001City School District Board of Education meeting for November 20th, 2025 being held at Central Elementary. Central Elementary is in fact where I went to elementary school when I was a elementary student here in Fairfield. So, welcome. Mr. uh Phyllis, please call the order. Mr. Begley here. Mrs. Bing Miller, present. Mr. Clark, present. Mrs. Gundram, here. Mr. Napier, here. Mr. Napier, can you lead us in the pledge of allegiance, please? Absolutely. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Mr. Napier. Mr. Smith, do we have any uh presentations tonight? We do. We have two presentations scheduled this evening and the first one is a school spotlight on Central Elementary. This time I
002will turn it over to our principal at Central, Mrs. Carrie Gallup. All right. Good evening to all members of the board and everyone who has joined us tonight. I appreciate the chance to share some of the wonderful work that happens here at Central Elementary. First, I'm proud to share and highlight the work of Mrs. Hetrik. She's our fifth grade language arts teacher who recently guided her students through an exceptional projectbased learning experience. After comparing and contrasting two different novels centered around characters who created positive change, her students were inspired to move beyond the pages of those books. And they chose to take their learning to the next level, shifting from reading about change to actually making change. Through Miss Hetrick's leadership, students engaged in authentic inquiry, collaboration, and real world problem solving, demonstrating both academic
003growth and a deep commitment to our community and the impact that we can have. This project was a powerful example of how meaningful literature and purposeful teaching can empower students to become thoughtful and compassionate change makers. Hi, we're excited to share our story with you today. We want to show you how our fifth graders are overcoming challenges every day like language barriers, food, and clothing insecurity. Even though our students face hard things, they come to school ready to learn and help each other. Together, we've made a big difference. Hi, I'm Gabby Collins and I wanted to thank you all for coming out here tonight. food and clothing. Hola, me is Angelie. Hi, I'm Aaria Thomas and I help with the calling and security poster. Namaste. Imagine you're a child sitting in a classroom and the
004people who just introduced themselves were your teachers. If I were to ask you which what each of these students said, the chances of the chances of you being able to share what you heard is very unlikely because many of us lack the ability to speak multiple languages. This is a reality for majority of our students here at Central Elementary who navigate each school day while learning in a language that's not their first. On top of the language barriers some of our students face, we also have a lot of students who face clothing and food insecurity. Our students remind us daily of the diverse and beautiful lives we could live. Hello, my name is Ashley Hetrich and I teach fifth grade reading here at Central Elementary. At Central, we all share a common belief that our
005greatest value lies in our students, empowering them to challenge themsel and use their voice for good. Our school is home to a beautifully diverse community of learners. Every classroom tells a different story. Stories of different cultures, families, and experiences that make our learning truly powerful. One of my biggest goals is to help my students connect their learning to their real life. To understand not just what they're learning, but why it matters and the power they hold to make the difference. This year, these students have been dedicating themselves to a project focused on improving our community. They've brainstormed ways to create real change. Today, you'll hear from three groups of students who've worked together to make that change. They found meaningful ways to connect their topics, demonstrating what our school is truly made of. They've discovered
006how to honor themselves, their classmates, and the teachers who guide them every day. With that said, let's let these students teach us what makes Central so important and why these incredible young people who fill our schools will become the leaders we look to in the future. At Central, we honor our diverse community. Our different cultures, languages, and backgrounds make us stronger. We overcome challenges. We keep trying, help each other, and never give up. And we celebrate our school family. We support one another and make sure everyone belongs. We started this project by reading two books, Fish in a Tree and Maniac McGee. Both books talk about kids who face big challenges but never give up. We thought about about how the characters in the book had to solve problems and we decided to do the
007same in our community. We worked in groups to find problems in our school and community and came up with ways we could help. What started as a class project grew into something bigger because students from different groups started working together. We learned that many students at our school face tough challenges. We found of that 70% of students don't have enough snuff clothes to wear compared to ju just two out of five kids in the country. 90% of students don't always have enough food to eat which is way higher than most schools in the US. Many students also struggle with speaking English, so they need extra help. These numbers might sound really big, but they don't make us weaker. In fact, they make us stronger because we support each other and help out where we can.
008Even though we face these problems, our students are strong. We show up to school ready to learn and help help each other. Our school is special because we don't let these challenges stop us. We find ways to solve them like organizing drives or helping each other every day. We are not defined by our barriers but defined by our strength and empathy. We wanted to make a real difference. So we organized a clothing and food drive to help families who need extra support. We also surveyed students to learn what people need and mo most and we interview staff to understand how the school could help. Then we wrote letters to local businesses asking them to support our school and help our families. We even made posters in different languages so that everyone feels included no matter
009where they come from. At our school, we want everyone to feel like they belong. We make sure to create posters in different languages so that students who speak other languages can understand the message or feel and feel feel included. It's really it's really important to us that no one feels left out no matter what language they speak or where they come from. When we don't talk about these barriers, students might feel uncomfortable, get behind in class, or lose confidence. But when we help each other and recognize these challenges, we can all be successful. Supporting each other helps everyone feel better. It makes us confident, ready to learn, and ready to help someone else. growing our project. We hope to see how important it is for us to have support and we keep asking you to
010help us. The more we have, the more we can do and also spreading the word about our project so even more people can get involved. Together we can make sure every student has a chance to do their best. Whether it's with food, clothes, language help, or just feeling like they belong. Let's all continue to build kindness in our community so everyone feels supported. What makes Central so special is the way we work together. We're not just classmates, we're a community. We care about each other and we help each other out. It's really important to to us that no one feels left out no matter what language they speak or where they come from. Thank you for listening and supporting our school. We can't wait to keep working together to make our school an even better
011place for everyone. We are Central. Confucious said, "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Our students understand what it's like to notice the needs of others and they recognize their roles of future leaders in our community. It's up to them to embrace the power of knowledge and use it to make meaningful lasting change in our world. Thank you. Board member comments. That's very impressive. I'm I'm really impressed with the the way they know two languages. I barely know one. There's three. It's it's great to see our youth doing this. Yeah, this is an amazing uh amazing presentation, amazing group of students. I'm I'm so proud of all of you um for taking the initiative to to not only um you know um take what you read to
012heart, but then to put it into action. That is so awesome, especially at your young ages. I I can't wait to see how bright your futures are going to be. So, thank you for sharing this with us. I'm very proud of all of you that that just to stand up there is something. But to to go forth with the leadership that you've done throughout those numbers and I heard school, family, not just classmates, we're community, they don't make us weaker, they make us stronger because we work together. And you wrote the local businesses for help. Kudos to you. That is so impressive. And and just proud. Can't even uh really define how I feel about you all. I'm very I am very proud of you. Very excited for your future and unfortunate that you have
013to report on this, but the reality is what it is and that's that's sad and unfortunate, but um just so happy and proud proud of each and every one of you. Yeah. Hold on. Um I am beyond impressed. Uh it was so impactful for you to each speak in your native tongue. Um for us to like have that impactful message to us. Um and although it's so cool to hear that, it it just puts in perspective the hardship that you guys go through every day in the classroom by trying to learn English when it's not the the tongue that you have grown up with your whole life. Um, it's so impressive that you guys took adversity and diversity instead of letting that crumble and make you guys fall apart. You guys built a community and
014came together to work together to make each other stronger. And that's so cool. And I hope that you guys continue to do that for our entire community because we as a community will only become better because of people like you. Um, so thank you so much for doing such great things with our community and coming together to support each other because we all need to take care of each other in times like these. Yeah. Can I say one more thing? Sure. Abby, you're created for something and something very special. And I hope I get like Mr. Smith sometimes. I get emotional. I hope that some of you are up here in in in 10, 15, 20 years to support what you're doing now. That is my hope for you. Great job. Great job. As usual,
015my uh fellow board members have said it all. And uh really I I caught not just classmates but community defined by our strength and empathy right um 90% may uh may deal with food insecurity that those are amazing statistics that you are overcoming and as as they all said we're just so proud of you and happy to have you here tonight. You all did an amazing job. But Gabby, I have you gone through Toast Masters or something? You're amazing speaker up there. Wonderful. Really, amazing job all of you. And thank you for being here tonight. Let's give him one more round of applause. Uh last thing, um none of us recognized because we were in just such all of your students. Thank you, Miss Hedrickk, for bringing them here and giving them this opportunity to
016build this project. Yeah. Now, some of the the the boards back there, can can someone elaborate if you maybe created one of those, can you tell us a little bit about what is on that board or what what's the what's the reasoning for them being here besides elaborate on what you're talking about? But good. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Because it looks like you guys put a lot of work into that. So my post sober through December. And then we have this one and it says the reason um why we're doing this and this one says the address and um so her home language is Arabic and she was kind enough to bring an alphabet book in and try her best to educate me on the things that she brings with her from home. So I also
017very very special. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, good job. So, I made this one and this one. Um, this is the original one, the English one that inspired all of these right here. And this one is the Spanish one since we want all our students to feel included. So it's mostly like Telen said um the title 70% of students and a lot of facts and that's really it. Um, so me and Priscilla made the Nepali one and we just wanted all of our Nepali friends to be included include the food drive. And we also wrote in our native languages different types of percentages like like this one says 90% of the kids don't have enough food. And this one also, this one says 75% of the kids in our school don't have enough clothes. And that's
018it. Thank you for elaborating. Was there one more? I think that one on the end maybe. our posters is is called finding our voice because it's about a book like because there was a girl like she couldn't like understand like what other people were saying. So we did like all the countries so we can represent like we did Germany um our our yeah waterm and we we need United States and we have facts about our facts about our country. Don't you say the end. and they're the ones who spearheaded our food drive. So, you can see all the food that they were able to bring in that we're going to be able to donate um to a local food pantry as well. So, they were able to share that today and as of right now,
019they have collected 600 items of food. Um and that doesn't count the many many bags of clothes I have in my room right now. So hopefully we are able to give back before the holiday season. That's awesome. Students, great job. Miss Hedrickk, great job. Miss Gallow, great job as well. But it all goes to the students. Thank you so much for what you do. And thanks for sharing your your artwork, your creativity, and your focus and passion for doing this. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. So, I know it's a school night, but if I could encourage you to stay for one more presentation and then when we get on with the boring business of schoolboard stuff, you're certainly welcome to leave at that point. Okay. All right, Mr. Smith. Boring, huh? little stool. A little bit
020more exciting. I I short sold it, didn't I? There you go. Good. All right, Bob, can you Are we zoomed in? Is it Are we good? All right. Would you uh if you can you lock it into place and would you mind stepping over here and joining me? So for those of you especially our guests that may not know this is Bob Link and uh he is retiring. He has one board meeting left in December and this evening we are honoring him with a key to the district and so I am going to read this pro proclamation in honor of Mr. Bob Link. Whereas Bob Link, co-founder of Advanced Video Data Services with his wife Sandy, has dedicated nearly four decades to faithfully documenting the history, progress, and people of the Fairfield City School District
021through his exceptional work in video production and community storytelling. And whereas in July 1988, Bob filmed his very first Fairfield Board of Education meeting, beginning a legacy that continues to this day. Whereas, as the business grew, Bob's children, Kim, Katie, and Chris, all proud Fairfield graduates, joined in the effort, helping with projects, recording meetings, and further strengthening the Link family's deep connection to the Fairfield community, with Chris notably covering meetings, and Bob's absence, and producing additional video work for the district. Whereas Bob Link is known throughout Fairfield for his kind and gentle personality, his friendly professionalism, and his unwavering integrity. Qualities that have earned him the respect, admiration, and trust of staff, students, and community members alike. Whereas Bob's steadfast dedication has ensured that countless moments, milestones, and memories within the Fairfield City School District
022have been preserved with accuracy, care, and heart, creating an invaluable archive that will serve generations to come. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the Fairfield City School District with profound gratitude and great respect hereby presents Bob Link with a key to the district, honoring his outstanding service, celebrating his lifelong connection to Fairfield and recognizing him as an enduring and cherished part of our district's history this 20th day of November, 2025. What is that? So what I have says it's mine. I knew you'd all want to be a part a part of that. Uh Mr. Mr. Link's been an integral part of what we do up here for years and years and years and has shown the same dedication to service that uh uh that is required of any uh board member up here. And uh
023we just very much appreciate it and thank him and I think we surprised him tonight which is a good thing. So uh thank you Bob for all you do. I'm sure it's been a labor of love and we certainly appreciate it. Thank you. All right, great. Uh, thank you for staying. You can now be excused if you'd like or you can see our exciting board meeting. Yeah. And they're leaving. Great job, students. There's only 10 pages, right? A lot of the elementary, they don't want to talk once they're done. They did a really good job. Nice. Well, and what they very well spoke. I like it. I need the court hot dog. Skin in the game. Everybody needs one. Yeah. I'm off the top. They call him cheese. I don't know the way I talk.
024That was really cool. Yeah. Better than not. I'm going to get one and I'm going to name it Brian. So, he's always with us. Oh, was it going to be a hot dog? Hot dog. What Bill Rice says, he said, "Don't be speaking Japanese to me. Yeah, we What's the dog's name? Bear. Barely, right? There's no doubt. I mean, you got to be pretty chilled to be in a school, you know. Yes. Kids claming all over you. Yes. Take some doggy downers. Let's go trying to get through to Yeah, but the district really as a whole, it's unreal. Okay, moving on with the board meeting. Next up is communication. We have no one to speak tonight, so we move on to superintendent's recommendations and reports. Mr. Smith. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Begley. At this time,
025Mr. Hustle will be covering the items listed under personnel professional and personnel support. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Mr. Begley, members of the board, I have two items for your consideration this evening. Under personnel professional, number one, resignations, letters A through C. Number two, employment letter A. That concludes all the items I have for your consideration under personnel professional. Thank you, Mr. Hust. I'll entertain a motion to accept these. Uh, I'll make a motion. There's a motion. Second. Second, Mr. Navier and Mrs. Birding Miller. Mr. Phillips, call the role, please. Mr. Napier, here. Mrs. Bing Miller, yes. Mr. Begley, yes. Mr. Clark, yes. Miss Gundam, yes. Sorry, Mr. Begley. Members of the board, I have four items for your consideration this evening under personnel support. Number one, resignations, letters A through C. Number two, unpaid leave
026of absence, letters A through E. Number three, employment, letters A through D. Number four, support substitutes 2025 2026. That concludes all the items I have for your consideration under personnel support. Thank you, Mr. House. I'll I'll accept a motion uh to uh for these recommendations. So moved. Second. Thank you, Mrs. Gundram and Mr. Napier. Mr. Phillips, call the role, please. Mrs. Gundram, yes. Mr. Napier, yes. Mr. Begley, yes. Mrs. Burning Miller, yes. Mr. Clark, yes. Mr. Mr. Begley, members of the board, we do have four items for board discussion this evening. Our first item is in regard to some board policies. At this time, I'll turn it over to Mrs. Hower. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Mr. Begley, and members of the board, as promised, I have the remainder of the OSBA recently released policy updates
027due to House Bill 96 for discussion this evening. Hopefully, this isn't the part that Mr. Begley was saying was boring, but no, of course not. I'll try and be be brief here. So after tonight, I do anticipate giving you a small break from policy review. But I will say I was just told in a training that I was in with OSBA that this is an unprecedented time for them in regards to the number of educational policies that are being impacted by legislative changes. So no promises. I will probably be back with more. Um but let's go ahead and get started here. Letter A, policy IG, co-curricular and extracurricular activities. and letter B, policy IG DJ, intercolastic athletics. Both of these are revised to include a new provision requiring districts to allow non-resident homeschooled students who
028have been verified as victims of harassment or bullying to participate in our intercolastic athletics and extracurricular activities. Letter C, policy DJC, bidding requirements, revised to reflect which contracts now require competitive bidding under revised code along with some edits to clarify the individual involved in the bidding process. Letter D, policy FEF, construction contracts bidding and awards. These are these reflect the revised bid guarantee options which now allow a new electronic verification option for bids. Letter E, policy JHG, reporting child abuse and mandatory training. This is updated to reflect the changes to inservice training provisions, eliminating the language that the child sexual abuse education training must be presented by a law enforcement officer. We'll continue using public schoolworks for this training and we know that that will meet the legal requirement. Letter F, policy DLC, expense reimbursements,
029updated to reflect new guidance from the Ohio Ethics Commission, which now say that Ohio public officials are permitted to benefit from frequent flyer miles, credit card rewards, hotel points, or other rewards earned. Where this impacts us most is Kroger rewards points. Not we don't really have a lot of flights where frequent flyer miles would be included but teacher you a member of our staff would be able to use their Kroger plus card and have the benefits of that Kroger plus card. Um so then letters I'm going to kind of bulk these together because they're all um they all go together. Letters G through L policy revisions are due to Ohio administrative code OAC provisions for gifted students and student transportation. Letter G, policy IGBB, programs for gifted and talented students updates is updated to reflect
030new gifted roles which clarify identification practices. They strengthen training requirements for teachers who provide gifted services and require districts to maintain an updated acceleration policy. Then letter H, policy EA, student transportation services. I, policy EAC, drug testing for district personnel required to hold a commercial driver's license. J policy E A D non-rine use of a school bus school buses or mo and motor vans letter K policy GBQ criminal records check and letter L policy EAC school bus safety program are all updated to meet OAC provisions regarding transportation rules streamline some definitions and expand the permitted use of alternative vehicles and rein reinforce the safety procedures and driver trainings that are required and last but not least policy IG GA AE health education is upate updated to say that we will comply with any parental opt
031out or opt-in provisions required not only by state law but now also by federal law which is no change in our current practices but it's just noting that we will not only follow the state law in regards to opting in or out but also the federal law. So pending any questions that you would have about these you will be asked to approve these policies at the December 11th meeting. Great. Thank you. All right. Our next item uh for discussion is in regard to some upcoming capital projects across the district. At this time, I'll turn it over to Mr. Perry. Thank you, Mr. Smith, Mr. Begley, members of the board. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss the proposed capital projects for the 2526 school year that we have identified to date. We have
032received pricing and intend to request board approval at the December 11th meeting. The first items are the HVAC controls for Crossroads and South Elementary. Replacing and/or upgrading these two schools will complete the district's district-wide program to update the one system. We continue to track our savings through these upgrades and are excited to capture the last two buildings. I will request that the board approve the pricing for both schools, but South will be scheduled and paid for in next year's budget, but this will allow us to lock in 2025 pricing. The second is roofing repairs and/or replacement at North Elementary. As we continue through our short-term and long-term roofing plan, North has made it to the top of the list of needs. Three primary areas will be replaced, plus many identified smaller areas to be repaired.
033The third item is the renovation to the Fairfield Senior High School tennis courts. This project is extensive and includes the grinding down of the current blacktop, underllayment repairs, resurfacing, new fencing, and increased drainage around the sides and below the tennis courts themselves. This project is indepth but is definitely a long-term solution. The last project to report is the upgrade to the radio communication antenna and all radios for our transportation department. This upgrade will move the transportation department from a low analog frequency to a digital format. Recently, we have identified some intermittent issues that we would like to be resolved. All of these projects have been included in our current budget and is reflected in the five-year financial forecast. Our goal is to secure pricing and allow sufficient time to schedule the work so it can
034be completed without disrupting the instructional calendar. I'm at this time I can answer any questions and appreciate your support. Questions, concerns? Um I don't have any questions or concerns, but I appreciate you looking through these. Um, I actually had had a conversation with our tennis coach at one point where I believe we were hosting an an international or inter meet at one point. Um, but they weren't able to do it this year and he was pretty upset that we weren't able to just because of the state of our tennis courts and so I'm happy to see that we're going to be able to better the improvement for our students to be able to go back to good great positions. Yeah, absolutely. Um, this has been in collaboration with Mr. Blankinship. So, we've been talking about
035it for about a year, but it's definitely something that needs needs our immediate attention. Thank you. All right. Our next item for discussion is in regard to a professional development session for our board of education. In the past, uh when we have welcomed new board members, we have scheduled a professional development session with the Ohio School Boards Association. Uh we've been fortunate over the years to have the same facilitator, Terry Morgan, join us. And the good news is that she will once again uh be our facilitator pending board approval this evening. Uh you are being asked to approve that training session scheduled for December 18th. In addition to sitting board members, we will ask our two incoming board members who are uh with us this evening to join us as guests. As guests, they will
036be able to participate as the meeting is open to the public. Any questions about that? I'm glad Terry's coming back. Yeah. Yeah. Uh I ran into her at the conference and she was very excited to uh hear that we were inviting her back. Yeah. Yeah. We're equally excited. Definitely. All right. Our last uh item for discussion this evening is really just to uh make an announcement about a few upcoming engagement community engagement sessions that we are hosting. The title of these sessions is FCS finances the road ahead. Uh two sessions will be held. They will be identical to each other. The first one will be on Tuesday, December 2nd from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Fairfield East Elementary. Second session will be held on Monday, December 8th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Crossroads Middle
037School. Purpose of these sessions is to educate, inform, and solicit feedback regarding the current and future financial status of the Fairfield City Schools. In the very near future, our district will have to make some important decisions, and we'd like to engage our community as we move forward in this process. And again, everyone is invited and encouraged to attend. Any questions about that? All right. Then moving on to uh letter D, other items for board action. I do have three items for your consideration this evening. Under letter D, other items for board action. Number one, recommend approval of the following board policies, letters A through P. Number two, recommend approval of a special board meeting on December 18th, 2025 beginning at 5:30 p.m. instead of the regular 6:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Administration Building Conference Room
038A for the purpose of board professional development. And number three, recommend approval of the 2026 27, 2027-28, and 2028, 2022 school calendars. That concludes the recommendations that I have for your consideration this evening. Thank you, Mr. Smith. On retain a motion to accept these recommendations. So moved. Second. Mrs. Birding Miller and Mr. Clark. Mr. Phillips. Call the role, please. Mrs. Bing Miller. Yes. Mr. Clark. Yes. Mrs. Gundram. Yes. Mr. Napier. Yes. Mr. Begley. Yes. We'll move on then to treasures recommendations and reports. Mr. Phillips. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Begley and members of the board of education uh have several recommendations this evening. Uh, first I would like to recommend approval of the minutes for the October 16th, 2025 regular meeting and the November 6th, 2025 work session meeting. Uh, letter B, recommend approval of the
039financial reports submitted for the month of October 2025. Uh, letter C, recommend approval of the FY26 amended appropriations resolution. Letter D, recommend approval of the following donations uh, listed below. Would you like me to to say those for the record? Uh yes, please. Okay. Uh first, a donation of materials and supplies valued at $6810 from Nancy and Steve Renick for Fairfield High School Hope Squad to use to spread positive messages about mental health. Uh a donation of $150 from Advantage Care Chiropractic to use towards Creekide Middle School's student growth and incentives and a donation of $3,700 from the book bus for Fairfield East Elementary students to use at the book fair. Total donations uh so far for 2025 are $17,57.19. Then I recommend letter E, approval of the disposal of the following fixed assets which
040span the next four in some odd pages. And that would be the end of my recommendations. Great. Thank you, Mr. Phillips. Entertain a motion to accept these recommendations. I make a motion. Second, Mr. Napier, Mrs. Gundram. No discussion. Mr. Phillips, please call the role. Mr. Napier, yes. Mrs. Gundram, yes. Mr. Begley, yes. Mrs. Bernie Miller, yes. Mr. Clark, yes. Thank you. Committee reports, legislative update. Mrs. Gundram. Uh there has been a lot of activity around property tax reform in the last couple days and I think some of it was still going on today. though I don't really have like anything completely up to date, but from uh what I have read um the according to the Dayton Daily News, the House uh last night um concurred with several changes that the the state senate made,
041including increasing the 2 and a.5% owner occupied tax roll back to like 15 something% for the next four years. Um, then there is also they said House Bill 129 revises the school funding formula calculation and they're estimating that that's going to cost public school districts about $600 million. Um, like we need any less to work with, you know. So, um, House Bill 186 caps tax increases in the 20 mil floor. um school districts to be with consistent with the rate of inflation. And then it off also offers um tax credit to homeowners who ended up paying windfalls after their values were adjusted. And then there's uh House Bill 335 limits inside millage increases for all taxing bodies to the rate of inflation which also has an estimated revenue loss of like 600 to 700 million.
042And then House Bill 309 gives local budget commissions more power to rein in unnecessary spending. So, um, the the Dayton Daily News made a point to say that a lot of these things were passed before and Governor Dwine vetoed them, but when I guess when his office was contacted, they said, "Well, at least school districts have had a chance to have their say, so they know it's coming if it comes." It's like, okay, that doesn't really it doesn't really um inspire a lot of confidence that they might get vetoed again. So, we'll see what happens. Yes, thank you, Mrs. Gundrum. And that was um a large point of topic at Butler Tech on Tuesday night. And this flurry of activity happening here late in the session before they break for really what amounts to the
043rest of the year forcing all the legislation to start over fresh in the new uh in the new calendar year. So, a lot of this might have passed today as you mentioned. Mhm. And a lot of it would be uh damaging to the district, especially that last one you mentioned. And and I'm not sure why they would do that, but that that bill would allow county commissioners in each county to then decide whether or not a levy, let's say, as it relates to the school district that that the voters of that county of that district have passed, whether or not they'll actually enforce it. Yeah, that that's very I didn't get a a chance to delve too far into that just because I was trying to keep up with the flurry of activity. There has
044been some criticism I've read from some of the lawmakers saying that they felt a lot of this was just rushed through at the last minute and not perhaps not given the amount of thought that it should have been given. But, you know, hopefully hopefully things work out. So, it's all I can say at this point. We can just hope, I guess, for now. Yeah. And then see what what has to be changed later. Really really scary stuff. Okay. So, uh the rest of my Butler Tech report would be the fact that Amhub will be opening soon uh in in early February and there's going to be tours for the board members from all of the different uh different districts to come in and see it. So, uh I think that open house is on 22
045and then districts uh tours to shortly follow after that. I've left each board member a copy of uh some literature uh a marketing piece that's out now for the two-year high school program. Right. So, they do have a three-year uh sophomorebased academy, but that is extremely difficult to get into. So, most students apply for and are accepted in a two-year program. Uh and uh and this is some brochures that will go out to all the schools to share that information. Uh and then here recently uh they have about 50 students that are currently signed up for the AMHUB. That's the advanced manufacturing hub. uh and and they had a chance to come to the Amhub, tour the facilities, meet 30 business partners that will be working with them, supplying equipment, supplying really course materials for
046them as they learn uh firsthand uh what those companies do and uh to best prepare them for the workforce and a number of emerging industries. So exciting times. It's pretty cool. Yeah, it is. It is uh that is my report for Butler Tech student achievement. Mrs. Bing Miller, as always, this is a very hard topic to just pick one of our students. Um because our students are doing amazing things as we learn every day and every week coming here and learning about all these wonderful elementary students who are doing such great things for our community. Um but I did pick just one. It was hard. Um, I was originally going to recognize some of our um, high school students who were um, getting inducted to the National Honor Society. Uh, but instead I'm going to
047pivot and I would like to um, give a shout out to Mia Hamilton. And Mia Hamilton won an award from the Purple Monkey Project. and she didn't win this award for, you know, being the smartest in our class, which apparently she's very smart, but she won the award because of her kindness and joy and spirit that she had because they wanted to recognize it um because they feel like that embodies what Regan was as um a person. And so, I just want to give a huge shout out to Mia who won a $50 certificate and had a whole great ceremony. So, great job, Mia. Congratulations. Welld deserved. Thank you. Next up is parks and recreation. Mr. Clark, I always think I had the fun one until I hear you give all those accolades and I
048have to follow that. Since it is the most wonderful time of the year, as some may say, right, Mr. Smith? Exactly. If you have not yet visited the uh Village Green uh area or the community arts center, CAC, uh there's about 16 Christmas trees in that facility that you should go see. They're beautiful, decorated very nicely, and you can vote on the the best tree out of those 16. So, go check that out. And then, uh Parade of Lights is coming up on November 22nd. Uh, and there's some preliminary events this year. Um, from 5:00 to 6:30, uh, there's from the Raptor Incorporated company. They're bringing Birds of Prey. Mr. Hustle, what do you think about that? Birds and Prey. No, no goat yoga, but Birds of Prey. Yeah. Um, they're going to show those
049uh those raptors and other cool birds uh in the amphitheater amphitheater area from 5 to 6:30. Easy to say. And then at 6, um, this ought to be interesting because it's on stage at 6, the Fairfield Stars dancing team will perform. So I hope the Birds of Prey and the dancing team don't get get crossed cuz they're in the same time frame there. And then the um Pray to Lights is that night that night as well. So if you've never been a part of or never witnessed or saw watched uh the Pray to Lights, it is a really really good event. This is number seven and it gets bigger, brighter, and better every single year. So it does. That's my report, Mr. President. Great. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Anything from planning commission, Mr. Smith? Uh,
050planning commission met on November 12th. However, no topics relevant to the district were discussed. Thank you. Announcements. November 24th, ex uh conference exchange day, no school. That's really the beginning of uh Thanksgiving break, which will run from November 25th through the 28th. Then on December 1st, school resumes. December 2nd, Mr. Smith mentioned the first community engagement event to be held at uh Fairfield East Elementary in the cafeteria from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. And then on December 8th, the second community engagement event from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Crossroads Middle School. December 11th, the farewell reception for Mrs. Gundam and myself from 5:30 to 6:15 at Fairfield North Elementary School before our regularly scheduled board meeting at 6:30 again at Fairfield North Elementary School. December 18th, a special board meeting, again mentioned already, for the purpose
051of uh uh professional board development, board professional development with OSBA uh facilitating uh the uh the meeting. December 22nd, conference exchange day. Again, no school. And this leads us into winter break starting on December 23rd. Then on January 5th, school resumes after winter break. There we are talking about 2026 already. Uh uh January 7th is the end of the first semester, grades 9 through 12 in the end of the second quarter for grades K through eight. And then on January 8th, we'll have service inservice day number four. Again, no students. And then on January 8th will be the board of education organizational meeting back at the Katherine D. Milligan room at 6:30. Board member comments. Mr. Navier. Yeah, thank everyone up there for all the hard work they do. I think what impressed me the
052most with the students today was they were anxious to talk about what they had on the boards over there. Normally that age of students, they don't want to talk to people. They're very quiet and they were all excited to explain everything to us. So, we thank Mrs. Gallow and the way she's running this school. Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Mrs. Gundram. Um, I also want to thank all the students that were here and express again how proud we are of them. Um, you know, you start getting older and you hear things like kids these days and whatnot. And I'm not worried about these kids at all. They are all amazing kids. Every time we go to one of the elementaryaries and the students uh do a presentation, I'm so impressed with them. And uh, like I
053said, I can't wait to see how bright their futures are. Thank you. Yes, Bertie Miller. I got scared when my computer shut off and I was like, "Oh no, I lost all my notes. I got it back up. We're working. We're good." Um, I want to thank Miss um um Het and Miss Gallow for having us here. Um I'm not even going to attempt some of the names of the students, but pretend like insert the students name here. Um you guys all did such a great job. I I am baffled every time we go to the schools, especially the younger kids who are able to like we said, get up and talk and then not even just from reading from a script, they all got up and talked to us without anything written down to
054tell us about how great their creativity and the great things they're doing. So, thank you so much. Um once again, thanks as always to the administration team for everything you guys do, Miss Howard, the policies and going through every single one of those painstakingly um and working with the OSBA to get those updated every week. and we're hopefully in the home stretch at this point. And so, thank you so much. And Mr. Perry, thank you so much for preparing and getting those ready for um making sure our district is up to code and safe for our students to attend. Um I also want to talk a little bit more. Um I want to give a huge shout out to a lot of our schools. Um I'm not going to list them all. You can go
055see them on Facebook, but we have so many great programs and we um really make sure that we take care of the whole student and that's being recognized with the positive behavior and intervention support programs. We're getting a lot of our schools that are getting gold and silver and bronze awards for that. So, go check it out. Go see all the great stuff that they're doing and see all the schools that were recognized. Um I'm looking right out now. South was recognized for having gold. So like congratulations to the great teachers and the staff there that are doing great work for our students and making sure that we're taking care of them once again as a whole person and not just for education purposes. And lastly, I want to just kind of give an update
056on the conference that I attended. I went to uh the Ohio State board um conference over the weekend and I got to connect with a lot of um board members from all over the state including like our local areas. I sat and talked with uh Ben from Loco Lakota who just got elected as an 18year-old um for their school board um and made some great connections with some local school members. I also made some connections with a national uh federal uh advocacy group called COSBA C O B I'm sorry C O SBA. I don't even remember what those acronyms are for. Um, but the important part is they're fighting for us federally and and knocking on the doors of not only our state but also with our federal senate and Congress. Um, and one of
057their messages was, you know, they're talking about my choice and sending um, kids to private schools being, you know, parents choice. Um, so they have these stickers that are my choice is public school and I choose public school. And I thought those were really powerful messages to take something that's being used against public schools and turning it and spinning it as a positive message for us. So I just want to proudly say I choose public schools and that's why I'm here. Um and you know I hope everybody has a great holiday. Uh I hope everybody eats their fill um and has to roll out of Thanksgiving and unbutton that top button of your pants. Uh and just travel safe if you're traveling and make sure that you're all back here for school starting in December.
058Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Yeah. Um, Mr. Phillips and Mr. Smith, thank you for hosting the the finance uh the road ahead. I know it's important to get facts out there and I encourage the community to go to those so and watch the video presentations that we've given in the past years and Mr. Phillips uh Friday finance uh dollars and cents. It's very important that we understand the full picture uh not just from social media but where the facts actually come from. So, thank you both for putting that on the road for those two. Uh, December 2nd to December 8th, I believe it is correct. Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you for that. Um, and, uh, Miss Gallow and Miss Hetrick and all the students, great job. Uh, again, very proud of those students. It's,
059uh, we got Nepal, we got, um, Hispanic, we got, uh, Arabic. It's, um, it's incredible to see the nations here in our backyard and and how, uh, as Mr. Napier said how um outgoing that they are to to share their story from their from their country. So that's fantastic. Very proud of them. Um Mr. Perry, thank you for the maintenance uh updates and and the upgrades that uh need to be done and as you mentioned that was in the budget. It's been in there. So it's something again that's uh we've counted on. We've we've talked about it. It's been put in the budget. So, thank you for the upgrades and as Miss Bernie Miller stated, it apparently is needed and if we're going to host some events to not only recognize Fairfield, but when we
060do that, there's money that comes into the city from that because it draws other people in. So, it's an investment. So, thank you for that. And, um, Miss Hower, again, you you never cease to amaze me and all of us, I think, on the uh the plethora of policy updates and changes. So, thank you for always being attentive on on those and getting them to us so we can look over them uh prematurely before the meeting and just thank you for what you do because as Mr. Begley said, this is a fun meeting and that is part of the fun is is listening to those changes. So, thank you for that. Policies are fun. Policies are fun and uh yes, h enjoy happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Enjoy the time and I really hope we don't
061have snow, but if we do, enjoy that, too. That's all I got. Thank you, Mr. Clark. Yes. Uh we often hear from our friends in Washington through the media, even our friends in Columbus talk about the need for schools just to educate, just teach them math and reading and writing and then we see something like this tonight, right? And you look at the impact and the empowerment uh the growth in these students, right? I would challenge you to say that's education at its best and how important that is. And and we've asked everyone to have a wonderful Thanksgiving, but think about 90% of these students that suffer from food insecurity. And uh and that's what uh we're up here doing and representing. And I'm just so proud of these students and and district uh excuse
062me, elementaryaries like Fairfield Central and Fairfield Compass and the challenges uh that all our kids face and and this is what they're doing to overcome it and we should all be very very proud of that. Thank you. I'll call for a motion to journ the meeting. Make a motion. Second. Mr. Navier, Mrs. Gundram, Mr. Phillips, call the role. Mr. Navier. Yes. Mrs. Gundram. Yes. Mr. Begley. Yes. Mrs. Bernie Miller. Yes. Mr. Clark. Yes. Thank you. Meeting adjourned. Are you going to make me cry at the rest of the meetings?