001the March 23rd, 2026 meeting of the Heron City Schools Board of Education. Mr. Lumbarius, would you call the role? >> Uh, Mrs. Henders, >> here. >> Mr. Hammond, >> yes. >> Mr. Mkins, >> present. >> Mr. Rager >> here. >> Mrs. Hartley >> here. If you don't mind, stand. Say the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Item number two is approval of the agenda for a regular meeting tonight. I'll second >> Mr. Mkins. >> Yes. >> Mr. Reagger, >> yes. >> Mrs. Henners, >> yes. >> Mr. Hammond, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hartley, >> yes. Um, item number three is audience or community comments. Did
002you have anyone submit? >> Okay, I know everyone is here for their special presentations. We cannot wait to hear and celebrate. Okay. Uh, item number four, administrative reports. >> Yeah. So, tonight, uh, we're going to start off with a building presentation from Woodland. So, I'll kick it over to Brian and Jess, uh, to share. >> You're up. >> Well, first off, hold your round of applause. No. Um, I first would like to say like how excited I am to stand before everybody that's in the audience and the board of education and talk about Woodlands Elementary. Um, and when before we get jump into all things Woodlands, we do have two uh special guests with us here tonight. Um, Michael Greybo uh and Dempsey Treadway are here to talk about their electroofair project which um as
003you if you had an opportunity to to look at them at the very beginning, they are some amazing projects. But this highlights some of the work that um our teachers are doing. And I would also like to thank Katie and Matthew and Alex and John for bringing your children up here for uh tonight for this special occasion. So uh without further ado, I'm going to turn it over to Michael. First off, you want to come up and I can help you bring up your your project. >> He's going to let me use this for chicken nuggets. >> Yeah. No, I'm joking. Hi, my name is Michael Greyel. I go to Williams Elementary and this is my >> So, how long did it take you to uh make this project, Michael? Um, we started working on
004it like before we even turned in the permission slip that we were going to build this and then we continued to work on it like after the due date since it was already all built. So then we just like fine tuned it and got to pick up the marble. >> I'm sure you did a lot of troubleshooting with this. >> Oh yeah. >> Yeah. That's science 101 right there. >> Yeah. A lot of we had to 3D print like we 3D printed this piece, this piece, and pretty much all the stuff that moves. And then we thought the marble one that the marble actually goes down. We thought we could just carve it into the foam, but it didn't actually end up working. So, we got this tube, split it in half, and then we
005used the heat gun to like mold it into the shape that we wanted it to go. So then we had to add like speed bumps in because we couldn't get it to rest down at the bottom. Then down there is just 3D printing filament just normal filament that like guides the chair in and then hel and then holds the marble so that it can like actually be able to pick it up. And then on Tinkercad we would so it all started out as these pieces and then some pieces would wouldn't work and it just like completely made it drop the marble basically. So we had to find out like the speed and then we just added this potentiometer over here um like a week or something ago. So, and like this piece was 3D printed
006because this piece couldn't it had like too many bumps and this was too big a dip for the chairlift to go down to. So, this piece we just added a whole bunch of plates in and then sometimes it would make it much better and then it sometimes it would just make it 10 times worse and then at the bottom it wouldn't at first pick up the marble. So, we made that bigger >> and then just continues to roll down and then it just repeats. >> Nice. Great job. >> Great job. Do you guys have any questions you'd like to ask? >> Where'd you get the idea? >> Um, I learned how to ski this winter. >> Oh, okay. These lights we just 3D printed we made the light poles and then I did not expect
007the cabin and fire pit but somehow that worked. >> So if you if you had to do it all over again, what was maybe one thing that you would do differently at the beginning of the project? >> I don't know. >> It's okay to say like nope. It just was a good process like just to keep making changes. You test it, make a change, test it, make a change because there's a lot of learning happen. >> Probably instead of having to keep reprinting the pieces, I would probably just try to get one piece to stay better. >> Okay. >> And the hot glue gun. So, there's these little screws right here. And I put way too much hot glue and went through like a thousand tubes and I kept burning myself. I wondered how hot
008the hot glue one hot glue gun was. So, I touched it to my skin. >> Oh. >> And then I thought the screws wouldn't hold for some reason. So, I put so much hot glue and it took a lot of energy to get the hot glue off if we needed to switch a piece. >> Glad good stuff there, Michael. Thank you so much. >> And then we have one more Treadway. >> Great job, Michael. presentation. This is my project. I made a lighthouse because I love going on walks on the pier and seeing the Heron lighthouse. Coming into this year, I knew a little bit about circuits, but I was glad to learn more. So, The question I wanted to answer was, what is the best way to make a lighthouse light up by using
009a complete circle? So, this is my first design idea. It doesn't look exactly like the my actual project because we learn we ran into some issues during like cutting the angles for an octagon. And my hypothesis was I predict that I can make a lighthouse light up by using wires, two AA batteries, a light bulb, some wood, paint, a battery pack, screws, nails, and tape. So, there's a battery pack right here, and that has like this switch on it, turn it on and off. And so, my first design idea, I was thinking that I was just going to put like a door like in the front and then you would open that and turn it on from the inside. But we just drilled a hole like right there and we just ran the wires through
010that. I thought my project was very fun to make. It took me and my dad only one try and I also learned how to use a jigsaw. >> I enjoyed learning about circuits and electricity and this year science. >> Great job. Um, any questions? I think you did a great job, Dy. Um, and I I would just like to personally thank Michael and Dempsey for taking time out of your evening tonight. But this is something that the fourth grade does annually each and every single year. And being my third year at Woodland, just watching the amount of effort that the teachers, the students, and families put into these projects, it's nothing short of amazing. So, um so so impressed uh tonight, but I'm uh every single day I'm impressed with both you and Michael and
011all the students. So, thank you so much. >> All right, so Jenny in the Woodlands. Uh here's a picture of the Woodland staff. Everybody is not pictured in this picture, but most of us are. But I put these words up there. Cohesion, creative, driven, encouraging, resourceful, dedicated, upbeat. That's what you feel. That's what you get when you're at Woodlands and you get to walk around and experience our academic environment. And to be honest with you, I feel very lucky and fortunate to work with s such an uh amazing staff and parents and the community. Um at the beginning of the year, uh Mrs. Taylor and I created uh the five goal uh guiding goals for the 2526. some pillars, something that keeps us on track and aligned in what we're doing with conversations, meetings, and
012just our day-to-day approach. So, the first one is grow, increase staff efficacy and capacity, uh belonging, uh reignite and reinforce uh schoolwide behavior systems, uh respond, uh sharpening our instructional support team, uh process and strategies. care, clarify, and amplify supports for uh staff, students, and families, and teach elevate our tier one uh academic instruction. And I think tonight, as throughout our presentation, you'll see some of the things that we're doing in the building is directly aligned with that. So, efficacy, student support, parent involvement, data, and guidance, that's what we're going to talk about tonight. So, discipline referral. Um throughout this entire year, we had almost 370 referrals that have been reported. Um some of those are individual, some of those are collaborative. So teachers can go in there individually, put them in. That means they
013did maybe they made a phone call, maybe they did something in the classroom. Jess and I do nothing with those. Other reports are collaborative that comes to us and she look it's a like basically like an app. So when a a referral is submitted, we get a ding on our watches. We know what room it is. We know what t-shirt it is. And we go down there and we start to handle it. So what does this process do? Well, um it identifies students, frequent flyer students that might be coming down in the office. What can we do with those? We have conversations. They might be in our IST process, RTI. Um also, um teacher support. Oh, come on. Don't talk to me right now. Um and then where incidences are occurring because at the beginning
014of the year we started instituting tiger boot camps and it's how to act at lunch recess hallways bathrooms classrooms. So if we see an uptick in those we would institute a boot camp and go in there and refresh reignite those rules within the building and throughout the uh the the building student service referrals that's um our licensed social worker Sandy Shu and our school counselor uh Mrs. U but that is a process to get referring a student that lets them know get them down there and then they can Mrs. Smith or Mrs. Shu can start to work with that child and go forward. Um and then the Woodlands hub something that we created it's all things woodlands you can go there all the teachers can access it very quickly. um IST approaches uh it's a
015continuum of services. You have your your tier uh core then you you would have our IST and from ISTD if there starts to be more of a need you would look at like a 504 or an IEP and so on. So since the beginning of the year, we've had 127 meetings on students, whether they're new or reoccurring, but we're taking a look at their plans, figuring out ways that we can work with that child and their families, and ultimately just meeting that child with their needs. >> And that could be academic, behavioral, social emotional, speech, OT, >> um sources of strength lessons. Uh it's an evidence-based uh informed curricula that buildings uh that buildings protective factors to prevent mental health uh issues, bullying. Um Sandy Shu and Aaron Smith do those lessons also. Um uh
016Aaron Smith does rocks ruling our experiences with the girls. Confidence, self-esteem, uh learning, assertive communication, teamwork, and leadership skills. And last year or the year before, she started guys with ties. That's for the boys within the building. And then community connection wraparound. Uh it's a family centered that brings together community resources. We have nine families currently involved in that and they meet in Woodlands and we talk about not only what the school can provide for those families but the community can provide for the families. Parent involvement. We have parent cafes going with Sandy Shoes. Our PTO, our parent teacher organization is amazing. If you ever get an opportunity to talk with any of them, just please let them know how much we appreciate what they do for our school. But the book fairs, glow run,
017supporting teachers, uh conference meals, which are delicious, and special persons day, uh during book fair, title one, we also had the kindness run, title one, uh night, uh and family game nights, and then parent teacher conferences and volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Um data opportunities, how are we using data? So we get data from Ohio State test. We hear on data dashboard star ELA dibbles uh K through five basic early literacy curriculum based measures and attendance and behavior referrals. So we take a look at that data. How are we going to strengthen our tier one supports inclass supports uh small groupoup instructions? What does Julie need or what does Mrs. Hartley need? And really getting down to what uh all kids need. um and developing a progress monitoring IST. Like if we're doing something with
018the child in IST, it helps us monitor that child's progress and if we're actually seeing growth or a stagnant line. Um and then that this data helps drive district leader team leadership team building leadership team and teambased leadership teams. Um and this is something that we just got this year. It's a dashboard and this is kind of like a little snippet of what we can do. Prior years we would have to go to five different websites to get what this one website can do. So we can take five years of data and it will have all the standards that are on Ohio State Test that breaks it down for you. So something that might have taken us hours to do before now literally takes us less than a minute to get it. But then we
019could sit there and look at what questions that are like the lowest percentage or they've had difficulty on, pull them up and then have thoughtprovoking questions like how is our instruction? What are we doing in in our classroom and what can we change or modify to um help our students achieve that standard. Um but this has been amazing. Um this year, brand new, our registered behavior technician, uh Miss Williams. Um top five reasons our RBT stands for rays of bright togetherness. Um but she has been a great addition to our team. Uh team role models. She takes opportunities and works with staff students to develop uh good uh good actions, good behaviors. uh drives students independence helping them become independent and have the tools to be a great students. She coaches and supports uh staff
020champion of respect and strategic and data driven. So students will have these check-in checkout sheets and then from there we get these uh graphs and we can actually see if they start to come down here, oh something's going on. We might need to adjust, do something different in the classroom, but as you can see as they go up, this kid is starting to meet his benchmark and his goals with this. So she's been a great addition to the team and then PBIS. >> So um at the end of last year, we got our team together and we looked at redoing matrix since we came together, Johnny and Woodlands, we hadn't really revamped it. So, coming together and looking at aligning what we were saying to students, you know, it's a big gap from kindergarten to
021fifth grade of, you know, what what comes out of a teacher's mouth to correct a student. It's very different. So, just kind of aligning what we were saying. Uh, we created the Woodlands pledge, which is here with these students standing next to it. And at the beginning of the year, the kids actually all um signed to follow that pledge and near all the doors in all the classrooms. U we have pause acknowledgements. These are things that anyone in the building can fill out um from cafeteria worker to a teacher to educational aid. Um and they get read on the announcements. They come down and they just get a handshake. It's just an acknowledgement and then that goes home with the student. Um we instituted our pause for pause. Uh we go over a new strategy,
022review our strategies on announcements all the time. But in each classroom, they were strategically taught. They're displays for students to take a pause when they need it. Um, every student at some point is going to meet that point of frustration. And one of the favorite ones that they have is um a hand reset. So the students actually you just put your hands on the table, push down for five seconds, and then release and kind of let the tension out of your shoulders. So I would say that one's uh the student's favorite. Um, we also are doing actual PBIS and lessons and they kind of go hand in hand with our strength. Um, like Brian talked about, we have our boot camp we did at the beginning of the year and then it can be um,
023exactly scripted so we can redo it, pick it back up when needed in specific areas. Um, we ran every single student through the cafeteria, how to come in, how to go out to recess, how to line up. We practice, you know, going to dismissal in individual classes. Um, we did a replay of that when we came back from break and did these flags. students all had red or green flags and we put scenarios up and they got to pick whether it was a red or green flag. Um coming soon we're going to do um a review of what it looks like to be out in the community as a list representative as the students are starting to go on many field trips towards the end of the year. So what does that look like when
024you're out and about? Uh we have our building leadership team which is kind of pushing that um for our PBIS. So our goal this year was just to strengthen that tier one like I said to make sure we have that strong foundation. As we move into next year, we'll start to look at increasing opportunities for mentoring and relationship building. I think we have um a special opportunity having the fifth grade, you know, and the fourth grade to mentor those younger students. And so, how do we leverage those opportunities? Um our our building leadership team is also focused on writing. So we actually looked at that data dashboard and decided where the data was pointing to um a need for alignment throughout the building. You know we we also had the opportunity to say okay we
025know what kindergarten is doing in our building and how does that connect to what our fourth and fifth graders are doing when they meet those um writing assessments and have to do a three to five paragraph essay. How does that align all the way down to when they start writing and basic handwriting down at the lower level? Um, coming soon we're going to be looking at sending the teachers into each other's classrooms. That was their idea. So, they want to go see um writing lessons and what they can learn from their um and I speak for all of us, but thank you all for your volunteerism, being a part of our great community, and just like the active role you play. I just thank you so much. Uh do you guys have any questions for
026either Jess or I? I have a comment. I think what you're doing is amazing, very comprehensive, a lot more to absorb than I could in one night. But I do appreciate what you're doing. I'm a big advocate for having a solid foundation for education. What you're doing is even beyond education and developing the child to prepare for the time that they're going to go to the next level. I think that's that's fundamental and what we need to do as an education system. But thank you. >> Well, thank you. Thank you. that dashboard where did it is it coming from the state or where is it coming from is it a district >> it's from an educational service center I don't know it's a long name it's >> it's educational service center out of independent sotheast
027Ohio >> yeah and it's been like you not only data on there for that but also absenteeism and everything like that so going into next year we're going to be using that to identify some students that we could start doing stuff with right It's really exciting. >> Yeah, it's been awesome. >> Some tough acts to follow there. >> Yes. >> but we have one more. >> We have one more. >> So, Mr. Ays reached out to me after the end of the uh winter season to share the success of um all of our sports teams, but one in particular tonight. So, I kick it over to Mr. >> Yeah. Uh, thanks for having us. Obviously, this is you guys. >> This is a pretty cool opportunity to recognize uh this SBC Bay eighth grade championship.
028At the game, um, that game was fiery. It was fun to watch. Um, I think to win a championship, you got to have a little bit of moxy, a little bit of intensity. And I think, you know, especially playing a top-seated team, you know, Willard was undefeated in conference. They also, uh, you know, were were big. I mean, I'm watching these boys warm up and I'm looking down, man, are they are they eighth graders? Actually, I'm kind of wondering myself. So, but you guys came out and this team came out and they they just played. I mean, they they played hard. They played with intensity. And, you know, I think to win a game, you have to have intensity and, you know, and you know, obviously it's a moxy, but you got to hit some
029big shots. I think Atlanta Jones, what's the little celebration? >> Yeah. like that. And then you got to hit play some good defense, right? This guy right here, big guy right here, played really good defense. Steven West has a couple steals that lead to layups. I mean, I don't think you guys trailed. And I think you started off the game on an 80 run, which was pretty awesome. So, me on the bench, I'm sitting with Coach Miller and Coach Hods, and I'm even jumping up. I'm like, what? I'm excited. So, it was really cool. Um, I know Coach Miller's ready to coach these guys and he's ready to get his hands on these guys and have them within the program at the high school level. But it's also a tremendous achievement that uh reflects not
030only the hard work these guys put in, but the leadership from our two coaches here, Coach Miller and Coach HS. But at this time, I'd like to invite Coach Miller up here. He's going to share a few words about team. >> Uh first of all, I just want to say this is a really cool idea. We're excited to be standing here presenting to you guys. Um this group, I told Coach H, this is truly something that she needs to write down and a story book or a book or a tell all or something about this. So, Mr. Ed's going to talk about the climax of the story. I'm going to go way back to the beginning of the story. So, I am sitting in my classroom on October 21st and basketball starts November 1st and
031we don't have an eighth grade basketball coach. I have reached out to 21 different candidates over the summer trying to get the position filled and I've tried high school circles, AA basketball circles. Some of the connections I still had from my time at H Highleberg could not get anybody that had a desire to coach eighth grade basketball. And as you know, coaches are becoming extremely difficult to find, especially somebody that you would trust to bring into your program to lead a group of young men. So, I knew Coach Hos from video basketball. I knew her from coaching at the high school and I sent her a text about would you be interested in coaching eighth grade basketball and she laughed at me. She thought I was joking. Um I worked on her a little bit
032over the course of a few days and uh you know she reluctantly agreed to take the position on one condition and that condition was that I come down to practice and help out once a week. I was like okay I got married in June. I've been married four months. It's going to be the shortest marriage in the history of mankind when I go from varsity practice to then middle school practice. But we agreed to it. We made the deal. Um, and she really deserves her flowers because she took it to the next level. She reached out to other coaches and other basketball minds within our school system, outside of the school system, and just really, really became invested in this program. Um, but aside from her really stepping up, these boys, I have nothing but
033great things to say about them. I see them every day. I teach them in eighth grade and that once a week practice really allowed um me to get even closer to the boys and this group and you can kind of see it right now. The one thing that jumps out to them is they're extremely coachable. And you can see every one of them is making eye contact with me right now. And that's one thing that we're really big on is making eye contact with each other because information processing research says you encode information better when you have a meaningful memory with it. So you make eye contact with someone, it's easier to create that memory. You should see how well these guys were able to implement everything that myself and coach Hos um tried to
034teach them. They looked us in the eye. They went out and maybe it wasn't super smooth right away, but dang it, they were trying. They were trying their best. Um these guys just they really bought in. We had countless discussions between classes in study halls about basketball. They were just so excited about it. And a lot of coaches say they have teams that play hard and play the right way. Well, this group actually does it. It's not just coach speak. They play hard and they play the right way. Um, they ultimately got a very meaningful memory at the end of this run and I don't want to take away from uh, Coach Cod's thunder because she is going to detail that a little bit for you, but I'm very thankful that this special season happened
035within our program. I'm excited for the future. And without further ado, coach, come on up. >> Well, I really just want to reiterate a a lot of thank yous. Um, this is a really great idea to celebrate a success like this. So, thank you for taking the time out to do that. Um, got to say thank you to everyone that makes the school happen and these opportunities as well, custodians, principles, athletic directors, teachers, um, school board. Uh, so we appreciate that we get to do these things and know that it's a privilege to get to play basketball and do all of these extra things and even get an education. Um, I guess I have to say I will the only thing I'll take credit for is that I knew when to ask for help, which
036was pretty much every single day. I I wonder how many text messages we exchanged. Very patiently answered all of my questions and helped me figure out what we were doing. Um, I also had other help. Um, I'm trying to decide if I should Well, I guess I might as well go there now. Um, I think we all know that these boys, 13, 14 year olds, they like to be boys. Okay, just to put it nicely. And so, a lot of what we had to do and a lot of the growth that we made was in our leadership. And so, we had a lot of talks about that. And, um, we came a long way and I knew when to reach out for help on that too and I said why not a legend um retired
037coach author of two books and so I reached out to uh Tony Leando who was nice enough to uh get Jim's Pizza Box opened up so also thank you Jim's Pizza Box for opening specially for us he made it really special he talked to you guys about leadership and I hope that you um remember that moving forward Um he had some really good things to say and I think you guys really took that to heart. Um Coach Adams, Matt Adams came and coached the practices as well. Um Mr. was very instrumental in a lot of the things too as I was really needy. I think we're getting that. Yeah. So um and even all the way to the end of the season, we had a new offense, a new defense. We were ready to go.
038Nobody had seen it. we knew what we were doing. So, and that was all coach Miller and coming to our practice and taking the time to do that. So, um but I also have to of course um thank the boys. Let's be honest, this is very unusual situation like female volleyball coach is going to coach you guys and you guys could have taken that in a lot of different ways and you guys were nothing but respectful and it's a good lesson in hey maybe it's an unusual situation but what can I get out of it let me get something out of this and you guys figured out that you could do that and that is very impressive quality so that's excellent and I want to praise you guys because I mean every it's it's it
039was incredible what you guys did I mean it it's also no secret I I wish we had Willard standing behind to see the difference in size. And also, you guys had never beaten them. Is that correct? From fourth grade, >> oh my gosh. >> To the very last eighth grade game, we had never beaten them. So, it was a really amazing beat. And we were nine and seven. It wasn't an easy road at all. Um, we bought into the idea that you have to in love with the process, which isn't always enjoyable. It's hard work. There's ups and downs. There's wins and losses. There's good days and bad days. But when you invest in the process and you love the process, then that championship is the byproduct of all of your hard work. And I'm
040telling you, if you were on a walk in the woods and a bear jumped in front of you, you would want one of these guys with you, okay? They're going to take care of it. They are brave, courageous, they don't back down, they're loyal, and they um don't care who's on the other side. So, they have a really bright future. And I was really lucky to get to coach you guys. I've coached for 26 years. And that was this was one of the most enjoyable seasons I've ever had. So, thank you for talking me into it. So, um congratulations. You guys really deserve it. You did a great job. >> Congratulations. >> Well, I can tell you one thing. Success starts with effort. Don't lose that going forward. What you put into it is what
041you're going to get out of it. These types of successes only start when you put in the effort to see those results. So keep that in mind as you go into the next level because it'll be even harder once you get to high school. I'm really proud of your success. It's a good story. Tells me a lot about the character of each of you and thank you all for how well you perform this year. And thank you coach coaches. That's great. I'm glad you're here. Coach hats, don't sell yourself short. A good leader, good leadership does not mean you are the only person that has all the answers. A good leader surrounds themsself and knows when to reach out to others and build a whole collaborative team. So whether you're working with your players, you're
042working with with the coaches, with the AD, the families that are all here, like that that's what it takes, you know, it's you don't sell yourself short. That that is excellent leadership. So thank you. >> Thanks for being a model. Yeah, I was gonna pipe in on that because this isn't your first basketball team. My my daughter Lucy had a chance to play for for Stephanie a few years ago and I will say like aside from consistently knowing their coach cares about him um every day that they play which is like huge especially junior high because they challenge you, right? Like if you're a parent, she's the most organized coach that you can have. Like you know exactly where your kid needs to be and when. And that is like no small thing in the
043world of parenting kids playing sports. It's so appreciated. So, thank you for saying yes to this and I hope you say yes to other adventures in the future because you make a huge difference with our student athletes. >> And you guys look good. You look good. >> You might be the best dressed team that's ever come in here. >> I have to say this was their idea. I said, "What do you want to wear on game day?" that shirt and tie. So, I actually think beside >> success, they all know how to tie a tie. >> Sharp, >> right? >> Way to represent. >> I think we're gonna see you guys back here. >> We can't We can't wait to see what you guys do. Can't wait to follow you. Thanks for being here. >>
044Thank you. And then uh board before we continue on with the admin reports, I just want to invite everyone that's here tonight. We're going to I'm going to ask that we take a brief recess. There's some refreshments, cookies and ju and juice. Uh enjoy that and then 10 minutes we'll get back to our meeting. >> Okay. >> All right. >> 10 minutes. 7:37. >> Is it really? >> Yeah. >> My watch. I have to shuffle over tomorrow. I was looking at I was like Have a nice All right. It's a good I'm trying to Okay. >> Okay. She knows your Wednesday. >> Yeah, I've got a 9:00. We're goodache. Good. How are you? really cookies. >> All right. between other audience. All right. >> Can't believe no one stayed. >> I don't know what happened.
045I mean, the meeting's only just getting started. >> Shiver them up. Kick them out the door. >> Nice job. >> Thanks, James. I really like the fact that the kids are here and the parents will be here and it's very positive. >> Yeah, it was fun. >> Yeah. >> And Stacy, you're right. It's a team effort. So, I just asked those two guys, "Hey, can you present?" And they pulled it up. I gave him very little direction. >> Awesome. >> All right, we ready? >> We're ready. >> All right, let's continue. >> You're up. >> Okay, so tonight with me, I have Mr. Paul Murray. If you don't know him, he's a sophomore at the high school currently and he's interested in taking over my role as student board leazison. So, I thought I'd bring
046him along tonight to introduce him to you guys and, you know, kind of get the feel for it. >> Who's your parents? >> Jim and I know So yeah, if you have any questions for Paul to answer, but I don't want to put him on the spot of anything. >> Thanks for your interest, Paul. Thanks for being here tonight with us. >> Thank you. >> And hopefully we don't scare you off. >> So um obviously this weekend the musical happened for the high school. I heard it was fantastic. All heard was great things from it. So >> great job. >> I'm really happy. I wasn't able to make it sadly this year, but I just heard nothing but great things. So, it's always good to hear. Um, a few weeks ago, we also had student
047council put on the spring dance. Um, people that were there had a lot of fun. Nothing but great things. You know, we the funniest thing is we got a new DJ and he had so much fun. Like he was he was interacting with everybody. So, everyone enjoyed him which was nice. And then the only other thing is we are on our last nine weeks of school. So, >> it's kind of a big step. So, it's kind of getting getting close to the end for sure. >> Senior senioritis say can't let it. >> Yeah, that is all I have for you guys. >> Thank you, Grant. >> Grant, will you be attending any more of these or is this your last? >> I'll be attending two more. >> Two more. Okay, good. >> Any other questions
048for Grant? >> Okay. And then >> the agenda has error. Uh last year Julie wasn't able to attend so it didn't carry through with this agenda. So if we can add Julie >> of course >> and I apolog I didn't catch it till I saw the printed copy. So I apologize. But um when I left your seats um I kind of realized in thinking back you know to Thursday night's conversation in um our Monday report sometimes I talk in alphabet soup. Um trying to get better at that but um talking about what we're doing for our one plan and our one um needs assessment. So what you have in front of you is our outgoing one plan and this is a product we first conduct a one needs assessment. Um this was actually for fiscal
049year 24 through 26. So it covers three years now. Used to be in a CCIP um and our comprehensive improvement plan that still exists in some form but they've shifted over to this format and I apologize it doesn't pronounce little friendly um but what each of the buildings and then as a district what we do is we do the one needs assessment. So basically through all the data sources the state tells us we have to answer all these questions get down to root causes of issues um that the data is a result of um by way of what um we can do as adults to fix it. What's within our control? So it has to be things um that the district can able is able to touch and do for example. So and you saw
050some of that tonight in Brian's presentation which I got excited about because that data dashboard is like my ultimate favorite thing because over the last 20 years we've done that all by hand through different screens and portals and things where we weren't actually having instructional change conversations, assessment conversations. We were data rich trying to figure it all out. So, um when James got the email for this product, I was intrigued and now I'm like please don't ever take it away from me because um it's been amazing. Um You saw how Brian's using that um development of then through the high school um we're also tracking um graduation readiness and all the things that is now tracked for a child to graduate. Simply not collecting credits and showing up every day. It's all the things right.
051So um fabulous um it's my favorite. So what you have here um you'll see a synopsis of the root cause analysis that carries over um our goals that we um engage our attendance literacy and math. And when you think back three years ago um excuse me the state was looking at attendance from that chronic absentee um lens house bill 410 all the things. And you fast forward to planning out fiscal year 27 through 29. Um this is a big driving force. So we've actually reduced our chronic absentee rate um by a number a double digit number um across all the buildings. Um we hovered about 13% right now. Um and that that was not bad in fiscal year 24. It was much higher. Just the acts of pairing with the Browns being intentional about you
052know what's it what do you lose if you don't come to school? The stats aren't good you know. 10% 18 days, two days a month, and how much we lose. And um informing parents what that looks like. The state has even come in the last three years to say for next year, how we count attendance is also going to look different. You used to have unexcused and excused towards ours together next year. So um people aren't happy when they get the letters, we need you to come to school, but we need you to come to school. So um Uh the second goal you'll see is literacy and then of course the third is math. So um again with the work Brian showed you that um improvement cycle of the teacher based teams to building level
053teams to the district level teams. We had our second district level team meeting back in February. We talked about um I snuck in and was just a lawy team where they're talking writing rubrics and that alignment what language I was learning um how much Is a student expected to write at the end of kindergarten versus beginning of third grade when they take the fall reading assessment? They're already having to write with a keyboard. So, the jumps that the students have to make, not only learning how to read, learning how to write, learning how to properly use a computer um and all the things, but then also all the way up through fifth grade and we'll continue that work. But they're doing an amazing job and we're capturing all that adult stuff in these documents. So,
054Friday. Yeah, I think it was Friday. Um, we got Well, no, I guess it was two weeks ago. Friday. I can think of Friday because we had we had a call for clarification. So, um, we received notification from the state that we had to um redo some of our work because of some of the labeling that has come out of the last series of test scores. So, I'm working with Mark and Tim on what that looks like in their we have to put in specific action steps according to the state for literacy of math um for subgroups. So even all the way down the different subgroups at different buildings look at that level of data. So it's great conversation but beyond the conversation is the actions that people are undertaking to do things better. I
055will tell you we are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but getting everybody on the same page and moving forward and then we have a conversation with Mike about resources. Um everybody understands then also too why are we putting funds towards this resource and not this resource. Well this resource is nice the return on investment isn't what we're getting out over here aka the dashboard my new favorite friend. So, um, we're moving in the right direction and we'll keep we'll keep looking away at it. >> Any questions for Dr. Thank you. Mr. Lario. >> All right. Uh, all the financial documents are as of February 28th. So, we're eight months through the fiscal year. Right now, we're looking at for the yearly totals are around 50% on revenues and 50% on expenditures. We'll
056have a third coming up in May and things like that. So, I think some of this will start to even out. We did get um our first half tax settlement in March. Uh in the past, if you went back and looked because I'm sure you did, we used to get we were getting it in uh February because I requested the tax advance. Um they told me that they were having delays in collecting so that I could do it advance, but it wasn't going to be much. Anyways, long story short, it fell in March. Last year we seen like half and half February and March. Um item B is the certificate of estimated resources. This comes from the county auditor. Uh it lists the anticipated funds and millage that are going to be collected. Uh there
057was only thing that was reduced is they put in the um roll back uh amounts or they took out the roll back amounts from what the uh county commissioners did. Um and there's a breakdown in that packet in there for you if you wanted to take a look. Um some updates. Uh James J and I went to the tax incentive review council meeting last Wednesday and um I I had sent you the minutes in the agenda from last year. Uh a couple updates. It looks like the Kagra tiff is set to be decided that the project will move forward by August. So we'll know more on that. And then uh they also recommended to end the central Ohio paper and packaging tip. It's not it's not a very large one. Um but we met with
058the city and they said that they do plan to end that. So that's another update on that. Uh this Friday is that special board meeting. Um 7:15 a.m. We have three properties that were challenging. Um there was an air in mailing out letters. So one one of the three got mailed out and the other two didn't. We could have approved the one tonight and I said, "Well, if we're going to do all three, let's just move it. We'll do it on on uh on Friday." Uh the letters went out. So there is a chance they show up to to address the board on why we shouldn't do that. I I doubt it. It could happen. Um it should theoretically be a pretty quick meeting though. >> So, and if you look at any of that
059and have any questions, let me know beforehand. The we have our meeting with the budget commission this Wednesday at 10 a.m. Um if if I know Jude's planning on attending, we can have two of you if you'd like. Chris said he doesn't know if he can make it, but in the email they said they'd like to discuss um recent legislation concerning schools. So, we'll see what they say. We'll go to that meeting on Wednesday and uh I'll keep you updated on on what what is talked about. Um and I believe that's all I have for you unless any of you have any questions. >> Any idea which of the 200 pieces of pending legislation they'll >> you know, every day I get on, you know, OS as well send out the legislative tracker and it
060just seems like there's always another that you're tracking. There's hundreds of them and we'll just see which ones fall out, I guess. So, >> well, I know that right now the auditors around the state are working with Department of Taxation on changes Senate Bill 186. >> 186. >> Yeah. And that's the uh the calculation of the 20 mil floor limitation and coming up with some sort of tax credit for second half. So, it's been a challenge for auditors around the state determining what that is. Maybe Rickes us at that meeting. >> Yeah. That's my guess. >> Yeah. Last year when we went um we took like the five-year forecast, we took the capital improvements plan and we kind of discussed like, hey, we're doing this transfer. This is what it's for. Uh this year sound
061like they asked us to bring some of that stuff last year. This year they're talking about legislation. So we'll see what what comes out of it. But um that's Wednesday at 10 a.m. >> Thank you for that update. Any other questions? >> Um one of the most important pieces is this resolution to accept the that's in this document. That's key for us to establish what the military will be for next year's taxes. >> So that's critical for us to establish that. It gives us a position going forward. If they do fall decide to roll back taxes, we would have to approve another rates resolution. So >> any question? No questions. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Yes, >> look forward to hearing the update at the next meeting. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Budget meeting went.
062All right, Dr. Tav. >> Okay. Uh, in the consent agenda, there's a few items I'll just uh run through, see if there's any questions. Uh, second reading of the quarterly policy. So, those we looked at last month, and this is the second and approval. Then there's two service agreements, one with North Point ESC and the second one with Lraine County ESC. They all specialize in different things including uh Northeast Ohio DSC that helped us with those uh data dashboards. Um so those are service agreements for next school year this uh school year 27 global travel program. So this is coming um from uh the middle school. So with the STEM class and the advanced sciences that we're we're now offering there, they have interest in like a capstone project uh or experience where they would
063travel to Panama and do a STEM related experiences with the lock systems with nature uh how the locks and and the environment are infect each other and whatnot. So the first step is uh now here this recommendation for the board's approval and then in April they have a parent meeting for information. The travel the trip is planned for June of 2027. So, a little bit less than 18 months out, but yeah. Um, Ohio School Councils is going to start working on electric purchasing bids. And so, with the board's approval tonight, we'll be on that list of districts that are seeking that electric purchasing agreement. 2627 school uh school year student handbooks. So, one for each building and then the athletics. And then for personnel certified, um the recommendation is for uh our new school counselor.
064So just reminder, we have school counselor leave late June, almost early July. Uh we've had a three-day a week provider helping us cover. Um but her service is coming to an end. And so this is a replacement or you know reestablishing that full-time school counselor. And then uh classified personnel. There's one item for the board to have. Um any questions on the agenda items on the counselor? Would that be for next school year or is she starting now? >> Next school year. >> That's correct. Yeah. So um we posted late in June and July and you know the candidate pool just wasn't there. So we posted early and we got an excellent candidate. Um so we're excited for approval. We're excited to welcome her into the district. Yep. >> Any other questions? >> The electric
065um is that what we already use or is that the change? >> Correct. We the OC. Yep. It's a consortium to drive down lower rates for public schools across the state of Ohio. >> Yep. >> I was just making sure it was same not new. Yeah. >> Not new, right? >> So, we're basically just committing that we want to continue with that. >> Yep. >> Uh, so other items, Grand already talked about the musical and his success. Uh, I too I mean the singing was great, the acting was great, the costumes were wonderful, and really to me too is the stage craft, right? So, the sets were amazing. Uh, you know, when you have to display the wizard, you know, how are you going to do that? And they had some like smoke and strobe
066effects that was just phenomenal. Um, and a live dog for the opener that was cute and cool and, uh, it was very fun. So, uh, so I I'm excited for all the kids that were part of that on stage or behind stage. >> Awesome. Also coming up March 31st uh at the high school, we're going to be hosting Rotary because Rotary has uh the four-way test speech where they've invited high school students to compete uh the four-weight test. And as a roarian myself, I should know what the four are, but I'm going to look at Julie leadership. >> Julie's gonna mind your dad. Your dad led the >> You guys don't talk about this at home? No, not >> like is it true? Is it kind? Is it >> helpful? >> What's the date again?
067>> Rotary the four test. >> You have a what day? >> Oh, sorry. March 31st. >> Tuesday. It's at the high school choir room. Um, and it starts at 11:45. We'll have a lunch and then the students will deliver their speeches. it ends up the students uh there's scholarship awards tied to it. Um so if you're interested in attending, I think it'd be a great opportunity to see our high schoolers, you know, perform. Uh just let me know so we have a good lunch count. Yep. Um All right. >> And James, let's on that. So that's just for the Hiron Rotary competition for the Hiron students. And then are they comp competing like if they win, do they advance to uh like a regional competition? Yes. So this is just for the here on Rotary.
068Okay. >> And then the winners get to advance to the district. The hiccup with the district is that competition is during our spring break. So the kids can decide or not depending on you know travel and things like that. So >> but yep. And then the other thing I want to talk about hopefully in the mail at your residency you got the mailer looking at Mr. Gregory. >> I haven't seen it yet. >> Okay. >> We got it. >> Yeah. He has an odd zip code. So >> I'm in the same duskies of coach. >> Really? >> Yep. >> So he's going to give me feedback. If he doesn't get it, then we got to double check the list that our publisher. >> Um but you know, a lot of good highlights in here. Our
069goal is to do this twice a year. So about this time of year and then again in the fall because our alumni association led by Mr. Haidiger, he does two a year typically May or early June and then December time. So, four touch points for residents or alumni. Um, two being from us and two being from the the alumni association. And then uh next I just want to review because we're getting into uh personnel hiring season. We're gearing up for the coming school year. Um, contractually, the teachers complete an intent process. So, that's where they tell us they intend to return. They they may tell us they're intending to retire. Um, and then they can also tell us if they'd like to maintain their assignment or go to a different one. So, with that information,
070with working with principles, Julie, Dana, and others, uh, we're working to kind of narrow down what those needs are. Um and um first is that currently in kindergarten we have three teachers. That's because we have 56 students enrolled in kindergarten this year. Already our enrollment for next year's incoming kindergarten is at 58. So we're hopeful that between now and the start of school that'll continue to grow back towards our 80 to 90 kids per class. Um so looking that we're going to need to restore that fourth kindergarten position. On the flip side, first grade right now is at four teachers and with that small class coming in, they'll be able to still have uh appropriate class sizes with three teachers. Um so it's going to be an assignment move and we'll work with the association
071and the teachers on that. So uh it's done least disruptively. Uh second, third grade, um they're they're going to stay at four in I'm going to jump to fifth grade. Fifth grade has three teachers this year because of the class size. Right now they're at 67. Um they will return to that 80 to 90 kids in uh fifth grade next year. So we'll restore that fourth position at fifth grade. And that teacher right now, she was a fifth grade teacher. She went to fourth grade this year. She wants to go back. So that's opening up uh a vacancy in fourth grade. And then we have a teacher who's currently teaching in fourth grade who's retiring. Um, so that's two vacancies. So we have that posted. We've done the inter we've started the interview process and
072I'll get into that in a minute. Uh, but that's what those postings are. And then um looking at our small class size going into the middle school and based on numbers of students identified with disabilities, we're going to have the third intervention spe we're going to there's three intervention specialists at the middle school. Now next year there will be two and that third one will be assigned to Woodlands to help uh with special ed services in in that level. And um we um and then sticking with special ed uh we have posted a school psychologist assistant. We've gotten some interest uh and uh but not really exactly the background and experiences that we're looking for. So, we're working with the association um potentially assigning that in house with current staff. And the other part that
073we have is um when we start the school year at at Woodlands, the special ed teachers with their case load sizes are already going to be on the above average size. So that gives me pause because typically throughout the school year, especially, you know, at this semester and then this second half, you get more students identified and um to post to hire somebody mid year is difficult because then it's a different candidate pool, but also they're coming in cold, not knowing kids, not knowing the staff and everything else. So, uh we're looking at potentially having someone assigned half intervention specialists, half uh school assistant. Um, and so also because of some of the intent forms that were submitted and the two fourth grade postings and interest in house for that, uh, we proactively posted for
074an intervention specialist position. Um, because there are some current ones interested in those fourth grade assignments. So, that's the other posting. Um, school the school council we've already talked about. It's on the agenda tonight. The other is the school psychologist. So, she left us uh at the end of the school year. Uh school psychologists across the state of Ohio, there's a shortage. So, this year we've been making it work with a third party contractor who delivers services remotely. At first, I was like, I don't know how that's going to work, but there have been some hiccups, but we worked through it. Uh it's kept us compliant. uh it's probably limited the value add in prevention and intervent early intervention services. So we're excited to have a new school psychologist in person coming in. Um so
075you know we're looking at that. So those are um the big ideas of changes and um you know we're continuing to work through it but as we identify needs we're going to post for it because the candidate pool at this time of year is much stronger than it is even in May. Um you know back when I was trying to find a job there were like tons of candidates and we're all fighting for the same thing right now it's you got to recruit hard and you got to find the right talent uh and bring people in. So, any questions about personnel? All right. And then the last item I just want to share, just take one, pass it down. Um, relates to personnel. It's what I call the hiring funnel. So, this is something that
076I brought with me into the district. Um, and I found it helpful to write it out so the administrative team could see it. And really, this is for anyone to to uh have. It's not uh proprietary. It's not confidential. Um but really it starts off with posting, recruiting, um bringing a candidate pool. So we have a large candidate pool. We review the candidates and then we begin inviting them to that first round of interview. The first round of interview is a phone interview with me. Um it's a scripted interview process that I've been certified in. Um and it really looks at what are the candidates philosophies, beliefs of education, working with students, parents, staff. Um and so that's the first step or the first official round. It's also um my first chance to interview the
077candidates because ultimately they're going to continue through the process, but they're going to have to come back because I'm the one with the responsibility of recommending to the board. And so if they're talking to people and getting excited about someone that I'm not excited about, then that you know can cause friction down the line. >> Um so then the second round is either in person or remote through an admin round. So typically the building principal and then central office representative uh Julie Dana uh are typically the two that get tapped for that. Third round is the committee. The committee is important because these are the people they're going to their co-workers, those that they're going to work with. Uh sometimes we have uh Grant. He served as like a hostess for the assistant principal job.
078>> Yeah. >> Yep. >> And so he was able to give the candidate a tour of the building and then show him to the room and afterwards the committee wanted to get his input from the student perspective. So that was good, right? >> Um and you were kind of put on the spot because I didn't tell you that you're going to do that. But uh and really the focus of the committee and it's hard when you start this process it's hard for people to to wrap their heads around it. I don't want to rank you. Okay? I don't want your number one two three because if we all fall in love with number one but then the offer and compensation and other things don't work out, we're all going to walk away disappointed, right? And
079even that second choice would figure out at some point they were second choice. So the feedback that I get from committee members or the administrative running that gets from committee members is for every candidate, what are their strengths and where are they going to need support? What are their strengths? Where they need support? Now a really good candidate is going to have an easy time identifying those strengths and probably a hard time identifying where they're going to need support. A really weak candidate, it's going to be like, ah, they smiled and then here's the list of where they need support. So that kind of naturally settles out. Um, but when you get down to like two or three candidates, I don't want to know the ranking. I want to know for every single one where
080are they good, where they need that, uh, where they can be that support. And then there's a final interview back with me. Uh, and that's where really then decisions are made. We we're doing reference checks along the way. Um, and then, you know, recommend comes to the board for for uh for employment. So, just to review that and I don't think I've ever shared this with the board previously and you got two. So, >> thank you. >> That's good. Um, unless there's any questions, that's what I have for tonight. >> All right. Any questions for Dr. Tapman? >> Okay. Uh, number eight. Item number eight is a motion for approval of our consent agenda items. Um, all the items listed under sections 5 through seven. Second, Mrs. Henders. >> Yes. >> Mr. Merkins, >> yes.
081>> Mr. Hammond, >> yes. Mr. Ragger, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hartley, >> yes. >> Right. Item number nine, superintendent recommendation. Dr. Tapman. >> Yeah. So, the district novel list. So, just a reminder, um, this started with a parent who had concerns about a book we used. She did the right process. She talked to the teacher, talked to the principal, submitted a complaint to me. I followed policy, kicked it to a review committee. They came out with a recommendation. I followed that recommendation. U she appealed it to the level of the board. The board denied her appeal. Uh but during that process, it was identified, hey, this district novel list is kind of outdated. Uh there's some books we're not using anymore. There's uh some grade level shifts. So Julie undertook uh leading a committee to
082review that list and uh this is the most upto-date and accurate list of uh what we're um using in the school three grades three through 12 and then the foreign languages. So I don't know if you have any more comments. Nope. We did uh pull it from the agenda last month post it on the website encourage families with comments to submit those through that community comment link. No comments came through. Um there were two articles in the paper about it. So maybe through that and social media, everyone exhausted their comments. >> Then you also sent it home to parents, didn't you? Send a link through final forms. So it was actively pushed out to all district families. >> So I think all stakeholders uh have been made aware. >> Agreed. >> So I'm just looking
083for board action on that. >> Thank you for taking all those steps. I think that was important. >> Yeah. I thought the process worked well and I know the parent maybe wasn't satisfied but it was a good check of what we're doing curriculum wise and um making sure that we're following processes and procedures. >> Thank you all involved for doing that. >> Okay. So we just >> this list it shows the grade it should be in right? >> Yeah correct me that correctly. >> So do we have a motion to approve the district list? second. >> Uh, Mr. Hammond, >> yes. >> Mrs. Henders, >> yes. >> Mr. Merkins, >> yes. >> Mr. Ragger, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hartley, >> yes. >> All right. Item number 10, board discussion, action, quarterly policy, first reading. >>
084Yep. So, this is the first reading for the first issue of 2026. There's two. One is about misbranded foods and uh cultivated protein food products. So, the uh beef lobbyists want to make sure that we're serving beef and not lia generated beef. And then the second one is uh entrance age. So there was a high rise code that changed. Uh we used to be we had to be uh five by September 1st. This now makes that earlier uh in compliance law first day of kindergarten. So every year it's going to be a day or two different based on our school calendar. And we go by the first day of school. I know kindergarten does a sacred start. So some districts were discussing like well so if they're the first half the alphabet is this their
085day? I'm like wow you guys are making it too complicated. This the first day of school on our school calendar you got to be five by then. So that's what those two policies are >> any questions and this is the first reading. >> This is the first reading. >> So no action next month we will do a second >> but discussion and we have to make modifications. Yes. on the list of things I never thought I'd be talking about at a schoolboard meeting was cultivated protein food products >> I'm reviewing policy for that but here we are >> we are >> questions misbranding our food >> no this I mean we buy through the food federal lunch so I guess it's being proactive. >> First reading. So, we'll revisit that next month. >> Correct. >>
086Okay. That'll be for board action next month. Um 10B, new business. Any new business? All right. Item 11 A, executive session. We do have uh two, let's see, my notes. Uh we do have executive session uh for the investigation of complaints against an employee and conference with the public body's attorney concerning pending court action. May I have a motion to enter into executive session? >> So move. >> Second. >> Mr. Regger. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hers. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mens. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hartley. >> Yes. We do not anticipate any board action afterwards. We're heading this building. We'll see you next next time. Nice to meet you. Still being KG. Nice to meet you. Sorry. He said all of them will fall. What did he say? like what
087you guys Hallelujah. Right. So, I'll see you Friday and I'll reach out to Sue. Yeah, I'll bring it up to her tomorrow. >> Let her know. >> She was able to undo all that learning. >> Come on, people. Let's get back in here so we can adjourn. three. >> We do record. >> Yeah, we do. >> Hey guys, can you just real quick so we can adjourn? >> That's okay. >> All right. A motion for adjournment. >> So move. >> Second. >> Mr. Ragger. >> Yes. >> Mr. Hammond. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Henders. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mkins. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Hartley. >> Yes. All right. Special meeting Friday morning at 7:15. >> Anyway, there was like a potential down. I'd love that they do it now. It's like a