001Good evening and welcome to this afternoon's Augusta School Department workshop. We are here in the CATC cafeteria. It is Wednesday, September 23, 2026, and it is 6:33 p.m. m. Having said that, I'm starting the meeting and I'm going to walk around the room. If we could introduce ourselves, that would be great . I am Mark Beaudry, president of the school board. Bobby Joe Gishard, District 4. Kevin takes the microphone. Rita [ __ ], general. John Reynolds, general. Sam Baker, District 1. Gabriel Bearby Pierce, General. Shelby Thibodeau, deputy superintendent. Mike Tracy, superintendent. We have guests in the audience and I would ask them to identify themselves as well. Sheldon Hershey, candidate for District 2. Thank you. Stephanie Williams, mother, city councilwoman. Volunteer. Kevin McDonald, Lincoln principal. Miss D. Faber, student services specialist. Darren Ardell, director of
002Gilbert. Nicole Clark, deputy director of Hedges. Heather Gaskill , Harrington principal. And welcome to all. We have two items on our agenda for tonight, and I hope the first one won't take too long. And that was a conversation I had with a couple of school board members to have a little chat about meeting rules, including school board meeting rules and committee meeting rules. That's what I mean. Okay, let's talk about... I'm going to divide it into two parts, and we'll talk about the committee meetings, and then we'll talk about the regular board meetings. But in observing the board meetings, what I think especially needed to be addressed and seemed to be a cause for concern were the roles of committee chairs, the roles of committee members, and the roles of those who are not committee
003members, to make sure that was clear for many reasons. And, in particular, as we 've talked about before but haven't discussed much, when you have most of the school board presidents present, you're walking on thin ice if there's any discussion about school board business because a meeting with an agenda on the matter isn't officially posted. That's why it 's important. Also important, Mike, help me with this committee thing. Do we have to have public comments during committee meetings? At any time before this meeting. I don't think there's a requirement in the law because they are standing committees of the majority of the board. I think it's probably a good practice if you have a topic we're discussing and if the public is interested, I would probably encourage that community to make public comments if there's
004time. Therefore, it must be understood that when there is a committee meeting, the chairperson is in charge of the committee and only committee members participate . And we disguised it as best we could by saying that the committee would first do its business and then we would open it up to what we call public comments, where other board members can make comments. But what we've noticed, and I want to make sure we're all aware of, is that a long time ago Michelle Warner wanted to open up the agenda items so that everyone could...committee members could make changes to them, and there was a commitment that if you weren't on the committee, you wouldn't make any changes to those agenda items because she could only open everything up to everyone. And people wanted to do some
005of that work during the committee meeting, particularly on policy matters, when there is a lot to do. Which means that during the policy committee meeting, in any meeting that takes place... Sometimes there aren't that many job descriptions. We also do it with the staff. No one makes changes to those job descriptions, policies, or any document we have before us, other than committee members. And it would be the responsibility of the committee chairman to determine whether that person wanted to be the only one to do it or whether they wanted to delegate that task to, for example, the assistant superintendent , because there have been times when there have been too many cooks in the kitchen for the documents. So remember that we had that agreement whereby if it's not your committee, you won't make changes
006to it . The other thing is that, and I am probably as guilty of this as anyone, I am, as president, an ex officio member of all the committees. So I'm on the committees. Sometimes I forget that I'm not the chairman of the committee, and I try not to . But I would like you to know that if you are the chairman of a committee and I get out of my way, please remind me that I am only a member of the committee and keep me in my place. Alright . I understand. So I also like to talk about when those who are not committee members want to be part of the public conversation. Committee members should not react to them as if they were board members. Think about what would happen if you were
007at a school board meeting and a member of the public stood up and said, "I think the policy you're going to discuss tonight should include blah, blah, blah, blah." We would not make that recommendation. We wouldn't make that change during a board meeting because we are members of the public. You really have to keep in mind that if it's not a committee meeting, they are members of the public and are acting in that capacity as such. I was guiding you to another place. Charlie. If you are not a member of the committee and you are sitting in the meeting and the discussion begins, we have to wait until all the committee members have spoken a couple of times and then the chair will say something like: any comments from the audience? And that's when... That's
008your sign. Are there any comments from the public? And anyone else in the room could too... And so, when I first came onto the board, having been superintendent and having attended many board and committee meetings, I was concerned about how the committees were run in Augusta . And for a year it was like it was my problem, so I didn't say anything. A lot of work was done in the committees. And it involved more people than just committee members. So the things that were done in the committees were as if when they reached the board of directors they were automatically approved . Anything like this? Yes all ok. It was unanimous and was approved without further ado. And there were members of the public who complained, and you may remember, at some of our meetings,
009saying, " Why does it seem like all of this has been planned in advance? Why does this seem like a nod?" And the explanation was that much of the work is done in the committee, and that is true. Much of the work is done in the committee. The committee's job, if something has to go to the board, is to make it presentable for the board. And then, if any board member has any concerns about what is presented to them, it is good to discuss it within the board setting. That's why we have a motion to put it up for debate. That's the place to have a public debate. So that the public can see how the sausage is made. You know, it's not just about giving the go-ahead and moving on . Any questions about
010what I've said so far? I'm going to be more informal. No, it's better not to do it because then I'll fall into bad habits. Board members, please bear with me. Piers. Thank you. Will there be an opportunity during this debate to make some practical recommendations? Of course. Okay. When would it be appropriate? I think I've said what I had to say. So, if anyone has anything else they'd like to contribute right now, that would be great. Okay. I only know that there are some; What I've observed in the few committee meetings I've had the opportunity to attend is that I like the inclusiveness of everyone sitting together, and I think it also really blurs the lines as far as committee procedure and that sort of thing is concerned. Therefore, I would recommend that members who
011are not committee members and those who are not ex officio members sit in the gallery with everyone else and have the same public access as the rest of the public. I think that would make the distinction much clearer. I believe it would also allow committee meetings to run more efficiently, but I also expect that there are other people who will have some observations as well. So. Any other questions, please ask. Does anyone want to participate? Does anyone need anything? Member Pello. I think those are all good changes and I would probably ask that, in the meeting prior to the working meetings, we decide when, during board comments, whether it's the acceptance of the minutes or the usual board comments, comments from board members , if there was an important highlight from a committee meeting, we
012take some time during the working meeting to share it with the rest of the group and the public. I know that, because our meetings got so long, we stopped talking about what was in our committees and we didn't need to read the minutes. I don't think it's necessary, but I think we want to include them with the formality of distinguishing the committees more clearly than in working meetings. The highlights from those committee meetings should be intentionally shared. Leave me alone. Let me clarify this. Well, their suggestion is that when we do the minutes of the meetings, they should all be grouped together. Yes. And then we say debate, is it like a queue for each committee chair? I don't even know if each one, but I think if something, I think I could invite at
013the time of, well, in the curriculum, as it was, you know, similar to that, except we mentioned this. And if the board members or the public want to see this, uh, it was a really intense discussion. Almost like a more contextual summary, rather than just the content type, " This is what, you know, the gravity of what we discussed, or these, you know , on a policy, we just looked at old policies. There wasn't anything of great substance, but you can look at the minutes." So, I don't need full summaries of the hour-long meeting because people can see it, and it's there, and if people are interested, they should certainly do it. But, a sort of highlighted summary because it would invite more from the committee chair to synthesize and keep the board informed of
014the big picture of what's going on with the committees. It doesn't have to be every time, and it doesn't have to be in every committee. But, certainly, maybe we could be intentional in the pre-meeting to say, for example, which committees—are there committee chairs who feel they really need to share something that the majority of the board didn't mention because they weren't there? That sort of thing. What if, when we had that agenda item, I went to each committee chair and asked them if Did they have something to report ? That too. Something like that. Yes. Yes. And I know that's because... The work is done in the committee, and I think the formality we're discussing today is a good idea. And then it makes me wonder, what does that look like to bring to the
015board? And it could be public at that point. And there's been an evolution because when you and I started on the board, all the minutes were read. Yes. And then we moved to a summary of the minutes. And now we're at... we just say they're minutes. If you want to read them, go find them online. And maybe any important issues would be a good idea. However, to take advantage of the existing format, I would also say that if there are issues from a particular committee that are on the agenda to be voted on, we have an opportunity to discuss them when the motion is presented . And we often don't. So I would say it's also an opportunity not only for the committee members but for the entire board to have a discussion that would
016otherwise take place during a public comment period at a committee meeting. So, that would just be another recommendation based on the existing format we have. In fact, we have more opportunities for the entire board , which are already included in our agenda, to have a more comprehensive discussion if we so desire. Other recommendations regarding our committee meetings: I'm open to any suggestions anyone might have to streamline them, make them more meaningful, and smooth. We could ask Member Baker. Thank you, Chairman. Yes, a couple of specific ideas I also have are that committee chairs prepare their committee room as they prepare for a meeting. So , one thing I think could really improve them is for the committee chair to check in with their committee members and make sure that, okay, do they have a printed
017copy of the agenda, or can they click and open the digital agenda before we go live and do the broadcast? And then it's like, okay, we were all ready to go, and then it's like, we don't have access to the agenda. So, you know, check with yourselves, take those 30 seconds or One more minute to check with the other committee members and make sure everyone has access to an agenda. We're ready to go live. I 'm also thinking about how we'll be seated. I think, to reduce confusion between committee members and non-members, we can comfortably fit three chairs at a table. So, if there are three members on the committees, then it's like, okay, this committee will sit here because we're just starting out... I'm speaking as the chair of the personnel committee. So, the
018three of us could sit together. And then I think that makes things easier for the people in the room and those connecting online to see, well, these are the personnel committee members. When we do our introductions, it's clearer and there's less confusion. So , that might be something that, you know, committee chairs recommend doing for their committees . Yes, and I think something important is similar to when we have our full board business meetings and the questions, comments, and things have to go through the chairman of the board. That should also be replicated at the committee level, where people shouldn't be talking Out of turn, people should ask for acknowledgment or wait to be acknowledged. Sometimes there are side conversations that can be distracting. The chair is responsible for any discussion about something that isn't
019relevant to an agenda item, or if the committee has adjourned an item or voted and taken action on an item, the discussion is over, you know, on that item. So, I think, again, that could help us address the items we need on our agenda. It will help us manage our time more effectively. The committee chair needs to be aware of how much time has passed as we move through the agenda. We need to avoid spending 45 minutes on the first item so we don't have to rush later trying to finish the remaining three items in just 15 minutes. So, I hope committee chairs feel a little more empowered to say, " Okay, time check, we're 15 minutes in, we have three more things to cover." For example, I'll accept some final discussion or comments, and
020then we'll have to either postpone this point or vote on it, you know, move on." Well, those are a couple of my ideas. Let me ask you where you think public comments fit in. Before the vote? After the vote? Well, for me to keep track, yes, I think for anyone who sees that, no, go ahead. My initial thoughts are, I think we could include it as an item on the agenda and make that very clear, as it is now an item for public comment. This is an opportunity to talk about any or all of the points that are there. Something similar to a full board meeting ; if it looks like there will be a lot of comments or a lot of people talking, we could limit it to 3 minutes for everyone, you know,
021apply it systematically. But yes, I see committee meetings as mini board meetings, and I think we have similar actions we can take, and we've been doing them quite well, you know, at the full board level, and we could try to apply them in these committee meetings as well. So, are you saying there will be public comment in each committee? I think so. Yes. That's how it's said. Okay. Before, after, or at the beginning, I think the first thing that would come to mind would be to put it at the beginning of the session, when order is called , for public comments, because that way people who have read the materials in advance arrive at the meeting with some ideas or observations, you know, they could share them there at the beginning. That way, the committee
022members will have heard it, the staff will have heard it, and management will have heard it. And that's how it gets published while we work and committee members continue their discussions and take action on agenda items instead of waiting until the end. And then, someone may have said something and now it's like, "Oh, now we have to go back and follow up on that or ask about that." "I think it's a natural flow, like the public has the opportunity to share some things in advance, the committee does its work, and then, if members of the public or non- committee members have additional ideas or something, then they save those for the full board meeting at that time. And well, my question about that would be, would the public comments still have to be relevant to
023the agenda items or not ? So it would be because I was wondering, because public comment meetings are like anything related to education, and we used to have something like an agenda and a no-agenda. So, can we—and I think this would make sense for committee meetings—can we tell the public to come and talk about these things that we're about to discuss? So, we can't restrict that, but can we keep it or not? No, but I saw that somewhere in my ... Well, the law, I'll read you the law. The school board shall provide the public with an opportunity to comment on school and educational matters at school board meetings. Nothing in this subsection restricts..." The school board should establish reasonable standards for public comment, including time limits and standards of conduct. For the purposes of
024this subsection, school board meetings means the full school board meeting and does not include subcommittees . So, it does n't include subcommittees? Technically, they don't have to listen. The original question was whether I'm referring to the money they want us to have, but they don't have to have public comment at all. However, if they're going to let their fellow board members speak and have a say, they'll have to allow the entire public. And I would venture to say that once we open a limited public forum like we do at school board meetings, I think we could have problems if we limited ourselves to specific topics. So, I think if we put... I agree with... I have no objection to recommending that they go ahead and put public comment if they want to add that at
025the beginning or before the action, whatever. But just keep in mind that it will allow everyone to speak. Not the board members of subcommittees, but it also allows the... The general public speaks. And my idea is that I don't think it can be limited at that point to the agenda items. I'm a parent. Up? Okay. In that case, well, I'm wondering if the way the policy is written now, BDE, which is a standing committee policy, where it says—where did I just read this?—it says that the board, the committee chair, can recognize members to speak. Would that be sufficient ? Well, my question is for the board or the committee members. Let's see. I just read this and now…Wait. Members of the public, I thought that's what it just said. Members were just permanent appointments. We
026can appoint those who follow. Perhaps this is a different policy. There's also policy B, D, E, R, which is relevant, which is the process. That's where I was looking. Okay. Well, it says presence. Okay, so only members can vote . We know that. As for the agenda recommendations, this was just…Okay, I'll find it when I follow. See? Yes, go ahead. Number B for me. Got it? Is it the letter E? The letter E, okay. Any board member, staff member, or member of the public can attend a standing committee meeting, but can only speak at the committee's discretion. Thank you. Okay. Whoa, I was getting there. Well, what I'm wondering about the idea of public comments is : if we don't want to do that, and instead, whoever is there—and maybe it's at the committee's discretion—
027say, "Actually, we have five people sitting here today who want to speak at the committee's discretion before we get into the meeting, let's hear what they have to say," in different meetings where that's not what's happening, there wouldn't be any requirement to do that. That's what I'm wondering because I want our committee meetings to work, too, and I'm wondering if opening them up sometimes will make them less effective. So, that's what I'm wondering when we were talking about it because I like the idea of more formality, but I 'm not sure I love the idea of public comments at every committee meeting. I think if we You use, I think you can word it so that it's up to the chairperson's discretion to see if there will be public input. I think we can word
028it that way. And we might want to go back to, sorry, BDER. I mean, in that case, while we're having these conversations, the board members could review those governance policies that deal with how we do things. Thanks, Rita. Yes. Okay, I have some ideas to compile for you. We'll have to start at our next Monday marathon. And we can start that Monday meeting marathon before the committee meetings with a little review to see if it's okay to do that time, and I'll get those to you in advance. Does anyone have anything else on this idea? Thanks. The next one is... Well, it must have been 2 years ago. Maybe it wasn't 2 years ago. Maybe it just seems like it was 2 years ago. You might remember Carol helping me when we had a workshop
029to establish some group norms for the school board. I know I've been involved in a lot of group norms settings, and they all go pretty much the same way. I didn't think that establishing norms for the group It wasn't a hot topic. However, I suppose it turned out to be because we brainstormed, put our ideas on the board, and said, "How are these rules?" "We wrote them down, and then people said, 'I didn't agree to follow them.'" Well, they got an 86. 86 isn't a bad word. I can use this one so I don't have to put any other number on it. Well, I'm wondering if we want to establish group norms for our meetings. I think we've done very well in terms of behavior in that regard. Okay, I wanted to talk a little
030bit about A, number one, do we need to develop group norms or are you okay with what they're doing? But I also wanted to talk a little bit about the role of the president, and this came up as a result of the meeting I attended with Drummond and Woodsome two Fridays ago. Last Friday, whenever that was, the chairman of the board has an incredible amount of power; Whether you like it or not, it has it. That's just how it is. That's how it is. The chairman of the board leads the meeting. In fact, if someone is surprised that they want something done , it is up to the chairman of the board to decide whether it is done, unless the chairman wants to put it to a vote by the board. Just because someone asks
031me to do something in a meeting doesn't mean I have to do it. I can respectfully say that I will do something or not do it, in which case they can request that a motion be presented. If you...A motion is something completely different from asking the president to do something. And with it, it is said that the president has many obligations, you have a lot of power, you also have a lot of power, because you can present a motion and you can also overturn my decisions. You have that ability. And I think that's fine. I understand that we won't always agree on things, and I understand that if this board wants something that I don't want, I have to do it. My job is to do what you want. The other thing they talked about
032that was really interesting is the role of the president in the disputes, what I call disputes. It is important that the chairman of the board knows the position of his board. To know the position of individual board members on the issues. They don't want a situation where someone puts something or asks you to put something on the agenda and you put it and you don't know where it's going to go. That looks bad. It looks bad when the board can't reach an agreement, when the board is having a heated, perhaps not friendly, discussion about something. There should be some idea. And if there is that division on the board, it is necessary to have some conversations to see what is behind it and where to go with that issue. So many times I have to
033do my homework with individual board members to see where we stand as a board. That 's just part of my job. And many times, and I know it has come up, what is my stance on a topic? It doesn't matter. I cannot vote. I can only vote if there is a tie. So many times I do n't really have a stance because I did n't need to find one. That wasn't my job at that time. So that's part of the issue that I don't know if we really acknowledge or talk about it enough. Well, I think that's what I wanted to share with you, especially so you understand that my role as president is different from yours as members. You can vote, I can't. My job is different. And what do they want to do
034about the group's rules? I know I'm going to...tonight I'm in a bit of a hurry. If they want to resume this, that's fine. There are a couple of members who would like this meeting to last an hour, and I will try to respect that if I can. Well, it's up to you. I just wanted to bring up the issue of group rules. We can bring it up again somewhere else. We can review them tonight. We can draft a version. You can see that some of the things on this list are quite common. Others are not, since we don't need to have a records manager. We don't need to have... What's the name of the person who reports afterward? Good. How did we do today? I don't have that person. Can I point something out? Just
035one thing, perhaps I could say: "Beware of redundancy. Avoid repeating points." I'm from the Redundancy Department. Just, you know, people, people, I'm sorry. It's a pleasure for you. Good. Madam President. These are just an old administrative team that created them a couple of years ago. This is just one example. They are not theirs, but only examples of the administrative team's participation rules. Then the president asked me to produce a sample for them, and that is what was provided. I would say, Madam President, that you're a month away from the elections, so it might be a good idea to hand this out as a sample to people who are thinking about it, but then, when you have new members in a couple of months, it might be a time to go over it a bit more.
036Does that work, people? OK. To be determined. So, for the next item on the agenda, I'm going to give the floor to Superintendent Tracy. This is, uh, to get this started. I'm going to hand it in...I'm sorry. I don't have... I 'm not digital tonight. Yes. Of course I don't have my copy with me. But what I'm going through is just to get the number three, kind of cognitive lines here, I guess. Wait. Let me introduce the topic. Thank you. Thank you. I'm just going to say that the third item on the agenda is the preparation of information for the basic reconfiguration. Very good. We don't intend to resolve this tonight . Very good. This is something like a... This is... I guess let me throw out a result so that in the next 30
037to 45 minutes we'll know what our result is. The result is: What do we need to do to move this discussion forward if you, as a board, believe you need to continue moving this discussion forward? Okay? So I actually sent an email last week, kind of like, high level, what information do we need to have a discussion? Because tonight we're not going to have a debate, technically speaking. One step at a time for me too. Yes, the meeting, and again, I'm not saying we have to do this next year, okay? But if the board had the guts to study redistricting or school reorganization, and if they did that next year, I would say we really would have to make a decision by December. And the reason I mention December is because we need to know
038any budgetary implications of making these kinds of changes. Very good. Well, what you have in front of you is part of a PowerPoint presentation that CHA Architects gave us for new construction. This is also in the new builds tab of our website, so anyone at home has access to this too. What you have in front of you are some slides where CHA said, "If we were to study a solution for the entire district, how can we deliver education in the city of Augusta in the most efficient way?" Okay ? That was their purpose in looking at where to locate the new school. And when we locate the new school, is a 6-7-8 school the right configuration? Is a pre-K to 2 school the right configuration? Is it a high school? Right? They kind of look
039at all the options. Part of that selection process was seeing if we were going to reorganize the elementary school into an East Side elementary school, which we know that decision has already been made. We're looking at a referendum on November 3rd. We've been in this process for two years for a new construction project on Farragut. That's done. That's the decision. The easy part of that as far as the decision has been made. Okay? But that leaves us with, oh no, we have this information about the West Side schools. What do we do? Okay, that's where we are tonight. And so what they said is, if you look at the second page, they looked at the scenario on the West Side, scenario number one, West Side. Um, we know that about 52 or 53% of Augusta
040students reside and attend school on the West Side, and about 47 or 48% of Augusta students attend East Side schools at the elementary level. Obviously, 100% of the middle and high school students go to Cony. Okay. What they did was tell us that they gave us two scenarios. They said we could keep our schools in the current configuration they're in, and aligned and consistent with the board's priorities for a universal preschool system, which would be, remember, bringing three- and four- year-olds into all of our schools. And if we keep all three schools intact from preschool through sixth grade, that's what they look like. And what they determined when they did that was that it makes Gilbert and Lincoln irregular. They're not Equitable. Okay? And that's what this exercise is about. And what they said is
041that if we had 16 classrooms—and I'm not going to go into all the specifics—you already have five pre-K, five K, five first-grade, two second-grade. That would be preschool age three through two grades at Gilbert. And then at Lincoln, you'd have third through sixth grade. You'd have three third graders, three fourth graders, three sixth graders, three sixth graders. So you say, "Mr. Tracy, where are the other half of the students at Augusta?" "The answer is Harrington. I mean, if we did this next year, they'd still be at Hussey Harrington. And eventually, in three years, they'd all be going to the fire. Okay. Well, just the observations, if you take a look at that, the reason they selected Gilbert as the best school for preschool programs is simply the size of the classrooms. Lincoln's classrooms are too
042small for the younger children . Because of the square footage. And Gilbert has the largest ones. Okay? Mhm. Well, if you go to the first page, you'll see scenario number one here. It's a picture of a floor plan of Gilbert. You'll notice I'm not going to go over all the colors, but an orange color, a blue color, a green color, a purple color gives you the general education spaces in K and pre-K, which would clearly be your first floor. And with three special education spaces , and then the upstairs would have first and second grades. I think I'm showing it correctly. Did I get that right? Yes. Mhm. Okay. And from New, more or less, this was based on the enrollment projections we had since last October. Okay. So, again, you have... I think there
043are a total of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 20 classrooms that everyone else had. I feel burned out. Yes. Is it 16? It's 16. 17. According to... Oh, page one is 17 at Gilbert and 16 at Lincoln. That's right. Mine is three classrooms and mine is... Well, these are available G&A classrooms. Yes. Yes. Yes, 17. Okay. And if you look at that page, I think it's 14 on the CHA slide . Third page on your Gilbert map. Yes. Based on just under 300 students from preschool through seventh grade, and then it shows you the existing classrooms . Can I ask a clarifying question? I know I should know the answer, but it says, uh, three. On the first page He said Gilbert was the right size for three- and four-year-olds. Are
044we planning for three-year-olds on the west side, or all the programs for three- year-olds on-site? Do you mean three-year-olds on the west side of Gilbert? Three-year-olds at...? So, the CDS kids? Yes. Okay. Yes, we would be again because we accept parity on both sides of the river. This model is built in one of those rooms that would probably be an early childhood special education room . You would have the preschool spaces there. We would probably have to buy some smaller equipment for three- or four-year-olds, play equipment, etc. We have some... Ma'am, I do n't know if I'm saying this right, but we now have some equipment that fits four-year-olds. Yes, it's limited. But we would need some new equipment. So, it would be some adaptations. Not catastrophic. Like we're doing with Harrington, but there would
045be some minor changes and modifications . So, that would be... Again, this is just the preliminary information the architects told us, okay? Questions about Gilbert? I'm going to speed things up , okay? Lincoln would be the west-side school, grades 3-6. And again, I won't elaborate on this, but you can see the classrooms there. Generally, the classrooms are blue, the specialized classrooms are green, and the unified arts classrooms are green. Same here, this one was built in 2003. Both schools would be built for capacities of just under 300, or around 300 or less. Okay? And again, page 19 shows both schools with approximately 500. This was built for... Remember the enrollment at the time CHJA was considering the 10- year enrollment? We'll be scaling down to approximately 500 on each side of the river. Okay. Questions
046about the floor plan? Before the plane lands on the last page, which is our current enrollment, uh, before we move on to that mini-exercise, I want our administrators here, so feel free to ask them some questions if you have specific school-level questions, but we've We talked a little bit, and given the position we're in, with resources, funding, and so on, we've been looking at the most efficient way to deliver education in Augusta. We keep coming back to this idea of putting children of the same age, groups of teachers of the same age group, under one roof, which will allow us to streamline our programs. For example, we have two K2 special education programs in Gilbert and Lincoln. We have two special education programs from second to sixth grade in Lincoln and Gilbert. Now, obviously ,
047part of today's exercise with the staff—and today we took an extra day off early—was to do the work of these people: these are the students we have in our schools, and these are the resources we have in our schools, and how are we going to make this work because it hasn't been working. We've been struggling since day one this year , as we knew we would. And we've been planning all summer for the realities we're facing, but we're realizing that what looks good on paper only works until maybe there's staffing. sick, or maybe something happens, or life changes and we have to cover for each other, for the other schools. Now, I don't want this decision to be based on money, but I have to tell you that it's part of the factor. We believe
048that allocating resources could combine resources across all pre-kindergarten through second grade resources on the west side of Gilbert so that those teachers have easier access to each other. The same early childhood through second grade resources and professional development under one roof , not under two roofs as we have now. And that's why we believe—and I don't have specific numbers, as someone, I think someone asked me today, how much money would it save, Mike?—I don't know yet, but I do know that the opportunity cost of doing business the way we're doing it isn't working either. And I don't have to remind you about budget season. Well, let me—I don't mean to be depressing or disrespectful— but I want to go over our current class roster, which is the last page of the little booklet I gave
049you . If you look there, this is as of Today . Oh. Okay, this is the current information. Well, if you look at kindergarten , I'm going to take you down. I want you to do something with me. Take a pencil or a pen. And two years ago in Lincoln, there was a third kindergarten . Put a little circle under the 15. And two years ago in Hussey , there was a second kindergarten under the 60. Put a little circle there. And in first grade in Lincoln, there were two first grades. So, under the 19, put a circle. And then under that, one step down to another circle. And in second grade in Farrington, under the 19, put a little circle. Third grade, under the 20 in Hussey, there was another third grade. If you
050go to fourth grade, that was Statler. Twelve, fifth grade, you'll see in Gilbert, there were fewer than 23, you have another teacher there. And if you count that, if I did it right, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, it should be seven. Does everyone know what that seven represents? We had seven more elementary school teachers two years ago. Now, your superintendent, who was here two years ago, and I have made recommendations. I've talked about the appropriate size in our district , okay? So, I will acknowledge the fact that I've been part of these reductions. What it does is save money because we've hired fewer staff. But what this does each year is that the assistant superintendent will work with the principals, and I will work with Caitlin Rodriguez next spring to figure out where
051the class sizes are, and, oh, where the incoming kindergarteners are, and where the bubbles are next year. And next year we'll see where the staffing is and where we need to move staff, and we'll do it again the following year. And we'll have to keep doing that until the new Eastside school is all under one roof, and then we'll have what we're trying to figure out on the Westside figured out on the Eastside. And so, on the Westside, that will continue indefinitely if we don't make a change. And well, again, that will leave What happens when you put all the preschool through second graders under one roof? Then you won't have a bubble of 24 kids in the single class at Gilbert while you have classes of 14, 14, and 16 at another school. Are
052you all with me? So we're hoping that with the irregularities in class sizes—and we've done a good job of trying to mediate them as best we can this year—that will help with that situation. The last other thing I would say is that we've talked about this, and we know there will be some downsides, like the notion of a neighborhood school. Mr. Tracy, does n't that mean if I have kids, one in first grade and one in third, and I live on the west side, my kids will be going to two different schools? Yes, that's what it would mean. Well, those are the two initial downsides, and it might be significant enough for parents to be concerned about. But we believe that from a strategic education and best education platform perspective, this was a discussion worth
053having. That's why we're making the argument. I don't want to tell you what my recommendation is yet because I don't know enough. We haven't We've researched this. We haven't modeled it as if this is actually going to happen next year if we do this. And I haven't pushed the administrative team to look into it because I wanted to get the board's opinion on whether they want us to have this conversation. Well, that's where we are tonight. We think we need to have the conversation. That's why we started tonight. Well, I'll leave it there. Am I missing something? I just wanted to say that I'm actually looking at a PowerPoint presentation that the administrative team and I created to present to the school board on March 11, 2020. So, can I tell you what happened? Do
054we have to respond to that? COVID. Well, anyway, that conversation and that research that we've done quite a bit . I think, with the CHA recommendation about classrooms, and I think when I start looking at support services, particularly for pre-K, 2, 3-6 , and in that way I try to cover K-6, it's very difficult for their support services for ESL, special education, um , you know, that Title programming Also for interventions. If they can concentrate on those grade levels, it becomes much more... and they don't have the one-classroom sessions with a second-grade teacher alone or a fifth-grade teacher alone. Well, that's what really precipitated this conversation. Let me bring up a couple of things with the board. If we want to do this for next school year, we have two more workshops. No, we don't
055have one in November. We have one more workshop before December. You don't have one right between Thanksgiving and now. We might have to schedule a special meeting. Oh, yes. Well, we're on... But we don't want to be pressed for time and make the wrong decision . So, if time is an issue , we'll take more time. The other thing is, what do you need to know? What information can we get for you that you need to know? Not necessarily to make the decision, but to be in a position to make it. Member Reynolds: Thank you, President. I was seeing if this is something you could bring up for us, something to look at the impact on transportation costs, things like that. Also, really warm with the... Z. I want to know, what would that look
056like, right? With the services, what would the physical building need to have so that, you know, it provides a good service? I don't want things to be negatively impacted, and then have a bad financial effect as well, right? Because then it just doesn't sound very good, also, with the impact on our staff. I don't want to harm them or anything. I don't know if this means that... Does that mean adding more to certain classes, certain teachers with these numbers with preschool? I don't know. I don't know where those zeros are. Well, things like that I'd like to see beforehand. Okay, some of that. Ultimately , as we add preschool, we'll have to add that staff. Yes. Depending on our overall numbers, we may need to add staff. We don't know. Right now , we're maintaining
057the numbers we have. So in preschool, we would have to gradually add staff over time so that we can manage it well. Right. That's what I mean. And I'd rather do that than put too much on top of them, than keep adding things. I wonder if we have any idea of the The impact on the children currently enrolled in these schools, what the impact will be on them. Just on the socio-emotional aspect. It's quite a big disruption to their expectations for elementary school. That's something they're saying isn't a good idea, but it's a big disruption. And the panel? Yes, I'm formally asking what the staff and parents think about new children going to different schools, what parents in general on the west side think. I hear something like, "Education, I can hear how the structural
058part would probably be stronger support services." I can see the upsides, and I'd also like to have parents and staff involved all the time. Because it's a very important thing and probably the biggest change for their education in terms of improvement. That's what I would hope would be best. Except , you know, I just see the negative instructional part. I'm sure that needs to be taken into account. My only concern is the timing, because I'm wondering what, you know, we have our priorities, but now we have, if I summarize the priorities of what I see the schools doing, it's new structures of MTSS intervention. It's a universal start time or a late start for things at Coney. It's the building referendum and the change with Hazi and Farrington's leadership, and now it's potentially the grade
059redistribution at Westside. So I'm wondering if we could number them one through four and figure out if maybe we can't do that. But my question is, what's the emergency, which could wait, if at all , and if none of them can give staff and parents a voice, how do we hope to jump-start this engine with those four projects I described? Because they're different and they affect different people, but they're big. Rita, can you give me those answers again? I think we're doing a universal start time and a late start for Coney. We're doing MTSS intervention. This year we changed everyone's job descriptions. That's a change. It's a big change. Yes, a very big change. The other was the grade redistribution at Barrington. And then Hussey does n't have a headteacher, and you have Hussey and
060Barrington. Merging communities but working alone, you know, working and still in our own field. Like that transition with the building referendum. That's coming. Well, that's just my question. Rita, when you said universal start time , did you include a bus route with that? Okay. We—and this might be one that isn't the right one—we've just brought in these huge changes, and I'm, you know , we love our structural changes. Then our budgets were cut, and we had to back down a bit. And I'm aware that the teachers are like, bam bam boom bam, and they're willing to do it because that's just who they are. And yet, as a member of the board, I'm not willing to put them through all of this. I'm not uncomfortable with it. So , I just need to know where
061they stand on these things. I need to know if the parents are willing to come in and have a conversation because, truthfully, change is hard, no matter what . And yet, they probably have concerns that need to be heard, addressed, and resolved with real authenticity, right? For example, sitting them down and saying, "Yes, two children would be in different schools, and yet your child would be better served." But you have to have those conversations. And it might be too hasty to ask for a December appointment if you have n't had any of those conversations yet. And maybe you have, but that's about it . For me, it's a clash with... I just find it overwhelming, even for me, to be able to stand up to a teacher and say, "Well, it's all this." How's it
062all going? How's everything going? ". Don't know." I just want to know what the priority would be. And I think that restructuring schools is very important for education because it involves governance, support services, and consolidation. I can see many advantages in this type of model. And yet, is it the one we need to promote? If that's the case, then we'd better start getting all these, you know, parents caught like we have to , so that action needs to be taken now. Well, that's just one I do n't have answers for. These are just some of the things that have come up for me. One question I have is whether there is any particular urgency to finish this by next year. Is there a particular reason for the 2027-2028 school year ? Yes. I was just
063going to say that I think one of the reasons is because it's already going to be disruptive to the route of a bus. Mhm. So you want to do a bus tour and change schools that way and then again the following year? That's what comes to mind. I mean , the reason I'm asking is because I think I brought this up ... how long ago? Six or eight weeks. Just to see what had been talked about and there had been nothing. Now we're talking about a change in the way West Side kids will go to school next year . The urgency has increased dramatically in the last six to eight weeks. Therefore, I wonder if there was something, especially considering that we knew it was summer, when we were setting our priorities, we knew we
064were trying to do some maintenance this year because we knew we already had some of the changes that, member Pello described, would occur next year. Therefore, I am only interested in the moment when I truly feel the urgency. The change in urgency seems interesting to me. I think part of the urgency is when you look at the current registration figures and then those seven cuts and what the impact of that has been, especially in the last two weeks, and what it looks like. For example, today a family with six children moved and they cannot all attend the same school. They go to three different schools on the other side of the river, which means they are picked up at a bus stop that is served by either four buses or two buses, but now four
065buses will arrive because the class size depends on availability. So we created a model that is not sustainable. Correct. And I think it was noble and we did it , we did it when we redistributed the districts two years ago. Remember I said we didn't want to discriminate. We want children to be able to go to school where they live, right? Regardless of the language they speak or the disability they may have. Et cetera, et cetera. Good. We did it. We did it. We were able to do it. Two years ago. And then we had to dismantle that structure over time. So it's like if a board member—and I won't say who—said, "I don't want to see you, Mike, running the Augusta School Department to death, do I? I don't. We don't want to see
066you having to manage its decline." Someone told me that. And the reason, and I ...maybe Shelby or our administrators could be more urgent. I agree with the board that we should take our time. If we have to put on the brakes and do it this year and not next year, we'll do it next year. I think, you know, I don't see sunshine or rainbows for this upcoming budget season and we're going to be bringing back a lot of staff. I don't see it. I will say that I will continue to say it because I believe that is our sad reality. And having said that, just... We can talk about these things, and then we should talk about these things and say how we're going to do it because the reality is that I'm not sure
067we can afford not to. And I didn't want to be so strong on night one, but whether it's next year or the year after, I think we need to have the conversation. How many times do you want to hear your constituents ask you why you have four bus routes at the same stop? How many times do you want people to ask you that question? And, once again , we're going to work to fix it. That's why I think a universal start and a bus for next year is probably something I would recommend we do for next year. We're having a meeting about that, anyone listening, come to Tony High School. We're going to have a conversation Tuesday night about the theater opening. That said, I just want to refocus the conversation on what information. So
068let me give you some examples of what I'm talking about. Do we want Mr. Stoney to give us a presentation on what it would take for the facilities to do this? Do we want to hear about the impact on transportation? Do we want Mr. Stoney to explain what kind of impact this will have on school nutrition? Do we want to hear from Shelby and Misty about the impact on special education ? Do we want to hear from our ESOL teachers about multilingual teachers here? Yes. It seems that's the kind of information they might need. I'd like to know what other information beyond that kind of thing might be of interest to you to help you make this decision. Baker Member. Thank you, Madam President. Yes, I am definitely interested in any upgrades that are needed
069to make this model work. I don't see any specific renovations here, but I'm guessing the classrooms can't be... I mean, the numbers are fine and the proportions and all that work, but do we need to make any actual physical changes to these classrooms? And how much will that cost? I'm also thinking about the changes in our community. If there is a way to track data on new families moving into our district, so that it's not just about families and children moving within the district. Otherwise, how many people are moving to Augusta? What is that trend? Is there a trend of more families moving in, or of more people without children or older people moving in? I would like to know if any of that information exists. And I'm also very concerned about the impact on
070academic support. Representative Pelo mentioned four important changes, these simultaneous projects that are being carried out. We all have different levels of resilience and different limits . If we add one more thing, will it go outside that zone and have a catastrophic impact on exam results and academic performance? I would like to see if there is historical data on when we have made major structural changes or reorganizations within the school district and what the impact was on test scores for that student population at that time. And there are a couple of things I 'm looking for. Representative Hicks. I'd like to know what the staff thinks. We need to know that we are asking teachers to move from one school to another. And although on paper it seems great to say, "Oh, all the third- grade
071classes will be in the same building." " That's great. They can have meetings. They can, you know, have third-grade reunions. They don't have to travel across town. That's what we're thinking. What are you thinking? Yes, we're moving a dozen. Good job. I restrained myself and said, ' Thank you very much for Mr. Tracy.'" Thank you so much. We moved about a dozen people this year because of budget cuts. And I'm not hopeful that we won't have to lay off as many people this budget season. But, uh, what we're trying to do is preserve those spaces and where kids are educated to be more efficient. So, yeah, I think there will be anecdotal qualitative information like, how do people feel about it? Yeah, I mean, right? You know, I feel a certain way, and then my
072practical side says, you know, so yeah, I think we might do a staff survey. Does that mean maybe I'll hear a staff survey about what the staff's opinions are? And this is another one I did. Okay. What other school districts have done this kind of thing and how has it worked for them? What were the obstacles? What can we avoid doing that they did, or, you know, how? Do we know of anyone else that's done this and, you know, been at the forefront of the process? I talked to the other administrators. Everyone around us. Everyone. Everyone except We. All of us. I do n't share, I don't share, our administrators are here and I have it. It's on my list. I'm trying to reach out to the members. I'm trying to reach out to the
073members first. Member Pello . Yes, definitely. I know there have been many school districts that have closed schools and reconfigured them. I'm definitely interested to see how their teachers and their children have fared. Honestly, mostly. I want to know from the teachers, how the kids are doing with the new schools? Are the families with their new children earning similarly? I think a superintendent might know, and our assistant superintendent might know in some of these districts. The only thing I'm going to mention, and this is part 12. This is part 12. This isn't...This isn't a one-to-ten pro or con, but I will say, just from my Title I perspective, if they did this, their Title I funding would be more flexible, too, because they wouldn't have to follow the ranking and distribution because all their elementary
074schools would be different sizes. They would n't have to have comparability requirements anymore. They wouldn't have to be audited for that. They're like... They're like... That's like the ultimate. Well, that's... And it's... It's amazing because in a sense, what happens with districts that don't have identical elementary schools is that they don't have to follow strict spending rules, so the fund, the funding, can kind of move with the programs and services that are most needed. Obviously, that would involve moving certain staff from one year to the next from different schools, but there wouldn't be the rigor. And like I said, that 's not the reason for doing it. I just thought right away, "Yes, for Augusta, that would be a model that would perhaps further empower the spending agency with regards to federal funding if we
075continue to have substantial amounts of federal funding." " Substantial amounts." And I'd love to hear from the staff, and Principal Gauthier raised her hand. "Well, I'm just going to say that when you asked about a school district that had... I experienced it as a student in the '80s in Waterville because that was when it was. And then, when we were talking about it in 2020, I went and interviewed my second-grade teacher who was still there , and I said, 'Hey, can you give me some background on what the process was that Waterville went through when it was reconfigured?'" "Because in Waterville we had a K-6 school, which was Brookside, which encouraged me to return to Brookside now." And then Pleasant Street, which is where it was, and which has now changed to Albert Hall School.
076And then we had high school. And so, when I was in sixth grade at elementary school, the following year I moved on to high school as a seventh- grade student, but we brought sixth-grade students with us, so it wasn't like, you know, small fish, big pond anymore. I could have been like someone from the middle class. And that was very important for the community. Then, he said that they had, you know, parent meetings, and obviously they asked the staff. The staff were very much in agreement about having, you know, everyone on the grades. This is just the perspective of Waterville in the 80s. I think it was like 1985 or something like that . But anyway, and then they also had some, you know, books that they had, they had time for teachers at the
077end of the year to pack up their classrooms and then at the beginning of the year to pack up the classrooms. Well, that was just one aspect regarding fiscal management; That moment was very important for them in terms of preparing to, you know, leave one space and go to another because, even if you have a staff member like in Lincoln who may still be a fourth-grade teacher who stays in fourth grade, their classroom would still move. So, you'll have to think about that configuration. But it turned out well, and they're still like that now, after all these years have passed . I'm not going to get any older. Remember Ronald Skelton, ask him who his second-grade teacher was. Miss Alter. Oh. I'm from Waterloo. Are there any other comments? I think it's really to know
078that I think we have to do something. We cannot continue operating as we are doing. Having the opportunity to combine light notes allows us to truly focus on the student's academic success. We have limited resources this year. Every day we are changing course. On Monday I had to send a distress message to the head office because I had seven employees out. Oh. And it was very real that I wouldn't have been able to help the children and keep them safe. And they came running. I was grateful. Shelby wine. Misty came. Other people came. And they helped. But I think the most important thing we need to consider is how we can provide the best education. And what we're doing with all the cuts we've made, we're not providing, we're not capable. I shouldn't say that.
079We are capable of doing it, but we will do it by losing people. More people. Because we're going to exhaust people. So we need to have that open and honest conversation. What is a community like, and how can we build one? I went to five different schools in the same town while growing up. I had to change in third grade. I changed in sixth grade. In eighth grade I went to a school that only went to ninth grade and then I went to high school. Ninth grade. And what I will tell you is that every time I changed schools, I was able to be a different person. And it gave me the opportunity to leave behind the decisions I had made about the person I was and become the person I wanted to be. And
080being an identical twin was sometimes very hard because I was always that person, but when the teachers didn't know us, it gave us the opportunity to be a different person. That's why it's something we can't offer right now here in Augusta. The children go to the same school from kindergarten through sixth grade. They are who they are, and sometimes they don't have the opportunity to become that very different person. That's why, when you think about the child as a whole, sometimes it's great when you can go somewhere and be a different person. I will say that when I went to school in Augusta, I went to four schools. Me too. Three of them on the east side. I went to three. Three. What's high school like here? What's Hassey Williams Hutchinson's like here? What I
081mean is that they're probably the ones who did it; there aren't many of us left now, but Madam President, if you don't mind, the administrators are the closest to this. And I think Shelby pointed out that some work had been done before. And I think there was a scenario that mimicked what we're suggesting. I'm wondering if you'll give me some time to work with them and maybe work on facilities, transportation, and some of those questions we all have, and bring you a proposal later in the fall that might include transportation, etc. We can analyze it then. Perhaps we should conduct a staff survey. I wonder why present it only for the first time? Why not open it? Or I think a general presentation of everyone at once so we don't have to duplicate it. I
082mean, there's nothing I'm going to say that we can't say publicly, I can't imagine it. Yes, I mean that I am transparent. I mean, I agree with that, but again , I...I don't know. Next week we will have a conversation about universal start time. Are you saying there will be another public forum like that in a month? Well, what I'm saying is that maybe we'll have some kind of special meeting where we make sure the public can attend to see, you know, we're going to develop the conversations and please come and listen. There may be people who, you know, have different levels of interest. For example, there may be many parents interested in that as you open it. More than the community could possibly expect. Consider the other side of it: we will be responsible
083for special education services for four-year-olds next fall. Well, that's another one on the list. Do you want it on the four-point list? No. Oh, no. It was a question in response to the urgent question. And that comes in the darkness. That sounds like it's urgent. Yes, we didn't. That's part of something we were going to ask. Never be shy. I...if I had a question. So, the west side, this sounds amazing, right? Like having two different schools, and uh, but what about the east side when all the kids are in that school? You know what I mean? What if the family prefers to go to the smaller school? If they live on the east side, then they would go with the new father. And don't they have an established process if a parent wants to apply
084for a place at the school? I think there's a process, isn't there? People can appeal. They make a request. And sometimes we can meet the requests if we have classes with fewer students and a different space. And if we say no, sometimes that ends up in Shelby or I have to deal with that appeal. Remember that we have to drill. Because this is a discussion that will primarily, but not exclusively, as we just discussed, affect families on the west side. I wonder if we can have some kind of briefing on the west side . For those families in Booker schools, you know, we could do one at the library. Yes, we could do that, or we could do it at any of the schools. We could do one in Lincoln and another in Booker. Because
085I think it's very important, given the change this would represent amidst all these other high- priority issues. I think it's really important that at least the affected families have the opportunity to ask questions, hear what the plans would be, and how this would improve their children's educational opportunities in their educational environment. Therefore, I believe that acceptance requires reaching out to the people we would like to have, at least understanding what the impacts would be. I support that. For these reasons, the East Side has also received a lot of attention and many meetings with the Farrington project staff. Yes. So that would be a great reason to put it on the West Side so they can have that opportunity too. Several in line. This might be impossible, but my other question is, did I forget something?
086I'm saying it. Yes. My other question is: I know you said that December would be the budget season. Would it be possible to develop a budget scenario that already includes this change while you're talking to the parents, or when you meet with us, or when you present it to us? Because bringing it to light before, I mean, maybe they're just projections, and again, maybe it's impossible. And the last thing I want to do is give more work to people who simply can't handle it, but that's my dilemma because...if that's also going to be a consolidation of resources that saves money from the funds for parents who are also contributors and their children, and you have educators who believe that education ...I heard that loud and clear about the actual academic results, where the development of
087those children is focused, having more teachers there so they can support each other. I heard all of that. So my question is also about money. Well, I wonder if that can't be submitted earlier. As a possible scenario. Yes, I think, you know, one of the things The Madam President asked me that question before. I think my answer is that I can never promise that we won't increase the budget. But since I think we'll probably be entering budget season this year, we'll probably have to look for one or two positions to add. Yes. But the idea behind a more efficient way of educating is not to have to add so much. Correct? Because the opportunity cost of doing nothing will cost us more than consolidation within the district. And by the way, Augusta has a history
088of consolidation. When the numbers said so, we closed Butler, right? And when the numbers said so, we moved T.W. Josey to Lucy C. Laney, right? And Augusta has a reputation for doing some internal consolidation. So, it's not like we didn't invent it to say No. No. But, yes. But, I suppose it's a matter of compromise. If I am part of a board of directors, I understand that their position is, so to speak, like making sure there is an educational benefit. There has to be one . Instead of, you know, parents who may be frustrated with this change due to, you know, the inconvenience or disruption that many parents experience. There will be some interruptions. Given that cost, if it's a cost disruption and the cost of perhaps inconvenience or incompatibility for some parents, what is
089the benefit then? The investment, the profit. And it could go beyond the few feet of tax revenue. You might not save much now, but even that language, those projections, that kind of framing, I think it will help the conversation because, uh, you 're also seeing the vitality of your staff and their support, you know? And that's another thing that's sometimes hard to measure in numbers, but it's huge for our district where you have staff who stay regardless of what they're asked to do. So how can we leverage that, keep them here, and actually benefit the children, right? To benefit their education. So, I think so, I think there are people to talk to and some... Yes, if you'll allow me, Madam President. Has this been a fun year? What goals do you have to achieve
090everything? Yes I know. Well, I'm on the list for...This was our three-to-five-year plan that's all happening at once. Yes, I understand. I just wanted to ask him. We have a lot of things going on, you know, some of our goals have happened this year. Yes. And I think that's kind of...Yes, kind of like what happened. And I don't mean to be stingy or disrespectful, but the point is, if I could get some time now to work with the administration, it seems like they're keen to talk about this. I would like to work with them, that way they will involve nutrition, transportation facilities, like I would say to them, "Okay guys, we're going to do this next year." What does it mean? " Hmm. That will allow special education to work with them. They're called into
091the board of directors to say, ' What will that actually look like at Lincoln and Gilbert?'" "And let those people who know what they're doing show us, and then we can put forward a proposal and say, 'This is what it would look like, this is what the cost would be, this is what the changes would be.'" "And give them something a little more reactive. And by then we'd be further along the path to being able to have that discussion publicly with the parents. And I think one thing is, it's not like we have three or four different models to choose from regarding what we're going to do. It's either stay as we are or consolidate into age-grade schools, grade-level schools . I mean, those are the two options right now. And I think the other
092thing we have to start doing is thinking long-term. We have to stop going year by year . You know, well, let's see what we can do next year. What can we do next year? Well, if this is something that's going to involve some money upfront, and everyone knows what it's like to put money upfront. You put money upfront in your house all the time so that it pays off later. And this is an upfront cost because it's going to help us in the future. It's going to help the kids in the future. You know, you insulate your house for a reason, even if it costs a lot of money. My thoughts." Final comment before the member concludes. No, I'm asking more directly. Yes, that's specifically what I'd like to see, Superintendent Tracy. I want to
093know who's most affected in the departments. Pros and cons, right ? If you do it, this is what it could be. If you don't, or vice versa, right? I don't know what that means for them. And then a financial matter . I have a list. I know, and I said that's why I wanted to be direct about what I want so I don't have to ...Understood. Anything else we should know, administrators? Sometimes you don't know what you do n't know, and this could be one of those. Okay. Anything more urgent? I did the best I could, Rita. Um, shall we...