Board of Education Meeting - February 26, 2025

001[Music] for in school districts anti-racist standards for social justice in anti-racist schools from early childhood education to Advanced scientific exploration from personalized learning opportunities to Comprehensive Health Care Services the Ferguson Floris School District continues to lead the way in providing an exceptional educational experience that truly is providing equity and access for all oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] I [Music] n [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] a [Music] the Ferguson floron 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 Floris 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

002this year two A Plus in NCA CA SI accredited high schools The Innovation High School a big picture learning school and the steam High School focused on preparing students in fields including science Technology and Engineering in August US News and World Report named steam Academy at McClure 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 in 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 Balor Avid and Elevate St Louis our red tail Cadet program has also secured

003private 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% besid besid 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

004restoration and Wellness Center recognizing that well-being is vital for academic success the district prioritizes the health and social emotional well-being of his students and staff the district has a partnership with hazel Health that offers comprehensive healthc care and teletherapy services ensuring that students have access to Medical Care and mental health support during the school day addition Ferg 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 floron 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 Floris and School District's anti-racist standards for social justice in

005anti-racist schools from early childhood education to Advanced scientific exploration from personalized learning opportunities to Comprehensive Health Care Services the Ferguson Floris School District continues to lead the way in providing an exceptional educational experience that truly is providing equity and access for all [Music] [Applause] a [Music] oh [Music] I [Music] [Applause] [Music] e [Music] the Ferguson floron 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 Floris School District operates seven pre kindergarten through second grade schools six intermediate schools two six 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+ in NCA CA SI accredited high schools The

006Innovation High School a big picture learning school and the steam High School focused on preparing students in fields including science Technology and Engineering in August US News and World Report named steam Academy at McClure 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 in 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 Borat 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

007students enrolled in advanced placement courses has also dramatically increased the 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 success the

008district prioritizes the health and social emotional well-being of his students and staff the district has a partnership with hazel Health that off offers comprehensive healthc care and teletherapy services ensuring that students have access to Medical Care and mental health support during the school day additionally Ferg 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 Floris 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 Flores and School District's anti-racist standards for social justice in anti-racist schools from early childhood education to Advanced scientific exploration from personalized

009learning opportunities to Comprehensive Health Care Services the Ferguson Floris and 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] e keep [Music] oh [Music] he [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] a a [Music] the Ferguson floron 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 floron School District operates seven pre kindergarten through second 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+ in NCA CA SI accredited high schools The Innovation High School a big picture

010learning school and the steam High School focused on preparing students in fields including science Technology and Engineering in August us evening it's now 6:00 the time uh the date is February 26 2025 the Ferguson floron School Board I'm going to call the meeting to order remind the board meeting of our meeting Norms at this time please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance Mr Gates will lead us in the pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you under provisions of the public meeting law of the state of Missouri the board must adopt by roll call vote the agenda that includes time date place and T of agenda for the meeting

011copy of the notice of the agenda for the meeting was posted on Tuesday February 25th 2025 at the administration Center 8855 dun Road hazell Missouri online and Cent to local newspapers is there a motion to approve the agenda so moved moved by Don second second by Bailey roll call please Dr P Walker yes Dr Graves yes Dr Thurman yes Mr Bailey yes Mr Tyson yes secretary votes yes um and Dr Martin yes motion carries good evening and welcome to everyone to our meeting tonight public comments before our public comment the board would like to make a statement and at this time uh the board wanted to update the community on the status of superintendent Dr Joseph Davis since we've not addressed it publicly since the beginning of January Dr Davis remains unpaid administrative leave while

012an independent investigation is taking place we plan to provide another update to you sometime in March if you have any questions or concerns regarding the happenings of the district please bring them to the attention of Dr Pew Walker or Mr Mitchell the co-acting superintendents thank you the board allocates this portion of the meeting to allow stakeholders the opportunity to comment on both agenda items and non-agenda items at the start of each meeting the board president will read aloud any comments that have been previously submitted while the comments will be included in the board materials this evening you may find them under public comments the board May limit the number of comments read aloud based on length of repetition prior to the public comment period particip iners participants are asked to fill out a comment card

013with their name address phone number email and address topic to be addressed we'll be allowed up to three minutes to speak members of the audience who wish to speak to the board or requested to speak from the podium identify themselves in keeping with District policies 4054 4059 and Personnel law should refrain from making negative comments that are personally identifiable while the board will not directly respond to speakers during the public comment period the board president may make clarifying remarks at the end of the comment session to correct any misstatements of facts responses to public comments can be found in the meeting agenda section of the district website within 14 days first up will be uh Doug Jackson as you come up I'm going to read uh a statement just as you prepare at the microphone

014first one is Mr Oberlin vocal music teacher at McLure North High School dear board members the international back laate program at North is active actively and continually recruiting future diploma candidates and supporting students who seek Advanced course workor with the support of our IB coordinator a position mandated by the IB governing board body we have seen this program graduates first students with a full IB diploma these past few years as grow as well as grow to steam Academy at McClure South Berkeley through the IB careers program to further booster the upper level courses I request that we seek to Institute middle years's program at Cross Keys middle this would provide more opportunities for students to seek full IP diploma without running into course credit barriers might Mr Byron coford our IB coordinator lead an exploratory

015or planning committee of interested Middle School teachers and administrators to see if it would fit cross Key's Mission and help Meet The District's goals outlining the Strategic plan thank you for listening Dr P Walker Mr Mitchell who will be responding David Murray thank you Mr Murray will follow up with you next up is Doug Jackson speaking on item number seven or chart Mr Jackson this past or this year we've had to borrow millions of dollars we've hired 50 to 100 people that we didn't know we were hiring that were over you know not accounted for in our budget and now we want to hire another administrator I I I don't understand why we need a chief of schools I I I don't understand why that's a we have I think 14 administrators and 23 schools

016and we're trying to figure out a budget problem and fix that and now we're going to spend another six figures on another administrator I just don't think it makes sense at this time um the money should be going to the kids it shouldn't be going to more administrators with all due respect you guys do a great job I'm sure but we don't need more this is a critical time in our district and and the last thing we need to be doing is spending money on nonsense or things that don't impact the kids so it's been a couple almost a couple of months now we need to figure it out or we just need to figure it out we can't be just floating around in this ocean without a Rudder you know we've got to figure

017stuff out and we've got to make a decision and I don't care what that decision is we just have to make one we can't be in limbo so thank you thank you Mr Jackson next up who will be following up Mr Moore Mr Moore will be following up with you Mr Jackson uh as I get ready to read the next one Mr flick you'll be up next the next uh submitted comment was cath Katherine Rose Powers who's an employee hi I'm concerned that it's taken so long to get affiliation fees paid for through technology student for the technology Student Association these affiliation fees need to be paid in full before Friday so we can register and then pay our registration dues for upcoming state competition technology Student Association has had Cross Keys Middle School chapter

018for 10 years and steam High chapter for 3 years this is an amazing program that engages students in science technology engineering mathematics through competitions that instill values for leadership and dedication since it's taken the district so long to approve these purchase orders we are only now just showing students the criteria for the the projects at crossy Middle School while steam High hasn't even been able to access them please don't limit student opportunities and pay off our POS for technology Student Association the kids need this competition thank you for listening who will be following up Dr Singleton Dr Singleton thank you Mr flick is speaking about the financial state of the district Mr flick i' would first like to begin by expressing my appreciation to the board for the additional transparency in the finances over the

019last several months I believe as a result of that it's allowed the community to get a better understanding of what's going on and to also be able to ask better questions um the board has asked questions over the last few months that have often been deferred by Administration with comments like we will respond to you via email in the coming week while this may answer the board's questions it does not provide transparency and answers to the community I would like to see public questions um raised by the board to the administration particularly in a public forum that were not answered in that Forum to be made public in in some form questions that have gone unanswered to the public or what was the reason for the difference in the ending fund balance after adjustment by

020the audit roughly 30 difference between 32 million and 27.5 million what was the total toal amount of unpaid invoices at the end of the fiscal year 24 um and also um what was carried over I guess into 20 um 24 25 what was the total amount of unpaid invoices at the end of December and I think maybe even a more significant question would be what it was the amount of invoices at the end of November uh the Board of Education and administration have fiduciary responsibilities for the funds received by the district after requesting additional Financial reports for the months of November over the past five or six years with no disrespect I do believe the school district um got to the state it in it is in not by chance there were warning signs um

021that were way before this year that should have caused both the board and the administration to take action to list a few the historical decline of unrestricted fund funds at the end of November for the last 3 years um of which all of those were in the red the use of restricted funds to cover shortfalls before the new local tax revenues and the increase in negative cash flow over the last three years when I look at November I look at the the estimated year-to date fund balance of being about 2.7 million in the red with a tax anticipation credit of 5 million which basically meant that adding that you would have had 2.3 million looking that debt services and what was borrowed from restricted funds was 3.7 leaving total unrestricted fund with debt to 8.7

022million plus the 2 million from [Applause] December thank you so much Mr flick I was looking for the timer I didn't know where it was it was over there thank you so much uh Mr Hosea did I say your name right finally hosie I'll get it right one of these times and who will be following up with Mr flick Dr singon Dr singon we be following up with you uh Mr hos will'll be talking about budget and Staffing hi good evening uh we're old friends by now my name is Joe hosie on the librarian at McClure High School uh I try to give an update about situations at McClure and other things that affect our teachers and students whenever I can um first I wanted to say that my staff at McClure is amazing our

023principles are amazing and doing good jobs Dr melendes shows good character and helps Inspire staff and students uh he helps them dream again uh to believe that anything is possible um and he proves it and then he does uh we often face an uphill battle in education and we've been through our fair share of change the last few years from fights to our head principal leaving mid year two years ago to replacing our entire admin team in the month months after that uh we've come a long way and I'm very glad that we have that being said I wanted to speak about a couple things uh budgets remind me of Sister Act Two when the administrator tells whoopy Goldberg we don't have the funds for that over and over and over again budgets are currently

024being Frozen um because of the district's Financial issues teachers are purchasing more supplies for students than ever before though I know some budgets are not completely Frozen what money is left is so heavily guarded and the process for accessing it is so Antiquated and delayed that is almost impossible to actually get access to it programs field trips special events and more have been or will be cancelled and at this weight we will not have some of their standard or traditional programs towards the end of the year this relates to tradition and school spirit during covid uh our all of our Student Activities basically died at school three grade levels had never stepped into our building uh before coming back from covid and we had to teach students how to do school again and about tradition

025and school spirit and it's very difficult to teach kids school spirit uh we have been told that we can't use the Amazon or school credit cards to consider them done in this day and age that is both insufficient and impr practical Financial Norms should be make it easier for teachers and students to arrange special events and activities for our schools not make it more difficult budgets lead directly to Staffing I know that you have spoken or will speak about cutting positions through the district at supervisory and administrative levels I know that based on the population of students and student needs you may cut staff but I would encourage this board to be very careful about cutting anything that has to do with security and in cutting programs to fund at school McLure has between 15

026or 20 of our staff members mbers that will retire this year the Nea has warned the district that large numbers of Staff would be retiring in the next few years we've asked the district to be competitive and work to retain and recruit teachers and staff members why is it that we always seem to be behind the eightball institutional knowledge is going by the wayside and staff at the school struggled to keep hope and Spirit Alive some departments need more staff not less custodial Security Office professionals libraries technicians what I'm trying to say is that the financial Wes directly impact students and learning student activities and Staffing it's all intertwined just please be very careful and mindful in the actions that you take thank you thank you who'll be following up Dr Haywood Dr Haywood thank

027you uh just want to clarify one uh misstatement of facts just let you know for tonight some of those questions that were raised to the board are on our board materials for tonight about past bills and all that is on the board material for tonight answering that question just to make sure that fact is out there so we are if you look at consent you'll see uh pass bills and all that is being addressed today as well so next up is our student representative Mr Gates hello everybody hello um I just want to take a moment to say um that I'm very grateful for this position I'll make sure to represent every student fair and equally across the district So yeah thank you very much thank you so much glad to have you here next

028up FFA is it Dana today perfect Dana floor is yours good evening is this okay good evening Schoolboard members FFA members parents and fellow community members on the 100th nth day of school I stand before you to ask the Ferguson floron Board of Education the following question did they know these things occurred during Dr Davis's tenure as superintendent of the Ferguson Floris School District salaries have not increased to match the cost of living reduction in staff of both certified and educational support professionals positions districtwide which has caused an increase in workload multiple costly curriculum changes requiring professional development training encompasses 10 or more Ela programs such as benchmarks phonics being a reader making meaning Hyman writing units of study sips letters uly wit and wisdom Pals imagine literacy Etc in addition four or more math

029programs en Visions Eureka Spring math imagine math Etc and a multitude of others which reduces possible salary increases numerous new programs or initiatives start started without follow through and throughout evaluations excuse me thorough evaluations leading to struggles in becoming highly qualified due to constant changes since 2015 there has only been one professional development opportunity for educational support professionals which was held in 2023 superintendent Davis was informed of the ongoing financial situation that currently has the district in a $7 million crisis continuing down the path of spending that has led to poor physical management funds have been diverted towards select buildings while other buildings have been neglected apparent in supplies building conditions Etc the constant rotation of building administrators and administrative level positions has created instability within the district in a culture of lack of leadership

030since 2015 multiple people in positions have left the district causing High turnover over and new people in these positions have caused changes in procedures and policies example assistant superintendent of HR and Title 9 Elementary and secondary Business Services CFO School leadership coordinator Chief of Staff Chief academic officers since 2015 superintendent Davis has created new district office positions which has caused ffsd to be topheavy with the administrators reducing possible salary increases examples our chief of staff executive director of integrated support and accelerated learning assistant superintendent culture learning and transformation and executive director for Ferguson Florest and foundation for Education the FFN sent a survey to members of our entire collective bargaining unit asking three questions about superintendent Dr Davis's leadership role the association leadership team knew the board will want the most accurate information and we

031are now ready to share those results the first question do you feel superintendent Dr Davis Fosters a positive and collaborative environment within the school district 89% said no 11% said yes question two based on your experience is the superintendent effective in his role 91% said no 9% said yes and question three do you believe superintendent Dr Davis can effectively lead the Ferguson floron School District moving forward 93% said no 7% said yes members of the board this survey's results speak to the erosion of trust between the superintendent the association and our collective bargaining unit trust as we know is the Bedrock of any successful partnership it Fosters collaboration and nurtures an environment where ideas can flourish and challenges can be met with innovative solutions unfortunately our current situation reflects a stark deviation from this ideal

032as the Board of Education moves forward to make the collective decision of how the district can move forward please take a moment and reflect on the importance of rebuilding this trust it would take a serious commitment and courage from the Board of Education the association and the community we must engage in open conversations active listen to one another and seek Common Ground only then can we begin to mend what has been fractured let us strive to transform our relationship into one characterized by mutual respect and understanding we and I emphasize the word we can create an educational environment where every voice is heard and valued our district stands at a Crossroads and now is the time for new leadership to guide us toward stronger brighter future thank you for your attention and commitment to this

033vital work thank you Dana and FFA sorry dropping papers okay next up is our amended budget before we start with the amended budget just want to speak as one board member and then I know we'll have the presentation certainly the budget is one of the board's most fiduciary responsibilities that we have to we charged with from State and from policy and so one of seven certainly you know I think think I owe it to an apology to the the community for not checking and finding out sooner when you look at our trend of fund balance we've spent into our fund balance the last five years out of except one year and so there are red flags certainly as a board as we should be diving in tonight I think we've continued over the last couple

034of months to be transparent I don't think the financial situation even from December till today what we're going to learn about it was the same situation we thought we were going to be in when we got a staffing update it was projected around 1.2 is4 million in salary overages we're learning today it's well over $5 million in salaries difference and so no one on this board I think I can speak for this ever wants to fire people Rift people lay people off it is not an easy decision that we have to make tonight but we also know we cannot continue to go down the path we are going down if we do not make drastic and I mean drastic changes we risk reaching below 3% of our fund balance which means State takeover of our

035finances and based on the presentation we're going to get tonight if we don't make any Cuts we're going to be at 9% at the end of this year and that means if we don't make Coast cuts and continue on that path next year at this time we could be looking at a state takeover for our financial situation and so we have to make drastic cuts which is never easy when we're impacting people and their livelihood we know at the end of the day that we need to protect our classrooms which means getting kids to and from school getting kids fed during school day providing social emotional learning as well as teaching them with certified teachers in every classroom and so we recognize and I'll speak for myself and I know I'll have a chance to

036speak this is not easy tonight when we're talking about this the financial situation we have to own as a board at the end of the day it's our responsibility the buck stops with us in the terms of approving a budget the superintendent presents a budget we trust the superintendent and his team or their team to present it and so it's up to us to make sure we're asking the right questions and certainly I think in some regards we failed our duty in that regard and we need to own it and change course and we cannot continue down this path of having a $7 million deficit and Dr Singleton is going to present here shortly we have to make drastic changes and 80 85% of our budgets made it from salaries we could cut every Supply

037in the school and still not come out ahead we can't cut supplies kids need supplies and so with that I just want to invite Dr Singleton up and his team who've been working hard at uh proposing an amend budget which is giving us a bigger Financial picture of where we're at next board meeting just for the board and Community to know will be the proposed budget for next year by policy that's our only meeting so it will be our proposed budget for fiscal year 2526 will be in the March 12th meeting I think is the date uh for that and so Dr Singleton certainly appreciate just wanted to make sure I kind of I know this was not your budget that you built but certainly now you are owning the budget so Dr Singleton sure

038good evening to the Ferguson Florent Board of Education colleagues and Community uh tonight I will be presenting the fiscal year 2425 budget amendment uh for February 26 2025 as always we'll start with the mission and vision uh statement for the Ferguson floron School District the mission of the Ferguson floron school district is to provide highquality instruction to every student in every neighborhood while prioritizing equity and compassionate relationships the vision of the Ferguson floron school district is for all Learners to graduate believing that anything is possible and prepare to realize those possibilities I want to start this presentation off by sharing that um it is very typical for school districts to do an amended budget at least once a year okay um we have more information once the fiscal year starts uh then we have uh

039when we're uh when these projected budgets are due uh and so it's not uncommon for a school district to go through at least one budget revision uh and so C L uh our school district is not exempt from that process and so we've of course looked at uh revenues and expenses uh and tonight we're going to be recommending a proposed amended budget one of our board members uh at least one or two meetings ago asked the question about fund balance and I want to make sure uh that we address those questions um on the screen you'll see the definition of fund balance uh in a school district it refers to the remaining amount of money left over after subtracting all the liabilities that's bills that we owe from The District's assets that's things that we

040have or we own cash uh Etc essentially representing the district's available Financial reserves that can be used for future expenses similar to a savings account and is calculated by taking the difference between the total revenues received and total expenses incurred throughout a fiscal year a positive fund balance indicates Financial stability while a negative one indicates a deficit fund balances are used to manage cash flow cover unexpected costs like major maintenance and stabilize operations during economic downturns a healthy fund balance is viewed positively by credit rating agencies potentially leading to lower borrowing costs for the school district I want to take a look at the Historical fund balance of the Ferguson floron School District uh I went back about 7 years uh to look and see where our fund balance was as of June 30th in

041these preceding school years in the year 2017 2018 we had an ending fund balance as of June 30th and these are per the asbr um and these are public knowledge you can go out to des's website this information is there and these have been audited of 17.54% in the year 1819 the school year 2.08% in the year 19.26% in the year 2021 15.02% in the year 15.63% 2223 16.53% and the 2324 school year which is the most recent school year that we have completed our fund balance was at a 12.48% now to put this in some kind of context um districts do set a minimum fund balance in which they believe uh that uh districts could operate successfully from um I've seen a number of districts use for example 15% as a minimum fund balance

042um my opinion it could be a little bit higher even up to 20% um anything below 20% or anything below 15% certainly should cause for alarm and so we can see that our fund balance has been trending downward uh since 2021 we had one upward Spike but again the 2324 school year the fund balance uh dipped well below 15% on the next page uh the question was also asked what was the how are we doing compared to other districts and I think it's extremely important to know um that again as of the 2324 school year this again is public information um you can look and see where we Faire as compared to other districts our neighbors Ferguson floron again 12.48% University City um having the lowest fund balance next to ours and their fund balance

043is about double hours 24.8% Hazelwood 30 1.2% Normandy 355.82 Riverview Gardens 36.778261 Pattonville 41.12956 187% Special School District 5422 Clayton 63 98% Jennings 7.69% and Hancock play 71. 99% again these are the ending fund balances as of June 30th of 2024 and again as I reiterate the Ferguson floron School District our fund balance was at about 12.48% um it is important to note that a number of districts like ours received Federal programs monies and so so some of the higher balances in other districts could be attributed to uh some of the eser costs uh that were uh that were prevalent in some of the other school districts but there you have how our district Compares in terms of fund balance uh to other neighboring districts in our area let me proceed on with the presentation

044tax revenues we've uh continuously update the board um as of last week uh we did receive a huge tax payment in fact I think we received two um on February the 14th the district got about $24.7 million on February the 18th we got about $3.4 million and so you can see trending from last year to this year we are ahead that last column over at the very bottom shows by about $5.3 million in collections over last year okay uh that number simply represents where we are in collections over the previous fiscal year so we're about at $64 million on tax receipts so far the next slide talks about just kind of does some analysis of that um currently we're at about 98% of our current tax revenue based on what we've budgeted we budgeted about

04565 million in taxes um year to date we've gotten the 64 million uh so we're pretty close we do anticipate some additional tax payments coming in uh this uh probably not this month probably early next month uh and certainly we'll get those payments as people continue to pay their tax bills okay delinquent taxes people pay delinquent taxes all the time those monies again will continuously come into the school district and we will make sure that those revenues are accounted for the tax anticipation note I wanted to bring the board up to date on is the uh as as you all are aware in October we borrowed uh uh we had a resolution to borrow up to $9.5 million uh we only borrowed about 7 million in fact $7 M50 th000 was what we borrow um

046we made a recommendation to the board to repay that uh amount into two payments uh one the 1 of this month and the remaining principal payment and interest on the 1st of next month and so I want to update the board the first 3,525 th000 has gone uh back to UMB uh to repay half the tax anticipation note the remaining 3,546 590 principal payment uh in addition to the $2,590 will go to UMB this Friday uh since March the 1st is on Saturday so we are earmarked uh as of this Friday uh to successfully have repaid the tax anticipation note uh in order so that we can move forward uh the amended budget for the 2425 school year uh I want to just give you a summary uh and we can certainly dive into uh

047the presentation on the next slide um but next to salaries again these are the categories of expenditures uh in most of all school districts uh salaries and benefits uh as uh our board president has re indicated uh on reiterated on several occasions that is the bulk of any school district expenses 80 to 85% of the budget goes towards salary and benefits um that plus five million okay and we're going to compare the amended budget to the original budget okay or the the yes the amended budget to the original budget we are about 5 million over on salaries uh and we'll dive into that $1.6 million over on benefits and these are project c s towards June 30th um purchase Services were Pro we're going to be over by about $700,000 supplies and material was the

048one category where we thought we might be able to show some savings uh to the tone of about $2.9 million so that's why you see that number indicated in green uh Capital outlay uh is probably going to be projected to end at a $700,000 overage as compared to the original budget and there should be no changes to long and short-term debt the very next slide uh looks at the actual budget amendment itself uh and we use the the slide that is uh in our budget book so that we could understand where some of the overage is um and I'd like to draw your attention uh if possible to uh the last three columns okay the last three columns really show the Amendments uh the last two are just dollar differences and percent differences but the

049middle two columns and and it starts so if you're counting from right to left I'm looking at the third and the fourth columns from the right uh one says 202 2425 preliminary budget the other says 2425 amended budget and so we can see uh that under regular certificated salaries for for instance we were under by about 4.9 million administrative salaries we were over by 1.9 million um Regular I'm sorry substitute salaries uh we're projecting an overage um supplemental pay uh we're projecting to be o we we're projecting to be over on supplemental pay that negative is an overage of positive isn't under uh on the revenue side or on the salary side my apologies classified salaries regular we budgeted 20 um the original budget contained 22.7 million the amended budget contain 27.9 million so in

050classified salaries is really where the overage is in terms of uh the the projected budget uh and the amended budget that we are presenting to the board tonight again I won't go over every one of these numbers the information is here let me focus on the summary um we are $5 million over when you're looking at salaries alone we are $1.6 million over that is the difference dollar difference the second column uh from the right at the bottom $16 million over on benefits for a total of about $6.6 million um and so again as we uh continue to share the information salaries and benefits being the biggest um uh culprit of uh or biggest expenditure in most school districts 80 to 85% we certainly have to make sure uh that we're accounting for the salaries

051and the benefits this is the recommendation to the board uh after a lot of intensive meetings um we have met with several uh departments uh we have met with uh our co- superintendents we've met with our board we have met with uh department leaders uh this past Friday we met with principls um we have certainly tried to take the message um that the district are the fiscal message of where the district is uh at this point in time um and so again my focus will be on the final three columns um and you can see um as it relates to that green column where it says propose amended budget uh the amended budget adds up to about $16 million uh on the revenue side um and I want to focus on the orange column because

052you see the negative numbers there are two categories that have negative numbers there one is under local there's a negative $1.1 million okay um NE that means that we're going to experience a shortfall in Revenue in that particular category okay um we originally budget 95.9 the amended budget is 94.8 and so we're going to uh see a shortfall of about $1.1 million the vast majority of that money is interest that our school district budgeted um prior to uh going into the fiscal year if you guys recall we had about $20 million that we had in our investment accounts that was earning interest and unfortunately we had to pull that money into our operations account in order for us to sustain uh through through December um and so that's money that's interest that we will not

053receive we will receive some interest uh but it will not be to the tune of $1.7 million as we had budgeted also you see a negative 1.3 million um and that's on uh under the line that says state that is a reduction uh of state aid based on the basic formula uh and the overwhelming majority of the reason for that is attendance attendance plays a major factor in the amount of monies that we will get in the basic formula okay um it's uh you know basically it's the 9090 rule 90% of uh School District 90% of the students must be in school 90% of the time and of course um our our attendance is not where it should be um and so that is certainly one of the reasons for the decline in the state

054monies there so already on Revenue we're about $2.5 million upside down of what we the original budget had anticipated let me go through the expenditures okay um again we've already shared the very first column under expenditure shows about5 million 5,678 we talked about the overage there a lot of that being in the classified salary line item we talked about the $1.6 million and again a positive on expenditures shows that you're over on expenses okay um you are over on expenses and so again we're projecting the overage on purchase Services we shared that in the summary slide uh the only category right now uh prior uh going into uh the end of June uh that we feel like we may may be able to put some controls and parameters around um is our general supplies and

055so um that to the tune of about $2.9 million we are going into our our uh Finance system and we're putting controls on those accounts as we speak because if we do not we're going to end on a much worse note than we had anticipated okay and so if you the board you will get emails you will get calls uh that that we have uh in basically instituted uh uh trying to stop spending at this point we are going to make necessary purchases but at this point okay as it relates to General supplies um we have certainly uh asked people to stop the spending at this point okay we do have some alternative plans we are looking into our tital plans to make sure that title could carry on some of these expenditures um if

056there are fundraising activities that have gone on and and buildings have turned in those monies we're allowing them to spend from those revenues that they have fundraised and generated as well so we are working on Alternatives but I do want to make sure that the board is aware um that we are trying our best uh to take that $2.9 million put a freeze on it uh put a Band-Aid as as most would say uh on the wound and so uh you may hear uh certainly uh you you'll get emails and and phone calls about that also the uh Capital outlay again about a $734,000 overage again all of this is projected through the end of June 30th uh right now on expenses we are over $5.1 million okay so if you look at the imbalance

057in revenues the fact that we're under by 2.5 million in revenues and we are over by $5.1 million in expenditures that big red number on the screen shows that we're about $7.6 million uh uh uh to the negative in our uh fund uh in our uh end of the year fund balance okay so we're going to be down uh we thought we would be somewhere close to 20 million again that number is closer to about $18.9 million that we will have in the bank okay if all of this happens through June 30th um and we know we had to borrow when we had $24 million in the bank we thought we were going to have $32 million in the bank and so again as we uh put together uh at the next meeting our next

058year's budget again we'll have to consider all of these factors because where we end this year will determine where we begin on next year as well and so our ending fund balance right now uh with the proposed amended budget looks like about 11.77% well below the 15% minimum uh certainly a cause for us to change practice okay um we've explained the revenue variances again I I can try and glide through these slides again um the interest and the basic formula those two things that I mentioned in uh in the for in the presentation uh the original amount that was budgeted was $1.7 Million the projected amount is probably a little bit over a half a million doll that we will get an interest uh again basic formula we projected about 30.2 million our projections will

059come in at about 20 28.9 million so that's the variance in revenues our salary overage projections again we're $5 million over in Personnel okay I think uh one of the things that we've been talking and and we've you've heard several several of us uh bring to the table was the fact that we were over uh in our staffing allocations okay either we were overstaffed or we did not budget uh accordingly and so uh we certainly have to account for uh the overage uh in staff uh Department budgets again we're just monitoring those budgets monitoring those departments to make sure um that we put some controls in place to limit the amount of overtime uh to limit the uh the need for additional work and additional hours uh but again those are just uh my note

060to just say hey you know let's let's keep an eye on these departments so that we can make sure that we end the fiscal year uh somewhat according to uh the amended budget projections that we gave okay um it's been asked about our substitutes the original budget we had was about 2.2 million we've spent about 1.8 of that we we've are projecting to spend still close to a million dollar uh that's the $986,000 um and so again our projected uh amended budget there for substitutes is about $2.8 million uh we've got about currently 40 long-term Subs in the school district the actions that we've taken again we've made it very clear uh remaining purchase uh remaining supplies and material budgets are being cut okay controls are being put in place um and so certainly um

061if it is absolutely necessary and essential uh what we have asked uh individuals to do is contact their supervisors okay uh get approval through the co-acting superintendence it has to cross my desk okay uh but it until we are able to certainly get ourselves on a on a much more positive note we have to take certain actions and this is one of the actions that we had to take um on an immediate basis uh so again if we made no cuts and I want to make sure that I'm very clear between now and June 30th the fund balance would be about $15.9 million that percentage about 9.86 okay if we made no Cuts if we did not stop the spending with purchase uh with some in purchase Services some and supplies of material we're going

062to drop below 10% okay uh this would certainly cause a $10.7 million deficit instead of a $7.6 million deficit if we made no Cuts between now and June 30th Capital funds let me just explain very quickly um what typically Auditors like to see in capital funds we are projecting that we're probably going to be over there by about 775,000 um that is a fund that we cannot be over in we typically when there's an overage in capital funds we generally transfer the money from the general fund account to the capital funds account and so to cover our basis and we don't have to do it now because that overage is not there but it is projected to be there uh by the end of June and so what we're saying is uh we're asking the

063board certainly in permission when you uh when and if hopefully you approve the amended budget um that we be allowed to do a transfer of up to the projected amount of 775,000 from fund one to fund four uh so that we do not get an audit finding okay if we do not do that then we are going to find ourselves uh with an audit finding you cannot have a negative fund balance uh in any of your funds okay um also again uh the fund balance recommendation to sustain payroll benefits and accounts payable without the need for short-term borrowing through December 31st 2025 we anticipate a minimum fund balance need of about $32 million at the end of June all right let me speak to that we thought this year that we possibly would have ended

064there okay in fact that Discovery is really what triggered a lot of these conversations uh in the budget booklet it was approved at $ 32 million ending balance uh or ending June 30th beginning July 1st we quickly discovered when we filed our asbr that we were more than $7 million short of that that our fund balance was really at $24.8 million okay and so what we're saying okay in order to sustain our sales from now through December the 31st okay we need to end with $32 million all right which is where we will start the next fiscal year with all right that probably is not going to happen Okay based on the financial projections that we're making um $32 million would certainly put us in a comfortable position where we may not have to borrow

065okay um and I say may not have to because next year's budget has a lot of assumptions all right and we've gone to several presentations and workshops um and we're hoping that those things that we're learning uh some are good and some are not so good okay as it relates to next year's budget and so we'll talk about those assumptions going into next year uh when we present the budget at the March 12th meeting also based on current projections with purchase services and materials and Supply reduction we anticipate a fund balance of $18.9 million as of June 30th okay so we're saying we need 32 but we're only going to be at 18.9 um if the proposed organizational chart is approved an approximate $1.2 million can be reduced from the salary and benefits budget for

066the fiscal year 2526 prior to and this is the fund balance recommendation prior to additional Staffing allocations and negotiations of salaries and review of purchase Services materials and supplies there remains a gap of nearly $1 million between the fund balance and the actual need this number does not include include any salary increases that certainly will conclude the presentation I'm sure there will be questions um and uh if there's any questions uh to the board Dr Martin I'll take any questions at this time thank you Dr Singleton with there before we start questions is there a motion to approve the fiscal year 2425 Amendment budget as presented so move so move mooved by Graves second second by done we'll start with Mr Bailey and work our way this way if that's good with the bo I'm

067still processing I don't have any questions right now got it Mr Tyson Miss D um thank you for your presentation I do have a handful of questions um we are obviously not in a place um that we want to be and so similar to what Dr Martin had said earlier anytime we're talking about cuts of any kind no matter where that's happening that is not um an easy decision to make I have so one of the things that I heard you say throughout your presentation is um we are looking to Make Some Cuts in the areas of our supplies and there have been some freezes so I wondering if you could speak a little bit more to that um of what that's looking like and I'm asking because one of the things that I heard

068you say was um if I can read my handwriting um is that there are some there there will be some approval of funds to be still spent on supplies if it was something that was absolutely necessary and so when we're talking about what is absolutely necessary how are we determining what's necessary are there guidelines is it just somebody deciding it's too much it's too little um what is that I I just want to understand exactly what that means sure sure no thank you thank you uh Miss Dunn um so that's a really good question uh an important question and so uh let me do my best to to answer that question the $2.9 million if you go back and let me let me go back a few slides so that uh we're all uh at

069least looking at some of the same information uh and I'll just just just lay here at this slide um if you no sorry hold on one sec can we hit it on our screen please we can't see what you're seeing sorry they need to switch the view so we can see what you're seeing it's page nine I think on our document we're good thank you right okay um so miss done the uh in the salary and Supply I'm sorry in the supplies and material line item you can see we're projected at about $2 million of available monies okay and let me speak to the the term available okay um when we ran expenditure reports we kind of looked at what we've spent so far um we had to project where we would be by June

07030th okay um that is the only category that we're not over in okay uh we're going to be over in salaries and benefits we're going to be over in purchase Services we're going to be over in capital outlay and the only category okay uh the only thing that you can do at this point to stop some of the bleeding and I put I mentioned the bandage scenario um is to cut away at some of the supplies and materials um because this is an area where it's very possible that we have some alternative uh ways to to to to get these things taken care of for instance you know through the school's title plans okay um through the uh Student Activity accounts Etc um this is an area where um we're hoping that we can utilize

071those other resources and actually show this okay but again barring some emergency and we're in the business of educating Scholars okay we're not going to shut down classrooms we're not going to shut down those kinds of things and so if it becomes necessary okay um what I'd like to do is certainly get the approval and I have been getting the approval and involvement of our co-acting superintendents okay um the the supervisors the cabinet members everybody is involved in making the determination if we have to cut or or come back off of that $2.9 million number and so there there is no formal process at this point we certainly are trying to this is kind of new news and shocking to all of us uh but we are going to consider uh each of those requests

072and they have to be justifiable requests okay uh they can't be something that and when you think of it where we are at this point in time all right we're 34s of the way just about through the school year this is money that should be spent in this fiscal year all right and so what what gives me just a little bit more confidence is that we've spent a ton of money so far we've spent a ton of money on supplies and Ben uh and material so far and it is my hope that that spending has has allowed us to sustain throughout the end of the school year but again I want to be be very very Frank that if there are emergencies if there are things that are absolutely essential for our classrooms then we're

073going to make that determination at the at the uh at our levels at the building levels at our levels and certainly if necessary bring that to the board uh for approval as well so just to make sure that I'm understanding what you're saying I'm going to try to paraphrase here so what I'm hearing you say is that the hope is because we've already you know this was a projected amount that there could potentially be saving and the hope is because we've already spent so much money out of our supplies and materials category that those supplies are going to sustain us for the remainder of the year in the case that that if that is not the case for let's say a building um those requests are to be made to their supervisors who then will

074bring those requests to this group here and then you will have to make the decision without any guidelines as to um if if it is I'm trying to go back to the words it's absolutely necessary we don't have guidelines for that but the decision will be made by this group here am I understanding that correctly I think You' stated that fairly yes okay thank you for answering that question um I will come back around yeah Mr Gates I have no questions at this time Dr Thurman yes um just wanted to uh say thank you for your your presentation uh the board I'm going to speak as one board member I know we've been asking these questions for well over a year as to why the budget um that we were given and the budget that

075was used in terms for personnel and just budget overall why there was a difference in those numbers and to date I still don't have an answer a clear answer to that but nevertheless nevertheless it is affecting our our bottom line as a board member the thing that I don't want to do is to take anyone's livelihood away from them or any monies away from them but I also have a fiscal responsibility to our students and to our teachers the people who have suffered the most and I hate to use those terms will be our students who are in large classrooms and our teachers who are in those large classrooms we are topheavy we have said it for years it is now time for the board to act and act decisively on what we're going to

076do in terms of being topheavy in our in our district and supporting our kids my votes will be always from here on out to cut as far away from the students as possible the students and the teachers our teachers have not gotten raises when you look at the salaries of our top and we have awesome administrators but in terms of how we have been LED in terms of personnel I think that there's an issue there and I have to state that and I have to be just let you know where I'm coming from and what and what I'm understand what I feel that we need to do so please understand that these difficult decisions are going to have to be made all these titles and all these monies that people have been getting and have

077been paid we have got to do something it is embarrassing that we are at this point right now financially I take responsibility for it as being a board member even with the questions that we're asking and we cannot get answers we're just now starting to get answers after more than a year of asking questions about this budget and and the reconciliation between personnel and the budget there's there really isn't one um we're behind in our bills so right now my my moving forward will be what can we do where can we cut where can we make savings where can we support our kids where can we support our teachers um and and that's pretty much what I I want to say and I also just just want to say we're going to continue to dive

078into these numbers and make sure that even these numbers are correct because I I don't have a lot of confidence and the numbers that we have been getting and so hopefully we're getting there I appreciate the work I appreciate all the administrators and the work that they're doing uh the co-acting superintendents you have been put in a very difficult position um but we got to do this this is what we were elected to do and this is what we have to do thank you thank you Dr Thurman Dr Graves thank you so much for your presentation um earlier when I looked at the um the the slide that you had where there were 78 actual staff that were not budgeted I think when I first saw that earlier this week it said 48 so how

079did it change from 48 to 71 okay um I am certainly going to ask uh if my colleague uh who is over Personnel that is a Personnel question I'm going to ask that if Dr Jana Haywood can join me at the podium to answer that question please good evening to the to the board and community so first I like to address the 71 and some of the questions that perhaps have not been answered or maybe perhaps have not been received the answer that has been given so from the human resource department personnel was provided to our finance finance department as has been discussed in numerous meetings for whatever reason those individuals were not added into the budget which is not a function of human resources so to discuss the 71 people who are in overage

080during the December internal audit report it was reported there were currently 1451 employees here in the Ferguson floor School District there were 1380 employees that had been added to the budget by the finance department at that time the difference between 1380 and 1451 is 71 before you go uh Dr Haywood I'm so sorry um so it said um in the in that presentation that it's classified salary positions can you explain what those positions actually are which you're considered classified salary sure so any position that does not require Desi certificate so it would be anything outside of Administrators certified teachers counselors and social workers okay and in that 71 total cuz I don't think the board has gotten which um levels those are in those positions or actually what were those positions that were overage how

081many if you know off the top were act like do you know which categories each of them fall in based off of also what he reported I do not because I am not aware at this time of the 1380 they were included and the 71 that were excluded because I was not a part of the internal audit that took place okay um okay I'm done thank you I think but I'll stay up here with my colleague right I kind question okay so I guess my concerns are that um first of all I know for the several previous meetings I've been asking what is that magical number that we're getting to before we started or since we've been talking about cuts and things like that I wanted to know what is that number that we were

082getting to so thank you so much for getting us to what that number is with that being said to me now it's time to start planning now in regards to what does that need to look like globally um not just this 1.2 million that we're talking about cutting tonight that's not even a dent in the 11 million and somebody said tonight that we need to be careful we need to be mindful of the decisions that are going to be made um with all this information gathered today I think that as a community as a district we need to sit down and really talk about what does this need to look like moving forward um okay Dr hay I don't have you you I want you to have to keep standing there okay um my question

083is one thing I keep hearing about is Cuts but is there room for Revenue to come into the district is there anything that we can be doing to to bring money back into the district instead of automatically going to we need to cut this we need to cut this we need to cut this because we're still needing to get to this 7 million by the end of this school year what does that look like as a community as a district for us to kind of tap into that is there any room where we can increase revenues yeah so uh Dr Grace thank you for that question um and I will be just very very honest um between now uh in June 30th um there are just there there's nothing that can be done um to

084increase revenues now we have done things uh internally to try to be more efficient uh we filed Federal reports a little more often uh so that we can get money a little more often uh we have certainly um um you know done our due diligence in terms of um trying to get caught up with reconciliation so that we have true numbers um there's a lot of operational things that we're trying to do um but to make up that kind of a shortfall in just a few months uh is next to Impossible um I will say that uh for the last several months we have mentioned and we've discussed um in the future uh an operating tax levy increase okay um when we're looking at longterm where we have to go that has to be on

085the table okay um it it may not happen this year um hopefully it's it's in it's on the horizon very soon um but until we turn the page on bringing are having more expenses than we have money coming in we're going to see ourselves in this holding pattern is what what I'd like to call it and so uh to answer your question I barring short of a miracle I I don't see anything between now and June 30th uh moving forward there are things that we can do you know cuts that we can make and and being more fiscally responsible those are just small things but uh we certainly do at some point uh need to look at um going to the community um you know and and and asking for uh some additional uh assistance

086to operate the school district Mr Mitchell would like to also respond to part of your question yes thank you also uh I want to give some huge kudos to your team and others uh we have been able to recoup a few a few funds we've got about 800,000 plus coming in based off some early Ada we've reclaimed uh we've got about 193,000 that we're seeking to reclaim from mcken VTO transportation from my neighboring districts uh if you remember from December the number of vacancies was at 17ish I think and so we've got that down to 71 so some of these jobs that we've had terminations or resignations we had field so we're saving money there and then lastly uh we're just trying if we can improve attendance at the schools we got a lot of

087schools who are teetering at higher numbers to get them in different formula code so we're increase revenue from those aspects as well so it's not the 11 million that we need but by all means we're looking at every single Avenue we're we're cutting contracts left and right we're doing things to be more fiscally solvent uh as we look forward to trying to be a little more financially stle Dr graes you have more questions no not at this time Dr Paul Walker thank you um hello Dr Singleton hi Dr Paul Walker thank you for your presentation um Dr Martin has already said that this is a budget that you have inherited okay thank you and I think one question that I have is when we came together and you provided um I think what was your

088assessment of where we were financially as aition at that time when we made the initial borrowing I was under the impression that that was going to take us through okay so for me I'm sort of surprised to be here in this place where we are coming back saying that the initial assessment wasn't accurate and that another assessment has been made and now we need to borrow more money so for me in your role as Chief Financial Officer I'm concerned right that that the first projection wasn't correct and I'm curious to know do you feel more certain about this projection or are you going to be coming back in a month to say you know we we need to borrow more money so can you speak to that a little bit sure sure um and let

089me make sure that uh that I was articulate with with the information um so the money we had to borrow okay um was money that was necessary to get us through tax receipt season okay um it was never uh uh intendent to uh project that as just that's all the district needed to do that is just simply money that got us to the time where the other monies were coming in um and I've done some analysis you know we certainly when you spend out more monies than you take in okay you got to have a starting point okay that is strong enough to sustain you through those difficult times okay um and so I certainly hope I I I did I hope I never gave the impression that that $7 million was the end all

090Beall in fact that $7 million we borrowed was only for the purposes of getting us covering that shortfall of money that we did not have and getting us through the end of this year now we've not talked about future borrowing we probably don't have to borrow between now and the end of the school year I I we I don't see borrowing um on the horizon uh but I will say this and I'll say this publicly we're not off the table for borrowing for next year okay this deficit or this these concerns are so deep you know that we're certainly and I'm I'll go on record and say it we're going to have to borrow next year no doubt okay and and it is something I'm glad that you know that I inherited I certainly uh

091and I'm not here to throw anybody under the bus we we we got it and we're going to work with it we're going to get us to where we need to be but but I I certainly want to make sure that I'm clear that those that borrowing only got us from one period to the next okay and it was never intended to say that that was going to solve the financial problems of the district we're going to have to borrow again okay next year and I believe we're going to have to borrow even deeper these are strong deficits we're talking about we didn't walk into this last year with these kinds of numbers and so I do think that our borrowing is going to have to even be stronger next year but again I don't

092want to you know we got to deal what we got to deal with this year uh which is most pressing but again if I ever gave the impression that that $7 million was it uh then that is certainly not the intent of of where where I uh Tred to give the board that impression sure and I want to clarify I wasn't saying that you were saying it was it I thought that that was going to be what we needed to do to get through this this budget year no I'm sorry that was only through December the 31st my my sincere apologies right I think it's when you say through the end of this year and if it's not if you don't say December then it kind of makes me think you're saying the end of

093absolutely the school year and I see where that could have been confusing my I totally apologize for that okay thank you and I wanted to also mention I know you said earlier that a healthy fund B balance could be somewhere around 15 to 20 % uh certainly better than where we are now but I I recall that in some of my training as a board member when I first came onto the board we were told somewhere around 24 to 25% is a healthy fund balance and so in light of um you know some of the things that you said so so I want to note this too and this is me speaking as one board member we don't create the budget we depend on the superintendent that we hired to work with his team to

094come up with the budget that accurately reflects the needs of the district and we expect that when that budget is presented to us that it is accurate and then we as a board sort of go back and forth with the superintendent to make sure that monies are being spent properly so I wanted to say that out loud because I don't want people to think that the board is involved in the day-to-day of the budget because we are not now we certainly have responsibility for it um but I think we were may not have been given accurate information so that also figured into us being able to ask the right questions um I wanted to find out you were mentioning so of course as a board we're Shoring up our practices to make sure that this

095doesn't happen again you've mentioned which I was glad to hear that there ought to be some new controls put in place or that you're already putting some of those things in place and or could you speak to some things that you're doing internally to make sure that uh we don't find ourselves in a position like this again sure yes Dr Walker excellent question so uh let me say first off uh that the human resources department and the finance department has been meeting on a regular basis all right so much that we just have impromptu meetings we just sit down and just talk all day um and so that relationship I think was probably some of what kind of caused a riff in some of the numbers uh and so that relationship is certainly there um

096J Dr Haywood and I talk on a daily basis uh sometimes we talk after work as well but but we have those conversations about uh what is necessary and uh she and I are working uh here in the next several days trying to get together to True up or at least forecast some numbers for next year um so that is one thing again putting those controls in place like I mentioned um is getting Buy in from all of the cabinet members and the co-acting superintendents on what those priorities are okay so everybody is at the table um um and just trying to make sure that we have those departmentalized meetings I'll tell you a couple things that I've done in the last two weeks I've looked at some contracts and by the way let me

097say this we spent a lot of money on contract labor okay and when I say contract labor I'm talking about um you know we've got a shortage in Food Service staffs and so we have to go to the staffing agencies all right those staffing agencies are charging 60% okay uh on their cost okay so uh the markups on some of those contracts are are just ridiculous I've met with two the two staffing agencies that we use one of them was at 60% I got them to lower it down to 49% okay in just that meeting the other was at 50% I got them to lower it down to 48% their markup okay I've got a meeting tomorrow with uh one of our safety contractors okay and we're going to be asking for for people to

098look at these contracts you know that is one way that we're going to also try and write these wrongs is we've got to be involved in in contract negotiation we can't just keep going to Amazon because it's quick and easy okay we've got to make sure we're doing competitive bidding we've got to be doing all of those things it's an it's it's a it's a it's a multitude of things that we're trying to do so just to to assure you uh we're meeting with HR on a more frequent basis um we're certainly uh having uh we go to these trainings I'm talking to other CFOs I I don't know it all okay I I know just a little bit just enough to be dangerous but you know talking to other colleagues in other districts um

099and and so those are relationships that we're building trying to make sure that we don't find ourselves here we're going to have difficult conversations but hopefully we're we're at a point where we can move ourselves up from here thank you I have one final question and thank you for sharing that and I I want to say that I appreciate everything you just said about some of the negotiating that you're doing and the building of relationships but I'm also thinking about things like checks and balances like those day-to-day things so that we can make sure that more than one set of eyes is looking at how money is being spent and whether or not it's a Justified expense yes the last question I have or just something I think I want to say as you noted

100a moment ago these cuts that need to be made are deep and we're sort of just at the beginning of looking at where those cuts need to happen I'm interested as one board member in knowing what it would look like if there were going to be a cut across the board for senior Administration in their salaries a salary reduction 10% 15% 20% what would that look like and what could that save us as a district over the next year or two it's not something anybody would want to do but we are in trouble and I think that we have to look at all options because we're asking other people to make sacrifices so we need to look at everybody right okay and certainly that's a number that we need to research and calculate and so

101if we're allowed to to get that back to you you know within the within the next week or so we will certainly make that available to all the board members what administration looks like what a 10% cut looks like for administration across the board I'll bring that information back thank you thank you Dr Singleton thank you board so uh one of the questions I had uh certainly some board members to certainly appreciate the work I know this is Ever Changing you know we talk about having accurate information in order to to approve and so in December I'll use that I know you're part of the internal audit work we are given a number less than 2 million off in salaries here we are today salaries alone is over $5 million so in two months it

102went from under 2 million to 5 million I guess what reassurance can we have that we know these numbers are actually accurate or is it just a wait and see game until June comes around yeah so no Dr Martin I I don't think this is a wait and see game um and again I think that uh that the work that was presented uh in December um was uh was I think they were looking at different parameters I think at that point in time we were looking at what should have been budgeted okay um based on a certain Staffing allocation based on a certain head count um once we realized that we were over uh on that head count um our numbers or my numbers okay look at what we have spent year-to dat and project

103that uh through June 30th and so my number in salaries does include overtime okay so that's probably one of the differences that we probably were not privy to in June uh uh in the December presentation okay my number looks at the overages in the other categories substitutes I don't think substitutes teachers were a part of that original presentation in December so while my number is much bigger um I think when you add the fact that we're looking at overtime we're looking at substitutes uh and the overage in staff I think those three things alone should give you a little bit more assurance that we're probably closer to my number thank you I think you know for me as we talk about additional revenue and um obviously one is seven I would have a very hard

104time putting a referendum in front of our community because as Miss Bell talked about trust is critical in an organization and as a community member and board member I don't know if I would trust the district at this point in time to say they have their finances in order that I would want to give you more money to possibly misspend and I know this is not you're creating a budget moving forward so you'll be accountable for that budget you're not accountable for this budget but certainly I think that is a hard struggle that I internalize with of just I don't want to a spend money to take a referendum out there for a community that I believe does not trust our financials after we keep showing our financial situation $7.6 million is a drastic cut

105I think some board members alluded to the 1.2 million certainly is probably not enough from the organizational chart you know to me I know we need a bigger picture we also time is on on our side right we have we have to start preparing for Budget we have to start being able to post for Teacher positions we heard from colleagues today that teachers are starting to retire at higher rates this year and next year we have to start hiring and figuring out what positions we have which means we can't wait you know time is not on our side right and certainly you want to be thoughtful in our work and it sounds like you're engaging various thought Partners I know anytime Cuts happen of this magnitude because we know it cannot come even if we

106cut all the purchase Services out let's say that's $20 million well we know we can't cut all the purchase service out we have contractual obligations that we have to keep going forward with cic I know is $200,000 minimum so right there is just one contract of how many contracts we have that there's no way we can just cut all purchase Services out Al together certainly I think we could probably cut it down a lot as you start diving in the budget and prepare for next year but cutting those things is not going to be enough to get us to a place of not even getting us to a healthy fund balance which I think to Dr Paul Walker's Point is a minimum of 24% more than the 15% but we have to give raises we

107are from my understanding the lowest starting teacher salary in St Louis County there is no reason besides a love for the community that people would want to come work here versus a neighboring District if they can go make 3 to $4,000 when you look at the growing prices of groceries cost of living and the other big concern I have is benefits health insurance is going from other boards sit on we just saw 15% raise for next year for our benefits it is not slowing down people are having more procedures from when covid years were happening that they just didn't get to have some of the medical procedures life happens there's a lot of things that happen that people need time for that you know we have a serious issue and I I know you get

108it you know and I think as a board it is going to be hard to make Cuts we are going to see people who potentially been in this district for a long time not being employed in the district and that is not an easy thing to do but again I go back to at the end of the day for me is one we have to make sure we have certified teachers in the classrooms and we cannot the solution is not what other districts have done oversized classes to be well over the maximum recommendation because all that's going to do is drive all the teachers out and we have to figure out some balance and you know one person suggested from the community today of like do we we need a chief of schools right now

109great question do we need a chief of schools do we need another $200,000 position right now that's three teachers essentially that's three teachers and so we need to start equating it down to those things I think everyone's going to feel a cut I know neighboring districts because of the senior tax free the Open Enrollment issues that are coming in from our state legislation are making cuts and their fund balances as we saw are quite healthy compared to ours and they're making cuts for their own districts so now you have a district that has the lowest starting teacher salaries the lowest fund balance in St Louis County and not really a clear path of how we're going to get out of it yet and so I do think that you know as we take a vote

110on tonight the organizational chart it's going to be tough is 1.2 million enough absolutely not I don't think we can keep waiting to give you different direction if we just keep waiting to have one big show of what's all the cuts going to be we have to start ripping the Band-Aid off as you see opportunities to do so because you cannot build a budget around this because we see what an amended budget does I know you and Dr Haywood are working on a spreadsheet we talk about board oversight and control we are asking for if we say certified teachers and we're having 644 certified teachers Row 1 through 644 because unfortunately in my opinion the board is at that level of oversight of needing to see every single staff member row by row to make

111sure because clearly there's some disconnect I don't think personally this was the first year that this was an issue I think Esser money has saved us I think there's other things we have grown and been told that there's positions that we can convert to make other positions we've not been clear in our communication around Esser and title funded positions or federal funded positions sometimes they get very Mucky in terms of is it Federal is it Esser is it General budget then we just automatically roll it right into General budget we can't keep doing those things because that is where HR gets confused at what's going on finance can't make predictions this has been going on for a while I do think eser when you look at your slide about Subs I mean you look at

11220 20221 we spent $1,700 on Subs that's un we'll never reach that dollar amount ever again obviously Co happened that year but we've asked last year during budget can we sustain paying $250 a day for Subs to me the answer is absolutely not we cannot pay should we be paying more than other districts because amount of work that goes into it yes but we have to be looking at every Avenue and be thoughtful and I want to reiterate and then I'm going to be done we have to have accurate numbers because at the end of the day I think Dr Paul Walker said it best we trust the superintendent to present the budget to us and it's our job as their so employee or employer to make a decision to make sure it's accurate we

113are not in here deciding which little dollar should go here which dollar should go here we looking at the big picture of how we are spending and so I'm hopeful that this is a step in the right direction I'm hopeful that we're still providing supplies for our schools and programs to sustain through the rest of the year and I understand there's a cost schools still need paper they still need basic supplies kids should still have the end of the Year celebrations that they've been promised are there opportunities to make Cuts in purchases of services and supplies absolutely the board itself needs to look at that we've committed to not traveling and other things things of cutting back on it we need to look at our memberships we're part we spend almost $50,000 a year being

114part of national memberships is that something as much as we benefit from it is that worth our financial situation we all have to be mindful of where we're at to make determination but we have to have accurate information and so I'm hopeful that this amendment budget is very closely lyed to June 30th I look forward to proposed budget that is accurate and has more oversight for the board to be aware of where we're at and hopefully we can regain the trust our community but I don't think one budget cycle is going to be it I think our community is going to want to see a couple years of us actually being in Balance growing our fund balance and actually saying what we're spending is actually in the budget before they're going to be willing to

115propose or support any any referendum that's just me speaking so I'm going to go back through the board again to see if there's any last questions or comments that came up and then we're going to take for the vote if that's good with the board we'll start with Mr Bailey and we'll go the same direction we came it's more so just a comment um I was shocked you know I've read this a couple times um and as a community member a parent Alum we owe I owe personally for this to make sure that we get this right we have to get this right Community I advise you to keep on asking questions and hold us accountable to this budget we have to make sure that we get this right we have to make sure that

116our teachers get raises we have to make sure that our students are service correctly the right way um I I share the same sentiments as many of my colleagues but I felt the need to say that um it's just it's it's like like Dr Thurman said earlier is is it's sad it's hurtful um nobody wants to make budget cuts and different things like that but is needed and bold action has to be taken and our teachers have to receive raises our community has to have our trust we owe this to our community to get this right um and I appreciate all the work that youve put in but we have to get this right Thank you Mr Tyson thank you Dr uh Singleton um I just need to bag up a little bit just just

117okay so let me make sure I understand so J June 31st we were given a budget we projected 32 million we ended up with 24 which gave us an $8 million short file correct correct okay and at that that time we didn't necessarily know why we had the shortfall but we just saw that the money wasn't there okay but then you 72 actual staff not budgeted that's just so hard for me to swallow how did we get to a space to have 72 employees that we don't even know that we're paying um that are in our budget which is causing additional $5 million shortfall so $13 million is right there um that got us in our situation now this is a Shameless plug you said that we're going to have to borrow next year this

118is why we should have done the sweep but Shameless plug Shameless plug uh but the sweep would have caused us not to have to um my question was and I think I heard it from uh BR Dr U MIT Mitchell um are the are there monies out there that we're not seeing because and I think you made the statement reports are not being filed on time and and things like that um because you said you're doing reports now to make sure we're getting money sooner things like that but I think you were making a point that we've been missing some money and and do you mind I missed a little bit of that I just need for clarification oh that's how you do it okay yes sir thank you um so the answer to your

119question is yes uh we did uh recoup uh early Ed monies from 20122 and 2023 that we've seen an uptick of funding of about $800,000 so I got so many numbers in my head if I M correct me uh so that that is already in I believe all right also uh we have sent invoices to our neighboring districts for children that we support that we bust in from all across the the county right and so those invoices are over $193,000 as of February the 18th I think was my team's deadline so we're processing late February and March invoices now but right so that there's some increases there uh We've looked at you know we I I I've spent so much time with these wonderful people um looking at just taking three custodians from a agency

120and making them employees to save us an excess of 38,000 per person we've looked at can we offer nurses a different salary so we don't have to pay an agency that's charging us 60% more than what we have for so 51 days into this thing we're trying our very best to to make some tough decisions and to do some things that are more fiscally fiscally solvent um I'm blessed to be surrounded by amazing people uh and so I think that we it won't be perfect you know it's going I mean we we're talking about people we know and love but we still got to make sure we get these kids what they need and those that serve them every day that uh drive by all these not hiring signs that are paying more than us

121we got to do something to protect them as well yes sir and I'd like that statement 51 days into this uh which uh we just have to be mindful that some of the information we're going to learn as we go I mean we're not going to know it all day one um so I do appreciate more information as I get here not necessarily changing but more information right uh because as we learn we grow and we learn more um I'm just curious to know at the end of the day um yes first I need to know what we going to do about the 71 unbudgeted positions but he said it I hear it teachers need raises we we we topheavy top heavy in our admin what's the plan I he we keep talking about the

122problems and $1.2 million you're right it's it's it's a drop in the bucket but it's it's it's a starting point right but from where we need to get to that ain't big enough for me right I I would have lik to see the $8 million cut tonight right um I'm just I'm just being but seriously we're $1 million short you know what I mean um so hopefully with the new proposed budget that you're going to give us uh next week on the next month man and um I want to apologize as a board member because as a 25 25 year mortgage Banker shame on me for not looking deeper at the numbers you know what I mean because this this this is my role um as a board member so I apologize um but like

123everybody said we've trusted the information that we've been given and um now I just got to do my job better um and read numbers and read and ask questions and you know uh not just take for granted that wouldn't when you stand before me not you per se but when someone stands before me that they're giving me accurate information um and that's a shame we have to feel like we have to do that um but so that we don't put our district here again uh again I apologize for not um for not doing my job um um because some of this stuff like you said now that we see it in paper we've seen the red flags you know we we seen it and and and another point I want to make and I'm going

124shut up um you were talking about these 60% markups um whose task will it be to go across the board and look at these contracts and I mean we got to stop paying $200 for hammers when we could go to Home Depot and get them for 12 you know what I mean so I'm saying who responsibility is it going to be to to look at all the contracts in this District to make sure that we're not paying 50 60 70% markup on work paying you know who yeah whose task will that be so so uh Mr Tyson uh excellent question uh first of all certainly the buck stops with me you know in terms of um looking at uh with a fine tooth cone those those contracts uh but that task belongs to everybody uh

125it's not just the CFO uh anybody who engages in contractual Services if it's in the Food Services area they should know okay what these contracts are charging if it's in Safety and Security we should know okay and we should all be in tune we should be asking questions there's not a question that can come up that I can't put in a group chat with other colleagues who face these same similar situations um if I want to know what other school districts are using this platform that's a question you can get back you know with probably within a day or two okay uh but everybody everybody from the top on down has to be accountable for these contracts um again I was very shocked uh but I do know that you know when when eser money

126uh districts got eser monies that was a prime opportunity for contractors to come up with these huge markup fees they know districts needed the labor um and there was not a lot of push back okay um but those Esra dollars are gone all right now we're living on some real dollars that you know are are not you know that that have to go uh towards educational purposes and so uh Bren and I are are meeting I'm sorry Mr Mitchell Mr Mitchell and I are meeting uh over the next couple of weeks and looking at all contracts over $100,000 that's on our agenda okay and any contract over $100,000 we're going through it and we're going to be asking questions again I've said I've got a meeting tomorrow all right and I'm going to be asking

127for some relief uh on some of these contracts and so obviously the buck stops with me uh but but I don't share this responsibility alone that respons responsibility belongs to every person who works and operates in this District especially those that need the contractual Services if it's facilities facilities needs to be involved in it if it's Food Service wherever it is so that that should answer your question and and I thank you for that Dr sing because not only did you inherit this budget you inherit this problem so I I thank you for that man thank you so much thank you Miss Don thank you just let Mr Tyson mik still on just let you know oh um so I just wanted to quickly say that I think that um people in our community know

128that my love for the Ferguson floresent School District runs deep um I'm a former teacher of the district I'm a parent in the district um and I just we have a lot of really tough decisions to make and beginning tonight we have one of our first tough decisions to make um but my responsibility always lies first with our kids and so as I always try to do since I've been in this position I will continue to do in my last couple remaining months um our children will always be um at top of mind and who I who I vote for when I'm up here so thank you thank you Mr Gates yes so I know you said that if the fund balance got below 3% then the state would take over so just for me

129in the general public what would that outcome look like like um Let me let Dr Martin speak to that cuz he made that comment about State takeover uh when you get certain uh below a certain threshold but but I I'll add a little bit uh just just because um I've worked in a school district before uh that was under State oversight and so uh typically State oversight looks like uh you know the the the state actually comes in um and they add different layers of of of accountability uh towards what you're doing similar to the oversight policy that we just adopted um just a couple months ago okay uh there are additional um um um layers of approval that are needed okay whereas you know normally maybe you know uh a supervisor and their supervisor

130and their supervisor may be the approval tree now you've got somebody from the state scrutinizing every dollar okay um it's a process that you know you go through and and uh you you have to just ify everything it's not just you know some things you you typically are justifying everything so you know when you when you get under State oversight um because of finances uh it's not a good thing at all it it typically indicates that locally you've had challenges trying to run and operate your own um and you're you're needing the state to come in uh and add some layers Dr Martin can you add something to it yes for those who are interested or want to read some research State Statute 16152 talks about districts and Financial stress and that's where the 3%

131comes from and there's a whole slew of things of what the state does and that you're determined Financial stress and the governor gets involved Speaker of the House other people get involved in making determinations of how your District would run and operate uh based on the whole slew so don't I'm not a lawyer so don't take me for legal advice but it is uh 61 161.5 to0 districts in financial stress share a little bit more about that basically there's loss of local control school board and the district Administration may lose some of their some or all of their Authority um State oversight as he stated speaks to the financial Advisory Board uh May step in to oversee budgeting components um there's budgeting restructuring as it relates to the district being required to implement deep cost

132cutting measures including layoffs school closures program um reductions and potential loss of accreditation so as you mentioned I have come from a district where that has taken place and I absolutely do not want to go back there absolutely not so there are some things that we have to do in order for that not to happen Mr Gates any other questions uh no thank you good question though thank you Dr putting me on the spot see if I know my uh LW uh Dr Thurman yes hi I don't want to Y continue to beat this dead horse but I will say this uh my ties are strong and deep in in this District worked as a administrator in this district for 15 years these kids are my they are my my heart and the teachers and

133the staff members here so from now on you know they talk about me about being in the weeds I am going to be in the weeds if I have to bring a weed whacker because I will be asking questions from now on all these special programs all of these uh that we're not evaluating that I've asked for years are we really using these these these programs are they benefiting our kids you're going to continue to get those questions for me um we're going to make sure that anything that we bring into the district we won't be bringing too much in um anytime soon but they will be they will be scrutinized um essential positions only essential and we're not looking at people we're looking at positions we have to be very careful about that we

134we we have to do what's best for our kids and that means looking at positions and whether they're needed and um also whether what we're what we are doing is it across the board when we look at other districts are we even in line with in terms of salaries uh we're we're kind of out of line in terms of our pay for some of our administrators across um North County so um just know that we've got a lot of difficult decisions to make is not personal is business and that's that's it for me thank you Dr Graves I just want to jump in and say something um over the summer I took a uh School Board Finance one-on-one class um and it was really intensive but they talked about this was getting ready to happen

135to basically districts across the country and some of the things that they just mentioned in regards to um the decisions and the choices that boards are going to have to face is Staff reductions um looking at early retirement incentives Central offense reductions and prop program adjustments with knowing that this is something that's happening across the country is our problem something different when after you kind of evaluated things are you seeing what we're going through different than what the country is going through yeah no and and you know that's that's a really good question um these problems that we're experiencing are um are not unique to Ferguson floron School District um districts Across America right now are having meetings doing this exact same thing okay um Esser may have bought us some additional time okay um

136I will say that we're probably behind uh the eightball I think it's it's probably the only thing that I would chastise us and say that we should have done uh some of these things uh sooner uh and then they would not have to be as impactful uh but unfortunately we're here okay uh but to answer your question um districts Across America are doing this even those that have much better fund balances than ours um everybody wants to pay good um and so you certainly uh see that that these are things that uh that are necessary so so we're we're not unique every body's doing what we're doing a lot of districts can I just say one thing though that makes us a little unique yes is that our budget was wrong we had wrong numbers

137so I think that that did not help us thank you Dr uh Paul Walker thank you I was uh I was going to ask two quick questions one you were mentioning that now you're kind of going back and discovering some reports that need to be filed and then Mr Mitchell mentioned that there's some money recently recovered for Early Childhood from 2223 and again I know you're just kind of getting your feet wet and getting settled in here but um are there some things being put in place to make sure these things are being filed when they should be because my guess is if that's the case some of the deficit that we're in some of these things might have been addressed before now if those reports were being filed in a timely manner so I

138wanted to ask is there a process in place is that being looked at to make sure that those things are being done you know when they should be sure so so let me and and I think Dr P Walker can probably chime in on that as well um what what I'm alluding to is the fact that we're filing reports more often than that's required okay so that we can so so that it can offset those cash flow issues okay so these okay right so some reports are you know you're not required to file them maybe on a quarterly basis every 3 months and so if we can file them every month you know those are opportunities for us to rather than waiting on 3 months to get money we're seeing those monies come in on

139a much more frequent basis so that's what we were we're attributing that to okay and then my other thing this might actually be for uh Mr Mitchell but you mentioned that attendance is an area that's being looked at and so I wanted to inquire are attendance monitoring procedures you know being looked at is that something we're spending more time on uh to to make sure that kids who should be here are here that we're kind of tracking down why kids are not showing up at school yes ma'am yes yes and yes um we've kind of restructured our principal meeting goes um every principal meeting starts off with academics first then attendants um our Ryan deem and his team is laser focus in terms of identifying schools that are growing in attendance um even if if

140it's going from a 40 to 50% that's a great increase for some campuses uh We've also gotten with principles through Bradley Johnson and his work uh identifying schools that should be celebrated when attendance is is is up to par so we're also celebrating increases as well um and then I think just being super intentional with those conversations for those schools that need additional support that may not have gotten that support 52 days ago so I can't say I don't really know what was done before we got here all I know is just to do the best I can with the experiences and success I've had in previous roads and just kind of bringing all that to this road trying to you know move us forward we are we are of course in a crisis yes

141ma'am and you have social workers here uh they're pretty awesome so maybe they need to be sitting at some of these tables you know if they're not already I got the best one in the district back here in the back wave your hand Teresa Davis so yes ma'am I got got I'm very familiar with with Miss Davis and I also just wanted to mention really quickly too that um I don't anticipate that any of the end of year parties or those traditional things that kids are used to having will be cut it sounds like we're in a good place for that not to happen but I as one board member and I guess I feel pretty confident saying for all of us if we were to get to that place I would love for us

142to know about that before they there would be that loss of that opportunity okay absolutely all right thank you yes I do want to add related to our social workers he's already given a Kudo to Teresa Davis in the back of the room she has done an awesome job we utilized our Title One funds to um hire additional social workers in our buildings and they have part of their goal was to increase attendance and so they are working extremely hard to provide parents with because again parent engagement in this process is huge you someone asked earlier about how do we bring in additional revenues the majority of our revenues come in through the state I'm sorry through local so through our taxes that's how we get our money right is people and their property and

143they're paying their taxes but also attendance is a huge piece of that and so a big goal for them was to have um at least two parent engagement events each semester so that they were reaching out to families and telling them how important it is for their children to be here every day we I'm pleading making a plea right now to our families at home to get your children here not just because it helps our bottom line but because when they are here our awesome teachers can do the great work of supporting the children we cannot teach them if they are not here we cannot provide our wraparound Services if they are not here so please please help us help you and your children by getting those children here every day okay social workers are

144doing a great job of ensuring that they are giving the information um related to that but we need you parents to help us to help us help you thank you uh couple last comments from me and question question so certainly I know you said you're going over programs I'm hoping that you know I think the fnaa listed off a slew of programs that we in through the years I'm hoping that the curriculum Department under D Murray is looking at every curriculum program to see are there opportunities to cut programs and still make sure we're educating children in a high quality fashion uh certainly I know some years ago we approved pretty hefty budgets in terms of programming and those some were funded from Esser initially some were not so making sure we're looking at every

145opportunity there one is a budget uh certainly I know you weren't here just want to put on your radar the clear gov budget uh we're paying $30,000 a year uh for a budget to be presented in a way I don't think any one of us ever went online and looked at the website so just to make sure that contract renewal is terminated before we have to pay again I think we entered in your contract that we can terminate so just there's a lot of things below 100,000 even that we may not be in the radar of and if you're not using clear gov to build your budget there's no point in having clear gov so I think that's just one example the only reason I'm aware of it it came across LinkedIn recently CLA gov

146was promoting all the great work and I'm like what great work because our budget's way off so if that was such great work why would be in a deficit so just just a point there I do think I will push uh you uh on the part about um the financial situation and I say that because I want to give kudos to Terry and his team who was super intentional when we got got our Esser money we chose for the majority to invest in buildings of flooring carpeting HVAC air quality over Staffing yes did we add some staffing yes but majority of our money we intentionally as a board if I recall right did not want to add a whole bunch of positions that we knew when Esser went away we could not support now did

147we add some absolutely but majority of our money really Terry did a great job of I remember all the gyms now have HVAC at the secondary level we have carpeting removed with tile to make sure our air quality and flooring we have other projects that were Roofing that got done and other units that got done that was covered from Esser that we had a backlog of projects on that would never have been possible if we didn't have Esser so I know you weren't here when we were doing much of our Esser work but I do think for our district much of our money for Esser was really spent on facilities work not the salary side of the house there was some but most were spent on that because we really wanted to make sure that

148so I just want to make sure what I'm pushing you on that is I don't think that other districts are in the same boat as us a because our numbers were wrong but Esther is really not as big of a factor in all this is I do think we have as a community member pointed out there is a trend that was not caught or brought up of misalignment of salaries and budgets board oversight of even how many certified staff we have how many staff we have in the district misinformation when we approving these contracts so frequently what we were told when we approve these contracts that cost more we can convert two teacher positions to cover this salary we can convert these five vacant positions to cover this and it seems like there was maybe

149some misinformation I don't know fully just based on what you're sharing of how much extra that's really costing us for what we're getting if we're spending 50% more for nurses I guarantee if we pay nurses $5 or $10,000 more you could probably fill them all with our own employees versus filling some vacancies that are not being filled with our own employees the other thing I just want to say is um we made an investment this year and I don't need an answer today so I just want to kind of let you know you might not have it and this more for Mr Mitchell really as he oversees schools we invested Dr Davis made emphasis on attendance data he found that there was a lot of inaccurate data in attendance so he invested at the secondary

150level one secretary for every 300 people as we learned tonight most of our salary budget overage came from that non-certified classified positions so my question is as you're preparing the budget did that increase in adding additional support staff one to 300 have an impact on attendance at all and if not and I don't need an answer tonight because you might not have the exact dollar amount then we need to go re evaluate that for next year we also added at Mark Twain restoration Center and another assistant director to recap or re uh Coupe middle school kids particularly from being sent home on short-term suspensions and going to Mark Twain and getting their Ada which in theory the conversation was that we would make up that person's salary plus more money based on the Ada so

151I think as we're looking at numbers for next year as we're evaluating positions to me it's important to see did we do that and if not then why we keep paying for salaries if those positions are not doing the intendent outcome which was to get middle school kids in school more even if they're suspended and have a chance to recoup ada8 but more importantly get them educated while they're in in a controlled area the last thing is I think the only School District when you look at the numbers clearly there's where nowhere near for fund balance SSD has been writing the ship which impacts all 22 school districts in one ch school to your point we're behind substantially behind they knew in October that their budget was substantially off for many contractual reasons they're cutting

152and I don't don't quote me anyone but I believe it's 100 plus certified positions this year Alone Now do I agree with the recent newspaper article that people don't want to come work in Ferg floor absolutely not um but I do know they're cutting a hundred people and that's not the bottom line that's just certified teachers they're cutting administrators they're cutting other opportunities purchase services so I don't think I think we're most comparable to them in the sense of the only difference is they started a fund balance of like 70 some per. we didn't start at 70 some per. so that yes they have some Cuts but their fund balance is going down to maybe a 30% fund balance where we're going down down dangerously low and so I don't think we're I think we

153are unique I don't think we are the same as others across the country I do think we are similar in other parts of the country of a labor shortage absolutely teacher shortage absolutely we are equal on par with other people finding people to work absolutely but I don't think our budget is equivalent to what other people are facing because a the numbers were not correct and we've been overstaffing and misinformed as we've been making decisions because these numbers don't lie but when we're taking information we're not been diving in I think Terry said like asking the right questions I think you said of like we rely on the information we get I know you weren't here for it but we need to make sure this is this is accurate the proposed budget has to be

154accurate and I think I'm going to speak kind of for the board what I'm hearing people say is in the proposed budget we want to see salary increases for our teachers how you get there I don't know how you get there but I think we want to be able to see some options of whether it's cutting administrator salaries to Dr Paul Walker's Point whatever you want to propose to the board I think I've heard enough people say on this board they want to see salary increases for teachers all employees really but particularly our classrooms so I think you're going to have uh you and the co-acting superintendents and all of cabinet are going to have tough conversations about where to make cuts and make some recommendations because this 1.2 we're about another 7 to10 million

155off of where we need to be uh of where we need to find cut and so we understand that we're going to get emails we understand we're not going to make people happy but at the end of the day me as one board member we have to own our mistake and we have to take the heat that we deserve to make the tough decisions to move forward because we cannot get into the financial oversight and lose all the hard work that's going on in this District to move us forward we cannot have classrooms of 35 people in in our classrooms and expect teachers to stay it's not going to happen with that please call for the vote do you want to remind us of um the recommendation recommendations to approve the fiscal year 2425 Amendment

156budget as presented uh Mr Tyson yes secretary votes yes Dr Graves yes Dr Thurman yes Dr P Walker yes uh Mr Bailey yes and Dr Martin yes motion carries and I should ask Mr Gates how would you have voted yes thank thank you next up is consent agenda is there a motion to approve consent so moved moved by Don second second by second by Paul Walker all those in favor say I I I I opposed eyes have it 70 next up is our recommendation for the organizational chart can we please I don't know who's presenting for the orc chart is it Mr Mitchell Dr PW Walker and just you two okay if you guys want to head down to the podium that' be great board do we need a a f- minute break or we

157good to keep going can we take a break we'll take a five minute break and come back at 8:10 e e e we're going to move back to Ferguson floron School Board regular Board of Education meeting for February 26 2025 next up is the draft of a org chart for 2526 our co-acting superintendent Mr Brent Mitchell as well as Dr P Walker will be presenting this Mr Mitchell Dr P Walker thank you Vine sir good evening board staff and Ferguson for community members thank you for your time and commitment to our schools as stewards of public education we have a responsibility to ensure that our district is fiscally sound while continuing to provide the highest quality education for our students at the direction of the Board of Education the administration was tasked with identifying cost

158reductions that have the least direct impact on students focusing on positions rather than individuals our superintendent began this work in the fall and given our current Financial Outlook these efforts have become even more critical by streamlining our administrative structure we aim to reduce overall expenditures while preserving essential services our goal is to ensure that financial resources are directed where they are needed most which is to support students and classrooms these decisions are not made lightly but they do reflect our responsibility to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars while ensuring the long-term sustainability of our district through these strategic adjustments we anticipate saving approximately $1.2 million which will help us navigate Financial challenges while continuing to provide Student Success again this is a small dent in a very large issue um I'm going to stop right

159there and let you go on and we'll talk about more of these things all right I think that's it y as we seek better ways to do our finances we must develop a systematic approach to support our students while still allowing Equitable and fair pay for our employees I committed myself to aligning this compensation along with the salary bands that were suggested by HR uh and looking at our neighboring districts we found that our cabinet is larger than those that serve 7 to 10,000 more students we also found that we have more buildings more programs staffing agencies for vacancies and bus routes in many of our neighbors meanwhile our teachers the life butt of our schools are being asked to do more sometimes with less uh not to mention I'm sure we've heard the number

160$9 million several times tonight having a 12 to 15% fund balance to fall back on for our district that consumes $12 million a month in operations uh we've got to be really really really strategic and careful with financial choices that position us for success in the future we know these changes affect people that we know and love and those decisions are never easy however the priority must be to ensure our students receive the support and opportunities they deserve to compete not only with st Lewis County but the nation thank you therefore the recommendation of the administration is that the board approved the Ferguson floresent School District organizational chart for the 2025 school year by the end of the 20125 school year the district will realize approximately 1.2 million administrative cost reductions through the Strategic cons

161consolidation of cabinet leadership and position reposing these savings will be allocated to support fund balance goals enhance Direct student support and address budgetary shortfalls ensuring the district's long-term Financial stability and sustainability thank you so much uh the motion I'm going to make a motion and then there it can be a second or not uh to approve the ffsd organizational chart for 2025 2026 with the removal of the chief of staff chief of schools position is there a second second it's been moved in second to approve the ffsd or ganizational chart for 2025 2026 with the removal of the chief of schools position we'll start down here with uh Dr Paul Walker this time and we'll go this way with the board if that is good with everyone Dr Paul Walker then Dr Graves then Dr

162Thurman okay uh sure thank you so um I know that I want to acknowledge that I know that it was not was not easy to have to sit down and think through um where to make the cuts um as Dr Thurman said earlier we have to look at positions and not people um and yet we know there are people that are in the positions um one of the positions that stands to be impacted um is a position that focuses on our Equity work and um I wanted to find out you know at the end of the day whether that position exists or not we know that we're going to have kids coming into our district who are going to need some additional support uh we also have kids who um they just have different situations

163and their lives are not the same as everybody else's and so uh part of a school district's responsibility in my opinion is to try to level the playing field as best as we can to make sure every kid who walks through our doors whatever they look like have the opportunity to be successful so has there been any conversation about the work that's being managed in that department and what that looks like going forward you want to so our expectation we started that work with the AET Corporation or entity and so we spent quite a bit of federal funds having them come in and work with our staff our teachers our administrators um and the expectation with that work was that we would scale out the work so that we can't have one or two people

164doing it but that everyone is doing the equity pushing the equity load right and so we have I think I think we mentioned in the back of the room our social worker team that are um are doing some of those components that they are making sure that they have and provide wound services for students and that each and every one of us is a part of that work we are all responsible for ensuring that students get and their needs are met I'll stop there yeah um just to kind of echo some of that so yes ma'am that work is still continuing uh not only through our support services but through our dis proof funding uh through some title funds to you know look at opportunities to even offer professional development through title 2 for everyone

165to ensure that you know um nowadays for me Equity means everyone right so every person that teaches a kid every kid in the district every single body uh is going to be responsible for Champion that work um and it doesn't just stop with our social workers and councils but it's going to be managed by every single person in our school district all right thank you yes ma'am thank you Dr Graves I have a couple of different questions um first of um B thank you for um the work that you did um with starting this um and I say starting because um definitely know that this is um only the beginning of whatever cuts that we need to make um I want to know more about um the plan so how did um you guys kind

166of figure out what positions would be cut um I know it was stated that um we want didn't want we wanted to cut positions furthest away from children but what does that actually mean is that first degree second degree away from children like if I I I'm I'm still not understanding how that actual decision was made like what was considered furthest away from children okay um so with that can You' hear me I'm sorry so furthest away from children for us automatically meant non-instructional right and so if it was something that was not proving academic support our input for kids and that was kind of what we looked at first then I think really for me when I started looking around everybody else's cabinet level positions and noticing that you know you got some places

167that have a a six-man cabinet for 177,000 kids and we have a 13 Man cabinet for less than 11,000 kids you have to look at kind of mirroring what those positions were in those districts and aligning that tool we needed here so of course uh CFO and Human Resources would kind of be the same anywhere you go and then you look at how do you support children in terms of academics and then those operations that support kids as well just trying to find a clean neat way to put those roles in place so it wasn't a I don't think it was a perfect process it was just simply looking at um you know how does certain decisions impact funding if you if you call something this or can you can you move people around and

168still kind of figure out ways to support kids uh and again this is 1.2 of an $1 million deficit so and our our conversation has been phase one so we were trying to Reign the orc charts here in the building but of course now phase two will involve programs and processes that will eventually trickle down the schools but again the one thing we knew we couldn't cut from the beginning was teachers so if you take that chart and turn it upside down of course those that are at the top of the chain would be the fars away from kids okay thank you um my other question um goes to so I know that there was a lot of changes realignment um switching in position switching roles on any of those roles are those people going

169to have to reapply for their positions I'm trying to see the pictures in my head um I don't believe am I you talking about the original I'm just saying with the proposed changes um are any of the positions that that are listed are basically going to be like they're vacant and then people have to apply so Heywood quote me if I'm if I'm wrong additionally I think that if the organizational chart is approved then we will seek to kind of solve some vacancies internally before we post them externally is that correct okay so with the amendment the position that was going to be posed if it was approved was chief of schools the other position title changes will be offered to indiv idual who were impacted pending board approval and they will go through the

170same acceptance process as anyone else but they will not have to interview for those roles um okay so basically nobody has to so some of the positions that were coordinators or that were um directors or managers and they switched over nobody has to reapply for their role no so part of the HR Support for this work as the organizational chart was um created by our co- Acting Superintendent continuing on the work that had already been going on was to go out to the 22 schools districts in the area look at our comp survey data without looking at people and then consider the Sal the titles that are in place in neighboring school districts as well as the median salary for those positions which is also on your packet today so the Administrator salary that's in

171front of you that data came from median salary data in this in the city of St Louis the metropolitan area without considering what our employees currently make so that was done blindly to ensure that there would be an equitable process um for all employees to eliminate any um version of what could be considered retaliatory processes so it was done blindly just looking at positions and then in terms of the title changes those individuals have will have the opportunity to either accept or decline the position pending board approval and so I know we also um received in our packets the different positions and those that have were eliminated and maybe changed to certain positions some of the work is being lost and kind of going to uh piggyback on what um Dr I mean not uh

172Dr Paul Walker was saying um what happens to some of the work that is not listed on those position descriptions some of it will have to be reconfigured and reconsidered before we offer contracts for the 25 26 school year so as we finalize and make the process cleaner like I noticed that we may have left off who would supervise um PE coordinators right and so we had to go back and add that and then make sure there's a job description to support that work within that particular title before someone signs a contract it's extended to them so when we offer contracts for 20 25 26 job restrictions will be included with those contract offers so people know exactly the work we're asking them to do and the expectations in terms of supervising and producing um

173thank you sorry about that um another question that I had um in some of the alignments in the position especially um I would say the finance department um does now with this Chang everybody who spends money does that now go under um finances now or are there still some positions out there where um if they're in charge of money spending that it's not um in his role or under his preview uh the new proposal I believe the additions to finan he K doesn't supervise would be operations transportation and maintenance and federal programs no not federal programs not on his it's um operations I feel like I'm missing something else from yours what's what else what else is that yours is new food Serv Food Services operations techology research right so there's been some those are

174current but the only ad I think though would be the the operations maintenance and transportation department okay and so you mentioned Federal programs so Federal programs to my knowledge that's like money too is there a reason why that position wasn't under uh the CFO as well answer that one yeah so it was not under the um it was not under Finance last year it was under in in many districts if you look at other school district um organization charts it falls under the place of um curriculum instruction working with because again at the end of the day our business here in the school district and every other school district the heart of our work is around instruction right and so the planning for any Federal Grant or any Grant in general is really where the

175work is it's the needs assessment what are the needs what do what does our data say and then what are the needs of the children in the staff that are doing the work and so that really is the input yes there's absolutely finances that are part of that and we work collaboratively as it relates to that particular component but the main portion of that again the heart of our work is around creating the plans I'm sorry creating the plans that allow us to do the work in order to make change related to our instructional goals got you um another question that I had um so as a board we kind of talked about um we've talked in the past about just kind of District goals and some of the things that we needed to work

176on as a as a board and we talked about um what's important such as culture and climate finance and security and so I'm trying to figure out how did um we choose to cut some of those things that we said was really close to us in regards to like a security position is being cut um Finance in regards to um we just got a new uh foundation so that's money going in and then the culture and climate that whole department is gone but we're saying that that's our goals I'm just trying to figure out how does that um how is that in alignment the total I'm out okay I got it uh Dr G I missed you said culture and climate sec security and what was the third thing you mentioned Finance finance and so

177the security part does not go away security for that one position was funded by eser and we should have cut that position this year so that one security person that was cut and then the safety I got I got it I got you that's the safety model the executive director job and the new organization chart was part of the not refilled so that's an additional savings cost of 100 plus thousand I don't want to say our salary out here but that's public record uh the culture and climate Department that could was about $500,000 or so of the 1.3 to allow us to be able to save money in the administration building and then the finance piece I'm unclear about what was cut from Finance I don't think we what do we cut from understand like

178this the writing of the um the foundation the grants and all of that right so we we we lowered that position uh just to be when you look around neighbor no one else really had that um we also need to be able to um be able to produce money to um support that position so I know that at that time maybe numbers in my head is like 24,000 or so have been recouped so far this year or something I don't know the exact number but there was no so it it it needs to be kind of restructured and revamped in align with some of that culture and climate work as well so that position is kind of doing a little bit of both so it's on the orc chart it's a different position so it's

179a it's a culture and climate family and Community I can't see what that says sorry I'll jump in okay so that particular position is family community engagement along with some grant writing around the pieces around students and families um a part of that would of course mean that we can utilize some of our title funds to support and we talked about that there was not a budget for that but in title one we have a parent engagement component and so there is funding available um there to provide resources and supports for our families and so it's definitely important that we reach out to them and this would allow us to do that this position would allow us to do that okay and I'm almost finished Kevin I'm sorry um my other question just kind of

180has to do with the process going back to it we've received a couple of emails um we receive um I mean I've talked to a couple of people in um different positions and I'm just trying to figure out I know you guys did basically majority of the work how was the other departments involved in figuring out what's needed versus what's not needed um to say like we like I said we just got two or three emails in regards to one particular position saying that we can't even necessarily cut that position because it impacts kids and programming so I'm just trying to figure out what did the collective group or was it entire cabinet made the decision like okay this isn't needed right now um and I'm really even thinking about um security I mean we

181know security is a big issue um and concerning the district but yet we're not feeling our head of security and I love Mr Porter but I don't think he can do it all so I'm just trying to figure out how these this that even big major position were their conversations with security to say hey can you do this or did we just look at the bottom line of the the money and say okay we're going to cut this so we had conversations I know I had conversations with several department heads like I've gone to some departments and said hey could you do this with four people versus three people or do you need so we we've gone back and forth with positions I think the the beauty of this is that this entire cabinet if

182I look down the row was hired by Dr Davis so every single one of us were hired by Dr Davis I know some of the work that we did was already in place from Dr Davis so we've gotten notes of decisions he made and most of that that we've done was decisions he made before we even got the opportunity make any other additional decisions also know that in terms of the security position again that's an attempt to save money um we know that we're $1 million in the hole so we couldn't restructure every single department but you know we've cut some departments by one by two some by three uh We've looked at being streamlined then you look at when you post positions um we love Jane but Jane's position is is rather high so

183James's replacement may not be on the same here is Jane or you look at my job I cut my job the salary for my position was the first cut on the board and so I know that again when you have to make Cuts it's not a smooth or easy process I don't think that it was perfect I just think that it was done with the intent of trying to do what's best for the district and I understand that we can't be perfect but we are um we have people lives in our hands as well and the decisions and the choices that we make um my last question um is the 71 actual staff that are not budgeted positions that we just talked about where is that in this organizational chart and where is those cuts

184my thing is if that's what really is driving while we're over it why didn't we look at those in Cuts or look at those positions that they were needed before we started cutting staff that we already have which we know is going to be hard to fill some of these position if they decide to go to other districts so I'm just trying to figure out um why didn't we look at those numbers and those people are to see if those positions are even doable need or I don't know yeah so we so I I don't want to say we so if I say we and it's not right stop me I think that we have um we've taken direction from the board honestly and so when we first brought this about maybe a month ago

185we got some guidance on hey look at different directions to go into until we''ve done that uh but again we've also begin to look at the second phase of this thing so we're not done we got to look at the 71 bus routes we running $83,000 a bus route we got to look at schools that per pupil May cost us $12,000 so that the work is is coment to where I'm I'm up at 3:00 in the morning every single night trying to figure out Solutions um and so we know that we got a long way to go this is the first round of trying to make this thing right if the board approves this then we go to round two as far as trying to figure out Cuts like I've made I've had one-on ones

186with cabinet members to look at programs like I can think of things that we pay $100,000 for an District that only eight people use um so we've done the digging I think that what we're trying to do is move from one phase to another but we can't even plan for next year if this piece is not in place for the district and so if this was not to be approved then we would have to go back and that just puts us further behind the a ball in terms of getting thing out in a timely manner to where if you are impacted you have the opportunity to apply Now versus then being in a pot with other people who are SSD and other neighbor are making these tremendous Cuts I would rather you have a chance

187to find something now than be competing with 800 people in June all right um the only thing else I would say is I think that based off of the information we learned from the budget today um and then just kind of what it's going to look like overall I'm not ready to make a decision tonight um and I would want to see the organizational chart to really look at the positions too to see if there are some things that are missing that wasn't um able to transfer over to another position yes ma'am thank you thank you Dr Thurman yes hi um I want to say thank you again to your your team for the work that you're you're doing this is not an easy job to do and I understand how um it it's personal

188um because we know the people who are sitting in front of us know and care about about each one of you and the work that you do but it is necessary and we've got to start somewhere I I think that this is just a start it's a just a a drop in the bucket of where we've got to go but we got to start somewhere we can't keep putting this off uh every week uh we put off and wanting to come back to to revisit is just really a waste of more money and more time so as one board member I I want to say that I'm trusting that you are looking talking to people getting input um and that you are doing what you think is best in terms of uh saving some positions

189um closing some positions maybe um taking away some responsibilities um and and possibly people losing money but the other respectful part too that I I heard uh Mr Brent Mitchell say is that we want to give people the opportunity to uh say yay or nay as to whether they want to accept the new new position or to move on uh as much as we would like for people to stay into to um to to support what we're trying to do we want that but we also understand that um each one of these is a personal decision that has to be made so as one board member I am in favor of moving forward um we need to again stop looking at people and look at the positions look at the money we are in trouble

190we do not have a luxury of time we do do not have that we've already spent enough time trying to write this ship so uh my move is to go forward with uh the recommendation and that's it for me yes ma'am thank you Dr Thurman thank you Mr Gates um like everyone stated before I understand this is a very tough decision to make so I just want to say thank you guys doing a great job yes sir thank you sir thank you Miss Don um I also just wanted to say thank you guys for your work um while I know that we've said it's about the positions and not the people um I can I can only imagine how difficult this has been for the two of you um because not only have you been

191thrown into or not only have you accepted um this charge of being co-acting superintendent but the discussions that are being had and the choices that are being made and what you're presenting forward are directly affecting your colleagues um these are your peers that you have worked hard with to try to do what you believe is best for our kids and so I just I can only imagine um what your as you mentioned being up in the middle of night what your evenings have been like um so thank you for that I said earlier that as always every decision that I make when I'm up here is about doing what I believe is best for our kids um and so tonight I am also in favor of the um organizational chart change and the potential savings

192if not more depending on which positions or you know who's filling what um of the $1.2 million which might just be a dent but it's a dent in the right direction so thank you yes ma'am thank you thank you Mr Tyson um I'm just going to Echo some of the things but I don't want to be labor it um we're talking about cutting but then with the school and I know we took it off the board but I just want to make the point the chief of schools was a position I didn't understand um if for cutting money why are we adding positions but then I see another position and I'm not sure you're alluding that you're alluding to was the executive director of secondary leadership what position is that James is that James okay

193that's why I wanted to make sure I was say that because I've seen it unfulfilled unfield um but back to Courtney's point I see I see that but I'm really concerned about the $5 million in that 71 positions that um that we didn't know that we're paying I mean that's that's $5 million um to me that would just been a better place to start not saying that what you've given us is not good um but outside of the additional position I mean whatever we would have paid the chief of schools I don't I don't like that role I mean everything else if if uh I'm good with those cuts um I am concerned about the uh position that uh forgot the it was Co the Coach position because we're talking about that's not going to

194affect the students but those coaches do deal with our students you know what I mean um and deal with our families and things like that so cutting that those roles do concern me um and and I know I read that would maybe filtered into another another position but uh I I really don't want to miss those Services um because that I think uh those coaches acting with parents getting engagement getting parents engaged we we don't want to lose that uh as we've made momentum forward um and I guess this is the right time to ask but I I think we as a board need to answer this question because I I got it and I think that this is the opportunity to answer it um we were talking about spending money or saving money but

195we but we've hired two superintendents co-acting superintendents who we've paid more money to um I think we need to hold I think our constituents need an explanation from us um because people have emailed me about that right and I I haven't answered it but I think we we as a board need to answer to that as well uh why do we have two co-acting superintendents therefore increasing both salaries there's savings right there that we did not consider um so what is the reasons reasons for that uh but again I appreciate the work tonight uh um I can't support it either um because again I'm I'm I just really think that we're missing some opportunities when we are not looking at those 71s position as well um yeah I think there's just some other questions that

196I have but well well I want to try to answer some of what you asked though before you move on yes please all right so um in terms of the $5 million um and so what we found and and I'm I'm trying to go pull numbers from my here but know at one point we asked the board to support 1340 positions right and then it ended up the finances number was 1380 positions right and then once we got kids in seats we realize that we had like, 147 positions so some of that a majority of that 5 million only comes from Subs but it also comes from vacancies that you aren't able to feel so for instance a custodian when we break it down using the agency every cust through the agency cost us an

197additional $3,083 right and so we have 10 plus custodial vacancies right then you look at the Nurses agency The Nurses agency cost us $98,000 per nurse that we got from our agency because our bands don't allow us to hire nurses past a level five so entry-level nurse on our band scale would be at 35,000 where we're paying the agency almost 90,000 for one person so that's making up some of that 5 million deficit as well you also have to look at what you're paying your custodi I mean your cafeteria staff that increases roughly between 7 to 12,000 a person and then once you finally get those people in those RADS for six months you absorb a little bit of cost because you're able to put pull them over to our roles as permanent employees if

198they want to take those positions and so here recently we had three custodians who had been in the seats for six months only one of them want to come work for us because it had been a decrease in pay for them because they would have had salaries and benefits so their check would have been lower so the 5 million roughly is coming from positions that we have not been able to staff and when you look at how you staff it it could be a sub R and the classroom a lot of those kids are sitting in in front like I I got a grade level 1er teacher at a school right and so those kids are getting the service by three people who are retired School teachers at a rate of $250 a day so

199that's $2500 a pay period for a person so when you look at all those numbers and crack those numbers the 5 million yes is an isore but even if those position were staffed it may be a $3.5 billion hit versus a 5 million okay okay so now I'm hearing something I may not have understood I I was under the impression and those those are 71 positions that we have fied out there that we didn't know about to a certain extent yes so you when you when you so I'm old school so I say butts and seats right and so when you get butts and seats and you say hey I got 25 kids here who classes this all right and if we don't have a teacher in that role that's when the sub comes into

200play or you say I've got a building that needs to be clean and I only got one custodian then you look on the PM shift we don't have that person so I don't know cuz I can't speak to how we got into the chaos of the numbers but I do know that the numbers that were given to the board were 1340 44 whatever that number was and then it turned out to be 1380 it was financed and I think at some point we missed including the people we had in those roles that may not have been FD employees the year before and that's how we missed them in the count I'm not sure that's my that's a Mitchell guess but I do know that when we do this process now every single building will say

201you need this many people to run in the building and that's what the numbers we're going to give you guys on March the 12th Mr Tyson any more questions Mr Bailey well by the time it gets to me it's always uh I don't want to uh just keep on going back and forth with a lot of sentiments everybody saying I just think it's just time for us to make some bold action uh this is a first step of many um cuz again like I I think this is is important to let the community know that this truly is a first step of many there will be more budget cuts coming on as as we you know dig deeper um so I just think we have to make some bold actions thank you um I have

202a couple questions or statements I guess one is certainly I know we go back to none of us want to reduce any of our staff uh many of the positions that I see that were cut um or recommended for that were positions that we added in the last last four is years so for example we added another director of Safety and Security we added the assistant superintendent of transformation learning and culture we've added some of these other positions were added and we are not at a place where we can have extra positions they might still be needed but at the end of the day I think from what I'm hearing the board say is we want to make sure our class sizes are appropriate and we have the right number of teachers and able to

203pay people well once we get that under control maybe we can go a referendum to get more money to then figure out what else we need to do there I there's no doubt people are going to have to be working even harder than they already are which we already know this is a tireless job there's a lot of things going on in this District that people are adding extra job duties there's it's clear based on the job descriptions we've had and you guys spent a lot of time working through that and you are moving fast we don't have the luy as as Dr Singleton pointed out we're behind already many districts already started these budget cuts and other things way before he needs to have some direction because if we don't pass this in my

204eyes that's $1 Point some million dollars he's going to have to figure out how to come up with because then what's then it raises the question is the next decision which may even be harder because now we're getting closer to kids if you ask me we're going to keep getting closer to Children is the board going to vote that and then he has to develop a budget that supporting salary increases while keeping class sizes under control none of us want to be in the situation but we have to figure out how to reel back some of these positions I know we got some emails Dr Graves alluded to we got some emails I am confident that you all are thinking through of where job duties may need to be added to other roles without additional

205compensation because everyone is going to have to do more with less we have less kids in this District than we did four or five years ago we are over 11,000 students in this District that thousand just think of the Ada I think we get $6,000 some dollars for every kid so you're talking about how many millions right there in Ada funds that we no longer are getting so it has to equate to we have to be leaner people have to work even harder than they already are they already working extremely hard but we can't you're never going to get to the even $7.6 Million number if we don't cut positions get creative as Dr Singleton instead of using title money how do we use title money how do we use our dis Pro money I

206believe and Dr Paul Walker might know more because he's been in governing Council lot more recently than I have I think we get a million dollars about in dispro money oh I think it's 4 is it oh wow 442 half a million dollars so there's a half a million dollars those are positions that are supposed to be addressing the inequities that exist with more kids of color getting to either discipline or identified as needing an IEP there's money out there that I think we just need to get smarter with because I think over the years I'm going to go back to the statement we've been misinformed when we've been making decisions and we've been making decisions based on the information we received because even the whole um there's been plenty of times that we have

207converted teacher positions to create other positions or eliminated job duties or given more people more money without seeing the whole picture and the board I will say has generally given a 70 vote on those things based on the information we received at that time and so we are at a place now that it is to me black and white $7.6 million is just this year MH we already learned last week or whatever meeting Dr Singleton already said a 1% raise is about a million dollar we all know we heard from the FFA our raise is not kept up with cost of living I don't think CPI last time I checked is not 1% correct so 1% raise based on our current staff is a million dollars we have a long way to go because the

208way I calculate the starting pay for teachers needs to be about 12% in order to get where other people are for starting teacher pay alone we're about 12% off are neighboring districts that's just starting pay then you look all the way in between we have a long and I if Dr Singleton could find a way to give 12% to everyone I'm sure that would be a miracle but we have a long way to go and we can't keep saying HR what are you doing for Teacher shortages or not having certified teachers we just got shared we have more student or more schools in our bottom 5% from Desi so we have more schools that are getting taken I won't say taken over but they are getting watch list from desie of additional accountability measures that

209be put in place we have to they have to have certified staff there like there's a lot of criteria that we as a board have to make tough decisions do we have to close schools do we have to reorganize schools do what else do we have to do because we've heard from community over and over we are overstaffed with administrators would there be less discipline problems in our schools if class sizes were smaller which would mean less administrators needing to help support and do that work so again there's a payoff for every administrator we have these cuts are not easy yes we're talking about positions but at the end of the day it's people and you all know that too correct and I just don't know how as a taxpayer Community member at the end

210of the day people like Isaiah need to get an education that they deserve they get one year to do it every year they grow a year that's all they get we can't say well we have people making six figures but we don't have enough teachers we don't have enough other things to fund that because we were misinformed and made bad decisions about how the finances were going and so um with that I'm going to call for the vote which is uh the administration recommends the board approved the ffsd organization chart for 2526 without the chief of schools position please roll call vote please secetary votes yes Dr Thurman yes Dr Graves no Dr Paul Walker yes uh Mr Bailey yes Mr Tyson yes and Dr Martin yes oh uh I say how would you voted

211sorry Isaac it's Isaac Isaac sorry it's fine it's fine I would have voted yes yes motion carries six to one next up is policy updates are there any team updates that anyone would like to share I know we're wrapping up the work teams are getting Community feedback right Mr Moore from what was sent out so they should get it by the then of this week hopefully by tomorrow and then I think there's one team that's left based on they had a meeting yesterday if I'm not mistaken yes team J our team met are are you ready are you almost done no we're not ready yet we we're one more meeting one more me sounds one more meeting sounds good thank you with that there's no more first readings the next one is just uh thank

212you for Dr Paul Walker for raising that question last time uh with that is our motion to approve section A foundations and basic commitments effective July 1st 2025 so move move by P Walker second second by D any discussion that change has been made based on P walker uh comment last time about the discrimination title 9 so I appreciate you uh offering that it's up there for the board any other discussion all those in favor say I I I abstentions Nays eyes have it 70 is there a motion to adjourn so so move moved by pal Walker second by Thurman any discussion all those in favor say I I I extensions nay I have it have a great evening