001Uh good afternoon. Welcome to the uh Hamilton City School Board of Education meeting. We're going to start with an open session and then there will not be an executive session tonight and we'll move right into our regular meeting at the conclusion of session with roll call. >> Mr. Mr. Davidson >> here. >> Dr. Copus >> here. >> Mrs. Baker >> here. >> And I'll make a note for the minutes that Mr. Sprag and Miss Matthews are absent this evening. >> Note that they're excused. >> Uh, city council. I see. We'll move on to Jesse with a spotlight. Well, we are in for a treat tonight, folks. We got a hero in the house, and he's sitting right over here. It's my main man, Oliver Wear. And I'd like to show you a quick video um
002that explains why we are recognizing him and a couple teachers tonight here at the board meeting. Nine-year-old Hamilton boy saves the lives of his pregnant mother and his unborn baby sister. >> And tonight, WLWT News size Daisy Kershaw sat down with the very grateful parents who were calling him a hero. Hi, Daisy. >> Hi there, Sheree. Just hours after mom Nikki Wear passed out inside her Hamilton home, she gave birth here at Ketering Health to a little girl and the family is just incredibly thankful they're both safe and doing well. Doctors say that their 9-year-old son's call to 911 helped save their lives. >> My mom could have died. >> On May 2nd, 35 weeks into her pregnancy, Hamilton mom Nikki Wear suffered a life-threatening complication. >> I heard this big thump. Son Oliver found
003his mom lying on the floor unconscious. >> I was panicking, moving her back and forth. I was saying, "Mom, mom." >> He just gotten home from school. Dad Jeff was still at work. >> I called 911. >> What's the address of the emergency? >> I was still just in disbelief. >> My mom was in the restroom and she just passed out and I I need your phone. >> I told her everything that was going on. She realized that I was just a kid. >> The caller is 9 years old. Is she awake right now? >> Oh, I hear. >> Is she breathing? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I'm just super nervous because she's pregnant. >> She's pregnant. >> Yeah. >> We're going to check her breathing together. We're going to do a test. You think
004you can do that for me? >> Yeah. >> I was mostly thinking to myself, I'll do I'll do anything just to wake my mom up. I want you to look at her chest and I want you to say go every time that she takes a breath. >> Okay. >> Oliver staying by his mom's side until paramedics arrived. >> Are the police in there now? >> Yeah. >> Everything will be okay. You did a great job calling. >> The fact that he was able to pick up the phone, know what to do, who to get a hold, that was it was key. Doctors say high blood pressure caused Nikki to suffer multiple seizures, which could have cut oxygen flow to baby Riley. >> He had to save mama and his sister, and that's what he did.
005Like, to me, that's the definition of a hero. >> This big brother is >> protecting his baby sister from day one. >> I've always wanted a sibling, and I was like, it's finally time. Hi. >> Good to know. I've got this guy here to to look out. He's got all our backs. Oliver says he actually learned how to call 911 and what to do during an emergency like this during a lesson at school. He's actually going to be going into fourth grade in the fall at Fairwood Elementary and his parents are just so incredibly proud of him. Reporting live tonight in Hamilton, Daisy Kershaw, WLWT News5. >> Oh my goodness, he is so mature. >> Pretty cool story. Oliver, you are very, very, very brave. Um, I'd like to thank the teachers. Um, Mrs. Destiny
006Kirby Harvey. Oh, I got a friend in the house. >> Sorry. Stand up. Good girl. >> And Michelle Palaza. This is the these are the teachers co-taught classroom that Oliver learned that in. And he also was also reinforced at home with parents of what to do in case of emergency. And Oliver being 9 years old at that time and knowing what to do and giving him all that information. You're definitely my hero, dude. For sure. So, come on up. I'm going to give you something. Starting a new tradition here, bud. That was definitely the Hamilton way. So, you can rock this with pride knowing that you are our hero. Okay. [Applause] We also, as a thank you to her teachers, come on up for us. Have an engraved cup from a thank you from us.
007Great job. You know, you never get said thank you enough. But this is a real life lesson. That was awesome. So, appreciate you very much. Thank you. Nice work. That was our spotlight for the evening. Pretty good one. [Applause] >> Great spotlight. Thank you, Oliver. You did a great job. >> Oliver, we're all proud of you for what you did. You're very brave young man and your sister and your mother have to will always be so proud of you for that. And to your teachers, thank you for teaching him that and and that's great that you know he learned that, you know, and was able to put it in action. But I was really impressed how you kept your cool all the way through. M >> most young mo most nine-year-olds would have panicked >>
008or or shut down and you didn't. You stayed right there with it. You are a hero. [Music] [Applause] >> Mom and dad, you should be very proud. I'm sure you are. And Oliver, like Mr. Davidson said, for a 9-year-old to be so calm and collective during a crisis, that's pretty impressive. Most people, maybe myself included, struggle during a crisis, but you did very, very well. and mom and baby Riley. Uh let's be thankful that he was there and he knew what to do. And teachers again, thank you so much for teaching those kind of lessons. That's just a bit of good news. And Miss Weisbro, thank you for the spotlight. >> Yeah. Um Mr. Wear, Mr. Oliver Wear, I want to thank you. You're actually the first student to be honored here at a board
009meeting um as our student spotlight. That bracelet is a hot commodity. So, you wear that with pride. You are the first one. And and like the board has said, I will tell you that, you know, courage comes in all shapes and sizes. And I am just so impressed. I I asked Oliver on the way in if his superhero cape was in his backpack because um you are a hero to this district. And uh to the family, I was able to meet mom, dad, grandma over there as well as little sister and to our staff. This is why we do what we do is for kids like this who just show us that they're listening. You know, if you ever wonder if kids in the classroom are really hearing or you're making an impact, here's living
010proof. A little beautiful baby is living proof and and a smiling proud mom today. So, I just want to thank you all. I would love to pause the meeting for a minute to have the family come up and have a picture with the board. I think that'd be a nice uh piece. And then we'll we'll have the staff come in as well. [Music] Grandma, [Music] >> you just come over here. Hurry up. Yep. Oliver, you get to be front and center. Okay. All right. They'll probably want to shake your hand there. >> Very proud of you. Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> All right, Oliver, you have to go right here in the middle, man. Made man right there. >> Okay. Um maybe we'll put um Jessie, you come right. Y Okay. Ready? One, two, three. Thank
011you. Is there ice? >> We'll have to arrange that. Okay. >> Thanks so much for having us. >> Oh, yeah. >> So much. >> So glad you're okay. >> Thank you. >> We'll see you in a few years. Okay. You guys have a great night. >> You recruit >> got her signed up for getting >> class of probably 25th. >> Okay, this um we'll move on to economic development deal. Jeremy, I believe you have something you want to present. >> I I do. Uh man, I got to figure out how to jump ahead of these spotlights on the agenda. What a what a tough act to follow. What an impressive young man. Um so before you you should have a summary of TIFF legislation uh for the Jefferson neighborhood. Uh the city has coined the
012project build back the block. Uh it's an exciting project. It's a multi-million dollar housing project in the Jefferson neighborhood. Um, with the help of the schools and other community partners, the city is going to inject some dollars and some new life into the Jefferson neighborhood. So, we're we're all super excited about that. U in order to do that, we have uh we will have tiff legislation at an upcoming meeting. Um, the legislation, at least from my seat, is relatively straightforward. Uh it's a 30-year 100% tiff. Um it's not a makehole agreement. Um however, uh the city has agreed to remove debt out of the tiff calculation. Um and in response to that, the district has agreed uh at least in principle to receive 75% uh of the makeal that we would have received anyway. Uh
013it I think this is a win-win uh for the district. It's a super huge win for the city of Hamilton. Um it's a deal that that I'm proud of. Um and that's what I've got for you tonight. I don't know if uh the board had any comments on the on the project. I know it's a it's a huge project for the city. >> I I see conservatively over 30 years we uh could see as much as 9.6 million. >> That That's correct. Um, as with all of the uh the summary tiff legislations that I put forward uh for you all, we we always have a conservative estimate. Um, and right now we're we're not getting we're getting pennies on basically 100 to 150 vacant lots in the neighborhood. Um, and that's the conservative estimate for
014what those projects as well as the surrounding tiff area will bring in uh in the next 30 years. I agree. It's a win-win. >> Absolutely. >> Great use of money um for for helping regrow that neighborhood over there. Um you know, it's the neighborhoods that really make the difference and I'm just happy that we're part of it and the city's done a great job putting it together. >> All right. Anything further on this, Jeremy? this will be uh before us at the next meeting. Uh >> I don't think it will be ready for the next meeting. Um with any deal, there's a lot of back and forth uh between the the attorneys from the city and the attorneys from the school district and um you know, we want to make sure that the deal that's
015constructed is is what we've spoke about. So there's there's generally a lot of back and forth. Um, I don't think it will be too terribly long because the city and all the community partners involved want to see this project go quickly. Um, so we'll be pushing the attorneys to get us something here uh shortly. >> Yeah. >> Which reminds me, there's a groundbreaking next >> next Thursday at 2 o'clock. >> Uh, two o'clock, I believe. >> Yes. >> All right. That concludes our work session meeting and we'll move now into our open business meeting. Let's all rise for the pledge. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. First on the
016agenda, um approval of our agenda. >> I'll make that motion. >> I will second. >> All in favor? >> I >> Oh, no. Roll call. >> You don't have to roll call on that. >> We typically do, but >> we do. Okay. >> Yeah. I I'll call her. Mr. Davidson. >> Okay. Uh Mrs. Baker >> here. >> Mr. Davidson. >> Yes. Yes. >> Dr. Kopus. >> Yes. Miss. Okay. Robert's rules say you don't, but we we'll stick with condition approval of the minutes from the previous minute uh meeting. >> I'll make that motion. >> I will second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Davidson? >> Yes. >> Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baker? >> Yes. >> All right. Public participation. There is none. No one signed up. So, we'll move on to superintendent's comments. >>
017Yes. Thank you, Mr. Davidson. Um, a few things I just want to highlight for our board and community this this evening. First, last Friday night's football game was very magical. Uh, both teams did a wonderful job on the field, but more importantly off the field. Um, I've actually talked to coaches on both sides of the field that at one point throughout the game they took off the headset, kind of took off what the scoreboard said and just looked around and to see the bleachers full on both sides. The energy, the excitement, it was just an awesome night for the community. I love the service project that the the boys did the weekend before of giving back to help clean up the neighborhood. Um, and it just, you know, while we were hoping that scoreboard uh
018came out on big blue side this time, I just couldn't be more impressed with what I see out of our young men in those programs. It was just a great night for the city. I also want to give a big thank you to our staff who went all out last week. Last week, we had a district-wide spirit week. Um, to my knowledge, since I've been in the district, that's the first time we've done that. And it was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of uh energy, laughter, um, and even some competition. I put out a a small competition of saying whichever building or department was most spirited would receive a free m a free lunch. Um our student service department brought it and won. So they'll be getting uh lunch from um Chester's
019Pizza on Friday from uh courtesy I keep saying courtesy of Mr. Blevens, but I guess it's my my account as well. Um it is crazy to think we are rounding the corner at the end of the third week of school. That means by next Friday, we are halfway through this first quarter, which I just can't believe we are here already. But our students and our staff are doing such a great job of adjusting. Um, you know, I do want to thank all of our students and families for such a smooth smooth start, especially with our new cell phone ban. We weren't sure how that would go and our students and our adults are doing a great job adjusting to that. And so just a huge thank you uh for their willingness to embrace that kids
020need to be focused on what's going on in the classroom and not on social media and other places. I also uh want to thank our families for their flexibility as we're working through transportation adjustments. You know, it's hard at the beginning of the year. You never know who's all going to ride that bus. So the first few weeks of school, it's it's stressful. Um, I don't go home until I hear the last bus uh has made it back and all kids have been safely dropped off the first week and um I think transportation and Mr. Jansen down there are doing a great job adjusting. Um, a reminder to our families that we will have no school. It is already Labor Day. I don't know, but I feel like Labor Day is earlier this year than
021it's ever been. So, just to all of our families, uh we do not have school on Monday due to Labor Day or on Tuesday for students. Tuesday is a staff professional development day, so families have a nice 4-day weekend. Um and you know, we are looking forward to getting them back on Wednesday. Um tonight, we do have a lighter agenda up for approval. If you remember in August, we had two full business meetings this month. So, our last agenda was quite hefty. This one is a little lighter. Um, just a few highlights that are on here on our HR agenda. You'll see there's various personnel hires, resignations, and retirements. This is also the last batch that you'll see come through for the science of reading stipens. Um, I want to give a massive shout out
022to Mike Wright, Julie Arnold, and the instruction team. They have worked to make sure that all of our staff that needed to be trained were and did it in such a timely manner. When that first was handed down from the state, we had no idea what that would look like. And um it's been a great process. The the hard part is from here we have to continue to make sure all of our new staff are uh trained as well. And then all of our current staff every 5 years will go through reertification. Um unfortunately the stipens go away for that. So we're going to work to build that into professional development time. But I just want to commend the team. I know that was a labor of love for sure to to make sure everyone
023uh got that training done. We also uh tonight on the agenda, we have a field trip up for approval. Our our high school marching band will be going to Piqua, Ohio for the OMA state marching band finals. Uh they always do very well, so I wish them great luck in there. And then under business operations, we have our initial allocations for our federal and state fundings that we get each year. A lot of people don't realize that um we have a lot of of money that comes into the district outside of our general fund to help support different programs and initiatives here in the district. So, you'll see that on there. We also have uh three grants that you'll see that are up for approval tonight. Um one is a Dick Sporting Goods Foundation grant
024that was granted to Hamilton High School. It was $9,000 that will be donated to provide equipment for the weight rooms at the high school. So, great opportunity to put new equipment uh to make sure our athletes are in tip-top shape. We also have two learning links grants. One for Riverview and Highland that will be used um at Riverview for academic and literacy support and at Highland to buy every student headphones so that kids can access their online content and things like that in the classroom. And then we do have a learning and leadership grant for Bridgeport that will also be used to help um train a teacher. Uh, you know, we have so many programs to teach kids uh intervention in reading in our lower grade levels, K through two, but there's really not a
025lot out there for grades three through six. This grant is going to allow us to send a staff member to go and and be certified in that second level training and then bring that back to our district and at no cost to us, which is wonderful. And then finally, we do have a contract with Butler County ESC. As we've talked about before, we um are the flowth through for many auxiliary funds for some of our private school partners. And on this agenda, you will see that St. Pet would like to allocate those funds uh to hire a reading specialist for St. Pete's. And those are my items this evening. >> Thank you. It's a quick comment. Um, I received a call from one of the Ben football coaches, uh, commenting on how great it was,
026the atmosphere over there, but more importantly, how impressed he was with our athletes. Uh, he said our student, our student athletes, our football players were very respectful, uh, very, you know, humble. He said, you know, during the whole week, it was a joy to get to know some of these uh these students and u he said even after the game, you know, it was a disappointing night for our players, but they were very respectful and nice and he wanted to make sure that the district knew that. Secondly, I've been out in the buildings, as you know, last week and the energy is just off the charts. Um teachers are just you know one teacher says I've never been so thrilled to be here you know and uh um majority of the comments well all the
027comments about the convocation were just you know out I mean just out of there they just loved it uh and I think that started that you know that that feeling of excitement for the school year and you could feel it in every building I was in and it's just I want to commend you on that and your staff that was just It's awesome where we're at right now. >> I really appreciate that, Dave. And we're already talking about how do we make sure that momentum and that energy carries all through the year. Um, but also even starting to plan next year. What does that look like? And because it's important that all of our staff feel connected, feel supported, and feel passionate about what we do because this work matters. What you just saw in
028Oliver, what two teachers in first grade taught saved someone's life. That's how important the work that our teachers and our students do every day in our buildings. And so I'm glad to hear that that is it's been a really fun ride. People keep asking how how's the start been? Am I stressed? Am I this? And I said I can't stop smiling there. There's a lot of really great things happening. So I appreciate the board support. We have an amazing team. This is not Andrea that's doing that magic. It is our team all coming together and planning what that looks like. But I'm glad to hear that that's translating out into the field. I'll add though that that it's your leadership that helps with that, yours and the rest of the administrative staff. We'll move on
029to human resources. We have two items. Number one is the AFSCME ask me force force 86 memorandum of understanding. Um, any questions on that or um would entertain a motion to approve that? >> I'll make that motion. >> I will second. >> Any further discussion? >> Roll call vote. >> Dr. Copus. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Baker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Davidson. >> Yes. >> Move on to the second item under human resources personnel items. >> I'll make a motion. I will second. >> Any discussion? I want to sure. My wife Kim's not is not on that. >> She is not on there. >> Okay. So, I do not need to abstain. >> No, you do not. >> Any other discussion? >> Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Baker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Davidson? >> Yes. >>
030Dr. Copus? >> Yes. >> Move on to the consent agenda. And before we uh vote on this, I just want to let everybody know the board gets this information from the consent agenda early in the week. All the items on here, we've had time to review, question, talk to Mrs. Blevens or Mr. Wright uh or Mr. Zari or Mr. Frasier. It's a lot of information we get. I just don't want anybody think that >> it's, you know, it's on here and we vote on it, we don't know what it's about. We there's a lot of discussion on it. So with that said, we'd entertain a motion to accept. >> I'll make that motion. >> I will second. Any discussion? >> Hearing none. Roll call. >> Mrs. Baker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Davidson. >> Yes. >>
031Dr. Copus. >> Yes. >> All right. Um, our next meeting is Thursday, September 11th at 4 p.m. Same place. >> It's only a work and executive. It's going to just be a work >> business. Yes. >> With no business meeting or executive at this time. >> At this time. Yeah. >> Okay. >> To adjourn. >> I'll make that motion. >> We are ajourned. [Music]