Geneva Area City Schools Board Meeting - 10/15/25

001Ski >> here. >> Mrs. Craig >> here. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon >> here. >> Mrs. Ortiz >> and Mr. Pearson >> here. >> Are we in compliance, Madam Treasur? >> We are. >> This meeting is a meeting of the board of education in public for the purpose of conducting the school district's business and is not to be considered a public community meeting. There is a time for public participation during the meeting as indicated in the agenda. If you're able, please stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Do we have any correspondence? >> I do not. >> Any correspondence, Dr. Lombberto? No, not at this

002time. >> Okay. >> All right. I need a motion to wave the reading and approval of the minutes. >> So moved. >> Am I Tony? >> Did I get a second? >> Second. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Syolski, yes. >> Mrs. Craig, yes. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon, yes. >> And Mr. Pearson, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Um, we're going to do some recognition now. I'm very excited. And I'm gonna have Michael King come up and let's make sure this is working and talk about Chase Mastro. Are you here, Chase? >> There he is. >> Please come on up. This is an exciting time. So, please come on up. [Music] >> We don't have like Prices, right? Music or anything. Just come

003on down. We could put in a Oh, we should get like one of those wheels. Ah, I always imagine myself if I did that I would go under somehow. But anyways, so in a minute I'm going to tell you how amazing he is. But the first part about this is he will never tell you any of it. Chase does exactly what's asked. He does it on time. He does it with that little bit of a twin of a smile. just one of the nicest, kindest folks you ever want to meet in your life. And amen. So anyh who, so let's get to the good stuff. Um I'm I have a copy for uh the papers here in just a quick second. Geneva High School is proud to announce that senior Chase Niccastro has been named

004a commended student for the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. This recognition places Chase amongst the top 50,000 students nationwide who achieved the highest scores on the preliminary SAT in the qualifying test. The committed students are recognized for the outstanding academic promise and exceptional performance on this highly competitive exam. Chase's dedication to academic excellence and a strong work ethic reflect the very best of our students here at Geneva High School. We are incredibly proud of his accomplishments and the example he sets for his peers. And again, um, for those of you who have taken the PSAT, it's not fun. It's not something you do just because, um, you have a free Saturday. No. Um, so I give you a ton of credit. You know, obviously I I've seen you in your classes. You do a great

005job there and it translated into an excellent performance on your PSAT. Congratulations, sir. [Music] certific. You want to hold that? >> Take a picture. [Music] >> Congratulations. Congratulations, >> Eric. Did you get one? >> One more for the paper. You guys, can you share? >> Yeah. One more for Eric. >> Can you share it with >> Okay. >> Congratulations. Congratulations. Good job. >> Thank you. [Music] >> I'm going to try it this way. Uh, now I'm going to be talking about the Eagle Team member of the month for October. So, if you weren't here last month, we started a new program where we are honoring our staff, one from each school. Staff does an amazing job. And when I first got here, that's all I kept hearing about is just how special the staff is.

006And they really are. Um, we keep having multiple. We're up to like 58 nominations already. Uh, unfortunately, we can only give one per school per month. And these are the winners. So if you hear your name, please come up. Uh Austin Berg, Cynthia Peek, custodian. Cynthia here. Uh Cindy, in my opinion, is the best employee. She does every task with a smile. Never complains. Isn't 100% for the school. Have you ever seen someone clean up vomit with a smile? That was that was I said this is right from what people said, just so you know. Cindy does because she loves her job. She also helps out in the kitchen as a monitor and the kids adore her. She's a great team player. Austinberg Elementary literally could not run without her. It runs smoothly and cleanly

007thanks to her. So, let's give her another round of applause. And then Cork uh Quesa Estic, teacher, are you here? >> She is at soccer. She did tell me that. We're going to read all the good stuff about her. Quesa creates a classroom environment where students are collaborative for who they are and their needs truly met. Her room is based on co-regulation, acceptance, and building upon their interests and skills. AIDS feel supported by her. Parents deeply trust her. She helps all students in the building by giving them a safe place to be throughout their day. She kindly educates, gives resources, and helps all staff members. She is constantly researching and educating herself. She is our students best advocate and she helps make Cork feel like a team and a family. Congratulations to Quesa. [Music] Uh

008GPS Diane Lambert, secretary. >> She's >> Yay. Come on up. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Diane is organized, efficient, and kind to others in the GPS office. Her daily presence is appreciated and she performs her duties as school secretary and I will tell you she really is a delight every time I come in. So congratulations Diane. [Music] Uh and the middle school uh Courtney Herman are you here? Yes. [Music] Get yours. Congratulations. I'm going to say some great things about you, too. So, please stand right here. So, uh, Miss Herman is very kind and direct and offers extra help to students when they need it. She is very clear of her instruction in her math and career exploration classes. Miss Herman also gives her students opportunities to share examples, work problems while giving polite, constructive criticism. It's

009a pleasure to work with her. So, congratulations, Courtney. And we have Sheena Townsen. Are you here, Sheena? Oh, I didn't think she could make it. But she goes above and beyond her job. This is at the high school. Always willing to help others, goes above and beyond her duties, and is always there for people in the cafeteria. So, congratulations, Sheena. [Music] And uh this is a new employee but but got a lot of props here. So Spencer Gail, our SRO, come on down. [Music] I would like to take this time to recognize our SRO officer, Gail, for his outstanding contribution to Geneva community. In the short time he has been with us, he has quickly built a strong rapport with students and staff alike. Officer Gail is constantly present, approachable, and willing to lend a

010helping hand whenever needed. His professionalism, positive attitude, and genuine care for our school makes him a valued member of our team. He has truly made a positive impact in a very, very short time. Uh so congratulations to him again. [Music] [Applause] Now you guys got to get your So >> congratulations. [Music] I got up and about took you out. Sorry. Okay. All right. All right. It's time for public comments. If anyone has any public comments, now is the time. Come up to the microphone and give your name and address. You have five minutes. Anybody would like to come up and speak, you're welcome to. [Music] My name is Diane Breening. I live at 825 Sherman Street. Um, I live right next to the middle school and I find it rather disconcerting that um, unfortunately the

011the gutters haven't been cleaned out it looks like in years because there's vegetation this high growing out of the gutters. What I've noticed on the north side, I live right next to I see it all the time. And I just, you know, I got this maintenance schedule that you passed out the city council about the um the new stadium that you want to build. And I appreciate you have a maintenance schedule, but what we have now need really needs to be taken care of, too. And I know what happens at my house when I don't clean out the gutters, it'll start to rot. So, I it looks like there hasn't maybe ever been a plan because there must be a lot of sediment in those gutters for there to be that much vegetation growing. So,

012I really hope that you guys, you know, get somebody in there to clean the gutters out at least. Maybe all the schools look like this. I don't know. I only pay attention to what is in my neighborhood. So, I think I think us we taxpayers are owed this because that's our money in the school. And >> could I get Could I get your name again, ma'am? I'm sorry. >> Yeah. Diane. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So that that's just what I wanted to bring to your attention that >> I don't know it just >> we appreciate it. We'll we'll definitely look into it. >> Thank you. >> Appreciate it. Thank you. [Applause] >> Anyone else? All right. Great. Report of the superintendent. >> All right. Yes. So, the superintendent recommends approval of the athletic aquatic center

013use agreement with Spire in regards to the swimming competitions and team practices for the 2526 school year. >> Need a motion, please. >> So, move. >> Second. discussion. >> There any particular changes between what we have been doing before with Spire for swim? >> Uh, no. This is my understanding is the exact same contract as last year. >> The district does not own a swimming pool. Correct. >> That's correct. >> Awesome. >> No one in the county owns a swimming pool. We all use fire. Am I on, Tony? >> Yep. >> No one in the county owns a swimming pool. We all use fire. >> Yeah. Awesome. >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Syalski? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Craig? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Pearson? >> Yes.

014>> Mr. Oh, sorry. >> You're fine. Motion carries. >> Get too excited. >> That's all right. >> I know these are exciting times. The superintendent recommends the board uh that they recognize the indoor track and field 2025 2026 season as presented in the attachment. >> Need a motion please. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> When is indoor track and field season? >> Does anybody know that? >> Winter. It's a winter sport. >> Winter. So it's like >> obviously thank you Mrs. Syalski. >> It runs congruently with like swim and basketball. >> Does it? Okay. Thank you. >> Any other discussion? Roll call. >> Mrs. Craig. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon? Yes. >> Mr. Pearson? >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Syalski? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. >> All right. The superintendent recommends approval

015of the enclosed agreement between Barbara and Hoffman Incorporated and Geneva Area City Schools for the provision of the limited professional services. Um, and during discussion, I do have Benjamin Pintabona here who who will talk on this. >> I need a motion, please. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Okay, discussion. >> Thank you, sir. Good evening. Um, you have a proposal in front of you from Barbara and Hoffman. They are a structural they are an engineering firm. They specialize in structural structural uh work. Uh they're an old firm. I think they're close to 140 years old. They're out of Cleveland and one of their areas of expertise are wood and light gauge metal trusses. So they're perfectly suited to do what it is you need to need them to do. The proposal is for them and

016they have already been up in the uh trust space in this building. have reviewed everything, documented anything that's damaged, uh that needs to be addressed, remediated, either replaced, or for the most part repaired. And the proposal that you have in front of you is for them to do all the documents that you're going to have to uh get a hold of so that you can put this out to bid and get the work done. But that's it. And uh I'll be happy to answer any question you have about any of that. >> Could you go ahead? Could you just give a brief little bit of history about what this is about for those that were did not hear the initial discussion about why this happened? >> So, um you you may recall this past uh

017or last winter, end of November, beginning in December. Uh this part of the state, northeast Ohio, had a pretty serious snow event. I think it started November 30th and ran for a few days. Just east of here in Ashtabula at the center of that in Sabbrook Township they had 63 inches of snow all over the period of a couple days which is what led to the collapse of the back half of the academic wing on Asht Debuler Lakeside High School. You are not in danger of that here. However, just out of uh um um just to be careful, you you you hired me to get up into the attic space just to take a look to see if there was any damage, if anything had shifted, if anything had buckled. And uh after that initial

018visit, uh there was some minor and it is minor. You got to remember that damage out here. I think you had 43 ines of snow out here if I believe if I remember correctly. So, I listed all that, came down, spoke with uh the folks over at the administration office and suggested they get an engineering firm out here to take a look at it because I know what I'm looking at, but unless there's alphabet soup after your name, uh it really doesn't count. So, uh I recommended Barbara and Hoffman, which you folks, uh hired to come out and do an assessment. They got up into every area of this building with the exception of one uh which I'd been into and I told them I I'd reviewed everything up there and I didn't see any

019damage. It's a small area at the northwest I'm sorry northeast corner of the building but everything else they were into. They walked every truss both sides of the corridor. It was hot. It was difficult but they got it done. uh and they delivered a report uh that you folks hopefully uh you should have seen that led to the re my recommendation that you bring somebody on board to do to write the to get the documents together the drawings and the specifications with the repair protocols so that you can put that out to bid get a contractor in here and get those cor get those things done as soon as possible and that's what's in front of you now. >> Thank you so much. >> You're very welcome. I do have one qu I have a

020question. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Is it just this building that could possibly be a problem or should we be checking all of our buildings? >> You should be checking all the buildings and I met with uh uh Superintendent Lombardo and and we agreed. I I went over to your records building with uh your facility manager, Scott Paola. >> Scott. >> Yes. He and I spent about an hour and a half over there. We pulled up all the drawings for Cork, Austinberg, uh, and I believe the middle school. All three of those have light gauge truss sections and roofs. We pulled out all the, um, contract drawings, the submitts for those trusses, and I suggested he get up into those attic spaces to take a look. I offered to help. If he needs help, I'd

021be happy to do that. So, uh, that is in the process, and you should look at those as well. you're probably fine, but you won't know until somebody actually gets up there and inspects it. >> Okay. >> Can I ask a mundane question? You already answered it last time. >> Okay. >> How much overcapacity was the weight of that snow during that compared to what it should have held? >> Sure. Good question. So, I don't know about here, but let me let me just talk about because I'm so deep into it at Asheville because that 63 in everybody that's anybody wants to know what >> Yeah. >> what that what happened. So 63 in of snow translates into just over 90 lb per square foot on your roof. Ohio basic building code says you have

022to design for 30 lb ground snow load which translates into about 27 to 28 lb depending on where the building is, who's in the building, what the shape of the roof is. So in the case of Astrabula probably three times what that was designed to take. Now there's a lot of safety factors. Uh engineers are notoriously conservative. Thank goodness. >> Uh so um here I'm sure it's in the report. >> It is >> if if you read the report Barbara and Hoffman wrote for you it probably withtood twice what the uh what it was what it had to be designed for. It's really robust. I talked to another engineer who reviewed these drawings and he said this morning, you're this school was built like for was designed and came up to 45 pounds a square

023foot of load capacity. It's that's 50% more what code required, which is probably why you fared as well. That's a high school. I don't know about the other ones. I haven't seen any I've seen that paperwork, but I haven't really dug into it. >> So, >> thank you so much for your time. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you, man. Sure. Appreciate Thank you. >> All right. Roll call. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon? >> Yes. >> Mr. Pearson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Syibolski? >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Craig? >> Yes. >> Uh, the super re superintendent recommends approval of the enclosed settlement agreement. >> And we had a a staff member last year do some work for us. And this is just a settlement agreement to to pay that amount of money. >> Need a motion, please.

024>> So moved. Second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Pearson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Syibolski? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Craig? >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Milikin Dixon? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. [Music] >> Now, as you're looking at the board agenda, you will see many numbers on the left hand side and these are these are board policies for adoption. I know in our district, we allow two readings before we approve any kind of policies. Um we met two times with our policy review committee. We have a couple board members on there, some administrators and and board office people on that committee. Um so we went through these policies. Um I do want to bring you uh bring note to the 5136 which is personal communication devices. Basically these are our cell phones. uh starting in January

025and this is very very important for everyone to understand in January the law states that you cannot use your cell phone dur during the school day. Um we have looked at this policy and >> I'm sorry Paul to clarify we mean students >> so student day >> students >> student day yes >> not staff though students >> students >> right >> yes yes so during the student day they cannot use their cell phone um the way we currently do it our elementaryaries they don't use them at all right now at the middle school they have to put them away they do not use them at all at the high school though it's different. They can use them during um passing time as well as lunchtime. Um and I know there's some high school students here,

026so you're not going to be happy about this, but the law is telling us that you cannot use it starting in January. So, this is the first reading of this personal communication device. Um we do want to follow the law. Um but we also understand that there are times when students may need to use the phone. So there are exceptions in there when you look at that policy about um if there are 504s or IEPs. If there are um emergency situations, if a teacher deems that it is appropriate for the educational purpose at the time, they can say please take out your phone and use it. Uh so there are some exceptions. So I it's not a hard fast rule, but it is we're going to be very very mindful um especially at the high

027school starting in January. And this is the first reading which has all that information in there. Um, so this is a first reading which means there's no action that needs to be taken by the board. Um, but I can answer some questions or you can email me those questions and I can have them available for you at that time. Um, but these will come back next month for a final approval. So, Paul, just to clarify, the the new cell phone policy is obviously mandated by the state. >> Yes. >> Um, are they will they be able to use them at lunch? >> They will not be able to use them at lunch because that's during the school day, >> right? >> The student day. Yes. seen a lot of things around that students will still

028be able to use these in between class periods. The bill that I read unfortunately from front to back at Nauseium didn't seem to have that provision and it didn't have that capability. So, is it our understanding that from the initial bell until dismissal, the state is asking us to tell students that that device is not to be used in any capacity. >> That's correct. And we did confirm that with our Neola rep who's really the the expert on these that that sits with us during our our meetings. But that is true. From start of school to the end of school, cell phones need to be put away and not be seen. Interesting. For reference, the reason I ask, this is what a typical policy change looks like, the little blue dot. And it's usually saying

029he, she, they, we, and taking the pronouns and saying person. But the state and all of its infinite wisdom has decided that after 15 years of using cell phones that this is the uh change that we should make. Not that we should make, that we have to make. this time to be completely transparent. All right. >> All right. So again, I'll bring those forward in November to have a final reading. Uh number six, the superintendent recommends the following personnel actions for 2526 school year. And you will see that's our hiring, those that u may have resigned, extracurricular activities, uh substitutes as well as um uh we do have a bus driver trainee. So we have an additional bus driver trainee. Very excited. We have four people that are bus driver trainees at this time. >>

030That's great. >> Oh, cool. Nice to see Ken Hulkcom as a teacher as well. I think he is um going through the bus program as well, >> I believe. Yes. Yes. >> That's awesome. >> So, where are these folks in their training, Dr. Lombardo? How >> So, they should be ready by January. They all have finished their coursework and then they do need about 30 hours on the job training >> and then they can be a bus driver. >> Then they can be a bus driver. >> Nice. >> Yes. Um, so we have three that have um said yes to this and they're still in the program, which is a very good thing uh since we started. So we are looking to uh open up a couple more routes probably in January. We do have

031one other person that uh does have their CDL. We may be hiring. Um in case people didn't know, we had five open positions. We're hopefully going to be able to secure four uh in the next couple months, which would allow us to open up a couple routes, >> which does what? What does opening routes mean? >> Well, this means we currently have 12 routes. Um opening up a couple more routes will mean less time for students on the bus. >> Yep. >> And we'll be able to um uh really take care of the needs of the district. right now. I will tell you um compared to last year, my understanding the bus drivers are doing an amazing job with just 12 uh routes, but we feel if we can get to 14 or 15 routes,

032we will be in very good shape. >> And I just want to comment that I' I've still heard that transportation is an issue. And I just want to I just want to say that it's so much less of an issue than it was last year even. So last year for example we had 17 routes and 14 drivers or something like that and instead of I shouldn't say that way. So we tried to stretch that out and double the routes and all that. So this year what we've done is we took the number of drivers and divided the number of students by the number of drivers. So instead of making drivers double route, we I'm not articulating it right, but we >> No, you're right. We we took 12 drivers and made 12 routes. They're longer

033routes, yes, but they're not doubling up. >> And so now when we add four more drivers, we'll divide that again and shorten the routes, shortening the time the students are on the bus and making life easier for everyone. And that just makes so much more sense to me. And so I know that Scott Olaf, Kathy Odigard, Dr. Lombardo, all of you are to thank for that. And I just wanted to point that out. >> Thank you. I want to say something really quickly too. I really like that the people who have been running >> transportation and being inc otr or longhaul transportation professionals are the people that are helping make these calls >> before this. I don't know who did it, but they decided that well you go and you pay your MBA or your

034your degree um you can enroll as a bus driver, you pay for all of your UCLA training and then after 6 months we'll pay you back. That's a a lot of money. Well, now we have trainers who are driving with these people. We have agreements that help contingently cover costs. They also ensure that we retain to protect our investments and and get those bus drivers in here. We've had former bus drivers that haven't driven for the district in years come back. And I really thank Scott and Kathy because they were the ones beating this drum for a long time. And I appreciate you for taking them seriously because I know sometimes it's easy to bring in a consulting firm and a white hat and a masters of business administrated art architect transportation, but listening to

035people we've had in the district for the past 10 years seems to have helped alleviate this problem and in the long term solve it. So I thank everyone for doing that. Shout out to Scott and Kathy especially. >> Absolutely. And Scott and Kathy do deserve all the uh the credit for this. I mean, Kathy is up all night long looking at routes, making sure things are are working. And I'll talk a little bit more about bus right when we get to it. >> Awesome. >> All right. >> I need a motion, please. >> So moved. >> Second. Oh, now's discussion. >> I would like to talk a little bit about before we move on for our Well, is that in the same I want to make sure I'm in the same range. But we do

036have a retirement. Um Ann Craig is at was has been at the high school. Um she's going to be retiring. She's been with us for 22 years. Um, so I can like a dual hat of being a teacher. I can tell you right now, the world does not function without your bus drivers, your housekeepers, your custodians, your >> Amen. >> Life is really, really rough without those folks. So, thank you so much, Ann, for your dedication and 22 years with Geneva Area City Schools. We appreciate you. Thank you. And you will be very much missed. So, >> absolutely. >> Yep. [Applause] But you roll call. >> Mr. Pearson. Yes. >> Mrs. Cyolski. Yes. >> Mrs. Craig. Yes. And Mrs. Milikin Dixon. >> Yes. >> All right. We have to hear me a little bit, but

037we have Miss Chavei is going to come up. No. What did I do? I always miss. >> Oh, that goes that goes next. >> Yes. >> Which one? >> Number seven. >> I did that last time. I better get my act together. >> Part of we can we'll put it in your evaluation. >> I'll get you a copy of Robert's volunteer. So, sorry. >> Uh, the superintendent recommends the following volunteer coach for the 2526 school year. >> So, move second. >> Any discussion? >> Didn't she just win some kind of award? >> She sure did. >> There she is. All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Sibski? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Craig? Yes. Mrs. Milikin Dixon. Yes. And Mr. Pearson. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Okay. Now you >> Now I can Now you can

038go. >> All right. We're gonna have um Miss Chavei set up here. >> Uh and we're going to talk a little bit about our presentation, but I'm uh I'm going to move to this mic. Some serious people. >> Okay. So, I have a couple slides and a couple updates for everyone. Um, yeah, I'm gonna do this and then I'll hand it over to you. Um, so we're gonna talk about our students advisory council who I'm really really excited about our new facilities management program buzz transportation updates and then Miss Chavei is going to go over our report card. Um, I do want to tell you this, we had our second meeting for our uh, superintendent student advisory committee. And for some of you that don't know that, we put together or I put together a

039committee of high school students who are looking at goals, what they feel they want to contribute to the whole as far as Geneva Area schools. Uh, we had our second meeting today where we're talking about our goals and our fundraising. I don't want to I got to leave you in some suspense because we're we're getting our smart goals together and we're going to do that by the end of the month, but in in November I'll be able to tell you all the things that uh these students want to do. And it's a lot, but uh I really give them a lot of credit. Uh each month we're going to have two of those students come up, tell a little bit about what Geneva means to them, and then go over the going on at the

040high school. So, I have Jovon and Hannah Dunn. Jovon Sanchez, come on up and uh let's give them a round of applause. They're our first [Music] students. Good evening, everyone. I'm Jovon Sanchez. >> I'm Hannah Dun. >> And us two, we're a part of the Superintendent Student Advisory Council. Um the council basically just consists of students like us who really like to be involved in our community and we prioritize you guys even the small kiddos and everyone else and we just come up with cool little plans on like what we think can help future generations. Um to start off we're going to talk about what Geneva means to us as high schoolers. So the Geneva Area City School District as a whole has impacted me my entire life. I mean, I've been in Geneva since

041I was in kindergarten. I went to GPS and it's given me so many opportunities to excel as a person here, even through the high school. When I was little, I had a little bit of a language barrier because Spanish is my primary language with with my father. But I a shout out to an amazing teacher, Mrs. Cra, who was formerly known as Miss Gibson before she got married. She was one of my ESL teachers that helped me, you know, feel more comfortable with the language and everything. And that really impacted me from a very young age. And as I progressed throughout the years, even through middle school, I took all the chances, the classes, I learned how to study. And when I got to the high school, that was where I felt most ready for.

042I feel like the middle school and elementary school, our education there has heavily impacted me even through here. Our high school offers many APs that I've tried to take them all and it just teaches me good morals and how to be a leader and I'll never forget what the school has impacted on me after I graduate this year. Thank you. [Music] [Applause] >> Um for me, I've been a part of Geneva since I've been in first grade. And from that time on, from now when my junior in high school, I have made great relationships with a lot of my teachers, coaches, and administrators. They are some of the best people that I've met, and they're just great support systems. And especially my elementary school principal, Mrs. Doherty. um she was um in elementary school. She

043was part of the reason why I wanted to be um an educator myself because she just made it seem like something that is it's really important and she just made it seem so effortless and fun and I really appreciate that. Um and then when I got to the middle school it was just a continuation of that. Even in like sixth and seventh grade when it was online, um all of my teachers were still super supportive and super levelheaded as much as they possibly could be with everything happening. And especially when I got into the high got into high school, it just everything like I like Javon said, just I felt so prepared and ready for whatever I wanted to do. And something I really am grateful for is the amount of leadership that I get

044to experience not only in the district but also out of the district with things like Hobie. Um that's a leadership camp that happens over the summer in John Carroll. It's it was the best time. And anyone who has a kid that's going to be a that's a sophomore this year, tell them to apply. I wish I could go back and it was the best time. Um, and I think that once I graduate next year, I have the tools for that Geneva G has given me to be the best person I can possibly be um to everyone that I meet. So, thank you. [Music] >> From from what we're trying to say is we have an amazing district. So, that's what we're trying to say. But uh also on our agenda that we would like to

045discuss is stuff that is keeping up within the high school of our daily lives. So start off with you want to start off with. So um it's about the time where like a lot of fall sports are ending or coming to an end and winter sports are starting. So we all we just wanted to tell you tell you all about how each sport went. So, I'm going to start off with tennis, which I play. Um, we our overall record was 14-4 and with an undefeated CVC record of 10-0 and we also were CVC champions both in the regular season and the tournament. And then all county second place and then uh first team all conference was first singles player Ashen Thompson, myself Hannah Dunn, and third singles Jackie Patterson. Second team were doubles teams of

046Lucy Peterson and Alex Doring and Elizabeth Ralph and Jillian Menard. And then for first team all county um it's just myself, Hannah Dunn, and then the second team is Ashlin, Jackie, Jillian, Elizabeth, um Li, uh Lily or Alex, and Lucy. And this past year at sectionals, all three singles players won two rounds of uh their matches, which hasn't happened in a really long time. Um Ashlin and Jackie made it to their qualifying rounds. Um which is super good and we're all very proud of them. Um and Ashlin Thompson won CBC player of the week a couple weeks ago. So um moving on to soccer for girls. They had held a record of 77 and three in their conference. They went 4 and1 and tied for first in CBC with Madison. And then they play their

047first tournament game at CBCA tomorrow night. And then the boys, their record was 79-1 and then their conference record was 3-1 and one and then their first playoff game is actually tonight versus St. Vincent St. Mary. It's that spar if you guys want to go watch. Um for golf for girls their record was 8 and three. They were CBC champions. And first team all conference was senior Sarah Cibolski, senior Khloe Dodge, and junior Kaden Seagull. And then second team was junior Eliza Smid. And then boys, their record was 10 and three, CBC champions. And then first team all conference was sophomore Matt Oros, junior Shane Manard, and seniors Logan Rustic, Isaiah Rose, Luke Crisellic, and W Dashny. And then um volleyball, their record in the CVC was seven and three. They were second in CVC

048overall. And their first tournament game is Tuesday, October 21st. these two. >> Um, and then I want to talk about the band, which I'm also part of. I'm the head drum major this year. Um, we kind of wrapped up our like most of our summer stuff with we done a lot of parades with Austinberg Country Days, Geneva Grave, Chambbury, and Walk for the Cure. And we also did a lot of band nights with Kanyot, Edgewood, Lakeside, Jefferson, and if you don't know what those are, those are basically football games, but just the halftime shows of all the bands. And then we didn't do our own this year just because it was um a lot to handle at once. So, we plan to do ours next year if if you guys want to come out and

049watch. And then we're looking forward to performing for the rest of uh football season and pep band season with basketball. And we're also currently um working on our winter concert music. So if you guys want to come out, I'm not sure what the date is yet. Oh, and also for the first time in a couple years, we actually successfully have put on a second show. Um we it's it's always been in a conversation of, oh, we we want to do more music cuz those of you that go to a lot of football games and see the same show over and over again, we wanted to switch it up a little bit. So our theme is women in pop this year and we finally had gotten everything on the field. So, as you can see, we

050have very outstanding reports. Okay, I'm going to be talking about for the two sports I'm going to be talking about football and then cross country. For football, I know our football team is amazing. We're playing great and from what I've heard from the boys even during the school day, I think we're ready to take on the one school. can't say the letter because it starts with an M, but I think we're ready. So, >> Let's go, Eagles. Uh theme is neon. So, parents and everyone feel free to get involved with the student section as well on Friday. For cross country, we had our CBC meet that was hosted here in Geneva for the first time ever, which was quite an experience that I can tell you because for the previous years, we have ran at

051Cardinal High School and I feel like we share similar characteristics as a high school with them and here and it was a very good turnout. We had shirts. We had a bunch of teams over at the baseball field. A bunch of competition that we were all ready for. Our team has been very strong. We've been working on mileage ever since ever since the end of track season, which is in the spring. So personally I'm happy that now we're in the season to we're in the part of the season to show all our hard work and all of us are placing all of us are getting amazing PRs and we're fi finally here for breakthroughs for CBC uh our first team winners for the boys was myself and then for the girls we had Taylor Nel

052and Riley Andreus. So that just makes me happy to see that our team, hey, like we have good role models. We're a strong foundation for Geneva running and myself and Riley are seniors this year. But we're ready and we hope that we set a good example for all the younger kids cuz I know Coach Long is going to have a great time cuz those are amazing kids. They're amazing runners and they're going to have amazing role models with the kids that we have. Now, moving on from cross country, we had in the high school, we had our very own homecoming. So, that was amazing. It was a huge turnout. I've heard amazing reviews from everyone. We had a really good DJ. Overall, it was a very good experience. Everyone looked very handsome and beautiful in

053everyone's dresses and suits. So, I'm glad that everyone had a good time. And then another thing that was talked about in the high school was the grape jamboree. Another huge turnout as well. Myself and my friend Sarah Syolski, we volunteered and helping out with the group the grape juice uh stand over near in the middle of town. And we were just people watching serving grape juice and it was an awesome time. And I think the part most special about the grape jam is that it brings everyone in as a community and it reminds us, hey, like this is what who we are here in Geneva. We love grapes and we love unity. That's the one thing that we love. And overall, it was amazing to see everyone interact with each other. And I'm just really

054happy that that we have it every year. And we're very fortunate to have people all across Ohio come and see us, a small town who has a lake. So, another thing that we also wanted to discuss were the starting of clubs. It's still early on in the school year. However, uh we are both a part of uh the Geneva Youth Philanthropy Club and we have so many ideas on nonprofits that we want to help that we're excited for. We're waiting for them to write to ask for us. We we're really excited to explore Ashila County and see what we can do as a school and what impact we can make on those. And then another one was Interact Club. Still, we're starting off short because it's the beginning of the year, but we put in

055a bunch of work every single year. We just helped out with the grape run and that was a huge success over at the middle school. Miss Ball and I, we helped out too and with a few other students too and it really just shows how involved that our students want to be in our school. So, anything else? Thank you so much for all of you guys having us and have a good evening. Okay. [Music] [Applause] [Music] >> I could listen to them talk all night long. UN when >> Model UN when >> it's been two years, man. >> You guys are joking with us. >> Well, I would like to thank them very much. Um, it's amazing when you just allow kids to just talk and do their thing. It's it it just shows you

056what an amazing group of students we have here. And I get to work with students like that in this uh superintendent cadre, and I can't be more proud of them. So, awesome job. You guys did an awesome job. [Applause] [Music] All right. Now, I'm going to move along on some of the things I've talked about the last couple months. Well, our new facilities management program update, FMX. This was launched on October 1st. And what this basically is, it's a computerized maintenance program um where we put in work orders electronically, transportation electronically. And you may say, well, um, have you done that electronically before? No, we haven't. We've been using a lot of paper and pencil and and nowadays when things change, it's very difficult to do those things without electronic um programs. So, this program

057has been implemented for the last couple weeks and it's going very very well. Uh, transportation update, there is a date up there. October 24th, we are launching our bus ride app. this app. Um, so what's going to happen on Friday the 24th, all parents will get a message from Busright. It'll have that little bus right in the upper right hand corner. You'll see that come through on an email. Um, it'll ask you to sign up for the bus right app. Please go ahead and sign up for that on the 24th. On the 27th, the app will be live. Um, our bus drivers are currently using the equipment and they are going to be using it for two weeks. Busright asks, um, their best practice is to allow the bus drivers to use them for a

058couple weeks. Make sure that what they're seeing in the app and what's actually happening in real time matches. Um, you may recall last month I I talked a little bit about the app. It allows you to see things live. um it gets updates. So when people come into the district or people leave the district, there's an automatic download or upload, whatever you call that load, um at the end of each night. So everything is live and everything is is ready to go. So you'll be able to look on your app to see where is my son or daughter, what time will they get here, is the bus late. Um it's a it's pretty amazing app. Um so that is going to be sent out on the 24th. Okay? So look for that. And that's all

059the updates I have. And um we're going to turn it over to Miss Chabby, our assistant superintendent. She handles our curriculum instruction and she's going to talk to us about our report card. [Music] Thank you, Dr. Lombardo. Um, originally when Dr. Lombardo said I have to talk about data, I'm so excited because that's what I love to do. Um, I had likeund and some slides, he's like, "Uh, no, you got to cut this down." So, I did the best I could to cut it down. Um, so last month, Dr. the report card had just came out. So, do Dr. Lombardo just gave us a quick overview of some of the uh highlights of the report card, but today we're going to take a deeper dive into some of the indicators. First, I'd like to start

060with the kindergarten readiness um assessment. So, um, what? Oh, sorry. No, we're Oh, sorry. Okay, there it is. Um, so if you look at the kindergarten readiness assessment, this is something that the kindergarteners take when they first come to our district within the first month of school. And what we're seeing is roughly 32.2% of the students that are coming to us are demonstrating readiness to learn what they need to learn in kindergarten. But that means there's 60% over 60% that are not ready. Okay. So um when when students enter kindergarten without the proper adequate preparation that places a students at an immediate disadvantage. Some possible solutions to um making sure that our students are coming ready to learn when they get to us um would be expanding our prek program. Um that's one possibility to

061all elementary schools because right now we just have one prek program and that's at Austinberg. Um, we could also hold parent information sessions and um help parents help their kids get ready for uh kindergarten and we can provide books and resources and learning materials to parents to support early learning skills at home. One thing I'd like to point out and I this is the trend data for the past four years. Notice that 33 it fluctuates between 33.6% 6% to 28.6% where they're ready. So that again we're consistently seeing kids 60% of the kids are not ready for kindergarten. So we really need to address this issue. Moving on to uh K3 uh literacy and um the third grade reading guarantee. So even though the kids are coming to us disadvantaged, look at this statistic. 82.5%

062are leaving third grade ready. So kudos to the elementary the K3 teachers. What a great statistic that is. They're doing a fabulous job with the students they're receiving. And so we should be very proud of that that statistic. Some areas of focus for K3 literacy and some action steps that we can take. Uh first of all we rece we did get a new K5 ELA program called CKLA. So we've been providing highquality professional development. It's always hard to start a new reading curriculum and we're trying to support teachers in that effort. So at the beginning of the year we had the initial uh curriculum training for CKLA and um we are providing uh like in job embedded professional development just this month we're going to have the CKLA coaches coming to each building. They're going

063to be working with the the teachers, watching teachers teach, giving them pointers on how they can use that um curriculum with fidelity. Um because that's going to really uh be important when we're trying to raise our reading scores. Um so we're going to have one round of coaching in October. We're going to have another training in January. And then in February and March, we'll have another round of coaching. Again, again, we're trying to make sure that our teachers have the support they need to implement this new curriculum. Uh, additionally, we are um going to be using TBTs. So, for people that don't know what TBT is, it's a teacher-based team where teachers have time to collaborate with one another and discuss data and how they can improve instruction. They learn from one another. So, it's

064it's a form of professional development for teachers as well. and they're going to be meeting um an hour is I believe it's an hour a week um or an hour every two two weeks depending on the school because some schools have more time than others. Um but they'll be able to work with the data and look at data and see how they can help support students in increasing their their achievement. Okay. And then uh the other thing we're going to do is we're we were going to start a multi-tiered system of support committee. A multi-tered system of support. So tier one is just your normal teaching, good highquality teaching. Tier two would be an intervention for students that are struggling. And then tier three bumps it up a little bit higher. Okay. So we're going

065to be looking at what supports we have in place, what supports we can add to ensure all of our students have the support they need to be successful. Um, and as I mentioned before, we're going to look at the feasibility of having a prek program at each of the elementary schools. Uh, chronic absenteeism. This is a big problem. This is only one measure in the gap closing um indicator, but I think it's an important one because if kids are not here, they can't learn, right? So chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of instructional time for any reason. That means they've go to the doctor's appointment, they have a funeral, uh anything that's even excused absence, the state does not care why they're missing school. Okay? And neither do we honestly. We need

066kids to be at school so they can get the education they need. So right now the our chronic absenteeism rate is 31.7%. That's very high. Um the average for the state is 23.7. So we have a lot of work to do in that regard. Let's take a look at each building individually. Um so Austinberg has the lowest chronic absentees rate at 17% but the goal for the state is 16.4%. So, even though they're doing a great job getting the kids to school, they still have a little work to do. Um, the highest absentee rates can signal barriers such as health concerns, transportation issues, family circumstances, or school climate factors that may be impacting our stu students. Um, if you notice, all the other uh schools also um are having chronic absentee problems. Okay. So it's

067important that we take action to reduce the chronic absenteeism in the school. Some actions we might uh be able to complete at the building level. First of all, we need to look into the data points and pinpoint trends and the reasons do like a um root root cause analysis. Why are students missing? Okay, we have to engage families, you know, personalized phone calls, outreaching, setting clear expectations about attendance and the link to learning that that causes. Um, improve school climate by creating a welcoming environment, mentoring programs, check-ins, and positive reinforcement. And again, as I mentioned before, we're going to have that multi-tered system of port of support. The multi-tier system of of support is not just for academics, it's for behavior and attendance as well. So, we're we're going to take that whole um system

068and make sure it applies to the whole child. Despite the chronic absenteeism that we have, we are still meeting the achievement goals for the state. So, we have we got a three in achievement. So, that is fabulous news because if we decrease the chronic absenteeism, our achievement rates just going to go up just because the kids are here more. So, I'm excited about that. But still, we're going to look at some of the specific grade levels um and some of the achievement levels that we've had. So, if we look at um grades three through five, we can see that we are generally performing at or above the state average in most tested areas with the exception of fourth grade ELA and fifth grade science. At the middle school level, is that it? Yep. At the

069middle school level, all subjects came in below the state average, which indicates a need to strengthen tier one instruction. So, I'll talk about what that looks like at the middle school later on, but also notice that the state averages aren't that great for middle school either, but still, we're below them. So, that's not uh that's not good. Um at the high school level um the the one that stands out the most is geometry at 39.5%. Uh but the state average for geometry is just 44% itself. So that that is a tough that's a tough test to take but definitely something we want to take a look at and see how we can shore up our geometry instruction. Okay. So, some steps that we're going to focus on for improving student achievement. So, some focus areas.

070Well, first of all, we've developed a an instructional framework to support student engagement and continuous improvement. And do I have time to show that real quick? Okay. So, I'll just talk briefly about it. It's in the it's in the PowerPoint. You can click on it. So, first student engagement. I always say the person doing the reading, writing and speaking and discussing is doing the learning. So, we have to have students engaged in the instruction. We can no longer have teachers the sage on the stage just spewing out information. The kids need to be actively engaged in the learning. Um we need to ensure that students have a voice and a choice in their education. I call that student agency. Um they are the creators of their experience. So how are we going to achieve that?

071Well, in our TBT time, which I know the union's talking about um if we're going to have we would like to have a late start for students one day a week. the kids would still come to school and we're we're thinking of having um some other teachers um have like study halls or something while the teachers do their TBT time which means at the middle school and high school basically elementary school has it built in already but middle school and high school they have no time to collaborate. So we want to build that for the teachers so they can learn professionally together. They can look at student data. they can see where they need to improve instruction or where they need to support students. So, that's the one uh way we can help improve our

072instructional. Um, the one thing I think teachers I wish I can go down here on this. >> Yeah. Okay. So the one thing I think our teachers do a fabulous job in is that's creating positive relationships with the students. So I'm not concerned at all about that part of the instructional framework. But it's important it's important that kids feel welcome in the classroom and that they um feel safe at taking risks and expanding their knowledge. uh we also want to ensure that we provide specific and timely feedback to students regarding their progress towards the learning standards and um we want to make sure we have a cycle of continuous improvement. So during that TBT time, the teachers are going to look at data, how did we do, how can we improve, make the adjustments again,

073assess, look at data again, look at how can we improve. So that's that continuous cycle of improvement. Um, all right. So that's that tier one instructional framework that I was talking about. In addition to the tier one instructional um framework that we're going to shore up, uh we are going to start some tier 2 oops tier 2 um initiatives. So at all of the elementary schools, we're looking at providing an afterchool program for students that are struggling and at the middle school as well. And so what we are going to do is we're going to ask teachers to stay after to provide um intense highquality instruction in for students that need it. Um they would get paid a stipen obviously. Um and we would pay for this through we have some money on the disadvantaged

074pupil impact aid fund that we would use for that. Um students attending the program will re reduce will receive high dosage tutoring which will support advancement of the skills that they need. And finally we are developing that multi-tered system of support which I talked about earlier. Uh we have a committee already together that we have 18 uh staff members and our first meeting is going to be October 23rd. Okay, this graphic, I love it. Uh, one of our seniors, Wyatt Jones, created this in his multi- marketing media class um with Mr. McCoy. Um, this is just kind of a brief overview, kind of an iconic symbol that teachers can have real quick to see, am I providing this uh high quality tier one instruction? So this along with the multi-tered system of support, I have

075no I have no um reservations. I believe that our student achievement is going to definitely um increase. The last indicator I want to talk about is the college and career readiness. Uh college and career workforce readiness and military readiness. So this is a new indicator. This year we received a one on it. So to me that just says we have room to go to grow. So um it's new for all of us this year. Um so as you can see you know we need significant support to meet the state standard in this area but it is important to note that this is data from 2024. Um next year's report card will show data from 2025. So, we're always a couple years behind. And the reason for that is there's um there they it takes time

076to finalize some of these numbers like AP scores don't come out till July. Um you know, military enlistments, they might not be enlisted at that time. Uh credentials might not be um done by that time. So, we're always kind of like a year a year behind that that measure. Um so, the things we implement this year, we won't see for a few years. Um, so let's look at each of the measures right now. So as you can see, we get most of our points from ACT remediation free scores and honors diplomas and AP scores. So what that tells me is we need to focus more on career readiness and workforce readiness. So not everybody should go to college or needs to go to college. So we need to make sure people are and not everybody

077can go in the military. My son's in the military. It's not for everybody, okay? You got to be a certain type of person to do that. So, we need to make sure the rest of the students are ready for some workforce or career. Um, and and that's going to take some career exploration and some uh some work on our part. So, how are we going to accomplish this? So, first we need to increase um the programming. Um so we are going to be starting a pre-apprenticeship program next year called ACE. It's um apprenticeship and career exploration where students in the program will have an opportunity to explore one of the four career pathways and earn an industry recognized credential without leaving Geneva's campus. So that's exciting. Um next we have the RiseUp program. I know

078we've used it a little bit in the past, but we're going to ramp up the use of that for certain students. Basically, that gives the students an industry recognized credential and retail industry fundamentals and customer service and sales, which you know, I don't care if you're going into um service, the you know, sales, you could be going into work at Progressive Insurance, you still need to know customer service and you still need to know this information. So, it's good for all kids, actually. And then finally, the Ohio's job seal. Um, we're going to So, basically, the Homines job seal is how kids can earn industry recognized credentials as well. And it contributes to students success after the work after school, even if they're going to college. Okay. So, um, we're going to in we're going

079to have every junior complete this Ohio means job application in government class. And that way every student has that under their belt whether they go to college or not. So all these action steps that we outlined will boost our report card, but more importantly there it's going to make sure our students are prepared for whatever their future holds. Does anybody have any questions? And thank you for your attention. And um does anybody have any questions for me? I do. >> Yes. So, >> kindergarten screening. >> Yes. >> So, my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not early childhood. >> You're telling me US that 60% of the students we screen and bring in are not ready for kindergarten. >> Yeah. So, every kindergarten >> Why are we bringing them in if they're not

080ready? >> Well, every >> Yeah. Every kindergartener that comes in, we have to screen them within the first 30 days of the of them attending. >> Oh, this is post >> Yeah. after pre after preschool. So, some kids don't go to preschool. Some kids are home, you know. Yeah. >> A lot though. >> Yeah. >> So, Oh, maybe it's the readiness I'm thinking about. Before they enter, before they enroll in kindergarten, there's a screening. Correct. >> We We screen them the first 30 days they come in. Some districts do it before they even come in, but I think it's good for the teachers to at least get to know the kids before they give them a test. Um, so we do it within the first 30 days of of kindergarten. >> Mhm. >> The state

081says the K has to be given in the first I think is it the first 20 days of instruction? Yes. >> Am I confusing the two things? >> There's a test they take before they enter and you can >> turn them away. Correct. >> That's for early entrance. So early entrance. >> So if a student isn't five by a certain time, I think I believe it's August 1st. >> August 1st. Yeah. So they would have to be tested to see if >> most kids we can say wait a year. >> Yes. Correct. Yeah. >> But if they're five, we have we take them whether they're ready or not. >> Correct. >> All right. There we go. >> Yep. >> Um the other thing in in your solutions provide books and resources to support the early

082childhood. >> Yeah. um instead of providing them there are those resources we should refer them instead of paying for them ourselves. >> Well, I was thinking head start for example. >> Yeah. But I was thinking more of like having a kindergarten like first night like in the spring where the teachers I I haven't talked to anybody about this but where the teachers might come in at night and the parents could come in and learn some games that they can play with the kids over the summer. So that would get them ready for kindergarten when they come in in the fall, you know, but we haven't talked about that yet. But that was an idea I had. >> Ton of that that we wouldn't have to provide. We could just give them >> Yeah. like, you

083know, learning games, you know, easy stuff that we can make ourselves, you know, just idea or even get some books that we can give to the parents for over the summer to read with the kids because reading with kids is very important. So, >> um, so the August 25th, uh, CKLA training, who took that? >> All all K5 ELA teachers. >> Okay. And then in January, the strengthening training. >> All K5 ELA teachers. >> And that's part of the January PD. >> Yep. >> All right. >> Um, I think that's it. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? All right. Thank you for your time, everyone. >> Wait up there. I just um I just want to give her a lot of kudos. We um you know, coming in new, we really um we really

084committed to the board and the community to really look at things and to do our best to uh put some things in place. Um looking at the report card, there's a lot of really positive things happening with the report card. Um and some of the things that we highlighted that aren't so great, we are going to be working with principles on building action plans. So, next week, Jen and I will be meeting with all the principles. They're uh they're doing two academic areas and one area of climate. Um we're going to be working on plans with them. They're going to be working with their staff. Um because the the principles are the leaders of those buildings and we want to make sure that that they um that we don't interfere with that, but we want

085to provide support from the board office. So, I think there's a lot of great things in the future for Geneva schools. I thank Jen for her expertise and um just for her creativity and uh for putting that PowerPoint together. So, thank you, Jen. >> Thank you. Brilliant. >> Jen, I do have one more. >> Jennifer, I do have one more. >> Yeah. >> So, when you're talking about the the college career workforce stats? >> Yes. >> Um does that include the A Techch grads or is that >> Yes, that includes a tech. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Thank you. You're welcome. >> Yeah, that was brilliant. Thank you for all that. [Applause] [Music] >> Yep. >> And there's one final thing. So, all of these PowerPoints um from the first two months and this PowerPoint

086I'll place is on our website. So, if you go into the superintendent page, uh it'll be on our website, you can see the last two. This PowerPoint looks a little better than the other two, so forgive me for that. So, kind of stick with this one. Um, so every month you will see all the information we talk about on our website again underneath the superintendent's page. And if you go to the superintendent's page, I have my hundredyear plan. Uh, I did go >> 100 years. >> I know. I know. It feels like a hundred years by now. Boy, >> I'm very optimistic. >> I'll tell you, >> very optimistic. >> We are working him to the bone. >> Sounds like you used to work for ACUE weather 100 day forecast. >> Oh my goodness. Yes,

087it's a 100 day um uh entry plan and you can see that I have updated it. And I'm also and I have to say, you know, days 31 through 60, I'm already through most of those. I'm very proud of that. Um, but we're going to continue to to work hard. What >> day are you on? >> What's that? >> What day is this? >> Uh, I don't know. It's it's it's less than 60, I'm pretty sure. >> I know there's been a lot of questions about the report card on social media. So, I was I was just asking him if they could put in this this slideshow so folks could see the the data there and maybe we can break down a little bit what um Mrs. Chelby talked about because I thought that was

088a really good breakdown of what you know kind of those scores are always in the rear so it's a little hard you have like she had said you have to wait a little bit for that data to catch up but some of those you know that information is wonderful and the action steps to go along with it. Thank you so much for that. That's that's just wonderful. I'm so excited about the the career readiness that I'm I'm just I'm stoked about that. That's going to be fantastic because you're right. Not everybody. College is not on everyone's docket and we have to consider that and and have a plan. We need a plan. No, >> it's ridiculous. >> Yeah. There every you exactly >> alone. >> So, thank you. It was wonderful. But okay. [Music] Are

089you done? >> I am done. I promise. >> Okay. Mrs. McDerman, you're up. >> Okay. Um, so I have uh given you your monthly financial report for the month of September. Um, I did place a new one in your folder. Um, the report that originally was in the drive. The first six pages had um the spring forecast still attached to it. So, it is updated with the forecast that was approved last month. Um, again, don't forget the forecasts are now changing. Uh, so we will not have one in November. Uh it was due today to the state which is why we approved it last month. Um so kind of just walking through uh where we're at today as compared to last year um as compared to last month I'm sorry last year at this time.

090Um, and just a friendly reminder when we when you analyze our numbers for the month, um, as compared to last year at the month, you know, timing is everything with these when it comes to things that aren't salaries and benefits. Um, or sometimes with salaries and benefits, it may change because we do are paid every two weeks here. Uh, so you your third pay of the month may come into a different month than the prior year. Um but again um looking at our revenues, our revenues were up compared to last year 130,000. Um just a a friendly reminder again, you know, last year at this time our DPIA funding, we were not considered C yet. So you'll kind of see that kind of change a little bit and starting with October. So again, you know,

091timing is everything. Um, year-to- date revenues are 243,000 higher than last year. Um, a lot of that, I should say at least half of that is uh we did have that advance at the end of um 200 and I'm sorry, how about at the end of the fiscal year in June uh to transfer money into the lunch fund as we were waiting for our reimbursement from the state. So, that was returned and that is considered income. So there's 105,000 of that 243,000. Um some of that also again compared uh in the past was um the uh investing so interest income going to expenditures. Our expenditures were up almost 96,000 compared to last year. Um salaries and benefits obviously will make up a lot of that due to the CBAs. Um again if you look we're

092down in purchase services and up in other expenditures. Um again those can fluctuate due to the timing of receiving of bills. Um again the way that uh the projection is going forward um is kind of an an average of what has happened in the past. So um going through our expenditures uh compared to prior year to date we are up 800,000 um 446,000 is salary and benefits again to go along with the CBA. Uh all other expenses are up 376,000. Um just so you know we did pay um we have a uh network management that we had an rate matched to. um we did pay it in full and we were reimbursed the 87,000 of that uh so that you will show so it'll actually be a negative expenditure coming in October that we received

093so again it's the timing of everything so as of right now last page of the colorful document um so we are kind of >> going against the forecast so revenue I uh we are trending an additional 3,663 higher higher than the forecast. Um, and our expenses again are trending a favorable 345,000. Again, I know I'm missing some bills um, in my purchase services that are, you know, haven't been paid yet. So, again, that timing is different. So, that will fluctuate each time. But obviously going forward, we are on track. Um, just so we can have a shout out to our grape jamboree. We did get what place? >> Oh, second. >> We got sec second. first place >> in the float. >> The float >> second. Our float got second place >> in the parade

094on Sunday. >> So, we did receive >> $25 a nominal uh uh donation. So, we have stuck that in. >> Thank you, Jennifer. The float was all Jennifer >> the education our new educational foundation. So, we will see the our first deposit in there. >> 25 bucks. >> $25 >> in cash. Um, so going forward, we just have our normal um, reports that you can see where everything's at. And that go, by the way, where does that go in the in the in the >> It will next month it'll show up on uh, this cash summary report. >> Okay. >> In fun 29, just so you know. >> And I did it again. I did not take a motion in a second before I started this lovely report. So, >> I need a motion in

095time. Crystal and Paul walked and I got to sit Michelle and >> I'll give you a motion. And can I have a second, please? >> Second. >> And do you have any other questions on the report? >> I do not. >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Craig? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon? >> Yes. >> Mr. Pearson? >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Cybolski? >> Yes. >> Uh, really quick, I just wanted to touch base also. Um, House Bill 186 is hot topic in in school finance world, and I know, uh, Mr. Pearson's going to kind of touch base on this. I just want to kind of uh give you a synopsis on what's going on with this House Bill 186 and how it's going to affect uh the school district as a possibility.

096Again, nothing is set in stone. So, it is a property tax relief bill that is going through uh both the House and the Senate. um if it goes through as of today how it's proposed um what it's going to do is um we are on the 20 mil floor which means as property taxes do increase we do pass that increase along um districts that are not on the floor they do not those dis those those communities do not feel that impact over all their tax levies only on the inside millillage um so what they're trying to do is kind of fix that um but they're also trying to make it retroactive on the last trional update. Um so what this kind of means I've got a few different modules um models that have been presented

097in my forecasting software. So I've sat in multiple um webinars about this. Um, one of the modules will show that if this goes into effect, uh, retroactive back, that means basically in 20 in fiscal year 2027, they can possibly at one time take away uh, $3.2 million that we will not receive that year. Um, and then take a little bit more in the next two years. Again, very uh, minimal as compared to the initial hit in 2027 of $3.2 $2 million for a total uh reduction that they will not give us on past um or take it away from current from past $3.594 million. Um another scenario that we have um is using the legislative service commission estimates. So the legislative service commission is a nonpartisan agency that provides the Ohio general assembly with fiscal

098analysis. Um this one overall it will be a 4.457 uh reduction over three years. Um 1.8 million almost 1.9 in fiscal year 2027 uh 1.7 million in 2028 and 860,000 in 2029. Um, what they're saying is they're hoping that the state will pick up some of this, but the state will not pick up near to the hit that we will receive um, if this does get approved. Um, so just so you know that that is coming up. I think they are voting on Friday. Um, so we will have more information obviously in October and um, >> November. >> Sorry. Yes, we are in October. Thank you. in November. Um, as this keeps coming through and going to fruition. So, um, very hot topic in my world of of the income that will be lost if

099this does get approved. And, you know, if this does get approved, then we can, you know, talk about the effect on the school district after that happens. Just want to let you know that that's also out there. Um, real quick, you also have the food service monthly report. Um so as Mariah Miss Wilson is learning how to do the reports as compared to they were in the past. Um so we have kind of put in um our receipts for the month of September. Again remember we um the only receipts we're really getting are alikart receipts and adult lunches since we are C. So everyone does have free lunch and breakfast in the district. Um, right now we are running on a negative balance, but we do have a reimbursement for um I just got it

100yesterday for the month of Octo I'm sorry, August and September. So for 127,000. So we are not in the red per se uh with that pending deposit coming in. So again, that is something that we will continue to um look at in the spring if we want to stay stay C. Again, the positive effects of that C even though uh our expenditures might be a little bit higher than our revenues even coming in from the state is that we do get the additional funds in the disadvantaged pupil impact aid which we can use um how Mrs. Chabby said through high dosage tutoring. Um so it does give us an extra million dollars to spend. Um, so again, you know, we lose $200,000 in the lunchroom as compared to gaining a million dollars to better educate

101the children. Um, so again, something that we will totally um evaluate come spring before we have to make that decision. So, just want to give you an update on those. Um, also in front of you, I would like to motion and a second for the approval of the disposal of the attached list of assets as they are no longer of use to the district. >> So moved. >> Second. >> So again, um, these items do go for review and if they are, um, able to be sold at public auction or traded, um, Mr. Dr. Bard does look at that and he will put that on the public surplus site. Any questions on the list? [Music] >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon? >> Yes. >> Mr. Pearson? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Syalski? >> Yes. >>

102Mrs. Grant? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Legislative report. everyone's favorite time of the night. Luckily, the fine men and women in uh Columbus have been keeping us pretty busy. Uh on the 6th, I had started trying to make sense of the things that David Thomas is writing um which have amagulated to this Senate Bill 186. Um, essentially, uh, David Thomas amended a ways and means committee hearing and this bill, if passed, is going to basically reduce the the minimum amount that goes to schools. Now, there there was a solution to this already in place with a bipartisan enacted fair school funding plan, which broke down the millage according to need. It was variable. It was made by a fiscally conservative uh member of the Congress and someone who actually uh the state representative that was

103from here, I believe it was John Patterson. Um so these two basically sat in a room and duked it out until they got something that they could present to either side and avoid partisan lag. Um and all the infinite wisdom, the state house decided that that was stupid and they're going to scrap it. and now they are affecting about 80% of schools in the state of Ohio on the 20 mil floor, meaning that they're just going to reduce the amount of money that they collect. Um, I read this bill and as an analysis from it, I don't even think it's technically constitutional. It gets around an equality that has basically I get taxed what you get taxed. And so to put it into perspective, back in 1991, us homeowners, right, in the district, we paid

104about 47% of what schools operated on, which is still high, let's be honest. Now, we we take 70% of that bill. So, between abatements and the the wonderful spire tax credits back then, great. Uh we incurred even a larger chokeold. take that into consideration with everyone has heard this a million times so forgive me but we've heard like a million people talk about well my house went up 24 to 30% and it did all over the state but in Ohio that means properties evaluated at 150 basically entered 1 and a half new mills that's pretty significant when you factor in the 20 mil floor so I understand what this bill is trying to tackle for our district which is essentially a 90 square mile district that covers a gigantic amount of land. We have the

105township, we have the city, we have South County. Um it's going to gut the services and and I I don't understand what went into it and I definitely don't understand how someone from Astra County drafted it. I don't think that it's going to pass as is through the house. If it passes at all, it will be heavily amended. Um, I believe, if I'm being honest, that there is a large abolish tax movement occurring right now, which is putting significant pressure on Mr. Thomas. I think this is a a chance to say, "Well, I tried and it didn't work. Therefore, we're going to have to go back to the FSF funding plan because, as written, I don't think it can constitutionally pass without OASBO, which is a uh an organization in the state that has a

106lot to do with uh uh administration contracts. the Ohio Bar Association, you're going to have the rural uh education uh conglomerates come out, you're going to get the unions, you're going to get the admins, and at the end of the day, this has a larger impact on township services, and I don't want to mess with anyone from the township. So, if you want them to come to your meetings, keep it up. But for me, I'm going to try to make sure that they have the services that they're constitutionally guaranteed. Uh other than that, DeWine has been talking about giving out some uh school bus money. Uh, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, so pleasantly named DOE originally, now they changed it to ODO, but I like DOE, so we're going to keep it that

107way. >> I like ODO. >> As authorized, >> oh, do >> $10 million in competitive grants. So, you basically, it's guys have ever done the voice of democracy challenge. It's like that, hey, we really need school bus money. Please give me that check, Mr. >> No. Hey, we really need school bus money. >> Right. It's that, >> right? And and actually to to the credit of Ashila County, we had Mr. Schaefer, I believe, up at uh uh Geneva on the Lake and a few people from ATH that won extremely competitive grants and they've been reaching out and helping similar districts. So, um that's that's cool to see. I'm hoping that we're trying to chase at least some of that to recoup taxpayer costs. Um other than that, the education committee um has been talking about

108some pretty symbolic stuff. Uh, if you want to hear me talk about the respectful and open world for natural hair act to prevent discrimination, I'll do so upon request. Um, but most of these I'm going to I'm going to gloss over. A lot of um a lot of acts that are typically like name your main street after a public figure kind of thing. Uh, the public safety committee um heard from House Bill 371. Um, this bill would make elected officials mandatory reporters of child abuse and neglect. uh to explain that the uh the changes you saw me hold up that are completely highlighted in green earlier, they actually reduce and eliminate the words mandatory reporting. Um that shows why our lawmakers are not paying attention to their bills. And so they're going to sneak this

109in and go back and fix it. Um but the people who educate your children or people who are aware of um horrific things like that should be mandatory reporters. if they asked that of our law enforcement, if they asked that of our teachers, and it needs to be districtwide. Um, and then it's going to come back to the uh House Public Insurance and Pensions Committee. I've tried to wrap my head around this one for a while. Um, I guess the state decided that with the property tax issues that we're having that they need to eliminate pickup on pickup, uh, which basically is, uh, I I it's a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. Um, I wish the people trying to pass that well. Um, and then over in positive news that comes for our

110more rural areas, there looks to be relief financially for the foreign firms that have seen no export in commercial crop sales, which actually do affect schools. If you guys are aware of that, we're currently engaged in um an intentional trade deficit to try to encourage the uh domestic production of um you know, crops, goods, services, tariffs, if you will. Uh and as a retaliation, our soybean crops uh sales, transport, if taxes, >> um while they're tariffed, they're not being purchased. >> Um >> so, as strange as it is to be on the stage talking about soybeans right now, um we're taking a look on how that affects people in our district who do grow a lot of cash crops um and cover crops and trying to keep an eye on their infrastructure as well as

111this 20 mil reduction. And with all that exciting news, um, I think that's really it for me. >> Thanks everyone. >> No more tofu. >> Sorry, soy boys. Get it somewhere else. >> All right. Any skip over for a tech from Mrs. Ortiz since she's not here. Um, board member reports, chairs, >> I had something I wanted to talk about >> besides soybeans. >> Yeah, unfortunately it does deviate from the soybean hook, but I can I guess I could relate it somehow. Um, looking at our report card last year, I asked a question when I was at the meeting that said, "Are we going to test the kids all on the same day?" >> I was told no. And we did that, which means every tutor, every student, every teacher, every aid, every guidance counselor,

112every administrator, and Missy, you do something with testing, right? Yeah. That's what I thought. Meant that they were all taking care of every single one of those kids needs, services, issues, absentees, all on that same day. I've never seen that before. And it reflects heavily in this. We've just finally got our ELA curriculum, which is a huge issue because it does affect language and the understanding of how to communicate affect the way that we do numbers because when you read word problems and you can't fully comprehend what they mean, whether it's give some, of, from, what have you, there's a huge issue. And if we go back in time and we look at our weakest scores in 2020 was 5 years ago, that would be the equivalent to the first, second, and third graders. First

113grade, you're going to learn your your prefixes and your suffixes. The second, you're going to learn your phonetics and how to implement them in sentence structure. And third, you're going to become your mastery third and fourth. The people who are in that area were instructed via remote certification, computer only, no one-on-one face-to-face communication. And when they came back, we did not have a curriculum that served them. I say we, I mean the board, as it has existed from 2020 and prior. So, we're playing catch-up on that. I'm not trying to drive home the fact that 60% come not prepared. That's that's not what we want to say. We want to say how do we how do we increase that? But for our state report card to be as good as it is, I still want

114to be hyper critical that we had a a huge need for for ELA, which is language arts, that went from first grade to 12th grade. And it wasn't here is a series of books from 1986. Here's a new online only program. Co, here's another online o only program. We're going to read the Harry Potter books. read the constitution and tell me why it's important and have a good day. That that doesn't work. And so I'm hoping that when we see this ELA, especially with the way and I really appreciate the next steps that we see that, but to take ownership of that state report card, those aren't excuses. Those are what we're up against. We have to drive home the the measures to address this preemptively, which is something I I think that my colleagues

115have been doing, and be out in front of the fact that we can try to argue about technology versus online versus books, but we have to find kids where they're at and find out the best way to to help that mastery of language and to talk face to face because the people who had the the worst of that statistically are where we need to to meet them and help them. Um, and I just wanted to to have that because I think a lot of the things we say are like we're still a lot of good with the report card. Um, but there are still problems that we have to fix and I just again want to take ownership of that. >> Thank you. >> I have said I mean I think many of you have

116heard me say how many times we needed ELA curriculum. We need an ELA curriculum. We need an ELA curriculum and then >> Yeah. Missy, can you talk a little louder? >> It's so hard to learn new. really come in a couple. >> That's great. >> That's awesome. >> And you know what else, Mrs. Greg? We needed you on the board to help us get that. >> Well, I will never forget the board meeting. I think you were running. Maybe not yet. you threw a curriculum on the stage. It was still co time and we were up on the stage and she threw it on the stage and she said, "Do better." And I was like, "I'm trying." Right? I was like, "I'm so sorry." But yes, I'm so glad that we we've gotten there and

117that it's working good. >> I think and it's a testament to the teachers, too, because I can tell you that I'm in a district right now where we have a new ELA curriculum, and it's exhausting. It is exhausting learning how to teach something new and do it with fidelity and be learning it at the same time that you're teaching it and to do it well and to do it with rigor and all the things that you're supposed to be doing and knowing that those scores are going to be coming and knowing that everything is in the rears and knowing that people are going to be you know judging and and pointing and saying do better do better. But I I think, you know, we're in this this spot in Ohio right now with the state

118the science of reading and all of these things that are coming down the pike. I mean, we're in a good place, don't get me wrong, but we're in a place that we need to be, but just to hear Mrs. Chowee come with these action steps and and just this full just this full circle approach meeting all the needs of all the kids in all the places. It's not just early childhood. It's not just the middle school. It's not just the high school. We're looking at all of our kids in all of the places in all of the ways and figuring out how we can meet them where they are. And that is huge. And I feel like as a district for many, many years, we just get hyper. We get in one lane and we

119are only looking at those early literacy pieces and it's so much more than that. So, I just appreciate your vision and your leadership and hearing what we were saying. I mean, I just feel like we have bombarded you with so many things and you guys have just jumped in. The water is really, really hot and we know I know how hot the water is. So, I just I appreciate all of the things, all the action steps and your leadership. So, thank you both. We appreciate you. >> Um, are you done, Brock? Can I >> I'm done. You win. >> Um um just a couple of things I wanted to add in. Um I've been to a lot of football games. Um and it has been a great season. We did have the grape jamboree parade

120which was a lot of fun. Um Mrs. Chubby did the float. It was amazing. We had a good time doing that. I got to come to the lamp and pin uh ceremony yesterday uh that the academic boosters put on. they award and so I'm going to share this and you sharing this the state report card and the career and readiness thing. So I'm going to share something. So my son was able to come and speak. The guidance office always they ask an alumnness to come back. Someone that's graduated, went to college, kind of got started on their way and they asked them to come back and kind of share their journey and and talk to the the students that are getting a lamp, pin cord, you know, they're being awarded. And so something that my

121son shared with me, he said, you know, they really should have all the kids in there, not just the kids that are going to college. And I thought, hm, that's very poignant. And I mean, again, he's graduated from college. He went he went that path. My my middle boy's in college as well. And I thought, that's really interesting. He says, because not everybody's going to go down that path, mom. You say that all the time. And I said, I know I say that all the time. So I I thought it was very interesting that this evening that was part of the the share. So I don't know, you know, that might be something to consider next year when we have something that we can encompass to have everybody to be a part of that because

122I think last year when I came to that ceremon I'm I don't know. I think the the presenter I think he worked at the hospital as I recall. Do you remember who spoke last year? >> Mrs. Silkski. I can't remember. I feel like he worked at the hospital. I can't remember. I'd have to go back and look >> cuz your year before that was Mr. Hobel, right? >> I can't remember. I feel like he did um I think he was like an X-ray tech or a phabotamist or something. >> It might have been. It might have been. >> Yeah, that is who >> it might have been. But I thought when Alex said that to me, I'm like, you know what? It would be really good for everybody to be a part of that. So,

123but it just kind of when you were talking about that career readiness, I thought, well, it's come full circle yet again. It would be really great for everybody to hear that. So, but I really enjoyed that that ceremony yesterday. It was it was nice to see, you know, him come back into his element and see his teachers and do all the visiting and but it was a great day. So, but that's what I have for this month. >> I have a couple things. Um, I I just want to say how much I love this team. I think this board is really on a good roll. Thank you, Mrs. Campbell. I love the administrative team that we have. Um, and I just think we are really doing what's good for our students and what's good for

124our community. And so I just wanted to thank you all for being part of it. Um, I love the G on the lawn out here. What how'd that get there? That's really cute. >> Because we hosted the CBC. >> That's the cross for cross country. I love it. Up there. >> Big white. >> That was awesome. We we ran the we ran the um course the week before for our meet and Jen Crosley says, "We need to put something Geneva on that hill." So, she got that G put out there and it was amazing. When I pulled it and I saw it, I'm like, "Yeah, that's really cute." >> We used to sled up there when Denny was a kid cuz soon it'll be full of snow. It's a great sledding hill. Um also, I

125still don't like the parking lot. I still cannot find my way around this new parking lot. I do not know how to park. Um, and I just want to thank everybody because I love this job. That's all. That's all I have. Thank you. >> I do just want to throw kudos out to Emily Long and Jen Crosley. >> You did amazing. >> The event uh last Saturday, we had 24 teams from across Northeast Ohio come to run our cross country course, which we've only had in place. This is our second season of running on it. and the I don't know how many student volunteers we had, but our student volunteers parked cars. We had no issues. Um I helped sell t-shirts. We almost sold out. We have five left. Um but the organization and the

126time and the dedication that Emily and Jen put into that event made our district shine. And I I just I look forward to many many more opportunities to bring people to our district because we have so much to be proud of. We have a lot of work to do, but we have a lot to be proud of and um they did a phenomenal job. And the other thing is lamps and pins to give the academic boosters a shout out. We talk about, you know, we had Hannah and um Jovon here earlier and they talked a lot about athletics. Neither of them mentioned that they were at the lamps and pins yesterday and received accolades for getting a 3.5 or higher last year. So, academic boosters, they are a small but mighty team and they are

127the ones that recognize our academic excellence that we have here. This um auditorium is filled with kids that are um just doing their best every day and I give them a lot of credit. >> Awesome. >> Yep. >> When I used to ride on that hill, they made made me come see you, Mr. Market John. >> Was it during the school day? >> We were just saying things that probably shouldn't have wrote on that hill out in the snow out there. We drew a picture once and that got us that's what got us into trouble. should have just left it to a G. >> What did you draw with? >> Lesson learned. >> And thank you, Mr. Mark John, for all of your help, too. He was in charge of all those high schoolers parking

128cars. >> All right. >> I get a mo motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. All right. >> Mr. Pearson, yes. Mrs. Sibilski, >> yes. Sorry. >> Mrs. Craig, yes. >> Mrs. Milikin Dixon, >> yes. Meeting adjourned.