001One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. We're going to do the roll call first. Steve. Jessica. Here. Tom? Here. Angie. Here. Tucker Kat? Yes. And Cam Dear. Thank you. Alright, we are looking to approve the minutes from the September 15th regular board meeting and the October 15th special board meeting. Can This happen together? Um, fine. We should probably do em separate. I think separate is the best bet. So first I'm looking for a motion to approve the September 15th regular board meeting. I will make examin motion. Okay. Second Here. Form. Thank you. All right. All uh, all in favor say aye. A Aye. All opposed say nay. Motion carries. And then we are looking for a motion to approve the October 15th special board meeting. Minutes. Aye. Motion. I'll second. Okay. Thank
002you. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion carries as well. At this time, we are at public comments that look like there are any Thank you. And recognitions and commendations. So I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize the Athens School Board for your dedication and your leadership. We recognized the boards across the state during the week of October 5th of the 11. You do make a difference in what you do and your advocacy for all of our students. So you behalf of myself, our employees in our community, thank you very much for serving on the school board. We appreciate you very much. And there are some treats there to signify that. Thank you. Thank you. Any other, uh, recognitions or accommodations? All right, Moving on. Board members reports. We have the
003North End County special education report in our packet. Um, We do not need to take any action, but there, does anybody have any questions or comments? So we acknowledged that report. Um, the next item is the Finance Facilities and Operations committee, uh, which met this evening. Prior to this meeting, uh, we had our typical topics on the meeting are always finance and facilities and operations. And then, um, so we got a little bit of a preview from Beth about the finalized budget numbers for October of 2025, which the board is going to be seeing tonight, little discussion about everything that goes into those numbers. Um, and then we talked about what the best way is, just kind of more ideas about communicating the feasibility study information to people. Um, and we were given a communication
004plan, um, to like a draft communication plan to take a look at. So, um, we're gonna keep going on that communication vein for, for the next month's meeting. I'm assuming we'll come back and, and talk more about that, but did miss anything? Well, what I want everyone to do on the school board, but I'll advocate for it, but I do think it is important for us, um, to talk as a school board about, um, writing letters to the editor for the record review about different parts of the referendum administration and other things. I think it's a really good, it's a good way to educate people and to offer our own individual perspectives. Um, and I've had several people when I've kind of said, this is what I feel like is going on at the school
005board, um, and this is what's going on with the budget and here's the positive things and here are the things that I hear the people are frustrated with. People are like, you should write, put that in the record review. So I do think that that, I mean, or we could write to other papers, but I do think when we look at communication, utilizing our positions in the school board to talk about our perspectives in an educational way is really helpful. So like, you know, whether it's about have our administrator, um, whether it's about our, like where we've gone and the referendum and where we're going, the positive financial situation that Beth will show us to be in. Um, but I feel like personally I think that that's a thing that we as board members should
006be looking at. Um, and talking about different topics we would be comfortable or not everyone has to do that, but I think it would be helpful for people to have that perspective. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I think we can talk potentially in upcoming just like finances, facilities and operations community meeting too, about like what would that look like so that we're not duplicating messages and things. And it would be like a foreshadowing of the referendum, basically getting people to understand where have we been with the operational referendum, where are we going? But then using our own voices and perspectives as part of that versus like handouts or which is the official, we'll have official hand stuff based on this, but I, I think it would personally think it would be helpful. Casey, you did a great
007job. It's not about you. But yeah, that's mainly what we talked about. And then we did talk about, which I think you'll go understanding the, how the lack of voucher cap now impacts. That was another thing that we learned today impacts the overall budget. Okay. So yeah, we will, we won't still, that's thunder. Um, but more more upcoming things. So, uh, generally positive, um, numbers for review, which is nice. Um, okay, now administrator's reports, superintendents first. Sorry. Thanks gie. Um, so in my report I highlight, um, things under each of our three pillars as part of our strategic plan, starting with student staff engagements. This is the time of year where, um, teachers and administrators are analyzing data and I wanted to illustrate how that happens at the district level, at the campus level, and
008then really get grade level or content area. Because when you develop a strong system of understanding data, that's where we can really impact student learning. So it's important for, um, our school district to have district professional learning days. And those are throughout the entire year. We're very strategic in where we place those in our calendar. Um, this year we had one in September, which is earlier than past years. That's because, um, we had screening data that we wanted to respond to and already, um, intervene if we needed to for students or providing return opportunities as well. Um, we'll also have, we'll call those data days or data analysis days, one midyear in January and again at the very end of the year in May. So that's a really good process so that it's consistent all
009year long at the district level. Um, and then I wanna honor and um, highlight that the principals each month also facilitate two faculty meetings. They typically focus on, um, continuous improvement planning at one of those meetings. And that's another opportunity from a school or site perspective to go deeper into the student data at their schools. Um, and they many times put into place what we call the plan, do check and study act cycles, which are anywhere from 90 to 120 days. So they're analyzing data, they're responding to data, they might do some studying and some learning, and they're gonna act on that data. So it's cycles of improvements that they lead with their staff. Um, and then weekly, uh, grade level teams at the elementary or content teams at the secondary level are meeting and
010analyzing data. And that might be classroom data. That's common assessment data. That's the everyday information that you might be getting as a teacher to know. If half my class, um, performed very well in an assessment and half didn't, how do I look at that data and what do I need to maybe reteach the next day? Or how do I respond in a really manner? So when you have all those different levels of data analysis, um, they all support one another and it's really a cycle of continuous improvement from other levels. So I just wanted to highlight and share that with the board. Um, under family and community engagement, um, this has been an ongoing topic. Um, we received feedback the last several years to continue to improve in our communications. So I wanna highlight a
011few things that have, um, been shared. Um, not only internally but also with our community in the past month or two. Um, we did share that the splitters Athens website application or app is now live. So if you are someone who utilizes the phone more so than a desktop or a laptop, you can very easily see, uh, lunch menus, you can see activities, you can see schedules and we're constantly populating, but it's pulling from our website. So another opportunity, um, that promotes communication. Um, I've been writing a communication piece, um, in the monthly newsletters for all of our parents and others. Um, we continue to do weekly social media posts, uh, record review articles. Thank you Casey, for that opportunity. And then, uh, just recently, um, I invited, um, four student leaders at the high
012school to join me as part of a student cabinet, um, superintendent student cabinet. Uh, we had a working lunch meeting last week, which was very informative and we're gonna be meeting on a regular routine basis for me to capture voice from students. Um, so I really appreciated, they accepted my invitation and, um, they seemed happy. Um, although they might not know exactly what we're going to do, they also were resent, um, back with some information and they'll come back in meeting. So I'm looking forward to that opportunity. Uh, facilities and operations. Um, I wanted to update the schedule of upcoming board meeting and discussion topics. Um, because I appreciate the ongoing conversation with the board of education, we've been very thoughtful in preparing for a potential referendum sometime in the future. Um, so you'll see
013on the, uh, second page of my report. Um, tonight we're going to, uh, discuss uh, feasibility study questions, um, and have a discussion as a board. Um, this was an outcome from the October 15th meeting. The board requested, um, put together some questions that would then be presented to potential vendors, um, of which then we will, uh, invite back and November for a second shorter presentation to address those questions. Um, and then Beth and I recently met with our Barrett school finance team, um, and tentatively we have them on the agenda to be back in December. Um, now that we have certified members from October and the numbers continue to move forward, we thought it would be a good time to introduce another presentation around, uh, school of Finance and then moving forward, um, depending
014on how, how the schedule goes, um, we'll be looking for a committee rep, an advisory committee. We're gonna be doing a survey and eventually strategic planning because our four year plan will be coming to motion at the end of this year. So, um, there are a lot of wonderful things happening, but I thought it was good to update the calendar to share with the board and our community, um, what the discussions have focused on. So any questions I'd be happy to answer. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Alright, so next is the Maple Grove Charter School. It's all up. Um, so one of the things I wanna highlight is Joy and I both had the opportunity to attend the elementary principal conference in lacrosse and um, it's just a wonderful conference. Um, first, first of all,
015for networking. Um, I was able to, um, meet another, um, principal who was at sage, which is in Wpon and that's an environmental agri science school. So we have connected just for brainstorming ideas and um, different curriculum questions and things like that. So that piece of networking, um, also just um, going to the different sessions. One of the sessions was really tied to, um, collecting that data and making sure we're using that data, um, useful. So she talked about PLCs we call 'em, that our teachers are meeting weekly, um, with, and in those meetings we have data all over the great place and we have spreadsheets, um, upon spreadsheets and so, and it's always been, um, hard sometimes to like, oh, what was the name of that one? And trying to find that one. And
016we are starting, um, a program called, um, next Path, which is a data dashboard that we will be able to put all that data into. And it was great at the conference to also network with other principals that are currently using it and they could dabble with it and show us how to do it. It's just gonna save so much time. And one of the sessions was on, um, how to make a data notebook and then be able to upload that into Next Path as well to be able to have it at ease and you can see the student profile and be able to see all of the student data. Um, and so that will really mainstream some of that searching and looking for things, um, in the future at our PLC meetings. So I'm
017excited for that, but excited to take that learning from the conference and be able to bring it back into our own schools. Any questions about anything else that's on there? Okay, Thank you. Alright, next is elementary school Principal Joy. Sure. Um, so first of all, I just wanna start off thanking our community. Um, especially Mike there, Nick Felder and ATS Fire Department for their fire safety. Um, they came in and spoke with some of our classrooms, sort of the safety tools that they use that's always exciting for kids. And, um, then we all went to the ball field and they did a presentation with the fire truck. And that's, um, just fine for kids to see and for them to be able to express what those tools are really for. And it's just gets, um,
018gets a unique experience. Um, and I would tag off our robins because the elementary principal conference was very good. Um, we were able to go down and listen to the legislative updates was, um, so it's affirming in a sense that small schools, meeting schools, large schools are all dealing with similar concerns, um, of behavior and attendance and, uh, recording, uh, specific happening. So, uh, that was very, very good for me to hear again and to feel like we're not the only ones that, um, have unique situations. Um, and our staff have really jumped into open court this year with open court training of our new ELA curriculum in the summer. And we had Kathy Ruby come at the beginning of the school year and we've met with her online and she was here last week
019and she's just fantastic, um, in the sense that she has taught open court for many years. Um, she's been in education, I think she said 40 some years, um, many years as a teacher. And then she retired and then she went to work, um, for, um, GRA Hill. So she's very informative and she's very good at coaching. She watched all of our teachers, gave one-on-one feedback and then gave feedback as a group. So she'll be back again in January. It's great to have her. And I would like to commend some of our staff. We have some staff are doing a book study on the anxious generation. If you have not read the book or listened to the book, I highly recommend, uh, the Anxious Generation and a lot will not surprise you, but will affirm
020that we need to do something about our generation now and technology. And so it gives a, a great amount of research behind that and the different generations, um, use and knowledge and what to watch out for and how are we going to change that. And I know especially Julie at the middle school already has taken cell phones out of the classroom and it's, that is one of the recommendations of the books that we need to definitely become more vigilant on that. Um, we have pretty good turnout for teacher conferences. We have a few that we're still reaching out to, they weren't able to attend, but glad to have always a good attendance on conference night. Of course, huge showed up to Mr. Rebel and Mr. Smith because they came down with the choir and their
021band and that they are like celebrities when they come to visit us. So, uh, it's always a great time and educational. So some kids already know which instrument they're going to play and some kids already know that Mrs. Redmond should not sing. Um, just because I went back to some classrooms and thought I should practice and they said I should probably not even practice there enough. So just wanna give you a connection to our a ES press newsletter. That's a newsletter that goes home to our family. So take a look at that when you get a chance. Um, we had our first family literacy night led by Mrs. Jacoby, our title one teacher and Mrs. Sanzo from Maple Grove. We had a combined Maple Grove and a ES evening. I appreciate all the families that
022came, there's a lot of work that went into it, but I will say that we need to work harder to get our families to come and to be involved. We had fairly low attendance and I know we can do better, need to do better of getting our families there for educational evenings as well as the fun event that we host. So speaking of that, the YES group has some event that they're going to be trying to weave together, a book Fair Family Nights bake sale. We have an opportunity to host the community closet coming up. So we have some really good things. Um, hopefully those opportunities will bring families into our schools. So there's some pictures of cool things that are happening and it's about kids and educating our kids forward. Um, there was one
023presenter at oau, um, and he is local from Fall Creek, kind of local, but you may have heard him. But one thing that really resonated with him that I know that our board and Ms she are working very hard and I know we are working hard in our buildings, is to tell our story. Like we are the ones like that was just saying we need to tell our story and the story is always right. So he's very, very specific on things that we can do and to, we're the ones, we're the ones that know the stories and we need to tell the story. So he was very powerful and made people matter, which really Resonated with me. Any questions? Thank you so much. Good stuff. Alright, um, going on to middle and high school principal,
024Julie. Alright, um, kind of backing up just a month, just shout out to, um, all the staff for supporting the student activities during homecoming week. Working with the booster club, um, doing the, uh, the plywood decorating. Again, always a good turnout for that. Um, back in September too, as you guys know, we would've had the, um, staff development day reviewing current, um, curriculum and then also a data review where we were checking over some of those test scores already. Um, as Ms. Sheridan mentioned about, you know, FastBridge scores and just double checking on that early data, um, we've got intervention probes going on currently and we're continuing to whittle in and now create those groups and really get those things set into motion. So we're in actually in about week two of that process, so
025that's great. So we're, um, trying to move the needle for our kids to get them what they need. Um, a lot of those things occur during our flex time, which would be comparable to the, um, maple Grove and then a ES and their wind time or wing time. So kind of the same sort of concept in terms of how do we get our kids what they need and when they need it. So we're working through that. Um, at this time, um, back, um, October 1st, I was able to take a select group of kiddos with me over to Abbotsford for our annual Marywood Principals leadership workshop. And so you can see there I took, um, Ava Ford, he and l Becker Johns on her internship at G that attended that workshop with me. And they
026always walk away with some skills with regards to different leadership styles, um, as well as, you know, how do we set goals and what does that look like, what is a smart goal? And then they talk about some things that we can do back here at our school. So I know the kids talked about just student engagement too, like overall and how do we get more kids involved with our, um, with all of our various activities. Um, so I, we'll take a look through that and the kids were coming up with some ideas with like, what might that look like and how do we recruit kids to be in things, whether it's band, choir or sports or FFA or FB, all the things. So, and I do know that one of the things we're able
027to do as well through campus is kind of track those and we often do that anyway to see how many kids that we've got involved in each of those things. So we know that when kids are connected to something at school, gives them outside purpose to be here, ultimately can impact their overall scores as well, right? 'cause now they have that incentive, they wanna go and do the extra thing. So we have to do well in our classes. So trying to work all those things together. Um, so along with that, I'm pleased to announce that our this year is DAR nominee and, and that stands for Daughters of American Revolution. Um, every year the senior class, we start with the staff and the staff kind of whittles down all of the kids in the class
028and they say, okay, based on some different attributes, leadership, patriotism, um, things like that. Like who stands out? So then from the teacher's vote, then we take that down a notch and then I share that out with the whole senior class and the senior class votes on that. So this year the senior class chose Evan Pass sale for that honor. He will actually be working with me tomorrow to do his essay. Um, and I usually work with Ms. Sheridan too so we can get the paperwork dropped off here by the end of the week. And his a whole, um, application process which can lead to a scholarship, which last year we were able to, um, announce to that aliya frame last year had gotten that distinct honor. So, um, always a good opportunity. Looks great
029on the resume. Uh, the kids, you know, that are invited to sometimes to leave that back at our, um, veteran state program coming up in November. So, um, I've added some current enrollment numbers. Those look good. And, um, in a few short weeks we'll be adding one more to grade nine. Um, we've got, uh, ki that will be moving in. So excited about that. So those numbers look great. Um, I'm hoping to keep that trend continues. Um, middle school staff, um, and teachers that are working with the kids, right? We're going to continue to do their student of the month recognitions. And then today they did their team building, um, activity again with the staff today they had to connect on, it was a octagon, right? And a favorite color, favorite restaurant, favorite candy, those
030kinds of things. And they had to connect with a group of fall kids. So hopefully down the hallway here, within the end of the, by the end of the week we can display those so the kids can see how they're connected. People that getting, might not even realize that they share something in common with. So that's, that was a neat activity to watch the kids do today. Um, again, parent teacher conferences. We had, you know, some of our middle school teachers always have a, a pretty big crowd in the fall, right? We've got a lot of new kids coming in the door. So we've got a lot of parents that are really curious to know some things. We too continue to reach out if we've missed folks that didn't get to come in prior to
031first quarter. Um, making sure that staff are still reaching out with any parents of, of students who especially might be requiring some extra retention. Um, so that we can work together in partnership with parents to build systems so that they're all doing well at. Um, and throughout the year. Um, in addition, and Joy mentioned our concert, um, with the middle, um, school band wire. That was a fun one to watch. Um, middle schoolers are also working with Mrs. Brewster right now, um, to do the Patriots pen. So I think we got a bunch. We do, we have a winner, but it hasn't been announced. Okay, so more to come. Um, please do note that our Veterans Day assembly is set for Tuesday, November 11th at approximately 10 15. Um, Jean votes usually calls us to
032confirm time so that she makes their way around, um, with the veterans that day. So, um, yeah, it's the last one on. We've got our FFA kids leaving this week to go to their national conference. So, um, that looks to be a long trip now. So thank you. Alright, we're gonna move to information and discussion items and we'll start with the 25 26 budgeted action presentation. So yes, here we are adopting our budget, 25 26. Um, so I just kind of wanna highlight how did we get here in, um, the budget development process starts really in December for the new year, and I'd like to highlight some of the, the main areas on this timeline. In January, we invited a representative from Kerber Rose to speak with the board and share any findings they may
033have had throughout the audit process. In February, we adopted a budget development calendar, which identified key people in the process and then, um, some of those decisions would have to be made so we would stay on our timeline. We also had our first meeting with CISA 10 in the facility audit to identify, um, any facility needs that we could address right away. In April, the board approved employee compensation and benefits and then in June we adopted the, or we adopted a preliminary budget so that we could start the fiscal year working with a preliminary budget based on what we knew at the time. In August, the board adopted a fund balance policy, um, set at a fund balance of 18% of current expenditures. And then in September we held our annual meeting, which gave some,
034um, the community some input into the, the budget development process. And between all of this, there was transportation contracts, CSA contracts, athletic trainer, um, all of those other pieces. We put 'em all together in our budget model and here we are with our 25 26 budget. So as always, the budget goals continue to be the same from the 2223 referendum process and that continues to be the foundation. This slide and the next slide I won't go into a lot of detail with, but um, this continues to be one that we project and, um, put in some hypothetical numbers here We have the actual numbers. So we're working with a resident membership FTE of 469 students. So we are seeing growth there and it all filters into, um, that final revenue limit levy for the property
035taxes. And then here we take the actual numbers for the revenue limit and or the, the let me limit multiplied or divided by that equalized property value multiplied by 1000 to see what our mill rate is. And that is 7 87. So we are recommending to the board to levy the full authority at this time. As we know, the resident membership, FTE is the driving force behind that revenue limit, um, calculation. And that is the headcount one is the open enrolled in students add in the open enrolled out students and that three year rolling average. So you can definitely see growth here with our student counts. Um, this slide, I'd like to highlight this as the total levy, um, total revenue limit authority that the district can raise through a combination of property taxes and
036general state aid. Um, an area I'd like to highlight that the the district does not have control over is the voucher program that is new to our district in 2020. Um, in 26, 27 up until 26 27, there is a cap on the number of students that can apply for the voucher program through one of the parochial schools. And after that, that cap is coming off. So an unlimited number of students can apply for that and that is a per pupil dollar amount. And then that is put onto the tax levy. So the district would see that as a revenue in and also see that as a district, as a, uh, expense going out. But it does impact the property taxes. And then we also have our non-recurring referendum in there. So we're in year
037three of the four year non-recurring. So as we know, the revenue limit authority gives us the maximum number or maximum revenue we can raise. That State aid fills up the cup first and what's left goes to the property taxes. Um, as you can see here, the district is um, does see an increase in state equalization aid that is primarily due to the increase of student enrollment. Um, 71% of public school districts have seen a decrease. So we are are pretty fortunate to be ones that are seeing that increase. And here's the revenue limit authority. This is what's left for the property taxes. You can see in the last, since 2324, the total levy limit has been pretty stable. Um, but our property values are increasing, so the state average is 8%. The school district ENS
038saw approximately 14% increase. So that will in turn affect our mill rates. So the total levy is stable, the mill rate is slightly lower than was originally expected. Uh, rebuilding financial stability was one of the main goals we had for our budget development. And like I said, in August the board approved a policy for a, um, fund balance policy, 18% fund balance and we are projecting to put that mark with 18.22% in 25 26. So historical data is important, but we also wanna look and forecast ahead based on what we know now is our current five year projections. And then lastly, I'd like to um, point you to in your board packet you'll see the actual budget that we'll be asking the board to adopt. Um, some areas to highlight in that budget is the
039overall insurance had, um, employee insurance had increased 11%. That's with health insurance, dental insurance, disability insurance, transportation saw an increase of 6%. Um, special education saw an increase of 15% and it is the first year we, um, are cycling in the curriculum, um, resources to update those. So I know that's a lot of information. Is there, are there any questions you have either on the presentation or on the budget that's in the packet? Anything has any, Okay. Yeah, I think we're good. Thank you. Good information. Alright, so that will be an action item later to approve that or to adopt that budget. Um, related, um, is consideration of the certification of the 2025 2026 tax levy? Yes. And we are making the recommendation to, um, levy the full authority of 3.7 $3,772,435. And that was
040in, um, the presentation as well. Yes. Any questions on the, the tax letter portion? That will be an action item later as well. Okay. Alright. Thank you both. Next is the human resources report. There is that report in your board packet. Um, you can see that we are preparing for the winter support season. So I had an opportunity to meet, um, with Todd and with Julie to review our student athlete members. Um, and these recommendations are coming through our athletic director supported by Julian, myself, um, in conversations that Todd has had with coaches, um, based on the number of student athletes, um, that we anticipate that would participate that are middle and high school levels for those winter sports. So you will see, um, a variety of coaching positions that we're asking the board to
041consider this evening. Um, in addition, um, now that this school year has started, the dust has settled. We have a few employees who will have, um, graciously accepted opportunities to be advisors. So we had a few vacant positions to available. Um, so we wanna thank them for second meeting, part of that process as well. Um, we also have, um, one resignation. Uh, Tanner Acky, um, has tendered his resignation, um, with John. Higher and Joy are putting together a team to potential candidates to replace, um, that witness. Okay. Any questions on the human resources report? Okay. Don't see any. All right. So then we are going to talk about the vendor presentations regarding the feasibility study for the school district facilities. That sounds good. Um, so following the vendor presentations on October 15th, um, the board
042engaged in a very good dialogue and conversation. And at the conclusion of that meeting and those presentations, um, there was a suggestion on that, that the board would like more information before making a final decision. Um, so the board, um, was asked to submit, um, any questions, any board member would submit questions to Angie and myself. Um, we collected, uh, those questions, um, which were submitted by multiple board members. Um, we put them into what we feel is a applicable document, um, in front of you. Um, but I think our goal tonight is to review those questions, see if there's any clarification needed, any additional questions. Um, and then, um, tomorrow I would like to communicate with those three vendors, inviting them back for a short 10 to 12 minute presentation in November where they
043would specifically address these questions. And then any other questions you wanna have at that time. Yeah, thank you. That's a good, good recap. So in the packet it is 10 D and there's, um, it's organized by just different categories. So we're, we're hoping that any, all the vendors can kind of consider our two main options for facility changes and then kind of respond accordingly. Um, so if you guys wanna take a, a look or if you had a chance to take a look already and, um, we wanna just make sure that we've captured everything that we would wanna see in a, a follow up presentation because we wanna make this, this choice. So One add on. Yes. Um, I would like to see special provisions for their contract, both with the school and with the
044subcontractors or the contractors that they put it out for. Special provisions are basically what's gonna enforce all the contract work. So it's critical how they're written and how they're verbalized. I want to type this because, um, I feel like I don't trust my handwritten notes. Let's hold on a second. Sample. Sample, yeah. If they're already giving us a sample project, Just make sure special provisions included. So that's, um, what what would the, the special provisions be is what you're kind of wondering Or you just a sample. Like if, if they're gonna present us with, this is the project that we're gonna present to you for a similar project. Yeah. Make sure they include the specializations from the contract both they had with the school and what they had with the contractors. Oh, in that example.
045Gotcha. Can't sleep at night. Start reading those. It'll, That's good. Thank you. Tom, which category would you want us to put That under? That would go under, uh, contracting, project building and contracting. Building Contracting. Okay. Got it. What other things could be, you know, and like, just keep in mind that Andrea and I don't know this language. Um, so when we put it together we're like, we're taking the wording and trying to um, make sense. So like if there's something that doesn't look right, that maybe can be, I mean just please, I need feedback is helpful because can I ask a question about your questions? Does it, because I don't, again, do not have the vocabulary or experience in this area. I'm just, 'cause I feel like a lot of these are getting to the
046question of like, so if you tell us it's 9 million, how much is it really? Like that's kind of what we're wondering. Like, like how do we, how do we estimate a real amount? Does that kind of make sense? Yes. And no special provisions depending on how they're written. Okay. If, if it's any time of special provisions written at basically your contract verbiage, if there's any gray area it goes to the contractor. Okay. Us as giving the contract out. And that may not be the case because uh, several of two of the firms said that they were, the contracts were under them. So it's on them. But if there's contracts in our name, we have to make sure we're protected by the verbiage. Yeah. 'cause gray area always will go to the contractor. Is it
047fair to like, maybe we shouldn't ask them this, but like can you help us understand how, I mean I think you, some of the questions get to this, like how do we make sure that you're not going widely over budget? But I feel like that's generally one of the concerns is like if we think we're paying $9 million, we don't want it to be $15 million or you know, like, but that's kind of the que like, and so I know that those specific questions are kind of getting at that. But I'm wondering if we can also kind of ask them that more directly. Like how can we be clear that this isn't, that your feasibility studies are going to give us a realistic understanding of the actual cost? Because I think that's part of the
048general concern that came out of the presentation is like everyone said things, there were some very specific things we want more clarification. But we wanna know, or maybe the question is like, historically when you have a feasibility study, They generally will have a contingency built in. Okay. It'll be a 20 to 25% contingency because you don't know what you don't know. So it'll be, this is historically what the dollar values are, but we don't even know what we're looking at yet. Yeah. So I know it's a hard thing because it's weird because you're choosing one before you see the numbers. But I mean they gave us each kind of idea. Yeah. Upfront Free right set fee. Right. This percentage That we know it'll help us gauge. You know, I feel like we know, well at
049least it's my opinion, but maybe you also feel differently. Like it seems like we're going to pay for that feasibility study no matter what. Correct. It's just like, I don't think we're paying And I mean it would be interesting, and maybe this is a question, I don't know, Andrea, if you followed up with any of, 'cause I know they gave us school board, they gave us references. Like all of them gave us references if you followed up with any of them you did. Sure. Yes. Because I feel like that's the kind of question is like, what is like getting from some, obviously they gave us references of schools where it, it went well. Mm-hmm. And there's questions about when oh one poorly. But I think that's kind of the, the question for those references too
050is kind of like, you know, how did this process actually go? 'cause that's, for me, that's the part where I'm like, you know, we wanna be very responsible with the money. Mm-hmm. And it seems like, And within those special provisions should be a scope of services section that literally outlines this is exactly what they're taking care of. Yeah. If it's not listed in there, it's either on us or we don't need it. And we have to be certain that they're, they're providing the service because there's things that are gonna have to be done. Yeah. There's things that we may want to add, but the things that have to be done need to be listed and that helps with their fee structure. And in the same token, if something's decided and it gets built, yeah. That's
051what they're providing. Mm-hmm. Nothing outside of that. At least this is what they're providing. It's black and white. So Do you think that it's necessary to specify that in the question or is that inherent in the Definition of a special No, I want that information to see if they include the scope of services in there. Because if it's not in there, I'm concerned because yeah, here we're gonna charge you this. We're not telling you exactly what you're getting for it, but we're gonna charge you anyway. So you, this is a weird process. What I'm hearing is that you don't want us to include the question, include the scope of services, you wanna see the special provisions and you wanna see if they're there. Mm-hmm. Okay. Gotcha. Let's skip just, okay. Mm-hmm. Are there lending related
052questions that come up for you in your scope of expertise? Yeah, there's a lot of questions here, which I think this is gonna be very, very thorough. So it'll be interesting to see This puts 'em all on the same plane now. Yeah. Before it was, they're presenting what they wanted to present. Yep. Now they're answering questions that we want to have answered. Um. Mm-hmm. The last presentation was what drove a lot of these questions I think. Yeah. So we're gonna give them a chance to rebut. I come back and say, well this is what we do and how we do it. So. Mm-hmm. Okay. Anything else that should be added? So definitely be the question of the special provisions from the example that they're gonna provide for us. How long is that question period? It's
053it 15 minutes. 10. 10 and 10. Okay. I just didn't, I trying to change it. I was just, yeah, I mean there's a lot of information here and I, I don't know, like I really don't know the field, but I feel like it'd be hard to get through all this in 10 minutes. I would strongly suggest they put a lot of the information out for us to preview because you're not gonna read a book of services document in 15 minutes And you can, I, I don't know. And none of us us really understand it except for select student. Yeah. I mean I think it would make sense for them to give us materials or Yeah. Answers. And then also, I don't know if there's a way, you know, when you give us those folders and
054then we give them back, there's probably some virtual thing where we can like view things but not download them. Or if they have concern about proprietary information, which I'm assuming they will or maybe Contracts are public, I have no idea. The contract stuff is all public. You can look up any contract you want. So, um, I do request at least 10 days before the meeting to have the information out. And that's a fair minimum For us to review it before they talk. Mm-hmm. I'm not joking. Once you start reading it, you're gonna wanna fall asleep. I believe you keep me. So lead time. So our next meeting is on November 17th. So, okay, what else? Anything else? Ask 14 then. Would you like me to say a 15 minute presentation with a 10 minute q
055and a? What, what would be an appropriate amount of time just to kind of give them to focus in on? Yeah. It Should be much of a presentation. If we have to read ahead of time. Mm-hmm. It's gonna be more q and a. 'cause we, we will have documents review already at that point. So I Think the interesting part is see what they choose to focus their presentation on. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. Can I ask a follow up logistical question? Are we going to schedule another special board meeting it? Okay. If we need a special board meeting to make the decision if it there's no action directly after the next meeting. Do we have to schedule that? Like how far in advance do we have to schedule that in advance? Not to put more meetings
056onto us, but I feel like we're kind of up against this referendum timeline longer than, and we can only talk to each other once a month and it makes it difficult to move forward. Especially when we're looking at like, we're gonna have a like over an hour of presentation. That's what questions I'm concerned. We're gonna get to that and then we're gonna be like, let's decide in December. Which I feel like is like, oh I, you know, That was my first inkling is to do a special meeting for it because we're gonna wanna go into closed session after and talk. Um, and if we're gonna do it during a regular board meeting, you have your regular hour and a half board meeting plus another hour and a half of them. Are we really gonna be
057clear thinking after three hours of meetings to sit and talk about it? Can we do one sooner? Someone that knows the meeting Rose needs to call me. I think you need, what do you need? Four, eight hours. Oh, okay. I thought it was gonna be a longer period's not, it's not like an I missed, I thought it was like two to three weeks. No, it's like, it's more like in terms of days and hours rather than weeks. Okay. That you But it needs to be like posted a certain amount of time before you do not as different than what I thought it was gonna be. Yeah, that's not So and thinking about the request to have the materials to the board 10 days in advance of a special meeting and giving them at least probably
058a week to bring their team together and create a presentation. Mm-hmm. Or looking 17 days, three weeks. So the week before the next board meeting and then wanna say the 12th of November, Does that give them enough time to put a package? Well I, I plan to communicate with them tomorrow. I communicate after the last meeting. They know there'll be an update for them tomorrow for this meeting. So they're anticipating um, something to come to them tomorrow with specific information about what happens next. Um, advise, tell them the presentations need to be submitted by Friday the seventh. They have homes to but that's not 10 days. That's not 10 days before. I mean do we, do we need 10 date? Like do we, what's the smallest amount? 'cause we're putting them under time pressure. I
059do think it's reasonable to expect them to provide something in two weeks. Like we're not asking 'em to create anything. We're asking 'em to take some of their documents and just send 'em to us. So What if I requested their information by Monday, November 3rd and then we plan our meeting on the 12th. It is the, I don't know if this impacts anything, but it is the book fair and community closet. Oh 700. I can rec I can just drop off materials so it's fine. But is that community event here? It is. It doesn't matter for anyone specifically in this room. I, but it's, no, it's at the elementary school. Is at the elementary school. But you don't need to be present for the we need to, you want to be present for the special
060meeting. I guess that's the question. 'cause it is at the element. I'm assuming you'll be present. I would be at the elementary school. Yes. Yeah, that's the only, if that presents a conflict for anybody, that might be a, I mean it starts at 3:00 PM and it goes till seven. So if we would meet at five, are we thinking like at 5:00 PM So Andrea, what if, I mean like I just, I don't know how hard it is to pull these things together. Like, and I want us to have really good information. I mean they're gonna get a week to pull together. So I guess it's not horrible. I was just kind of thinking like, what if they can't get it together by that, do we Say through the 19th, have a regular meeting Monday
061and do the special meeting the 19th and that's the only item on the agenda we can discuss and have a decision made that night. Can we move a regular meeting to a We can do that. Right? We're not moving the regular, we do double meeting normally. I think what I'm hearing you say is do the special meeting on Wednesday. So Wednesday after a regular board meeting. So they Would still present. Oh, they would still present at the regular meeting, board meeting then take Action. No, they would present that Wednesday. Got It. So instead of a decision Monday would be the 19th on Wednesday we make the decision. Okay. But ideally Is that something we'd be able to discuss the documents that they've sent in by that point at that meeting if we wanted to, If
062it works out that way. Yeah. I, I don't see an issue with that. Right. And are We going to sway ourselves by discussing it before they make their presentation? Perhaps for those board members in administration who don't have the context and the background, I guess I would appreciate the presenters walking through the information just so that I understand the context. That's just this is don't have the expertise in this area and I think you make a good point. Would there be biases if, if we were inferring things and having conversation prior to a presentation? Mm-hmm. That's a good question. But so I hear the suggestion on the table is a special board meeting Wednesday, November 19th. The three vendors would return. If it's okay, I would give them 15 to 20 minutes for a presentation
063in 10 minute q and a. If this is the only agenda item, we would call that an open session, then we would go into close and have a discussion. Mm-hmm. Okay. Um, and if the 19th is the special board meeting, the board would like the information by Wednesday, November 5th. Does that sound appropriate? That would give us two weeks. I mean even if it's Friday the seventh would be fine. Okay. Lemme Capture the additional question. Yep. I have a question. I just need to find a document that I was using or if there's a new document piece it. Okay. Thank you. Good. All right. Good idea on the additional meeting. I think that'll be helpful, keeping your minds clear and focused. Okay. Um, anything else before we move on to action items? Okay. And let's
064move to the action items. The first item is of the approval of payments and cash receipts and those are in the packet. Is there anything particularly of note for that? No. And is it, does anybody have questions about any? All right. Hearing none, I am looking for a motion to approve the payments and cash receipts. Motion. Thank You. I'll second up. Thank and we'll do a voice or sorry, a roll call. Vote for you, Becky. Sure. Um, Steve. Jessica? Yes. Tom? Yes. Angie? Yes. Tucker Ka. Yes. Cam? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. And the next is approval of the revenue and expense reports. I make a motion to approve the revenue and expense reports. Okay. Thank you. Alright, we'll again do a roll call. Vote please. Alright, Steve. Uh, Jessica, Ms. Tom? Yes. Angie?
065Yes. Covered cam? Yes. Cam? Yes. Thank you. Okay. Um, and then we have the adoption of the 25, 26 budget for the presentation earlier. I'll make a motion to adopt the Budget. Alright. Pam has the motion. I'll second it a second and then we'll again do the roll call vote. Steve. Jessica? Yes. Tom? Yes. Angie? Yes. Tucker Cat? Yes. And Kim? Yes. Angie. Thank You. And then we have, um, the item of adopting the 25 26 text sub. Any motion? I'll second. Thank you. We'll do a roll call rule again. Um, Steve? Jessica? Yes. Tom? Yes. Angie? Yes. Ka? Yes. Cam? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. And then the lastly we have from Human Resources report to approved. I'll make the motion. I'll second thank You. And then we will do a roll call. Vote
066again. Jessica? Yes. Tom? Yes. Angie? Yes. For Kat? Yes. Cam? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we are at the end. So we're looking for a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Thank you Kat. Yes. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Alright. Here we are at 6:00 PM.