselors and social workers in working with kids where we're
043seeing some persistent behavioral concerns. So it sounds like there's some restorative work being done with kids in that area. I'm also curious to know are we partnering with any providers in the community? Because sometimes when we see persistent behavioral concerns with kids, that could be an indicator that they uh might need to see a therapist to work on, you know, learning how to resolve conflicts peacefully or they may be struggling with anxiety or depression. So, do we have any of >> Yes. So, we we use uh KVC. Um we also have uh been utilizing Hazel Health too as well. um you know for some uh not only from the res restoration um center but also from the buildings levels uh Terresa Davis has been a wonderful resource as far as within the community providing those
044some of theus have just gone through um you know working with our partners >> I'm curious to know if you feel comfortable that building administrators understand that um one of the things on that menu of interventions for kids who may be exhibiting disruptive behavior could be a referral to see a mental health provider other in other words I just kind of want to make sure that it's not always like suspend suspend suspend or we looking at other things because suspensions of course don't fix it so >> yeah absolutely right and those are um I know that the administrative leadership team they have uh monthly meetings and the data that we have we provide out to them and then each each building will have their um own team that will review the data and look at
045it. Um, as far as the resources, uh, those would they can be shared through the social workers or from the counselors. >> Okay. >> But I agree with you. >> Sure. And I think from for me as one board member, I think it would be helpful to me if I knew a little more about um how many kids are being referred. Um, does that make sense? So that when we look at discipline data that is evident that we are actually referring kids for we might still have to suspend but also just making sure kids have an opportunity to build the skills they need so that they don't continue to be suspended. >> Yeah, I I do know that just recently uh pulled the information care teams were they're running about 38, you know, current uh
046care teams of students that were were referred. um you know and so with that they they look at a lot of variety of wraparound services now I'm sure it's it's it's we need to get up uh with with more um provide you know to assist those kids um and and we will >> and I'm glad to hear that care teams are functional that's really important one of the other questions I had about the data when we look at um the out of school suspension numbers and the inschool suspension numbers and then I'm also just thinking about office referral referrals, basically anything that's taking kids out of instruction. I'm curious to know if in your buildings where you have more uh support in place if you're seeing if you're seeing any differences in the numbers. And
047so just to maybe make it a little bit having done similar work before um one of the things I've noticed in the past is that across a school district if you have a building where let's just say there are a couple of embedded providers a really strong character education program a principal who really um tries to pull a team of people together to talk about kids who aren't making adequate progress. those things. Sometimes you see a shift in what's happening in that building versus another building where those things are not in place. So, I'm just curious to know and it's okay if you don't know today um if you have noticed with the current data that you've collected any differences between in between the buildings around these buildings have these systems in place. So, therefore,
048we are seeing fewer office referrals or fewer days out of school. >> Yeah, that I mean that's a that's a a great point. Yeah, we we can kind of see it from the list of of who doesn't have suspensions or who's very low and and I know that um Mr. Joyce and and Lamers were looking at those those areas. Um and we also have we'll have a coming up a district leadership team and looking at some of those practices from um you know MTSS with our partnership with SSD and with Missou. But um to your point that that's crucial data, but I I don't have the specifics on that. >> Sure. And the last thing I would say is that for me um well, two quick things. One, I would love to hear more about
049that even in a public setting, which buildings have these things in place. I think it's an opportunity for the community to hear what's happening in the buildings, what the what extra things are people doing to get those numbers down, how are they responding to the needs of kids, and then the final thing is with all the things that have been noted that seem to be the reasons for the inschool and out of school suspensions, I would be curious to know what we're doing. So, for example, if we recognize that there um the biggest issue we have, let's say I think one of them is skipping class and then there's another one that has to do with disruptive behavior, what things are we doing? And and I know that you noted some things that are resolution,
050but then if we recognize those things may not be getting it done, are we looking at changes in programming? You know, how are we attacking those things, so to speak? >> I I I will um >> attack probably not the best word, but you >> Well, yeah, exactly. I I do uh commend uh Dr. Lamers and and Mr. Joyce. They're working on uh building improvement plans, you know, for the for the year and and they'll be looking at a lot of that data and and sitting down with each one kind of where things are happening, what are taking place, who who um you know, is there specific locations, classrooms, and and I know that they'll they'll look at all that information and and partner up with each one of the building administrators. >> All right.
051Thank you, Dr. Grace, >> I just want to thank Dr. Pow Walker for stealing all of my questions. Um, don't need to um I mean even down to the last one. I was like, okay, I got one more and she just took that one, too. In regards to skipping. Um, I guess for me, I just want to my my question is just in regards to or just even comment just making sure that we're looking at trends. Um, that is a really high percentage of class of people skipping class, 19% which that's the highest and I I'm really I guess for me I'm wondering why are we skipping class? What's going on with the instruction? and then is it at certain places that we're skipping class. Um so that's just my thing is just really wanting
052to go deeper into the data to um ask um more questions in regards to why are um students doing those particular things. But um Dr. Pw Walker asked everything that I wanted to know. >> Well, she didn't ask one of mine. Um, so I was thinking when you were stating that we increased >> infractions, is it because of the new reasons to have infractions like the cell phone and the dress code? So those weren't infractions last year. So is our increase in fractions this year because we've added more disciplinary reasons to be disciplined this year or are we seeing an increase in fractions >> in the same infractions like fighting and things like is fighting down is the question I'm asking is >> those that are typically our greatest concerns are they down or are
053we seeing we're across up across the board? Yeah. No, I I some of those correlations I'd have to take a a a more deep dive in in regards to those, but those are good points as far as you know, the cell phones, the dress codes. >> I don't want to get this image that our kids are getting batter or right. >> Is that a right word? I'm just going right. Is that right? Okay. I don't want to give the impression that they're behaving more poorly in the sense of, hey, we're fighting more. We're stealing more. were when when we're we're actually giving out more infractions for other things that we weren't previously. Is that the increase in the >> I first thing I do want to say we got a great bunch of kids, you
054know, and and so that that we do have within our district. We have some that that we need to to work with and help help develop them. And um but like I said from a from um I'd have to dig deeper and work with the the executive leaders in as far as where we're at, but some of those would cause it to go up. You know, as far as the numbers of fighting, I would probably say just um I I don't want to give information that I don't know for sure. Um but I I think we're we're pretty close to to historical, you know. um at the beginning of the year is is when the the fights increase and then then they kind of funnel out and and we we start doing a little bit
055more of that um identifying those areas and and working with them. But yeah, I don't want to give give areas that I I haven't gone in more depth in. >> Dr. Martin, >> thank you so much. Um I I think for me I have a couple questions. I'm sure you're surprised by that. Um I think one of my first questions before I start is what level do we start putting in Infinite Campus? So at what consequence do we put in Infinite Campus? I know you mentioned um I think to Dr. Paul Walker's question like parent notification, restorative action. Are those expected to be recorded in Infinite Campus? >> Yes. I mean, uh, so like if the kid's skipping or or if they're doing anything, what we've been really trying to focus on is following this
056student expectation code and and if they're in violation, put it in, you know, into Infinite Campus and and we really are trying to record everything and and so that could also be a reason for the increase in numbers as well. >> Got it. So I think for me as one of seven I think it's important that the board hopefully take a stance is we want to see everything in the system. There's still a culture of not putting things in the system that you're going to get called to the hot seat. And I'll give an example and I'm not placing blame on anyone. Talking to a principal recently they said they have 5 to 10% of their student population out of uniform on a daily basis. Quick math that's 1,500 violations. According to this, it shows
057there's 339. And so again, I just think there's a culture of not recording things. We've also heard some things about high schools particularly struggling with the cell phone state law. I have a hard time believing that we're only at 155. And I know you're just pulling the data from the thing. I think I just want to keep reiterating to our administrators out there, please do not be afraid to put the information in the system because that helps us really know where support is needed. If we don't have the information in there, we cannot know really to how to pinpoint or provide community partners and supports because let's say these 621 skippings are all at one school. We want to know that. And if none of the if let's say one high school has all of
058them let's just use that and the other one has none we want to know what's going out the one that's working so well and the other one's not. So I think I just want to keep encouraging our administrators to not be afraid to put all of the information in the system and I know it is timeconuming but we want accurate information. I known Dr. Fields now for three months on the job or whatever it is. He is not someone that I know that's going to come after a principal for having data that's extremely behavior in a way that's that's going to be a more of a approach of what can we do to help support. And so I just want to keep communicating to folks. I'm going to say it again. We need accurate information
059because we hear frequently from community members, there's more fights in schools or there's this. And I look at this and I say, "Okay, 232 or I look at suspensions." Of course, no one wants to suspend a kid. To Dr. Paul Walker's point, suspension doesn't work. But at some time we have to there's >> order in our schools that we have to have. And I look at the number we're talking about out of the 707 suspensions this year so far, it's only an average of 1.9 days of suspension, if you just do quick quick math, which is still a very low number compared to each suspension. And I'm hoping if kids are fighting and causing fear of others in our school, we're not just giving them one day suspension and have them come back the next
060day. And so I think we just need to figure out where we need to provide support. And I think care teams, yes, 30's a starting place, but I know the care teams, you or Dr. Fields weren't here, has been something passion the board's been expressing. I think it's a good way of saying it for at least six or seven years. And I know we've had a change in administration and things happen. But I think for me the number one message I would like to say is like we need administrators to put accurate information so you all can pull accurate reports and not be afraid that the board or someone else is going to come back and have you come to the podium and speak about why your school numbers are worth and again I'm only
061one of seven but I do believe in my colleagues we want accurate information so we can really help identify because again although our numbers are up I would expect cell phones to be 10 to 12 times 20 times what that number based on what I'm hearing in the community and what I've seen myself. >> So that's just one piece of it. We just want to make sure keep reiterating we need people to put accurate information in so we can problem solve. I do think there's some need for coaching of just like what are some opportunities where we have not that we can dictate like here's a consequence ladder because we can't do that by state law but where do we do some meaningful restorative work around let's say kids not going to class or physical
062aggression is pretty high up there and then at some point kids have to be feel safe at school. So if other kids don't feel safe at school, what can we do to support kids to make sure they're getting education while others are not coming to school? Because what we've historically seen is there are a group of kids who don't come to school out of fear of safety from other children. That's impacting their education. And they're still maintaining their education is what we're seeing historically from some data here that they're maintaining it even though they don't come to school because of fear. while we allowing others who need some additional wraparound supports to control the environment. And so I think we just have to be mindful of a getting accurate information, but then figuring out how
063do we partner with people? How do we get some counseling supports in there? Um, >> again, I I know you're pulling from different campus, so you can only pull what's in there. Totally get it. I think we just need to keep reiterating as a board, we want accurate information. We do not want people to be afraid to put information in that's accurate because when we hear things like, well, we track it on this spreadsheet, it doesn't help us because Dr. Fields is not going to go ask every school for a spreadsheet. He's going to look at this information here to see where support is needed, what needs to happen. So, I know sometimes it's easier to have things on spreadsheets, but I'm just using uniforms, for example. We can't have people doing other things if
064we have infinite campus and the resource is supposed to be infinite campus to report things. So we can't accurately reflect to see because I would expect an increase anytime you start a new thing. When we started yonder bags people were mad about that when we started metal detectors. Trust and believe they had to work through how to get people through the schools in a timely orderly fashion. I know they're still we're working at the beginning of this year like change takes time. People getting adjusted kids coming to school not going to class is an issue. they and I doubt it's 621 based on things and again it's no fault of anyone's it's just we have to figure out what supports we can provide so I'll get off my soap box now I appreciate it I
065don't need any response just I want to keep sending the message please put the information in accurately so when we're hearing from community members or teachers or administrators it's all matching so we can really figure out where support is needed and so when we are doing care teams we can really see who needs support where are their spots heavy spots of need so thank you so much Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so I have a question in regards to the 10% that is considered non-compliance. Um, that's a high number, but what is considered non-compliance? Because to me, non-compliance is subjective. >> You're you're correct. I mean, and and it could be um a lot of it is uh they're not following directive. I mean it's kind of the the old phrase of uh
066incorability uh failure to follow a reasonable request but it is subjective. >> My other question is so do we think that last year that people were not inputting the data um that's why our numbers are up now? >> Yeah. I I don't um know from you know coming in as far as exactly what transpired as far as uh how they recorded it. They recorded in a couple different systems. You know um they were recording it in branching minds infinite and campus. Uh we're encouraging everything to go straight into infinite campus uh this year as far as everything. And so, um, you know, our goal is that the data is going to tell a story and we we want to have it in in the system so we we can better assess what we need to
067do. >> And um, like Dr. Morton was saying, like with the cell phones, like I visited several high schools and I've seen several kids cell phones out and just nothing is being done. >> Yeah. And and I uh what I will say is there it's it's a cultural that they're used kids have been used to that we're really trying to change. They don't have the yonder packs anymore. So we have to constant constantly reiterate and I know that building administrators are are working through the process. We're trying we're working with uh putting in universal um checklist you know across each one of the buildings. um you know if it does get out we have you know what they call function and behavior in mind you know kind of what's causing it why are you doing
068it but but yeah it's it's changing a practice um that our kids have been accustomed to as soon as they get up out of bed with with the phone and so so uh I know that the administration is working extremely hard um and trying to to make sure that they learn the proper behavior to to put their cell phones away and and learn. >> Thank you for gathering this information. >> Madame President, may I make one other comment? Um I I wanted to just mention a couple of things. Um just to be fair, I know um know to Dr. Martin's point about really wanting to make sure that everybody's being putting the data in. I do think that it takes time to build a culture of trust >> where you will get to a place
069where people are willing to be transparent. Um, just having done this work for a long time, nobody wants to look like the person whose building is out of control. >> So, I just think it takes time to get there. I only we want it, but I just say it so we can all manage expectations and not expect something amazing in three months or whatever. And then the last thing around that I wanted to mention is um I know that sometimes we might go into schools and we might see kids who have cell phones out and I do think we want something to be done about that. But I also think it's important to remember that at some point teachers have to go teach and you can't spend all day chasing kids around asking them to
070do what they should do and parents have to play a role in making sure their kids do what is asked of them. I know you know these things, but I just felt like it needed to be said out loud because at some point teachers have to get about the business of why they came in that day, which is to teach children. So, >> just want to mention that. >> Yeah, I would say thank you. And I I think that the um all the buildings administration would would appreciate all the comments, you know, as far as um what's been said. >> That's all. >> And I just had a couple of quick questions. With the uh skipping being the highest on the list, I'm just curious because they're skippers already. What is the uh course of
071action uh for a skipper who skipping when they skip in school suspension? >> Yeah. So I will defer those to each one of the building administrators. Normally the process if if they're if they're what could potentially take place if they're skipping their inschool suspension then they would receive either additional days or get an out of school suspension you know and then and then it basically goes up into the non-compliance and then the so the level would would increase. What is the difference between physical aggression and fighting? Um, so a fighting could just auto it, you know, that it's kind of um from a variance perspective. Physical aggression is is where the it's it's more violent is is is there um like so from a fighting it could just be two um two people. Physical aggression
072could be um somebody might have not even saw it coming, you know, and blindsided it. somebody in a fight. Um, but I they're very similar, but u we look at physical aggression being um a little bit more intense. It could be u multiple people, you know, that's taking place, inciting a vir, you know, inciting a violence. So all three of those it's it's um it varies and I think it's going to be you know from a clarification standpoint it would be each one of the building administrators. So, I would have to defer and and get a little bit more insight. But usually when we see physical aggression when it comes to us um there's and and inciting a vi u um uh you know doing a insight then it's it's more of a um multiple
073multiple individuals rather than a one-on-one. And so I'm I'm clear what I'm well because what I was thinking was, you know, here we are, we fighting. I got my hands on you, you got your hands on me. And physical aggression. And I just wanted clarification is more we're yelling or um so I'm just curious to know. >> Yeah. So there'll be a difference between a verbal um conflict and a physical. You know, a physical could be you might have three people um go up on one one person, you know. Um and and as opposed to two just getting upset with each other and having a having a fight at both of them are all of them are level four and five. So it it's pretty much of how it's described within the context of what
074actually took place and and so you know that's where I I defer it to the building principles to actually um make that determination uh as far as the level but but the levels of each one of those especially from a secondary um they're level fours and fives. >> Okay. And I guess the only thing I want to suggest now, I I respect deferring it to the building administrators, but there still has to be some continuity between buildings. Um, so if we don't know, I think we need a very detailed what physical aggression is because if physical aggression is not yelling, but yet I just got cited because I go to Commons Lane for yelling as a physical aggression, but somebody yelling in Mark Mccclure >> is not physical aggression. It should be some type of
075>> and and and I do know that it's in uh the um student expectation codes and there's specific verbiage on that. Um I don't have it in front of me right now but but um when when a incident does take place I I do know that building administrators will go through that student expectation and figure out where does that actually fit within within the policy of what was written in that. Um but for the actual verbiage I don't have it on me. Sorry. >> Yes. Thank you Dr. Ihoff. Just a few uh points that I want to make sure I make. Um you did mention the student expectation code. I do want to uplift the work that um not only u Mr. Moore but the committee had that really allows us to have some level
076of calibration in terms of the actual consequences and all of that. In addition to that, there have been opportunities for table talk and calibration um spaces to engage with our leaders. And so with this being um a week away from the end of the first quarter, now that we have some additional data, um we'll be able to move forward in those particular regards. Speaking of the um data, um the data is the data. And as someone who's um very transparent and and heavy with respect to documentation, there has not been any conversations, pressure whatsoever to not have what I would call um data integrity. there has never been a conversation, frankly, about, you know, not putting in the data because, again, to your point, um, Dr. Martin, not only does that establish trust, but it
077also puts us in a situation where how can we provide the level of support if our data is not what it needs to be. So, I do want to make sure that comes through loud and clear. In addition to that, um, as you can imagine, I've been in the, um, buildings of a fair amount, um, in my 98 days. Um I have heard a few things with respect to um some feedback from principles as well as staff members and I just want to make sure this um is mentioned. The first of which is for some of our schools we did yield from seven periods to four periods. And so as we know with discipline for many of us who've been in school and even behaviors those unstructured areas is let's just say a magnet for
078when things happen. And so if there are more opportunities and not being here last year, of course, there are some things that listening to the board and the community, there may be some surprises, but with respect to some of these other areas such as skipping class, none of it is ideal. However, we can imagine that with more opportunities for unstructured time, there will be some opportunities that we have to yield um our students to do some better things. The next of which that did come up was um our dean of student positions. While they're not just reactive, they were proactive in some regards. And so there was a few comments coming from administrators from the standpoint of not as a a blame or anything like that but given the financial status of the district that
079does have an impact on some of the numbers that we have and ending it in the positive. Some of the things that I've seen from our staff members particularly those who are not administrators that are getting involved and making sure students are getting to class and trying to have those corrective behaviors so it does not end up being a referral. we like to call um building relationships. Um they're doing a really great job and so folks are doing the best work that they can. Um to the board's point and thank you to Dr. Imhof, we're certainly going to look at these data and determine what are those other supports we can provide. Again, um the data is the data. We have a lot of work to do because the data does impact the academics which
080does impact attendance and it's just a cycle in that regard. So it does take an entire village. U we believe that um some of these numbers are not ideal but it is ideal in the sense of we're getting more and more data transparency and we'll continue to have those difficult conversations for our students. So I just wanted to add those notes as I was hearing some of the comments. Any more questions? Thank you so much for this uh report and um we want you to continue to do this so that we will know what's going on in the schools. And I know the numbers it's hard to look at this data and and see that we've almost doubled in terms of um events, but I think there are other things that affect that that number
081and it's like we're probably reporting more um than they probably did last year. Um, I don't know. But I would, as Dr. uh Martin says, I would encourage administrators to continue to report misbehavior and to put it into infinite wisdom. Put it in into the system. So, um, thank you again. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it, Dr. Yeah, I know. I'm like, >> "Oh, he's going to the podium." >> Okay. >> I like the stretch. I wanted the stretch. Anyway, um good morning. I'm sorry. Good evening, Board of Education. Uh community colleagues. I have the pleasure of going over the next two items as part of the superintendent update. Um I will go through the first few slides pretty quickly um because the board has had an opportunity to view um some of the actual
082data but for those of us who are just joining us andor watching online and you may not have the appropriate context. I do want to go over a few pieces. Um I want to thank the board of education for your leadership in terms of on September the 10th at the board meeting. you did direct me and the team that I work as closest with to revisit the restructuring plan that was adopted in 2018 and subsequently implemented in 2019. On September the 30th, we took the initial step although there was a lot of work in the background gathering data and I can't thank the team enough um for being so instrumental in ensuring that we had data transparency. That meeting took place on again September the 30th at Mccclure High School. Um after the meeting and
083this is a very important part, a survey was conducted to obtain feedback on the provided data for students, staff, families, and guardians as well as the broader community. This was anonymous data. And so what you'll see is we still have a ways to go before we get um as many responses I think would be ideal. But with it being um anonymous and with it being something that was not just provided at the actual September the 30th meeting but sent out, thank you to um An Holman and her team for that survey went out everywhere. So we are trying to obtain as much feedback as possible. And so I offered that even though the data that we will see tonight will be as of October the 3, that survey is still open. And so please, please,
084please, we want the feedback as we provide the board with as much information as possible. And so again, as of se as of October the 3rd, excuse me, you will see the breakdown in terms of demographic data from survey respondents. You will see parent guardians, students, staff members as well as community members. And as you will notice, um, at the time of pulling such data, the majority of the feedback that was garnered was from our staff members. 67.1%. In terms of the time in the district, um how long have you or your family been in the district? You will see that the overwhelming majority at 54 um.8% was at more than 10 years. We do have some additional data that I want to make sure I go over pretty quickly. The first of which is
085after reviewing the um data specifically the academic and graduation rate to what extent do you feel that restructuring has improved learning and achievement for students which was certainly one of the five goal areas for um the restructuring. You'll see that 51.5% stated that there was a decline based off the data that was provided. At the same time there was a question with respect to financial data that was uh presented specifically fund balances, expenditures, cost categories etc. And you will see that um from the surveyed respondents 204 believe that no there was not increase uh fiscal efficiency which was one of the other goals that really drove the process for the restructuring. As we dive into some of the other questions, do you believe the restructuring has expanded access to early childhood education? Again, one of
086the five areas that drove the restructuring process. And you will see that while 34.3% stated that there was no noticeable change. You do have other areas that are, I would say, somewhat close in terms of the 198 survey respondents. In terms of to what degree do you believe that the reconfigured grade spans um which is now prek through two buildings, three through five buildings, a seventh grade, I'm sorry, a sixth grade center, seventh and eighth which is middle school, and then a 9 through 12. To what extent do you believe these have supported smoother student transitions? Again, the smoother student transitions was one of the five goals that drove the process back in 2018. And you will see the 94 responses or 44.8% 8% would rate that as a one or a no. As we
087look at rounding out the data, um looking across all five goal areas, which area do you feel has shown the most progress since the restructuring? And you will see at 33% is early education. The opposite side of that um which area from your perspective would require the most improvement moving forward. And at 49.7% you will see academic achievement followed by the 17.8% which is fiscal efficiency. Now in the spirit of modeling just that data transparency um for those who are watching as well as those who are here now um you can go to assembly um andor scan the QR code and you will see the raw data. again um there's nothing in particular that the board has directed myself or the leadership team to push forward in terms of what what is going to happen
088moving forward if anything however all of the data is there so please I would encourage you to go and look at the raw data but in addition to the raw data I want to be a little bit more specific there was chart paper that were there for those who joined us at the September the 30th meeting and all of those pieces of chart paper we did capture those for data transparency and then thank you so much to Jackie. Jackie just does a phenomenal job. And I think one of her um specialties, one of her specialties is looking at handwriting. And all of the handwriting was not ideal. I I would say that, but she was able to capture those words and phrases and type those pieces up for just another layer of data transparency. So,
089um, Jackie, we really do appreciate the hard work that you're doing a lot of times behind the scenes, but also for the community so you can see exactly what we see and what the board will see as we are providing said data. And so with that, I want to continue to thank the board as well as the community for not only your support. Um, but my fundamental beliefs is that it does take an entire village. And in this particular regard, I am going to ask the board of education as you get an opportunity to review the data. um what is if anything is the next step andor how you would like for me to proceed with that I will yield over to Madame President to see if there are any questions before I go into
090the final item of the superintendent update >> thank you and we'll start at this end with uh Miss Manser >> I don't have any questions at this time >> thank you for uh the first community forum feedback I guess I have a question for you is what do you see the next steps You must be in education. That's a great question. Um, I would be remissed if the board did not um have myself and the leadership team take a close look at the two areas that was brought up. Um, if we are going to look at the data and really respond to the data, two areas came out and that was academic achievement as well as fiscal efficiency. And so I would anticipate some level of diving in a little bit more to even see
091how can we um be a little bit more uh fiscally efficient and or what can we do from a programming standpoint to try to address some of the original goals in this particular instance increase academic achievement. So those would be the two areas that have my attention. And one other question if you have it in mind. If the board wants to give some direction of restructuring or possibly as we get the enrollment study done decide that maybe we need to rightsize when do you anticipate the board would need like the last ops ab absolute date we would have to make a decision by just so we can think about that long term and what we would like to see between now and then. >> It really would depend. Um, when I say depend, if the
092board is looking at this is more so, hey, we want to keep things as they are for the 2627 school year, I would say at the absolute latest, there would need to be some hard decisions made um around May. However, if the board is saying, hey, given um some things that we're seeing and some trends, etc., I would say some type of final decision would need to take place as late as the January board meeting. Thank you for that kind of back of the mind as we think as well. Appreciate. >> Absolutely. And just to add to that, um not only we understand that a lot of things are in play and regardless of what happens, um decisions are one thing, implementation is another. And sometimes we have good intentions, but the implementation is not
093there. And so just as another layer of a rationale for why I stated that a year or so for implementation is one thing and then six, seven, eight months really for the other is another layer. So part of that response is based off of the implementation and how critical it is for our student staff and certainly community. >> Well, I just want to say uh community, I know that there's been a lot of distrust with the information or you feel that we don't take the information from your surveys seriously. Uh, I can say that since I've sat on this board, we do go back and But here's the thing. We can only collaborate on the information we have, right? So, if you don't tell us what you're thinking, if you don't do a survey, we
094we don't know until we hear your complaint later. Well, did you bring that to the board? Um, so please take the survey. This is a very this is another huge step for this district. We made a lot of huge steps in the past, right? And we need your input to to know what to do next. I want to give you an example and I asked Donna, was it appropriate? Um, the hiring of Dr. Howard was a direct result of your surveys. When we did the town halls, you guys showed up, came out, and you have a product of what you asked for as a superintendent. We had other choices, right? But we were animate adamant on and I'm adamant on finding the right candidate for our district and we had your voices to listen to.
095So, please, not just those are here, please, those who are out there in the community, do the surveys, come to the town halls, participate, let us know what you're saying, what you're thinking, how you're feeling, so that we as a board can yeah, collaborate with your voices in all the voices, not just 20% or 10% or 15%. As a matter of fact, we as a board, we've pushed back. We when we didn't see enough difference, you know what I mean? If it's so split down the line, let's get some more voices on the table. So, that's my plea and thank you, Dr. Howard, for your work. >> Thank you. >> Uh just want to say um to you, Dr. Howard, thank you for uh taking us through this process and um having us um and
096I guess using the board's directive in regards to looking at this work. Um, I guess for me, um, been here for a a long time, um, I want us to be, um, more proactive than reactive. And I think that we have sat in these seats and acting in crisis mode for far too long. And so, as we take this next step, whatever it's going to be, I would like for it to be um, with intention. I would like for it to be where we are looking at the data, where we are listening to voices and that we're not in a rush to do something to make this change without thinking it all the way through. How it impacts everyone, not just how it impacts teachers, not how it impacts students, but the entire community. because
097um whatever this shift is going to be, we just need to make sure that we have looked at all angles. Um and like I said, I rather us to start to get out of this crisis in survivor mode and that we actually be intentional um when we are making um decisions and choices and that's truly across the board. >> Thank you. >> I don't have any questions. I too want to thank you for for for the um report and the summary and gathering the data and and setting up the um the the town hall meeting and I would really ask the community um we need to see your faces when we have those meetings. Uh we have them because we want to hear from you and we need to hear from you. I think at
098the meeting there were more um employees there than there were parents. And al also to the parent who came up before Dawn uh to to your um plea, this is the opportunity to come in and let us know what's going on in the schools from your perspective. If we don't hear from you, we won't know. But one of the things that we really want to be able to do um and to Dr. Graves's point, we we want to take our time in making these decisions, but we want to make the decisions based on the data. Uh we want to know from you. So if we don't hear from you this, we have to collaborate. We have to work together. And parents, I implore you, please, please start answering some of these surveys. Please come to
099the meetings. They are very productive and we do listen to you. We're not going to make a decision without hearing from you as but we have to hear from you. So um the data that we pull in is the data that we we'll be looking at to make those decisions. Um again I want to thank Dr. fields for coming in and we've been asking for this information for a while and to to gather this information is very important and we we appreciate your uh taking it seriously and then also um just not just as to Dr. Gray's point we're trying to be proactive rather than reactive. So thank you. >> Thank you board of education again. Um the last item that I will mention is essentially for the state of the district address. I know
100historically it has been the state of the district address as well as awards and recognitions. What we've decided to do being very careful with respect to spaces that can hold um our community as well as having a sound system and all of that. So what we have decided to do is on November the 5th um we'll be right here for the state of the district address. it will be the state of the district address and then the following week which is already a board meeting November the 12th we will have an enhanced um celebrations and recognition. So again it will be just the state of the district on November the 5th 6 p.m. here um in the boardroom. We invite everyone to be there. Again thank you to um Miss Holleman and her team for
101sending out the information that'll be coming out here very soon. Um to Madame President's point, we would like to see everyone. We would like for it to be standing room only because we will have some updates in a lot of regard. And so um on Friday, it'll be the first 100 days. And then right after that, um when we talk about November the 5th, you can anticipate what the plan is moving forward with the next 100 days. And so um your support is incredibly important and we hope to see you on November the 5th here in the Board of Education room. Again, communication will start coming out momentarily. Thank you. >> That was going to be my my point to you too is how are we communicating this to parents just so you can just
102say it so that parents will know to look forward and also for them to know that we we are reaching out in different ways to make sure that everybody gets the message. >> Absolutely. You all know an better than I do and she covers almost every base there is. And so all of that communication will come out in multiple forms. At the same time at the end of the week, if you have not seen anything, do not hesitate to reach out. Again, this is an open invitation. We want all staff, students, community, potential partners. If you would like to partner with the Ferguson Florison School District, if you want to be part of some of the great things that are going to continue to happen in the Ferguson Flores School District, if you are elected
103official, we would like to see you again November the 5th here at 6 p.m. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> So, next we're going to do our consent agenda. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? So moved. I'd like to pull item 7 N virtual certified teacher for discussion. Second. Let's see. Okay. Which one? Say that again. So did you get >> 7N virtual certified teacher contract >> in? Okay. Gotcha. Okay. So, can we approve the consent agenda with the exception of uh letter N virtual certified teacher contracts? >> I You're right. Call for it. >> I'm just saying approve it. Do we want to >> All in favor? I All in favor? >> Any any opposed? Okay, motion passes. So, we're going to go to the pulled agenda cons
104us consent and that is from Dr. Martin. >> Yeah. So, thank you uh Madam President. I know I shared with Dr. Fields and uh some questions ahead of time. So, we don't need a presentation. I know you provided it in the packet. So, board if you want to see the packet, it's here already the presentation. I just had some questions that came up that obviously can't discuss in consent. So, first I appreciate our creativity to try to address our teacher shortage to make sure our children have highly qualified teachers to the highest degree possible in their classrooms. So, I appreciate that and your um ability to be creative and move rapidly has been noticed. So, thank you so much for your work and your team's work on that. Um, to give context, my concern came
105out of historical issues that got the board in trouble in terms of our finances of not knowing where staffing was, which prompted a staffing sheet that the board approved with the board budget that has every position in the district. And what I mean by that is how we landed in the trouble last year partially was we kept converting positions over and over or saying we're using this money for this and then not knowing really what position it was and then filling it twice or using the money repeatedly and then next thing you know we had over I don't I think 70ome plus positions over the allocated budget and that didn't even include all the vacant positions that if we would have filled all the vacance positions it would have been more. So that's why I
106just had a brief conversation to give Dr. fields head up to give you a heads up of kind of my questions tonight just to kind of get some understanding because the board does not want to make the same mistake twice and I think Dr. Uh uh Paul Walker raised a question last year if I'm mistaken pal like what's the safeguards we're putting in place to make sure we don't have the same thing happen again. I know you weren't here for it so therefore you get to hear it again. So my concern is we allocated 619 and a half certified teachers. If I'm reading everything right and please feel free to jump in and correct me if I'm wrong. One of the understandings the board was under the assumption was if we have an open teacher
107position of the 619.5 and it was filled with a long-term that position would be closed until we got a got rid of the sub and we noted as a sub and then when the sub would go bye-bye if we filled that position. So it would not stay on the books and we would not budget amendment to subs later on. And I know they're coming out different pots of money and that's where it starts to get muddy of although the allocated amount I believe you noted in here is 77,000 with benefits is what's allocated. The issue we ran into before is we kept playing with this money instead of by position. So at the end of the year, ideally the board would have, say we didn't fill positions, that helps us add money to the reserves
108because we didn't fill out the positions. And we know in the best of the world, it would still be hard to fill 100% of our positions no matter where where we're at in the in the world, right? And so we know that kind of helps our budget at the end because it allows for certainly some people come in making more than the 63, some people make less, and you kind of play this game of obviously doing your best average. So when I saw this, it just raised concern because it shows like the savings is 21,000 and that prompted my thought of like are we doing the one for one allocation or do we keep taking from positions and saying using the dollar amount not the FTE which is that's where the issue comes of where
109we got in trouble before of just taking the dollar amount and kept playing with the dollar amount. And I know the response I think we got from Mr. chance if every position was filled, we would have like $100,000 left in the budget if I believe was the response we got uh from here on out. Obviously, we know we're almost a quarter of the way through the year. So, ideally, we're saved all that money spent. I know last meeting we just approved administrator salaries, and I know we're going to make a budget a minute for subs, but the sub budget amendment should be for what we took from the FTEES, which I believe is 56. Is that correct? Is that how many currently we have in teacher spots right now? >> Correct. >> Okay. So, this
11056 should come offline of the 619.5 and then that money if that never gets filled by a certified teacher would then get budget amendment over to cover their cost to the sub count and the board would be neutral with that because we knew where the money was coming from. It wasn't like why did our sub expenses grow all of a sudden. So I guess my question is then it comes down to are we keeping with the same philosophy of FT to FTE because I know we keep kind of dappling in and looking at what I've heard is like the dollar amounts not going over but not necessarily the FTE. So when I see for example proposed is a virtual teacher is $37,800 which I assume there's no benefits because you're outsourcing it so it's just
111a flat fee. Is that correct? >> Correct. Then the 18,000 is for I assume like a long-term sub to be in the room to kind of monitor >> the 18. No, no, no. The 378 is a long-term sub for an entire year. >> And that is with uh the added professional development days for our long-term subs. So that would be their salary for the whole year if we did not replace that individual with a certified teacher. >> And then the virtual is the 18,000. The 18 is a certified teacher, live teacher that is providing uh targeted instruction based on the the need of that classroom, whether it be math, ELA, ELELLL, science, etc. >> Got it. And that's for full workload or one period. >> That is look that is using an estimate of the
112goal as it says in the slides is really to do this in the most lean and minimal way possible. us not to try to supplant all every single vacancy for the entirety of the school day. We don't even want our kids on computers for the entirety of the school day. So the 18 is looking at roughly two hours a day. So the idea was like it could be could look like an hour for ELA, an hour for math at an intermediate level, for example. So that's using an approximation of two hours of live instruction a day. >> Got it. Okay. Appreciate that. So keep going then. There are there benefits to this 37800, right? whether it's f FICA or don't we have to offer any health care if someone works full-time? >> So there are
113not because there's a look back period on on providing health care and so they don't qualify for health care. There is a um the added benefit is what we presented earlier is that in working with uh finance we were able to add the professional development days to those that were committing to be in one classroom one community all year long. So they've had those added 18 days um so that we can help with some of the professional growth of those individuals. However, um this idea is coming from we still want to make sure that we have high quality instruction for all students while we are still working on hiring certified teachers in every classroom. So when we're looking at the the question that you ask is the FTE. So the FTE number that was approved
114last year by the district um by by you all was uh 1424. 1,424 positions total. And so as we have been working, I've been working collaboratively with the executive directors of secondary and elementary schools as well as all of the operational directors on what are the absolute needs based on our enrollment. Are we ensuring that we're meeting the needs of students across the board holistically? Um non-certified, certified, etc. administrators, those pieces. So we are still I am still keeping a very close watch on those FTEEs because as a human resource professional that is my priority is the FTEES and then collaborating with Mr. Chance to ensure that no matter how many FTEEs that we're not going over the budget. We do not want to be in a place we're flipping the budget over salaries. So
115the FTEES are still remaining under because we're watching so closely our enrollment. And so this still is a costbenefit ad while we're bringing in the opportunity for students to have high quality instruction from certified teachers. >> Thank you. Again, 619.5 is the number that we're using for certified. So that's the number we're sticking under that number. Correct. >> Okay. So yes, the six and then we also have title and title are all certified teachers. So if you add that, you've got 660.5. And so currently if we were to fill every single position certified based on our current enrollment, we would have certified teachers at 634. So that's about 30 some less than what you all have budgeted or asked us to be be conscious of when when we're looking at staffing for the year. Yes,
116sir. >> Thank you. So that leaves about 30 left, you said. >> Correct. >> Okay. So then with that, just so I'm following along. >> Sure. >> Are these long-term subs already in positions? Are these new positions to try and fill Berkeley 10, Cross Keys nine, Combmes four, Griffin six? >> Great question. So the um what you're referring to, just so that um everyone can follow along here, what you're referring to is how the data >> Slide three. Yeah. >> Yep. How the data is being used to make sure that we are being very intentional. Going back to the intentional conversation, we don't just want to throw a resource out anywhere and see if it works. We're being very intentional to look at the data. But when you're looking at Berkeley, Cross Keys, Combmes, Elementary,
117and Griffith, we've identified that they have very high numbers of long-term subs, some of which are may be an entire grade. So, we're using the data to drive that this is where we want to target our our our focus for high quality instruction. So, bringing in those um those um certified teachers. >> Yep. >> To to your question, the where it says long-term sub, those are already folks in positions. So, there we're not adding any actual district positions. We're kind of just bringing in this virtual supplement. It'll be the same long-term sub in the room that's already there. >> Got it. So, you're planning on getting essentially 29 times 18. Is that essentially, if I'm reading that right, 18,000? Is that correct? >> I think it'll it'll probably be less than that. Like the the
118number the do not exceed mark. I don't anticipate that we would max it out like that. That was just to have some margin for error. I mean, we're really going to be looking at like one classroom at a time and feeling like we absolutely need to make this move. Um, but it I think I in my head, yeah, I have closer to like 10 to 15 classrooms that could be impacted if the board approves. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that was my biggest question is making sure the FTE because that's again where the issue came up before of just like making sure we're not going over FTE and splicing and dicing. So, it sounds like there's still 30 empty FTEEs on the books for certified staff, give or take a couple, whatever that number is.
119If for some reason those positions got filled that filled by the long term. So we can end the virtual teacher. Is that correct? >> Yeah. We can end um with a basically 60 days notice and get >> I mean realistically we all know we're not going to probably get 86 teachers coming to us at this point to fill the rest of the year realistically. I mean if you get 10 that would be great but I mean realistically I know you have a job fair coming up and you have other things that you want. >> Can I put a plug? Hold on. Hold on. Um just a plug for that. um because there is strategy involved in our staffing model um that we're using. One of which is our long-term subs and support staff that do
120want to get certified um we are hosting a um opportunity where we are partnering and bringing all universities in to talk about how we can get everyone continuously on a certification path. So while we may not hire off the bat 80ome teachers, we will have 80ome teachers. Just give me a year or two or three. And then beyond that, um on that same day in another area of of uh Steam High School, we will be hosting a hiring fair. So we do have high numbers specifically for our food service, part-time food service, custodial, and our nurses. We're going to be very intentional to bring folks in and run a full hiring fair. Um because we're looking at second semester, we have a lot of graduates that are coming out of, you know, coming finishing their
121first semester ready ready to go. I just got an email yesterday from somebody from Slooh that's finishing up. So, we have some interest and so we're going to continue to generate that. So, maybe, just maybe, we'll bring in 80. >> I have full faith Ben's going to do it. You're going to get it done. I have no doubt about that. You've done miracle work so far with getting a lot of vacancies. So, I appreciate that. I think it answers all my questions. I think when we do a budget amendment, I think for us, it'll be helpful when we do it to see which FTEES we've eliminated from there to allocate to either subs or to purchase of services. So that way we are all clear that although we had 619.5 allocated, we now reduced it
122down to X number because we took that money move this over to subs to pay for the increase of the 56 long-term subs or whatever the case may be plus the purchase of service for VCT just so we all know where the money is coming from. So then now in the budget amendment it would show our total FT for certified is X number instead of the 619.5. So that way we are all on the same page in terms of where money is coming from and going so we don't we're just aware so we can speak to it if people ask for it and then we are all speaking the same language and just terms of staffing because realistically as we keep getting the enrollment study this 30 we might not need to come back right
123like if the enrollment demographic data shows we're not going to get more students you might be able to budget those 30 elsewhere not saying take them off the books altogether it might be deina of students it might be social workers might be counselors might be security there's a slew of things that I'm sure Dr. fields already could find plenty of people and positions that are needed to help support our schools. Um, so I think that would be helpful at least for me to kind of think through the budget perspective long term. And I don't know when we're planning on doing a budget amendment. Is it January something like that or I don't know >> December, January sometime that would be helpful. So I think this makes a lot of sense. It makes sense that where
124you're getting the 21,000 from now um and all of that. I still don't know where we calculate FICA in there and all those other taxes. To me, that's under benefits type of thing. And so when we're seeing 13,580, I guess for Mr. Chance, my question would be for a budget teacher, where are we calculating those other taxes, not just retirement and health insurance, where is that getting calculated in? Because I think that is part of the total salary. PSRS, all of those things are somewhere. I don't know if that's fully in benefits or not. Uh is FICA in there too? So then we should be seeing it then on the LTS at least because we have to pay FICA still for for then. So when it says zero I guess that's just not misleading isn't
125the right term but just having the full picture of what that dollar amount is would just be helpful to do dollar for dollar. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you board for letting me answer my questions and getting them all worked through. So I move to approve. >> Oh before you move to approve I just want to thank you uh Dr. Martin in this instance for the questions because for myself and Katie and for others we were not here in terms of last year. So that context back going with the back and forth with the questions and from some of the things that were shared today I really do appreciate. I also appreciate um Mr. Murray and Dr. Chambers because when we talk about it takes a village, we are so thankful for our long-term subs.
126We are so thankful for the work that our ISLs are doing. We're so thankful for our certified teachers who are almost mentoring and helping in that regard and certainly the administrative staff. And so as we add another element to ensure our students when they come to school, they're getting the best possibility to be successful and a highly qualified educational environment. It does take some outside of the box thinking and you all are doing that. So thank you so much. We want to make sure it's still fiscally responsible and all of that, but this type of outside the box thinking is helpful. So, thank you for that. >> I want to say thank you to you for the hard work you're putting in. You're really taking it seriously because I mean it it is something that
127we really need to keep an eye on. Um I want to also thank uh Dr. Martin for pulling this so that we can be even more transparent about how the monies are how the money is spent and especially how it's allocated for teachers, subs, whatever that we need. And we're like Dr. um Field said, we're trying to put the best before before our children. Um so and and keep pushing. I I have faith that you're going to get 86 people to to to respond. So, let's just keep hope alive and hopefully we can we can fill those spots with certified teachers. At this point, we do need to um move to Oh, you have another question. Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. >> Okay. I just wanted to um I think I already know, but I
128do want to ask if you can share the criteria for cons being considered certified. You know, we talk about a certified teacher. I just want to ask is DESIE certification like you know what is it? >> Yes. Great. Thank you for the question. Um it so it is certified by Desi for the content area in which they are teaching. Um Desi has expanded that a bit where if you have a content area and you are teaching in a different content area for two years and evaluated there is another superintendent method of getting certified um so long as you have a certification in that in that grad span um and that you already have a certification. Our substitutes are all certified with a substitute certification from the department of elementary and secondary education. Um but they
129are not classified as certified teachers due to the content area. >> Okay. So you so you are saying that the uh virtual teachers will be considered highly qualified. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Certified. Correct. >> All right. Thank you. >> I just want to jump in. Um I attended um at least two or three um workshops with proximity um at the NSBA conference and um not too long ago I probably want to say in the last month or two they had a couple of articles in regards to who um proximity is working with. So they are definitely saving the day for so many um pe schools for shortages. So I just do want to say that. So um very familiar with proximity >> and I just have a clarifying question. So, I just want to
130make sure I heard right. Um, did you say that we're paying the the long-term subs 189 189 days and on our certified teachers 187? I'm just curious to know the difference. >> No, they they are working the same same amount of days. Yeah, we've budgeted for the same amount of days. In addition of students being present, we've also for a long term added the um um professional development days so that they can be with their colleagues um in the community to to to you know just build that that community environment. >> Just want to make sure I heard you right. And then Kevin, I need you to repeat something. I had to lean over and ask Donna because I wasn't sure if I heard you right, but we you said something about we approved the
131admin salaries. So I was asking Donna when did we have meeting to approve admin salaries. >> We approved admin subs last. >> I I just wanted you to clarify because >> admin because those are admin salaries that are going to have to come out for the subs and I think Dr. Graves was asking where's the money coming from and then we said a budget amendment and we're going to track it and all that. I'm glad we all on the same page. That's wonderful, Mr. Tyson. I love it. >> I already told him, but I guess >> but somebody else could have heard it. >> You're right. You're right. You're right. Uh the other thing that I wanted to hit on is what kinds of professional development opportunities do we have for the subs? >> Yeah.
132So in in the RFP response, uh Proximity has some PD opportunities that are paid and we could potentially draw against with the allocation you all have given us. I think if this is approved, then you know we'll reach out to them and figure out whether that merits consideration or whether it's something that we could do in house. we have some building PD days and days like that coming up. So, if we know that this going to be a reality and we know, you know, the 10 or 15 classrooms it might impact, I could also see a scenario in which we try to deliver some specific PD for those teachers about how to support virtual learning. Um, so there are some paid options, but we'll definitely explore doing it ourselves first. >> Will they be paid
133for that? The subs >> if we have them in and I think we they're already will be paid for the building PD day. Yes. Okay. So, at this time, uh, I'd like to call for the vote. Well, what? You know what? We made a motion. Why don't you make the motion? >> I move we approve, uh, 7N as presented, virtual teacher contract. >> Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? >> If not, all in favor? >> I. >> Any oppose? >> Motion passes. Yes. >> Thank you very much. >> I'm not opposed, but I do want to note that we've been doing the all in favor a lot. And I did a little bit of research under Robert's rules of order, and it just basically talks about how um sometimes you
134don't do rob you don't do all in favor because you want transparency so the community knows how people voted. Also, on highly contested issues or things that people might have concerns about, like a policy we're passing, Robert's rules of order suggest that you not use it. I'm cool with it, but I just wanted to call it out. So, >> when we do when we do this, it I I guess the documentation is that when all of us say I, that means everybody's approving it. And I get what you're saying. And so, and some things I I I won't do uh because we want to get an individual vote, but I appreciate that. >> Sure. I just wanted to call as board secretary, I just wanted to raise the issue. whatever you want to do. >>
135Thank you so much. No, I appreciate that. I think it's a a valid point. Very valid point. Thank you all. Appreciate you. >> Mr. Chance is up for dispersement. >> All right. Go. All right. Good evening, Board of Education, Dr. Fields, administration, and community members. Tonight, I'm going to be presenting the dispersement report for the month of August 2025. The mission of the Ferguson Florent School District is to provide highquality instruction to every student, every neighborhood, while prioritizing equity and compassionate relationships. The vision of Ferguson Florence School District is for all learners to graduate believing that anything is possible and prepared to realize those possibilities. For the month of August, payroll is 7,414,974. Operational dispersements are $2,680,640. and total monthly expenses are 10,95,668. Uh these are the fund descriptions that uh are of the four
136funds used in the budgetary process. So, our total revenues for the month of August 2025, the budget is 151,848,827. Current revenue received as of the end of August, it's 14,12,794, which represents 9% total collected for the year. uh that is for two months of the budget thus far. This graph shows the actual revenue to date compared with the budget by fund. Okay. Expenditure totals. Uh, the total budget is 1 million uh, I'm sorry, 157,284,55. Year-to- date expense is 14,437,333. Total available budget left is 142 thou 142,846,722 and that represents 9.2% of the overall expense budget. And this graph shows the actual expenditures to date compared with budget by fund. And this chart shows the descriptions of the six object categories used in the budgetary process. So total salary salaries year-to- date the budget is 90,400547,278
137year-to- date expense is $8,42,177 and the available budget is $82,145,11. That represents 9% of the salary budget. benefits. The total benefits budget is $31,569,04. Year-toate expense for the month of August, 2,683,232. And the available budget is 22 28,885,772 for a total of 8% of the overall benefits used thus far. For purchase services, total budget is 17,849,430. The year-to-ate budget used is $1,537,99 with a total available budget of $16,311,521, which also represents 9% of the budget. Supplies. Total supply budget is 8,54,489. Year-to- date expense used in supplies 1,267,518. Total available budget is 7,236,971 for total of 15% used in the supplies budget. Capital outlay. The budget is $5,70,500, a total expense of $543,992, an available bud budget of $4,526,58, which represents 11% of the budget used. Long and short-term debt, the budget is 3,743,354. Total expense
138year to date is only $890 with an available budget of 3,742,93 which represents virtually zero out of that budget thus far. So, our current year versus prior year tax receipts, um, the district has currently ahead of collections amounts as compared to last year by $387,000. So, the administration would ask for approval of the August 2025 dispersements. >> May I have a motion? >> Some It >> second. >> I have a second. >> Vivian second down here. Sorry. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh discussion. >> I have a quick question. >> Let's start with Dr. Paul Walker. Start on that. >> Um I don't have anything. Thank you, Mr. Chance. I don't have anything. >> I don't have anything. >> I have a quick question. >> Sure. >> Thank you. Um, a I just want to let
139make sure the colleagues on my the board know that the uh senior tax freeze St. Louis County now said this month that or September that they no longer have to reapply every year. So that's going to have definitely an impact on on our budget. And so I was just curious with that if you don't know because I did not ask you ahead of time. So did you get a final count for how many households in our district? Actually I know it's 82,000 for all of St. Louis County. How many for Ferguson Florison specifically? Have they given you that yet? >> No, have not seen the actual numbers. I know that there was a projection done um like late last year and that was somewhere in the $200,000 range that we would lose out as um
140as of uh the SBA uh 190 uh actually took place for the third floor district. >> As you can imagine, many of the superintendents in St. Louisis County. That is something that is of great interest. And so at our last meeting, we still had not had an update. We will have another meeting on Friday. And so as soon as we get those final numbers, I'll certainly communicate that to the board. But no, we do not have a final number yet for the senior tax freeze. I >> just want to remind our colleagues here and in the the community, make sure you're leg uh contact your legislators. There's a lot of legislation going to be coming up this season about personal property tax and other things. as well. Although you may uh not like to pay
141some of those things, certainly they have a great impact on school budgets and so it's important to keep in communication with our legislators as well because there's a not only senior tax free is a to me a small bear that's out there. There's a lot that's going to be happening this leg legislative season in terms of school district funding and state taxes. So I think it's just important that we're all extra mindful of that and advocating the best we can. My last question is are we reconciled through August 31st, 2025 now? >> Yes and no. So we are reconciled each month according to bank statements and other documents we have. The transition from one accounting system to the next has kind of put us a little behind as far as carrying forward and making sure
142that we verify everything from one system to the other. So, in that sense, we don't have full reconciliation. >> And I only ask because I know you weren't here. It's been an audit issue. Uh, we had a finding some years ago with it and then it came up again. I just want to make sure that we get that corrected before the auditors start coming in because again, we're going to have probably a finding from that from last audit, which I know that was not your audit, but again, that's been a theme. We hired some additional staff. that staff's no longer here because the budget cuts, but certainly just to put it on your radar, that is something the auditors have found and communicate with the board now at least two or three times since I've
143been on the board that I just want to make sure that they want them reconciled timely and that's one of the things that they've said that we failed to do. And so just that's why I'm going to keep asking that question if we can just make sure that we are doing that because I don't want it to come back up in the audit and certainly last year was the excuse we not excuse for that regard but we switched from >> whatever system to this new system and now >> to skyward >> yes which was probably a mistake but in October which is a terrible time to do it after fiscal year starts but anyways thank you >> thank you >> I don't have any questions at this time >> okay I I'd like to know
144I'm looking at the percentage of how we're spending money at the rate that we're going right now. Do you predict that we are doing okay with how we're spending um our money and at the rate that we're spending it? >> Yes, I believe that these >> get us through the year. >> Yes, these rates are are actually, you know, on on track. Um when you look at supplies, they're 15%. They're higher. Well, you you kind of front load your supplies for the school year um over the summer months so that you have those ready. So that will trend down as the uh year goes on. >> Um I want to say to the community again, the board is making sure that we're looking at the numbers and we're looking at the budget so that we
145are being fiscally responsible with how we're spending our money. And uh so I appreciate your your report and uh the numbers that you put out for us. Oh, Dr. >> Madame President, just to chime in on that and also not to take thunder away from the uh state of the district address which will be here on November the 5th at 6 p.m. Um myself and Dr. Chance as well as the team, we have two financial goals that are very very important. The first of which is to stop the deficit spending. um we were projected to deficit spend this year. No pressure on myself or or Tony, but we're looking at that really quickly. So, we want to stop the deficit spending. And the second one is more so stop the utilization of the tan. And
146so, all of the things that we're looking at is really for those two elements being true north. We're working very diligently. Thank you to Mr. Chance as well as his entire team. But those are the two overarching goals so that yourself the board as well as the community rest assured those are the two pieces we're looking at. >> Madam President with the speaking of the TAN just curious how much have we taken of the TAN? >> We haven't taken none. >> Oh good. We haven't used any so far. >> We've used funds from MOAT. Um it is projected that we will probably in the month of November start using the TAM. >> Good to hear. Hey board. Um, we'd like to vote on this. Would you like to um This is important enough that I
147think we should take a vote. What do you think, doctor? >> I I am I am here to serve as you would like me to. Would you want me to call the names this time? >> Sure. >> Okay, I can do that. Miss Manserie? >> Yes. >> Mr. I mean Dr. Martin? >> Yes. Dr. Graves, yes. Uh, Mr. Tyson has stepped out. Um, secretary votes yes, Madame President. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. >> Motion pass. >> Madame President, did we do the actual consent agenda? I know we pulled it out, but did we actually vote on the consent agenda? >> That was when no one said yes, and then she said, "Are we all going to say I?" >> But I thought that was just I thought that was for the removal. It
148was for the whole thing with removal of 7N. >> Right. Right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. We're going to move on to candidate filing co cooperation agreement. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Good evening, board. Good evening, Dr. Fields. Good evening, community. Several years ago, the St. Louisis County Board of Election Commissioners established a process that allows school districts to enter enter into a cooperation agreement with the election board to conduct candidate filing. Participation in this agreement is voluntary and has been adopted by the majority of school districts across the region. You'll see indicated on our slides um above. This filing uh period coincides directly with the district's winter break, a time when school offices are closed and staff availability is limited. Partnering with the board of elections to oversee candidate filing, ensures equitable access for all
149prospective candidates, maintains consistency with um election procedures and elim eliminates, excuse me, logistical challenges for the district during this period. If this change is approved, the district will communicate it widely to all prospective candidates through electronic correspondence and by posting anformational infographic at the district's main entrance while we're away during winter break. This notice will include the address and details of the St. Louis County Election Board's office in St. An, Missouri. The recommendation for administration is that the Ferguson Florison Board of Education approved the transfer of responsibility for candidate filing to the St. Louisis County Board of Elections. >> May I have a motion to approve? >> Move. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Is there Is there a cost um for this at all? >> No, ma'am. I don't believe there's a cost at all.
150Thank you. >> Okay. Um just to make sure everybody understands, that would mean that all of the um registering for a candidate would take place in St. and and not here in the in the school district. And so I pulled this because I wanted to get um uh input from people who actually have to uh consider that if they're running. And so I would like to take a vote, open vote on if we would like to accept uh changing this from um uh having it here at our school. >> Yes, ma'am. in our schools are putting it out to um let's start on this end. Uh some answering. >> Yes. >> No question. >> I don't have any questions. >> I just want to offer a friendly amendment that we also adopt those policies that
151are presented as well. Not just the transfer, but that it's also including the adoption of those policies, which then states that it would be at Staint Anne instead of here. So, I just want to make sure that's included in this motion. There's two policies attached on the the board docs that just change that it's here instead of there. So, I don't want our policies to contradict what we just passed. So, if we're going to pass this, I would rather have it be encompassing of everything. So, I guess since I second it, I would like to change it to include the adoption of the two policies as presented. >> Thank you. >> And Terry was the motion. I just don't want and I I think honestly I think as we uh also financial issues like to
152have people come work overtime on the holiday to have security be here just cost more money to have the heat on higher all those other things. I think also the chances of the St. Los County Election Board messing up versus not that Jackie would mess up, but I think just that and also from an ADA perspective and other things, they're more equipped to have people on hand to address ADA compliance and all of that those things that could come up of just coming the building, navigating up to the second floor and all that. Personally, >> no. >> Well, those were my comments, so I'm glad I thought of them. Um, I love the idea, you know, giving everybody that time off instead of having to come in here and then adopting >> doing it all
153together. Let's go ahead and adopt the policy amendment as well. Yes, sir. >> So, I'm glad I thought of that. Thank you, Kevin. >> Okay. Lord. Okay. Um, I'm going to call for the vote now. >> Do we have to amend, Kevin, or how do you >> He amended it all and you accepted it. So, >> okay. So, yes, let's amend it. I motion that we >> we already did that. >> But I have to amend my motion. >> You already did. >> Did I just say the motion, too? >> You said yes. >> Oh, okay. Do you know what we accepted? >> Yes. Okay. All right. >> Okay. >> Are we ready now to call for the vote? >> Yes. I want to call for the vote for this. >> All right. Miss Mansorie.
154>> Yes. Yes. >> Uh, Dr. Martin, >> yes. >> Dr. Graves, >> yes. >> Secretary votes, yes. Mr. Tyson, Madame President, >> yes. Motion passes. Thank you, Mr. Moore. Order of education professional development. So the board of education currently maintains a fund designated for board members professional development in an effort to maximize the impact of these resources. The board has expressed interest in reallocating these funds for professional development throughout the district. Here's the rationale. By redistributing uh professional development funds, the district can expand access to supplies, training, and support for staff across our schools and departments. This approach ensu ensures equitable use of resources, strengthens instructional practices, and promotes continuous improvement. To ensure transparency and and accountability, the board will establish a will establish a clear process and procedure for staff to submit their requests.
155The re recommendation is it is recommended that the board of education approve the reallocation of professional development funds to be distributed across the district. A formal process and procedure will be developed to allow staff to submit requests for opportunities. This action will ensure equitable access to resources, support continuous improvement, and strengthen instructional and operational uh effectiveness districtwide. May I have a motion to um accept this? So move. >> Do I have a second? second. Uh you didn't have to, but I'm just Okay. So, let me talk a little bit about what what this means. Uh some some board members have decided to instead of doing professional development this year, they rather use the the money to give out to schools and teachers for whatever needs that that they have. But we're going to come try
156to come up with a way to distribute that money. and um we will be getting back to you to let you know how you can can ask for the money if if you need it. I appreciate so much from the board that they're willing to give up um the monies that we have for professional development for this year only and using that money to help our teachers and our students. um it could be used for any kind of resource like it could be for field trips, it could be for uh needs in a classroom, it could be for whatever it is that teachers may want to do. So, uh thank you board for for giving up your your monies for travel and uh professional development and so that we can give it out to our
157teachers. So, is there any other discussion? >> Dr. Thurman, I was not able to be at the last board meeting because I had an event to attend with my daughter. Was this discussed in more detail at that time? >> I just was curious >> tonight. No, I just didn't know because um I didn't I just I know there had been some conversation about it, but I didn't know that we were at a place where we were putting it on a board agenda for a vote. So, I just didn't know if there had been more conversation last time and the board was expecting this. Okay. >> Now, we're up for discussion now. So, >> well, >> is the request that are we approving that there is a pot of money and that at the board's discretion
158it could vote to allocate funds for different things that people might need or what exa what exactly um does that make sense? Or what exactly are we voting for? for some some board members have decided that they're not going to do any professional development. Uh >> some it's not it's not everyone, >> right? >> Okay. And so that money is going to be reallocated. We have to get a number. We don't know what the what the what what the number is exactly but um if if people are willing to and people people have said that they would rather give the money than to do professional develop professional development for this year and so we're having discussion about that. So it says it is recommended that the board of education approve the reallocation of professional development
159funds to be distributed across the district. The wording of that sounds like we're talking about the entire pot. >> So, I guess I wonder if there's a way to amend that to state that, you know, should there be funds available or should a board member decide or something that just makes it more clear >> that we're not talking about the whole pot. >> Oh, absolutely. >> How would you like to amend the motion? Who who accepted the motion? Tyson, >> I I hear what you're saying, Dr. P Walker. I thought we had semi this conversation the first time it brought up, then we just approved the 208,000, said everyone to do 4,000 if you don't want to do it. I don't want to get into like the weeds of how to distribute. And I don't
160think I don't think the board should uh come up with a process of how to like request supplies and all of that stuff. And I also don't I want to cautious of like not providing extra burden on administration as well of like coming with a process. I know the foundation just announced today $2,000 grants up to $2,000 grants they can apply for, but certainly I know there was three board members who said last time that we don't need it. So certainly I would amend that we reallocate $12,000 out of the budget from those three board members to back to the district funds to be used uh as Dr. Field sees needed. to support teachers and their growth and development in the classroom. >> Okay. Um, one of the things I did want to do was
161to um say how many and who. >> I'm not saying I'm saying a dollar. So I just got 12,000 because I know each of us got 4,000. So if 12,000 is a dollar amount just seems reasonable. >> I don't know if we want to put a dollar amount yet because I'm not sure. You said there were four. >> No, I just said but I get there's 4,000. I guess my thing is otherwise to Dr. Paul Walker's point, how do you know how much to reallocate? Because expenses go all the way through June 30th, 2026. So then how do we know what to reallocate, not allocate? >> That's why I think I'm more in favor of something along the lines of as funds become available or like basically just allowing the board to have that flexibility.
162And I don't know if we're going to get there or not, but I just want to note that I sort of object to the idea that that board members would be singled out for being the people who said, "Well, no, I don't want to do or or like there's a I want to do a portion." There could be, again, >> the board has a right to its professional development, too. So you might not choose to spend all of it, but there might be one conference that you just really want to go to because you really hope to learn a lot and you want to bring those things back to the district. >> And so I just I just think that, you know, you know, we just want to be respectful of each other and not
163make anybody look like they're they're not as concerned as another board member because they don't want to do that. >> Exactly. And that's what I did not want to happen. uh people have the right to go or not go and so whatever monies that are left uh we will use I agree with you that maybe we need to amend the way it is written and to say but I don't want to put a dollar amount on because I think also as uh Dr. um Pow Walker says some people may do a portion of and may not do the whole thing. So I I appreciate that. So can we change the motion? Yeah, I was and I don't know. I'm open definitely to what other people think. I'm trying to figure out some kind of way
164to say something along the lines of um as funds become available or as long as there are funds available, right? Or something in that ballpark. >> I just don't know what you when you would come up. I mean, technically the budget funds wouldn't become available June 30th, >> 2026. And so I to me it I I hear the motion. And I think maybe when we make a budget amendment, we look at where we're at then and then we just do it then rather than by that point if people feel like there's professional development hopefully by January we heard potentially is when that budget amendment is coming. Hopefully by then the board's made an indication of what professional development they may need based on their role or at least indicate they're planning on attending X Y
165or Z and then that way we could see potentially what's what's able to reallocate. Are you proposing that we would revisit this around the time we do the budget adjustment? Is that what you're saying? >> Yeah, I'm just saying it makes more sense to do it at the budget amendment by then it gives everyone a chance to attend any workshops or development that they need to attend to grow as a board member. Um because if you haven't identified that you're going something by January, most likely you're not saying you have to attend by then, but at least know that you're planning on attending something. The chances of going something popping up after that is probably slim. pretty slow. I agree. >> So your your suggestion is that we put this >> table it >> on
166Yeah. that we table it. Is the board in agreement with that? >> Well, who was the person? >> So I I was I was I'll withdraw my motion. >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So we will revisit this in January. >> Thank you. Thank you for that discussion. >> Okay. Is there any new business? Uh I have a request um madame president. >> Yes. >> Um is it a way that we can um for next agenda item um for us to discuss the nursing shortage and um have some type of information back in regards to any challenges that have occurred with this uh change that we have. I also wanted to know um just around um the um area how others are dealing with their nursing shortage um just to get a little bit
167more information and to see if this is a time where we need to re-evaluate and see if um things can be shifted um to address any concerns. >> Okay, I appreciate that. Uh Dr. Fields, do you have any? Yes, we'll be ready to go for our um November the 12th on board meeting. We'll have all the information um just to capture it and make sure we are all on the same page. Um information with respect to the nursing shortage particularly here in the district and what are we doing and more specifically what are other districts doing regarding their nursing shortage. >> You have captured that beautifully. Thank you. >> And uh Dr. fields. I would just like to add that I think I'm curious to know what sort of health conditions we are dealing with
168in our buildings. Um so just so we have a sense of of just kind of what we're facing. And then um I also would be curious I know we don't have any extra money but I am also curious about um agencies in the area that might you know like there's a place there's a couple of places I know of that may be able to assist. I know there's always an added cost when you work with an agency, but I just am curious to know what projections might be if we were to choose to work with an agency. And I know that wouldn't be the case for all schools, but let's say you find out that there's one or two schools where you really need to have a registered nurse in here because of the level
169of need. I just would be curious. >> Captured it and we'll be ready to go on November the 12th. Thank you for that. Any other comments or new business? Seeing none, may I have a motion to go go back into closed? >> Second. >> Would you? >> All in favor? >> Roll call votes needed for closed. >> Right. That's right. Because we're going into Okay. Give me just a second. >> Um Okay. Uh, Miss Mansory, >> yes. >> Dr. Martin, >> yes. >> Dr. Graves, yep. Mr. Tyson, secretary votes yes. Madame President, >> yes. Thank you. >> And this is >> I'll see you in about two minutes. >> Thank you community for listening in and um make sure that you try to do those surveys. We appreciate you. Have a good evening.