001Do I have a motion first to reconvene open session at 7:00? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All those in favor? Okay. We will move into open session, but first we will start with the pledge of >> allegiance. Algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you all. First item on tonight's agenda is the uh is a consent agenda. I have a motion to approve all the items on the consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> All right. Any comments, questions, or items related to the consent agenda need to be pulled or concerns? All right. Hearing none. All those in favor of approval of the consent agenda? None opposed. Motion carries. We'll move
002directly into some admin reports and turn it over to Dr. Isacson for the superintendent report. >> All right. Well, thank you very much. Uh a few items on the superintendent report that I want to highlight. I'm going to start with some legislative update. Um, I've been working a lot with uh communicating with some of your representatives uh in Jefferson City, but just an update on some bills that are progressing. House Bill 2329, which is a personal property tax bill reducing that from 33 to 18% would have a negative impact on us of about$1.2 million dollars. Another House bill uh similar that the the language related uh to property taxes would actually have a negative impact of $1.4 million. And so just sharing those uh financial impacts. Um visited at length uh with several uh of
003our representatives regarding some of the debt service uh items. They're looking to be able to include that within a Hancock amendment which would then uh essentially prohibit what we've done by preparing our debt off and uh saving about 2.5 $2.8 million. And so I included uh when we had done those defeasences uh and the amount of money saved within that uh my superintendent report. So you can click on that to read the full amount. um state board of education met on February 10th uh and made a decision on the calendar of which I will let Miss Hilderbrand speak to that regarding the start date of school. And then the MSBA advocacy day is March 10th. Myself and Mr. Lynhor will be headed to Jefferson City. And if any other board member would like to go
004to Jefferson City on that date, please let Miss Noak know. And then also finally the Hillsboro Farmers Market um communicated with the Chamber of Commerce. The start date for that will be May 13th over at Bri Farm there. So kind of a quick superintendent report. Any questions on the superintendent report? >> All right. Well, we also have a special recognition this evening. Turn back over to you. >> And we do. >> I wonder who that is. We're going to embarrass Miss Hildbrand a little bit. So, we'd like to recognize Miss Hildbrand. So, allow me to please read uh some items. The administration and the board of education is proud to recognize Miss Melissa Hildebrand, associate superintendent of our district for being named the Greater St. Louis Region Assistant Superintendent of the Year uh by the
005Missouri Association of School Administrators. This regional honor recognizes exceptional central office leaders who demonstrate outstanding educational leadership, meaningful contributions to their districts, and a commitment to students, staff, and community. Miss Hildebrand has dedicated 21 years of service to Hillsbor R3. Throughout her tenure, she's displayed played a pivotal role in adv advancing academic achievement, strengthening district systems, and supporting student wellness initiatives, guiding facilities, and organizational improvements that have expanded opportunities for our students. Her leadership contributions include guiding the districtwide grade level realignments, expanding counseling and social work services to better support the connection between emotional wellness and academic success, promoting professional growth and mentorship across Jefferson County in the greater St. Louis region. supporting our district's participation and actually organizing in the women in leadership conference and advocating for women uh in educational leadership and serving
006uh multiple building leadership roles including the alternative high school principal, elementary principal, assistant principal at both the intermediate and high school uh levels. She provided stability and collaborative leadership uh serving as co- superintendent during the 1819 school year uh and just been a great partner and leading the district. Miss Hilderbrand will be formally recognized alongside other regional honories from around the state uh at the NASA Moso spring conference on May 18th. Congratulations will receive the board of education uh medallion stage. >> You don't have choice. It's taking you >> smile. >> One, two, three. >> Congratulations. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 21 YEARS. THAT'S A LONG TIME. >> Thank you. >> And now is your moment to shine as we transition to the curriculum and instruction report. >> Thank you. Now that my face is
007all red, um tonight I'd like to just provide share some information in regards to some other legislation that is coming down the pike. Um moving through the process pretty quickly. But before we get into that, I'd like to share some good good news as it relates to our um avenues for post-secary success for our students leaving high school. February is National Career and Technical Education Month and within your board packet there is a Jefferson County update um provided by Suzanne Richardson who is the director of the ATS college program. Along with that, there are thank you cards um from students to the board of education for providing those opportunities for them. Um as you are aware, the district in conjunction with Jefferson College offers a wide variety of CTE opportunities for our kids. These programs
008provide our students with some meaningful and essential essential practical things that they can take take directly from high school into the workforce if they so choose. We currently have 83 students um attending the ATS at Jefferson College and 934 enrollments within our high school programs, our high school CTE programs. Now, those are, you know, first semester, second semester, so they could be the same kids, but that is that is quite a few. Um, in addition to our CTE programs, the district is also in partnership with Jefferson College along with a couple of other post-secondary entities. um to offer our kids some early college experience. Um these opportunities allow our students to gain college credit while still being in high school and offer a significant discount to families um to do so. During the 2425 school
009year, um, students at the high school earned 1,332 hours of dual credit and 964 hours of dual enrollment credit with 14 of those students earning their associates degree while still in high school. Um, our high school students earned the most dual enrollment hours and the most associates degrees in Jefferson County. So, that is quite an accomplishment. Um, and we continue to experience growth in both our CTE and our early college. So, all of that information is very important when we move into the legislative update that I'd like to provide. Um, I'd like to draw your attention to the shift that is going to occur as it relates to accountability for school districts across the state of Missouri. There have been three different pushes um for a change in the accountability measures. The first coming from
010request a request from the state board of education. The second was an executive order from the governor and the third is house bill 2710. Um while there's subtle differences in the proposed all three call for an A throughF grading system for both the district as a whole and for each individual building. The state board requests the state board mandates an A throughF grading system where at least 90% of the rating is derived from standardized test scores. And if for those of you that are unaware, we take standardized tests one time a year. So a child in the third grade is um tested during one week time, typically in May, in math and in ELA. Um, as you may recall, our current accountability system under MSIT 6. The standardized tests account for only 70%. The other
01130% goes to our success ready measures like our attendance, like our how many kids are dyed. How many kids are in our CTEs earning their industry recognized credentials? So, that is quite a shift. Um, our current performance that I mentioned, I believe I did that back in November, our APR, so our accountability percentage was 80.5 as a school district. Um, which would correlate under this new law if this becomes law to a B. So, Hillsboro R3 school district would be listed as a B. um using the current methods that we use 7030. The state board is mandating or is requesting the mandate that the standardized test scores count for 90%. So if we use the same exact data, the same exact test scores, the same exact everything that we had in 2025 where we would
012be a B under our current accountability measures, we would move to a 66.82% which is a D. um on a 100 point scale. So this new system that they are proposing will increase the reliance on high stake standardized test results and marginalize our success ready measures um for not only our district but every district in the state of Missouri. Um uh this district and our entire community as a whole prides itself on providing opportunities for all students. Um and this new proposed legislation will diminish that value. statewide. The critical insight here um barring any changes is 84% of the school districts in the state of Missouri would drop at least one letter grade. So you would have we would be entering a time where the vast majority of our public schools in the state of
013Missouri would be a C, a D, or an F. Um so it's it's going to be interesting. The governor's part of this, his executive order includes a provision for private schools to voluntarily opt in to to this new system, this new accountability system. So, this is this is for public schools and the private schools would have the opportunity to opt in if they so chose. He also recommended a profici a proficiency model a growth to proficiency model I should say meaning you would have three years to get a kid from a below basic so say that scale score is 300 below basic you would have three years so by the time they're in sixth grade that proficiency level is 600. So, you're asking a kid to move 300 points in three years, which is uh
014crazy in my opinion. Um, House Bill 2710 further complicates things by asking to allow financial incentives for high academic performing schools. Remember, high academic performing schools, meaning a test score. um it would not include any of any of the other great things we have going on. So assuming that nothing changes um they have predicted that the range of the financial benefit for districts around the state of Missouri. So it's going to depend on your enrollment because you got more kids testing and you've got more data to draw from. And those kids who are proficient in advance, they would range that that financial benefit would be anywhere from $700 to $779,000. Again, depending on the enrollment and the proficiency level. Um, what we know right now is that we all have a lot of questions. It's
015all still in process. Um, it's expected to be out in in the fall of 2026. So, they've got a lot of work to do between now and 2026. And um I will keep you posted as that comes down. The second piece of um proposed legislation, although it seems not trivial, but it it seems okay, we we need to increase some physical exercise for all of our kids in school, right? Well, the modification requirements they're looking to change. So currently students have to participate in an average of 30 minutes of physical education and 20 minutes of recess. So you're talking K through K through six. The graduation handbook requires high school students to complete one credit. So that's two semesters of PE. Okay, easy enough. The proposed legislation will require 30 minutes of daily PE and
01620 minutes of recess for every student in grades K through five. So, right now, our little guys only go to PE class one once every three or four days. This is going to require them to do PE 30 minutes every single day in addition to a 20-minut recess. is also going to um require 6 through 12 students to participate in 60 minutes of PE daily. Not 20 minutes here, not 20 minutes there, not 20 minutes somewhere else. 60 minutes of continuous physical activity in a PE class daily, which again physical exercise, fantastic. If this is passed as it is as it is written, we will not only have to get super creative, especially at um the junior high and high school level. um it could have some impact on some of our current scheduling practices
017and things that we offer to our kids because right now you've got a a student in high school having to take one year of PE >> versus the graduation handbook versus every student in the high school every day 60 minutes of continuous physical education and there is no clause if you're an athlete. There is no exception as it's currently written. Both of these um pieces of legislation have come out of the committee voted to move on. Um and I will keep you posted as we class >> as we move forward >> and a class period is not 60 minutes longary level. >> So when you're 60 minutes at a secondary level, your classes are what 50 minutes 52 48. I mean, the time has to come from somewhere, but don't forget, we have to get
018everybody ready to be proficient on the test. >> Yeah. >> So, we're going to we're going to have to get creative as if these things follow through, but I I do anticipate the A through F mandate will not sure what it'll look like when it's finished, but I will keep you posted. these two things is and I want to say something like that's the frustration of what we have going on right now like is individuals in Jefferson City who are elected representatives uh collectively are making a decision but they're not in this room of other locally elected representatives that are advocating for our children is these items um that Miss Grand just talked about and you're going to see the article in the leader newspaper and I'm my picture's in there with a quote >>
019but the thing is is as a school district that we take pride in is we do care about our kids. We want them to get physical activity. Um, but the mandates there and if our funding is going to be tied to the standardized test reading between the line, if you're a parent listening to this is you don't have the dual like what we just talked about dual credit. There's not time to go to Jeffco in the afternoon for welding class because you got to take PE for an hour. You got there at 7:30. You got to figure out how to get that in there. So that's going to limit like those classes are going to go away in some form and if you've already done summer school because you're like hey I want to do
020band so I took summer school take the e that doesn't count you still got to take it in your schedule so things like the egg program or CTE program that all goes away you're reading writing arithmetic and working out that is what the schedule is going to be at high school >> I'm going to retire >> is those classes and opportunities that kids really kind of build connection is and if you don't so then it forces the districts to are we okay with the D because we want these things for our children in our community and me and Melissa actually talked about that today I'm like personally I am but the issue becomes that's publicized so when she and she brought up a good point when you look in the newspaper and you want to
021move to a district and and you're looking at the school and the state says Hillsboro is a D and we know what we have and the opportunities but the greater communities around when you're moving in isn't. So it literally forces the hand of local school districts on decisions made 200 miles away regarding what are we going to do with PE >> in the big scheme of things like how is that even talked about as a pressing state matter that um I don't mean to pontificate on that but that's those are the type of things that make it challenging uh >> in the environment Yes. >> Good news though, transition quickly. The Nest is coming out. Should be coming into your mailboxes uh very soon. Very excited about this uh edition of The Nest will be
022coming out some information about that and celebrating the great things that we have going. Thanks. Any questions on the construction report this month? Okay, one more report and that is our monthly financial report. All right. We did the the midyear uh report uh in January of everything through December. So, if you can just go through there. Uh this was our beginning of the year. Couple of adjustments were made after we did uh the budget adjustment in January. started the year with $23 million uh in reserves. That includes our debt service uh reserves which are restricted. Uh no, actually those were not not on the 23 wouldn't include that service. Those are our unrestricted uh funds. Capital projects we had 4.7 million in and then 17 million in operating. Uh next slide there. So this kind
023of um states some things. So, we've recognized 67% of our expected revenue for this year. Um, our revenues have jumped up with January and February as our local uh property taxes come in with uh the December bills that go out. We've spent approximately 65%. And right now, we have a net position of positive 3.9 million. I have two big asterisks there because uh that if you go to the next slide uh includes um $4 and a half million dollars from the HVAC loan that we've already we closed on this fall that will pay for the HVAC work this summer, but we have to count that from an accounting perspective as revenue. So when you take that back, our actual net position is negative630,000. We had projected a negative uh 6.2 uh million with the capital
024spending. So that'll be some adjusting based on where we're at right now. So next slide um is just some historical comparisons. Um and I kind of outline the same thing in a different way. shows the net operating at 3.9. Um, but it's important to note that 4 and a.5 million. So, uh, the three-year kind of run looks fairly consistent, which is what we would anticipate. Next slide, sir. Um, revenue breakdown by source. Um, this is uh interesting as far as when you see uh kind of the year-to- date on some items. As you can see, the federal government um has went down by about 600,000 as we came out of COVID uh spending and some other uh changes there. state funding uh has stayed relatively consistent. So within two $300,000 year-over-year I show the four
025and a half million uh in the other category. Um so it gives a kind of a breakdown and comparison from previous years. On the next slide, our expenditures shows where we're at in each category. special revenue is our teachers fund. One of the reasons that shows at 46% is teachers get three checks in June. So there's a little bit of a hold back um from each teachers check. So that shows that because you're like, "Wow, we're already through December. We haven't spent that money." Um one of the reasons it hasn't been spent is we're holding back the June check. um debt service is that money was pulled out to make that bond payment uh in March that they we pulled that in January. Capital projects and our activity fund um is all running as to
026be expected. The next slide, three-year comparison on expenditures. I won't go through that individually, but it shows a comparison year-over-year uh for reference. This is all in the board packet as well. and online investments. I just included that this month. Um this month are it bumped up to we actually made 123 uh,000 in earnings. Um the big part of that is just because of the amount of money that got pushed into taxes versus yield. Interest rates are going down. Uh and then the chart on the the right is the previous year. And as a reminder, it looks like we made a ton of money last January. That was because we had actually uh cashed in and pulled out our bonds. We made a payment on our bonds, $13 million. And so that was that pull
027out. So um but still doing all right as far as total earnings this year. On the next slide, of mid year, we made almost $600,000 in interest, which is awesome to be able to uh to grow our taxpayer dollars. So, I believe that's the last slide. Oh, this information uh is in the nest and will be uh on the district website if you click on the far lefthand tab about the district. Monthly financial reports are in there. So, you can always look and there's all the historical ones and month over month for activity, investment, and our financial documents like I just ran through. That's it. Any questions on the financial report this morning? Okay, we will move on to public comments. We have any items of public comment tonight? Okay. All right. So, we do
028have three items of public comment tonight. Before we call up our first visitor to address the board, just want to share just a little bit of information about our public comment policy. So, in accordance with our board policy, which is labeled under section BDDH, individuals are invited to address the board for no no more than three minutes on their choice of topic, uh my role may interrupt the comment session if the topic is one that we can't legally discuss here in open session or it strays from the the topic as uh as requested on the signup sheet. And also, as a reminder to those in attendance tonight, board members are prohibited from comment and discussion that is not a part of this this month's agenda specifically. So with that, I'll ask that our first visitor
029to the board, Grant Bissell, um join us at the podium here, and his topic is with regards to a request to consider a tax rate increase. So Mr. Bissell, before you get started, I'm going to uh prime this timer with a couple of minutes for you. I appreciate >> and uh I'll give you the floor in just a second here, but just wait for the the tone as an indication that three minutes are. >> All right, I appreciate it. >> Floor is yours. Well, thank you very much uh members of the board. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight and uh thank you for the responsible way you and the school board school district's leadership have handled the school district's finances. Um I'm a proud graduate of Hillsboro High School, class of 2002. Tonight
030I'm I'm also here on behalf of my two kids, a seventh grader and a third grader and as a member of the Hillsboro community. um the work that has been done in this district to significantly reduce debt, continuing to operate within the district's uh means and also to be good stewards and keep the county's or our tax district as one of the lowest tax rates in the entire county is impressive. Um and it has built a lot of goodwill in the community toward um the members of this board and and predecessors. Um, I can tell you it's greatly appreciated, even if it's not set out low. It should be set out low. Um, that work has set up our district from a position we were in in the past to have a brighter future. And
031I think that it's a realistic possibility that that brighter future may include open enrollment and school choice. And if we get to that point, Hillsboro is going to find itself in a recruiting race with every other school district in our area. Uh, attracting new students and keeping current students at the same time is going to feel a lot like colleges and universities doing that same thing around the country at this point. Um, I think some of the things that attract and or retain most students are things like academics, career and practical skills training in schools programs, extracurriculars, athletic and arts facilities, and safety. Um, and I know this is not an applesto apples comparison. It's certainly not a shout at our district, but when you consider all of those things, it's hard to argue that
032the Fesa School District is leading the way in a lot of those categories. Again, not apples to apples. Uh, I think it's a real possibility that in the future, um, the students who are thinking about attending Hillsboro may decide to instead take that trip down Highway A to have access to some of these those things that I just mentioned. Um, as someone who played football and ran track at the old athletic complex right down here, um, I'm very proud to see the way that we have grown our athletic facilities. It's incredible. Um, I was also in band. I was part of the uh the theater program as well. So I know what we have now is considerably considerably better than what I and a lot of you know as the old high school. Um but
033as a good parent, I want better for my kids than I had growing up. I want to see the best facilities. I want to see the best faculty and staff and the best opportunities for our students. Also, as someone who was in the old high school at the time of the Coline shooting, safety is top of mind for me still to this day with my kids approaching high school age. Uh, all of those things said, I know this comes with a major price tag to make the types of improvements that I'm talking about. And, uh, I don't take that lightly. I am here tonight to ask the board on behalf of the community to consider exploring a tax rate increase that may help fund these types of improvements that will not only serve our students
034but also the greater community in the Hillsboro area as a whole. Um if it is determined by this board, I trust that your judgment will will lead us in the right direction down this path. If it is determined by this board that more tax money is needed, then I would welcome the opportunity to have discussions as a member of the community with you all about how we make this a reality, how we grow our district and keep Hillsboro as a destination district in Jefferson County. Uh that said, thank you very much for your time and the continued work you do to support not only our students but our community as a whole. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your community. Our next member of the community to address the board is Steve Hatcher. Um, and
035his topic is on the uh on a tax rate increase. Hatcher, I'm priming our timer here with another three minutes and the floor is yours or take away. >> All right. Good. Good evening members of the board. My name is Steve Hatcher and I'm here to as a parent of a kindergartener, third grader and a member of the Hillsboro community. First, I want to thank the board and the district leadership for the way you guys have managed the district's finances over time. The community has watched the district reduce debt, operate responsibly, maintain one of the lowest tax rates in Jefferson County. Hills became a destination district because people believe in our schools and an experience the students have here and we want to protect that. I'm here tonight because the environment around school is changing
036and looks like open enrollment is going to pass. It happens, it will affect every district in Missouri. Families will have more choices. Schools will have to work harder to make the district's family's choice. When families are deciding where to live, they don't start with spreadsheets. They look at the total experience. They know it's the classrooms, the fields, the arts, and the overall condition of a district. When you compare Hills to other schools in the area, we are falling behind. Many local schools are making improvements to their facilities. Safety is our number one concern as parents. Unfortunately, we are years behind on the entrance into the high school. Our students deserve to come to school and feel safe and secure. This should be a non-negotiable priority. I've had the pleasure of being brought into the Hillsboro's
037baseball family. We are a proud and growing family. We what we are not proud of is the state of our baseball facility is a major risk to our players. A risk that is turning away competition due to unsafe condition of the playing field. Just as a secure interest is a priority, a safe field is as well. The current plan is to add layers of dirt from other states on top of what is currently we currently have. That is extremely hard to maintain and only serves as a band-aid. To maintain dirt playing surface to a safe level of a standard, you need a crew of people who know exactly what they're doing and it's going to be super expensive. The students of Hillsboro deserve a well-maintained and safe field. The best option to provide that is
038a turf field. It will cost it will be cost effective in the long term as well. So tonight, I'm respectfully asking the board to consider swing a tax rate increase in a long range plan that allows our district to continue building on its success. I understand this is a significant request and do not make it lightly, but I also believe the community's trust has been earned. You have shown you can manage resources responsibly and that matters in moments like this. Keeping a low tax rate cannot be only a goal if it limits our ability to plan for the future. Maintaining your destination status requires additional revenue to ensure modern families and stronger opportunities for students in the classroom in the arts and activities and I believe you should be willing to consider that investment. Thank
039you guys for your time. >> Thank you. Appreciate you sharing your comments tonight. Uh our last visitor to address the board is Jeremy Hajj also on the topic of a tax rate increase. >> So I think you guys are getting a common theme here. So, I have a lot of the same talking points. My name is Jeremy Hodgej. I also have two kids, a 10-year-old and a 15y old. So, we moved here about 15 years ago because of the school district. So, great great job. Everybody uh could keep it up. I want to start to say that my 15-year-old is in high school and I do have concerns about how to get in and out of that building, how easy it is. So, we really need to be talking about how we can help get
040that a safer, more even place to go. And going with that, these guys are talking about it. The the baseball field really needs some help. I I know you guys probably around here, you've seen different things. Our baseball field is not like the rest of them. You go to Fesus and you look at their baseball field, it's primo. And we need that here. We need to keep bringing this school up to the level of our competitors and our different districts. So, you know, this doesn't come easily. I'm sure I've talked to some people. You're not going to get members to come up here and say, "We are okay with raising taxes to get to things, but you've got three guys here that have all said the same thing. You know, we want to do the
041right thing for the school district." So, we're around, we're competitive, we're bringing new people, new families in. So, hear us out. You know, if there's an opportunity for us to help decrease facilities, make it better, that's what we're asking for. You know, we're here. We're all parents. We've all been students. We know what it's like to go to different school districts and see the different things. And we need the best for what we've got. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate all your comments to see if you can join us. Next on our list tonight is some new uh business. The first of which is the approval of the 2627 school calendar. Do I have a motion to approve that calendar as presented? >> Motion second. >> Okay. Comments or questions about the coming year's calendar.
042>> This calendar is a little bit different than previous years. Labor Day is as late as it possibly could be on our calendar. Um which messes with semester breaks. We started out with 73 and a 90. We'd like it a little bit more even than that. Just some highlights. We did remove fall break from first semester and made a full week of spring break, second semester, and move some PD days around so we can make the semester just a little bit more even. We won't see calendar like this until the year 2037. So, >> what's the what's the start of school for the fall? >> August the 24th. >> 24th. It's a bit of a late start. appreciate the insight. >> Other questions or comments on >> how does that affect the students that will
043be at ETS since the college starts the week before? >> We've always made arrangements for that. They'll they'll come the week before um when we don't have necessarily the same weeks. The kids will make arrangements to get there. >> We've been working through that for several years. We can't get it all because you all can start earlier than >> Yeah, >> we can. Other thoughts. >> Okay, hearing none. All those in favor of approval? None opposed? Motion carries. Uh our next item of business is the approval of some change orders and the final construction cost on uh the high school kitchen remodel. Do I have a motion to approve the contract change orders one, two, and three for the high school teaching kitchen remodel and approve that final contract amount of $327,459 to Rock Miller
044Construction? >> Second. >> So, um bring that up. Uh we've talked a lot about facilities and facilities enhancements and taking care of uh being stewards of taxpayer dollars. Uh about a year ago, Miss Hiller and Mr. Reed now wrote a grant to upgrade our fax and culinary room to add a culinary uh lab to our high school. And that is near completion. We're about two weeks, three weeks out. We'll have to go through the proper steps of getting uh um fire marshall in there to check check all of our permitting. But uh anyway, we had three major change orders. A lot of it had to do with electric. anytime you have a current facility and have to go in and start tearing it out. Um we had to do some major electrical upgrades just from
045the original planes. It just wasn't enough electric and enough panels. So you'll see that's the biggest portion there on change order number one. Two major um electrical modifications. If you go to change order number two um two floor drains we had to add in for the um that's not yet. We had to add in a gas line for an RT unit. So obviously we're upgrading the HVAC HVAC system throughout the the building. Um because of all the um burners that's going in and exhaust, we had to add an additional RTU unit. And so the additional piping for that and then the last one was the installation. The third one was the installation of the two drains that were that were not originally on the plans for the water lines for the combi ovens. Um so
046all of that totaled as mentioned slot all that totaled out to be an additional um uh 30,000 or roughly 30,000 to the the construction project and then next slide. So this is the current um fax room or previous fax room I guess you should say now this was the previous fax room and then on the left you can see we motoriz modernized it we opened it all up um the stainless steel tables that's not where they're going to go they're just they put them together place them in another room but uh you see the cabinetry is all opened up we made ADA compliant one one section so uh we were mindful of that and then the culinary lab this was the original room they used it for kind of a catch-all, health, sewing, um several
047other items, but it was kind of a catch-all room. And now it has six. On the left side, you can see the six um student workts and on the right side, we have a full culinary kitchen, fryer, uh griddle top, um dishwasher. But anyway, we would after the approval of these, we would like to invite the board for the next board meeting either prior to or schedule some kind of scheduling to walk through and tour it. I know Miss Husky and some of the students are going to give a tour and make some snacks for you guys. So, we want to do that right before around 6 p.m. right at the insights and the update. Any questions on these change orders or the final contract amount? So, we're close to substantial completion. >> Yeah. A
048few few minor things and then like I said, we'll have to go through permitting and making sure that it pass inspections. >> Okay. Any other questions on this side? >> Oh, and we have submitted for >> payment request >> payment reimbursement for the project. So, obviously it's not fully it's about 6040, but um you know other thoughts hearing none. All those in favor of the None opposed. Motion carries. Right. On to our next item, which is the approval of the school photography vendor. Do I have a motion to approve school photography services? Is this is a three-year contract to Wagner Portrait Group. >> Eric, any questions on this country? >> Yeah, I have a few three or four maybe. >> So, reading through it and the breakdown that was that's in the packet. Um, and
049I I don't know if that was what kind of led to that grading, but there were some differences between what was actually in the in the bid versus what was listed in the packet. >> One of them was photo IDs. It said, you know, um, Wagner and Live in the board packet had mentioned that those were free and that Interstate wasn't, but Interstate actually lists that in their bid that they are included. I think it's listed on page six and 16 of their of their bid packet. Um the entry level packet there was like a $5 difference there. Both Wagner and Interstate were the same cost for an entry level packet. That's on page five of that. Um the middle package was listed as $20. It was 18. So again, a little bit of a
050difference there. Um the graduation package minimum price. It was actually just listed as higher for Interstate, but it actually was lower than Wagner. was $16 versus $ 199.99 for that minimum price. Uh said their retake free was not specified as listed in there on page six as being free. So I I just I want to make sure that those didn't play into that grading. And then into that grading, the questions I had was, you know, listed photography quality and consistency. How is that graded? How are we looking at that? you know, especially if we've never used um Lifetouch or, you know, if it's been a couple years since we've even used Interstate, you know, how are we grading that and comparing them to other to to Wagner in this case, customer service and responsiveness, how
051can we grade that? I think that's a very subjective piece. And they both had a, you know, 100% satisfaction guarantee, if you will, in their bid. Um, and then my final question, >> uh, told you I had a lot here. I'm sorry. You're right. >> But, uh, the use of banners from other photography providers. So, I've heard rumblings that um are that Wagner wasn't happy that some programs went outside of them for the banners that they have. And you know, there was a lot of reasons that I've heard that they did that. Cost um you know, trying it is a little bit cheaper. Um timeliness of receiving them. Um you know, some programs receive their banners midway through the year. So, you know, I I that's a big piece for me because if we have
052a booster group, for example, paying for these banners, but then, you know, I want to make sure there's not going to be any issue with them displaying them, so to speak. You know, I want to make sure there's nothing in that contract. And then finally, and I'll shut up. For me personally, um I've had a lot of issues, customer service issues with our current vendor since we've started. Um I mean, it's been three years now. Every year with one of our kids, we've had something. Um, and even, you know, sitting in the stands at a game, you know, people I hear people say the same thing. So, I just I'm really hesitant moving forward with them, my opinion, just because of the stuff that I've seen. It's just that I've seen. So, I'm done. That's
053it. >> Um, so, as far as the I I've not heard of any issues um or concerns. I I wish I've known that before that. Um, I have heard of concerns with the previous vendor just through people said just was harder to work with. um didn't get a lot of specifics from them. Just the the last three years have been pretty smooth transition. I know I spoke to Mr. Oiler. He said that their support on the um tech side, uploading photos through our student information system has been very streamlined. We get way more support. Um it's easier to get in contact with them because they're they're locally owned and they're not, you know, they're not a larger a larger um business. They're more s locally based. Uh, another major factor was none of the other
054ones offered the video, photo, or for media for athletics. Um, not that that was a deciding factor, but it did play I mean it did play a major role in in into those. >> And I noticed one difference with the athletic was there was a fee for the for Interstate to do that. It was like a $100 fee per team, but if there were more than three teams, it was a 20% discount with that. So that didn't Wagner was included. So I know that, you know, that was a difference, too. So, what when you say the video piece of that, what do we use that with? I know doesn't like I know with football, doesn't Tim Arnold do a lot of the videography for their intros and stuff? Is there other video pieces that occur
055that can >> Yeah, this was um incorporating that because Tim does do the recording. He also does the editing is just uh as when Clay was putting together the RFP thinking down the road is it's just >> to transition to even if they're capturing the content then we have the people to edit it together but it's the hardest and they have the professional equipment from a long-term investment standpoint which why we threw that in there. Tim and a district employee will still do the editing of it. This is just content grabbing with their cameras and such. What's the premise? >> You had a number of questions. Did they all get answered? >> I think so. Sorry for throwing that all out. We can >> No, that's >> And I would have gotten it to you.
056I literally didn't get a chance to look at this. We I mean two days ago. So I apologize better to table it for a month and get some of those answers. >> I think first off what I I mean if we could rescore that initial breakdown that would be very helpful um for me um you know at least generally looking like that. Um, and I really would like that, like I said, that, you know, if we do have a group that does go out for their own banners, we don't, you know, we want to make sure that they can still display those and there's nothing written to that. I don't know if there would be, but I'm thinking worst case scenario, make sure they have that opportunity. So, >> the motion on the floor right
057now is to approve as presented. So, we're still in discussion. So, if there is any amendments amongst the group that would like to be made to the motion, the floor continues to be open. >> Yeah. Because three years is three months. votes on. >> I mean, if we if you guys are okay, I table it to recalculate >> until next time desired until the the March. >> Yeah. It doesn't go up till July 1st. So, >> and that's not going to put us in a buying. >> No, absolutely not. So, >> so Mr. Stevenson, your motion is to table this to the time, which is next month, uh, for approval. I hear a second to that motion. >> Sorry. >> Second stage. Any further discussion this evening? All those in favor of approval tableabling it,
058bringing it back next month. None opposed. Thank you. >> Good discussion. Appreciate the question as well. >> Okay, moving on to some board policy items. Um, this is a second read. So, we do have action on um policy revisions 2025E. So, do I have a motion to approve those policy revisions as presented? >> Second. >> Any questions on these policy items this month? >> Hearing none. All those in favor of approval. None opposed. Motion carries. Next is related to our board education onboarding and mentorship program. We have a motion to approve the implementation of the Hillsboro R3 board mentorship program. Onboarding would begin for our new members in March, April 2026 as proposed during our January workshop. >> All right. Any questions on the mentorship program? Ruminating on this for a couple of months. >>
059Talking talking about it for a while. We're gonna send all of them to Eric mentor. We'll work through that in the next couple of months. Uh any other questions or comments on the program. All right. Hearing none. All those in favor of approval. Okay. Opposed? The motion carries. All right. One other item tonight on the new business side. Approval of the 2627 district insurance rates and the establishment of the employee benefit stabilization fund. Do I have a motion to approve this as presented? >> All right. Sure. You want to share background? >> So, this is annually we approve um our district insurance rates that uh we extend to our employees and retirees. We just had ource meeting which is the consortium uh that we're a part of with Fesus Duncan um R seven and Elberry
060and St. Clair. Um on that right now we're actually running uh fairly well and so we're running it right at 100%. What that means is what we pay in premium is what we're pushing out in uh the cost to provide to healthcare for employees. And so with our pharmacy rebate, we're actually around a little bit less than that, which dropped us a tier. And so from the uh our costs, uh are going from $300,000 a month approximately for our employees to 305,000. So it's about a 1.8% 8% increase uh within the board packet and as I looked at this from a district perspective is uh I've been doing this a long time and like insurance kind of es and flows and we rely on you know the health of our staff etc and um each
061year there's little nuances that may impact that running right at 100% anytime if we were running at like 103 104 105 But um that may necessitate a jump up in this year and we had several districts in our consortium actually do that. And so our 1.8 this year um as far as getting build some districts are getting a 15%. And um our kind of our trend in 202021 we had a 15% then we had a zero then we had a negative 13 then we had a plus 1.2 2 plus 8.1 plus 10.5, excuse me. But when you look at that kind of annualized over a five-year period, it kind of bounced right back to where we were previously. But that eb and flow is hard on families, hard on employees, and from a morale standpoint
062when we're giving raises and such. So, the rates uh presented tonight actually reflect if we had stayed in the tier that we were previously. Uh that was actually an 8.4%. I'm proposing a 7% um that the district contributes towards insurance to our teachers and so um and planning as such. Now, so what that will mean is uh an employee on their PSRS and all that will have that full 7% quoted in is it will operate as if we had a 7%. That will actually generate about $200,000 um that we will put into an activity account. We're going to call it the employee uh employee uh benefit stabilization fund. Uh Miss White will have that in our activity account. And the purpose of that is this is rather than having a 15% one year is as
063a district we're going to stabilize that to where if our health for employees when necess says hey you have a 15% increase as a district we already have approximately 200,000 uh will be off this year but we anticipate based on our current employees to then say the cost is going up 400. We already have the 200, so we're having like, oh, next year we'll be a 7% as well. And the goal is always to be basically between four and 8%. Is where it just kind of does this instead of the yo-yo. And so, um, that's the recommendation to both, uh, set the rates in those plans for, um, our employees. As far as employee only, there's no changes as far as um anything coming out of their pockets. Even if you have the uh base
064plan, middle plan, or the high plan on those three, it would be 99 149 and 169. Um for those employees in the HSA, uh there's still no cost. We are increasing our HSA contribution from 106 to 110. That $4 this today. When you extrapolate that up for all the employees who are on the HSA, $4 uh a month, ends up being $10,000 annually is what $4 means to each employee because it's $48 per person. So figuring all of that in, um our actual cost that of money we will uh be sending away will be right around 75,000. So we'll build up that stabilization fund which is our books. We collect interest on it. Our employees will get the benefit of that on their PSRS for anyone near on the back end and just stabilizing it
065for our retirees as well. One other um item of note is on the healthcare. Um this is hot off the presses is our HSA used to be $3,000 and then it moved to $3,300 this year and that is an IRS requirement. That's actually moving to 3400 next year and I'll be sending this information out to staff tomorrow. So, we're increasing the minimum deductible for the HSA to 3,400. Um, but as we looked at it as a committee, uh, is we're reducing the out-ofpocket max on that from 4500 to 4,000. And so while that's minimums going up, the most if you're I'm on the HSA is and my wife is. So our family if we both needed the most our family would ever be medically exposed is $8,000. Individual be $4,000. So an entire family with
066kids is $8,000. So that's actually uh better off. So, and dental is going up um right around 7%. And vision will have zero% increase. Doctors stay right. >> All right. Uh any questions or comments on this or this this uh the rate changes or this stabilization fund? >> I think it's a really really good idea. >> I think you know you know we s year. I look at salary and benefit packages. That's the one variable that we can't control, you know, and doing what I do every day. I see the cost of those medications. I just had a I just looked at a $32,000 a month medication for one of our patients today. Okay. And all it takes is one, you know. So, I think adding some stability to that helps us every year, but
067it also kind of gives some reassurance to our staff that, you know, that paycheck's going to stay a little bit more steady, you know, year in and year out, even when you have those curve balls thrown at you. So, I really like this this idea. Question though, because if we, you know, if we have this sitting in that account and and you know, maybe we don't use it for two years, you know, there might be a two three $400,000 amount sitting in there. Um, is there any way we can, for lack of a better word, protect that money so that only the board can approve its use or what it's only used for as it's listed here. And if it's ever to be used for something different, it has to go through an approval process
068from the board. How could we I mean, does is that something that we would want to consider? And if we did, how would we do that? >> Your concern is that the funds that would be raised from this are kind of in the general operating >> funds right now. >> You know, I I my fear would be is, you know, we've planned all this out, we have this here, and then 10 years down the road, we've got another board, another, you know, admin team, and that, oh, hey, I've got two steps sitting here. You know, I don't I don't need to. we've got it right here and pulls that up and drains it and then we're back to square one. So, just kind of protecting that, you know, with us planning ahead, planning for the
069future, not wanting that that money to get, you know, cut off the knees, if you will, right at some point. I don't know if it's possible, if it's suitable, if you know, or if we want to consider that, but >> yeah, thoughts thoughts on that. >> I mean, aside to protect us from those peaks and valleys, right, and protect our st I like the idea of protecting those funds. >> I think that would require um a motion to to to introduce that as part of the resolution if we wanted to to create a a respectively a board designated a restricted fund um for that as it's presented right now. It would be just part of general operating. So >> from a legal standpoint, there's no issues with directing it for that. No, because it's um
070basically it' be a it's not like or the state says you it's restricted you put a cap. It's just going to be an activity account that's uh essentially a board directive that money in the employee stabiliz benefit stabilization account is to be used for employee benefits only. Um and uh any would require uh approval by the board of education. That way it's not where a superintendent is like, "Oh, I got this that we can move that money is um it's set aside for the employees." And I think that would be prudent. And um when you're doing this, it is like uh I'll use me as an example. Ashley's on my account as a spouse at 7%. we're actually going to be paying in a little bit more this year. And the public is more than
071just district funds. It's John Isacson's funds for if there would be a 15% increase next year. And so we owe that to those in there. And I think that >> provides stability to >> So just kind of gathering thoughts here. um an amendment to uh what's currently on the floor would be something along the lines of a motion to restrict lease funds specifically for efforts related to insurance rate stabilization. So there's if we'd like to move in that direction take a motion to approve that as a as an amendment motion here a second to that Dr. Reed. Okay. So there's order of operations stuff here first. Uh any further discussion on this amendment um in the language that we presented here. So all those in favor then of approving the amendment as we're discussing in
072in place opposed. So now we kind of have the two amend the two motions rolled together. Um so if there's any further discussion on the the uh the rate changes or on the restricted fund function floor is open for discussion now. Okay. Any other thoughts? >> Okay. Hearing none. All those in favor of approval. None opposed. Motions carried. All right, that ends our uh our our our new business tonight. Check on the uh important dates in the calendar. Got several regularly scheduled meetings ahead of us and uh in May and we will uh have the board awards as we annually do um adjacent to a personnel discussion uh close session during that time frame. So uh with that in mind um we are uh completed tonight. Do I have a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting?
073>> 804. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Motion. Motion.