001Good evening. It's 6 o' so I will take roll call. Um everyone that Jason Fry is present at the quorum will call the meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Welcome. This is the school board meeting for Wash City Schools. It's Monday, April 21st, 2025. Wash city schools provides a relevant rigorous rigorous education founded upon relationships to ensure each student is college and career ready for success in a global community. Tonight we have some recognition. We have the Kathy Swan Awards. Hi, thank you for coming. For those of you that do not know me, I'm Wilson director here. I didn't personally know
002Kathy very well. She was a business teacher high school. I served on a committee with her. Um, and that was one of my beginning years of teaching. She was a very um kind person, very helpful, always a smile on her face, always a positive outlook on life and um her and her family um was her husband and her daughter and friend um unfortunately died in a plane crash. So we wanted to do something in her honor. So we have the Kathy Swan Award and each school chooses a student from each grade level um that kind of embodies the same characteristics that Kathy have. And these students that um we chose strive to do their best every day, come in every day with a smile on their face. Um they show compassion toward others. They're helpful.
003They have good work ethic. And even though things don't come easy for them, they still persevere to have struggles they have. So we have three recipients that we want to share with you tonight. Um my three-year-old is four and Mrs. is her teacher and she's going to share some things about us. Miss, can you come up here? [Music] This is our ammo. Sorry, let make sure she's not going to roll away on me. Okay, so I will start by saying Kathy Swan has always been drawn to students who walk into the classroom smiling, give their best effort even when things don't come easily, and show determination through hard moments. Emma is the perfect example of that kind of student. Before I begin, I just want to say public speaking is not exactly my strong suit.
004There's a reason I chose to teach three-year-olds instead of older kids. So, thank you for bearing with you me as I speak from the heart about someone very special. Emma Joanne Poor is truly one of my favorite people. She has already overcome so many challenges in her young life, and I know she'll continue to face each one with the same strength and spirit. When I think about how far she's come just since last year, I'm amazed and so incredibly proud of her. When Emma first came into my class, she was quiet, hesitant, and did not like to talk very much. She was timid and unsure of herself. Often when we asked her to try something new, she would hold up her hand and say, "No." Uh, but if you saw her now, you wouldn't believe
005it. Today, she's confident, cheerful, and one of the strongest leaders in my class. She helps new students understand routines by gently saying, "Nope, we don't do that here." She's often the first to raise her hand and share an answer. She's worked so hard to move around the classroom and the school independently, and she starts every single day with a big smile. She even turns the walk to class into a game. Most mornings she comes in excited saying, "I beat someone here. We raced." Even if they didn't necessarily know they were racing. Emma is such an incredible little girl and I'm beyond proud of her progress. I cannot wait to see all the amazing things she will do next. [Applause] exits our fouryear-old Lincoln page. And I have two teachers that are going to be talking
006about Lincoln. Mrs. Spider and All right. I want to start by saying also public speaking is not my thing. My sisters, we are my emotions tend to get the best of me and I definitely am the type to cry because someone else is crying. So, Mom, I'm not going to make eye contact with you tonight. Sorry. Um, that said, it is with so much joy and maybe a few nerves that I share why I nominated Lincoln Paige for this year's Captain Swan Award. When they asked us teachers who we believed would be the perfect recipient, I didn't even hesitate. I nominated Lincoln right away. Actually, I'm not even sure I let him finish the question before I blurted his name out. Sorry, not sorry. This year has been all about growth for Lincoln. Even on
007his sassiest days, he hasn't just faced challenges, he's conquered them. He amazes us regularly and quite vividly brought Mrs. bear and needs tears more than once just from the awe and watching him soar. Most mornings Lincoln walks in into our classroom with the biggest smile. No matter what the day holds, he tries his hardest even when things aren't easy. That determination, that joy, and that spark, those are the things that make Lincoln truly special. Lincoln hasn't learned to tell us. Lincoln has learned to tell us what he wants or needs using sign language and his a AAC device. And recently, he's even started using his words. Hearing him learn to use his words after so much work and patience was one of the most beautiful, emotional moments I've had as a teacher. I've honestly lost
008count of how many times I've had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Not because I doubted him, never that, but because Lincoln needs to Lincoln tends to quietly master something on his own timeline and then completely blows everybody away. This year, we've watched Lincoln start to truly find his voice, and being part of that journey has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career. I am so incredibly grateful to Lincoln and his family for letting me be a part of his story this year. Truly, I feel beyond blessed. I could go on and on and on, but I'm going to spare everybody the happy tears. Um, so without further ado, I'm so proud to present this year's Kathy Swan Award to the incredibly hardworking, joyful, and absolutely amazing Lincoln Paige. And
009I totally 100% agree with every single word Mrs. Figer has said. um from the beginning when he comes in and he is not verbalizing very much at all. Hi um to saying bye to his mom and dad and blowing kisses to them when we leave the car in the morning to saying the ABCs. He can identify every letter. We'll voice them. We'll give us the sounds. He can count to 20. He's just an amazing kid. But I also want to commend mom and dad. Um, this little boy started with a struggle and you guys are not willing to give up easily. You want him to be pushed and to do hard things because without doing hard things, we don't get better. We don't get stronger. So, I also thank you too very much for all
010that you do for Lincoln. And we're so blessed to have them here. So blessed. [Applause] What's your name? And our last recipient is Hernandez and she is in our dual DI program. She has senior talk about. All right. Well, I am the English student. She's a Spanish. So, she'll sing like her mom, too. So, in a second. Uh, I've had the joy of being Hottie's teacher for both prek and kindergarten. And wow, what a journey it's been. When Hadi first came to LHD last year, she didn't speak any English. But thanks to our awesome DI program, she was able to learn in both her native language and English each day. From the very beginning, Hadi had to figure everything out, everything out for the first time. But you know what? She never let that slow
011her down. She never got frustrated, never gave up. She just jumped in and learned as she went and always had the biggest smile on her face. This year, I couldn't be prouder of how far she's come. She's learned so much and and has grown in so many ways. Not only is Had a hard worker, but she's also a great friend to everyone in her classroom. She's kind, she listens so well, and she always does the right thing, even when no one is watching. I can always count on her to do what she's supposed to do, and that means so much to me as a teacher. So, Had is truly one of a kind, and I feel so lucky to have been part of her journey. And now, my children [Music] girlfriend. [Applause] Could we have
012the um Kathy Swan winners up over here to take a picture with the board on? Okay. [Laughter] [Music] Got it. There you go. No, there you go. Good job. Good job, buddy. Be great. You're all done. Good job. [Music] Gotcha. [Music] Are you sure? Item G on the agenda. We have no revisions. Is there anyone in the audio set wishes to comment on the agenda item? [Music] Okay. Move on. Moving on to the consent agenda. We have minutes from April 7th, 2025. So items of claims. What? There's no donations. And we have financials tonight. I'll accept a motion to accept the consent agenda. I make a move. Uh second discussion. We will start with our revenue and expenses for March. um our revenue was just about um exactly what we had projected. Our um expenses
013were higher and that was mainly due to when I looked back we had a bus lease payment that was made in March but we had actually budgeted for it in February. Um and so if we looked at last month, our expenses were quite a bit lower than what we had projected and that's why um overall our payroll expenses were lower than we had projected. So when you look at uh compared to what we have projected, we had projected that we would have a net income of about 33,000. We actually had a net loss of about 36,000. If you factor in that plus lease payment, um had it been paid in February, we still would have had a net income in February and we would have had about $10,000 net income uh for March. Moving on
014to the key fund balances, um compared to last year, our education fund um still doing quite well, 1.2 2 million operations. We're at7765,198. So doing better than last year at this time. Our rainy day fund um has $744,000. Remember we are using that um for some custodial and uh building maintenance. So that will drop each month um moving before you move on. You can remind everybody where where does the ready day fund come from? That is money that we are able to move if we have a surplus in our education fund. Um you could also move it from operations. We're not at that point. Um but it's money that um was a surplus at the end of the budget year that we're allowed to move. Next, we'll look at our appropriations report. That's what I
015was. Um, we'll start with our education fund. Um our goal for where we're at should be 25%. So three out of our 12 months for our uh revenue we're a little bit below that. Um which we knew when um our count was lower that we weren't going to be quite where we had originally budgeted. Um, as far as our expenses, we do have a few, um, different lines that are over the 25%. Um, some of that is just because, um, I think it was in January, we had a three pay month. And so, little by little, it's going to get caught up. Um, but if you look at the fund alto together, we're at 23.8. So, we are below the 25% um, in our expenses. So, that's good. Moving on to our operations. Um you
016can see we have not collected uh 25% but remember we only get money into operations in June and December when we get our tax draws. This is um the money that we transfer from uh from ED to operations each month and then our tax anticipation for it. Okay. Um you can see several of these are over that 25%. Um again, some of them are due to um salaries that prepay month. We have a couple that are pretty high, which we're going to have an item later in the uh meeting to um talk about uh doing additional appropriation and rainy day to kind of help offset these. Um so they may look high now, but if we are able to start using um rainy day to pay some of these things over the course of the
017year, they'll balance back out. Any questions on those? Okay. All those in favor of approving consent agenda say I. I. Those opposed? Motion passes. Item I, the next regular scheduled board meeting will be Monday, May 5th, 2025 back at city hall at 6 o'clock p.m. There's some items of communication. There's no old business, new business. A recommend board approved reconfiguring Wabash Middle School and Wabash High School to one entity named to be determined. So moved. Second. Discussion. So this year we've done several things to move um the two buildings into one. Um it started last year by uh going down one administrator and having our three administrators there cover both buildings. Um I think our administrators have said that it's gone pretty well. Um we also have all four of our guidance counselors and our
018social worker together in one space which does allow for collaboration. Um which is really good when you're looking at a student moving from fifth grade all the way through 12th grade. Um this year they also um scheduled together as one unit. So instead of doing scheduling as a middle school and a high school, they were all together which allows us to maximize the use of our teachers. Um in the past it was we would each schedule and then we had to find where is an opening in the teacher schedule that we could use them. Doing it this way was much better. So, we would like to officially reconfigure um into one building. To do this, we have to have board approval and then there's a um form that we have to submit to the DOE
019saying that we want to move them to one entity. This will also make um state reporting much easier as it will all be reported as one. Um there also could be in the future some cost savings. Whenever we have a technology contract now, we have to pay for the middle school and the high school when it's one unit. We may save some money in the future on those things. Questions from the board? Do we need input from the parents on this? Uh, no. The I mean I just thought maybe alumni would have a, you know, pitterpatter in the heart about it. I didn't go to school here. It doesn't matter. I mean, you know, my kids did, but they I mentioned it to them and they go, "Well, it just makes sense to us that
020it's all all punched together now." So, have the teachers said much about it because it also No, it's I mean, it's really been smooth. Um, anytime you bring two schools together and, you know, even though we're we're connected and and pretty close, it's still unique cultures in both buildings. uh but those have meshed uh very very well in my opinion this year. So I'm pleased about that. So the staff hasn't said much about it. I remember years ago when they went to because we became a junior senior high. I don't know what year that was and then it floated back and everything and there was there was a little bit of contention and some concerns. I just wonder if staff didn't have any concerns or anything. None that have been expressed to me. uh some
021of it um I think early on based on the roles of administrators. So Mike is handling um most not all of the evaluation process and and being in classrooms. So that meant for some middle school teachers they saw him less uh because the capacity that they had seen him in is inatory capacity and I'm there doing other stuff and handling the administrative part and management part. So they're seeing more of me and and less of him. So that's an adjustment. And uh the high school is is the same way. They see a lot less of me. And you guys also divide the responsibilities. Yes. So we both retain the title of principal. Mike is saying more um evaluations um uh professional development uh and all the attendants responsibilities. And I'm doing more leadership management. Do
022you guys do you anticipate a lot of uh teachers heading over you know teaching middle school you know that kind of thing is that yes it's increased every year and um next year will be more than more than ever more so so we're not really moving teachers but being connected we have fourth graders over in high school building for some specials and some high schoolers upstairs in the middle schools in history. One other thing, and I don't know if this is off the beaten path, but uh I know the libraries now are combined over at the high school. How does that work when those fifth graders and sixth graders go get a library book? They norally go as classes anyway. That's what they did in the middle school. So, um in the library today that
023the backyard had their sixth grade class there, so they go up at least once a week just as a class. Yeah. And that that works out okay then. Um God bless that probably doing that as well. She's she's wonderful and libraries really well. Yeah. Well, I just wonder. Okay. All right. That was just So, what about the yearbook? Will there be two separate yearbooks or one big one? Uh, you know, we haven't we haven't talked about it. Um, I think in many ways, even though the buildings are coming together and we're sharing teachers, I think there are a lot of things that will remain somewhat independent. um you know when we compete in sports for example or in academic competitions there will be bash middle school as well bash right same for the high school
024um so yearbook I could probably see as something that will be kind of separate just like the sports schedules will still be separate okay yeah yeah there are a lot of those little things that you don't we won't think of until it's time to think of them I guess they'll present themselves that that would be one of those things. Do you honestly see any downside to combining? I do not. Um and it's it's been really good for us to have um our PLTs working so closely together now so that we have a lot of vertical alignment between the middle school classes and high school classes. so a better understanding of of what is done at at the um middle school level and then ultimately where we need kids to read so that they progress in
025the high school level. I mean that that's been really good. Um I feel like we're much more efficient and so from an administrative standpoint the labor pool is pretty shallow. Um and we want to do our best to retain the teachers that that we have. um and and be more efficient um and that's worked worked well. So in some cases we don't have to necessarily replace the teacher that is retiring or or moving on to something else um because we're going to have space and schedules to be able to cover those sections. So things will go on as normal for the students. It's basically just Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's kind of what I see. Um, and they're getting to know the high school high school teachers at the middle school and great high school students
026are getting to know the some of the middle school teachers that I may not have had. So, um, I will say from a discipline standpoint, uh, it's been really good having genuine charge of of both buildings. Um, because virtually all the high school kids were at the middle school. Um, Mrs. War not there. So we've had a lot of consistency with respect to that student discipline is is down and they all move matter as well. So that's what I'm happy to be on that team. Okay. When the planning the classes like selling earlier this year I noticed some kids were upstairs at the middle school and they were high school students. Then they had to zip all the way to the high school like you know Smith's class or you know Mr. K's class. Yeah.
027And that's full length of the football field. It is. And four minutes you had to be there or you was tired. Yeah. It's and you didn't want to knock any kid down on the stairs. So, is that going to be, you know, the counselor's going to work with their classes a little bit better to kind of juggle that or it's really it's their their classes are more dictated by just where they can fit in the schedule based on the course selections that they have. Um, we will say that we do things a little bit different during passing periods now and most have been doing this for for years and this is the first time the high school has have done this. We really don't want kids to use a restroom during passing period. let's just
028get straight to class. Um, and then if you need to use the restroom, they can pass out class then to go to the restroom. So that cuts out some of the time that they need knowing that they they can go to the restroom during and the subs can go during that time which makes it more convenient because we don't have standing lights. Absolutely. And it really it helps with congestion in the restroom as well. So we don't have everybody trying to use the restroom for four minutes, right? It's all spread out over the course of the day. Um, all of our students check out using a QR code as well and so we're able to know who's out of the the classrooms. You can track them a little bit better that way, too. Yeah. Yeah.
029Or we just put chips in them. I mean, one way or the other, right? And really, you have very very late to class. There's Yeah. Any other questions? Uh, will this change anything with athletics? No. Okay, great. All right. Shall we vote? All those in favor of reconfiguring the middle school and the high school to one say I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. Item B. Board will be informed of upcoming requests for additional appropriations in the rainy day fund. So we will be making a request for additional appropriations in our rainy day fund. Um to do this we have to publish a notice to taxpayers and then there will be a hearing held at a city council meeting. Um the additional appropriations will be used for various operational expenses including insurance cost and custodial salaries.
030Um and just a reminder that the request for additional appropriations is not asking for more money but asking for permission to spend money that we already have. Um, since they I mean technically it has to be done at city council. Should they still should someone make a motion permission to do this? I think that'd be safe. Okay. Okay. Accept a motion. I'll make a motion. Second. Any questions? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. Item C. Lord to approve the request to change the amount of time to request a refund or transfer of cafeteria patrons funds from six months to one month to make keeping up on the cafeteria lunch fund accounts much easier. Please note previously the request for refund or transfer of cafeteria funds was allowing for dispersement of
031funds up to six months after withdrawal for graduation. So moved. Second discussion. So, currently when a student withdraws or graduates, families have six months to request a refund or they can transfer it to an if they have another child in the district, they can transfer it to um their lunch account. So, we want to just make this one month. That way, we can get that money off of our books. Um the way it is now, it sits there and we've had some where they slid it in right at, you know, five months and 28 days. So, um it'll just help the cafeteria uh fund balance um balance their books quicker. How's what's the process of getting that transferred or there's a form that the the parents complete and they can select either a refund or
032a transfer and that gets turned into the cafeteria Melanie um Megan um and then they process it. If it's a transfer, they can handle it. But if it's a refund, it comes with something, then we have to kind of check. Okay. Is that form online? Um, on our website, how do we get? All those in favor of approving your request say I. I. Those opposed? Motion passes. D. Board to approve Montana Judy as softball volunteer for middle and high school. Uh, so moved. second. Uh, Matt's not here tonight, so I will take this. Um, Montana is going to be just a volunteer for our middle school and our high school, and we appreciate willingness to help out. All those in favor of approving the volunteers say, "I." I. Those opposed? Motion passes. Board to approve
033the following coaches for 2025 through 2026. Head football coach Brian Carmichael. Assistant football Paul Wright, Jake Smith, Rodney Lynn and Cent Montgomery and Alex Korn. Football volunteers Lloyd McWart. Varsity boys soccer Aiden Benes. Assistant boys soccer, Bill Bennish. Girls soccer volunteer Bailey Yadam and Riley Yokum. Varsity girls basketball Joe Kaufman. So moved. Um I think the second we discussion. Okay. Um, some changes you'll notice. Um, Bill Bennish is now going to be the assistant boys coach and they his son Aiden and him are just kind of swapping out. Um, and all the rest of these are all the same except for Mr. Joe Kaufman. Congratulations. I believe close to 20 years as a JB coach. Probably. Okay. Probably. I I told them when they talked to me that uh they couldn't say anything about age.
034That was a way supposedly. Uh yeah, I've been around for a while. Okay. All I want to know is is that the money that I have left in my lunch account when I retired, I told them to use it for anybody needing it. You told me that you guys absorb. So that is good. That money does go into if someone doesn't take it, it goes into the hungry kids fund. Oh, okay. That's that's basically what we did because I thought, you know, sometimes kids come doing all that money. So, you know, I wouldn't come back to lunch, but I asked Josh if I could. Now, he said I could come home. Great. Yes. Thank you. All those in favor of approving the coach, just say I. I. Those opposed? Motion passes. Congratulations. Official. Thank you.
035I really appreciate that. I I cannot between my wife and my son. That's about it. Uh we need board approval, but uh I will do my best. Great. Item F, board to approve the resignation of Erica Cornet as a study hall pair professional at WHS effective April 16, 2025. So moved. Second discussion. Uh we want to wish wish Miss Cornet good luck in the future. All those in favor of approving the resignation say I. I. I. Those opposed. Motion passes. G Board to accept the resignation of the following certified staff. A Javier Garcia effective at the end of the 24-25 school year and B Mr. Alvaro Mendoza effective at the end of the 2425 school year. So moved. Second discussion. Will they be replaced? Yes. How many how many uh Spanish teachers we have now
036in that Spanish program? Um let's see. We have from kindergarten we have one first and second grade. We have one teacher that does both. Right. And then uh after next year, we will be able to leave third and fourth grade. So we will be able to go down next year. And then we have a fifth grade. And then we have one teacher that does sixth, seventh, and we'll do eighth grade next year. Okay. Who teaches Spanish at the high school? Uh Kathy Gul. And then we also one of our DIY teachers um teaches a few classes at the high school as well. I was going to say these these people should be able to cover some of the high school Spanish. Yeah. So has Spanish one and then we have um teachers handles Spanish too
037for us. Um and then we have dual dual credit three refri Spanish three. So as well Okay. U Mr. Garcia is our fourth grade DI teacher and Mr. Mendoza is the middle school DI teacher. Um remember once they go to the high school we will not have to hire um additional DLI teachers because we have a partnership with um IU Cooko. We are sad to see um both of these gentlemen leave but we want to wish them the best of luck and I know that Mrs. Delgado has already begun interviews. We have two um viable candidates that hopefully we hear back from um that would replace these two and we are still looking for a kindergarten replacement and uh a first grade replacement. So any other questions? All those in favor of accepting the resignation
038say I. I. Hi. Those opposed? Motion passes. Items from superintendent. Um, first I want to welcome Connie Norman to our board. This is her first meeting. Um, congratulations to our Kathy Swan award winners. I love seeing the little ones. They're always so excited. Um, we are down to just five weeks left of school. I don't know if you saw the the little wither dog countdown. Oh, you guys can come in that way. She got a cute little countdown there. Um OJ's wrapping up their I learn this week. Just doing some some makeups. The middle school started testing this week and will finish. Um I'm sure the students and staff will be happy to have that off of their plates. Yes. Um last Thursday I attended the culture fair that was presented by our Japanese exchange
039students. They had some really cool hands-on activities for people to try like using chopsticks to pick up beads. Um and then they did some demonstrations some of their traditions from their country such as dance and it was really really good. Um and finally this year is textbook adoption for literacy. Um we are looking at adopting curriculum for grades K through five. Our teachers and administrators have viewed the uh samples that we received and we have one that is our preference. Um we will have these samples available at central office for any parent or guardian that would like to review them. We'll send out information through parent square letting um families know uh about the curriculum and then we'll let them know when they're um at central office when get get them picked up from the
040buildings. Um and just a reminder just because we adopt the curriculum doesn't necessarily mean we will purchase. It's going to come down to the dollars. Can we afford this? Um, if we don't adopt, the teachers will continue using the resources they have. Um, but I'm really, really, really hoping that we can make make this much needed purchase. Okay. That's all I have. Okay. Items from administrators. We have great Friday and Saturday night. So, we're super excited about that. First musical in a long long time. So, that's what we get. So, there's a sponsor for that. Um, so we have uh I believe France and Barack Ireland are around this year. So Okay. Yeah, it's been good. When's prom? Prom is May 10th. Okay. Okay. Other items for visitors. Items for board members. Start with Joe.
041Uh, book fair was last week at high school. I think they did pretty well with that. I got to visit two days last week. I had a a lot of fun and yeah, they might have it twice next year. So nice. Um I just want to congratulate the Kathy Swan award winners. Um it's always great to see. I love the little kids. Um so congratulate congratulations to them. Um and that's it. That's all I've got tonight. Um I just wondered about the literacy. I know the didn't the state require like the teachers the elementary people to like 30 30 hours of of that and all your all your folks did that and how will you I don't know a literacy program for elementary is that just like a package deal here's what we do with
042first grade and they have the book selected and and the whole ball of accent and everything okay we did the cadre Dr. Sibly had us join state. Uhu. So from that we have an instructional coach that we hired but then she's got someone overseeing her too, right? And they have these meetings. Um and then from the state we've got youth flag which is one of the um companies for phonics that the state has granted that it's acceptable to use. Um we also use Roxy currently. They're very very similar. So we will go to you fly next year and then the comprehension part we're looking at what she is. And is the reading space now? Yes. Yes. Very systematic. Big difference when you see the kids. Yeah. I'm volunteering at St. And yeah, but it the
043payoff is big. Okay. I I just wondered. Okay. And I have nothing new other than welcome to Congress. Thank you. Well, experimental terror for all. We'll see what happens. With that, we'll thank you. Great to see you.