001Good evening everyone. I call the August 25th, 2025 school board meeting to order. It is 6:05 p.m. We are in conference room C of the Fiser Administration building at 12121 West North Avenue. Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Miss Berzinski here. >> Mr. Bower, >> excused. >> Miss Faul >> here. >> Mr. Morris, >> excused. >> Miss Hammer Rolland >> here. >> Dr. Rley >> here. >> Mr. Wier >> here. >> Okay. Thank you. We will move to item number two, superintendent update. Dr. Means >> early board members. Um, I have a brief uh update, but nonetheless, it's a really good one. I'll like to start with where we are with student registration. We have 92% of all of our returning students registered as of today. And that's really good. That's a high percentage.
002We have not had this level of registration at this point of the school year. I want to thank all of our parent teacher association, our PTA leaders. Um, worked with them closely to make sure that the information was getting out. You may have seen signage uh throughout the community um this uh this summer. So, we're really pleased with the fact that we're at the 92% u registration rate. Uh the next slide, Tim, if you could just go back on. Thank you. Um, as you know, our our community was hit hard due to the historic floods that took place a few weeks ago. Hart Park has been closed till further notice in turn in terms of at least some athletic competition. Um, we've had restoration projects underway at Wilson, Whitman, East, West, and Washington. Um, Mr.
003Lefthon have been very busy. Um, but I'm pleased to say that a lot of work was completed over this uh this past weekend. Um, and we're hopeful that most of our open house events that'll take place this week will allow families to have access to as many classrooms as possible. Um, there will be some projects that will go over into the first week of school. There has been extensive damage done to the the Tulsa West stage. um area and that's going to be closed and there will be work um happening there throughout the month of September. Um so there's a lot of work that still needs to happen. Um but we're really pleased with um again Mr. Leonte and our team with the buildings and grounds crew for the work that they've done. There's been
004double shifts um put in place for for many schools. We're just we're pleased with when you consider where we were a few weeks ago, where we are today and uh believe that we'll have most of our instructional classrooms ready to go uh for the first day of school. Uh I'll take this as another opportunity. is not on the the slides. Uh but we did receive word from the city of Waltosa late Thursday evening on uh where they were with the Center Street um the Center Street uh project. We had hoped that that project would be completed over the summer. It it is not. Um and so what they're going to do, they being the city of Wal Tulsa, uh they're working with uh company that's leading that project. they're going to just pave Center Street
005as much as they can so we are able to have school um uh starting on September 2nd. We've tried to communicate um that while school starts on September 2nd for most of our high school students, they've been coming in and out of that campus most of um most of August. Um I I had a chance to watch uh first half of our Tulsa West Kettle Marine football game that with all street lights it was dark. Um it was you had to you had to navigate a lot. So I just I want to state for the the record that uh we're appreciative of the flexibility of many of our residents who have tried to work around uh this construction. Uh we're sorry that is delayed. On the flip side, the city's been a good partner with
006us. They've tried to keep us update updated as much as possible. Um, and and again, when we received the the the official word from the city Thursday afternoon, we we disseminated that information out as quickly as possible. So, it's our understanding that this week they will work hard to repave that street as much as possible. So on September 2nd, all the construction and and machines and everything else that you see there now will will be gone. That's what we've been promised. Um not to um deflect, but this is not a school district project. Um so we are we're at the mercy of those who are who are leading it. But I do want to state for the record, they've been a really good partner with us. >> And it is a contractor issue. >> It
007is a contractor issue. So, it's not the city of all Tulsa. It's not the school district. It's the contractor who just they got behind and were unable to complete their work. But I don't want to lose the headline here. Our buildings and grounds team has been working around the clock to get our schools ready and I want to say thank you. >> Yeah. >> Um, tomorrow is our our official kickoff day for staff. Um, Tim, if you can move the slide, that would be great. thinking. Um we're really excited. This is the one time in the school year where the school district has the ability to come together. Um you would think that we would have more opportunities. Um but we don't. When you have a a school system our size, it is rare for
008all the teachers, all the educators to be under one roof um to to hear a message and and typically happens at the beginning of the school year. So it sets the tone. It's a very important day um for our our school year. So, we're really excited about um tomorrow. We typically have that event at Wal Tossa West because of the parking uh situation. We are unable to have it at Tulsa West. It will be at Tulsa East tomorrow. Now, while that auditorium is a large and historic uh auditorium, the parking um around Tulsa East is really challenging. Again, I want to say thank you to our our partners at the Waltosa Police Department. They will ease parking rules uh between 7 a.m. and noon tomorrow. Um I've been told the time again is 700 a.m.
009to noon tomorrow. They have to get back to those parking rules um after we are cleared out. Um but they will they will try to accommodate us as much as we as they can. Um so that's really important. Um, we had new teacher orientation last week Monday and uh, since I've been in Waltosa, I've I love to ask the question, so why did you choose Wall Toast? Uh, in a highly competitive market where getting educators is really difficult to have them come to a school system. I I like to ask the question, why? Why did you pick us? Um and consistently new educators tell us that they've chosen to come to work in Waltosa because of our values, because of our strategic plan, our commitment to equity, uh our commitment to diversity, our commitment to
010inclusive uh practices, um creating access to all students. They believe in the values of this community. They believe in the values of our school system. and that's why they chose us over many other school districts that they could have gone to. Um, and I think that's really important for our community to hear that new educators have chosen to work with their children in our community because of our values. Um and so often when we have um discussions, policy discussions and and and so on, it's really important to always center our ourselves back into so what do we stand for? What are our values? What what do we want to convey in terms of who we are as a community? Because as you know this school year, our theme is every student, every story is our
011priority. And so that's what we stand for here in New Wales School District. And so with that, I would just um conclude with this uh short snippet of who we are. [Music] Wow. [Music] Fire. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Yeah. [Music] Hey. Hey. Yeah. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] proud of who we are. We're proud that we have new educators who came to us because of who we are and we're excited to get the new school year started. So with that, um, thank you for the opportunity to give you an update. >> Thank you, Dr. Means, for working on that update and and sharing it with us and with the community. Um, we are going to move on to um item number three on the agenda, public comment. So I'm going to first read um the
012policy around public comment and then we'll um look for public comment in the room and also then uh public comment online. So, policy 0167.3 public comment at board meetings. Members of the board value the input of students, parents, staff members, and community members. The board's regularly scheduled meetings provide an opportunity for opinions and concerns to be expressed publicly. The board values all comments and will respectfully consider this input in decision-making. The board will take public comment on both non-aggenda items and agenda items at each regular board meeting and may take public comment during special board meetings. The public comment period will occur near the beginning of the meeting and shall not exceed 30 minutes in length unless extended by the presiding officer or a vote of the board. Individuals must limit their comments to three
013minutes. Participants must be recognized by the presiding officer and will be requested to preface their comments by announcement of their name. Public comments submitted to the schoolboard email address by 10:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting of the board will be added to the online meeting documents to become part of the public record. Emma public comments must include the name of the person or persons submitting the comment. All public comments shall be directed to the presiding officer. No person may address or question board members individually or direct statements, comments, or questions to staff or other meeting participants. Board members are obligated to follow the Wisconsin open meeting law, which requires advanced notification to the community of the board's intent to discuss and or take action on an item. If a public comment concerns an
014item that is not on the current meeting agenda, board members may not respond other than to thank and acknowledge the speaker for their input. The presiding officer may a limit the number of times a speaker may comment on the same topic. B interrupt, warn or terminate a public comment when the statement is too lengthy directed to anyone other than the board presiding officer obscene or disorderly. C. Request any individual to leave the meeting when that person engages in conduct which is disorderly. D. Request the assistance of law enforcement officers and/or security officials in the removal of a disorderly person when the person's conduct interferes with the orderly progress of the meeting. E. Call for a recess or an adjournment to another time when the disorderly conduct so interferes with the orderly conduct as the meeting
015of the meeting as to warrant such action. F. Wave these rules with the approval of the board when necessary for the protection of privacy or the administration of the board's business. Recording, filming, or photographing board meetings is permitted. The person operating the equipment should contact the superintendent prior to the board meeting to review possible placement of the equipment and must agree to abide by the following conditions. A that there are no obstructions are created between the board and the audience. B no interviews are conducted in the meeting room while the board is in session. C. No commentary, adjustment of equipment, or positioning of operators is made that would distract either the board or the members of the audience or otherwise disrupt the meeting while the board is in session. The board encourages all residents to
016be well informed about school affairs. Therefore, regular board meetings are livereamed and recorded school and the recorded schoolboard meetings are available for viewing online in the district's on the district's website. Executive sessions and inservices for the board meeting members are not recorded. So there ends a reading of the policy. Um I Sarah would would you keep the 30 minutes? >> Sure will. >> And do I have would you be willing Liz? Thank you. Do the three minutes. Okay. Thank you so much. Um so we will move the public comment. We have a public comment in the room and then we have um a public comment online. You may go ahead step towards the mic. Thank you. I will not be disorderly. So, uh, my name is Michelle Sinclair. Um, I've been a Wawaossa resident now
017for 17 years. Um, and I'm the mom of a rising sophomore student in TOSA. And I wanted to talk to you because later today you're going to hear about grading policies and we need to do better. Too many high school students at TOSA West and East are either getting D's or Fs. Nearly 20% of students at Toto Tossa West, that's one in five, got at least one F last fall. That's not a good outcome. It doesn't prepare diverse students for success after high school. My daughter was one of those students who really struggled, and for her, it was an algebra. I don't believe she was ready for algebra, but there were no other options for her in 9th grade. We hired a tutor the first semester. The second semester, I tried to help her. It
018wasn't enough. And I won't go into details about the struggles, but I am here to advocate for education that meets kids where they are, whether they're accelerated or struggling. We need education that allows them to learn, to grow, and succeed wherever they start from. And especially when they're at high school. We need to know that grades impact student motivation, self-confidence, and we needed more options at different paces. So my daughter has three years of high school left and as of today I'm concerned about her GPA um which does impact some technical college admissions. So I'm here again to ask that or demand she deserves access to education and others like her also deserve it. So please provide pathways for all student success. Thank you. >> Thank you for your comment. Uh, I see a comment
019online. Um, Jeremy, um, Bridget Shoka Taylor >> has their hand raised. >> Yep. Bridget, you can talk now. >> Hi. Uh, this is Bridget Shoka Taylor. Um, I just wanted to say thank you to the district for supporting the Wawaossi East Band and our transportation costs for our competitive marching season this year. Um, I I personally am so super excited for these kids and the opportunities they're going to get in the competitive marching season and really hope all of you get to make the show called FIRE. Uh, they they've made a ton of progress and it's going to be awesome. We're super excited about it and we look forward to the continued support from the district and uh we just wanted to say or I personally just wanted to say thank you so much. >>
020Thank you. Is there any other public comment in the room? >> I see none. Um, last call for hands raised online, >> Dr. I >> see none. >> Yeah, I'm sorry to interrupt. >> So, so do you want to say something about public comment? >> Yes. >> Okay. I I think I believe that um in a future uh finance and resource committee meeting there will be a discussion regarding how can a district ensure that school-based budgets have all the resources they need so they can best manage things like transportation for band or supporting young people going to Apsy or there's just there's a ton of opportunities that makes us special and unique. Um, but those items also require funding. And what Mr. Becker and I have found is that there was more of a loose
021process in the district where there would there would be request of either the superintendent's office or the business office to fund raise or to supplement um certain trips and what what our vision uh includes Mr. Becker and I, we would prefer to have those items identified at the school level. So then the schoolbased budget can address those things and if we need to add more money to the school-based budget, then we just simply need to hear from school leaders, this is how much more we need. Um but what we what we want to move away from uh is the need for schools to identify special projects that they need funding from because what it does is it creates inequity across the schools. Um so um and I know Mr. recorder. We'll get into that more
022at a committee meeting uh in the future, but it is really imperative that we build our school-based budgets in a way where we are being very intentional and deliberate in identifying what we have needs for. So then Mr. Ear, he'll put the money in the budget. It's just a matter of identifying what's the needs. Uh, but we have to we have to kind of move away from the concept of let's just send an email to the business manager manager or the superintendent and get an extra $5,000 here or $7,000 there. That that doesn't allow our budget to be very refined and precise. Uh, and that's what we're striving for. So, um, I know that um, Mr. Guardier has requested that we place this on a um finance and resource committee meeting in the future and
023we'll we'll be able to go into it in more detail at that time. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you, Dr. Means. And I think generally we're all continuing to learn the budgeting process and what works best and and how how to do that and who does what. So, we appreciate the the outreach and the comments um on both agenda and non-aggenda items tonight. Um seeing no other um comments, I'm going to close public comment. Okay. So we move to um item number four, the consent agenda. Um are there any items on the consent agenda which board members would like to remove for separate discussion and action? >> Yeah. Okay. remove or talk question or >> um questions. Okay. About the dental insurance DNE. >> Would you like to remove it for that discussion? >> I
024don't think so. >> Okay. >> No, I just um two questions. I'm assuming Miss Alazi will have the answers, but um what are the what's the differences between the two different plans that are on the agenda? >> Uh sure. um the uh the PO plan with Care Plus um that is a fully insured health plan and the only providers that are in network in network with that plan are through Care Plus whereas the self-funded dental plan has a wider variety of of providers that are considered within network for services um uh by dollar amount. the the Care Plus plan provides because of the more narrow network and the discounts they're able to negotiate. Um it provides like on an annual basis a higher per person dollar amount for services, but again um much narrower option
025as for which dentists um our employees and their dependents seek for um for their care. >> And then so employees will pick that during like open enrollment for their what plan they want to choose. >> Correct. Yep. and they um they've done so now uh for a number of years we've had both of these options. The the fact that there are two options is is not new to staff members here. >> And then just one more. So on the contract it says it's going to be for a term of 12 months. Is the dental plan not going to move to the new not because we're doing health insurance for 9 months to switch over to the new plan year. >> All of the plan years will change to July 1. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >>
026That's all I had. Miss Himemer. Um, so we don't need to remove that one. Um, uh, Jason, you have the motion, please. >> Yes. Uh, is recommended that the school board approve the consent agenda and I so move. >> May I have a second? >> Second. Thank you, Miss Himer. Roland. Um, Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Mr. Zinski, >> yes. Mr. Bower, >> excused. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. Mr. Morris, excused. Miss Himemer Roland, >> yes. Dr. Worley, >> yes. Mr. Wier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you. So, um, we now [Music] governance. Yeah, I'm just making sure the right side of the piece of paper. So, we move to number five, which is board governance and um A is action to improve to approve the 2025 2028 strategic plan.
027And we've had quite a bit of discussion. um you did have uh both um the email and also um board docs the updated version of it. So we need to get also being sent around. We need to just look it over one more time. Um see if any there are any comments and qu or questions and then we can move to motion. Well, I'm good. >> Got it. Commit to memory. >> As board members are looking at the uh document, you had a special board meeting earlier this month to >> Yes. >> go over it. Go over this document. Um but maybe I should back up. You had a special uh board meeting in May to get an update on where we were with the strategic plan again on August 4th. Um you then had
028a um I think a very good discussion on August 11th um based on all of those conversations. There have been tweaks made to the yeah >> the strategic plan priority areas where you've included instruction and leadership. Um you've also tweaked substantially the mission statement and the vision statement where that is where the board's direction comes into play. um and uh and obviously the theory of action. So um you've rested with this um since May um but really uh in earnest starting this month in August and so we bring to you this final version of the strategic plan for is is a three-year plan. >> Excellent. Thank you so much also um to to administration staff for all their work and everyone who contributed. It's it was a very engaged process all the way along. Um
029any comments, questions or concerns? Yeah, >> not really a concern or anything. U but in here we did talk about updating the Northstar and I and I do see language in here under section 4. Um and other than that one behind you, is there is that existing northstar like all over the place? is like what do we have >> On the website um I'm just asking as far as like are we is there a bunch of print material we need to place is there I I mean in general um >> yes you talk about >> I love I love where we ended up I hadn't thought about that part of it though I >> I think Mr. air where the board left it was that you you felt that having a northstar and a strategic
030plan was redundant and so you took the language of your northstar and that is now represented in your mission statement. Uh and so we will upon approval this evening if you approve it uh we will make sure that the document in front of you will be prominent um in in all of our materials on our website. um we we in ence we can take this down and now post our our district mission and vision and theory of action um across the district. So what's in this box can become a replacement >> essentially kind of what I was getting at was that we're going to do and I >> yeah I think we did come to the consensus that we thought it should be the fact that we were inspired while we were working on this
031by the um by the north star and to really make that clear that there's the vision, the mission and the action. Okay. So, um, hearing no other comment, um, Sarah, could you read the, um, motion, please? >> Absolutely. And thanks again to everyone who did this work. It is recommended that the school board approve the 2025 2028 strategic plan and ISO move. >> May I have a second? >> Thank you, Heidi Spock. Um, Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Yes. Mr. Bower, >> excused. Miss Faul, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> excused. >> Miss Hammer Roland, >> yes. >> Dr. Worley, >> yes. >> Mr. Wier, >> yes. >> The motion carries. >> Thank you both. And um Mash, thank you in particular for all of your time spent um and your flexibility. Okay,
032we move to part five, letter V. um discussion of the potential WSB resolutions um while uh Wisconsin Association of School Board resolutions for the January state convention. It's my understanding that we have the opportunity to look at this a little bit tonight and then we have one more meeting where this will be coming up. Um we um we were noticed that the we needed to if we wanted to put anything up, we needed to have that decided by the middle of September. So that's why it's appearing on the agenda um tonight. Um so uh neither of our policy committee members are here. Um but you should have had a table that looks like this. >> Um uh in the materials for this evening and it's also posted on the public materials. Um >> did you
033have any comments Dr. means from I know you've been to some of the policy committee meetings that you I mean we've all been talking about some of these but was there is there a particular set of ideas that you think we should be >> considering? I believe that the legislative advocacy um committee will >> Oh, legisl not policy legislative advocacy. >> Yes. Uh I knew what you meant. >> Yeah. No, but I want to be clear for the public record that this is the LAC. the the legislative advocacy committee I believe at their next meeting will take a look at resolutions that they would like to bring forward to the entire board. Okay. um or your consideration. Once the entire board either um approves or rejects these resolutions, then it will be sub they will
034be submitted to the the WSB, the Wisconsin Association of School Board >> school boards um for the entire state to consider at the state convention agenda. >> Right. >> Uh we have I think in the past this board has submitted resolutions um to WASB. I we have been a very diligent um attendee of the resolution day where all the different resolutions from different school boards across the state are discussed. Um, but I I know it's a goal of the legislative advocacy committee to bring forth um some resolutions that reflect our values um and to see where the rest of the state um uh rest in regards to some of the issues um that we have discussed here. Um and there's a there's a myriad of of of items that that will come to you. I
035believe it would be premature to kind of nitpick or um cherrypick, I should say, um which of those items will emerge out of the legislative advocacy committee, but I know that there's energy in making sure that our voice uh is collectively heard as a school system through your board resolutions. >> Yes. And my my recollection is that when we decide who's representing us um and just for new board members as well when we decide um multiple people can go to the conference it's in Milwaukee so it makes it easy for us but we also have one person serve as our representative and they um would be voting um on this and part of what we do in January, early January typically is to decide as a board on the resolutions that are on there. So,
036right now the question is, do we have anything we want to put on there? And so, LAC is working on that. We wanted to notice you that they are and at the next September meeting um they may be bringing something up to us. Um also then every district across the state has the same um option. So, in January, we look at the ones that have actually been put on the agenda for that meeting. um when there is voting that happens >> it's a tight timeline WSB has a deadline of September 15th I believe it is to get resolutions in so ideally there would be at least a discussion at the September 8th board meeting uh where you would have a conversation if there's a resolution that you want to move forward um so I know
037Mr. Morris and Mr. our aware of the type timeline and we'll have some resolutions prepared for you to to u respond to at your September 8th. >> Thank you so much. Yeah, and when I got that message saying this is the timeline, I let the LAC know and asked when if they would like to put anything on. So, it's my understanding that they are looking to bring something to us. So, it's more just a process and word education um piece here tonight um to make you aware um and then this list of potential resolutions. So, so also just note that obviously you can reach out to LAC um if you have ideas um for resolutions that might be reflective of um who we are as a community or important um to to our own work.
038Um, I would do that relatively rapidly if you'd like it on next year's uh the January 26th um otherwise it's not too soon to start developing the January 27 um ideas as well because as you can see it takes some time to get it through the process. All right, thank you for that opportunity um to discuss that um everyone. Uh we will move to um 5C which continues our board governance to something that I put on the agenda which is um board communication. My goal um with putting this uh on the agenda is to pick up from our um our retreat when we were talking about um what policy board governance is. Um we're all growing in that area. board members and um staff and administration and community. We all have a lot of growth
039um to understand what a policy board is. Um and in particular, we had discussed um we've discussed over the last uh several weeks the importance of um having and many board members have asked to what is our communication process? What is our communication um structure? Who says what when? Um how do we respond? So I wanted to um uh bring this conversation we the these meetings our general meetings are our opportunity to work together um as a group uh and so I I composed a um discussion uh sheet besides reposting the board um policy governance model um I mainly put that up because I wanted to remind you about the first uh 10 pages or so that talk a little bit about um what policy um governance is and who does what in a policy
040governance model for a school district. Um and then because none of the scenarios were specifically communicationoriented, although there's many good scenarios and I would encourage us to make time several times in the coming year to take those scenarios um and talk about them. Um, I wanted to create one that was really specifically um about um communication so that we would have that opportunity um to bring our ideas and our questions. Um so I see this as an open discussion. Um I sent out and we posted um um sort of I went through all of the policies that I could find. That does not mean I found all of the policies related to communication, but I basically used the board ducks search function um focused on our um bylaws, which is the part that really regulates
041us as a board um and what we do. And so I pulled out pieces of um several policies so that you could look at those uh 0123 141.143 143.1 144.5 1 162 and 167.5 and 174.3. Um I tried to group the pieces that really speak specifically to um board uh communication. um and asked you to kind of think ahead a little bit for our discussion. First of all, were there any other policies that anyone came up with? Um I'm sure there are some, but for now, is this a pretty good um working list and and I'm not going to call people. We just have a discussion for this part of the meeting. So, feel free to just jump in and Okay. Um and then I asked you to kind of think about um based upon
042this policy governance model um after looking at these are there particular principles that you are thinking of that might shape our communication um there are and and as I thought through this I thought there are several ways in which we're communicating different stakeholders um different um events or opportunities or reasons for that and I started kind of with the stakeholders um and I if and we don't have to go you know through each of these but I was curious did anyone come up with particular um principles that you wanted to share with any of these constituencies could be the public the superintendent the staff other board members um students parents um or any other stakeholders that you were you were thinking about. So looking at our overall um policies, focusing on the policy side of
043this, the policy outline, what how would you describe what the principles that shape our communication? Any thoughts on that? I mean, I can give an example. I mean, one of mine that came up while I was reading this um was the really important besides really always well one would be always tagging our communication where we can to policy that we've agreed on. >> Um a second one that came up for me was the principle of trying to be really specific thoughts. And it doesn't have to be from this list. it can be from your own experiences now of trying to to communicate as a board member. Um something that that I think comes up over and over is this idea that um we have to be clear about when we're speaking as as a represent
044as representing the view of the board versus a personal idea or opinion. >> Yeah. So that's a really key one that of of what's our standpoint when we're speaking because we wear many hats in our role um that in our roles as board members we're some of us are also parents some of us are primary would be besides board member would be community member >> yeah so that so that being really clear about the voice that we're using when we're speaking anything I think being succinct when we're communicating with community members and um serving as a as a person who can point them to who can actually like help them with their concern or um guide them in how to best deal with that issue. M um so I'd say that would be for like
045the public and students and parents >> to be even before we end up responding thinking about what is the who are the who are the people or or positions that would have the knowledge >> um is that us or is that somebody else that does that better in the district and when we don't know um being willing to perhaps ask that you know this question came to me what you know who is it that this really goes to um yeah great what else yeah Jason please follow >> well kind of fitting into the to our newly passed theory of action if adult practices improve other things improve uh so a couple of the things that I've implemented in the last few months um one putting putting the disclaimer of a policy um when there's outgoing
046communication. Uh that way it's very clear where someone needs to go look if they want information on that. Uh number two, I'm uh we all have the ability to set an email um uh omni channel to not go out for like 60 seconds. Uh, I've been using that ever since Gmail put that in like years and years and years ago. Um, because there's always that you hit send and uh I want to look at that again. So, undo. Um, so like the tools and in which and like how we're using the tools I think is a is a very important thing. Um, and then again, another another personal practice that I've adopted um, for a couple years now is I don't ever hit send on an email after I write it. I write it, leave
047it sit in my draft for at least a half an hour and then go back to it and read it and be sure that it's the message I want to say. Uh, because often as you're writing, uh, you're, you know, we're we're all we're all humans. We all have both of those roles, board member and and person. And uh sometimes those edges can bleed over and unintentionally. Um and uh so just doing that little practice I've found has helped out quite a bit. >> I share that principle. Um, it needs to it needs even though it slows down my response time, it it needs for me it needs to sit there and whether that is because I'm speaking as a parent to one of my um students teachers or because I'm, you know, a community
048member or because I'm a board member. I think that pause is a principle that I've been putting into effect and when I don't do it, I see >> um that it doesn't work as well when I do it. It's it's generally >> trying to when when responding when being the first one to respond to something from from an outside question, try to stick with just factual statements andor references to policy, right? And not put subjective material into it. Um because number one, a lot of the communications that we I mean that I've seen you all can probably say the same um are not necessarily things that really should land in our inboxes as a board member. They really because all we all we should be doing is saying you need to re actually redirect this.
049Last thing is just trying again I think I've said this trying to remind people that has policy authority. We are not like we're not um we're not Congress or anything like that. We don't we don't just have sweeping power where we can come in and do a whole bunch of things. So hands and like when that kind of communication comes in really aggressive communication comes at me just kind of tend to put it over to the side because I don't want to be reactionary towards it and andor like you said it's something I do want to respond to and it's I'm not sure practice now is to president Dr. means and either of you may say you know what I don't know the answer either let me bring in legal counsel ask them so to
050the other members and I'm sure the other two will watch this meeting um soon enough like th those are just things in the last few minutes effective and have made life I think made me has Thank you, Mr. White. And I think that this part of that dynamic is, as I think you've articulated well, is that we're often getting communications um that the people sending them don't necessarily know. First of all, they might be reaching out because they don't know what to do next, but that doesn't mean that we are the right people to be reaching out to. Sometimes we are, sometimes we aren't. depends on um what it is that's being asked. So, it's that again appreciate you sharing that structure that you're using and and how that's going forward because it can be
051um it can be overwhelming um to some of the things that come in. I guess there's a lot of almost a lot of humility in navigating a position as a board member. Plus, our policy really comes from years of board members. It's not an individual. It's not like we can turn around and say yes, I want to change this. Um it is a process to to make change and we're on the we're you know on the shoulders of previous board members as well. >> Anyone else um want to throw out any other principles before we look at some other I want to just move us along soon to the question of how do we as a board want to move forward on some of these communication points? Are there specific um ways that we want
052to be um communicating with different groups? any other principles that you've been using, Miss Przinski? >> Um, a principle that I've been thinking about is um that we're uh it's two-way communication. We have a responsibility to to hear hear people's reactions to policy or um what's going on and to or to school programs and to bring those reactions or those thoughts forward to the rest of us around the table. um to help bring voice to our community. >> Yeah. So there is I mean we serve in that capacity of of listening thinking in the big picture is kind of what you're getting at and and trying to figure out what to do with those comments that are sent to us. >> Yeah. and and um so that's a piece I'm trying to get some some
053clarity around like how what is the best way or what is the appropriate way to ensure that those voices are are heard and acknowledged. Yeah, I think we definitely need some clarity there as well. Um before we move on to to that question that Yeah, go ahead. or I guess it's something along the lines of I've been pondering this for months now. Um I I don't know. I would love to see the ability for the board members to have more service is it called in services or retreats or the kind of meeting where we can get together and brainstorm or talk about almost like we're doing right now. talk about topics in an open open public meeting and be able to to bounce ideas off each other because it's really difficult with the open records
054laws. I had an idea I to you means might exchange emails back and forth again with me and then it's it's plain tag and then eventually if there is something that that or something of merit then there's a other communication structure out to the board members. So, and I think I've found a lot of value in those treats or inservice meetings where we can just talk about it right away and or say, "Yeah, that's something we should pursue or you know what? Uh, no, it's like let's not worry about that." >> Yeah, I think there are really, you know, it's great feedback. I think there are a couple of pathways. One is what you mentioned which is if an individual board member um wants to put a topic on they can process it through and
055find out is this something that makes sense. It could be that it goes to committee. It could be it comes to the board first um and then a decision whether you know to send it to committee or we can also have um you know open meeting that has a focus on discussion. One of the things I'm trying to demonstrate with this discussion tonight is I'd like us to have a little bit of time at without making our board meetings even longer, but try to to have policy governance discussions um that that aren't action items um as we as we go forward at at le I would say at least one meeting a month. I know when um Liz and I first joined the board, we had a little bit more of that and then we
056got we had a lot of decisions to make last year and it feels like we just really moved into this routine of you know idea decision idea decision and and it wasn't we had to get through a lot of decisions but in before we took the referendum but I don't want us to necessarily move in that way this coming year. I'd like to see us have more of these generative types of discussions even whether that is in a in a in a regular general board meeting um or um in because it's come up you know in public comment or some other reason um or in if we need more information or we need to have a um an open meeting that's more like includes some training around that topic then we might have like it
057as an inservice um if that makes sense. Um if that's if that's a good model then we'll try um Miss Himemer Roland and I meet with Dr. Means the first Wednesday of the month now to talk about upcoming board um agenda items. So if we like that idea of getting the policy governance discussion having that on more regularly like we've added the superintendent um feedback so that we can put some of these generative ideas in there. I think that's one way to do it. And then if we require more training, then I think I would turn at that point to to adding an inservice so that we can um go get the content we need and have those open discussions. That make sense? It would be awfully nice to have something on the agenda that
058was more than or that allowed us to openly discuss not just reports and action which are important to do but it's we need to have we need to build that sense as a board. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Excellent. And then decide what happens to it. So like does this go to administration or does this go to a committee or do we you know do we send it um to get more information? Do we need training on it? Um, so we'll try to get that. We'll talk about putting that on. Um, I I will remind us that um, you know, that's that you as board members can also bring content ideas forward. Make sure that you're thinking about them in terms of policy. Um, they don't necessarily have it can be an idea and then we
059can figure out like we did with this one how it relates to policy as well. So, thank you for that for that feedback. One of the other points I wanted to make was that during our our um training um and discussion when we had our guest speaker on policy governance, it was mentioned that many boards um have communication not just with the list that we have here, which is where we communicate a lot, but also with other constituencies like the bids um or um we have had some communication in the past with um with the city of Wawaossa and and it really is going through the LAC at this point, which is great. Um, if if there's anything else you think of that, you know, groups or constituencies that we feel we should be building
060communication patterns with, um, we could do that. And then we need to figure out what that, you know, who that is, who's reaching out. Um, so be thinking about that. um if you have ideas or if you run across and as board members you can talk to and we want to be that's part of our purpose is to be listening and talking to individuals and groups in the community but um we might be more effective as a board if we have some of these communications as long as we're not crossing into the administrative side which is where like say take the center street um project that would be a very administrative you know piece But is there a policy for example um there's a lot coming up in the city of Watus as an example
061around zoning um and housing that's coming up in the next year. Um is LAC communicating on that? How is that how is that looking? Because that does have a relationship to um to our school district and family being family friendly in the city. That just be that was one example when I was thinking through this that jumped out at me. Anyone else on other constituencies that you think we want to be connected with? Okay. So, um the I think the given the time um I guess I wanted to make sure that we to to the point that was raised earlier who's doing what. Um some I've been trying to read up on this. Some boards um really leave all communication to individual board members. A lot of boards have a process when and I as
062a board president would love to hear from you all when do you want this because because we get these emails copied to all of us when and we don't want to start a conversation about them >> right >> because we don't want to have a walking quorum but we also I don't think it after a couple of months says I don't feel like it's effective communication um for example when I then respond for you not to know that I have responded But I'd like some guidance from the board about what you would like to see, what would be helpful um when we get um whether it's to the public comment uh that's posted or it's perhaps copied to all of us and it's entitled Dear Schoolboard members, right? What would you all like to see?
063What do you think is is functional as um as a process going forward? I would say, well, there's a lot of different ways I I could put it, but before even thinking about those, I'd say let's and maybe you already have done this. Um, let's not reinvent the wheel. We can't be the first board in Wisconsin or the country that has I'll call it a problem because I think I think it is a problem. It's a barrier for us to communicate with each other. um we can't be the first ones and someone has to have sulted and um and maybe maybe that's a call to action. So I don't I don't know that it's not our spot not our again not our responsibility to figure out the tool and get into the weeds but to
064say hey I think it would be great if we could have someone spend a little time a day or whatever researching what what do others do that what do other larger districts do that have our kind of structure >> Wisconsin is probably the best comparison because it is a specific specific Wisconsin rules. I think that I mean I'm not saying other states don't have they do have open meetings, but I I would think that probably Wisconsin school boards would be the most informative. Um you know, we have some tools we've been using like for information only. Um but when it's I I want us to have a a clarity like if I if it says dear schoolboard members and I respond that does not mean you all can't then individually respond but what doesn't work
065is for you to then reply all. >> Right. Um if we have that understanding do you have a preference for those at least having some sort of acknowledgement from me even if it's not a substantive response. It might sometimes be a we've received this and we're figuring out how to move forward or um how to respond. What What's your thought on that? Or would you prefer that? Because I have been responding to a lot of these. I'm just not always copying you all on it. >> If I can just weigh in, having been a superintendent for a few years now, I've seen boards handle this a lot of different. I've seen boards identify someone who's maybe not the president >> but someone who has the ability to craft a response and then that response says
066on behalf of the board. >> So then there's there's a response it's from the board and you're speaking with one voice. I've seen some boards if there's a theme of certain question that they agenda that on the next meeting. So then they can have an open discussion and then that open discussion is summarized and then there's a mass communication out. So that's a second model I've seen. >> Um the third model that I've seen is that uh and I think Mr. Roier, you you you mentioned this and Dr. Worley, you mentioned this is that always reminding people where they can go to have their questions answered. So, for example, I I observed that this spring you received a lot of emails from families who were traditionally considered tuition waiver students, but with the change in
067policy, they were making a request of the board for reconsideration um to keep their student in the school system. And and so the board very quickly identified that it was an issue that Mr. opinion. I I've seen boards then say, "Well, here's we think that this is a Mr. Pinion issue or um Miss Himeran did a nice job of this. There was an issue with a water fountain um uh around our our facilities and she looped in Mr. Le Fountain right away and uh connected that community member to Mr. Le Fountain. Every spring we traditionally get um questions from community members who will say, "Well, what kind of chemicals do you use on your your your fields and and places where people play?" Just starting to think about those, you know, that some of those
068things are going to come up. Having a a um having a response where you can say, "Here's the staff member that you can go to." Um, I think and I think it's important to note that you want to make sure that people go to the right staff member because you don't it's not that you don't want to engage with people. It's because you want to get the right answer to people, >> right? >> Um, and and I think the more you continue to have these types of public conversations to help people understand how the school district functions. um that that's really important to know because I think we create more frustration for people when they assume that they're supposed to come to the board where in reality if it's a question around how do we
069get services to people um the answer is you want to work with social workers um to get food and clothing to people. if we can cut out two steps and get them directly to the social worker that they're more satisfied and we're more efficient. So those are those are a few methods that I've seen in the past um deployed >> and there are I mean there are different reasons to do each of them. So I almost imagine we need like a flowchart >> like if we had a we've used that in my um Jason we used that it's helped me a lot in my work where you know you know it's like this goes to in my kind of this goes to this dean or this associate dean or this leader in this kind um
070and you have sort of like a yes no and it gets you through um what you should do because I think you know like for example we don't all get all of the emails the ones that um I'm kind of thinking about are the ones where it says dear board members and every one of us is copied and then we're we're trying to not have a walking quorum but at the same time we need to know >> um a little bit about that it that someone's responded >> in one way or another um and help that person get to to where they are. >> If in a case like that, if someone a community member sends an email like that to all of us, if one of us re even if if we if we
071reply all at that point, does that in that instance but and we're really just talking to the person who sent that email. Does that make that a a walking ball? >> No. As long as we're not it's not moving us towards a decision. If you replied, I think what we should do is this, then you're getting on the edge of that. But if you're replying, please look at policy and correct me if I'm wrong here, but please look at policy such and such and this is I think that a great next step would be for you to talk to this person or I as a board member acknowledge that this is an important issue and I'm going to look at how we can put this on discussion. I mean, I think that it's how you
072respond that matters. You're not advocating for an outcome right away. That's where we get into the messiness of have everyone been identified of and if we start talking online about what it should be. So if there was a group an email that was sent to a group of us if any one of us if any just one of us replied to that saying in a sense we hear you and we're responding we want you want you to know we're acknowledging you however we do that then the rest of us know okay that the person is being Miski, I think at the core what Dr. Worley is asking >> that I think you'll have to agenda at another >> meeting. Yeah. Is >> right now the board of presidents designated in within bylaws as your official
073spokesperson, right? That doesn't but just because that's the title that someone holds, that doesn't mean that that is your official spokesperson. You can identify someone else. I I think what I'm hearing from Dr. worldly. I'm going to try to paraphrase what I'm hearing, >> which is but to start to be more efficient and deliberate with your responses, it would be it would be helpful if you just identify someone who is your spokesperson >> who who is going to give the official response back to someone who sends an email that says, "Dear board members." Because when it says, "Dear board members, now you're all you're all frozen. You're not quite sure. Should you respond? should you not respond? And it creates this uneasiness because the community member is looking for a response from the board, right?
074>> Um, >> and so I think that's what I'm >> Yeah. And well, it's a little more precise. I'm not I'm not I don't have a problem with being the person as board president to respond the way we have it written. >> We just haven't had a chance to have that conversation that says I'm going to do that and then please don't all, >> you know, then make a reply. All I think I mean everyone knows that. >> Um but it's when I send a communication for information to you. Well, I can put that on responding to a community member. It's a little awkward. Maybe what the wording is is something like um I'm responding on behalf of the board. Um but you may also get individual emails or perspectives from board members. That's why
075I just want to clarify. I'm okay with how the bylaw is written. I don't know that we need to change that. Um, but I have not been copying everyone because I wanted to put a hold on that because we hadn't had a conversation yet to make sure that that this is the way forward. Um, I'm not requesting an an additional person to do it unless the board really wants that. I I'm more thinking like we are we all on the same My goal tonight was are we all in the same space that these need a global response? Yes, >> we need to say yes, the board is responding. If I'm doing it, I'm going to keep it very specific to policy. >> Yeah. >> And helping um direct it. And if my response doesn't reflect
076where you are at, I have no problem with the rest of you individually responding to that person. I think that's part of what we are as a group. We're going to have different perspectives. I think yeah, I would be very skeptical other than the main level of which cabinet member and superintendent to direct it to trying to flart something like that. It's going to end up looking like the movie where the detective is. >> Yeah. Well, it >> and it's just going to be all over the place because it's and and maintaining something like that as someone who has to do that as a day job. Um that is not a fun thing to maintain documentation on ever changing processes and policy changes every every meeting. So then all of a sudden you have to
077figure out oh does any of these changes affect the flowchart the master flowchart. >> Okay. Then what if if are folks okay with that idea that initial response will come from the schoolboard president trying to identify where this person could go and what policy or if this is really an administrative um question you'll be copied on it for information um and then if you want to move forward with your own communications you're welcome to do that but you you all would not be including everyone and if I am gone or out of town then I would hand it to uh Miss Himemer Roland if if she's around. If not, then you know it would just go down the miss the clerk. It would just go down the list to to take care of that. Does
078that make sense? >> So related to Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. >> No, I think that's really helpful and to be to know that that's that we're all CCed on it, then we all hear that same >> response. >> Yeah. And I'm mostly going to focus that on because I might get some that aren't to everybody. Right. Right. But the ones that come and again, we've had some requests to be a little more attentive um to public comment that's given to. >> So um and I would also ask board members feel free if you feel like I've missed something to send me an individual email as a board member to say, "Hey, I think you missed this public comment. We should be responding to it." um you know not not everybody but send it to
079me and I'll that will help me elevate it as well too. Um >> okay >> if you get something that you think has come only to you and sometimes we can't tell so this is going to be imperfect but please please don't feel like you need to hold back. Um you're you were elected to be responsive to to the community. Um, we're just in this, you know, important, it's open meetings serve a really important purpose and I very much support that the public has access to our conversations. That makes sense. Okay. Um, related, we're almost done here. Related to that, we have and this is more we we don't we're not looking we don't have the policy on the agenda specifically tonight. Um other than we did we do have that um point of that
080when we have to copy the superintendent. Um I just wanted to I wanted to put on the question. Um it feels like there is uh some conversation that's been evolving um for us and thinking it would be great. I would suggest to have the policy committee um take up the 0144.5. Um there are you're going to learn there are some policies that just keep coming back. Um they're like our boomerang policies and you know they're um they're important that they're key to who we are and what we do as a district. Just to to continue there was um some possibility even to think about what language might be better um and you know where and this would be a policy where we'd want to seek legal review when we do have that language. Um, so
081I would I would encourage us to pass that on to the policy committee and let you all start to work on that a little bit. Yeah, Jason. Um, if if that happened, uh, would there be a way other than than just sitting in the room and giving my own public comment for the rest of us to go into that specific policy meeting, knowing that one is going to be talked about and reviewed and be able to hear what what you guys the other decision makers are talking about so that I can already have a advanced knowledge of, okay, if this is the direction they're taking it. um they may not have it ready yet and I then I may be able to email the policy any either one of them or both to like kind
082of give my input but we can't really say in the room necessarily or >> well so as a board member you if so so the point would be I think I'm correct me wrong I think I hear you saying this is a particular policy because it's in our bylaws so when you're doing bylaws type policies these to make sure the board members are alerted. I mean, they're going to be on the agenda, but for that policy committee meeting that that people, Is that what you're saying? You'd like to know when it does end up on the agenda? And absolutely, as a board member, you can send comments to the policy committee for that or come to the meeting. >> Yeah. So, this is the community. >> So, specifically, I mean, you know, a lot of
083stuff thrown at us uh all all week, every week. Um, and it's sometime it's really hard to keep up with what's getting talked about when and also priority shift things happen. So like in particular if there's two or three hot topic that we know are bouncing back maybe make it part of some sort of update to say the plan is the policy committee is going to be discussing this particular policy at the next meeting. This is just an FYI for board members and the community uh to to go in and and hear the comments and then the the community has their their own way to be able to chime in after the fact to give their opinion by public comment. Um board members then choose their their opinion as a citizen with public comment and
084then and then and and or give their member of opinion to policy. >> Would you like to see something different than we do now which is reading one which then they work on it then it comes here. we have an opportunity because it's on the agenda as does the community to give feedback and then the feedback and it does it can come multiple times because then it comes around too but if we're not ready to take action it comes back yeah we actually have what you just described um but maybe you're asking >> I was clarifying whether that was true it sounds like yes that's true um but but I think you hit it on the head >> the the current current cycle if you will. It's It's good. It's It's It makes sure that
085we cover everything, but it's very slow. >> Well, I guess. But what was demonstrated earlier this year is that a board member said, "I want this I you can you can if you are working on something, you can ask the P just like the administration can ask the policy committee to move something forward. They don't go in numerical order. There is an there is a cadence I don't want, you know, to mess up what you all are doing. You know, the 600s, 6000s, 7,000s, 8,000s, but we move that around when there is something that needs to happen. So, you know, a board member could at any point email our policy committee. I wouldn't copy everyone on it, right? But there's two people on there. So, you can email the policy committee, either one or both
086people, and say, "I want this on the agenda." Why? So in practice, any board member could email two current people that are on whatever policy committee. So I'm trying to generalize for future boards and whatever. >> And then also copy you as board president. So you're you're aware that there might be some shifting as as the agenda. I mean, the policy can be, but I don't necessarily have to be copied on that because they're going to they're going to bring up their policies and then it's going to come onto the agenda. The other route is for you to say, "Oh, I don't want to email two people. I just want to email one and I'm going to email the board president. I want this on the agenda." Right? But you don't have to. You can
087make an agenda request to the committee to cover it. And I I personally have done that in the past. That's good to know. Um and then lastly, uh my my opinion on this would be is that while I do like the process we have and I think it's thorough, um I think we have weakness of it is that we end up sitting at a board meeting at the end of it's always a long board meeting too, right? We have a long board meeting and then we've got a packet of all these policies that I've gone through them earlier that day out what I want to ask about but then sitting here after a very long day with your heads kind of scrambled then we're also trying to access or assess these I don't know sometimes
088the packet is that thick of policy so um it's really difficult for me personally to go through that and say and if it were up to me I'd probably say take half of these and throw them out for later I can only process I only have enough bandwidth for 15 of them any given night to really put deep thought >> I'm going to say that we can't really discuss that tonight because we're not agendaized to discuss policy but um the eb and flow of the policy committee but you know there have been some strategies um and I think we could open those up again for policy committee to figure out how things flow for us as a board. Um maybe we want to put that on a future agenda as governant under the governance title.
089Um you know we're we're strapped a little bit because we have if we've talked about this at meetings under policy we have a lot we're trying to catch up on. Um so so but but heard that the communication isn't necessary but know that you can communicate to the policy committee and ask um for an item or a particular policy to come up even if it's not scheduled right away. Yes. Is it appropriate to send a a communication to all of us saying um please be sure to in preparation for the upcoming board meeting, please be sure to attend um to uh prepare to discuss or like to bring focus to a couple of >> months key ones, right? So, like yours, there's a lot in there. Um, and not all of them are have the
090whole hold the same conversational weight maybe >> because I want to keep us just on communication as our topic. Yes, >> I I would say >> this is a great example. I'm going to bring it back to communication. Yeah, >> if you as a board member have something that's on the agenda that you want communicated out to all board members, please send it >> via the administration. So, send it to Dr. Mean's office or to Miss Summers and say, could you, and here's what I, you know, could you send this out to all board members, right? >> Okay. >> Specifically to how we eb and flow policy, I think we should put that on an agenda coming up because I don't want us to stray too far. Yeah. >> Tonight from what we have on
091the agenda, but it's it is because we're policy governance. It is key that we come up with an eb and flow. There is some pieces even in what we have for tonight. There is some guidance that says there are there are ways to for the policy committee to not treat all the process the same every time. Like there are things that a superintendent can do. there are things that the policy so we we need and we'll I think we'll highlight that if if that's what folks want as our next board governance discussion is how to get our policy work um more effective. Does that >> speak to what folks are asking? >> Yeah. Okay. Good communication. >> Love that. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, but know that that's another piece of communication is utilizing um
092where it makes sense. Like when I wanted to send this document out to you all, you got it from Miss Summers, right? Rather than from me sending it out and I was that's a demonstration of a way to make sure that everyone has this kind of content and it's posted publicly, right? but it but it still um was generated from a single board member. Okay, so that's a great communication example. Um all right, so looking at the time and thinking about our energy, um I I don't know that we need to cover the scenarios scenario that I wrote for tonight. I mainly wanted to get you thinking about I think we've had a really good thoughtful discussion about how we're going to communicate and I appreciate you all putting some ef some some work into
093this ahead of time. Any other >> imagine that this particular one probably comes back around every every quarter or something like that as a >> all of our curriculum revisions but yeah. >> Yeah. like to just letting the board talk about our how we're going to be communicating with each other. >> Yeah. >> Um that just may be a and this is this was a long one, but in the future it could be a five or 10 minute >> thing just to just say here's a refresher. Does anybody have anything? And then the answer might be no and that's it. >> That's helpful. And and part of the reason I put this on is that our bylaws actually say that the board president is supposed to make sure that members of the board have governance
094training um as they come on and as we all grow. Every one of us is growing. So yeah, no, I think it makes sense to check back in and if you have ideas like this generated that discussion of what what are we going to do to make our policy work more effective and and useful and if you have other things that come up where you think we know we have discussions coming up for example on other topics please just reach out to myself or Mr. and and get that started. So we make sure that's coming in under the governance governance piece when when we put it on the agenda. >> Great. Thank you so much. So we finished number um five and we're going to um move to strategic goal number six on the agenda
095strategic goal six which is our um monthly financial report. Um thank you Mr. Eer for being here. A reminder that for those well healed and those who are new um there was a video presentation posted um and there is usually monthly and thank you for putting that together um and helping us understand what looks like this time of the year. >> Of course, this is the um probably be the quickest and least exciting financial report of the year. Um we're just one month into the school year. Uh, as probably most people know, um, with our I'm going to share this in a second. Uh, with most of our staff not working in the summer, we we barely run any payroll even. So, our expenses are extremely low in the summer. One second, please. So um
096that's the reason why there isn't a lot of excitement uh with the the current month. So um just stating here what uh what I just said. The other thing I want to note is salary increases haven't been given to any staff group yet. So we're seeing um as we should salaries running slightly lower than budget. Uh that's because at some point should we give increases to staff um there'll be back pay that will catch people up. But right now everyone is getting paid uh under last year's contracted rate. So we're seeing kind of a a lower trend there. So uh here you can see um for instance our total revenues uh typically we would have expected 007 of 1% to come in July. So almost nothing and we received almost nothing. So uh these speedometers
097are just an indicator of that uh on both the revenue side and um the expense side there's almost no activity uh in July relative to the whole budget anyway lot lot is happening in terms of people working but expense wise not a lot uh here you can see picture of our total revenues uh with a bar chart and again um what I want to emphasize here is the scale of this this graph uh is the same uh view every month but the scale bill changes. So you can see here the the maximum of the scale here is um $.1.1 million. So again very uh small amount of money uh received in July. On the expense side, very similar. Uh we're trending, you know, almost exactly as we'd expect with expenses, but again, we're one month
098in. Uh very few expenses so far. Uh I'd recommend um much like I did last year that we really get a handle on where we're trending with expenses after uh about our first quarter. So at the end of September and by that time we will have run three teacher payrolls too. So that gets us a good understanding of exactly where we're at. Our first teacher payroll is actually um the 30th, whatever date that is. So uh probably Friday is when first teacher payroll will go out. Then here's a view of our expenses. Uh um and here's the scale too. Here we're comparing last year to this year. So you can see on both graphs, lefthand side is last year, uh right hand side is this year. Uh very little activity either year. So you know,
099very similar in terms of activity. And then even um uh a projection, you know, while I give one to the board each month, like I said, um really we start to uh have more uh confidence in our projections after the the first quarter. But you can see right now are projecting a I guess a deficit overall of about $20,000. But but again, uh take that with a grain of salt after after one month. Any questions on the July financials? Seeing none, thank you very much for your report. We'll move to um letter B, action 6B, action to approve architect contracts secondary planning. Thank you, Mr. Lefountain, for being here. attachment time. >> Did you send >> uh what was in the uh was in the agenda? Would those have automatically put you? >> Um no,
100no, we sent it directly to her. So, let's can I pull up the website or >> Yeah, you can. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Tim. Thanks everybody for waiting. Um, I presume the attachment would have been in there. Okay. Um, thank you for the time to get ready. >> Sure. >> So, uh, in front of you both right in front of you in the packet. Share it. >> Share need to share it >> on Zoom. >> Is it in the folder? >> Are we able to share? Is this being shared for >> virtual viewers? >> No, we're not seeing it on our screen. There we go. >> There it is. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Julia. Is this proper? No, >> we can see it now. >> Thank you. All right. So, with
101before us right now and I I would like to um first introduce or reintroduce to the board uh these gentlemen that uh agreed to be with us tonight, Mr. Steuart Lar Rose from uh Zimmerman Architectural Studios. Uh Mr. Chad Bathky from Findorf and Dave Chimalooki project uh executive from Fendorf as well. Uh Mr. Nick Kent uh regrettably could not be here from P. Uh but he is available for questions if we had any could call him tonight or report back to the board. Um so with us in front of us we have the B112 AIA document and the B11 uh AIA AIA document. Both of these uh contracts um uh represent the level of work that P and Zimmerman will engage on collectively uh but individually with their own contracts. Um the exhibit E205 that's
102attached to bulk contracts uh represents their responsibilities throughout that process in uh all the way from uh secondary planning through green referendum and and and so on wherever it takes us. Um it will determine the ident uh and identify the responsibilities of both the design architect which is BRA and the architect of record which would be Zimmerman uh architectural studios. Uh regardless of their role in each contract they are both formally engaged from beginning to whatever end there is in our process. Uh just some items to point out and I use the Zimmerman contract as an example. Uh because there are things that I would be asking questions on if I were in your position. Uh 3.1.1 goes over the um scope of work for each firm. Um and 3.1.8 goes into more detail um
103regarding phase one which is secondary school planning and preref services and uh phase two which would be post potential post referendum services if that was the direction that the board went um in 4.2.5 2.5. Um there is a statement in here that identifies um the I guess you could say the term of contract. Um and in this case um where it's stating that if the services covered by this agreement have not been completed within 72 months of the day this agreement through no fault. uh any other further work that would occur would be an additional expense. Um and that's covered for both the Zimmerman and P contracts. Um in the PRA document, it's a it's labeled as a draft document under and under 6.2 and 10.4.1 there was some language uh language that we were
104working out today that we came to an agreement agreement upon. So, we have a final document that that uh addresses that concern. Um, and then 11.1 I'll point out in closing uh addresses compensation. Um, and that you may remember when we first bid out services. Um, we had a fee structure and the fee structure and compensation is represented under article 11 uh in both contracts. And with that, I can open up to any questions in particular. >> Hey, board members, what do you want to ask about or have a need to know? Um, I I might just if I could just tee it tee it off with the So, this is for something that we have a committee working on and just to help the community understand. Um you did talk about this previously when
105we you know talked about selecting the vendors. Why have a contract now? Why be committing funding to it? Um these are f what the scope of work here is really to work with the secondary planning process. Not this is not commit us to a particular model but it does get us the the research and information that we need to make a decision. So is that a good way to think about it? >> I think that summarizes it well. what I would I would look to um on the P contract that it's a little easier to read because it's because of in the form it's in but under 3.1.1 um this is all that it the contract is about. It's about providing phase one planning services. And if you would choose to go to referendum, pre-referum
106services, better to have that contract worked out now than to try and do it 6 months from now or 10 months from now. Um, so the contract lines it up for all possibilities, but you're not committed to any any one of those. It doesn't commit you to any kind of modeling plan. um it does lay out their responsibilities to work with the district and the committee and the services they'll provide through that. Uh and then phase two is is simply if there was a referendum and it was successful. This is you have an architect of record and a design architect already at on contract. All the negotiation has happened already. we already know the fees um or those post referendum services. >> Thank you for summarizing that. >> Does that help clarify it too? >>
107Yeah, >> Jason. >> So again, you said this was for um that's for the secondary committee and it's it's more to provide them with the resources to help them get from A to B, right? >> The board too. So the deliberative process all the way through. Yeah. >> Community members. >> Um so for me um I'm I've tried go through these not a lawyer and I'm not in construction. So at this like I a hard time wrapping my head around what it is we're being we're being asked to to vote on and take action on here tonight. Even though we've had several discussions and discussions in the financing resource, aside from it, uh it's hard it's hard to look at and understand. So, I just wanted to make sure that in in very simple layman's
108terms for me u like that is what we're voting on is basically authorizing firms to help the secondary committees and if so it's like the pricing is in there and I have as a board member I may not even be here when this work starts so I have to >> think for me, I have to lean on um power of delegation and and lean on you to say, is this the is this the right thing? Um you started the conversation off pointing out if I were in your shoes, I would look at these sections. uh and and haven't we've glossed over them quickly, but as far as putting deep thought into those sections, >> um I have a hard time voting on that uh without that prior knowledge. And and again, I was someone who
109could read a read these contracts, it would be a different story, but I'm I'm just getting lost in them as I start to go through. >> Yeah, those are really good questions. The AIA documents, there's several different versions of them out there depending upon the agreement between an owner uh and and the construction manager or the architect. Um I will uh state a couple things. These architectural contracts and the construction manager contract you're going to look at next are very similar to what was approved for the work we're doing now for 2024. Okay. Those contracts for 2024 refering work and this one have both been reviewed uh by Kurt Weeble House from Building Solutions uh our owners rep. Kurt has an extensive now background in construction and developing these contracts. That's what he does for
110a living. Um so with with his with his oversight and guidance, my involvement working with Kurt, I'm confident that for what the district is engaging in, these these contracts represent uh uh the best your best interest moving forward. And and I pointed out the fee structure because it to the point of were things bid out we a lot of that was talked about months ago how we bid this out that is that's the result of that we did bid it out and those those bid results are in the contract and then everything has to abide by that. Then as a followup, um the secondary committee, I I don't know where they're at in their process, have been specifically trying to silo myself from it because I'd like to look at it with with fresh unassuming
111eyes. But I do remember seeing the infographic that was sent out many months ago of like options. I don't know F or whatever it was. Uh and one of those options that we had talked about that Dr. Me has has mentioned is we have the option to do nothing. >> Uh and what what are we being I guess my question is if we decided on the option to do nothing um what are we on the hook for with these contracts? Well, as I stated, I think it was in 4.25, the the term of 72 months, if all this planning and discussion and work and modeling happens and nothing happens, like you said, we're only obligated for the fee for the services that were outlined, that lump sum amount. That's all we're obligated for. We're not
112obligated to go to referendum. We're not obligated to hire an architect. uh it and the contracts laid out that way in as these things progress, we have everything lined up to address that. >> Maybe can I take a stab at answering this another way? >> Um what what So yeah, Kevin outlined uh in the contract exactly what we're I'll say on the hook is fair enough for um which is services to get to work with the committee all done. Um, so we're we're paying for the architects to work with the committee um so that they can reach some kind of recommendation to bring to the board. Um, typically that's best practice is when when you begin uh some kind of facility study, you would bring an architect on board and you would have a contract
113with them. Um I was a little surprised that that isn't what we did in the uh last study which um required us to do some catchup uh later on. So we we essentially worked informally with P, then we went out to so they did all this work. Um then we went out to bid and it the the the process just seemed weird to me because they had done all the work and now we put together what needed to be done and then we went out to bid to have a kind of a a you know true open bid process. Um we wanted to do that on the front end of this referendum. So, not excuse me, we haven't said we're going to refer him of this study. Um, so that we weren't trying to catch
114up with an architect at another point or have someone do work now only to go out to bid later, potentially bring someone in later. So, all we're asking for right now is um for their work during the study. should we decide to advance, then we already have the contract in place for the architects to to work on whatever that next step would be to and they've outlined the terms and we put all of that out to bid. Um, and this is the the best value we could find for the district. >> Is it also fair to say that the community wanted a facility study and reached out to the sitting board members at that time? Um the board said we need um to look at the secondary needs and we didn't take action on secondary
115and now this is part of that larger picture of of looking at that and with a wide range of possible outcomes but the this would make it a better informed set of outcomes instead of thinking oh pie in the sky we'd love to do this and then later on finding out that that's not even possible or something we would consider costwise. We're really looking in some into it's a thoughtful investment in that process to make sure we come up with a really good >> um plan uh and a good sense of direction rather than than multiple times going through this. So, first having brainstorming then finding out that we can even do some of those >> items. Is that is that a fair way to think about it? >> Yeah, all all fair stuff. And
116and Scott's example, the 20 uh 24 work is a really good example. If if we were to just hire an architect just to help us with secondary planning and then you decide to go to referendum, we got to start that all over again. Got to go out to bid. Then the potential is that an architect that wasn't involved on the planning is now your architect. Is that a good that's not a best practice and that's not a good place to be in. Right? So, we attack we attacked it all at one time. And to what we're on the hook for, I'll point out again in 11.1. Phase one, the bid amount was a lump sum fee of $38,000 to provide those secondary planning services. That's what we're on the hook for. Phase two, projects resulting
117from a successful referendum. If they result, if there's a successful ref referendum, we have the fee structure already bid out and in the contract and all best interests are being uh addressed. I think >> said uh 37 I'm trying to find >> 38,000 page 19. >> Page 19 on the P >> first contract the P. >> Sorry, I was looking at the Zoom. And we are voting on these two in tandem. Correct. >> Correct. Because they are they are linked and on the uh article 11 for Z are in the secondary school planning um and their facility study that bid amount was 67,500 on page 17. That's what we're on the hook for if you want to put it in those terms. Um and again in phase two, the same wording in there for Zimmerman
118is projects resulting from a successful 2026 referendum. Um the and the projects the both contracts reference each other especially when you get down to to the ET E205 um which is on page E205 architect school responsibility matrix. What links both of these contracts together is this this exhibit where we outline all of the services that the design architect and the architecture record are going to provide from point A to the end with the column of responsibility. Right? So that E205 is an attachment to both contracts and they're the same document. So, and by layman's terms, we're voting to commit ourselves to roughund thou $45,500 for architect services to work with the secondary committee so that they can get to a recommendation. >> Well, I I think it's to provide guidance to the committee, >> right?
119So if they have questions on the modelings that are out there or the committee wants another modeling >> what services they can provide to get them where they're at now to be able to give a recommendation to the board, right? >> And and guidance to the board as well. >> Guidance to the >> Okay. Um and then and again I'm I am I'm only saying like going very on the very extremes. So, one extreme we say no pass or we're just going to we're going to hold right now that's what is paid out that we're we're all okay with that services were provided. So, I would think that it was it would be fair to say yeah that that compensation sounds or uh and then on the other extreme uh we go ahead with it.
120It's this is still that that the service was provided, we pay that out and then whatever whatever the board votes on, whatever comes to the board or votes on whether or not it needs a referendum, however big the scope of work is at the end of the day, then it's percentage based. Correct. Of what? >> Upon a successful referendum. Yes, that's what I upon approval of funding or however we want to put it. >> Then we have that percentage laid out in this uh in this government document. It's on page uh 18. That fee structure is already lit uh laid out. Again, it was bid out and the fee structure is set up based upon whether there's um remodeling or new construction >> and the earlier finance meeting and then what you prepared for us
121I think was because I was I was more focused on that percentage base. >> That's the bigger >> nugget or chunk if you will. Yeah. Um and and everything that you showed us in that meeting I believe percentages go. So I I don't have for the rest of the board. I don't have concerns about like seeing those percentages. We don't even don't need them. But if we do, we've seen a roughly the same percentages from >> a bunch of different >> and for full transparency, it's great that you're sharing that. um and also that um what those percentages are so that should we decide to move forward um we know that that's that's been established in um our in our process way. I could I tag on I think a question that some people in
122the community might have is um is that a roughly 105,000 already figured into the budget that we drafted or is that something that we'll come up with if we vote for this that will then be an adjustment? >> Well, we're going to have multiple adjustments throughout the year. Sure, but I think people want this has been built into the budget. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Other questions? Yeah, if there's any questions for Steuart from Z design, I'm sure he'd be happy to ask ask them anything that would be particular to him. >> Hearing none. Um, Miss Bach, could you um It is recommended that the school board approve the architect contracts for secondary planning and ISO move. >> May I have a second? >> Thank you, Mr. Okay. Um, Miss Summers, please call the roll.
123>> Rosinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> excused. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> excused. >> Miss Hammer Roland, >> yes. >> Dr. Wley, >> yes. >> Mr. Wier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. >> Okay. Next item is the relatable uh instruction manager contract review. Um, again, uh, working with Kurt Weeble House from Building Solutions. This is, uh, it's still in somewhat of a editing form, but this is the final, uh, version to, uh, be reviewed and approved. Um, things to point out on here. um in the A133 on section uh article 1.1.3 I'll bring to your attention >> four of that diagon >> yeah uh the owner's budget for the guaranteed maximum price as defined in article six Um, I'm sorry. I want to go to point 13. Thank
124you. Um, on precon services, pre-construction services goes into detail. Um, I thought I had it here. Let me skip forward to 5.13. Excuse me. Here we go. I'm sorry. Reconstruction phase is covered in 3.1. Um and we go on it goes on in further detail uh going over consultation project schedule phase construction cost estimates as we progress to 5.13 under compensation pre-construction uh facility planning and pre-rep services um included in this contract. And it goes on to state um if a referendum is not asked, this contract may be extended by mutual agreement. If a random question is asked and does not pass, the amount due to the construction manager is $17,500. That is for and there was that document you mentioned in finance and resources, Mr. Why do you were I laid out the bid
125results for >> We've also seen it here too. Last last month we we saw it here as well. >> Yeah. Correct. Yes. Thank you. Um we bid out all the services for the fees for construction and the fees for preref services and assistance with the facility study that Zimmerman's doing. Um so when we talk about what we're obligated to in this contract, that is that dollar amount. again that was bid out. Um the reason it's stipulated in here that an amount due is that it is written in Findorf's bid proposal uh that upon successful completion of a referendum they wave that fee. >> Okay, great. Thank you. And in 6.1.2 Two, again, upon successful ref upon a successful referendum, the owner will identify the scope of work that the construction manager will be responsible for.
126The fee scale will be applied based on the total cost to work for all projects awarded to the uh construction manager. And again, this is their fee proposal as compared to all the other construction managers that provided proposals. we did last month as well. >> Uh related to that, when we talk about I mentioned before in the architecture contracts kind of like a a sunset uh when if this goes on too long, uh things just kind of stop and anything we ask for beyond that date is an additional service. Um the construction manager contract breaks everything into two phases. precon services and and a construction phase service as laid out in this whole document. All precon services are included in the 175 that I mentioned. Um if completed by November of 2027 for 20 for
12726 months. Um again that precon will be credited back to the to the district upon successful referendum. Um once the precon phase is complete uh we have it written in here that there is up to 36 months in duration um for the construction phase to take place. So hypothetical referendum passes on this date. We have a three-year period for the construction phase. So that's outlined in this document as well. >> And that aligns with the the timing of the other do the other contracts that we just looked at. Okay. >> And it would be well past any I believe any hypothetical referendum questions. >> Okay. >> Any other questions about this particular contract or comments? >> Question one three. Uh it references the long range facility master. Um, can you elaborate on line item? It's
128uh page seven. >> Yes. Uh, the item the line the wording in red. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, in conjunction with Zimmerman Design, Zimmerman architectural studios and their engineer, Howard Engineering, they're actually they're engaged right now in another facility assessment for the four secondary schools. And we wrote it into our bid document and our our request for proposals. We want we were requesting that the awarded construction manager would support um both the secondary planning process. So they will be at the table with that group providing guidance as well and um facility study um that they will collaborate with the architect Zimmerman in that facility study to help them with any uh scope of work scenarios as they do the assessment, any costing scenarios so that when we have that assessment we have accurate cost
129estimates and that is uh a role that we We would like the construction manager to have it and that and that's why that's stipulated there. >> So the this is a question more to try to make sure everyone's on the same page. Um the long range facilities plan we see that that term pop up all all the time. I see comments. I see it uh pe people asking questions about it. people uh we see in these contracts. Um can you just give a a general 101 of again just what that is, where we have it, and how these contracts would affect that. Um, even when a referendum was passed, I'm trying I'm trying to tee you up for give the 101 of because there's a lot of there's a lot of people that maybe don't
130know we have these we have plan things planned out or that a lot of uh your processes and structures take uh address a lot of >> more buzz word type things. Am I making sense? >> There is an existing >> It is an existing document that we have >> updated >> that will will have to be updated again. Um and and as we conduct the the reassessment of the secondary schools, that would be something that would be updated in our long range facility master plan. >> Where for the public? Where is that long range? >> I think it's on the website. It's yeah, it's under >> it's in our website. I'm not sure specifically where, but >> I I'll add an amendment to that. Um t typically uh and we either talked about this at
131policy committee or uh financial resource. I'm getting my committees they're jungled in my head. Um what I brought up there is when I see the word plan, uh typically what I think of is there's an identified issue and a plan to address it. Um, we're we're we worked on that with our elementarymentaries. We're working on that now with our secondaries. Um, I I would submit that we don't have an actual plan for the district. We we are identifying what our issues are and Kevin has done an outstanding job of doing that. But when you are at a district that is dealing with decades of deferred maintenance and there isn't funding to support it, I I there is not a plan to get us where where we would like to be. Um part of that is
132because in Wisconsin, the community has to vote to approve money for such a plan. So we can develop uh what the needs are. We can develop a facility study. The part that we can't plug we can plug in what the cost would be, but I think it's unfair to say that we have an actual plan to get us to an end point because we don't have the funding at this point. >> Mhm. >> Very well stated. So >> more of a vision like that you're building is that kind of >> Yeah, Scott made a really excellent point. You can call it a long range facility plan, you can call it a master plan. Um, and we can define it in different ways. I I use the example of we have a building envelope plan kind
133of we have a roofing plan. That's just looking at our roof, our inventory of roofs, looking at the expected useful life of them and putting roofs in a zero to five, 5 to 10 year, 15 to 20 year area with so we have a plan and when you can expect to replace those roofs, right? That's all great, but if I don't have the money to do the work in year five, it's just a plan you keep kicking down the road. Um, so we can do all any all variations of that. Um, but I I think what the district has now is a start. Um, and we can take it anywhere that is desired. >> So it be fair to say that have a better plan schools since they've a lot of this stuff already and
134you know like figuring out. Okay, what's deferred maintenance? But like you've you've already done that. >> Yeah, I think the deferred maintenance stuff is just to keep them open in a sense, but there is some there is some reference in the plan near the end where there's a recommendation about a cadence. Remember >> has appropriately identified that the current plan as described is lacking a financial component to it that you can then execute. There's no doubt about >> correct. However, prior to that document being developed, the board asked administration to develop. So, what are the needs? >> Yeah. >> So, we didn't even know what the needs were. We we had no clue what the needs were. So, do we now have a running list of what the need what what are the deferred maintenance
135needs? Yes. Do we have a financial plan to then finance those deferred maintenance needs? We do not. I don't think that that places us in a position that is any un any different than most other school systems in Wisconsin where and I think that's actually good planning that we can at least identify what our deferred maintenance issues are. Can we then identify what the the financing plan will be for addressing those deferred maintenance issues? We do not. And just like we went through the process nearly two years ago to engage the community to see if they were even interested in moving forward in addressing the deferred maintenance needs for the five remaining elementary schools. We went to the public. We shared with them here's our deferred maintenance needs. Here's how much it's going to cost
136to address those deferred maintenance needs. Are you interested? The community then said yes. We know that you have four new schools, you have five existing schools, and here's the cost to address to address the deferred maintenance of those five schools. That was that was a healthy engagement process. What you've been discussing for the last few minutes is exactly the same process we've start we start we're starting over again for the secondary schools. While we made a recommendation administratively um nearly a year and a half ago now of saying that we believe that we should go to a 712 model in essence closing two schools to help with the deferred maintenance needs. The fact remains we know that we have a large looming issue with our deferred maintenance at the at the secondary schools that cannot
137continue to be k down the road in terms of an issue. That's where we are. So yes, do we have an identification of the needs? We do. Do we have a financial plan to address those deferred maintenance needs? We do not. That's the whole purpose of engaging a group of stakeholders who are going to look at things. That's why we wanted to have an architectural firm on on site and a construction firm on site because that stakeholder group could get very creative, look at all the different options we created and say, "We don't like any of these. We have ideas. Can we work with the architectural firms? Can we work with the construction firms? Can we imagine something else? So those models that administration created was was just simply a starting point. That's all it
138is. >> And in the brief time that we've had with the secondary ad hoc committee um which was in May where we toured our four secondary schools and this summer where we t we toured um other schools around the state. I suspect that they are going to likely come up with their own ideas, which is ideally what we want. Um, and what we didn't I would I would say that these two agenda items is more of a research and development uh arm for the ad hoc committee. Um, and it was a blind spot for the task force work that we did two years ago. We didn't give the task force the ability to do research and development with experts. We didn't give them that. And so there was, as I look back on that process,
139there was some spinning. There was a lot of spin for that committee because they were asking us questions that we had to hurry back and try to get answers answers for. >> I think we're being more proactive this time around and saying, "Here are the experts. We don't know where you're going your your imagination is going to take you but let's go forth and address it. So conclusion highlevel headlines yes we have identified deferred maintenance needs we don't have a financial plan to deal with it. Do we want to in do we want to give our ad hoc committee um research and development tools? Yes. And that's what you're voting on this. you voted on one, now you're talking about the second one because if they don't have access to it, then I think their
140great ideas will only be ideas in theory only. So I I'll try to repeat that and then my words to make sure I understand. So what we're doing tonight, we we already started vote on again. We'll we'll finish it is we are essentially funding a discovery phase for that secondary ad hoc committee. Just something that really wasn't done that the last time around and and people have commented on it and we all kind of agree, yeah, we we should could have done better. Here's one of the things we could have done better and going to do it better this time around. >> Yes. >> And this amount is also in our already accounted for in our budget. >> I would just conclude by saying, yep, we learned a lot from the the the 2075 task
141force. And when you consider the scope of both the 2075 task force and this secondary ad hoc committee that it is massive. It is it is massive to talk about especially a school district of four secondary schools to discuss. So what do you do with boy I mean when you take the the four secondary schools the deferred maintenance number on those four schools is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. >> Yeah. Correct. And and so most school districts, they just simply kick the can down the road. What we're saying is pause. Everyone stop. We we have a an issue that we need to address, but we want to do it well. And I I I think when you consider the scope that the the 2075 task force um addressed, it was substantial and they
142did good work. We've learned from that process and we I think the main thing that we learned from the process is that when you're taking on such a a substantial process of visioning for a school district and a community, it is advantageous to give that committee as many resources as possible so they can be independent of the district. And that's the last thing I would say. I I think is really important for us to express while we have put models out there, we are giving the ad hoc committee the the freedom and autonomy to be creative and that's why these agenda items are really important so they have the ability to create on their own and not depend on our models. Miss >> I see these contracts as an investment in making the best decision
143for the district and the community. So I mean >> in order to have all the information that we need to make the best decision, we're we're having experts that we can or the committee can go to. >> So um >> and then they're already they're on contract if to help you with that decision and moving forward. and those were reached by a bidding process. So just so people remember that and the bidding process and the evaluation does take a lot of time and that's why doing it again midstream is not very productive and the outcome may not be what you want. >> Okay, any other comments or questions? All right, then. Um I'd like to get this motion on the floor. Um Liz agreed to read this um tonight. It is recommended that the school
144board approve the construction manager contract for secondary planning and I so move. >> May I have a second? >> I second that. >> Thank you, Miss Barinski. Um, Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> excused. >> Miss Bach, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> excused. >> Miss Roland, >> yes. >> Dr. Worley, >> yes. >> Mr. Wadier, >> yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you. >> Thank you. So, we have a couple agenda items left. I'd like to give us a 10-minute break. And we are going to um go to number seven, strategic goal number four, high quality staff. Letter A, action to approve the 2025 2026 um W uh Wessa School District employee health insurance. Thank you, Miss Elazowski, for sticking out and being here with us. >>
145Happy to. Uh good evening. Um following our robust conversation um at our August 11th meeting, uh the recommendation uh stands that we would um ask you to approve uh a two plan benefit design for the upcoming school year. >> And there have been no updates. It's what we looked at before just for information. >> No changes since August 11th. >> Okay. Order members, is there questions, comments? Okay, let's have a roll, please. >> It is recommended that the school board approve the 20 2526 Watosa school district employee health insurance plan and ISO rules. >> Thank you. May I have a second? >> Thank you, Mr. Wier. Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Rosinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> excused. >> Miss Buck, >> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> excused. >> Miss Emmer Rand,
146>> yes. >> Dr. Worley, >> yes. >> Mr. right here. >> Yes. >> The motion carries. Thank you. >> So B um 2025 2026 staffing update. >> It's me again. >> Yes. Thank you, Miss Lazowski for being here for this one too. >> Yeah, absolutely. Um I am uh sharing our screen um uh briefly to go ahead and take a look at uh some staffing updates um as we get ready to start the school year. Um it is uh always in a very a very exciting time in the Division of Human Resources when we welcome our new staff um and all of our staff back uh after uh what has been a productive um and fast summer. Um the staffing plan uh that you approved this spring um has really come to life in terms
147of the educators that are with us for the start of the school year. The staffing plan uh was really developed around uh three key concepts that teachers have the greatest impact on student achievement which relates very directly uh to our theory of action. If adult practices improve then student outcomes improve. Uh the second tenant being that systematic collaboration will promote the most effective teaching practices and finally that teachers determine how they provide the established curriculum. So, we're really looking for teachers to have an impact on student success, looking to promote that success with effective instructional practices. Um, and that teachers have autonomy in terms of how they provide the curriculum that the district has chosen. Again, that that is really the foundation of how we built the staffing plan. When we look at the status
148of the staffing plan in terms of where we're at uh based on um uh what we projected as class sizes uh back in January in the spring um you can see that where we're at with class sizes um as of the 18th of the month. Um we are in a very good place uh comparative to previous school years in terms of class sizes. Um, I look forward to sharing with you an update in terms of where Wawaossis stands uh regionally when we're looking at class sizes. I have every expectation that we will continue to offer uh the smallest class sizes um in the area. When we look at our teaching fill rates, uh these fill rates are reflective of last week. I'm excited to say that as of uh the 25th of August, one week
149before the start of the school year, uh we have in improved our fill rates even a little bit more. Our teacher fill rate is 98.86%. Um our educational and operational staff fill rate is 95.47%. Uh and we have offers still going out every day. Um we are going to be in a great place to welcome our students back next week. Repeat those numbers again for >> of course uh for teacher fill rates uh as of uh about 5:30 this evening our teacher fill rate is 98.86% and our educational operational staff fill rate is 95.47%. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. Uh the um the staffing plans on the district website should also be updated to reflect those changes. Uh not all of our new employees have been entered into our human resources uh information system skyward
150yet. And so as soon as that happens, we'll be able to update the staffing plan to show the names of all staff members um on that public facing report. Last but not least, uh we worked very hard um this spring and summer uh to maintain again these small um enviable class sizes um as well as our commitment to fiscal um efficiency um and prudency. Uh our approved FTE for this school year was 94.82. Uh as of now um our teacher FTE represents 646.43 full-time equivalents. Our educ educational operational full-time equivalent is 277.23 for a grand total of 93.66 and remaining contingency of 1.16 FTE. That is my staffing update for you. >> Thank you so much. Board members, any questions or comments? >> As it sits right now, the contingency, the one FT contingency, the
1511% left. I'm sure that I'm sure you guys are always juggling that back and forth. Um, is that better, worse than what we've had in previous years? That is tremendous compared to where we've been in previous years. Last year, we had to um we had to eliminate unfilled positions due to concerns related to the budget years before we entered the school year without any contingency. I feel really good about where we're at. >> The predictive capacity, too. I think it's really impressive. We're getting really really um good science around um how to do this and and it helps us to see >> we're not using fun balance. We we're not going into our reserves. I think Miss Zelazoski just deserves a lot of acknowledgement and uh credit. You worked your plan well and you walked
152walked the board through the process of developing a a a staffing plan. The board did their due diligence this past spring and asked a lot of pointed questions, but that all led up to where we are right now. We did make some contingencies on top of contingencies. So, even this 1.16, we had another >> plan in place to make sure that if you had to go beyond this that we were we were able to do so. Uh, but what you and I wanted to do is to never go into the school year not being able to respond to class size issues or the the calls of our parents. And so I just this is a this is an amazing report. Um, and so thank you for your your strategic work. I also want to thank
153the board because you asked really good questions of us on the front end. It's really important to also note that your by by your strategic work in January in identifying how many open enrollment students we had then gave Miss Zelazoski the last component of what she needed to build the staffing plan which then came to the board in March and April which then cast the the die if you will um for the the budget. And so that kind of led to Mr. record knowing what our budget was going to be. So, it was just this has been all very methodical in terms of how we laid things out. You're right. A year ago, we were making cuts >> this time last year and we're nowhere near that type of uh >> strategy. Now, >> we
154actually made cuts in uh September and October when we did not uh replace uh dean of students position. Um, so that those were very hard decisions. Um, and um, I think the other layer that two layers I feel uh, really um, really good about that were making really good decisions for kids. Um, a um, this um, this FTE definitely demonstrates some flexibility over the summer and working with our principles in terms of what they thought would best serve our students. Uh, and B, um, uh, we we are not hoarding resources, uh, for potential future use. We have put all of our FTE out in places where it will positively impact student experiences and student success. Um, so I'm really excited about the fact that while we we don't we have more than more than nothing
155for a contingency, we're not sitting on five FTE or something that could could positively impact kids. a question kind of relating back to so you said or somebody said in the beginning that it 92% the rate of returning students >> was that elementary >> that's districtwide >> that's district wide um do you happen to know off so we're looking at elementary data here um I know one or two sections that higher than than what parents wanted but they didn't meet our cuto off standards. Um has anything changed on those numbers wise is really the question. Yeah, the um the only sections um that we split over the summer um were um it was a section of I believe it was fifth grade um at Underwood based on the principal's recommendation and he traded some uh
156some FTE to go ahead and add a teacher. Uh and then we split some JK sections because they meet met the threshold. Um but we did not split um any of the other grade level sections. They still pretty far away from cut offs. >> Yeah, they are. >> So, I was just really kind of getting at there's not going to be like a surprise between over the next few days where some of these returning potentially returning students that come in as a late registration bump anything or you feel pretty confident about where we're at? >> I am. And please note, we still have a contingency for the contingency, but we don't expect to need it. >> Thank you. And we welcome all students to still come forward. >> No doubt. >> If if they would
157like to to be in one of the grades, we will make that happen. So, thank you so much for all your work on this and and for this really positive um update about the the outcome of all that effort. Um uh letter C, health insurance stop loss coverage presentation. >> Yes. Uh thank you. Uh so the one piece of our employee health insurance benefits uh program that um that is yet to be approved um is our stop-loss coverage. So stop-loss coverage not only provides um some reinsurance for um for individual medical claims but it also provides some support for aggregate claims because we are self-funded. Um it reduces our total liability or over overall risk based on how our plan would run. Um and so um I believe you've heard us talk about in the
158past that we have had a high number of what are referred to as high-cost claims um in the district. Um and so our specific stop-loss coverage um the cost of that reinsurance um is going up um because we have a number of high-cost claims. um our our current provider offered us a 45% increase um in in the rates and that was the cap that they set on they set on our plan. So we went out and got some additional bids for the plan. Um uh in looking at all of the um all of the bids, they're all a bit of an increase because again um our claims have gone up in the space. We're looking to offset um premium costs uh with the stop-loss coverage deductible increase. And so the recommendation would be to move
159forward with Sun Life. Um and I shared with you each an additional handout this evening that is by your um uh by your place at the board table. Um that is an is an update uh since the board documents were submitted. Um the the change uh it was positive since the documents were submitted. We are recommending Sun Life is our new provider increasing our um individual uh deductible from 250,000 to 275,000. Um the last minute negotiation brought down the specific premium rates as well as the maximum cost liability um which is giving us an extra $50,000 about in savings over the plans. Uh you can see as you look at the different um proposals we've received um they were they were all a little bit different in terms about how they looked at aggregate coverage
160as well as specific coverage. But overall um the lowest increase as well as a highquality vendor for our plan would be Sunlife and the recommendation for you this evening. Um as this is a is a change in our plan design uh tonight is brought forward to you for some conversation and discussion. We'll bring it back to you on September 8th um for approval and our um the bid offered by Sunlife is good through September 12th. Uh this um this proposal fits within um our the budget that we have including the health insurance plans that you approved this evening. >> Members, we're not taking action. That would be the next meeting. Correct. But do you have comments or questions at this point? Do you know what the total increase from last year to this year is
161in dollar amount or percent either? Um the let's see so the total increase is going to be so if you look at uh the current column the you know third from the left and then the last column on the right um the the total liability could be up to a $1.5 million increase but that would be if we maxed out all of our all of our liability. >> I see. So, we won't know we won't know what our actual costs are until we go through the year and see how many claims qualified for the stop-loss coverage and what our overall expenses were. So, our but our maximum liability is that um is at 1.5 million. >> This year we spent 1.3 million in the current um So that was the annual fixed premium. Thank you.
162>> Yep. >> Much less than the 45% increase. >> Less than 45. This is this is a a very good option. >> Anyone else? >> No. But thank you for the extra work to to get provided. >> Okay. Thank you, Miss Elzoski, for all your presentations tonight. >> Thank you. >> You'll bring this back to the board at September 84 meeting for action. >> Correct. >> Thank you. >> Okay, we move to the um item number eight, strategic goal one, academic performance, letter A, secondary grading and reporting update. Good evening. I'm Jennifer Posh, the director of strategy and continuous improvement, and I'm here with my colleague, Mrs. Leanne Na, who is our director of instruction. Um, we'll be going over some updates related to grading and reporting in Wawaossa. This presentation is really a a
163very concise synthesis of a much lengthier uh executive summary that is available on board docs to everyone as well. In terms of board policy, we are um governed essentially by two policies in grading and reporting. The first is policy 5421 which outlines the tenants of a grading and reporting system in WASAsa. The division of academic performance operationalizes this policy through an administrative guideline and that is um that's put forth in our community as as a grading handbooks um and those are available online. The second policy that we need to ensure compliance with is is 2260 which is our non-discrimination policy and that does include curriculum content and student evaluation or grading. This slide represents a a brief timeline of events related to grading and reporting in Wawaossa. Uh prior to 2013, the district used 0%
164to 100% for grading. Um that's consistent with how I know I was graded as a student and how many of us probably experienced education. In 2013, the grading for learning initiative was developed and then operationalized the following school year. In 2017 uh 2018, there were some tweaks made to the system. Um that's where the 0.5 in grading surfaced. Um zeros uh came back into the gradebook and formative assessment was added into a student's grade. And then over the last two years, um, we've had some shifts, including the benchmark average being eliminated, reassessment guidelines established, the 0.5 increment was removed last year. We redefined our proficiency scale and adopted the Marzano grading scale. One of the objectives that was outlined in the previous strategic plan was that we were to conduct an audit of our grading
165and reporting system. So to that end we engaged the services of Mr. Ken Okconor who is a recognized analyst um very well respected uh throughout the US and and other parts of the globe in the area of grading. So we were lucky to have him conduct our audit and those findings were presented in early 2023 to the board. Mr. Okconor made several recommendations uh to our system and he categorized them as some very general observations and recommendations and then more specific. So what you have here on this slide are four general recommendations namely to review the implementation of our grading for learning system as it was called then and plan professional learning to achieve consistent application. Determine what additional changes might be necessary to improve the grading system. strengthen our culture of learning. And he
166also actually recommended we reverse the 2017 decision to include formative assessment. And it should be noted that that has not occurred. And then the fourth was to develop a coherent, informative, feasible communication system about grading and reporting. There were eight specific recommendations that Mr. Okconor gave to the district. They are listed here. We have paid the most attention over the last two years to specifically to number one 67 and 8. That does not mean that we are ignoring the other recommendations. Um that simply was a starting point for us since the 2022 23 school year. Um as I've mentioned previously in 2324 we eliminated the averaging of benchmarks to generate a grade. So a student's grade is an average of 90% of their sumitive scores and 10% of their formative scores. Previously there had been
167an average of an average. So we eliminated a layer there. Um we with the help of a teacher committee established reassessment expectations to have a more uniform system of reassessment in our secondary schools. And then in 2425 some of the changes that we made were a little bit more technical. um we have always purported to have a one through four proficiency scale. We simply needed to define what that meant. So we did. We established then a system for um letter grades based on the research of Dr. Robert Marzano and um making sure that proficiency whether a student demonstrated threes and fours that both were consistent with earning an A. Um because profic we wanted students to have the ability to earn that with proficiency. and then the elimination of the 0.5 increment. We have seen
168some successes in terms of the shifts that we've made in grading and reporting. We are seeing regular calibration on assessment during pace time. That's our collaborative planning time. Our teachers have the use of rubrics has increased. Um so students are are able to understand what is required of them prior to taking an assessment and can use that to develop uh their assessments or to be prepare to take an assessment. Teachers are reflecting on that student data to inform their instructional planning and delivery. I've already mentioned that students who demonstrated proficiency can earn a grade of A in a class and we raise the expectation for passing a class which is now commensurate with a one um in our grading scale. Areas for continued improvement include continued professional learning. That will always be the case when
169it comes to grading and reporting. We will have to tend to the professional learning. we uh still absolutely need to reduce the number of D's and Fs in our system and address any misconceptions that um occur within the system. At this point, I'm going to introduce some data um which was included in the report, but um just have the opportunity to go through it here. Um the next two slides um have the same general uh theme in that these are representative um of a macro view of all grades A through F with a particular focus in this slide on grades of D. So this graph shows that the student group that saw the sharpest change, meaning more D's were earned by a group from semester 2 of 2024 to semester 2 of 2025 were the
170students who identify as white with an increase of uh 11.9% with respect to the number of D's earned. The group the student group that saw the least change are students who identify as black or African-American with an increase of 3.1% from 2024 to 2025. This graph shows the same data but with respect to Fs. So again, the student group that saw the greatest change are students that identify as white with an increase in the percentage of FS of 6.2%. Students who identify as either Asian or black or African-American saw less than a 1% increase from 2024 to 2025. So that represents the slice of the pie for D's and like macro level. The next two slides allow us to take a more micro view of those D's and Fs. In this slide, grades of D
171are represented 10 and a half% of all the grades that were given were D's. So within that 10 and a half% in terms of race and ethnicity, um, student groups saw a slight increase with the exception of students who identify as black or African-American who saw a decrease. So, um, we're definitely not seeing, um, increases in all groups across the board. In terms of the next slide, we have the same view, but for grades of F. So, in terms of the percentage of all the grades given, 3.6% of grades were grades of F. And then you can see the distribution by race or race race or ethnicity. So students who identify as Asian and black or African-American saw a decrease in representation of Fs from 2024 to 2025 while other groups saw an increase. While
172the percentage of FS recorded for students who identify as black or African-American is still disproportionate to other peers, the shifts in grading practices were not or the system I should say the technical shifts were not necessarily a contributing factor. So a conclusion to be drawn from these four graphs is that while there is still disproportionality in our data, the shift in the grading system did not exacerbate the disproportionality. Rather, in some instances, the gaps narrowed to a degree. So as we look forward to the new school year, we know that we will continue to revise benchmarks in our grade books. That comes with the curriculum cycle that we have. So, as new curriculum is adopted and teacher teams go through those shifts, we we update the benchmarks in the gradebook. We know that teachers need
173more time to unpack the proficiency scale and what that means for their individual courses because what that looks like in world language is not necessarily what that looks like in business, but at least we all have the same common starting point. We know that rubric design is still work that needs to be done and we need to continue to address misconceptions that crop up. Um, a common misconception is that when we grade an assessment and give a student a one, two, three, or four that we're giving also a letter grade. And we're not doing that. But that's a common misconception. Um, the letter grades actually come in when a course grade is determined. So, a student receiving a three on an assessment doesn't mean they're receiving a B or an A. They are simply just
174receiving a three, which is a marker of proficiency. It's when those scores are average in our gradebook that a letter grade is produced. So in conclusion, our current grading scale is aligned to both board policies 5421 and 2260. They are also aligned to research and audit recommendations. We are seeing evidence of progress. Our grading scale is grounded in educational research and promotes does not punish proficiency and students of color have not been adversely affected by the changes. Although we still have disproportionate outcomes that need to be addressed, this is not a contributing factor. And at this time, we welcome any questions, observations, or comments you have for us. So, I know I have some, but I want to give the floor first to other board members and see what you would like to put out
175there. Yeah, Jason. >> It's a little little fuzzy, but I remember uh several months ago when we we've got a big handout of um of grades and and kind of broken down not not so much at the macro level here, but all all the different schools and um different views and looks at that. >> Was the fall grading data? >> Yeah. Um, and I do remember commenting and and noticing that the amount of um the amount of D's that were in AP high school classes seemed a little off to me. Um, it it just seemed really high. And I don't know if that's just my own personal subjectivity or um if it if that's how it played out. And uh so I guess it's not really a question. It's just more of a comment that
176I I had noticed that and and is is that actually a thing or was that due to different circumstances? Uh and and how much would that if it was a thing, how much do you think that would play into the number? >> Yeah. Hey um >> you first of all great presentation from both of you. I know Ian also helped a great deal with this presentation. One thing that the district will be implementing this year Mr. Guier is that we will be sending home notices. Um, there will be letters that go out on the 20th, the 40th, and the 60th day of either the trimester at the middle school level or the semester at the high school level. >> So, if a student has a D or an F, >> This is new, >> brand
177new. Um, if a student has a D or an F, there will be a notice that is sent home to a a family and and it it'll give you it'll give the the family an update to say Jane Doe has a D or F in the following classes. >> Now, I don't want to steal Miss Fch's thunder, but she will she will say, and I I'll tee this up for you. She will say that this does this notice that's going to go out on the 20th, 40th, and 60th day does not absolve a classroom teacher from making sure that they're communicating and calling the home or or doing something either calling or emailing or doing something to say, "By the way, family, we we are noticing that there's a D or an F." We believe
178that that strategy should um address that home school communication a little bit more because while you noticed a high number of D's, Mr. Roier, in a AP course, we're just uncomfortable with the number of D's and Fs that we have overall. And that is it's just not acceptable. I think we heard it this evening earlier during public comment. We know that that's a tweak that we can put into the system that's going to require all of us uh to do a little bit more work. It's going to it's going to alert families to make sure that they're a good partner with the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher is going to have to be diligent and and and really vigilant around communicating and students will have to be part of the process as well. We think
179when you look at it from a vin diagram, what's in the middle is student success. But teachers, families, and students all have a portion. >> And that's in addition to the missing assignment notifications that are already systematized and midterm grades. So there are multiple points of communication to our families. Um, and I the probably the one that would have the most impact is that direct communication from the classroom teacher because it it is this is this is all a partnership um between family, students, and staff. Since you mentioned the missing assignment, I'll just put on my parent hat for a moment and say that they currently I know we have it like a I've been digging through the grading handbook word by word um the last uh week. We we often see them after it's
180too late to do anything about it. And there's this I know we're looking at moving more things into Infinite Campus, but the gap I actually really love Canvas as a teaching tool. I wish we did more with it. I know we're looking at not doing work with it, but I think it's a I think it's a great platform for learning, but um by the time we find out as parents, uh it's many, not all, some classroom teachers response is actually yes, let's figure this out. But the it's inconsistent. You don't know as a parent when you reach out whether that's you're going to get a yeah, there's something can be done about it or no, it's too late. Um, and I'm hearing I'm not just hearing it from my you hear that from a lot
181of parents. >> So, I would plead with I'm glad we're going to send out these notices. Um, I want to make sure that we're also creating pathways whether that is if okay it's too late to to do anything about that. what can the student can still do >> um to through grading for learning um and through the rest of the syllabus uh to do something so the parents if if you know and the student can work together to get and the teacher get there because I don't feel like right now when you hear you see that I see thing come up um sometimes it's just well past the time when anything can be done. Another communication piece that we've really firmed up for this year is that gradebooks should be updated every two weeks. Um,
182and I would say most staff are absolutely do that. But that but it is critical because if you don't the information particularly as a parent or even a student um then you don't know where to improve >> y >> or when to reach out. >> Miss Fox and I are former high school teachers. I I was guilty of allowing allowing my grade book to go a few weeks without revisions. Um so I think though from a system perspective our our mandate that all grade books are updated every two weeks that they're up to date and that we're sending out notices on the 20th, 40th and 60th day. We think that that is going to address a lot of communication. Um, but again to steal your thunder, Miss Botch, that does not absolve classroom teachers from
183making those calls. Um, so if you do have a gradebook and you notice that student A isn't turning in assignments and the Infinite Campus message has gone out that there's missing assignments and the 20th day uh letter has gone out and your gradebook is up today and you still don't hear anything from the family, that doesn't mean that we don't reach out to the family and that student. That still mean I remember vividly as a classroom teacher I would then if I didn't get any traction with the student and I didn't hear from the family then I went to the student's counselor I went to the assistant principal I went to someone to alert individuals that the there's a problem. Um we had we can't forget that these are young people when you think about
184middle school and high school they're they're from the ages of 12 to 18. Um, and so and families are busy and so maybe sometimes we don't know what the circumstances are with with families and and so it's really incumbent that our our teachers make that outreach. >> So, and hopefully I'm not stealing your thunder either. Uh we voted on the strategic plan earlier and what I'm hearing is for grades if we everything that you've said was if adult practices improve you're expecting the student outcomes to improve. So what to me this looks like you are you've you've closed the circle. >> Thank you. and hope like hopefully you see the results that we're we're thinking. But my perspective, it looks like you've hit all all of the different points of this the grading and just
185kind of it it completes it and now we have started action and right. It is part of the one of the academic and career plan goals in our new strategic plan calls out universal communication mechanisms and reporting on grades and the way we're approaching it is a universally established communication mechanism as directly aligned to that goal. >> Yeah. And what we know about highlevel school districts is that when families are having challenges with a classroom teacher or course and I want to say this very clearly the call cannot be to Dr. Marvel to Miss Na to to Miss Botch to the superintendent to the school board. The first conversation must be with the classroom teacher. And in some instances, we understand that that may be an uncomfortable conversation. We get it. But in the districts
186that I've been in that are high achieving school districts, families feel empowered to start that conversation with their classroom teacher. if we can't solve those issues unless those conversations are happening. Now, if there isn't movement, if there isn't alignment between the family and the teacher, the family should then feel empowered to go to the next level and that should still stay within the school. So, typically that's with the classroom PR or excuse me, with the the school principal. But what we've seen historically, at least during my my teen year, is that we are avoiding those those conversations. If there's a I can't help families. We can't solve issues if there's a pattern of families outreaching to either the teacher or the principal and there's no movement. We can't do anything at the district level unless
187families start and utilize the what's actually in policy 9130 which states you go to the person where you have the problem with first and you talk it through with them and if you don't get any movement then you go to the next level of of conflict resolution. Uh but if we if we circumvent the process and leap over two or three steps, we'll never and it's not about trying to um discipline people or get them in a tough spot. It's to truly solve and resolve an issue and try to find resolution. That that that's what we're trying to we all want the same thing. And the the beauty of public education is that generally speaking, we all want students to be successful. How we get there is where it's going to take creativity. It's going
188to take compromise. It's going to take us listening to one another. But we can't get there unless you start at the level where the resolution needs to happen first. >> I have a a question. thinking about our community member who is in here earlier today. She didn't strike me as somebody who's not getting notifications and isn't aware. >> She's saying, "I know my my child wasn't prepared for this and my child struggled with this and we tried lots to help her. What are the what is in place in our schools to help our students who are working really hard to be successful and they're still not quite getting where they we want them to be at the pace that we want them to be there. What other opportunities do they have for additional support? So
189depending on the level, so looking at the K12 system, a lot of that work is guided by our student support teams who are using student academic and behavioral data to identify students in need of extra support. What that looks like at the various levels is different. Um academic intervention at elementary school does not look like academic intervention at the middle school. >> Can we talk maybe at the high school level what that potentially looks like? like we're um algebra was brought up today. Oh my gosh, do we know that's a challenge in the United States, right? Um not just here in our own district. Um we do have algebra support classes. They're called math emphasis and students gain entry into them based upon academic criteria that our student support teams review. Additionally, teachers can be
190available before or after school for additional help. We have established professional hours within our system. um that we also have reassessment guidelines. So a student's first attempt at a summitive assessment may need to they may need to try again and within those expectations around reassessment come of provision for ensuring that the unfinished learning is tended to that might look like oh I I didn't do all the homework yet in preparation for that summitive and I didn't do well so I need to go revisit or I need to talk with my teacher and have something rettaught. I know we also have um I would not be the expert on the topic but I believe there are some tutoring mechanisms as well within the building. I think additionally the um this is small group so I can
191probably talk loud enough but um there's also just the emphasis on strengthening tier one universal instruction and so really is we are looking at new math resources and moving into right um our um math curriculum um review process. We're really examining the instructional practices that are used within a math classroom and what just the math learning experience looks like for for our students. So, we do have math coaches pushing into the classroom, working with teachers, joining uh pace planning and collaboration and really elevating formative assessment data so that teachers are doing frequent um checks for understanding and then using that data to determine what instruction looks like that next day for students or even real time within that hour. So, that means making some shifts in instructional practices from just teaching whole a whole group
192lesson and then also um having small groupoup instruction and student collaboration opportunities where the teacher can join groups and have some of that reteach um or pre-teaching happen within the class hour. So um really I think examining our practices so that we are catching adjusting assessing um learning real time and not waiting for a student to fail to then be responsive. >> Mr. Brazinski brass tax when I taught US history. >> Yep. >> If I taught the Civil War and I gave a formative test, formative assess assessment, excuse me, and I realized that 60% of my students had D's or Fs, I had to be reflective enough to say, I didn't do well. I I didn't teach this well. And and so what I can't move on to reconstruction. I can't move on. I I
193I have to stop. If if the lesson I taught was what were the causes of the Civil War >> and I find out that many of my students didn't understand it. I can't. And this is a mind shift that we're going to have to culturally like ingrain >> into our system. And this is not this is not to be projorative or to be critical of our staff, but this is just the perspective that we believe we need to have to serve families well and children well. We need staff members then to say, "Boy, the kids didn't get it. Time to go to reconstruction." That's one option. The other option is to say, "Oh boy, as an instructor, maybe I need to sit down with my other US history teachers to find out how did they
194do? How did their kids do in this?" and I maybe I now I need to access an instructional coach to say how can I teach this differently. Um I this is how I taught it. I need to go back and reassess and retach it. So then we have a situation where students are learning versus me being an arbiter of saying I taught it you didn't get it now we move on. that is from an instructional culture standpoint significant. So when when we use technical language like well we have a student support team that's going to talk we have instructional coaches the practical side of what we're discussing is just what I described um where it's that has to that has to start on September second. >> Great. Yep. That's awesome. I think it's also a
195challenge when 98% of my kids did do really well on that. There's still 2% that didn't. And those 2% still need some opportunity. And I'm probably not going to stop what I'm doing with everybody or those two for that 2%. what are what's in place for those guys? >> So, I I I do think that part of that is about the structure of the lesson and instruction. So, I do think that historically, right, math was um perhaps taught with the teacher in front of the classroom. I delivered the lesson and now you go and do the homework, right? And so, the shift that we're really looking at is that it's not whole group. A teacher might launch kind of a mini lesson, but now the students are working. So I as a teacher know who
196those two uh who the students are in that 2% and it allows me the flexibility while students are are working to be able to pull students aside and through flexible grouping it it's not the same each day, right? I'm not just taking those same two students aside every day, but it's allowing me flexibility as a teacher while students are working to now give feedback or to do some reteing real time. So, I think if the teacher is just at the front of the classroom, there's not space for that. >> Yeah. >> But I think with a redesign of instruction, it allows for more of those support opportunities within the hour, if that makes sense. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> So, if I could jump in with um this this won't surprise a lot of people,
197maybe it will surprise some. I I want to I want to bring up back to this conversation the 0.5 discussion and um I want to be transparent that I have been pushing this all year and um I and I heard again in the community comment and I've gotten some emails about it um and had some discussion. And so with the norms of collaboration, um I want to say that I I don't think it was a good decision this year to take it out in the way that we did. Um, and one of the touch points for that for me is this is the kind of student we're talking about when I brought this up originally, I said I a student has to believe that they for grading for learning that they can make some progress
198and that could be even before they start the course because we have and I think the parent was trying to say tonight that we have um one choice. I know there's a lot of supports, but we have one kind of class and that might not be what their student was ready for and if they get zero zero zero, it just keeps building that there is this point where the student is like giving up on their ability. So I I while I understand the removal was to make um the grade the grades, you know, more consistent, I think that in reflection, so here's where I've grown in reflection, I feel like what I'm learning is and listening to people is that that 0.5 was often being used to represent that grading for learning. And the and
199I could be wrong in this, but I feel like in this partly schoolboard listening and partly my own um experience as a parent that um we didn't have enough framework in this year for that grading for learning for students to do that reassessment to replace the removal of the 0.5. I don't know if I'm making sense there, but that we left it's very hard for some students to move from a one to a zero to a one or from a one to a two or a two to a three or a three to a four. And um I heard from some students, variety of students in various conversations that they didn't necessarily feel like they were going to be able to achieve that. So, I think a a goal is we is a much stronger
200if we're going to and I do believe in the grading for learning part of our goals that we've got to have um we could have left the 0.5 in and had a stronger rubric. There are other ways that we could have solved it. We the decision was made to take it out and I don't know that it makes sense to reverse that back and forth each year, but I think we left ourselves a big hole um for for our students. Um and and that so that's more of an opinion, but I think that what part of the parent was trying to say in public comment today is that even getting to a one was not happening for some of our students in some courses and that that was really really problematic because that student then
201doesn't believe in their ability to do the like in this case math as a whole. um and not having a course that is then so so one doesn't have to have algebra one in ninth grade to go to a technical college for example right one may need algebra by the time they graduate and I think that's that's what they were trying to get at and then the other part is that we at the same time that we did all these other changes we also um took away what some students had gotten used to which that they they could little by little move up um to the next piece. And I know that there was a lot of things put in place to help with reassessment, but I will say parent hat on, I saw lots
202of inconsistencies um in that process. Uh and we have a lot of growth as a district to do. The reality is that it has had a real life impact um for many of our students um this year and I think we as a district need to own that. Um we did that. We've had a real life some cases positive with the changes of the grading scale and some cases quite negative in terms of how students are are viewing themselves and also what their next steps might be with their grades as along but I just want to put that in there. I think that that's part of what the parent was trying to get at. Jason >> add to that too. I think mathematics in in particular is studied a lot through it in high school
203and then I got into college when and they said, "Oh, okay. Well, you're in physics class. you have one one formula and you have to do the calculus to work your way that one basic overview of me getting there thinking I'm going to I had all the confidence in the world physics 101 and I got there and I'm like anything and it's because I was taught year over year wasn't me being taught how to do the things or the why it was the we want to get you the results so you get the grade think in math that that builds year over year up you're not going to be able to do algebra well if can't you can't do the individual operations if you're struggling with that if you struggling with that for years u
204and have experience with my with my own daughter uh that have it like she has to take a different path. It's not a straight line for her and it's ex going to be exactly what Yeah, everyone needs a little bit of algebra. People need is just that little bit and done, you know, and it's not something that needs to be prioritized now. other things. You take a step back and say, "Oh, if you can't do all this, you do what was expected the year before. You do what was expected the year before that." Like, how far back do we have to go? And I think in math that works, social studies, that's a lot harder to do for topics like if in your example, Dr. means uh yeah I mean you're kind of doing the
205same thing but again you have to make subjective decision of how far do I have to go back what what have these kids missed that's the beauty of academic rigor where while I'm a humanities person at the core what you just described what I would do in ensuring that the four main causes of a civil war and what an algebra teacher has to do to make sure that there's a concept of algebra that is learned is the same thing. We have to be very precise in terms of what we want the students to learn and know that at the beginning of our lessons. And if we're not specific around those items, it doesn't matter if it's social studies or algebra, then we're we're setting kids up for to not be successful. There's a woman that
206that I I respect a great deal. Her name is Robin Jackson and she defines academic rigor as this. Academic rigor is not about giving students more work, harder te or larger quantities of assignments. Instead, rigor means consistently expecting students to learn at high levels, supporting them so that they can uh they they can demonstrate deep understanding and ensuring that they can apply what they learn in new and complex situations. So what we I hear you Dr. Wley, you're right. I think by removing the 0.5 what we did is we accelerated academic rigor and in retrospect we may have needed a longer runway to ensure that there was academic rigor because academic rigor means we should expect all students to learn at high levels. If they're not, then what are the support systems in place that
207can support those things? And then ensuring that there's a demonstration of the learning. That's what academic rigor is. And so I think where we may have been talking past one another at the beginning of this being implemented last year was that the the team was consistently saying, "Well, it shouldn't matter if you have a 0.5 or not. If you're doing these things, then the learning should happen. However, what I'm hearing Dr. worldly say very clearly I'm trying to paraphrase too is that we did not set the con we didn't set the the the circumstances up in a way where teachers were able to make the pivot to doing these things without the.5 that perhaps in the past teachers leveraged the 0.5 as a midway point to encourage the academic rigor what I believe what the
208the leadership team was saying was you shouldn't need a 0.5 created is that am I capturing and paraphrasing? >> I think a longer runway was needed and we didn't realize that until the change was made. So, we weren't trying to rush a change. We didn't have any indicators that we weren't ready for that change. And I and I appreciate the sentiment shared because it it probably did seem incredibly abrupt the shift uh from the away from the 0.5. Um but as it as is explained in the report too, we had never defined what that meant and when to use it and how to use it. Thus, its mere existence was arbitrary and capriccious and not in compliance with policy 2260 because we weren't saying how to use this. And there'd be these anecdotes that pop
209up here there and in conversation. I did not study it officially, but conversation. Well, they the student tried. So I just gave him the.5 because it was better than giving the zero and then giving a false sense of even what the student had learned or it was between this or that so I just went with the 0.5 again that's not always what's happening but because we had never as a system defined when and how to use it it didn't comply with our own policies >> and I think what's what's going to happen is that we are now informed so the the the speaker uh earlier this evening made the statement what I took away from that comment and we will follow up with that that that that um family member that parent um and we'll
210we'll try to connect the staff at that school that she's at to make sure that they're they're following up as well. But what I took away from those comments was when Miss Zelazowski starts the process of staffing, do we need to have deeper conversations at the high school level to ensure that this the student to counselor ratio is low enough? Do we need to have other systems in place, other support staff in place? Um, do we need to offer different courses uh for for students? Those are the types of conversations that we need to have. But I also want to be very clear and I'm deferring to our experts here. We don't want at the district level, we don't want to get too deep in the weeds. It's really important that department chairs and high
211school principles are having that conversation and that they're bringing it to us. >> Right. Right. >> That's that my experience of Ohio academic rigor high schools and middle schools. You have department chairs and you have principles who are bringing those ideas to us. I can tell you they have the the mindset and they have the ideas but if we continue to do that then it will feel top down and we don't want it to feel top down. I I guess I want to set that up for the two of you if you agree with that statement. >> I I agree. Um, I think also just when we're thinking about the 0.5, I think initially the removal of the 0.5, like we're f when we talk about grading, we're focused on the numbers. We're focused on
212the letter grades. And the removal of the 0.5 illuminated our instruction and assessment practices. And grading is much more about teaching and learning practice than it is about the grade itself. And so that is something that we are very much attending to. So with the examples that you gave and your own experience around um uh math uh for yourself right through our curriculum review process for math where special I mean very uh close attention is being given to the math pathways the scope and sequence of the learning making sure that students don't just have a one-time exposure to a concept but that they have multiple exposures and really tending to when is that knowledge and concept best re best taught and then when does it need to be right revisited and then looking at um
213also the strategies for learning. So I know you had mentioned um and that was my own experience as a math student like it was taught one way and if that didn't click for you you were right that ship then sailed and math moves math instruction moves on. We are very much focused on the many different ways in which a student can approach and solve a problem and having students in front of students to show how they went about solving that problem so that there are multiple entry points access points for learners so that there's not just one way you could have thought about approached and and grappled with the problem. So I think that we are much more closely attending to what instruction and assessment practices look like and creating access for our students to
214be successful within math to address the removal of that.5. So we can be really clear about where our gaps lie and clarity around what a 1, two, three and four mean and how students are part of that process throughout to understand what success looks like and how to get there >> for all the subjects. I would really encourage and I think you're working on this. I saw it, you know, in the plan that that that we get even better at that um grading for learning piece that we need those pieces in there to help students and and families to understand what that is and how to move through it. >> Um because uh I think it was a conversation we had where we talked about Dr. M and I talked about that you know where
215does the real learning happen? It's while a summitive gives us a measure of the real learning that's happening. it's before the summitive happens that the learning is, you know, a lot of the learning is happening. So, helping students to navigate that um that piece uh is important. I I was going to say I read this really interesting article this last weekend about the difference between how and I I was I did not know this before. Maybe others know more about the difference between how special education teachers are taught to believe that math should be taught and general classroom teachers. And is that discussion happening in our district? Because to me it sounded like from the research that was being done, this was a research piece that the ideal situation was to have both of those
216perspectives. um general classroom teachers being more um right now being taught to do more about inquiry and special education, pointing out that um in many cases a a variety of different needs are there, but many special education students need much more specific instruction and just using the inquiry approach doesn't this was mass specific, but they were also saying it's kind of like what we've seen in reading that going one way or the other is not the best approach. Are we are we having that conversation as a district and teaming? >> We are. Um the collaborative structure is there and we are really looking more deeply around what co-planning looks like within that collaborative structure between special education teachers and general education teachers. Um Stacy Clem is really kind of leading um that charge with multiple
217coordinators from both the division of academics and um pupil and family services to talk about what how we can build the capacity of teachers and really bridge those conversations so that we are um not only addressing IEP needs right but also because that's good instruction when we are exploring multiple methods for teaching and keeping open lines of communication and how to address the needs of all learners. So yes, we are looking at within our existing structures, how do we start to shift conversations and practices so that we are attending to the needs of of all learners. So that's very much a goal and focus um for this school year. >> RA text, what Miss Na just talked about is those are the conversations that happen during PACE. There will be some staff members who will
218say, "I don't want pace. I just I I need my time to myself so I can make my copies. I can prepare for my next lesson." And that's the challenge. Not all teachers, but we hear it sometimes. We believe that there should be time for people to have that independent work where they can make their copies and plan. We we that that's important but it cannot be 100% of the time. And so that's a culture shift because prior to these structures that we have in place that were developed by the uh division of academic performance, it was 100% where people just had that time to themselves. We firmly believe that there has to be a balance where there's time where you are discussing student support teams. So when a student who doesn't feel like they
219can do math, we can rally around that student in their family to help them or that special education teachers can sit down with regular education um regular general education teachers and discuss the different modalities of instruction. That's the shift we're making that there are times um there's time where instructional coaches can come in and collaborate with teachers. All those different things are they're they're they're new structures for our system, but they're structures that we know in successful systems are in place and they help elevate the academic rigor and support for for for students. >> Thank you. I wanted just um quickly to or briefly to to throw out the or to raise the dispro disproportionality. Um I I had asked in the fall for some of the numbers on you know how the how the
220changes were impacting different groups. Um I'm really glad it didn't impact um and may have moved us a little bit um on disproportionality though we don't because we don't have um a measure of significance. We really don't know in looking at those graphs because the measure of significance wasn't included. Um whether that was an move that was significant or not. I just want to say that and I and I'm confident that you all agree with me. The the disproportionality numbers are really unacceptable. We we can't stay there. I know we're trying not to stay there, but I also know that we're hearing from um many of our black and brown parents that they don't feel included. They don't feel heard. they don't feel represented by this board um or you know or by the district.
221And when I see something like this, you know, it's like we have a lot still to do and that that big a difference still on on D's and Fs is just something we we've got we've got to double down on. I appreciate the pieces that are being put in place by the administration. Um I know there was a little discussion last last year of the you know from I think it was from Mr. Pinion that some of the same things that were being done around behavior um are now being looked at you know with with grades and trying to put a multi-level system of um supports in and I I just we have to do that and if the if the board needs to hear some requests on what that means in terms of resources
222then I think we have to have that conversation. We need to be representing the communities that are feeling very unrepresented right now. >> Yeah. Our our division is completely aligned. There's nothing >> I expect. So I expect so none of us are happy about this, but we just have to keep >> No. And it starts with sound instructional practices that really hinge on that collaborative planning time. We're what a great conversation because we're we're also at a loss to a certain degree because at the district level we've done our due diligence. Our job is to provide resources. So when you when you go back to Miss Zazosk's presentation, we have the lowest class sizes in the metro area. We offer a lot of different options for young people. our student to counselor ratios are fairly
223small um and and manageable. So from a resource perspective, we think we've put those things in place. The the challenge is that and Miss Naisy and Miss Fch and I, we've been school leaders before. We so we know that if we were in a school situation what we would do. The challenge is that we are one level removed from ensuring the actual car carry out of this work. That's why we're putting systemic pieces in place this year of the 20 4060 letters that we're putting in place. The mandate that grade books are updated every two weeks. We're putting those things in place. So then when we meet with school leaders, we're asking that question. So if you have seen this data, what are you doing? What are you doing to ensure that your staff, the
224people that I like to always say the people you see every day? Because when you are a building principal, you see those staff members every day. I like to say that you live with those staff members. what are you doing to impart a message that this this pro is unacceptable? And so we're delivering that message. Um part of my welcome back message tomorrow, here's the preview is that like superheroes, teachers are heroes. But if you study the comic book world, superheroes are tormented people. They they are they're they're stressed. They are they feel misunderstood. They feel like they're alone often. And so the challenge, it's good to have a a superpower power, but you need you need to constantly refine who you are. that the the thing that I love about superheroes is that they're
225always reinventing themselves. That's why we can always as a society in theater, we can always come back to this concept of the superhero because they're always always refining who they are. And then the last thing I would say is that what I've learned about superheroes is that they're collaborative. They they always go to the Hall of Justice to learn from one another. And so these are things that we have to honor the superpower that each teacher will bring, but those superheroes have to also be reflective and thoughtful around how they're going to support young people. That at the core, you as a board have done your due diligence. You have given us resources beyond most school districts wildest dreams from a staffing perspective. Now it's a matter of how we how do we execute and
226it starts with reminding people of our strategic plan as Mr. Wadier said reminding people of our theory of action because you were very explicit around the theory of action is that when adult practices change student outcomes will change and we do believe that that theory of action will manifest it. So >> and for our school district that doesn't just that's not just ninth grade and up. I know that's what we've been focusing on. That theory of action and the interventions in DISPRO have to start in K3, K4, wherever it is >> where the students enter enter our district because um >> it's never too late, but it's a whole lot harder if we wait to try to deal with it in ninth grade. >> Early intervention matters and we see the disproportionality early in our
227system. About 75% of students receiving intervention services are students of color. that does not reflect our current demographics. >> What an exciting conversation because I know Miss Botch will come back to you later this year around our academic and career planning piece. And there was an audit that was done that showed that one of the main things that families have asked for is that we just communicate better. That families just don't feel like they're hearing from the school >> enough. And uh so I hope that you're recognizing some of these systems that we're putting in place to communicate more proactively, but again that does not absolve the actual classroom teacher from making that outreach to the family and or the student. Until that we change and shift our culture where that is common place, um
228we'll continue to be working uphill. >> Anyone else? It's been a long evening, but I want to make sure we stay what >> unre unrelated to what we were just talking about, but um you talk about um addressing misconceptions and that a four is not equal to to an A, but then when we do put that final grade on card, you're it's kind of like you're the formula is taking those proficiencies and turning them into a letter grade. So, how do we make sure people understand that it's not the four on the assessment is not an A. It's showing the learning, but then taking that next step to put the grade on the report card feels like um a percentage grade to me. But so, I understand that it's different, but how are we getting
229that message to people? I think at first First step is ensuring that our our staff and students understand that. Um and in getting some survey data back from our educators, it's clear that that misconception also lies within our teaching ranks. So that would be step one. Uh and I think we have to deemphasize uh not that letter grades are not important. So but we need to emphasize the learning and the chasing of a learning and not the chasing of a grade. And so I'm going to uh I I'm going to um invoke Ken O Conor's um board presentation when he was here a few years ago. When students go to basketball practice, they are not necessarily worried about the score of the scrimmage. They are working on the skills. And so how do we how
230do we take that same energy that students put into practicing for a sport or rehearsing for a theater and having that translate to learning because at the end of the day it's analogous. But we have a culture where the minute we introduce the letter grade, it's all about the letter grade. So there are options on the table to delay when we start using letter grades so that students begin to chase the learning. Again, I I say that have with no intention of changing anything for this year. Uh but we have to make sure that our educators also are understand and can correct the misconception. Does that relate to your goals around formative revisions or the the formative system? >> You mean having formative assessment in a gradebook? >> Yeah. >> Um yeah, in an ideal
231state, formative assessment would not be calculated in a student's grade. We are not yet ready as a system. If the 0.5 shift taught us anything, it's that we need a longer runway. So, um, is it a goal to have final grades truly be a result of summitative performance? Yes. Can I tell you when that will happen? No. Because I know we're not ready yet as a system to go there. >> Sample size of two in my household. Um they we had a conversation about rubrics and um and they really did speak to how being given the information of what they needed to do in order to be successful ahead of time really helped them when those were available. Those really made a difference in what they were able to accomplish. and the teachers who are
232making those available were really pretty consistent with making those available. So, so, so we've got some people doing some really great stuff out there and I hope that they continue to work together to support each other in keeping some of these really strong practices growing. >> Yeah, it's an incredibly important practice and all students regardless of the subject area or the assessment should have access to that information. And I think that was probably a blind spot for us as a division in assuming that that practice was more entrenched than it was. But a but a positive byproduct of these changes was that the rubric use is now increasing and people are seeing people and by people of families, students, educators are seeing the value in using the rubric. anything to layer on that. Not all
233students are ready in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade to work through those rubrics themselves. So, making sure that um guardians can see them and find them because I think there's a gap. Um they're more they were more accessible to students this year. They weren't always easy to find. Um and there's a pretty again I know we're still in Canvas. a pretty limited amount of information that the observer account um can give. I think that that we could do a lot more to and whether that's you know some some departments did a nice job of um I know they had help with this and support from your area um with emails linking documents linking rubrics um is a great conversation that uh a guardian can have I think with their student not just about do
234you have homework but what is the rubric for that homework and do you want to talk about what that rubric says. Um, so you can tell me a little bit more about it and you can see you that help you clarify what do you need to go ask your teacher tomorrow because right now you're not 100% sure what that rubric is telling you. We need to get to that point. >> There was a moment last school year where one of our department chairs who has a lot of leadership experience shared with Dr. Marvel and Miss Fch. Oh, I understand what's happening here now. I should be talking with my colleagues on the development of formative and summitative assessments. Oh, I understand now. This was not about the 0.5 being taken away. This is about ensuring
235that we are explicit around what do we want students to learn and how are we tracking it. And I think that's what Miss Fch is trying to get to. While and and this is where at times we need to slow down that while we understand that that's the goal, we have to make sure that we're bringing the masses along to en to ensure that they understand what our goal um is for for the children. That this is not about the adults. This is about how do we want to support the adult change so the children can can flourish and grow. And that that that moment was really pivotal for us to say this is we we can always so I appreciate your comments earlier this evening Dr. early of yep we we we've learned something
236here in terms of the the implementation science of things and um we'll grow from it. >> One of the ways we are growing is it's not just having created the rubric right but that talking about that shift in adult practices our teachers have a responsibility to teach the rubric to our students. Yeah. So rather than just giving the rubric, right, um teachers need to unpack the language within the rubric, they need to look at exemplars side by side with the rubric so that students understand, right, what success looks like. And students need opportunities to selfassess their work. And so those are all again teaching right practices um and ways in which we're continuing to grow and improve as a system. >> Yeah. So >> last comment u so I private sector hat on and say
237that I think what with will really help and will eventually look like what I would refer to as being able to execute at scale. Um public school system is size of however many people live there. get a choice to be at a scale we have to operate at business. You can start small and that's up a little bit and every time you scale up to take two steps forward and one back not really afforded that luxury here when we make a decision it's across the board right so um I I think done a good job of break this up into Make sure we think of each school, each elementary school in each classroom as branch in a bigger company. want to make sure that somebody if somebody's in one doing their thing all day that
238somebody over the equivalent at another one across across the city getting is getting and doing the same things right that's business have that equity nice and just all all aspects really operate at scale. I think that is solve it but getting us towards a lot in in American in in the American workplace. Mr. Wier, public education is notoriously one of the most independent workplaces we have in our nation. So you have captured succinctly what we're trying to do with all the different systems that we've talked about. We're trying to take to scale a systemic approach to ensuring that equity is happening across every classroom. And we have to do it in a in a in a time frame and in a method that is not stressing staff members but at the same time ensuring that
239there's a clear understanding that we're trying to accomplish something. It is it's a delicate balance balancing act that we're trying to implement. Um but yes, you captured it. I just I would just offer just keep in mind that public education is notoriously very independent and so those structures that you just identified as saying, "Oh, that from a private sector perspective, I see what you're you're doing." Yes. And for some who have been in this sector for a while, this feels very different. Institutional change by definition is always just takes a while for it to roll whoever role. I I think I think we have plan and that is that looks like could be very successful. Thank you for >> anything else. Okay. And thank you. Even though we've asked a lot of of questions and
240pointed questions at times, we really do appreciate all the work that you've put into this and and also our our staff and teachers. We know this is one of those pain points um that, you know, parents and students feel and we want to make sure we're really digesting it well from our side so that when we're get outreach, we can um respond in in ways that I think hopefully will move us forward. So, thank you. Okay, we move to item number nine, adjourn. Um, the time is 9:55 p.m. May I have a motion to adjurnn? >> I move to adjurnn. >> May I have a second? >> I second. >> Thank you, m Miss Barinsky. Um, Miss Summers, please call the role. >> Miss Bzinski, >> yes. >> Mr. Bower, >> excused. >> Miss Bach,
241>> yes. >> Mr. Morris, >> excused. Miss Hammer Roland. >> Yes. >> Dr. Burley. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wadier. >> Yes. >> And the motion carries. Thank you everyone. >> Sarah and he