001All right, good evening everyone. It is now 5:30. We're going to start our Board of Directors meeting for April 8th, 2026. Uh we're going to be starting the budget committee for the first hour or so and then go into our regular board meeting at 6:30. I'm Maureen Miltenberger. I am the vice chair. Our chair is not available tonight, so we'll do the best we can and get through this. All right, I just wanted to welcome everybody here and wanted to let everyone know just as a reminder that our uh mission statement is motivating and preparing all students to reach their greatest potential. So, we have a wonderful guest tonight that is going to help us with our pledge of allegiance. Could we have um Jasmine Goodman come forward. Thank you. All right. Pause. All right.
002Good evening. I would like to introduce um Jasmine's teacher, Ms. DeCesaro, and she has a few words to say about Jasmine before we do the pledge. All right. Good evening. Okay. Um good evening and thank you for the opportunity to recognize a truly extraordinary student. Uh tonight I have the privilege of speaking about Jasmine, a student who truly represents uh what is possible when determination, support, and opportunity all come together. Our school district is filled with incredible teachers and staff who deeply care about our students and help guide them every day in ways we never see. Jasmine has been fortunate to learn from many of these uh teachers and staff along the way. Their encouragement and dedication matter, but it's been Jasmine herself who has done all the work. She shows up every day driven,
003um stubborn in the best possible way, opinionated, hilarious, humble, confident, completely determined to succeed. Jasmine is a true student of distinction who consistently exemplifies leadership, responsibility, and kindness. As a Viking leader, she is dependable and always willing to step up to help with tasks around the school. She also serves as a caring kindergarten mentor and buddy, showing remarkable and compassion with our younger students, and I have had countless staff approach me and talking about how amazing she is um in that role. She has a strong passion for mathematics uh and proudly represented our school in the Nomadic Math Challenge, where she demonstrated impressive um perseverance, determination, um Jasmine is a supportive classmate who encourages others and is always ready to lend a helping hand. But, what is truly uh what truly distinguishes Jasmine is her
004resilience and her inner strength. She meets challenges head-on with determination, a positive spirit, and a work ethic that never wavers. No matter the obstacle, Jasmine rises, moving forward with courage, grace, and a quiet confidence, and sometimes not so quiet confidence, that inspires everyone around her. Beyond the classroom, Jasmine also has a unique talent for solving jigsaw puzzles. She recently completed a challenge. Um it's a was a challenging 1,000-piece National Park puzzle that will be proudly displayed in our classroom for years to come. It is a perfect reflection of her focus, patience, and problem-solving skills. Mrs. Glowacki, who is here tonight as well, has known Jasmine for several years. She shared this about Jasmine. What I love about Jasmine is her constant smile and cheerful attitude, the pride she takes in her school work and artwork,
005and how she is always glad to help out. She is the best. And I agree. In conclusion, Jasmine doesn't just meet expectations, she redefines what is possible. Anyone who knows her knows that. She reminds all of us that with determination, heart, and the support of a caring community, there is truly no limit to what a student can achieve. Jasmine, we are incredibly proud of you. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance 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. Like they said, we have amazing students and amazing teachers in our district. Thank you so much. Okay, now we are into attendance for both the Board of Directors and the Budget Committee. Deborah.
006Chair Lacatour. Vice Chair Miltenberger. Present. Director Paulette. Present. Director Cole. Present. Director Haberly. Present. Director Postgate. Present. Director Pimlott Student Representative Emmanuel Ponce de Leon Student Representative Lilly Clements Student Representative Grace Frank Budget Committee members Lindsey Phillips Present. Nora Kent Katie Sneden Present. Ivy Meadow Present. Lisa Walter Sedlacek Present. Sue Jones Present. Alex Ferguson Present. Thank you. Okay, thank you. It appears that we have a quorum for the whole overall budget and for the board meeting as well. So now we're going to recess the regular board meeting and now I'm going to hit the gavel cuz I forgot to do it the first time and go into the open budget meeting. So regular uh board meeting is recessed. Now I'm going to introduce our wonderful CC Howell who is going to go into talking about
007the general introduction and all that has to do with the great budget stuff. Good evening, everybody. Um my name is CC Howell. I'm the business manager here at the school district. Um we're going to go through uh budget basics. Um just to do an overview. I know there are a lot of new members and um budgeting with um with a school district is a little bit different um than some other um budgeting like in your normal personal finance and whatnot. So and how we look at things. So we're going to do a basic overview so you get familiar with how the funding um works out as far as revenue and our expenditures. Um normally on our first budget meeting we would actually have a budget book and we would go over um some of the
008details of the finances and the expenditures and revenues. Um this evening we won't be doing that. Currently we are looking at um an approximate of 4.2 million shortfall for next year so we do not have a balanced budget at this point. Um and we will be working on that prior to the April 22nd um and we will be able to um go through the budget at that time and you'll have the full presentation of um all of the revenue and expenditures and um also the budget message. So for today we're going to go through our budget basics and then um we'll go over the updated timeline. And then what if you have any questions then you can ask questions at that time. Okay? Thank you. Do I have a Okay. All righty. Um so we'll
009go ahead and take a look at this. Okay, what is the school budget? It's pretty basic. Um it goes over um a formal plan of our revenues and expenditures. It's a blueprint or a map as you say on how guiding how we're spending and um how we make our decisions throughout the year. Um a school district budget is a fluid budget. It doesn't stay at one level or another. As funding um changes either up or down, um we also have to accommodate in what we spend in our appropriations. So um it's an accountability tool. It it insures public funds are being transparent and responsibly used. Um it's also a planning framework for our administrators um so they can anticipate the needs and manage the funds and um take a look at their projects throughout the
010year. Um nothing is set in stone so we have to be able to be flexible in that situation. It's also a legal requirement. All school districts are legally required uh to adopt a balanced budget annually under the ORS 294. This is um for the compliance and then communication it's a communication um document and it's also something between the school board and the community as well as um leadership [clears throat] and the students and families. Uh who's involved in the budget? Of course your basics the superintendent is a budget officer. He's also uh develops the budget message that aligns with the district's strategic goals. Um my spot in this is um managing financial data and the projections and the compliance. Um all principals and department heads are um relay their site level budget so we do
011talk to our school administrators as well as they get input from their staff. Um we also have a budget input meeting um where they can also um provide input uh in the um in a forum that's um easier for them to provide that input. And then the budget committee the budget committee attends the budget meetings and reviews the budget um along with the school board who reviews and amends and formally approves the annual budget. Um parents and community they provide um input at public meetings so you'll have that on the 22nd where they'll be able to provide their um public input. And [snorts] then also the state education agency they set up the funding formulas and mandates and the reporting requirements. So here um listed is like your budget committee duties. Basically is to meet
012publicly review the proposed budget provide um an opportunity for um public to ask questions or to provide input um approve the balanced budget. What a budget committee is is it's a seven member of um the board as well as the equal number of community members like yourselves. So here we are today. Um both all of you together work as the budget committee. So even though you are the elected officials and you are the community members you work together to review the budget and ask the pertinent questions on on the revenues and expenditures to make sure there's an understanding of why we're have our appropriations. Appropriations are the amount that we can spend within the year. And so that way you can ask questions and and dig a little deeper into um what level of funding
013we would need to be at for the amount of enrollment that we have. So um and then you would also approve our maximum taxes at the end and and that's basically the duties of the budget committee. And taxes don't normally change so it does say approve the taxes but what you'll do is you'll publicly state the um our standard rate or our set rate and um our local option levy that's already in place. So we wouldn't be adding any new taxes at this point. Um the budget process um is uh basically what we went through before. You're going to um publish the meeting publish the notice meeting elect the presiding officers receive the budget message. So in your first meeting you're going to elect your your um presiding officer and then receive the budget message
014and then review the proposed budget and then consider public input at the next meeting and then make changes if you need to or needed and then approve the budget appropriation. So you approve the budget to move to the board for the final adoption. Okay, um where our funding comes from. This is a breakdown or typical share in our district. It it varies by district depending on um location and the amount of local resources that you might have. Um currently um in the last fiscal years we run about 46% from our property taxes. Um we have our permanent rate and we also have our local option levy. Um with the state government this is the state school fund or any state um grants that are given to us. Um we have um the student the This
015I get Okay, sorry. This is the um SIA which is the student um investment act which comes from um the corporate um tax that is come from the state. So um and then the high school success grants that come from the state as well and that's part of measure 98 on the investment in student funding. We do get about 8% from um the federal government with uh title one. Um also other Can't see that. Sorry. Also our individual of disabili- with disabilities act we get that grant as well and that's about 8% of our total revenue. And then other sources from fees and donations and grants and funds. So it's about 1%. So school districts that have a larger tax base create um can can't create funding disparities across districts. So state uses an equalization
016fund equalization formula to partially offset that imbalance so that every every student has an equal opportunity for the same quality of education and that's basically what the state school fund is intended for. So the state's funding formula is comprised of the general purpose grant. This is a primary source of the flexible funding on a per uh based on a per pupil spending level. Um districts receive state aid meet the floor regardless of the local property tax wealth that we just discussed. The general purpose grant includes a weighted student funding. So, it creates a weighted factor based on additional dollars that may follow students that have greater needs like special education or the multi-language learners or students in poverty. So, they add additional weights to our overall um uh average daily membership, which is our enrollment.
017So, current enrollment is running about 11 1156. Um so, they would add additional weights for special education and the categories that I've mentioned. So, usually it's on special education it's a one add to that and as well as uh multi-language learners, which is .5 and then students in poverty is uh developed from our poverty rate by the state school fund. And then um the state school funding includes restricted grants like the high cost disability. That's based on actually what we pay above the average high cost disability average student, which anything over 30,000 then it would be additional expenditures that we would pay out and then they would pay us based on a formula on on how that comes back to us. And then we have our transportation grant. So, those are all of our eligible
018expenses uh minus any non-reimbursable mileage and that is given back to us at 70% of our overall expenses. We currently run at about 1.2 million on our transportation for eligible expenses. A lot of people talk about the hold harmless provisions as far as the state school fund. It's breaking that down very simply is that if your current year or within any two years if one is higher than the other. So, like if our current year is higher than our projected next year, then they would use that factor to the highest of the two to develop our state school funds. Does that mean that we will receive a larger amount? Uh we do at first, but then um every year it is reconciled for the prior year in May. So, we will actually be reconciled with
019our actual figures for our estimates on our um enrollment as well as all of our estimates on our local resources and um also with the state's estimates are then reconciled. So, then sometimes there's a payback and sometimes there's an even and sometimes there's not. So, that's usually how it works. Here are some of our key federal funding programs. Title one, which provides supplemental funding to schools with high concentrations of students in low-income families. Um individuals with disabilities and education act, which supports special education and services for disabilities covering um evaluations, IEPs, and other special need instruction. Um the IDEA grant is a little bit different. We have to pay we have to spend a certain amount before we can access those funds. Our our funds usually run around uh 300,000 in addition, but we have
020to spend more than 2 million in our title schools um for all students in order to access those funds, which normally that would that would happen with the with our um overall expenditures. So, um so, that's how that is drawn. And then we have our title four, which is uh student support and academic enrichment. These funds are used to support our safe and healthy school environment, which provides funding for our school resource officer. We pay a portion as well as the city pays their portion as well. Um our other largest um grant federally is the national school lunch program. Um here we are um we are actually a community in which we receive our provisions at 100% or not close to 100% because we have state state percentage as well as a federal percentage. Um
021so, every student eats breakfast and lunch here without any cost. And then we have our 21st century grant, which is funding our currently funding our after-school program, which is the wellness from Cascades to Coast or parents will hear it as WCC. So, that's our after-school program. Okay, understanding balanced budgets. Um we've talked about how our revenues and our expenditures have to balance in order to um actually um be compliant with ORS 294. Um the general we have four large funds. Um one is currently not at this time being used, which is uh capital project funds um 400. So, our main operation funds is the general fund, which you will see in many of our um spreadsheets and um when you get your budget book, it is considered fund 100. And that is our day-to-day instruction
022and that's where our most of our actually that's where all of our um local option levy is is in the general fund as well as the state school funds and our other taxes, our normal current property taxes. Um special our special revenue funds are considered fund 200 or anything at fund 200. Um it holds our restricted grants, federal and state and then um also it holds um food service, which is also in there as well as our bus reserve and um other specialized grants. So, those are restricted funds. Um our debt service funds go to pay our currently are going to pay our um remaining part of our qualified um government bond, which we had um a large repair um of the elementary, which we took out um uh general obligation bond for 900,000. Um
023we are we prepaid a large portion of that back in 2013. So, it's it is matured at 2027. Currently um we cannot close that fund until after that, but we are not currently paying on it since we prepaid um several years ago. And then the capital projects funds of course is for any construction and that might come into play if there is a bond in the future. Your revenues and expenditures are are usually categorized into uh four different buckets. So, you can see that anything that starts with 1,000 when you look at your spreadsheets and and the budget book, you'll see that um it's under instruction. So, this is a majority of where our funds go is actually into the classroom. So, teacher salaries, education salaries and um all of the instruction and curriculum. Um
0242000s are our support services, which is our counselors and health services, library, technology, maintenance, operations, staff, and other options. And that's um our second largest. And then um food services is under community and then our debt service is for our bond repayments for construction and renovation as well as we did take out a loan for the roof on the middle school. So, we are still currently paying on that. Um and then um we also have um our tax antici- tax anticipation note that we took out um last summer in order to get to where we are today and um that is also being repaid in our debt service. When you do get your budget book, you will take a look at how it appears and um these are our detail sheets. This is the heart
025of the budget. Um it'll break it out. All of our funds are broken out into function, which we talked about like 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000. And um then you would um have it broken down even further into object, which what we call the account. And they will be labeled like licensed salaries and classified salaries. You'll be able to get down to the detail if you need to. But here are the summaries. So, they're a little bit more simplified. You'll still be able to see what we pay um on the program or spend on the program and what we receive in revenues. These are just examples of last year's budget. So, as as in developing the budget, there are some common challenges in facing for school districts. Um this year and for the last few years
026since um COVID, we've um rece- we've had rising personnel costs. So, you're going to see a lot of things um and we will provide a summary of the budget assumptions at the time you get your budget book that'll show like the percentages and the changes that we've had and uh what we can anticipate for the coming year. You also have enrollment volatility. We've also been in a enrollment decline. We also have deferred a lot of years of maintenance. So, we have aging infrastructure, not just at the high school, but also at the elementary. And there are some repairs that we do spend on the maintenance buildings, but it's been very limited in the last couple years since we've had a deficit in the funding. So, we have cut back a little bit, but more normally
027it would not be more than 850,000 that we actually have a set aside for maintenance and repairs. And then we do hold our construction excise tax in a reserve fund, and that's for emergencies or for larger constructions, and that currently is sitting at 1.1 million. Um we also have a lot of underfunded or not funded mandates that are that come down from the legislation that ask us to do additional things as far as labor costs, providing paid leave Oregon, unemployment, as well as different compliance and scheduling that costs us more without it necessarily providing enough to fully fund it. We also this year we will well, in the last few years we've had an inflation and supply chain costs going up, rising costs for food services um as far as um energy and gas. And
028then we also have our pension and retirement obligation bond or not just our bond, but also our obligations for the actual um PERS. So, for retirement. We've talked about that um last year. We had an increase since then, we're up around on average we're about 21. 4 on our percentage for our PERS. We also have a PERS bond that we purchased back in 2004. And what the PERS bond allows allowed us to do is to discount our overall base rate. So, what we did is we prepaid our PERS obligation. And then we used that account to pay down our rate. So, um this year we had a 4.36% discount from the base rate, and that's what keeps us at 21. And this is increased from since I've gotten here recent since I became here, it's
029got it's went higher from 14% is what our average was before. So. So, those are a few things that incorporate the entire budget. And then um I did provide our contact detailed information. We want We don't have a lot of detail for you today, but if you do have um outreach on funding cuz it is a complicated formula, but it's basic as far as where our revenues come from and how we have to match that up with our expenditures. So, thank you for that. And then going into 2.2 on your um on the agenda. So, now that we've abbreviated where when our budget starts, it's going to now start on April 22nd. It'll still be in the same location here. Um you will go through what we talked about um on the first budget meeting,
030we'll elect your budget officers, you'll receive the budget message, and then you'll get the presentation of the 26-27 budget. Um and then you'll have a portion for the public input, and then we will have the second meeting set already. If you can um please make sure you have that on your calendars for May 6th. That'll be the portion where you can do a more detailed Q&A and as well as review the budget and possibly uh adopt the budget. So, that's what I have. Will that be held here in this in this room? >> Yes. Yes, it'll be in the same location. >> Okay. Does anybody have any questions for me? Will it be at 6:00 p.m.? Yes, it'll be set at 6:00. Uh-huh. Sorry, I had a quick question. >> Sure. So, regarding the timeline,
031we will Oh, I don't have to hold it. Thank you. Um so, at the April 22nd meeting is when we receive the budget materials. That is correct. >> we just have one follow-up meeting, so the opportunity for to be able to review it and then ask questions is really just down to that one meeting on the 6th, right? No, we can schedule another meeting after if we need to. We again, we typically schedule two and have a third in reserve. >> Okay. This is again, this meeting cuz again, we again, are pre-calculating what we need to to get through the through through the pinch. Um and then so, we'll do the kind of the first wave, people can ask questions as we'll get stuff prepared for the 6th. If we need to have another meeting,
032we've got to spot for it cuz the budget doesn't actually have to be approved until June 30th. So again, we've got time in there if there's more detailed work that we need to do. Okay, thanks. And one of the things that we've said is that once you get that budget book and you we've had that one meeting and you've had a chance to look through it, if you do come up with questions in the middle, if you would go ahead and contact CC ahead of time so she's prepared and and maybe can answer your question quickly at that time, but just to give her a chance to get a heads-up of whatever questions you may have at that time. Sure, Tom. Um what was the number that you said the discrepancy was for the upcoming
033year? It's not a discrepancy, it's actually a deficit or shortfall is what you'd call. >> Shortfall, thanks. By the end of the year, we will have a 4.2 approximate 4.2 million dollars shortfall. >> this year, the end of the end of next year. Thank you. I'm sorry I used the wrong word. >> In the coming year. >> So, the kind of difference between what we have this year and what we have to work with next year is 4 million. 4.2 million. And we're going to talk about that um today in in another section at the board meeting. So, we'll have more detail on that information. Again, as part of our budget process last year, we made reductions. We knew this was going to be a multi-year process. This is kind of year two of that
034would be four years to get a step down cuz eventually we're looking at a overall student population projection to bottom out at about 1,120 to 1,130 by 2029. So, that's where we're kind of working towards. At the same time, uh again, costs are going up uh in general, but again, our as we're coming off of the PERS bond, we're also coming back into PERS at full rate at the time that the full rate is increasing. Uh so, that's going to be a double whammy for us. Um and again, we've been maintaining some very uh moderate class sizes for years, and that's what stretched us into where we're at. Um so again, we we cut last year. Uh we again, we're putting together the plan with all the administrators, you know, look what can be reduced,
035what can be consolidated. Um cuz again, every time we put something on paper uh with with a budget, it's wrong. Uh and so again, we got a an analysis done at the end of March, and that's what we're plugging together now that we've got the size of really the PERS hole and the uh pay rate again, the payroll increase kind of compounding on top of it. And so, we should be able to again, step this down over three years. And it's like we brought up in the um end of last year, and then we've gone through this on every board meeting in regards to the revenue and the expenditures. Um the tax anticipation note, it was moving it down until we can come to a point where we have a plan as far as um
036recovery over time. And it will take time. So, yeah. And what was the final date again, May 30th for the budget? June 30th. June 30th by law. Okay. >> Um and so again, we've got technically the board adopts it at the last at the last meeting in June, which will be June 8th this year or 7th this year? I forget what the exact date in June is going to be, but we've had years where again, we've had to wait for again, certain things to resolve either at the state level, and we've adopted way late into June. Um I don't think we'll need to do that. Um but yeah, if the state again, so we kind of know where we're at. We're just finalizing figures and getting input from staff, and then uh from administrative staff,
037and then we'll work from there. Superintendent, the last meeting is June 10th. June 10th, thank you. Okay, does anyone have any further questions, or do either of have either one of you thought of something else you'd like to add before we we this meeting. Any further questions from anyone or No. >> No. I think we're good. Okay. Hearing that, we are just about 6:08 and our regular board meeting will reconvene at 6:30. So, we'll give budget committee members time to go ahead and get off the stage. If you want to stay, we have a few minute break in between, but our first two things on the agenda are >> Marine, before you go, you need to recess the budget meeting. I'm not going yet. Okay. I'm just I'm just saying one thing and then I'm
038going to recess the budget meeting. So, we're going to go into a break as soon as I recess this, but I'm going to encourage you if you want to stay, stay. We have our student liaison that comes from the high school to talk to things about about things that are going on and I have a proclamation about Month of the Military Child proclamation that I'm going to read. So, we will reconvene at 6:30. So, at this point, the budget committee is recessed. There you go. >> Mhm. >> 28th and they had a good success with good participation. Um the environmental club is hosting a Scotch broom pull tomorrow to help with local environment um efforts. Uh today the seniors had a presentation from Secretary of State Tobias Read. Um it was a great opportunity to
039learn about what he does in his role in the government and more about the Senate. Um prom will be held on the 25th of this month along with a spirit week and a pep rally to end off the week. And lastly, leadership is having elections currently. I'm hoping at the next meeting I'd be able to uh introduce you guys to the new ASB president and the rest of the board uh for ASB. And yeah, that's all I have. Thank you. All right, thank you. The next thing on our agenda is uh proclamation um that is for the month of the military child uh proclamation. And right before our meeting I had a chance to talk there's some ladies in the au- audience that are representing military families. So if anybody wants to know there's some
040people here that actually are representing and they let me know that we have um we have 24 children in our district starting at two from two weeks to 16 years old that are part of military families. So proclamation. Whereas the Siuslaw School District acknowledges the vital role of military children and youth and whereas these resilient young individuals demonstrate unwavering commitment, adaptability, and courage in the face of unique challenges. And whereas military children contribute significantly to the strength and resilience of our military families and communities. And whereas their sacrifices often go unnoticed, yet they play an essential role in supporting the military's mission. And whereas the month of the military child provides an opportunity to celebrate their achievements, honor their past, cherish the present, and shape a brighter future. And therefore, let it be known that
041we recognize and appreciate the contributions of military children and youth and we commit to providing them with quality care and positive youth development. And be it resolved that the Siuslaw School District Board of Directors does hereby declare April as month of the military child and calls upon our school community to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities as a way to bring our mission and vision vision into reality. On April 15th we encourage everyone to wear purple for purple up for military kids day. Thank you. I'd like to give the a hand to our military families this month. All right, next on the agenda we agenda we have approval of the agenda. Okay, uh item uh 040826-3.4 agenda approval of agenda uh superintendent, board chair, vice chair meet to prepare the agenda one
042week prior to the board meeting. Items of business may be suggested by any board member, staff member, student, or citizen of the district by notifying the superintendent at least five working days prior to the meeting. Any changes to the agenda must be approved by a majority vote. Uh administration recommends approval of the agenda. Do we have any additions or motion? What about this at added on request here? Does this That is actually on the agenda. >> It's already in there. Okay. >> Yeah, it's here it is now item 7.5. Okay. Yeah, it's there. Cool. Okay, then I would entertain a motion. Board chair, be it resolved Siuslaw that the Siuslaw School Board just the Siuslaw School District Board of Directors approve the agenda as presented resolution number 040826-3.4 approve agenda. Second. Okay, so we have
043a motion made by Director Haberly and seconded by Director Pollett. All those in favor? I. I. I. Next on our agenda is uh public comment. And I understand we do have someone? Okay, we have a We do have the clock started with a in Okay, we do have a clock that will be started soon if it hasn't already. So we have 3 minutes. Thank you. First name on the list is uh Cindy Forsyth. That's me. >> Is that you? Okay, thank you. Is this on? Okay. Uh my name is Cindy Forsyth. I live in Dunes City. Um I served on a Board of Education for four years. I served two years on a municipal budget committee and 25 years as a county department head. 10 years as a small business owner. I've lived in this
044area my whole life. My family came here 99 years ago. I have deep roots in this community and so I care very much about our schools and the education that our students are receiving. I do not have grandchildren. I don't have anyone in the school system right now. I attended 12 years at Siuslaw School District as did my children. When I attended Siuslaw High School, there were approximately 425 students give or take maybe more and 32 faculty. I was reasonably well educated, had went on to college and a career. There are currently 394 students at Siuslaw High School and 46 faculty members. That is a 10% decrease in students and a 43% increase in faculty. As a side note, I can do math because I learned that here at Siuslaw. But I understand I've heard
045that we have students that are graduating and cannot figure percentages. Our larger faculty is not necessarily producing better results. Stand for Students is an organization that has done a deep dive on the decline of public education in Oregon and has found that instructional days vary between districts as much as 40 days. Over a 13-year education period in public schools, that makes a full year difference in instructional days. Nearly every district in the state is seeing a decrease in enrollment due to population demographics. Nearly every district in the state is going to be meeting budget shortfalls in part by reducing staff. Statistical information from the Oregon Department of Education for Siuslaw School District shows that the high school average class size is 13 and that average regular attendance is 56%. What that means, I believe, is
046eight students on average in your classes. As the goal is to educate our students, when reviewing and uh excuse me, the proposed budget and deciding how to meet any shortfalls, I urge you to look at combining classes and reducing staff rather than cutting instructional days for the good of our students. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Next one up is Sherry Harvey. My name's Sherry Harvey. My husband and I uh been residents of Florence for 14 years. We've lived in multiple school districts in multiple states and even school zones out of the country. The Oregon Department of Education statistical reporting for Siuslaw School District reveals that we have 33% of our high school students meeting state grade level expectations in language arts. That means 67% are not. 21% of our high school students are meeting state
047grade level expectations in math. That means 79% are not. 29% of our middle school students are meeting state grade level expectations in math. That means 71% are not. And 33% of our middle school school uh middle schoolers are meeting state grade level expectations in English and language arts. >> [clears throat] >> And that means 62% are not. Our elementary school statistics are just as bad. Our students are not receiving an education. This dismal record reflects an inability to adequately meet the challenges that are inherent in the position of superintendent. I'm puzzled why this performance resulted in such a glowing evaluation of our district superintendent. As a taxpayer and citizen, I'm appalled. Thank you. Are there any other ones that have come in for Okay. All right. Next thing on the agenda would be special presentation,
048but apparently we don't have one tonight. So, uh 6.0 consent agenda. Okay, uh consent agenda consent business item 040826-6.0. Uh this month's consent agenda contains the following items. Uh March 9th, 2026 uh board work session uh meeting minutes. Uh March 11th uh board meeting minutes. Uh March 2026 financial statement and your monthly enrollment update. Uh administration recommends approval of the consent agenda as presented. If there's an additional item that needs uh additional discussion, it may be pulled and put on the regular agenda. Okay. Anyone want to change that in any way, take anything out, or have do I have a motion? Uh Vice Chair, be it resolved that the Siuslaw School District Board approves the consent agenda as presented. Resolution number 040826-6.0 consent agenda. Second. Okay, we have a motion made by uh Director Paulette
049and seconded by Dr. Hall Haberly for resolution number 040826 -6.0 consent agenda. All those in favor? I. >> I. 7.0 textbook adoption. Uh actually 7.1 organizational report. >> 7.1 Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay. Struggling with too many pieces of paper here. All right. Um item uh 040826-7.1 uh annual organizational requirements first reading. Uh the board is required to adopt organizational requirements of the district uh each new year. Organizational requirements are presented in advance of the new school year for adoption at the final meeting of the school year in June 2026. Uh while board meetings are typically held on the second of the month, second Wednesday of the month, uh looking at your calendar, there would be no meeting in July uh 2026. This is an off-cycle election year. And then uh November would be shifted
050to accommodate the OSB annual convention. Uh administration recommends approval of the 2026-27 school district organizational requirements. Okay, so this is first reading? First reading and so again uh looking at your list, again with the off-cycle uh year, no meeting is currently scheduled for July. Uh and then you we have a move to November 18th. And then all of your uh policy and planning notes are down below. Again, this is first reading, so this can either go to the consent agenda or it can be uh taken up as a vote next month. Consent agenda is what I would vote. I'm getting head nods head nods on consent agenda. All right. Thank you. Moving right along to 7.2 textbook adoption now. Okay, uh item uh 040826-7.2 textbook adoption first reading. Uh every 7 years each subject selects
051and adopts new core curriculum materials. Uh social studies is the subject area up for consideration for the 2026-2033 cycle. Uh the following materials have been selected by the local uh building committees to to be presented uh to the board of directors. Uh there'll be a public review uh beginning um April 13th. And this will be an action item at the June 2026 uh a board meeting after completion of public review. Uh the summer review of each committee curriculum materials or programs are presented for initial review by the board of directors. Okay, so this is first reading and it'll be up for second reading in the next next month. Yes. Okay. Any other comments on that one? Just moving right along here. Okay, on uh the next one is 7.3 uh four-day school week discussion. Superintendent.
052Again, uh 040826-7.3 2026-27 four-day school week discussion. Uh the board of directors has requested information from other school districts that currently operate a four-day school week. Uh all districts responded with relevant information both positive and negative regarding the challenges of a four-day week. Again, uh it's a recommendation of administration that the board of directors conduct further community outreach during the 26-27 school year to be able to thoughtfully consider any transition uh to a new schedule in 27-28 at the earliest. Okay, so there isn't a motion here cuz we've already passed the five-day when when we did the calendar, but we did have a survey of a lot of people who wanted um were very interested in talking about the four-day four a week. We had like 75%, so any discussion that the board would like
053to have now is the time. Um I will I same thing I said last month that if we were to consider this, it is really, really important that we give it a bunch of time and that we give the community a lot of chances to engage with us about the subject. Um it is not something to just make a decision on and try and implement in a year. It's something that would require a lot of planning. Um I am I did uh looking through this stuff uh the other uh the other day. I I noticed that Marcola's offered an open invitation to come and visit during the school day to see how they work it out. I think that that would be enlightening. Um although I to some extent I realize that Marcola is a
054is a small community versus the size of of Siuslaw, our district, but it would still be interesting to go and see. I would encourage maybe a few of us to go and take that trip and and spend a day down there, spend at least a few hours down there and see uh see how it goes. Um we have discussed this uh the past I think two meetings, right? Um well, it was the work session last month and it was initially proposed and we did hear from our administrators. Um I I'm not intending to make a motion on this tonight. Um, but I did I was note I did note the survey results. And that definitely I I hear that there are people who are interested in this. We do have a lot going on this
055school year. Um, and I think if if this were to happen, it would need some a lot of attention and care that that I don't know that we have available this year. Um, I am going to I'm planning to go to um Mapleton school board meeting next week. Next Wednesday. It's not that far if anyone else wants to go. Um, they do have a four-day week. And I did talk with their superintendent, which I talked to about at the work session last month. Um, yeah, I hear that people are interested in this. I don't personally think that it's a great time for us to do this. And I have concerns that if we rush it, it will pretty heavily negatively affect impact um socioeconomically disadvantaged students, which is a big concern cuz I think you
056know, obviously they don't need less help. So, you know, with with one day less of child care for those families, with one day less of food for those kids. Um, I I mean, I think we would need to have a really strong program that we were really proud of available for free on Friday. Um, and I don't know that we have the energy to do that right now. I uh just going back to talking about the survey. Um, you know, a survey is a great instrument for collecting data, but as far as using it to make using it to make a decision like this without actually sitting in a room with families and talking with them about it, I think would be really short-sighted. I appreciate the fact that we had such such excellent um
057input in the surveys, too. Yes, you're Hi. Um, I wanted to talk about um I've been talking to multiple students about this. Um, there's um favor for it and favor uh for not in sticking to the regular schedules. Most of the students that I've been talking to who are in favor are seniors. Um, and most of those seniors have free periods. Those who don't mostly seem to be juniors and below. Uh, especially those who have more rigorous course work. Um, the reasonings behind it are of course those who are those that have been already talked about, such as waking up earlier and staying after school for longer. And um especially those who have lots of homework, they're going to be staying up doing that homework. Um, there's also fear about having more um work at
058home because they will be going over more uh material in one day. Um, in psychology the other day we were talking about our uh sleep and dream unit. And we were talking about um how important it is for sleep and dreaming um to be able to have full brain function and be able to retain information and learn. Um, and so that actually resonated with a lot of the students in the class cuz they thought um the regular school schedule um already doesn't allow some students to be able to get enough sleep and be able to function the next day. So, um the shorter um week and the longer school day um made some fear that they would have even less sleep and um less focus the next day and be able to not be able
059to retain as much information that they would be getting the day prior. So, yeah, thank you. Thank you. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have student representatives. Emanuel, did you have something as well? Thank you. Yeah, it's kind of like on the same point where I know, too, for some teachers their courses um kind of um are are sorry, already full with like the five-day like a schedule cuz I know um like this week we have uh four-day weekend in or like not weekend, sorry, four-day week. And they're already trying to like kind of fill up the whole week um kind of to make up for the last day of not like of us not being here. Um, and I know, too, I've also talked with students to ask if they would like
060or like if they were thinking about the four-day weekend. For the most part, it's kind of just like um they like the idea of not having like a day or like having a day off kind of every week. But when they like think more about it, they know that they have to stay longer or like wake up earlier. And um I know a lot of them don't think it's worth it. And I also I know like I think last month they talked about kind of like our attendance already isn't that high. And if uh we have to wake or like if students have to wake up earlier stay um longer, then that's just like um another reason for them to not go if they don't want to. Okay. Thank you for your input. And again,
061this is why we have student representatives. Thank you so much for doing that um it from getting that information for us. So, we are Nope. Nobody's wanting to make a motion. We already have a motion on the five-day week, so we're What? He's called the table to motion. Oh. Sorry, I didn't have my mic on, but Oh. The table that this motion and That's all we have to do is nod heads. We don't have to motion. Okay. Table >> We're at the short All right. Thank you. Okay. So, moving on to 7.4 tax anticipation note pool long-term. Okay. Uh explain that >> 040826-7.4 Uh 10 uh tax anticipation note pool long-term reduction planning uh with anticipated summer shortfall uh in the budget bridging uh this school year and next school year budgets where reimbursements will
062not cover end of year ex uh expenditures uh or fund initial summer activities. Tax and pay tax anticipation note bridge loan is required. Uh district staff have made additional uh reductions by attrition or halted other material expenditures. Uh tax anticipation note loans are used by government agencies to manage operations between expenditures and revenue distribution. As discussed this past fall, additional uh expenditure reductions would be required in the next two to three years to allow step-down staffing expenses in a thoughtful and controlled manner. In consultation with other business school business officers, it's recommended that there be a structured step-down in budgeting over three years. In year one, budget realignment process at least 50% of the anticipated deficit to be reduced. Then years two and three of the budget realignment process, the remainder of the deficit reduced
063by 25% in year two and 25% in year three. Um, at this point in time we do not have a resolution back from bond council yet. Um, so there's no uh Do we have to take action on this tonight, CC, without the note loan in place? Um, we do not. Um, we can uh they will have the resolution ready for the 22nd. And that'll be the time that will go to vote. Okay. So, this has just been an informational preview. So, this the note it's a note pool. Yeah, we're >> buying we're buying into Instead of doing it individually, we're buying in with a group of other school districts and municipal agencies uh to reduce overall startup cost and general and spread that across the group and get a better rate. Have it be a
064little more economical. Yeah. Pooling funds together between the districts. Okay. Any other comments on this one? >> [clears throat] >> Okay, so that'll be on our agenda for the next For April 22nd. We'll do that as a single agenda item at the end of the budget committee meeting on the 22nd. Okay. All right. Thank you. Moving on to [clears throat] a new one that was added was um item number 7.5 request for out-of-state travel. Okay. Uh yes, request for out-of-state travel uh item is 040826-7.5. Um keeping with local board policy double I C A and double I C A R, Siuslaw Middle School archery team is requesting permission for out-of-state travel for the National Archery in Schools Program uh for the Western National Tournament in Sandy, Utah, leaving April 22nd and returning April 26th. Uh
065students will be flying to the destination with their instructor as a chaperone. Students will be staying with family one of the tournament competitors that lives in the area. Administration uh recommends that the Board of Directors grant approval for out-of-state travel request for the Siuslaw Middle School National Archery Tournament. All right. Do I have a motion? Board chair, board vice chair, excuse me. Be it resolved that the Siuslaw School District Board of Directors approve the out-of-state field trip to Utah for the Siuslaw Middle School Archery Team April 22nd, 2026 through April 26th of 2026, resolution number 0408 26-7.5 request for out-of-state travel. Second. Okay, we have a motion on the floor by uh Director Haverly and second by Director Cole uh for resolution number 040826-7.5 request for out-of-state travel. All right. Um any discussion? All right.
066>> Congrats to them. Way to go. That's awesome. >> Yes, all all those in favor. I. Is that actually That's actually the end of our board meeting other than all the reports and things. Wow, we're just moving right along here. So. Superintendent, you are Hey, personnel report for April 8th, 2026. Certified educators. Brent Nichols transferred to science. A long-term sub absence filled from special education. Madison Reynolds transferred to special education life skills teacher from special education life skills aid. Avery Fouts, school psychologist for the next upcoming school year. Julie Stiding returned to counselor from mental health counselor district expiration of the current grant program. Heather Opitz transferred transferred to math intervention special to middle school from third grade teacher on elementary staff. Uh Classified paraprofession paraprofessionals staff. Mike Bidwell transferred full-time custodian special at elementary
067school. Tammy Taylor, special education life skills aid special middle school. And then retirements, resignations, and other separations of employment. Elizabeth Hensley, life skills aid. Dan Pone, school bus driver. Nick Johnson, assistant football coach. Chris Rut, head wrestling coach special middle school. Lisa Patterson, special education resource teacher. Jerry Fleming, second grade teacher retirement. Chris Robotham, director of technology. Special school district end of year. He's He's moving up. He's moving up in the world. Wow, congratulations. Uh [sighs and gasps] you will be missed. Okay. Um next is business manager. I don't have anything further to add for today. No, thank you. Okay, once again for administrators, thank you for your reports. They're awesome. Does anyone have any additional inform Any administrator have any additional new wonderful information to share with us at this point? >> [laughter] >>
068Um >> [clears throat] >> I wanted to share my congratulations to the archery team. Um I know quite a few students who have been interested in that, so I bet they are so excited to do that. Along with I heard that the e-sports team at the high school is going to state tomorrow, so that'll be awesome for them as well. Wow. Okay, wow. All kinds of good things happening. Um So we don't have anything else Any administrator do you have anything else to add for student representatives any other information from you? We would love to hear. Uh not tonight. All right, thank you. Okay, so we are up to board chair communications. Um future meeting dates and general information. On April 22nd, budget meeting will be starting at 6:00 at the middle school commons here.
069May 1st, 2026 is the end of the year staff retirement. Again, here. Uh 2:45 to 3:45. It'll be a happy day and kind of a sad day for some of us who miss a lot of people. So May 6th is budget meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. again here at the middle school commons. Um where our principal here always gets to get have his chair, which makes him very happy. So this is good. Uh May meeting date is May 13th, 2026. June meeting date is June 10th. No meeting for July because we haven't had any new elections this year. And March 15th to April 15th is the window for Oregon government ethics reporting. Board is responsible to log in and file individually. Reminder. Um And student representatives to the board policy BCBA applications are available online
070or at the high school office. Appointment for the board is for a one-year term July 1st to July 20th to June 30th. Applications to be submitted to the district office by May 1st, 2026. And then for proposed summer uh 2026-27 board meeting dates. July none. Um OSBA summer school is July 16th only one day at Lane Community College in Eugene. And November 18th is our regular one in Portland OSBA convention 11-12 through 11-14. I believe that's all I have. Boy, we are just moving right along. So now we are at board member communication. Any of you have anything that you would like to share? Sure. Um I want to talk about public comment. I'm going to read part of our public comment directions. A person speaking during the designated portion of the agenda for public
071comment may offer objective criticism of district operations and programs. The board will not hear comments regarding any individual district staff member. The board chair will direct the visitor to the published complaint procedures for consideration of a legitimate complaint involving a staff member. Any association contract governing the employees' rights will be followed. Accommodation involving a staff member should be sent to the superintendent who will forward it to the employee, a supervisor, and the board. Um I apologize. I should have called a point of order. We will not be hearing complaints about specific staff members. Thank you. Yes, and I should have as well. Anything else? Is this going down as the shortest board meeting in history? Yeah, you should do it more often, Maureen. Have you seen that Brian talks too much? It just It It
072is all his fault. It's not that we had a short agenda. It's all Brian's fault that we have long ones. Okay, on that official note, we are now adjourning the meeting at whatever What is the time is it? 7:04. What? 7:04. Okay, meeting meeting is now adjourned.