Board of Education Meeting - April 9 2025

001[Music] The Ferguson Florison School District located in suburban St. Louis serves more than 10,000 students from preschool through 12th grade with an excellent comprehensive educational program fully accredited by the state of Missouri. The Ferguson Florison School District operates seven pre kindergarten through 2 grade schools, six intermediate schools, two sixth grade centers, three middle schools, including a cutting edge steam middle school, which was ranked the number two school in Missouri this year, two A+ and NCASI accredited high schools, the Innovation High School, a big picture learning school, and Esteee High School focused on preparing students in fields including science, technology, and engineering. In August, US News and World Report named Steam Academy at Mccclure South Berkeley High School as one of the best high schools in America, placing the school in the top 12% of high

002schools in Missouri and in the top 35% of high schools nationally. As a district leading the charge in high school transformation, there are a lot of pathways to success. All of our high schools are project lead the way schools. We offer many programs and opportunities such as dual enrollment, dual credit, international balorate, AVID, and elevate St. Louis. Our Red Tail cadet program has also secured private pilots licenses for students before they even graduate. The number of FFSD students enrolled in advanced placement courses has also dramatically increased. The district has intentionally focused on college and career readiness and has increased the 4-year graduation rate to 93%. Besides the secondary school coursework, the district ensured opportunities for each population of students in an effort to support the goal of college readiness. In addition, the district includes a

003nationally recognized early education program, the award-winning Challenger Learning Center space education facility, and the Little Creek Nature Area, a 97 acre nature preserve that offers experiential learning opportunities for students in science, biology, ecology, and related areas of study. Through our partnership with varsity tutors, all students and teachers will have access to live tutors on demand. The district has also transformed alternative education with the restoration and wellness center. Recognizing that well-being is vital for academic success, the district prioritizes the health and social emotional well-being of its students and staff. The district has a partnership with Hazel Health that offers comprehensive health care and teleaotherapy services, ensuring that students have access to medical care and mental health support during the school day. Additionally, Ferglo Floor Care Health Clinic provides free health care services to district employees, demonstrating

004the district's commitment to the well-being of its faculty and staff. The board of education has made equity a priority in the Ferguson Florison School District. In 2018, the board adopted an equity resolution. And between 2020 and 2022, the district examined inequities and racism in policies and practices, culminating in the board's adoption of the Ferguson Florison School District's anti-racist standards for social justice and anti-racist schools. From early childhood education to advanced scientific exploration, from personalized learning opportunities to comprehensive healthcare services, the Ferguson Florison School District continues to lead the way in providing an exceptional educational experience that truly is providing equity and access for all. [Applause] [Music] My name is Ludivine Renard and I am a senior at Steam High. Whenever you ready. I just won a scholarship from the Missouri Conservation Agents Association. And I'm

005going to put that money towards uh going to college and hopefully studying natural resources. And the reason I'm studying natural resources is I mean growing up I've always loved animals and nature, but we're living in a world that is changing. uh constantly things like climate change and global warming are really big problems in our society and it is important that we have young people step up and um take action and I am hopeful to be one of those people. [Music] Hi, my name is Stephanie Go. I am the librarian at Colms Intermediate School and I'm also the district's library content leader. Um, what the school library means to me is a place where every student, no matter their background, will come in and feel loved and accepted for who they are. I want every student

006to see themselves in the books that are here and that they feel represented so they don't feel alone in the world. And I hope that's what the students feel here as well. They feel challenged. They feel loved and accepted for who they are. [Music] [Applause] I'm Trayvon Chapman. I'm a senior and I go to Steam Academy at McClure South Berkeley. What I just received was a full ride or full tuition scholarship from both Missouri Valley and the Greater North County Chamber of [Music] Commerce. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Hi. Uh, my name is Joe Hosey and I am the librarian at Mccclure High School in the Ferguson Forson School District. It's hard to pinpoint just one interaction because I feel like I have 25 or 30 different interactions a day that are memorable or mean something.

007anything from being artistic and creative and drawing posters and uh people coming in and getting information about problems that they might be facing or just telling me that they're facing problems at home. Uh flooding, uh clothing, food, any number of different needs that our students have. Um, I think that coming to the library specifically and or talking to me or getting my attention is sometimes just something that the kids need to venture outside the classroom for. Um, they they see their teachers in a different light in the classroom and in the library. This is a place where they could go and find some form of comfort, whether it's the chairs or the books or a friendly smiling face. And uh you know I think that's one thing that I really love about this place is

008our comfort factor and that everyone feels [Music] welcome. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] feel. [Music] Whatever. [Music] The Ferguson Florison School District located in suburban St. Louis serves more than 10,000 students from preschool through 12th grade with an excellent comprehensive educational program. Fully accredited by the state of Missouri, the Ferguson Florison School District operates seven pre kindergarten through 2 grade schools, six intermediate schools, two sixth grade centers, three middle schools, including a cutting edge steam middle school, which was ranked the number two school in Missouri this year, two A+ and NCA SI accredited high schools, the Innovation High School, a big picture learning school, and Esteem High School focused on preparing students in fields including science, technology, and engineering. In August, US News and World Report named Steam Academy at McCclure South Berkeley

009High School as one of the best high schools in America, placing the school in the top 12% of high schools in Missouri and in the top 35% of high schools nationally. As a district leading the charge in high school transformation, there are a lot of pathways to success. All of our high schools are Project Lead the Way schools. We offer many programs and opportunities such as dual enrollment, dual credit, international balorate, AVID, and elevate St. Louis. Our red tail cadet program has also secured private pilots licenses for students before they even graduate. The number of FFSD students enrolled in advanced placement courses has also dramatically increased. The district has intentionally focused on college and career readiness and has increased the 4-year graduation rate to 93%. Besides the secondary school coursework, the district ensured opportunities for

010each population of students in an effort to support the goal of college readiness. In addition, the district includes a nationally recognized early education program, the award-winning Challenger Learning Center space education facility, and the Little Creek Nature Area, a 97 acre nature preserve that offers experiential learning opportunities for students in science, biology, ecology, and related areas of study. Through our partnership with Varsity Tutors, all students and teachers will have access to live tutors on demand. The district has also transformed alternative education with the restoration and wellness center. Recognizing that well-being is vital for academic success, the district prioritizes the health and social emotional well-being of its students and staff. The district has a partnership with Hazel Health that offers comprehensive health care and teleaotherapy services, ensuring that students have access to medical care and mental health

011support during the school day. Additionally, Ferglo Care Health Clinic provides free health care services to district employees, demonstrating the district's commitment to the well-being of its faculty and staff. The board of education has made equity a priority in the Ferguson Florison School District. In 2018, the board adopted an equity resolution. And between 2020 and 2022, the district examined inequities and racism in policies and practices, culminating in the board's adoption of the Ferguson Florison School District's anti-racist standards for social justice and anti-racist schools. From early childhood education to advanced scientific exploration, from personalized learning opportunities to comprehensive healthcare services, the Ferguson Florison School District continues to lead the way in providing an exceptional educational experience that truly is providing equity and access for all. [Music] [Applause] [Music] My name is Ludivine Renard and I am a

012senior at Steam High. When are you ready? I just won a scholarship from the Missouri Conservation Agents Association. And I'm going to put that money towards uh going to college and hopefully studying natural resources. And the reason I'm studying natural resources is I mean growing up I've always loved animals and nature, but we're living in a world that is changing. uh constantly things like climate change and global warming are really big problems in our society and it is important that we have young people step up and um take action and I am hopeful to be one of those people. [Music] Hi, my name is Stephanie Go. I am the librarian at Colms Intermediate School and I'm also the district's library content leader. Um, what the school library means to me is a place where every

013student, no matter their background, will come in and feel loved and accepted for who they are. I want every student to see themselves in the books that are here and that they feel represented so they don't feel alone in the world. I hope that's what the students feel here as well. They feel challenged. They feel loved and accepted for who they are. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] I'm Trayvon Chapman. I'm a senior and I go to Steam Academy at McCclure South Berkeley. What I just received was a full ride or full tuition scholarship from both Missouri Valley and the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce. [Music] again. Heat. [Music] Hi. Uh, my name is Joe Hosey and I am the librarian at Mccclure High School in the Ferguson Florison School District. It's hard to pinpoint

014just one interaction because I feel like I have 25 or 30 different interactions a day that are memorable or mean something. anything from being artistic and creative and drawing posters and uh people coming in and getting information about problems that they might be facing or just telling me that they're facing problems at home. Uh flooding, uh clothing, food, any number of different needs that our students have. Um, I think that coming to the library specifically and or talking to me or getting my attention is sometimes just something that the kids need to venture outside the classroom for. Um, they they see their teachers in a different light in the classroom and in the library. This is a place where they could go and find some form of comfort, whether it's the chairs or the books

015or a friendly smiling face. And uh you know I think that's one thing that I really love about this place is our comfort factor and that everyone feels [Music] welcome. Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, heat. Hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] N. Heat. Heat. [Music] The Ferguson Florison School District located in suburban St. Louis serves more than 10,000 students from preschool through 12th grade with an excellent comprehensive educational program. Fully accredited by the state of Missouri, the Ferguson Florison School District operates seven pre kindergarten through 2 grade schools, six intermediate schools, two sixth grade centers, three middle schools, including a cutting edge steam middle school, which was ranked the number two school in Missouri this year, two A+ and NCAI accredited high schools, the Innovation High School, a Big Picture Learning School, and Esteem High School focused

016on preparing students in fields including science, technology, in engineering. In August, US News and World Report named Steam Academy at McCclure South Berkeley High School as one of the best high schools in America, placing the school in the top 12% of high schools in Missouri and in the top 35% of high schools nationally. As a district leading the charge in high school transformation, there are a lot of pathways to success. All of our high schools are Project Lead the Way schools. We offer many programs and opportunities such as dual enrollment, dual credit, international balorate, AVID, and elevate St. Louis. Our red tail cadet program has also secured private pilots licenses for students before they even graduate. The number of FFSD students enrolled in advanced placement courses has also dramatically increased. The district has intentionally focused

017on college and career readiness and has increased the 4-year graduation rate to 93%. Besides the secondary school coursework, the district ensured opportunities for each population of students in an effort to support the goal of college readiness. In addition, the district includes a nationally recognized early education program, the award-winning Challenger Learning Center space education facility, and the Little Creek Nature Area, a 97 acre nature preserve that offers experiential learning opportunities for students in science, biology, ecology, and related areas of study. Through our partnership with varsity tutors, all students and teachers will have access to live tutors on demand. The district has also transformed alternative education with the restoration and wellness center. Recognizing that well-being is vital for academic success, the district prioritizes the health and social emotional well-being of its students and staff. The district has

018a partnership with Hazel Health that offers comprehensive health care and teleaotherapy services, ensuring that students have access to medical care and mental health support during the school day. Additionally, Ferglo Floor Care Health Clinic provides free health care services to district employees, demonstrating the district's commitment to the well-being of its faculty and staff. The board of education has made equity a priority in the Ferguson Flores School District. In 2018, the board adopted an equity resolution. And between 2020 and 2022, the district examined inequities and racism in policies and practices, culminating in the board's adoption of the Ferguson Florison School District's anti-racist standards for social justice and anti-racist schools. From early childhood education to advanced scientific exploration, from personalized learning opportunities to comprehensive healthcare services, the Ferguson Florison School District continues to lead the way in providing

019an exceptional educational experience that truly is providing equity and access for all. [Music] [Applause] [Music] My name is Ludivine Renard and I am a senior at Steam High. Whenever you ready, I just won a scholarship from the Missouri Conservation Agents Association and I'm going to put that money towards uh going to college and hopefully studying natural resources. And the reason I'm studying natural resources is I mean growing up I've always loved animals and nature but we're living in a world that is changing uh constantly. Things like climate change and global warming are really big problems in our society and it is important that we have young people step up and um take action and I am hopeful to be one of those people. [Music] Hi, my name is Stephanie Go. I am the librarian at

020Colms Intermediate School and I'm also the district's library content leader. Um, what the school library means to me is a place where every student, no matter their background, will come in and feel loved and accepted for who they are. I want every student to see themselves in the books that are here and that they feel represented so they don't feel alone in the world. And I hope that's what the students feel here as well. They feel challenged. They feel loved and accepted for who they are. [Music] Heat. Heat. I'm Trayvon Chapman. I'm a senior and I go to Steam Academy at McClure South Berkeley. Where I just received was a full ride or full tuition scholarship from both Missouri Valley and the Greater North County Chamber of [Music] Commerce. Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Hi. Uh,

021my name is Joe Hosey and I am the librarian at McCllor High School in the Ferguson Forest School District. It's hard to pinpoint just one interaction because I feel like I have 25 or 30 different interactions a day that are memorable or mean something. anything from being artistic and creative and drawing posters and uh people coming in and getting information about problems that they might be facing or just telling me that they're facing problems at home. Uh flooding, uh clothing, food, any number of different needs that our students have. Um, I think that coming to the library specifically and or talking to me or getting my attention is sometimes just something that the kids need to venture outside the classroom for. Um, they they see their teachers in a different light in the classroom and

022in the library. This is a place where they could go and find some form of comfort whether it's the chairs or the books or a friendly smiling face. And uh you know I think that's one thing that I really love about this place is our comfort factor and that everyone feels welcome. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] The Ferguson Florison School District located in suburban St. Louis serves more than 10,000 students from preschool through 12th grade with an excellent comprehensive educational program. Fully accredited by the state of Missouri, the Ferguson Florison School District operates seven pre kindergarten through 2 grade schools, six intermediate schools, two sixth grade centers, three middle schools, including a cutting edge steam middle school, which was ranked the number two school in Missouri this year, two A+ and

023NCACI accredited high schools, the Innovation High School, a big picture learning school, and Esteee High School focused on preparing students in fields including science, technology, and engineering. In August, US News and World Report named Steam Academy at Mccclure South Berkeley High School as one of the best high schools in America, placing the school in the top 12% of high schools in Missouri and in the top 35% of high schools nationally. As a district leading the charge in high school transformation, there are a lot of pathways to success. All of our high schools are Project Lead the Way schools. We offer many programs and opportunities such as dual enrollment, dual credit, international balorate, AVID, and elevate St. Louis. Our red tail cadet program has also secured private pilots licenses for students before they even graduate. The

024number of FFSD students enrolled in advanced placement courses has also dramatically increased. The district has intentionally focused on college and career readiness and has increased the 4-year graduation rate to 93%. Besides the secondary school coursework, the district ensured opportunities for each population of students in an effort to support the goal of college readiness. In addition, the district includes a nationally recognized early education program, the award-winning Challenger Learning Center space education facility, and the Little Creek Nature Area, a 97 acre nature preserve that offers experiential learning opportunities for students in science, biology, ecology, and related areas of study. Through our partnership with varsity tutors, all students and teachers will have access to live tutors on demand. The district has also transformed alternative education with the restoration and wellness center. Recognizing that well-being is vital for academic

025success, the district prioritizes the health and social emotional well-being of its students and staff. The district has a partnership with Hazel Health that offers comprehensive health care and teleaotherapy services, ensuring that students have access to medical care and mental health support during the school day. Additionally, Ferglo Floor Care Health Clinic provides free health care services to district employees, demonstrating the district's commitment to the well-being of its faculty and staff. The board of education has made equity a priority in the Ferguson Florison School District. In 2018, the board adopted an equity resolution. And between 2020 and 2022, the district examined inequities and racism in policies and practices, culminating in the board's adoption of the Ferguson Florison School District's anti-racist standards for social justice and anti-racist schools. From early childhood education to advanced scientific exploration, from personalized

026learning opportunities to comprehensive healthcare services, the Ferguson Florison School District continues to lead the way in providing an exceptional educational experience that truly is providing equity and access for all. [Music] [Applause] [Music] My name is Ludivine Renard and I 617 and we do really apologize about our tardiness again. We will continue to get better. Uh we want to remind the board members of our meeting norms as we get there and we're going to call the meeting officially to order. Um I know it's not on there, but we're going to stand for the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. See, it's on there, but not on this

027one. Okay. Under provisions of the public law uh meeting law of the state of Missouri, the board must adopt by roll call vote the agenda, time, date, and place and agenda for the meeting. A copy of the notice and agenda for this meeting was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2025 at the administration center, 8855 Dun Road, Hazwood, Missouri, online and sent to local newspapers. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented? So moved. Second. Moved by Thurman, second by Dunn. Any discussion? Seeing none, roll call, please. Mr. Bailey, yes. Mr. Tyson, yes. Secretary votes yes. Dr. Pow Walker, yes. Dr. Graves, yes. Dr. Thurman, yes. Mr. Mr. Gates, how would you vote? Yes. And Dr. Martin? Yes. Motion carries. Thank you so much. Next up is MSBA update. This portion of the meeting

028is dedicated for a short film from MSBA to provide a report of current events and activities may be may be of interest to the board members and community. Welcome to the April edition of the Missouri School Boards Association's Board Report. We begin with a look back at MSPA's Advocacy Day event held on March 11th in Jefferson City. Preparations for the event took place throughout January, February, and March. MSBA's spring virtual meeting and the lunch and learn webinars prepared schoolboard members for their meetings with legislators and provided information on several legislative issues now before the Missouri General Assembly as it heads for its May adjournment. Commissioner Carla Esinger spoke during the advocacy day event at the Millb Bottom. Commissioner Esinger said that although there are challenges surrounding public education, she is noticing a trend. The uptick

029that I'm seeing across our state is that we're getting more people in prep programs. We're seeing more retention of our teachers. We're seeing our attendance rates starting to come up. But there's some really good stuff happening in the state of Missouri. You guys are knocking it out of the park. And here's my challenge to you. Please, please, please get loud, very loud about the successes you're having, the work that you're doing. You're not ignoring the problems. You're still going to work on attendance and absenteeism and teacher shortage and whatever else you've got to do. But when you've got stuff that you're thrilled about, makes your heart proud and makes you really, really happy about doing your service to your communities, get loud. Tell everybody. Tell them twice. Tell them three times. The Carter D. Ward

030Excellence and Advocacy Award was presented to Mary Graer of the Wright City R2 School District Board of Education. This award is given annually to a past or present board member who has excelled at advocacy. Mary stressed the importance of ongoing advocacy for public schools. Advocacy isn't just for Jefferson City. It's something we need to do every day in our own communities. If you don't stand up for public education, the strong foundation we've built for our kids and our communities and our state will start to crack. Advocacy Day also included the student showcase at the capital where students from school districts throughout the state were on hand to discuss and demonstrate innovative programs in their districts. A special thanks to the Jefferson City Social Media Program for attending the showcase and for helping out with documenting

031the event. What do you hope that the legislators and representatives walk away with knowing about your program today? Um, I hope they take into accountability of how passionate our school is with just trying to help focus on getting more teachers out in the world and really just helping us in general with college credit, helping us find the right path for us. Make plans now to attend MSBA Summer Summit June 16th through the 18th in Branson at the exciting new venue for this year, the Hilton Branson Convention Center on the Landing. Join school board members and leaders from across Missouri to learn about emerging trends and hot topics in education. The summit's general session features Gan Becker, who is President George HW Bush's chief of staff for nearly 25 years. She's the editor of Pearls of

032Wisdom by Barbara Bush and the New York Times best-selling author of The Man I Knew. Her latest book is Character Matters and Other Life Lessons from George HW Bush. Also, be sure your board is represented at the June Delegate Assembly to be held in conjunction with the summer summit. Delegates will be electing state officers for the coming year at that meeting. Registration information for the summer summit is posted on the MSBA website. And last, but certainly not least, if you are elected to your school board for the first time this month, welcome to schoolboard service. Missouri law requires all schoolboard members to receive 18 and 12 hours of training within their first 12 months of service. MSBA's new board member training fulfills this requirement and provides the foundation for becoming an effective board member. MSBA

033director of board development Lisa Neer says that although that sounds like a lot of training, the leadership development team has worked to make it as convenient as possible. The training is broken into two parts. For phase one, you'll complete a series of online modules at your own pace on your own time. These modules are designed to increase your knowledge of important topics related to board service. In phase two, the remaining eight hours of your training will be done live with other board members where you'll discuss and apply the information you learned online. You have the choice to do this in person at locations around the state, or virtually over Zoom. Training topics include board operations, school finance, student achievement, school law, and more. Once you complete your training, you'll be certified and ready to serve

034your community effectively on the school board. Plus, you'll help your district fulfill an accreditation requirement. The training is free for all new board members. Check the MSBA website for a schedule of the training opportunities along with registration information. That's it for this month. Thanks for allowing us to have some time at your board meeting and we'll see you in May for the next MSBA board [Music] report. Thank you so much. Next up is public comments. uh before we do bubble comments. Yesterday we know we had a board of election uh for our next uh board members and that we'll be swearing in next Wednesday. We'll have a public meeting for our swearing in. Want to congratulate Dr. Sheila Pala Walker and Vivian. I don't know Vivian if you're in the audience if you can stand

035up as well. We look forward for you both to join and continue on the board and look forward to swearing you in next week and rewearing you in Dr. Paul Walker. So, thank you for everyone who took interest in running in the uh campaign because it's never easy to run a campaign and certainly everyone put a lot of effort and thank you for uh everyone who voted. Uh I think there was 14% total in the county that voted yesterday. So, uh congratulations and we look forward to working with all of you on the board. Uh starting next week, this portion of the board uh meeting is to allow stakeholders the opportunity to comment on both agenda items and non-aggenda items. At the start of each board meeting, the board president will read aloud any comments

036that have been previously submitted. While all comments will be included in the board materials this evening, they may be found in our public comments. The board may limit the number of comments read aloud based on length and repetition prior to the public comment period. Inerson participants are asked to fill out a comment card with their name, address, phone number, email address, topic, and topic to be addressed and will be allowed up to three minutes to speak. Members of the audience who wish to speak to the board are requested to speak from the podium identify themselves and in keeping with the district policies 4054, 4059 and personnel law should refrain from making negative comments that are personally identifiable. While the board will not directly comment respond to speakers during the public comment period, the board president

037may make clarifying remarks at the end of the comment session to correct any misstatement of facts. Responses to public comments can be found in the meetings and agenda section of the district website within 14 days of the meeting. do want to make two quick announcements. Uh again, everyone will be called who wants to speak but just want to update some things about many topics on the board things for this. Earlier tonight and closed uh due to available little funding we did unfreeze the early childhood special education director position. So that position has that position has been reinstated as of tonight and that's been voted on already and approved. Uh the next thing is um the board last um week, two weeks ago, what I can't remember. We've have so many meetings now. Uh uh did

038move to move uh merge or move uh Mark Twain. The board is still moving it. It will not be going to Wedgewood anymore. And we're working with administration to identify a new location for that. We do want to be clear, there is an additional cost for that move. And so again, every time we add money, we have to find money other places, but we do believe that there's other places for that to be going more information as they continue to work out the final details or correcting the superintendent with the board to make decisions. So when I do call you, I just said those because there's a lot of comments in here about that, which again, when I call you up, you are more than welcome to come speak, but I just want to let

039you know so you're not um Yes, you're being mindful because you all have work tomorrow as well. So, um, we happy to have you all speak, but just want to be mindful of that as well. So, you're welcome to come up here if you have no comment and want to be done, you're fine as well, but don't be afraid either way. Just want to make sure those were the updates so you weren't advocating for something that the board already took action on. So, thank you for the collecting superintendents and everyone on that who have been working to uh continue to navigate these challenging times because we do need to find more money in the budget still. As a reminder, first up is, and if I say your name wrong, I apologize. uh a student from

040Wildwood. Fancy uh Hancock it looks like about Wedgewood merger. You said Wildwood Wildwood. Did I say Wildwood? I did Wedgewood down there, but they wrote WW up there and that confused me. So, I apologize. Wedgewood. If you can state your name and that you're a student. Hello, Board of Education. My name is Fancy Hancock. Um, I was coming up coming here today to um give my speech about Mark Twain kids moving to Wedgewood. But since um there's a delay in that, I just want to say that I appreciate that cuz it's a very good [Applause] decision. And yeah, I just want to appreciate that you guys um did that because I think everybody that's here for that is a really likes that idea. That's it. Thank you so much. And uh Mr. Gates, watch out.

041You have someone coming up here who's going to be a future student uh board member. So uh next up is S. Uh it might be Shannon. Uh someone who has terrible handwriting. I cannot read other people's handwriting and I apologize. Your handwriting is not even as bad. Mine is awful and I can't read. Uh handwriting. Shannon uh Restoration and Wedgewood. Shannon D. [Laughter] You're good. I apologize. Trying to read handwriting and my handwriting. Good evening. Uh, thank you to the board. Um, I'm not going to really read mine, but I will say um kind of um I'm so proud of Fancy for speaking up. Wedgewood does a phenomenal job of teaching kids how to navigate the middle middle school setting. I am a math teacher. I love where I work. And to think that the

042way Wedgwood is set set up to have four teams move into three hallways, it just doesn't make sense to me because it's going to like it's not going to be a safe and effective environment to continue doing what we are doing. And we're doing some great things at Wedgewood. I mean we were third in the state for showing growth on the math te math test and I am very proud of that. So thank you for doing what you were doing and looking for alternative situations. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you Tamisha Williams. Safety and communication. I also have your email if you want. They said you have an email as well, but Okay. No, I'm just going to kind of read what I have, but good evening. Um, yeah, my name is Tamika

043Williams. Um, I've had children enrolled in the district for nine years now. Um, and they both receive services through special school district, including my son who was in a AU classroom. Um after a incident with a serious bite um I was told that school administrators um could not intervene and that they had been directed by Sean Joyce to defer everything to special school district. So basically that delay of communication is just basically uh and no safety plan. Um, I've had to keep my son home from school. I'm missing work because of that. Um, just to protect him and it's unacceptable that I was just expected to return him to the classroom after this incident. Um, and this is not the first issue that I've had this year. Um my other child who also has an

044IEP experienced challenges with their teacher who has from what I understand ongoing anger and um classroom management issues um that's impacting that support. Um let's see here. uh the collaboration between SSD and the district, it feels like it's just been more of passing the responsibility back and forth and not a partnership that I thought it was supposed to be. So, I just have these questions. What oversight does the district maintain for the SSD managed classrooms? who's responsible um for ensuring that urgent issues are addressed with the SSD staff and who can step in to resolve these situations and how seriously does the district take their own policies um regarding student rights um and SS or SSD students also treat it with the same urgency as the other students. Um, I just feel like no parent

045should have to come go to this extent to get answers um when it's a safety concern. But that's pretty much it. Thank you so much. Mr. Joyce will follow up with you. Okay. Thank you. [Applause] Next up, I'm going to read a comment from Erica. Erica said, "I understand there are many pressing issues facing our district right now, and I believe an urgent one is the decision to eliminate summer instruction for our students. This is not just disappointing, it's alarming. Many of our students are already at risk of falling behind, and without summer school, that gap will only grow wider. Summer instruction structure is not just about academics. It's about stability. It's about access to meals, consistent adult support, and critical social interactions that so many of our kids rely on when school's out. At

046Wedgewood, our students made incredible gains this year in both ELA and math. We are proud of that progress and we want to build on that. But asking our most vulnerable learners to go three months without structured reading or math supports threatens to undo so much of that growth. Even more troubling, we are sending the wrong message to our students, especially those who are struggling. By cancelelling summer school, we are effectively telling students who failed a core class that there is no consequences, no support, and no plan to help them catch up. A few of my sixth graders did not pass ELA this year and the seventh grade will not be any easier for them. We're simply pushing them through unprepared creating big bigger issues down the line. Was there not a budgeted plan budgeted plan

047for summer school? Don't we receive federal funding that is intended specifically for this purpose? We are constantly told that equity and opportunity are our priorities, but right now these promises feel like empty words. Decisions like this tell a very different story. I urge you to reconsider. I believe this is a way to be fiscally responsible of providing our students with summer learning they desperately need. Let's stop making short-sighted decisions that hurt our kids in the long run. Let's find a solution that reflects our value. Mr. Murray will be following up with you. Next up is Matthew Parker. I'm curious, have we considered a 4-day work week next for next year? It would attract other qualified teachers from neighboring districts and would also be like a raise for teachers, a perk for sure, and could save

048some money on buses and other things. Seems like a way to check a lot of the boxes. Increase enrollment, perk for teach employees, and save money. Who will be following up? Dr. P. Walker will be following up. Mark Taylor, thank you to the board for all the extra time and energy you needed to put in this year. I'm in my 17th or 18th year in the district with majority of the time teaching at two of the high schools. The school days have undergone changes the entire time I've been here. The changes occurred to meet the needs of students and state requirements. I'm asking that you all to consider in switching from a four period plus advisory days to a seven daily block. I'm aware of some of the challenges and have understandable reasons for not

049switching, but I'd like to express their opinion. One reason I would like to see the high school switch to a sevenb block period day is because of the positive relationships and consistency built with students and parents. I believe it's that factor that helps that ed helps in education. With uh students seeing every other day in addition to poor attendance, a lot of educational opportunities are missed. It's harder for students to feel safe in the classroom if they don't know their teacher and their classmates. As a teacher, I watch students struggle to pay attention and engage in work for the length of four class periods. As a district, we need to consider how culture has formed us as people. I went to church long before cell phones and the modern idea of children's church. I was

050forced to sit and be silent for long periods of time. Can I get an amen? I can't do that anymore. Our world has changed. I've changed. It is it wise to expect that these 4day block times are something students can do. I know some students will still struggle with 50-minute class periods because that is reality of human nature and the reality some students individually live with. I believe the seven period day should be something we implement and continue to be flexible with in order to address the best interest of our students. Mr. Mitchell will be following up with you. Next up is N. Mosley. I'm a parent of an eighth grader who's currently enrolled at Steam Middle School and looking forward to his high school experience. I want to ensure that a joining joining of

051adolescence institutions doesn't water down the experience of our flourishing high school teenagers. Though both schools prove to be sound institutions of education, they house separate age groups for excellent and resource proven resources resources reasons. Sorry. The steam high school is not a large building, though it may be able to hold a large number of people. Therefore, I imagine the high school will be on one side of the building and middle school on the other side. This measure will this measure within itself prevents the students from physically having space. I do not want the high schoolers to have to share their time with younger population of people. Courses, lunchtime, sports, after school activities, homecoming, dances, organizations should not be represented as 612 grade population. The 9 through 12 students should have sacred experiences as its right

052of passage. My questions are as follows. is the Ferg floor board of education assertly stating that after combining the 612 students at the Steam Academy with 912 graders at Steam High School, there will be no negative impacts on the 9th through 12th graders. Is the BOE able to commit to the idea that younger populations will be kept separate and will neither interfere nor impress upon the 912 students other than their physical presence in the building for classes and specifically identified programs for them? While classes, lunchtime activities, programs, organizations, sports, dances, and high school related functions remain strictly for 912 students. As a stakeholder, it's imperative these concerns are addressed and commitment made by the board of education to steam high school students who deserve their moment. Please do not push the selected population of academically

053inclined students into other high schools for an experience. If this is done, the Ferguson Flores and Board of Education student assume full responsibility for the academic decline of all students who deviated from their selection of attending the Steam High School post high school promotion. A high school should function as a high school. Please keep the notion at the forefront of your minds when planning for school year 2526. Our high school students should get one moment in their time before they're expected to do great things and make hard decisions. It should neither be become harder, be threatened, nor lack of continuity and consistency due to the errors of the board of education's decision makers. I implore upon us to make quality decisions within the students at heart. Is that Mr. Mitchell as well? Mr. Mitchell will

054follow up with you. Next up, uh there's not a name on here. Uh for Ferg for the love of people atyahoo.com. Um please read at the board meeting tonight per policy. Let's stop pretending the business as usual. The truth is Ferguson Flores school districts in chaos and the board is not complicit. Not only complicit, but yet you've helped and protect the very mess we're now forced to clean up. You started the year with $10 million deficit. $10 million. That deficit didn't appear overnight. It was a result of other of years of poor decisions, lack of transparency, and failed leadership that you, the board, allowed to fester. You had the power to intervene. You had the opportunity to hold people accountable. But instead, you sat by by silence while livelihoods were destroyed and our children's futures

055were pack placed at risk. Now, in an effort to save face, you want to create the parents of structured professionalism writing a job description for a superintendent role that is already being filled. Let's call it what it is, smoke and mirrors. You appointed two co- superintendents an unnecessary and costly move that only added confusion and deepened distrust. And now you want one of these co- superintendents, only certified superintendent the entire district to apply for the very job he's already doing after he's been cleaning up the mess. you all help make. There's nothing in Missouri state statute that requires uh the kind of performative politics. Nothing. This is not about legal process. It's about control. It's about optics. It's about protecting yourselves. And frankly, it's disgraceful. The board has spent the last 10 years enabling dysfunction,

056putting personal agendas over student success, and betraying the very trust that community placed in you. If you have any integrity left, you should recuse yourselves and allow leadership that already actually puts children first to take over. The people are watching. community is waking up and the silence you once counted is cracking. Thank you so much. If you want to reach back out to Jackie and give us your contact information, we will follow up with you. Next up is Doc Lou. Uh concerned parent. My name is Doc and I have a child who attends Steam High. I'm concerned that earlier start time at Steam High next year will impact sleep at a critical time in our child's lives. High schoolers attend sports clubs and sporting events and start part-time jobs, take college prep courses, study and

057take the ACT and SAT and attempt to obtain and maintain grades that will impact their ability to successfully get into college and activities. Unfortunately, when juggling multiple responsibilities, research has shown that the very first thing that gets sacrificed is sleep. With an earlier start time, I'm concerned that our children will sacrifice sleep that is essential to their success in any of the affformentioned uh tasks, many of which are absolutely critical for their academic and economic future. Understanding what is at stake for our children, I ask, why is the start time changing and what can the board do to maintain the current stop time? Dave Murray will be following up with you. Next up from this stack, and then we'll go back to people reading. Um, uh, there's no name on it. Uh, it just says

058concerned staff, uh, FFSD concerned staff at yahoo.com. I'm absolutely appalled by the ongoing mismanagement with the within this district, the sheer complicity and poor decision-making, and the complete disregard for devastating consequences these actions have on the lives of educator, staff, and community at large. The lack of accountability is staggering, and frankly, it's beyond infuriating. The choices this board has made have wrecked havoc on the workforce, particularly those uh through the senseless layoffs that have torn apart families and destabilized careers. These layoffs have left people who have dedicated their lives to our students is completely uncertainty. The impact of these decisions is far by abstract. These are real people who have given their time and energy to serve students now being discarded without consideration for the long-term effects. How can you justify this? What's even more

059infuriating is that while loyal, highly qualified staff have been passed over and now being axed, the board has a history of approving salaries for individuals who are completely unqualified and uncertified for their roles. This blatant mis misallocation of resources not only reckless, it's downright insulting. How is it possible the district is hemorrhaging money on unqualified individuals while experienced and dedicated staff are shown the door? This is kind of fiscal irresponsibility that undermines everything this district supported are supposed to stand for and is an embarrassment. And don't think for a second that we're not aware of the allegations tied to ongoing lawsuits that what has plastered all over the news and social media. Elicit allegations that have been hanging over the district for years. We've known about these illicit allegations the entire STL community knows. Yet

060you've done absolutely nothing to address it. This failure to act speaks volumes. The lack of integrity and responsibility you as a board have shown. This is not just negligence. This is an utterly betrayal the trust the community has placed on you. But perhaps the mo most enraging aspect of all the board's complete refusal to appoint a co-acting superintendent against all odds stepped up to try and clean up this mess despite his proven ability and clear understanding of the challenges facing the district and the respect that they've garnered by the staff and community. You continue to reject their leadership. Why is this? Because of petty politics or simply because the idea of being held accountable for your failures too is too much to bear. refusing to appoint you can the already soup certified and experience why

061too another example waste of money is not just a slight against him it's a slap in the face to every educator every student and every member of the district and community your failure to take responsibility for this mess you've created is appalling that empty apologies you've issued are meaningless how dare you think that offering hollow words with someone somehow make up for the real damage you've done you are the ones suffering consequences of your own actions the people you fired the families you shattered they are the ones dealing with the fallout of your incompetent competencies in the long long past time of this board to make the hardest choices, own up its actions, and stop pretending to diplomacy and fairness are being achieved. The job posting is a dog and pony show. You failed to

062act when it's necessary, and the failures on you. The district's failure depends on a change of course, and you must stop hiding behind weak excuses and evasions. The community is watching and will not stand idly by while you continue to drag this district through the mud. The COA superintendent should be appointed immediately. You have the ability to do so. So, the board must take full responsibility for the mess it caused. You made a mockery of leadership and it's time to end it. Enough's enough. Uh, again, if you want to reach out to Jackie with your contact information, we more than happy to follow up with you. Next up is Shannon. Policy, school restructure, and checks and balances. Miss Hazley. is all right. Well, uh, I was here last time and I still have the same

063concern. So the vision of the Ferguson Florison School District states the desire for all learners to graduate believing that all things are possible and prepared to realize those possibilities. The vision is flawed. When it comes to Steam Academy and the policy around it and how students are able to even make part of the interview process is flawed. If you're not in the top 20% and you don't score proficient or advanced, you don't move forward. I don't think that's fair. I don't think that's an equitable thing that we're doing and that we're saying to students that who've made great and tremendous progress or you don't already go to probe, you're not allowed to set foot in these doors. I know that we that there's a a budget deficit and they're want to combine things together, but

064the steam schools have always been considered the cream of the crop. The the issue that we have is that we have more traditional learners here and that it's like the bag of Skittles. When you pour it out, you get green, purple, red, yellow, whatever comes your way. And you have to make it work. You eat what's given that you don't get to set aside and say, "I'm only wanting orange. You deal with whatever's in front of you." They don't get to do that at certain. I heard last time they said, "We'll combine steam middle. We'll combine Mccclure South Berkeley High School together and we'll just put the kids in there for credit recovery because they not going to bother anybody because they want to graduate. How is that equitable? Whether you're dividing sides where you

065putting them in place where what are you doing for the rest of the students? And I've asked that time and time again when we're in a district that you want people and businesses to come here back to Ferguson Florison and the surrounding communities that all encompass in this district. One of the things that market housing is the performance of schools. Right now our marketing ability is scandal. So things have to change. Not to say that there not roses growing in the gardens but there's weeds that need to be pulled. And there's things that need to be done. I'm so glad that we reconsidered Wedgewood and restoration. Not to say that it was a bad place because they seem to be doing good things over there, but it's not conducive to those students who are going

066learning that navigating their new way through middle school, but there's still other work that needs to be done. There's still money that's going to have to be pulled. But we still have to consider that all levels of learners deserve equity. And this is not a deserving thing that we keep doing to say that of course their discipline is down. They got the cream of the crop. We got the top 20%. We got this. And guess what? If they don't do it right, we just send them on back to their home school. It's not okay. Something has to change and something has to give. When is it going to happen? Thank y'all. Thank you. And thank you for coming to the superintendent panel last week as well. Uh Dr. Dr. Crawford will follow up with you.

067Next up is Timothy. It says unconcerned. Hello. Once again, I'm up here. those two papers. I I have to say I I get out of applause because they they hit it on the nail. That's probably one of the things I was gonna touch on. Uh first off, um the thing about it is I was told that the board voted against my high school pay. That's that that was one of the concern. On top of that, I'm looking at the deficit of the district, the news, the people that come up here, the board, the superintendent, the co- superintendent with the with the the salary that that the superintendent making, the co- uh superintendent. Uh and all I was asking for level five high school pay. Um, on top of that, I was also told that my

068title was being changed on top of that last year. Don't take Einstein to figure that one out. To me, that's like a demotion. I ain't have no infraction on being demoted or for whatever reason you all said my title was being changed. I like to know why. Okay, I know innovation is closing. I get that. Where did that leaves me? I haven't did I I didn't create innovation. It was fine with Cool Valley the way it was. I didn't create that. I just wanted to have the perks too of saying if if it's a high school, give me the high school pay. But of course, again, I was told that the board voted against. It's like y'all eyes closed. Everything was passed. Yes. Yes. Yes. Listen, everything was passed. One even said, "I apologize for

069the for not looking at the numbers being, you know, in the business 25 years." But when it came to Timothy Cornell, high school pay, eyes was all open. No, no, no, no. See, on top of that, the unconcerned part, moving forward, this goes for the snow. January 6th and 7th, it was horrible, deep. I'm working by myself. That's a hazard. What happened to the safety? One District United. I call I get stuck. I have to not only dig out my tires that was going up the hill at Cool Valley, but also do my job task of doing the snow by myself. The next day, here comes we had to remove it again. I bags in, get ready to go out, turns on the parking lot of Family Dollar. This guy pulls up. Hey, you know

070I just called Cool Valley and the tow truck on their way to tow your vehicle. How about that? But I'm doing my task, my job that I was, you know, know to do because I came in to remove the snow by myself again. This time I bagged in. Thank Thank you. Your time is up. I know that if can we make sure the sound's on for the beeper so people know who we following up with. Uh, Timothy, Mr. O'Neal will be following up with you. Thank you so much, Sheila Williams, [Applause] nursing. Hello, Ferguson board, district, students, staff, parents, and community. I have been a school nurse and have worked in Ferguson Florison for 27 years. School nursing is a specialized practice of nursing. It protects and promotes student health. Student health, facilitates optimal development,

071and advances promotes promotes academic success. School nurses grounded in ethical and evidence-based practice are the leaders who bridge health care and education, provide care coordination, advocate for quality student- centered care, and collaborate to design systems that allow individuals and communities to develop their full potential. The decision to eliminate agency nurses at the last board meeting was will adversely impact the health, attendance, and education of of the students. In addition, we will we will add on we will add on current nurses and staff in buildings with no healthc care background. When in doubt, staff will call 911 for students in the community which will call 911 students for in the community that will delay response time. In worst case scenario, a life could be lost or neglected actions of the decision could land in the district

072in court. The expectation of the Ferguson florescent school nurses is to work in two to three buildings does not create a safe environment for anyone. We understand dusty does not require a nurse a school nurse in school buildings but the mere existence of a nursing department is proof we need it. We all can agree agency nurses is agency staff is expensive. The district pays one LPN more than they pay me a nurse of 27 years in the district. The district has not addressed any alternative alternative of paying school nurses a living wage instead of poverty wage. The district pays custodians, bus drivers, and office professionals more than some licensed nurses. We ask that you consider better pay for school nurses and release the hiring free so that we can employ more nurses to address the

073safety and well-being of our students, staff, and family. In closing, I would like to say that some days I see over 40 students, and I am sure that other schools will be seeing the same. who is going to provide these students with appropriate and safe healthcare. Thank you. Mr. Mitch will be following up with you. [Applause] Bobby Small, uh, nurses Bobby Small Harkless. School nurses. School nurses bridge the healthc care attendance and education in our school district. A healthy kid is a has a better learning. Your decision to get rid of agency nurses which leaves 11 buildings without nurses. Our buildings really each individually school need a nurse because of the different health concerns or issues our children have. We have children with internal G tubes, asthma, diabetes, all of the above. At any given

074time, something can happen to those that that child, our scholar. Uh the thought that the nurses will have to cover two of the buildings really is not safe. And to think the the nurse's responsibility once again will fall on the employee, which nine times out of 10 will be the office profession. I carry all the titles. All the children in my building are my babies. It's not just one child, but all 400. We want to make sure all our children are taken care of. There are several students in the business and they all need a school nurse to take care of them to make sure that they're as healthy. when the parents send them to school, they want to make sure that their child once again is safe. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mitchell will

075be following up. Next up, uh I'm going to start reading some and then we'll go back to public comments again. Uh Christina, these are all about uh the early childhood uh decision. So, board, are you okay if I summarize these ones? Is anyone opposed to that? Um so these are obviously we already reinstated it. These uh are talking about reinstating the position entire classroom and how they're principal. They oversee a lot of things intaking initial IEPs oversee the district state and federal make sure they're leading IPS building uh budgets uh working with parents to make sure they're getting the services. Uh people are asking that we support bringing it back and the impact that it had on their own child. provide some pictures of that and certainly um understand that as well how OT uh

076PT and other things are impacted by this decision and how kids at this age are sometimes the most vulnerable and they have highly complex behavior and medical needs and we need to make sure that they're receiving the necessary things. So, uh if everyone's okay with that, we'll make sure Miss McWell, if you can just make sure the board gets this and then since we've already summarized that. So, thank you. Next up is Connie uh ECSE. Hi, thank you. Um, good evening board members, co-s superintendents, third floor uh staff, and members of the community. I'm going to take some of this out since you've said that ECSSE has been reinstated, but I feel that it is still important. So, as a department, we were shocked to hear the position of executive director of ECSSE was frozen.

077Freezing this position has caused significant concern and anxiety about the future of our program as we have never lacked a dedicated leader to manage the legalities of special education. We were we were worried. Um I'm going to leave the rest of it off, but I'm going to read the next one. Over the years, we have seen an increase in the needs of our students and families, requiring requiring a dedicated person to be there for families during their children's educational transitions. The ECSE executive director is crucial to our staff for placing children in the uh correct classrooms after their evaluation meeting and for connecting teachers with families. Um the executive director of ECSSE is there to help families understand the students diagnosis which can be very difficult at this age. It may be the first time

078they're hearing this. Um and assure parents that teachers will do everything possible to engage their students in learning and growth. The director should have many years of experience as a special ed teacher which helps guide the ECSE staff and helps problem solve. The experience is needed within the department especially when evaluating teacher effectiveness. The board wants to expand early education and with that comes additional students with needs. It would be a detriment to the e department to not have a dedicated leader over ECSE to make sure all children in the community are being served. So, um, that's it. I thank you for considering this and listening to us. It really truly means a lot and it's appreciated. Uh, thank you, Connie. Dr. Pew Walker will be following up with you. Next up is Kathy. Uh,

079Wedgewood Restoration merger. Good evening. My name is Kathy Holloway and I'm a sixth grade teacher at Wedgewood. Um, I've been a loyal teacher of this district for 24 years and my children have attended this district. Um, I was going to speak on the Wedgewood merger and I no longer have to. Thank you for listening to the teachers. Thank you for listening to all the stakeholders who sent emails and I definitely want to give a shout out to Mr. Bailey for coming to our school last year or last week and seeing what awesome things were happening and speaking with our students. So, thank you. Thank you. Uh who will be following up? Uh Mr. Mitch will follow up. Next up is Dr. Uh Sal uh concerning the upcoming merger of Steam Middle and the Steam High

080School. We have questions and seek answers. Dr. S and family. Sorry if I How do you say it? Salam. Thank you. Apologize. Good evening. Uh I'll be very brief. You have already covered some of the areas. So um so I just got to go through my list of five questions. All right. The fir first one is the current classroom size. What is that at the high school where the children are supposed to be going to the younger ones? Right. Um so that's a question and um what is the teacher and student student ratio right now? How many students per teacher? Um how will the students be how would they coexist? Would the school be cut in half? You know, how would that happen? And would the class times be shortened in terms of the class?

081How long they going to be in the class with extra students coming there? Um to accommodate the size of the classrooms of course. Now we have two daughters. One is 16, one is 10. And the time I understand it's going to be the same time in the morning. Will they be catching the same bus? because one is leaving from elementary school in the middle of going there. And how do you intend to maintain the moral and order of the students, the morale and order of the students with the upper class, high school, and the incoming young class. Thank you. Thank you so much. And uh Mr. Mitchell will follow up with you. Who? Sorry, M. Dr. Crawford. I'm sorry it's hard to hear all the stuff. Uh, El Sutton, interim superintendent. Good evening everyone. My

082name is Liddana. I am a parent of a child that attends Innovation High School. As a parent and a community member of the community, I would like to suggest hiring Dr. Brick Mitchell as an intern superintendent for one year. The information you published about Mr. Mitchell, he has the credential and has been doing a great job. You, the board, decided Mr. Mitchell was capable when Dr. Davis was placed on leave. Taking this route allows the district significant time to find the right person to lead our district. Mr. Mitchell can provide guidance and transition if he stays this year. And I also want to just speak on one one little thing. I have a student that's attending um he's attending innovation this year. This this is his junior year. Next year he will be a senior

083year. the closure of that school and all these other things that's taking place will mess with the child's mental health. We have too many different things that's going on going from changes to changes to changes. We have to give them time to get situated. Give them time to get adjusted. We are we're talking about moving this school. Then we're talking about shortage of nursing. I'm going to give you something to think about before I walk off this stage. I want everybody to think about having a kid that's a diabetic insulin 24/7. No nurse in the building. No one know what to do. No one knew where the keys was. No one knew what to do when her insulin when her sugar dropped so low but her mama and the school nurse that wasn't there. I

084knew her numbers was dropping low because of the Dexcom on her machine. I was able to get her numbers. So, I was able to call my child to find out if my child was okay. I was able to tell the teacher, "Take my child to the nurse. The medicine is in the nurse's office." Okay, it's locked. Give my child this. She has it in her backpack. Give this, that, give that. Nobody knew nothing but me and that nurse. If a child is ill, not only should the nurse know what's going on, but everyone else that's in offices should know what's going on. As an educator, I work in early childhood. I have a building of 138 kids. I could tell you everything that's going on with these kids. Keep your eyes woke. Thank you. Mr.

085Mitchell will be following up. D. Wilkins, uh, communication. Good evening. Um, I was going to read this, but I think it's going to be better if I just speak from my heart because that ain't going to work for me tonight. Um, I'm coming on communication. In our schools, we're asking so much of everyone, but if we all come together and communicate, we can get a better a better system going. I have children in more than one school. I talk to my children every day and their biggest thing is nobody listens to our voice. I have seen growth in certain schools on communication. I've even seen growth in some of the board members reaching out. I've got a lot of responses, but that's because I insert myself. If I did not insert myself into this first

086school district, I would know nothing. I would have students failing and wouldn't know a word. I would have students hurt would know nothing. But because I speak to my children, I communicate at home and I'd instill in them at home to talk, I get an answer because I don't mind taking off my job to come to a school and vouch for any student that came to me, not only my own, I get answers. If we communicate and take the voices of our children instead of just making these decisions for them, let's make them with them. If we're here to support them, let's get their opinion. We have teachers that are leaving. Students are upset. They have no one to talk to. I'm one mama of four biologicals, but I'll take on any of them that

087talk to me. I listen. My phone has been blowing up since we've been in this meeting. Where you at? I need help with my homework. They coming to me a parent. Why they Why they not comfortable coming to our leaders, our teachers that are there in their face daily? I don't have a m master degree in no subject but mama. But I'll be mama over all of them if I can get them to speak up and come out and do what they need to do. We cannot ask of them to be strong if we not giving them the opportunity to talk and we stop and listen. We are older. They are younger. What they're going through, we didn't go through. We got to listen to the babies. And then we have to communicate with them

088not only what we need them to do, but how we can help them do it. I have children that stand 6'2 and they cannot speak to anyone cuz they feel like they going to get said, "Oh, you just big and intimidating. You a bully." They not bully. They gentle giants. I just want us to communicate as a community, as teachers. Come together and let's listen to each other and make this better. I am one parent, but baby, I will be at everything. You going to see my face. You have seen my face. I'm not leaving. I My youngest is in fifth grade. I'll be here and I might be here after they leave. But let's let's communicate. Thank you. Thank you so much. Mr. Moore will be following up with you. Next up is Heather.

089Uh budget and superintendent search. [Music] Excuse me. I have a little bit of a cold tonight. So, first I want to start with just a little bit of a history lesson of the school district. In August of 2014, the school district pass asked for Proposition S, which passed. It was a property tax increase from the parents because the district was $7 million in debt. And here we are again in 2015. In April, they passed Prop I, which was the bond that funded the steam schools. $31 million that helped build this building we're in, and you're stealing it from them. You're going to be here up there, and there's nobody down here in a purpose-built building. And you guys talk about transparency and accountability, but the board board voted on a bunch of proposals at the

090last meeting that you guys didn't have time to vet. The only things you didn't pass were the things that were leaked that people had time to speak on. There were very few tough questions. Writing blank checks to the central office is what got us here. You need to look at what you are voting for. You should have said, "We don't have enough time to vote on this." Yep. We're in a crisis. We need to move quickly. But you don't give the Heimlick maneuver when someone needs a tourniquet. And you've been justifying cuts to school level staff by saying the data doesn't support their positions. Where is the data to support a position like chief of staff, which doesn't exist in school districts of our size, and they make four and a half to five times

091what a new teacher would make and nearly six to seven times what other school staff makes. You need to get in the schools and see what these people really do because the justification I heard for the chief of staff position was we know what that job entails. Well, get in the schools and find out what these jobs that you are cutting entail. Find out what really happens. Do you know who these kids go to? Do you know anything? You guys aren't there. They don't feel respected. They don't feel heard. They have successes and you need to see where they are succeeding and shining and where they need help and why. And one of the things that I just keeps getting skipped. The community has said over and over again they would like to go back

092to K25 schools. I hear that from everybody. That would be a really good thing to look at and it hasn't been looked at. And finally, this superintendent search is ridiculously rushed. Last meeting again, we were told, "Hey, we're not going to rush this process. It'll take as long as it takes." You're leaving the application up for less than a month. That's a pretty rushed process. I really would like you guys to look at the history and do what needs to be done for our students and actually act in their best interest instead of rushing from thing to thing. Thank you. Thank you. I'll be following up with you. Uh P Guting, uh student concerns Hi, my name is Pippa Gutting and I'm an eighth grader here in the district. I have a couple things I'd

093like to say to the board. Why do you claim to be doing things for the benefit of students when you don't care about our input? My friend texted me over the weekend saying she'd met one of the people at these two tables for the sake of remaining impersonal. I won't say whom and expressed her concerns over merging the two steam schools into one building to them. She contacted me upset because the person apparently laughed in her face. How is that behavior for the students? You're also obiscating or outright making savings up. The claim of saving $60,000 a year in algebra 2 programming for Steam Middle by merging it with the high school is completely incorrect. the one student in the history of the school that was eligible for algebra 2 was told that they could

094not do it because of the lack of that programming. Can you either account for why the district has been pouring tens of thousands of dollars a year into a program that not even qualified students can use or explain why you're noting a non-existent savings? Why didn't the board catch that out? There needs to be deeper research done into these proposals because while you're talking millions of dollars and 60,000 is relatively small potatoes compared to that, you don't need to be an algebra 2 student to know that those little numbers add up fast until you're barely better than when you started and were even worse off next year. Can I just say the school level staff at Steam Middle are absolutely fantastic. All of them truly care about the students both as a whole and individually.

095They work incredibly hard to find opportunities for us to engage and learn and make sure that we have the tools we need to do so. They find competitions for us. They give us time to learn outside of school. And most importantly, they listen to what we say, think, feel, and want. I cannot oversell my positive experiences with them. That being said, over the past couple months, I have watched my teachers grow more and more frustrated as their ability to do their jobs has been stymied by your negligence. No one knows how scheduling is going to work next year. who is and isn't going to keep their jobs and the continual budget cuts that you have made affecting things like school supplies only hurt us more. I understand that sacrifices will need to be made and

096we can't end up with everything we want, but saying your district is for the students and then having the first choices you make in a crisis be ones that hurt us and protect you is a little odd to me. Our motto is one district united, but from where I'm standing as a student, it feels like you see it as more of an us versus them situation. Please, if you have any respect for the values you claim to hold dear, don't laugh me off. I voiced the same sentiments as a lot of my friends, some of whom were scared to speak out due to fear of your retaliation. If you don't take what I'm saying seriously, you may find yourself losing students. Thank you for your time. Thank you for uh coming forward uh with such

097confidence and uh certainly appreciate your words tonight. Dr. Crawford will be following up with you. Next up is Becca. Uh scheduling changes at Steam High. Hi. Um, our family's been part of the district for only two years. We've only been part of steam high. Um, my son is in 10th grade and my daughter will be in ninth grade next year. Um, one of the ways of being discussed to adjust senior and junior high is the bell schedules next year and my son came home very concerned uh because he really enjoys the A part of Steam, which isn't a pathway offered at Steam. So any A arts classes he gets are electives. and when you reduce the classes from 8 to seven, the electives are the ones that have to go. Um, and I know that

098this has been a problem with band and other schools and stuff, but my only experience is at Steam and his best experiences as a kid who isn't always the normal kid is in things like theater and band and he's going to have to get rid of some of those. Um the other thing is that taking getting rid of from seven from 8 to 7 um isn't even the other high schools still have eight eight classes. Other competitive high schools in our area have eight classes. And at a school that's supposed to be getting these kids ready for higher education and making them have competitive college applications. Getting rid of those extra credits is we're all of a sudden we're not that anymore. Then what's the point of being a steam school where kids who are

099gifted can go and get into great colleges and get those applications looking super awesome compared to the people who they're competing with. We can't do that if we are taking away classes from them. They want these kids want the classes. These this is a group of kids who want to take more classes. They're saying give us more classes and you guys are saying no you can't have more classes. That feels counterintuitive to me for what this school is supposed to be about. Um, I think that's all I had to say. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Crawford. We following up. Next up is Frankie Mitchell. Graduation being changed. Good evening. I'm Frankie Mitchell. My daughter goes to innovation and we were told throughout the whole year the graduation was going to be May 18th. That being

100said, we've told our family they've booked plane tickets, hotel stays. We've reserved dinner reservations at halls, makeup, hair appointments. On the 7th, I was told, "Sorry, the budget's not allowing your child to graduate on the 18th. We're going to change it to Wednesday the 21st on a Wednesday at 6 PM. Okay, I understand there's budget defation here. I'm experiencing it myself. I'm a recent widow, single mother of two. I've added two extra hours a day on my work schedule and a whole extra day. All the money I've been saving to give my daughter this grand graduation that she so deserves for her hard work has just been demolished. By your decision, Dr. Martin, as Mr. Mitchell stated, was your decision to move the dis the graduation on a Wednesday to the steam high school. This

101is not fair to us parents. We pay our taxes. If the money's not figured out properly, I can't control that. But we were told our child would graduate on May 18th along with all the other high school kids. But our children are being singled out to graduate at Steam. I can deal with that. I can't deal with the three-day delay. You can't get your money back on airline tickets, your reservations at hotel stays, your deposits on dinner halls. Th this is putting a financial burden on us. Our children earned their graduation. And if you have to have it somewhere else, perfectly fine. But it should still be held on the day that we were told it was being held on. for the simple fact we can't change all these plans for 40 different families for

102the decision of the board. It's not fair to our students. It's not fair to the budget of the families. And as I said, I suffer a budget problem, too. I shouldn't have to suffer this one. I get up at 2:30 a.m. to go to work. I stayed up extra late to be here today. I have to be up at 2:30 to go to work in the morning. I'm very exhausted. After I work all day, I go home and take care of my kids, try to help with homework, school work, whatever. I shouldn't have to be pleading with you to help save the money that I've already spent on a problem that's not ours. Thank you. [Applause] Mr. Mitchell will be following up with you. Uh, excuse me, sir. Mr. Mitchell told me to talk to

103you. Mr. Mitchell, he said it was totally up to you. I'll clarify at the end of the comments then. Um Jonathan S, advocating for school libraries and National Library. Good evening. I'm John Sanders, the librarian at Lee Hamilton Elementary. I'm speaking tonight to celebrate National Library Week and urge you, the community, and the board to support the amazing people and spaces that make our Ferguson Flores libraries welcoming, embracing, and literacy promoting centers of our schools. I only have three minutes to speak and but my father is a retired Episcopal priest who at 83 is still the master of the 12minute sermon. I tell that to students and they can't believe it. They said, "Our preacher talks for an hour." I said, "Well, my dad's service hole lasts for an hour." So, I figure if he

104can do the job in 12 minutes, I can do it in three. Growing up in Jefferson City, I was blessed with the library and church being across the street from each other. I was surrounded by the books in dad's office and the books across the street. I could still remember the books I checked out from the public library and the books I and from the school library. Lots of sports biographies and historical fiction. On Twitter X the other day, someone brought up the John Fitzgerald Great Brain series and books I haven't read in 45 years came back to me. That's the power of libraries. I'm 54, a gay-haired, worldh hardened Gen Xer, grateful for growing up drinking hose water, biking everywhere, and not relying on the internet to do my research. I needed the expertise

105of those librarians in my life, and expertise matters now more than ever. Students are inundated with a mountain of information, and we digital sherpas, known as school librarians, are their trusty guides. Our roles go far beyond finding answers. We know every kid in school. We curate our collections and you can remember what books a particular kid loves. I'll deliver a book right to a kid's classroom. But personal service, we gather them around us to share the power of story. See, for many kids, school library is their library. Not everyone has a parent who makes a trip to the library a necessary part of family life. But every kid has a school library to visit. We are the storytellers, writing coaches, book conciergees, and even simply the caring adult who they can seek out. We handle

106recess duty, cafeteria duty, bus duty, being the garden guru. I invite anyone to my garden at Lee Hamilton. The kids help me out. It's wonderful. It's my favorite role at school. We are the utility players on that welloiled squad. So, going forward, the district has the opportunity to take bold steps to support our libraries. Our per student expenditures have remained unchanged for 25 years, nearly the entirety of my teaching career. Comparable school districts spent twice as much as we do and books are getting more expensive. My wife's at Parkway. She's a librarian as well. Her budget's been cut, but it's still far beyond whatever we have to you work with. I want to end with a thank you and a roll tide to Stephanie Go, our content leader. We have a friendly rivalry with her

107being an LSU Tiger and me and my love for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Tigers, roll tide. She represents us at the national level and at state. Not sure if you know this about Stephanie, but she's been nationally recognized, but the Washington DC in two weeks we're voting on approving a new library management system. And she shephered that through the process. It's more efficient. It's under budget. So, I'm going to conclude by saying thank your librarians. We're not the loudest voices in the room and but we're putting in the work. Thanks. Thank you so much. Appreciate everyone's comments. Again, as we said at the beginning, the board president can clarify any remarks. So, just want to clarify about graduation. Uh so, the board approved on March 26 uh the graduation locations for three of the high

108schools which the board approved. The board that's the only action the board took on Sunday, April 7th. Uh in our weekly board update, Mr. Mitchell uh provided the board uh he would like to confirm the date and time for innovation's graduation. Last year was held on Wednesday following the main ceremonies at 6 p.m. If we're following the same model, will you confirm Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 at 6 p.m. is the date and time for this year. So that is the only communication the board has received about innovation or any other vote or communication. So the board or myself have not taking any action about innovation. So, I'm just stating the facts that the board approved the contract last board meeting for those three high schools for innovation. We received an update in our weekly superintendent

109update asking us if that Wednesday, May 21st, that's the first communication that we received uh as a board about that. So, just wanted to clarify that information. Again, we take the advice of the superintendent and they present information. So, Mr. Mitchell's over at school. So, again, you can Mr. Mitchell will be following up with you. The board only voted on that piece of it. Mr. When I spoke with you on the phone, did you not say it was Dr. Martin's decision? He was the one that I had to speak to because he was the one that made Again, you guys can take the conversation offline certainly, but I'm just letting you know from I'd like everybody to hear how this is just not we need to communicate audience. We need to communicate. Yes, Mr. Mitch

110with Mr. Mitchell and he said I need to speak with you. That's why I just want to make sure I'm clarifying on the board's perspective. That's all the board's action in our weekly update from superintendent. Mr. Mitchell said he's going to follow up with you, but again, I or the board are not taking any action. I will say it's historically always been on the Wednesday. Mr. Mitchell put in a Sunday flyer asking the board if that's what we would like. That's the first we received official communication. Mr. Mitchell's decision. Mr. Mitchell presents recommendations if there's any money to be expensed. So, the three that we approved were last week on March 26 at the St. Charles Family Arena where we approved those. So, is it fair that we were told the 18th all year long

111until Sunday that it was going to be on the 21st? Again, that'd be something to work through, Mr. Mitchell. I can have an offline conversation about my own personal beliefs, but as a board, I'm just letting you know the facts of the matters. One last question. Is this something that's going to be negotiable or are you cold that it's going to be the 21st? I'm sorry. Working through it. We'll see. Still working through it. We'll see. We'll have an update for you probably tomorrow night at the innovation meeting. Okay. I'll meet you at that meeting. I have to get up at 2 a.m. for work. Uh Dr. Paul Walker has a question. I just I just wanted to ask do we have access to the dates that the board approved for graduation last year because

112we would have probably made we would have done that last year. So if if that was communicated to families, it seems like we had to have approved it long before now. And I know you don't have to answer it now, but that's just something I want to ask. Any other clarifications needed on behalf of the board? Okay, Mr. Gates, would you have any comments tonight? Uh, not at this time. Thank you. If that changes, please let us know. Next up is Miss Bell, are you going to be speaking for FFNA? uh FFNA by uh board president Dana Bell. [Applause] [Music] All right. Good excuse me. Good evening board of education members, co-s superintendents, Dr. Walker and Mr. Mitchell, FFNA members, Ferguson Flores, and family and community members. We are in the month of April with

113only six weeks left in the school year. The 2024 2025 school year has been filled with a variety of situations that have kept our scholars, staff, and community in varying levels of uncertainty. Last month, the board spoke about the current financial crisis we are in and how hard it is to make decisions that will not only affect the district, but also the livelihood of district employees. This evening, I would like to address the concerns centered around the nurses, the superintendent search and negotiations. First, nurses are licensed health care professionals who are skilled in promoting and maintaining health for those who are in their care. They work in a school setting that involves not only students but building staff as well. The board hinted that nurses may be split between buildings for the upcoming school year.

114If this were to occur, the impact it will have on our scholars, especially those students in the preK through2 buildings, will be detrimental. The preK through two buildings have students in the early childhood special education program who may have significant complex medical conditions and needs that demand demand a trained nurse to support them. Classroom teachers and office staff do not have the training to take on those tasks. Additionally, on the individualized education plans known as IEPs, there is a section where medical care is listed for accommodations and educational support. As we know, an IEP is a legal binding document that must be followed. If the IEP calls for a nurse or specific medical treatment, a nurse must be provided. Next, the announcement of the superintendent search. As the board stated before, we are in the

115middle of a financial crisis and we are also experiencing a reduction in force and a high staff turnover. With everything going on, is this the most opportune time to conduct a search? Studies have shown that when there is a change to administrations during a crisis, public mistrust, loss of momentum, accountability, disruption, and uncertainty develop. The association has stated numerous times that a trusting relationships needs to be rebuilt with the superintendent, the board and the association. How can the relationship be built if there is a change at the top during a district crisis? Finally, negotiations concluded on Thursday, April 3rd at and ratification was held Monday, April 7th. FFNA members who were present for ratification voted and ratified the proposed packet. In addition, our membership shared remarks that they want the board and co- superintendent Dr.

116Walker and Mr. Mitchell to hear. These remarks are for further exploration in order to in order for excuse me resolutions that will affirm that our voices have been heard and that all district employees are respected and valued. Those concerns are salary does not reflect the cost of living. I have experienced numerous freezes throughout the years. We have been underpaid for years just because we are not administrators. If we can pay out Dr. Davis's contract, we should receive a raise. The board is responsible for mismanaging the money and now we are the ones paying for it. The board and administrators need to find the money. Value your employees. Going forward, the association remains committed to following the language in the collective bargaining agreement which states that the district and the association maintain a mutually beneficial working

117relationship rooted in trust and open and honest communication between the district and its employees. The action ensures the board that the administration and the association are collaborators in working together to ward off potential problems and create solutions to keep the district thriving. In the upcoming months, the board and the FFNA will reconvene to review the finalized MSBA proposals to ensure that the new MSBA proposal language is infused with the collective bargaining agreement, that the working conditions for all district employees are protected, and that all parties involved are working towards rebuilding trust and healing for this district. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Gates. Do you you ready? Okay. Thank you. Yes. So, good evening everybody. Um, first I want to warmly welcome our Steam middle school students into the Steam High building. This is

118a very exciting moment, not just because you guys are entering a new space, but you're becoming a part of a broader community of of creators, innovators, and learners. Now, as far as the widen student the wider student population, I know that many of you feel that your voices aren't being heard right now and that concerns about transparency have gone unanswered. And as someone elected to represent students, I want to do better and I will do better because your voice matters and we truly deserve to be a part of the decisions that affect our education. And this is a moment for me to ensure that students voices aren't just here, but heard and that they truly shape the future of this district. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Gates. Uh, next up is

119consent. Is there a motion to approve consent? Been moved by Tyson. Second. Second by Dun. All those in favor say I. I. Abstensions. Nays. Eyes have it. Next up is dispersements. Dr. Singleton. Good evening to the Ferguson Florison School Board uh co-acting superintendent, colleagues, and community. Uh tonight I will present the dispersements report uh for the month of March 2025. Uh the mission and vision as always we read it. Uh the mission of the first and Florison School District is to provide highquality instruction to every student in every neighborhood while prioritizing equity and compassionate relationships. The vision of the Ferguson Florison School District is for all learners to graduate believing that anything is possible and prepared to realize those possibilities. This month's dispersements for March 2025, the payroll teacher and non-teer totals 9,181,983.91. The operational

120dispersements account payable bills total 2,972,669 for a total expense of 12,154,653. the funds uh that we talk about in the presentation. Uh fund 11 11 is the general fund. Uh fund 20 is a special revenue or teachers fund. Fund 30 is for debt services and fund 40 is for capital projects. And those descriptions are there to help understand and navigate the conversations. Um if you look at each of those funds, we've got the current revenues and these are for revenues only. uh through the end of March. Uh the revenues uh in the general fund uh total about $50.9 million. Uh the amended budget showed about 71.4 million. So we've collected about 72 71% there. Uh in special revenue 59.9 million amended budget 72.8 million for a total of 82% there. uh debt services 5.3 million

1214.1 on the amended budget uh for a total of 130%. So we've collected more uh in debt services uh than there is in the budget. Also for capital funds or capital projects uh we've collected 5.7 million. We've amended the budget for 7.7 roughly at about 74%. So overall $122 million. Um the amended budget shows about 156 million and uh we're at about 78% roughly 3/4 of the way through uh which is about 3/4 of the way through the school year. Um these are the graphics that go with uh the revenue collections. So uh the red are the year-to- date revenues and the gray bars are the amended budget as we had presented. The expenses kind of go the same route. uh general fund um shows 53 million on the expenses uh 72 million on the

122amended budget about 74%. Uh the teachers fund 52.2 million amended budget 77 million uh for an available 24.9 about 68%. Debt services 654,000 amended budget shows about 4.1 million available budget about 3.5 about 16%. Um the capital fund $7.7 million in expenses 8.6 million uh in the amended budget uh remaining B balance of 919,000. Uh we're at about 89% there. overall about 70% uh year-to- date on the expenditures uh in all of the funds. Again, the graphic bars depict the same information. The red is the current expenditures. The gray is the amended budget and the blue is the available budget. The object descriptors uh when we talk about 6,100, those will represent salaries. 6200 are benefits. 6,300 are purchase services. 6,400 are supplies, 6,500 are capital outlay and 6600 refers to long and shortterm debt.

123So in the 6100s general fund about 22.1 million amended budget 32.8 8 about 67%. Uh on special revenue or fund 20 the teachers fund uh in salaries 39.7 expensed 59 million amended budget 19 available about 67%. Total salaries 61.8 8 uh on the expense uh year-to- date amended budget 91.9 available budget about 30.1 for a total of 67%. Um on the benefits uh on the teacher on the general fund $10 million expensed 13.3 in the amended budget 3.2 available about 75% expended uh the teachers fund shows 12.2 2 expensed 17.3 amended 5.1 available for roughly 70% and so the total there uh 22.2 on the expenditures through March 31st amended budget shows about 30.6 million and available 9 8.4 for a total of about 72%. uh on purchase services. Uh the general fund 14.7 million

124amended budget 18.3 we've spent about 80% there. Um in the special revenue 283,000 uh and 700,000 on the amended budget available 416 about 41%. nothing in debt services and the total here is about 79% uh in purchase services under supplies 6 million uh year-to date 7.5 on the budget uh amended budget and 1.5 for a total of about 79%. Capital outlay 7.5 um 8.0 zero on the amended budget. Uh roughly about 94% on capital outlay. Uh in the long and short-term debt categories, again um we've expended uh about 213,000 on the um uh in the general fund. Um we have um on the debt services 654,000 expendited year-to- date. Amended budget shows 4.1 million roughly about 16% there. Um capital fund 134,000 uh amended budget 547 uh available 413 for a total of about 25%.

125So overall roughly about 21% uh in the long and short-term debt there. Um again, this is a snapshot in time. March 31st, um our operating fund balance, which is really the one that counts and matters, uh is roughly at about 23% for the month ending March 31st. Um the property tax comparisons, again, these are um uh property taxes that are collected uh and dispersed through the county. Um we show this as compared to last year uh this time. Um and we are uh ahead of collections uh in terms of our property tax collections uh over last year and I think we were ahead to the tune of about $3.3 million. Um we are still in the process of collecting those taxes. Uh there's appeals and things that are going on at this point. Um, and

126so we certainly uh are expecting uh to uh certainly go into June uh still collecting revenues for uh property taxes. Um before I uh ask for any questions, there were some presubmitted questions from the board uh that I wanted to address in the presentation. And so um if I may, I will do those at this time. Uh there was the fir first question that came in um how can we have a $600,000 budgeted for admissions uh in student activities but year to date uh showing zero. Uh we haven't brought any money in this entire year was the question. Uh the response for the board is um and these are in the um the board packet of information. So, um, they see a lot more detail, uh, than what's, uh, in the, uh, PowerPoint presentations. Uh,

127but revenues were budgeted in fund 11, and I'm happy to send you these, um, after, uh, the the the presentation. Uh, revenues were budgeted in fund 11. Um, however, the receipts were recorded in fund 16, which is still a byproduct of fund 11. So, want to let the board know that we have certainly collected uh over $650,000 so far this year. Um, and so what we will do in our next uh month's presentation is make sure that those funds are rolling up so that you could see both what was budgeted and the revenue. So, um we have uh made collections uh to the tune of about 650,000. Um and so we want to make sure that the board is aware of that. Uh the second question came in asked about interest uh that had um

128uh for one month uh interest totaled uh well the total interest so far is about $310,000 uh in the month of March for revenue. Uh the budget was about 350. Um and the question was what caused such a large amount of interest for the month of March. Um, in March alone, we c um the district received about $73,000 in interest. Um, and that is because, if you all recall, uh, at the end of February, we took $20 million once we got property tax revenues and move that money into a MOAD account to earn interest. So, um, we do expect, you know, and and as long as the money is sitting there, and it's still sitting there at this time, we may have to pull some down prior to the end of the year. We did

129this time, I'm sorry, we did before the end of the year last year. Um, so it is our expectation that, you know, as long as we're not needing it right now to let it sit in the uh, MOAT account and draw interest. So, uh, hopefully that answers the question about the large interest payment uh, for the month of March. Um the next three questions are all very similar. Uh the first one is on trash removal. We were kind of overbudget there. Um for pupil person uh I'm sorry um contracted pupil transportation. Uh we were over budget there as well. And then the last question um we were um over uh on the amended budget in library resources. Uh the question was what was the cause? Um and how we plan on addressing. So the answer

130for each of those three um uh questions is that we're going to have to do another revision uh to the budget to make sure that we capture all of the the overages uh that were not anticipated or captured in the previous revision. So, um, I wanted to just make sure that those questions were addressed and if there's any additional questions, I'd be happy to try to answer at this time. Dr. Singles and thank you. Uh, and so I have one question for clarity from the board submitted question. So, the question uh, regarding interest, so on the packet we received, it said in the month of March, we had $310,000 from interest. However, MOAT shows we only had 73,000. So the question is, how is MOAT showing we had $73,000 from March, but on the total

131interest line, it shows we deposited $310,000 in interest in the month of March. Where's the discrepancy coming from? Because that's a large difference between Okay. So that 300,000, Dr. Martin, may be a year-to-ate number. No, it says March on the financial reports. Okay. So then we need to make sure and address that. So, I will um I'll get you a written answer, a much better answer for that um in writing. Okay. The other thing I'm just going to say, you know, it's concerning uh that we are already over in three accounts. One account, we're 184.47% over the amended budget. And so, when we did the amended budget, that was really our guiding work as we prepared for the rest of the year and finalized for next year. So, I understand we're going to have to

132do an amended budget because you can't go over an accounts from a board seat. I will say we keep hearing from our constituents as we should that we're we're not asking the questions or holding accountable, but it's hard when we receive a number and say we think this is what we're going to spend and then now in March we're already showing that we've overspent in several accounts and the board took action based on that information. And so at at what point do you shut off these accounts and figure out where money needs to be moved internally to cover some of these costs? Because that's where I guess the question from the board came of how are you going to address these the option is not just an amended budget because that money has to come

133from somewhere. So as we're overspending obviously we still have to have trash removal and sewer. We can't just stop paying those bills. I guess maybe I was misunderstood. I I believe the amended budget and maybe the colleagues on the board thought something different meant that that was going to carry us through June 30th, 2025 and the amended budget was what we needed. What I'm seeing in the numbers is that's not accurate. That there's several already. We're at three accounts already that are over and salaries. Honestly, I'm a little nervous about salaries being over. And that's based on the amended amount because it shows that we're pretty far along in salaries and we know in June, I believe, or May when teachers usually get more paychecks that those months are heavier because they're contractually get out

134that we're really close to exceeding the amended budget. So, I guess from my seat as one, I don't want to speak for the whole board. It's really hard when we're hearing community members say hold people accountable and do things, but then yet on the flip side, we're not receiving information. But how else do we hold accountable if when we get the numbers, they're not accurate and we we're asking questions. But again, we have we have to pay the bills. We have to make sure kids are getting to and from school. We have to make sure our stores are paid for. We've already ordered the library books. It's just I I don't know if it's really a question as much as obviously the interest get there. It's very concerning. Even the student admission, the fact that

135the budget says 0 collected, but then you're saying it's in the wrong line item. It just raises the question is what other numbers aren't right? What other numbers are put in wrong accounts? And we don't do the day-to-day operations as finance certainly. Um but we're trusting these numbers and we dive into these financial reports. It just for me as one, I don't want to speak for everyone. It just becomes, you know, it makes me really really nervous of where are we going to end on June 30th and are we gonna have to cut millions more when honestly there's no there's not millions more out there in my eyes to keep cutting. And if we're basing off of this, we need to make sure that we're not overspending. But again, we have to pay trash. So,

136I guess when the board's asking what is the plan, that's what we're expecting is what is your plan for how you're going to address this because we know we're going to have more, right, Terry? We're going to have more sewer and trash bills, right? So, you're going to have to but you already meant in the budget to cover that. So, I'm going to stop talking because I'm repeating myself, but I I'm I am frustrated because again, we trust these numbers and use this and if this is not accurate as a board member, we get blamed and held accountable, but then yet we're using this information and I I'm getting frustrated so I'm going to stop talking, but I feel like others please chime in if you if I'm off base of how others are thinking,

137but it's hard if our numbers aren't accurate and this is how what we're using and we all agree that All of our all of our staff needs more money. We are far off of we made that comment of where the median salary is for people, but yet we keep getting numbers that are either not in the right budget line, not in the right spot. So, I'm going to stop talking and I'll ask uh we'll start Dr. Paul Walker for questions and go down this way if that's at the pleasure of the board. Uh thank you. You know, um I don't really I don't think I have any extra questions. I think Dr. Martin kind of spoke on some things I was wondering about, but one thing I was going to ask, I think I've answered

138my question already, but looking at the revenue that came in last year, have we already recouped everything we would get between now and the end of the school year, meaning well, I'm thinking June 30 at the end of the fiscal year. No, we we still have additional revenues to collect right now. Okay. Yeah. The revenues that uh we still have to collect typically when people protest every year, those protests go through a process and so those are the revenues that are typically released in the after months. So but that's in with that um 3 million that you mentioned earlier, the projected from last year. Is that is that those same monies? Yes, those are some of the Yeah, those are some of the same monies there that were we've collected over last year. So the

13965 right now where we're showing um year to date um we expect that number to continue to grow um as as those protests are settled um and as we continue to to collect. We've got a couple of big payments in um in the month of I think April or May of last year. Um, so do you know ballpark having noted that we haven't collected everything we anticipate, how much more are we anticipating? You know, just ballpark. I I I don't want to give a a wrong number. I really don't. So, let me if if that's something you'll allow me to research and and and send to the board, then I'd rather try and, you know, put some factual detail behind it. All right. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Grave. Um Kevin, I

140feel the same sentiments that you do. I do want to say that. Um one of my concerns was in the question that I wrote down once I got my ink pen working was um that um are there any other funds that are close to being over that we are monitoring and what is that monitoring look like? So, you know, instead of just constantly adjusting the budget, adjusting the budget, adjusting the budget, what are we doing proactively, what are those conversations look like? What does that spending look like? Um, to say, okay, you are almost at 95%. You know, what are we going to do differently? Um, so we don't have to keep adjusting the budget. I wish I could do my budget the same way. If I don't have enough money, I just change the

141number. So, um I'm just trying to figure out what does that look like in regards to what do we have in place and she uh Dr. P Walker talked about this all the time. Where are those triggers that that we have in place or those fall safes that say, "Okay, this is spending. This is what we're going to do next so we don't have to keep changing the budget." Yeah. Well, thank you uh Dr. Gray for that question. Um we are having conversations uh on a daily basis. Um we're not spending at the levels uh that we have spent in the past. Obviously um you know we are going through uh you know the the assistant soups and and those that are in charge or are are charged with managing and running those departments. Uh

142we're only paying what's essential at this point. Um, right now I think we got a lot of McKenna Vento bills that are out there and I'm looking at those approvals and my department is looking at th those approvals. Um, and we're really just paying what's essential. Um, the money that's being spent at the building levels are typically being spent now out of the student activity accounts. Okay. Um, so that's a good thing. That's money that's been raised and so that's money that's that's true money that's theirs in order to go out um and spend. Um we got an email today we got an emergency in the facilities area. Um and so we've got to take care of some things like that. And so you know I I I I really you know I again the

143budget is a guide. Um it's not absolutely a perfect um you know depiction of of what's happening. Um but we've got some additional and and so to answer part of the question of what are we doing to address this? Um we've got some additional eyes um that are looking at uh the budget now. We've got some additional assistance with trying to you know make amendments and true up some of the numbers. And so um I think that's one way that we're addressing some of the challenges. um that um that we're having. So, yes. Thank you, Dr. Thurman. Hello. Hi. Um I would also echo the frustration that uh Dr. Martin has expressed so far. Um and and something else that I want to put out to the community, uh the word mismanagement. The board has

144mismanaged money. Um, I would push a little, no, I would push a lot on that because one of the things that we we do is we trust our CFO. They give us a number and we approve it. They give us a budget. We approve it. The only thing we can do is go on the numbers that we're given. Is that that's correct? Right. Yes, ma'am. I the only that's the only thing that we can go on. And I will say uh to the community as well is if you have noticed in our what at least last two almost two years the board has really been asking a lot of questions around the budget and where the money is going and how it's being spent because of the fact that we have were given wrong numbers.

145I'm not saying that the board is not resp is is not responsible at all about the budget, but I do want to make clear that we don't mismanage money. That's not that that is something it's it's it's almost like saying that we are doing something illegal with our money and we're we're not doing that. We're only going by what what we're given as a budget. Uh the other part too is I want to know where where are we with reconciliations? Are we up to the month now? Are we Yeah. So, um we are working on March reconciliations as we speak. Okay. Um but you have approved uh reconciliations through February. So, right, we're we're working in last month, which is pretty typical at this point in time. Okay. So, you're trying to keep up with

146that so it doesn't get behind. Yes, ma'am. That was one of the things that we've we were dinged on in the audit before and we are it's it's it's it's definitely a learning curve but but we're we're trying our best to keep up with reconciliations. Yes. Okay. Um thank you so much and again I I just want to say that the board is really really um looking at this budget. I am still struggling with the fact that we still don't have numbers that are correct. Um, but you know what do we do? Because I am not a CFO. I'm not a financial official officer. I need to understand the numbers more and and we're asking these questions so that we can understand it more so so that we can make better and uh educated decisions

147about the money that's being spent. So, um, just to say we're we're working on and we're trying to get this together. Um, and I hope that we can come up with a budget that is balanced and that we know what the numbers are so that we can then work work from that budget. Sure. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, uh, Mr. Gates. I have no questions at this time. Thank you, Miss Don. Uh, thank you so much for your presentation. Um, I just want to start off by saying, as my other colleagues have said, um, that Dr. Martin, you're not off with what others on the board are feeling. Um, the frustrations when we are looking at these financials, I do want to make a clarification and correct me if I'm wrong as well.

148Um, but when we're talking about going over in categories, this is more just for community information. when you go into assembly and look at our board docs um in addition to the presentations that you often see um if you're at home on YouTube right now and you're seeing the presentation or if you're here in person we have other documents that are attached to these presentations and so some of those categories that you may not have seen in the presentation as being over spent in when you go into dispersements you're going to see an additional document that is tens of pages long. I won't say hundreds, but tens of pages long that goes through every single category and that's where you're going to see some of those overage spending. So, I just wanted to throw that

149out there because um Dr. Martin mentioned like the library books for instance. Um so, that was just a side note. Um something just kind of picking back off of what Sheila said. I think this is esser said I think this is essentially what she was asking for. Um but one of my wonderings is on that chart where we're getting all of our revenues. um that you provide each month for us uh comparing to where we were last year. I know that you're going to um do some research so you don't have to ballpark the number of where we might end up. I'd be interested in just seeing that chart completed. So if that chart for last year is fully filled out week by week so we know that this is where we are hopefully heading.

150Um I think that would just be helpful as we continue through this um to see where we might being uh where we might end up. Um, there was something else that I did think of as you were speaking, but I never finished my thought on here. So, if you come back around, it might come back up to me, but I have looking at and I don't know. I I didn't finish that thought. I got too engaged in what I was hearing. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tyson. Hey, Dr. Singleton. Um, I'm not going to repeat everything everybody said. I just have one quick question. Um when the amended budget was presented uh the fund balance projected fund balance is going to be 11 11.70%. I believe that was the number. Does that also in

151does that reflect the $20 million that was in mocap? Yes. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Bailey. Yeah. I don't have any questions but one thing you know and I think that uh that's what uh Dr. Gra alluding to is like strategy. Giving us scenarios as far as if you when you see deficits, you see problems, you see different things, being more proactive is what our goal is always going to be. Especially when we're speaking in front of the community and stuff like that is very helpful to give us strategies to say that if we're in a deficit of this, this is what we're trying to do to get out of this deficit. This is scenario one. This is scenario two. And I mentioned that earlier, like strategy means that you're looking at it

152constantly and you have it in mind and you're trying to make moves to try to figure out how to best support that. And you might not always get it right. No, I hope that you get it right, but you might not always get it right. But that kind of shows that you're being more proactive. And that's a great way to kind of look at things as you navigate through things. And that was just a comment that I had. I don't want to be labor any more points, but I mentioned that earlier. It's just that strategy is very helpful when we're looking at budgets, looking at overages because we don't know. Looking at a number that's over, I think it was 184% over is a that's a huge shocker to a lot of people without having

153any strategy behind how we can kind of mediate those things. Sure. Sure. And uh to Dr. uh Dr. Martin and Mr. Bailey, if I if I may make this comment um and and and I want to just I I do want to speak with sincerity um about just the the whole budget process and the amendment process. Um amending a budget is not a bad thing. Okay. Um there are times of the year when you put a budget together that you are simply basing things off historical data. You're basing things off what has happened in the past. Okay. Um, and one of the most challenging things with this budget was the fact that this was a budget that I inherited, you know, from a predecessor, you know, and so trying to spend time in in understanding

154their rationale, their logic on why, you know, is is it has just been it's it's been difficult, you know. Um, and so it may take us an additional amended budget in order to get these things correct. But what I would much rather us do was have something correct uh than to continue to not I don't want to stand before you and give you numbers that you don't have confidence in. I've heard that. And that's probably one of the most disappointing things to someone in my position is that there's there there's a little confidence in those numbers. But that's why we come here every day to work at this thing every day. And I wish we had all the things in place. There's more than one reason that we're going to have to amend the budget

155before the end of this year. We've got payouts that we don't know that that are lingering. We've got resignations. We've got retirements. So, it's not just library books. The the the the whole budget needs uh uh to be looked at again. and we're willing to do the work. But I just want to just speak clearly because, you know, and I don't want to take it personal, you know, because I know I'm here giving my all, you know, and and I and and when I stand before you, I have to accept this budget and I have to accept and explain to you all some of the challenges that we're dealing with on a day-to-day basis. You know, I mean, reconciliations has been a challenge in this district for quite some time. It didn't just happen under

156my watch, but we're getting caught up, you know, and and and and I'm going to advocate for myself. You know, the hand that I was dealt with, Dr. Martin, I don't think the board or anybody else knew the difficulties of stepping in and trying to finish somebody else's work. It's a challenge. Okay? And so again, I accept all the responsibilities of this budget, you know, but it's going to it's not going it didn't happen overnight and this thing is not going to get fixed overnight, but I'm willing to make sure the work is done. Whatever resources are out there, you can sit me down with anybody and we're going to get this work done. We're going to get us get this thing right if that so is is the direction of the board. So, I

157just wanted to speak in defense of myself cuz nobody can speak for me better than I can speak for myself. Thank you. Certainly appreciate that. Thank you. I just want to point out for I think there was a question uh Dr. Paul Walker had in for the chart. Uh as of March 31st, there's still about $9 million in fund 11 and 20 that still need to be collected based on the budget. So whether or not we get that amount, that's what's the budget's projected that we still need 9 million more. So by having this chart complete we can see if we even got that much previously and if not then that starts raising some like scenario situation what I'm hearing like now what so just wanted to put that out there just so we kind

158of see on that. So this detailed thing I do ask for the community please dive into it. It tells us every object every account and it gives you some very much more detail for us to be able to ask questions. Uh as we know we have senior tax freeze. We have legislation that's trying to go to per personal property tax. all these things that will greatly impact our budget that we sometimes have control over, sometimes we have no other control over. So, uh, with that, can Miss Dunn, can you read the dispersements amount? Yes, I can. For payroll, teacher, and non-teer, we have 9,181,983.91. for operational dispersements 2,972,699 for a total amount of 12,154,653. Oh, right on the 00. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve dispersements? Moved by Tyson. Second. Second by Graves.

159Any discussion further? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. I. Abstensions. Nays. Eyes have it. Next up is item number nine. administration and FFNA have reached an agreement on salaries and working conditions brought forward during negotiations. We're pleased to share the FFNA ratification vote passed with a margin of 55 to 45. The board has received the packet of our generally recently agreed upon proposals for the board to consider. The ten of agreement includes a step increase for all employee groups with the exception of administrators. The total estimated financial impact of the step increase is 1.97 million uh and the rest is on there. Is there a motion to approve uh the negotiations packet as presented? So moved. Moved by Pal Walker, second by Thurman. Any discussion or questions? Thank you for having a

160negotiation. I know it's intense and certainly we look forward to continuing to dive in and find opportunities to raise salaries. I think that's the desire of the entire board uh as we get there. So again, when we get in a better financial situation, I think we can continue to grow that. So with that, all those in favor say I. I abstensions nays eyes have it. There's no policy updates at this time. Want to update about the superintendent search. Certainly appreciate the community uh who came out to the panel last week um for that. I think it was last week, wasn't it? Even weathering the storm. So, I want to the board is committed to transparency. I know we've heard some feedback about what we're doing and why we're doing it. Uh the board is not

161hiring a search firm to save money. Wanted to state that. Um we do have a tenative timeline um of April 22nd as the first round of of applicants. If we do not receive applicants that the board thinks is worthy to move forward, then we will come up with a another plan which could include an interrum, could include reopening the search, could include a multitude of things the board's committed to hiring someone. We've also instituted for transparency a website now that has every step of the process. You'll see all the survey feedback directly from uh the results of the survey as well as the parent and stakeholder community night. All the posters that were made that night for that. We purposely had a very long job profile. Uh we heard from the community and I know

162we heard some people speak differently tonight, but overwhelmingly the community said they wanted a transparent process and a search to occur. And that's exactly what the board's delivering on is a search that everyone is open and they want someone who's committed to Ferguson Florison and understands this community which generally spoke to they didn't want someone from out of state. Uh they wanted someone with a PhD or ed. They wanted someone with experience as a teacher and principal. And they had 12 different criterias over of what they're really looking for at the highest level. They want someone with transparency who's going to be held accountable, visible. The number one thing people want to see is academic achievement improve among all groups. That was came up to and through throughout the entire thing. And they want someone

163who's going to be a leader that's not afraid to take feedback and be able to set their ego aside to do the work of the district. And uh there's everything has been posted out there. We are not hiding anything. Are we hiding anything board? I mean like we want to make sure everything is out there. We'll update every step. Everyone who's expressed interest in serving on the confidential panel, you'll be receiving an email at a later date just identifying that you were one and then we'll do random selection of who those are. You'll sign a confidential agreement after the board sees the applications on the first uh round, but we will be communicating out like, hey, here's the tenative date that this may occur, but again, there's no set timeline. I want to be very

164clear. The only timeline is April 22nd. I do want to speak about why we chose that date. I know some people would like a longer time. One of the things the board is interested in, we want someone who's aware of Ferguson Florison. If they've not been following the news and our board meetings, they know we have something going on that we if they're not apply in 3 weeks, they're not going to apply in 6 weeks. And so, as a board, it was important that we make sure that we have enough time for people to gather their feedback, but also someone who just doesn't come randomly from somewhere. and they might be a great person, but we want someone who really understands the context of what is going on in this district because the first day

165they come in office, we they have to be on the grounds running. We do not have time for a traditional superintendent to come in and be able to learn the district for a year before making tough decisions. We are sadly not in that position. And so the board has no candidates in mind. I want to be clear on that. We've heard that rumor. We are very open to all candidates. Uh and to be transparent, we've had one already apply just to be be clear. So, uh it is open through the 22nd. Please encourage people to apply. Uh and we will update as each meeting goes on and our website will also be updated. With that, is there anything else from the board on that? Yes. Yeah. I would just like to add one piece. So,

166Dr. Martin mentioned the website. I would really encourage community members to go and take not only a look at the website, but really take a look at the profile that we have for the superintendent. We heard several comments tonight um that we know we know what it is that we want in a superintendent. When I say we, I'm talking about we as the board. Three out of eight pages on the profile are directly from stakeholder feedback. And on that website, not only are you going to see a breakdown what the feedback is, even from um our night that we had with stakeholders last week, there are literal pictures with um some of our terrible handwriting, including mine, that are on that website where you're going to see how the conversation evolved. So, really go in,

167take a look at what that is. Um and hopefully we'll get our panel um to come on and we get to that place. I don't I won't be on the board at that point, but I'm excited for the process. Thank you. With that, I do want to say thank you to Miss Dunn. This is her last official open meeting. So, we want to thank you for all of your service that you've done over the years, and certainly uh you've had a lot to do during this time period. So, we will see you next week in close before uh Vivian takes your seat. So, uh you're handing it off uh to a highly qualified individual as well. So, we're excited to have another parent on the board. From a parent to a parent is excited to

168have that perspective on the board as well. So, I see some microphone grabbing down here. I just want to make sure you feel free to say something. Well, I was just waiting for you to move to new business. That's We're there. Okay. Um, and I don't know if this is the appropriate place to ask it, but I just had two requests of the administration. So, one, um, can we put together a draft of a communication plan for stakeholders who stand to be impacted by the moves next year? And I'm requesting um studentf facing, employee facing, and parentf facing information for the folks at restoration innovation steam high steam middle. We just continue to hear a lot of uh there seems to be like a lot of angst around what these changes are going to look

169like and I think it would be you know at least somewhat comforting for people to receive some information about that. Um, my request would be that we have at least a draft of that by the next board meeting, but I'm also flexible because I don't know what your day-to-day looks like. And then the second thing I would like to ask or to mention is that we have uh people in the community. We have alumni and we have community members in general who are aware of the state of the district financially and they want to know how they can help. And so some of the things that have come up are afterchool programs, uh people who play instruments, people people who can help with sports and things like that. I realize folks would have to be

170vetted and all the things and I'm not really sure what that looks like in terms of how people can help, but I just wonder if uh in the midst of some of the things that are happening if there's an opportunity to put together an ask, right? Like what would the ask of the community be? Are there some things that people in the community could be doing that we could maybe put on the website so people will know that this elementary school really needs 10 backpacks or you know whatever whatever that looks like. It just would be great to sort of assess what the needs are because apparently there are people out there who want to help and they won't know if we don't let them know. Thank you. Thank you. I know Mr. Mitchell started

171working some of that. If he can just speak briefly to it and then uh Dr. P. Walker can speak about the backpack piece. Yes, ma'am. So, thank you for your feedback. I know that I'm scheduled to be at innovation tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. to meet with families. Uh I think Dr. Taylor, we're on for April 25th. Is that the right date? 24th, I'm sorry, April 24th for Steam. And I have not confirmed a date with restoration just yet, but I will and I'll report that out in my Sunday update. Okay. But I do want to make sure I appreciate that update, but I do want to say that I hope this comes out right. For me, that doesn't take the place of what I'm requesting, which is a draft, a a draft written up that

172says, "Here's what we're going to be doing in terms of communication between now and the start of the year to make sure that all of those stakeholder groups have information about what's going to be happening." So, I've had parents reach out about the the uh whether there's going to be class sizes that will be increased in some of the buildings and will student activities be impacted as a result of some of these changes. We haven't heard that those things are going to happen, but parents and students are understandably a little nervous about it. So, yes, ma'am. Tim, we'll summarize those conversations and put something together for you. Timeline, correct? Is that what you're kind of looking for? Timeline and bullet points for each. Right. And I just want to clarify I'm talking parent facing like

173not just for the board parent facing studentf facing employee facing information so everybody knows how this is going to impact them. Thank you. Thank you Dr. P. Walker if you want to speak about the other thing or you can update in a Sunday flyer about the backpacking how people can get in touch right with people for other Yes. Do you have an answer to that now or no? Yeah. She'll put in our Sunday update for that. Thank you. Can I make a comment? Yes. Um, I mean I guess I'm I'm not I guess I shouldn't say it, but I mean I guess I could. It doesn't matter. So I'm um a part of um the I don't know what it's called, but the foundation actually had similar to what you were talking about a ask

174where they um reached out the scholarship and I think Dr. Shaw can talk a little bit more about it, but it was several schools and I get I was a part of the um the um ranking committee, but there was several schools that have requested certain items and different things. And so I know that um Dr. Shaw is putting something together for that. So I don't know if she wanted to mention Dr. Michelle, I do have a name and an email address that I'm going to forward you of someone I really recently connected with that wants to see what they can do to help. So, I'll forward that to you. Thank and maybe in the Sunday flyer as well if you guys can work together to include it in our Sunday memo just to give

175the board as a whole an update. Thank you. Anything else? Anyone else have new business? Jillian, any new business for your last meeting? Can I Yes. I just want to ask can I get the dates on when you are meeting with like innovation and Can you send just just email them to us to the board? Okay. Yes. Just Yeah. Including the sun is Sunday flyer. Okay. If it's in there, his Sunday memo. That that'd be wonderful. Perfect. And that way the board wants to go they tomorrow is one of them. What's tomorrow? What time? 5:30. 5:30. Tomorrow. Yes. At which school? Is that innovation tomorrow? 5:30. Okay. So, if anyone on the board wants to join, you're welcome to. Just don't sit by each other. If there's less than three. Anything else? All those in

176favor of journing say I. Oh, wait. Can I have a motion to adjurnn? So moved. Moved by Dunn. Second. Second by Graves. I'll have her call the vote for one last time. A thanks. Uh, Mr. Bailey, yes. Mr. Tyson, yes. Secretary votes yes. Dr. Paul Walker, yes. Dr. Graves, thank you so much, Jillian, for your service. Um, it has been a pleasure serving with you through this and I hope that you don't forget about us and that you be in attendance and you continue to challenge us and challenge us on the other side. Thank you. And yes, uh, Dr. Thurman, my little mentee, I I do also want to echo what Dr. Grave said. You you have been such an asset to the board. Such an asset. And we are going to miss you. I'm

177going to miss you personally, but we're going to miss you and the babies. And the babies. Um, thank you for for the hard work. Thank you for teaching me many things. I appreciate you. Oh, don't do it. I didn't think we're going to do all this tonight. And I'm making coffee for the vote. You really matter. You really made a a difference. You did the work and we respect your decision to to not run again, but we're going to miss you. Thank you. Um, Mr. Gates, how would you vote? Yes, Dr. Martin. Oh, wait. Did I vote? Yes, you voted first. I won't give a long speech because I already gave you one earlier, but certainly we appreciate it and we will miss having you and we are glad that you are able to hand

178it off to another parent. I just think it's important that we have that voice on the board. And certainly it sounds like Terry and Jamal want to say something now. So I'll let them say it too. Good riddance. Okay. Go ahead, gentlemen. Your mic off, Mr. Tyson. Go ahead. Well, Jillian, I have had the honor of sitting next to you this year and um I have to echo everything they've said. I must say I was disappointed and you know it when you said you wasn't going to run again. Um because I've I've learned so much from you and I think and when I tell you the level of respect that I have for you is just and it and it let me say this community. This was a jail. When I tell you every not

179that anybody else wasn't speaking on your behalf, but when I tell you you definitely had an advocate in the room, teachers, students, she made sure we didn't forget our why, right? So, Julian, I so much do appreciate you. And don't forget about us, okay? Well, Gene and Jillian always share a special bond because she taught in McLaren North and I went there. So, that was always a bond that we had because ML North was is just such a special place. I appreciate everything you've done, everything you taught me, the challenges that you gave me. Um, we kind of went through this process. You've been very helpful and very instrumental in my uh achievement as a board member. Really helping me when I got started. One of the first people to call me and just tell

180me what what do you need? What do you need to be successful? and I truly appreciate you. I'm going to miss you. Um, and I'm still going to call you for some advice, so just make sure that you pick up. Can we give her one more round of applause for all of her service? [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] But I didn't get to say anything. But I didn't get to say anything. Go ahead. Sorry. Go ahead. I mean, you know, um, it will be brief. I just want to echo much of what you've already heard. uh you've been such an asset to this board and you have been uh such a professional. Um you have um demonstrated great leadership and even in those moments when you didn't agree with the decision, you honored it. You respected

181it. You didn't treat people any differently. Uh so I really also just have a lot of respect for you just as a human being. You are an amazing mama. I have seen you with your babies. Um, and I know that when you sit here and talk about what you want for students in this district, it is genuine and it comes from your heart. So, uh, you have been such an asset. I've so enjoyed working with you, but I I wish you well, uh, on this next leg of the journey. I know it's going to be amazing. Thank you. Thank you. You I was going to save it for like a public comment in the future, a thank you to the community. I don't. You want to wait? No, I'm going to wait. I just I'm

182I'm going to cry and I I didn't know we were doing all this right now. So, I'm I'm not prepared. I was not emotionally ready. So, Well, we've already had the motion. We've already had the vote. Meeting adjourned. Have a great night.