WVSD #208 School Board Meetings 07-22-2025

001order. We'll begin with the pledge of allegiance. Ready? Begin. 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. >> Okay. Um, you know, I'm not sure of this particular part of the process, but we do have a couple of members that or at least one member that won't be here tonight. Should we excuse them during the study session at both traditionally? Can we do that for both meetings at one time? >> No, I would do >> two separate ones. >> All right. Um, would someone like to make a motion to excuse Mr. Keart? >> I'll make a motion to excuse James. >> Thank you. We have a motion to excuse Mr. Keart. Uh,

002we'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. I >> oppose same sign. Motion carries 40. All right. Now we will go on to changes to the agenda. >> No changes. All right. Communications. >> No communications. >> All right. And now we go to discussion items. The data summit. >> Very good. Well, we do data data data summits uh and three times a year in West Valley. So this is our data summit that will look at primarily the I ready scores that we have in grades K through 8 in reading and math looking from fall to spring and looking at the growth that our students have had from fall to spring. The smarter balance assessment is also administered in the spring but we don't receive the results back in time to

003have it at this data summit. So, we'll have that in the fall and we'll take a look at our Smarter Balance scores, which are um grades 3 through 8 and high school. So, at this time, uh we have Stacy Drake here, assistant superintendent, and she's going to take us through the first part of the data and looking at the I Ready scores. And then we have additional data in there from our primarily looking at post-secondary data. Uh we have the EDRC, the Educational Data Research Center, and we'll take a look at how our students are doing after they graduate. We also have graduation rate and we have college in the high school. And we have some amazing data uh from our JOTC program. >> We have 17 students that are receiving scholarships out of JOTC

004this these recent graduates. So that's hot off the press. Appreciate Jed Waters uh helping to get that data for this data summit. So, that's going to be exciting to look at as well. All right, I'll turn it over to Stacy. >> Good evening, board. Thank you so much for allowing me to share the summer data summit with you. Um, the first section is the walk kids, which is the state kindergarten assessment. We've already looked at that. Um, so if there's no questions, this would be from last fall, how our kindergarteners came into school. they're assessed in um actually the deadline this last fall was November 15th. So it we use it to measure our early learning efforts and to identify um what areas um we need to do more professional development for um for our

005community childcare providers. a few questions about kids which you've already seen and straight to >> one of the things I would highlight there is that um in the past math has been the lowest area and we have had professional development in that area and now for last fall the lowest area was social emotional and that social emotional piece we've been hearing from our early learning partners that >> yes >> it's a challenge yeah so challenge in the early learning uh classrooms and challenge as they come into kindergarten >> yes um a lot of it is related according who are our early learning partners um is related to speech and language. They have a lot of students that either have um not adequate vocabulary or language um production um or poor articulation and um in the

006field that's attributed to COVID. These are the babies that were um you know their faces were covered by masks and so were the caregivers, those that were in child care full-time. And so without being able to see the mamas or the caregivers mouths move then um more than ever there's um a need for speech and we're seeing that now in our preschool too, our special ed preschool. It's a lot of kids qualifying for speech and language. The good thing is early intervention works and we're able to um get those students the speech and language um strategies and activities that they need to develop those sounds and so that they can be successful in school. So we will continue with our um early learning providers working on social emotional and language in this coming year. >>

007I have a question. Can I ask early on point of information for me because I'm not real clear on I should know this but I hate to admit that I don't. So if I go to that first slide, it says West Valley School District, Yakama, all students. And you can see as you go across and you get to 2025, that number is a little bit lower than the other years. But that percentage represents a percentage of what? I mean, >> it's the percentage of incoming kindergarteners that scored as kindergarten ready in all six domains. >> Oh, all six. So, there's a slide um that that third one that says West Valley School District with the navy blue bars on it. >> Um that shows the six domains. >> Um again, the West Valley community is

008highest in physical gross motor skills, fine motor skills. We, you know, were again scoring very high in that area. And this is what Peter was talking about. It used to be math that was lowest for us. We worked with our providers on um early math skills and activities, making math fun for birth to five children. Um and then last spring and again this year, we'll focus on social emotional. >> And thank you for mentioning language. I see that that also is one of the lower scores. It's tied. >> They go hand in hand. If you can't communicate your needs as a birth to five child, you have a hard time >> maintaining your social emotional status that deemed kindergarten ready. As you can imagine, it's really about communication. >> And the social emotional that's part

009of like self-regulation. That's part of it. Yeah. >> Again, you can't say what your needs are. If your sock is wrinkled or your pants are too tight, you can't ask for help. Sometimes you end up biting or having a tantrum and nobody knows why. >> So, we're working really heavy on language. >> Okay. The next section um shows just our kindergarten reading scores, the spring scores. So, these are just from last spring. Um >> that's page 11. Sorry to interrupt, but page 11. Yes. >> Okay. >> We have I have a hard time seeing the page number, so maybe it's very page 10 to page 11. Yes. So, this shows um for each school and the percentage of students in the when the window closed in like the first week of June um that we

010just had the percentage of students that were on grade level. So, that's the green. Um they're deemed as on grade level for where they should be at the end of kindergarten. and yellow is just slightly behind. They call it, you know, one year behind, but it might not even be a full year. So, um, this year we are very proud of our scores. In the past, we've had, um, schools that have had all, um, several schools that have had 100% in the green, and we do have some classrooms that were 100% in the green. Um but considering the um implications of the social emotional status and the language um the fact that we're at basically at 90% which is our strategic plan goal um for kindergarten or for all grades to have 90% of our

011students on grade level at the end of the year. That's pretty easy that this next slide um just shows the definitions for the following slide which is um this is a reading. We're now talking about I ready reading remember K8. So this is a district level in reading um what each one of those columns stand for. So the first column on the left is um the national norm. So, I Ready does a norming across the country with all students that are using um I Ready. For a long time, we had to stick with the pre-COVID norms, but we finally got a new norm. Um so, you can see 38% is the national norm in the green. And then, if you look at the far right, the West Valley School District, we have 42% in the

012dark green. Um early on grade level is the lighter green. So the national norm is 20. We're at 21%. One grade level below is 24%. Um for the national norm and the West Valley school district is at 21%. And then the national norm for just two grade levels below is 9%, we're at seven and then three or more grade levels below is that dark red and we're at 8%. And then the national year to date is all the students, the average of all the students across the country that took the I Ready test. Um and then the students in Washington and then the far right is the West Valley School District and that's for reading and the next page. >> So Stacy on the percentages like where do you want to be? Not not compared

013to other district drugs or state, but do we have a what we want our norm to be? >> Well, we always want to be >> well, I know >> the norms um and the state and the national average. I mostly have projections of growth. So, when we get to the growth page, I'll talk about where okay >> where I want where I think we should be. >> Thank you. >> But the overall goal is 90% right for meeting standard. grade level. So we're, you know, K8 we're at 63% in the green because when we do the pyramid they combine the two greens. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So then this next page is still reading K8 and this is where our students entered last fall and where they exited. So

014you can see we went from 19 on right on grade level to 43% on grade level so forth. [Music] And then this next page which is page >> um shows spring to spring for three years. So you can see that we are rather consistent in where we've been um the past few years. It's quite remarkable. Um, we were actually pleased that we were um, very consistent to what we were a year ago because if you remember, this was our first year of implementation for our K5 reading adoption. And, um, the literature says that when you your first year of implementation, expect to see your scores dip. And we did in a couple grade levels, which you'll see in a minute. Um, but, you know, overall, we were right where we were the year before. And

015then the following um page is fall to spring per grade level. And the following page is 678. Page 18. And then on page 19 is spring to spring again per grade level. What I think is interesting about this is really the the gains that were made from the, you know, there was a little bit of a slump last year in kinder. Um, we brought it back up um back up to 62%. Um, and then it looks like first grade we've had a tiny bit of a slide. And what we're finding is this new curriculum. We use a um section that was optional called structured literacy in our K12 classrooms which follows the research around the science of reading. So it's very heavy phonics based. If you've um read any of the recent news reports, there's

016states that are adopting science of reading as a mandate for the entire state. Our state hasn't done that. Um back 30 years ago there was a battle between whole language and phonic space. But the re research the literature really does show that um kids early on need to learn letter names and sounds and how letters work together and how to learn to read in a very scientific way. We can't just do whole word reading and leave it to chance and think our brains are just going to figure it out. our brains were um you know created when you're born your your brain is created to communicate but not necessarily to read that um conditioning in the brain has to happen through language play and what we're finding in schools in the last 15 20 years

017with the invention of cell phones and screens and I used to say VCRs but I'll say that um kids don't have language play mamas are not singing nursery rhymes on the way the the market, their hand in their cell phone in the back seat and that is not building that part of the brain to be ready to read. Um so we're having to do that in kindergarten and first grade. Um we believe that the dip in first grade, you know, it's just a slight dip from 55 to 51 is that this is a new curriculum and those students came in and the curriculum expected those kids to have that language play which is heavy in kinder. Um, so we're hopeful that we'll see it come up for first grade next year. And then the next

018page is 678. Relatively steady little increase in eighth grade. And remember that you just adopted a new ELA curriculum for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade um, which is part of the same um, vendor. It's called into literature and it's very structured and built on the research. So, we're very excited about that to have that guaranteed viable curriculum across all of our classrooms in middle level campus. Right now, there's a lot of variability um about what's being taught. And so, we're looking forward to that. And the next page is math. So again, we're looking at the national norm, the national year to date, which is all the kids across the country that took the I Ready assessment, and then in Washington State and the West Valley School District. >> So Stacy, like you did before, can

019can you share that for the recording? So maybe people watching online, >> can you share the numbers again like you did with reading? >> Sure. So the national norm um 32% which is mid-grade level or above and the West Valley School District was 38% mid or above grade level. The national norm um for early on grade level which is a light green is 21% and the West Valley School District is at 23%. One grade level below the national norm is 32% and we are at 26%. two grade levels below is 8% and we were at 6% and three or more grade levels below the national one was 8% and the West Valley school district is at 7%. >> Thank you. >> So then fall to spring district K8 in mathematics you can see the gains

020that were made about how the kids came in on grade level and how they exited in June. And then the next page, which is page 23, um is again those three years of spring to spring. And we're quite consistent again on where we are. Um we have a lot of teachers anxious for a new math curriculum. We are as well, but um we'll see how things play out with the budget. Um, if that's something we're going to review next, it would be the following school year, not this fall or if we're going to put it off a year. >> When you said that they're anxious, is that anxiously excited or anxious? Okay. >> Yes. There's a lot of folks um mostly K5 that are not happy with the current curriculum for mathematics and only use

021parts of it. And um you know we if we end up putting it off a year, we may consider bringing another trainer in and getting an update. So um it's just something we have to consider. Our biggest um expenses in curriculum are ELA and math. And we just did two years of ELA and we may need to take a break before we bring math in. We are piloting um remember we talked about this a couple months ago. for piloting the high school algebra curriculum. We actually have a classroom at the mid level that's piloting as well because it's been over 20 years since they've had a new curriculum and there's something that's hot off the press and it's really fabulous. Um so hopefully we'll be able to do that in the spring just so that

022they don't have to wait. And then the next page which is page 24 um is the changes fall to spring K5 and then the following page is 678. Then here's for mathematics. Then the following page is those three years of K5. Again pretty consistent. We had some jumps in third grade um that are encouraging. and then 678 on the following page. And now I'm on page 28. And this page just explains to you um this talks about the difference between um their typical growth goal and their stretch growth goal. So in I Ready, which you'll see in a in a couple in a section later. Um, in I Ready, when the students come in in the fall and they take their diagnostic assessment, it's considered a baseline. And depending on what that number is, I

023Ready um assigns them a growth goal based on a number of points. So, if a student came in at 274, they may say, you know, you need to make 12 points by the end of the year. And that is the annual typical growth goal, meaning across the nation, that's about the average a student would grow in one year's time. So it's one year's growth in one year's time. And we of course would want all of our students to make one year's growth in one year's time. Um the next section below that is stretch growth. And that um would obviously be more than one year's growth. If students come in behind grade level, if they're in the yellow or the red, they're assigned a higher point value, even for their typical growth. Um, but for their

024stretch growth, that goal is higher. It's we don't expect them necessarily to get caught up in one year, um, but to make more than one year's growth. So eventually we can close that gap. So this graph just shows you um the percentage of students across the district at each grade level who met their typical growth and their stretch growth and we'll see that a little later. There any questions? Keep going. Okay. So this next section is where we that we're still talking about reading. We're looking at the percentage of students who are on grade level by school. So remember that the red um is more than two years behind, two or more years behind. The yellow, this is where we we've now decreased from the fivepoint scale to a three-point scale. So the red is

025two or more years behind. The yellow is one year behind. And the green is on grade level. And it's by school. We are on page I don't have that page. >> Here we are. >> So that's by school the percentage of students that were in each category. Okay. Eight. And then the following page is math and then heavy. Then the next page is reading by grade level. So you can see the percentage. This is that same page you saw at the beginning when we talked about the walk kids. 90% of our kindergarten students are on grade level which was our strategic plan goal. And you can see so forth. >> So that that's page 34 is reading. You can see the 90% for kindergarten. >> Yes. >> And then the following pages math. Yep. That's

026the right page. 84% in kindergarten. Mhm. [Music] >> And then we're on growth. >> So this is where we're looking at that annual typical growth goal. So if you look up at the top, that big blue bar that says 131%, that's the median across the district of the the progress towards the growth goal. And then if you look down at the bottom underneath each school that horizontal blue bar is the median number. So if we took all the students wrote in a tanum and we went to the middle number that student had was 131% of the way towards their growth goal. So they had met their growth goal their typical growth goal and gone beyond. And that's of course what we want to see. We want to see more than one year's growth in one

027year's time. that that next column is the where it says percent met. That's the percentage of students who met their annual typical growth goal. So that's really what we talk about um I talk about with principles and they talk about with their teachers is we really want to be somewhere between 80 and 90 which is a um a lofty goal but that's where we expect to be of our students meeting their annual typical growth goal in both reading and math. And then the next column which happens to be light blue is that stretch goal. The same thing that median number and the percentage of students their progress towards their stretch goal. And then the percent met that met that stretch goal. And then the next column is students with improved placement which we also would

028like to see that high. We want students to move from one level to the next. And then the following page has the rest of them. And then it's the same thing for math. We're looking at annual typical growth. We look at this with teachers. Principles meet with teachers and talk about what their the percentage of students that met their growth goal that they those students made one year's growth in one year's time. We went through a period a couple years ago where we had a lot of our students who entered in the green just stay right where they were or maybe even dip down a little bit. We've worked hard on that to make sure we're doing small groups because even students who enter at grade level deserve to make one year's growth in one

029year's time. So we expect to see a student who's in fourth grade who comes in reading at the sixth grade level, we'd like to see them exit at the seventh grade level. We've worked hard on that. We've seen a lot of improvement in that area. Okay, so that's math growth goals and then this is by grade level. We're back to reading. So looking at that percent met and then um for both the annual typical growth goal and the stretch goal. And then the next that one that the next page is math. I'm on page 45. So that is by grade level the percentage of students who have met that goal and their stretch goal. Okay. Is there any question about I ready diagnostic [Music] for the 2425 school year? Okay. Next section is the Washington

030state improvement framework. Oh, sorry I'm ahead of myself. The next section is by teacher. So you'll see those purple and blue grids. So this is um we can talk about that upside down. So that page that has the purple and blue that's for reading and for math um for I Ready and it shows the percentage of students on grade level for each teacher in fall, winter and spring. And so you don't get to see the names of the teachers. We don't publicly put that out there, but principles do and we talk about it and who needs support who might need instruction instructional coaching. Um, so that is a helpful tool for us. So it's by school at the top. Yep. So you can just click group Mountain View. some view campus center. Okay, any questions

031on that? Okay, the next section is the Washington State improvement framework. I think it's 2018 to 2022, but we're what we're looking at is the scores. So, this um the WSIF is what the state uses to score each school. It's a 10point scale based on several factors. If you remember back when the state assessment first became mandatory, it was called annual learning progress AYP and each school had to make make AYP and um it was based purely at that time on the percentage of students that earned a three or a four on the state assessment. So for elementary school students, we were only talking about third and fourth grade in West Valley. Um now it's a combination of factors including um attendance and Student growth percentiles are based on the state assessment, the reading and

032math or ELA and math assessment. So for every third grader that earned a 292 on a state assessment, then the following year they take their scores in fourth grade and they measure the percentile that they're at for improvement. So a couple years ago, if you remember, we talked about Atana, we celebrated their fourth grade team because they were at like 85 85th percentile for improvement from third grade to fourth grade. So that is part of this makeup. If you're looking at the far left column for a tanm um where it shows they're at a 7.8. It's a decile. It's a 10point scale. Of course you want to be dark blue. You want to be as the darker blue is the closer to 10. Um and it's broken out by subcategory. So again it's based on

033percentage meeting standard student growth percentiles attendance the progress of students on the um the WEDA. So again it's not how many students exit out of um English English language support how many of our multilingual students it's based on the progress they're making. So they look at the arc of how students with the five years it takes to exit out of um needing English language support and to become proficient in English and they want to make sure that the students in first grade or kinder are mirroring that arc. It looks like they're going to make progress. Um so that's factored into that 10point scale. And then for um high school, it's ninth grade on track and dual credit as well. And then your graduation rate. All those things factor into that bar. So it's a much

034better formula to measure schools and to look at how we're doing. Those lines across the bottom. You don't want to dip down below those lines depending on whether you're a title one school or schoolwide school or just all schools. If you dip below that line, then you will be eligible for school improvement. So, schools want to stay above the line in all of those subcategories. So, you can see in Tam Valley um one of our schools with the lowest poverty rate is doing quite fabulously um with their blue WSIF. And then on the following page, you can see a TANM um with the three-year the 2022 cycle, the 2023 cycle. It's a three-year average. And then they give us our 2024 data. So, we're really comparing the 2024 to the 2023 cycle, that three-year average,

035and the 22 2022 cycle, which is the three years prior. >> So, I I did catch that. Um, I apologize for the typo, but the cover page on this is this cycle here, the 2022 to 2024. Yeah. So, thank you for that. >> So, we're happy with the TAN. You can see um something that we look at is that far right students with disabilities. We've worked hard in the West Valley School District to um implement inclusionary practices, making sure students are recognized as GenEd students first um and included in um as many as much GenEd time as is appropriate, determined by the IEP team. We've done a lot of push in um in classrooms, meaning that students get to stay with their peers and push the experts in instead of pulling them out. and um

036at a tanum those those efforts are certainly paying off for students with disabilities. Okay. And then Apple Valley is the next page. We're doing fabulous. Lots of blue on that page. You can see at Apple Valley um there's a little variance in students with disabilities. We're working on that. Um, we did discover, you'll see some of the schools have lower students with disabilities, and we discovered this school year that we had, um, the students with disabilities, depending on their category, uh, may qualify for an alternative assessment to the state assessment to the ESV. Um, and we discovered this year that that hadn't we hadn't taken advantage of that in a couple years. So that could be a factor in our some of our lower areas of students with disabilities and then cottonwood. [Music] Yep. And

037then the next school is Mountain View. And you can see on the following page, the three years of students with disabilities at Mountain View, the 2024 data is um does not it's 2024 data, but it's not this year's state assessment. It's the it's not the 2025 state assessment. It's the 2024 state assessment. So even though it was released in 2024, um it it's the fall the year's previous year's state assessment data. So, um, Mountain View also has done a lot to include students with disabilities in the gened classroom. Um, this was just their first year with, um, a self-contained, um, special ed classroom and, um, they worked hard to ensure that students were, um, put in classrooms where they could function and meet their IEP goals with minimal support. The next page is Summit View.

038We looked at this data in February or March at Summit View and added um another um parapro to support transitional bilingual um instruction. Because of this data, our ELLL students are dipping below that line. And so we reexamined the budget and aligned um our resources to that school to make sure we could have smaller groups for that pushin model. But the students with disabilities looks really good at at some of you. You can see that improvement on the following page compared to the 2023 cycle. Wide Hollow, same thing. We looked at this data and we said we need to put another more support at White Hollow also works hard in their inclusionary practices and it's paying off. You can see the bump above the line for the 2024 data. In fact, um Peter and I

039were both invited to a staff meeting where we shared this data because wide hollow went up in every um category. on that page um by student group and that um was really remarkable. Mid-level campus, the mid-level campus has been in school improvement for two years. Um the first year was for American Indian Alaskan Native students, but this last year they fell into school improvement for students with disabilities. So, we had um a little bit of funding from the state to implement some different strategies. Um, so we're hopeful and that's really a lot of that was our PBIS and our um student advocate from the community community and schools agency that could have a case load of students with disabilities and make sure that their basic needs were met, that their families had resources, that they

040attending school, if they needed um behavior support that they got what they needed at the same time as implementing um a really strong PBIS system across the board to raise attendance for all students. You can see the three-year cycle for mid-level campus and then the innovation center. Again, we looked at the innovation center data. They don't have the benefit of a couple cycles because they're a fairly new school. Um, this year, Mr. waters in the spring, looked at the data and redid the whole schedule. We added professional development um to be able to support those designers that are integrating ELA, math, science, social studies um into the CTE frameworks and those pathways. So, we're looking forward to those scores coming up as well. We also suffered a little bit at the innovation center with the

041zeros. Um students are allowed to opt out of the state assessment, the SBA, the WCAST, the state science assessment. Um if their parents choose for them to um but it counts for the zero at the school level. So we don't encourage it. We really do try to get students to take this the test. um we have a large number of students at the innovation center opt out. Sometimes it's a trend that catches on like wildfire, but it does have implications for the school and for for our um school improvement status. >> And then >> why why do we let them opt out? Is that a state thing or what? >> Yes, >> it's a state to let them opt out. >> Yes, that's correct. Yes, they they could have any reason. Um >> we do

042keep track. We have a form that parents sign. It's not required by the state. >> Yeah. >> Um we have a minimum attendance rate that we need to meet, which we usually do. Um, but when you have a family that's needs to opt their student out because they have test anxiety or >> they don't believe in the assessment or, you know, we try to I try to convince parents who call me and let them know that it truly is a measure of the school. >> Um, it was never designed to be a measure of the student. It sort of turned into that unfortunately. Um, luckily we have other ways to place students um in AP classes and those sort of things. Um but we we do encourage all of our our families to take the

043assessment. So the last school is the high school. Um we're working on um MLL strategies there this coming school year. We have the same professional development plan um and working stronger with um new teachers um working with our special education students and again making sure that those who are eligible for the portfolio assessment that alternative assessment the fact many times what's happened over the past few years if it's a student didn't sign up in time if the IEP team did not decide in time that they were eligible for that alternative assessment um which is called the W aim which is like a portfolio assessment. Um then they just got a zero on the Sback because they weren't able to perform on a screen. So they just got the zero with that. You know, now that

044we've caught that and we're training more people to give the data and we put it as a standing um question in the fall in our um IEP meetings to make sure students have that option. Um then we're hopeful that data will improve. All right. Well, thank you, Stacy. And we'll move on to the second half here. We got about 15 minutes left. So, we'll look at student enrollment here. So, that's uh Oops, I had it all queued up and now I Here we go. Student enrollment, West Valley. That is page 76. So, page 76, you can see uh just like we heard uh at our last school meeting, the enrollment has been stable in West Valley. not seen the growth that you might expect with seeing the um developments that we have in the district

045because birth rate is going down, but the birth rate going down has been balanced by uh incoming students. So, we're pretty flat on enrollment. Our demographics have changed over time where we have uh a greater percentage of Hispanic students and you can see that towards the bottom of that page on page 76. Uh next, we always look at uh our student demographics and compared to our teacher demographics. I also included the state information on that as well. So we are uh disproportionately uh have our teachers are female and white and so we do not reflect the um diversity of our students with our staff. Next is the student attendance data over time and that is on page 81. You can see that with COVID there was uh quite a dip in daily attendance. basically the

046um or it's uh chronically absent students is what that is. It's greater than it's greater than 10%. So it's greater than 18 days of absence uh 180day calendar. Uh so the the um most challenging year was the 2122 school year with only 65.7% of students having um regular attendance. And then we've gone up since then. So in the 232 24 school year 73.3% of students had regular attendance but that's um still a ways from where we were pre-COVID and we you know continue to um emphasize the importance of coming to school and having daily attendance so that students can access the learning. Student discipline data is the next uh set of data and that's on page 83. Uh this is the percent of students uh having suspensions. So we did go down slightly 23 24.

047So that's good to see. And uh we always want to look at disproportionate data. And so our largest uh ethnic group is Hispanic and compare that to white. So there was a nice dip there as well in suspensions, but there still is a little bit of a difference. Uh it was a 5.4% rate of suspension for Hispanic students and 4.7% for white students. Uh ideally you would have u similar uh statistics there. Next uh is the least restrictive environment uh data. We usually had this uh to share at our spring data summit but this year OSPI had not released that. So this is new data for the board. Um so this is on page [Music] 85. Thank you. So page 85. Um so this is the percent of students who are served uh with the

048IEP were served 80 to% to 100% of their school day in the general education setting. And we have gone from our baseline of 56% up to 76% in November 23 and then a slight dip to 24% in November of 2024. Um we still have room that we can uh grow on here. So, we've kind of hit a plateau here at the 74 76 74, but we're still going to be working um to increase the percentage of students that are served in the general education setting. Uh the flip side is that is the next slide or the next page and that would be the percent of students who are served in 0 to 39% of their school day in general education setting. So, we'd like to see that go down and we're really kind of at

049that plateau of 12%. So, we'd like to see a decrease in students uh in a self-contained setting and increase into more general education settings. So, we'll continue to work on that with our inclusionary practices. Next is ninth grade on track for graduation and I uh shared uh previously the board asked uh to include information about uh West Valley compared to the state average and so we have that information here. Uh the most recent data we have is the 232 24 school year and so that was 68% of students passing all their classes at the high school. We did have um this as a formative uh progress check that we had this year. I did check the um the school improvement plan and uh the most recent data hasn't been up updated. We had a presentation

050by the administration in the spring and they were waiting for graduation or waiting for the end of the school year to update the data. So, we'll uh we'll continue to work on getting that progress check data because this there's quite a lag here in the data that we received from the state. But it was the most recent we have is the 2324 school year which was 68% for West Valley. At the state it was 70.1 uh 70.6 yeah 71%. So um this has been a focus during the past year and hopefully we would see an increase in when we get the 2425 data. Next is the graduation rate. So that is uh page 91 and you can see uh we are at 89.2% for the class of 2024. So that's moving from the baseline we

051have there was a 81.7% or you know 82% to 89%. So that's a nice increase over time. And next is the state. So the state is at 82.8. So we're above the state average with our graduation rate. Dual credit. Uh we've shared this before but uh 12th graders from the class of 2024. We had 93% of our 12th graders graduate with college credit compared to the state is 77.8%. So much higher than the state and really having a great opportunities for our students when it comes to college and the high school. Next is this uh data that I had shared and had given a shout out to Jed Waters before he came into the meeting. So Jed's here now, but really appreciate Jed rounding up this data for the class of 2025. You can see

052there's a total of 17 students that are being assisted through JROTC program. There's graduates of the class 2025. So, two from the army and and Jed did a nice job of sharing this information. It's in the board. Uh and it's public public record for the public to look at. Two students there. Um two graduates going into the Army with tuition assist. There 100% tuition assistance. And then Army National Guard. One, two, three, four, five, six. Six students in the Army National Guard. Uh, the Navy. One, two, three, four, five students going to the Navy with 100% tuition assistance. Uh, three students going into the Air Force with 100% tuition assistance and one student going into the Space Force with 100 100% tuition assistance. So, um, also Jed Head can share these important notes for us

053that, uh, students that go through our J our OTC program, they're able to have a starting salary when they go into the military, much higher than, uh, someone who's not in the JOTC program. So, there just so many great opportunities for our kids that are um, happening here with West Valley High School in the JOTC program. appreciate Jed your leadership and of course uh Colonel James and Sergeant Master Binham for their leadership of the program. Next we have the registered apprentichip and internships. So this past year we had two students complete uh registered apprentichip. Those are paid apprentichip for on the job training. So the students have hourly wage high school credit and they are articulated for college credit as well. So student uh completed a apprentice ship at Pesco Aerospace. Another student at Vandor

054Sales and then we had students that are continuing that have graduated. They're being placed into apprenticeships. We have two of those students. And then we had students working for unpaid internships at our community partners. We appreciate Ray Stein Ace Hardware and Summit Thrift. They placed eight students in the first semester and there were four students in the second semester because four of the students from the first semester had aged out. So great opportunities for our kids there. Next is the FAFSA information. So the application for the free application for federal student aid. Uh this is a little concerning. We've our baseline data was 64% of students seniors completing the FAFSA and then we had a plateau of 54% and then the most recent data for we have for the class of 2025 is uh 44%

055of students completing the FAFSA. That will go up over time as students apply. Um often times it's students going to the community college and they realize that they can get some financial aid if they get the FAFSA done. So this number will go up slightly, but I I I don't predict that it's going to hit the 54% that we've seen over the past couple years. So it is a concern. Um so you know, we'll have to dig into why this is. I think there is kind of a general sense that you don't need to go to college to make a little wage if you can go um to some of these apprentichip programs that we have. So those are good alternatives for our kids. But um you'll see later the data is clear that um

056a college uh a four-year college degree does result in higher wages. And so we want to give our kids those opportunities. Next is uh all the post-graduate information. So we have about 5 minutes to get through this. This is the data from the educational research and data center. There's not many school districts looking at this data. um you know our good friend Chris Nesmith who's superintendent Elma was integral in getting us looking at this data and we've continued after he left us and so it's probably West Valley and Elma are two that are using this data a lot but um you know it's important for us to look at uh success for our kids are not just graduating it's for what are they going to do after they graduate we want them to go on

057to post-secary education or apprenticeship program we want them to have uh high skills and high wages is we want our students to uh you know be successful after they graduate. So we'll take a look here. Um and we've seen some nice increases over time that they have quite a time span. It's from 2005 to class of 2023. you can see on the on the handout here, but uh the most recent data we have is that um 32% of students from who graduate from West Valley uh go on to a four-year college, 24% go on to a two-year college, and 44% were not enrolled. And I did include the state data as a comparison. And so we're right around the state average. State average was 33% going on to higher a four-year college, 22% going to

058a two-year college, and 45% not enrolled. So right there with the state average. Um, next is 108, page 108. So this is looking at the same data just over time, a little easier to read. Uh, so again, 32% to a four-year college, 24% to a two-year college. And then next is what percent of graduates enrolled in college during the first year after graduation. So that's statewide. So that's the same data. Next is looking by program. So the FRPL again that's free and reduced price lunch. So students uh of poverty versus non you know students not of poverty, special education versus nonsp specialcial education. So interesting you know we do have gaps but you can look at our baseline. So we went from like students in free and reduced lunch going it was like z it

059was 0.5% going to four-year college. Now it's 22%. So even though the 22% is not the same as the comparison group, it's still quite an increase we've seen over time. And then even with special education, it was zero to 5. It was basically, you know, 0 something% and up to 7% now. So we obviously want to see increases in um student achievement, but we have seen increases over time. We're still seeing gaps and we'd like to close those gaps, but we're seeing some some nice increases over time. If you look at female versus males, the next page, that is page 111. So, there is a slight gap, 34% to 30%. Um so not not as big as maybe we've heard kind of anecdotally about a gap between uh young men young women going to college.

060Next page is oh looking at ethnicity. So Hispanic versus white we do have a gap there as well but Hispanic going from 16% to 23%. That's a nice increase in the four-year college rate. um but still a gap between Hispanic students and white students and like to do our best to close that gap. Next is uh students who are have less than a 3.0 average to students with greater than 3.0 average. We would predict that with greater than 3.0 is higher collegegoing rate. But again, you can see the increase from the students with less than 3.0. It used to be only 3% going to a four-year college. Now it's up to 14%. So we've seen some nice increase over time there. Next is where did our students go to college? So public versus private. You

061can see that information there. Um next is where oh which actual institution did they attend? So, you know, we have a nice partnership with Central Washington University and so it was 14% from the class of 2023 that went on to Central and highest is Yakma Valley College uh very right here locally and having very affordable education for students. Next is the preol course taking. So, used to have very high rates of remediation needed. So, I always look at the u the two-year college in math. That kind of always jumps out to me. It used to be 66% needing remediation who went to a two-year college. Now, it's down to 31%. So, we've really done some great work over time to provide students um the skills to place into college level math or to have a

062college level class that they're taking here on this campus. So, Jamie Zeller teaches a full load of college and high school, financial algebra 2, and that counts as a college class. So, every student taking that, they're not going to have to take remediation when they go to uh to a two-year four-year college. So, lots of uh improvements on that remediation work. We have the persistence and retention is there and we've got um the highest degree highest degree after eight years. So, that's from 2016. So, there's quite a l lag on this data, but um we're pretty much close out of time. which I just kind of want to get to. I believe it is the last slide. Yeah, this is the this is the earnings last slide. Uh it's page 124. I mean, this is

063really important here that uh students who have a bachelor's degree that graduate from West Valley. So, students with bachelor's degree have a higher rate of earning than students with the associate degree and higher than students with the high school diploma. So, there is value in getting that four-year degree. And we would continue to have that as a goal for our students while also getting other pathways through the uh apprentichip programs that are going to provide students high skills, high wages. Um, we don't have enough students in the N to have that data for the apprenticeship, but for the state data, students who complete apprentichip also have very high paying uh right up there with the bachelor's degree. All right. So, we made it to the final slide. We got a couple minutes for a break.

064>> Sound good? Strong. Um, I need to run out and get my glasses, unfortunately. So, why don't we start if it's okay with everyone 7:05 that gives us enough time to stretch to get everything together and >> we'll adjourn this meeting. Thank you everybody for being here for the study session. It's a lot of material to go through for go through. So, we really appreciate you being here to partake and and listen to it. Okay, with that, we'll adjourn the study session. It is 6:57 p.m. again, Tuesday, July 22nd. We will start the regular board meeting at 7:05. Thank you. All right. It is 7:05 p.m. Today again is Tuesday, July 22nd. We'll go ahead and call the regular school board meeting to order and we'll begin with the pledge of allegiance. >> Ready? Begin.

065I 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. >> Okay. And before we get started, I'll just go ahead and make a motion that we excuse Mr. Keart officially from tonight's meeting. >> So moved. >> All right. Thank you. We have a motion and uh to approve. Um, we'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries 40. Moving on, we'll go to any changes in the agenda. Dr. Finch. >> No changes. >> All right. Communications. >> Uh, response to public comment is a placeholder. And we do have recognition of staff who are retiring. And we do have, I believe, two that are

066here this evening. So, we'd like to recognize them at this time. Uh, so just making sure is Kristen Chadwick. He's not here, I don't believe. Okay. So, we're going to recognize Leanne Rice, who's worked as our substitute coordinator, eight years of service to the West Valley School District. So, Leon, come on up. [Applause] >> Handshakes all around. >> Congratulations and thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. We appreciate you being here this evening, Leanne, and appreciate your work throughout the years. And then next we have um make sure we get all the the number of years right here. So Kevin Petri, custodian at Cottonwood. So nine years of service to West Valley. And I pulled out his uh plaque here so you can see. It's very nice. So Kevin, come on up.

067>> Thank you, sir. >> Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you for all your great work. >> Thank you. >> All right. That uh all three of them. >> Yep. That's good. And then you can move on to public comments. >> All right. Now, next on the agenda is item six, public comments. The non-discussion agenda items. And again, I will read the reminder here. Members of the public who would like to provide public comments will sign in. Speakers will be called in the order that they signed that they signed in to speak. Speakers will be given three minutes for their comments. Public comment is not the proper forum to address concerns about specific staff members or member. If a person has concerns about a specific staff member,

068they should make an appointment with the superintendent to address their their concerns. So with that, we have one person that I see signed up, Miss Leven. And again, as usual, when we don't have a mic over there, or do we? >> No. Yeah. Just you can come on up here, Carol. Thank you. >> If you would start by always, >> start by introducing yourself though as always. That's certainly appreciated. >> And I have two grand children in a town valley. They're doing very well. And I really enjoyed the whole setup there at Town Valley. Uh but I guess I want to discuss some more. On on June uh 24th um I made a request um to be allowed to say the Lord's prayer during my public comment and then so then I did a little

069deeper dive in this cuz um Superintendent Finch and I we we talked about a little bit. So this is this is the case that I cited. It was a mother, her name is Taran Swan and she is from Ventura, California and she spoke at a school board meeting about an issue she had where the school had trans transed her daughter without her knowledge. So then she went to the city council meeting and voiced the same about the same issue and and And still in her a loted time she began to pray and at that time they stopped her and praying. So then um first liberty I don't know if anyone everybody is uh appointed with that organization. It's an organization that um that stands up for people's first amendment rights of of free speech and

070free religious speech. And so they got involved and uh and so they have state they stated that if you have an open if you open up a forum for public comment that that we have the constitutional right to speak our opinions and or pray to whoever that we desire to pray to. and uh as long as we are not threatening or obscene and uh and that is at any government government building. So again, I want to make a request that I could pray the Lord's prayer during my public comment time. So, let's be back to that. And then, oh, just if you want some more information, this is from um First Liberty, the info, and you can go on and you can find First Liberty. There's several different, you know, they're working on several different

071things. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, so that's all we have on the list, but I will open it up to anyone here. If you have comments or something you would just want to bring to our attention and would like to get up to the podium and speak, this is a time to raise your hand and say yes. If not, we'll move on. Anybody? All right. Um, public comment discussion for non the non-discussion agenda items closed. We'll move on. Or you could also let uh our staff that showed up for the retirement, you could you can sneak out if you like. >> Okay, that's >> You're welcome to stay. Yes. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Um moving on to item seven, approval of consent agenda. Um there are a number of

072items there. If anybody has any particular concerns about any one of them, now's the time to speak. Otherwise, I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> So move. We have a motion. All right. We'll go ahead and and vote on the consent agenda as presented. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries 4 Z. Moving on to item Item eight on the agenda, I believe. Y >> uh approval of I'm sorry, discussion items. Um two items there in particular, the um 2526 budget first public hearing. Uh Dr. Finch, anything to add to the information that was in the package? >> Yes. So, we'll have uh the presentation here from uh Sheila Wood, our director of finance. Uh we'll als we'll also have some discussion

073on the long-range facilities planning. After those discussion items, then we will have the first public hearing for the 2526 budget. Uh that's uh required by law. Uh so, we'll open up for public hearing and then we'll close the public hearing for the budget and then we'll have uh just public comment for the long range facilities planning as well. So, first we'll start with uh Sheila Woods. She prepared the budget which was in the board packet and Sheila maybe just give a few comments about that. >> Good evening. Thank you for having me. My name is Sheila Wood, director of finance. I'll be presenting the 2526 budget and 4year forecast. I hope you had a chance to review it. [Music] Um first of all I want to comment that there is a lot of unknowns in

074the next year's budget. just so that this was a very challenging budget to prepare due to the grants. We don't know um what we will get and what we will not what will be reduced. We also have um done a very conservative enrollment forecast but it is I think necessary. So the contents of this budget is broken out with the budget and excess levy summary of all funds. That will be the first slide and then we'll go to the key points. The worksheet is just designed to show you that we budget it by program. the enrollment by comparison by year. I did this new this year. I prepared it so that you could see actual the last two years. General fund budget, the MSOP disclosure which is our materials, supplies and um occupational expenses and

075then the four-year forecast which we must do by law. So this is a summary of all funds and as you can see it's broken out by the general fund, ASB fund, debt service fund, capital projects and transportation vehicle fund. It shows your total revenue last year expenditures which then gives you your net profit. Gives you your beginning balance and your expected ending balance. also gives you your um your levies for your general fund and your debt service. >> So I guess one of the highlights is that you're presenting a balanced budget tonight for the general fund. >> That is correct. Yes. >> Thank you. [Music] >> So for the key points I'm going to have to read. I try and pick out items that I think are pertinent each year to each budget. Um, and

076the first one is the student enrollment. I wanted to point out that it's 5260 in total, which is 4835 for the basic ed plus the 425 for running start, TK, and AL. Enrollment is projected to decline. We have been seeing a slight decrease each year. Open doors and the Arizona State University will be discontinued next year. They are very small amounts though. So the salary information is provided by the human resources department and the estimated salary increases range from 1.75 to 2.75. Those of you who've already in the staffing we anticipate 337 certificated staff and 225 classified staff and that's well within reason to the prior year. [Music] The beginning fund balance for the general fund is estimated to be 10.7 million which is 11.9% of the total budgeted expenditures. The total revenue projected to

077increase by approximately 376,000 and that is in comparison to budget for 2425 because they don't have the actuals done yet. The year is not over. That's a relatively small increase. Local revenue is projected to decrease by 213,000. [Music] State revenue is projected to increase by 694,000. But I do want to point out some of that is carryover and some of the grants that are submitted will be reduced. So it's a little bit confusing when you look at that. Federal revenue is projected to decrease by 85,000. And I want to uh point out that I did build in capacity to both revenue and expenditures of 2.5 million. And that is just in any unanticipated expenditures that we may have by grants or uh carryover things as as that. Total expenditures projected to increase by 349,000. Again,

078I'm comparing it to the 2425 budget. Um, special services and district support programs projected to increase quite a bit, 1.6 million, but FASA and state and federal grant expenditures projected to decrease. So, that's the net. Capital project is a balanced budget includes estimated expenditures of 10.7 million. The capital projects budget this year includes capacity for all districtwide projects. This was a little bit of a challenge because we don't know what we're going to do next year with the capital projects fund. We have the defense of debt. We also have a potential bond. Um so Joe and I discussed it and we budgeted it all all of it but 1 million and then the 400,000 of local revenue. We may not spend it and that's okay. We have it. If we don't we'll just use those

079funds in the next year. um debt service fund. Um that is all the um budget includes expenditures for annual principal and interest payments on all bonds and I also included possible bond issuance fees and I worked with DA Davidson on those numbers. The ASB funds those um those budgets are prepared by the buildings just so that you're aware of that and we did have some high school board. So it was the first year this person prepared the budget. did a good job. But um that's budgeted for the athletic classes and clubs as you know. So and House Bill 1660 has kind of caused a decline in their revenue just to know. And the transportation vehicle fund estimated expenditures is 87,975 which I did provide some capacity in case we have a major repair that we'd

080like to run through that uh department if we could. And they have quite a healthy uh beginning balance. So, the purpose of this slide is just to show that we do budget out every single program, revenue to expenditures. Um, I know that's a little bit confusing to look at, but you can see total revenue versus total expenditures by program. I won't go into too much detail on that, but [Music] this is the enrollment comparison by year that I put together uh for 20 3 24 25 and then the projected 25 26 so that you can see it by grade by um program. I thought it was kind of interesting. Again, this budget is um projected on that enrollment. Should it go higher, hallelujah, if it is a little lower, we'll have to keep an eye

081on that. But again, I guess this is just just a kind of the main idea here is that there we're budgeting less students than we had last spring to be conservative and to put us in a position where we'll be able to make the budget and being in a place where we're not running around having to try to cut things left and right. >> That is correct. And also, your allocations are given to you based on budget for the first four months of the year. You don't want to get way more than your due make your enrollments way lower. So it's better to project your enrollment a little lower >> and then we will get like you said is it January when the aortionment comes in based on actual >> That's right. >> Yeah. Thank

082you. Mhm. And I just thought this was interesting to show the the different balances in the general fund balance for the 23 24 25 and then what we budgeted. This is the materials and supplies disclosure and the purpose of this is to take what the state is allocating us for those expenses and make sure that we are expend expending it on what they are allocating. So, the four-year forecast, this is the general fund. Um, and basically it it is pretty tough to do a four-year forecast. So, I wouldn't put too much stock in those numbers, but we do the best we can with what we know. [Music] Capital Projects Fund. Like I said, we kind of just every year we kind of budget quite um excessive expenditures so that we have the capacity depending on

083what projects get done and approved. >> Uh the debt service fund for your forecast. We have a debt service schedule that I work with um to prepare the four-year forecast and I also work with DA Davidson and have them review it as well. Should be in pretty good shape there. [Music] the ASB fund. As you can see, they have a little bit of a a a negative. They're projecting a little bit of a negative, but if they were to fund raise, there's ways to increase that. Uh or we can use some levy funds to offset some of those expenditures. It depends. We'll keep an eye on that. And then for the four-year forecast, we just I bumped up their revenue for their fundraisers. >> Well, we we discussed this. There was done by at the

084building level. Yes. They have ample fund balance to >> have a budget that they adopted and we'll be working with them to make sure that it's sustainable in the future. >> Correct. We could not sustain that kind of thing, right? >> Yeah. Thank you, Oh, transportation vehicle fund. Sorry. Uh, this one I work with the director of transportation. We prepare um I prepare the revenue based on the state allocation for the depreciation. That's what funds the transportation department face on her fleet. And then she decides what she's going to spend each year. Based on that allocation, she'd like to buy and as you know, three buses next year. And that's what we budgeted for. And then any major expenditures, we always put in a little bit of that in case we have a major we

085prayer that we can run through that fund and not have it hit our general fund. >> And Chile, you had shared back in June when you gave an overview of the process that the educational service district in Yakma does an overview of the or reviews the budget. So there's another set of eyes on the >> That is correct. And it is that has been done. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Are there any questions? Yes, help me understand the um Oh, I'm sorry. >> No, no. I I had a question. I did. I'm just trying to find it. Oh, go ahead. >> Just for help me get some clarity on the capital sp capital funds. >> So, let's just say you spend all 10 million and you got 1 million left at the end

086of the year. So, how do you re uh put money in there the next year? Because you're there's 10 million. If you go down to one, but you might need five the next year. you move it from general fund or >> typically in the past before we pass the bond that is what we did. If we had an excess uh in the general fund called an excess, but if we had a a hefty fund balance, we would move some of that out into the capital projects because we do have a lot of upkeep on these buildings that need repair. We do get some interest and we do get some rental income, but it's it's not a lot. So there and I know we will be uh reserving money for the football for what did you

087say? I'm sorry. >> Can you say a little louder? >> Oh, we we will start reserving funds for the turf uh for the next >> Yeah. for the next 10 years. >> And then just so we're clear, you can transfer money from or funds from the general fund to the capital projects fund, but you can't go the other direction. >> Right. >> My internet isn't working. It is the are the school bus purchases that are on for tonight is that in this fiscal year or next? >> Yes. 2526. >> So the ones that were approving tonight are are for the budget that is being uh first reading of the budget for next year. Okay. >> I guess it's they're like a year behind. You have to order a year in advance. Okay. >> To get

088those buses. So she's she's got her bids together. took quite some time to get them, >> right? >> And then she will place her order once it's approved, but then it's going to take 12 months to even receive those. >> Understood. Just was trying to uh understand the timing. Thank you. >> Yeah, that's a good question. >> More questions? >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Well, thank you, Sheila. It's a lot of work from the whole team to >> It is >> and to make it a balanced budget. So, we really appreciate that. All right. Next, we have the long range facilities planning facilities master plan. >> All right. Well, we had a wonderful presentation by our community group uh that presented a plan to the district um to the

089board. Uh, we had there was actually a slight typo. It didn't materally change anything, but I I put the new document in just so we had that in the public record that we have the updated plan. Uh, the discussion uh the last board meeting was about maybe having a community forum, doing that once school's up and running. I don't know if that's something that you want to move forward with. I was hoping to get some direction from the board. Also, um, back in the spring, we had put on hold two of the projects at the junior high, the auditorium and the domestic water piping. We put that on hold and wait to wait for the presentation by the long range facilities planning committee because we' said we didn't want to put money into a building

090that we might tear down. Uh, now with the long range plan that has uh been presented, you know, that junior high building would continue to be used in the future. Um, if the plan were to move forward, eventually it would be the administration office. We would keep the auditorium for community use. We keep the gym for community use. We keep the central kitchen to use for the whole district. And so, it would be good for me to get direction from the board. U, the projects were already approved by the board, so you wouldn't need to approve anything tonight. you would just need to give me direction that we we'd want to move forward with the auditorium project and the domestic water piping project so that we can get that done before there's any escalation in

091cost. And then also we want to have discussion here on the board about do we want to move forward do you want to get community input? You want to move forward you want to put the bond on the you know have a discussion about whether we put the bond on the vote in February um and move forward with that plan. So, it's really a a time here in July gives us lots of leadway to have that discussion and give some direction to the administration. >> So, that's a lot to cover, you know, at one time. Um, and I think we had a pretty healthy discussion the last time around, but to my recollection, we didn't really finish. I think a lot of our discussion at that point really focused on the 4.9 million that we

092were talking about in reference to the long range facilities master plan and what the committee came up with. Um, I and I'll stop here, but I'm going to say just one thing. I personally for myself, I am very much in favor of the community forums because I believe in the community input. Just giving them a chance to express to us directly what they're thinking, what's on their mind. It's not going to hurt us to have that input. Ultimately, we have to make that decision, but I think in many ways it's a good idea to have that at the proper time. Um, as far as um, you know, voting on those items that Dr. Finch is talking about, I think we should really talk about those right now just to make sure we're all still in

093sync on those items just to make sure there's been no change of heart or no different discussion that we should have about those since he is asking for our direction on that. So, anybody want to jump in here with their thoughts? >> Okay. Hey, Woodward. >> I I do a lot of in the weeds research on stuff and so I think I'm just going to um start talking about what I'm thinking and not not finalize it because I want to hear other people's opinions and and have a little back and forth. But so I'm just going to sort of overview the whole thing, I think. Um, so I looked at the bond overview page um that was presented to us and you know I'm going back 20 years where when I was on the board

094before and you know every bond we've had I'm trying to figure out how to get away from this. Every bond we've had has failed at least once before it passed. And so back 20 years ago the high school we voted on it it failed uh 58%. Um and then we actually did it 3 months later and did a lot of footwork and it passed just 3 months later. Um at read this 60 some% >> 60.8 >> um >> or 60. >> Yeah, that was a different 60.4 61.4 um that was back in ' 06. Then um we tried in 2009 for a $28 million Summit View and Apple Valley build which of course we eventually did. that failed at a whopping 48%. And then again, it failed in 15 and it failed again in 16.

095No, I'm sorry, 15 and 17. We did it two years later. Um, in 15 the junior high was part of the sum of you in Apple Valley and junior high and you guys know this, you were on there and then uh and then of course we passed it uh in February of 19. Both of those and the both of those failed that you just mentioned both included the junior high, >> correct? Both of those in 15 and 17 included junior high. The junior high was removed. I I remember that whole discussion as a community member. Um and then it did pass fortunately in February 2019. Um you know this is where I know the disagreements come in. There's been significant frustration by some people the disposition of the excess bond funds um from the 2019

096project and I acknowledge obviously there was differences of opinion um almost split so I'm not I'm not trying to say like everybody wanted it this way. I was definitely on the side of defeasing it. Um and here here's what I'm going to throw out and and we need a lot I know we need a lot of discussion because I have reason to agree with this. So, I'm sort of proposing there's about my understand these numbers aren't exact. So, I know Dr. Finch just said, excuse me, there's about $11 million remaining of the 19 million. Um, we need $370,000 to complete the press box and the HVAC installation at Cottonwood and White Hollow. So, we would go 11 million, spend the 370,000. I would propose, I'm throwing a number out. I would propose defeasing 9 million

097to do more than we actually said we would at six. Um, we would spend 1.5 million on the three I had three junior high projects, not two. Um, from the 49 million suggested by the facility committee, auditorium, ADA compliance, gym, floor, and curtain and water pipe update. That's on page 20 on the consensus recommendations from the committee. That leaves 3.4 million um suggested by the committee because committee has said the 4.9. So that would leave 3.4 left um out of that 4.9 um that could really be paid for and this is why I asked the question on the capex funds. You could pay for it out of the capex funds the 3.4 or I think I'm not sure about that or or you can add it to the proposal for the next bond. Um, I

098would be in favor of pushing off the February date a little bit because I'd like if we do defuse money, I'd like to take time to celebrate the defeasance and the savings. I mean, and just really say, "Wow, look how much we saved on this project and and celebrate that, celebrate the defeasement of funds back to the public. It's their money anyway. and then uh and do I'm not stuck on the date either way, but I I'd like to see a little gap for some celebration before we um put out the other bond. I'm I I like I like the um proposal on the bond, but I'm I'm just looking at a little different way. So, if that was a lot of numbers, please ask me questions, but that's where I that's where I want

099to start the conversation. The one question I do have for um and and maybe Natalie could answer it. or maybe Joel can answer it. I'm curious if there was and and I'm I'm not pro or con either way on this. So, the parking, this is sort of a small part of it, the the parking needed. Was there actually a parking study for that? Because I look at it and I go, "Yeah, they're parking all over the streets and you know, I've parked in the orchard and everywhere." Um, is that for the four or five football games or are they parking in the streets for tennis matches, track and field, and all that? Also, I I'm not I'm not sure about that answer or if it's just football. I'm just curious if we're trying to solve

100a parking problem that is only five days a year, which I don't think that's true, but I'm curious. >> Yeah, we do have parking during the ten for track and field, >> but it overflows. It overflows from our general parking. So, it's there's still parking out there. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. >> I think you asked a question about the parking lot. >> Uh, did we do a study? Is that the question? >> Yeah. I'm just curious. >> I don't recall the >> if it's just if it's just based on observation, was was that just >> I don't recall a long-term facility study on it. Yeah, I'm just curious if we >> But if it's if it's something I haven't seen and it's obviously a problem more than >> a couple weeks a year, then,

101you know, I'm not opposed to the parking at all. I just I just wondered if we're trying to solve a 5 day a year problem or if it's a lot more than that. >> Anyone else? >> Sure. >> Guess what? Mr. Walcott and I are in pretty close. We're in the ballpark here on our thoughts. I have a slightly slightly different uh way to go about this, but um so the number I start with in the capital funds uh capital project fund balance is directly from the reports that we received in today's packet. As of June 30th, that is $13,25,000. [Music] We would finish the approved um stadium press box and HVAC projects at Cottonwood at Wide Hollow. That takes us to 12,655,000. I agree. We should start on the junior high auditorium ADA compliance

102project and the junior high domestic water project. It would require if we proceeded with the gym floor as a um if if we proceeded with the gym floor that would require a revision and or an amendment to our previous resolution about the spending of the uh remaining bond proceeds because that is not presently on the list. Um, so in my analysis, I didn't include that. I include it later on in the in in my dissertation here, but I I would I would support that. That's not a again, I don't want to $150,000 or whatever that that's a lot of money. And I don't mean to suggest that it's not a lot of money because it is, but in the grand scheme, it's it's it's relatively small. Um but um so we go from 1266 uh

10312,655,000. We spend 1.4 uh million and some change on the approved projects. That does not include the that does not include the gym floor and the and the curtain at the junior high. So that takes us to a balance of roughly 11,249,000. Um, I just want to go back and say I I reread the report that was presented to the board and and and again my my my highest compliments to the to the committee for uh its work. And uh and I just I really after reading it the first time, after digesting it in the presentation, and then reading it again, I just really think it makes a lot of sense. There's a lot of great It's just um it's just a really it's a really cool proposal on a whole variety of fronts and

104I want to do everything that we can to support that that work because um it's a really smart project and uh or series of projects. So, um, the only thing that I'm I'm I'm I'm not sure about and and I haven't made up my mind one way or the other um is the merits of a 20-year uh versus a 25-year uh bond. Um uh I I'm interested in learning more and educating more. I mean, my simple approach, my simple thought process about that is is I'm I'm sort of an anti- debt person in my personal life. And if we do take on debt, then I if you take on debt personally, you know, you want to you want to shrink that that term if you can afford to do so, um to pay it off

105as quickly as possible. Um that's not to that's not to debate the information that we got, uh in the last meeting. I think there's some further information and study about that. So that of all of the of all of what we heard last week and and and again my dissertation this evening that I'm not quite sure what the best move is there. I can I'm still up to be persuaded and I want to I want to learn about that. But with that said, um I very much would like to see um us proceed with the bond resolution. um uh using the long range facilities planning report as the springboard for that. At the time that we um at the time that that we are uh or shortly before that, I'd like to see us defease

106$6 million. And I'd like to see us do that sooner rather than later. That would leave a balance of approximately $5.2 2 million um at that point. And then if the bond passes, we have $3.5 million left to to fund the remaining 4.9 that is covered in the in the plan. Um, and that would leave a I'll just put in air quotes rainy day fund left in the in the long range uh uh or I'm sorry in the capital funds uh fund balance uh capital projects fund balance which I think is um I I would highly recommend that whatever defeasence occurs that we try to leave one half to$2 million in that rainy day fund. Um, and then if the bond does not pass, then the board can consider at that time whether to defeze

107um another $3 to $3.5 million. Again, still that would still leave us about $1.5 million in that rainy day fund. and and and and my math on that. Uh if if the other 3.5 million was defeased later on because the vote didn't turn out as we wanted, then we could actually that would get us to about 9 million in defeas. It's actually a little bit more than that if my math is correct. So I I I would like to see us do it um in two fa if it in two phases potentially. Phase number one is the celebration and to celebrate we're asking you for your support in in in supporting this bond and and here's six million you know here's and we're going to defease 6 million bucks um here's how we propose to

108use the remainder um and then at that time uh in 2026 the board uh depending on uh the information that it gets because I agree with Mr. Walcott. I I I really hope that we uh don't have to do a bond campaign more than once, but and I'm and and I I'm in favor of doing community forums to get feedback, but where you're really going to where you're really going to get the data is floating in this bond. That's really where the rubber is going to meet the road. Um I think that there were a lot of things that resonate resonated with me in the last meeting um about running a really positive campaign really showing um despite you know my um uh dissent in the initial vote to as to defease or utilize the

109the bond proceeds. The facts are is is that that very good financial decisions were made relative to the use of those funds. And that is to be celebrated and congratulated um and and hopefully um how we how we spent that money, what we spent that money on, and the savings that it has created to the district. Hopefully, we'll will'll buy buy that goodwill, but time will tell. So, um thank you for everybody's consideration. I'm sorry to kind of go on about this, but >> um in summary, I support the bond resolution. I think the data is very clear that you should run that uh bond in February. Um the data is very clear, statistical data is very clear about the success of of running um those bonds in Febru or bond uh uh votes uh

110in February, but to celebrate that that resolution with a first ofence, see how it comes out and then and then um and then make some decisions from there um after that. So thank you for your consideration. Can we well it's just two of us talking. Can you need to know mainly if we can start dealing with the junior high stuff right? I mean you need to know that >> that'd be a nice resolution coming out of the discussion here. Uh but you know it's really some gaps in our thinking right now still we could still do that >> right yeah >> from the other board. >> Can I can I just say just one point before uh Joel you jump in? I think the threshold question relative to the projects of the junior high is

111whether or not the board believes in the long range facilities plan and that's what we're going to do. So I say yes to that. I want to be just very clear. I think Steve says yes to that and I just want to make sure we're all on the same page. But I think that's the threshold question for the junior high projects. >> Yeah. And that's where I would jump off is I'm totally in support of the long-term facility plan that that 4.2 to 4.9 million. I think that that's a little bit of the discussion, but in theory, the long-term facility plan I'm in I'm on board for. I'm in support of the bond and I want to see us getting moving on that. I'm in support of defeasement and giving back the money. And then

112I'm also in support of community forums, but I think that the direction of the community forums is talking about the bonds is what we talked about last time. >> The the future bonds. Is that what you're is that what you were saying as far as community or not not how to deal with the form because we've already been through that >> to get input on the plan and is moving forward. >> Absolutely. The longterm is the time and the bonds. >> Yeah. Right. >> I don't know if February is the right time or not. I would defer to your guys's expertise on how to do those. I've never done them. >> I think Mark was saying it'd be nice to hear from the community. Mhm. >> You know, the long range facilities plan had majority

113community on it, but that's just a small portion of the community. It' be nice to hear from the greater community. >> Absolutely. >> Is this is this the right time? Is this the direction that we want to go? >> Yeah. Didn't mean to answer. >> Oh, no. I'm just wondering if you were done or you had more time. >> All right. Well, I guess it's my turn. So, I'll be kind of short and sweet on on a number of these things. I think most of you know how I feel about a number of these issues. Um, I say yes to the community forums, which we talk about the bond essentially. I also think it's a must that we do that. Um, I think the community has the right to speak up and let us know

114rather than us just jumping in without their input. Uh, after all, they're going to pay the bill for it. So, I think they should have a voice in it. So, I think that's a very important point. Um, and yes, to running the bond in February, I think, you know, timing is everything. um we need to have a well-coordinated time schedule for doing it and February seems to be the time at which we need to run the bond. If I recall correctly, I think that we got some data or some information telling us the best time to run bonds and I thought it was about that time. We didn't want to do it in September or some oddball time of the year where it has a history of not passing. So, >> the data was that

115February was >> was the best month >> and that there was actually a higher passage rate if you ran them together. I think that's because there's basically a get out the vote effort >> and so you're getting out the vote and you're more likely to get that 50% for the levy >> and then have a chance of getting 60% for the bond. >> Okay, great. Um, and I do want to talk about the uh committee and the long range facilities plan. Um, I too think that's kind of a must. I I think the thing that really strikes me is that we ask a group of individuals to come participate, sign on board, give us your feedback, work with the plan, meet with us on a regular basis, and come up with a plan, and then

116I don't see how we not take most of it. um it just would strike me as we're going against we ask the community to get involved and then we don't take their involvement and try to use it to the best possible purpose. So I'm a little concerned about that. Um and that's all tied into really um I mean it's hard to separate these issues because they do have overlap and we talk about the defeasants. I hear the numbers from from both of you and I don't necessarily disagree with but um I do like Mr. Thorner's idea of splitting how we do that. That's strategy and I like the strategy involved in doing something like that. If it passes we do X. If it doesn't pass then we do Y. I mean we have a strategy

117for how we move forward. So I think that's important. But given that um uh the amount we the fees and how we do it, I I'm still with the basic fact of delaying some of these projects. We're not getting them done means increased costs down the road. And so what it boils down to is okay, great, we're celebrating, we save this money and we're giving it back. Not to mention how much it really actually translates into tax savings. It's not a huge amount realistically, but I do believe it's a good idea if it's not just symbolic, but there's some material sense in giving some of the money back, but also we have to balance the fact that these costs, these things are just skyrocketing. I I can't believe some of the the way costs are

118going up and it's going to hit these materials and these things that we know we're going to need. So, I just want to I'm not against the phasing a larger amount. I just want us to be a little careful and think through carefully what these costs are going to be. And I can give you just a simple example. I went to had to to FedEx something that was overnight mail three or four years ago that would have cost 10 or $15 or $70 just for something that simple. So you can imagine what it might mean for some of the things that we might be talking about getting in terms of school projects. Not to mention that a lot of you know developers when they see it's and I hate to say it like this but

119you know a government government finance thing they think that the money is there that the costs just seem to be you know we're going to get the best of what they can offer probably we need those things but we do have to I mean after all we do have to weigh in what things really cost us and the biggest bang for our buck and when because if we don't do it today we know we're going to have to do it tomorrow that cost is going to be up there it's just going to increase. So, I just want to encourage us, and I'm not saying I'm against what we're talking about doing in terms of the feasing. I just want us to be very careful and cautious and careful in our deliberations as we go forward

120with that if that's what we decide to do in terms of the amount. That's really the key that we're talking about. How much of it do we really want to defeze? So, I don't know. Um, I'm torn. I still haven't made my mind up on that part of it yet. Um, but I do want to say I I as much as possible want to stay with the long range facilities plan as they presented. I think they did a lot of hard work on that and I would just hate for us not to utilize most or if not entirely what they say. So, and we don't have one member here tonight that can actually weigh in on their thinking. I kind of have an idea, but it'd be still good to have that perspective added in

121here. So, I will stop there. Um, and I would say that, you know, as we move forward, I would like to hear more from the community. You know, what they really think. We get, you know, some participation here, but we need to hear, you know, a lot more from them and maybe the community forums, even though for a different purpose, some of it might be overlapping and they might comment on that, but we do need to make sure that we are very careful in our strategy moving forward. That's my only comment. >> And Mr. strong. Uh you said you support the plan, so I want to make sure that's clear that you support moving forward with the two projects that have already been approved by the board, the junior high, >> correct? >> ADA uh

122for the auditorium and the domestic water piping. >> Yeah, that was always a given to me because I see those as essential things. So, >> and Joel, you said you support the plan as well as the same move forward with the and the domestic water piping. Well, thank you. That was helpful for me as administrator to get that clarity from the board so that we can move forward with those projects. >> And I did want to add one last point. I guess and Mr. Wilcott, this goes to your point and I I really value your thinking on that. Are we would we be spending a lot of money for something that happens four or five times a year or something of that nature? My thought on that is those four or five times or even

123more. I've been through that. There are a ton of cars through there. There's a lot. All it's going to take is one serious accident to change our mind, but that's one too late in my mind. So, I'm in favor of a safety issue there. Um, and I've always felt there's no way for us to try, at least at present, to get everybody on that side of the road. There's a plan that perhaps gives us an option to do something like that. Improved safety is always of high value in my opinion. So, especially when you're talking about not just the kids, but the families who are participating in those things. So, I am somebody that I I hear somebody say that I parked on the other side of the street and that's that's pure madness if

124you go to one of those days when that happens. But that's my two. >> I appreciate that. I was just looking for no >> some data. >> That's good. That's good discussion for us to have. It really is. So, it's it I'm glad you brought it up to be perfectly honest. >> It seemed like there's some support for community forum. Uh once school's up and running, it it does make sense to have this uh be a separate from a board meeting, I think. Is that correct? Yeah, like we've done in the past. So, the Tuesday, September 16th would be an open night and then Tuesday, September 30 would be an open night. Those are the the off weeks of our regular board meeting schedule. Um, do you have a preference on >> Well, both are

125good dates. I think we do one at the earliest date in case the second one's needed. If it's not needed, then we don't have to use the second date. That's my thinking. I don't know how to give me the dates again, please. >> 16th and 30th. >> Yeah, Tuesday, September 16th would be the first community forum and then we'd see if there's a need for a second. >> Yep. And we would have that available to us if it's needed. >> That would give us enough time to promote because school starts before Labor Day. So, >> we'd have a couple weeks when school's back and we'd be able to really promote that through our communication channels. >> My thoughts, Mr. Thorner? >> Yeah. Um, again, I'm I'm perfectly I I think we've had a really good

126discussion. I I do think that for us to get the bang for our buck out of the community forums, I think the board needs to have its plan. How what's the what's the bond? What are we going to defease? When are we going to defease? Here's what we're thinking. We've been a little bit I mean so so we've been and and that's not to be a criticism of the discussion. I just think if we have this community forum >> we have to bring something to the table, >> right? >> Uh we have to bring something to the table to receive some some input on. Um and that doesn't mean we have to decide it tonight, >> but I think that's I've just put that out there. >> Yeah. I think we need to come with

127talking points with a direction that we're all in agreement of. >> Yeah. >> Or at least reasonably close. >> Reason and I think I mean I I mean again just taking what Mr. Walcott said as compared to what I said. >> Yeah. >> It's as I as I my introductory comments I don't think it's that >> it's not miles apart. >> Yeah. I I think the reason I mean just add more fuel to fire or whatever. Ju just the reason I went for the higher number is because I looked at what you know after all the meetings we had and heard input you know the see the former board you know decided on the 13 million to spend and the 6 million to defeat generally thought about thought that and there's about 4 million of

128that we're not doing because we we took the land purchase out of it at this point it it it's there but it's for future and the bathroom remodel. So, I was thinking, okay, if we're pulling that out, then let's just shift some of that back to the community. So, that was that was my um I mean, I went through all the numbers, but that was sort of my rationale for going a little higher to fees, but I appreciate what you said, the split I like, >> but the and and I I was trying to do the same math >> the maybe the little bit of difference in my the my the evolution. How about that? That's a little more positive of my thought process is because you asked a really good question during Miss Wood's

129presentation about well so how do we how do we fund capital project? Let's just say we didn't have any of this money. How do we fund capital projects? Well, for about the first Mhm. seven or eight years before we passed the the 19 bond when I was on the board, what we did was was we um in the budget we said, "Okay, we're going to move a million dollars a year from general to capital projects." And we did that. We did that for I, you know, I don't want to I don't want to speak incorrectly, but I want to say at least six or seven years. we did that. Um, and and so but the evolution of my thinking is that it would be nice if we could do it. I think it would be

130smart to do it to have say a fund of okay, we did everything a fund of one and a half to two. I was really trying to get to 2 million bucks, but I was trying to maximize I was really trying to get that $6 million first >> with the idea of doing a little bit more depending on the data that we get out of the out of out of the bond uh boat, but the evolution was leaving in one half to$2 million as a seed. And my argument to that is is is the the cost on that money is relatively low based upon the bonds that that were sold in 2019. So um as opposed to seeding that with a future bond that's going to be obviously at a higher rate should it pass.

131So that was at least a little bit more uh Stephen into the weeds if you will on at least my thought process there. out. [Music] >> Yeah. Um >> I think we need all five of us here to make any more >> Sure. >> firm decisions, you know. >> Yeah. I I agree. I that's a tough decision and I again I just I kind of go back to a couple of things that still stick in my mind. Some of these projects are going to cost more later, especially ones we know we may have to do. I like a lot of what both of you said to be perfectly honest. It makes sense somehow. If we could just, you know, find a way to pick the best out of both of those sort of thought processes

132and make it work, that would be a good way to do it. What it really boils down to is how much money we really want to defeat. I think that's the bottom line because we can figure out what to do with what we don't defeze, right? Is what how much do we feel is appropriate to give back to the community. And personally, I I have no problem with, you know, what we discussed previously and what, you know, the prior board had set up to do, but um it's a different time and so maybe we do need to look at changing some things. I'm open to that. Uh I just want to be careful that we don't do things that cause us later to go back and say, "Oops, you know, and we need to ask

133for a little bit more money than we originally planned." That would be the worst of all worlds to happen. Um Mr. Thorn calls it a rainy day fund for something. I think that's totally appropriate. My only question is is that really enough because things cost so much, you know, >> right? But we have to be reasonable about that, too. And quite frankly, in my opinion, and I'll take ownership of this, like that before we pass the 19 bond, you know, I always felt like we should be I I always thought we should be more aggressive. I always thought we should be more aggressive about being more intentional about saving um in the capital projects fund and and this is the whole I mean it's that's easy to say in hindsight but but I you know

134I I think we I I challenge future school boards to be um aggressive about that for lack of a better way of saying it. Um but uh again um back to the cost piece um defeasing six still means that there would be 5.2 two in the fund and the the um long range facilities report for utilization that that's three, you know, based upon the cost presented 3.5 million. So there's still >> there's a little bit >> one and $1.7 million of buffer to your point of of of project cost escalation. Totally get what you're saying. Um, I just feel like going back to something that we said in or something that I think all of us said in the last meeting is the possibility of this bond. The defeasence to me can be a celebration

135to rally everybody in that process. And the $6 million number is a powerful message for former board, current board, whatever, moving forward on making good on on doing what we said we would do. I think that's a really important pro uh aspect just in the same just in the same vein as the long range facilities planning committee felt that it was really really important to try to get to a price point on the bond that would be uh at or below um what we are currently spending on our bonds right now and and and so I look at all of this in in totality. Well, and you know, and again, it's somewhat emotional, too, because when I was campaigning, I've heard so many people, you know, what would you have done with the bond money?

136Because I'm never voting for a bond again. And I know it was 50/50 at the forum. I get that. >> But that's all I heard when I was campaigning. And so I'm going, if we don't do something like that, I mean, we passed this last bond 60.8%. It was and I looked at the numbers 77 people. If it had reversed 77 people, we that wouldn't have passed. >> It was tight. >> I mean, we were that close. And so, you know, now I've heard so many people going, you know, so whether they're still there or not. And and I get it because that was a lot of money. And like I said, last time we met, I said that's that amount's never going to happen again. That was unusual. um I think of having that

137much left over. So I I acknowledge that that would probably never happen again anyway. But any that's just so for me I just if we're going to if we're going to float them on I want it to pass. >> Well, totally agree. I mean I I certainly want it to pass. I mean there's a lot of debate that could go on about why or why not a bond passed before. I mean could have been the economic climate. It could have been, you know, where the country was politically. I mean, there's a lot of things that go on in decisions that people make about whether or not to support something like this. Um, I still come back I I and I'm not saying I'm for or against. I'm just simply saying that costs matter. I mean,

138the first thing people think of when they go to the grocery store is how much is it I'm going to spend today? I think many of us do. So I don't want us to, you know, have a mindset that this is going to cause the bond to pass just because we defeze money. I don't know that I totally agree with that logic. I think >> I I would agree that that alone is not going to automatically make it pass. >> But even even to a large degree, I like Mr. Turner's point on that a little bit more in that, you know, it seems as though the point was made that there was going to be money given back. So I I recognize that and I think we should try to do as much as we

139can. I just like I said, I just want to throw out that caution about, you know, we can be over generous with that or we can be conservative and careful and maybe the truth the best answer is somewhere in between there instead of just, you know, come I I I guess I'm a little nervous with just saying here's the numbers we're actually going to use. I'm not so sure that when that bond I was there too going door to door when that bond first didn't pass and I was going around, you know, talking to people as as I was handing out those flyers and I I still feel the number one thing in their mind is what is going to come out of their pocket and we can't overlook that and and think that by

140giving them this we're we're saying it. I think important part of this is that they want to be convinced that we are good stewards of the money that they entrust us to handle. I think as long as we do that, we we should be in a good spot. And then the other part of it is we're asking for a lot of money, $93 million. I mean, that's a lot. And so that plays a role in somebody's mind. I mean, our last one, I think why the first time it didn't go around, we asked for over $und00 million, right? And so that's a huge amount of money. I believe it was pretty high. >> 81. >> Yeah. >> 17. Yeah, >> it was pretty high. And I think that had a big part in why people

141said, "No, that just sounds too much." I mean, if you stay under that 100 plateau, maybe that sounds better, but that's still a very high number. So, I just want us to be aware. Costs matter to a lot of folks. And when we're we're we're dealing with these kinds of numbers, it's a big deal. But that all being said, that's I'm just sharing what's floating through my mind. I'm rambling a little bit, too. I I get that. But I just I don't want us to be, you know, overzealous with what we're talking about. The feasing off. Good discussion on that. Any anything more? I think we beat this thing. So we >> No, I think a very fruitful discussion and >> except we do need to circle back at some point to really hone in

142on what do we what it are we going to do? I want to make that >> really clear. >> Yeah. >> About the community forms. That's where I'll leave it. >> And I think I I totally agree. I think the idea though is we're waiting for Mr. Keepart to be here. So, we have all five of us in that discussion how we want to proceed with that. I'm I totally agree with you on that. I I like the idea of presenting something and then letting the community say I like this or I don't like that part of it so that we can formulate a final plan based on some real input. Put >> on the agenda in the next meeting. >> Yes. Yes. I actually think the timing on this is really good and I

143appreciate the the long range facilities planning committee asking to move up the timeline so that they could present at the last board meeting and give the board time to do this type of discussion and just like Mr. Thorner said come back around really get a solid plan that we can take out to the community then get feedback from the community on that Tuesday September 16th. Uh meanwhile we'll move forward with the two projects that were previously approved. Uh that's the ADA compliance for the auditorium and the domestic water piping at the junior high. Uh the gym floor and curtain will need to talk about at a future time because we would need to have uh two public hearings on that uh and then be able to change the resolution as Mr. Thorner said. So >>

144we could do that in theory at the time that we do a defeasence resolution, >> right? Yep. So we could do that at a future time, but for now we'll move forward with those two projects that were previously approved. We'll schedule the community forum and then we'll have this on a discussion at our next board meeting so that we can get input from Mr. Keepart and move forward developing a plan that we can take to the community to get feedback on. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. So, I do want to thank the board members for a healthy discussion once again on a very important topic, not just to us, but certainly to our constituents and the community. So, thank you for your comments and input. So, if we're done with that,

145we'll move on to item nine on the agenda, I think. Public comment on discussion items. >> So, we actually need to have a public hearing for the 2526 budget. So, we'll need to open that up for public comment and then close that public hearing and then have another public opportunity for public comment on the long range facilities planning. >> Okay. So, Okay. So, if I heard you right, so we're going to have a a public comment on the first public hearing right now. Y >> and then the long range facilities planning >> comments or comments on that as well. Right. >> Correct. >> So let's do the first one. Uh is anyone I don't have any other pages here, but does anyone have any comments on the um 2526 budget first public hearing? Anyone around

146the room? All right. I don't see any comments there. Um then >> and that closes the public hearing. >> That closes the public. Thank you. And then we'll go to the next item, the long range facilities planning. Any comments there? >> Yeah, I do. >> All right. First one to stand up. >> Your voice is a little >> and I know we all know you, but still I appreciate you saying your name who you are. >> My name is Bradley Licks. I'm a teacher here at the high school and a very long time resident of West Valley. And I can personally attest that any parking that you could improve at the high school would be greatly appreciated because as the yearbook teacher, I go to a lot of sporting events. I would say I probably

147go to more than most and I have almost been hit a couple time zones here um right walking on the right side of the road trying to get down to the stadiums. Um but really like the part that is not great about that um is that it's it is not just for the football games. They're the worst. I would agree because there's there's people parked, you know, several hidden deep in the orchard there. But the um the last time I almost got hit by a car was at the track meet. So, um and I think the reason is is because the the when they the teams come, they there's that back area there by the fence by the visitor um stands and they pack their day tents back there and their canopies and so the

148people try to park as close as they possibly can and it's it's awful. Um the other part too that happens is up by the innovation center um is is when you have soccer games there's a lot of people that park on the other side there too. So it is I I assure you it's not just a I don't count the cars as I walk past them but I can tell you that very frequently it is a it is a problem at most sporting events that we have. The only ones I would say are probably fine are basketball and baseball because those are right next to the main high school parking lots. So, um, my yearbook students, I would very much appreciate it if you could do something. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next. Yes,

149Mr. Mayor. [Music] [Laughter] Naked here. Good evening. Hey, just a few quick thoughts. So, based upon the conversation you guys just had. So, I really like this word that you guys use. celebrate. My challenge to you would be what does that look like in terms of communication? Mr. Farmer was hitting on it a little bit when you were talking about you have a community meeting. What exactly are you going to say? Um taking a quote from you, Mr. Thorn. We're doing what we said we're going to do. That could be some really powerful words down there. Um Mr. Wright, I'll bust your chops a little bit. Just a little reminder. Um I would not call it savings I would call it excess. If we go back some of the major reasons why we have excess

150funds is during that time period was during co we had a lot of extra biders we got a low interest rate and I think even the engineers would say they overestimated. I just want to be careful. There's a a nuance there and I think people such as myself can get turned off when people use that word ins. I think there was some good bidding strategies. So anyway, just just keep in mind so just think about how and who's going to do the communicating? It's going to be through the newsletter, email, um social media. So, I think it's a good idea to celebrate the feas and the benefit for all the reasons we talked you guys talked about. I originally brought up the 15-year um excuse me, the 20 verse 25 year mainly because I thought

151by going 25 years it would be a lower overall bond rate and I actually agree with Mr. F from personal standpoint. I don't want to pay any extra interest quicker. However, spread amongst the community. I thought that would be a benefit. Well, I pushed Dr. Finch to go ahead and ask Corey to say, "Hey, what is that really going to look like in a bomb rate?" And also, the way the first presentation was presented, it only showed out to 2027. And I think that's a little misleading because you also miss out what's really going on with the elementary school. And unlike in my world, although we do some seasonal structures and what have you, the bond rate for the elementary schools, it actually it's not a straight annorization. There's a little bit of uptake. And

152you know, part of that is, so he explained to me is because well, the community has a capacity because it's going to be growing. And he did the same thing on his estimate for this new bond, the 92 months. There's a little incremental increase. and the benefit doesn't really show up is it year 13 or 14 and then it drops off. Well, as tax payer, if I'm, you know, and I think we'll all agree this going to be very hard to pass irrespective of what people say it's a great project. If it shows up at a higher tax rate, I think that's going to be a higher hill to climb. And it showed up about a cent per thousand higher. And really, Mr. I said earlier, I'm a big proponent of whatever if this comes

153to pass. It has to be at a lower rate for current because I think there's a strong man 90 million is a lot of money and I think it's going to be just that much harder to overcome. So where we're going to need to keep it below the current bond rate. So that's why I brought up the 25 year. There's other considerations involved. you know, when we look at more buildings down the road. I mean, there's a lot of things that are in that. But I just want you to know that's why I was pushing so hard and assuming the data that was just sent to me is correct, it it loses its luster until like year 13 and then Trump. So, I just wanted to be clear why I brought that up. And then,

154um, one thing, and I love the words that Mr. Thornney used, being aggressive. Um, I brought this up years ago and the point about setting aside money, you know, as a reserve, um, Miss Wood brought up, uh, reserve for the turf earlier today. The district should have a reserve for its entire physical plan. And my client's doing it in the private sector. It should be done here. transfer another million dollars. I mean, kind of we really should be thinking about that long term. So, anyway, thank you for your time. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayori. Anyone else? All right. Public uh comment on discussion item long-range facility planning closed. >> Very good. >> All right. Now, we come to the action items themselves. Um or a couple of them at least. Um um there's

155two of them under a the uh 6700 nutrition um policy addition and revision second reading and also the 6702 local wellness. >> So no no changes from the first reading. >> Okay. Does anyone care to make a motion on either one? I guess we could take them one at a time or both of them. One one at a time is probably best. >> You can you can take them together. >> We can take them together. I will make a motion to pass um 10B and C. Uh no, in case there's questions, I will make a motion for to pass 10 B. >> Well, we haven't got to that one. >> Where am I? >> 10 A. >> 10 A. Sorry. I like a motion to pass both policies on 10 A. >> Thank you. >>

156Very good. >> Too much is in my head. There you go. >> All right. Thank you. We have a motion to pass those two items. 6700 on nutrition 6702. Have a motion. We'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Post same sign. Motion carries. 40 for both of those items. Now we come to 10B up resolution. >> I'm going to do it again. >> Surplus personal property. Um, it's just the looks like just the one item there. So, if unless someone has any additional points to make, I will entertain a motion on 10B1. >> So, moved. >> All right, we have a motion. We'll go ahead and vote on resolution um 25-07-776 surplus of personal property. All those in favor signify by saying I. I oppose. same

157sign. That motion also carries 4 Z. Which brings us to item 10 C, approval of school bus purchase. Um, that's pretty straightforward unless someone has a discussion or any more points to make on that. I'll entertain entertain a motion to approve the purchase of school bus school bus purchases rather. >> I'll make a motion to approve approval of school bus purchase. All right. Thank you. We have a motion to approve the school bus purchase or purchases. We'll go ahead and vote. All those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. 4. >> And then just clarification for the record, that's for three buses. And as Mr. Thorner had clarified, it's out of next year's budget, the 2526 school year. >> Correct. All right. Moving on to item 11. Items

158arising. Anybody with anything new? >> Can I can I make a request of um Dr. Finch? Um during during tonight's meeting, we've heard about parking um during some of our larger events, particularly the football games, and I and I had a an idea. Could we look at the feasibility of what it would cost to have shuttles, our school buses, transport people for football games from the uh as if you will overflow parking from the junior high mid-level campus to >> to some of these larger events. Um, uh, it would be great to just instantly wave our magic wand and install a whole bunch of parking, but I'm thinking that until then, >> um, perhaps that could be uh something that we could do. Um, I don't know obviously what I mean, obviously there's bus and

159fuel and and and drivers and so forth. Um, but I was just thinking about that and so maybe Dr. Finch could investigate that with Miss Schmidt and uh possibly provide us a little relief. >> That's a great idea actually. I like that immensely. So, anything to improve safety, I'm all for. So, >> sounds good. We'll look into that. Thank you. >> Thank you for that. Um, anything more under items arising. All right, moving on to reports. The travel law report. Hopefully everybody had a chance to really look at that. Any more feedback on that, Dr. Finch? >> Nope. No. >> All right. Superintendent report. >> Uh just shared information about uh certain federal grant funds that have uh been impounded or put on hold or frozen, whatever you want to say. Uh we have contacted

160our local representative Dan New House and asked for assistance to get those funds released. They were approved by Congress. they were uh approved by President Trump in the spring and so um if we were not to receive those funds just let you know we have worked on a contingency plan uh there would be a reduction in services in those areas and I had shared what those areas were uh in this written report but just real quickly the areas are migrant education used for family engagement and services to students title 2a is flexibility so we use that with title one activities which are for intervention and family engagement. English language acquisition is used for professional development. Uh the student support and academic enrichment is used for after school activities uh primarily at the mid-level campus. And

161then uh West Valley does not receive the 21st century community learning center funds. We're still working uh as as best we can with Senator with Representative New House to um get those funds released. I made a call to his office earlier this week. had contacted him immediately when the funds were frozen and so we're still hoping for support at the federal level to get those funds released but uh if they are not released then we do have contingency plans what does the dollar amount of those funds mean >> uh it's approximately 495,000 >> okay thank you >> all right anything else Dr. bench on their superintendent report. >> No, that that concludes that. >> Okay. Board reports, board development. Anyone? All right. That brings us to item 15 on the agenda. Executive session, performance of

162a public employee, 8:25. Um, meeting ran a little bit long tonight. So, how does everyone feel about 35 minutes to try to get through at 9:00? I won't cover everything, I'm sure, but at least we'll make another dent in in a in a sizable project here. >> Okay, everyone. >> All right. Um, we will come back in during the meeting at the end of that 35 minutes at uh 9:00 >> With no action to be taken. Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> See always get that. I don't know why. They're going to let me uh do the honors. >> Okay, it is uh 8:58 and uh we are adjourned. Thank you very much.