001All right. Good evening and welcome to Tuesday night's August 19th regular board business meeting. Uh, Mr. Treasurer, can you call the role? >> Yes. Miss Engles? >> Yeah. Here. >> Miss Reyes >> here. >> Dr. Pierce is online. Mr. Simmons >> here. >> Miss Vera >> here. >> Vice President Adair >> present. >> President Cole >> here. >> You have a quorum. >> All right. Thank you. Uh, let's rise for the pledge. To the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. So, we have a uh of course a very active agenda today. I'm excited to make some some due acknowledgements. Uh but in uh review of our agenda today, we will go into public speaker and section three. Uh
002section four will be board matters from sections 4.1 to 4.5. Then we'll have executive level reports uh between 5.1 and 7.1. In section 8, we'll go into uh public hearing on reemployment of retired employees. We'll go into section nine, which is voting the consent agenda from 9.1 through 24.8 or excuse me, 25. Section 25. Uh we'll then go into executive session. Of course, when we're in executive session, uh once we leave, we will not return to this room. We will adjourn uh from where we are. Is there a motion to accept our agenda? >> So moved. Second. >> President Second. I'd like to discuss this motion to adopt the agenda. >> Oh, >> please. >> Thank you. Um I just wanted to share my frustration with a reoccurring um challenge or obstacle here at the
003board. As board members, we are expected to make informed decisions that impact students, families, and our entire community. And that's really difficult when the agenda and supporting documents do not come to us until just mere hours before the meeting. Um this isn't a smaller matter. The rush preparation undermines our ability to ask the right questions, to catch problems or challenges, um, and to represent the public effectively. I think we owe it to the community we serve to correct this going forward. And in the future, if we could please get all related agenda items at least 24 hours in advance, um, when I think about the big challenges and decisions we have ahead of us, it's really hard to effectively analyze information if we're getting it again just mere hours before the board meeting. Um so
004I would just ask that we could get um information all the information on the agenda to us at least 24 hours in advance. Thank you. >> Uh thank you Mr. Simmons. Thank you. The administration has obviously heard and motion is still on the floor to accept today's agenda. >> I think I have a second board. >> You had a second. >> I do. >> Vice President Adair. >> Yes. >> Miss Vera. >> Yes. >> Miss Engles. >> Yes. >> Miss Reyes? >> Yes. >> Mr. Simmons? >> No. President Cole. >> Yes. >> Motion carried. >> All right. Motion passes. All right. We'll go right into our public comment items. Uh our first speaker for the evening is Timothy uh Deatus. Am I saying that correctly? Timothy Deatus. >> And he is remote. President, Vice President,
005Treasurer, Superintendent Dr. Chapman, and board member. Thank you for letting me speak tonight. Can uh you hear me? >> Yes, >> we can hear you. You have three minutes. >> Uh my name is Timmy Deatis, but as your associate, but I'll tell you, people call me Timmy D. Uh my daughter Kylie goes to Shri Life Middle School and she just turned 12 today. Um, first pier school has been very interesting ride. Um, well just dealing with transportation and dealing with transportation over the past six years has been very challenging. Um, but there's been some good experiences because you got some great drivers from CCS that really helped Kylie out a lot and she really connected with some of them and we're so grateful for the services that were provided. Uh there are many challenges that
006need to be addressed as you're aware of and I'm just hopeful that we can get them resolved. And one way to start would be to put Kylie on a bus this year. Um I will be 67 on September 17th. And this is very stressful for a single parent of a 12year-old teenager and trying to get her to school and and get to work and and and do everything I got to do. Um, you know, traffic is a nightmare and it's going to get worse because the schools haven't started yet. Um, I got a solution that y'all probably already thought of. Um, you know, with help from state legislators to revise a few things and the DEDW and possibly even Governor DeWine, we can get her done. Um, let's get some vans that hold up to
007seven to 10 students, those small vans to transport the charter school children only. Hire drivers that will only serve those students and get the state to pay for it. Problem solved. Uh it will be easier to get drivers with small vans and charter children will be so happy not being on that big bus. I'm sure they will all behave very well. I'm a little confused. I spoke with one of the parents and told me her child is getting a bus and this student was on the bus with Kylie last year. So, I'm confused why Kylie is being left out. Uh, the first week of school has been really tough. And, um, man, I can't imagine what it's getting ready to be. Um, so, I'm pleading with you all to please get Kylie a bus. Our
008children's health and well-being are top priority, and parents health and sanity are important, too. So, let's get her done. Let's get some things Let's get some things changed, some things tweaked. Let's get this cooperation between the state and Columbus city schools and the parents. Let's have a great big meeting and you can invite me uh as a parent representative and uh I'm sure we could we could do this thing. Any any questions? >> No, sir. I thank you so much for your comments this evening. Thank you, sir. >> Got any questions for me? Oh, one thing. >> So, Mr. Deatis, your your time has actually expired. I thank you so much for your comments. Uh they are duly noted. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future. All right. Our next speaker
009is Javari Chamesi. Javari Chamesi who is also remote. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Good afternoon sir. We do hear you. You have three minutes. Welcome. Thank you very um good evening to the president, vice president, treasurers, superintendent Dr. Chapman and board members. I want to thank you all for giving me the privilege as um uh resident of um Columbus to speak on in regard of part of the parents. Um my name is Javari Mar Kangi. Um I'm a father of five. My child currently is a student of I have two children at tree of life at different campus. Um I have a concern um with the transportation um Columbus city school transportation which um last year my child was going to another school. They deemed me impractic impractical to transport our children to
010the respect respective school in the course of 2025. My son actually didn't have a means of transportation which I had to call off from work most of the time to transport him back and forth and sometime I wouldn't have bus to pick up my daughter from another school. I'm hereby pleading with the school board to reconsider and and like um getting small buses to ease transportation with um these school buses. Um today I had to call in with this um transportation system which um there was no resolution since where the drop off the student is not a very good place for for children to be dropped off. looking at the fact that these are our leaders of tomorrow. Please even at the drop off and pick up location please if you can um talk to
011them is a solution I'm giving and I'm pleading with the board if you guys can talk to the transportation system to look at the drop off and pick up location cuz where they even propose to drop off and pick up. Um my son is not a really good place. Um they have drug added to have prostitute roaming around that area even during the day. Um um please if you can consider um um the drop off location that will be wonderful um for for the children and remember these are the leaders of tomorrow. We are bringing up leaders of tomorrow to the system. please consider um um their well-being and that that will be greatly appreciated by us and even the children that are coming tomorrow. Thank you very much privilege once again. Um we are
012so blessed that you people can give us a privilege to speak in a forum. >> Thank you so much m Mr. Chia. Um we appreciate you and certainly look forward to staying in touch. Have a good evening. All right, our next speaker will be Marielle Han who is also join well who's joining us in person. Welcome. >> If I mis pronounced your name, I deeply apologize. >> No worries. Um, thank you board president, VP, board members and staff and superintendent Chapman. I think most of you know me by now. Um, I'm Marielle Hanal. I'm a CCS parent. I'm president of the board of pintinesized protesters, which is a partner with the Columbus Education Justice Coalition. And like so many of our community members, I've spent countless hours volunteering to help CCS be the best it
013can be for all of our students, pounding the pavement for levies, serving on committees, begging our legislators not to cut school funding, and researching and helping to set up alternative funding models. I'm a fervent believer in the promise of public education. And that's why I'm here again. I'm here because I watched last week when the joint ETRM and academic and facility alignment committees met. And while I was really heartened about all the talk around increasing enrollment strategies, let's please do that. I was devastated to hear a few of you, Dr. Chapman, suggest that the district could use the old and broken school closure policy and old facilities task force recommendations to fix the district's budget shortfalls. I'm not going to stand here and pretend like we don't have a funding issue. We do. And you
014all know that I have been working to help with that in good faith with the understanding that after the school closing vote last year, the board, the district administration, the unions in the community will be working together to create a community- centered approach to school closing and co consolidation conversations for the future. any future school closure conversations would truly involve the communities that could be impacted because like I've said here before we can state all the numbers that we want but at the end of the day our kids are not numbers and their communities aren't squares on some sort of game board that can be moved around at someone's whim. And you all acknowledged this when you agreed to revise the policy and admitted that it does not accurately assess our facilities, our building usage,
015or student and community needs, and it does not take into consideration city growth plans and patterns. The decision to close the school has a massive impact on the surrounding community. It sparks gentrification that's already making our homes unaffordable. That creates food deserts in our neighborhoods. and it disproportionately harms our black, brown, and new American communities. It rarely saves any money. But if we're going to talk numbers, let's talk actual numbers. What are the increased uh busing costs going to be when we have fewer neighborhood schools and we have to bus our students farther? What state and federal funding will we lose when enrollment inevitably drops because parents choose to put their kids in a charter or private school that is closer to their home? What will it cost to maintain a building with no people
016in it? And beyond the financials, what learning will it cost our students to be packed into bigger, more overcrowded classes with less one-on-one time with their teachers? What learning will it cost our students when they have to sit on buses for even longer than they already do, traveling farther, missing more precious sleep or necessary afterchool work hours to support their families. No school should be closed without considering how the closure would impact the students in their community. No school should be closed without involving students, parents and guardians, school staff, and community organizers from that community in the conversation. No school should be closed without a robust analysis of the costs and potential savings that would result from that specific school's closure. And no school should be closed without a carefully considered plan to minimize the
017wellressearched. Thank you so very much, Miss Halt. Thank you so very much for your feedback. >> Come with school closures. >> Thank you so very much for your feedback. >> All right. Uh we are now complete with uh public speakers. We'll move on to board matters section four. Our first being 4.1 which is the resolution to approve the collective bargaining agreement with the Columbus Education Association. Um I will read and offer this resolution. Whereas representatives of the board of education and the Columbus Education Association have been engaged in negotiations for a successor contract to the collective bargaining agreement expired that expired on August 17, 2025. And whereas the attached document contains the terms developed through the bargaining process and approved by the Columbus Education Association on August 14th, 2025. And whereas the document provides the
018terms of a successor contract that shall continue in force in effect until 11:59 p.m. on the day before the last excuse me on the day before the first regular teacher contract day of the 2028 2029 school year. Now therefore be it resolved that the board of education hereby approves the agreement with Columbus Education Association based on the terms described in the attached document. And further, it be resolved that the board of education authorizes the superintendent prior to printing and with the agreement of the Columbus Education Association to make minor editorial corrections and changes as needed, provided such corrections and changes do not result in any modification of the intent and substance of the agreement. And it and be it therefore resolved that the president of the board, superintendent, treasurer, deputy superintendent, and chief negotiate negotiator
019for the board of education authorized and directed to affix their signatures to the agreement as here described between the board of education and the Columbus education association board. That is a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> It's been motioned and seconded. Mr. Treasure, >> Miss Vera, >> yes. Singles. >> Yes. >> Miss Reyes, >> yes. >> Mr. Simmons, >> yes. >> Vice President Adair, >> yes. >> President Cole, >> yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Thank you, board. Um, I'd like to offer the opportunity for any of you who just want to make a very brief statement to do so. Floor is open. >> Is it okay? >> Go ahead. Um, I just want to say I want to thank the bargaining team um, and just everyone involved. I mean, this is always such
020a um, can be a harder process, but I really appreciate the bargaining team um, on both sides and really excited for our school year. And I really love the opportunity just hearing about just the first day of school and just really grateful that you know every all the time all the energy that came into this um got us to this point and that's ultimately what's best for our students. So I just want to thank our teachers in advance. Um I really want to make sure that that first day of school um is everything that it needs to be and this is a step in the right direction. It's not perfect but certainly a step in the right direction. And so just wanted to thank the team, the board, um, and everyone involved that got us
021to this point. >> Thank you, board member Farah. Board member Les, >> I'll keep it really short and sweet. Thank you so much to both teams, uh, both sides of the bargaining table. We obviously could not get this done without you, but also really appreciate all of your hard work. Um bargaining is every single day of the year and uh I am really proud of the work that is being done uh in this school system and it could not be done without the people who show up every single day to perform that work and that is our workforce. So appreciate all of you so much uh for what you do not only for our students um your fellow staff but also for our community because you are really there for us and we appreciate it.
022Yep. Madam Vice President, >> um I again want to echo thanks for um both bargaining teams as well as everyone that was involved behind the scenes. Um these are contracts and in order to come to an agreement uh it's it takes a lot of mutual work and understanding and together the contract is ours. Uh it is both the board who signs it and the CA who signs it and it is our agreement. our agreement to put our children forward to move our district forward. So, I'm proud of the work that both uh sides did and um I am, you know, I voted yes on it and I'm I think that again it takes another step forward uh to really live out our goals and guard rails and to center our community on what matters most
023for our students and supporting our wonderful staff and uh members of our CA because without you and without all of our staff, none of this happens and we do know and appreciate that. So, thank you. Thank you, Madam Vice President. Are there any additional comments? All right. Um, I'll just close with this. Um, it has been my honor, um, to have the opportunity to work with either side to bring this negotiation to bear in a way for teachers to be able to move forward, but move forward with children who need a teacher. This is not just about a membership and contracts. is about ensuring the idea that children who need a teacher have a great and incredible teacher available to them to instruct them in all the things that they need to know. I am
024most grateful to your expertise. I am most grateful to every contribution you make on behalf of children to move them forward and be impact on their lives that I've seen you personally do that I've graduated children seeing them personally experience from you. Um this has been a tremendous opportunity. We have a lot of tough work ahead of us. But I think that through all of it together we'll weather it. We'll see it through and we'll come out even stronger and more resilient to district irrespective of what we have to face in the state house or the federal government. I think that we have all the tools we need. Let's continue to work together. I thank you respectfully. All right. Uh we will move to section 4.2 which is the resolution to celebrate the life and
025legacy of Mr. Ah dear Lord have mercy. >> Forgive me. Yes. Can I pass that to sign or is it here? >> Go ahead and sign it now. I know that we'll go. We can just go ahead and sign it and I'll pass it down. Where is it? We have it. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Hold on. >> I think Michael has it. Just go. God, how small is this? Yeah, let me check. I'll check. All right, that is done. Okay, we'll move on to section 4.2, resolution to celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Samuel Gresham, Jr. Uh, I will present this resolution as well to celebrate the life. This is a resolution to celebrate the life and legacy of Mr. Samuel Gresham Jr. to celebrate the life and legacy of Samuel Gresham Jr.
026and to extend the Columbus City Schools Board of Education's deepest condolences to his family, friends, and community supporters upon his passing on Thursday, August 7th, 2025. Whereas Mr. Gresham was a tireless advocate for racial and social justice, democracy and equality whose leadership spanned public policy, civic engagement, and education. And whereas from 1985 to 2000 to 2005, Mr. Gresham devoted two decades of service as president of the Columbus Urban League and supporter of Columbus public schools, at that time Columbus public schools. um receiving the Golden Ruler Award, serving on the neighborhood school development partnership NSDP committee, participating in the facilities master plan, listening tour, and lending his voice to the African-American Advisory Council, a prominent black advisory council group to the district superintendent that ensured African-American perspectives were presented in district decision-making. And whereas Mr. ression
027was also instrumental in the desegregation of Columbus public schools, working with Judge Robert Duncan to advance fairness and opportunity for all students. And whereas Mr. Mr. Gresham demonstrated additional leadership as the chair of district 1 for Ohio's schoolto work system as co-fice chairman of the Ohio best coalition and as co-founder of the Columbus community relations commission strengthening the connection between education workforce readiness and community engagement and whereas Mr. Gresham's influence reached national audiences as a respected political analyst offering trusted insight on programs including all sides with Anne Fischer. NPR The Spectrum on NBC 4 State of the State on WBNS TV10 and Columbus on the record on WOSU. And whereas Mr. Gresham leaves the to cherish his memory, his devoted wife, Sandra Moody Gresham, his children, grandchildren, and a host of family and community supporters
028who also included a former board member W. Shauna Gibbs. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Columbus City School Board of Education, that this board does hereby honor and celebrate the life of Samuel Gresham Jr. and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and community upon his passing respectfully presented August 19th, 2025. That is a motion. >> Second. >> Motion and seconded, Mr. Treasurer. >> Miss Engles, >> yes. >> Miss Reyes, >> yes. >> Mr. Simmons, >> yes. >> Miss Vera, >> yes. >> Vice President Adair, >> yes. >> President Cole, >> yes. Thank you. A motion passes. All right, we'll move to committee updates. And uh what I will do is start with board member Vera. >> Okay. >> Thank you uh President Cole. Well, good evening uh colleagues, guests. Um really excited
029to be reporting back uh the community engagement and advoc advocacy committee has been very busy. Um and really wanted to thank my colleagues um for all of their work. everyone that's on the committee um has been working really diligently and really excited to be able to report back on some things that we have been talking about for quite a period of time. Um colleagues, you'll find in board docs that I did provide just a report for June. Um uh Director Hes joined us to provide an update on the state operating budget and reviewed six CCS legislative priorities highlighting advocacy wins and public education policy changes. Um I did include uh Director Hess's um presentation link in the report as well. Um and the big kind of topic, all of it's a big topic. Let me
030rephrase that. Um tonight um as you recall back in June, I shared with you the community engagement and advocacy committee's proposed working group framework to create a board engagement and realignment strategy for retired school facilities. So since then, as a board, uh we have continued to prioritize realignment, including our recent vote to approve the demolition of seven retired facilities. As a reminder, just for our our uh partners listening, uh those facilities include Barry Middle School, Lynmore Education Center, Franklin Annex, Old Wedgewood Ed Old Wedgewood Middle School, Dashler Elementary, Bowmont Elementary, and Monroe Middle School. Um I do want to note that some of these facilities are still on active um school sites. So with the input of the superintendent, the capital improvements team, ETRM committee um and our community engagement and advocy advocacy committee working
031group. Uh we collaborated throughout June and into July to draft this engagement strategy. Um, and the strategy is really designed to guide the future use of those retired facilities approved for demolition with a focus on inclusive engagement, legacy per um, preservation and transparent communication. So, tonight I'm joined via Zoom by two of our working group members, um, Noel Britt and Liz Moalage, who will help co-present specific portions of this strategy. Um the as I mentioned earlier and we can move on to the first slide please. The engagement. So the purpose of this strategy um as we've been talking about kind of next steps and what the board is prepared to do um in terms of engagement um the purpose of this strategy is to provide the board with some consideration around the planning and reuse
032of retired school sites um to really help shape community voice. Our goal is to engage impacted communities through inclusive outreach, educate the public on the facility transition process, advocate for thoughtful community informed reuse of school sites, and together we aim to ensure transparency, preserve school legacies, and uplift community voice in shaping what comes next. >> Are we next slide, please? >> Are we able to move on to the slides? Thank you. Next slide, please. So you'll find colleagues that this strategy did provide six key deliverables. Um which of first of six is the community feedback survey which was capturing residents perspectives on land use and legacy. Uh second deliverable was a host site interest form enabling local organizations and community partners to host um listening sessions and partnership. uh a communications strategy ensuring outreach to
033multilingual, accessible, and transparent practices. Uh community connector identification, helping to leverage trusted local leaders, experts to amplify community participation, um engagement, opportunity mapping, and then legacy and storytelling initiatives. So, next slide, please. So, at this time, I'd like to introduce my committee colleague, um, Noel, um, who will walk us through her design and our collective thoughts around the community feedback survey design in addition to our host uh, form signup sheet as well. So, good evening, Noel, and thank you for joining us. >> Okay. >> Yes, we can hear you. >> Wonderful. Um, so as board member Vera mentioned, um, again, I'm excited that we get to share this very comprehensive strategy with you all. I'm starting with our community feedback survey. Um, and so short and sweet, the purpose of this is to give the
034community an opportunity um, to provide input on how they'd like to see um, the land that these sites are currently um, utilizing um, used in the future um, and how can we also honor these spaces. And so we wanted to make it simple, right? I think we've all taken surveys where, you know, it's taken a little bit too long and it can be a little bit frustrating. Um, but also wanted to make it thorough. Um, and so folks will be able to provide feedback for as many sites as they'd like to. Um, but the focus of those questions are on, like I mentioned, land use preferences. Um, and identifying what are those needs, right? So what are what are the community priorities? What would you like to see? whether it be housing, child care, um
035health and well-being services, what are the needs um and how could these um potential sites be reused in the future? Um again, what are the opportunities to preserve and honor the legacy? Um and also just making sure the survey in general um is accessible and equitable in the way that we share it out. Um, so I won't read the whole slide, but again, there are ways that we um that Liz will share a little bit more about the strategy on sharing these things out a little bit more broadly. But I believe in the next slides we'll be able to look at um some of the potential questions that we could ask on the survey if we could skip to the next one. Wonderful. That may be super small um in person, so I'll just kind
036of walk through it here. Um but it starts just with a quick um blurb, a little intro. um talking about the sites, listing what they are. Um as board member Vera mentioned, some of them are um on active sites um or share a lot with um another active site. And so we make sure that folks know that um from the beginning um and then they are able to select which site that they would like to provide feedback for. And so for each of the selections, it's the same um flow and of questions. Um and so you select this site and then if if we um progress to slide one more which is example beautiful. Um so what you will see under each site is the aerial map that was provided um in previous presentations and
037meetings as well as some basic site details, address, square footage, um acreage, um number of stories in the particular building just to give some folks some context and background for the site. And then if we click to the next slide, um the first question just asked folks about um the community needs and priorities. So what are those resources and amenities that are currently missing um in the neighborhood that would make a positive impact um for the residents and the surrounding community. Um and then we allow folks to choose from a variety of land use types and then of course feel free to add in their own under that other category. So some of those you'll see are um child care centers, community centers, health and wellness, housing, parks and green space just to name a
038few. So again, folks are able to select as many um as they feel fit for that particular site. And then if we click to the next one and then we ask folks um to provide some additional detail if they would like. Um so just share a little bit more if housing is a need, what might that look like? what could fit in this particular community on this particular site. Um, and then we ask about suggestions on honoring the history and the legacy of these particular sites and then kind of have an open blur if there's anything else that they would like to share and then they are able to either be done if that's the only site that they want to provide feedback for, they can end there. Um, or they have the opportunity to
039provide feedback on as many sites as they would like. Um, and then I think the last prompt is just asking folks to opt in um to what could be a future um just kind of database and updates for email. Um, but each of the schools, each of the sites again will follow a similar flow, similar questions. Again, simple, thorough, but allowing us to get and collect some great input and feedback from the community. Think we Yep, we can keep clicking. Not sure how much of it is in here, but okay. So, you'll see that each of the sites follow a similar flow as we're clicking through. Wonderful. Wonderful. We're almost there. It's in alphabetical order. And then you'll see on this particular one there's that stay connected blur. So, it's just asking folks if they
040want to stay in the loop with updates um on facilities, they can provide their email address, but they are not obligated to do so. And so, that is the community feedback survey in a nutshell. Um and then the host site interest form um is connected but allows community groups the opportunity um if they want to host an information or a listening session um related to one or more sites to be able to do that. And so again, we wanted to design just a quick simple form where we can get their information um logistical details too for meeting types, locations, um accessibility details and needs for the particular room. Um and then contact information to follow up. So if we click the next one, few less pages than the first one, so it'll it'll be shorter
041and sweeter. Um but we just ask again some basic information the name of the organization for them to provide the address where that particular session would then take place. Um is there a capacity limit that we should be keeping in mind as we are hosting that particular session. And if we click to the next one, just asking again some questions about um the capabilities audio and visual um should we want to share visuals or whatever that may look like. And then asking folks if they have a tenative date and time in mind. Um there are some groups like your area commissions or some of your block watches that may already meet at a certain time and maybe they want to fold this into an existing meeting um where folks are already congregating or create a
042separate meeting and space for this in and of itself. Um, and then the rest of the host site form are just asking for contact information for the organization for us to be able to follow up. If we click again and then they're able to um note if they want to focus on a specific site um in their specific area or if they want to just host a general session that is not location specific. And then again an opportunity for them to add any other details or feedback that they want to add there. And that is it for that post site post site form. Again for both the forms just um simple but thorough just an opportunity for folks to share feedback um engage and be a part of the plan and the strategy moving forward.
043>> Thank you so much Noel. I appreciate your partnership and just all of your thoughtfulness in creating these two samples for us to consider. And so certainly I look forward to uh continuing that conversation. Um we also have Liz um on the call as well who is also a working group member um who provided some additional insight and perspective around a communication strategy. So even tonight, um, we heard from a parent really emphasizing the importance of communication and really highlighting ways that families can get involved, students can get involved, like a collective effort. And so, um, Liz, if you want to go ahead and introduce, uh, this piece of the strategy. >> Yes. Hi, I'm Liz. So um for the communication strategy um have sort of several parts here to talk through which is you
044know how do you reach out to people begin with and start to get their feedback and then how do you keep feeding information as things are happening and you know keep things together as you're doing various things and you know who are you really talking to in this case. So you know several key audience like parents, alumni, neighborhood leaders, groups, students and other youth in various areas. So I think we can go on to the next slide and kind of get a little more into it. All right. So, the first thing to kind of think about is the various audiences and how to reach them. And you'll notice that as part of the social strategy, one of the things is talking a little bit about short form video. Now, we kind of know where those
045are, various apps and stuff, but you know, that's an important way to reach out to youth in a lot of ways who can also then get their parents involved or their guardians involved and other trusted adults. And for them, you know, it's kind of think of that very um targeted towards a lot of the active sites that they might have some involvement with in the future. So um so various types of ways to encourage people to take the survey and groups and other sorts of things with these types of communication. And then an important part of this that Noel mentioned in the surveys is having ways to allow people to opt into communication later so that they can, you know, find out what ends up happening after giving their feedback. Next. And so, um, in
046addition to sort of this idea of how to reach out to people, where, who, um, is a little bit about the content suggestions. So, obviously, you have great media team. So, I didn't want to step on anyone's toes there. So this is more along the lines of kind of just creating some ideas and you know how to use the various things that we have um tied in with and um I know that Christina will have some stuff about legacy later. So some of that content kind of goes in there next. And then for the various types of channels for this communication, you know, that'll kind of change a little bit of what's going on there. I particularly want to point out sort of flyers uh because they can be used to kind of bridge the
047gap of like physical and digital or you know provide mostly physical information for people who might not be dealing with things digitally. next. And then um even though there are no dates in here, uh just kind of an idea of sort of milestones of how to handle sort of these various communications. uh obviously like initial feedback requests, but also sort of when to start switching over into the okay, we're doing stuff with these various sites now. Here's what's going on, right? And then just some s open questions and comments, you know, just in case uh as we go along. >> Michael, >> thank you so much, Liz. I really appreciate all of your thoughtfulness um and really helping us think about resources we already have. I know a big part of what we were hearing
048from the team um just as you've mentioned we do have an amazing um media comm's team and so wanting just to be able to bring some level of a framework as to what we can use um that are that we already have and just some areas to consider um in terms of the u next deliverable the community connector identification I'm wanting to highlight the importance of really thinking about some additional experts that we might want to bring to the table as a working group or just an advisory group uh specific to finding ways to identify um experts within the community around community planning, social and economic equity, and urban development. Um so we have a robust list of partners that already support CCS in multiple ways. So really just taking the time to really look
049through that list like who do we need to be having conversations with as we're starting to make decisions. Um, so wanting to be mindful of maybe creating a a specific list of advisors, experts, people that we need to bring to the table as we are collecting this data and having additional conversation. Uh, next slide please. And then the next um deliverable is around engagement opportunities mapping. So, you heard my colleagues uh talk a little bit about a signup form for community partners that wanted to invite the board to come to listening sessions, but also thinking about as a board, what types of gatherings do we want to host ourselves? And so, um I did highlight here, um some things for us to consider. Um I know in years past, we've had a Columbus City Schools
050state of the district. Um, so that could be an opportunity if the board does decide to take action um in implementing some level of engagement strategy, just using that as an opportunity to kick off, do some live polling. Um, and then look at school-based events, wanting to be mindful that we don't want to just create events that people have to come to. We want to come to where our families, our students, and our partners are already at. So thinking about like football games, back to school events, parent teacher conferences. Um, so as a board really kind of dividing up what some of those dates are, working with the office of engagement, and then essentially just setting up stations at these various events. And these are just samples. This is not the be all, but just
051wanted to create a framework. Next slide, please. um to kind of tie into those engagement mapping opportunities. Um as you heard from some of my colleagues already, um area commission meetings as an example, um really thinking about what could a listening popups look like? Um what could it look like to have like a mobile station, um I know talking with the capital improvements team, um making sure that we have visuals. I know that was extremely extremely important in this realignment process. So really wanting to be mindful of having visuals. uh making sure that we have not only digital tools but printed products. Um so I just highlighted some additional engagement opportunities there. Um on the next slide you'll see a little bit around uh or a lot of bit I should say that's not a
052real word but legacy and storytelling initiatives. Um I feel like this is something that is so critically important. Um, as an alumni of this district, a proud alumni of this district, honoring the legacy of each one of these school communities, I know it's something that's dear to all of our hearts. And so as we're thinking about realignment, as we're thinking about the demolition process that has already begun um in terms of retired school sites, um really wanting to be mindful as to how do we honor um the cultural, historical, and emotional importance of each one of these school communities because they are school communities. And so I did provide just some ideas around some things that we could do, interactive ways to um honor and preserve the legacy of our schools. So this strategy right
053now is specific to the seven sites that the board has taken action on for demolition. This is not in regards to all realignment or other school facilities that we have not yet taken action on. So, I want to preface that that we're talking about these specific sites right now, but certainly this is a framework that we could evaluate as we move forward with any other sites or potential closures if they were to come in the future. So, I highlighted some ideas here. I won't go into um all of those here, but certainly I think this could be a collaborative opportunity for the board and students to also be a part of this great work. Um and so I just wanted to make sure I highlighted that there. Next slide, please. Um, one of the things
054to consider that I would love the board to kind of consider is to think about how do we want to go about this engagement strategy. Um, and something that I've brought forward for consideration um is a phased approach. So really thinking about what is manageable, what is equitable for us to roll out in terms of engagement. I know engagement is a lot um but really thinking about planning efforts. And so on the next slide, you'll see kind of a proposed um schedule of what this could look like if the board so chose to do a phased approach, if we chose to do it all at the same time. Um but I have here phase one um could start as soon as this fall. Um really maybe breaking up the sites based on um you know
055sites that are on active sites versus sites that are facilities that are not on active sites. So phase one could be Bowmont Elementary and then Monroe followed by a phase two which would be Dashler Elementary and then a phase three which would be Barry Lynmore Franklin Annex Old Wedgewood. These are ideas based on some of the rationale that we've heard from um committee meetings in addition to working with the um capital improvements their some of their recommendations. And so I just wanted to provide some level of a visual for the board to consider. Certainly, this could be more robust conversation in ETRM or academic and facility alignment, but recognizing seven seven sites is is a lot. And so, how as a board do we want to really be intentional about making decisions um and what
056that engagement looks like? On the next slide, you'll have just a kind of tentative timeline on what some of this implementation could look like. Um on the next slide as well um I have a timeline for a phased approach and then I have a timeline for if we decided to do all the sites at one time. Um my last kind of call to action for board, you know, kind of discussion and certainly this doesn't have to be the final conversation was really thinking about um what is it that the board in terms of wanting to get support from my board colleagues to continue the planning steps with board leadership with the superintendent and any um appointed design to kind of move the engagement strategy forward. So, taking what we've kind of presented to you all
057tonight and thinking about what is the next steps, what is in fact our timeline. Um, so that is one request. And then the second request was for the board to identify and confirm which retired school facilities to begin engagement with first or determine if planning should proceed for all sites simultaneously. So that was something that as a committee and as conversations have continued to um happen around these specific sites, those are two areas that we still do not have clarity on. Um so on the last slide that should be listed. Next slide please. Yes. Uh so that that these are some additional call to actions but colleagues in your committee report you'll find um those are my two requests. And then lastly for my committee report out um just wanted to also highlight um director
058hes during her report had highlighted some things around AI policy and cell phone policy. So I did just wanted to I put that in my report just to mention that for Chair Engles. Um, but that is the conclusion. I know that was a whole lot, but we've been working for quite a while on trying to gather as much input and just creating a framework, but certainly I'm open to any thoughts and feedback and certainly would like an idea of what you all want to do next. >> All right. So, before I open the floor, I just want to thank you and your committee for this incredible work that you've been able to bring forward to us. I know how much consideration and thought has been put into it, and this is tremendous. this is a
059this is what we would call an engagement and communications plan. So, thank you for that. Um is your is is the will and pleasure at this point to at some point after folks have made comments or questions to adopt this as a plan moving forward. >> Yeah, I would I definitely would like and I like I mentioned I mean we can circulations. It's not the be all, but I want to at least create um some kind of motion to kind of move into a next iteration. So being able to come together whether in committee to figure out what pieces of this, what phase, how do we want to handle the phase. So certainly we can adopt the plan as is or we can just adopt for the next planning iteration. And then the other motion
060would be to get clarity around what phase are we doing a phase approach or are we interested in doing something simultaneously and I'm okay if that needs to be discussed further in committee but just wanting to get clarity as to we've had a lot of conversation around these sites specifically. So just trying to get an idea if if we want to start as early as next month. I think we have the framework to do that. I just need the support to start working with the team to get that done. Okay. All right. Well, I'll open the floor for comments. Board member Simmons. >> Um, thank you, President Cole. Board member Ver, I'm sorry I missed it. What was your first recommendation? I I just didn't quite hear it all the way. >> Oh, you mean
061my first request? >> Oh, yes. First request >> um was to seek board approval for the committee chair to me to plan next steps with board leadership, superintendent, appointed staff um on the engagement strategy. So, it would be just to kind of continue the conversations to bring you all back like the next iteration. Okay. >> Our plan. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Are there any questions? Any comments at this point in time? >> I was just going to say thank you so much for all your work. This is incredible. And um thank you to the committee uh for helping, but I know um as chair it takes a lot of work. So, props to you and good job. Thank you so much. >> Um, I'd like to, if it is, if it's the
062will of the board, I'd like to offer a motion to accept this committee's plan. Go ahead. >> No, go ahead, please. >> I was just going to think I think thank Christina and the committee as well, and I I think because ETRM like, you know, worked a lot on these um she asked specifically about the phased approach, and I do think that that is a better approach for us. Um, also because the way that the phases are currently outlined, um, they kind of group buildings that are similar. Um, so we have some, as she's mentioned, some sites that are on active properties. Um, those, um, have a different timeline under the law than sites that do not have active properties. So, I think um, prioritizing um, is a good move here because we're learning. And,
063um, so I I do think the phased approach would be something that would probably be better. So just some two cents there. >> So I'd like to entertain a motion to adopt and accept this communications plan and up or this SEAK plant committee plan and update with the opportunity to amend as we go. Um with the purpose of ensuring that we are continuing the work of community engagement in our realignment process. And our realignment process. This is a motion to adopt this this plan. Uh, is there a second? >> Second. >> Motion and seconded. Call the role, please. Mr. >> M. Reyes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Simmons. >> Yes. >> Miss Vera? >> Yes. >> Miss Engles? >> Yes. >> Vice President Adair? >> Yes. >> President Cole? >> Yes, sir. >> Motion carried. >>
064Motion passes. Thank you. >> All right. Uh, we'll go right into continuing our committee update. Madame vice president. >> So the academic facility alignment and um equitable transparent resource committee did a joint committee meeting and um I actually didn't make my normal um paper that I do because it was a joint committee meeting um and board and board president actually chaired it. Um but so we had a great discussion. Um we had both committees present which I think we're going to do more of um because some topics that's just more efficient. Um and so we started off with a budget presentation from our treasurer. Just a reminder about where we stood um after everything shook out with the state budget. Um going through that uh you know the the forecast and and what the district
065needed. um really coming to the conclusion that we would in fact need to be making budgetary reductions as a district in order to uh make sure that we have uh meeting our our requirements by the state to have uh money in our bank account. Um and so that was the dialogue and uh the recommendation that was proposed to the committee would be a $50 million cut. Um, and after uh the treasurer kind of outlined all that, then our superintendent walked through what the impact of that would be, reminding us uh for example that the levy that we just secured a few years ago um was $38 million um and the required and and what we would be needing to cut was 50 million. So just putting that into context. Um we also talked about the
066direct impact to students. Um and within that dialogue, you know, the the superintendent uh really expressed to us how difficult this would be for our students and our community. Um understanding that this, you know, is something that is not taken lightly, but it is something that is necessary. Um coupled with the fact that, you know, we really are trying to advance a um a new vision for the district, which our superintendent has laid out. Um so that's part of the realignment work. That's part of enhancing CTE. That's part of getting uh more students in. And so these things do have to continue uh together in the same path. Uh then we opened up the dialogue um for our committee members and you know they are so amazing. They asked the best questions um and we
067actually took a much deeper dive into transportation again um to discuss what that was all about. um what the budget uh you know is about $75 million for our transportation. Um we talked about what that penalty was that we were getting from the state at about $15 million a year. Um and our in our community and our committee members really got to dig and understand what that was about and the impact uh that you know paying for all of that has on our on our students. Uh we also talked about things like what is what are the needs for special education and we talked about um you know could we come up with alternative funding um could we look at CTE how do we gain more enrollment um so we talked about other ways um
068to bring in additional revenue and uh look at the district under a different light. Uh but ultimately we do as a district have to figure out uh how to make a $50 million reduction. And so the at the end the um uh the joint committee voted to bring that forward to this board and we'll have a resolution on that so I'll wait for uh President Cole to talk about that but we there was an affirmative vote to bring that to the board. Um in the end the we also decided that um the committees needed to kind of really focus in on certain parts of this work to bring additional recommendations back to the board. So I'll share ETRM if you'll share your committee because I don't quite remember what was on yours. I was so
069focused on mine. So, uh, ETRM uh, before December, we are going to be bringing recommendations back around transportation um, which includes looking at our state minimums and what the cost of those are. we aren't uh uh that might then go over to um the academic alignment committee to then talk about the impact on school communities and our families and then together we'll probably bring a joint recommendation back to the board. Within that conversation, we may have to touch on things like enrollment and lottery. Um we also are going to embark on a whole conversation around alternative funding which encompasses things like land. So, you know, what do we do with our land? um what are we doing with other assets? How are we gathering more grant money? We know that grants and title money from
070the federal level has also been impacted and also talk about uh revenue generation uh in in different ways. Um so uh being uh you know more innovative. Um and the last thing we're going to do is really focus in on that board guard rail around um equitable resourcing and in particular staffing. Again 84% of our budget is for our wonderful staff. We are in a service industry. So that absolutely makes sense. Um you know we that's how we deliver our services is through our people. Um and so uh we have to kind of think about how are we making sure that we are living that guard rail of equitable resourcing and making sure that we have uh staff planning that really um is also taking into account equitable budgeting. Um so we will be working
071on those things with the top priority um being that transportation and lottery. So uh uh that's what ETRM will be working on coming out of that discussion to bring more recommendations back to the board um around what it is uh some other ways. Let me back up a second. Um one of the things that Dr. Chapman shared and I'd love her to chime in too after president is that while that's the number um we still have to figure out what makes up the number. Okay. So that's a whole thing. And so the superintendent and her team will be working on that sort of thing through the committees and and coming back to the board. Um and so we the board had has to just establish the number and that's part of what the the um
072resolution is about this evening. So from ETRM side, that's what we're working on. I'll have President Cole kind of jump in and and add um thoughts and also what AFK will be working on. >> Oh, thank you so much, Madam Vice President. and I think you encapsulated quite a bit of it very effectively. Um, I would say from the AFAC perspective and board member Simmons, if I'm missing anything, please do not hesitate to uh chime in with something. Um, but we talked a great deal about enrollment and the idea of capacity building in that space. How do we identify student profile? What do what do the kids look like that we have now and look like coming into Columbus City Schools? what capacity do we have available to direct them from a curriculum perspective to
073technology resources and facilities? Um, in addition to that, what do we what are we looking like in terms of our career technical space? What are those special places that make Columbus City Schools actually competitive in our public education environment? There are many ways in which we are competitive. Um, but how do we identify that and build capacity towards that? Uh that's pretty much the gist of it, but there'll be some other things that come up for consideration uh moving forward. Or member Simmons, was there anything you wanted to include >> to realignment? >> Yeah, thank you very kindly. Feel free to chime in on realignment. Yes, sir. I want to pass the ball. >> I have a um recommendation or suggestion. So, it might be better for you to set the scene first, but I
074I can if you'd like. Uh so to the conversation of realignment again, how is that how do we look at realignment from the standpoint of curriculum and in the way that it meets facility and what stu what additional student needs are. So the whole realignment process also will encapsulate closure and consolidation as well to have some discussion around what that really looks like and what next four steps can actually be. So am I stating that correctly? >> Thank you. Yes. Um, I just wanted to um share last year I had the pleasure of receiving a presentation from the capital improvements team about some possible consolidation options. And what they found is that um if we were to consolidate 12 or 12 of our legacy buildings um that would free up enough financing to construct four
075um new state-of-the-art buildings um which would then um allow us to take even additional 8 to 10 buildings offline. And I bring that up because um one of my points of feedback when board member solicited feedback for the policy change um was that the board never really set a goal of what we'd like to get to in terms of our facilities. And I think when we don't set a goal um it kind of leaves that task force or committee left to wonder what the board would like to see. And so they kind of maybe piece something together they think we're interested in. Um, but I bring that up because there is a real opportunity if we were to make some big consolidation decisions to get construction underway and ultimately that is the long-term solution. The
076only, you know, our legacy buildings, we can work to maintain them for as long as possible, but ultimately we just have to build new buildings. Um and so I would strongly strongly strongly encourage the academic and facility alignment committee as well as the board to really look seriously at that upwards of 12 schools number that and that means bringing back recommendations greater than 12 schools too um if we're able to achieve that but there's a real opportunity to build um using those permanent improvement or using those PI dollars that we're currently spending on the maintenance of these facil facilities. there is a real opportunity to build, but it would require a large a larger than a larger consolidation than maybe we've been accustomed to in the past. But I wanted to share that and I'd
077be happy to send out the presentation to all of my colleagues um so you all have the information. I'm not sure all who had the opportunity to view that last year, but there's a a real opportunity for us if we make those big decisions. >> Uh thank you board member Simmons and we will certainly take that under deeper consideration moving forward through the months the coming months. Dr. Dr. Chapman, was there anything that you wanted to uh add to the conversation at all? >> Um, just continued conversations to talk about um all of the pressures that we're continuing to experience um as a district, as a public school entity in the state of Ohio. Um we started the conversation with our treasurer reminding us of the most recent five-year forecast indicating that we're currently um
078in deficit spending. Um, in addition to that, we talked about um our federal funds which are vulnerable and very at risk during this administration. Um, we certainly we know that that's about $130 million that is very vulnerable at this point in time. And in addition to that, we talked about our state revenue. While we may have seen a bump in the revenue that we received from the state, we're still not being funded at the level in which it costs to educate students today. So the students that we have in our schools right now in our classrooms that will be joining us on Monday, we are not getting the funding that we need to support their educational experience. So it is the onus is upon us to look at how we allocate our resources across the
079entire system to make a pivot and to make some changes today because the students are in our buildings and our classrooms right now. We're still being funded at the inputs from 2022. This is fiscal year 2026. there's a gap and we are also looking very hard at the expenses that we have on the operation side when we talk about um the age and condition of our facilities and what it costs to maintain many of those legacy buildings. We're also looking at our operations and looking at how we can provide services leaner and ma ways that are more efficient so we can redirect some of the dollars on the operation side to the classroom to help close some of those gaps. And so we're starting these conversations. You'll certainly hear lots of important updates during our
080committee meetings where we'll be digging into we'll have one conversation about transportation. We'll have a conversation about lottery open enrollment um school choice. We'll have conversations further conversations about other aspects of the organization. And so we just want you all to know that we're looking at all areas of the organization to see how we can make continuous improvements. But the number one goal in all of those conversations is how we can redirect resources back to the classroom to close these budget gaps because we know that we our students need more resources and more supports to help reach their goals so that they can be successful today and in the future. So we'll continued conversations um and we certainly want to keep everyone informed at throughout the process. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Treasurer, do you
081have any thoughts or comments on brevity? >> I think I'd really like to echo the comments of Dr. Chapman with respect to funding and the underfunding that we're experiencing. Um, it's no secret we're going to see another revised forecast coming out in September. We end the year with def suspend. We're going to talk more and more about that, but as we move forward, I think we have to continue to advocate with our elected officials down the street the importance of those dollars and how we need them in the classroom. And unfortunately, we're talking about budget reductions due in part to the lack of funding on that fair school funding formula. Um, it's got a catastrophic impact, unfortunately. So, I echo her comments. >> Uh, thank you, Mr. Treasure, and I think that is a a
082great segue into section 4.4 uh, which is the resolution directing the district administration to reduce the budget. Uh, I will present this resolution. Whereas the district has conducted a comprehensive May five-year forecast for financial forecast that indicates potential financial constraints in the upcoming fiscal years. Whereas the forecast reveals that without intervention, the district may face significant budget shortfalls due to declining state funding and increasing operational costs. Whereas recent evaluations of the state budget have shown potential reductions in allocated funds for local school deficits, necessitating proactive measures to ensure the fiscal sustainability of our programs and services. Whereas uncertainty persists regarding the future levels and allocations of federal title funding. Whereas the district is committed to maintaining its educational standards while ensuring responsible and transparent building practices. Whereas the board affirms its commitment to providing a
083just and balanced appropriation of resources that align with the district's goals and guard rails. Whereas on August 13, 2025, a joint committee discussed and is recommending to the board of education a budget reduction. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the district administration is hereby directed to implement a budget reduction of $50 million starting in fiscal year 2027. Be it further resolved that the superintendent shall provide a joint board of education committee a comprehensive list of recommended fiscal year 2027 reductions for consideration at a scheduled committee meeting in November 2025. And be it further resolved that the superintendent shall provide the board of education a comprehensive list of recommended fiscal year 2027 reductions for consideration and adoption after the joint board uh uh the the joint board of education committee meeting and no later than the
084second scheduled meeting of November 2025. This is a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. Motioned and seconded. Mr. Treasur, can we call the role? >> Miss Vera? >> Yes. >> Miss Singles? >> Yes. >> Miss Reyes? >> Yes. >> Mr. Simmons? >> Yes. >> Vice President Hadair? >> Yes. >> President Cole? >> Yes. >> Thank you. Motion passes. Um just before we get to uh board member's presentation. Um again, I just want to offer that this is an incredibly difficult decision. This does not come, you know, cavalerely. This is not something that, you know, we just conjured up and said that this has to happen because it's something that, you know, we feel comfortable doing. There is no comfort in this. What we have to do is put the needs of our students first.
085And I think that's why we're doing the aggressive realignment work. That's why we're collaborating in the ways that we are to ensure that children have what they need um in a way that we are able to provide. So with that, uh I thank you all for your hard work. I know we've got a lot of tough work ahead of us, but again together I know I'm confident that we can get it done. Um so with that, thank you all for for this motion here and passing it. Uh we'll move forward to board member. >> Great. So, I am going to talk about the student cell phone use and new policy directives. Um, it relates to Ohio Revised Code section 3313.753. Um, in each of the last two years, there have been legislative directives from the
086General Assembly regarding student cell phone use in schools. And just one year ago, the general assembly required districts to adopt a policy governing the use of cell phones and other electronic communication devices by students during school hours, but that directive stopped short of a complete prohibition on student use during instructional hours. Um, the board actually has a current existing policy uh that has long been in effect. It is policy number 5136 that addresses student cell phone use. Um and that policy was compliant with the law that was passed by the general assembly um just one year ago. However, earlier this summer, you may have heard, we passed a budget bill uh or I'm sorry, the Ohio legislature passed a budget bill. Um it was House Bill 96. And as goes with budget bills, they contain
087um monetary changes and they sometimes contain some law changes. And this is one law change that was found within House Bill 96. Um, so it changes Ohio Revised Code 3313.753 to require boards of education to adopt more restrictive board policies that govern the use of cell phones by students during school hours. The statute now states that the policy quote shall prohibit all cellular telephone use by students during the instructional day unquote. There are exceptions, however. Um the exceptions are if it is determined appropriate by the school board or included in the students IEP or 504 plan. Students may use cell phones for student learning or to monitor or address a health concern. This requires a written statement from the students physician requiring such use. And the second exception is if the bill suspends the cell
088phone prohibition for a school building during an active threat or emergency if the the building's comprehensive emergency management plan permits that. So that would require a change to that emergency management plan um by the district. There is an option within the bill. Um, the statute permits districts to prohibit students from carrying electronic communication devices, including cell phones in any school building or any school ground or premises of the district. But again, this is optional. This is something that would need to be uh contemplated and um deliberated before any any board policy were enacted. So, I want to talk through the timeline since we had a board policy that was fully compliant with the previous uh rendition of the law and now we have this new law that has some new uh pieces that we may
089uh want to reconsider and uh look back at and then some specific things that we'll have to reexamine. Um there are changes that become effective. the the changes become effective September 30th, 2025, but the deadline for districts to update their policies is actually after that. So, the deadline for districts to update their policies uh to prohibit cell phone use during instructional hours is January 1st, 2026. So, the board must update its board policy, which is again board policy 5136. Um, we are hoping to do that in late September of this year. The policy governance committee meeting is September 8th, I believe. Um, it is the Monday. So, if I'm wrong and it's the 9th, then I'm sorry, but I believe it's the 8th. Um, and that is our next policy governance committee meeting. We will
090be discussing this policy, talking about that optional language. Um, and so in the meantime, we want our community to be aware that our current policy will only require um some minor substantive changes as it already restricts and discourages cell phone use during instructional hours. Um, currently the policy says uh use before or after school, during school activities or at school related functions is permitted. However, use at any other time is is prohibited and the device must be powered completely off stored out of sight unless approved by a teacher or administrator. The policy contains several other limitations on the use of cell phones and notes that there is no expectation of privacy in the use of these devices. Um the current policy also restricts the use of of electronic communication devices while traveling on district school
091buses except in certain circumstances. Um and so we have this policy in place. We will be examining it at our next policy and governance committee meeting. We will also be uh having hopefully a short presentation um from our our policy legal folks uh to tell us, you know, how we can make sure that our our policy is fully compliant and so that we hit that January 1st, 2026 deadline by which the law says we must comply. And after that policy governance committee meeting, we um plan to bring back, assuming the committee votes to do so, uh we will plan to bring back a policy, but regardless, this board will have to consider a policy and implement said policy in order to comply by January 1st. So that is my report. >> Thank you so much,
092uh board member. Um and just I think it's important to note for those uh whether they are students, families, or even administrators in the district that policy that we have on the books at this point in time that as of this year is 10 years old is policy 5136 which encapsulates electronic personal electronic devices, PEEDs, personal electronic devices that also includes tablets uh uh any myriad of things. So, please feel free to refer to policy 5136 in our 5000 series of the board policy. Madam Superintendent, >> thank you, President Cole, and board member for providing us with that update on the policy. Um, I certainly would like to invite all of our parents, family members, community members, um, to just name that this is going to be a major shift for our entire community and
093we will need all hands on deck and we are asking our parents to remind their children that cell phones will not be allowed during the school day from bell to bail. That means that's everyone's responsibility, a shared responsibility to communicate the expectation and remind everyone of the importance of this. And so for the cell phones, you can certainly store them in a locker, you can store them in a backpack, you can store them in a purse, you can store them in your pocket. We're asking that um those cell phones are turned off or um put on do not disturb so that they will not be active during the school day. There are exceptions which the law as well as our policy allows for. So, if a teacher um is planning a lesson and would like
094to incorporate the cell phone into the lesson, the teacher has the discretion to say, "We need our cell phones. We're going to pull them out for today's lesson because it's aligned to the standard." And that would be an exception. Um, board member Les also mentioned the two other exceptions of when the cell phone would be allowed and permissible to be used during the day and that would be for medical e medical needs or emergency as well as for safety reasons um if there was a um a safety issue in the school and students needed to use their phone. But we are certainly again this is um a new law that impacts every student, every school student across the entire state. And so districts across the entire state, we're all in this together. We will be
095um reminding our students of why we are shifting to this this new practice. Certainly, we are hoping to regain instructional time as well as minimize the impacts of social media and cell phone use during the school day. Um, so we'll continue to message the importance of this shift and we'll continue to um reinforce um this message throughout all of our our messaging, our back to school messaging, our conversations, communications with families. But this is certainly a shift that we are going to be heavily rellyant on our families to support us with this by reminding their students about this before their students get to school. >> Thank you, Madam Superintendent. Um before we move forward, I just want to implore to our families throughout the community, particularly around the issue of social media and how disruptive
096to a school day that actually can be. and not even just a school day. How disruptive it can be to a particular student. This can be something that can trigger a student. This can be something that takes a student off track. This is something that can actually not be in the best interest of supporting a child, let alone the school day. Please ensure that our children turn our phones off unless it is an absolute emergency. So, thank you again for that. Um, we'll move forward. This concludes uh board matters. We will move on to executive reports. We'll start with the superintendent. >> Good evening. Um certainly um as we're talking about back to school and preparing for the first day, I have a few highlights that I'd like to share. Um many of our community
097members over 6,000 16,000 community members joined us on Saturday for our annual back to school fair. Um, we certainly are grateful for everyone's engagement and participation. Um, we were able to support and give out over 11,000 backpacks along with school supplies that were distributed at the fair. Additionally, over 100 CCS departments and community partners were available to assist with back-toschool resources, including health screenings, immunization, sports physicals, home safety, afterchool programs, and social service information. Big thanks to our engagement team, our staff and community volunteers, our sponsors, and our partners for putting on such a wonderful event to kick off the new school year. yesterday. We welcome back our school staff. And the big change this year is we have a full week of planning and professional development before we welcome our students back on Monday.
098This calendar change was in direct response to family input and prioritizing staff training to get the school year started off right. On Monday, August 25th, we will officially welcome back students in grades 1 through 12 on the traditional calendar for the first day of the 2526 school year. Our kindergarten students will start on Thursday, August 28th, and our prek students will start the following week on Thursday, September 4th. On Monday, August 25th, I'll begin the morning bright and early at 5:30 a.m. You all are welcome to either join us at Friebis or watch us on the news. Um, but we will be at our Freebis bus compound where we'll join our transportation team as buses roll out across the city to transport our students to school safely. From there, I'll be visiting Wetstone High School
099and Sherwood Middle School to welcome students and staff back. Um, our families can visit our back to school hub on the CCS website for all information regarding the opening of schools for the new school year or they can check with their child's school. Information on the back to school hub includes links to school supplies, lunch menus, school calendar, school hours, the student guide to success, information about available before and after school programs, and for bus routes. As a reminder, transportation eligible CCS student bus route information is available now and live in the parent portal. I want to remind everyone of the importance of ensuring your child's information is up to date. If you've moved and you've changed addresses, we need to know that that affects our bus routes and the more accurate information we have,
100the better we can plan. If you've changed your phone number, you've changed your email address, please let us know so that we can make sure that you're getting all of the up-to-date information in your inbox or during your um your preferred method of receiving that information. As we look ahead, I'm filled with excitement for the many opportunities that this school year will bring to our students. Every moment is an opportunity to grow, achieve, and lead. And together with our CCS families, staff, and community partners, we are ready to make this a great year that reflects the leaders are grown right here in Columbus City Schools. We can't wait to see our students bright and early on Monday, August 25th. And remember, our kindergarten students will join us on Thursday, August 28th, and our prek students
101will join us the following week on Thursday, September 4th. Thank you. >> Uh thank you, Madam Superintendent. Before we let you go though, can you talk a little bit just very quickly about yesterday's groundbreaking in partnership with the city of Columbus, their BZ department, building zoning services and Habitat for Humanity, Columbus Habitat for Humanity. >> Yes. So, um, yesterday was an exciting opportunity to really kick off the new school year. Um, but more importantly to center our work around the experiences of our students. So, we have entered a partnership with the city of Columbus, the department of building and zoning services, um the Habitat for Humanity, and our students at Fort Hayes have an opportunity to be a part of building a Habitat hum Habitat for Humanity home right behind our campus of Fort Hayes
102on Old Leonard Avenue. They're building two houses. This is the first one. And so our students have an opportunity to um put all of those skills that they're learning at Fort Hayes into practice and and really um take part in a real world learning experience. These are the types of experiences that all of our students deserve and certainly they will be even more prepared for um college, more prepared for careers because they've had these um experiences as high school students. So there'll be more to come. will actually follow their journey and see them um as they are actually doing the work. Yesterday was just a groundbreaking uh ceremony where we kicked off the project and the collaborative partnership, but we're thankful for the community partners that have stepped up and provided our students with these
103real world experiences to apply the skills that they're learning at Fort Hayes to the real world. >> I just want to thank you so much for that. I want to thank our our staff at Fort Hayes. I want to thank under your leadership, the department of engagement, the considerable work that they did in planning and creating this opportunity and partnership with BCS in the city of Columbus. So, uh, job well done. I was I was absolutely honored to be there. >> All right. Uh, Mr. Internal Auditor, >> Good evening. I don't have a report this evening. >> All right. Thank you, good sir. Always good to see you, Mr. Treasur. >> Good evening. I too have no report. >> All right. We'll move on into public hearing on reemployment of a retired employee. Madame vice
104president, >> actually board members, this is a board amendment to uh a hearing that we did last time. There is a correction um um to the date of the effective date for Miss Laura H. Wolf. Um the effective date that we had was August 20th and it needs to be changed to effective September 3rd, 2025. So, I believe we need a motion to make this correction. I will make that motion. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Motion and second. Can we call the role? >> Yes. Miss Vieira, >> yes. >> Miss Engles, >> yes. >> Miss Reyes, >> yes. >> Mr. Simmons, >> yes. >> Vice President Adair, >> yes. >> President Cole, >> yes. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. We will move on to uh uh >> voting on the consent
105agenda. That is sections 9.1 all the way to 24 well 25 but even though there's no other legislation but uh 20 section 25. Uh is there a motion to accept the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Moved and second. >> Second. >> Motion and seconded. Call roll. >> Miss Engles. >> Yes. >> Miss Reyes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Simmons. >> Yes. With the exception of items 11.1, 16.3, 16.4, 4 and 16.5 all which relate additions to the agenda. >> Let me just confirm that 11.1 16.3 16.4 and 16.5. >> That is correct. >> Thank you sir. >> Vice President Adair. >> Yes. >> Miss Ver. >> Yes. >> President Cole. >> Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. All right. Um since there is no other uh legislation, we'll move right into executive session. Madam Vice President,
106>> it is recommended the board of education move immediately into executive session pursuant to Ohio Vice Code section 121.22G4 preparing for conducting or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment. That is a motion. >> Second. >> All right. Motion in a second. Call the role. >> Miss Reyes. >> Yes. >> Mr. Simmons? >> Yes. >> Miss Engles? >> Yes. >> Miss Vera? >> Yes. >> Vice President Adair? >> Yes. >> President Cole? >> Yes. All right. We will move we've motioned now into executive session. We will not return to this room after adjournment. Thank you all for uh a very productive evening this evening. And let's go. We're ready to go August 25th.