001Good morning. Welcome to the Hamilton City School Board meeting. Mr. Frazier, if you can call the roll, please. >> President Matthews. >> Here. >> Dr. Copus. >> Here. >> Dr. Hopkins. >> Here. >> And I will make a note for the minutes that Mr. Davidson and Ms. Mancuso are absent this morning. >> Awesome. Thank you. Um I don't see anyone from City Council. So, we'll turn it over to Mr. Frazier for our forecast. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, President Matthews. >> Welcome. >> Let me pull this up here. Okay. So, this is a little bit different. Uh it is June. I don't know that we've ever done a June forecast. Um so, this will kind of be a an abbreviated forecast, I guess. This is not one of the mandatory filings and and we'll
002kind of get into that what's required. Um but, as you know, I was prepared to uh do an update in May and unfortunately was unable to make our last meeting. Um unfortunately, I'm still dealing with a a little bit of that, so hopefully I don't cough my way uh through this presentation. >> [clears throat] >> So, we're going to go over um an introduction to the forecast, uh what our revenue and expense categories are, uh what are some trends that we're seeing with those revenues and expenses, and then we're going to look at our financial condition. >> [cough] >> So, what is the forecast? Uh the forecast is a snapshot analysis of general fund revenues, expenditures, and the corresponding cash balance. Um the board must approve a forecast twice a year, which we've done already.
003Um we did one in October. We did one in February, and then because we've had so many changes, I wanted to do another one um this year, which was slated for May. Um however, we we will be doing another one here in August. So, uh the law just changed this last year. Um used to be a November and May forecast. They changed it to August and February. However, the first year of transition, they allowed us to do the first one in October. Um but we will be doing another one again here in just a few months. >> [clears throat] >> So, the forecast includes uh the general fund. So, that's the only fund we're talking about. We have all kinds of funds on the books. We have uh PI funds, where we do our capital
004improvement projects. We have uh food service funds. We have state and federal grants. We have athletic funds. We have We have all those types of things. Um but we're only talking about our main fund, which is our general fund, and that's where most of our operational costs come out of. And then the forecast has 3 years of history, and it now has 4 [snorts] years of projection. Used to be 5 years. We used to call this the 5-year forecast. Now, we're just calling it the financial forecast. Um so, they they've dropped 1 year off [snorts] at the back end. >> [clears throat] >> So, what's the purpose of the forecast? Um there's three main purposes for it. Um one, it's for board and community engagement. Two, it allows me to certify our expenses. So, there's
005um something called the 412 certificate that I have to sign that basically says um the operations of the district, we we are able to meet those financial obligations with what we are doing. But what we really use it for the most is for long-term planning. Um we meet uh every Monday morning um in executive cabinet, Mike Andry and myself, um and we run through many, many things. And most of those things have a financial impact. And so, what we will do is we'll say, "Hey, this is what we want to do." Or maybe let's look at this. And I'll do a cost study, see what that's either going to cost or save the district. And then we'll run that through the forecast software. And see, you know, what that does. You know, is that something
006we can do? Is that something we want to do? Those types of things. So, so we do use it quite a bit. >> [clears throat] >> So, here are revenue categories. These look pretty similar to what we looked at in February. And you're going to see a lot of that, especially for the current year. Um so, local taxes make up about 19% of our revenue. We do We did have a little jump in all other revenue from February. And that's mainly because we got an extra Medicaid reimbursement. We actually got it early this year. Um so, you'll see when we look at this current year as a whole, we are up about 1.7 million dollars. But that's just a timing difference from when we got our Medicaid reimbursement. So, long-term, that that doesn't affect us
007at all. It just skewed the number for 1 year. >> [clears throat] >> And then the bulk of our funding, obviously, comes from the state. Which is why we are always so heavily involved in what is going on at the state level. Because with state funding being 73% of our revenue, any little change has a massive impact on Hampton City Schools. So, here's our expenditure categories. These are pretty much right on from what we had in February. 83% >> [cough] >> personnel cost. That's our salaries and benefits. And that's every school district's major expense. We've got purchased service out there of 13% and that's things like our utilities and special ed contracts are are getting to be a a larger part of that. And then all other makes up about 3% and that's things like
008classroom supplies, bus fuel would be in that category. So here's where we are for the current fiscal year. Um that number at the bottom there projected loss for the year with 3.1. When we presented this back in February, that was 4.8. Again, that's the $1.7 million timing timing difference from that Medicaid reimbursement. Everything else is pretty much right on. I mean it's only been, you know, just a couple months since we last presented. >> [cough and clears throat] >> So what's happened since February? We've had a lot happen since February. Um property tax legislation, the retroactive credits that the legislature put in place in December were actually in our February forecast, but there's a number of property tax bills still out there. Um and so we've kind of you know, tweaked that number a little
009bit. It's still going to be about a $3.3 million property tax credit moving forward with what you'll with the legislature did to us in December. Um something that was not in our February forecast was our deficit reduction plan. We had actually approved the deficit reduction plan later in the meeting than when I presented. So when I presented, it was not, you know, board approved and therefore it was not in the forecast. So while we don't see a massive difference in the current year that we just looked at, there's a big impact in future years, which we'll get to. >> Just to clarify real quick, when you say with the property tax legislation legislation, you said $3.3 million credit. That That is a $3.3 million loss for us though, correct? >> That is correct. Yes. So,
010basically what the legislature did was they [clears throat] went back retroactively and put in place what they just passed. So, um what they're saying now is you can't Schools on the 20-mil floor, which we are, you can't get any more in property tax revenue than what the um current inflation rate is. So, for last 3 years, let's say the inflation rate was 9.1%. But, we get a um a property tax update from our Butler County Auditor. Let's say she's saying values are going up 20%. We don't get 20% anymore. We get the 9.1. But, what they've also done is said, "Well, we want to make sure that that law, we're going to act as if that was in place last time we did the updates, which was like a 36% increase for Hamilton. So, they're
011going to knock that down to 9.1, which means there's a big credit there. But, that that doesn't carry forward just 1 year. The way the law is written, that carries forward every single year. So, we get hit with a $3.3 million credit every single year moving forward. Yeah. So, that's I mean, it was a killer. >> If I could add one comment to that piece, the retroactive piece is the piece piece that we couldn't plan around. You know, if there When they passed that legislation moving forward, that's exactly what this tool allows us to do is, you know, that actually makes it easier for Jeremy if it's a 9% or whatever that, you know, inflationary rate moving forward. The part that created part of that additional deficit even after our $10 million plan that you'll
012see is that 3.3 that every year is going to be credited to taxpayers. They're basically rewriting money that was already given to our district. And so that is what that big deficit is that we're experiencing. We know that property taxes are high. We know there are those pieces. We tax our community at the lowest legal limit that we can. However, based on the law previously, if property values went up, we saw that increase. Now they're capping that and going back and taking back that money that was given It's 2019, correct? >> 23 was the last reassessment, I'm sorry. So they're going back 3 years >> Right. >> uh in that particular piece. Mhm. >> Yes, good point. Yeah, [clears throat] and that and we we've met with legislators on that, too. I mean, it's like,
013okay, so you're telling us that we'll never get more than inflation. Great. We'll plan. We'll never put in our forecast more than 8 or 9%. Um if values are going to be 4% increase, we'll put 4% increase. But how do you plan for taking away money that you've already received? So that I mean, that's that's a It's a tough pill to swallow, for sure. And then an update from February, obviously we just got the Medicare reimbursement. Um so that is, you know, it's a $1.7 million difference. difference. So that's significant as well. Just with any forecast, um obviously there are unknowns. Um I have no idea exactly what's going to happen in the next 4 years. Um the biggest unknown for us is what is going to happen with our budget at the state level.
014Um there's a governor's race going on. Uh the governor sets the stage for how much money the state's going to spend on education. And depending on who gets elected, that could be vastly different. Um so that's something that we are keeping our eye on. Um the assumption is that it's going to you know, at least stay the same as of right now. Um but they could they could cut us. We don't have a cut in there, but we don't have an increase either. We just have a a status quo kind of. Um what's going to happen with property tax legislative changes? I mean, again, we had this massive bill come out, a 3.3 million dollar cut for us. But there's still items out there being floated in the legislature that could hurt us, too. So,
015again, what's going to happen with that? We don't know. >> [cough] [clears throat] >> We've got all all of our negotiated agreements expire um during the forecast period. So, we've got some assumptions in there, but we will be negotiating uh next spring uh all four of our contracts, I believe. Um so, how does that land? You know, like I said, we've got some assumptions in there, but again, it's that is an unknown in the forecast. And then, something we talk about every forecast is our projected decline in enrollment. Um I actually have not changed the uh the assumption in enrollment decline from February. February, we did make some assumption changes. Um and further, you know, reduced our enrollment, but I have not done that for this forecast cuz it seems to be holding pretty steady
016right now. So. So, this is what we're talking about um as far as this this shows a little bit of change. We'll get to a uh comparison uh shows days of cash change that you'll really be able to tell. But this is a graphical representation of the forecast revenues and expenditures, and then projected cash balance over there on the right. Just for reference, in 2029 the February forecast had that as a negative number. So you can see the cash balance change um as we move forward because this includes the deficit reduction plan. Now over on the left, you can see the blue bars represent revenues, which we are actually showing a revenue decline. Um and that's mainly due to the property tax credit and declining enrollment. So the formula right now is it's kind of
017a non-formula. It's kind of a bridge. Um so we're basically fully funded at four of the fair school funding formula. And as we lose students we lose revenue. So that you know, paired with the property tax credit um we are projected to have a declining revenue stream here in the next several years. Now while the the orange columns there, they're the expenditures, they look significantly higher than revenues, which they are but they are also significantly lower in total than what the February forecast showed because these do include the deficit reduction pro- program. So and we'll see that here. So this [clears throat] is days days of cash on hand. This basically means how many days could we operate if the revenue stream shut off right now? And so the green is where we were in
018February. And you can see that fallen right off the table. With what we have done and what the board has allowed us to do, uh we have staved off that significant drop-off. Um so 2027, we're actually have the same amount of days cash on hand that we'll have in 2026 at the end of the year, which is is significant from where we were. I mean, that's 46 days. That's a month and a half. That's significant. Um and as you move through time, every cut that you've made magnifies. So, we can see, you know, 45 days different in '27, it's massive in '28. Right? Um >> [clears throat] >> so, again, this is this is something that I said last time or in the February forecast. You know, I'm just I'm very appreciative of this board
019having the leadership um and the trust in the leadership team to allow us to do this because um as you well know, there are a lot of districts that are in a worse situation than we are. Um so, thank you. Do Does anybody have any questions on on this graph? I mean, this kind of tells the story. This is really what I wanted to get to on this presentation is the massive financial impact that those decisions have made. >> Yeah, no questions, but I just want to really reiterate your point in the remarkability or remarkableness of 2029 and being almost three times what we were initially looking at with the prior forecast prior to the deficit reduction plan. So, I know that was a really difficult decision um and plan to put forward, but it
020really is saving our district right now. >> Yeah. >> Mr. Fraser, I have a comment. >> [clears throat] >> It seems a common thread through your forecast is everything that's been done by our elected officials hurts public education. And correct me if I'm wrong, Mrs. Blevins, in this state we public education still accounts for roughly 90% of the students. >> Yes, that's correct. >> Um and another comment I'd like to make, most people when they hear about property tax legislation, they believe that that's a permanent elimination of property taxes. It is not. Um so my hope is is that voters educate themselves on what these things really mean and how they affect our students, 90% of our students in the state, uh and our local communities uh when they cast their votes, but um it's
021it's literally hard to understand. >> Yeah, I'd I'd like to just add a comment with that of while I I echo what Mr. Frazier said of of just thanking our board for being proactive and understanding that doing the hard work provides some stability for us and a longer runway. We are not out of the woods. Uh we still have to make sure that we are being proactive, watching every dollar, advocating, because even if you look at that, while our our runway is much longer than it was previously, you still see there is an issue where we are our costs are higher than what we are bringing in. And so long-term, we are going to have to figure out what that looks like if the state doesn't show up. And And Dr. Copas, you were 100%
022right. What I ask every resident, I will not tell anyone how to vote or what that looks like, but understand what has happened in the state has created this scenario, not for Hamilton City Schools, for all public schools across this state. Uh I see articles on articles on articles. There was a article today on Cincinnati public trying to figure out how to cut $50 million going into next year. The scale of the cuts is very similar to ours just based on the size of their district, but this is not a spending problem for Hamilton City Schools and this is what we did was buy us time to hopefully help to educate our public. The public are who are going to make the difference on on having their elected officials listen to them and represent what
023they need and want for their communities. And so I just I am very thankful. I mean if you really look at look at it by the end we get to the next year we are going to have the same dollars of cash on hand after all the spending that we do next year. That when I when he brought that number I could have jumped for joy when I saw that. And so it it has provided us that longer runway. I think you know we can say to our community we looked internally at where and what we could do. The next time we don't have another $10 million in cuts that will keep our district as strong as it is. So our district is strong, our staff are strong, our supports, our opportunities are strong, but
024if we continue on this trajectory and have to look at cuts again they're they're going to be just detrimental to our district and I I hope that our community will will get behind us. We have felt the support, but the support is making sure that our elected officials know what to vote for and how to support our public schools. >> Really quickly I would like to add cuz I thought this was a phenomenal fact that you taught us recently Mr. Frazier about what what is it that we pay roughly per day to educate, feed, take care of like bus transport a student? It's definitely not a spending problem or a fiscal responsibility problem because we are doing it very very uh, and I just want to bring back the idea that we are also on
025many academic indicators outperforming comparable districts while we're doing this in a really fiscally responsible manner. >> Correct. We will get Uh, we'll get there in two slides. >> Oh, cool. Great. I'm really excited about it. >> Thank you, sir. >> [clears throat] >> And I was so glad I made Andrea jump for joy. Normally, uh, I get the opposite reaction when I open my mouth. >> You know, I have another comment. Mr. Wright, I'm sorry you lost your speaker cuz I'm going to ask your input on this. First of all, Mrs. Blevins, you and your staff, your proactive approach to this has been unbelievable. And for us to be able to sit here and say, you know, our runway is extended, we're going to be okay for a period of time, we're going to allow
026the voting public an opportunity to correct this. Despite cutting 10 million from our budget, look, Mr. Wright, let's talk about this for a second. And I unfortunately, and I've always considered myself an advocate for our staff. Despite the cuts that we've made, what percentage of our staff is actually losing employment? I mean, it's ridiculously small. I think it's less than 2%. >> Yeah, it actually is and, um, actually Mr. Zeringue and I were just talking about this that this morning. Um, we are to the point now where every single person, with the exception of one person, has had the opportunity for recall from our teaching staff. Um, we have a few, um, within our 151 staff, which is our clerical and our, um, uh, staff that does our educational assistant work. Um, we have a
027few in that in that group, but we are less than total employees who we have had the opportunity to recall or they have found other employment, um you know, with maybe like the ESC or other districts. So, um you know, when we looked at that number back in January, it was it was staggering. The number was staggering and we were very concerned. Um but now that as we sit here on what, June 9th, um we're already to the point where I think we're going to recall or somebody's going to have found a job just about every single employee that we discussed back in January. >> Well, in my opinion, that's an incredibly high success. Incredibly high. And you know, and I know that we are having some of our staff change buildings and change classrooms,
028and you know, while I'm not a teacher, I don't understand that stress, but that's not all that bad. Um so, I I think what this district what this district has done is truly commendable. Um and fortunately, you know, or I I should say hopefully, in the next elections, you know, our voters will will act accordingly. So. >> And And Dr. Copus, if I could add, I think I think the thing that as we reflect back and and we were talking about this, Andrea and Jeremy and I were talking about this, um as we reflect back from 5 months ago where we're at now, um as far as, you know, academic offerings and structural changes, there were a lot There were a number of things that took place. But we really eliminated one academic program through
029this whole process, and you can see kind of where we're sitting at right now. A lot of the things that we did, we had to do to become more efficient. Um and I I say it's it's moving people's cheese. Um there were a number of people who did have to kind of take on different roles or move to a different building and things like that. Um but we couldn't have done that with the $10 million deficit that we were discussing without doing some of those things. So, I think in the long run, what we're doing for kids and what we're doing for students is we're maintaining everything that we've done for the years to get those academic accolades that we have in this district and continue to provide those services. So, I think that as
030as a group and a team as we reflect on this, we're in a a good spot, as good a spot as we can be having made these cuts, but I do echo and and I have some some major concerns um about what happens 2 years down the road if we do not see some legislative changes um what's coming out of Columbus. And you know, my my my thought of this at the very beginning when we were talking about it is if it doesn't happen next year, in '27, '28 and '29 are going to be really really impactful in a negative way for all districts across the state of Ohio. Um and and you know, eventually something's going to have to change, but it needs to change quicker rather than later. It needs to happen now
031and not 2 or 3 years from now because then it is going to >> [clears throat] >> um it's going to dig a hole for many of these districts. >> Yeah. Well, you're absolutely correct. And Mrs. Blevins, you've heard me say this before. Most people don't respond until something hurts. Um and I guess you could say most voters don't respond until something hurts. I I hope in this case they respond quickly. Uh because like Mr. Wright says, 3 or 4 years down the road will be seriously painful. >> Yes. And and that that's my my last comment you know, to our community. I had a lot of people that said, you know, should you have gone for a levy? Should you have asked for one now? And and you know, and and and basically eaten
032that deficit. You have cash in reserves. Why not spend it down now and then address that problem down the line. Doing that would have hurt our runway. >> Mhm. If we eat our cash reserve now going into the unknown, that puts us in a worse spot down the line. And we also felt there was a path to to cut $10 million without hurting kids, to try to support our staff in the best way. And so we are also cognizant of money is tight everywhere. So going back to our voters without without me being able to look across the screen and say we have done everything in our power to tighten our belt, to be as efficient as we can before ever asking for something if the state doesn't figure it out. That was really important.
033And so we are primed in a position to where there are no additional cuts that have to happen at the end of next year. >> Yes. >> We have and I've had a lot of people say that. Are you going to be on the ballot next November? Are you going to make additional cuts? No. Our plan is to wait and see what happens in Columbus next summer with the biennial budget, and then use that following year, because we have the runway, to figure out what does the district need to do to create that long-term uh financial stability. That is where we sit today. And how bad or good that budget is will affect that. And I do think more and more citizens that today get involved and get educated and let their legislators hear from
034them will help that, because conversations will start here this fall about next summer's budget. >> Yes. All very good points. Excuse me. Uh so we're going to move on to our uh declining enrollment. Um we can see here uh obviously we've got a declining enrollment situation. Um I mentioned earlier that the numbers in October we had um we reduced the numbers in February from where they were in October. For example, uh in 2026, um you see it's 8220 up on the screen. We had 8264. Uh so 44 students down um, for the current fiscal year. We go all the way out to 2030. Um, that number in October was 8158. So, 90 kids. Um, we have not moved these numbers since February. I think we're in a pretty good spot. We look at enrollment constantly
035almost every Monday. Um, and based on what's happening, we then project out um, to see where we think we're going to land and then those numbers are what I put in the forecast off of that uh, input. So, um, again, we're we're in a declining enrollment situation and again, now that we're, you know, 100% on the formula, that is real dollars out the door. So, that's part of the reason why you saw that that revenue decline um, on a previous graph. >> Do we know if the declining enrollment is reflective primarily of the demographic cliff, of ed choice enrollment, of virtual online programs, or just a >> There's just a lot of factors. >> There's There's it's a combination of factors, but there's a lot more choice. Um, I'm going to let Mike speak to
036this cuz he did a a really nice deep dive into into the numbers. >> Yeah, so when we look back, um, we did a look back five years into our secure data center, which tells basically about the kids in Hamilton. Um, so right now today, there are over 10,000 students who could potentially be enrolled in Hamilton City Schools. Um, that's no different than it was five years ago. Um, so we are seeing a lot of different things, um, you know, as far as um, ed choice, um, the choice is kind of in general. Um, when you talk about grad, you know, uh, credit recovery schools, when you talk about parochial schools, when you talk about private schools, when you talk about charter schools, when you talk about completely virtual or online schools, um, there are
037a number of choices. Home schooling has also become very, um, easy for people to access. Um, whereas used to there was a process, more of a process where it had to kind of run through the district and um, you had to give curriculum and you had to give assessments and things like that. So, there are a number of different choices. I would say right now we have the same amount of students, maybe a few more who could access Hamilton City School District as what we did 5 years ago. Um, so I do think part of the choice um, and and I think with that choice what we have to look at is the economics behind it. Um, you know, some people are making that choice now because of the money that goes with the students
038through the EdChoice programming. Um, and if you look at that, I mean, when you look at the amount of money that's being contributed, 1.7 billion this year, 2.1 billion next year, into those programs, um, the money does follow the kids um, in that sense. Yeah, there's there's just so much more choice now than than there used to be. Um, I always go back to uh, Mike put together a spreadsheet for us. Um, and again, there's more kids now available than there were 10 years ago. 10 years ago we had a kindergarten class of a thousand kids. This year's kindergarten class was like 618. Same number of kids available. They're just they have a lot different choices now. >> Yeah, and it's helpful to know that that's reflective of choice and not reflective of changes in
039the population, not that demographic cliff, because that is something that I think voters need to be aware of too as we're talking about EdChoice and different funding packages and formulas. So, thank you both for explaining that. >> Well, we've made it to your slide, Dr. Hopkins. >> Yes, I'm >> [laughter] >> Uh, and you're right. Um, there are a lot of things that we do for kids. We get them here, we keep them safe, we educate them, we feed them, we have all these programs for them. Um, and that cost total cost is is $82 a day. Uh of which only 14% is the burden that's on the local property taxpayers. So, it costs local property taxpayers about $11.48 a day to do all those things, which I think is incredible. >> Yeah, it's very
040very good point. Um and I always I I love that slide because it's I mean for less than $12 we can do all that. I mean, it's it's amazing. >> Yeah, and again, just cheering on our teachers who are in the classroom with our students and producing those academic numbers that we're seeing and outperforming other districts and all the wonderful things our kids get the opportunity to take advantage of. >> Yep, absolutely. And then Dr. Copus, this is kind of echoes what um what you were saying earlier. Basically, every decision um that the state is making is lessening the burden on the state and increasing the burden on the local taxpayer. Um so, the green line on this graph here shows uh the state's piece of education uh of footing the bill for education and
041the black line shows local taxpayers. Uh and you can see those lines converging and it's actually getting worse. Um and that's what that's what they're doing at uh you know, for public education. They are they're not footing the bill. Um and I think we had a uh we had a stat that I believe as far as uh percentage of expenditures, public expenditures for the state Ohio is 45th out of 50 in what they spend on education. >> Yeah, and and that's embarrassing. And I have a I hope this isn't a foolish question, Mr. Frazier, but doesn't our state constitution say that they will fund public education? >> Yeah, it it's specifically stated um in the state constitution, which is why there's been lawsuit after lawsuit and there's I mean there's a current lawsuit ongoing now.
042Um doesn't seem that those lawsuits have changed anything. >> Well, not yet. >> And just to make sure I'm really, really clear along with Dr. Copus, as the state reduces funding for public education, and maybe that same amount of funding ends up in the Ed Choice program, for example, the local property owners have to take on more of the burden because public education is both mandated and constitutionally >> Correct. >> Okay, just >> Correct. I mean pub- public schools just can't close up their doors and and go away. >> So, the burden falls to the local residents, then. >> Correct. Correct. I mean property taxes, they're kind of a a stopgap for what the state doesn't fund. The state's supposed to fund public schools. Um and when they don't, local property taxpayers have to step
043up. >> Mr. Fraser, here's another question. Doesn't the state constitution also say that public education dollars will not go to private schools or religious schools? >> I believe so, and that's that's kind of the whole sticking point of the current lawsuit. Yeah. >> Wasn't that basically saying that elected politicians just do what they want to do, regardless of what the law says? >> Mr. Fraser, if I could add one thing, too. One of the things we also looked at because I know there's a lot of um public uh discussion right now about abolishing property tax and doing things like that. Um if you look across all 50 states, um the funding changes dramatically depending on what state you're in. And we have some states that um don't have property tax. But if you look across
044those those columns, their sales tax and their income tax is dramatically increased from what we see here in Ohio. Um if a state doesn't have income tax, then their property tax is significantly increased. Um if a state doesn't have sales tax, then their property and their income tax is significantly increased. So, I think um the the problem that many people say is, "Oh, I get rid of property tax. I don't have to pay my property tax. I'm going to be bringing home so much more money." In actuality, if you look at this across all 50 states, and you you tally up those percentages, the money is still the money. The money to generate and run the state is not going to continue to be any less just because we abolish property tax. So, when you
045think about that, um you can see that that is it's consistent. So, we are we're one of the only five states um that does not have um a tax on businesses. So, this has [clears throat] become the destination for many businesses in Ohio. Um but states that have that have obviously lower property tax, lower income tax, and lower sales tax. So, when you look at this kind of holistically, the money generated is going to be the money generated. It's just how do you generate that money? Is it property? Is it sales? Is it income? Um you know, is it corporate income tax? What are the things that generate the money for the state to run all of the things required by the state, you know, your roads, your schools, um everything that's run with through
046the state. >> And I think that's something a lot of the public doesn't understand. They see a lot of the development going on and think, "Well, that new warehouse is generating all of this business income tax." But those are changes that happen in the state of of what their burden is. Well, they have completely lowered that burden uh of that public of the business income tax no longer exists in Ohio, used to previously, which has passed that burden on to property owners. What you're seeing right now is property owners can't afford to carry that burden. The state has is lowering theirs and we're right we are stuck in the middle of that perfect storm. So districts only have two options in that. Cut or ask their community to support more money. And you're seeing across
047this state those are very difficult decisions playing out in community by community by community. And so our goal was to do everything we could to be as efficient and lean as we could before ever having to go back and ask our community. And so hopefully my you know I try to be the glasses half full person is that Columbus is listening. You know Jeremy and I have had a lot of great meetings with some legislators that are starting I think to see the perfect storm that's brewing. Hopefully something comes out of there, but we won't know uh for until next summer what that long-term stability plan looks like for Hamilton and every public school district, but we are sitting in a much better spot than everyone surrounding us. >> All right, we got one more
048slide. So just kind of a recap of the difference between, you know, our February forecast, which was our mandated second forecast of the year and this optional forecast. Um obviously the main difference is the deficit reduction plan was not included in the February forecast because it wasn't board approved at as of that time. Um so that has significantly increased our runway to be able to operate and to be able to, you know, be able to maneuver um what's going on at the state level. Um and you know, I I think we've done a a pretty good job of making sure that we're in a good spot um to be able to make those changes for whatever comes down the pipe good or bad. Uh legislative updates, uh again property tax legislation, it there's there's a
049handful of uh legislation that's out there um and none of it's good for us as far as property tax updates. Um seems that we get an email uh every day about new new property tax legislation that's coming out. Some of them have legs and some of them don't. Um but again, none of them's good for the school district. Um and then the next big thing that that we're you know, keeping our eye on obviously is the biennial budget. And again, that's that's going to come down to the governor's race cuz the governor sets the stage for the education spending. And so um however that pans out um we're going to have you know, it's going to be significantly different depending on who gets in that seat. So uh something we're keeping big eye on. Um
050and again, Andrea said we've been talking with legislators. We actually have another meeting set up with legislators uh in a week or two. Um and so we've we've been doing our part. Um it sounds like people are listening. Um so and we're we're hopeful for that, but um that's my presentation. Uh I'll take any uh questions or comments at this time. Thank you. >> Any questions or comments for him? >> Thank you so much Mr. Riser for your um forecast and um thank you board for your questions and comments um to help bring more clarity to our uh um community concerning this matter and hopefully everybody will get out and do what's necessary when it's time to cast that vote. Um next we'll consider um a motion to go into executive session. And um the
051reason for that executive cassette um would be to go consider employment of public employee or official, to consider the sale of property at competitive bidding, as well as to consider matters required to be kept confidential by federal law, regulation, or statutes or state statutes. Do I have any Do I have a motion for going to executive session? >> I'll make a motion. >> I will second the motion. >> Thank you. >> Dr. Hopkins? >> Yes. >> Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> President Matthews? >> Yes. >> This is Reina River. Um Reina means queen in Spanish and that definitely fits with her personality. Um we were told first day of training that she has a very princess-like personality. So, she's in charge, she's the boss, and so >> [music] >> in order to um be her
052handler, we're going to have to make sure we show her that we are in charge and we are her boss. Um so, she fits right in with the Royals here at Riverview and we're lucky to have her. She's super calm. Um she does have a little bit of playful energy, but once she gets her vest on, she knows she's going to work. Um >> [music] >> tends to just kind of settle down. She loves to lean lay on you. She'll lean her whole body weight on you. If you're sitting on the ground, she'll climb right in your lap. Um she definitely feels like she's a lap dog [music] and she just you know, will snuggle right up with you. We already have had a huge impact on on the [music] students. Um I have a
053lot of students that come check in check out with me at the beginning and end of the day. They tend to struggle more during the day and they ask me every day for pictures of her, when she going to get [music] to start coming to school, um can they help walk her, does she have toys they can play with. And so, we have a lot of kids already that are looking for ways to earn time with her um and they just know that dogs can provide comfort [music] not just to kids having a hard time, but all kids. And our staff has also been really looking forward to it. [music] It's been a hard year, lots of change, and so she's just a comfort to to help us all adjust to that change. You know,
054she's a member [music] of our team, and we always say, "Once a Royal, always a Royal." We're family here at Riverview, um whether you're a [music] staff, student, a community member that comes in, and she's a part of that community now, and we're here to to help make the community better and better each day. >> My name's Josh Marge, I'm the principal here at Garfield Middle School. And what you see going on behind me right now is the Garfield America 250 Community Fair. It has been a phenomenal day so far. There's still a lot of things planned today. We got vendors, [music] food trucks, carnival games. We got our big screen and stage. We're getting ready to do our first speech. We actually have a gentleman that was in the Cold War and in a
055secret mission he's going to be talking about as a spy. Uh we have a lot of other things going on today, including a senator, [music] a representative, uh who are going to be speaking as well. We have the Michelle Robinson band playing later today. We also have going on currently a [music] 1800-style baseball game going on on our football field, because in the 1800s, they did [music] not play in dirt yet, they played in an open field. They also played bare hands, so these guys are whizzing the ball at each other with bare hands. We've seen some amazing plays [music] so far, and we even had our own mayor throw a pitch. And of course, we are ending with huge, huge fireworks. We hope to see you there. >> Jet has always just been intellectually
056curious. Um he [music] is a kind person. He's really everything that Hamilton City Schools represents. Um and to see him get into MIT, knowing where he came from, uh makes me emotional. I mean, I'm I'm really proud of Jet and everything that [music] he's accomplished. >> It's undeniably one of the top schools like in the world, especially for what I want to study. I want to study engineering because I've always been interested in math and physics. Um, so >> [music] >> it's I'm very, very proud of myself for getting there. And also, I know how fortunate I am because I was deferred and then got in regular and I looked at the statistics on that. About [music] 1% of people in my shoes get in. And so, just the fact that I was, you know,
057part of that 1% makes me very, very happy and proud of myself. >> Uh, he's a phenomenal [music] student athlete. >> I think that me playing football at MIT, I'm getting more than just the MIT [music] package, I feel. I feel that's why I'm very, very happy I get to play football there. >> He's part of our academic [music] quiz team. Um, he has really achieved a lot here at Hamilton High School. He takes our most rigorous courses. >> We call this side Y. Sine of theta equals Y over 1 or Y. >> Uh, we started an hour of code program at Highland [music] and he taught himself how to code in 2 weeks as a third grader and I thought, "We got something special here." >> Ever since I was little, [music] I would
058say ask my family members almost too many questions about literally everything cuz I just I wanted to know things. And nowadays, it'll be like I'll go to [music] bed and not know something and I have to Google it. And I feel like everybody does that, but I do that to the umpteenth level. And it's like sometimes I'll want to teach myself things, but other times I they're [music] they're just to a level where I need to ask other people and I've been lucky here at Hamilton to have those people to ask. They're they're some very, very smart uh, teachers and other students here who have helped [music] me a lot in my journey. >> Um, but more than that, he just his character is phenomenal. He always [music] uh, welcomes new students in. Um, he
059can relate to kids from all walks of life. Uh, he really represents everything that's great about Hamilton High School. So, to see him get into MIT, one of the most prestigious [music] engineering schools in the country, is no surprise to me and I'm glad they see what we see here at Hamilton. >> Today, HCT has culminated our bare necessities drive. We've been [music] doing this drive for the past 5 years and we brought in all of our donations that teachers have been donating for the whole month of February. Everything [music] we donate goes directly back to our students. It helps our students >> [music] >> not worry about what they have to wear, if it's clean, if they have deodorant or [music] any of the products that they need to be able to go to
060school each day. They can focus on learning and not have to focus on their appearance or hygiene. This >> is so impactful [music] for the Caring Closet. Um the timing of the year, so we often start running out of these items at this point [music] in the year. We've already done 650 referrals and so when they gather things through the month of February and then bring them in March, it's perfect timing. It [music] allows us to finish out the rest of the school year and have new packs of underwear and toiletries for all the students that need them. Items that are [music] brought to the Caring Closet are donated by the community including the teachers union. This is their donation day [music] and we deliver these items straight back into the community to the students
061that are enrolled [music] here in the Hamilton City School District. We always need these items that they brought today. We always need the toiletry items, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, [music] bar soap, toothpaste. All of those items would be new items unopened [music] full size and the way they would do that is we have a donation box that's secure on our front porch. We are [music] at the corner of Main Street and D Street. Um our door is on the D Street side of the building and you can put your donations in there and they will be safe [music] until we open up the box and take them out. I want to say such a heartfelt thank you to the teachers union. They have supported the Caring Closet [music] for 5 years and they also
062support our fundraiser which is night out and we are so thankful for them. We can't do what we do without the support of people like them. >> [music] >> The National Merit Scholarship is based on your performance your junior year on the PSAT. I was surprised with a perfect score. Getting this scholarship was definitely to me kind of a representation of my hard work that I've done throughout my entire high school career [music] and obviously takes more than just a test score. You had to have recommendations from your teachers and also [music] write a response to kind of make it past the semi-finalist finalist standing. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of my hard work. I'm thankful for all of [music] the assistance that I've gotten from the Hamilton City School staff and yeah. >> So, she
063is dedicated [music] to what she does. She doesn't want to take the easy route. She'll put forth [music] the effort. She wants to keep moving forward and try new things and doing better on what she's interested in. >> I come from [music] a long line of teachers. Both my grandmother and mother [music] work in the districts or my grandma just retired but it's kind of instilled in me a kind of respect for my teachers and [music] my counselors and kind of being able to take advantage of all of the resources and the passion that they put into their work to [music] really take advantage of every opportunity. >> Maddie is a special part of the fine arts family. We've known Maddie for several years now. >> [singing] >> We probably see Maddie more than her
064parents do during the week. >> But there really is a club for everyone. There's a place for everyone and [music] you will get the opportunity to kind of grow in your talents and your strengths and your skills. >> The one thing you should know about Maddie Wagonfield is that she will [music] do great things in society. >> Um more than anything, I'm really >> [music] >> happy to have met all of the wonderful people that I've met here at Hamilton. And [music] above everything, I think that this school has taught me to be a good human. >> [music] >> Today is very exciting. It's our practice 5K. [music] So, the girls have been practicing since uh mid-March. And um >> [music] >> each practice we do a little bit of activity and cardio. And our
065goal is to build up to the 5K [music] in Cincinnati on May 9th. So, today they've been practicing um for a little over a month. And so, we're [music] about halfway through. So, we are going to have a practice 5K here at Bridgeport. And the girls have to do 12 laps. It's very exciting. We're going to We're going to celebrate them and and make the day special for them. >> It's [music] an amazing program. The girls um have that like activity piece in it, but it also >> [music] >> is amazing with how it teaches the social skills and confidence and >> teaches each girl how to be bold and own who they are, which [music] is so important for young girls. So, it's for girls ages third grade to fifth grade. And it's really
066wonderful. It's not just running. It's a whole lot more than that. >> I like to be able to hang out with my friends. And I like to like just run and be free. >> It's amazing just to see them push themselves and you know, not give up on themselves. And then to accomplish this huge goal. [music] My favorite part is just to see them be able to accomplish such great things. And then as a result, these tools that [music] we're teaching them to help them with their confidence, they come in handy. And then they get this like instant satisfaction [music] of I did this really hard thing. >> I really like running and I thought it would be fun. And make my confidence be higher in running. >> The one thing about Girls on the
067Run, it's all about building girls up [music] and um inspiring them to be confident in who they are and to celebrate their [music] differences. And um teaching them they can do hard things and it's just really wonderful. >> It's worth the experience [music] and uh I really enjoy it. >> Thank you all for [music] being here to celebrate Caitlyn. Everyone here knows exactly how special she is. Today, she'll be presented with a scholarship [music] from the VFW program, Voice of Democracy, uh for a spoken essay she presented. The prompt being, "How are you showing patriotism?" >> Never have I ever heard such an uh astonishing speech. >> [music] >> I mean, she just took talked from the heart. Some people just follow the person before them or something like that and they they talk about
068patriotism, but not like she does. >> I've been patriotic my whole life. I've always done things for veterans. I My grandfather and my father are both veterans, so I've kind of always [music] been introduced to the topic. So, it felt natural to me. I focused on my strengths and what I've done over the past few years and it really drove my entire essay. Starting young, you can do it. I know a lot of people are like, "Oh, well, I'm a kid. I don't know what to do. [music] I don't know how to start." Truly starting is the hardest part. Once you start, it's so easy and a lot of the schools have opportunities that really integrate it into our lives early on and that truly is the most important part into [music] the schools now,
069so we learn a life of giving. Ms. Wagonfield and I, we have a very close connection. I've worked with her for many years and she truly did start me on this path. [music] >> We are so excited for all of our students' accomplishments, but this student in particular has uh done amazing things. I've learned a lot about a lot of them today, um but this VFW essay contest that she won through Butler County and then the state and now she's headed to nationals. Congratulations. Um it just kind of shows what our students are about, and that's pride in their community, it's pride in their country, it's serving others, and I think Kaylin is a >> [music] >> is a great example of that. And so, uh her house principal is here today, Ms. Watkins, and
070we are more than thrilled to send her to Valley Forge to bring home the national victory for the blue. Um but more importantly, [music] it's just about the service to our community and our country that we are so proud of her. >> All right. Well, at this time, I'd like to invite Bob Long up from the Hamilton Community Foundation for a really exciting and generous announcement. Can I put it back here for you? Okay. >> Thank you, Andrea. It all kind of started with a very simple conversation that Andrea had the first time she met with the Hamilton Community Foundation's Education Committee. Kathy Klink asked her, "What would you think of having therapy dogs in the schools?" And Andrea immediately responded with enthusiasm, and that was the start of a great partnership. Andrea and one
071of our foundation staff members, Tracy Eads, were all part of Leadership Hamilton class number 33. >> [snorts] >> And that group decided, did I hear applause for that group? I think they're biased. There are other classes who might differ with that, but I won't. Uh but they decided that they were going to make the Positive Connections Therapy Dog Program a reality. And thanks to the generous support of many local businesses, school PTOs, uh the Hamilton High Student Council, many, many other individuals, we have made tremendous progress. Therapy dog Arrow, and also Tango, are having a big impact on our schools, not just the students, but the teachers and the staff as well. They offer a lot of emotional support. They help reduce anxiety and also stress. And there are three more therapy dogs that will
072be coming this spring and summer. Originally, Andrea told me it was going to probably take 5 years for every school to have a dog. But then, Andrea had to tell our community the bad news that the district was having to make $10 million worth of budget cuts. Our foundation CEO, John Gadbury, told me said, "We need to do something immediately to show our support for the schools." So, this morning, I'm very pleased to tell you the Community Foundation Board of Trustees unanimously has agreed to provide a grant that will ensure every Hamilton school building will have its own therapy school therapy dog next school year. >> [applause] [applause] >> And this foundation grant will cover the entire 3-year funding cycle that's needed for each of those six additional therapy dogs. Our foundation has prioritized education
073in this area for a long, long time, 75 years. And with more than 300 college scholarships, we can help a lot of high school seniors. We're also proud of our collaboration with Andrea and her staff on a program called Mini Grants for Teachers, where we help roughly 140 teachers every year with up to $300 in out-of-pocket expenses that they need for classroom enhancements. We believe very seriously in collaboration, compassion, innovation, and also heart to make this a great community. We want to thank everyone who's helped with the therapy dog program because together Hero we are building community four paws at a time. >> [applause] >> This is Tango and Tango is our certified therapy dog through the AKC and he is going to be a therapy dog in [music] Hamilton City Schools this school year
074and for the future. The students are so excited to have Tango in the building. Um even just seeing him [music] through the glass as they're walking in they're like, "Tango's here." I think the biggest thing that Tango is going to provide for us is really a lot [music] of comfort um and emotional regulation. Um we know that students learn best when they are emotionally regulated [music] and so having Tango available to help us feel the calm, that connected state and just be able to kind of calm our bodies. Um it really helps to [music] allow students to feel comfortable and safe um here at school which then allows them to be ready for learning. >> It's the connection. Um no one has to teach a dog how to connect and how to have empathy. It's
075part of their genetic [music] makeup. It's part of who they are. Um and their connectivity um just the way they feel, um their [music] sense of calm, you know, them picking up on how we smell different when we are having different emotions. Their noses are way more attuned. They can pick up on those things uh and they can respond and they intuitively know how to respond to [music] um help us be calm. Um you know, uh Hero who's already been across the district will stop and spend more time with people who might have something going on that no one's ever going to know about but Hero knows. Um and now Tango's going to know, too. And you don't have to use any words. They [music] can take care of us without us having to talk
076cuz sometimes there aren't words for situations that are hard. Ultimately, we'd like to have a dog in every building. Um you know, and that's we're relying on our community for that um and we've already been met with an overwhelming response. Um [music] we have, you know, one building already successful and I've got three more buildings on tap that we're be going to be expanding our pack very shortly. >> One of our main missions is >> [music] >> the community, right? And children and youth. So, it's all kind of the pillars of the American Legion. So, being able to keep it close and local is a great thing. >> His job is people. He is here to work for people, to be comfort, to be friendly, and he's just he loves love. He loves to be
077pet. [music] He wants friends and attention. So, his job is people and I want him to know as many people as he can and make a difference in as many lives as he can. >> I mean, it's amazing, you know, I I wouldn't be where I'm at if it wasn't for here. So, being able to come back and and get the love that I get and be able to return it is it's it's huge to me. >> I didn't think this would happen cuz I kind of just draw it down when I ran away when my teacher wasn't there. I was like, I don't really think anything's really going to happen. I was like, "Oh my gosh, nothing like this has ever happened to me. This is so awesome." >> It was amazing to hear
078the stories and like their their thoughts on, you know, how how they made the design and and what it meant to them. So, like hearing all that was was awesome. >> I did the phoenix on the very front of the shoe and like the clock. >> You know, I picked a piece out of each each design that I seen and I tried to all implement it together and like try to make one like a really cool cleat so that [music] way not just one person won, but maybe like 10 or however many I could be able to get. Like I said, it's some of it related to me and some of it didn't relate to me at all, but it related to people that I love and people that I grew up with. [music] So,
079it's like I might as well I might as well put everything together if I can. >> I do suffer like no one really no one really cares. No one really sees what I'm doing. And then this just kind of proved to me that what I'm doing is worth something to someone. >> You know, being able to just try to make it all about y'all, all about the kids. So, that's something I love to do every year. >> [music] >> Hi, I'm Shequilo Matthews, aka Pastor Shaq, born and [music] raised in Hamilton. I am in my seventh year of school board. Oh my god, seven years of serving the community [music] in this capacity has been an absolute blessing. Um, that the people would find the confidence in me for me to serve as another year
080to be able to represent not [music] only, um, the city, but my community that I was born and raised in. And it's just been an honor to be able to serve the kids cuz I work with youth and [music] with hype. So, to be able to serve in this capacity, of being a part of the decision-making and helping make this district better than what I found it, [music] and also once my term is up to leave it better than what I found it is definitely the ultimate goal. Um, for me it was important to be a part of the board and [music] to be able to work with others to help bring about change, to help make sure that every student have [music] the opportunity to be great. And whatever that is, if it's excelling
081in the academics, if it's excelling in their sports, however, I wanted to be a part of that process [music] to make sure that young people have what they need to be able to be great in whatever capacity, whatever that may look like. For me, I think since I've been on school board I've, um, been I've worked with some amazing board [music] members, uh, Mark Mag, Lauren, Dave, all of them. I've worked with worked with some amazing people and I look forward to working with our new incoming board members, uh, Carrie Mancuso and, um, Dr. Ashley Hopkins. So, I'm looking forward to their input and what they will add and bring to the board. But, I've seen so many great things. I've seen a lot of great partnerships come along with working with the [music] city
082and development in that regards. I've been, one thing that that I've been really excited about is the program that Chris Canales, uh, has up with students and [music] them finding employment. I think that has been just just phenomenal how he's really taken that by the head, This [music] is really move forward with that program and open up so many opportunities for kids to be able to find employment. So, that's been important [music] for me. I also love the CCP courses that the students are able to take advantage of. They're able to uh go for of course continue working at towards graduation, but as well as earning the associate's degree in Miami. So, for me those have been two amazing [music] things that stand out to me that I really, really, really, really love about our
083district. So, cuz I've talked to many kids that they're graduating from high [music] school as well as college. And I just think that's phenomenal. And that's that's really setting that that child up to really be great. >> [music] >> And I think that being a part of those things in the district has been amazing. We have great leadership. We have great leadership with Andrea. We [music] have a great school We have great school board members that are willing and dedicated to us being great and put us in the best position as possible. We all know that um districts over all over the nation are facing challenges [music] as it relates to budgets and just everything. And we feel as if a district where we've done the work, we we are dedicated to coming together and
084being supportive of our admin team and of our leadership [music] to make sure that we are able to continue to position our students to be great, continue to support our teachers and staff, and make sure that we continue to do things the Hamilton [music] way. >> [music] [music] >> A couple years ago we had a plan that we wanted to work with a company to start designing a cafeteria that was different than your typical [music] school cafeteria. We wanted it to feel more like a food court and less like your typical long tables, benches, rows. [music] So, we wanted some different types of seating in there. The response has been wonderful, not just from the students, but also from the community. We've had lots of adults in here on open house. >> [music] >> We've
085had other jealous teachers from other buildings that have been telling us how great it looks. Uh so, we've had a wonderful [music] response, honestly. >> It feels more like when we went to Miami, we just got to sit in their cafeteria and it felt just [music] more are mature. And so, it just is really cool that our cafeteria is a lot like that. [music] >> The kids are doing better this year like from last year. We always would get up, scream across the whole lunch room cuz you couldn't sit with like all [music] your friends. It's like kind of a small space, but now it's like a bigger space, more tables. You can just sit and eat [music] with your friends, be comfortable. It's a very big change from last year. >> I feel like
086it's very comfortable and the students enjoy [music] eating there while talking to their friends. They really um seem to like the new changes that were [music] made this year. >> We tried to bring not just Garfield in here, but also the city of Hamilton. We brought in Hamilton things >> [music] >> from around our community including some maps of the neighborhoods that our kids come from. >> It makes you [music] feel like you're being part of the community and enjoy the places [music] that are important. >> I'm just so glad that we get to share this with our students. I'm so glad they get to enjoy it, and [music] I just love making Garfield even better. >> [music] >> My name is Dr. Ashley Hopkins. Uh I work for Miami University [music] directing our Upward
087Bound College Preparatory Program at Hamilton High School. I've worked there [music] for about 8 years, and I have worked in public education for almost 20 years this year. I decided to run for school board [music] first and foremost because as I mentioned, I have worked in public education for almost 20 [music] years. Um and I'm a product of public education, and my whole family is. I come from a working-class, blue-collar background um from [music] Appalachia. I'm a first-generation college student myself, and if it wasn't for the great public school educators [music] in the small town that I grew up in, Gallipolis, Ohio. Um if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be where I'm at now. I wouldn't have my doctorate in educational administration, [music] and I wouldn't be serving my community here in Hamilton and
088helping open the door to educational access [music] for other students. I think in the district we do a really exemplary job of providing an individualized educational [music] experience for each of our students. And so, we have a district that has many, many passionate educators from [music] our um support staff in the cafeterias and in the classroom, our teaching assistants, [music] our teachers clear up to our administration. They really all genuinely care about students and their well-being um and their ability to learn and succeed. And so, we're really focused on doing what is best for our students. And And that [music] looks very individual for each student. We take the time out to get to know our students and to think through >> [music] >> each one of those individual needs and problems that they may
089be um experiencing the classroom or in their educational journey. I'm really [music] excited to stand as an advocate for to continue the student-focused educational [music] uh traditions that we've developed at Hamilton School District. Um I really am focused on being an [music] advocate especially for our students who are uh maybe overlooked or feel overlooked, making sure that our most vulnerable populations are [music] really advocated for in the board meetings and when we're making different difficult decisions throughout the year. So, I'm excited about that. I'm excited about the performance [music] in our data and being at the front of that and thinking about how we can continue to respond to the changing educational landscape, maintaining that data while also protecting and supporting our students' overall well-being and educational access. I know that we have challenges ahead,
090[music] but to be very honest, those challenges are uh some of the motivation for me to even jump in right now. I think it's a really important time to serve public education, and so for me, [music] this is a bit of a call to service um as we navigate choppy waters, but we're going to come out on [music] the good side. >> As a new principal at Woodrow Wilson High School, I was really thinking about this Hampton Baden game and how we could make this a community celebration, but really at the core of the Baden mission is service [music] to our community and that's always been important part of what my passion is in education. So, whether it's working [music] with 17 Strong and micro grants with our youth or just getting out in the
091community and doing cleanups, we really wanted to launch something that was bigger than the football game. Something where our kids give back to the community. Some of them are actually throwing stuff in the dumpster right now helping out Ms. Ebony, the executive director at BTW. And then we have boys [music] out in the community walking the streets picking up trash. So, over the summer, we had the opportunity to meet with Hampton High's administration and and just talk about this game. This game is such an [music] awesome opportunity for both schools to showcase really what we believe what we're all about. And then meeting with Ty and talking, we wanted to do something to make our community better to bring our our two football teams that that obviously are competing to win win football games, but
092more importantly we want to come together to to serve the community. In the midst of a rivalry week that we're working together to make things better. I think that you know, when I look at our guys [music] and Hampton's guys, there's so many little faces in those crowds. Little kids that look up to them. I mean, they see them as celebrities at times and just to inspire in them a desire to to be more than just what they are on the football field. I mean, they're leaders in our community. They're doing great things. And I think the opportunity to showcase [music] that really do inspire hopefully some other people to get involved in 17 Strong here at the Booker T. Washington Center to get involved here which are great organizations that need need people like
093this to come out and serve [music] and make the place better. >> And this is really to me signifies kind of a new launch of service to our community for both of our schools, for Baden and for Hamilton. So, it was great to see everybody out in their jerseys. It is Hamilton versus Baden Friday night, but right now everybody's working together to make our >> Quite a bit here. >> All right. We'll call this meeting back into session, our open session. Um we can stand for the pledge. >> [clears throat] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Um we'll have except a motion for approval of the agenda. >>
094I move to approve the agenda. >> We'll have a second. >> I second. >> Mr. Fraser? >> Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> Ms. Matthews? >> Yes. >> Dr. Hopkins? >> Yes. >> Next we'll have approval of the minutes for approval of minutes. We have a motion. >> Uh so moved. >> Second. >> Mr. Fraser? >> Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> President Matthews? >> Yes. >> Dr. Hopkins? >> Yes. >> Thank you. We don't have anyone here for public participation, so I'll turn it over to Superintendent Blevins for our update. >> Yes, thank you, President Matthews. Uh happy summer, happy first 9:00 a.m. meeting uh today. Uh you know, while the kids have been out now for a little over a week or two, uh we have not stopped. We have been very busy preparing for
095the changes happening this summer. Um just an important board update, most of the items uh as far as planes moving in storage have been delivered from their old location to their new, and now our amazing maintenance and custodial staff are working to set up, do their regular cleans and preparation that we do each summer, um as well as so many we have so many projects that we wait to do over the summer. Uh and so you'll see a lot of a hustle and bustle throughout the district. You'll also uh see signage changes this summer for our buildings that are uh changing names. So Fairwood, you'll see that will change to Fairwood's Early Learning Center. You will see that the current freshman building, the building on Northwest Washington, the sign will change over from freshman campus
096to Wilson Middle School this summer. Um all mail, all of those pieces will all take place. Our kind of flip the switch date where we're going from 25 26 to 26 27 will be July 1st. So until July 1st, current buildings, current all those pieces are still in effect and then July 1st when we start our new fiscal year, we will be into that new structure and routine. Um we have also uh just for the board's awareness and to be transparent with our community, we have booked our summer board retreat for Wednesday, July 22nd here at the board office. Um and that so you will see that now featured on our board meeting schedule. Uh that meeting is vital to make sure we set our goals, we we prepare for the school year. In that
097meeting, we'll look at data, we'll set structures, routines, you know, what our board would like to see throughout the year uh from our district and so I'm just excited with all that's ahead for as hard as uh this year has been, I'm very proud of this district. I'm very proud of this board, our staff, our students, our community for the way that we have handled this and we will come out brighter and better than we have been before. Uh up for approval this morning, my paper still says this evening. I haven't changed that yet. Uh this is a lighter agenda after last week's which or last meetings which was quite long. We do have our human resource agenda tonight that will be our tomorrow this morning that will be up uh with a number of
098retirements, resignations. Also, I would like to point out there is a number of staff on there that they are being their contract is being called back in. So, their reduction in force is being rescinded. As we talked about during work session, we've been able to offer many of our staff that were once told they did not have a job a permanent position here in the district. You'll see on our consent agenda, it is completely dominated by business operations. On here you'll see it is time to start replacing some of our playground equipment at Lyndon Elementary. All of our elementary's were built at the same time the playgrounds were, so I do see this continuing to starting a pattern that we'll see of upgrades. The beautiful thing about this is when the bond was put on
099there were dollars set aside for the maintenance of exactly this. So, you will see that the funding source on the replacement of our playground playground comes from the classroom facilities funds or an 034. You probably have not seen that fund show up often on our agendas. You'll also see here it is time for our fire sprinkler inspections. It's time to make sure they're functioning and working. That is required every five years. So, you can see there the cost that is a general fund expense to make sure we are compliant with all of our fire safety in our buildings. And then the last thing that you'll see here is previously we approved a quote to pay for the planes moving and storage support that we have here. This is the final cost of what it will
100be. We budgeted around $125,000 total for this that came in under budget slightly, but there is no way that we would be sitting anywhere near the shape that we're in right now had we not worked with professionals. I [snorts] know Dr. Copus actually got to see some of them in action when he was out in the building. And when you talk about people who know their job and what they're doing, man, they were little ninjas that would just come in and make it all happen. And so So see that that final threshold or that final bill is up for approval this evening. But those are the items. I'll entertain any questions or comments. >> Thank you, President Matthews. >> So are there We have questions. So the um the moving company they literally just moved
101everything and our staff our team will do all the unboxing or >> So our the the our staff packed up all of their things. If you remember we ended the school year one day early so that staff had that day to prepare. They moved all of the things into their new classrooms. They'll do the setup of tables and chairs and those pieces but then our staff have a work day at the beginning of the school year that's always baked into their calendar to set up their rooms and so they'll be able to do that. >> Okay. Makes sense. Perfect. Well, thank you so much for the update. Greatly appreciate it. Um next we have our human resources personnel items. I'll accept a motion for that. >> Uh so moved. >> I'll second. >> Any discussion?
102Do I have any I'm Mr. Fraser? >> Ms. Matthews? >> Yes. >> Dr. Hopkins? >> Yes. >> Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> Thank [clears throat] you. Next we have our consent agenda business operations. Do I have a motion for that? >> I so moved. >> And I will second. >> Thank you. Any discussion? Do I have any Mr. Fraser? >> Dr. Hopkins? >> Yes. >> Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> Ms. Matthews? >> Yes. >> And our finance agenda from uh Mr. Fraser. >> [clears throat] >> Thank you, President Matthews. >> Welcome. >> Uh we do have quite a few items um up for approval this evening. Again, last meeting that I was not at I pulled everything off that required uh you know, some sort of explanation. Um so we we do have quite a
103few things. Um number one we have the forecast um that we talked through during work session. Uh we have our EPC uh liability. This is something that we traditionally approve in May. Uh this was something that I pulled off um for further discussion. Uh basically, we have our renewal. Dr. Copas had actually asked me about this uh prior to the meeting. Um EPC is a a consortium of government entities, and we get together so that we get good pricing for liability insurance. This year was a particularly good year for renewal. Uh we were able to get some additional insurances as well as up the limits for um some of those items as well. So, actually really happy with um our liability insurance renewal this year. Uh we do have um an agreement for deposit of
104public funds. Basically, once every 5 years, we have to renew a document um that's that's on the agenda here for who we do banking with. Um and so, I'll go out and canvas uh area banks. Um and we are going to be sticking with First Financial, who we do um our operating banking through, and also LCNB, um who the uh Westside schools do their banking with. So, um that's on there. We have [clears throat] an insurance deductible um that I'll need board approval to pay. Basically, anything $25,000 or more requires board approval. Our insurance deductible is 25 grand, so that's on there. Um we have the normal treasurer reports. And then, I also um always like to highlight our donations. Um we have three donations this time between the May meeting and this meeting. Obviously,
105we'll have um several more for the next meeting. Uh we've got Casey's General Stores to Hamilton High School. We've got the Reds to Crawford Woods and we've got Jack's Sporting Goods. Uh, total of almost 1900 or $918. Um, and again, we always appreciate the donations to our school, our schools and our programs. Um, we're always very thankful for that. So. Uh, I'll entertain any questions at this time. Um, those are my items. >> Mr. Frazier, question. Jack's Sporting Goods. Who owns that business? >> That, yeah, I believe that's Andy George, isn't it? Yeah. >> Wow, I did that's wonderful. Thank you to anyone that donates to the schools, but yeah, Coach George. Wow, thank you very much. >> Yeah, he's he's a huge supporter of of Hamilton City Schools. >> That's wonderful. >> There he
106is. Thank you, Mr. Riddle. I'll accept the motion to uh, approve the agenda. >> Uh, so moved. >> I I'll second. >> Thank you, Mr. Frazier. >> Dr. Hopkins? >> Yes. >> Dr. Copas? >> Yes. >> Ms. Matthews? >> Yes. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 23rd at 9:00 a.m. here at the board office, 533 Dayton Street. Oh, motion to adjourn, yes. >> I move to adjourn. >> I second. >> We adjourn. >> Mhm.