0011 p.m. Um, can you please call the role? >> Mrs. Hamilton here. Miss Rush >> here. >> Mrs. Travis >> here. >> Mrs. Egan >> here. >> Mrs. Crawford >> here. All right. Tonight we have um a special guest to do the pledge of allegiance. Um, last month I had the pleasure of going to the state house and when I was there I saw the Girl Scouts troop um being able to uh be at one of the biggest events where we had um the unveiling of our women's monument for women's history month and um I was blown away about like their empowerment and having the girls uh scouts troop be able there to be there to do the pledge of allegiance. So, I thought it would be a great idea to bring it to um
002the board meetings going forward. And so, we've talked to the Girl Scout troops and so we'll be bringing in different troops. Um so, today we have two special guests with us from troop number 91305, uh Talia and Caitlyn. And they're going to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. If you're able to stand, can you please stand? >> I pledge of 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. want to give you special. Thank you so much. All right. And I do not believe we have any addendum items. Correct. All right. So, I will start off with my president's report. The first part of my report, um, we do have some other special guests
003here with us tonight are students. Um, so we do have the symphonic band, um, here tonight and we're so excited. Um, we're proud of all the work that you are doing. um talented students in our district. Um they earned the superior rating at the Ohio Music Education Association states um event on April 24th. And so we wanted to bring them here today to honor them. Um and just let you know that as a board we are so proud of the work that you do. Um, we hear your videos, we see your pictures, we see the emails, and every time we get that information. Um, it just makes us proud of why, you know, we do the work that we do, um, to see you all succeed. So, um, thank you for being here tonight. Um,
004we are going to, uh, bring up Mr. Bonis. He's going to say some words as well, and then we will, um, give you all some special pins as well. Well, first off, thank you so much to Mrs. Crawford and all of the school board for this wonderful um invitation. Uh my name is Ryan Bonnets. I'm the director of bands here uh in the Twinsburg City School District. This is my 13th year here. Uh when I started here, um our program had so much potential and it's been really really fun over the last 13 years to um work with all these students. As Mrs. Crawford just said, "I believe that we have exceptionally talented students here both in the classroom, on the sports fields, and definitely in our performing spaces." Um, this year was an extra
005special year for us because, as uh, Mrs. Crawford mentioned, our group did earn a superior rating at our state contest. It's actually something that we've done in our class um, two other times. >> But for us, the nice milestone was this was the first year that we actually earned the highest possible rating. Uh, uh, this contest is judged by three adjudicators that watch our performance. uh and they grade it live time. They give comments. They actually record themselves speaking. They mark on the scores. Uh they give a score and then after we finish that performance, they take all these students. We go into a different performance space and then we're given a piece of music. Students are given only eight total minutes to look at it. Four of those minutes I get to help them
006work on it. And then we perform it and we have to pretend as if we've been playing it for for weeks and weeks and weeks. Um what made this this particular weekend so special was the students again. and they earned their highest possible score in all categories. So, the three judges thought it was an exceptional performance. Uh the site reading judge also thought it was exceptional and um for me professionally it was it was a goal that I've had obviously um when I took over this job to see this progression and I think that we still have a long way to go. When I when I look at these students uh the best part of my job is I get to see them across a long stretch of time. Our band program starts in fifth
007grade. So myself, my two colleagues, Miss Gosset and Mr. Resnik. We work with these students in a variety of capacities from fifth grade all the way to 12th grade. So, I know I see some of our seniors here. They didn't have to be here tonight. They're getting ready to graduate, but to show their commitment to come shows that we do have so much support uh for for our arts programs. And I was very honored that you reached out to to support because our kids do an awful lot in the community. If you remember earlier in the year, we played uh on live TV for WKYC. Uh, I like to think of the band as one of the the the main arms of public relations out for the schools. We want you guys to always see
008the good things that we are doing. So, I'm I'm very honored to get this recognition and I pass it on to the students because they're the ones that doing that are doing all the hard work. Come on up. I want stay up here because we'll get a nice photo. people down in the front. Have some people in the back. Wait, we're taking the coming. >> Yep. >> Awesome. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much. >> Thanks for having us. I tell you. All right. Can you hear me? All right. So, this weekend um was a busy weekend. On Friday, our seniors uh celebrated prom. Um this year it was at um the Hilton in Twinsburg. So they had a great dance there and then the after prom was at Roll House Entertainment. So thank
009you to all of the Sorry, catching my breath. Thank you to all of the staff um who was able to support the prom. And then thank you to the afterprom committee. I don't know if our district knows but like the afterp committee is not like PTA. is actually parents who create this committee each year and they come together to volunteer to put on um this special event for um the seniors. Um I think I saw like they raised I believe about $48,000 um to support the after prom. Um I've been working the event um past couple years. I have a great time up till 2 3:00 a.m. working the event with them. Um and so always happy to support our our students. um they all walk away with a prize um and they have a
010lot a lot of good time um so we can't um thank you enough for everyone who is involved in that process. Also, um teacher appreciation is this week. So, um staff appreciation, teacher appreciation. Want to thank everyone um from our transportation to all of our administrators to our teachers to um every all our support staff. We just can't thank you enough for everything that you continue to do each and every day. We know that is not an easy job and again, you're with a lot of our students. um majority of the day. So, um we can't thank you enough for all that you do. Um PTA is putting on a lot of different events this week. Um so, um they have donations that they're collecting. If you're able to give, please just go to the
011PTA website. Also, um as a parent, they have um the staff list. So you can go on there and if you want to see what your um teacher or your staff member's favorite items are, a lot of the PTA pages has that information on there and that way you can help support. So um thanks again for that. And then um tomorrow is the school's state of school address at the Hilton. Um we're happy to have that event. Um this year we are partnering with Chamber of Commerce. Um so it's great um to have them because um they usually on the scholarship event separately, but we've come together um to do it all at once. And so we will be hearing from our school um and then we will also be recognizing our seniors. Um also
012next week is our senior scholarships. The board does every year give um a senior $500 um that we support as board members and so we'll be happy to give that out next Thursday. So there's a lot of different things happening. There are banquetss happening, there is art festivals, there's choir events, there's um just so many different things. Um sporting events. So any way that you're able to support, we just ask that you do that. And then um yesterday was the levy for issue 4. Um the results were kind of what I expected. Um, and right now as a state, um, for Summit County, uh, I don't think any school in Summit County passed the levy. Um, and I want to say a majority of schools did not pass. There were some who who did. Um,
013the at the end of the day, um, the state um, keeps taking funding away from our district. Um, so it's a bigger level. It's just not Twinsburg. There's a lot of schools that are in um this financial situation. Um we passed a resolution two weeks ago trying to advocate on a state level. We're going to continue to ask you as community members, staff, students, parents, um community residents that again like we're going to need your help in advocating on a state level to make changes. At the end of the day, um we're still in the same financial situation. things don't change just because the levy didn't pass. Like, so we're still going to have to make changes. We're still going to have to make reductions. We're um still going to have to look at what
014is the next step for us. So, um just stay tuned as we look at what that's going to happen. But um at the end of the day, things don't change. We still have to do things. And all I ask community members, if you are activated, um just make sure that you're bringing value to the board. Like If you have questions, if you have things that you have questions about or you have ideas, we're happy to hear them. As five board members, we sit up here and we do this majority of this time is volunteer. A lot of my time this weekend was volunteer time. So, um we will take any advice that you have. Like that's what we're here for to support you. So, if you have ideas, please bring them to us. Um, as
015a district, I would hope that everybody as a district has the same common goal, which is to support our students and our staff. We should all be here for the same reason. And I would hope that any community member um will continue to support that and that if you see something, say something like don't post false information. There's a lot of false information out there and I would wish that you just come to us to f fact check that information. So, um, again, that's all I have to say, and that ends my president's report. >> Thank you, President Crawford. Thank you all for attending today's meeting. As Mrs. Crawford said, this is uh staff appreciation week. We really appreciate all of our staff, whether you're a bus driver, you're a mechanic, you're a classroom assistant,
016u administrator, teacher, we really appreciate all the work that our staff does to make a a great experience for our students. Um, last board meeting I I had Mr. Strickland put a hold on his report. So, I'd like to have Mr. Strickland do a a business update. I appreciate Mr. Strickland, all the work he's doing with our our business department. All right. Good evening, board uh community, residents that have joined us. Thank you. Um, just want to talk a moment about my departments. Um you haven't heard from me in a little while um from since the building project last year, but um we are I'm excited to report addressing a lot of things um through feedback through the community um through our building and grounds committee, through our finance committee, and a lot of feedback
017that we got through the building project um about our athletic facilities, our buildings, HVAC systems, all those sorts of things. Um, so I'm pleased to report some of this information tonight. And just to echo um what President Crawford said and just a reminder, I feel like um all of the external pressure on public schools right now, it is really really easy to forget um the reason that we're all here as kids. All those kids that were in here, the symphonic choir or the band rather, um all the kids, the athletes, um from preK to 12, that's why we're here. Um, and I just feel like in the last couple of days, that's just a hard lesson I've learned. We get caught up in a lot of the rhetoric and we fight and we disagree, but
018ultimately we've got to constantly circle back to what's best for kids. So, I believe everybody uh shares that goal here tonight. So, here I go. Um, my department uh really tries um to function solely out of our permanent improvement funds. Um, anytime you have a levy on the ballot, most of the time you're talking about operating. So that's payroll and then all of the expenses of the district. Um this fund is much different. PI funds are building related, paving related, buying buses, um buying Chromebooks, um large ticket expenses, capital purchases, capital improvements. It's a different pot of money. Um we get a couple of million dollars a year for that, which we're very grateful for. And I'm going to talk a little bit tonight about how that money is being put to work um over
019this summer. Stadium renovations are first. Um, we heard that loud and clear about a year ago from the community that everyone wanted to see a renovation at the stadium. We had some safety items that needed addressed. Um, we are replacing the turf and the track. That's an entire replacement of both surfaces. So, in the fall, um, we will welcome you back to a newly renovated Tiger Stadium. In that regard, um, all of the fencing in the stadium and then the perimeter of the fencing will be replaced. Um, we are going to paint the concession areas, um, revamp the locker rooms, um, pressure wash the bleachers, and then another thing I'm really excited about is the Wi-Fi connectivity enhancements at the stadium. If you've ever tried to do much business in the stadium or when they
020try to live uh, broadcast anything, uh, we do run into a lot of electrical and Wi-Fi problems. We're going to rectify that this year, which we're all excited about. Um, biggest thing is this is about a $1.7 million investment of permanent improvement funds into the stadium. And if you live in this community, you know, we've tried to be very generous with the use of it in that we really do honor pretty much 247 access to the stadium. If you want to go run the track with your kids, you want to throw the ball around on the field, as long as there's not a team out there, uh, we allow that. So that building or that uh stadium very much functions as a sixth uh school building for us. So we hope that you have enjoyed
021that. Um the next picture picture is just a architect's rendering of what the renovated uh turf will look like. Um you'll notice that we are opting for the tiger Paul in the center uh more to mimic like Clemson tigers. Um and then the track is going to be sort of a gray and blue uh rendering. that's not captured real well on there, but it was the best image I could grab from the architect. So, that's going to be exciting. Um, just so the community knows, the stadium project will start Monday of next week. Um, the contractors, we met with them today. They are on schedule for everything. So, weather permitting, we're looking at a closure of next week um till about mid July. Best case scenario, if the nature if um mother nature doesn't cooperate
022and we continue to get this kind of rain, uh the project could extend. But we looked carefully at football season and we weighed things out and we should be fine even if we have delays. So we are looking at about um next week into about mid July. Um up on the screen now are just some uh improvements that we've done in the past few weeks and that we will continue to do over the summer. um varsity, baseball, and softball. Um both got a makeover on the field. Um we had a company come in and ha help our grounds crew on um doing some things that we frankly don't have the equipment to do um with the baselines and the grass and the all the little intricacies to that go into a baseball and softball field.
023Um additionally, we did replace both scoreboards. Um both of them were well over 20 years old and not really functioning very well. And again, we got a lot of feedback about that in the past couple of years. So, we did replace those. And then, um, along with the new turf in the stadium, we will be purchasing new goals and nets for our soccer program. Um, all of that all in is about a $50,000 investment um from our permanent improvement funds. Uh, paving and striping. Uh we did recently in the past week we've gotten all of our quotes and the superintendent treasurer and I are looking through those um to see what we can do within the budget that we have. Basically what we did we drove literally drove the district um we did work with
024a couple of our paving partners to determine our highest needs areas. Um we do know we have some safety concerns across the district. Uh this winter was really brutal. So we have areas that need pretty desperate attention. So, those will get addressed first and then we'll go from there. Um, just within the budget that we have to work with. And our target every year for summer paving work is twins. Anytime we start to near that, there's too much traffic to really do anything meaningful. So, uh, in the next month, don't be surprised if you drive around our campuses, you will start to see a lot of paving and striping work being done. Uh we estimate that this will be right around $500,000 uh worth of permanent improvement fund investment across the district. Um HVAC and
025roofing. HVAC is a situation that we are always chasing in the district. We have aging buildings, aging systems, aging boilers. Um all of the components that you have in your home, we have on a much bigger scale in our buildings and they um are showing their age, but we're trying to keep up. Um, this summer will be the summer of preventative maintenance. So, a lot of the internal components of a boiler system, um, the couplers, things you don't see when you come to an open house or to your child's school, um, a lot of those are going to get cleaned, a lot of components replaced, and it should make for more reliable operations for when we have folks in the building. Uh, roofing is just going to be trouble spots. um areas that have presented
026leaks often through the school year that we can't really repair while we are fully in session. Um as soon as June comes, we will kind of target those areas districtwide. And that's just various each building. We'll see a little bit of patchwork there. And all of that between HVAC and roofing uh represents about $125,000 uh worth of PI fund investment. The next slide is just really a a common sense reminder to the community and I know I don't have to tell you all um that our utilities along with our fuel and diesel um really have spiked and I know that everybody is experiencing that in your own home whether it be your gas or electric bill your water bills um certainly what you're paying at the gas pump has increased and we are not immune
027to that as a district. Again, when you think about the number of buses that we run, um our diesel bill has increased literally tens of thousands of dollars in a 30 to 60day period. Um that money, we didn't go in, the treasurer and I didn't sit down last year and project um what would happen in the Middle East and what would be happen in politics. So, just like you didn't forecast that in your budget because you couldn't, neither could we. So, that money has to come from somewhere. Um fuel is not a permanent improvement expense. Neither are utilities. Those are general fund. So when we talk about the importance of school funding, that goes right in there. We don't have an emergency parachute we can pull and say, "Oh, diesel doubled in price. We're paying
028$67 a gallon. We'll just reach into this fund that we there is no such fund. It's general fund." So, um, just so everyone understands, we feel the same pain you do, um, at a pretty large scale with the square footage that we operate and the amount of, uh, fleet um, and equipment we have on the road. And just a general reminder, that will limit what we can do going forward. As a district, when we have permanent improvement and general funds, um, the more we spend that down on necessities, things that aren't a choice, um, they're just needed, uh, that means we have to make concessions elsewhere. Um lastly, this is a pretty exciting thing that really um took uh pretty solid shape in the past couple of weeks. Um we had started a conversation back
029around the holidays with the city of Twinsburg um Twinsburg Fire Department and Twinsburg Police Department and the concept was there were some districts in Ohio that had done some emergency training drills um in a school bus. Now, we talk a lot about our emergency preparedness and readiness and training in a building where the kids are, but god forbid, stop and think for a moment. What happens when that situation happens at a micro level in a school bus where you have one bus driver, no support aids, no one no other adult to help? Um, that's a worst case scenario. Um, we all agreed that we need to train on something like that. Um so we began to talk with the city and what it um sort of culminated in is we have a couple of old
030buses in our fleet that are 2001 and in school bus land you don't get much older than that. Um we've got a couple buses that we have used as part buses literally for years. We've been taking parts. We've used the engine, the transmission, fuel tanks. Um so we have one such bus and uh it is pictured there. Um a 2001. So it is fully paid off. It's been out of the fleet for a while and it's just been used for parts. And what we're going to do is the last day of this school year for staff. It's May 29th. We are going to welcome uh Twinsburg Police and Twinsburg Fire. Um we'll also invite Reminderville if they'd like to participate in Summit County Sheriff's. Uh really anybody can participate um first responder wise, but we
031are going to practice numerous drills with this bus with staff. Um it's our bus driver's last day, so it'll be professional development for them. Uh we will go through an active uh shooter training. We will go through a bomb threat training. Um the fire department, we will work with them and a towing partner of ours to tip the bus over and practice what a side uh an evacuation drill with a bus on its side will look like. They will practice how to open the body of a bus. Again, this bus has no value. Um it's been paid off for years. So, we are we're going to take this bus and we're going to provide a lot of valuable training to our first responders and our transportation staff. Um, we're going to involve our own drone
032club. Um, I talked to the board about that this past week um to make a training video for staff and first responders to show what this will look like in real time. So, we're excited about this partnership and we're excited that the city wanted to partner um on it because it makes all of us better to know what would happen um if we had that worst day. So, um that is all I had um for all of you this evening and I appreciate your time. And does anyone have any questions? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Yeah, for sure. >> We do. >> Sorry. Can you hear me now, Mark? Okay. Thank you. Um so on the agenda, we have the Twinsburg Stadium fencing. Can we talk a little bit about that? like what is the current
033age of the current fencing? I know we're recommending um to assess to replace that. Um is that request due to safety reason and what what is the useful life of the next one and is there any warranty on that next? >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Yeah. So um the current fencing in the stadium it ranges I think the interior perimeter by the um field itself is probably about 30 to 40 years old. Okay. And then the external is probably about the same. In Ohio, you're going to get um shelf life of probably two or three decades out of chain leak fence just with rusting. Doesn't really matter. Galvanized holds up, but even if you paint it, it's still the weather. The winter really shoots you. Um so warranty wise, we'll get whatever the industry standard is.
034Usually 10 years. A decade is about the best warranty you're going to get on anything. Um turf is the same way. 10 to 15 year warranty. Um, so the fencing is a unique part of this um, project because through the building and grounds committee, what we did when we got the quotes back for the turf, we treated it as a package. Um, we saved um, about 25% on the project by doing the track and the turf in the same year >> and at the same time. Um, so the contractors came in, we liked all of the numbers except the fence quote. Everybody at building and grounds committee felt like I think the fencing portion was about $110,000 um as part of that. And when you get a a bulk quote like that, they really just
035quoted in linear feet. Um but what we did was we pulled that out of the project. We approved $1.7 million and then we solicited quotes for just the fencing portion. And I'm pleased to report that that came back about $30,000 or less. So we the board we saved about $30,000. Um the quote that we're going with is about $74,000 and it's a local company. Um and then we'll also utilize a local company to help clear out um some of the trees and vegetation that have overgrown the fence line. Um so to to long- windedly answer your question, um we will get probably I'd say 30 years give or take out of the fence and it is a security consideration. the new fence. Um, if you've ever been to a football game, we get sneaky kids
036that like to climb the fence and see, you know, on a dare or whatever they're doing. Um, this fence will be a little different to where it's more safety minded and they won't be able to do that. So, >> thank you for that. >> Yeah, for sure. >> Anyone else? >> Sorry. Um, I just want to say thank you again and I appreciate um the training that we're able to partner with our cities to be able to not only work with the city and get them training, but also give our bus drivers training. So, I think that's very valuable when we talk about safety and protecting our students. There's so much stuff going on and I think this is so important and so the fact that we're doing this is I commend you and your
037staff for putting this together. So, thank you. >> I will share that with them. This I really have to give the credit to Tracy Abbott is our assistant manager and router and this was um really she started this conversation uh with Mark Desmond and I and we brought it to the city and then we've kept the whole team engaged and then really in the past couple weeks it just took off. Uh police and fire um kind of worked out their schedule and we land. It's going to really be perfect timing. Um but if you can make it I'll send everybody an invitation but we will be video recording it. So >> awesome. Thank you. Thank you. >> Appreciate it. >> Thank you, Mr. Strickland. Just a few other things. Our high school seniors continue with
038their senior experience and they're taking their AP test, so it's an exciting time for them. Commencement is May 26th at EJ Thomas Hall. Um the last day for students is quickly approaching. You probably all are aware of that, but it's Thursday, May 28th. Um, so we're excited to to to spend the last few weeks of our school year watching our kids perform both on and off the field on the on the um in the auditoriums. Many of you I've seen over and over again seen seen our kids performing. So we're really excited about that and the end of the year. I also would like to thank uh those who played a role in our blue ribbon schools committee. Um, even though the outcome wasn't as as what the committee would have wanted, I was greatly
039appreciative of the work that people put in and I think it's um I think it just is um you know I think it it sometimes those things go unnoticed but I know that I did not let that go unnoticed and there really was I think based upon what I was told maybe a re-energized group. So, I really appreciate all the work that they did, specifically Cara uh and her efforts and and organizing and facilitating. So, I really do appreciate all that the committee did. Um, and that completes my report. Thank you very much. >> Oh, sorry. I do want to thank the Blue Ribbon I can't talk. The blue ribbon committee for all of their efforts. Um, Carara Fanton did uh lead the committee this year and I believe she did an excellent job. Um,
040it was a lot of new people who joined on um and a lot of fresh ideas. Um, and we appreciate the hours of dedication, Don putting all this like door stuff together and Don appreciate all of your help. Um I just thank everybody who volunteered and um who was just a part of it because again um it takes a lot of effort, a lot of work, a lot of our personal time um a lot of hours um that we spend doing this stuff and so I can't thank you enough for everything that you've done over the past couple of months. So thank you for that. Um for committee reports, um I do have an update for business advisory. Um we did meet on Tuesday, April 28th and um they did an update about mock interviews.
041Um it's really great that our students have these unique opportunities and one of them was they um took our connections class and they brought in like um Mr. Setlac and Mr. Strickland and other um u Mr. Anakin, other people in the community who were able to help um with these students and and do mock interviews to prepare them um for real life um when they're like looking for jobs as they start to apply for stuff right now. Whether it's an internship or actual job, it could be a local job at Orbeez, it doesn't matter. Like you just need to have that preparation. And so we appreciate that we have people here in the district as well as in the community to help our students with that. Also, um Tony Clus, who works at CBCC, she
042does a lot of work with our students. Um I don't know if anyone knows, but she goes through everyone's resume. Um so she um she's like the personal editor of every single resume. Um so the amount of time that she takes to do that um is a lot and she loves doing it. and so um she makes sure that everyone has a resume ready to go. Um so we appreciate all her efforts. She's in all of the schools from Wilcox all the way up to the high school teaching them about different career exploration. So our students are learning um different ways um of careers and so they they've provided updates. BIS Bissell just had an author there um where they um were able to highlight um that um and bring them in. And I believe
043that was like a month ago. And then um RBC did a mural and career exploration. Um and it was if you have a chance it was very beautiful mural that they did. Um so that was nice. And then um they talked about our career connections and all the different things that they're doing. They grew this year to 80. Um they're uh they have a lot of students registered for next year. Um but we talk about the different paths um at Twinsburg. It's not just um you know college, it's whether they want to enlist, whether they want to be entrepreneur or whether they just want employment. So we do provide those avenues for our students. The career connection class does partner them with a lot of different employers where they're able to explore that. So we
044appreciate that. All in our business advisory, we make up of a lot of different businesses. So we just thank them for all the work that they continue to do. Unfortunately, this year we did not have the efair in March like we usually do. Um, usually CBCC has theirs around that time and just with um the stuff with the economy, everything, it just didn't um work out. So, the plan is to have it on November 18th. Um, so we're hoping that we can um do that for um next school year. So, just save the date for that. And that was pretty much um the update. Oh, the only last thing is that um when it comes to the report card, um we are still um looking to improve that number when it comes to um um
045career readiness. And so we were on a two uh for the report card right now. Looks like um we will be a three from last year's numbers. Um and so and now they're hoping that with this class coming that's about to graduate, we can get to a four. So they're really um Pacovich and his team are really working hard um to try to do what they can. Jen Faring, all of them are really um sorry she's like don't look at me. Um so looking that they're working so hard to figure out how we can improve our report card. So we just thank you all for all of that work. And that ends my committee report. And next Yeah. And I would like to have Mr. Aie who is our assistant principal at Wilcox. He is
046going to do a presentation on kindergarten readiness boot camp. And and appreciate Mr. Aie. He uh did a lot of work on this grant. was able to secure a grant for $60,000 which and I'll let him I don't mean to steal your thunder but will which which takes care of the the program that he's going to talk about. >> I was going to say that was my whole presentation. Thank you Mr. Marlo board of education. Uh but no it gives me great uh pleasure to be here. Thank you Mr. Marlo President Crawford Board of Education um to share an amazing opportunity uh that we have with you and that is our kindergarten readiness boot camp program. Um it is program B which is an enhanced model. I'll explain what that is. Um but please note
047board of ed this is a fully funded program by the Ohio Department of Children and Youth uh that runs from July 13th to August 7th. Um we have for the last 10 years been able to participate in a get ready for kindergarten program through the summit education initiative and they were partnered with AMHA. Um it was a two-eek program, three days a week, so six days, three hours a day kind of program. Um and it was funded through that entity. The Department of Children and Youth took it over this year and as a statewide initiative implemented this get ready boot camp. We're able to welcome 40 uh students into this program um to help them get ready for kindergarten. And it's a four-week summer program. um it is enhanced, so there are um additional staff
048members that are part of it. So, like I said, we'll be running uh we'll be inviting 40 students into the program. We're looking at uh sponsoring three classrooms with about 12 to 14 students in each classroom. Uh the schedule's going to run daily from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. uh for 20 days. That's about 80 uh instructional hours from July 13th to August 7th. and looking at um core instruction plus specialized supports. So, in order to come into this program, one, we're going to be looking at our kindergarten screening results. We have kindergarten screening coming up the beginning of June. So, we'll be looking at those students coming in, any students who may not be familiar with the Willox Primary School in Twinsburg, um and need that little extra help with that transition into kindergarten.
049Knowing that we do have a lot of our students within our community that are already in our preschool program, we're looking to invite 16 students with special needs uh transitioning to kindergarten. These are students who may not have met the qualifications for extended school year, for example, but need that additional support transitioning from the more uh restrictive environment of our preschool program into that general education kindergarten classroom. Um it is an invitationonly opportunity. And then there are some unique situations as well. You know, if there's typically developing peers in our program or students in our gened classrooms, uh, but really we want to fill all 40 of those seats to give our youngest Tigers the best opportunity to start. Um, there is a core instructional focus. Part of this grant was submitting a curriculum with
050it. So, we are aligning with the science of reading. Uh with that, we're going to use our Heerty adopted uh phonics program as well as our foundations um and little clips of our benchmark curriculum as well for both the language arts and math. Uh making sure the students come in with foundational number sense, abilities to count and pattern recognition. And then ultimately looking at that executive functioning, social emotional skill development. um most frequently taking turns accepting no um you know simple things like that that our kindergarten teachers you know really look forward to our incoming kindergarteners possessing. What makes it enhanced is the ability to run an intervention specialist and instructional assistance in the program. So in in the past we've always just supported a teacher and student model. This year we're going to have
051the intervention specialist as well as a speech language pathologist as well as an occupational therapist be part of our program as well to provide those supports to our students already identified with those needs as well as provide supports for those students coming into our program. Uh for the staffing plan we are looking at having uh three licensed kindergarten teachers. I say kindergarten teachers, that's loosely. Um staff who can qualify to be teachers are prek to three certified um in early childhood. We are looking at three professional a pair of professionals, one for each classroom to provide those supports in that environment. And like I had mentioned the intervention specialist, speech language pathologist, occupational therapist. um the paid planning day before uh we'll get everyone on the same page and to go over the curriculum and
052make sure everything's set up for that following week starting on July 13th to kick it off. As part of the curriculum, we're looking at this is how school works to give them an overview. You know, at Wilcox, we have our Willox pledge. Be responsible, be respectful, be caring, and safe. And to start teaching students what that means and what it looks like in the classrooms. Our second week focusing on we are readers. Getting that more foundational knowledge of literacy, letters, sounds, numbers, and accepting that we can do hard things. Understanding and accepting that this is a big change for a lot of our students and our littlest tigers coming in, and we really just want to make sure that they're kindergarten ready. Part of this was a budget. Like Mr. Mara mentioned, we did secure
053a $60,000 grant that's already uh in our uh coffers, if you will. Um I know Mr. Bendier this week is working through entering our budget into the CCIP. Uh but we are willing and able to pay the staff um at a little higher than our curriculum rate. Um 12,000 for teachers, 5,000 for our pair of professionals, administrative support, specialists as well. uh transportation to and from uh any place in Twinsburg just like we offer uh is included in that. So that number includes three buses as well as the staffing with an aid on those buses as well um to transport our students anywhere within Twinsburg to and from our Wilcox Primary School supplies and then facilities and professional development for our uh staff. part of the supplies for our students. The kindergartenner students who are
054invited into this program will receive all of their kindergarten supplies as part of this. So, they'll get their backpack and everything on that kindergarten supply list will be ready for them. Um, and like I said, the it's a $60,000 grant paid for exclusively through the DCY program. Um, there is a buffer to our budget as well. As you know, there are always some unexpected expenses like diesel fuel and things like that. Um, some benefits to our students and families, you know, looking at bringing in the strong reading and math foundations. We want them to start developing that routine of mastery and growing independent with their learning. uh social emotional skills like I mentioned the free school supplies are a great uh benefit for our families as well as that transportation making it easy for to
055get those students to and from our programming ultimately bringing familiarity within our building our kindergarten staff and getting them ready to have a very successful kindergarten year looking to make some impact with our programming you know looking at early identifying of learning and development needs so starting out of the gate from our kindergarten screening looking at students uh who need that additional support and providing that where those needs are. Um ultimately the state put this grant together to improve kindergarten readiness to look at it. Um it's ultimately through our kindergarten readiness assessment. The state's done a lot of data mining in and around that and looking at what they can do to help implement and support uh having kids be ready for kindergarten at a higher rate. uh reduce the need for full intervention services.
056You know, we're working through this in a multiaceted approach, you know, at the IMTSS level once school starts and even bringing it back to making sure kids are ready. Um and then ultimately a smooth transition for our students with special needs, recognizing, seeing, witnessing that this is a big change for them. Like I mentioned, it is invitation only. Um so students uh through that screening criteria we're looking at the language screener fine motor and then if their needs amount we'll look into some of the early academic skills and then 16 students with special needs coming into our pro from our program. So this is part of our community's commitment to it. You know no funds are coming from our community directly but we're able to you know capitalize on what the state's offering and providing
057for us. Um, building strong foundation for our future Tigers is the most important element to this. Um, so families, you know, if you're out there and listening and schoolboard for you guys to know as well. Um, you know, uh, we're looking for students who are age five by that August 20th date. uh going to our Twinsburg City School District website, going down to families, and then registration for new students, and then a Willox administrative assistant will reach out to you guys for next steps, ultimately getting you guys signed up for that kindergarten screening, and then going from there. I do look to have invitations out June 5th, which is that Friday after our kindergarten screening program, um to our family. we'll be able to have all the information and data crunched by then and welcoming
058students into Willox and future Tigers. So, thank you for your time, Board of Education. um if there's any questions that you may have regarding the program. >> No questions. But um I don't I don't want to be remiss in saying how much our kindergarten curriculum requires our students to know, to learn, and to be able to perform at grade level when they walk out of kindergarten to get into first grade. Um this is a huge kickstart for 40 kids. This is this is a wonderful opportunity the state's put through and it's um we have a wonderful kindergarten program. So um again it's not you know we're not reading Dick and Jane and see Dick see Sage see Jane at the end of kindergarten. We are reading at the end of kindergarten. And ultimately this is
059the foundation that affects our district's report card at third grade. They don't come out of kindergarten at that level and they're behind. We are intervening. We are we are doing all kinds of intervention work, hiring extra people to do intervention. It's it's costing and it's struggling with students and it's very hard on kids. So this is awesome. Thank you for doing this. Thank you. >> You're welcome, Mr. Travis. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anything else? Board of Education. >> Excellent. Thank you for your time this evening, everyone. >> Thank you, Mr. >> Thank you. Um, okay. Persons wishing to address the board of education should submit a blue card found in the lobby to the treasur prior to the meeting so that they may be recognized by the board's president and welcome to make
060comments. No formal action will be taken on subjects that are not included on this agenda until the board has an opportunity to study them. Comments regarding personnel must be submitted in writing through the office of the superintendent. Although there is normally adequate time for citizens to express themselves at a board meeting, if several people wish to speak, each person will be allotted five minutes until a total time of 30 minutes is used. Each person addressing the board is asked to give his or her name and address. All right. Um, this is Tina Dav. >> Hello. So, just me. So, I get 30 minutes. Yeah. No. Okay. Well, thought I'd try. Um, so Tina Davis, um, 10265 Lumen Lane. Um, first of all, uh, Mr. Marlo talked about the Blue Ribbon Committee and what a amazing
061group of volunteers, dedicated. Um, it was just a a special group of people. Um, I was on that committee as well. I wasn't able to go to every single meeting with a wedding planning, but um, a lot of good people on that committee. And then Mr. Strickland talked about the buildings and grounds committee and last year I was on the committee as a board member and continued on as a community member this year. So I think it's my point is it's very important if you can be involved as a community member in any way to help the schools and support the schools. Uh please please do so. Um be involved. All right. And with that being said, um first of all, I want to thank Mr. Marlo and the rest of you up there for
062um everything that you do for the families in our community. Bless you on a daily basis. It definitely is not easy and often a thankless job. Yesterday was a very disappointing day for our our community, our teachers, our staff, and most importantly our children. Um, my children have all graduated from Twinsburg City Schools, and it truly saddens me that current and future students may not have access to the same opportunities and experiences mine were fortunate to have like us, state runup varsity soccer team 2024. Go Tigers. Woohoo. Um, I understand this levy was a very tough ask for our community. In response to concerns raised, the board worked to explore funding options that have um little to no impact on many of our senior residents as requested with this levy. They have made staffing cuts
063and found ways to reduce everyday expenses. And I can assure you these decisions were not easy. Some community members u may have been uh noisy. Many of these informed parents no longer have children in our schools, nor are they even residents. Many, not all, in these groups tend to focus on criticizing and condemning our schools without offering thoughtful or realistic solutions. I want to be clear, I have no ulterior motive for supporting um the levy. My children have all graduated and benefited from this district. My husband has been a dedicated teacher here for over 30 years and will not be impacted by levy failure like some of our other staff members will be. Um, like many families, we understand budgeting and financial strain. We have a son still in college and we just celebrated our
064daughter's wedding this past weekend. We are not running off to places like Aruba by annually and dipping our toes in sand. That's not, you know, we have a budget. Um, everyone's financial situation is different and I do understand that some simply could not support the levy and I do not fault, you know, anybody for that. And there are always the no voters who will always be no votes regardless of their financial status or situation. These challenges are not unique to our district. They stem for broader from broader issues at the state level. And real change will come from engaging with legislators and state representatives, not from unproductive debates on social media. The argument that schools have mismanaged money has become a repeated and and frankly a tired argument. Um we are um where am I?
065Sorry. Um just one second. And often without substantial evidence though we are seeing this same claim used in many strong distance across the state and in like the so-called good neighboring districts. Too often it comes from those whose children benefited from the very schools and districts they now criticize. Like I said, not unique to Twinsburg. Not at all. As a former school board member, I had chosen not to engage in debates on social media. Instead, I made myself available through meetings, phone calls, emails, and on the sidelines of my kids um sporting events. Um I also did not use my official Facebook page to state how I would vote on issues and try to influence voters as that approach can be uneth can cause ethical concerns and at the very least is not the most
066effective way to communicate. On my own personal page, I've shared my perspectives on occasion, but I believe there is an important distinction. That being said, if a board member chooses to take a public stance on an issue such as issue four or future issues, which I'm sure we all will, or you all will, um, but on an official platform, they should also be prepared to respond to um, questions from constituents. Opening that door and then ignoring valid questions does not serve the community well. There should be reasonable and realistic ideas shared um not criticisms and tax with no helpful solutions provided or suggested. As I heard shared earlier at board meeting um earlier in the year, children should be the center of every decision. These children unfortunately will now be negatively affected by this failed
067levy. Our schools more than ever now need the support of our community. And I'm not just talking financial. They need people to get involved. There needs to be efforts made to advocate for our students at the state level. Writing, calling, or meeting with our state representatives like many of the current and past board members have done over the years. That would be a good place to start. Um, we all as a community need to step up and that includes everyone here and the recent resolution pass is a great effort, a great start. Everyone should be on board with this effort. I am asking those who are critical of our schools to offer reasonable and actionable solutions to the funding challenges we face. Show up at board meetings, get involved, join a committee to help move
068our schools forward and educate yourselves on the complexities of state funding and the lack of support to our schools. Most importantly, we need to work together for our schools in our community and board. Maybe now would be a good time to invite state representative Steve Ditro to a future board meeting maybe to express our district's concerns for fates state funding. Let him look you all in the eye. Again, thank you for everything you do for our families and our community and thank you for allowing me this chance to speak. >> Thank you back on. All right. So H, treasures report recommendations. Number one, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the following meeting minutes regular meeting of April 8th, 2026 as sent to the board under separate cover. Two, resolve that
069the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education accepts the following financial reports for the month of March 2026. Bank reconciliation, cash summary report by fund, cash summary report by fund and special cost center, dispersement summary report and investment portfolio review as sent to the board under separate cover. And three, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves all expenditures for the month of March 2026 as reflected in the above name reports. Do I have a motion? >> So moved by Miss Egan, >> Second by Miss Hamilton. Any discussion? Mrs. Eaggan, >> yes. >> Miss Hamilton, >> yes. >> Miss Rush, >> yes. >> Mrs. Travis, >> yes. >> Mrs. Crawford, >> yes. And that passes 5 Z. I action items. Personnel one, resolved that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education
070accepts the certified staff recommendations detailed in the attached exhibit as per the dates, terms, and other ethical conditions specified pending satisfactory ORC background checks. And two, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education accepts the classified staff recommendations detailed in the attached exhibit as per the dates, terms and other ethical conditions specified any satisfactory OC background checks. Do I have a motion? >> So moved by Mrs. Hamilton. >> Second by Mrs. Egan. Any discussion? Can you please follow >> Miss Hamilton? >> Yes. >> Miss Egan? >> Yes. >> Miss Rush? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Travis? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Crawford? >> Yes. And that passes 5 J. Action items. New business. One, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the resis job description for the position of school psychologist
071for the attached exhibit. Two, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the service agreement with Safe House Preparatory, a residential treatment center in Youngstown to provide educational services for one student during their placement. Tuition cost is $6,600, $200 per day. This will be a general fund expense. Documentation was sent to the board under a separate cover. Three, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the second reading of the revised rescendant and replacement policies as noticed before below. Four, resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the following deletions of textbooks. Five that the Twinsburg City School District renews the TLA agreement for student and data privacy report Senate Bill 29 from learn 21 at a cost of $2,100 for the 2627 school year for
072the attached exhibit. This will be a general fund expense expenditure six resolved that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the agreement with Ohio school council OSC for electricity purchase program for the documentation sent to the board under separate cover. Seven. saw that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the lease agreement with the city of Reminderville to utilize yellow buses for the summer 2026. The city of Reminderville will compensate the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education for use of the buses, including mileage, fuel, and bus drivers for the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement sent to the board under separate cover. resolved that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the lease agreement with the city of Twinsburg to utilize yellow school buses for the
073summer 2026. The city of Twinsburg will compensate the Twin City School District Board of Education for use of the buses, including mileage, fuel, and bus drivers for the terms and conditions set forth in the agreement sent to the board under separate cover. Nine. Result that the Chinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the 2026 2027 breakfast and lunch prices as notice noted below. Do I have a motion? >> So moved by Miss Travis. >> Second by Miss Rush. Any discussion? >> Yes. I do want to make note the um deletion of the textbooks. Um those Mrs. Farthing I'm sure will be working on trying to sell those back. um there is a book company that uh purchases books that you no longer use or are moving forward. So, uh we should be able um
074even though this program is an early program and um out of date with the new math standards um there will be districts who are still engaged in the contract with this book company and we'll still be using these books for another year. So, we will be able to recoup some. It won't be a It won't be the full value, but we will be able to recoup a good penny to get these books um moved on to someone else to be able to use next year. >> Mrs. Travis, >> yes. >> Miss Rush, >> yes. >> Miss Hamilton, >> yes. >> Mrs. Egan, >> yes. >> Mrs. Crawford, >> yes. And that passes by zero 10. Approval of revised, rescended, and replacement board of education policies. Resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education
075approves the revised, rescended, and replacement board of education policies as noted in J3 above. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. Moved by Travis. >> Second by Men. Any discussion? >> Mrs. Travis? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Egan? >> Yes. >> Miss Hamilton? >> Yes. >> Miss Rush? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Crawford? Yes. And that passes 11. Resolve that the Twinsburg City School District Board of Education approves the purchase and installation of new perimeter fencing at Twinsburg Stadium from R&T Fence Company Incorporated at a total cost not to exceed $74,992 pursuant to the terms and conditions set forth in the proposal set to the board under separate cover. This is a permanent improvement fund expenditure. Do I have a motion? >> So move. So moved by M. Rush. >> Second by Miss Egan. Any discussion?
076>> Miss Rush? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Egan? >> Yes. >> Miss Hamilton? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Travis? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Crawford? >> Yes. That passes 5. Any miscellaneous? >> Yes. I just wanted to say a few things about Ohio and as the state relates to school levies. Ohio has more school levies than any other state. And I'll say it again for the people in the back. Ohio has more school levies than any other state. What that actually means, it's not necessarily that Ohio has more types of taxes, but rather levies show up on ballots far more frequently. The same districts often go back to voters repeatedly. Over time, this adds up to huge numbers. Ohio has roughly 398 school levies per year on average historically. Why Ohio has so many levies? The main reason
077is a unique law called House Bill 920. It freezes how much money a levy can generate. So even if property values rise, schools don't automatically get more funding. That forces districts to keep returning to the ballot for new or replacement levies. Thank you. I have I have two. Um, while we were thanking staff and everyone, um, Monday, uh, the first Monday of May has been declared as the Ohio School bus appreciation Monday. And so we missed that to say it because we're at Wednesday, but um just as a board again, not only just thanking all of our staff, obviously a wonderful job in our district, um but the um bus drivers have a special day in Ohio, which is always now going to be the first Monday in May. So Mr. Strickland, if you can
078pass that on that we said congratulations and thank you to um you know they're the first individual to greet a child in the morning >> and they are the last individual to say good night >> and that starts out and ends day for many of our children. So they are very special people and then I'd also like to um thank John Summers um he's been a a longtime colleague in the world of education. So um I know understand he will be leaving us at the end of June and want to thank him for um his service, his commitment. Uh we will miss his knowledge. Um John has been involved in school maintenance and and just the whole aspect of the buildings and ground since he was in high school. Um so taught by the old
079men of the day and he understands what's behind our walls. Um, so we will be losing that talent as he goes on to um retirement and and uh fun hopefully fun times in life with his family. So, thank you, John, for your service. >> And I had the opportunity to um volunteer with um the environmental science class last week to do a field trip at the Summit County um parks and recreation up here in Liberty Park. And I I would just want to thank Summit County's rec park parks and wreck. the program that they put on for these kids was absolutely outstanding. Um, they were able to see different aspects of what parks and wreck for Summit County can do for them as far as like a career-wise. Um, it was us and a couple
080of other schools that were there and I feel that the kids were super engaged. Um, Mrs. Kurt uh did an outstanding job being able to have the opportunity to take this these children, these students there. I think this was the second year that they were able to do that. So, I just wanted to thank Summit County Parks and Recre for being able to do that program for our students. All right. So, I guess I'll go next. Um, mine is kind of long. Um, it's sort of in line with what Mrs. um, Davis had mentioned. There are people in our community that will always be a no. No matter what they do, they will always be a yes no matter what we do. But one thing I want to make very, very clear is I sit
081on this board for the reason for our kids, our family, our staff, and our community. Everything I do, I keep them in mind. And it's because of them I'm sitting here tonight to be able to make tough decisions as we always do as board member. Last night, whether people want to believe it or not, it's not a celebration. It's not a yay, the levy fail. It's not a oh, it's a group of people fought. It is a stepping stone for us to partner together as a board and come together with a real plan. The plan I'm recommending is a full independent performance audit conducted by the state of Ohio auditor office office. This is not the same as a financial audit um our district receives annually. Our treasurer and her team has earned us a
082clean financial audit consistently and I want to acknowledge them for that. A financial audit confirms our money is being recorded and spent correctly. A performance audit asks a different and deeper question. Are we getting the most out of every dollar we spend? It looks at how we are staffing related to our enrollment, whether our contracts are competitive, whether our programs are delivering results, and where we have opportunity to reduce costs without reducing the quality of education that our student receive. It is an independent set of eyes, no agenda other than helping us operate better. and it and when we when those results come back, we share them openly and completely with our community, no filter, just a truth or a path moving forward. So, I'm making this formal request now because of the same reason
083I sit in this seat, which is for our kids, our family, our staff, and our community. So, I'm hoping that people understand the Levy felon is not a celebration for any of us. It's us as a board working together to partner, to move, and whatever decision we make next, we're taking into account where we can be the most effective. >> Um, I would just thanks Beth for mentioning um the event you volunteered for because that was something that I forgot to put in the business advisory group. Tony, who she also is a part of that as well and she brought that up there. So we appreciate the students she reflected had a um great time doing that. And then um one thing I forgot to mention too um as a mother in the district a
084stu um I have three students currently my daughter graduated in 2016 who was involved in the basketball and then she was highly active in um show choir. And so um currently my son is on the varsity and JV basketball team. My other son is on the basketball team and he does baseball. And then my youngest son uh plays soccer, football, baseball, and basketball with our community. So I am a mother who is a mother of a athletes like so I just want people to be clear. Um we're I'm here for the students. I've always been here for the students. Um before I joined the board, um there was no cap on family cap. There was no payment plans. And that was something that when I ran, that was something that I advocated for was to
085get rid of pay to participate. That's something that I always looked at and I understood where our district was at. And so joining the board in 2022, that was something that I discussed with our current board and we were able uh to implement the family cap um that year and also provide uh payment plans for our families. So I just wanted to be clear to the community that this is something that just happened um when I joined the board. We're always looking for what's best for our students. We have the best interest for our students at all times. I am a parent. Like I'm here for all students, but I also am a parent too. Like so I would never do anything that I think would jeopardize our students as well as our staff. And
086then um just a quick note with Mrs. Russ recommendation that was something that was already brought up by our inter our incoming superintendent. that's something that he um has stated that he had wanted to do in his plan. So just want to make that clear that that was a recommendation that Dr. Sandy Wac had stated to the board. Um that was his recommendation um about the audit. Um so that is all I have. Um do we have a motion to go into the executive session? Um Egan second by Mr. Hamilton. So at the board will enter executive session at 7:44 to discuss employment and compensation of public employees as per the board of education policy number 0167.2A and matters related to R. C121.22G8 228 consideration of confidential information related to the marketing plans, specific business
087strategy, production techniques, trade secrets, or personal financial statements of a applicant for economic development assistance or to negotiations between the school district and other political subdivisions respecting requests for economic development assistance and to protect the interests of the applicant or the possible investment or expenditure of public funds to be made in connections with the economic development plan. So, um, any discussion? All right. >> I'm sorry if you ladies can help me. I missed the first and second. >> It was first by Egan, second by >> Thank you, Mrs. Egan. >> Yes. >> M. Hamilton. >> Yes. >> M. Rush. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Travis? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Crawford? >> Yes. >> That passes 5. I do not um see the need to um come back. So, I just want to say thank you for
088joining us tonight and have a great evening and also want to say um happy Mother's Day to those who are um celebrating. Um we appreciate all the work that you do. So, thank you.