001Where is that one going to be? Oh, there she is. >> Hello, Deb. Hey, Deb. I would like to call this evening's Kings Board of Education regular board meeting for May 19th, 2026 to order. Mr. Morrow, can you please call the roll? Ms. Phillips. >> Here. Ms. Groff. Ms. Callan. Here. Mr. Belfon. Here. Mr. Skirvin. Here. Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. May I have a motion to approve this evening's agenda? I'll second the motion. Mr. Morrow. Ms. Groff. Yes. >> Ms. Phillips. Yes. Ms. Callan. Yes. >> Mr. Belfon. Yes. Mr. Skirvin. Yes. First item on our agenda this evening is reports and presentations. Turn over to you, Mr. Spinner. tion. Good evening. Tonight, we have the privilege of recognizing
002an outstanding group of retirees whose combined years of service have made an incredible impact on the Kings Local School District, our students, and our community. Each of these individuals has left a lasting mark on Kings and we are deeply grateful for their dedication, leadership, and care over the years. I'm going to walk through these retirees one by one, say a few words about each. If any of you that are here this evening, any retirees that are here this evening, would like to say a few words after you're introduced, you're more than welcome to push me out of the way and say a few words, lightly. Uh I would like to call up very first uh Ms. Jill Swanson. You know. We begin by recognizing Jill who began her career at Kings in 1989 after being
003hired by Mr. Grow who had also been her junior high principal a decade earlier. Jill spent her entire 37-year career at J.F. Burns teaching every grade level from kindergarten through fourth grade. Along the way, she served as a content coordinator for social studies and ELA, provided professional development, participated in leadership academy and personalized learning initiatives, and embodied what it means to be a lifelong learner. In retirement, Jill looks forward to traveling with her husband, spending time with family, spoiling her grandson, relaxing with her dog, and perhaps, this is very exciting, adding a new puppy to the family. Jill, congratulations. Was that news? That was news back then. I think that's all that she said. Thank you. Next, we would like to recognize Mrs. Cheryl Montag. Cheryl. Cheryl began her Kings journey in 1985. Cheryl shared,
004say that five times fast, that from her very first interview with also Mr. Grow, she knew Kings was where she was meant to be. 41 years later, she can proudly say she lived her dream serving the students and staff of JF Burns as both a teacher and an administrator. Sheryl expressed deep gratitude to the board, administrators, staff, students, and the Kings community for their support throughout her remarkable career. In retirement, she looks forward to volunteering at her church and traveling with her husband Al. Congratulations, Sheryl. You're very welcome. Oh, congratulations. Like to recognize Ms. Leanne Bell. Hi, Leanne. Leanne's career in education spans 34 years including 33 at Kings. Leanne's journey included student teaching at the original South Lebanon Elementary, teaching at Kings Elementary, Columbia Intermediate School, and returning to South Lebanon before finishing career
005back at Columbia. Do I have that correct? >> That is correct. Outstanding. Along the way, she served in numerous leadership roles including KEA representative and treasurer, curriculum committees, content coordinator, OMLA representative, and Girls on the Run coach. Leanne dedicated herself to finding creative ways to help students enjoy and succeed in math. In retirement, she looks forward to spending more time with family and friends, rooting on the Bengals, and as she said, traveling a lot. Congratulations, Leanne. Thank you. Absolutely. Not not rooting for the Bengals. I am a Steeler fan and he knows that. That is it. I took off my lanyard. I ruined him. I ruined him. I ruined him. Mr. Scarlino, do you have anything to add to that? Scruggs-Browns, there you go. >> [laughter] >> Ms. Maria Dickmann. Tonight, we also celebrate Maria
006Dickmann who joined Kings in 2004 after already building an accomplished career in Northwest and Lakota schools. Maria served students at Columbia Intermediate as both an intervention specialist and general education teacher while also taking on leadership roles including yearbook coordinator, literacy team representative, content coordinator, after-school club sponsor, and KEA building representative. Maria shared how grateful she is to have spent 22 years at Kings along alongside so many outstanding educators. In retirement, she plans to spend time with family and friends, travel, garden, read, play pickleball once her ankle heals. And digitally organizing treasured family memories while making many more. Congratulations, Maria. Welcome. Ms. Karen Manis. Hi. >> Hi. Karen began her Kings career in this very building in 1994. Karen spent 3 years at KME before moving to Columbia when the building opened where she spent the
007remainder of her 32-year career. Karen reflected on the different chapters of her life, first in business, then education, and shared that her next chapter will be focused on traveling the world. She also expressed gratitude to the district board, union, and community for the opportunity to serve thousands of Kings families over the years. Congratulations, Karen. Linda Hair. Next, we honor Linda Hair, who dedicated 34 years to education, including 27 at Kings. Linda served as the eighth blue team leader, ELA department chair, National Junior Honor Society advisor, teacher mentor, Leadership Academy participant, and presenter at both the Association of Middle Level Education and Ohio Middle Level Association conferences. Her leadership and mentorship have positively impacted countless students and colleagues throughout her career. Congratulations, Linda. Don't believe Melanie Contrado is in the house tonight. No, but I would
008like to say a few words about Melanie. She is concluding a remarkable 35-year career in education, including the last 18 at Kings High School. Melanie taught AP Physics, Honors Chemistry, Honors Geometry, and developed the school's forensic science courses. Beyond the classroom, she has served as student council advisor, prom advisor, and science department chair. Melanie shared that teaching has always been more than a profession, it has been a calling. As she begins retirement, she is especially excited to spend time helping care for her new granddaughter, Josephine, who was born just last week. Congratulations, Melanie. Great time is fun. I think we also may be missing Rick Kreps. Rick? All right, a few words about Rick. He's also a Kings graduate from the class of 1988. He returned to Kings in '95 to begin teaching science. In
009addition to teaching, Rick coached baseball and football for more than 20 years, creating countless memories and lifelong friendships along the way. Rick and his wife, Tracy, who retired from JF Burns last year, look forward to traveling the country and spending time camping while always calling Kings home. Congratulations, Rick. I don't think Heidi Murray is with us. Few words about Ms. Murray, who joined Kings in 2001 as a school counselor serving both Kings Junior High and Kings High School before moving full-time to the high school 1 year later. Heidi shared how much Kings has meant to both her and her family with all three of her sons attending Kings High School. Peter graduating in 2016, Sam in 2019, and Ben as a member of the class of 2022. In retirement, Heidi looks forward to attending more
010FC Cincinnati away matches with her husband, gardening, spending time with family and friends, and maybe even reading for pleasure. As Heidi said so perfectly, once a Knight, always a Knight. Congratulations, Heidi. Ms. Kelly Baker, come on down. Kelly. Tonight, we also celebrate our student services secretary, who prior to her experience here at KEC was our principal secretary at Columbia Intermediate, Ms. Kelly Baker. Kelly plans to spend retirement traveling with her husband and enjoying precious time with her grandchildren. Imagine you're very much looking forward to that. We thank Kelly for her years of service and dedication to Kings students and families. Thank you, Kelly. Get ready, we've got a little bit of sibling rivalry coming up. I just want to warn you. We're honored to recognize Jane Bain. Come on down, Jane. Jane. >> Jane began
011at Kings in payroll in April of 2000 before transitioning into a budgetary role for the last 15 years. Jane shared that there has never been a day she did not enjoy coming to work, calling Kings a truly special place. In retirement, Jane is looking forward to relaxing and fishing at her new cottage up north and perhaps claiming the annual Golden Rod Award from Jill. Best of luck. And finally, we would like to recognize Jill Nichols. Sensing a theme. Jill described her 27 years at Kings as 27 amazing years. Jill plans to spend retirement fishing, enjoying water sports, hiking national parks with her daughters, whale watching, volunteering at memory care facilities, and animal shelters. And of course, sorry Jane, defending her golden rod fishing trophy title against Jane. Best of luck. To all of tonight's retirees,
012thank you for your many years of service, your commitment, your leadership, and the countless lives you have impacted throughout your careers. Kings Local School District is stronger because of each of you. Congratulations and enjoy this next chapter and once again, thank you all very, very much. This time I would like to welcome up our RAISE representatives. As the board knows, each month our RAISE representatives highlight some of the great things happening across Kings High School. Tonight's presentation showcases the many ways our students continue to represent Kings with excellence both inside and outside of the classroom. Yes. Turn it over to you. Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much for having us back. Derek and I are super excited to be here for our last one of the school year and my last one ever. Um
013unfortunately, Taylor's not able to be here right now. She is currently battling Winton Woods in the first round of tournament play. So, good luck to her and Derek and I will head right into it. All right. First off in our arts, for the 10th year on a row, Kings has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education Award to uh to award their outstanding support and commitment to music education. The award spotlights school districts nationwide for their dedication to music education. Congrats to Kings music staff. Uh some of them are up there, but not all of them. And they have won this award again for the 10th year in a row. All right. Moving on. The theater department put on for their spring play, or their spring musical, a performance of Catch Me If
014You Can. I would like to say congrats to everyone involved. I can tell, I mean, I know a lot of people in the in the theater and they are just going at it like every day. And I got to see it on I think I got to see it on Friday and it was just really good and really special. I enjoyed it a lot. And a special congrats to senior Seb Collins who received the Legacy Robe for the show. All right. And then moving into our athletics, our softball team has had an incredible season. Um they currently are the ECC champs and again are battling Winton Woods right now in the first round of tournament play. Our baseball team has also had a great season with a huge win over Mason at Prasco Park. And
015then our track and field team has had a great season as well with athletes setting PRs all season long. And then our women's lacrosse team has also had a very successful season. They won the ECC this past Tuesday with a big win against Turpin and then started their tournament play the next day with a huge win 25-1 over Princeton. A big congratulations to senior Peyton Volz who hit 100 goals that game. And then our men's lacrosse team had a very strong season outscoring their opponents 164 to 98 throughout the regular season. And our boys volleyball team wrapped up their 2026 season with an overall record of 4-9 and a conference record 3-5. We are super excited by how much this program has already grown and how much it will continue to grow in the future.
016Okay. Moving on to academics. Students from the Kings High School and Warren County Career Center chapter of BPA Business Professionals of America competed at the 2026 National Leadership Conference. Uh they competed in areas like promotional photography, branding, computer networking, and interview skills. And 10 of our students placed in the top 10 in the nation. All right. And then Miss Laudermilk's Spanish four students and Mrs. Gilfoil's AP drawing class collaborated for the memory project this month this month, which is where a youth arts organization promotes intercultural understanding and kindness between children around the world. So the drawing students painted portraits of the kids and then Spanish students wrote them notes and soon they will get videos back of the kids actually opening up all of their gifts. So this was a super cool way for students
017to kind of spread love further than our little community. Okay. Furthermore in language land, our German classes took a field trip to the German restaurant Hofbräuhaus. Am I saying that right? Where they enjoyed traditional German food in an authentic atmosphere. They also participated in a lively sing-along with the Hofbräuhaus band. On the way back, they visited the Berlin exhibition, which is behind the Freedom Center. The students had been learning about this time period in class, and as an added bonus, they also received some extra insight from their bus driver, who just so happened to have served in Germany during that time. And then, seniors in Mrs. Gilbert's composition class took a field trip to KME to celebrate a whole year of writing with their pen pals. They kind of just had one last celebration and
018little recess with them. I know these meant a lot to the seniors, and it was super cool. I walked around KME for our elementary walk, and a lot of the kids had signs for their pen pals. So, it was super special to see that this meant as much to the kids as it did the seniors. All right, for the Seal of Biliteracy, 13% of the Kings High School graduating class earned the Seal of Biliteracy this year, which is 26 times the state average. We also had two students receive seals in multiple languages languages, and for the first time in history, we had a student pass three biliteracy exams. Alex Bogomol of the senior obtained biliteracy in Spanish, German, and Russian, earning three green cords for graduation. And then, the team recently held KFC. Kings Freshman
019Camp is built so that eighth graders coming to the high school have their nerves a little more eased and they aren't as nervous over the summer. So, eighth graders are split into families, we call them, and each family is led by high school leaders who take them throughout their days of games and fun and learning about the five pillars of RAISE, which are respect, accountability, integrity, service, and enthusiasm. I just had my fifth and final KFC, and it is always a great time and just a great way to start your high school years here. All right, for our student spotlight, we would like to congratulate Grayson Hackbarth, another senior. for He has earned an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. Uh during his years at KHS, he stayed very involved doing things like National
020Honor Societies and sports like cross country, track, and swim. He's also an Eagle Scout and plays violin in the symphony orchestra. At the Naval Academy, he's planning to study mechanical engineering and then plans to attend pilot school to become a pilot in the Navy. That is all we have for you guys. Thank you so much for listening today. In the past 3 years, um I've had a great time talking to you guys. It's been an honor each month. Um I've learned a lot from you guys. If you didn't know, I had to talk in front of a lot of people on Sunday and this definitely gave me enough experience to do that. So, thank you and I'm very excited to pass the reins over to Derek for the next few years. Uh yeah, I would
021I would like to say thank you guys very much. This has been a This has been a real experience for me. It's definitely been one of the highlights of my sophomore year. Uh I've been I've been really happy to uh pursue my interests in public speaking this way. So, thank you guys. Gabby and Derek, before you guys leave, can you come back around? We have some gifts for you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. >> Thank you very much. God bless you. Excellent job as always Gabby and Derek. Derek, we look forward to seeing you next year. Gabby, go Irish. >> [laughter] >> All right, tough act to follow KME, but we know you're up to the task. We're excited to recognize Kings Mills Elementary for their KME Cafe project, a student-run experience created by
022second-grade students as part of their economics and service learning curriculum. This time, I'd like to invite the KME team to share a few words about the project and their experience. Awesome. Look at that. Yeah, um I'm Amy Edwards. I'm here with the second-grade team with a at least a few of us from Kings Mills across the street. Um we're just really proud and excited to share with you um all that they've learned and all that they've worked on. So, in the month of April, we actually study economics, um learn lots and lots of terms, needs and wants, goods and services, producer, consumer, all the way up to um supply and demand, and overhead, and um profit, and even wages, and spending, saving, and um donating. So, lots and lots of key terms that seem to
023be really above their head at that level, but we really bring it down to their level with um real-life experiences even in their learning. So, um I mean, for example, we can walk through like lemonade stand and talk about whether they're providing a good or service, what the overhead is that they have to spend, and how much they need to charge to make profit, and whether or not they need to adjust that based on supply and demand. So, they've learned a lot of detailed things um when it comes to economics. And then um I know my class and a few of the other classes, too, they um get an opportunity opportunity to play the game of life, where we pay them with Smarties. And then um they have to um pay their bills first, the
024needs that have to be paid, um you know, water, electric, uh gas, groceries, things. And then with what's remaining, they get to choose how to spend the rest of their money, whether it is they want to spend it on new clothes, going to McDonald's, you know, going to the trampoline park, um or they can choose to save it, um save up for a future vacation, or we talk about emergencies and backup plans. And then they also have an opportunity to donate it. So, um lots and lots and lots of um really great um worldly skills, especially with money, being that money is like hard hardly touched, it seems, anymore. Everything's on credit, so it's nice for them to get back to that. But, um after all that, we um we culminated it in applying all
025of those skills to what we call the Kamehameha Cafe, which what we're here to teach about today. So, with that in mind, the Kamehameha Cafe is now open for business. Um can the board members raise your hand? If you have a person, just go straight to one of the people who are raising their hand. I'm in the middle of this. All right, go ahead. Right down Noelia, come right in the middle of you. Go straight down the middle. Go to one of the people with their hand raised. I'll pay. I'm sorry. I'm doing well, sir. How are you? What's your name? I'll see. I will take the water. Problem solved. How would you like your steak? And What is there to drink? >> Sprite, What do you recommend, Noelia? Um I would like Jesus I
026will get you right here okay thank you honey. Sure he's Washington when the second grade team first collaborated together about Cafe to complete a service project that would benefit other children and the instant make-a-wish of Ohio Kentucky and Indiana would be the perfect recipient. Their chapter alone has granted a total 23,000 wishes. They have reached children in 400 counties in three states. Some local wishes that have been granted for children with critical diseases include dirt bike to ride a community project to feed unhoused people of course trips to Disney World. A hopeful fact is that about 40% of the wish kids beat their childhood illness and typical healthy lives. So we are proud that we to support this cause. This past year alone raised 2000 700 in donations. Over the past four years our total
027has been $7,947. Can we get a round of applause for that? All right, so to so might to point that the power five skills were applied with this project. Students had to be great communicators while carrying out all of the roles. For example, children who were hosts quickly learned to be good conductors and their friendly greetings helped to set the tone for the service that was received in the restaurants. The kitchen staff collaborated as they worked as a team to get the snack items placed on trays in a timely manner. Look at the food placed on trays in a timely manner. Problem-solving skills were put to the test for many of our cashiers who had to break change or cleverly suggest to customers that they could donate their extra money by placing it in the
028tip jar. And the list goes on and on. In closing, we are grateful that our King's students have experienced this initiative of kids helping kids and we look forward to what the future holds. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so very much. And is that my bill? Perfect. Thank you so much. Thank you. And kids, you can go see Mr. Morrow for your money. He handles I'm Lynn Jenkins. I'm another one of the second grade teachers at Cammy and we just wanted to share with you the various jobs that the kids had. Um, I'm going to let each of them introduce themselves in just a moment and tell you their favorite thing that they learned or noticed in their job. We had all kinds of jobs. We had runners that helped the kitchen
029staff get the food if we were running low in our classroom. They helped clean up the floor. We had bussers who cleaned the tables, got ready for the next group that was coming in to sit down. We had people that stamped the receipt to let them know that it was paid. We even had a bell ringer if they got a tip and we also had dozens of parent helpers which we could not have done it without our parent helpers. So we really appreciate that. And I'm going to let each of these guys introduce themselves to you and tell you what job they had and something about it. Me first. Introduce yourself. Hi, my name is Kritic. I'm being a host is really busy. At first you just stand but then a class comes and you
030have to take them to the tables and give them their menus and then you have to keep doing that over and over until the line and and then you can just and when they're done ordering you can just take their menus or just relax. I'm Aubrey and I was kitchen staff. Being kitchen staff is really fun but then it when the line comes everyone special that in a group and you have to go really really quickly but I really really really enjoyed it. Hello, my name is Noelia and my job was server. It was really really fun because first you just got to like talk to your friends and then while people started coloring and getting situated with ordering their food then you go over and ask them what they wanted to eat. And after
031you're done with that you go over to the kitchen and grab the food and then you go back and it's a really fun job. My name is V Hunt. Server job is really fun. First you get to chill and relax. And then when the customers comes, you have to take one order when they start ordering and then another order comes up, you have to keep on rushing until the orders are done, but we still successfully do it. Hello, my name is Nash and I got the job for cashier. And cashier was really cool because I got to mess with all the money and cents. And I just had a really fun time, but it was really hard. We had to sort out the coins, the pennies, the nickels, the money, how much money we got,
032but we did successfully. So we hope that you the board members enjoyed your little snack and we want to say a special thanks to our students and the parents for bringing them. Thank you so much. Never had a food bribe. >> Excellent job staff and students of Kings Mills Elementary. Always look forward to KME Cafe each and every year. This time, happy to recognize the Kings Early Childhood Center for their portrait of a preschool graduate presentation, which highlights how our youngest learners are already developing the district's power five skills. I'd like to invite the KECC team to share a few words about their presentation and the work happening at the Early Childhood Center. You just did my introduction for me, Tim. Thanks. Hi, I'm Mary Beth Bossi. I'm the principal of Kings Early Childhood Center
033and I have some team members here with me tonight. I've got SJ Slater. She's one of our speech language pathologists. And then I also have three of my dually licensed teachers here tonight. I have Katie Monnin, Jessica Askren, and Claire Warpenburg. They're going to talk to you about how our power five future skills align and support our portrait of a preschool graduate. And they're going to talk about how those skills are um looked at through that unique perspective from early childhood. SJ's going to start with communicator. All right. We can go one more slide, please. Um so our preschools uh preschooler's attend our setting and they are learning age-appropriate communication skills every day through their daily play and experiences within the classroom. They're learning to express their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and wants and needs while
034also learning to listen to not only their peers, but their teachers thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs as well. They are um also working through communication breakdown. So, when they are struggling to be understood or maybe when they are struggling to understand a peer or their teacher. Um, so there are lots of different activities that we have daily for them to practice these communication skills. Some of them are our star student posters and presentations where each week there's a different student who will share a poster of all their favorite things to the class and then they get to have their peers ask them questions about some of their favorite things and make connections with them. Another example of this is when they problem-solve on a daily basis with turn-taking and sharing all the toys in the
035preschool classroom and learning to communicate and work through that. And then also we do speech therapy circle time with a story and language activity. So, I'll talk a little bit more about that one specifically. So, um each week we do a weekly circle time. The speech therapist go into the classroom and lead circle time where they read a story and then follow up with a language activity. So, this really focuses on their communication skills of learning and listening. They follow directions, follow along with stories, being able to share their ideas, ask questions, or comment on the story, um being able to re retell the story and work on those language concepts while also building up their confidence. So, at the start of preschool we see these kids yelling out to share, having difficulty with remaining
036on topic, taking turns with each other, answering questions about the story. Um, for example, when reading a story about ice cream, we often hear kids yell out, "I went to King's Island this weekend." or "I like to eat pizza." But then by the end of preschool, we see them sitting, raising a quiet hand, waiting their turn to talk and share, answering comprehension questions about the story, and then also sharing those personal connections. So, again, for that ice cream story, we see kids saying, "I got ice cream with my dad. It had sprinkles on it." or "Chocolate is my favorite ice cream." So, it's really great to see how they grow from year 1 to year 2 or 3 when they leave our setting. Next, I'll also talk about critical thinking. So, preschoolers at KEC are
037developing these critical thinking skills as they engage in play. That's in a learning environment that fosters curiosity and supports their choice in their learning experiences. So, they're able to explore and learn about new topics and ideas that they may like or their peers may like. Our teachers do a great job of rotating through themes and getting them to learn about things that they enjoy. And they learn to ask meaningful questions when things might be new or they might be confusing to them. So, some of these activities that we see help promote these skills in our kids is our family literacy night, daily classroom activities that go along with the theme that week and the books that they're reading, science experiments, math and counting games, and then their daily exploration through their centers or free choice
038time. So, one example of an activity in Mrs. Dozier's classroom this year was going along with the five little pumpkins sitting on a gate. So, they were asked if they could build the gate for the five little pumpkins. So, this is working on their planning and understanding cause and effect. So, at the start of preschool, some of the students who are in their first year were seen just stacking and building with no plan, just some simple towers in one singular structure, thinking, "I I will build it and I'll see what happens." Whereas, at the end of preschool, some of our students who are on their second or third year are really building with a purpose and a plan and have more complex and detailed creations. So, they're thinking, "I'm going to plan this, build it,
039and then fix and adjust it to make it better as it goes on." So, again, it's really great to see from year 1 to 2 or 3 where those skills um foster and grow while they're in our setting. And I will pass it on to Miss Askren. Um at preschool, uh our preschoolers are always working on their problem-solving skills. So, this could be they are building resilience when things are challenging, thinking creatively to find solutions, uh working out problems with their peers with teacher support as needed. Um this can be seen many times during our day, especially during our free play or centers. Um so, materials such as LEGOs, blocks, um they're always using those to manipulate and problem-solve um during their time with us. Uh at the start of preschool, when children start they're
040typically uh younger 3-year-old. And if you all have had or know 3-year-olds, you know that they're not very flexible um at all. I remember my son, his teacher, his second-grade teacher was just here. He only wore Captain America for like a month straight one summertime. So, they're very set on what they want to do at 3. And they do grow out of that, um but they're reliant upon teachers to help and guide with problem-solving skills. Um they [clears throat] might be more reactive and show that lower level of frustration tolerance and shorter attention spans. But by the time they're finished with us, you know, 2 or 3 years, um when they're 5 or even possibly turning 6, we see so much growth in um problem-solving. Um they're more proactive in their planning, also more flexible
041and have higher perseverance. This can be seen when they're building in the blocks, um instead of just stacking it all up and wanting to make a tall tower and it crashing down like when they're 3 and becoming frustrated, they might make a base and build and work together with their peers. So, we see lots of growth in their problem-solving skills from the beginning to the end of preschool. The preschoolers are um becoming collaborators every day. They um learn to work together with their peers, sharing toys and school materials. They um complete group activities and art projects, and they learn how to share a playground space with another class. They um are learning to engage with their peers and their staff members. Um we have a Little Knights on the Move, which is a therapy group
042with our speech pathologist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist. So, they're learning to collaborate and work with many different staff members um as seen in some of the pictures on the screen with um our speech therapist leading circle time or our physical therapist creating an obstacle course. Um and they're learning to work together through play, which can be seen um in our dramatic play center and all of our centers in the classroom um collaborating and working together um at a construction site in the dramatic play center or even in a kitchen. Um preschoolers learn through play and um that can be seen in our dramatic play center. So, at the beginning of preschool, the play can be very simple. Um it's through play-based learning. It's communication in action. So, they're learning to express their needs clearly
043and listen to their peers. They're agreeing to the rules of the game and practicing negotiation and compromise. Um and then towards the end of that preschool, they're imitating the actions of others and exploring everyday items. Um so, at the beginning of preschool, you might hear in the kitchen, "I'm eating strawberries." or "I have a bowl and a spoon." Then at the end of preschool, they're assigning those rules, um playing and creating a plan for play, and you might hear them say, "Do you want to be a customer or a worker?" or "Make a line here. I'm the worker. Can I take your order?" So, we're really seeing that growth in how they assign the roles and plan for that play. >> All right, we are also helping our preschoolers be career ready. Preschoolers at KECC,
044they're becoming career ready each day through responsibility, creativity, adaptability, teamwork, and respect. In these pictures, one of the teachers, Mrs. Lashonda, she's teaching the students about Earth Day and how they can be responsible and learning about how we can better take care of our planet. In the middle is Ms. Monin's class on Career Day. They're all dressed up in different outfits as what they want to be when they grow up. And then we are also helping our students be career ready through writing and drawing, which can help preschoolers build communication, creativity, and problem-solving skills. These activities can help strengthen fine motor development, confidence, and independence, and they also help prepare children for future learning and career success. We have some pictures of some students from the beginning of the school year, and you can just
045see the progress that they've made from the beginning until the end of drawing a person. There's an example under September. It's barely even a circle, maybe. By March, you see a lot of growth in them. By May, there's a lot more detail where the student applied eyelashes, used more color. So, it's great to see all that progress that they make in a year. We also help our students be career ready through play-based learning, which helps preschoolers strengthen their social and emotional skills, their language and critical thinking skills. It promotes curiosity, cooperation, and self-confidence through active exploration. And these experiences support future success in both school and careers. In both of these pictures, it's the same kiddos but different times. The first picture of AR, this was last year at the beginning of the school year.
046They don't really know each other. They're in par- engaged in some parallel play, doing some cause and effect with some pebbles. This is the end of the school year where they're working together to build a rocket ship. They're sharing ideas and they're planning together throughout the process. So, it's great again to see how their play skills evolve. And then career day activities, learning about our community and community helpers, they teach preschoolers how to develop responsibility and adaptability by encouraging them to follow directions, participate in roles, and explore new experiences. Learning about different careers and practicing problem-solving supports confidence, flexibility, and positive social development. I have a variety of pictures that some teachers shared. The very first one is a web that Mrs. Fraser made with her students, and it's just talking about what's um children
047can do at home to help be responsible. We also have the firefighters and the police officers come to our building to teach us about what they do. Every year we do a walking field trip to the post office, so we get to learn more about our community and community helpers. And then we just have some extra pictures of our students on career day. We have a doctor, a pilot, a teacher, and a sanitation worker. And that pretty much wraps up our portrait of a preschool graduate. We just wanted to share with you how um we want you to see how we plant the seed for our students and their future success. Thank you. >> I just want to give a shout-out to preschool cuz I don't know if you get to hear it often enough.
048The kindergarten teachers always say make sure I get at least one preschool child in my kindergarten classroom because they make the best role models for the other students. So, thank thank you. Excellent job KEC C. So many wonderful things going on in our district continuing to go on in our district starting tonight high school, elementary level now KEC C. We're going to go full circle and invite some of our members of our high school back up to say a few words about our business professionals of America. These students and their advisor, Mrs. Shields, following their participation in the 2026 BPA National Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Students from Kings competed against some of the top business, technology, and digital media students from across the country and brought home several top 10 national finishes, including national
049finalists in promotional photography, virtual branding, and network design. Guys represented us really, really well in Nashville. We look forward to hearing more from you during this presentation. Good evening, superintendent and members of the board. My name is Catherine Linneman. I'm Hannah Atkins. And I'm Avery Manley. We're so proud to stand before you tonight representing the Kings High School and Warren County Career Center's chapter of Business Professionals of America. From May 6th to May 10th, 12 of of us had the incredible opportunity to travel to Nashville, Tennessee to compete at the 2026 National Leadership Conference. We stood our ground against an an estimated 6,000 of the top delegates from across the country. We went head-to-head with the best of the best in business, digital media, and information technology. And our chapter brought home some truly historic
050results. It is an honor for the three of us to share our team's remarkable national achievements with you tonight. To start, I was incredibly honored to receive fifth place in the nation for promotional photography. Avery and I competed together on the virtual branding team alongside Ali O'Rourke and Neely McElhaney, and we were thrilled to earn sixth place in the nation. Our chapter success also continued into the IT division. The team of Ian Forbes, Ivan Jones, Samuel Lorenz, and Dustin Minnick secured a fantastic seventh place in the nation in the network design team competition. Dane Singer also placed top 10, finishing ninth place in the nation for computer network technology. Additionally, Tyler Buehler, Dylan Hurtline, and Tessa McCune represented our district with high distinction as national competitors in their highly competitive events. >> Competing on a
051national stage takes a lot of hard work, but we know we couldn't have done any of it without the dedication of the educators who guide us every single day. On behalf of all the competitors, we want to formally thank the incredible team of teachers who work tirelessly to prepare, mentor, and support us every step of the way. Thank you to business teacher Mr. Isaac Travis, IT teacher Mr. Reggie Holtry, and our digital media arts teacher Mrs. Kelly Shields and Mrs. Cassandra Barnes. Finally, thank you to the board for your continued support of our career and technical education programs. It's because of your investment in our classrooms that we were able to excel, grow, and amplify our impact on a national stage. Thank you for your time tonight. And congratulations to all of our fellow national
052winners. Wow. Stacy, I'm going to actually have right in between yes, that's perfect. And then John, actually stay right there. Kelly, could I have you come from John right there? And then John's the one more Parker. Dead. >> [laughter] >> All right, let's do one, two, three. And board members Congratulations to you as well. >> Okay, yeah, let's just kind of fill in the blanks as we can. All right, let's spread out a little bit. If I may, should I put you on the side right here? It's all right if they see you. >> [laughter] >> One, two, three. Awesome. Thank you. All right. That was a lot of presentations tonight. Thanks to everyone for coming out and doing that. >> That was amazing. So many awesome things going on. >> A lot of great
053things going on. Um so next item on our agenda this evening is public participation. The King's Board of Education recognizes a value to school governance of public comment on educational issues and the importance of allowing members of the public to express themselves on school matters of community interest. The portion of the meeting during which the participation of the public is invited is limited to 30 minutes unless extended by a vote of the board. Each participant will be limited to 3 minutes. Um so our first speaker this evening is Veronica Mitchell. Good evening members of the Kings Local School District and Board. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. My name is Veronica Mitchell and alongside me is my partner, Chad Cordell. I serve on the campus security team at the Kings High School and
054Kings Junior High. I stand before you tonight not simply to speak about present positions being eliminated possibly in the year of 2026 and 2027 school year, but to speak about what those positions represent. They represent safety, they represent trust, and they represent the promise we make every single day to protect the students and staff of the of this district. Every parent who drops off their child in the morning does this with faith that this district will keep them safe. Every student who locks their classroom during during a drill hopes they will never have to experience the real thing. Every student deserves to walk these halls feeling protected, supported, and seen. That responsibility does not begin during an emergency. It begins every single day before whenever happens. Campus security is often the first to notice when
055a student is struggling, angry, isolated, anxious, or headed towards a crisis. We are the adults walking the halls, checking the perimeter, responding to calls, calming conflicts, and building relationships that students depend on. And those relationships save situations escalating every day. On an average day between the high school and the junior high, our team handles 45 vape incidents, more than 50 students skipping or truancy situations, over 20 behavioral interventions, two to three conflicts that we successfully de-escalate before they become physical fights, multiple exterior building and perimeter safety checks, medical emergencies ranging from seizures to student mental health crisis. That means that over the course of a single school year, campus security helps manage over one nearly 1,000 behavioral interventions, more than 9,000 truancy or students accountability situations, hundreds of preventable physical altercations, countless wellness checks and
056student interventions. Those are not just numbers. Those numbers represent classrooms that stayed calm, teachers who were able to continue teaching, students who were protected from harm, and the parents who never received the phone call every family fears. Because of Because many of the biggest successes in school safety are the incidents that never happened. When the swatting incident occurred on January 31st, 2025 at both the high school and junior high, our entire campus security team responded immediately alongside school resource officers, administrators, SWAT, the FBI, deputies and other law and other local law enforcement. We searched classrooms, we followed leads, we helped secure secure buildings and protect students and staff during one of the most frightening situations our district has faced. Your 3 minutes are up. Huh? I apologize, your 3 minutes are up. Oh, okay. Thank
057you. Mhm. Next speaker is Denise Solomon. Okay. Just a reminder, we're holding it to 3 minutes. Okay. Hi, my name is Denise Solomon and I work along with Veronica and Chad. I am a para of the King's High School and they mean a lot to me and I just heard that maybe they might be losing their position of their uh security. Every day I walk in there, and Veronica and Chad always have a smiling face to say hi. Um the kids know them by names. There has been incidents where I need to know where a student is, and I can just give them the description of the child, and they are right on top of that situation. I've never once felt unsafe being there, as well as being a parent for twins that go to
058the high school. Veronica and Chad are the first persons that you greet and meet usually when there is a crisis. The kids feel very safe with Veronica and Chad if there should be something going on with them. They are the first ones to sit there and go to. I understand that kids are vulnerable these days, and sometimes they don't like to sit there and open up to adults as even a resource officer, but they do open up to Chad, and they do open up to Veronica. So I had an incident before with my family wise. I had cancer. Um Veronica helped you know, me. Um I'm sorry. She helped me just kind of get over that. Um my mom was dying, and Chad has been there for you know, me. It's just not a co-worker.
059We're family. We're a team there, and this is very passionate to me. I've never been to something like this before. And I just hope that you put in your heart um to keep them at the high school because they definitely deserve to be there, and the kids absolutely love them. Thank you very much. Next speaker is Jacob Reed. Good afternoon. Uh thank you for allowing me to talk. Uh my name is Jacob Green and I'm an honor student athlete at King's High School. The other day my mom told me something that not not only completely blindsided me, but honestly upset me, shocked me, and stayed with me for a really long time. Immediately I knew I needed to do something about it, even though I understood I was still a small character, a small voice,
060but still a voice that deserved to be heard. I was informed that my favorite person in the high school was going to lose his job. Person who had been one of my closest and most trusted adults in the building was not going to be there anymore. My friend, my mentor, my go-to person, someone I could just talk to, was going to be just gone. That man's name is Mr. C, Chad Cadell. Today I'm hoping I can change that because Mr. C deserves the spot he's in, and not just deserves it, but has earned it, has lived it out every single day. And trust me, I know the job is not always easy or fun for him, but Mr. C shows up with a one-of-a-kind love that I can not only hope to understand, much less
061ever live out myself. I believe there are two kinds of people in this room, and it's the people that know Mr. C and the people that don't. Because if you know Mr. C like I know him, and his family knows him, and every single person he's impacted knows him, you know something that's undeniable. To Mr. C, this isn't more or this is more than a job. It's a calling to him. Knowing this, you wouldn't just keep him out the high school. You would find him after this and give him a sincere thank you. Now, you all are probably wondering what makes this guy so great. For those who don't know, let me tell you. Cuz this isn't something you can measure on paper, and this isn't something I can explain well in words. But it's
062something you feel the moment you walk into the building. If you walk into King's High School, you find Mr. C easily cuz the first moral he lives by is simple. He's always there when people need him. Always present, always available, always willing. He doesn't lead from behind a closed door or from a distance. He's out among the students every single day. While others stay behind walls, Mr. C knows the heartbeat of the school. He knows students by name. He knows when someone is having a bad day. He knows when somebody suddenly goes quiet. He knows when someone who usually smiles stops smiling, and he works hard to change that. You'll see him eating lunch with kids who have nobody sit with. See him high-fiving athletes, special needs students, volunteers, teachers, everybody. He treats every single
063person that they like they matter, because he knows that they do. You'll see him at sporting events, community nights, art shows, concerts. Wherever students are, Mr. C is there, too. For Mr. C, there's no off the clock. He still shows up to people, because to him, our safety emotionally, mentally, and physically is a priority for him. That kind of presence changes the school. There's never a moment when he isn't smiling, when he doesn't have a compliment or a word of encouragement on the tip of his tongue waiting to brighten someone's day. He shows up whether it's someone whether it's for someone who loves him because it was calling or someone who dislikes him because of his job. Mr. C still goes out to say, "It's good to see you." or simply, "Have a great day."
064Another great thing about Mr. C is that he lives his life like Jesus. For the Christians in the room, I mean that in the way that he lives out his faith outside of the school. Jacob, I'm sorry, your time's up. 3 minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Chad Cordell. Good evening, board members and administrators. I'll get this as quick as I can. My name is Chad Cordell, and I currently serve as one of the security monitors at King's High School and Junior High. And I come before you not only as an employee of the district, uh but as a resident of the community for the past 23 years. Uh I've had three older children graduate from King's, and I currently have a younger child uh in the district as well. My wife teaches
065here, and over the years, I've consistently supported King's by voting for every levy, bond, and uh and tax increase. I've knocked on doors and encouraged neighbors, friends, and family members to support these issues, because I truly believe in King schools. Prior to serving in this role, I worked as a police officer for 26 years, and because of that experience, I understand firsthand the importance of school safety, prevention, and building trust in our community. To follow up on my partner Veronica's comments, I understand there's an ongoing discussion about hiring another school resource officer at the high school. While I recognize need for another SRO, I do not believe that should mean eliminating the security monitor positions. This should not be an either/or decision. In my opinion, the high school needs both. We work hard We work
066hand-in-hand with Deputy Shepherd, not only assisting him in his role, but also helping reduce his caseload. Our job is to be proactive, not reactive. We help prevent situations from escalating before they become larger issues. In this role, Veronica and I wear many hats. We have built meaningful relationships with students who now regularly come to our office to talk about things that they are struggling with. They see us as approachable staff members, and they feel comfortable opening up to us. Last November, Kings residents of the school were asked to vote for a 1% income tax. One of the items listed specifically for a potential cut on the income tax if it did not pass was that the two security positions would be eliminated. I, along with many friends, neighbors, and family members, voted for that increase
067because we believed that would help maintain the current level of security by keeping these viable positions at the high school. I also know that specific issue influenced many people to vote yes who otherwise would not have voted for that 1% increase. I do not know whether a final decision has been made, but I respectfully ask that the board consider everything that we have presented to you tonight and allow Veronica and myself to continue building on the progress we made with so many students over the past 4 years. These positions help provide a safe, healthy, and supportive learning environment for all students and staff. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Okay, that was our last speaker, so that brings an end to our participation this evening. Um moving on to item D in our agenda, we have
068discussion items for the treasurer, Mr. Marr. Thank you. Um most of these items were discussed in detail last week, but if there's any questions and then I'll touch on the few that that are new this week. Um Number six, character awards. So, for for years in Kings, there have been character awards um sponsored by Dr. Hickman, Dr. Stewart, and Mr. Reader. They would like to continue to sponsor these awards again this year, so I ask the board to approve um us allowing to do that. Um Number 10, recommendation of a district legal firm. We recommend that the board approve Taft Law as a additional district legal counsel. Um they provide specializations that our our normal attorneys do not, so um just in case those those services are needed. And then the final new item is
069number 11, rescind new fund special cost center. So, I had proactively asked the Board of Education to approve a new fund to hold the Mercy Health >> [snorts] >> uh property tax payments. The auditor state deemed my my plan inappropriate um just not the correct use of um of one of those custodial funds. I thought thought maybe we could make it work, but they disagreed and our district legal counsel agreed as well, so I asked the board rescind that um so we don't create that account. Where will that be held? So, all of the uh payment that we received from 1.3 million from Mercy will be held in their individual funds. So, partially biggest portion will be in our general operating. Smaller portion will be in our bond funds and then a smaller portion in
070permanent improvement. So, I did set all those amounts aside. So, if I look at line by line, if the board looks by line by line next month, they'll see those amounts kind of sitting by themselves. But, if you look at those accounts in total, those those monies are held there. So, we'll continue to work with the county auditor to um see this through and do what we need to do on our end. >> [clears throat] >> Do we have any questions for Mr. Morrow? So, the money's still commingled to some extent. >> Correct. It is. So, it's commingled like when we look at the the financials that has their cash balance in their general fund, it's actually inflated by about 1.1 million dollars because we're holding right at 1.1 million of money that we expect
071we're going to have to return at some point. So, it is commingled in total, but I've broken it out by line so we can easily see, okay, we're holding this much in our operating that is directly attributable to Mercy that we believe we're going to have to give back. So, we can always tell how much of our total cash is probably going to have to get be given back at some point. Okay. Thank you. Okay. May I have a motion to approve items for treasure? I'll make that motion. I'll second the motion. Mr. Morrow? Mr. Batson? Yes. Ms. Golf? Yes. Ms. Phillips? Yes. Miss Callan? Yes. Mr. Skroll? Yes. Next up, we have discussion item superintendent, but in Mr. Sears' absence Same same agenda items as last week. Just after our wonderful ceremony on Sunday,
072we have our Kings graduate list of 2026. All right. Can I have a motion to approve the candidates for graduation? Make the motion. I'll second the motion. Mr. Morrow? Miss Callan? Yes. >> Miss Phillips? >> Yes. >> Mr. Balform? Yes. >> Miss Goff? 391 yeses. Mr. Skroll? Yes. I want to say congratulations to all the graduates on on Sunday. What a wonderful ceremony. Absolutely. It was amazing. Always a great great event. All right. Next we have discussion items assistant superintendent HR businesses. Thank you, President Skroll. Kings Board of Education. Similar items to what we discussed last week. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Do you want to note we do have a number three is a new item. This is a policy 5112 that was last revised in April when the focus was
073solely on the kindergarten entrance age and date. This policy is has some minor changes to it to align preschool, kindergarten, and first grade entrance ages and dates with the first day of instruction in order to streamline enrollment and onboarding procedures for families and staff. The update also maintains existing provisions related to early entrance, required required registration documents, and student screenings. So, all of those things will stay the same as they always have. I'd like to turn it over to Mr. Lucky for items four and five. Thank you, Mr. Spinner. No additional information on these two items, but I did want to touch base. Mr. Morrow shared with everybody today. We got our change order that we've been talking about for about four months. We didn't want to spring it on you today and have you
074vote today, but you have all the information in hand now, so we will vote on that in June. But that is that loading dock change order. Just some highlights from that. From what our original drawing was to create a safer environment in our plaza for our football stadium and keeping really anybody out of our back of house entry at the loading dock. So this enables us to really quarantine off those areas, keep them safe. Everyone's been to a game on a Friday and we sat and looked and decided that it's probably not a good idea to create jungle gym back there of a loading dock to get into the back of our building. So made that adjustment which really enhances the whole thing. As as a good move, great process from all parties involved to
075to get us to where we are, but we'll have that for you in June. If you have any questions before then, please don't hesitate. Okay. May I have a motion to approve the discussion items Assistant Superintendent HR Business? I'll make that motion. Second the Mr. Morrow. Ms. Phillips. >> Yes. >> Mr. Balfron. >> Yes. >> Ms. Callan. Yes. >> Ms. Goff. I need to abstain. I have family members on the personnel item. Thank you. Mr. Skelton. Yes. Okay. Moving on, we have item G discussion items Assistant Superintendent educational programs. Good evening, everyone. We do have one new addition and if you have questions from last week, also. Number five, the VOIP contract. And I'll let Ms. Burns give a quick explanation of that. This is our uh annual voice system. It's our our phones throughout
076the district. It's on a 3-year contract and this 3 years are up, so it's the new 3-year contract and then we get it in sooner than later. Prices are getting ready to increase. So, I'm trying to get that Hopefully you approve it and then we can sign the contract and we'll be at the lowest price instead of the increased price. And is it another 3 years? It is another 3 years, sir. Thanks, Dan. Yep. Do we have any other questions from the board? Nope. All right. May I have a motion to approve uh item G discussion items, assistant superintendent educational programs. I move to approve. Second it. Mr. Morrow? Mr. Belford? Yes. >> Ms. Cowan? Yes. Ms. Phillips? Yes. >> Ms. Groff? Yes. Mr. Skrobutt? Yes. All right. Moving on, we have item H, items
077presented by the board. Is there anything to be presented this evening? I would just like to mention um wishing to Sunday, we had yesterday was the first uh I don't I don't know the proper title, Dana, our sensory graduates sensory free graduation of students who uh We had some help from the corporation and nothing being done. We will send out sending a person to air condition is getting warm. He's coming. Uh we had three graduates there and it was tremendous. And I just want to thank you, Dana and Lorraine, for setting all of that up. I know you did a good job. Sline and it was really a nice time with a lot of green and as I know we would say my wife would say this is that's why inclusion matters. So, it was
078it was really nice to to see that for them. I just just really do want to celebrate the students as as as President Sline mentioned earlier what graduate of the year. So, it was a really good time. Thank you for for sharing that. >> Sure. All right. Seeing no other items to be presented by the board, our next item is executive session. We are about to enter into executive session for the following purpose, to discuss collective bargaining. May I have a motion to enter into executive session? I'll make that motion. I'll second that motion. Mr. Morrow? Ms. Goff? Yes. >> Mr. Beltran? Yes. >> Ms. Cowan? Yes. >> Ms. Phillips? Yes. Mr. Skelly? Yes. We will adjourn when we come out of executive session. Thank you for coming in.