001um that we have each year and it is in compliance um with 79-724. This document can be found on our web page and it outlines each component of the key requirements and then the district's response to it. Um, this particular law focuses on American civics and specifically the social studies curriculum. So, that will be the focus of the conversation tonight. Um this hearing sets opposite of um our parental involvement hearing that we have um in June or July. And the reason that's very strategic because we do involve and give opportunity for our parents um to be involved when we adopt a new curriculum and look at the resources and so on that we're evaluating. So, with that being said, we're going to talk about social studies, which is a little um awkward because social studies
002is not currently in our cycle. So, it's going to be very similar to what you heard last year. So, I know you're on the edge of your seats. Um, so the social studies standards were adopted in 2019. They are developed by the Nebraska Department of Education. And you can see there that they have a very direct mission statement as to the purpose behind the social studies curriculum and the standards that are used to um ensure that they it is indeed implemented. I just kind of tried to capture at a 3500 foot view our school board or a town meeting and it also allows the students to develop the actions and dispositions needed to fulfill the civic rights and responsibilities as US citizens. The overview um the standards are broken into two bands. There's a K8
003um those are written specific at each grade level. So you could look on our web page or on the Nebraska Department of Education's web page. And there's first grade standards, second grade standards, and so on all the way up to eighth grade. Those standards are organized in each one of those domains that civics, economics, geography, and history. The high school standards are written as one band. They are not broken by grade level. And that's because different districts have different graduation requirements. But all students in the state of Nebraska that adopt the standards are required to cover the same material. And I noted that currently the Nebraska Department of Education is working on they're at the early stages of updating the social studies standards. And that takes a couple years to do. And then um once
004they put those out, they'll ask for public input um on those. They'll put those out publicly. And then eventually um once the state board of education approves them, we'll bring them back to you as the school board to adopt them for Pavilion L Vista. As far as the curriculum cycle, like I've said, we're at full implementation. Social studies has been out a couple of years. Um our curriculum does align with those Nebraska state standards. And the only change that we've had actually happened last year, and that was we had a personal finance class, but with the change in law um making it a graduation requirement for every student in Nebraska, we did update that um as well. And then just to capture, these are our current courses that we offer in the area of social
005studies in Pilonian Lista Community Schools. You can see there that um in the elementary the topics kind of repeat based on those domains. Fourth grade still focuses specifically on Nebraska geography, government and history. And then in sixth grade they really start to get into the um ancient world. And then in secondary you can see how it's broke out with US history um being split between eth and nth grade. Um, and then government specific is in 12th. We do have some 11th graders that are overachievers that take it early, but it's written as a 12th grade class. And that brings the end to the presentation on the American civics hearing. Questions or comments? All right. Well, seeing none, thank you, Dr. Siri. Uh we do not have any public comment uh in regards to the American
006Civics Curriculum Hearing. So with that, I will join the uh American Civics Curriculum Hearing at 6:06 p.m. All right, moving on to our regularly scheduled agenda. Obviously, I already noted that the opens meeting law is posted at the entrance of the room. Uh we've completed call to order as part of the hearing. So we will move straight into section two communications item A. I don't believe we have any recognitions this evening. So we will move right on to our student council report from Pilion Le Vista High School. Welcome Maggie Novak and Lexi Souza. Good evening. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Maggie Novak. I'm the president of student council at PL Vista High School. >> I'm Lexi Souza and I'm the vice president. Uh we have a couple updates for you guys tonight. Um
007as a student council, we hosted a food drive with NHS last week. Uh our theme was soups and sandwiches. So we were connect collecting peanut butter and jelly and all sorts of soups for the Sarby County Care Center. And tomorrow we're actually packing them all up to go deliver them. We also recently had a color of hope game that isn't sponsored by student council. It's run by the whole school. Uh we raised over $9,000 for the American Cancer Society. Uh and then our sponsor for that, Miss Mat, has been leading it for many, many years, but she is retiring this year. So, it was her last year. Throughout her career, we have raised a hund over $150,000 throughout her time doing that campaign. And then a couple weeks ago, we had an eighth grade parent
008night. So, all the eighth graders and their families came and met with sports sponsors and clubs to kind of get into their schedule planning because they were picking out their high school classes. So, um it's the first year we've done this event and it was really cool to get them interested in clubs and activities before they get their schedule. Uh so they know all the opportunities they have before coming to the high school. >> Um with our unified recognition, we are still um recognized as that. This year we added a unified cheer team and they performed at our basketball game of pep rally recently and the unified basketball game against South is scheduled for March or yeah March 10th. We are also in full swing with show They have been competing over the past few
009weekends with a and will host a large competition on the 14th. And our dance team went away to Orlando, Florida for national last nationals last week. They will return back to school tomorrow, hopefully with exciting news. And Papio Proud is currently planning an event for the multicultural fair on Thursday, March 12th. The event is usually has food and activities that celebrate the school's cultural differences. And our winter sports are heading into the last part of their seasons. Our girls bowling team qualified two individuals for the state tournament. And our boys wrestling team has also qualified for state duels and will have several competing for individual medals at the state tournament as well. Signing day was last week and our school had 14 student athletes celebrate the decision to compete at their collegiate level. >> Any
010questions? >> Okay. >> Thank you so much, ladies. >> Thank you both very much. >> Enjoy this beautiful weather. Yep. Have a great evening. >> You too. >> Thank you. >> All right. Moving on to item C under section two communications, our report section. I'll turn it over to Dr. Rickley for the superintendent report. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Lotus. Members of the board, uh, thank you for being here. The members of the community that have shown up for our community meeting this evening, thank you for being here. For those of you that may be watching online, thank you for engaging with your school district and your board of education. It is always welcome. We've got a lot of really cool things happening around the district uh since we last met uh two weeks
011ago with our board of education. First of all, uh Golden Hills Elementary recently hosted a celebration celebrating its 50th year uh as an elementary building. I was out of town that evening. So, we had a couple members of cabinet that attended in my place, but just a really cool event. Not terribly different than the event I mentioned at the last board meeting, our title one night where we open up our doors, we feed our parents, they show up in droves. Just one of many things that makes this such a special community and such a special school district. Uh we've also launched our staff pickmeups for second semester. Uh I wish Dr. V. Raal was here so that we could throw some uh bouquet his way. But he does a really great job of lining up
012pickme up events in both the fall semester as well as the spring spring semester. Uh it's just a way to recognize staff and and provide a little bit of extra incentive uh when you kind of reach that lull in the school year. And what we're doing for our pickme ups this go around is customized coffee and smoothie orders. And we have appro approaching 2,000 employees when you count our substitute teacher pool. And we literally go to every building and program and between cabinet and our directors. We fan out across the building and based on the um the orders that staff put in ahead of time. In in most cases, we can catch staff members. In some cases, they're out and about doing their thing. We have to leave it at their desk. But it's a
013great way to thank our staff um and and to be visible in our buildings. Frankly, you wouldn't think that handing somebody a $4 cup of coffee makes that big of a difference, but as Dr. Siri pointed out this morning, teachers teachers talk about it. Teachers notice it. Uh it is appreciated and it's it's a whole lot of fun for us to to be able to do that. Uh on a personal note, I was able to travel to Lincoln uh a week ago Saturday. Uh the Nebraska Council of School Administrators asked me to present to aspiring young administrators and I believe Dr. Settles among others have uh done this presentation in the past. They do this every single year. We had approximately 40 teachers from across the state in Nebraska. We had two pan Vista teachers
014in attendance and it covers everything from the application process, how to prepare a CV, resume, uh general interview tips, things to to, you know, better equip yourself for that first job search. So, it was a great opportunity not only to interact with our two Pilonian LA Vista participants, but some of the other bright and shining stars that want to enter the leadership ranks in the coming years. Uh the young ladies mentioned unified sports. We do have our next big unified event tomorrow. So Pil Vista South is hosting its basketball game. The board is welcome to attend. That's at 6:15 at Pilion La Vista South. Also wanted to remind the board that next Monday is a PD day which also happens to be our parah conference. Our second parconference of the year. We do two of
015those per year. Dr. Settles and her team do an amazing job of preparing a really quality trainingfilled day for our par educators. Uh and as Miss Wit often points out, we are always always always looking for great pair educators to work alongside our teachers and children. Uh two last things. February 23rd, we have our next community closet event. As you may recall, we had a community closet event scheduled approximately two weeks ago, but because of the inclement weather, uh we didn't want people standing outdoors in sub-zero temperatures. So, we rescheduled that for February 23rd. That is at L Vista Middle School. If you need more information, it's on the district website. And last, but by no means least, last Friday we did something. Uh we hosted our annual soupathon here at our central office. So,
016I don't know how many people participate, but we've got about 50 people that call this building home. And it's a great opportunity to not only eat some really good soup. Dr. Siri took home the coveted Golden Ladle award for her uh tortillini soup. She may give you the recipe, but I wouldn't count on it. But more importantly, we did a soup can drive um sponsored and put together by our own Stephanie Sheller. We partner with a local church. Uh I don't know how many canned goods we gave them, but I think he said we had at least two cartulls when they picked it up. So, we have an outstanding relationship with I think it was Cavalry Shadow Lake, who's long partnered with the school district. they maintain a food pantry for us to be able
017to give back to our community and enjoy some really good soup is a pretty cool thing. And with that, Mr. Lotus, I'd conclude my superintendent comments. Thank you, Dr. Rickley. I'm moving on to board member reports. >> Uh I had my weekly NASB legislative uh call today. Um went through all the bills. One I just wanted to to mention is LB765, which is Holcraftoft, Senator Holcraftoft's bill. Um that would change bond election uh criteria for only school districts. It changes it to not only do you need, you know, more than 50% of the voters of the those that vote to approve it, but you need more than 50% of the registered voters to vote. So it adds the additional requirement. it'd be the only election type in the state that has that additional requirement on
018it. Uh, and NASB looked at it and they said if it would have been in place, there's not one school bond that would have passed over the last, you know, 5 10 years. I mean, and that's that's really um those that are behind this, that's just kind of their goal. But it it stops those that are engaged in the community um you know from uh voicing their opinion and making sure that they are heard and if they are wanting if they are agreeing to the school bond elections it's it's silencing their voice. So that is up for hearing this Wednesday. It's not in the education committee. It's in the government's committee. Uh so the request from NASB is to if you're interested um you can submit a letter before Wednesday morning um just through the
019Nebraska legislature to chat through that. Uh yeah, that was the main one that we talked about today. I had the pleasure of attending Golden Hills 50th birthday celebration. Again, as Dr. Rickley said, it was a fun night, a great turnout of people. One of the things I have to say I enjoyed the most was seeing faculty staff members return that had been there um many years ago and how they enjoyed seeing each other and celebrating. I had the pleasure of standing next to and talking with one of the first nurses evidently that had been at Golden Hills. Lovely woman and I learned that she sang happy birthday to every child in the school on their birthday. Um so it was a great celebration and I think they had a good time. I also attended a
020teammates board meeting on February 3rd. Again, we continue to have matches uh being made with teammates. Um still in need of mentors. So, if anyone out there is looking for an opportunity to make a difference in a child's life, Teammates is in need of mentors. Um and you can contact the school district office and I'm sure they'd give you some guidance in how to move forward with making that connection. Um they also spent some time talking about their recruiting efforts and um uh how they're looking to increase their revenue. Um I think that there was a basketball game recently maybe held at Monarch that featured teammates and there will be one held at Pilion Vista South in the near future that will also to bring an awareness of the teammates and the work that they
021do with kids in our buildings. Um they one of the areas is that has been new to teammates is they have moved down into the elementary and are making matches at the elementary level. Currently um we're in eight elementary buildings I believe and they're continuing to work with the guidance counselors at the buildings to spread the word and and to make sure that there are opportunities um if need be for kids at the elementary level. I I don't really have a whole lot. I just wanted to say a big thank you um to you all um to all the schools, the teachers, the students um from schoolboard appreciation week um that the amount of things that I went home, it was hard to carry it all and then to sit there and read through everything
022and it was just so much fun for every all the cards and and you know how they decorated things. It was uh very cool. So, thank you so much for the gift cards as well. So really appreciate that. But I just wanted to say a big thank you to the whole district. It it meant a lot. >> Yeah, I would echo that. It was amazing to walk into to to my house and the kids were all like, whoa. I was like, well, you can help me sort through them. And then they they all were trying to find the ones from their school to see if uh the card they made got into my box, but I did not get I got the other team from Pilion Middle. So, he was disappointed, but that's all right.
023Um I too uh was able to attend the Golden Hills 50th anniversary. Uh yeah, what a what an event. Uh it was fun to run into some of the uh now high schoolers that uh I used to coach uh in soccer and different activities growing up or coming up over the last few years. So it was fun to run into them and I hadn't been in Golden Hills for a couple of years probably since the last time I was selected for a leazison lunch. So it was great to see some of the the renovations and things from the the bond work. And I got to run into to Miss Wood. I ran into her earlier that day at Sam's Club. So, I was like, I promise I'm not following you. We just happened to Well,
024yeah, we happened to hit the same place a couple times that day. So, um other than that, attended a few uh uh basketball games over the last couple of weeks. Uh it's great to see uh you know really both the the men's and women's teams doing doing great and I know they're pushing here towards uh the metro tournament right is next up >> and then on their way to district. So good luck uh with all the winter sports kind of coming to their conclusion as the student council representatives noted um before we know it the first week of March is the first week of spring sports. So here we go. All right, moving on on and concluding section two communications or will be item D, our committee reports, buildings, grounds, and finance. We did meet
025on Friday. A lot of the things on the agenda were relating to the bond uh ongoing projects uh projects that um still need to come up. I think we'll be getting some um we'll need to vote on some bids uh here in the next couple meetings. Uh, and then also a potential land purchase that was part of the bond project or the the prior bond as well. >> Thank you, Mr. Mather. Human resources and student services. >> We have not met, but we do have a meeting scheduled for Thursday, this Thursday, February 12th. >> Thank you, Miss Wood. And rounding out the committee reports, curriculum and Americanism. >> We have not met since the last meeting, but we have a meeting this Wednesday. Thank you, Mr. Bailey. All right, we do not have any uh
026public comment for items on the agenda this evening. Uh so we'll move right on to section three action items. The only item under action items this evening is action by consent. >> I'll make the motion to approve uh the items action by consent as presented. >> I'll second. All right. I have a motion by Mr. Madler and a second by Miss Wood. Any further discussion or comments? All right, seeing none. Roll call, please. >> Miss Wit, >> yes. >> Miss Butler? >> Yes. >> Mr. Madler? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lotus? >> Yes. >> Miss Wood? >> Yes. >> Mr. Bailey? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to section four, our discussion and information items for this evening. Item A is the policy review 1000 series public relations and communications.
027Am I turning that over to you, Dr. Rickley with Dr. Vill? >> Absolutely. So, um yeah, Dr. V is out sick today. He contacted me super super early. Um, so he had a couple of things in the the 1000 series and uh it's probably a good time since we're just coming out of January just to remind uh the board is certainly well aware of it but for people that may be watching at home it might be worth reminding them we go through our entire policy catalog on an annual basis and the way we structure it is basically in the first month of the year we go through the 1000 series second month we go through the 2000 series so forth and so on. So, if you'll turn your attention to the board packet, you'll see
028that uh there were a couple of things that Dr. Varial uh nothing super substantive, but one of the things and uh if you have any questions, I may turn your attention to to Mr. Richards here. He brought this up in buildings, grounds, and finance, but under the procedure, which doesn't really require board approval, but I think it's always worth discussing, especially just to keep things as transparent as possible, that we do have a recommended procedure change going from $50,000 a year on fundraising efforts to 65,000. And that's just a reflection of the growing cost of doing business. very frequently, not always, but very frequently when fundraising efforts are being done, there are things relating to to small capital improvements, playground equipment would be a really a really common example. So, it wouldn't be super frequent
029that we would see a project exceed $50,000, but we're just trying to keep ahead of the cost of labor, the cost of materials, the cost of doing business. So, uh you'll see that's changed several times throughout the language. There is a couple of strikethroughs in the policy itself, but there's a few more in the procedure. Um, Mr. Richards, anything else that you wanted to add for that since you kind of are the keeper of the >> I think you did a good job of covering that. We were starting to see some projects come up against that 50 a little bit with uh, you know, the digital signs is a big thing the PTO's like to take on at the schools. >> Um, and you know, with the rising costs of all that, I I would
030say it's gone up 25% since CO. So, um, you know, just trying to reflect that in the policy, >> playgrounds and marquees and, uh, especially since most marquees, the front, the signage has gone digital as opposed to the old you move the letters and numbers around. Um, it's just incredible how much those have skyrocketed in the last four or five years. So, other than that, it looks like the 1000 series is pretty clean. And again, Mr. Richards did brief buildings grounds finance on this very issue. So, I'd certainly take any questions the board may have, but I think that's about the bulk of of Dr. V's recommendations. >> Not really a question, just a point. You you change the 65, but make sure you don't forget the actual word where it actually says 50 just
031before the first one in the >> Make sure that >> really good catch, Mr. Bailey. Thank you. We'll uh I'll have Miss Sheller note that in the minutes. Really good. Really good catch. Thank you. >> Any other comments, questions? All right, seeing none, I will move on to item B under section 4, discussion and information. Uh, it's a policy review of the 2000 series administration. Dr. Settles. >> Yep. Thank you. Uh, very similar, but this is the month for the 2000 series uh, administration policies to be up for annual review. So, please let me know if there's something that you note in there that you would like to have a look at. Thank you so much. Thank you, Dr. Settles. All right, moving on to item C, our state of schools report. I will turn
032that over to Dr. Siri. >> Yes. All right. >> Yes. I'm going to have um Miss Angie Angie Wright's going to uh join me. We're going to co-present this. She is our director of assessment in our district. She does an outstanding job. Um and so we are going to um tackle this together. She um not only works on assessment with all of our toolboxes, but she also oversees our state testing and um she is a data guru and she likes it. So >> you say that with surprise. >> I like it too. I don't like it as much as you do, but I do like it. Okay. So tonight we are sharing with you the um state of the schools report or the SOSR. Um I'm sure that earlier this month you probably all received
033um your beautiful magazine that Dr. Via Rialal and his team worked on. Uh as part of a requirement of rule 10, we are required to communicate that with all of our taxpayers and community members and then we also um have a presentation at the board meeting. So that is what is happening tonight. So some of this information, if you spent some time looking at those beautiful color pages with our students, um you'll probably recognize some of this information. So the first thing I want to remind you of is this information is actually from the 2024 2025 school year. So the way that the state of the schools report works is our kids, as you know, participate in a standardized state assessment in grades um 3 through 8 and in 11th grade. Um and that information
034is shared with us in the fall and then we are allowed to present it once NDE decides that it is clean, accurate, and ready to be shared um with the public. That typically happens in December. And so we try to get that information out as quickly as we can. And typically we like to go in January, but it didn't work that um this year as we had several other things. So we're getting it to you as soon as we can. So that is sometimes a little confusing because we're talking about last year. So when we talk about um the third grade assessment, we're talking about our current fourth graders. the demographic data that is used in this report because you're going to see subgroups like special education, EL students and so on. That is information
035that is used that we submit to NDE by October 1st of that school year. So the demographic data is literally was sent last October 1st of 2024. So Katie did a great job and shared with you our current student enrollment and the demographics and so on. That was the current year. This is the previous year. The last thing is um like I said, we do administer that standardized test in the spring. Our students participate in several assessments, but we are specifically talking about the state test with this um particular presentation tonight along with our normed referenced assessment that Angie's going to talk about. So with that for the 2024 2025 key takeaways um that we wanted to denote in this presentation is we do continue to perform above the state national averages. Our graduation rate
036remains strong. Um our MAP or measurement of academic progress assessment um has given our teachers and building leaders valuable information to make sure that all of our students are growing. And then we do have high expectations, but we see opportunity for improvement. And um even though we feel good about certain parts of this, there are other parts we're not super satisfied with. And so you're going to see that we are working on those areas and have formulated goals around those. Um I hope we always continue to seek improvement with a sense of urgency. So okay, with that being said, this is the demographic data. So these are those subgroups that I told you that is literally from October of 2024. Um you can see here that we remain pretty consistent in most of the categories.
037I thought since it is over a year old it might be good to note we did see an increase um this particular year in our free and redund reduced lunch status. The previous year the 2023 2024 we were right at uh 24% for this particular year we had a 5% gain. um to 29% and that's that fluctuates a lot. Um we're usually between 24 and 25, but this was this was a jump and we continue to see that grow. Okay, Angie's going to talk about our first state test which is NSCAS. Good evening. Thanks for having me today. Um ENSCAS or Nebraska Student Centered Assessment System is the summitive state test that uh Dr. Siri talked about that our third through 8th and 11th graders take in the spring. It is intended to measure our
038state standards or a subset of our state standards that can be measured through um a selected response assessment. So students take the test in three areas. Um ELA, which is English language arts, so reading and writing, math, and then our fifth and eighth and 11th graders also take a science test. So that one's a little bit more spread out. students are um divided into three performance levels. So when you start looking at the graphs which is coming up next the best part the graphs if you ask me but um but if when you start looking at the graphs you'll see three performance levels because that's how the state divides them into developing on track and advanced. So that is the kind of the outline of the test. Um the next two graphs show the results
039for our third through eighth graders. um our 11th grade data will be in with the ACT data because their test is a little bit different. Um so this is the language these are the language arts results. The dark um bars represent um students in PLCS and then the lighter um colored bars right next to it represent that same grade level across the state. So the one bar is intended to represent 100% of our students and then each section represents the percent of students that are in that category. So the big takeaway from this is students in PLCS and ELA are outperforming students across the state. So we have more students in advanced and on track or meeting mastery in our ELA standards than across the state. So we always want to do a little bit
040of comparison to understand not only how are our students doing here and what do those trends look like but also how does it compare to other students across the state. Yes. No please. >> Sorry for not using the mic. Do I I I love a view like this comparing us to the state and then the different breakouts between the advanced the ontrack and developing but like the so sixth grade right 26% advance compared to the state of 17%. Do we do we track that as like a cohort through the prior years? Like so last year was our fifth grade about that same breakout or do we see like if we're if if they're starting say third grade is the first year. Do we see that like five point gap, you know, maybe not move a
041lot through then the following years or do we notice, you know, maybe fifth grade is where we really see it uh break out from the state average or contract back to the state average? Are we able to tell by looking at the prior years following it one grade level? >> We do look at co cohort data. So third grade across across time and um follow that. And what I would say is that we are I kind of anticipated this. I went back through last couple of years and this graph looks very similar um to our last couple of years within a few percentage points. So we're we're really consistent. I would say in NSCAS there isn't any one time where we see a big difference in our data as compared to the previous year. >>
042And you're saying the the grades listed here would be similar to prior years in those same grades. So like the sixth grade seeing a nine point gap or nine point uh better on the advance could be similar within a couple points in prior years for just sixth grade. >> Yes. >> Yeah. That was one of the things that always kind of surprised me. You would see up there like 35 consistently at third, fourth, fifth grade, but then sixth grade there was an improvement and that seemed to be a trend that happened year over year. So somewhere along the line it's like >> it clicks. >> Yes. >> The curriculum catches up or the kids understand or whatever, but by the time they leave elementary, they're >> Yes. Well, and it it clicks more for our
043sixth graders than state average sixth graders. >> Yeah. >> Because the gap widens. >> Yeah. And we do use this data different ways. It's one data point and Angie's going to talk about that. But like looking at the cohort data, you know, following a class is important because obviously we're tracking those kids that aren't performing where we would like to see them on both ends of the spectrum to be honest. Uh but it's also important for us when we go to evaluate a curriculum, right? if we're consistently seeing uh we've watched third grade for a while and ELA and second grade because we've noticed some dips there. So then we watch and that way when we um really dive into that we can look and make sure if there's something the curriculum is not serving
044the kids the way it should be. So it is utilized differently. The other thing I would just um state too is each parent receives this information for their child so they also know. Okay. math. >> The next graph is the math graph. You read it the same way. It looks very similar to the ELA graph. We continue to outperform and again uh sixth grade we see a little bit bigger jump than we do in a difference than we do in some of those younger grades. It's certainly something we're watching right now. Mathematics is in um our toolbox cycle. And so this is data along with map data that we've used to help us kind of pinpoint what are some of the things in our curriculum that maybe we need to make adjustments to um and
045and be responsive to that with our curriculum. And finally, this is science. Um the science test is a little bit different than English language arts and math um in this >> more fun. Yeah, it is more fun um in the way that it's written and in the way that um it's just it's not adaptive like math and ELA are, but these are the results and again we are um outperforming the state. So we that's what we want to see. Um our eighth grade class last year actually had a big jump from the previous year of more students mastering. So that's always good to see >> and it's only administered in fifth and eighth grade. Okay, >> ACT is the college entrance exam that is um administered as the state test for um our 11th graders.
046Um it's we we administer that on one day in the spring and um it is it is quite a spectacle to see the orchestration of it. it because ACT has lots and lots of strict rules um and the the high school principles and their teams do a great job. So, every student in our um school district gets to take a college entrance exam for free. Um as a reminder, the ACT scale is a 36 point scale. Um a little bit different than some of the others. And the composite score, which is what we're going to look at next, is calculated using the English, reading, math, and science scores um for last year. If you've been hearing about ACT in the news, maybe you don't read those articles like I do, but if you hear have
047heard about it, ACT is changing um what their composite score is composed of. So, science won't be a part of it for next year, but that's just a little future broadcasting there. So this is the graph and I put this graph on here on the 1 to 36 scale because that's the full scale and um you can see that those lines are all very close together. So to give you a little bit better view I I truncated the range which is a no no in the data world but I did that so that you could see some the differences and actually see what it was telling you. So the yellow line is the PLCS third-year cohort, which is a fancy way to say juniors. Most kids in the third-year cohort are juniors. There are a
048few exceptions to that. The gray line is our um Pilion Le Vista graduates. So every junior takes ACT as a part of the state test, but every student has the opportunity to take that um college entrance exam if they choose to on a on a Saturday test day. So that's why the third-year cohort data is different from the graduate report. So every single Pilion Lab Vista student is included in that graduate report because they've taken it once and then the graduate score it reflects all of those scores plus any additional um scores and it takes their best score. So that's why you see those divided out. The Nebraska line is red and the that's the thirdear cohort. the Nebraska graduates are blue and then that green one in the middle there that's our the the
049national average. This is just the composite score. So it doesn't look at the subtests but you can see here that um our graduates are they are the highest line there as for last year. So, um, we feel we feel proud of our students for what they accomplish on this test and for what they accomplish in high school. As they're leaving us, they're leaving us ready. Um, we can see that that gold line. There was a there was a trend across the state of Nebraska that um the ACT composite score was lower across the state of Nebraska and that was true here, too. Um and so we're really looking at that and studying that. Both of our high schools have ACT related goals. Um both of them are really focusing on that in different ways based
050on the data that they see and are working hard to kind of figure out what happened there and to be responsive to that and to support students with their learning. >> Anything you want to add? >> Nope. >> All right. >> Great. >> Oh, sorry. >> Yeah. Um, and I I was just doing a quick look see and maybe you guys can keep me honest if you don't have this at your fingertips. So Nebraska is one of a handful of states across the country that administers it universally. I think it's approximately 15 out of the 50 states in the union, give or take. The last time I saw them, ladies, maybe you can check this for me. Um, I believe Nebraska consistently ranks in the top three of the states in the union that university
051administer the ACT and I think they may even be in the top one or two. So I think it's just one more piece of information to keep in mind. Pilion Le Vista kids are scoring better than the state and scoring better than the nation, but Nebraska as a state is doing better than the nation as a whole by a pretty healthy margin. So again, just one more piece of information. >> Thank you for adding that. It's important. These results reflect the the junior ACT. So the ACT that all of our juniors take. And when we're looking at um state accountability, the state does not use the composite score. Rather, they use the ELA score, the math, and the science. So, the ELA score is comprised of um the reading, the English, and the writing subtests
052are what go into that ELA score. Most students um across the nation do not take the writing portion of the ACT. It's not required for the composite and most colleges don't require it, but our state law does and so that's why writing is included and it's so that we can get that ELA score because that's what the state law requires. So these we we put here up here over time the percent of students that were at mastery in each of the categories. 2425 is in the gray line and PLCS is on the top and um Nebraska is down there on the bottom. So you can see the comparison, but you can also see the trends over time. And um over time we have always been above that state average of the percent proficient. And so
053again, we're pleased with that and we want to keep working on um doing better because it's always good to grow and get better. >> Uh I mean you see you know where they were eight years ago, nine years ago and drops just across the board. I mean the tough part with this test though is that the students have nothing writing on this, right? It's just the state they're required to do it by the state. So, it's even students that don't potentially want to uh aren't interested in taking the ACT because they don't have, you know, they're maybe not thinking of going to college and needing to take the ACT. So, what's the incentive for the student to show up and actually like put in an effort on this test that they're just required to do
054by the state? >> Yeah, it that's a really good point. I mean they can they can honestly um ACT they're actually very fortunate because they can utilize it for a college which if you think about like the eighth graders and NSCAS they're not sending that to the college. So the kids do get an extra benefit to it but it's like any standardized test. um our principles I feel do an outstanding job encouraging um and talking to kids about the importance of it and but at the end of the day you're right it's they got to show up and do the best that they can um and we hope that they do that for us out of pride and that they want to do well. um our both of our high schools also uh spend some
055time helping them prepare for the assessment whether it be through their advisory time or um different types of incentive incentive activities that they do um because they do try to stress to them that it is important for them too. So part of it is just making sure our kids are educated on what it can do >> um because it can open doors. Um, so that that is part of it. But yeah, as far as like the ACT um are all kids going to utilize it to get to college? No. But um we hope that they will and maybe someday they will and it will pay off. I >> think Mr. Madler's point's a really important one. And when you look at the national statistics on ACT or SAT for that matter, though it's less commonly
056taken in the Midwest, SAT tends to be taken more on the coast and deep south. Um, states that require 100% participation, such as Nebraska, almost invariably will have lower average composite scores than states where students elect into it. And common sense would would lead you to that conclusion, right? If you're only skimming off, hypothetically 40, 50, 60% of the kids that plan on going to a two-year or for sure a four-year school. Those are kids that are probably going to score really well. They're motivated. They want to be there. They need that score for scholarships and for college admittance. In a state like Nebraska where we are quite literally testing everyone, including students with disabilities, we're going to have kids that are disinterested, that are unmotivated, kids that have no interest in going to either
057a two-year or four-year school, and they can still have a lovely life, but going to a four-year school and taking the ACT is probably lower on their list of priorities. So again, the numbers are important, but the context behind the numbers when you compare Nebraska to states where kids elect into the test as opposed to a mandatory you must take it, the numbers are just going to be different. >> Do you do you think there's any chance Sorry, Brian, didn't mean to interrupt you. Do you think there's any chance that Nebraska will change and go away from uh requiring all students to take the ACT? Because you said there was just what you think 15 states. I don't know if that's grown or if that has shrunk from >> it's I did a quick I
058did a quick search. It looks like we're pretty stable. Uh again, I I would want to do a little bit of research into it, not just on my phone. What I could find is one state Montana had a higher composite rate than we did and they require 100% participation. So, so we're doing well compared to our peers. I think what Dr. Siri and I'll defer to Dr. Siri and Ms. right here. We're we're starting to see a a nationwide phenomenon where four-year even elite institutions don't put as much stock in the college entrance exams as they did even 15 years ago. Um GPA uh is is is still a very important uh factor. Increasingly, writing samples, including leadership, um involvement in the community, things like that. Now, there's still a whole slug of fouryear and
059two-year schools that put a lot of stock in SAT and ACT. I think you're seeing it deemphasized which may may over time Mr. Bailey lead to what you're saying is if more and more colleges and universities are saying this is not necessarily critical then you may see some states retreat back from saying everybody's got to take it but I would defer to Dr. Siri and Miss Wright. >> So we're required by law to have a standardized test at the high school. Um it is it is uh the state does go through a process to determine that assessment. there's an RFP put out and the whole process that recently just happened. Um so like an SAT could come to the table or um another test >> college entrance exam and win that bid and it does
060switch. Uh but currently that doesn't look like that's going to happen. ACT has kind of been the contender and part of that is uh because it is a popular test in the Midwest that a lot of colleges use. To Dr. Rickley's point, one of the things I think is kind of interesting is during COVID and during some of the um time following COVID, a lot of colleges waved the standard entrance exam because they were trying to get kids there. There was access to funding that some um wasn't always available. Um and I do see maybe possible correlation to you see a little dip. Um a lot of institutions now are going back and to Dr. Rickley's point they're also asking for more information than just the standardized score but they are now requiring uh a
061standardized entrance exam of some kind and and so I'll be interested to see what happens over time. ACT is also, even though it's a standardized test for our state at the 11th grade, they are getting in innovative and doing some different things with their testing. And you know that if you have a high school student or have had one recently, they now do a super score and they're trying to um do some other things to fill the need of what they're hearing the post-secary institutions want. And so that could be a factor too um long term if it ever got to a point where it didn't meet the requirements of what our state lays out for the state test. But right now I will tell you that just as someone who's old and been through
062state testing for a long time um I do feel like kids the ACT has been a greater benefit than before when we just took a plain state test. >> Um I do think they see the advantages to it. So, and if nothing else, I love it because kids that maybe think they can't do it get a free shot to try it and then it's not as scary um and perhaps opens a door for them. And what jumped off the screen to me is I mean obviously following the dashed line representing COVID years of 2020 2021. I mean just the significant decrease in percentages in ELA and math specifically I mean is that just because the that the current group of 11th graders I mean had had that amount of learning loss >> during during that
063time? I think you're seeing some of those. I mean that I don't have direct evidence to support it, but definitely something happened, right? Um I also think perseverance and grit. The ACT, if you have not done a time sitting test, you do kind of have to persevere. It's a long time um for our kids to get through it. Each part, you know, is timed and they do do writing, so it is just a little over a half a day. It requires quite a bit of focus. I think those are good skills for kids to learn, but I'm going to date myself now. You guys probably did not all experience this, but I grew up in the Pteranova stage where you often took a standardized test each year and you bubbled and kids don't do that
064anymore. That kind of has gone away. It's a spring test. Um the whole bubbling and transfer of answers. Some kids have never done that until um perhaps they participate in the paper and pencil of the ACT. Part of it's moving online. Um there's there's a lot of changes that are coming, but I do wonder if that decline that you see there is probably just not a direct impact of the value of it. And also, you know, we we did see a little bit of a decline in perseverance and grit. So, and you you definitely need that to get through the ACT a little bit. You also wonder if you know with uh more and more usage of chat bots uh that people can use how much are they utilizing them to potentially help them daytoday
065but then they get into a setting like a sit down test no technology you got timed uh you know does it hurt them having relied on you know potential >> other source of information >> and then uh you know you're you're struggling more on >> it's a really good point we talk about a lot on our CIA cabinet. You know, kids, um, oh my gosh, I almost say kids these days now. I really do sound like an old person, but techn there's so much technology available to them that they use as tools and that's what we want them to do. But, you know, we talk about like reading for example, a lot of our students um listen perhaps while they're doing something else or um there's not as much time directly spent as reading as
066there used to be. Reading is like riding a bike. You still might remember how to do it, but your fluency and those factors, the the less you do it, the weaker that becomes. And then you get into a timed situation. So now you're going to read and it's timed and you're trying to gather information. It is a different skill. And that's where our high schools have done such a nice job at trying to give kids those opportunities, remind them what it feels like. our um English teachers do a nice job of getting them to read literally to read um and engage in that literal skill and activity as well as just the literature. Um because if you don't do it, you're not as good at it and then it's timed and it's it feels it
067feels like pressure. Okay, map. Um I know that you guys are familiar with MAP especially if you have a student in the district. This is measurement of academic progress. So this is an adaptive assessment. Uh the difference between this assessment and say like ENSCAS is um we do use it in a summitative form but at the same time this really does tell us what a student knows maybe not so much what a student should know. So it's really trying to give the teacher good information on this is where the student is performing. Um the areas that we test in are reading and math. And you can see there that grades K3 and 49. It is a fall, winter, spring. This is a much shorter test. Um the results that Angie's going to go through are
068from the fall of 2023 to the fall of 2024 because again we're working in that year behind us. And um it's just good to note that the reading bill that became law that um required us to have a fluency test for um grades K2 that must take place at the start of the school year. We do use MAP for that. It's called MAP fluency. It is a different assessment, but that is also part of this suite. Um Pilion La Vista implemented um the measurement of academic progress assessment in 1617. So, um, that's kind of nice because this information does follow a student from grade to grade. So, it gives us really good information to ensure that that student is growing. This these graphs start with math. So, I thought I'd point that out because it's
069in a little bit different order. Um, so this these are our math results. Um, map breaks the scores into five categories. They call them quintiles. And so if we were to look at the national norm, there would be 20% of students in each of those quintiles. So when you look at this over time, if we were if we were we were performing if our students were performing like the national norm, we'd have 20% in the red, 20 in orange, and so on and so forth. Um overall, that's that's not what our results look like in a really good way. Um we have more students in the higher quintiles. So the quintiles are divided based on percentile. Just like if you have children and you go to the doctor and they tell you they're in the
07075th percentile, these are these are broken up by percentiles. So if a student is in the 75th percentile, it means they're they're performing better than 75% of the of the uh national population. So just to kind of give you some context there. um our kindergarteners, this is how they come in prepared for school in the fall. I always think it is exciting to see that our students come to school um largely ready to learn and ready ready to be here. So those are scores in the first few weeks of the school year. So um we didn't have a lot to do with how students performed there, but it's a good baseline for us to be able to look at. And then um we look at students um over all of the grade levels. We do
071look at the these scores as cohorts. Right here you're seeing different groups of students across grade levels. Um celebrations include that we have a large percentage of our students at this uh 41st percentile or higher. So performing at average levels or higher across all of the grade levels. Um, you might notice that the second grade bar looks closer to the national norm than any of the other grade levels. One thing that's important to know, um, is that the test changes a little bit at second grade. So, there are different tests. There's a K2 test, but our second graders take the 25 test. The big difference between the K2 test and the 25 test is for the first time, students have to read the test independently. in kindergarten and first grade. It it reads it out
072loud to them. That's more appropriate for our kindergarten and first graders. And we elect to switch students over to the 25 test because it it's more rigorous, but also because we want to see what they can do more independently and it gives us a good baseline. As Dr. Siri said this shows teachers where students are ready to learn now and then it helps them know what to work on and how to differentiate curriculum to meet students at where they are in that learning process and to make sure that everyone grows. So that's those are the results and this is a little bit cheating but we just received our winter scores back and we are seeing really promising results from those. So it's exciting to see. And is it is this fall 2024 or fall 2025?
073Was that this? >> This is fall 2025. Okay. Because we give the test every fall. So these indicate how students did in the 23 24 school year. >> Gotcha. So like fifth grade fall, they're in fifth grade right now, but really it's more telling on what they did in fourth grade, right? Okay. >> Exactly. Yes. Yes. But for some of the grades, that spring test is optional because we do the state test. So not every student takes MAP in the spring, which is why we report fall results rather than the spring. >> We try to be super conscientious about the testing and limiting it as much as possible because you're giving instruction time. >> This is the reading graph. Um it's important to note different from NSCAS MAP measures only reading standards. So they're not
074looking this isn't tied to any of our writing standards. Um but these are the reading results. Again students um come in prepared for school in kindergarten and that national norm would be the same 20% in each. What I think is exciting is when you start looking at those bottom quintiles, how small they get by the time students are in nth grade. It's it's great to see that students are growing and that they are ready for high school as um as they start their ninth grade year. So, those are those are really great results. Um and we're well, we're never really satisfied because we always want to be striving for better. Um, but we we know students work really hard and teachers work really hard to help them learn a lot and we are proud of
075what they're doing. >> And and sorry, you might have said it for the kindergarten. What do you compare the kindergarten to? Because that's just like a base level test, right? So, it's not a growth test. >> That's really just baseline. So, if they came kindergarteners came in um like the national average, it would be 20% of the students would be in each of those color bands. So what I always look at this for is I say our students come in really prepared um compared to students across the nation and that really isn't attributed to our community and the parents and and everything that they're doing for kids and preschool. Yes. >> Those that get to participate. >> Okay. So >> can I make a comment first of all >> just with the MAP testing? I
076think that one of the things that is done with MAP that's so exceptional across the district and I know that you lead this is that kids are a part of this and kids are aware. I just recently had a teammates's meeting they were talking about meeting with their mentees and the one said well her mentee sat down and the first thing he shared was his MAP growth scores and this was unsolicited and he was proud and he knew how much he had grown and I think that that is so key and that's what makes value of this test is that the kids are a part of it and you know it's not just something done to them it's done with them and for them and they're part of it and they're engaged. My granddaughter got
077in the car last week and her class had met some growth. I don't know exactly even what it was, but because of it, their teacher was going to get water ballooned because as a class, they had met this growth. And so, it wasn't only she shared with me her growth, but there was excitement because the whole class had grown in math and reading. And so, I just think that brings value to this test and it just shows what a nice job you're doing of getting kids involved in learning. And >> thank you. >> I think on top of that, it's it's not am I as smart as the kid next to me because that would be no, I'm not. But am I growing? Like it's just your personal growth, right? And then it's how how
078well are you growing? How well are you getting better? Not, you know, are you as smart as the kid next to you. So I think that's also important for the kids and and having that, >> you know, the desire just to get better, not comparing against, you know, a classmate. So many of our teachers do such a great job of goal setting whether it's with individual students or as a class or as a grade level and really celebrating with students but also making a plan for okay we want this we want this to be our growth how are we going to do that also breaks down the scores into different areas so that they can really pinpoint in math I'm not as strong at algebra as I am at this strand so we we need
079to look at what are some of the things that I need to practice what are some of the standards and they can really pinpoint the needs of students. And our teachers do a phenomenal job of really trying to understand what students need at that moment and grow them, but also involving students in that. >> Yeah, Sherry, I think just she took her some of her plan time and went out and bought snacks because her class met whatever goal it was. Kind of like what you said, but I it goes to what you were saying where it was a celebration. It wasn't just a celebration for individuals. It was a celebration. Our entire class grew. We all got better. And so I just think that's again just says a lot about, you know, everything that you
080all were saying and how this test is what it does. So >> good. >> I think map is the best example of what you want data to do. It really tells us something and it tells us what to do next. Our teachers really utilize it as a tool. So it's it's it's a good it's a good thing. It is. Okay. The next piece we're just going to briefly touch on and again this was in that annual report is Aquest. So Aquest is our classification system in the state of Nebraska. NDE um gives each district a classification and it's based on these things that you see here on the slide in the first upper leftand box. It's really about what um Angie just shared with you on proficiency on those state standards. Um but not only
081do they look at proficiency or how the students perform, they also look at the number of students that participate in it. The bottom one is about transition. That's about that graduation rate and then how you are um supporting students that need um an extended uh graduation piece as well. The upper right hand corner is about access and you can see there that um as part of that classification um chronic absenteeism um proficiency with your English language learners are also considered and those are really they can't hurt you. They can only help you in your um classification score. And then at the bottom again it's about growth and for that that's where science is um as well as our every student growing and moving forward. So with that I'm sure you noticed this in your um
082folder but plan Vista Community Schools as a district we were classified as being great. Each building also receives a classification based on that same information. Um, we have seen a little bit of fluctuation amongst our schools a little bit and that's honestly because we've seen improvement in state testing. We've also done a lot of work with the chronic absenteeism and that works as a positive bump and so we've seen some schools get that bump um because of all the the work they have done to ensure that our students are there. Turns out it's easier to learn if you're at school. So that's okay. Part of that is also graduation rates. Angie, I'll let you. All right. This shows our graduation rates over time. Uh again, the state next to Pilion Le Vista. Uh this is
083our four-year graduation rate and um last year 96.15% of our students graduated. So that is a huge celebration. We seen that go up from 2019. It it is an on an upward trend if you're speaking data. And when um you look at the state, our our average is higher. It is important to note that our this is our four-year graduation rate. So we have some students who continue on um for example in the YATP program. Those students are in this count counted as non-graduates until they graduate from that program and then that's why there's that seven-year graduation rate. So then they will be counted as graduates then just to kind of give you that context. But overall, um I think that's a really a number to be really proud of. >> And just as a
084reminder, um currently um we have a change in our graduation requirements and that had to do with the changes in the state law that added personal finance and computer science. So the class of 2028 will have 46 semester credits that they will be acquiring. The classes of 2025, 2026, 2027 have 45 credits. Um, that's because we start with a freshman class and we roll it up. Um, but several of our students um currently are already participating in that personal finance piece, seniors and juniors um as well as sophomores. And um also I just wanted to denote because it is our public presentation that FASA is also a graduation requirement. Um it was a law that was passed last year. Families have to complete it or opt out of it and then we keep track of
085that information and that is sent to the state. Um but that is also part of their graduation requirement. However, no student is penalized for it. Access your future. These are just some other um numbers that we use in district to um assess our success. Um we have over 910 students that are participating in one or two of academy programs. We had over 24,000 hours um tied to workplace learning. And um you can see there the number of certifications that were given out in the 202425 school year. um from CPR to CMA, that's the medical um and CNA, and then OSHA, which is part of our construction pathway. Another number that we watch are the college credits that are earned for students while they're still in high school. Um again, last year, the Metro Community College
086trades, we had uh almost 4,000 credits earned there alone. We had several students that um actually earned their associates degree the same time they got their graduate or their high school uh diploma. So that's exciting. And both high schools celebrated that and I think we're going to um do that as a district moving forward. Um the college jumpstart program, those are those general pathways that give kids their basic credits to start their college career. Uh you can see there that it was 2500 credits. the education academy. Uh we had 69 credits earned. That's towards that CNA. Um and then the last part are your advanced placement credits earned. Uh we have lots of students that participate in those courses, but those students 98 credits were earned by students participating in the exam and scoring a
087three or higher. And then the last thing is we are goal driven. Look at that cute picture of Dr. directly in those kids. Uh we are goal driven as a district and so we also use our goals to evaluate our progress. You've seen these before. This our current school our current district goals we are focused on rigor um and specifically um through SIP our continuous improvement process through our MTSS model. And then in student achievement as you know we are focused on English language arts and reading and we are looking for um growth there hopefully 10% or more. And then with that I would also mention that typically we have a slide here for strategic plan but as you know it's under construction right now. Um and next month I'm going to bring back goals
088and objectives to you. So and then what we can expect moving forward. We'll continue to use multiple data points. As a district, we val we value data driven decisions. We recognize that state testing is just one of many points that needs to be evaluated. Uh we will continue to strive for excellence in research and development. We are watching mathematics. We're not super pleased with what we're seeing there. It's also because, if I'm being honest, it's in the curriculum cycle right now. We're trying to make some changes to strengthen our core curriculum so that it serves our students better. Uh we'll continue to monitor that chronic absenteeism rate because we do believe if you're in school it's easier to learn. Uh we'll monitor Aquest and um also we are constantly looking for ways to continue to
089get data um in the hands of our teachers and our administrators. Um, we do have a district-wide data system, but we're trying to grow that, expand it, and make sure that we're meeting those needs. And then, as you know, rigor will continue to be a focus as part of the strategic plan. There you go. That's a little snapshot. And that brings us to the end of our state of the schools report for the 2024 2025 school year. Uh, I appreciate you going through it all. Apologies for interrupting during the presentation, but I would have forgotten everything that I I already asked. Uh I appreciate the comment on uh making sure that those in the schools have the data that they need to um try to improve, understand what's happening, trying to come up with plans
090to, you know, correct course or or learn from this is going well, how do we expand this out? >> Uh and I know we're going through the strategic planning. I would say one part on the data is yeah making sure it can also be very overwhelming the amount of data that is pushed to people where you know it just the potential uh um nuggets of useful information can get lost easily if it's overwhelming and so you know trying to to narrow in and focus on what is important so that people can get action items um and not having to comb through a bunch of stuff to get those action items also for the strategic planning I think it could be interesting um on the outcome as you you talked about it I'm more interested in
091the MAP tests a lot of the state testing the ENS gas the ACT I mean from what you see a lot of the results of those standardized tests tells you more about the demographics of the students and the families than the actual uh the learning that goes on and the teachers that we have that are that are working uh with those students because it you know the with the map again it's more individualized and it is it doesn't matter the the the baseline that they came in at. It's how are you helping them grow uh their skill sets. Um and so that interests me more than you know hitting a standardized level because again you go to a district that has lower special uh special ed population, a lower free and reduced lunch population, their
092test is going to be higher. That doesn't really tell you that the school is better or the district is better than than the one that doesn't. It's what are we doing? How are we bettering the kids that we do have? Uh so that's more of just like a soap box, not so much a question, but uh yeah, just going forward. I'm more interested in the in the map than the the standardized. Thanks. >> When students take a final, is that in any of these? >> No. Um specifically at the high school, I assume that's what you're um that's part of their grade. Um, and often it's weighted so it counts more in the because it's summitative versus um a progressive grade, but um, no, it is not included in the state of schools >> with
093with one possible exception. Kids that take an AP class, we strongly encourage them to sit for the exam. You're not required to. There are kids that will go through an AP class, for example, and not sit for the exam. We strongly encourage them to, but we did have the slide in there about the kids that sit for the AP and those that score a three, four, five, which is generally considered what you need to get college credit. Great question. >> Thanks. Good catch. >> Any additional questions, comments, discussion? >> Not. Thank you both for a very well done and in-depth report. >> Yep. Good stuff. >> All right. Moving on to item D under section 4 discussion and information items. It's the 2026 staff device purchase discussion. I'll invite Mr. Moore to come up and
094give us an opening. >> Welcome ma'am. >> Um so yeah, I just wanted to bring up for discussion the staff device uh refresh. So um just like the students uh Chromebooks were on a four-year cycle with the staff devices. Um and that was kind of determined back in that 1718 technology audit. Um and we when we surveyed staff uh one of the things that they wanted was reliability. Uh they wanted good battery life. Um and so that's one of the things that that's one of the reasons we went with the Apple uh the MacBook Air model uh that Apple has. And the latest technology audit that we did uh confirmed that uh they are happy with the reliability and the battery life. Um so moving forward we want to continue with Apple's uh MacBook Air
095line. Um traditionally we'd be replacing a portion. Um so if you look on your summary it'd be like secondary machinesmies um ideal um central office. Uh so uh we believe it's it's best to replace the full fleet uh using Apple's financing and uh really it's for two reasons. Um the main one being everyone's on the same model. Um so it's it wouldn't be any different than what we have now. Um except we'd just get them all all at once. Um so they we'd be on the same model as opposed to having multiple versions of a model possibly. Uh Apple continues to to come out with new models every year. Uh whereas back in the past they'd come out with a model, it'd be maybe a year or two and then you'd see a new model.
096So they're coming out with models faster. Uh so that's one of the reasons. Uh and then another reason is um we're looking to move to a a co a more cost-effective MDM is what it's called. It's a mobile device management solution. Uh so it's what we use to update the machines um to do software pushes, patches, that type of thing. Um in order to do that, uh it's easier to do it all at once rather than trying to do it on an old fleet. Uh so if we were to to continue on the the current cycle that we have and doing purchasing different models every year um we'd have to try and go two more years uh between two different mobile device management systems. So um it'd be easier just to do it all at
097once and then we can keep everybody on that same four-year cycle and we just continue the four year be the four-year cycle. It just be all at once rather than doing it throughout the years. Um, so I'm working with Apple currently. Um, depending on discussion, questions, anything like that. Um, plan to to bring this up for an action item at the next board meeting on the 23rd. So, entertain any questions if you guys have any. >> Yeah. What's the I guess not success rate, what's the percentage of devices like at about that fouryear mark are like, okay, we need to we need to replace these. I mean, with the Apple, I mean, they're more known for the quality than, you know, some of the the the Chromebooks that we get. Would we be able to
098extend that fouryear mark or are we seeing once these devices are getting to the fouryear, the battery life is just not to what we would need it to or they're becoming outdated where we do need that fouryear refresh? >> Yep. Good question. Uh, so yeah, battery life wise, I think we would be fine. I think you could go probably five, six might be pushing it. Um, but four years really what we're running into currently like at the at the high schools is it's memory. Uh, because when we bought that first round we had their 128s. Now it's standard 256 is what you get. Um, so space is an issue. Uh, so the issue we're running into is space is limited and the updates take 30 or 40 gigs to run. Uh, so they can't even
099download the update to update the OS system. So that's the kind of the issue we're running into currently. Um so yeah, having a new new fleet that are that are all the same memory size, twice twice the memory that we currently have on this fleet that we're set to replace right now. So >> does that answer your question? >> Yeah. >> Okay. And I would say maybe if the the next one if more memory um I would just keep tracking if if we are seeing those devices that are still you know pretty a low failure rate after those four years. Yeah. If we can extend it that'd be that'd be great if it's not more of a pain for the district. >> Sure. >> Yeah. And just a couple of things too. Um with the
100max we do sell them and get residual value that helps us sustain our cycle. So, um, the good news is they still have value that can be utilized. We found with the Chromebooks that's not necessarily the case. And then the second thing is, um, it's also easier for us to sustain the entire cycle as a whole. Um, it's hard when we were trying to do the staff devices because we're trying to do two two years of Chromebooks each year because you have your freshman and your sixth grade. as we've just expanded the number of devices overall with the cycle. Um this will just be part of that cycle instead of it being part of multiple cycles if that makes if that makes sense. So um it was easier to um stabilize the financial cost this
101way. So, >> we'll also be able to use utilize some of the existing machines that we have uh that are the newer model uh for our long-term subs and our floating subs. And that was one of the things that came out in this latest technology audit as well is devices for those positions. Right now, they do Chromebooks, which works um but like we have Apple TVs in all the classrooms, so airplane from a Chromebook doesn't really work. So, uh, it'd be good to give them devices that they could utilize similar to what a teacher has. >> Good questions. >> Anything else? >> Questions, comments? No. Thank you, Dr. Siri, for for clarifying. That was going to be my question is just again what where we're at in the uh, you know, life cycle when it
102comes to trading them in and getting the the best, you know, bang for our buck. Um, I mean, that happens. I mean, with your my vehicle fleets, it's at work, it's the same thing is where's that sweet spot of where, yeah, we've depreciated them. They're they're still useful, but we're also one more year and the market drops and bottoms out and uh we lost a lot of uh residual dollars. So, appreciate you clarifying that. So, >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Moore. >> Thank you. Moving on to our last item in discussion and information items, the Springfield Plat View property transfer. Mr. Richards. >> Thank you, Mr. Lotus. Um, if you remember in the last meeting, we passed our overall agreement with Springfield Plat View and we're starting to get some property transfers
103already for 2026. This is the first one for 2026. Um coming off that 10-year agreement, we're entering a new 10-year agreement with Springfield Platview. Um if you remember right, it is from 60th Street to 128th Street. Um from basically any areas that are not in our district right now, um from ShraMM Road to Cape Road that are undeveloped. Um so developers come in, they want to develop the property and then move their development into our district. um they pay Springfield Platia a fee. Um once the fee is paid then we go through this process of reorganization uh with each school board and then once the school boards approve it then it goes to the state reorganization committee uh usually in April or May um because the tax years are June 1st they need it at
104the county. Um so that's kind of the process that we go through. So this one is Shadow Creek North and if you remember right in 25 we did Shadow Creek South um as a transfer. Oh, wrong way. Um, so Shadow Creek's approximately 75 acres over there. Uh, southwest of 84th and ShraMM Road. Um, so just right off 84th. Uh, this particular area will typically attend Patriot uh was what we did with the other development that's currently putting up houses right now. Um, so just to give you an elementary school boundary there and a map to kind of show you where that's at. So, the red uh Shadow Creek North is just south of ShraMM Road. There is a main road. Um just west of Glenwood Hills subdivision. Um you can see Shadow Lake is a
105little bit further southeast uh than this area. So, that's the area we're talking about in the transfer. Um and we'll get that approved. I mean, in your package, you have the agreement uh that's drafted by Perry Law Firm typically for both districts. Uh, we split the cost for that each time we do a transfer. So, if I could answer any questions, I will on that transfer. >> All right. Well, thank you, Mr. Richards. Uh, we do not have any public comment uh for items not on tonight's agenda. So, we'll move on to section six, our future board calendar. February 10th, uh, liaison lunch at Trumble Park with Miss Wood at 11:30 a.m. February 13th, liaison launch at Le Vista Middle School with Mr. Madler. February 16th, the foundation board meeting at 6 p.m. here at
106the central office. Uh, February 17th is a liaison lunch at Liberty Middle School with myself. Uh, February 20th, liazison lunch at the Early Childhood Center at 11:10 a.m. And who's with Miss Butler? Fantastic. And then uh as noted earlier in the meeting, February 19th, 2026, no school for the staff development day. And February 23rd is the next board of education meeting at 6 p.m. here at the central office. Seeing no further business before the board this evening, uh we'll adjourn our uh Pavilion La Vista Community Schools Board of Education meeting for February 9th, 2026 at 7:27 p.m. Thank you all.