PLCS Board of Education Meeting November 24, 2025

001That's for sure. >> Don't say that to Brian. [laughter] >> Just when she has things figured out and she's talking about stuff. >> Yeah. Yeah. [clears throat] Good evening and welcome to the Pavilion La Vista Community Schools Board of Education meeting for November 20 24th, 2025. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Miss Wood, >> here. >> Mr. Bailey, >> here. >> Miss Butler, >> here. >> Mr. Madler, >> here. >> Miss Whit, >> yes. Here. I will make a motion that we excuse Mr. from this meeting. >> I can second that. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Miss Wood and a second by Mr. Bailey. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Bailey, >> yes. >> Miss Butler? >> Yes. >> Mr. Madler? >> Yes. >> Miss

002Wit? >> Yes. >> Miss Wood? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. Moving on to communications. Their first step is our military advisory, Colonel Chad Bakas. Welcome. >> Welcome, Colonel. >> All right, President Wit, Dr. Rickley, team. Uh, good evening. I'm Colonel Chad Bakus, the deputy wing commander for Offet Air Force Base. On behalf of our wing commander, Colonel Aaron Gray, and our mission support commander, uh, Colonel Russell. Thank you very much for inviting me out tonight. Um, my wife and I, Sarah, we raised our girls here on and off for the last probably 16 years, and they both attended, uh, Patriot Elementary School in 2007 when it first opened, Liberty. And then my oldest graduated from Pilion South in 2021. So, uh, thank you very much for all the support you provide, not

003only me, but all of the military families that live in and around the Pilion School District here. Um, so the government shutdown has now over, as you all know, the longest in uh, US history. Uh we're back open for business, thank goodness, out at Offet Air Force Base. It did have some uh impacts obviously for our active duty, but as well as our civilians. Um so I just want to thank you and your staff for the support you've provided our families and the children in the schools on and off throughout the last two months as this has been ongoing because we know the impact has been um has been severe for some families more than others, but obviously everyone who's part of the DoD was impacted in some fashion. um impact aid forms. That's another

004area of interest of ours. We want to ensure that you guys are receiving the um the federal funds right in support of our young men and women and their families that are part of the school district. So, the work that you're doing to get those surveys out and then the replies that you get back, I know that sometimes those are a challenge. Uh there's creative ways of doing that, but our team at off is obviously pushing our families to do the same to support that um and in ways that we can hopefully um benefit both the school district and the families. Uh the only thing I would ask would be the the um sometimes the question of why are we filling these forms out comes up really the why factor. what does it benefit and

005trying to articulate to the families the impacts that the money gets to provides the school but also to the children the military families children is one way I think that would help them understand the idea behind why we do what we do there with with respect to impact aid forms um we encourage our military families to reach out to our school liaison this is one area that is very important to us is we both have uh Jenny Miller and Tina Lenderman there off at air force base they help our families transition both in but as well as out. So families that are inside the school district now, if they have questions and concerns on their next duty assignment, please have them reach out to our school liaison officers who try to do the best they

006can to provide them a smooth transition both into the school district here as well as off uh outside of Offit. Um as families prepare for their next PCS, please encourage them to connect with the school leaison. It helps facilitate introductions and connections. At the end of the end of the day, it's just smoothing smooth transitions for these families who obviously are on the move every two to three, sometimes four years. That definitely helps them out using our school leaison. The last thing I'll say is um just a plug. We invite the families and our military families uh to the off holiday tree lighting celebration that is on December 4th at a youth program which is located just across the street from the Willow Lakes golf course. We're going to have a tree lighting. We're going

007to say a few things there and then uh we'll be handing out uh multiple gifts to all of the children and families who support them uh on and off throughout the year. That's just one way to show our support. So uh that's on the off Facebook page. There's a flyer a flyer out there for that if they want to see that. Um pending any questions if you have any that's all I have for this evening's update. >> No questions. But I remember when I was young going to my dad worked for MUD and we had a children's Christmas pageant or program and I know that as a child they will remember that the rest of their lives. So >> yes ma'am. Yes ma'am. >> I hope that goes well. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you

008very much for coming in. >> Thanks for your time. >> Thank you for your service, Colonel. Thank you for being here. We really appreciate your support. >> Thank you for the support. >> Next on our agenda is the presentation of the Pilma Vista Community Schools middle schools transition in and out of middle school. Dr. Siri. >> Yes. Good evening. So, we're um lucky tonight to have our assistant principles from our three middle schools with us and um they are going to talk to you about the transition into middle school and out of middle school. So, I will let them introduce themselves and I'm going to pass my mic over so that they can work between two of them. So, thank you guys for being here. >> Good evening guys. I'm Trent Lions, assistant principal at

009Pilion Middle. Uh Spencer Shet, assistant principal at Liberty Middle School. And >> I'm Allison Judson. I am the assistant principal at L Vista Middle School. >> Okay. Um All right. So, middle school. Um today we're talking to you about the transition process with middle school. Um and really it's because middle school is just a huge time of transition, right? Um, we get the kids for two years, four semesters, and basically we spend the first semester welcoming them, getting them acclimated, and then the last semester getting them ready for high school and sending them on their way. So, um, we're here to give you an overview of that process tonight, a little bit of the why and the how and and what that looks like. Um, and then give you guys a chance to ask us

010some questions about that as well. So, um, to start off, just like again, kind of as I I gave you there at the beginning, middle school just is a time of transition, right? There's there's a lot going on. Um you're coming into middle school, then onto high school. It's a quick turnaround. There's a lot of support that goes into that. Um there's challenges that students face socially, emotionally, academically, right? There there's a lot of just ever changing in that environment. Um which is a lot of fun and I think why we're in that, right? That it's it's a time of um just just great support for families. So um we're going to give you the nuts and bolts here a little bit. Um the first thing we're going to touch on is just the communication

011in all of this and our family communication. Um why that is so important during this time. It's because if any of you ever had a middle schooler or remember back to middle school, there's a lot of different emotions that come with that as well. Um you know, talking about, okay, well, from the logistics, what does it look like if I've never been in middle school or had a student in middle school to um well, what about if my student has some special needs or special considerations? Um parents have anxiety at times about that as well and not just for the child themselves but for them right they want to know the information and and have resources to help support them as well. So the communication and all this is really really important. We're going to

012get into like I said the nuts and bolts of what that looks like here in Pilion Le Vista. Um, but we begin this in the in the child's uh sixth grade year. Um, and sometimes sooner and just trying to get them connected to our schools um and getting them the information they need because we know that the communication is really really important during that time. So starting at um the beginning of second semester um of the sixth grade year um for those elementary school students, we start reaching out to the elementary school. So we're reaching out to the administrative teams. are reaching out to the counselors, um social workers, special education teachers, um just to start preparing, um for those visits. Um the first thing that they need to do is they need to get

013registered for classes. So, we need to figure out where to put them. So, we reach out, we try to schedule some visits that we're going to talk about here um in a moment. And then we also we have our mass communication system. Um we start establishing contact with families just letting them know, hey, we're going to start registering for classes. This is what that might look like. Um, you can go to the next one. Um, and then something pretty cool that we do, um, we want our students to be involved. We know that the more involved students are, um, the more connections they feel, the more successful they are. So, our band and our choir teachers, um, schedule times before we even go out to have students start registering for classes for them to go

014and perform so that we can peique interest in those things so that we can get students to sign up for those band and choir classes. Um, because we know that those are great activities. Um, so they go out to all the elementary schools, they do a performance. Um, in the spring, something really cool is that, um, some of the bands do like a combined concert. Um, and then those choirs, we really want students to be involved in choir, um, for the school, but then also they have the opportunity to be involved in show choir, which we know is just a great event um, that, you know, gets gives them the opportunity to showcase talents um, and form some really good connections. >> Yeah. So after those band and choir visits, then the principles and the

015grade level counselor go out. We start scheduling the meetings kind of when we come back from winter break. And those take place end of February, first part of March before spring break. So when we go to those elementarymentaries, our feeders, we're talking just class registration. Everyone's going to get a registration. um the required classes. There'll be a list of required ones that they have to take but then they do have that option uh to take some maybe band a chorus or an option enrichment class as well. Um if you'll see on that schedule math is circled. That is the one class that as a district there is a some criteria that puts them in the the appropriate um math course. But it does give them some flexibility. If I want maybe want to try band,

016maybe want to try chorus, they do have that option. Um, one thing that we on that visit and you know, we're talking about this every year is attendance. Well, now that we have all these six feeders or however many feeders we're coming to our building is involvement. We want kids not leaving our building at 3:10. We want them going to a club. We want them going to a sport. So, we really stress on those visits is, hey, let's try out for basketball. There's four teams, you know, run cross country. Um, there's inter murals. There's a lot of opportunities for kids to get involved. And that's one thing that we really stress out. And in those visits, kids love when we start talking about sports and all the different clubs. I mean, the list is endless.

017And kids can come up with them on their own. They just you can really tell their eyes light up and they're like, "Yes, I can't wait for middle school just to get involved." Um, and then after we leave, after we do that that visit, um, the kids have about a week to get that registration formed in and then we kind of get moving, uh, based on what they they sign up for. So, >> uh, talking a little bit now, um, with some of the academic supports as, um, you were just hearing, math placement, we do, that is the one class that it is assigned and it's very, very well supported by our district. We have great collaboration with both our elementary teachers, the toolbox teams. Um, but we pride ourselves. We're making data informed decisions.

018We're not just throwing kids into what they feel like or what they think like. We're looking at a lot of information. we're having communication um and again the toolbox teams set a lot of that provide those guidelines for us and then we're helping educate the families along with the elementary teachers of what that looks like and and why um we we are choosing those pathways that we're setting and some of those pieces in terms of what might be the starting point when you get into middle school. Um, and I think that's really an important piece of some of our communication there is helping them understand um, where that's at and what other opportunities are going to come down the road too because for a lot of these families it's the first time where you're seeing

019some decisions that can be made or some some options and some of those pieces. Uh, the second piece with that is intervention. So again looking at data if if students um are needing extra support or our our HAL programs and and those pieces, we're taking input on that data. We're collaborating with our elementary schools and we're starting to collect all of that before those students ever walk in our door because we want to have plans in place. We want to put them in the right position to succeed. Um and we talk a lot about um what do those what are those look like currently and then what will those look like when they get there. Um and again just lots of data that we look through um and lots of meetings and we're going to

020talk a little bit more about what some of those collaborative meetings look like um as as we approach them transitioning into the building. So, like Spencer said, um we have a lot of decisions to make after we go out and we do those registration um meetings and visits. Um then we start reaching out to schedule those meetings with the counseling teams. Um we like to make data informed decisions. Elementary schools a lot of times they have students for seven years, maybe even more. And so they have a ton of data and it helps to set students up for success because that's our main goal. How can we set these students up for success? how can we put them in the in the best place um for them? So, we look at a lot of things.

021Um we look at prior documentation. We look at 504 plans. Are they EL? Um do they have specialized health plans? And then we can collaborate with those teams down at the elementary schools just to kind of figure out, okay, what what is the best place for this student? How can we set them up for success in their classes? Um do they have an IEP? Let's start talking about case managers and things like that. Um which actually leads to the next slide. Um, so when it comes to special education collaboration, um, we can develop individualized transition plans. We collaborate with those elementary school special education teachers and case managers, um, to make sure that we are setting those students up for success. Um, it's definitely a time of anxiety when you have students with disabilities who

022are transitioning and we really want to alleviate some of that anxiety both for the students and for their families. Um we know that, you know, sometimes there's kind of that grief cycle that goes along with it and every time there's a transition we get nervous and and we want our our families and our students to feel um supported and comfortable. Um just really that focus on individualization, right? We can do a lot of really cool things to support students as they're transitioning in. Um and the more communication between all of the people involved in their team, the better. Um we can do extra visits. Um lots of opportunities for them to see the building. A lot of times our um sixth or our seventh grade teachers will go down and do some observations. There are

023teams that will bring sixth grade students up just to do some extra tour. So we like to give them lots of opportunities just to see the building so that transition time is a little bit less scary. >> Yeah, absolutely. So, an IEP um is an individualized education plan that comes with direct specialized instruction um and an accommodation plan um where students um are receiving support from a special education teacher umcase manager and IIP means that a student is um showing some areas of deficit whether that be reading, writing, math, um behavior and then we're able to try to put some things into place um to kind of close that that gap. um but it doesn't come with um like the accommodation plan and things like that. Now, maybe it could lead to that eventually if

024the student doesn't show progress. Um but the IEP is that direct specialized instruction. >> Yeah. One of our last uh transition pieces before we take off for the summer is we bring the sixth graders up. We call it sixth grade move up day and it's just a district-wide event. That's usually about the first Friday uh in May. And this is an opportunity where every student that we're going to have in seventh grade is is uh gets to tour our building. And it's just fun watching them walk in, they are assigned a letter, and they are intermixed between all the all the elementarymentaries. Um they're not sitting with their same kids that they grew up with. It's it's intermixed and um they get to tour the building. They get to see the classes, what that looks

025like, meet some of the teachers. Um, and then we have um different sessions where we're talking kind of our our PBIS buildingwide um expectations. Um, and just an opportunity to for kids to ask questions and we get a lot of questions on what lunch looks like because when you get back there it looks like a huge buffet line. Um, so you get a lot of questions on lunch and different things. So, it's good to good to get them in. Um, and then, you know, get a tour of the building and then uh after the kids come, then we bring in the parents and the sixth grade parent night is great because I think it helps alleviate and the stress on parents because the kids are ready. I mean, they're so excited. They're ready to jump

026in the middle school and the parents are just so nervous about what this looks like because they've been so in routine of what that elementary building looks like and now this is secondary. the secondary experience is you know is completely different. So, um we have a presentation that our nurse talks um administration and our counselors um the nurse it's good to get familiarized with the nurse because there are some required documents um that are part of coming transition to the middle school making sure they get that taken care of and then just hearing from the building administrators um they meet our SRO and then any special education teacher um is available just to kind of ask questions at the end but then we kind of just kind of cut them loose and let them walk

027and tour the building and making sure that they are calm and ready to send their student uh to middle school. Um, another piece that we try to communicate throughout this process um and we're getting ready to talk about them coming into our building um shortly, but just the middle school model, right? And what does it look like and what does it mean to be a middle school? Um, and really there's a few things that we we talk about often with that. And the first one being teaming, right? So, every middle school has a teaming concept, which is um in light, it's it's a school within a school, right? We create these these smaller pockets um where these core teachers are going to have a smaller collection of students that they're going to get to know

028a little bit better. Um we we've hit on it before and we talked about that involvement. Um the two strong beliefs there are we want kids to be involved and we want kids to be known. Um so when you have those smaller teams, you can really have teachers that know the kids and know them well and that they're well connected with. Um, and that involvement also adds to that. Um, a few other things that you can see up there is, you know, we work hard to u make sure that we're reviewing all of our data, our transition plans. Um, it's fun because it's the it's a fresh start, right? It's it's new and exciting. Um, but also we want to make sure that we have enough information to set these students up for success. So,

029um, balancing that. Um, always want to celebrate the the early successes. Um, find some wins for the students within the transition process, things that they're excited about. Um and then just that continuing um academic and social support um that it's such a time of exploration. We want you to get involved. We want you to do things. We want you to fail some um and we want to support you through all of that. Um so a big concept that we think of often throughout the process and often when they're in our building as well. >> Yep. And then kind of that summer transition period right before um we kind of get back going, we have what we call early check-in day. Um, and that is kids are excited and it's the number one thing is to

030get their schedule, know what what team they're on and see if their team with their friends. So, that is it is well attended. Um, but during that early check-in, we hand out schedules. They tour the building. They get to see their they get to walk their schedule and we take photos that day. Um, so it's it's a great opportunity for kids to come in, like I said, get their schedule, uh, work their combination because that's something that's new now. Um, our building was under con construction, so students were not able to practice that lock. So that was a little bit of learning curve when we first started this year, but um that is nice that they get to practice the combination, walk their schedule, so on that first day they're ready to go. Um we

031do have some opportunities where um maybe at that early check-in day or at another time slot where we bring a group of of students in just to meet uh their teachers and build connection, build rapport. some we do a little pizza get together and walk through their uh schedule and really meet those those the staff that will be uh working with them one-on-one on a daily basis. So then in August when the school year is getting ready to start um we have the half day um for seventh grade only where eighth graders do not attend. Um it allows students that opportunity to practice locks um to do things like that to bring their supplies. We try to make it really fun. Like we play music and we give them this big warm welcome to kind

032of pump them up. Having eighth graders there makes them a little bit nervous. So having that day where they can just get acclimated on their own is really really nice. Um we go through a lot of processes and procedures that eighth graders already know. They've been through it, right? But we go through a lot of these procedures. It's good for families too. They get to learn the pickup and the drop off routines um on that day without you know if they have questions they can ask us. Um so it just provides that time and space. Um, you'll see the graphic up there. Those are just kind of things that we talk about with them like how to keep their locker organized, how, you know, what what kind of organization system are you going to use

033that it's they go from having, you know, one primary classroom to, you know, all of these different classes that they're transitioning to. So, how can we help them set themselves up for success um with regards to that? >> All right. And then once they're in our building, we've passed the first day and we're trying to get them rolling. We spend a lot of time in that first month um just helping support again that that that strong start. Um we talk about our PBIS expectations. We have handbook talks where we go over a little bit of the dos and don'ts and and what are we expecting from our students? Um and and how does it look at middle school and just trying to encourage and reinforce that. Um you know the students are it's always funny

034the seventh graders, right? the first semester versus the second semester just even the first few weeks to the next few weeks as they get more and more comfortable and uh test the boundaries a little bit more at times but um we do a lot to help them understand those routines and processes. We also have curriculum night. Um and so we invite um within that first month of school families back into the building. They get a chance to resee the school, walk it, uh talk with some of the teachers, ask some questions about the curriculum. Um we usually do some breakout sessions. I know a big piece often is like Google Classroom. That's uh if they haven't had a student through middle school, that's a big piece that we implement now. And what does that look

035like? And how do I access grades? and oh, there's running grades and and so it's just a little bit different in the timing and the accessibility at the middle level. So, helping them feel comfortable and confident with that. Um, and then it's it's just a heavy time of monitoring what's going on, right? If we're having students that are struggling or thriving either side of that, we want to make sure that we're communicating with the families early on um within uh just check-ins. Sometimes we do meetings um early in the year to follow up and then obviously um our newsletters and some of our ongoing digital communication that we have with families as well. >> Yeah. So we've seventh grader come in. It's been a good great transition. You find your niche and then we transition

036right back out. I mean two years goes by so fast. Um it it truly goes by really quick. So to the eighth grade to the nth grade is a very similar process. Um the high schools will come down. Um they'll bring freshmen down. that kind of talk about what the what it looks like at the high schools. Um, and they'll bring staff down and talk during classes and register register kind of the same process we did with the seventh grade. Um, there is what they have is like a freshman orientation class. So students that we recommend that maybe might struggle or may have a difficult transition to the high school, we can offer that um next step prep or the freshman success success class and they do get a credit hour for it. That happens

037over the summer. So, um it's a it's a great program and in a a fluid way for some of those kids to help transition that might be a little bit difficult for them. And then one thing that uh is is real nice with the both high schools is they're always coming down, always talking to our kids. Um we know extracurricular activities are very important um to a lot of our students. So bringing coaches down, having the opportunity to play or participate or perform at the auditoriums or the high school stadiums or some of the arenas um we take advantage of and it just kind of boosts that participation, gets kids excited uh to represent the high school where they're going to attend. Um and then like uh Miss Judson had said, we do a combined

038band concert um where we take over one of the the gyms at the high school um which is well attended and um it's nice to see kids that we have transitioned and now getting ready and getting excited uh for high school opportunities and all the the activities that they do. So questions about the transition. Well, first of all, I think every once in a while I still have a nightmare that I'm at my locker and I cannot remember my combination. So, and I graduated from school back in Richmond. So, um it's been a while. Um this is probably going to be a loaded question. And I'm probably going to get all sorts of frowns from Shireen over here cuz um but um what do you think not logistically because I know it'd be it's going

039to be quite a transition if we put three grades in middle school, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Do you think that would make I know I told you it's I'll probably get some people yelling and screaming at me, but the reason I reason I asked is when I way back again when I was in middle school, we were the second class and I was went in Indiana, so not in the state of Nebraska. We were the second class that transitioned and made it a sixth, seventh, and eighth grade junior high school at that time. Of course, middle school. So, I just, you know, it I don't know if it would make a difference. Just means now you transition fifth graders into sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. I didn't know if if any of you have

040any thoughts of that, knowing that of course you're going to keep your jobs. Shireen's not going to fire you for for saying something you're not going to want to, but just any thoughts on that at all? >> Well, again, not not logistics. Logistically, I get that. I just I'm thinking more of the transition and how quick it is for those two years when you spend kindergarten through sixth grade in one building, real quick two-year transition, and then four years in the next. you know, any thought about would the if the kids would do any better making it three years? Again, I get logistics and I'm not even going to go there, but yeah. >> Hey, I would say if you put sixth graders in the middle school level, we would handled the exact same way

041we're doing right now. >> That's kind of what I figured you'd say. Yeah, absolutely. >> And and when you do those visits, it's like, holy, that's a big sixth grader. Like some of them, you know, they've really grown that last semester. So, um it is it's it's interesting. or you know when you go to those elementary visits and see how big some of those kids are. It's like wow you do look some of them look like eighth graders you know and then it's the same conversation when they leave eighth grade it's like wow you're you know a freshman sophomore ready to go so >> okay I just wondered if you had any thoughts of it on it so >> I'm not looking to change the whole process just a thought so relax [laughter] >> wondering

042where the yeah motion Uh I appreciate all three of you spending the time putting this together and your teams uh as well uh at all three of the middle schools. I was listening intently as I will be going through this process in about six months. So I'll be able to provide uh hands-on feedback on the process as well. So I look forward to that opportunity. But talking about uh I know a lot of the other districts do the six seven eight and I know that's not part of this conversation. Um, but having a fifth grader and a sixth grader right now, I I like how we do it. And, you know, for me, it's kids can grow up so quickly once they get to that middle school, you know, junior high level and and keeping

043them uh with the younger kids as as as long as we can. Uh, I I think has been has been good for for our district. Um, also last week we had NASB, which I'm sure we'll talk about in the board comments, but I went to one of the sessions which was a student listening session. It was five high school kids from across the state that came and talked to uh a room of probably 50, 60, 70 board members. And one of the things that, you know, we asked them was, you know, what could the districts have done better that they were in to to help with their education? every single one. One of the top things they said was the transition from middle school or junior high to high school. They felt like that transition

044period was just uh it was a a big adjustment for them and not all of them handled it well or they had classmates that didn't handle it well. So, I appreciate all the attention and the focus that we put on that transition both going into the middle school and going out of the high school because it is such a big uh time of change for those for those students and the families. Uh, so I appreciate what the schools do and working with the high schools and working with the elementary schools and you guys and and trying to figure out how we can best support those students and the families as they go through those periods to help hopefully set them up uh as best for success that we can when they get to that next

045level. So, I appreciate all that you guys do in those transitions. I just want to know if you don't put that in the benefits. Um, one question I have, what do we do for kids that aren't in our district and join us in the summer programs? I'm sure you try to get involved. >> Yeah, I I guess I can start and then um share. We track that closely, right? And I I would say our counselors are such a vital piece of that, right? and helping us uh identify um students that can help those students connect and and get acclimated well into the school, right? And so there's a lot of conversations that go all right, especially, you know, we're a military um community, a lot of those families that we see come in. All right,

046how do we help them? Um so again, there's a time in the summer um where we we get a chance to meet with them. Um we also have, like I said, a small group, usually those first few weeks where we intentionally create some lunch groups um and some things like that. um which is a little different than if they come in in the middle of the year. But those are some unintentional things that we try to do early in the year of just connecting them with other um students within the building I'd say is one of the primary things. >> Yeah. One thing um that we do is if a student enrolls before the school year starts, we have um what we call a new student pizza party um right before the beginning of the

047school year because they missed out on all of those opportunities that the students coming from within district had the opportunity to do like the six sixth grade visit day and the registration talks and all of those things. So we invite them in for a pizza party and then they get to do kind of all those things, a question and answer, a tour of the building and things like that. We do um we have them come in at the beginning um and then we kind of let them go so that the students can explore on their own. But yes um and our counselors I think do a really really nice job of making sure that they meet with those families and explain all of our processes so they don't feel like they're just dumping their kid

048off in an environment that they have no knowledge of. >> And the the uh students that are attending they do have the opportunity to come into the sixth grade move up day. They just parents just have to get them there. So that's another opportunity that they're able to participate in. >> One other comment. So towards the end of my career, I had the privilege of being middle school and that was such a wonderful experience and I learned, you know, I think it's different when you hear about middle school or when you live in middle school. So one of the things you might think about is inviting those fifth and sixth grade teachers up when they have their elementary birthdays and let them really see what middle school is like. And you know, I think give

049them um such comfort to know what great things that you're doing and to actually see it in action. >> I've been through the middle school experience. It's it's really quite wonderful. It's wellrun and the kids do they're just running all over the place having a good time. So, I like what what I think middle school's advantage is over all the other grades is your teaming. the way you team and you run your um your conversations just to help say this student's having trouble and the whole team knows what to do then to work with a individual student or a group of students if you need to. So I heard you say IIIP. Now is that a state regulated or federal regulated? Is that our own invention? >> The IIP the individualized in intervention I think

050it is plan. Yeah. >> Yeah. That's our our paperwork, our process for how we track um students and and um we've really come a long way too in terms of how we communicate that from elementary to middle school, from middle school to high school. Um so that's that's our process and our paperwork that helps support the whole framework >> which I think is fabulous. So >> rule 10 requires us to have a SAT process and that's Pilion Le Vista's uh form of it. It's more inclusive and as Spencer said, we have our own system for paperwork, but it it it is checking that rule 10 box. I only have to say that because the audit's coming up. So, >> your audit's coming up. >> Well, thank you. That's you guys do a great job. Thank

051you so much. >> I just want to chime in to with such an appreciation for these three and their three counterparts behind them. We are unique to Skip's point in the sense the kids are transitioning in and so you know kids get a little sense of freedom when they go to middle school which is a great thing. Uh sometimes it's not a great thing. Uh but helping kids regulate that and advocate them and they have to do it fairly quickly because then we got to turn around and push them out um and get them ready for high school where they go from uh we're going to give you lots of supports to okay now your credits count uh and now you got to make sure you're getting your work done. Uh the one thing I

052do want to prepare you for Marcus is no middle school's trapper keeper looks like that picture on the slide. >> Yeah, I think I've got mine from the late 90s [laughter] that I'll just dust off and hand them. So yes, >> I just want to thank the three of you. This was an outstanding presentation. Also want to single out Dr. Gerachek, Mr. Johnson, Dr. Carson. Um, one of the things that makes this group of six kind of interesting is that at least four of the six by my count had experiences at other grades spans. Allison was high school, Spencer was elementary, uh, Dr. Geraceek was elementary, Dr. Carson, I believe, has some high school experiences. Tim certainly has experiences high school science at Po Vista South. One of the things we talk a lot about

053as a school district is we want people that want to be at the middle school. It's not a fallback. It's a transition to something else. It's a farm team. What I find interesting about these six individuals is that I don't know where their minds were when they started their careers, but I know in conversations one-on-one with all of them is regardless of whether they started at the middle school or they came in from a different grad span, once they got there, they're like, "This is home now. This is where I want to be." And that's really critical because we only have two years to make this right by kids. Uh no margin for error. So for the six of you, thank you for what you do. We're so very proud of what you do and

054uh it's a critical time for our kids. Well done. >> Thank you. >> Next on our agenda is the reports starting with the superintendent. >> Thank you very much, Miss Whit, members of the board. Happy Monday, everyone. For our audience members that are live, thank you for being with us. For our uh community members that may be tuning in online, thank you for engaging with your board of education and your school district. First and foremost, happy Thanksgiving. Uh we're entering what I believe to be uh one of the best times of the year. We've got Thanksgiving and we have all sorts of spiritual holidays regardless of faith or creed coming up in the month of December. Uh it's just a really fun time uh to be an educator. Uh just want to remind our staff

055that uh Wednesday is PD Palooa. We have some professional development going on for our staff. I believe we have over 30 classes that will be uh taught on Wednesday alone. Students are off. Of course, everybody's off Thursday, Friday. Sincerely hope that our staff, our families, our students, our community members have a safe and blessed holiday. Uh looks like the weather's going to be a little bit spotty, but uh you know, that's what we get for living in the Midwest. Uh speaking of magical time of the year, uh just as a reminder, uh we have a football game tomorrow. Uh ladies and gentlemen, and we don't usually make a big deal about elevating athletics above other events, but this is a special ball game. Pavilion Vista South High School will be playing at Memorial Stadium tomorrow.

056It'll be about 7 7:15 depending on how previous games go uh against Milard South, the juggernaut that is Milard South. So um hope to see everybody there. Best of luck to our Titan nation as they represent the entire community, the entire school district. We couldn't be prouder of their efforts. Hopefully, we'll come home with a win. Uh I don't want to talk too much about the NASB conference because I believe believe we'll be getting some of that from other board members, but every year the week prior to Thanksgiving week, the Nebraska Association of School Boards hosts its annual conference. Typically, it's at the CHI Center. Previous years it was at the Le Vista Conference Center. It's an outstanding opportunity to network with other superintendents and board members. Three really solid keynotes that I believe you'll

057probably hear some highlights from later on and several breakout sessions that were really, really good. Uh for me, prior to the conference on Wednesday, had the opportunity to attend the commissioner's advisory. Uh Commissioner Maher has a small group of superintendents he meets with quarterly. So, we were able to get that crossed off the list. And I also participate on the EN jump board of directors that looks at natural gas prices. That may sound bone dry, but as we look at how the markets move depending on everything from geopolitics to the situation in the Ukraine and just the es and flows of energy values based on supply, it's it's fascinating stuff to a former government and history teacher. So maybe I'm in the minority, but I thought it was good fun. Uh, also want to thank

058Monica Thompson and the new Lincoln View community. We also had board members attend. On November 13th, we held a community event at our soontobe 17th elementary building, Lincoln View Elementary. It will open up this fall. Uh I thought Monica Thompson did a wonderful job of representing the new community. We did some team building. I bet we had I don't know. I bet we had 200 people there. Uh may maybe more. Miss Wood, thank you for being there. Uh we open up our doors and our community responds. One of the things that makes this such a special community. Uh so very proud. Uh most importantly though, besides a little bit of team building and someformational sharing, we did unveil the mascot and it is, drum roll please, it is the it is the Leopards uh with

059some really cool nifty uh some nifty colors. So really excited about opening up that building. And before I conclude, um in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I received a note today. Uh I I think I put this in my board report, but I think this illustrates a little bit about what makes this community so special. I'm I'm going to leave out some names here because I didn't ask the family's permission, but we had a really special event last Friday that that I think really says a whole lot about the team and the people and the community we have here. Uh Dr. Rickley, thank you for helping us pull off a graduation ceremony for Ryan. You and Mr. Ryan, that's Jason Ryan, principal at Monarch High, made it possible for my mom to share a milestone we

060weren't sure she would get to witness. Our family will always remember that gift. Mom was on hospice care and wasn't sure she'd make it to graduation. What PO La Vista Community Schools is a true example of PLCS in the community at its best. People stepping up for another with generosity, heart, and genuine care. We're grateful. Uh this was a Monarch family, longtime Monarch family, and this individual had worked in our schools. Uh without giving too much away, this family had given a scholarship. This is a community that bleeds Monarch Maroon and was deeply grateful. Uh Jason Ryan, what he did, he didn't have to do that. He did it uh pretty irregular, but he did it anyway. And I can promise you it made an impact on that individual, her family, this graduate, and everybody

061that was in that room with us. So, just uh really kind of a heartway heartwarming way to end the the the week for me and really proud. I don't know if you're watching, Jason, but thanks for what you do to represent the Monarch Nation. And with that, Miss Whit, I'll conclude my superintendent comments. >> It's a good reason for Thanksgiving. >> Amen. Amen to that. >> Uh next, we have school board member reports. Who wants to talk about NASB first? >> I can go. Uh, this is a a little longer because I also had the liaison lunch at Monarchs uh with Mr. Ryan and the staff up at the high school. Uh, this was a little different. We met with 10 to 12 of the head coaches at the high school. Um, so a little

062different than, you know, meeting with staff from some of the different departments and and talking about more like in classroom, but it was great to hear uh from them just on the facilities. Also got a tour of the new um uh room that we have up there. I think it's opening I think this week officially. It's it was pretty close when I when I saw it, but that looks like a great space. It'll be great for our our students and our athletes to use. uh talk but talk through the facilities and also just had more general conversations on how youth sports has changed so much over the years. Um I mean it's just the amount of time and energy and and money in youth sports is just it's blown up and how uh the district

063and how our schools uh are adapting and how we can further adapt. uh also talked through uh the struggles with the transfer policies at the NSAA level and what that is doing at the high school level uh with you know creating mega teams at some schools uh for individual sports and you know potential options that NSA has. Now, I did go to then an NSAA uh session at the NASB conference last week about their transfer rules, and they don't seem to have many great options on how to fix. I mean, when you're a state that uh uh prioritizes uh open enrollment and uh students that can transfer from one district to another, how does NSAA uh limit how do they control transfers for sports reasons? They can't. So, how do we how do we uh

064adjust and um what does that look like for sports? So NSAA has some things they're going to try to do scheduling wise to make sure you see uh fewer blowouts, but I think they are also open for feedback if anyone has any ideas on how to limit uh kind of what we've been seeing these last handful of years with just the number of transfers from schools. Uh also for the NASB session, I did uh I did sessions on district and board legal liabilities. It's always great to hear uh to keep up to speed on different lawsuits throughout the country that boards and school districts are dealing with to ensure um that we just have an understanding of of uh you know are we doing anything that would be related or um just getting a sense

065of kind of what are the lawsuits that are out there that we could potentially uh just be staying on top of and watching as they go through the court system. Uh, and then I also had a on the Wednesday before the NASB, we had a two-hour legislative conference for the legislative committee. Uh, in that meeting, we talked through the upcoming session. I think the session starts January 7th and from what we've seen already from Speaker Arch's schedule, it's going to be a pretty condensed schedule. I don't think they're going to be having many breaks, at least those first two months. So, I think it's going to it's a short session and I think it's going to go pretty quickly, but talking through the potential bills that we'll see getting pushed and prioritized, uh, the ones

066we want to start having conversations with with the senators. Um, and also, uh, we had the conversation on the school, the governor's school finance review commission. So, I know they've had, I think, three meetings now. And their first their initial report is due on December 1st. So, we kind of got a preview of that report from a couple of the commission members and how those conversations are going. I don't know what's going to be fully in the report and this is just the initial report that goes to the legislature and then they they'll they'll continue to meet I think monthly. Uh they are meeting uh but it was great to hear from those committee members that said uh those on the committee they no one has an agenda. They're all open to trying to solve

067the problem. So far these first three months it's been heavy on gathering data. what do other uh states do? What does the funding look like historically? Where are we at now? Um how does it affect all the districts? So, right now it's a lot on the data side, but it's great to hear that no one is coming with an agenda and they feel positive. They don't know if they're going to, you know, it's a it's a difficult problem to solve, but they feel like the people in the room are at least they they have the right mindset are trying to move forward together. So, it'll be interesting to see what's in the report and then continuing to watch them as they move forward with their meeting. So, I apologize for the length of that. Um,

068but that was uh that was last week. Um, and it looked to me, >> sorry, >> looked I'm loud enough without it. [clears throat] Um, it looked to me like, uh, there were about 80 of our eighth grade students that were participating, um, under the leadership of, um, UNK or excuse me, UNO band director, Dr. Kennedy and I know that a lot of our own district staff members were very involved in that day uh preparing those kids and doing breakout sessions and again there was a nice turnout of parents to come and and watch and be a part of that celebration and then uh at the uh NASB conference I did I do think that Nebraska puts on a very nice conference and it's it uh they offered some uh I heard three keynote speakers

069uh one very motiv ational. I don't think I'll be doing a hundred iron mans in a 100 days, but he did. >> Start with one. Just >> start with one. I I don't think I'll even do that. Um and then the final speaker was on data privacy, which was very thoughtprovoking. And then, uh the sessions, the breakouts that I attended, um dealt with things from collaboration, building culture, law, hot topics, um resources so of for for parents that are not English speakers, as well as teacher burnout. So, some nice presenters. Um, and then they do have a section where kids are there showing off, um, some of the things that they're doing in their schools. And, um, I saw a group of young women from Battle Creek in their FFA outfits and they talked to

070me about raising Angus cattle and, uh, you know, right at the school they have their pins and their cattle and, um, you know, so we have kids all over the state doing great things. Um, so that's what I've been up to. I was not at the state conference unfortunately. Um, real quickly though, uh, my I was at my last, uh, foundation meeting. Uh, that happened, I guess, gosh, when was that? Back on the 17th of November. [snorts] Um, yeah, I guess. >> Yeah, just you're right. Last Monday. Gosh, seems longer than that. Um, so yeah, uh, the big thing, of course, takeaway, not the big thing, but the last thing is you were voted in. So, you are you are now good to go. Congratulations. You take over. So, I know you know this. They've

071already contacted you. So, um that'd be fantastic. And then I had a maybe meeting as well. I was disappointed with the maybe meeting. It seems like um and I don't I'm not sure what to do about it or anything, but we the participation is very very low right now. Only only two or three. I think there were three of us that were there. Uh you know, and so I think it you know, it really I'm not sure how to get that uh participation back up, but I think it was a it's a great concept and I think it needs to continue. So, uh, those of us are there, of course, you know, kind of share everything that's going on in our particular district and it's it's good to hear what other districts are dealing with

072and, you know, and ask questions and everything. So, hopefully that'll continue and we can build that back up and get everybody back together with that. So, thank you. >> Well, I did go to the conference, but only one day sadly. I got ill and couldn't attend the second day. Um but I did on the 13th attend the uh Monarch band concert. So I couldn't go to the Liberty View Elementary opening. Um but they had some really great things that happened at that conference or at that band conf uh show. One of them they played the service anthem medley and they turned up the lights in the house so that anyone who was in that particular um branch of the service when they played like the Air Force song, anyone in the Air Force would stand

073up. And then when they played the army or the marines and they even had the space space yeah space force one >> it was really good. Um, and they at the end they had this uh presentation called Oby's Amazing Adventure and Katherine Hardgrave wrote the tune for it and the kids who were in this program drew the artwork for it and they displayed it on a PowerPoint while they were playing and it's called the a collaboration between the Monarch Bands and the Sing Me a Story Foundation and it was really like heartwarming and wonderful. So, I'm glad I was able to go to that and I'm sorry I missed the Liberty event. Any other comments from the board tonight? Moving on then to our committee report starting with building grounds and finance. >> Uh we

074have not met since the last meeting >> human resources and student services. >> We have started the negotiation process and um have met three times I believe with the PLA representatives and then um on November 17th uh we had a brief meeting where we talked about some staffing proposals and Dr. settles will be discussing that this evening. >> Thank you. And curriculum and Americanism. >> Yes, we met last Monday as well. So, I guess had a bunch of meetings last Monday. Um we had quite a few things. We talked about um really good um discussion about the strategic plan and how we got the action teams and they're up and running. Uh some of them have already had a number of meetings and so things are uh um progressing there. Uh they're trying to get

075uh the trying to have the goals and the action steps, hoping to have those completed by winter break. Um, I know that's coming up quickly, so we'll see, you know, if that works. Um, and then, um, talked quite a bit, uh, uh, with Christopher about surveys and and how they've got a whole plan of aligning those with the strategic plan, which seems like a great the [snorts] way they're trying to do the surveys and make them shorter and more pointed to certain areas, I think, is a really good idea, and I think it's going to uh, pay huge dividends. Uh we talked about uh a literacy literacy plan update uh how we've got a carryover of some funds from from the learning community grant and what we're going to do with those. Um um it

076sounds like some really good ideas and try to get some more uh some coaching more uh some more subs and try to again just try to um you know give our staff and our kids the best uh help that we can um moving forward. And then I know you mentioned it before, the wonderful rule 10 audit that's happening uh right after Thanksgiving. So I know you're looking forward to that. Um it looks like the schedule you gave us very aggressive schedule. So I hope everybody uh can get through can get to all those. That'll be fantastic. Um then we talked a little bit about the PE and health uh with is going to start in the curriculum toolbox cycle. Um and you know just kind of talked through a little bit of that and how

077that's going to work um as well. And I think um oh we talked about the personalized uh PD Palooa that's going on on Wednesday with all the uh the teachers able to uh try to pick up some of their credits during that day. And again a great schedule it look like you all had planned out. So it looks fantastic. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you everyone. Our next agenda item is action items. First up is the actions by consent. Do we have a motion? I'll make the motion to approve the action by consent items as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Mr. Madler and a second by Miss Oh my god, I can't remember yours. Butler, [laughter] >> I just know you're Eliza. >> Roll call, please. Um, Miss

078Butler, >> yes. >> Mr. Madler, >> yes. >> Miss Whit, >> yes. >> Miss Wood, >> yes. >> Mr. Bailey, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. Next on the agenda is the HR subcommittee Rick on the 202627 school calendar. Dr. Settles. >> Yes. Thank you so much. Just bringing this back to you today. Um we had done quite a bit of work on it ahead of time. So there were no additional changes or anything um brought to us since I last presented it at the last meeting. So what you see is the calendar consisting of 173 days for elementary and 175 days for secondary students. We would start school on August 12th for those K through seven and have a nice transition day for those seventh graders. Um, oh, I have it up

079there for you to be able to see. Sorry, a little too far there. There we go. Um, and then our last day of school would be May 21st of 2027. Doesn't even sound possible. Um we do have a little bit later spring break than u typical um in there. We also have built in a number of inclement weather days. Uh we have some makeup days planned in there if we should have too many inclement weather days uh so that we could have those days um made up somewhat during the school year as opposed to absolutely needing to go to after um school was out. And then our graduation day scheduled for May 9th. Uh for our staff, this day does include 187 days shown of their 190 days. And we do that because three of

080the days are reserved for time that they spend in and planning for parent teacher conferences. So if you do the counting on that, you won't see those three days on there. I don't think there's anything else with it. You have a motion. >> I'll make a motion to approve the 202627 school calendar as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Miss Wood and a second by Mr. Bailey. Any further discussion? >> Roll call. >> Mr. Madler. >> Yes. >> Miss Whit. >> Yes. >> Miss Wood. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bailey. >> Yes. >> Miss Butler? >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. Moving on to discussion information. Our first item is the superintendent's evaluation. The board of education is uh must review the superintendent annually according to statute 79-828 and

081those results have been collected and uh I think there's a calendar for us to get together and talk about it and then bring it back to the board later. >> Any other comments? >> Uh thank you very much, Miss Wit. Um, just as a reminder to our community, the board, as Miss Wit stated, is um, statutoily required to evaluate the superintendent once a year. As a matter of practice, we have two conversations per year. My goals are adopted, at least two conversations per year. Uh, my goals are typically adopted in late summer, uh, prior to the start of the school year. We typically do a mid-year update, November, December, and then we typically do an afteraction uh, report typically May and June, kind of reviewing the progress in the year. Uh I did put together

082a summary of the five superintendent goals including in red uh a summary of progress made. There's still a lot of work to be done. Uh we're at the midway point in the year and while I'm very proud of the progress, we are not content with where we are yet. Much work to go. Um just briefly, the five strategic uh the five goals are uh implement the new district strategic planning process. Two is develop new communication engagement strategies. Three, focus on enhanced curriculum and instruction strategies. four, recruitment and retention, and then five deals with bond and facility and safety projects. So, in red, you're going to see some highlights for each of those five goals. Just wanted to put put it out there for the community in case we have some community members watching. Those are

083the five goals that we're providing the go the board an update on and we will come back in May or June and complete that review uh and go from there. Uh and with that, Miss Wit, I would see if there's any questions from the board on our progress or other things yet undone. Okay. So this was my first evaluation process. So we completed it and then what's the next step I guess after that? >> Yeah. Thank you very much Miss Butler for the question. So typically um what happens along with the midyear update is the board fills out an evaluation a survey instrument which I think the board wants to review in the offseason. We've had some conversations around that. But it's a standardized instrument. We use it from year to year to year. Um

084once the board has submitted their results and I think do we have five of the six or six of the six? We have all six. So once those results have been compiled I don't see them. Those results get compiled by Miss Sheller. Miss Sheller shares them with the board president. In this case Miss Wit Miss Wit sits down with me and goes through the results and then we share them publicly with the board meeting. So if all goes well with Miss Wit and I, we could share those results uh and it happens in a public setting uh at our next board meeting in December. Just as a reminder to the community, why would you evaluate a superintendent halfway through the school year? Why would you not wait until May at the end of the school

085year? That's to protect the office. It's to protect the district. And what I mean by that is this. If the board decides not to renew my contract, it's better for both parties to know it in December. Why? Because that gives the board a full semester to do a search for a superintendent. And it's better for me, frankly, because if the board decides they want to go a different direction, that gives me time to find a different job. Uh we didn't always do it this way. There was a time where we did my evaluation, the superintendent evaluation in the summer, but if the board decides that I'm not what you're looking for, that leaves you no margin for error for finding a new superintendent. You're not going to find a superintendent in May or June for

086the following fall. Thank you for that question, Miss Butler. Uh I appreciate you putting the updates together on this uh on all these uh it's a lot of information. Uh so I know that it can be timeconuming to do it but I think the these updates are great for the board that you know we're not there every day. We're not in the weeds as much so it helps us stay up to date on a lot of it. I had at least one question uh on the surveys which probably doesn't surprise you since I've been I'm a data person. And this might be better question for Christopher because I know we've moved away from the old way we used to survey both the staff and the families and it says that we've so far done two

087of this uh planned seven smaller surveys. Uh prior you know uh in prior years we would review our yearly survey uh data in about September or so for the prior year. uh what's going to be the plan on how best to share the data that we are getting from these surveys with the board? >> Yeah, really good question. So, uh and technically I didn't know um how quickly that second survey would go out. I think it's going out later this week even Dr. V. It is out. It's in the field. Okay. So, I guess it is technically accurate. So, we'll do two of the surveys. We'll have those complete here shortly. [music] We'll have seven surveys total. Um, one of the things that we want to do is to share that data back throughout the

088course of the school year at the subcommittee level and if the board chooses at the committee of the whole with the whole board. That's really up to you. Um, as as Mr. Madler indicated, the old model was we would get the results in April for the one big end of the year. We would process it internally. We would share it with the principles and then we'd come back later that fall and then do a pretty big board presentation. and we can still replicate that model. At the end of the day, we want to make sure we're giving you the data you need when you want it. So, I think maybe one of the conversations for us to have in subcommittee is uh would your expectation be that each of those seven um data collection points

089that you want a chance to review it? They're only about five questions each. Um so, that would be something to consider. or do we want to do that each time we ask five questions or do we want to wait until we have sufficient number of questions uh until we start looking at the data and again that that's a question for the board. I I'll do whatever the board wants us to do but just know that in the next couple of weeks we'll have two of the seven completed. Um it would make sense to me to maybe start if the board wishes to maybe start breaking that apart in subcommittee before we bring it to the committee as a whole. But at the end of the day we will do whatever the board asks us to

090do. I hope that answers your question Mr. Madler. >> Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate it. So when you say two of the seven, so one two each, two families and a staff or one staff, one family that >> Dr. V, would you mind approaching uh approaching the board and in case they have some really granular questions and you are our resident expert, Dr. V? >> Yes. So um we have a plan for a series of seven surveys, each being up to five questions. The first was general uh about strategic planning and about the district itself. The following six are all tied to one of the six action teams for the strategic plan. And so the first of those six went out last week. The other five will all come out second semester because the action teams

091develop three of the five survey items on those surveys. The other two survey items on those surveys, we pull historical items. So, we continue to have longitudinal data from the previous surveys to ask those same questions again. And every survey goes out to both staff and families and is written in a way that makes it um appropriate for both staff and families to respond. And then we separate that data when it comes in. >> This may interest you, Mr. Madler. But one of the things, as Dr. Siri indicated, we're trying to have a focus on crafting questions that support what we're trying to accomplish with strategic planning. However, we're also carrying over what I would consider legacy questions. Uh, from survey one, what I would consider a legacy question that was pulled from previous surveys

092was rate PLCS, right? Give us a letter grade, A, B, C, D, or F. Uh, that's a question we've asked at least since I've been here, and it probably predates me for a good long while. It's part of the Gallup survey, too, by the way. Uh, and in fact, not only did we process those results internally, but we processed them with our classified, our certified advisory, and then we had our student advisory last week. So, we spent most of the time saying, "Do you agree with a survey results? And how would you grade us?" So, we're trying to use this as an opportunity to not only get our strategic planning process stronger, but we're also trying to honor past survey results by keeping legacy questions and processing those. Dr. V, did I nail it? Yep.

093>> Yeah. And I appreciate the time and the effort going in to think through how better to use surveys as a tool to gather, you know, information. You know, we've got thousands of families, 12,000 students, you know, almost getting close to 2,000 staff. Uh so it's a lot of information out there and I think it's important to to try to gather as as much as we as much as we can. Uh, and I understand the importance of of trying to ask relevant questions at the time, more timely questions, but I do like having some of the historical questions so you can get a better understanding of what are the trends on those answers. If every survey is just a new batch of questions, you don't really know if things are getting better or worse because

094you just know at this moment for those specific questions, how people are responding. So as a board it doesn't give us and probably the administration as much of an insight on how things are trending on trying to solve certain problems. Uh so I appreciate uh uh both the historical and the and the new survey format. I'm always open to trying new things and yeah I as a just personal feedback I don't think I need the as a one board member's feedback I don't need results every every survey but I think it is would be important to you know share once we do get more information that that we feel we feel comfortable sharing >> and just two two additional notes for you um one we did challenge the action teams for the three items that

095they developed to develop at least one longitudinal item for the five years of the strategic plan. So, it's something that we will ask that's related to the objectives that they're developing, the goal that they're developing for their action team that we'll ask at periodic intervals over the next 5 years. So, we'll be able to see a little bit more targeted whether or not the interventions they put in place for their action area are showing any improvement for us. So, we'll have that in addition to the historical items that we've already established. And then the second thing I wanted to share um before I sit back down is that we do provide some sort of summary in the Rickley recap of the results of the survey. So uh one Rickley recap is administering the survey and

096then two weeks later we share some sort of summary from the results. It's not all five questions. It's not in the weeds. Uh but there's a write up explaining what some of the higher level results of the survey were just to try to keep people in the loop about what we're hearing from what they're sharing with us in those survey responses. >> I think one of the things that we talked about >> Sorry, go ahead. No, go ahead. >> Say I think one of the things we talked about in subcommittee is how hard your team is working when you're doing surveys that many of them. So I think to your point, you know, my in my opinion is we definitely don't need them to have to put something together for every in every every two

097weeks and you know and present it. But I do agree that yeah, after two or three questions or something trying to put something together would be good, but I know how busy these surveys are keeping you all um as you try this new concept which I think is a fantastic idea. So >> how have your uh results been? I mean number of people responding has been higher because of the shorter >> uh anytime you make a change there's always a hesitancy I think and so right now response rates are lower than I would like um they are lower than the survey that we administered at the end of the school year um one of the things that we've talked about quite a bit is that we anticipate fluctu uation in the response rates from the

098surveys based on the interest level in the topic. So the first survey was strategic planning. A lot of people may not see the connection between highle strategic planning and their student. So engagement rates might be a little bit lower. Uh the current survey is engagement in the community asking about parents, student, staff community engagement. So, we're hoping that we'll see higher engagement rates with this survey because it is a topic that I think people can more clearly see the connection between what we're asking and how that impacts their students. So, we do expect to see fluctuations in response rates. Right now, response rates are a little bit lower than I would like and we'll work on getting those up over the series of the survey. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. Next on our agenda is

099the Patriot and Walnut Creek renovations. Mr. Richards. >> Thank you, Miss Wit. Um, tonight we want to give you an overview of the Patriot and Walnut Creek renovation projects. And uh, Mr. Greg Stein from BCDM is here to kind of walk you through that like we've done in the other uh, particular uh, renovation projects. These these projects are start are scheduled to start this spring. Uh be completed by the summer of 2027. Boy Jones will be handling uh Patriot and Samson Walnut Creek and they're kind of in the middle right now of getting subcontract bids to bring the board for a guaranteed maximum price at a future meeting. So with that, I'll turn it over to Greg here. >> Thank you, Brett, and thank you all for having me here this evening. >> Thanks. Uh

100so I'll start with uh with Patriot Elementary here. Uh on the site plan, uh again, the the yellow is some playground surfacing replacement. Uh as well as there's a sidewalk we're adding as a egress uh out of the art room. Uh and then reworking the the sidewalk uh from the playground out to the parking around the new kitchen addition. Uh and that'll be a little bit longer than what's there now. make sure that's an ADA accessible slopes and things like that. Uh so the blue that you're seeing is a new uh kitchen addition and then the green adjacent to that is kind of reworking what that existing loading dock and ramp are. So a relatively light touch on the the overall site but uh kind of accommodates what you're seeing here on the floor plan.

101So, uh, when we get into the the building itself, again, kind of similar to the site plan, that blue is the new kitchen addition. Um, the the green adjacent to that is kind of reworking of that ramp and, uh, loading dock area. Then other areas of of heavier renovation, if you will, uh, are in green, uh, where we're kind of flip-flopping the the the learning center and the administration, uh, so that we can connect in a security vestibule. You you know, kind of lock down, make sure that they're forced to go through the administration suite before getting into the school itself. Um, and so, uh, those are those are areas of heavier renovation. Light is labeled or yellow is labeled light renovation, but there's actually a decent amount of work that goes along, uh, with

102that as well. Um, uh, it goes from painting the entirety of the the interior of the building, um, flooring throughout, uh, and ATC ceiling. So, the grid ceiling and and lighting throughout uh you know that that ceiling replacement happens because there's also mechanical work and network wiring and um you know uh we get into fire alarm system, intercom replacements, uh generator things that don't really show up very well on a on a plan. Uh but there is a lot of other of that mechanical electrical work that goes along with that as well. So, when you're tearing up the ceilings to to do that work, get the the new ceilings and finishes. Uh and then when we get into the the video flyth through of this, you know, taking an opportunity while that work is all

103going on um to really use the uh the new branding, incorporate the new branding and colors of the school. Here we go. All right. So, um kind of starting on the exterior of the building here. This is just the the kitchen edition. Um, >> right. Okay. >> All right. There we go. Just wanted to see the kitchen again. >> There we go. >> So, back back playground area again. Uh, the the kitchen addition just really uh matching what the existing building is looking like uh and reworking of the uh the ramp and loading dock area. You see that sidewalk coming around there. uh ADA slopes. Uh one thing to point out here is we're also cutting in a window into the existing uh wall there uh off to the right so that from the new

104reception desk you can see out to the front door. Uh an added security component. So you're locked into that vestibule and buzzed in here. Uh some other security features that are really uh a part of this pro or project uh are fencing of the perimeter of the site. Uh kind of closing in that playground. Um and uh kind of some security films on some of the windows uh and doors. Um so really focusing in on that security uh portion as well. As I mentioned, the the school branding and and colors as we're doing the uh kind of mechanical electrical work throughout really brightening up this space. As we're walking through here, this is the the learning center that had previously been uh the administrative suite and then into the into the media center. really freshening

105that up again with the school colors and and newer LED lighting, trying to emphasize um kind of the special nature of of that uh group learning atmosphere. Uh also kind of using different colors in these nodes to to help with students way finding throughout the building. Uh so as we're heading down the uh uh into the kindergarten classrooms, those younger kids being able to know and have a sense of place with that kind of red color in that corridor. Another one of the security measures is kind of card readers uh at exterior doors that that aren't there now. And then again, uh, opening up from this, uh, kind of multi-purpose room, the doors on the left were into that new kitchen. Uh, so kind of bringing that kitchen up to the the size that you

106you've seen, uh, at Rumsy that are going in at um, you know, Rumsy, Bell, Portal, Patriot, Walnut are all kind of getting that same layout from that 90s, early 2000s, making that security a big feature and bringing that secured entrance to the front. So, kind of moving to to Walnut Creek here. Uh, it'll be uh pretty similar and maybe touching on uh Brett touched a little bit on the the schedule, but um phase construction kind of beginning in May of 26 uh and and completed by August of of 27 is what Boy Jones is planning to do uh and accomplish there. Uh here at Walnut Creek, uh Samson is the the contractor on this one. Uh there are two uh additions here. So, uh, kindergarten edition on the front to be able to kind of

107accommodate that flip-flop of the administrative suite and and learning center. Uh, and so with that being two additions instead of one, Samson does plan on on that some of the work of the addition starting as as soon as the the ground kind of thaws out in March. U, but that's really outside of the building. And that's kind of similar to what's happened at some other uh, schools throughout the district. Uh so again, the yellow that you're seeing on the site plan is um kind of playground surface replacement, some ADA sidewalks, getting a sidewalk from uh that new kindergarten uh out to the front entrance area, and again kind of reworking that loading dock and and ramp. So as we look uh at the the building itself uh once we go inside there >> uh similar

108thought process here um to the the additions are in blue again adding the the kindergarten addition as well as the kitchen here uh reworking the administrative office and and learning centers to accommodate that secured front entrance. Um really one of the bigger differences here is maybe just what some of the mechanical systems are that are uh you know one is a heat pump school the other's not. Uh but kind of uh same processes we're getting in there and doing that work refreshing the the interior. So everything that you're seeing in yellow is getting the ceilings and lighting and floor and paint in in conjunction with uh new telecom wiring and clocks and intercom and fire alarm. So really just a refresh to the entirety of the building. So if we look at the fly through

109video here with this one starts back at the um kitchen edition as well. Again, just trying to make sure this blends into the rest of the existing uh school to try to make it look like it's been there. Uh same concept here as you'll see the there was a kindergarten addition to that classroom uh on the right side there but we are cutting in a window here as well from a security standpoint. >> Bless you. Um all the same um you know security film card readers secured entrance vestibule bringing it up to that that secured standard. Um so again looking uh as we walk into the the reception area they'll be able to see uh out to the exterior at this point. uh kind of providing a new work room in that office suite. Again,

110getting the the new colors and logos and uh incorporated into that front entrance area so those kids get that sense of school pride right when they're walking in the doors. Um here again is the kind of the new uh learning center. Um so off of that space um having uh the restroom and all the other ancillary amenities uh to that as you're seeing those other those doors there uh media center again just trying to kind of highlight that uh the level a little bit nicer lighting in that space just to try to get the kids excited to be in there. Uh and again using different colors uh uh here and different patterns but same concept of of colors for wayfinding uh as we go down. This is the the kindergarten hallway but then the other

111hallways and nodes would have a different color so that you know second third grade know where they're going as well. Um so again here this would be the kindergarten classroom that's part of the addition. Um, so a good amount of natural light as we're uh uh kind of matching the other classrooms that are there. Want to make sure you see every single wall of this room. Um, again, you'll see the doors off to the left. that really works for the serving line for the kitchen, be able to come in and out. Um, and then just refreshing the finishes uh of this this room as well. So again, this is Boy Jones and Samson, one on each and uh they've been doing a great job on the other projects in the bond. So excited to see

112what they've got for you on these. These are our last two >> that we we'll be bringing to the board and then uh we'll have you know of course the elementary schools still got some things going with the middle schools but these are our last two we'll start uh within the 23 bond project so they'll be done in the summer 27 just'll be ready to wrap up all these major renovations by uh next summer or week or summer 27. >> I have a question. Um, so the kitchen addition, is that for the finishing kitchens? Is that what's being installed? >> Yes, >> correct. Okay. And then how many elementary schools do not have the finishing kitchen? >> Believe this should be the last ones that get >> the last ones. Oh, perfect. >> Everybody will

113have a kitchen. >> Yep. >> All right. >> Well, thank you for coming and sharing that with us. Yes. Love the videos. Thank you. >> Nice haircuts on those kids. >> Yeah, there's some good looking kids in those videos. >> Next on the agenda is a stepping proposal, Dr. Settles. >> All right, thanks so much um for your attention again. Uh so we have been pretty busy lately trying to take those necessary steps so that we can get going with staffing for next year. So just kind of wanted to go through that with you. Um, first of all, taking a look at student enrollment. I've reported that to you already a couple of times this year. I'll have a more complete report here coming up in December and January, but um wanted to we went

114through that, had meetings every single with every single ele um principal um at every level. So, kind of understood their needs, what are they anticipating for um staff that might be coming and going and really just tried looking at we've got some big things ahead in this next year and let's make sure that we um put together a staffing plan that can help us accomplish that and in a timely manner as it does get more and more um difficult really to um recruit and get those people in the positions um in time for school to start. So, um, as Miss Wood mentioned, we talked about this, um, at one of our recent meetings, and we're, uh, set to just share a little bit more with you for this. So, uh, first of all, we always

115do set a goal of just making sure that we're looking at the needs of the district as we make some of those decisions with, um, staffing. Obviously, one of the big undertakings of this next year is opening Lincoln View Elementary, and we know with that comes some asks from you as well as some um costs. We also um take a real close look at what are the class sizes, and we want to make sure that we're keeping effective class sizes. We know that's been a priority of the board. Um I I hope you hear this when you are out at your liaison lunches and out and about in the community, but that is an appreciated effort for sure. Um, also, uh, we would like to just be able to do open up a new school

116and make adjustments throughout with as much as possible using the existing staff that we have, knowing that some of the students will be moving around as well. Um and then obviously always keeping um budget in mind and making sure um you know we know this is the largest item on um the uh budget every single year and so making sure that we're being as effective as we can with that. So uh real quick recap from the October one official numbers. I know that you heard similar numbers to this as we uh neared that point, but um at when all was said and done in October, we were up 51 students, so at 12,120. Um we know that Prairie Queen will be um getting smaller obviously with our um addition of Lincoln View Elementary. So, um,

117really one of the things we always do is just go through and make sure that we're projecting the class sizes and projecting how many sections would be at each school at each grade level um for elementary and then looking at the overall for middle and high school, what have we added, what have we um where are we going down, what do the classes look like that are coming up. So, each of those areas. So, uh, for next year, we should see elementary remain pretty steady. Uh, a slight decrease at the middle schools as of right now. Um, and then we'll stay steady at the high schools as well. So, currently for this year for 2526, um, our class sizes are averaging 19.47 at elementary. Um, just a touch over 21 at middle school. I think

118it's 21.12 and then at um high school at 22.41. Um so again, our biggest focus really has been on predicting what needs that we will have with Lincoln View. Um we're set to open there right now at approximately 229 students. Uh we know this is a very growing area, so that number certainly could go up, but uh all of the transfer requests um in district transfer are completed as far as those that are going to be fifth and sixth graders wanting to stay and those that are um active duty military who were wanting to stay at Prairie Queen. So those requests have already been done. So the numbers you're hearing me say are the numbers with all of that already processed. Um so with those 229 students, we uh will plan to open that as

119a 13 section building. Uh actually it's exactly the same as what Prairie Queen was when it opened. It also opened at a 13section building and um it is larger than Ashberry. um as as we know that the growth there was not quite as quick as anticipated with some of the other factors of the times. Uh so 10 of those uh 13 sections at Lincoln View will come from Prairie Queen. Uh so 10 uh Prairie Queen will go down to be 15 sections. So that'll that's a pretty significant amount. Um and Prairie Queen will so be significantly relieved. it'll be right around 300 next year. Uh so we are in a good position to be able to do some shifting um not only there but also in some other schools to be able to help with

120some of those needs to open um Lincoln View. I mentioned a little bit about the middle and high school numbers and where we're seeing those for next year. We also spent some time looking at special education needs and I'll share some of those in this next slide. So overall, you can see on here, and I'm sorry about that extra little decimal point. My eye goes right to that. Um, just wanted you to kind of see the overall look there of what we're uh looking at. So, as I mentioned, we've done all of the rollups and the shifting around from schools. We should be okay with a net ad right now of three elementary classroom teachers. And um in addition at Lincoln View, we know that we're asking you for a principal there. Um we also

121know that um we'll be looking at adding an instructional coach, a counselor, as well as some specialist time. So some of those positions are new, instructional coach, counselor, principal. Uh some of the specialist time is the all that you're seeing up there is new, but there are also some additional shifts from some other um existing staff. There is also a possibility that some of the specialist times might need to be covered by counselor or um instructional coach. So we'll make sure that we get some really good solid um teachers in those positions. Uh so when we anticipate that uh what you see up there for those top uh five lines that is um what we believe is the lowest ask that we could have uh when we consider special education needs looking at um just

122to be able to ma maintain our effective case loads and we know that is something that is very special about how special education happens here. we um put a large focus on inclusion and with that comes um making sure that we are well staffed. Um so besides the 2.0 addition for special education teachers, we also currently have and you might remember this from the last couple of years when we added our own teacher of the deaf. We had a 1.0 teacher of the deaf increasing needs a few years ago. We added another 0.5. So we have one teacher that spends 0.5 um teacher of the deaf.5 special education. Our intent would be to add that additional 0.5 and have 2.0 teacher of the deaf. Uh some of that is due to some of the program

123um changes in uh how we share currently in that area with rston. So, uh, growth does hold some possibility next year as, um, we see, uh, this is our largest student increase that we've had in the last several years, and that's something we like to see. Um, in particular, uh, I don't think we'll see a growth request from you on this one, but we wanted you to know we are always keeping an eye on Liberty. I think a lot of us thought at this point they might be to the point of needing that additional half team. They're not there yet. Um they're still planned next year to um start in the low 500s. Uh but at some point we they will reach the need um for that additional half team. Uh for this coming year

124we are monitoring um at the high school level. Um high school is predicted to um remain steady but have some growth for next year. So, we've got registration in January and February, and we've asked them to try to accomplish the needs um that they have with the current staff that they have in place. Uh but we've also asked them to keep us informed if they see needs arise. Um and that's some of the things that we've brought to you in the past several years as needs have arisen. Um, in particular, uh, we are always mindful of what potential curricular needs might arise with items from the legislature. Um, uh, particularly if those are unfunded, unfunded mandates and how we make sure that we're accomplishing that. Uh our high schools are also putting a great deal

125of emphasis on rigor and trying to reduce the number of um late starts, early releases and getting students to take advantage of um their time to have the classes and have this um education. So uh we're not h asking anything for right now, but that is something that we could ask you later on to dip into that growth. Um along with this uh we will have some additional classified staff. Some of those classified staff will be able to shift from other buildings but when you open a new school um that does come with needing an administrative assistant clerical um help a health parah a media parah um some of our custodial help and um some of our paras instructional paras. some of that will be able to shift from some other schools, too. Uh we

126don't plan to do any of the um classified positions until the springtime um when we get much closer to the end of the year and start looking at letters of intent and things like that. But uh for these other positions, our hope would be um to come answer any questions that you might have between now and uh the December 8th meeting, I believe it is, and um hopefully get some of these positions posted come December 9th. So, what questions might you have for me regarding all of that? Lots of information. Thank you. I know the subcommittee spent a lot of time talking about the staffing needs and I know that that will um affect the budget quite a bit. So, we have to be assured that we are able to accommodate our needs in our

127buildings. Any other questions? Thank you. Next, we're moving on to the review of the policy 8000. Um, we had a sub or ad hoc committee that worked on the updates of this. They were extensive. Um, I'm think I'm going to pass this on to Elizabeth to talk about it. >> Miss Butler, I'll get your last >> u. Yep. So, Miss Wit and I met a couple times and reviewed all policies um included in the 8000 series. I think those are what is before you today. Um, it might look extensive, but I would say that it's probably a lot of red because we moved a lot of sections around. Um, we just tried to put like things together. Um, but these are just purely suggestions and we welcome feedback. >> Yes, we'd like you to go

128through them um and make any recommendations for changes that you'd like to see in the policies between now and our next meeting so that we can take a vote on them. Please share those with Dr. Settles who will share them with us. >> Any questions? >> I just really appreciate the work that you two put in on this because it was a lot of work uh to go through clarify um make suggested changes. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Last on our agenda, um before we move into the item D, is it okay if I go through the future board calendar so we don't have to do that later? So on November 26, there's no school and it's a staff trade day. They will have the PD palooa or whatever you call which is great

129for the staff. I think it's fabulous that they get that opportunity. On November 27th and 28th, there's no school. The offices will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. And our next school board meeting will be on December 8th here at the board of education office. With that, we will be moving into close session at the request of the negotiations committee to discuss the board priorities. I'll need a motion to move into close session. >> I'll make a motion to move into close session for the protection of public interest while discussing employee negotiations. >> Second. >> Thank you. I have a motion by Miss Wood and a second by Mr. Madler to move into close session. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Madler, >> yes. >> Miss Whit, >> yes. >> Miss Wood, >> yes. >> Mr.

130Bailey, >> yes. >> Miss Butler, >> yes. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. So, at this time, anyone in the room, we're going to ask you to step out. You may remain till we close, but um otherwise, we need a few minutes to uh readjust and then we'll come back into session. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you, Colonel Sergeant. Thank you.