001[music] Hey, [music] hey, hey. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] beat. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, down. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. >> [music] [music] >> Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat [music] up. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] hey, hey. [music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] hey, hey. >> [music] >> Hey, [music] [music] hey, hey. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music]
002>> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, [music] [music] hey, hey. [music] Oh, [music] hey. [music] [music] [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Hey. [music] Hey. Hey. [music] Hey, hey, hey. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Make sure you have get quiet all of a sudden. Um, like to call the meeting to order. Start with roll call. Brett White >> here. >> Morgan Brown >> here. >> Dusty Wear >> here. >> Brian Jones >> here. >> Becky Engel >> here. >> Christina Shark >> here. >> And Dave Waverner's here. Um adoption of agenda and declaration of a quorum. >> Motion to adopt. Second. >> I have a motion and a second. Further discussion. If not, all those in favor raise your right hand. Opposed? Motion carries. Citizens speak. I don't have any
003cards this evening. So, we'll move on to the exciting part of the night. Superintendent Student Recognition Awards. Mike. >> Thanks a lot, Dave. Good evening everyone. Tonight I have the honor of recognizing a truly special group of students through the superintendent award. This award is now in its third year and has quickly became one of the most prestigious recognitions a student can receive in our district. To put this honor in perspective, only 22 students out of over 5,000 students uh are recognized for this award. That alone speaks volumes. The superintendent award though is just not about academics. It's not about one single accomplishment. It really celebrates students who represent the very best of who we are. These students demonstrate positive character and behavior, effort, resilience and perseverance, leadership and positive influence within their school, academic
004commitment, a well-rounded approach to their education, and most importantly, they really emphasize and exemplify our bulldog beliefs. These are students really that lead by example. They make their classrooms better, the schools stronger, and their peers better simply by showing up each and every day and doing the right thing. I also want to take this moment to recognize the parents and family of the award winners. And parents, I know you're told all the time what great parents you are, but really truly tonight, I will I really want to tell you how much we appreciate you. is as a parent myself of four, I can only imagine how proud you are tonight. The qualities we are celebrating tonight, they really don't happen by chance. They are nurtured, modeled, and reinforced [snorts] at home. The character, the work
005ethic, and the compassion these students demonstrate reflect the incredible job you are doing as parents and families. You are raising young people who are prepared not only for success but also for meaningful impactful lives. Students, I really encourage you to take a moment this evening sometime to thank your parents and families. Their time, support, and belief in you are really making a difference in your lives. To our award recipients, we're incredibly proud of you. You are leaders. You are role models. res represent the future of our schools and our community. Because we strongly believe in your potential of future leaders, we're excited to announce this evening that this spring will add a half-day leadership retreat for all of our current and past superintendent award winners. This opportunity will bring these outstanding students together to grow
006their leadership skills and continue building the qualities that make them so exceptional. [snorts] So in closing, everybody wants likes to hear that from the superintendent. In closing, students remember that you do you don't just wear the Bulldog name. You represent it in the best possible way. Your character, your effort, and your leadership are really what makes our district special, and you make us proud to be Bulldogs. So congratulations to each and every one of you, your families and parents on this incredible accomplishment. At this time, I will turn it over to Kate uh to begin our student award celebration. [snorts] >> Thank you, Mr. McGra, for introducing this admirable honor. Um uh now each principal will introduce themselves and their selected students with an abbreviated version of their nomination. The full um nomination will be
007sent home to your family um sometime in the next week. As the student name is called, we invite the student forward, shake hands with Superintendent McGory. The student will then um proceed behind me and behind the podium. They'll line up um behind our school board members, stand behind them at the circle table. Um and we will take a big group photo at the after the last student is named. Um, following that, students then can proceed to their back to their seat and dismiss with their family. You're welcome to stay. Um, but if you want to go, that's the best time to go right after the last name is called. Um, as it's not required to stay. So, congratulations. >> Yes. Okay. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Welch and I'm the assistant principal at Pwick
008Early Childhood Center and I am blessed to present Connor Frell for our superintendent award from kindergarten. Connor is a kind, courteous, and respectful kindergarten student at Pwick. When something may be a challenge for him, he proceeds with a can do positive attitude and a smile. He always strives to be great like his big brother. As he always says, his brother did receive the superintendent student recognition award in the inaugural cohort of this event. Connor continually sets a positive example in the classroom and in all areas at PIW. [applause] Good evening. I'm Kim Ledger. I'm the building principal at Pwick Early Childhood Center and I'm presenting Kaylee Wagaman. Kaylee is a standout preschool student at Piwick who serves as a model uh for young learners. She consistently shows responsibility and kindness to all teachers and peers.
009I'm pleased to say that her positive attitude shines and respect for school is abundant. We are um confident she will continue to grow as a bulldog leader. Congratulations, Kaylee. [applause] Good evening. I'm Jim Finan, building principal at Dalma Elementary. Uh I have the pleasure to introduce Oscar Garcia Diaz. Oscar has made tremendous growth this year. uh in as a second grade student being a role model in both his classroom and in the hallways during passing. He works hard to close the academic gap with his associate and as a leader within the class. He works hard to follow the bulldog beliefs within the building. >> [applause] >> My next recipient is Nova Hoskins. Nova is an extremely hard worker in Mrs. Sen's first grade classroom at Dalma. Nova is a model student and incredibly helpful in
010and outside of the classroom. She is always respectful to her peers and adults. Nova strives to put forth the best effort in all areas of her learning here at Dalma Elementary. Congratulations, Nova. [applause] >> Good evening. I'm Tammy Graham, uh, building principal at Eisenhower Elementary. It's my pleasure to introduce Alexis Long. You can come up, Alexis. Alexis is a fourth grade student who has made remarkable growth in her confidence and interpersonal skills during her time at Eisenhower. This growth has led to building relationships and connections with her peers. Alexis's growth reflects perseverance and determination. Her gained confidence has led has been the building blocks to her academic growth. Congratulations, Alexis. [applause] Our second rep uh representative here is Aurora Strei. It's my pleasure to um announce Aurora Strei. She is a fourth grader at or
011fifth grader, sorry, at Eisenhower Elementary. Aurora is kind, respectful, compassionate, and a true student leader in our building. She is a positive role model for her classmates and younger students. Aurora excels in the classroom and strives to do her best. She is a shining example of our bulldog beliefs in every way. Congratulations, Aurora. [applause] Hello, I am Kelly Phillips, assistant principal at Farney Elementary, and I am proud to present Henley Heckert. Henley is an incredible, kind, and compassionate fourth grade student who consistently demonstrates our bulldog beliefs. She is a hard worker who takes pride in her learning and is always willing to help. Henley leads by example through her positive attitude, responsibility, and genuine care for others. She is a true role model in our school. [applause] I am also proud to present Harrison Proctor.
012Harry is a standout third grader at Farnney who consistently demonstrates kindness, responsibility, and a strong commitment to learning. He approaches school each day with a positive attitude. Harry serves as a positive role model in the classroom by following expectations, showing perseverance, and contributing thoughtfully. Harry's character and work ethic truly reflect the values of the Bulldog beliefs. [applause] I'm Christy Rididgeway. I'm the principal at Horseman Elementary. Uh my first recipient is Payton Rice. Um Payton is a third grade student at Horseman who has shown tremendous growth both academically and socially. He works extremely hard [clears throat] and consistently strives to be a good friend to others. Payton is a dedicated learner and should be very proud of his accomplishments. [applause] My second recipient is Brett. He is a third grade student in our structured learning center.
013He has shown significant growth in his communication skills and continues to work diligently in this area. Brett has also made strong academic progress and has developed positive relationships with both students and staff at Horseman. I truly enjoy seeing Brett in the hallway each day where he now waves and greets me with a cheerful hi. [laughter] [applause] >> My name is Jay Green and I'm the principal at James Elementary. And uh my first student that we have from James is Angel Lovilla Nino. And Angel Lavila is a third grader at James. She consistently demonstrates kindness and respect in everything she does. She's responsible and a caring friend, leader, and student. She approaches her learning with dedication and consistently performs at a high level. Angel Lavila plays an important role in creating a welcoming, inclusive school community.
014Thank you, Angel. [applause] Our second recipient is Ben Sanchez. And Ben was not able to be with us this evening, but I wanted to read his um his statement as well. He's an exemplar of what it means to follow the bulldog beliefs and to be a bulldog. He is a responsible and respectful fourth grader at James. He is responsible, respectful, compassionate. He's a friend, a leader, and a qu high quality student. Ben is the kind of student that every teacher loves to teach and who helps make the culture at our school welcoming and inclusive. Thank you, Ben. >> [applause] >> Hello, I am Ashlin Cook, school counselor at Wilson Elementary. Our first student is Nora Canny. Nora is a hardworking fifth grader who consistently gives her best effort in everything she does. She consistently demonstrates
015the Wilson way expectations and serves as a positive role model by encouraging her peers to do the same. Her kind, respectful attitude and actions make our school a stronger, more welcoming place. [applause] Next, we have Ellerie Reya. Ellery is a fourth grade student at Wilson who consistently brings a positive attitude and gives 100% effort in everything she does. She is a compass she is compassionate towards both students and staff and approaches every situation with flexibility and grace. Her ability to go with the flow while supporting others makes her a true role model in our school. [applause] Hi, I'm Heather Plattton, principal at Liberty Intermediate. I'd like to introduce you to Jamie Ferguson. Jamie is a seventh grader at Liberty and has modeled positive behavior, exceptional leadership, and a care for others. She has excelled academically
016and remains involved in her learning and extracurricular activities. Jamie Ferguson [applause] Next, I would like to introduce Beckham O'Brien. Beckham is a sixth grader at Liberty and has shown positivity and gone above and beyond to help keep our school safe. He works towards excellence in academics and also his extracurricular activities. Introducing Beckham O'Brien. [applause] All right. Unable to attend tonight is Blake Goldsmith. Uh we'll read hers in a second. We'll actually do Emerson since he's here. Emerson Scott is an genuine example of what it means to be allin at Evans Junior High. An eighth grade student of ours. They demonstrate strong work ethic, curiosity, and a commitment to excellence. He's friendly and engaged, building positive, meaningful connections. Emerson's ability to foster a positive school community makes him a true asset to the district. Thanks, Emerson.
017[applause] And we'll read Blake's because she cannot be with us tonight. She is a game. Uh Blake, a ninth grader at Evans, shines both in and out of the classroom. Her bright attitude, constant positivity, and genuine smile uplift those around them each day. She leads by example with dedication, teamwork, and grace, showing true sportsmanship in every situation. Her joyful leadership makes her a valued member of the school community. [applause] My name is Marcy Dunlap and I'm the behavior interventionist for Gateway High School. And it has been my honor to watch these two gentlemen grow and mature over the last few years. First, I'd like you to meet Lucas Henry. Lucas is a junior at Gateway High School. constant consistently demonstrates strong commitment to his learning. Additionally, Lucas builds respect and meaningful relationships with his peers
018and adults, contributing positively to the school community. He approaches each day with motivation, optimism, and a clear sense of purpose. Lucas is going to try his hardest to finish an Indian Hills degree before he graduates from high school. So, congratulations [applause] Next, I'd like you to meet Blake Trrisa. Blake has made significant process that reflects perseverance, personal responsibility, and a commitment to self-improvement. This growth has not only benefited him personally, but has also had a positive impact on the overall classroom community, building positive and respectful relationships with both peers and adults. Congratulations, Blake. >> [applause] [clears throat] >> Good evening. I'm Shelley Bramshber, the principal at TML High School. This evening, I get the honor of of uh introducing two of our finest at OHS that are absolutely all have all the characteristics of what
019we want our OS graduates to be. First is Griffin Hayek. Griffin is a junior at OS, has been our student council president for two years. Uh he uses creativity and organizational skills to plan for some really unique and fun activities for our student body. Griffin is taking IHC and advanced placement courses while maintaining a 4.367 GPA. He is active in choirs and is working toward his silver cord. He has already earned 158 hours and is only halfway through his junior year. Congratulations, Griffin. [applause] Our second student is Jordan Lee. >> Jordan is a senior at OS. She has maintained a 4.016 GPA while continuously excelling in taking IHC courses and advanced placement courses. She has been active in our choirs and has earned 294.5 silver cord hours of volunteer work in our community. Jordan is
020a positive person who is always kind to others. Following graduation, Jordan plans to attend college and play tennis. Congratulations, Jordan. [applause] Students, we're going to try and principles, we're going to try to get a picture of everybody. So, if we can get everybody in the picture, >> Jay, I'll put you in charge of that. Congratulations again students and parents. [applause] >> Hey Dave, >> that sound good? We want to thank all the parents and students for coming. If you'd like to leave at this time, you're more than welcome. We'll take a kind of the two-minute wait so you have an opportunity to leave. Do you want to say that we're going to do it? >> Yeah, that's okay. I'll just >> Yeah. before we ask. >> Yeah. >> Perfect. You got I know it is.
021>> [laughter] >> Are you ready? >> Next year. Okay, move on with the agenda if everyone's ready. >> Motion to adopt the consent agenda. >> Well, hang on one sec, Morgan. Oh, I appreciate that. [laughter] On the consent agenda, before we get to that point, item four, the Aea services contract. Whoa. Uh Brad's gonna come up and talk about that a little bit. Then we'll get into the appro. >> Go ahead, Brad. Thanks. >> Yeah, thanks Dave. Um we just uh I was looking back at what we approved last year for the contract and I know there were some questions about you know the services that we're going to contract with for the A.E.A. next year. Um and when we had the board approve our service agreement last year, we were forecasting about $85,000 um
022in services from the A.E.A. uh that actually grew over the years. We kind of identified some other services we wanted to purchase and people left late um in the year that we weren't anticipating. We actually uh serviced with the AA this current school year um and contracted with them for about $174,000. We grew in a couple areas. Uh we added a literacy consultant um and we added some special education director support to support Mike Steamsma. Um and so what you have in front of you is our proposal for uh next school year. Um, and the the price is about right at $120,819. So, what we um removed was uh we're not sure we're going to need that level of special education support. We might go a different direction and try to hire somebody inhouse just
023looking at the cost uh per day with that. Um, and we also are going to contract with River Hills to offer the social emotional behavioral health u more days per week than what the AEA could offer. Um, right now I think we're only getting one uh day a week with the A.EA services to support our special programs. Um, and so Mike Steam was has been working with River River Hills to um get more days per week. We think maybe even up to five days a week to offer uh the same services at a lower cost uh and more days per week. Uh and the again the total cost we're forecasting for next year uh in the proposal is uh $120,819. Brad, could you tell me, sorry, could you tell me again the position that um
024that we're going to try to do in house? What was that position that we're not redoing? >> Um we're not we're currently we uh purchased special ed director support through the AEA. Um we're actually going to propose and I'm going to get that proposal tomorrow from Mike Steamma to uh post our own position and hire somebody. That was almost $50,000 for that position. We're only getting one day a week. Great. She she did a really great job for what we needed, but we think we can hire our own person and and have them more more frequently. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And how much how much [clears throat] support do we get from the math consultant? >> We're we're going to add that support for next year. Okay. >> Um and I I believe it's
025just one day a week that we get that, but you can always purchase more that it's like $922 a day if you go above uh above that. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, we're still adding we're still going to have the literacy consultant to support our dyslexia work um and our dyslexia task force. We're also going to add um math support. And we really feel like, you know, there were a couple media things that um our teachers asked for this school year that we were able to purchase ourselves through our library. Um and there was one piece of uh science equipment that we were able to um find and and fill in the gaps there. But otherwise, we think we've we've uh got a lot of the media supports and technology supports that we need. Uh
026but again, if teachers feel like there's something we're missing, um we've added supports throughout the years as needed. That's where a lot of that growth came from in cost. Any other questions? >> I think the only thing I would add also is that um I think a fair question from the board would be um since we moved to this model are do we feel we're providing all the services that our staff is asking for? And like Brad's alluding to is that I we feel we are just based on if we hear something, we're more than happy to to to go back and purchase that. Um and I think the other thing is is this this has been a really good um savings uh for the district, not in the realm of having less services really,
027but really as the most board members know is that we probably were supplementing smaller school districts with how much flowth through money. And so we have we have recouped a significant amount of flow through money because we that was going directly to other uh districts and so but I think we'd both say that we don't see any reduction in services >> right and it's much more transparent as I think the board knows than it used to be and they they kind of have this allocart model now that you can really see what the cost is per day and there's a discount if we um lock in by February 20 so that's why we're bringing it to the board tonight. >> Any other questions? Thanks, Brad. >> Thank you. >> So, Morgan, >> motion to adopt
028the consent agenda. [clears throat] >> Second. >> All right. I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Raise your right hand. Motion carries. All right. Moving on. Board priority. We will promote and monitor growth in student achievement and all students will be challenged with high expectations that will meet or exceed measurable targets. We have one action item tonight and is district career and academic planning. Hey, good evening. Um, we're going to go through our district, our DECAP plan. Um, we'll go through and introduce ourselves. We got a couple members missing tonight, but uh, Brandon Brooks, associate head principal at Tumbl High School. >> Colobby Mercer, youth engagement coordinator. >> Um, I'm one of the counselors at the high school. Taran Motty. I'm one of the school counselors at the high
029school. >> Uh Mr. Chad Willis is also on this committee um who isn't able to join us tonight and Mr. Brent Banbrook uh industrial technology teacher at a high school. So what is DECAP? Uh, DECAP is a district level plan that outlines how districts will implement and support individual career and academic plans for all students 81 12 uh which is why we have uh support from Evans as well on this group. All right. So um really our goal with uh DECAP is to build and maintain strong relationships with business partners uh industry partners as well as post-secondary readiness uh to be able to provide as many opportunities within the school for um career and academic planning that uh that we can. Uh like I said, it's a pretty comprehensive team that consists of counselors, administrators,
030instructional coaches, uh CT instructors, and community members. uh we implement and review uh activities regularly and work with representatives of employers and state and local agencies. So um this group met with the AEA this year to kind of go through last year's plan and what we can improve on it. Um we're pretty excited. The the scores range from 1 to 27 and they're all independently scored um from other like uh teams uh within the region. Um the [clears throat] average score is 13 and last year we scored 20. Uh so we're pretty happy with that but um went back to the drawing board again to see what we could add um for the future. So um there are five essential components to our DECAP plan and they consist of self-standing, career information, career exploration, post-secary
031education and career and post-secary decisions. And then this year they added a FASA um advisement piece and later you'll hear from Wanita about that. Um but those are general and they've been um part of the decap um for for many years now. Um and so we meet those in different capacities um by doing activities um included that we're going to discuss like in the next slide. So I'll kind of go over a few of those things. Um some of our goals uh last year um things that we've been doing uh include Zella lessons. Um those are college and career readiness lessons that allow students to explore different career pathways. Um and all students um in grades 8 through actually I think the seventh graders do it. So seventh, eighth, and all through the high school.
032Um we have a college and career fair that we did. We did both of those um this past last year. Uh we have an FSA ID workshop which is the first part of the uh FAA and we do different FASA nights. We have the district ACT that we do for all of the juniors and then each year the counselors will review scheduling plans and four-year plans with every single student um in 9th through 12th grade. Um so this year um we just tweak many of the things that we're doing and try to make them a little bit better. So again, we completed our Zella lessons earlier this year so we can really get students on the right pathways. Um we had a college fair in October. Our FSA ID workshop happened in September because the
033FASA did open on time this year. In previous years it had been pushed back to December and we were able to get that. It was opened earlier this year. So we were able to get um a lot of students to fill out the the FASA a lot earlier. Um we're having the ACT for all the juniors coming up here on March 4th. Um, and we're also doing the pre-ac for all of our 10th graders, which is a really awesome thing for our district. So, that's a a goal area that we're expanding on to um in we've been January right now doing all of our um scheduling for students. And so, we meet with them individually. We go over their four-year plan. We go over uh what they plan to do when they graduate and make
034sure that they're picking the appropriate classes, you know, for the occupation that they want to do when they graduate. Um, and then we're um going to start implementing some career trees and I'll let Colby talk about that. So, our career trees were purchased with a grant from Legacy Funds. And as you can see, this is one that is for healthcare and human services. I worked with the teachers that would be teaching these classes. Um, we are going to have 16 different career trees with different pathways. So at the bottom is kind of what they're doing while they're in school um before they graduate and then they move up. So right after graduation they could enter the workforce in the entry level career um and then over on the left they would then be a technical
035career. So that could be a certificate um an associates degree and then the tree moves up for your bachelor's, masters etc. Um, so that kind of shows a student, you know, when they pick a career pathway, this is some of the jobs that I could get um right out of high school if I'm really wanting to go to school more, you know, all the way up. Um, the second phase of this, we're hoping to um create another tree for each of our pathways. So, for instance, healthcare and human services. And then we will actually um display the classes that the students can take while they're at Evans Middle School and excuse me, Evans Junior High and the high school. So, you know, if they're really um passionate about that path, they know what classes that
036they need to be taking when they're in high school. Some of the new additions um that we've put forth this year is expanding our decap to um junior high. So the or Liberty and Junior High. So the fifth and seventh grade. Um the things that we're really focusing on for those are the career investigation, career connections, and career intentions. So just kind of getting them that exposure to different careers. Um and our we have two goals. Uh we want to add a middle grade mentor to our team as well as identify um what's currently be being done in fifth through seventh grade. Um I can talk about a couple of the goals that we have. I'll start with the two and then I'll let you take the last two. Um so we have uh goals
037that we're trying to increase this year. One of them is students who are obtaining college credit while in high school. So last year we had 393 um students earning high school or high school credit and college credit at the same time. and we'd like to increase that number just by 10% um and around 440 students. Um and we've expanded different health care options down here at our uh career campus and we really that program has really grown. Um and so we definitely know we've um met our goal already with that. Um students who have completed our IAPS, we always shoot for a 90% of students who are doing that and that's our individual career and academic plan. So that's the one-on-one meetings we have with students. Sometimes we just really aren't able to meet with
038students um because of their absences, but we try as hard as we can to meet with every single student and have an individual 15-minute appointment. Um and so we set that at 90%. >> Um and then for our workbased experience learners, we had 511 of them last year and we're hoping to increase that by 10%, so around 561. Um last year we had nine interns through our district and this year we have 33. So that is a huge huge jump. Um one of the main reasons for that is that we are allowing the students to do their internships during the school day. And so um I have 13 that are in our pilot program right now and those students are out in our community. Um some of them are at the fire station, the police
039department, Dr. Den Dr. Darling's Children Dentistry. Um we have two with our Autotomo School's maintenance department, two at Ripley Waters. Um so that's been a real boost for our students. We also had a grant for this year to actually pay those students for that time. So, as we know, a lot of our students are having to work to pay for things in their family, you know, and so we want them to be able to um choose a job or get paid while they're exploring these different pathways. And then the second part, we are really pushing for our students to earn an industry recognized credential or an IRC. So, that is something that we can help pay for a certificate and they can work towards while they're in high school so that they can put that
040on their college applications, job applications, their resumes, and they're kind of ahead of the game when they go out to get that first job. Uh, last year we had 47 students that received an IRC. Um, those could be from our biiteracy seal, so students that speak more than one language. Some of them um were trained in OSHA 10. Some of them were food safe. Um, some were CPR certified. Um, there's like five healthcare ones that they have to check off, but we're hoping to increase that number by 25% this school year. So, we'll be around 58. Um, some of the gaps that we've identified is our work-based learning opportunities within our family and computer science. We have a really great partnership with them. They do our uh bulldog cafe. Uh they do a lot of
041community events and catering within the district and our community. And so we're hoping to expand that. Again, doing more our IRC's like I mentioned, definitely trying to get the word out to our students which ones they can obtain while they're in high school and potentially what classes they would be able to obtain those. Um, and then we're kind of tweaking our program of studies, too, so that we can note in there when students are picking out classes, so they can tell what classes um, correlate with an IRC. We hope to start sooner. Right now, a lot of our opportunities at the high school at least are for 11th and 12th graders. Um but by giving our fifth through seventh grade students that opportunity to explore pathways, hopefully by the time they get to the high
042school, we can roll them out into um an internship and um our CTE fair that are we doing that this year? >> Uh we're taking a break from it this year, but we're going to revamp it for next year. So, we did offer that last year and we did we did have the ability to bring uh the Evans students over to the high school and we really want to make it interactive so they're able to see the different classrooms that we have and um now that everything has been remodeled and done and the spaces are beautiful now that we're able to welcome the oven students back over and really see like these are some great classes that you can be in. So, we're going to get that going again next year. As Taran mentioned, FAFSA
043adisement has been included or added to the DECAP. This year, our FAFSA goal is 60%. We are currently at 49.81% which is 100 roughly 134 students who have completed their FAFSA. Um, in comparison, the state is at 42%. So, we are doing fairly well. Um, next slide, please. with our FAFSA goals. These are some of them that are listed, but I will say that uh in August, we sent out a letter to students and their families regarding the list of all the different college and career events that we have available. And included was a magnet that um listed all the different FAFSA nights. So, as Taran mentioned, we have one a month starting there are six in total starting in October all the way to March. We have it in October because October 1st is
044when the FAFSA opens. In September, we have or we offer all the seniors the opportunity to learn what FAFSA is and how to create their FAFSA ID and we do that during connections intentionally so that all our seniors are able to participate. Uh in the evening we do provide um an I can session presentation that includes how to pay for college and again that is in the evening for the parents and then we do provide uh dinner and child care for families um if they if they need it if it is a barrier and then we are very fortunate to work um with several community partners such as Indian Hills Community College, Buav Vista University, United Way and then the Iowa State Extension office. Uh they help us provide that one-on-one support to these families
045to not only complete the uh FAFSA, but also the Iowa financial aid application, which we have seen has been something that a lot of the students didn't even know existed, which helps pay for their education. We also work with Iowa College Aid and Iowa College Aid provides us with a report every single week beginning um in January that lets us know which students have not completed their FAFSA. So, we work with two Americanore student leaders, Pam and Alex, who help us with texting campaigns and we send out postcards to the families to let them know of the um FAFSA events that are coming up. We actually have one this Wednesday um here at Career Campus from 5 to 4 to 7:00, I'm sorry. And then we do provide them incentives for completing the FAFSA. So
046all the seniors, the first 200 would um receive a t-shirt, but then today during the senior connections meeting, we also raffled off a $500 gift um $500 scholarship to one of our students. And then some things that are coming up for our community involvement. Um in October uh last year, we sat in on the A.E.A. workshop. Um this Friday, February 13th, the CTE department is doing um advisory committee to kind of figure out some more gaps and where we can help them out. And our exciting event is going to be on March 12th. We are hosting a lunch and learn. It's going to be out at our Bulldog Ranch this year. So, that'll be exciting to get to see the new improvements out there. And this um lunch in Nor we will invite area businesses
047in. We'll showcase what we are currently doing and give them some options of partnering with us going forward to create more opportunities for our youth. [clears throat] >> All right, we'll take any questions you have. I don't know if this is a question, but I filled out my final FASA a couple of months ago. So, after many years, but thank you. [clears throat] Because that is a >> Yeah, that's a big, you know, undertaking for a lot of I mean, yeah, my wife and I the first time we filled it out, I thought, "Holy cow." Yeah. So, helping and and doing what you're doing, it's that's awesome. [snorts] >> I was going to say something about the FAFSA, too. I wish it would have been around when my kids when I had to fill it
048out for my kids because it's not an easy thing to do even when you're supposedly educated, you know. [laughter] >> Any other questions? >> Thank you. Um, this is an action item, so looking for a motion. >> Motion to approve district career and academic planning program. >> Second. Thank you. Have a motion, a second. Further discussion. All in favor, raise your right hands. Motion carries. Okay. Uh board priority to be the best. We will create a positive learning and working culture for our stakeholders and embrace our community partners through communication, transparency. Uh tonight, we have a couple action items, just some board policy reviews. >> Okay, for this one, I'll explain. We've got two policies in the first action and I'll go over which uh what both of those are and they're more timesensitive. So,
049we put them on to do a a first and final. So, we want to get them approved unless the board has any questions. But, uh the first one is 506.01. That's the district policy that governs education records access. We're proposing no changes. It just requires an annual review. And in one of the curriculum departments reports, it came up and they said, "Hey, you haven't looked at this this year." So, we're doing it to move that report forward. Um, the second one is 803.03 and this is a policy that governs a sale uh or disposition of uh student constructed buildings. So, during the sale uh the closing on the Van Beern property uh they were going through all the closing documents and review and there was some concern that our board policy just talks about student
050constructed houses and not student renovated houses. So, uh, we spent some back and forth time going through, uh, Iowa code and and everybody's comfortable that that we're okay to still do it because there's additional restrictions if you're just selling property that isn't a student constructed home. Um, but they uh wanted to clarify that even when we renovate a a building, so the Van Beerren property was the old district office. We went through and renovated it and turned it into housing. Um, they just clarified the board policy to include language that's more specific to that. So, it's not just a house that students build. It can also be one that they renovate. Um, so we went ahead and added that language. And they also wanted us to uh explicitly authorize a superintendent or CFO to execute
051the warranty deed. So, when we go and do the closing, they wanted explicit permission for either Mike or myself to be able to sign off on those documents and complete the closing. So, we made those uh changes to that board policy and and those are the two we're proposing. So, happy to answer any questions. [clears throat] Any questions? If not, we need to vote on these this evening. >> Motion to approve the draft updates. >> Second. >> Got a motion in a second. Further discussion or questions? All in favor, raise your right hand. Opposed? Motion carries. >> Thank you. Um the next one is a board policy review section. So uh we're getting back on our calendar. We have to review all board policies once every 5 years. Uh so we go through and do
052them in sections. Um the 200 section is the next one that's up. It reviews and covers the board of education, organization, and governance. So um we're not proposing changes to the majority of them. We just have three that are changing because of uh legislative change. Uh policy 206.01 01 and 02 covers the process that the board follows when electing a president and vice president and it made some references to uh dates uh that aren't in effect anymore. They changed the legislation a couple years ago so school elections are held in November. Um and they our policy didn't have that language. So we updated it to clarify and reflect the timing of the elections of the board president and vice president. So it'll still happen every year. We just had to clean up the language. And
053then uh 216.02 O2 that refers to professional development for the board of education and the existing policy referenced a couple programs that don't exist anymore. They used to have the IASB Academy of Board Learning and the better boardsmanship award and they've uh looks like they've discontinued those or they're calling them something different. So they clarified we clarified the language uh so to remove that reference and just replace it with broader reference uh broader language referencing an annual learning opportunity and award. So, uh, no material changes, just cleaning up, uh, for some practice programs that don't exist. Uh, the rest of the 200 section, we are just proposing to leave as is and happy to answer any questions. >> We don't have any questions. We need to vote on this as well. Looking for a motion.
054>> Make a motion to approve the first reading of the board policy review. >> Second. >> Got a motion, a second. Further discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand. [snorts] Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Uh board priority through the board's financial stewardship. We will provide operations, technical, and curricular resources to staff, teachers, and administrators so that all students have consistent and sustained achievement. Um we do have some action items here. We're going to before we get to item C, we're going to table that. So if you see that on your agenda, the secondary Chromebooks bid award will be tabled. So we'll only be taking action on A and B. So we'll start with the real estate. So John, >> yep. And uh you may look at this and go, "Hey, we already
055approved this." Uh you did back in October. Uh but this kind of goes along with that board policy we're updating. Uh during closing, they just wanted us to be a little more uh explicit with the authority. So uh this authorizes the sale of the completed home at 112 1112 North Van Beern and authorizes Mike Mcgory as a superintendent to sign the special warranty deed. Um no changes since then. Uh just an item that got caught up during closing. So happy to answer any questions. >> No questions. We'll need to take action on this. >> Make a motion to approve the real estate sale. >> Second. >> A motion, a second. Further discussion. All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> And district copier. Uh the district is um nearing the
056end of its 5-year copy uh lease and uh that copy lease manages our 37 copers across the district. So uh we issued an RFP back in December. Uh copier vendors came out of the woodwork uh to respond to that bid. Uh we had 10 that expressed interest, five qualified bids came in, and you should have the bid tab sheet in your packet. Um we are recommending awarding this contract to Infomax. um who submitted a bid of $4,21 a month. We were really pleased with that. That ended up being about a $3,200 month saving over our current contract. Uh and as kind of an added bonus, we've been a good partner with them for the last several years. They're going to give us a a $20,000 credit uh towards our bill, which was not not a
057factor in terms of waiting, but a perk because they are the selected vendor. So, >> any questions for Landon? >> Is Infomax who we use now then? >> Yes, it is. >> And it's just it just that much of a savings from the last contract. >> That is true. Um it it doesn't appear that the previous contract was potentially bid out. Uh so it goes to show it's certainly a benefit when you do give multiple vendors a chance to bid things out. >> Yep. >> When was the last one bid out? >> Five years ago. So, I think just before you and I are pretty close um to that. >> Thanks for clarifying that, Mike. [laughter] >> Were you going to ask? >> I just wanted to go on record. [laughter] >> Make a motion
058to approve the copier bid. >> Second. Have a motion and a second. Further discussion? All in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. and we'll move on to the superintendent report. >> Thanks, Dave. I want to first uh thank Kate and Maria for all their help with the superintendent award. It was invaluable. Appreciate that. Uh the first thing I have for the board is John's going to come up and provide you an overview. We decided it was probably time to rebid um our real estate properties when we have something for sale, give people an opportunity again to bid on that. Um, so John's going to update you on that and then at our next board meeting, we're going to come back and and take action, ask the board to take action on this. >> Yep.
059So, yeah, as uh Mike mentioned, we uh it' been I think two years and and that was the first time we did it a couple years ago where we put out a bro RFP for real estate uh services. We hadn't sold much before then other than but then when once we got in the rhythm of selling a construction trade house every year and listing the Van Beern property and just having a little more activity, we put it out for bid. So, um, yeah, it' been 2 years. So, we we did the same thing. We sent it out to all the realators in a Toma. Uh, we actually found one that was even outside of the outside of a TMO because it was a realer that didn't have a local office, but we wanted to try
060to cover anybody who sells property in a tuma and sent that RFP out. Uh, we got our response. Uh, we've kind of reviewed it um that it looks like it's going to be fairly favorable uh same as it is. Uh but we're just going through and and finishing up review of it and we'll bring it back for approval at the next board meeting. But uh we expect to um continue to have a decent rate and the rate right now is 3.99%. So uh better than than the six or sevens that it used to be, but um yeah, we went I think it was seven seven we sent out. Uh we didn't get a lot of responses. We got one response, but um we'll bring it back for the next board meeting to go over the
061terms. Any questions for now? >> If not, thanks, John. >> Yep. >> Next, I have for the board an update on our shared visions grant. Uh Brad and Maria is going to join me for that. >> Yeah, thanks Mike. Um just a little bit of background, the shared visions grant uh we get actually the largest grant currently in the state of Iowa uh for shared visions at nearly 580,000 and that grant goes to uh support the majority of the cost of our three-year-old uh programming. Uh Maria uh Kim Ledger and Stephanie Welch uh took the lead on writing the new grant. Uh the grant cycle has come to an end and uh that is open up um right now. So, we just submitted that uh last week, I believe. Um and we hope to hear
062back on that or we're told we'll hear back on whether we're a grant recipient by the end of March. Um and we're we're hopeful, but we know there's a lot more attention around the grant than there has been in previous years. Um a lot of that was due to last legislative cycle. Um it got hung up in some legislation and a lot of attention got brought to it. Um and because of some of that action last year, they actually just extended the grant an additional year. So, we got an additional year this current year out of the previous grant. Um, but there's a lot of questions we still have about that. Um, we're optimistic that we're going to get um some amount of funding. What that funding will be is yet to be determined and
063then the the legislative session will kind of determine uh the amount of appropriations and funding that goes towards that grant. Um, >> yeah, next cycle. that the the grant closed um this last Friday and they'll let us know in March if we received the grant, but you do not know your funding until the legislative appropriations go through. So, I want to just make that really clear that we might know yes, we got the grant or not, but we don't know how much did we get, what we asked for, was it fully funded, was it less? That's all based on legislative appropriations. And so, that timeline, um we can speculate on it, but we don't know that for sure. >> Right. Uh, and you know, last year we went over and had several rounds of meetings
064with Pwick and Picwick staff. U, we've been really thoughtful as a human resources department of making sure we know what everybody has certifications and what their um, job descriptions are, etc. So that we're we're thinking about, you know, in the event of, you know, plan A, B, C, and D of of the different grant funding that we get so that we are going to ensure that everybody has a position uh, in in an area that they're certified in. But we know there's a lot of angst when it comes to these things. when you have grants that fund programs and an extremely meaningful program to our community. Um, and we can't find many examples of anybody that offers free three and free four full day preschool. We're very proud of that. So, we're we're hopeful that
065we uh get near what we have, if not more. But again, there's a lot more awareness, I think Mike would agree, about the shared visions grant in years past. I think one one of the things we're all concerned about too is the timing of when we actually find out how much we'll receive. We could be notified that we get it in March, but we may not find out how much we actually receive till like May or June. >> And as the board knows, >> the these monies are critical for us to be able to offer free three-year-old preschool. So, we feel bad that it causes uh you know, obviously Pwick staff and our parents anxiety, >> but um I don't know how we would offer free three-year-old preschool if we don't get that grant at
066a pretty high level. Um because we cannot use other funds to fund three-year-old preschool. >> And we get no student count money for three-year-olds. Uh we get half funding for four-year-olds and we offer full day. uh you know, so we have to supplement both programs because we know how beneficial that is to our community and to our um students and our our families. Um and the head start that gives our students to be you know, school ready by kindergarten is just tremendous. So anybody listening out there, you know, reach out to your legislators and encourage them to continue to offer that and let them know how meaningful that is to our our community and our students because it is. >> Well, last year they was even a long time before they even let us know
067we was getting it. Not even the amount I think. Get that right. >> Right. if we ended up just getting extended a year because there was so much uncertainty around it that there wasn't enough time to open it up and then turn the grant around because it got hung up in legislation. >> It was like borderline whether we was even going to be able to offer it or not. >> It was right because they waited so long to before they said they were going to extend the grant. >> Yep. >> Any other questions for We just wanted to make sure you were updated because I think this is something the board may get questions on. Um, and we're going to keep people updated as as much as we can once we get information. >> And
068I do just want our our staff to know we're being very thoughtful about all of that and and making sure we hold positions for people uh that are currently employed with us. >> I guess I do have a question, Brad. So, how would that like if the funding went way down and we still got some funding, how would you look where would and maybe we don't want to look at it this way, but how would where would we look to cut first? Cut's a bad word. I'm sorry, but >> um you know, we we kind of forecast what the cost is of each of those sections. So, we would have to go back and look and say, "Okay, well, we're going to get this amount of grant funding. We know we have to supplement our
069program currently with other, you know, special education, title, and other funds." Um because we overspend that grant every year beyond the the 580,000. Um but in terms of our staffing, what we do is we look at, you know, some of our preschool teachers are also certified K6. So, we're being thoughtful about not um giving letters of intent to new hires before we know exactly where our current employers are going to go. >> And and Brad, tell me if you'd agree with this. I think Brian, if if we were to say receive $200,000, we would um then have to look at how much our costs are and then determine on a um a rate of how much you'd have to pay for a three-year-old preschool. We wouldn't be able to probably offer it for free. Uh,
070so it would have to be >> because you're still using some of that money because you're only getting half the money for the four-year-olds. So some of that has to help supplement that, too. Correct. Correct. >> And we we did ask for more money this year. We asked for around $700,000 this year. So we know because we have been supplementing with these other funds and costs are more expensive. So we've asked for more money, but again, um, the amount of people interested in that shared visions grant we know is is a lot and there's a lot of different timelines that play into this that make it more difficult. Yeah, and as a go I was just going to say and as a reminder we went to a fully licensed model this year too um so
071that we were under the department of education as opposed to the um HHS and so there were some additional costs this year as well because we went to a our teachers are all fully licensed in some capacity. >> Our biggest fear is that um if we go to a tuitionbased model even at a low fairly low rate we will not have as many students that will be able parents to be able to afford it. And we think it's one of the most valuable things we do to get kids kindergarten ready. And uh so we'll we'll try to do everything we can to but um we really as far as funding it's it's limited what you can use funds for. >> Yeah. >> Anything else? >> Okay. >> Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. Next, uh Kate's
072going to join me for this and um we have we're going to do a kickoff probably on this Friday and I wanted to make the board aware of it. Um we're going to call it uh Dusty's Big Dog Challenge. And you may assume that that's because of Dusty. Uh that would be a fair assumption particularly as much as he supports I know the uh Harlland shelter. He's an incredible supporter of that and but really it's uh we thought we'd put a a kind of a face to um the cause and Dusty was um our dog first dog here in a tmo when we were here the first time that we took in um and uh he lived to 17 years old. Unbelievable dog. Um probably the fastest dog I've ever seen. And all and also
073he he was a magician as far as if you had a sandwich and he brought it into the living room. >> He could take it and you wouldn't see him take it and you wouldn't see him chew it and he it was just incredible. So he was very gifted and and so we thought that would be a nice way to put a face to this cause and um what we un or know that our goals for this are are very lofty. So we're excited about it. Um we're thinking that it will probably go about six weeks. The challenge will go about six weeks. It involve all our schools. Um, I think a really fair question would be asked what what do you know this type of challenge and this type of fundraiser, what do we
074hope our students get from this? And really, I jotted down several things as far as empathy for for living things, responsibility, how how community problems can get solved, teamwork towards a common goal, civic engagement, and just impact of small actions. Um what our goal is is uh twofold. One is to raise enough supplies and food for a whole year to fund uh H Heartland shelter for a whole year. Uh then our second goal is is to place as many animals um at the shelter during that six-w week period. um to give you some idea of what working with uh H Heartland uh and they've been wonderful to work with and they're just over the top excited about uh this project is we have um right now at Hardland they're um about 30 dogs over. They
075have 100 dogs um in their kennels, but they're they continue to take animals because they that's what they do. Um, and then they're about 20 cats over. Um, so we hope in that six- week period to be able to to get as many dogs adopted as possible. One of the things that we think will perpetuate that will be that um uh we have some great very gracious donors uh Dusty being one of them also Anthony Christinger and then myself and I think I'll have a couple more that uh we will be able to pay for the whole adoption cost. So anybody during that six week period um will be able to adopt a dog for free or a cat for free. Um, we did talk with Harlon about, you know, sometimes you want people to
076have some skin in the game or a commitment. Um, but they said, Mike, you know, um, that's that's awesome if you can if they because we have a vetting process that we still vet to make sure they're going to good homes. Um, because that's always my concern and their concern is is is that h going to happen if we pay for the whole fee? And it is. Um, so that's our goals. And then also we came up with the idea that every animal that gets adopted, we'd have a starter kit for them. So, you know, and that starter kit might be collars, blankets, leashes, those type of things. So, each each parent, new parent would would get that as well. Um, and we have, which is I really appreciate, we have so many people supporting
077supporting this in the buildings. We have two volunteers from each building because to keep something like this going for that long, you have to have people in the building that are perpetuating it, keeping it in front of students every day and so forth. So, we have a lot of people that are willing to do that. Uh, so we're excited about that as well. Uh, so I wanted I just wanted the board to know that we'll be kicking it off here probably at the end of the week. And Kate, did I forget anything? Yeah, hit everything. Okay. Any questions from the board? Um, obviously we'll bring dogs for next board meeting. If you want to adopt and so forth, I can have them. Just let me know. But I think Dave, that's all I have. >>
078All right. Thanks, Mike. Okay. Board member topics. >> Dave, I just got one thing. We had uh three or four of our course students sing uh the national anthem at the uh bull riding event the other night and I just want to say they've done a very very nice job >> and they're they're also going to be uh singing at the state basketball tournament too. Yeah. March 10th which is a really we're really excited about. >> Very nice. Anyone else? I do uh just a thought we have a long day tomorrow. Um, I know you all received an email with questions. Um, there's lots of questions in there. So, if you could, you know, read through some of those and maybe if you wanted to star some of them that you definitely wanted to make
079sure were in the interview process, um, that might speed it up before our first candidate uh, interview tomorrow. So, that would be good so we can kind of be on the same page. >> Do you want those tonight or you want to go over them tomorrow? >> Uh, tomorrow's fine. just yeah just look through those and if there's some you definitely want to ask um you maybe star those and we'll get them in there if nobody has anything else looking for a motion for adjournment. >> Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Motion a second. I don't think there's any more discussion. So all in favor raise your right hand. Meeting adjourned.