Ozark School Board Meeting - April 17, 2025

001That is exactly what he does and he never gets up. So there have been times that necessarily and he doesn't let that discourage him. He keeps going. Um he will stop pause and kind of ask questions and then keep going awesome. So Kim, I'm so proud of you for pushing through and showing that you do it with a smile and you have this because I can do this and that is amazing. I'm so proud of you and my class. >> Good evening. I get the privilege of introducing two amazing ladies. Uh first I have Miss who's a sixth grade math teacher from our drink team and our lady of the hour, Miss Abigail Callahan. And she was she had been nominated for flexibility as well. And so we'll explain and I was so excited to

002have Abby on our team this year. I got to have her in summer school for a few days on and off, which I loved. And then I was so excited to see her name on my roster. And Abby has grown so much this year. She's gone through things that have been very hard for her to do. And she has sometimes needed to take a breath and stop. but that she's moved forward and she's worked hard. She's often raising her hands and she's extremely intelligent. She comes to my board a lot to help the others understand what's happening by putting her work on the board for others. And I've just seen her grow a ton in her excitement in the classroom and her resilience to push through things when sometimes our bra catch up to what

003we want to say and she will say she'll say, "I need to stop." and she'll take a breath and then she's rolling right along very strength. He approaches always challenges never gives up and positive attitude and then shining and positivity. She's incredibly smart, always learnful. She is also kind and helpful. going out of her way to support her classmates. Her positive attitude and strong work ethic absolute pleasure. >> I'm going to try to speak extra loud for Grandma Sue in the back. Can you hear me? Okay. Uh Bidley River is proud to present Sophia Peebles as our resiliency student of the month. Um resiliency is a um critical characteristic for Finley students. In fact, it is so important for our students. We have a class called resiliency. Um Sophia never needed that class. The second

004time I met Sophia, uh, I was trying to get to know them so I could, uh, learn their needs and figure out how we could best serve them. And after a couple probing questions, Sophia stopped me and said, "Mr. Perry, I am safe. I am loved. I am fed." And then gave me a look like, "I'm good." Um, if you knew more about the backstory, there are tons of reasons. You know, I've got a teenage son. I can't get him to say that. Um, but the attitude that has either been born in or impressed upon Sophia to persevere through the individual challenges that they have met in their life and to carry the attitude of I'm good is amazing. And that's why Sophia uh is somebody we're super proud to have be our uh resiliency

005student of the month. Good evening, guys. I'm super excited to recognize uh two students tonight uh for OS. Uh when we sent out our nominations for Resilient and Flexible, uh we got back more nominations than I ever get for one of these. Uh and two names rose to the top very quickly. Um one of them couldn't be here tonight because he's playing baseball for us down in Yosho. I've heard they've won a game already and hopefully a second one's in the works. Um but I've got with me tonight right here, Noah Gillian. In January, Noah learned that he had cancer. Since then, Noah has been having to travel to Mayo Clinic, MU Hospital for doctor's appointments and treatments. Despite his diagnosis, Noah has never stopped working on his classes and his schoolwork. Noah is still

006enrolled in OTC and College Now courses and uh OS online classes. A cool fact that I learned is that Noah still has all A's despite all of this work as well. So, he's extremely resilient. the fact that he uh is here with us today uh and will soon be walking ac or rolling across the stage or walking, we don't know yet, right? As soon as he's going to be there at graduation with us uh as an OS graduate is very special to everybody at the high school. We'd also like to recognize uh Noah's brother, Zach. Zach was nominated uh by several teachers. Uh and like I said, he's playing baseball today. But he's also gone through a pretty tough time dealing with his brother's diagnosis. He's still shown up to school, to practices, with a

007smile on his face, the wonderful attitude while also dealing with an injury of his own. He is such a strong kid and tries so hard, even it would be completely understandable to need more time to to fall back. OS is proud to recognize him as well. He and his brother are the true embodiment of the word resilience. Ladies and gentlemen, OHS portrait of grad students Noah and Zach Gillian. All right. Thanks, man. my first couple. I thought maybe you're just pranking me or something. >> No. All right. >> Spring cleaning. >> Next on the agenda is to accept the uh certified results of the election. I'll entertain a motion to accept the uh results of the election. >> I'll make a motion to accept the results of the election. >> We have a motion and

008a second. All in favor? At this time, I would uh appoint a prom chairman Dr. Wilson as a prom chairman. >> We would like to swear in the new board members >> just both. >> Yeah, >> both of us think about that. the constitution of the United States and the state and they will faithfully and partially discharge the duties of school director for district number six to the best of your ability to law so be done. We want to thank you for your service, for your leadership, and um the school and the community that you've served for the last three years. Thank you so much. The next the next item is to elect board presidents. And so we would take nominations for the board president. >> I'll make a motion to elect Amber Bryant as

009president. I'll second. >> All in favor? All in favor? I >> All right. I'll um take a motion to elect a vice president. >> I'll make a motion to um nominate James Griffin. I'll second. >> We have a motion and a second. All in favor? Okay. Um, now we need an appointment of a board secretary. It has been common practice to appoint a district staff member as secretary of the board due to the responsibilities and duties of the position. Um, it is the recommendation to appoint Barbara >> Barbara B >> as board secretary for the 202526 school year. I'll accept a motion for that. >> Oh, I know Barb. >> Sure. >> And we have a motion. Second. >> Second. >> All right. Uh, we have to vote. All in favor? All right. You're stuck

010with us. >> Okay. Now, we need um nominations are open for the board MSBA delegate. >> I'll make a motion to appoint Matt Grohog as MSBA delegate. >> Sure. >> Okay. We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> I'll second. >> All right. We're going to close. Uh, all in favor for Matt. It passes. Congratulations. Um, >> you will. >> So, now we have to have um a motion to elect an MSBA alternate delegate. >> Make a motion to nominate Dustin Kirkman. >> Excellent choice. >> Can I second? I'll second. Okay. >> All right. We have a motion in a second for Dustin Kirkman to be the alter delegate. All in favor? >> That passes unanimously. >> Madame President, I have a question. Did we skip treasurer on purpose? >> We did. Um

011because of the resation that we we need to wait to do that till next time. >> That's fine. So, Robert will remain. >> I'm sorry. >> For now, Robert will remain for the rest of this year and then we will go in May and we will elect the new or make a motion to elect the new board treasurer. Uh we did check with MSBA because I thought that you needed to do it all at once uh to set the board and she said as long as we have it done by July 1 that we will be fine. >> As long as it's done by July 1st. Is that >> perfect? All right. So, that closes that portion. Unless we can talk Robert into staying. >> Yeah, I'm open for that. Shall we have that dialogue?

012>> I think we make a motion for that. >> I move allowing them to get it. >> All right. The next item on our agenda is the request for public comment. We do have one person who has signed up. That is Michael Bloom. And I um see that you have signed up here to discuss soccer coaches. I just don't name names because that is uh personnel is protected under sunshine law, but you can talk in general. >> Okay, that's fine. >> It's off. >> That's I don't think they know who I'm asking for you. So, um I was hoping other people would show up, so I'm just going to go ahead and read this whole thing. I was hopefully going to cut some of it out. But members of the Ozark School Board, thank you

013for allowing me to address you today. I'm here to advocate for the Ozark High School soccer program to request the approval of two additional paid soccer coaches. Specifically, we need a third coach long overdue to address our current understaffing and a fourth to proactively plan for the program's future success. This investment is essential to ensure that our soccer student athletes receive the support they deserve to excel. Our soccer program is a standout in Ozark's athletic lineup, consistently ranking among the top teams in the Central Ozark Conference. However, we are critically understaffed with only two paid coaches managing both the boys and girls soccer teams. That's over 50 players in each um group. And this allows them to play at both varsity and junior varsity levels. Compare this to other sports at the Oz in the

014Ozark school system. The football team has 11 paid coaches. Volleyball has three paid coaches. Boys and girls basketball have four paid coaches each. Wrestling four paid coaches. Baseball four paid coaches. softball, three paid coaches, cheer, three paid coaches. Soccer, despite its success, is stuck with just two coaches. In the COC, every other school has at least three paid soccer coaches, and Nixa has recently added a fourth. This gap underscores a third coach is not just necessary, it's overdue. A fourth would position us to keep pace with our peers and plan for a sustained growth. The soccer program is one on the cusp of a significant expansion. So, with the kids, including my son and a lot of his friends and people that we know, we're looking at 20 to 25 incoming freshmen annually for at

015least the next three years. And the coaches on staff would be able to give you guys greater details for younger students. I just am not aware of everybody else that's falling on behind. Also, there's going to be a huge boon with popularity with soccer because America gets the World Cup in 2026. So, hopefully there'll be even more for us to celebrate. With only two coaches, we're forced to cut talented players due to limited capacity, denying denying them access to the sport that offers lifelong benefits. Adding two coaches would address this strain and unlock the program's full potential. Um, this would allow us to form a freshman team. There would be smaller practice groups, so there'd be greater development by the coaches for the students on those teams. It would be also a safer environment for

016all of them because they'd be able to supervise a larger number of players. And then hopefully what I would like to really see also is an expanded community program initiatives for like summer camps, which I know that we already have on a small scale in conjunction with one local club, but I'd like to see that encompass all of the local clubs so that we're growing students from each club has its own unique flavor that it offers for the community to join. And those clubs, if we engage as a community, we can bring everybody's personalities to the table instead of just flavor that comes to the table from the most prominent two clubs. Um, these changes would cultivate teamwork, discipline, leadership, and our students and benefit extending hopefully the benefits would extend to their academic performance.

017I think I've spoken about that. I hope you guys get the point. Um, I'm really stoked about the future of soccer and I just really hope that you guys support our current staff and help them expand so they can take better care of our kids. So, thank you. That's all I've done. Thanks. Thanks. >> We appreciate that information. Um, next is our athletic presentation. Nancy Little is going to give to us, please. Good evening. Thanks for having me. I'll give a quick recap of our winter um athletics and successes that they achieved this winter. Start boys basketball um finished fifth in the new revamped CLC with addition of kickoo and and Glendale amongst others. Look at the junior high finished 60 and two uh which is obviously outstanding. Both those groups are seventh and eighth

018grade CLC CLC champs. Girls basketball finished the 500 record, fourth in the CLC. Um, their junior high went 41 to 16, seventh was CLC champs, and both those groups went undefeated as well. Boys wrestling CLC champs, district runner up had st qualifiers. Uh, the junior high program, CLC champs by, I mean, they ran away with it to have a really good group of junior high wrestlers coming up. Girls wrestling, which is growing here at Ozark, they finished third in the CC. They had five state qualifiers. the most we've had um in our history here for the girls program. Uh cheerleading, another successful year, state champs, both stunt and game day had 12 all state recipients. Uh also finished highly with their club uh cheerleading group at at nationals. And then dance hired a new coach.

019She did a wonderful job as well. They finished fifth in the place in hiphop and had six academic all state athletes. As you can see, we had successful winter, but also we've got a good group coming up. Uh youth is is strong and and look forward to them uh getting the high school soon. That's all I got. Thank you. >> I have I have a question. >> Are there any currently plans considering expanding the number of coaches in the soccer program? >> I are those that request for this year. um to happen and I can't answer that question totally but I I have >> confidence it'll happen. >> We evaluate all the positions and we also put uh we have a document with all requests from throughout the district that either whether it be a

020teacher or a coach or a custodian and as we're looking at our budget we talk about each of those of what we can do and what we we can't do. So I will say that it is on the list and we're having the conversation. is on the list. That's what I wonder. >> And do what? >> Start a conversation. >> Yes. We will bring something here to the board on that one. Yes. >> Mr. Little Mr. Little has brought up a soccer coach. He supported them for three or four years. It's been on our list. It's just when you've got all the needs on the list, you have to decide what's the most important need uh in front of you. >> I just wondered if it had made the list. >> Oh, yes. It's on

021the list. >> It's been on the list for three years. >> It's on the list. >> Okay. So would this be something we talk about next month or June? When would when will we >> usually what has happened is that we would bring it to you when we're bringing the budget. Okay. >> Okay. >> In a work session. But we also understand that sometimes the timing if if we have a really good idea of where the budget is going before then we would bring you some of those personnel items prior to that because I also understand that we have to get them advertised to try to find them. >> And understanding we still have to decide that what what's the is there a timeline that we need as far as getting coaches for because that

022would I think that's a fall sport. >> It is. Yeah. For the for the boys it's fall and for the girls it's spring. But >> when would we when would we have to decide that to be able to implement I think you said a freshman team. >> Oh, I mean if we could get that approved in some capacity by next uh month, I think that'd be great timing for us. Um, we currently do have some people in the in the program or in the system that uh volunteer, which a lot of our programs have volunteer coaches, but um, I think we got people here in place that we might be able to fill a spot like that, but not to go outside and advertise. But, uh, anyway, I think we got good people here and

023hopefully it will happen. Like I said, put it on there the last three years. Just again, it's just comes down to money. >> Anything else? >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> Dr. Wilson, do we have a date on that work session yet? >> I'm sending that out. I've already got it scheduled to send out to you to the board members at 8:00 in the morning with um various dates that you can choose from >> to choose. Okay. Thank you. >> Y Thank you. >> Good morning. >> I wanted to wait till we had the new board. >> Yeah. Yeah. Good morning. >> Okay. Uh next underformational items is um Dr. Carson is going to present on the culture and climate survey. Oh, the staff portion. >> Sure. The staff portion

024of the culture and climate committee uh uh survey. If you click on that, >> I'll stand here where I can see it at the same time you do. Uh so we did not have enough staff the first time we took it. It was not good timing. So we resent it for staff and we ended up with about the same responses we've had uh last year. >> Okay. >> So we it was an increase of uh 300 and something responses and that was in my learning division narrative I believe. But if you'll scroll down and just look at the survey you've got engagement, culture, relationships, support and safety and security. And those are the themes that we've been tracking for the last few years. and it goes from uh one to five, five being strongly agree.

025And I believe next year we're going to reset that as a one through four because several board members prefer. But we uh that way you're either on one side or the other. And so we can reset that uh next year, but we wanted to have three years of the same data before we uh did that. So if you will keep clicking below, you saw a lot of this last year. So specific or last month. So for the staff this is the new data that we have added and you will notice that uh things did not have any major swings either up or down. Uh they are in about the same ballpark. Uh what you do see where we had the most swing was in professional development and support. And so around that we poked uh

026that several ways with uh in different committees as we're sitting on our strategic team now. And so there was a three drop. So we were just asking questions about why what can be done differently. Uh the larger drop was in the non-certified area. Certified teachers didn't show as big a drop. uh and so it just it points out to us as we're talking to people and trying to understand the lower the the more granular data is that we uh this year we did not host a PD academy which we have done uh in years past. So when uh PD academy is when teachers get to have a full day of PD and it's all based on their own choice. So they choose throughout the day what uh fits their what they're needing to learn next.

027And we did not host that. We are uh going to do that. It's already scheduled into our uh schedule for next year and that'll be at the uh beginning of next year. So that was what I've heard back from most for that. Um but with the non-certified it did show uh they were just looking for some jobsp specific PD job specific uh professional development that uh we just need to make sure that we're offering more of that and making sure we're hearing their voice uh in the in that process. Uh otherwise uh the data didn't show much movement uh either up or down. uh and when we uh so the first set of data was 180 some people when we got up to 500 and something really didn't move so it wasn't that the data

028had a huge switch when we had more people take it it was both sides was relatively the same so uh the major theme is that we continue doing what we're doing and I think this uh this spring with all the different people who are serving on strategic planning committees. Uh there are a lot of voices at the table and we're welcoming those voices. Uh Dr. Van Lear has been in every uh building. She's been with multiple sets of of students. It was great to read her email about the middle school students. She said in all of her years of doing this, she's never had a group of middle school kids who were more prepared to talk about serious issues. I mean, they were there. Uh, so she said, uh, on the Yeah. So, nice job.

029Uh, middle school students were on it. Uh, and she said it was just a beautiful moment for her. Uh, so we are giving lots of input. So, uh, this may, we're not 100% sold. We'll use this particular climate and culture survey for next year. There are some pieces we need to keep to it, but we're not sure that we will use this exact same one because we're waiting for that strategic planning piece to finish. And then once we have it complete, then we'll move to uh what's next in regard to surveys. Uh what I know you looked at the other pieces last uh month. What questions in particular do you have? I guess I would say I know you're asking the question in the strategic planning, but is there a way to go back and

030ask them specific questions to say, "Hey, what for the PD it's a 10% drop." So, I mean, tell us what you would do better, why did this why did this drop in your mind and what can we do better next year? >> Uh, Dr. Wilson and I talked through that. I think it's a great idea. Specifically, that uh specific question, that targeting question like you mentioned, I think it's a great idea. Other questions or thoughts? >> I have a question. You mentioned that you might move it from a fivepoint scale to a fourpoint rating scale. >> Correct. >> Just my math mind thinks that's less accurate. Right now you only have a 25% range for each number that a person could select rather than a 20% range. I mean, I'm the person who wants to

031put 4.4, four. You know, I would I would rather have a hundred, but I know that's not practical. >> So, we could go with 15s and do six. I think what I think what people in the board wanted was it's either skewed one direction or it's skewed the other. >> Right? Do you see what I'm saying? So, you've got a 50% mark there that you're either this way or that. >> I think it would give more information, more helpful information if it was a narrower category. >> Yeah. >> We go with six. I don't love it when there's a middle because that's not a real >> So, could we use six then? Would that work >> instead of only four? >> I would use four. >> I was just going to use emojis, but she's

032talking about >> I think I think that it for when you have four it it forces you can see a positive or a negative. >> It's going to force them to go to one side. So TVD I think it' be a great work session conversation. Um but yes we'll we will revamp this as we get our strategic plan we start aligning all those goals. So the one thing we definitely want is that all our feet are pointing the same direction. So that's what we'll be working on. Any other questions? Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. Um, next under reports, we have the superintendent update. First, >> I just wanted to quickly let you know, I believe there's only a little over two weeks left in our legislative session. And so, things

033are starting to move or not move. And so, um, just waiting to see what happens. I I did see an article and I had some superintendents reach out that um Lincoln Huff in the Senate has requested that the majority of the money that was with being withheld or not appropriated from the House of Representatives for them to put that back in for education. So that may may help us a little bit. So just uh stay tuned on that because we don't know where that's at. Um, we also don't know where open en roman is at this point or any of those. We're just waiting to see how it comes out of the senate and then if it has to go back to the house >> and that budget number comes out in May. Is that

034right? >> Do what? >> That budget number comes out in May. >> Yes. It has to be done by the middle of May. So it's usually the week before. >> I heard that it passed just last week or maybe two weeks ago passed out the house with the education fully funded. No, I don't think it was that. No, the the >> I asked specifically is it include the SAT? I was talking to the budget chair. >> So, I think it depends on how you define fully funded >> fully funded how you >> Right. I think that it's the it's the play you have game. Yeah. >> Right. >> I asked about the SAT. That's the thing that that was going to be fun. >> Did they say at what point was it? Was it at

03570 about 7200 or did they consider 67? >> I can ask them numbers. Those are good things to know >> because it it Lincoln Health is putting back in $300 million or something like that. It was not >> that wasn't in there. >> That was not in there. >> Thanks. >> Which follows last year's law that they passed, right? They gave a lot of promise and so they lowered the SAT. So if they are the lower SAT, it doesn't fund the law. And so what Lincoln has done is brought it back to the other SAT which would fully fund it. So >> all right. So that is a Right. >> Yeah. Okay. Um All right. Next is district reports. Um everybody who had a chance to look through those, do we have any questions or

036comments on those? I didn't, but I enjoy getting them. >> Good job. >> Yeah. I just want to say I know it takes a lot of work to put all that stuff together, but I really love getting to read all the nuts and bolts about what's happening. Those are great. Thank you guys for doing that. And Dr. Carson, you have to put all the buildings in there. Thank you for doing that. >> And it was early, too. >> All right. Next. >> Oh. Oh, sorry. One more thing. And I also noticed on the enrollment it had at the bottom each month. Thank you for doing that. And it was so great to see what the trend was, how it compared to the previous months. Thank you. Next, we have future dates. Um, next week we

037have a junior high board walkthrough which I have to give a shout out to the junior high. Um, they >> their group made us dinner tonight which was delicious. The uh was it FCCLA? >> I should know that because my child was there. But um yeah, it was delicious. >> It it was >> we thank them for that. And then exciting on that same day, we have the tennis court ribbon cutting um at three o'clock and then everybody's super excited for prom. Does that mean we're supposed to be going to this? Cuz yes, >> if you would like to. Yes, I bet they would. >> I have a child who would not like that. >> Um and then our board meeting. Um and then you can keep looking down the list. Um we kind of

038have a couple busy months coming, but All right. Next is the approval of the consent agenda. Um, hope everybody has had a chance to go through that. I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> I'll second. >> Right. We have a motion and a second. Do we need to have any discussion or can we are we ready to vote? We don't. Okay. Well, then uh let's vote. In favor, say I. >> I'm going to abstain since I wasn't here for the last one. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. Um and then we have one abst. All right. Next we have new business. First up is the MSBA policy first read for um couple of those. Thank you, Dr. Link. >>

039So before you have your uh short-term leave policies for both our professional and our support staff, uh we're bringing these to you. Um some conversations. Uh I think there there's two real reasons we want to make a a philosophical change with our short-term leave policies. Um, one of the primary drivers from this happened uh through some of the superintendents advisory meetings that Dr. Wilson's been having uh where she gets people from all different departments uh coming in sitting down talking and and she takes that feedback and she brings it to the directors and the principles in our month our monthly meetings and shares that with us. And some of the feedback that we're getting is that um our staff would like to see us have a a philosophical change when it comes to how we

040how we look at short-term leaps. Um kind of the second thing we want to look at too is um you know we talk about attracting and retaining talent. Um you want to offer you know salaries are part of that but you have to look at the total compensation package and part of that is the benefit that you provide those days off. And so the philosophical change that we're looking at doing is is moving away from a leave sick leave type policy that's very defined on what a day can be used for and what a day can't be used for and moving it to more employeefriendly language with paid time off. Um and so that that's really when you look at that uh those two policies that that's really the the driver is just that philosophical

041change um to that paid time off and having more employee friendly language. So any questions or any feedback you guys have? This is just a first read. So any feedback you have, I' I'd love to take that and run it by MSBA and then bring it back to you guys for a second read at some point. >> Was there a discussion with teachers on this? Maybe >> we we have not had like a sit down go and meet with them. That the feedback that we've gotten has all been through that superintendent advisory committee which is made up of teachers, it's made up of custodians, it's made up of food service. I mean it's it's people from all across the district. >> Yeah. And I can also say that each year um MSTA or our uh

042teacher group they they put out a have a survey issued on what benefits or what would you like to see changed and it's resoundingly PTO. So they have not today or this specific right now but over the past few years they've def they've been asked and and in the survey it says PTO >> and they're not losing anything. You're just making it easier for them to use. That's exactly correct. >> Yeah, which is really the modern trend and to comply with I mean keep up with Prop A and all those other things out there. It just makes sense to me. It just makes sense to make the change >> and there's no issue as they approach retirement and have changed basically for them where they've stacked a bunch of days. It should be the same.

043Yeah. >> No, because it just makes it easier for them to use. They're not losing anything. >> They don't have to categorize big day versus combining. It's the same number of days. Uh, we're just removing just that for your teachers that seven days to make it all 10. >> I like it. >> I I like the idea. >> I really like that that it came from feedback. >> I love that. >> It's just cleaner. >> Okay. So, what I'll do is I'll take this and run it by MSBA, see, make sure that everything's still in compliance. And then I would anticipate bringing this back for a second reading to you all um for an approval. Uh, in that event, please know I'll be transparent with you. We'll probably also have some job descriptions as I

044mentioned essential employees and and the support staff one. Uh so I'll have probably have some job descriptions too that go along with this uh to all be approved. So and I would ask too that we please wait on like making it like official until July one just so that we don't have everybody pulling their hair out for the last month. But thank you guys. >> Thank you. All right. Dr. Chess, you're up. You got a couple in a row here. Start with Tiger Paw Playground. >> You know, it's going to be long if I stand up. >> So, um I want to start with one of the uh themes that's come out of the strategic planning is playgrounds. That's been a resounding as you go listening to as you look at surveys. So, the step

045that we're making tonight is the first step towards accomplishing that goal. Uh so I do appreciate the board putting it on as one of the uh action items from the remaining bond funds. And before we go to that one, I would like to point out that some of the other items that were selected, the tennis courts, they were opened a month ahead of time and we were able to have uh our last two. So we only missed one home match meet this year. U we had the redo of the tourn with the redo of the courts. We did miss some practices obviously. We had a Mr. Little had a great plan along with coach Jenkins to make sure that we continued and we were uh practicing as we can. So that that's complete. Please come

046next Tuesday uh everybody for that. That it's going to be a great opportunity. And then the renewal on the chillers uh east is started on Monday. It should be done tomorrow. >> Wow. Good. >> Now the junior or the middle school It's we're going to start getting more. So, we're going to hold off on that one until after summer school, but everything should be in place in that one going. So, we are moving ahead on those items. The other items we're going to some of those other items we're going to take care of today. So, Tiger Paw playground, again, big item in the strategic planning department as well as a huge need uh as you look at the remodel there. I want to go through the process just so that everybody understands how inclusive this

047is. It's not only an inclusive playground, it was an inclusive process. So, we developed an RFP to include accessible features with ADA compliance. Uh, which really dictated how that that was going to be designed. Uh, that is being built on a hill. Uh, they can only have a foot drop in the distance we're putting it. And there's a two-ft drop. So, there's a lot of uh obstacles we had to take take care of. So, we made sure that was included in the RFP uh with all the accessibility, not just the playground equipment. We posted on our website. We had direct communication with our area vendors and posted in the Springfield newsletter, J Globe and Christian County headliner for two weeks. Uh that's not required. That's we just feel like that's good business practice to continue

048to do that. Uh we toured four districts and six playgrounds. When I say we toured, we we spent a day and that was Dr. Sappington, myself along with 10 members of Tigerpaw. Uh, and we looked at some really good playgrounds and we looked at some that we knew we didn't want anything to do with. So, uh, but we had some really good ideas. Everybody had a score sheet. Uh, they scored every district, maybe not every playground, but they scored every district that we looked at. They added their likes, their dislikes. They made comments on accessibility. Uh, things such as curbing and and ground level and and they they did a really good job and I do appreciate their feedback for that. had some great conversations at lunch. Uh, and as we debriefed on that, the

049Tiger Paw team then met to discuss what they wanted and compiled a list of items. And that was independently without Dr. Savin or myself. They just met. They said, "This is what we like, what we dislike." Um, so then we uh met with any team that wanted to do a pre-bid walkthrough. So we sent out RFP. Anybody that contacted me, we took them out to the site, allowed them to look at it because there is some dirt that has to be moved. There's some existing ADA and accessibility issues, and this did include in the RFP to do something with the existing playground. So, uh, we had several people take us up on that. I will say that the winning bid, as we look at it, did come out three times and they took they they

050really did their due diligence. They they surveyed it. They did elevation changes. They did a lot of good work. Um, bids were received and tabulated, which we'll look at in just a minute. After, uh, we tabulated the bids, we brought those back over to the Tiger Pond team. It was a reduced team. Uh, they already collected their data, but it was the administration team over there along with, uh, one of their physical OTPs, OT OT's um, with Tiger Paw. And then so and then so we looked at it and we scored all of them and as we look at the bid tabulation the low bid was also the best bid uh the best presentation. Uh it had everything that they had on their list with the exception it had shade but they wanted more shade.

051Um so remember these are proposals right? We didn't send out a specific here's our specs and this is what we want you to build. We want you to tell us how you would do it. So there were some features that as we looked at the first one um that they just didn't really care for or they didn't like the color scheme. So after we met and accepted the Miracle that they would be ours, we sat down, I say we uh Tiger Paw sat down with Miracle and they changed their design uh the things that we wanted added. So, for example, there was one um swing that was uh fully ADA wheelchair compliant. It's a great idea and it's a great thing. And at Tigerpaw, you know, we are still able to transfer students from uh

052their location into a swing. But that playground swing has to be set off by itself, fenced in because it is basically a big metal slide or swing that's barely off the ground, you will wheelchair onto it and then that becomes the apparatus. And especially like with Tiger Paw with little kids running around, that basically becomes a battering man. So that has to be fenced in which adds to the cost and there's a whole process and procedure for when it's not used how to secure it and you take up a lot of playground space. So that was taken out and some other items were added. But that's how we got to the final product project which is uh as you look at the bid tab the lowest bid the lowest overall bid uh is miracle which

053was 318,92 for the front and 186,280 for the back. So that is a full remodel of the back. It's tearing out the swings and the existing with the exception of anything to the east of that sidewalk that runs north south. That's there's uh two balance beams, a dome, and some other little things over there that'll still remain in mulch. Everything else will be tore out and replaced as we're going to see in just a minute. But if you look at the totals, so it's not the when you look at that last column, you'll notice that uh like park and play, it's lower than Miracle, but it doesn't include any remodel in the back. And that's we're making that playground that that building fully ADA accessible. So, this is the final design after the team uh

054compiled after the Tigerclaw team compiled all their likes, dislikes of what they saw. Uh and this is the new playground. >> It has an it has a a large apparatus that is wheelchair accessible um all the way to the highest point uh which is good. Um it has some small features that one tan item gives some independent play and then a merrygoround which you know some of us will think back in time when those were outlawed. Uh but as you notice they're different now. Uh the think this is a laser. Yeah. This is an actual margo round. It's great. It's ground level. Wheelchairs will come on to it. It's accessible and then you can't take your moped and hook it to it and get as fast as you can because you used to So, I'm

055dating myself, but um you can't do that anymore. So, that's there and then swings and then just some and there's and I couldn't tell you how many we finished with, but there's a lot of interactive play panels all the way through there. And part of accessible and just meeting the needs of students is having a variety of those. Those are tactile, they're visual, and there's some audio audible ones. So, there's a lot of different sensory uh things going on. So, that's the new playground uh that will go uh basically just off to the south of the new rear entrance. And then to redo the existing one, like I said, they're going to tear out the swings and the existing apparatus. They're going to level it. They're going to move it towards the building. And if

056you can think about that right now, it's kind of you come out the concrete area between the storm shelter and the old building. You walk down that concrete area and then you go up the hill just a little ways to the play area. It makes visually supervision. You can't have kids go over on the concrete and on the playground at the same time. And it's a lower it's an easier elevation. We think about the change in elevation to one degree we can have. They're going to move it next to the building. And when they do that, then we're going to go ahead and uh clear up the rest of that area, turn it back into grass. There is a proposal um and PTA is here tonight. Um they want to provide some shade. They're actually

057doing a fundraiser right now to do that and they already have some funds. Um in the final proposal we have that number of what it costs to install that and to to purchase it. So we'll be working with them. Uh and if they would like to put in some turf there, that would be great, too. But we'll work through all of those details. I do want to point out that the process, you know, one of the things that this playground they felt didn't have enough of was shade. The one that we're adding is on the west or north side of the building and there's a lot of shade over there most of the day. So, uh, the play the equipment the big apparatus has shade on it and there's shade the the the pouring place

058is going to go all the way next to the building. So the building awning, the building eaves is actually going to provide additional shade as well. This side of the building is facing to the south and so that's why we put a canopy over this swing set and then that's why PTA is so kind and generous and looking at how we can add to that additional uh shape for students and staff. This is exciting. U most of all this is exciting. And when you look at So when you look at this, you think, "Okay, so why did I say 700,000?" Well, there's a 693 on there. There's a 693. There's a 525, a 699, a 596, 700. There's a big range and we knew that we were going to get some uh up in the

059700, close to the 700 range. So we budgeted for that. The initial was at 525 372. Again, remember these are proposals, right? So we have some well we didn't really we like the idea of the fully wheelchair accessible slot or swing but in evaluating the use of the the land and the the risk associated with it we want that out. So the final is 5 $557,70 which puts us under budget by about 100 not a buy about $142,930. So um Dr. come talk for just a minute. >> So as this process has gone on it was really important for me to make sure um we included our staff in this conversation. And so whenever we were going to get a committee together I just opened it up and said who wants to participate? Well, the

060whole staff sucks up, right? Like they feel honored that you guys recognize the need and privileged that we get to go through this process. I was really cognizant of making sure that each group was represented because we have a variety of students within our building. And so our teachers, we don't have grade levels, obviously we're just early childhood, but we have teacher teams based on student skills and needs. And so each teacher team was represented within our committee. And then I specifically tap in like our occupational therapists, our physical therapists, and then we also have a staff member who has a parent who's a parent of a child that uses a motorized wheelchair. And so she has a unique perspective on that. As we were going to these um playgrounds and seeing you think you

061know what you want until you really see it and then you're like like I thought turf was great. I got shocked so many times on the pieces of play equipment because the static electricity was dragging under my feet. And of course, then I'm like, well, okay, this kid walks this way. So then I have to My wrist hurt for like 30 minutes afterwards. We like, we don't want that. Um, the funniest part to me was that we got to see kids at play at some of these playgrounds and my staff was like questioning them and like, "What's your favorite part? Where do you want to go?" Oh, and so we really incorporated that feedback too um whenever we were considering now we've seen these in action, how does that change our opinion? And it really

062made a difference on what we thought we wanted versus what we now recognize maybe is not the right choice for our school. So I feel like that gives us a head start on on making a choice of what's going to work well for our students. Um, and then the whole conversation about the specific wheelchair swing, it was really enlightening because yes, we wanted that as an option, but then when we recognized that we wanted that because right now that's the only thing our kids can do. >> That is the only piece of equipment they can access. But now they can get into those adaptive swings and they can access this whole piece of play equipment and and engage in it and truly be a part of recess. And so it that was an easy adjustment

063as we were going forward because we recognized that that was old thinking. We have to think differently about it now because we have totally shifted the conversation with what they have access to and how they're going to interact with peers and how they're going to move forward with their motor development and that social development and all of those pieces. And so I feel like our staff felt very um excited to be a part of the process and have their word uh recognized as important because they're the ones out there with the kids every day, you know, recognizing their needs. And so whenever we first looked at the bid, I think there were tears because we weren't anticipating the back playground at all. And so to be able to incorporate that now you don't have an

064old playground and a new playground and who gets to go to the new playground and who has to go to the old playground. We're really talking about equity, right? We're talking about all of our students get access to new updated equipment that are targeting motor skills that are targeting these foundational pieces that are necessary for growth and future academic success. And so I can't tell you I can represent my team and just tell you how much we appreciate that we feel valued within this and that our students are valued because it's going to impact thousands of Ozark students >> that go through Tiger College >> throughout the years. Thousands and thousands. And so we definitely felt like it was a really high priority and we appreciate that you guys recognize that as well. And so

065at this point, I just want to pinch myself because I don't feel like it's real. Um, but it's probably the most exciting professional thing that I've gone through as an administrator at this point just because it's been such a high priority for us for so many years. And so it's a great day to be an Ozark Tiger for sure. >> Yeah. I just want to say yes. Good. I love that so much that the teachers who work with the kids and the staff who know the most of what's needed were willing to participate. We're willing to to give up their time. >> We're excited to participate because they care about the kids so much and they know exactly what the kids need and that's exactly what needs to happen all the time. Thank thank you

066guys for doing that. Those and it's not just have fun at playground. Those are educationally and developmental skills. Those large motor skills, especially when they're so young, are so important for I'm a high school math teacher or a college math teacher, but they need those elementary, preschool, they need those large motor things. I'm so glad you guys >> atess at our level recess is instructional time like >> yes, >> we have people collect goals like data on goals for those types of things. Like that is instruction. Teachers are out there instructing during this >> and so it's it's a classroom, you know, it really is. Thank you for advocating for your kids, for your students. >> Yeah. One uh you mentioned the shade the that they were trying to get another shade and this is

067this not answering that. I see an option for shade. I mean, can we include that on here? >> Yeah. So, in the uh there the PTA is funding they they have for years driven for that. So, that's that's something that they want to fund, >> right? What? What if they don't? What if they can't fund it? >> What if we fund it as we say? >> Can't we just do it now? I mean, >> we we could do that now and then they would >> I don't want to I just don't want to risk that we're building this new thing and we Oh, well, we wanted the shade, but we we spent 500, but we couldn't spend that. That's what I'm saying. >> So, we could we could up that to by that price and

068then if they come when they come through. Yeah. Uh then we can reduce it by that or we can tell them to find something else to put it towards. What would you ladies like to >> Yeah. What would they like? >> Dr. Dawson, do you want the shade? >> Yeah. >> What's the cost? >> 18. It's on that one sheet. Um, if you bring back up, >> that's right here. >> It's 18,000. >> Yeah. >> And some change. >> So, I And on that note, I do want to point out one more thing. This is important. Uh, Elizabeth, Dr. Dawson kept asking, "Why are these trash cans there? We don't need trash cans." We do need trash cans because our playgrounds are community spaces. >> That playground is not a community space right now because

069well, we just don't have anything of desire or anything for the community. Once this is in place, if you think about the location, we will have a gate and it will be open after hours when students are not there, just like our other playgrounds. And this honestly um when you listen to the teachers, they kept talking about the mix of park, the mix of Not so much the schools, but everybody has a Nixa Park to Nixon Park. This will be a high and this won't be high traffic for two to five year olds. This will be high traffic for 2 to 10 year olds. Uh it is all safe for two to five. That's what it's designed for. But there's enough on there that swings that look kids are going to play here. So that's

070why the trans so it's going to be open for the community. So, uh, if we do that, then my recommendation would be to approve the five, uh, miracle as our vendor for $557,070 with the additional option of the swing or sorry, of the shape. >> I'll make that motion. >> Second. >> I'll second. Or did you already second? >> Yeah, I second. >> Okay. >> Oh, um, we have a motion in a second by James A motion by Christina. Second. >> Oh, no. Motion by Matt or Matt. Sorry, Matt. >> Kind of feeling already. You just start that. There's that pickup. >> Really? >> There's that chicken. >> Yep. There we go. >> All right. I >> All in favor? >> All right. That's unanimous. Please come to the Tiger Paul walkthrough on May 15th.

071Thank you. >> As a just a note to the PTA in the back, you guys are amazing. We know that you guys are you put in a lot of selfless hours and uh I probably speak on behalf of everybody. Thank you. Um you guys are truly awesome. >> That's right. That's right, J. All right, next up is >> equally as important roof less >> sexy >> less fun >> roof bids. >> Okay, >> so our roof bids are were opened and again field work the the process was fieldwork and design specs were done were completed by Estherly Snider. Um, you know, this was a project that was approved back in late winter, what it was, January. Uh, they came out and finished all their field, went out to bid. Bid was sent out through a

072website, job posting sites, and direct contact advertised as required. We had a pre-bid walk through with multiple companies. Tom, I think we had seven. Is that correct? We had seven companies. And when we look at our roof bids, that was the most comprehensive. um from North Middle School, East and South. That was the most comprehensive group of people to come through to do that. They said the things we knew they were going to say. Short window. I'm already booked. It's going to take too many. It's going to take two crews. We're So, we had a lot of the things that we knew were going to be there, but we still had three quality bids come in. Uh really quality bids. Um the lowest bidder was asked to separate. So, we had that bid out as

073there was two parts to it. There was the base bid and then there was the alternate number one. Alternate number one included some areas that we had just re- roofed and are under warranty. Um, and then two additional areas that were right next to that. So, uh, we asked the lowest bidder, which is Joplin Roofing, if they would split those two areas out, which were 8, B, and C. And with those totals, the lowest bid uh combined was 1,00 179 thou sorry 1,797,400 which remember we had anticipated each of those uh independently bid in and out over two years that total would have been almost 2 million. We knew that there was going to be a 10% savings by combining them because you didn't have to remobilize and and everything was there and also you'd

074have a markup for that second year of additional cost. So, uh we were we were anticipating it to be somewhere around uh 1.7. We ended up at 1.657640 for the actual bid and that includes all areas that have not been re-roofed and currently under warranty. The two areas that uh we have re-roofed uh are completely still under warranty by Cardinal and they have another 13 years on that warranty. This is a 20-year warranty. So, that roof will be in great shape uh going forward once this is complete. Once again, under estimate under under the estimate of about 300 not about $339,466. So, uh, Ashley Snider's here with Tom. If you have any questions about the specs or the process, we can help you out. Yes, ma'am. >> I know you said it includes all sections

075except for the ones that were, but I just want to make sure there's no other portion of that high school roof has leaked for so many years. Very badly. Kids backpacks get wet sitting on the floor in the hallway for years. >> All non-metal roofs. >> That's what I want to know. So, what what else is there? everything that has a metal panel on it. Uh which they're still in great shape. So the metal panels which are some some overhangs uh believe the office complex is under a metal u metal roof but as long as it's if it's a tpo membrane which is the white membrane >> all of that has been replaced or will be replaced >> and that includes around the different things that sit up on top that sometimes the water runs

076underneath those. So, every single part, >> every place that has TPO will be replaced or has been. >> Are there any leaks anywhere that's not TPO? >> We'll find out if there's any of the metal roof. It could it could be leaking through a a washer on one of the metal uh and those will be easy to identify at this point. But at this point, if those existed, they've been taken care of. >> Okay. Okay. I just wonder because every year we work a little bit more on a part of the high school roof and that's important. >> Yeah. But $1.657 million takes care of >> Good. >> Plus the plus the metal roofing that will have to be replaced. >> Good. Needs to >> Can I say one more thing? >> Yes, ma'am. >>

077Thanks. I'm just >> So, I've heard people say, "What what are you doing with all that extra money? Why didn't you spend it a different way?" This is not extra money. This is bond money that was voted to be used for repairs and reconstruction and remodeling things that were needed. And so this is the playground is exactly what's needed. The roof is ex the tennis courts. I mean all of the different things were needed to be repaired. And I mean this was essential. >> I I think so. Yes. >> I'll make the motion. >> We have a motion. >> I second. >> We have a motion by Matt. Tiger. >> All right. All in favor passes unanimously. Next is the Tiger Stadium video board. >> Yes. So again on the process just to make sure

078everybody knows that this was inclusive uh we posted an RFP. An RPA was was created uh with options for 19 by35 and 17 by30. The 19 by35 actually had two options. One was to use the existing frame and the second one was to replace the the frame. So we had uh two sizes of video boards uh in there or equivalent size. You know it's like buying a TV. Not everybody's is exactly the same size. So u 19 by35 could be 20 by 36 and you'll see that in the the bid numbers. We posted on our website direct communication with area vendors and posting Springfield news leader Joplin go county headliner for two weeks. Uh team including administration applicable coaches uh maintenance tech and scoreboard operators were invited. We toured three districts. Um we saw the

079Taj Mahal of video boards and then we saw you know what we could what what we could afford and what looks good what would look good for us. um we uh picked their brains. We talked we didn't just look at them. We talked to the operators of them. We talked to the the people that provide the advertisement for them and we got the ins and outs and the good and the bad of of all of them. We received bids and we evaluated those based on the criteria. Now, this is a confusing rubric, so this will take a minute, but I want everybody to understand how we ended up where we got. So, as you can see, we had five vendors, ACE, Nevco, KCAV, Dacttronics, and Digital Scoreboard. The prices uh all fell within 29 294,000

080to 375,000. Our original bid estimate was provided to us by one of the vendors that's on there for a much smaller board, and that was $315,000. We knew that we could get them down if we u put it out to bid and they did come down on that one. Um but you can see the range and next to it is a price. So in our rubric we said price is 20%. Rubric is the largest component of what we made our decision on. As you can see, there's not a huge difference in prices other than um the the one that is 75 thou there 75,000 higher than the lowest almost $80,000 more than 80,000. So when we called references, we either talked to in person when we went on our tour or we called them or

081in in some cases and in some cases we used our own internal references. We use several of those companies and we have a favorable or not favorable opinion of some of those areas of service. So in talking to them, we had one that stood out and that's digital scoreboard. Um matter the last question that I asked as we were leaving uh one of the stadiums that had a digital scoreboard in it and that I know that's confusing. That's the company digital scoreboard. Um they I said you said everything positive. give me one negative. They could not give a negative. Uh so when you look at reliability that you'll you'll that'll be highlighted as well. Um when we asked them how it ran, they turned that on and they have seven of those boards uh across

082the district. Some are internal, some are external, but the one we were looking at was on one of their football fields and it had not been turned off since installation. It only went off twice when there's citywide power outages and then it went off. They use it uh 24/7 for advertising for uh publish just for color just to to show school spirit but also to publicize events. Um so when you look at references and reliability that company stood out beyond everybody else. So that's why they're scored higher than the other ones. Not that the other ones um they were acceptable. I mean, I've called references for 18 years and and there were some things that you would expect to hear and some things that you know were were extremely positive, but they were just kind

083of right there in the middle. Creation management is one of the big things. That's why we included tech. Uh our tech was he was actually ill that day, so he's unable to attend, but we came back and we showed him the software. Uh we're currently using score vision and dactronic software across the district. So, we know that it functions. That's why they got a five. When you look at the other two, they got a three because on on paper it says it works. Uh, but I can tell you, and I'm sure uh Robert can tell you as well, saying it works doesn't mean it always works. It's got to be proven for us to give it the top rating. So, um, that's why they're scored down a little bit. So, that's what the existing means.

084Are we currently using it? The specs. So, we have a 19 by 36. Everything else was 19 by35. The nit is the brightness. The higher the number, the better. Uh, all of these have either manual or there's automatic lightning and brightening depending on the time of day, time of night. So, if we put it on 10,000 nits in the day, we're going to see it. If we put it on 10,000 nits during a football game, referees may tell us to turn it down. So, uh, we we know that. So 10,000 minutes is is the is the high benchmark. So they got fives. If everybody else hit the mark except they were at 8,000, they got a three. Technical support. I'm telling you, this is a scary thing for me because we're taking away the scoreboard

085and our current board. I was here for the implementation of it. And I can tell you from the implementation from day one, that board, the video portion has functioned spotty. And so for us to put a board in place, I know that if there's not a game clock on that board, we don't have a football game. So this really scared me. So when you look at the technical support, that's a key note just along with reliability. And the the winner uh again is is digital scoreboard. That's 142 texts in a 60 mile radius 247 with remote camera for diagnosis. That's incredible. Uh our current board, we used to have a tech in place. We no longer that company that we currently use doesn't need doesn't even employ techs in the area. They use third party

086to come in. And so this is a big relief. And I know that I'll be sitting in the stands next year and I won't be in the booth. Uh, but that is exciting. That's exciting. And I know I'm nerding out on the technical support, but warranty as well. They were the winner. 11-year parts, 5year labor on site. They scored the highest on that. And also, when you look at the software, this software is uh we're currently using in our o in our new uh storm shelter. It is it allows students to do the creation of the ads over in Mr. Jenkins and Mr. James room. they load it to the web, it automatically goes there and whoever's running the iPad in the booth, it goes to the scoreboard instantaneously. It's all it's seamless and it's

087great. Um, again, along with the software for managing time and and distance as well. And then the rest of that is just information about power to make sure it was there. And then outdoor rating, of course. And if you look at that digital scoreboard by far with 4.10 10 uh came in to the lead uh as the vendor of choice. So when you look at sizes, I know that someone may think, well, how what does that look like in comparison? We are the Missouri state or we are the show me state. So I just want to give some examples. Uh Branson is installing one at 16 by 30, excuse me, and we're 19 by 19 by 35. So we're there at Branson 16 by30. Web city 17 by30. Uh Republic is 15 by 25. Jofflin

088is a bigger board, but I'll tell you that it's also not 10 uh millimeter. What you if I stand below a 10 millimeter board and I look up, it looks like a black board. I don't know if it's 16 or 24 millimeters, but it's a lot higher, a lot less of a pixel count that the LEDs are much larger, which means less resolution. Uh some other ones in the areas, I mean, in this everything else is is much smaller when you look at some of these other districts that have them. Springfield, for example, uh which is part of the COC now. Um when you look at their boards, they're 13 by 32. Rogersville 14x 25, which is a new one. West Plains 13 x 25. The one that is equal to us is not installed

089yet, and it's actually a digital uh storeboard product as well. And that's the same board being installed in the Osho right now. So, it's the same size. So, my recommendation would be to uh let me let me give the numbers because we're the budget on this was 300,000. So, I always come to you under budget. I'm coming to you over budget. We could hit the 14 by 25 and be in budget. We could do that. Uh when you look at what $54,000 gets you in comparison, I would make the argument and so would Yansancy Little, uh Dr. Wilson, and I think anybody else that did the tour would say that the wow factor and what is going to make the difference at 19 by35 is worth that. So, the others, now remember, we just took

090$18,000 out of one of these, so make that adjustment in your head. Uh, but we were under on the others by $482,376. So, even taking out that extra 54, we're $428,000 under our estimates on the projects that we've listed so far, which is the um tennis courts, our renewals at East, and the middle school, the playgrounds, the and the roof were that much under. So, it' be just just over $400,000 that we're still under our estimates on. So my recommendation and I the committee's recommendation would be to accept the digital scoreboard bid for $354,000. Dr. Wilson, I know um the common and all of us probably still do this because we're we're older, but we think we're replacing a scoreboard, but we're not going back with a scoreboard. We're going back with a digital board

091that is the scoreboard is a scoreboard. It's got a a capability, right? What we're going back with is something they're they're not one is not it's apples and oranges. It's really apples and watermelons, right? And the the aspect of what we're going back with doesn't have it. it has a much broader scale of use that's going to impact um virtually several other organizations, students, etc. So, you know, I I've heard and just so the scoreboard and some things along that nature. That's really not what we're doing. And I thought maybe just for some clarity for some people, you might speak to kind of like, hey, this isn't really we're not going back with this. we're going back with something that is going to give us a a much broader use for >> That's really true.

092Uh when we went and toured the schools to look at to look at their uh digital boards, I kept thinking scoreboard and the gentleman from Springdale's like this is not a scoreboard. You have to think this is a digital board and that this there's going to be so many more implications and uh ways that you can use it. He actually said, and correct me if I'm wrong, Curtis, he actually said that the football portion of it is probably one of the lower amount of times that the score this digital board is in use that um they use it, you know, especially when when the kids are creating content for that. And um you know, with your with the cheerleaders, with the dancers, with soccer, with anyone who uses that field, they're going to be using

093this board. Um he also mentioned that they use it for um field trips because the board is almost like a an IMAX theater for them and they have field trips for their students to come to the football field and to watch movies or rewards or something. I I think you everybody's going to be highly highly impressed with this. It is it was all of them were amazing. >> It really changed track and field >> track and field right. Oh yeah. >> So also when you look at football for example, I looks like you played football. I'm assuming you played football. >> Just that joke. >> That's we look alike. >> Um so when when you would go watch video, you would go to the locker room and watch video >> on a Saturday and then

094come back on Monday. And then before a practice, you might watch and say, "Okay, so this is what Nick is going to run against us. Now the coach has an iPad. It's directly connected to the board. They're running Nick's offense and we're watching it." And then we go play defense against that. And it's big enough that you can see the detail of where you're supposed to be and where you're not supposed to be. >> Band would have that. >> Band ability, things like that. rosy while at halftime we can show all the things that ROC is doing in the celebration while they're out there performing. I mean the the >> envision lots of hype videos. Yes. You know and and for all >> for all for everyone not just for football or basketball but for

095everyone after >> I had the opportunity this last year to attend um every away game for football and several of the other districts had these boards and let me tell you they are amazing. They've got um cameras trained on the crowd. They got the crowd into the game. Um they had different songs playing on it, different videos, and it it just it brought the whole community together. People were in the stands doing the wave. It was awesome. >> Yeah. >> You mentioned the market uh marketing. What what's the potential for using this for to you know make money or advertise stuff like that? >> Offset the cost a little bit. It's unlimited. I mean, it's an unlimited opportunity because it's it's video. It's not a static advertisement. So, you can sell them, you can rotate

096them, >> you can make them dance, you can make them big, you can make them small. I mean, there's going to be lots of opportunities. >> And they can run 24 hours if that's what we chose to do. You know, they have the board. Um, it was running constantly. The the one that we really saw as far, you know, nothing was static. um you would go and it was changing in your eye, you know, when you looked at what looked at it once and then you looked at again it could have been the same advertisement but it was in a different place so you're noticing it and um they Springdale where we went they run their board 247 as he said but at night what they will do is we would just put the Ozark

097O after a certain point so that anyone that drove by you knew that this was Ozark. So it's also a way of branding. I mean, I can really see this with branding our district and bringing more marketability to it. Um, you have to be able to have a program in place to go out to make sure that we have um the ability or the right person to find um people to buy advertisement on this. But at Springdale, they have such a a bigger market than what we did. He had his digital boards paid for in three years. So there's definitely potential. He said, what did he say? It was about the only thing on their campus that generated revenue >> and they they have a different model. It generated enough income >> to pay for

098helmet reconditioning, >> turf, >> uniforms. So >> pretty substantial costs. Yeah. >> Now I I I go back to they are a bigger area than us, but it is definitely has the ability to um have a revenue stream. >> So looking for a recommendation to accept the present. >> I'll make a motion. >> I second. >> Right. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? That passes unanimously. Do you want to talk about the money we have left over and maybe we can enough to fund projects? Oh, we have one more >> actually. Great. Thank you. So, we have about $400,000 left over. And if you think back to the list of needs that we have, um, there are definitely some other list that are on there. And so, I know we have

099a work chest coming up and this would be a great opportunity to talk about, you know, how I know this is just one of the things that we've hit is on the listening tour, are these acceptable playgrounds? That's on the list. I know from the bids we got that that would take care of one of our high high needs, but that's >> at East Elementary. >> East that that'd be East would be the the place that would be, but that's that would be a good discussion for our work session to where do we go next? Okay. >> So, but thank you. >> But all of that >> good because of the good work of the teams. >> Yeah. >> So, thank you. >> If a if a teacher or a coach or someone wanted to

100present a project, do they just contact you? A what >> a project for consideration during that work session or is it too late? >> It's never too late but I mean so >> do they contact you? Who do they contact? >> They need to go through their building administrator >> to their building. Okay. >> And we had items left on our list. >> Yes, I know. Yes. >> All right. The next item on our list is the Cox Healthou. There's no money on this one. This is just an agreement. As you know, we partner with Cox Health and a lot of our students are up there. Uh so our students go up there as as simple as job shadows. Um and so, you know, this agreement is just going to kind of cut that HR,

101the red tape. It's it's Cox knows what they're getting and and we've told our students kind of how to act and behave and whatnot. But the biggest part of this is as you know we're starting a brand new CMA program. So we're a certified medical assistance program and uh that's get going through appro approval right now. And so we will have students in this program um I think we have 14 students this year testing um for that certification. But as it grows these students will need to get in roughly 120 hours as an internship or as uh clinical hours. And so Cox Health says we have plenty of room for them. So this agreement is going to allow all of our students to, you know, not have to go through whatever process. Cox again knows

102what they're getting and we have some skin in the game to say we're going to send you, you know, these quality students. Uh but our students will spend, like I said, 120 hours for the year. And so they'll have instructional time here with Mr. Throck Martin. They'll spend 120 hours for the year at on grounds at Cox Health or one of the clinics somewhere through Cox Health. Um and then they'll take their their exam at the end of the year and then they'll leave with an IRC that industry recognized credential. So u certified medical assistance a much needed u uh program or certifications in our area. Um so it will this agreement takes care of that. It will lead into hopefully will lead into um Cox has also partnered with us and other area schools

103on a what's called a a unit assistant one and a unit assistant two. Some of you may or may not have a a daughter that's in that going into that program, but it's because of what we're doing here. Cox has reserved some spots for us. And that's not necessarily what this agreement is, but it's some of those opportunities. So, we have students right now, we have 12 students that were hired in January that are working at Cox, getting paid at Cox to be a unit assistant. Seven of those 12 in July will go into unit assistant two, still making money at Cox. We already have seven kids hired um for the July program as well. Uh which will I'm sorry, I apologize. 11 students hired in July. That's going to be cohort number two basically.

104So 12 kids started in in Janu, seven of them will continue in July and we have a whole another 11 students starting in July as well. And so anyway, these opportunities that are created for our kids and other kids in southwest Missouri. Um, so I think this partnership's great, this agreement is great, helping cut that red tape, but it's also keeping both sides kind of legal and you know what you're doing. You just have people on your campus um and or the campus at Cox and uh so it just creates those guidelines. So again, no money involved, just that that agreement questions on theou with Cox Health. I noticed on this page U three COVID vaccine is that still requirement? >> I I don't what how does it read? I don't I don't I'm not

105looking at it right now. >> Says school shall furnish Cox Health proof of each students and faculty members CO 19 vaccine status or assigned statement declining the CO 19 vaccine. >> I'd have to look specifically. I know our attorney went through that so I don't know how to answer that right now. not have to check on that. As far as >> I thought Cox stopped doing that. >> Yeah. And I don't know that we want to force our kids to disclose one way or the other. >> Yeah. >> I don't think that's a requirement. >> Yeah. >> If it's not a requirement for the hospital, it won't be a requirement for our kids. Uh so in the past when we have put uh kids as we've talked about it Cox has said if they're going

106to be with patients like their staff would be then we would they would be the same requirements. So I don't know that CO 19 is a requirement anymore but uh that's a great question. >> Yeah I don't think it's >> I can find that out 100%. >> I just got an answer from a nurse. She said it's not it's not a requirement. >> Perfect. >> So if it's not I mean >> can we take that out? >> We can look we can look to remove that. Um >> Oh, you just >> Yeah, I just >> Oh, I was like I just >> Yep. I will double check on that for sure. >> I don't think it is, but we could um move to approve it minus that portion. Correct. >> Oh yeah. Yeah. And we

107as with anyou it goes back and forth and it goes through a lot of red lines as well and then we keep sending them back and forth through legal counsel or whatnot. So we can definitely uh looking at that and have that removed if that's how it's worded. >> We had already removed the piece about u criminal background check. Obviously if we have students under 18 they're not doing that. So that was a red line in there or rewarded in there. So we can definitely reward that vaccine part. >> Any other questions? I think it's an excellent program. >> Yeah. For certain. >> Um I would entertain a motion to approve this minus that portion at this point. >> I'll second it. >> I have to You want to make the motion? >> I'll make

108the motion. >> Second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor? passes unanimously. >> Did you want to specify which section that was? Um, >> page page three. >> Yeah, it was >> it's numbered >> cooperative agreement to F B2. I mean, do we need to tell all those numbers? >> 3B2. It was under section F >> and then se subsection B and then subsection >> I I it's in the middle of page three. >> Oh, good part. >> You got all that. >> Sorry. I didn't know if you needed to know which part it got the co. >> All right. Next thing is the Coca-Cola contract. Okay. Um, I asked for approval for the Coca-Cola contract. We did uh talk with Coca-Cola and we did talk with Pepsi and um it

109was if we had gone with Pepsi, we would had to have given up Dr. Pepper, >> which is a problem, right? It's a real thing. >> So, apparently it's a problem. >> It is. They can all you had to say. That's all I had to say. I mean, um, and you know, so it is a five-year agreement. We've had a five-year agreement in the past. This also, um, it's, you know, we have we would use Coke exclusively throughout the district as we already do and have in the past. And this also, um, works in a way that the money that we earn on this goes to our activity accounts so that our buildings um, can do things with their teachers and their students. So, um, there's nothing out of the ordinary on this. Um, pretty

110cut and dry of what's been done in the past. We'll make a motion. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. [Music] >> All right. All in favor? >> Passes. >> And who knew Dr. Pepper was that popular? It is our highest selling u out of the out of this line. It's the highest selling >> by a lot, isn't it? >> Yeah. Yeah. It's quite a bit. Quite a bit. So, Gerald, this is all for Gerald. >> Well, I'll look at Gerald. >> All right. >> But do you like the Blackberry? >> Okay. Um, the next is the speech language pathologist Valerie scale adjustment. Laura assures me that I have all this. So um although I'm not an expert with speech language pathologists uh we are asking the board to reclassify

111uh the SLP position. Um I have both salary schedules. The current salary schedule that teachers are on is the teaching salary schedule and then also you have the um exempt salary schedule that we would like to move SLPs to. Um I won't go through everything in the memo and rehash that but there are the description of the memo about reclassifying SLPs. And so part of that classification changes the different certifications that SLPs have to have through the state. And so because of their more professional staff uh with their classification, we're asking that board u move SLPs from the teacher schedule to that sense schedule. Um with range or column F being that schedule that the SLPs will be on. Um be happy to answer any questions. If you have deep specific questions about SLPs, I'm

112sure Laura would like to answer those. So, >> and this is for next year, >> correct? Yes. This is FY26 starting July 1st. >> I have a question. I'm very in favor of this because that's such a specialized skill, but just for reference, >> do you happen to know anything about the surrounding districts and how their salaries for SLPs are? >> Yes. So in general I can tell you that other districts um have stipens, different schedules and stuff. So some of this request is to also compete with those surrounding districts to ensure that we are paying a salary that's comparable. Um you know right now I will tell you that the current side they're on is not comparable. Um and when we can't find SLPs we have to contract those SLPs and those can run

113anywhere from $60 to $90 an hour. So it is it's much a a much fiscally responsible solution to find those who work for us full-time in house than trying to find contract SOPs. >> Good. Thank you. >> No problem. >> All right. >> I move that we adopt that approve that salary schedule adjustment for the 2526 SLPs. >> Second. >> All right. We have a motion and a second. Dustin. All in favor? Passes unanimously. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, we have our M's cohort agreement. >> So, since 2012, we have had a master's program cohort with uh agreements with uh local universities. The university that we are currently using is Evangel. Prior to that university, we were uh with Lynenwood University. So, uh you'll click on so pull it up. So, we sent

114out a um a request for bid to uh five local universities and MSU did not submit one, but we had Jury, Evangel, Linenwood, and SBU. And so, we looked at them in terms of type of program they have, how many program hours, uh total cost of the program, who teaches those classes. So our goal is to have as much liberty as possible on our end so we can uh craft those courses to uh mimic the kinds of processes that we use inside our district. Uh so we have had over the last uh 12 13 years we have had 137 staff members go through our M's program. Uh inside of that um well before we started it in the COC we had the least amount of teachers who had a master's that's a number published from

115DESIE and so we were uh we were the least among the COC now we are uh I should have looked at that number uh we're in the 70% uh now I think and I haven't looked at it in a while. Uh what is good about having this program is it comes out of professional development funds and we are required by law to spend so much professional development funds. So it's uh not uh it is a part of those funds that we need to spend for professional learning. It's a uh specific to the kind of curriculum development we do. is specific to uh what we work on with discipline, how we do collaboration, uh what we look at for communication. So we have our administrators uh other staff members, we teach the courses and it's all

116around the kinds of processes that we and our community would appreciate. And so um we're looking at the university that gives us the most leverage to do that. And so we looked at that part. We also looked at uh uh just overall cost and other hidden fees. And so when you look at all of that, you will notice that uh uh Evangel was the uh choice and they uh beat SBU uh roughly about $1,000 per person over the uh um for the whole masters. And so we recommend that we go with Evangel University and continue that partnership and that would take it through another three cycles which would be about six years. >> I have a question. >> Yep. Question. >> This might not be the time to discuss it. Is what are the parameters

117for being involved in that program? Do you have to be here a certain number of years? Do you have to stay here a certain number of years after >> Sure. I'll uh >> here's the application that they filled out. So, you can see the questions that each teacher filled out. So far, we uh we have 25 teachers who applied for this round. We have uh last round we had 24 teachers. So, we're up one. We haven't closed applications yet. uh and you can see the questions um is really looking at how involved are the teachers in the district. So we ask things like what kind of professional learning have you offered? What kinds of committees do you serve on? Uh is what is your track record for those things? How many hours have you tutored?

118So, we're looking for teachers who are heavily involved and are not just involved uh with students, but we're also looking for teachers who are involved in leadership with their colleagues. And so, we want to favor those people who are pouring into our programs and we can pour into them and help build them up. Um, and so that's you can notice that on what we ask. There is not a limit. Uh we don't say uh we don't say you have to have been here a year or two, but when you start looking at the kinds of things that student that teachers have done, uh if you're here one or two years, there's typically uh the teachers who've been here longer and have done more of these things, they quickly uh rise to the top. Our goal,

119we've had up to 20 teachers at a time right now just to manage the budget better. We're uh we run about a cohort of 10 due to uh trying to even out secondary and elementary. The last cohort we did had 12 students. So, we're looking at about a cohort of 10 students, and that would be uh starting this summer, and that would go through uh December of 27, I think. That's right. So, be 18 months. >> So, can I follow up with that? >> Oh, it was a good question. Do they sign a contract to stay for five years? Is there >> They do not. We've never made them do that. Uh Dr. Wilson and I have talked about that and I talked to Celinda. So, originally when we started this uh 13 years ago,

120um the school attorneys said that those they were telling you not to do that. Uh one of the reasons is motivational. If you have a person who uh is only staying because they owe the district money, then you probably don't want them in your classroom. And so that is why they uh they've suggested people don't do that. So we never did. We uh I remember the conversation with Linda 13 years ago and I had that conversation again this week with her and it was the exact same conversation. It's really about do you want uh do you want to hold them here or do you not? And we can go either way. I mean I don't care myself. Uh I think uh there are districts nearby who do that and there are districts who don't. So

121it's really up to the flavor of the board uh and what you want to do with that. Um we have had a so of the 137 teachers that we have had go through the master's program in 13 years uh there are uh 81% of them are still working for us. and 8% have either moved to a another district voluntarily or were involuntarily removed from the school district because that happens. Uh and then uh 11% have retired. So the majority uh definitely stay the five years and that's not been a problem. Um but there have been some that have retired within the last uh you know the third fourth fifth year somewhere in there. I was just looking at the bottom of the agreement number eight remaining in good standing with the university and policies. It

122says I may have to reimburse the district if I receive a C or lower on on a class final grade. I wonder if we could do something similar with that. may have to reimburse the district if I voluntarily leave, you know, probate or something. >> If we're going to do it, and I think we create the contract, have you guys approve it, and it's a legal document. It's I don't like the may I, you know, if we're going to do it, we do it. >> Yeah. I don't like the discussion in that. >> Yeah, I agree. Which I can work with her and bring something back to you. That would be fine by me. I understand you're want not wanting to feel like they need to be here, but I do think that they should

123probably sign some stipulations on the agreement. I don't I don't know how far we want to go with it, but I think it's a good idea to at least entertain it. >> Sure. Um >> for what stipulations for what? >> For I don't I don't want to have to say you may have to repay and then what at what point would you repay and how much I mean I think you should have some more def defining language >> as it relates to that provision. You're not talking about a contract or a term. >> I just think you need to sign an agree. Is that that okay? Like an agreement. Is that different? >> We've been doing it 13 years. >> How many How many people have gone through it? >> 137. >> Have we had

124any issues with any of those people? About >> up to now, it's not been an issue. There's We I know we had a lady get her master's degree two years later for family issues. She quit teaching. So, right, it's it's a handful >> concerned about what we're talking >> but I mean if they leave they leave part of it is >> part of it is devel I mean investing in our staff and our teachers and if we invest in them and educate them and make them better and they go to a different district and I think that's okay. We've made we've made kids better somewhere. Uh thus far it's not been that I agree with you. I don't think that you can hold them hostage for a term of five years for fear of oh

125we have to pay this back because we want to leave it go somewhere else. I mean part of what we are doing we're educating kids but we also need to invest in our staff and our teachers and if we make them better people and better educated and they're doing their job better whether it's here or somewhere else I don't think that's a loss. I think that makes us more desirable for other people to come in because we trust our staff and we give them that free that leeway. >> That's my opinion. I would be opposed to some type of >> Sure. Well, I know for certain that uh as we are hiring teachers, one of the attractants to our district is the fact we offer the M's course. Uh that is definitely something that uh

126is something that we can attract teachers with. Um and it's something that we retain new teachers knowing that you know if I stay here then I can get into this program. Um, it would def if it's $6,700, $6,800, you're looking at roughly $1,400 a year. So, if you leave at year three, then you owe us the diff. You know, it's >> I'm not as concerned about that. I mean, I I agree with you. I I don't I think you're doing the right thing letting them if they don't want to be here, we don't want them here. Um, >> investing in your staff without conditions. I mean, I I think I think if we're going to invest in our staff and and I don't think we should put a ton of conditions on it. I mean,

127it's the right thing to do. Uh, and it's it's a great program and it's a benefit we offer. And the more we condition it and the more we put restrictions on it, the le we lessen the benefit and and I I don't want to fix a problem that's not even happened. Um, I mean there there's I understand being proactive. I understand they should have clear guidelines. They certainly should understand what we expect for them from there. But to go much beyond that, it feels like we're we're trying to address something that hasn't happened. >> When I received my masters, when I was teaching, um, our school had none of these, they they handed us a ticket the basically the first week we were that we started teaching there. And it it was made clear to

128us before we ever started teaching that if we wanted to start taking master's courses um our first year teaching that was fine. And they handed us tickets that we turned into Illinois State University for credit hours and every teacher got it. We didn't even need to apply. >> Nice. >> And we kept those. We didn't have to pay the district back for it. That was one of our benefits. Um, and I know that I worked at a a slightly larger um, school district, but not much more. So, I kind of agree with you. Um, I don't think any of these need to be on here. >> So, if somebody gets a bel or below, we're not I I mean, why even have it in there? because >> well that's we have just said for professionalism

129if so if a uh in the master's course if you have a C you've basically failed that course so I don't want to uh pay >> for a right that is the reason uh eight is there is you are going to do what it takes to pass these courses because uh >> I get that but I mean I wouldn't want to have any discretion may yeah >> as an HR person may bother you. >> Yeah. So we put shall on that one. Uh they're signing this as they turn in the application. >> There might be an exception like suppose they had a family emergency or something that caused them to not be able to >> Sure. >> I mean I I think May ought to be there >> to allow for exception. >> Ran, what

130did you say? >> I I see what you I see what um Okay. So go ahead and say what you said. >> I think Okay. So, so it what Amber said was if they get a C, a blow a C, then that's basically not passing. However, that's just one one of the courses. >> One of the courses, right? >> It's it doesn't mean that they >> didn't pass some of the others. So, they may be taking what? Two, three classes a semester. >> two classes a semester. >> I still failed. And so then they failed one, but they passed the other. >> Well, we have never had we have never had anyone get a C, just so you know. Yeah. Uh it again, it's >> it's kind of kind of a good kind of good

131stick. Then >> it's all A's and B's. >> Right. >> We're we're creating contingencies for problems that haven't happened. >> It seems like this is more of a scholarship application than a just a gift to every teacher who comes to apply. It seems like a scholarship and scholarships usually have those kinds of requirements from them. So maybe that's we need to distinguish between those whether we want to do but that doesn't affect whether we renew it with the van. Right. >> Sure. >> And this is a great program. I know you gave a conference last year two years ago and lots of schools are modeling their uh programs after Ozark. >> Yes. >> I guess here's what I would say. The issue on the table is not all the conditions to the cohort agreement or

132the to this mast's agreement. The issue is who do we want? Which school do we want to work through? >> So, if you want to dig deeper and change this and do whatever else, I think we have a work session coming up. Sounds like we've got a full agenda now. Um, I would say that that's the issue, but otherwise, it's 912 and I'm sure some of the staff wants to go home and start exploring. >> I'll make a motion to approve as presented. I'll second that. >> Um, all in favor of evangel. >> Thank you. I will let them know. Uh, so I will we'll start going through applications and we will give uh I will just let teachers know as we go through the application process that we're looking at this. Uh, but I

133this is good enough to get us started. So >> it's neat that Dr. Pace is in charge. He knows Ozark, too. So, that's that's great. So, of course, Dr. Patterson is in charge of one, too. So, I wonder if they talk first. >> It was a hard conversation. >> Yeah. >> Right. That is the end of it. I will tell everyone I'll get better at this. My computer died right after you put me in this position. So, I was flying blind, but I did it. So, >> good job. >> Nice work. >> Good job. >> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. >> I'll move. >> I'll make a motion to adjurnn. >> Thank you. All right. Second. >> Second. >> All right. Let's all in favor go. All right. Thanks. I don't need to