Board of Education Meeting 3-27-25

001call this work session into All right, we're on. Good deal. We'll call this meeting into what? Session. Yeah, session. That works. Um, all right. No worries. We just got started. We just got started. Perfect. Mr. Fer, if you can do roll call, please. Mrs. Matthews, here. Mr. Davidson, here. Mrs. Baker, here. Yes. Dr. Copus here. Mr. Sprag, here. Thank you. Um, first on our um agenda, we have a well, we have some remarks for city council from city council. Mr. Joel Loward. I want to thank you guys for having us here today. It's good to be back. I'm glad we could work out of time. Um, this is important. It's important for the communication um of our city and our schools. Our schools and city work together very well with all the improvements that's gone

002on and all the advancements. Our scores are up. It's so much easier to sell our city with a great school district, a great public school district. Um I think that's important to say the importance of public school education in our society is has put out so many great people in the world and it's important to keep that moving in the right direction. Um I'm here I'm here today just to announce a few things. Um we are at this point today or possibly early tomorrow. We are doing demolition on the YWCA. It's a 42 unit um facility where they have um rents start at 950 and stuff and hopefully that can accommodate some of our teachers that are coming in and that makes it more attractive to bringing bring teachers from other districts in and new

003teachers giving them an opportunity to live in our community. Very appreciative of working with Miss Bans um and speaking of some of those those matters. Um some other things that we'd like to highlight. Um German Village right now is absolutely booming with small business. Very proud of what's going on. Of course the poor house expanded but um we have a great breakfast restaurant coming in early birds and I'm very excited about that because it's one of the few breakfast places that we'll have in town. Um, Casanona, uh, Pic Piccolo, um, is coming in. It's a new Italian restaurant on Third Street. Um, what else? The Pedal House, the Petal Wagon's coming in. U Mumi Sushi and Ramen Noodles going in on Main Street. Um, and of course we got our local local motive uh transportation

004system coming in which will help with Spooky Nook. All this is is happening. A lot of things are happening because we hired some new people. Taylor Stone Welch and um Cassandra Masselin. Uh they are doing an awesome job of promoting businesses and um we would hope that everybody would come out and join those. Uh if you guys need anything, please let us know. If you guys have any questions, please let let me know. Yes, sir. Uh when when do you think the Y will be online for new apartments. Uh you're talking renovations, not full demolition renovations, right? They they did not inform me. They just told me that we were that we were starting demo on those. They they will they will have um they're going to keep the gymnasium which will be an amenity

005for that facility. Lauren, it came to planning commission a couple about three, four weeks ago. Part of the issue was parking. Yeah. And the uh the owner had to iron that out and that was he informed us it was done. But I from him from what I gather with him, he would like to have those occupied within a less than a year. Whoa. He's on a real aggressive time. Yeah. Aggressive because he wants to get get that project done. I think it's important to our housing project. We're also continuing with Craig's initiative or Mr. Bukite's initiative on our housing project in Jefferson. The goal is to have three done by uh the end of this year and a total of 12 by next summer. Uh the to the goal the other goal looking forward the

006goal is to have a hundred done by 2030. If we continue on that on that um pace, it will become one of the bigger one of the larger economic development pieces including Spooky Nook and some of the other things we have going on over a 105 year period. I'm very excited about that. As you know, that directly impacts our students, um our families. Bettering those neighborhoods can only help us continue on on the pathway that our schools has taken with improvements. So, if you guys have any more questions and I have a comment. First of all, I want to say thanks to Mrs. Blevens for allowing us to reorganize our agenda somewhat to accommodate people from city council. Um, and Mr. Low, I just want you to know I you are exactly correct when you

007say the success of the city in part is dependent on the success of the schools and and certainly we recognize the other is true also. Our success is largely dependent on your success. So, uh, we hope to continue to work well together. And I would just like to have you pass this along. Thank you to all of the other council members also. I mean, I know they're not here right now, but uh, they're apparently doing a great job. And and what's our mayor's name? No, I'm just kidding. Don't tell Mr. Muller I said that. But, uh, yeah, thank you for what you're doing and just very thankful for the success and and what's happening in Hamilton. And I'm particularly excited about early birds. I'm a breakfast guy. Absolutely. I cannot wait. And you know, I

008You owe me a breakfast, don't you? I think you actually owe me a breakfast, so we'll do that. I think that might fall under some some kind of I don't think I'm allowed to do that, Jeff. Oh, okay. Well, but thanks for the one you bought. Yeah. But anyway, thank you for what you're doing and thrilled, like you said, of what's going on in Hamilton and and it's it's good for both of our organizations. So, thank you guys very much. Appreciate all the work that you guys are doing. Y thank you so much for coming by and sharing the updates on the city. We greatly appreciate it. Well, Pastor Shaq, I think we need to have a conversation because there's some things going on with some kids that I'd really like to get some of

009your organization involved in in the near future. So, all right. Uh, thank you. Thank you this evening for one making this a priority. This was something that was really important to the city to be here. the relationship we have is is phenomenal and I only see that continuing to grow. What I love is you get to serve in that dual role. You get to advocate for the city you love and the district that you serve and um I couldn't be more proud of the relationship that we have to help move this forward. I'm excited. Some of these market projects that we're doing with rentals in the area is to market those with Mr. Wright and our new teachers. We know that having our teachers live in our city just increases so much pride and and

010buy in and and hopefully retention of our staff. So, I just appreciate the city's willingness to come to the table and help us with that. Thank you very much. Thank you. [Music] All right. Well, next up on our agenda, we have an update from Hamilton High School, our main campus. Um, it's on you, Mr. Well, thank you. And like Miss Matthew said, we're here to highlight the Hamilton High School tonight. So, first off, I'd like to say we appreciate the opportunity to come and and speak in front of you. Uh, and also, if I forget to say at the end, thank you for all your support and allowing us to to be creative and be innovative and and to put a new spin on on Hamilton High School. So, I I would like to to

011continue a little bit of what Mr. Lower was saying, you know, to attract families and and young people and and into the city of Hamilton. We think it's essential that we have a successful high school that they can view to where their students can go. Not just the high school, all of our K6 buildings, our middle schools. We want to portray Hamilton City schools as the top-notch in Butler County, and we strive to do that every day. So, I just want to make sure that that we hit a few of our highlights from our last report card that came out from the fall um with our stars, the the new system that we have gone to. Uh we're a four-star school, which means that we exceed state standards overall um in the state of Ohio.

012Uh one of the most important things is our graduation rate that we always take extreme pride in. Uh this year's graduation rate was reported at a 99.2. The 98.7 graduation rate that you see up there is what will be reported on next year's state report card. So, uh, we take great pride in that. There is a lot of work that goes into that. It's not just about graduation rate. It's about the experience that kids get when they come to Hamilton High School. And tonight, you're going to hear a little bit about that. I've watched some of these presentations and I've seen staff members come. We would need a much larger venue to celebrate our people that that do such a good job for us. But just as a quick snapshot of Hamilton High School with

013113 teachers, 12 cafe workers, 42 bus drivers, 10 custodial staff, 21 educational assistants, 10 clerks, an SRO that you met walked past when you walked in the door today here. Um, and plus our safe and secure monitors as well. It takes every single one of those to run the high school every day. And it is truly an effort when you're talking about over 1,800 students that walk through the doors every morning. They're embraced and they are expecting an experience and that village up there is expected to produce that and in my four-year time there they have not let the students down. They have not let this district down. Everybody pulls together and everybody does their fair share every day to make sure that our kids have the very best. So today we're going to talk

014a little bit about those experiences instead of just one specific like we kind of have in the past. Um I think it's a good it's a good image of what we truly do and I know that athletics has their own night and fine arts has their own night. So, we're gonna we're gonna let them have their thunder when when they get their chance, but there's a lot of things that go unnoticed um at Hamilton High School. And I think that it's very important that that you all understand a lot of those other things that take place within that staff that you see up there. And a lot of it are volunteer opportunities outside of that. So, now I'm going to turn it over to Mrs. Watkins so she can continue. Good evening. As Mr. said,

015"Our village doesn't just help show the excellence in academics that our students portray um but they also help to create an excellence in community and a focus on the future. Our um NJRTC program we speak about just about every year. They are um for right now they're orienteering is 14th in the nation. Um most recently they competed in um an orientering competition where the uh varsity was 14th out of 75 and the JV was 17th out of 45. So they are acclaimed nationally. um those students and um at Hamilton High right now we have 12 of our students that are going to enlist and serve the country um after their graduation. Uh so some of our students will serve the country, you know, on the front lines and some want to do it a little

016bit more on the inside. Our students also participate in junior achievement and that's where our students along with um students from Ben will um pair together. They'll shadow employees in the city, shadow each other, and then they will take on those [Music] roles. Some of our other students were able to partner with Junior Achievement um and Ridgeway Elementary School and teach lessons to third grade classes um at their level for financial literacy. and their culminating project was in um how the city works. So it was kind of we got to see it on a big scale and as well as on a small scale. So they spent five weeks traveling back and forth and partnering and teaching these lessons um instilling in the future of the others not just themselves. Um, we're also very proud

017of our 17 Strong Youth Commission. Um, they have partnered with um, the Healthy Hamilton Coalition and they're helping with the launch of the first neighborhood games. Other types of opportunities for our student is creating engaging pathways. So, not only in um the city, but things al along the lines of the arts, culinary arts. Um our students competed in a showcase. Um and then they were able to they won and they're able to go compete May 9th at Columbus State University for the student chef showcase cooking competition. So, we're excited for that. our students were also fortunate enough to um lead some of our community leaders around along with Miss Blevens. Um they're able to showcase how they are created and cultivated by the community as well as how the community shapes them. So they're able

018they were able to um show off Hamilton High a little bit. Um, also we've got in hormonics. They were also able to perform for Leadership Hamilton. Um, and provide a little bit of entertainment. That's just another uh group that we have at Hamilton High. They are also I won't steal their thunder for later, but they also compete all the time and win many awards. Um, along with the junior achievement program, we also have our English teachers who partner with elementary schools and do pen pal letters. And then you can see here when they go and do a field trip and meet their pen pals. Some of our latest news is about one of our juniors, Maline Wagenfield. She earned a perfect score on her ACT test. So perfect across the board. Um she's a junior

019at our junior ACT day. So that was something that we were pretty proud of and I think she is too. Um Mar Miss Marley Stevens is going to come up and share a little bit more about some of the opportunities that we have for students. Good afternoon. Um I'm the newest member of the team. My name is Marley Stevens and I'm very excited to be here with you all today. Uh the first thing that I'm going to talk about is our brand new club, our big blue esports club um that was established this school year. Um we have had uh great success with it. Um it has been featured on both the Journal News and the WCPO news. Um you can still find that video on their website if you're interested in looking at that.

020Um we had multiple students that qualified for the state tournament um that will be happening in April for the game Fortnite. Um um which is always fun to hear on the announcements that you know Fortnite and Mario Kart are going to be being played upstairs. Um we have had multiple schools reach out to Dr. Neri about the program and how they can build it up for their students. It's just an amazing opportunity for students that normally wouldn't be participating in something after school um to come in and join and they've been having open hours recently after school on Mondays for students to come and check it out. Um I believe some of our staff members have also checked it out and enjoyed it. Um speaking from personal experience um but it's also just another testament

021to our uh collaboration between so many different groups in and outside of our school. um Boosters, Forward Edge, um our instructors, our art department, our carpentry and engineering have all gone in into creating this awesome room. If you are at the high school, I definitely encourage you to stop by um and see it. Um it's really it's like nothing else in the building and it's a really great opportunity for so many students. Um, continuing on other um, opportunities that our students have had, again, I uh, this will be touched on more with the fine arts, but our, uh, marching band just went to, uh, Walt Disney World in January over Martin Luther King weekend and had a fantastic trip. Um, another opportunity for our students, um, is that we have groups of students that are

022able to go out into the community and earn real world experience working in multiple, uh, local businesses. Um here we have students at Casanos. They also um will travel to places like Shooters, uh Buffalo Wild Wings, Ace Hardware. Um they're going everywhere all the time. And it's uh just another great chance for them to learn skills so that once they leave us here at Hamilton High School, they become positive um members of our community. Um earlier this winter um we were very excited to bring back um the celebrity chef Jonathan Zaraza. Um he came last year to the freshman building and cooked for the students and then we came to Hamilton High School this year um as the sophomore class assistant principal. It was very cool to hear my students talk about how they remembered

023him coming to the freshman building. They followed him on Instagram um and he came back and did a cooking presentation for all three of our lunches. Um that included um some uh carneasetta and uh corn elote um that the students were able to try and see him cook and answer some fun questions. Um then we have another uh shot from all of the students that participated um in the civic uh civic day here for the city. Um then down below is the citywide competition which is where um bands, orchestras, and choirs from all over Butler County come to Hamilton High School to display the amazing fine arts work that they are doing. Um another shot of our students that are out in the community. Um and then um we have our students that um are

024painting our sidewalks, our seniors students do that um as part of our sensory garden. Um, so they get to go out and paint their squares for their senior year and then they sort of take care of that all year long. Um, which also goes along with our better together club. Um, as I was leaving today, our better together club was outside in the sensory garden doing um, some spring work to get that all ready to go as the weather hopefully continues to get warmer. Um, and then um, just additional opportunities that we have here. Um we were incredibly fortunate to host um a group of African delegates um earlier in the fall. They came in October uh to come tour Hamilton High School and to learn about our collaboration with the city. Um several of

025our students got to come and have lunch and talk about their experience and other ways that they've contributed. Um and they got to tour around the school and it was just a really cool opportunity for all of us um to have them there. Um, and then also then there are pictures of our students that are participating in our pre-apprenticeship program, which leads us right into Mr. Pston. Good evening. Uh, as Marley was showing you, 360 days out of the year, you can drive past that high school until pretty much 9:00 and that parking lot's filled. There is something going on. Kids are getting a great experience for four years. The other piece of that is four years is great, but you know, what are our kids doing after? What are we preparing them for? And

026that that's what I'm going to talk a bit about tonight. Um, a few years back, Chris Canel uh took a position in the district and began really working on establishing community partnerships um with some of our local businesses and coming into our building each and every day and doing mock interviews with kids, trying to connect them with jobs. During that time frame, he's had the ability to meet with 800 students at Hamilton High School and assist them in a job search both during school and in sometimes leading them to careers after. We have 194 different companies in our city that have hired at least one of our students. Um, and then 14 or 1,429 jobs have been filled by Hamilton High School or Hamilton City School students within the community. And I think that's a

027big piece of what Mr. Lowour was saying when he was up here. The product that we produce a lot of times those numbers show is the product that's going out into our community. They're the product that's serving us. Um, and really what we've tried to work on, you know, over these past five years is getting kids skills when they graduate so that they're successful and ultimately the the community is successful. The past three years, I I've come up here and talked to you guys about kind of phases of this pre-apprenticeship. So, year one was an idea. Last year was more of an implementation. Um, this year is full circle. So, you see a couple numbers up there and these are students that have been placed in pre-apprenticeships at the high school. that pre-apprenticeship serves a

028few different purposes as we've discussed in the past. They are getting real world experience in um the careers that of the companies that we have partnered with. The other side is they are hitting a couple of check marks for for graduation which is helpful for some of them. Um it's not limited to kids that are at risk for not graduating. Um we've kind of opened it up to align more with careers. I I do want to give a shout out. Um Tyler Shinberry is here from Durant Hybrid tonight. He is one of the partners that was with us kind of from the infancy uh of this idea and um you know has really helped us build this out. He's brought one of uh our our former students with and I don't want to spoil it

029but um we'll be talking about him here a bit later. Uh Forward Edge they're our tech partner um it within the building but they take kids each semester um lead them through building really tech skills um and you know some of those baseline skills to hopefully one day work for the company. our group, which is a credit union right at Caddyy Corner from us. Um they come in kind of lead kids through that financial side of things, but also customer service. We have kids every week um taking kind of walking field trips over there to learn the the banking and customer service side of things. And then once a month they get to kind of be representatives of our group and run the cart at lunch to distribute some of those products out to our

030own students. Um Ketaring Health is another partner. Um I I think some of you guys have come over and seen the Ketering Health Lab we have um down in a wing of our building and I have one of our uh current students that has participated in that program here with us tonight that'll tell you a bit more about that as well. But um definitely something that that is continuing to grow um and expand. The cool piece of this was and um some of you I think at multiple points this year have come over and seen our future planning day. So future planning day really targeted towards juniors and seniors as an opportunity for local businesses and employers to come in and meet with our students. So you know we have students walking around with resumes

031asking questions looking at prospective careers um and in some cases getting hired on the spot. The cool thing that we saw this year and the pictures that you see up here are former students, some of which have participated in that pre-apprenticeship program that were hired by these companies and the product that we provided them was good enough that they wanted them to come back and talk to the students and sell them on it. So, it's one thing to walk up and, you know, have these community members come in and speak, but when you see the kids that walked across the stage in the past year to coming back to talk to the kids, you you really start to get that community feel and um it lets us know that, you know, the the things that

032we're doing are working to some extent because the product's coming back in and, you know, they're wanting more. I have brought a a couple of students, former and current, with me tonight. Um, both of these students have participated in some aspect of our pre-apprenticeship program. Um, the first one that I'm asked to come up and speak is a 2024 graduate, Braden Lunsford. Um, if I would have told Braden three years ago when he was sitting across my desk that I was going to bring him up here to present with me at the board meeting, I think he'd have probably had some choice words for me. But Braden participated in our our first pre-apprenticeship class in construction and manufacturing um, with Tyler Shinterberry as as one of the leads in that. um and he has had

033a great opportunity to currently work for them and I'm have him come up and just kind of talk about what that experience has looked like for him on the Hamilton side and since he's graduated. So I had originally started off in their pre-apprenticeship class and their pre-apprenticeship class was just showing me all the basic OSHA violations and safety regulations to be aware for whenever you're in construction and manufacturing. And it I took it for eight weeks and it led me to after I completed it, it led me to getting a job at Dana Hybrid and I've been there the past year working in a laser automation and I enjoy every bit of the way since. And I I got to say I'm proud of this dude. you know, he is a kid that I I

034met with, and I'm not gonna share all your stories, but on a weekly basis for about three years, and and the fact that, you know, he he we got him in this pre-apprenticeship, he met with Tyler and really, you know, found something that he was invested in. Um, he bought in immediately, and I I really think for Braden, it was something that that turned him around and opened up a lot of doors that, you know, he didn't know know was there. Um, the other person that I brought with us tonight is Jaylen Timler. So Jaylen is going to be a 2025 graduate. She has participated in her first pre-apprenticeship class in healthcare. That's that nurses assistant program through Ketaring Health. She is still at Hamilton High School, but is also currently working for Ketering. And

035she's going to come up and kind of talk about her experience with that program and where it's led today. Jaylen. Hi. Um I was in the program last year. Um it was a semester long. It was Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 to 5:00, which was really great for me because I worked and I also went to school all day. Um um sorry. So I was able to get experience um as a nursing assistant. So I learned how to take care of a patient, how you're supposed to talk to a patient more importantly, and how you're supposed to validate their feelings. Um I learned a lot about just being in a hospital environment itself. Um, I always knew I wanted to go into healthcare, but I didn't know. You don't really know until you actually do

036it. Um, so that was able to get me into a hospital, um, without having to spend thousands of dollars on because I was going to do phabbotomy. Um, it was pretty pricey. So, I was able to get in there, um, and get a lot of experience. Um, I want to become a physician's assistant. So, you actually have to have direct patient care hours. Um, and I already have, I think, over 500 hours working as a nursing assistant, which will all contribute, my masters, um, which is really good. So, yeah, I think it's big that they came up here and talked today and just kind of led you through that experience. You know, the other piece of this is like I didn't have to seek these individuals out. Like as soon as Braden got that job,

037Tyler came in. You never know, you're sending a product out. You hope they do well. Every time I talk to Tyler, Braden's doing great. Every employee that I see from Durant, hey, you know Braden Lunford? Yeah, he's awesome. You know, he puts his head, he's getting things done. Anytime we talk to associates from Ketaring Health, they're telling us about how much Jaylen's killing it. So, I mean, it's it was easy to find them. And that's year one. As we continue forward, I I know Durant just hired another one of our students earlier this week. Um, Ketering, you know, hopefully is on the page for the same. We're seeing more and more success come out of this to the point that other companies in the community um through that chamber of commerce are like, "Hey, like

038you know, we want hires. We want your kids." Um and we're really hoping to broaden those opportunities so that you know whether you're going to college or not, when you leave the high school, you have a career path. You have a plan set up for success and we've helped you get there. I'm going to hand things back to Mr. Zary and he's going to lead us to the end. I'd just like to take a few minutes in closing here. Um, I would like to introduce you all to our commencement speaker for this year, but I want to talk about the process that we went about in securing, Dr. Stephanie Nicely, who is the chair and associate professor, chief nurse administrator of nursing programs for Miami University. In the fall, we got uh 12 seniors in

039a panel and myself, Mrs. Watkins, we sat down and we said, "This is your graduation. We're going to have a speaker. What do you want to hear?" And it was great feedback. I think it was someone closer to our age so we can relate to them and their life story isn't as long, I think, was was part of was part of it. Um, and then and then through through connections and and Mrs. Bleven's help also, she said, "Hey, I heard this great speaker one time. Give her a call." So, I reached out to Dr. nicely and we just had a we had a really brief conversation and and she was in from the jump and um she was very honored, she was very grateful to have this opportunity. What impressed me more is as we

040went down this this process she said would it be possible for me to come in and to meet that committee so I can ask them questions specifically to see what they want to hear about. So after the first of the year, she came in, met with met with this committee. We even brought our valadictorian and saludiatoran in also um and it was about a 354-minute conversation where uh she asked questions, they asked her questions, she made notes. So I am very excited uh to hear Dr. Nicely speech uh when she joins us for for commencement. And so like I I'd like to finish these these we'll see you soon. May 13th, commencement 7:30 at Virgil Schwarm Stadium. So again, thank you all very much. We appreciate your support. We appreciate the time here. Thank you.

041Yes. Thank you so much for coming to um update us. Like we always say, I can speak for everybody. This is one of our favorite um parts of the program. I appreciate um what I've been appreciating most is that how everyone has kind of like switched it up a little bit in their presentations. How you all brought the students and talked about your partnerships, but being a fourstar school definitely, you know, we can't just, you know, roll past that. That's um you know an amazing thing. So congratulations to that. But also um uh shout out to the um um junior ROTC. Um congratulations on their accomplishment. But also um into the village you know you put the numbers of everybody you know that it takes to you know make that you know thing go over

042there at Big Blue. So it's just um that that's that's um huge as well. And just the um the community presence that the school that the students are able to have. But I think as you guys got to the end, just really what blew me away is that I love the fact that there's opportunity for everyone because I love our partnerships with Miami and the college and talking about those experience, but I love to hear just your ordinary per se everyday student with their challenges, their ups and downs, um come in and still have opportunity to be great. So um congratulations to you Braden for being able to, you know, be a part of that. And um Tyler, I've you know seen him two days in a row here. So, it's just been great to

043um you know, just to see just the great partnerships and them coming to fruition because a lot of times you hear about stuff happening, but sometimes you don't always get the update on like, okay, where did that ever go? So, I appreciate hearing the update and such a amazing update. And also, congratulations to you, Jaylen, and just how that experience of being able to work in real world experiences at the hospital, but also the dual of being able to then um you know, kind of baton off a hand off and then start college as well. So just seeing her work in both of those um you know pathways I think is pretty amazing. Um so I could go on and on but I just was really really blown away by that how that that opportunity

044for our kids are is happening and that that they can really find you know when you see them live work and play you know you able to see them you know graduate here still be able to you know obtain great jobs here to be able you know when they get to the point of you know having a family and being able to be an opportunity for them. So that's really important um for me as well. So, thank you guys for, you know, being so intentional about that as well. Thank you. I just I just have a comment, John. Thank you. Um, you've been at the helm of Hamilton High for as long as I've been on the board. I think when I first got on the board, you came along and and these programs that

045were in their infant stage when I first arrived on the board is just amazing. And you've done an amazing job with your staff and thank you and congratulations on your career path forward. Um, and we'll see great things from Hamilton High going forward and from you. Thank you very much, John. Thank you for being here today and thank you to your staff and your students. Very impressive what you're doing over there. Few years ago, we you were here with us and we were talking about pathways for your students and not everybody had the same pathways and how education used to be cookie cutter. and your challenge was you were going to make sure you met the the pathways of these students and you've done that uh with these different even their interest outside of education.

046You've met those needs uh for the students and that's that's great and I love it and I love the progress that I've seen over at Hamilton High. Um years ago when and this is many many years ago, the the superintendent used to have what was called the business advisory council and it was businesses would come together for a little breakfast here at the board office and they would say well this is what we think students need to succeed in business and but they never stepped to the plate and said we'll take students in a partnership and you started that with the appren apprentice program and and Chris worked with you on that. And to see where it's gone from, you know, three years ago to where it is today is just awesome. And it's just

047it's good for Hamilton because it's putting uh our students into businesses here in Hamilton. They're going to stay in Hamilton. And I commend you and your staff and your your teachers for what you're doing over there. Keep it up. Thank you, John. Well, if I may, um, again, I I echo everything that's been said because so many things have changed over the past few years, and every student, there's no there's no reason why a student shouldn't have a pretty good idea of what they're going to do when they step off that stage. Um, I remember many years, what are you going to do? I have no idea. And I this this new these new pathways open it up for so much. Speaking of such, I want to I'm sorry I didn't catch your name with

048Donna. Right. No, you Tyler. Tyler years ago, I I I think it was about three or four years ago, we came over and toured. I was so impressed with what you were doing over there, what you're going to be doing, and that you brought Tyler in there, too. And that bringing the students on board, that's a lot of risk for a company to do because you don't know what might happen, but obviously it's successful. But going back to Hamilton High School, I have three boys that went there. All three of them were successful in it. And I I tell people, it's like a buffet. And I probably said this before and I'm going to say it again. It's a buffet. And you can go through Hamilton High's buffet line and you can get steak and

049lobster and flemen. And you can get just like Joel, you're talking about all the great things about public education. No other schools can provide that. We provide such a wide range of things and it's students need to be able to take the the the stuff they need for their future. If they want to go through and get hot dogs and rice, I feel sorry for them because we offer so many different activities. Everything from I'm going to say the arts, the athletics, esports. I would never have thought I'd hear about esports, but hey, that's it. Miami offers a degree in that, don't they? I think they do. But um all the things that public education is able to do for all our students, not just for I'm going to say for a select few, all

050our students have those same opportunities within our schools. And I I know you've led the ship over there. I'm excited about what you've done and where you're going and and with Tai coming on board. But I just want to thank you for all that you do with your leadership over there. Appreciate that. Thank you. Um principles area, there's a a number of things I'd like to say. I'm sure I won't remember all of them, but first I want to congratulate you on your time at the high school and what you've accomplished and all of the effort that you've put in there. Um, and also I want to congratulate you on your upcoming new role in the district and just wish you cons continued success in that. Um, the two things that stick out to me

051is the graduation rate is phenomenal. I'm pretty certain that's higher than your average graduation rate across the state. So, very proud of that. And and I agree with what Mr. Sprag said and as your assistant principles have pointed out, all of the opportunities and the experiences that are available to our students through the high school, it it's incredible and and I want to speak to just a few of those. Assistant principal Funston was talking about the role that Chris Canel has in our district and and the effort that he puts into our students. You know, is that unique to our district or does every public school system have that? That's very unique to Hamilton City Schools. Well, that's what I thought and that is phenomenal. That's great. Congratulations and thank you to Chris and and

052that's a wonderful program for our students. Um and and assistant principal Stevens, how are you doing? Do you remember the first time we met? I and trust me, I'm not a scary person, but I think I scared you that day, didn't I? Or or either that or you just decided you didn't like me very much or something. It was my It was my first I was meeting a lot of people that day. I think I was a little I know take dear in headlines at that point. Well, no, I understand Mrs. Blevens and I can't remember the name of the event, but it it's at the beginning of the year and all the teachers are together and and the superintendent's there and you're talking about the upcoming year and I I was there and Principal

053Zerry let me sit at the high school table and I just the only seat available was ne was next to her and my sticker on my water bottle. Yes. Yes, you are exactly correct. I'm so impressed. But anyway, I I think she had no clue why I was there or what I was doing. But uh anyway, you've you've done great and thank you for everything. And you mentioned the professional chef that was at the high school. I can't pronounce his name or the food that he prepared, but I was there and man, that was delicious. What a neat event that was. Um, and then I want to talk about um, something that assists assistant principal Watkins talked about just briefly. One of the things she mentioned, and this is somewhat on a personal note, I

054promise I'll only take a moment. You mentioned the ROC orientering pro team and how they place nationally. Well, I want to share with everyone. We have a former Hamilton High graduate uh, from 2011, Captain Andrew Copus of the United States Army. he was on the orientering program back then and I know they placed nationally also back then. Uh so very proud of that. And um I also want to share with you and I don't know the exact dates but primarily in the calendar year of 23 he served a year-long deployment in Iraq and while he was overseas he requested for me to send him a city of Hamilton flag which Mayor Mhler was kind enough to give me one and I sent it overseas and he had that flag flown over Alisad air base which

055is in the Alanbar province in western Iraq near the Syrian and Jordan borders had that flown over the air base along with the American flag of course and we've presented that to Councilman Lowour who will present it to the city council and that will be proudly displayed somewhere here in the city of Hamilton I hope but um um I know that's a little selfish for me to share those stories but very proud of that young man. Yes, he's my son and I wish him continued success also. But to the entire staff, thank you so much for what you do. And I remember my high school days. I loved my staff. As matter of fact, I loved it so much I didn't want to graduate. So I I almost wish I could go back, but that

056was a long time ago. Principal Zary, thank you so much. U assistant principles, thank you for everything you do. Thank you. And and I would just like to say I appreciate you acknowledging their comments tonight, but publicly without them the machine doesn't run. So, I I I can't thank them enough. It's been a pleasure to know them personally and professionally over my time and to be able to work with them. So, they probably say I don't say it all the time, but thank you. Don't worry, Mr. Zary. This is on film, so they can play Facebook official. Now, um I just to all four of you, I want to echo those statements. I think something that you all do an amazing job is pouring into our kids. You help them create a sense of belonging

057and once they feel that they belong, they light up. Once they feel that they are a part of something bigger than them, then the opportunities are limitless. And so from Tyler that's sitting here um to our ROC program to the work that each of you do, I just want to thank you. I mean, we I could not list I would need five pieces of paper to list all the programs that you have available for kids. And it's so neat because each kid needs a different program to help inspire them. And I'm just proud of the work you've done. I know Mr. Funston, you're moving on to the freshman campus. I'm excited to see that work go. Uh Mr. Zary, I'm excited to see you help recruit the teachers that are going to work in our

058schools and our staff. And to Miss Watkins and Miss Stevens, you guys are going to continue to charge ahead and continue. This is just the start of reimagining what high school looks like for our kids so that the Bradens and the Jallens's have so many opportunities and we could line these hallways with the stories of today's class and moving forward. So, just thank you for being here. Thanks for what you do. I know this is a crazy time of year from now until May 13th. So, just hold on. Make sure to take some time and enjoy it because we have amazing kids in our school and it's because of amazing adults like you. And thank you to our families for being here tonight. Thank you once again. Thank you everybody for coming out and being

059a part. Um I will um consider I'll make that motion. Thank you. Second. I'll second. Mrs. Baker, yes. Mr. Davidson, yes. Dr. Copus, yes. Mrs. Matthews, yes. Mr. Sprag, yes. We're here at Highland Elementary with the Cincinnati Bengals in Ketaring Health and just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier, uh Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous

060feeling. We are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community. And so getting active is the single best way that you can take care of one's health. So exercise and activity and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. Hamilton is a beautiful, vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other. They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football with some of the real Bengals players. Uh who is here today. It's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students.

061It is just humbling and warms my heart. I've been looking forward to this for 7 months and to see it come together is just uh it's one of my favorite days at school. One of our big focus points here at the freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So this year, Mr. Marcelo, who is a Hamilton historian, we thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students about the history of Hamilton. And it's been a huge success. We've had community speakers come in and then seen the kids really get involved and we'd love to see this program expand. I wanted a diverse group of people representing different areas of

062Hamilton. I wanted people born and raised here, you know, lifers who've been here their entire lives, but also people who have, you know, come here and made a choice to stay here. And basically when people ask, you know, why do you want me to come? I said because you are somebody who makes Hamilton a better place. Kids in the class, they're from here. I think sometimes, you know, when you're from a place, you don't actually see everything. You know, you have some a jaded view. When you have someone from the outside who's coming in here and they're saying, "Look what you got here." It it's kind of given them some awareness of what's happening in Hamilton. I think the concept is cool. You know, I mean, since I've been in Hamilton, I've been fascinated by

063it. So, the fact that he's teaching this to the freshman, I think that's wonderful. So, when he says, "Hey, come and talk about something I already like to talk about, that's a no-brainer for me, you know. And then to kind of tie in not only the history of Hamilton but also the stuff that's going on today. I mean there's nothing I'd rather talk about than what's going on in this town. So it's kind of I was saying it's one of the easier. We're here at Highland Elementary with the Cincinnati Bengals and Ketering Health and just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier. uh

064Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous feeling. We are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community. And so getting active is the single best way that you can take care of one's health. So, exercise and activity and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. Hamilton is a beautiful vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so, when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other.

065They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football with some of the real Bengals players. Uh who is here today. It's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students. It is just humbling and warms my heart. I've been looking forward to this for 7 months and to see it come together is just uh it's one of my favorite days at school. One of our big focus points here at the freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So, we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So, this year, Mr. Marcelo, who is a Hamilton historian, we

066thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier, uh Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous feeling. We are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community. And so getting active is the single best way that you can take care of one's health. So exercise and activity

067and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. Hamilton is a beautiful, vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other. They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football with some of the real Bengals players. Uh Hudday is here today. It's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students. It is just humbling and warms my heart. I've been looking forward to this for 7 months and to see it come together is just uh it's one of my favorite days at

068school. One of our big focus points here at the Freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So this year, Mr. Marcelo, who is a Hamilton historian, we thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students about the history of Hamilton. And it's been a huge success. as we've had community speakers come in and then seen the kids really get involved and we'd love to see this program expand. I wanted a diverse group of people representing different areas of Hamilton. I wanted people born and raised here you know lifers who've been here their entire lives but also people who have you know come here and made a choice to stay

069here and basically when people ask you know why do you want me to come I said because you are somebody who makes Hamilton a better place. kids in the class, they're from here. I think sometimes, you know, when you're from a place, you don't actually see everything. You know, you have some a jaded view. When you have someone from the outside who's coming in here and they're saying, "Look what you got here." It it's kind of given them some awareness of what's happening in Hamilton. I think the concept is cool. You know, I mean, since I've been in Hamilton, I've been fascinated by it. So, the fact that he's teaching this to the freshman, I think that's wonderful. So, when he says, "Hey, come and talk about something I already like to talk about, that's

070a no-brainer for me, you know." And then to kind of tie in not only the history of Hamilton, but also the stuff that's going on today. I mean, there's nothing I'd rather talk about than what's going on in this town. So, it's kind of like I was saying, it's one of the easier presentations I've done because there's just so much to talk about. I'm learning more and more every single day than I like normally would. Like with all of the renovations happening in Hamilton, I probably would have never known about some of them like Spooky Nook, little restaurants. So, it's pretty interesting. History of Hamilton elected really allows students to like put history into a context they understand with the community that they live in and hopefully build some community pride and some citizenship into

071the freshman campus [Music] experience. Today we have our grand event. It's when grandparents, family members, and other people important to our students are able to come to school to do an activity with them and have a little glimpse into what their child does here at Brookwood Elementary. It's important for us to bring our families into the school because so often like our students, they'll talk with grandparents or aunts or uncles about school, but they've never seen what they do. So, we want to bring them into our school environment on such a fun day to where they get to do an activity, meet their teacher, see some of their friends, and just to get a short experience of what it's like here at school. Our PTO, yes, is kicking off their bunt cake fundraiser today. And

072so, last year, I think on our grand event, they sold over 400 bun cakes. We even had a grandpa who bought them for his grandchild's whole class. It was pretty awesome. But we're kicking off the sale today. a lot of students, they'll be able to enjoy them whether at lunch or they'll take them home with them as well. And then we're selling them in December as two. Oh my gosh, the kids are so excited. We thought the kids were excited yesterday with the first snow of the season. It is 10 times that. Our students have been talking all week about their visitors who are coming. And we have such a wonderful school community. We know not all of our students are able to have someone who comes. So our guests who are coming in, they

073always pair up with all of the students so everyone gets to enjoy the activity together. In the Hamilton City School District, our students have a unique opportunity to share their artwork with the community and it's important because it provides a real life experience for our students as well as gives them a sense of self-ride. It's one thing to see them, you know, working on a surface, you know, daily, but another to just see it up in a little bit more of a professional setting. Seeing it collectively, you know, with all their classmates, a really it's a really special thing, I think, when they know it's somewhere in a professional gallery like this, that that makes them feel pretty good. [Music] to have your artwork shown in uh the Cincinnati Art Museum is a really great

074honor. Um, for those students that are chosen, it's a great opportunity for high school students around the greater Cincinnati area to have their artwork shown uh outside of the school, which I think is a huge way for them to kind of step into themselves and kind of begin to explore their identities as artists and as people. I think it gives the community an opportunity to see that there is talent even in these young students. So, it's really neat to just expose [Music] everybody. Today is our future planning day here at Hamilton High School. We have a lot of area businesses, um, some vendors and post-secondary options for our juniors and seniors to come down and explore and just see some of the community resources that are available to them after graduation. Talking to um the

075booths at like for Ketaring Health and the Hamilton Police Department, it really like solidified my want to become a forensic scientist in the future. And I think that's that's one of the biggest pieces is just showing students a lot of the opportunities that they have available to them once they graduate. Um, you know, you drive through Hamilton and there's a lot of businesses that are front and center, but there's a a lot of behind-the-scenes opportunities that I don't think a lot of our students are exposed to until they come to an event like this. We're a window manufacturing company that's family-owned. Uh, you do have to be 18 to work with us, but you can check us out now um at vinylmax.com/careers. So, the Hamilton Community Foundation has a lot of scholarship opportunities. We have

076scholarships for students that are graduating seniors. We have uh scholarships for students that are currently in college, so sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We have a strong um history partnership with the Hamilton City Schools. We were founded actually by teachers in 1938. We want to help students establish that financial relationship before they leave high school. It's so important for them to be able to have that direct deposit when they start employment. We have students that go to college. We have students that have plans, but for those students that, you know, have made it to the end of senior year and kind of have that deer in the headlights look, this shows them some of the opportunities that they have, you know, just to to go out and do something within the community and, you know, benefit

077the greater good of Hamilton. We're here at Highland Elementary with the Cincinnati Bengals and Ketering Health and just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier, uh, Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous feeling. We are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community. And so getting active is the single best way that you can take care

078of one's health. So exercise and activity and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. East Hamilton is a beautiful, vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other. They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football. But some of the real Bengals players, uh, who is here today, it's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students. It is just humbling and warms my heart. I've been looking forward to this for 7 months and to see it come together is just

079uh it's one of my favorite days at school. One of our big focus points here at the freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So this year, Mr. Marcelo, who is a Hamilton historian, we thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students about the history of Hamilton. And it's been a huge success. as we've had community speakers come in and then seen the kids really get involved and we'd love to see this program expand. I wanted a diverse group of people representing different areas of Hamilton. I wanted people born and raised here, you know, lifers who've been here their entire lives, but also people who have, you know,

080come here and made a choice to stay here. And basically, when people ask, you know, why do you want me to come? I said, because you are somebody who makes Hamilton a better place. Kids in the class, they're from here. I think sometimes, you know, when you're from a place, you don't actually see everything. You know, you have some a jaded view. When you have someone from the outside who's coming in here and they're saying, "Look what you got here." It's kind of given them some awareness of what's happening in Hamilton. I think the concept is cool. You know, I mean, since I've been in Hamilton, I've been fascinated by it. So, the fact that he's teaching this to the freshman, I think that's wonderful. So, when he says, "Hey, come and talk about something

081I already like to talk about, that's a no-brainer for me, you know." And then to kind of tie in not only the history of Hamilton, but also the stuff that's going on today. I mean, there's nothing I'd rather talk about than what's going on in this town. So, it's kind of like I was saying it's one of the easier presentations I've done because there's just so much to talk about. I'm learning more and more every single day than I like normally would. Like with all of the renovations happening in Hamilton, I probably would have never known about some of them like Spooky Nook, little restaurants. So, it's pretty interesting. History of Hamilton elected really allowed students to like put history into a context they understand with the community that they live in and hopefully build

082some community pride and some citizenship into the freshman campus [Music] experience. Today we have our grand event. It's when grandparents, family members, and other people important to our students are able to come to school to do an activity with them and have a little glimpse into what their child does here at Brookwood Elementary. It's important for us to bring our families into the school because so often like our students, they'll talk with grandparents or aunts or uncles about school, but they've never seen what they do. So, we want to bring them into our school environment on such a fun day to where they get to do an activity, meet their teacher, see some of their friends, and just to get a short experience of what it's like here at school. Our PTO, yes, is kicking

083off their bunt cake fundraiser today. And so, last year, I think on our grand event, they sold over 400 bun cakes. We even had a grandpa who bought them for his grandchild's whole class. It was pretty awesome. But we're kicking off the sale today. a lot of students, they'll be able to enjoy them whether at lunch or they'll take them home with them as well. And then we're selling them in December as two. Oh my gosh, the kids are so excited. We thought the kids were excited yesterday with the first snow of the season. It is 10 times that. Our students have been talking all week about their visitors who are coming. And we have such a wonderful school community. We know not all of our students are able to have someone who comes. So

084our guests who are coming in, they always pair up with all of the students so everyone gets to enjoy the activity together. In the Hamilton City School District, our students have a unique opportunity to share their artwork with the community and it's important because it provides a real life experience for our students as well as gives them a sense of self-ride. It's one thing to see them, you know, working on a surface, you know, daily, but another to just see it up in a little bit more of a professional setting. Seeing it collectively, you know, with all their classmates, a really it's a really special thing. I think when they know it's somewhere in a professional gallery like this, that that makes them feel pretty good. [Music] to have your artwork shown in uh the

085Cincinnati Art Museum is a really great honor. Um, for those students that are chosen, it's a great opportunity for high school students around the greater Cincinnati area to have their artwork shown uh outside of the school, which I think is a huge way for them to kind of step into themselves and kind of begin to explore their identities as artists and as people. I think it gives the community an opportunity to see that there is talent even in these young students. So, it's really neat to just expose [Music] everybody. Today is our future planning day here at Hamilton High School. We have a lot of area businesses, um, some vendors and post-secary options for our juniors and seniors to come down and explore and just see some of the community resources that are available to

086them after graduation. Talking to um the booths at like for Ketaring Health and the Hamilton Police Department, it really like solidified my want to become a forensic scientist in the future. And I think that's that's one of the biggest pieces is just showing students a lot of the opportunities that they have available to them once they graduate. Um, you know, you drive through Hamilton and there's a lot of businesses that are front and center, but there's a a lot of behind-the-scenes opportunities that I don't think a lot of our students are exposed to until they come to an event like this. We're a window manufacturing company that's family-owned. Uh, you do have to be 18 to work with us, but you can check us out now um at vinylmax.com/careers. So, the Hamilton Community Foundation has

087a lot of scholarship opportunities. We have scholarships for students that are graduating seniors. We have uh scholarships for students that are currently in college, so sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We have a strong um history partnership with the Hamilton City Schools. We were founded actually by teachers in 1938. We want to help students establish that financial relationship before they leave high school. It's so important for them to be able to have that direct deposit when they start employment. We have students that go to college. We have students that have plans, but for those students that, you know, have made it to the end of senior year and kind of have that deer in the headlights look, this shows them some of the opportunities that they have, you know, just to to go out and do something

088within the community and, you know, benefit the greater good of Hamilton. We're here at Highland Elementary with the Cincinnati Bengals and Ketering Health and just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier, uh, Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous feeling. We are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community. And so getting active is the single

089best way that you can take care of one's health. So exercise and activity and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. Hamilton is a beautiful, vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other. They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football with some of the real Bengals players. Uh who is here today, it's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students. It is just humbling and warms my heart. I've been looking forward to this for 7 months and to

090see it come together is just uh it's one of my favorite days at school. One of our big focus points here at the freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So this year, Mr. Marcelo, who is a Hamilton historian, we thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students about the history of Hamilton. And it's been a huge success. as we've had community speakers come in and then seen the kids really get involved and we'd love to see this program expand. I wanted a diverse group of people representing different areas of Hamilton. I wanted people born and raised here, you know, lifers who've been here their entire lives, but

091also people who have, you know, come here and made a choice to stay here. And basically, when people ask, you know, why do you want me to come? I said, because you are somebody who makes Hamilton a better place. Kids in the class, they're from here. I think sometimes, you know, when you're from a place, you don't actually see everything. You know, you have some a jaded view. When you have someone from the outside who's coming in here and they're saying, "Look what you got here." It it's kind of given them some awareness of what's happening in Hamilton. I think the concept is cool. You know, I mean, since I've been in Hamilton, I've been fascinated by it. So, the fact that he's teaching this to the freshman, I think that's wonderful. So, when he

092says, "Hey, come and talk about something I already like to talk about." That's a no-brainer for me, you know. And then to kind of tie in not only the history of Hamilton, but also the stuff that's going on today. I mean, there's nothing I'd rather talk about than what's going on in this town. So, it's kind of like I was saying it's one of the easier presentations I've done cuz there's just so much to talk about. I'm learning more and more every single day than I like normally would. Like with all of the renovations happening in Hamilton, I probably would have never known about some of them like Spooky Nook, little restaurants. So, it's pretty interesting. History of Hamilton elective really allows students to like put history into a context they understand with the community

093that they live in and hopefully build some community pride and some citizenship into the freshman campus [Music] experience. Today we have our grand event. It's when grandparents, family members, and other people important to our students are able to come to school to do an activity with them and have a little glimpse into what their child does here at Brookwood Elementary. It's important for us to bring our families into the school because so often like our students, they'll talk with grandparents or aunts or uncles about school, but they've never seen what they do. So, we want to bring them into our school environment on such a fun day to where they get to do an activity, meet their teacher, see some of their friends, and just to get a short experience of what it's like here

094at school. Our PTO, yes, is kicking off their bunt cake fundraiser today. And so, last year, I think on our grand event, they sold over 400 bunt cakes. We even had a grandpa who bought them for his grandchild's whole class. It was pretty awesome. But we're kicking off the sale today. a lot of students, they'll be able to enjoy them whether at lunch or they'll take them home with them as well. And then we're selling them in December as two. Oh my gosh, the kids are so excited. We thought the kids were excited yesterday with the first snow of the season. It is 10 times that. Our students have been talking all week about their visitors who are coming. And we have such a wonderful school community. We know not all of our students are

095able to have someone who comes. So our guests who are coming in, they always pair up with all of the students so everyone gets to enjoy the activity together. In the Hamilton City School District, our students have a unique opportunity to share their artwork with the community and it's important because it provides a real life experience for our students as well as gives them a sense of self-ride. It's one thing to see them, you know, working on a surface, you know, daily, but another to just see it up in a little bit more of a professional setting. Seeing it collectively, you know, with all their classmates, a really it's a really special thing, I think, when they know it's somewhere in a professional gallery like this, that that makes them feel pretty good. [Music] to

096have your artwork shown in uh the Cincinnati Art Museum is a really great honor. Um, for those students that are chosen, it's a great opportunity for high school students around the greater Cincinnati area to have their artwork shown uh outside of the school, which I think is a huge way for them to kind of step into themselves and kind of begin to explore their identities as artists and as people. I think it gives the community an opportunity to see that there is talent even in these young students. So, it's really neat to just expose [Music] everybody. Today is our future planning day here at Hamilton High School. We have a lot of area businesses, um, some vendors and post-secary options for our juniors and seniors to come down and explore and just see some of

097the community resources that are available to them after graduation. Talking to um the booths at like for Ketaring Health and the Hamilton Police Department, it really like solidified my want to become a forensic scientist in the future. And I think that's that's one of the biggest pieces is just showing students a lot of the opportunities that they have available to them once they graduate. Um, you know, you drive through Hamilton and there's a lot of businesses that are front and center, but there's a a lot of behind-the-scenes opportunities that I don't think a lot of our students are exposed to until they come to an event like this. We're a window manufacturing company that's family-owned. Uh, you do have to be 18 to work with us, but you can check us out now um at

098vinylmax.com/careers. So, the Hamilton Community Foundation has a lot of scholarship opportunities. We have scholarships for students that are graduating seniors. We have uh scholarships for students that are currently in college, so sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We have a strong um history partnership with the Hamilton City Schools. We were founded actually by teachers in 1938. We want to help students establish that financial relationship before they leave high school. It's so important for them to be able to have that direct deposit when they start employment. We have students that go to college. We have students that have plans, but for those students that, you know, have made it to the end of senior year and kind of have that deer in the headlights look, this shows them some of the opportunities that they have, you know, just

099to to go out and do something within the community and, you know, benefit the greater good of Hamilton. We're here at Highland Elementary with the Cincinnati Bengals and Ketering Health and just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier, uh, Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous feeling. We are committed to promoting health and wellness in our community.

100And so getting active is the single best way that you can take care of one's health. So exercise and activity and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. Hamilton is a beautiful, vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other. They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football with some of the real Bengals players. Uh who is here today. It's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students. It is just humbling and warms my heart. I've been looking forward

101to this for 7 months and to see it come together is just uh it's one of my favorite days at school. One of our big focus points here at the freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So this year, Mr. Marcelo, who is a Hamilton historian, we thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students about the history of Hamilton. And it's been a huge success. We've had community speakers come in and then seen the kids really get involved and we'd love to see this program expand. I wanted a diverse group of people representing different areas of Hamilton. I wanted people born and raised here, you know, lifers who've

102been here their entire lives, but also people who have, you know, come here and made a choice to stay here. And basically, when people ask, you know, why do you want me to come? I said, because you are somebody who makes Hamilton a better place. Kids in the class, they're from here. I think sometimes, you know, when you're from a place, you don't actually see everything. You know, you have some a jaded view. When you have someone from the outside who's coming in here and they're saying, "Look what you got here." It's kind of given them some awareness of what's happening in Hamilton. I think the concept is cool. You know, I mean, since I've been in Hamilton, I've been fascinated by it. So, the fact that he's teaching this to the freshman, I think

103that's wonderful. So, when he says, "Hey, come and talk about something I already like to talk about, that's a no-brainer for me, you know. And then to kind of tie in not only the history of Hamilton, but also the stuff that's going on today. I mean, there's nothing I'd rather talk about than what's going on in this town. So, it's kind of like I was saying, it's one of the easier presentations I've done cuz there's just so much to talk about. I'm learning more and more every single day than I like normally would. Like with all of the renovations happening in Hamilton, I probably would have never known about some of them like Spooky Nook, little restaurants. So, it's pretty interesting. History of Hamilton elected really allowed students to like put history into a context

104they understand with the community that they live in and hopefully build some community pride and some citizenship into the freshman campus [Music] experience. Today we have our grand event. It's when grandparents, family members, and other people important to our students are able to come to school to do an activity with them and have a little glimpse into what their child does here at Brookwood Elementary. It's important for us to bring our families into the school because so often like our students, they'll talk with grandparents or aunts or uncles about school, but they've never seen what they do. So, we want to bring them into our school environment on such a fun day to where they get to do an activity, meet their teacher, see some of their friends, and just to get a short experience

105of what it's like here at school. Our PTO, yes, is kicking off their bun cake fundraiser today. And so, last year, I think on our grand event, they sold over 400 bunt cakes. We even had a grandpa who bought them for his grandchild's whole class. It was pretty awesome. But we're kicking off the sale today. a lot of students, they'll be able to enjoy them whether at lunch or they'll take them home with them as well. And then we're selling them in December as two. Oh my gosh, the kids are so excited. We thought the kids were excited yesterday with the first snow of the season. It is 10 times that. Our students have been talking all week about their visitors who are coming. And we have such a wonderful school community. We know not

106all of our students are able to have someone who comes. So, our guests who are coming in, they always pair up with all of the students so everyone gets to enjoy the activity together. In the Hamilton City School District, our students have a unique opportunity to share their artwork with the community. And it's important because it provides a real life experience for our students as well as gives them a sense of self-ride. It's one thing to see them, you know, working on a surface, you know, daily, but another to just see it up in a little bit more of a professional setting. Seeing it collectively, you know, with all their classmates, a really it's a really special thing. I think when they know it's somewhere in a professional gallery like this, that that makes them

107feel pretty good. [Music] to have your artwork shown in uh the Cincinnati Art Museum is a really great honor um for those students that are chosen. It's a great opportunity for high school students around the greater Cincinnati area to have their artwork shown uh outside of the school, which I think is a huge way for them to kind of step into themselves and kind of begin to explore their identities as artists and as people. I think it gives the community an opportunity to see that there is talent even in these young students. So, it's really neat to just expose everybody [Music] Today is our future planning day here at Hamilton High School. We have a lot of area businesses, um, some vendors and post-secary options for our juniors and seniors to come down and explore

108and just see some of the community resources that are available to them after graduation. talking to um the booths at like for Ketering Health and the Hamilton Police Department, it really like solidified my want to become a forensic scientist in the future. And I think that's that's one of the biggest pieces is just showing students a lot of the opportunities that they have available to them once they graduate. Um you know, you drive through Hamilton and there's a lot of businesses that are front and center, but there's a a lot of behindthe-scenes opportunities that I don't think a lot of our students are exposed to until they come to an event like this. We're a window manufacturing company that's family-owned. Uh you do have to be 18 to work with us, but you can check

109us out now um at vinylmax.com/careers. So, the Hamilton Community Foundation has a lot of scholarship opportunities. We have scholarships for students that are graduating seniors. We have uh scholarships for students that are currently in college, so sophomores, juniors, and seniors. We have a strong um history partnership with the Hamilton City Schools. We were founded actually by teachers in 1938. We want to help students establish that financial relationship before they leave high school. It's so important for them to be able to have that direct deposit when they start employment. We have students that go to college. We have students that have plans, but for those students that, you know, have made it to the end of senior year and kind of have that deer in the headlights look. This shows them some of the opportunities that

110they have, you know, just to to go out and do something within the community and, you know, benefit the greater good of Hamilton. We're here at Highland Elementary with the Cincinnati Bengals and Ketering Health and just a pair of shoes. We're giving out 120 new pairs of Nike shoes to the kids here at Highland Elementary. The simple act of a new pair of shoes goes a really long way. Matt shared his story earlier, uh, Matt Klein from Just a Pair of Shoes about how a pair of shoes impacted his entire trajectory in high school. And to see our students who come from numerous different backgrounds coming together to be able to feel as part of our Highland community, feel of our greater Cincinnati community is just a tremendous feeling. We are committed to promoting health

111and wellness in our community. And so getting active is the single best way that you can take care of one's health. So, exercise and activity and a new pair of shoes is a great way to promote and encourage activity. You know, our community is a wonderful place. Hamilton is a beautiful, vibrant city and sports is a key fabric of our place here. And so, when kids are active in sports, they're active with each other. They're active in their health and it brings families and communities together. They get to come out and actually run drills and play six on six flag football with some of the real Bengals players. Uh, Hudday is here today. It's just a great day to celebrate community and coming together to support our students. It is just humbling and warms my

112heart. I've been looking forward to this for 7 months and to see it come together is just uh it's one of my favorite days at school. One of our big focus points here at the freshman campus is to bring the Hamilton community together. So, we've done different things with 17 strong and neighborhoods, but those have really been groups and like extra after school events. So, this year, Mr. Marello, who is a Hamilton historian, we thought we could leverage his talents and actually teach our students about the history of Hamilton. And it's been a huge success. We've had community speakers come in and then seen the kids really get involved and we'd love to see this program expand. I wanted a diverse group of people representing different areas of Hamilton. I wanted people born and raised

113here, you know, lifers who've been here their entire lives, but also people who have, you know, come here and made a choice to stay here. And basically when people ask, you know, why do you want me to come? I said, because you are somebody who makes Hamilton a better place. Kids in the class, they're from here. I think sometimes, you know, when you're from a place, you don't actually see everything. You know, you have some a jaded view. When you have someone from the outside who's coming in here and they're saying, "Look what you got here." It it's kind of given them some awareness of what's happening in Hamilton. I think the concept is cool. You know, I mean, since I've been in Hamilton, I've been fascinated by it. and the fact that he's teaching

114this to the freshman, I think that's wonderful. So, when he says, "Hey, come and talk about something I already like to talk about." That's a no-brainer for me, you know. And then to kind of tie in not only the history of Hamilton, but also the stuff that's going on today. I mean, there's nothing I'd rather talk about than what's going on in this town. So, it's kind of like I was saying it's one of the easier presentations I've done cuz there's just so much to talk about. I'm learning more and more every single day than I like normally would. Like with all of the renovations happening in Hamilton, I probably would have never known about some of them like Spooky Nook, little restaurants. So, it's pretty interesting. History of Hamilton elected really allowed students to

115like put history into a context they understand with the community that they live in and hopefully build some community pride and some citizenship into the freshman campus experience. [Music] Today we have our grand event. It's when grandparents, family members, and other people important to our students are able to come to school to do an activity with them and have a little glimpse into what their child does here at Brookwood Elementary. It's important for us to bring our families into the school because so often like our students, they'll talk with grandparents or aunts or uncles about school, but they've never seen what they do. So, we want to bring them into our school environment on such a fun day to where they get to do an activity, meet their teacher, see some of their friends, and

116just to get a short experience of what it's like here at school. Our PTO, yes, is kicking off their bun cake fundraiser today. And so, last year, I think on our grand event, they sold over 400 bun cakes. We even had a grandpa who bought them for his grandchild's whole class. It was pretty awesome. But we're kicking off the sale today. a lot of students, they'll be able to enjoy them whether at lunch or they'll take them home with them as well. And then we're selling them in December as two. Oh my gosh, the kids are so excited. We thought the kids were excited yesterday with the first snow of the season. It is 10 times that. Our students have been talking all week about their visitors who are coming. And we have such a

117wonderful school community. We know not all of our students are able to have someone who comes. So our guests who are coming in, they always pair up with all of the students so everyone gets to enjoy the activity together. In the Hamilton City School District, our students have a unique opportunity to share their artwork with the community and it's important because it provides a real life experience for our students as well as gives them a sense of self-ride. It's one thing to see them, you know, working on a surface, you know, daily, but another to just see it up in a little bit more of a professional setting. Seeing it collectively, you know, with all their classmates, a really it's a really special thing. I think when they know it somewhere in a professional gallery

118like this, that that makes them feel pretty good. [Music] We'll call the flag of the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Um motion to approve um Oh. Oh, yep. My mic wasn't Yeah. Um approval of the um board agenda. So moved. Second. Thank you. Mr. Fraser, if you can call the role, please. Mr. Davidson, yes. Dr. Copus, yes. Mrs. Matthews, yes. Mr. Sprag, yes. Mrs. Baker, yes. Thank you. I'll accept a motion for the approval of minutes. So moved. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Mr. Fraser, if you can call the RO, please. Dr. Copus, yes. Mrs. Matthews, yes. Mr. Sprag, yes. Mrs. Baker, abstain. Mr. Davidson, yes. Thank you. Uh we'll go on to our public participation. I don't see anyone here for

119I don't nope for public participation. So we will move on to our next um item on our agenda which is our superintendent comments. Mrs. Blevens. Yes. Good evening President Matthews. First of all, I have to start by wishing you a very happy birthday. Thank you. We won't sing. You do not want to hear that on film from me singing, but I do wish you a very happy birthday. Thanks. What a better present than get to sit here tonight during a board meeting. But thank you. Um, we're just I hope you have something fun planned tonight to celebrate. Yes, I need you guys hearing on camera. Something fun planned. No, that was a warning to your boys to get prepared. Yes. Okay. Um, just a few comments this evening uh to the board. First, we are

120officially in fourth quarter. If you remember at our last meeting, I cannot believe we are to that point, but we are off to a great start. I just want to remind all of our families and community that state testing starts next week. And so for students in grades three through eight as well as our high school, they will be taking their end of course exams. Um it's a great opportunity for our students, just as you heard earlier from Mr. Zerry, to showcase their knowledge, persistence, and growth. Reminder to our families, consistency is key. Make sure our kids get a good night's rest, a good breakfast, uh show up on time because that gives them the best opportunity to do well on these tests. So, to our teachers, you know, I know you've been preparing hard

121all year, and I'm excited to see those results come in. We are also uh entering our busiest time of year for hiring. This guy right here to my right, I barely see because he is quite busy with staffing and hiring. Um, I just want to encourage anyone in our community who's interested in joining our staff to check our website as well as the Butler County Consortium because we are always looking for quality employees and a lot of variety of skills. I think sometimes there's a misnomer that you have to have a four-year college degree to work for Hamilton City Schools. And we have jobs in all kinds of different avenues. So, if you're interested in giving back and being part of Big Blue on the Move, please just apply. And we're excited to fill our

122ranks. Later tonight, um I just as kind of a new practice, we've talked about uh doing an overview of what will be approved later on on the agenda. On our HR agenda tonight, you will have two separate v votes this evening. The first one is for the science of reading stipens for our teachers that are completing that mandated um training. If you remember that is flow through money. So we actually pay the employee and then the state of Ohio reimbures us for those payments. Um the other piece that you'll see on our agenda, we will have a number of employees uh up for extra hours for training from Brookwood Elementary as well as we have two new assistant assistant principal candidates that will go through for approval. We'll stop and introduce them later this evening.

123On our consent agenda, it's actually fairly light this evening. We have one um or two field trips that are on there. One is a national junior honor or national junior ROC. Man, I cannot speak tonight. Um event that's going on as well as a really unique opportunity for our junior football players to travel to Ashlin University uh to to a showcase. And what was so neat was the coach said, "We want first dibs at your kids." And I think again that just talks about the caliber of our programming for in all kinds of different realms here. Under special ed, you'll see that we have a uh agreement for a placement for one student for the remainder of the school year as well as nursing services. And then under business operations, you will see there are

124two grants that will be issued. One was for Hamilton High School for World Teen Day and then Wilson Middle School was awarded a scholarship through the Hamilton Community Foundation. Those are my items this evening. President Matthews, so much for the update. Thank you so much for the update. I greatly appreciate we greatly appreciate it. Let's see. Next on our agenda, we have our policy policy A under lice treatment. Who's discussing that? Am I discussing? I guess we need a I'll make that motion. So, I'll make I'll make the motion. I'll second it. Um, any discussion? I just want to clarify. So having been a a building principal and dealt with lice issues, so now they just have to be under treatment. They Is that my understanding? Correct. So it is no longer protocol that we

125do whole classroom checks anymore. Um that is not a supported practice uh in the area. So it's still requiring. It's just a cleanup of our language to be compliant with what our protocols and best practices are. Yeah, we are not removing policies on lice. We we do not want lice in our schools or classrooms. Vote on it or no? Just Yeah. Yeah. We just vote. Yeah. So, um to call the role. Yeah. Call the Mrs. Matthews. I don't know why this this live stream thing has got me completely gone. I'm used to the popsicle sticks in class and stuff. So, completely gone about this. Mrs. Matthews? Yes. Mr. Sprag? Yes. Mrs. Baker? Yes. Mr. Davidson? Yes. Dr. Copus? Yes. Yeah, thank you. Um, our next on our agenda is our human resources. Um, so for

126item A is, uh, science and reading siphons. I'll accept a motion for that. So moved. Second. Uh, any discussion? Uh, Mr. Fraser, if you can call the RO. Mr. Sprag, yes. Mrs. Baker, yes. Dr. Copus, yes. Mrs. Matthews, yes. Mr. Davidson, abstain. Um for our next item is item B is our personnel. Um do we have a motion to motion? Moved. Thank you. Have a second. Second. Any discussion? Uh Mr. Fzer, if you call the role. Mrs. Baker, yes. Mr. Davidson, yes. Dr. Copus, yes. Mrs. Matthews, yes. Mr. Sprag, yes. Before we go on, President Matthews, I would like to take a moment to introduce uh we just approved two new assistant principles to join our administrative ranks. One of them is here. I hear the other one is stuck in traffic, so hopefully she'll

127be here soon. Um but I want to take the a moment here to introduce though she's not a unfamiliar face to Hamilton, uh Rebecca Becca, who will be the new assistant principal at Highland. So Becca, if you want to say a few words. nervous. We don't know what I'll say. Um, good evening, members of the board. Sorry, guys. That's all right. I won't start over. Do you want me to start over or can I just keep going? Okay. Good evening, President Matthews, members of the board, Superintendent Blevens, and everyone in attendance. I am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the assistant principal at Highland Elementary. Hamilton City Schools has been my home for over 20 years. I would not be standing here today without the support, the guidance, and leadership of

128so many incredible mentors throughout the journey. Looking ahead, I am thrilled to join the Highland Elementary team and work alongside Miss Ellie Lawson. I know that together with our outstanding staff and supportive families, we will continue to create an environment where every student can succeed and thrive. Thank you for your trust in me. I'm excited and eager to serve in this role and I look forward to contributing to the ongoing success of our district and most importantly our students. Thank you guys. [Applause] Thank you so much and congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you so much. I do have to share with the board uh last week we were able to uh announce Mrs. where pending board approval in front of the Highland staff one morning and the erupter and roar um of the staff. I I just

129I'm very excited for what you'll do. Um you're a very passionate educator and I just can't wait to see what the two of you do together. So congratulations. Assistant Principal Wear. I just want to say um I have so much respect for the fact that you've been our district for 20 years or 20 plus years I think you said. And to me, it's absolutely wonderful to have someone who wants to be here, wants to stay here, and and to have an opportunity to to uh become an assistant principal. That's I respect that. I just want you to know that. So, congratulations. Yeah. I unfortunately do not see the other candidate here. So, um if they come, I'll I'll interrupt again. And if not, we will schedule another time for them to be introduced. But that

130is Miss Gina Cooper. Okay. Next, we have our consent agenda. Um, and we spoke about those items. Miss Blemma spoke about those items that will be in our consent agenda. Do I have a motion? I'll make I'll make that motion. I'll second. Mr. Fraser, call the role, please. Um, do is it up for agend discussion? Oh, any discussion? Sure. You know what? I apologize. It's I my mistake. Let's go ahead. No worries. Uh, Mr. Fer, you call the role, please. Mr. Davidson. Yes. Dr. Copus. Yes. Mrs. Matthews. Yes. Mr. Sprag. Yes. Thank you. Next on our um agenda, we have our um license agreement. This is one that we tabled um at our last meeting and we brought it back for this. Yeah. Excuse me. Did you forgot me, Mr. Frasier? I believe you did.

131But I say yes, Mrs. Baker. Yes. Thank you. Making sure you're paying attention. Everybody's celebrating today. Well, that is a lot of sorts now. We need we need to go back over his evaluation. Good thing I did that after exec said. So, we have our uh license license agreement and uh we tabled that for this meeting because we want to change add some additional language in that um that Mr. Davidson had brought up and um we decided to make the decision to change that language and so this is a new license agreement that we have. Um I'll uh make a make a motion. I'll make that motion. I'll second. Any further discussion or I had the opportunity. Uh, Mr. Fraser, if you call the role, please. Mrs. Baker, yes. Mr. Davidson, yes. Dr. Copus, yes.

132Mrs. Matthews, yes. Mr. Spre, yes. Thank you. And our finance agenda that we will I will turn it over to you, Mr. Frael. Thank you, President Matthews. Uh, we have quite a few items uh up for approval this evening. Uh we have the normal uh treasurer financial reports for the month of February. Uh we also have a confirming purchase order uh for the Ketering Health Sports Medicine contract. We have a resolution uh certifying the tax rates uh that the budget commission sets forth and this is something that we do this time every year. Um, we have an agreement for NJOTC from the Navy that we've talked u so much about um tonight. They just have an updated agreement that the board needs to pass. And what I'd like to highlight uh on screen is we

133have a whole slew of donations this evening, which I I think is just fantastic. Um, we had a a retired teacher give the district $10,000 for playground equipment. Um, which is unbelievable. We continue to get to be supported uh by the AMVETS uh for the NJOTC program. Uh, we've got $1,500 from the Hamilton Community Foundation. It's it's just amazing uh the the people that continue uh their support of this district and I wanted to highlight that this evening. Uh with that, those are those are my items for this evening. Awesome. Thank you. Um I'll take a motion to accept our agenda. So moved. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Yes. I have a couple comments. Um I agree with Mr. Frasier. Uh Deborah Spencer, former teacher in the district, donates $10,000. That is incredible. Um I

134don't even know what to say. It's wonderful when anyone or any organization supports our district, but and and we have many who do. Uh but my goodness, what a wonderful thing, you know. Um is it possible to maybe recognize her somehow for that? Because to me, that's incredible. Yeah, absolutely. I could invite her um in to a future meeting. Well, unless the board is somehow opposed to that, I just think we need to recognize her because that's exceptional in my opinion. And I also want to point out, as Mr. Frasier indicated, Ambit's Post 1983 here in Hamilton, which I'm a proud member of, and correct me if I'm wrong, but over the past several years, they have literally donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to our ROJ or JOTC program. And um that's incredible that

135level of support. So and and I when I am there I I talk to the commander occasionally and I always thank him for that and just hope that they continue to do that because that's that again that's incredible. Also that is I I wanted to ask um on the community foundation. And I know it's not up here, but the $1,500 that was in a scholarship in regard to Linda Schnipper, who was a teacher at Wilson. Uh, for those of that era, um, she was very beloved over at Wilson. She did a lot of really good things over there. And, uh, she passed away, I want to say late 1990s in that era. So, um, I think it's really neat that that memory is kept alive through that that type of thing. It is. Jeremy, I

136I do want to go back to the your bigger financial report. I warned you I was going to do this. So, um uh currently we are in deficit spending as I understand it for this year. Um that's correct. And I don't believe it's our fault as much as uh some of the other things going on at the state level. Uh we talked a little bit about that. Do you want to fill that some of those blanks in about especially about how property taxes and state taxes for our community offset each other? Sure. Um so this year uh we are currently running a deficit. Um there is the possibility of getting a Medicaid reimbursement. Uh sometimes that comes in May, sometimes that comes in June, sometimes that's July or August. It's it's Medicare. So we we

137don't necessarily put that in the current year forecast. So while it says it's going to be a deficit, if we get that in a timely fashion, it we may wash out pretty close to even on this year. Um next year's a whole different story. Um and what Lauren and I talked about this afternoon is everybody knows property taxes are going up. Um we we see that when we get our property tax bills, especially the last couple years. Uh and what does that mean for the school district? So the school district does get increase dollars from the local citizens, the property tax dollars coming in. But what does the state do with that? So most of our money, 75% of our revenue that comes into the general fund is from the state foundation. So that's money

138we get from the state that comes from everybody's uh income taxes. It's income tax season. It's uh comes from sales tax. All those dollars come to the state to the state at the at the state level and they disperse those monies through at least to schools through the fair school funding formula. And the fair school funding formula says the more dollars that you bring in locally, the less dollars you need from the state. So what does that mean? That means we're getting more dollars from the local property tax people, our citizens, and we're getting less from the state. So our revenue line over the long term looks very flat. And we all know, everybody knows ex expenses are are increasing. Things things are not as cheap as they were last year, the year before, two

139years ago. And we have, you know, we have things that are under our control and some things that are not under our control. We have negotiated agreements that that we have to keep pace with and salaries and utilities and all those types of things that they just don't go down. So it it puts us in a bind when your revenues are in a a flat situation and your expenses are going up. Does that cover? Quick quick question. Yeah. Statewide property taxes have gone up. So every district is generating more on a local level. If there's a pot of money that's put into the fair school funding. Yes. So, shouldn't it equal out since everybody else is that our dollar should stay the same? Over over the past several years, the legislature has made changes to

140who is responsible for funding the school districts and the things that they have passed tend to put that burden more on the local taxpayer and less on the state. Um, so while they're, you know, there is a certain pot of money, some of that comes to public education. Now, we have ed choice, which maybe you're alluding to. Um, and you're right, there's, there's only one pie, and we get a certain piece of it, and like I said, what they've been doing and the thing the policies and laws that they've enacted the last several years, um, the burden is going more on the local taxpayer. So it's it's you know schools are feeling that there's there's over 400 schools uh school districts that are on uh the 20 mil floor for example which the 20 mil

141floor is a it it's a term uh for real estate taxes. It basically means that the local population is funding the school district at the bare minimum that the law will allow. Now we are on the the 20 mil floor. Um, so there there's some legislation that's that's going through now that could possibly affect that. Um, we don't necessarily know to what extent. Um, but if if the 20 mil floor gets monkeyed with, we we will be affected. That that's that's, you know, and that's separate language from what's going on in the budget bill. to Jeremy to that point do we need to start advocating at the state level on So we have already started um kind of doing that Katie I sent Katie an email with um some templates for teachers to blast to

142legislators um Andrea and I have talked about uh putting together some some talking pieces in those types of of things because right now is when is the time to reach out. Uh the substitute bill is supposed to be coming April 1stish. Um and so now is the time while that's fresh in their minds. Well, especially I mean my wife will say I'm she's tired of hearing about ed choice, but again there's over a billion dollars going out from the state away from public education that is certainly having an effect upon us. But I know it's over it's 1.3 or something like that is what I remember. Yeah. La last figure I saw was one two but that was that's been a while. So who knows what it is now. You know and to that point

143I've always said this I I don't have a problem with families or parents being able to make a choice but then we've all got to be on the same level playing field. In other words expectations that go to the private schools should be the same as what's on the public schools. and we have to pick up an awful lot of cockt that that is doesn't put private and public on the same level from a perspective of dollars. So, thanks Jeremy. Yep. Absolutely. Uh and so any more questions? We have a a motion and a second. You call the role, please. Mrs. Matthews? Yes. Mr. Sprag? Yes. Mrs. Baker? Yes. Mr. Davidson? Yes. Dr. Copus? Yes. Thank you. Um, our next meeting will be on uh Thursday, April 10th here at here on Dayton Street. I'll

144um take a motion for us to adjourn. So moved. Second. Uh, Mr. Frager. Mr. Sprag. Yes. Mrs. Baker. Yes. Mr. Davidson. Yes. Dr. Copus. Yes. Mrs. Matthews. Yes.