001Not much of a board report other than we need to get moving. It's already precipitating out there. Um we've got two members absent tonight. Um Mr. Kre is under the weather with kidney stone and Mr. Fowler is I believe he got called in to work at the detention center this evening. So, we'll be shy of two board members tonight. So, we'll move right to general patron comments. Are there any patron comments tonight? Oh, okay. And then we'll move to the financial report. Is you gonna handle that one tonight? at the board meeting. Okay. All right. That brings us to project reports. Um tennis courts, high school track, middle school track. Dr. Troyer. >> Yeah, thank you. Um trying to get myself organized here. Um we will start out with um an update on the tennis
002court tracks and the tracks um project. I know that I think it was the board meeting last time uh last month either the board meeting or the work session. There were some questions in particular um about the fee proposal that I had presented to you and given to you in your board packet. Um, I did have a uh a couple of different calls with Emily from Garmin Miller um in between that time just trying to get some understanding of how they put the fee structure together um and what all is involved and why that um in particular has to look a little different >> for um a public works project versus a private project. Um, and so Emily um offered to um to be here this evening and and perhaps explain that a little bit
003better. Uh, I forwarded it uh forwarded the board um a response that she'd sent last week or the end of the week before um with some explanation on that uh as well. Um but wanted to give Emily a chance to kind of walk through um through that information and then answer some questions that you may have uh for her. The the long story short of it is um there are a lot a tremendous amount of extra rules and uh things that are in place for uh public works projects which we would kind of be lumped into that um because it's a taxpayer funded project and a lot of those um guard rails I suppose that are in place are designed to protect the taxpayer. Um but with that protection then um often comes a lot
004of additional cost >> uh because of the amount of work that has to go in above and beyond what a uh private project could be done for. So we had that conversation. Uh Dr. Penrod was involved in one or two of those as well. Um but Garmin Miller has been good to uh work with in that respect and in terms of walking us through why those things exist and um kind of breaking their fee structure down. So I'll turn it over to Emily and she can explain a little bit more. Okay. >> Yep. Thank you for having me back and um mostly I'm just here to answer any questions that you've come up with regarding the fee. Um any clarifications I can make, but I think Dr. Troyer really summarized it really well that because
005it is a publicly funded um public money involved with the project, there are a different set of Indiana code um requirements that you have to follow which I cited in that email um with the public bid requirements as well as you know um permitting and state um construction design releases that are required and all of them have to be signed and stamped by licensed professionals, structural engineers, um civil um architects, things like that. So, so all of them have to be involved and on the team and they all have fees associated with and relative to and hours associated with site visits and design hours and design meetings and things like that. So, >> any specific questions or areas of the email that were confusing or anything like that? >> Emily, would you be willing to
006just give kind of a highle summary? I think when when we look at the tennis courts for example, it seems like it should be a pretty straightforward project, but what are all the things that are involved with making sure that project gets done right um versus um just trying to get it done as quickly and cheaply as possible? Yeah, that's a really good question and I'm sure that that's a really good example of a project to talk about because I it's my understanding you've had repeat issues with that particular um area and so it's um of spe you know specifically that area you want to make sure that you don't run into a design that you're going to end up with the same issues in a few years. So, um, we really, uh, kind of
007laid out a plan that we think will hopefully not put you in that position. And so, you've already done a lot of the great groundwork. Uh, no pun intended. You've done soil borings. And, >> I almost missed that one. >> Yeah, I did not mean to do that, but survey and soil borings have been completed already. And that's really important because um it could be that the proper geotechnical um testing wasn't completed prior to the last couple installations and so that could be a good leg up for you to make sure that you don't run into the same issues again or or do as much of your due diligence as possible. Um so taking that into consideration, having those completed already is wonderful. And then the civil engineer takes the recommendations from the geotechnical um
008testing into consideration when they design the remedi um the the design of the um the new courts. Um so if if that hadn't been done before, which it kind of sounds like it hadn't, then then that's where you end up with a you know a new design that ends up with the same problems. Um I know that the initial um report is recommending not even going back in with asphalt. And so that's something that we'll discuss the pros and cons of throughout the design process which it is a process. There's iterations and back and forth of you know the benefits of doing that with the professionals. Um, so they are suggesting a complete tear out and so that's much less straightforward than just milling down a portion of this existing tennis courts. And then you've
009also got um fences that'll come down and have to be replaced. And then with a complete tear out um there are elevations that have to be identified. And then because of the soils that were there um they're suggesting digging down at least 12 in. Um and then so there uh the civil engineer will have to have a be involved and have elevations. Um and then you've got a viewing area between the courts and then a structural engineer needs to be involved because you've got a viewing tower as well. So the project involves replacing that viewing tower that's between the two sets of five courts um kind of like in kind. So, we're assuming similar size and similar location, but because people will be standing on it. Um, it's an occupied building, it'll have to be
010filed with state structural engineer involved, stamp, all that type of stuff. >> So, you're saying you have the test results back on the soil? So, can you be more specific about I mean, you're saying that they just need to go down at least 12 in >> because they did find inconsistencies or settling. Um because I think we've had major cracks couple times we've done it. But then I'm also been made aware that notori tennis courts are notorious for doing that anyway. Mhm. >> So >> yeah, >> you're hopeful that this will be a >> a better solution. >> Well, we haven't started the design process yet with the engineers and kind of gone through the different options. Um but the initial recommendation from the soils report um is to actually install concrete um tennis courts
011instead of asphalt um because of the condition of the soils that they found there. and they're saying to dig down at least 12 inches. Um, and depending on the condition of the existing drains. Um, they're hoping that's all the further you have to dig, but if they're in poor shape, then it could be 24 in. >> Can you get us some information? you don't need to come back. But I'd be interested um if there's any difference between asphalt and concrete as far as abusing knees and ankles because concrete is going to be a much harder surface or will there be something >> I mean is it's just going to be painted lined concrete or there'll be a another surface over that. Yeah, concrete is a common solution for tennis courts. Actually, post-tension concrete is kind
012of like the new, latest, and greatest. And I don't believe that's a solution that you all are entertaining. That does um maybe double upfront cost. Um we I we were going to start off looking at just concrete um because of the condition of the soils. Um, but it it's very common to use um concrete for tennis courts and just paint it like with an acrylic paint. >> Um, North Central actually just installed 27 post-tension concrete >> um courts last summer. >> Okay, >> Emily, thank you for uh the email >> of all that information. Uh, I know we're asking a lot of questions because we know that costs rise. I'm not faulting that at all. We just want to have an understanding of the breakdown of what that actual cost is. >> Yeah. >> And
013by reviewing it, understandably, it's so much helpful when you're actually sharing like the red tape. >> Yeah. >> And it seems like I understand, you know, but every time there's red tape, there's always an extra, oh, by the way, it's this permit >> and oh, I forgot about this testing that we have to do. So, completely understand that. Uh I just wanted to let you know I know on behalf of us uh we were very thankful for that because it it really broke everything down to a certain extent as we start really getting meticulous in the details from that point on. I'm sure the options are the only question I had and I think we addressed it before is that when you know obviously these have to be replaced. I'm I'm you're never going to
014hear I'm not going to buck that because I know for a fact this is back when Blaine was playing tennis. So, I mean, I know there were some cracks and some just deformities and what have you, but we have a tight window, and I know you probably addressed that, Troyer. >> I don't know if I've addressed it here um publicly in the in the meeting, but um Emily and I actually spoke about that here within the last couple of weeks um during one of our conversations. Yes, the the window is especially tight because we have two seasons and there's not a huge chunk of time in between the two seasons. Uh in the following the fall season, there's winter and work's not going to get done. Following the spring season, we just have the summer
015window. We're probably not going to be able to um get everything done in between one of those two spans. So, what we talked about is would there be a situation where we could um get started as early as possible and maybe um just move into part of a season >> on one end or the other um to try and get it accomplished without taking a whole season away. >> Um I'm not sure whether that's going to be possible or not, but we're exploring those solutions. >> Sure. Yeah. I mean, it is what it is. I understand time frame and then the winter side. It just it made me think of that where >> you know girl season or ladies season, excuse me, and then boy season is so tight and it's really the prime time
016of working outside construction because outside of that they end the middle of October, >> nobody's working today, right? You know, so Okay. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, we're we we've been talking about different timelines. Um, you know, with this particular project um there's still a lot of design work and stuff that has to happen between now. Like so the last we spoke about it, we weren't sure that it's going to even be possible to be ready to go for this coming summer because the the contractors that will be working on a project like this for the summer would need to bid probably by end of February. Is that what you said? Like January, February time frame. And we don't know whether they can they would be able to get the design work done necessary to
017have it ready for bid because by the time they get the design work done it may be that we miss kind of the bidding or the lining up your work window. Um so we may need to evaluate the timeline anyway just because where we're at in the process. I don't know if you want to add anything to that. >> Yeah. Um, you know, we've we've kind of been um meddling in the project already at Garmin Miller. Um, we haven't been able to engage the consultants that don't actually work for Garmin Miller that are, you know, our our consultants like the engineers from the other companies because we can't ask them to just, you know, meddle like we are ahead of time ahead of the approval. But um you know looking at the schedule on our
018end um even though you know maybe getting it out to bid in February if we could meet that timeline could be enough for bidding requirements from Indiana um the Indiana ask you to meet and then procurement and then getting you know a contractor on board to start as soon as the um the spring season is over. Um, we discussed also that still probably isn't the very very best time to bid a May um, construction start for you because um, if we hear you want to start as soon as the spring tennis season's over, we try and get that out to bid now, like right before Christmas or right after right after Christmas ideally, just for you to get more interest and better bids. um is really what we would prefer even though February you'd still
019have time to get you know bids in with all the state requirements and you notices to bidder and you know procurement and all that like that makes sense. Um their dance cards are getting kind of full by then. So, um, what we also discussed is if you could go into the fall season and displace them a little, perhaps if we bid in February, you could you could put in that those construction documents a later start date on construction and not say the day the spring season is over. If you said we this project is to start construction July 1st or you know a little bit later, you could maybe attract contractors that are busy the day school lets out but the second wave of construction for summer. Perhaps there would be a sample of contractors
020that would want to bid for that. So we've been talking about different options like that, but that would displace part of the the fall season if you went that way. Is that something that we could give to look at? Maybe I'm just processing here. >> My thought thoughts right. I don't want to rush it. I want to make sure that's clear. And I I would imagine I'm speaking for everyone. We just we don't want to rush it. We want to make sure it's done correctly. Um I like the idea of February and throwing the bids out and what have you. I like the idea of later construction because I firmly believe they're going to be filled up. I that's their core month, right? So that's fair. Um, so my thought is like if they if
021they did have ladder in the air, we would have to displace our boys team. Is that something Brent could look at around the area there? Maybe you you know it's I know it's hard and I'm not >> it's not the ideal situation, but >> I do want those tennis courts done. Yeah, >> I can't even emphasize that because I know that they're just they're not in good shape >> and it's just it's overdue and it's something that we need to look at. So I I don't know that maybe something breaking For sure. We'll we'll bring our athletic department in and try and evaluate when the best time to do the project is. One one team is going to be impacted probably one way or the other. So, we've just got to figure out what that
022impact is and then try and minimize it as much as possible. It's kind of like the pool situation that we're dealing with where we've got a really >> back of my mind. Yes. a really really tight timeline and then you end up having to stack things um differently than maybe what would be ideal just to try and get it done. And um I'd like to perhaps avoid that. I in this situation I would rather maybe take a little bit more time. Maybe that impacts more of a season. Um, but we can make sure that the project gets done fully rather than having to rush to meet a deadline. >> Anything else for Emily? >> I think I think we're good. >> All right. Thanks again. Hey, the last time she was here, she sat through
023um the two and a half hours prior to her presentation and uh then had an hour drive home to Fort Wayne or whatever it was. >> I was just going to say bye. Don't want to kick you out the door, but we want you to get on the road, too. It's already starting to get wet out there. >> I appreciate it. But it like I know it's like, you know, you see the fees and all the all the questions. It's really not a problem. If you have more questions, if I can help with anything, just let me know. Okay, >> great. >> Thanks for coming. >> Thanks, Emily. >> That brings us to the um Melford project, Mr. Casey. >> So, uh before Mr. Casey starts, um he had expressed interest. No, you see, you're
024fine there. He had expressed interest in being able to come give an update. Um, I felt that that was a great idea because um, Michael's obviously been very involved in that project and um, making sure that uh, things are lining up and and getting ready to take off, but the building is really coming along and I I uh, leaped through his slide deck earlier today and um, there's some pretty awesome pictures. So, I'm glad that he's here and and uh, can give you some information and then he'll have a few minutes for questions at the end, too. Okay. Yeah, I'll start off by saying thanks for having me, but as Dr. Troyer said, I might have pushed the agenda a bit to be on it. So, thank you, Mrs. Hutcherson, for putting me on there.
025Actually, Emily was a part of the uh design of this building at Eladus now at Garmin Miller. So, this is a nice little treat, but she doesn't have to stay. I can I can send her that, but we talked about it and it's pretty exciting. So really the biggest piece to this is is that when we broke ground, it seems so long ago. Um you walk out the building now because the building the new building's in the backyard and you see my goodness, we're about done. We're in December and I'll talk a little about the timeline. We've got a couple of months and we're going to be in that building. >> So I've I've had a few on be I should say this before I start on on behalf of the Milford Elementary staff and
026students and community. We come to you with exciting obviously updates and we wanted to make sure that you're aware of that. So, now that I have the clicker, this ought to be fun. >> You got the power. >> Yeah. So, I wanted to give you guys a couple of timeline reports and then I've got a lot of images of the beginning work and then the other stages. So, just to give you quick insight, and I know I can read through it, but just to give you what I have, MKS has said to us, we're going to turn the building over to you at the end of February. And so, what that means is is that they will essentially be done, quote air quotes, done with the building. Now, there'll be a punch list that they'll
027go back through and they'll clean up some things, but in that turning over of the building, we will begin to start to move our items over. And so, I'll talk about that in the next slide. But one of the biggest things we've talked to our staff about since last year is that um we just have to need we need patience and we need flexibility because this is going to be a huge change for a lot of people. Some of people have been in our building for 25 years. They've been in that building that was built in 1954, that was added on in ' 88, that was built on in 2001. It's just been there for a bit. And so we talked a lot this year. We are we are starting two school years. The first
028school year is is August 13th, which we've already started. And the second school year is April 13th. So everyone, everything will be new in the building after spring break. And we are well aware, trust me, and I say this, I'm well aware that our staff is anxious about it. Our kids, our families are anxious about it. There's a lot of anxiety that comes with it. I'm not saying that's bad. There's a lot of good that comes with that, too. But it is a lot. So we've got a lot of prep work that's happening. I'll show you that in the next slide. But I did want to show you this. So in our planning stages of prepare preparing and communicating this out. I looked at it like this and I'm just going to be as blunt
029as I can be. We are building a new school. We got to make sure that we promote the school and I'll say it nicely like I don't want to screw this up. We don't want to screw this up. We want to make sure that our our staff is excited. Our community is excited. That's Webster. That's Syracuse. Everybody uh should be really excited about the new opportunity. So in this vision of sorts, the first phase that we are starting which we've already started is just I give a monthly update. Uh some I did a walk and talk and was out of breath so I just stayed behind my desk the next month. But anyway, I go outside and I try to give images and and and videos to update our community and update our staff, update
030our our students of what is happening at the new building. So, I've got some images later that you'll see, but in the beginning, it was just like, "Hey, look at the outside of it. You can't really see inside." Well, now that we've been able to get inside with more of our meetings, I'm able to take more pictures of what it looked like in one month to the next month. So, that's kind of phase one. Phase two is the building of excitement. So, uh January 5th is going to be the 70 days, school days before we get into the building, uh February 2nd, March 2nd. Now, some of this stuff is still just words on paper. There's a lot that goes into this. So, the idea is is that we want to do a nostalgia night.
031There's people that have called and said, "Hey, can I get a brick of the current building?" Sure, you can have all the bricks that you want. Okay? But I also know that there's going to take a process to do that because I know that there are a lot of people that went to Milford School, that went to Milford Elementary, that have been around for a long period of time, and we want to do a nostalgia night meeting. We want them to come back in and be a part of the building, walk through the building, just be in the building. And then also with that, we want to kind of uh have some student and staff pieces in the video about what am I most excited about moving into the next building. Um and then the
032moving day. We'll take some pictures and things like that. That's phase two. Phase three is the big reveal. So the focus is obviously there'll be a ri well I don't know obviously, but I guess when you build a new school, I I've never built a new school, but there'll be a ribbon cutting of sorts. Um possibly having the students sign something. There's a lot of things that are just up in the air, but there ideas that I wanted to put on paper that I've shared with our staff that we really want to be excited about when that time comes. And so really that phase three will be uh celebrating the the first day that they're in the cafeteria. And you'll see some pictures of the cafeteria and the gymnasium and and the uh the playground.
033It's different. Yes, it's probably from me to the edge of that uh of of the edge of the room over there how close the building is in some parts, but it's going to be new. And so the exciting part, the greatest need that I we felt it was most important is share the Mia story. And so that's just a little bit of a a synopsis. I know there's some things on there, you can look at that later. That was the idea behind the phase one, phase two, phase three. We really want to make sure that we are telling our story uh and and telling it with excitement. So anyway, we go back to that. Thank you so much. So the next slide is the transition plan and the updates. So real time updates when I
034know the staff knows. I've made it very clear that, you know, staff has asked me about some things. I'm like, I don't know yet. And I'm not trying to hold anything. I'm not trying to hold anything in my back pocket like surprise. When I know things, they know things. And so, as I mentioned before, there's some anxious feelings of new beginnings. There's some overwhelming pieces of it. But the one thing that we we wanted to do, Andy Vesser, the custodial staff, has done a fa fantastic job, is we have a lot of boxes in an area in a room that teachers can go in and start putting their name on it and start packing stuff up. Now, when I say that, you're like, "Wait a second, Michael. You're asking teachers to pack up mid year
035when they get through things." What we're asking them to do is slowly but surely think about what I want to take to the new building and then begin to pack that up. Clearly, we're not going to pack up the workbooks that the kids are working on today and tomorrow. We're going to pack that stuff over time. >> And if you've ever moved from an apartment in college to a house, it's a lot. >> And so, it's not just a lot for our staff, it's also going to be a lot for our students. So, in the next bullet point, one of the biggest things I want to try to do, I say one of the biggest things, there's a lot of big things in here, is allow teachers to possibly take a half day in maybe
036late February, early March in the AM and the PM just to kind of get their stuff set up as much as possible because what we don't want to do is we don't want to have teachers just show up and this isn't going to happen on April 13th. They walk into the room like surprise, they're going to be in the room before that happens. What that's going to look like, we're taking that one day at a time. So another piece to it is his grade level tours. So we want to get the kindergarteners over there. We want to get the first graders over there. It's going to be tough for some of our kids that are in fifth grade that have been in that building since kindergarten. And so what we want to do is we
037want to take grade level tours. Show them where the cafeteria is going to be, which is going to be ginormous compared to the one we have now. Show them where the gym is, where their classroom's going to be, where they're going to enter into. And really just being as prepared as possible. Not only our staff, but our students, like I said. And I say this not in justest of sorts, but we might be living out of boxes until summer break happens and then we start to weed away and get some of the stuff uh taken care of because you call it, we'll call it a month and three weeks we'll be in the building and then the school year will end and then summer will be there and I'm sure with the move people will
038be like, I don't want to look at my room for a little bit, but then eventually they'll get back in there. So that's that's kind of the transition update piece that I really wanted to share with you. Um, but the two key pieces to it is that we want to get kids into the building before they actually move in on the 13th of April. We want the kids to see the building. Now, that first day is going to be absolute chaos. That first day, people are going to be COMING, "WHERE DO I GO?" THEY'RE GOING TO TRY TO JUMP THE fence going the old school. I'm just kidding. They're probably not going to do that, but getting them into the building, showing them where to go. We're all hands on deck on that first day
039after spring break. So, I say that out loud with a smile because that's going to be interesting. So, the transition timeline, just to give you a little bit more of a visual image, and I just want to make it very clear, I had a teacher, Mrs. Zel, actually help me with this. I showed her my PowerPoint, and she was like, "Oh, that hurts to look at this." I'm going to go ahead and make this look a little bit nicer. So, this is actually her work. Um, so I have to give credit there because it wasn't me. So, anyway, as you can see, the nice little image of boxes down on the bottom left, but in January, February, slowly but surely packing up the rooms. March, we had talked about getting that teacher work day of
040a half day. And I say teacher work day, that's them taking a half day out of school, a half day to get into the building, get some things squared away as much as possible, and then those grade level building tours as well. April 13th is the first day of the new building. I do want to make uh a statement that obviously you guys can overrule this, but I would like to make sure that our staff and students get in the building first before we do like a community event in the new building. Um, I think it's just really important to get our kids and our staff in there first and make sure that they know what that feels like. And then eventually over time, we'll get within maybe by the end of April, we'll get
041uh we're we have a um moments with uh n we don't call it that. We uh we used to call it muffins with mom donuts with dads, but it's uh it's breakfast with a buddy now. Excuse me. So when we have that, then we'll have the opportunity to get people in there, but we really want to make it that it's an option and opportunity for our kids and our staff to get in there first. Um, we can obviously adjust to that clearly because we're adjusting to a lot. So let's get to the images. Enough about me talking. So if you recall on the 2024 in August where the groundbreaking took place, we had the shovels, we had the hats, the hard hats. You just saw a lot of dirt. A lot has changed. So in
042that changing, you start to see the back of the building and so the front of the building as well, the playground area and outside the cafeteria. So this is a pretty a bit of a leap from August 2024. So what one thing I try to do to make sure our staff is up to date, whether it's a meeting each week or it's in the memo that I send out on Fridays is giving them information about the construction updates. So giving them images, giving them a video, giving them anything and everything that they need to know. And I'll show you some of those links uh in the end. So, this was the most recent walkthrough. Uh, the top right you can see the cafeteria. Obviously, they have staging areas, so they put a lot of stuff
043in the cafeteria, but what you will see is you'll see a design that goes throughout the entire building, and it really kind of creates uh kind of that home that that that ambiance and that great feel. And so, the bottom right is classroom. So, the classroom is going to have u case work already built in. I'm already working with um Tony Bontrager and another company for actually Dr. Dr. Troyer and I got an email today and I got an email um uh earlier last week just about the information about what next steps are. So you'll see in just a second some of the input that teachers are giving in as well. And so the bathroom, the restroom down at the bottom left, that's the tile work. Uh very similar to Syracuse. Syracuse when you walk
044in, you have uh boys in the right, girls in the left, and you walk in, you wash your hands. And then in the far left, you'll see the office hallway. So if you've been in the current Milford uh building, Milford Elementary building, um it's kind of tight. uh if you walk into that office hallway, it's a it's a decent track. You're going to get some steps in there. Uh but it'll be really nice to have uh that as well. So, the progress of the entry. So, the bottom left is the entry when you walk in and then directly to your right will be the office. So, there'll be uh double doors in there. There'll be a vestibule where you have to walk into the office before you can get into the school. Um and so
045to your left, I don't laser pointer on there. I don't. Yep. Right there. So right there is actually the where the gymnasium is. And to the right I'm sorry you guys are looking at the other one. Yeah. To the right right here is the library. So when you walk into the school, here's the office to the right. This is the bookkeeper. Miss Horn will be right here. This is going to be the hallway back to the other offices. But you have your gym and you have your cafeteria or excuse me, the library. My apologies. And then all the way through you'll see that will go to the end and then the playgrounds will be out back. So looking the opposite way, that's the entry looking back into set office. And then there'll be a TV
046mounted here with other things that will be kind of going. But you can just see the color. You can see the height. You can see the the wow factor. It's really, really exciting. Moving on. So entryway. Again, this just kind of shows you the entryway. Uh just more at a landscape kind of view. This is before. Here's the gym. They actually just finished before we went into Thanksgiving break. They just finished the gym floor. It's going to take approximately six weeks to get everything coated, get everything painted before people can get on and working on that as well. But you can see again uh the colors uh that go throughout the building as you can see that um as well. So here is the front side of the building. You've already got lights out there
047as well. And here is actually where the buses will come around. Um the uh Ed and I had a bit of a conversation, maybe a miscommunication about how we were going to get buses and car riders in there uh to finish the school year before the current building is uh uh demolished and then turned into a parking lot. So we I think we figured that out. Anyway, let's continue. So more progress again. There's another classroom. We did a little tour right there. That's the back of the office. U this is a hallway here. So in these uh indentations, those will be lockers. So, you'll see lockers there. Right inside to your left here is a bathroom. Um, and then your hallways here. So, just really, really, really cool. I don't know if you've ever bought
048something new or been in something new, but the excitement is building. But also, I want to make it very real that there are some some feelings of of anxiousness because you're moving where you've been for x amount of years to a new building that's not very far, which is very beneficial on our end. And then this is one of the last pictures I took with Andy Veester on the top of the current building, the roof. Thought it was kind of neat. But anyway, um as you can see here is the front of the building. This was actually just after uh they had uh laid the asphalt. So this entryway will be where the buses come. They'll drop off here and then once this gets demolished, this this parking lot, they will exit there. And we're
049figuring out how we're going to get cars in and all that stuff. But we'll figure that out now because we're we're only in December, but I know it's going to come pretty quick. So, that's a really really cool view from the roof. Uh, and you look right at the building, you think, man, that looks really really good. And it really does. Um, but there's a lot of work that's gone into it. There's a lot of patience and process through it from our staff. And so, I finished with this. There's just some additional links that I'm sure uh this can be shared with you. But what we've done, uh, we've tried to do some video tours. We did a video tour in August. um MKS allowed us to get in there and uh help us go
050through and then we did a November staff tour and I know from a fa for a fact that on the Tuesday staff tour November to the Wednesday staff tour there was a significant difference inside the building. So once they're in the building they're really starting to chip away at some of the interior things and it's really really making a difference. So even the images that you just saw from a couple of weeks ago, I can I can probably attest that there is a pretty significant change. And MKS has provided us drone videos each month and we just linked uh some of the drones uh drone videos as well. So uh I know that was a little bit of a maybe a little bit long in the tooth there, but it's exciting. Uh if you're not
051excited, then I'm sorry, but we're excited about the opportunity. And I know um this particularly impacts Milford Elementary, Milford, but it also impacts North Webster and Syracuse as well because when um the building was built in Syracuse, it was an exciting time for Syracuse and there, you know, there was a lot of change that's happened. Um the the middle school has merged to Wavesy Middle. We've we're three years strong and and the work that we're doing on our elementary and we have a new building and it's so so so exciting and that's the word that I'll keep coming back to. So I'll take any questions. I'll field any questions and if you don't want me to talk anymore, we'll shut her down. So, >> I I do like the uh idea of bringing the community
052and open house after >> Yeah. >> the fact because I I believe that's important because you're right, those students are going to like it's going to be super crazy. Yeah. >> Uh for a bit. Uh but I do know that several have reached out to because that that school's been there for so long. >> Absolutely. >> And for people that graduate Milford, you know, that I >> it's it's a nice transition because we all knew it was ready. Uh, but it'd be nice to see them kind of walk through the new school and even see it with the old school before it's actually torn down, which I don't When is the is there a date that we tear that old school? >> So, that's that's a great question. I don't have an exact date, but
053the hardest part about all of it is is it's a pretty cut and dry. Like when you leave on the 3 for spring break, >> we're going to fence that puppy up like Fort Knox and you're not getting So, like if a teacher leaves something in there, it's not like they're >> right >> working their way back in because to me it's going to look like ET. There's going to be a lot of hazmat suits out there going through the school. I mean, we're going to probably get some phone calls from the community members like what's going on over there. People still don't know we got a school being built. So, it's cool. I mean, all the good things are happening. Uh, but I would say that when that that third when we turn that
054building over to them and we enter into this building, um, they're pretty adamant that they're going to start right away. They I've already talked to Ed Bender, who's the, uh, the site manager from MKS, and he's talked about there's some areas, Michael, that we're already going to start to take down. um a lot of the obviously the HVAC system and stuff outside to get that squared away. And then I mean I don't know what the how that's going to work other than we're going to get a front row picture because the uh the um front right there is actually the office area and so out my window we'll we'll take a gander at the the demolition of the building and I'm well aware of the the history of it, the the longevity of the people
055that have lived there. So it's not it doesn't I don't take it lightly obviously the changes that are happening and that's why we want to give a nostalgia night. What does that look like? I have no idea. Is it four to eight where people could just come in and just walk the halls? I know Mrs. Perrick was talking about her dad was in one of the classrooms that she's currently in and one of her uh he said one of her uh excuse me, one of his classmates, the teacher went to the bathroom because there's bathrooms in there and one of the kids was holding the bathroom door, you know, so they couldn't get out. So, there's a lot of memories in there that I want people to be able to partake in and and enjoy
056that. And there's a lot of work to be done and I'm not going to I'm not going to sit there and say like, "Oh, it's been easy on my end." But it's a great team that we have, but there's so much happening um that that's why we wanted to make sure that we're we're promoting and and talking about such great things that are happening in our school corporation and specifically with this new building as well. And I think that that was why I might might have uh Hey, Dami. Hey, Steve, what do you think about me presenting it? And so I think it's important uh to share share the good news that that's happening. So >> I know that was a long answer, but >> it's it's gonna it's gonna happen pretty quick. So, in
057April, you're probably going to see fence. So, right now, the fence is pushed against kind of the new building. That fence is going to come down and you know, where are we going to park as a staff? Great question. We're going to figure it out. Okay. So, there are a lot of questions that haven't been answered or um so many different things to that. So, >> yeah, the new building will come down pretty quickly because the objective is for them to have the site ready to go at the start of school in August, >> right? So, there's a lot of work that has to be done. The building's got to come down. They've got to clean all that up. And then they've got to develop the site and and get ready to pave parking lot
058and all that stuff. So, lot lot of work to happen in between turnover in April and and August. >> I really like the fact that the um when I first saw that April 14th date, I was like, man, I don't know about that. But >> well, staff doesn't know about it either. I mean, they know about it, but they're like, >> "What I like is um >> those fifth graders that have been there >> for six years >> without getting in the building, they're going to leave." >> Yeah. >> And not have an opportunity to be in it. So, it gives them an opportunity to be in six weeks, 8 weeks, whatever it is. >> Yeah. >> And that should feel pretty cool for those fifth graders. >> And if you haven't been to Milford
059School and the Tetris piece that it is, when you walk into the new building, I mean, it's a rectangle. It's kindergarten, first, second, third, fourth, fifth. It's pretty standard building. Um, it's going to be really, really awesome. I think our kids are really excited, too. I know, like you said, it's going to be hard for some of our kids, too. It's going to be hard for our staff. >> And I think I've tried to have the conversation of just be thinking about what you want to take over because, like I said, when when they we turn the building over, we're not just going to have like a alley pass to get into the building to to pull some different things. So, there's conversations about trophies in the current building, taking pictures of those, getting those
060to people. There's a lot. It's December 1st. There is a lot to think about, but I think it's really important for you to see, for the community to see some of the great things that are happening in our in our corporation. So, >> Melford School has always been a real community school. Yeah. >> And that's >> Yeah. One of the things that we're really excited about is that the uh designers have worked on a a wall mural. >> Is that how you would describe, Michael? um that incorporates some historical things >> through up to the present. Um so here a month or two ago we uh were working with the architects there on what this wall is going to look like but there's some intentional nostalgia being built into the building which I think will
061be one of the highlights of the building as we u move forward with the the new facility. So, >> so one of the one of the areas will be specifically the town, the history of the town, images of the town, and the other area will be history of the school of the Milford school >> where the Milford High School where it was the the current Dollar General, the Milford, all the things. So, >> very nice. >> Thank you so much for letting me take your time. I know it was a little bit longer, but hey, >> no, thanks. >> Great things are happening. So, >> Thank you, Mike. >> Dr. Sharter, pool update. Yeah, I wanted to just update um you on a few things related to the pool. Um it's been definitely a sprint
062uh to the finish and I would I would say we're not even to the finish yet, but uh we're getting a lot closer. Um the uh they did kind of officially turn over the pool um to us on Friday the 21st uh with a substantial completion date, but there's uh quite a bit of work that still needs to be done and will will continue to be worked on um both uh in the short term. I think there's some things that need to get um addressed here um you know pretty immediately um or things that need to be finished up pretty immediately and then there's other things that they're going to have to come back around to at opportune times over the next probably uh 6 to 12 months and address some things um that either
063weren't uh addressed the first goound or um they need to uh readress. So, um we'll keep you updated on what those things are, but um some some um a couple of high points, I guess, um or or points of significance. Uh there's a lot of tile work that still needs to be done. So, um particularly around the the deck uh on the around the edge of the pool. um they had they had a um procurement issue, so they weren't able to get the correct tile in, but they wanted to get tile in so that we could move forward with it. So, that's going to have to come back out and the correct tile is going to have to go back in. So, that's a fairly significant thing. Um but, uh will be taking place. Um
064there's also a fairly substantial punch list. Um, and a lot of the things on the punch list are small, but um, when they stack up, it's just a lot. And so, um, we did a a pretty thorough walk through with them, um, last week, Mon Monday, I think maybe Monday or Tuesday last week. Um, and and they've got a quite a list of things that they're going to be addressing. Um we did have an opening night um uh kind of event there. We were supposed to have a meet on Tuesday last week. We ended up um moving the meet or or postponing the meet. Um but we still wanted to do something and so we had uh more of a a close type session, kind of a inter mural um or inter squad type of
065event uh where the kids got to get in. Uh they did some racing. uh parents were in as well. Um and very very positive uh reviews came out of that. So that was encouraging and and nice to to see and hear. Um some of the comments uh people love the u bright and clean environment. It's if when you get in there it's so bright and nice. Um that was that was a big change. The scoreboard is outstanding. So, there's a humongous scoreboard in there, video board, um, and a new timing system that goes along with that. I know that, uh, they've had people in doing some training over the last week or week and a half, um, on the timing system. Air quality is significantly improved. Um, the bleachers are a lot more comfortable. Um,
066so those are a few of the highlights. And then, um, I'm looking on my phone here. Um, Mr. Dodie sent me another couple updates um that I wanted to share. Um Coach Scott said that uh the water clarity is the best he's ever seen. Um so that is good to hear. Um the items on the punch list um we're continuing to monitor that. I already addressed the scoreboard. Um, and so those are a couple other things that um that uh Mr. Dodie wanted to point out as well. So, lots to do yet. Um, so, >> but it's functional, >> but but it is it's functional. So, we're we're working on some things to get um to get it um more functional than what it is now. >> When you talked about the tile, is that
067gutter tile or is that deck tile? >> Deck tile. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And there may be some tile up in the bleacher area too. >> Okay. that needs to um be taken a look at. So, the one thing that I wanted to give an update on um because it's become a real pain in the neck um not to anybody's um fault necessarily, but it's just a huge pain to have to work around this is the issue of the uh fire suppression system and u it being disconnected from its supply source, which used to be the pool. Um and the pump that was that fed that system was uh removed and um we're installing a well out there right now. Um they actually started I think on Wednesday last week. Um and so we will
068have a new well. We'll have basically a pump house uh and a new pump that feeds water from the well directly into the fire suppression system. Um but that is slow coming online and so um for the until it comes online um and throughout this project uh to be honest we've had to do the uh firewalk uh and firewatch process which has been a humongous pain. um we're paying somebody to um walk the building and um that's part of the process we have to go through to comply with state um state code and regulation. Um so the the uh Turkey Creek uh fire department and fire territory have been awesome to work with. They've actually supplied um a a great deal of help in in respect to that project. Um, so we're really thankful uh
069to them for their assistance. Uh, and then we have two of our maintenance guys that are certified to do that as well. And so um, they've been doing the after school kind of outside of the working day hours um to because if if they're not doing it, the building cannot be occupied. And so, um, you know, all of the stuff that happens at a school outside of the school day could not happen if we weren't supplying firewatch, uh, through that through that period. So, uh, I did have a meeting today with MKS um to, uh, express my, um, wish for urgency related to that matter. uh and they're looking to put together a temporary solution to get us to tying in the well and all that, which will probably not happen until the spring. Um
070and so we're we're hoping to get um a a temporary pump and kind of reconnect the system that was in place prior to this project taking place. >> Reconnect the pool back to the fire suppression system. Um, and I'm supposed to hear something later this week on that. So, uh, they're aware of of the urgency that I have for getting that done so that we can stop the firewalk um and and u allow that other project to finish out in its natural course. So, wanted to update you on that. That that was an very unintended um consequence of the project. um that nobody foresaw before. >> Right. >> It's >> I don't think that's uncommon though for a building that has a pool to use that pool water as a fire suppression. >> I I
071think it may have been more common in the past. >> Um I had heard that somebody said that they only knew of two of these types of systems that they were aware of in this in the state or in the area. Um, so definitely an uncommon thing now, >> right? Okay. >> But yeah, >> probably because of the issues that we're encountering >> probably. Yeah. Our pool hasn't been drained for five or six years because of that reason. So prior to this project, >> which explains the pool clarity. >> Yeah. >> I mean, okay. >> And and also the ability I've told them moving forward, we're going to have to just be intentional about you know, taking a week or two weeks or whatever it is a year and doing annual maintenance on our mechanical
072systems, right? Like >> I know that, >> you know, being a former swim coach and involved in aquatics heavily, I know the >> um desire to be in that pool 365. Um, but I I think it will make uh it will be very advantageous for us moving forward, especially with a lot of the systems being new, that we be a little more uh proactive with our maintenance schedules. And that means that there's going to be a week or two a year where the pool's shut down and and people can't have access to it. But I think it'll be important that we put those processes in place early with this uh system so we get some air longevity out. >> And we are fortunate that we have another pool. >> Yeah. >> That can can serve
073while that maintenance is going on. >> Yeah. >> Any questions? was there. Breaking three of us were able Yeah, absolutely. The whole operations department, technology, maintenance, um our custodial staff there in the building, they've been tremendous in trying to keep this a priority um and get this project over the line. So, I know it hasn't been perfect and um certainly there's, you know, some things that that we wish could have gone a little different, but they've been tremendous in trying to be solutionoriented and and get the facility up and running. >> Thanks for pointing that out. >> Y thank you. I got question kind of encompasses everything after the last meeting I answered but I couldn't answer everything like that and it got me thinking why aren't you guys forward asking the people in our
074community that are the experts on relying only on the design that you guys hired. That way you guys can understand what is being presented to you but also educated on what questions to ask of the people presenting. So I I know Andy after I passed them off um to the individual they kind of go what's the different options maybe even outside the a solution for the test and then to take that further. You know, it's not your guys's wheelhouse on construction or whatever aspect that you guys go, but when it comes to looking at interpret the design, the what's right, what's not right. And then you can head off some of these items for the criteria that they have everyertise that I think put it out. How many people sit in that room that are
075rapid fire questions? Yeah, I Kurt I think that's a great that's a great idea and a great point. I think actually as a as a byproduct of of everything that's happened over the last four or five months, that kind of thing is happening um more than it's ever happened. For example, Shane was at the walkthrough the other day and I think he was I I'm not sure. I didn't ask him, but I think he was there because Andy invited him to come along because Andy was there also. Um, and just I believe he was there to put a a different perspective and a set of eyes on the pool that, you know, we wouldn't necessarily have or or, you know, whatever. So, I I do think that that's happening and some of those networks are
076being um either established or maybe taken advantage of differently than they have in the past. So, There's people like myself as you had question and you know I had a question on education. I'm not an expert on that question or articulate the right thing. So I mean the fantastic. You know, it's going to be an amazing asset. At the end of the day, it's not done. There's a lot to do and you know, as you guys are going around looking at, you know, there's there's stuff that maybe wouldn't miss if it was somebody that looks at it all the million plus people in the area over this rec. >> Sure. You're saying not having like a local person do it. You're saying having because I wish we could do that. >> I 100% wish we
077could do that because it would save it would save us taxpayers a lot of money. >> I'm sitting here taxic >> right >> when I was like Andy can't answer that question. They talk for an hour on asphalt, you know, check boxes like, "Hey, here's some questions to ask that and I love that you don't want to rush the e and right now everyone's needs to be addressed, but let's address it properly. get another set of it comes that's great but it doesn't hurt you guys don't understand what's being comp I don't think it hurts to ask the question I would guarantee if you put it up >> and they are smart. >> So we're looking at x amount of dollars that you guys XYZ. That's fantastic. That's what it is. >> Oh my gosh,
078he's so pretty. My husband was going, "Yeah, but I didn't know what I thought he was like, but I had a guy, you know, there's a whole process, >> but that's a valid point. >> I'm thinking this through like that is a valid point because on the construction side, I would have to I would delegate that to you. >> No, no. What I'm saying is what I would ask you what Andy did >> what Andy was doing because he that exactly he's not he doesn't know. So that's a really great bridge of communication and as you said being very transparent you're just saying hey I don't know this >> but I do know Bob I'm just throwing a name out there he knows this at the back of his hand. It's all he's done he's
079lived this. He's breathed this. >> So it's a huge opportunity for us too uh to understand that. So it's a valid it's a valid point. >> It's a valid point. ownership of this community. >> Yeah. >> Is the alliance only for finance? >> No, >> it's all areas. You can add this into Um, >> I know we have one company like >> Okay. You have your design team. Here's what they're saying. This is kind of in their wheelhouse that we've identified on Facebook. This is Here's a question. The alliance is great because it looks everybody in a happy feeling. set of eyes and it's no matter how many times I look at those things when you're looking at a roll of nose and sometimes I'll have another look at it because I' looked at I
080haven't outside the box design might make it cost and it might not but it gives you guys the opportunity Anything else? >> Okay, Dr. Wilpong, learning report. >> Thank you very much. Um, first thing I want to um walk you through is a recommendation regarding our afterchool program for school age students and our plan to submit a school age child care program or latch key waiver to the Indiana Department of Education. uh a we have been operating an after-school program for school age students at all three of our elementary schools and the intent of this program has been to provide a safe affordable child care option for families who need care beyond the regular school day and despite uh making this program available in all three buildings per participation has remained uh very low. Currently,
081our enrollment is one student at North Webster, four students at Syracuse, and three students at Milford who are in the process of moving out out of the area. To run this program in a way that is both fiscally responsible and appropriately staffed for student safety and supervision, we need a minimum of 15 students per building. That threshold reflects costs of staffing, materials, daily overhead required to operate a compliant program. With our current numbers, we are staffing and supervising each uh site every day, regardless of whether one child shows up or none at all. And this creates a per student cost that is significantly higher than typical benchmarks for school age child care programs and and places an undue fiscal and operational hardship on the district. So given these realities, it is going to be my
082recommendation that we discontinue the afterchool program for school age students at all three of our building elementary buildings with the final day of service being Friday, December 19th, which is the last day of the semester. >> Um, Indiana law requires school corporations to make school age child care or uh what's often called latch key program available to students. However, the Indiana Department of Education allows districts to request a program waiver when operating such a program results in undue hardship, particularly when participation is very low on um so uh I'm requesting I will be requesting on uh at the next board meeting that I complete and submit the latch key waiver which will include the the the fact that the program was available at all three schools, current enrollment numbers along with um the note that
083the three participating at Milford will no longer attend due to moving, our minimum threshold of 15 students per building for financial viability, and a um description of the hardship caused by continuing to staff and fund the program for such a small number of students. Once completed, this waiver will be submitted to the Indiana State Board of Education for approval. So, families um that are participating uh are being notified of the possible change pending uh and then pending your approval the the actual change through communication uh from our Wawasi Early Learning Center. Um we uh we're going to share in that notification the final day of service for the afterchool program. um will um apologize for the inconvenience that it's going to cause those families and um try to help support those families who need um
084other child care arrangements um in in contacting um possible other afterchool um care centers. Um, and so at the next formal board meeting next week, I'll be asking uh you for the acknowledgement from the board that due to extremely low participation and the financial hardship that we will discontinue the afterchool program for school age students at uh all three of our buildings effective uh December 19th. and then I will submit that that waiver to the Department of Education for approval from the state board of education. Um I'll be happy to answer any questions about that you may have. >> So our approval is only to get you >> um our approval is only >> and to and to >> the state's also been the one that makes that decision. >> Yeah. Well, I need your
085approval to um to to um yeah discontinue the the program and um submit the waiver to the state. >> But if the state come back and say that we have to have it then >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> We're approving for you to send the letter. >> Yes. >> Unless unless you want me to keep unless you want us to keep that program open, we can do that as well. So what were the were we ever at 15 per building? >> Um so um pri about the time I got here in about five years ago. Um uh Baker Youth Club in Warsaw uh provided the services in our elementary schools. Uh however due to their financial um difficulties uh with running the program they um decided that they did not want to continue
086that program. >> So we attempted to do it on our own uh for for a few years. Um last uh last uh I'm trying to think it was last fall um our uh early learning center uh personnel took over to try and um uh get because because of the um the the younger students that maybe maybe that would uh provide a little bit more um um people wanting to participate that just that just hasn't happened and so um the numbers have just been dwindling and so now it's down to just a handful. >> I was talking to somebody and I was kind of excited about that we were offering it and said are you taking advantage of it and she said no. Uh I continued to send my child to is is it little lambs?
087>> Yeah. And I go I well tell me more. And the issue for her was I end up paying two places. I'd like to do the early learning, but if there's a snow day or some other complication now there's no place for them. >> So I keep the little lamb things going and I don't want to pay for for two. So I don't know how many we lose because of something like which is >> Yeah. >> It's nobody's fault. It's just >> Yeah. >> Yep. It Yeah. It it's um and it's it's for students in kindergarten through grade five. So, you know, it's how how to how to how can we provide, >> you know, they don't want to be at home alone, right? And and so, uh that's why the state of Indiana started
088the latch key program. >> Uh but there are there are quite a few schools, especially in rural areas, that just can't um can't do it. >> Can't can't do this. and they um having a waiver for this isn't a um >> um >> an out of the ordinary thing. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Any any other questions from you? Okay. All right. So, um the other thing that was not in your board packet um for this evening and it's uh I'm not going to to ask that you take any action on this at the board meeting. Um this is just information uh for you guys to um to help um help us think about um different options that we may have uh with this little quandry that we are are facing. So um we we
089do have this significant challenge in how paraprofessional posi positions are compensated compared to substitute positions. uh people that want to substitute teach. Uh currently many of our paraprofessionals, particularly those who work directly with students in academic or behavioral support roles, earn a minimum of $14 an hour, while substitutes earn more for performing a very similar work. Because of that differential, it has become more financially advantageous for individuals to substitute in paraprofessional vacancies rather than apply for the actual paraprofessional job. A clear example is of this is at the high school and I and I'm not meaning to point out the high school but that there's this is just one of the most blatant uses of this is we've had a paraprofessional vacancy open for over a year and um it's constantly filled with a substitute.
090Um this creates several issues. Okay, first it undermines staffing stability and the continuity of students in need. These positions are what we call subeligible roles where the paraprofessional is working directly with students whose academic or behavioral support is essential to maintaining an orderly school day. When those positions go unfilled or or are filled inconsistently by rotating substitutes, the students lose the consistent support they rely on and teachers lose a trained partner in the classroom. Second, recruitment and retention become extremely difficult. When someone can earn more money substituting in the same position than they can being hired into, we naturally struggle to fill to keep those roles. And finally, uh there's a financial impact because all substitutes are hired through edge staff. Every day we fill a pair professional vacancy with the sub, we pay both
091the substitute rate and the edgaff fee. and over time that places a greater financial burden on the corporation than hiring and retaining a pair professional at a more competitive hourly rate. I also want to note that some school corporations choose not to fill paraprofessional vacancies with substitutes at all and we don't believe that this is an acceptable option. Our pair professionals play a vital uh and daily role in supporting students, especially those with significant academic or behavioral needs. And leaving those roles unfilled would have a serious negative impact on student learning, classroom climate, teacher workload, and overall school functioning. So, the recommendation that we've been kind of tossing around is to increase the hourly rate of part-time subigible pair of professionals to those working seven, excuse me, 5.75 hours a day or less and are
092not eligible for benefits from a minimum of $14 an hour to $16 an hour. This affects approximately 35 pair professionals depending on the final position review with principles. This pay differential is contributing directly to persistent vacancies. It's undermining consistency for students and teachers. It increases costs when we are forced to rely on subs and it makes some of our most essential student supported roles difficult to fill. So the pros the proposed adjustments is a strategic investment in recruitment, retention, classroom stability and fiscal stewardship bringing us more in line with neighboring school districts and ensuring our students receive consistent daily support. And so you you're going to receive a memo from me outlining all these concerns and the potential fiscal impact in your upcoming board packet, but I am not asking for any u action at
093this time. >> So do you guys have any questions about that? This is this has been been a persistent problem and it's a growing uh a growing concern for us. >> What's the difference in education wise compared to a substitute? Is there any? >> No. We >> Why Why is the substitute get paid more if >> So they they don't have to have any higher education as being a substitute versus a >> Yeah. So So our subpay increased a couple of years ago because we had you know we compete for with area districts on on that. So essentially it's it's we had to do that in order to get subs. Um, we need subs to sub for teachers. Uh, because if you want and that's a big disruption to the to the day. Um, and
094you know, some some schools feel like uh or some school districts feel like um they can't because they would be in the same spot. They just don't get subs for Paris at all. And um there are some students and some positions where we need we just we need somebody there with that with that kid or that group of of students. So, uh, I don't feel like making the decision to just simply say we're not getting we're not getting, uh, a, uh, if the pair is sick or if we don't have, uh, a somebody to fill that position, we're just it's going to leave be empty. And, and I don't I don't believe that is um, a proper solution to this. >> I would agree with that. And you're going to open up a lot more
095problems. >> Absolutely. >> You know, the anomalies that that start presenting themselves, then they become the norm. >> Yeah. >> So, realistically, if I'm viewing this right, you said a couple years ago, we had to do this. We had to raise the sub pay due to the fact that the comp the competing districts. >> Yes. >> So, in essence, the paras are in the same position, right? Yes. Because we can't backfill par position. >> If there's something that's been open for a year and no problem getting subs, obviously there's an issue there. there's a there's a disconnect somewhere. >> Okay. >> And and it's not for all subs. Um this would be for um those subs that because there are some paraprofessional roles in schools where we don't uh get subs for those. So these
096would be only for those subeligible um uh positions. Um, >> these these positions would be the ones that we've determined to be >> most essential to have somebody in their position when they're gone because they work with kids. um like all of our special ed pairs for example um when they're not there the kids aren't receiving their IEP services um in the way that they that is best and most optimal for for them to receive them. Um and so that's what that's one of the reasons we get get a sub for them. So, it's not all of our um pair professional positions. It's just the ones that we deem to be essential um to have somebody in there when they're gone. >> Yeah. Student centric. That's what we're here for. >> Yeah. We have we
097have other parent positions like for example our library positions th those are outside of the high school. I think the rest of them are all non-certified pair professionals. We wouldn't necessarily see that as an essential like if the library is closed down a day that >> sure >> we can plan around that. But for special ed parah who works let's say in a functional skills classroom that relies heavily on somebody being there we've got to have somebody there. So >> but increase we're increasing the pay which I think we should for Paris but we're still gonna we need subs even if we're not there. So, we're going to increase the pay >> increase the we're going to increase the pay for those subeligible essential pair positions >> to try and get people into those spots
098rather than filling them through the sub service. If they're not there, then yeah, we're going to get them a sub. But what's happening now is that we're not filling the position and we're just paying a sub every day to be in the position. >> Well, you said it. We're getting dinged anyway. If I could just simplify this edges, nothing against edges. They're doing their job. Yes. >> But we're we're already getting hit with it already. Yes. So realistically >> it's kind of like a >> you even Stephen >> in Yeah. I mean it by only >> doing essentially >> by only focusing on those subeligible paras and and I hate to say I I I hate to use the word like well they're essential. Um all of our paras are essential. Um but there's there
099are certain positions where if a parah isn't isn't if there is someone who isn't there to work with a student or group of students it will significantly impact the in some cases the entire building >> um because because of the student needs um th that's the that's what we're talking about. Um it would it would only it and that's why we were only looking at about 35 of our paras that would get that big of a a jump. So I've lost something in translation. Who are you proposing to increase? >> So our subeligible para profofessionals. So there's about 35 paras in our corporation, >> right? Okay. >> That deal with um one or a small group of students, >> right? or they are getting uh giving special ed services >> that um we need to
100uh bump up their pay so that um for example when there when that becomes a vacancy uh then nobody wants to take it because they'd rather sub because they get paid more as a sub. >> So you're having people that linger in the sub list. >> Yes. rather than taking >> Yes. >> a full-time position. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> So, why maybe this is too pointed, but why aren't you going to ask us why don't you want to ask us to take an action? um because I didn't ha I didn't have enough time to put it into the work uh work session packet tonight >> and um and I and I didn't want to bring that uh proposal to you um for the board meeting without giving you time to take a look at
101it. So, it's timing, >> right? That's kind of why I was losing like >> Yes. >> This is this has been something that we've been working on for a little while, but in the last month or so has become more of a a focus area for us in terms of trying to figure out a plan because we've had a number of it's a there's a growing list of times where this is happening. you know, a year ago it may have been one position. Now it's five positions or whatever that we can't fill that we're just filling every single day with a sub. >> And when we ask people, they're like, "Well, I don't want to I don't want to do that because I can make more money as a sub." >> So, and and also
102um pair of professionals in area area schools like moving it from 14 to $16 an hour. moving it to $16 an hour is not by any means out of line, right, with other um area districts. >> Yeah, you'll have to convince me. >> I think Tammy said that McDonald's had a >> Burger King had a advertisement for $21 an hour. >> We We can't compete with them. >> Okay. That's very humbling. >> It actually is. >> That's extremely humbling. So, um, we just wanted to I we may bring it as a more form more formal proposal. Um, but I just wanted to bring that up so that you guys could be thinking about that. It will have a financial impact on on on our bottom line and I know that we're trying to um >>
103um be very fiscally responsible. Um, but I think that this would be a uh although it would be a a significant financial impact, it would be one that would be um incredibly beneficial. >> Is it possible to bring it up to get it on the Tuesday board meeting? Are you guys prepared to >> I think we're getting close to being prepared. I'm I'm prepared. I'm always in favor of g of giving somebody a raise. So, Brandon on the other hand is shaking his head. >> I was just gonna say >> um I if if the board would uh like me to I can u bring a proposal for you at the uh the have something prepared for the board meeting and then you can decide what action or non-action you'd like to take at that
104time. I think >> we can put a proposal together and get it out to you so you can take a look at it and then >> if you if you decide to table it or wait, we can absolutely do that. >> Yeah, I'd like to get uh Andy's and Mike's feedback on that also, which I I would imagine probably is different, but I believe it's very important. >> For sure. It's it's about a $65,000 um $65,000 impact and all education fund uh in this particular piece of the proposal. >> So it's to to raise those 30 whatever 33 35 positions. >> Um those are all funded out of education fund. There are other pair of professionals funded out of other sources, but these particular ones are Ed fun. >> And we're not having a problem
105filling any other >> Say that again. >> So, we're not having problems filling the other pairs that >> Oh, we Yeah, we always have problems filling all our positions because they're all >> they're all really underpaid, >> right? these pairs are just ones actually are more needed that >> well and I think Shelley made a good point like all of our pairs are are essential but they're they're probably um most studentf facing and interacting with students the most and so the the problem is compounded with these particular positions because of the sub issue >> um and so we feel like we can address that this may also create other problems S also some of these positions we have a harder time filling over other positions because of the challenging nature of some of the positions.
106Like if you're a pair professional working with um a high needs behavior student that may be less attractive to some people than a different type of position. And so we feel like even because of that that may be um that that may be another reason why there should be some compensation evaluation happening. >> The these are also um positions that are uh 5.75 hours per day or or less >> and so they are not eligible for any benefits. Right. >> But some some of the um cost would be offset by taking some of those 16 thou $16 an hour subs out of the equation. Correct. >> Ideally. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Kim, go ahead. My question was I don't know that people Yeah. So I I mean those are definitely things that we've been talking
107about as I think to to your point that's part of the reason why we haven't necessarily really pushed forward with a an immediate um proposal or recommendation is because there's so many of those like unintended consequence things that that we haven't necessarily come to a clear conclusion on. So Kim, I would speculate, yeah, there I'm sure there's going to be to some extent some of that. I I also think that right now, you know, I I think there ought to be a little bit more differentiation in terms of pay for some of these positions versus others. So I if you're a um again going back to like a functional skills parah and you're working with really high needs kids day in and day out and that takes a really specific skill set you know do
108I think that person maybe should be compensated differently than I don't know I I don't want to offend anybody but >> then somebody who's managing the library for example like >> the the skill set's different and maybe we should compensate one differently. I don't know. Like there's just a lot of >> there's a lot of unknown. >> Okay. Well, >> well, we we current we currently um don't get subs for all paras, right? There there are only certain paras that we get subs for. >> That's I don't think that's the question. I think it's what's going to >> cause a problem when we bump certain people up and not everybody else, right? >> How many bears do we have? 70. >> So this is about half of them. >> Yeah. Let me look. >> But
109I mean Yeah. Some some bars that have different job descriptions that are harder. I agree for your work you're doing. >> Yeah. And I think that's one of the reasons why um why why why subs would prefer to be uh to sub for a para versus subbing for a teacher because you you would you would often think like a a subbing for a teacher it would be much tougher. You're in charge of a classroom. You're um you know you have a lot more responsibilities than um if you were just subbing for a parah. So, I mean like there's different degrees of difficulty. >> Sounds like maybe we ought to wait >> shoot for like a January meeting. You guys can come get >> We we really wanted to just get the conversation out there because
110like to Kurt's point, maybe there's some ideas that we haven't thought about, but we've talked about it with Kim and WCA for months and months and we've talked about it internally at the district level. There's no easy like, hey, just do this and this will solve the problem other than just raise everybody two or three bucks and that would probably work, but we just can't afford to do that. So, >> um, this this would be pushing us as it is to to be able to afford it. And so, it it's just one of these Shelley calls it a polarity. Yeah, >> it's a uh unsolvable problem and it just pushes and pulls from >> other entities, >> right? >> Yep. >> Very good, Dr. >> Let's move on to the superintendent report. >> All right.
111Um Shel's going to pull back up my my thing here. So, one of the things that we've been talking uh about for a couple of months here is some kind of um advisory council, advisory board um with u community members to have some uh input and feedback um possibilities into uh a council that could use that and help improve um help improve governance, help improve um the the way that you govern as a board, the way that we administer as administrators, etc. Uh so I've been working on this for um a month or so now in terms of you know it kind of developed as an idea probably through a work session perhaps um and I just wanted to get something out there for you all to chew on and think about um but to
112take a look at it. Why are we exploring this? Um, recent community concerns, um, community members have expressed a desire for more structured input opportunities. Uh, a desire for more structured input in terms of channels, uh, of clear channels for communication um to get uh, information to the board and administration and then continuing to build um, trust and transparency communication. Um so the purpose of this advisory board would build would really be for um the community to have a kind of formal pathway uh to um to present u feedback and um and express concerns. Um the advisory board would give this structure. Um, you know, one of the things as I've thought about this a lot over the last few months, it's hard for somebody to come and give proper honest, wellthoughtout feedback to the
113board or to administration in a threeminute um, uh, public input >> uh, a public comment period. And so really like how can that happen? and and you all have had so many individual meetings with either small groups or individuals. Um and and certainly uh I have had the same and um giving a formalized process by which some of those conversations could take place I think would be uh helpful. So um this would be along with the superintendent of the board um and allow us to make better informed decisions. So what the group is uh it would have community representatives uh that could voice uh that could be voices from across the district. Uh these folks would be um thought partners in uh in helping us with collaborative problem solving and ideiation. Uh it would give
114a clear feedback channel for the district. Uh and it would be a shared space for issues, ideas and solutions. um constructive dialogue to happen, community engagement, that kind of thing. Um you know, all of the we've done a lot of community engagement over the last year to 18 months really, but none of the none of those channels necessarily serve this purpose. So like even thinking about the community alliance for example, that's a place that people can ask questions and really um they've been really great conversations, but there's so much stuff that we want to present as part of that program that it doesn't really uh give the opportunity for like this really collaborative back and forth conversation. You know, have you thought about this? We think if you did this, you know, that would be
115helpful. Blah blah blah. That kind of thing. um that really can't exist even in that um type of environment. So um this would allow for something like that. What the group is not um so I think it's important to point this out as well. So the group is not they're not board members. Uh they serve an advisory role. They're not participating in governance. They're not the decision makers but they're providing input and and helping to inform the decisions and the decision makers. uh they're not a policymaking body. Um they don't have any authority to create or change policy, but certainly they can u bring that up for uh input and and uh conversation. And they're not involved in personnel or negotiations. So I think that's a pretty clear um distinction that we need to make
116up front. Uh that would be my recommendation is that this group was not going to talk about personnel um or or specific negotiations on contracts and and different things like that but uh rather focus on community facing issues and feedback. So, proposed membership, one to two members from each community, uh, Syracuse, Milford, North Webster, um, representation, one to two board members. Obviously, we can't have more than two, um, because that would constitute a board meeting at that point, um, and then, uh, the superintendent as well, um, for the district leadership, um, participation. So, um, you know, there's we have to figure out what that looks like and how we would get to to the people involved. Um, in thinking about how often this group would meet, um, I would say at the max it should
117meet once a month. Um, but I think it could even, um, extend that out to maybe once a quarter. Um, I think that's certainly open for some discussion about about um how often it would meet and maybe that doesn't have to be so rigid, but it it maybe at different times it takes a more uh frequent approach versus at at other times it they don't meet as much. So that could be very dependent upon uh need. Um how this would help this would hopefully reduce your individual board meeting individual meetings as board members. I should say not individual board meetings but um uh also centralized feedback um and giving one forum for input directly to the board uh and to district administration leadership uh builds shared understanding um and then hopefully supporting better decision- making
118uh by having informed community insights. So, um, discussions and questions for the board. Um, looking at the membership structure, how many representatives per community, I don't know that you want this to be a 50 person group. Um, I think that that loses some intentionality there. Um, but maybe you want more than one or two. Um, so what's where's the right uh spot on that? Um, how do these people get selected? Is there an application process, a nomination process? Do you appoint people as the board? Each of you serve an individual community. Um, and you have people from your community that go to you as the board representative, you know, what does that look like? How do how do we get people on this? Um, the meeting frequency as I talked about and then what's the
119timeline for getting this thing um up and going and um, you know, Does there need to be further development with this? Do we need to get some input from community in in other ways before we officially launch something? So, those are some discussion items that I wanted to put out there in front of you. Uh, and then ending with this, better communication leads to better decisions, better relationships, and ultimately a stronger Wallace. So, I'd be happy to answer any questions or um open it up to our group that's out here as well on some feedback. I know that I've had some conversations with some different folks about trying to put this together and um I think it could be a cool next step for us. So, >> yeah, I like the collaborative piece. I was
120sitting there when I was reading through all that um instantly I was thinking okay obviously Neil is representing North Webster um Andy's representing Syracuse I represent Milford and then we have two at large that could be the one and two board members and I'm just going through the questions. It also made me think where we could segment that and I'm not saying we do this but I'm just saying this is something that we look at what Mr. Hersy said. So what it made me think of like how does that like not in this in this format but just a point of maybe we have like the building committee building advisor because you know that would you know not say Mr. heresies on it, but maybe that would be a that's a nice collaborative of a
121different uh segment, but you're really building those streams of communication between everyone. It's almost everyone has buy and by doing so that's inclusion is always going to be uh accepted. So I do um I want to thank you for that. That is a uh that's a great way of collaborating with uh the districts and getting what I call uh true feedback for us to actually hear and go for. So that's a that's a great outer. >> Very good. Yeah, I think that's a really good idea and actually that's kind of been what has happened in in to some extent the last few months that there's been certain people that have been identified as like somebody that is willing to come and talk and bring issues. Um, and so I think that's a good model, I
122guess, is my point, because these people aren't going to be connected to the school in a formal way that the way that an employee would or a board member would. And so I think that helps kind of disassociate that um some of those per perceived fears or what have you. Um, yeah, to short answer, yes, I think it's a good idea for those people to be known. Sure. >> Yeah, I think that's a good idea. >> I mean, we're in in one aspect, really want to stretch it. Mr. Booger did that as you guys were walking through the pool. >> Yeah. in a way he's giving his suggestions what he's seeing. >> Yeah. >> Uh from our, you know, from our viewpoint like, "Oh, I didn't notice that or that's something I've just completely overlooked."
123So, >> yeah. And I wanted to um follow follow that up. I think, you know, Mr. Bout, you bring up a good point about potentially having some like subcommittees or whatever. I had a conversation um with Alan Tion the other day with Andy um Kite and we had a really good um talk about some cool things that that he had ideas on and one of his ideas which I think is great um was to he kind of identified what what he feels like are like four major areas um that he feels have become themes over the last six months and um they were communication and culture um declining enrollment um financial awareness and and knowledge and then um he called it technical training a technical training void. Um but he felt like there we ought
124to form a kind of overseeing committee that then puts a subcommittee in charge of each of those four areas. And it may be those four, it may be a different four, but um it almost brings us back like full circle to our strategic plan conversation and trying to identify what are the I'll use the overused word in strategic planning, all strategic planning, what are our pillars or what are our big rocks and do we have people that are working on those and talking about those and giving feedback and input on those things. Um, and so I could see something along those lines as well maybe coming out of this. Um, maybe a little bit different um, goals and overall mission, but maybe you could blend those two together. I don't know. I I I think
125there's uh, opportunity to explore here and develop it how we want it. uh looking at it from I don't know if it's a different perspective whatever looking at it from a participants um perspective the one or two people from each community that are going to step forward willing to however many one or two that you listed or or more than that we can't have 50 but those people are going to uh if they want to be on that they're going going to have to really embrace that role of being a liaison to the to the community that they represent. >> Otherwise, it's going to be basically only that person's voice that comes to that meeting, not really representing the voice. So, I think there's I I think we need to think about it before we
126just plunge into it and really wrap our arms around what we want it to look like. Um, >> well, the other thing >> it's it's it's a good thing, but I think we really need to to have a plan when we go into it. The other thing that I think also that I've I don't want to say struggled with but like thought about kind of multiple different ways is to some extent that's your role as a board member is to represent your community and so how to how is this different than than what your role should be or is um >> I guess >> I don't I and that isn't to diminish >> I think the idea >> the importance of the conversations happening so I would The idea would be to make the board
127more accessible by having this other group. Yeah. That they would bring concerns or ideas from the community to the board. Yeah. >> In a less formal way than in a board meeting. >> I like the idea of of ideas >> rather than just concerns because I think concerns that just frames it as okay, this is going to be a complaint, >> right, >> group, you know, to deal with complaints. But through these conversations over the last few months, there have been legitimate things that have been like, "Oh, that's a great idea. We never thought about that." And it it wasn't necessarily brought to us even as a concern, but like, "Hey, >> you know, you guys could solve this particular frustration if you just did this on the website." Oh, okay. That was an easy
128thing that we didn't we never thought about that, >> right? So, I think those kinds of things are like the where I I see the most value coming from. Like, have you guys considered this? Have you thought about this? Whatever. >> It's a different perspective. >> Yeah. >> On something. You know, I I'm when I'm thinking this um u my salespeople are are in the US, domestic 48 in Canada. Okay. I have to look at things from a 10,000 foot view, right? But those men and women are like in the trenches. They're in Long Island. They're in Utah, whatever it is. So, they're telling me feedback. They're getting the feedback because they're in there because I can't be in Utah. I can't be in Long Island. So, when I think of that, that's how I
129look at that type of that type of dynamic. >> Yeah. >> And and to your point, you're you're absolutely right. There has to be criteria, and you're right. There has to be an open it it can't just be a complaint session which to be fair I have not >> well I wasn't viewing it as that but but yeah >> but you follow where I'm going my train of thought where >> to your point we've had in the last work two work sessions we had great suggestions >> it wasn't combative right >> it was we didn't see that and then all it was like what you know yeah that's an easy fix we changed that I mean look look what the website is now to where it was three months ago. And that was from just
130listening to constituents to say, "Hey, listen. We could have done this better or you guys could look at this." That was it. So, I do like the idea. >> I like this idea. >> I really prefer it. >> And I think to to some extent using that as an example, somebody wanting to come and give a suggestion about how you can improve or how you can rethink about something, it's tough to do that in a three minute. >> Yes. in in a threem minute public comment. Nor really is that the purpose of the public comment like hey you guys should do this and I don't know like there's a better way to bring that so that there can be a dialogue and a and a conversation about about it and I think this could be
131a venue for that to happen in a very productive and positive way. >> So I guess that's what I'd say. I think it just needs to be fleshed out more to figure out like so if this person is these one or two people are they gonna I mean I'm just bouncing stuff off too like are they going to have like a meeting at the school once a month or like quarterly because once a month is a lot >> I would think um but they've got to get feedback from their community as well to be efficient when they come to meet in this advisory council type of thing. So, um, and maybe I don't know. It's >> no, there's there's definitely some things to be flushed out. I I kind of look at it um a
132little bit to some extent like our community engagement group that we put together a few years ago >> to really provide input and and you know help help the board form a strategic direction >> based upon feedback and input from community members. Um, so yeah, I I think we've done this to some extent in different venues, but this would formalize a process to allow that to be ongoing and >> continue. But we also don't want to procrastinate either or it'll not get done. >> Correct. >> Yeah. So, I'd be open for input. Um, if if board members have input or um community or other stakeholders have a direction they'd like to see something like that go, then yeah, >> let me know, please. >> Sure. around July. >> Thanks. Okay. um additional action items. >>
133Yeah. So, I just want to run through a couple things really quick. Um we're kind of running down to the end of it. Let me get my list here. Um so, first and foremost, we will the let me say this. Trying to put together a work session agenda when we have a holiday week and we're trying to speculate on on a Monday and Tuesday what's going to happen. that's been a little bit challenging this week. So, uh there were a few more things other than just the the one item that I had on the agenda, but um we are planning to bring um uh a what is it, Brandon? Like a um resolution to deem equipment unusable, the gymnastics equipment. Yeah. Is that a resolution though? So, we've got some people that are, long story
134short, we've got some people that are interested in in buying the equipment, the gymnastics equipment. We need to have the board deem it um obsolete for our purposes and then we can sell it either auction or >> direct sale to uh another school or entity. Um and so we'll have that resolution for you uh to consider next Tuesday at the board meeting. But wanted to give you a heads up on that. >> Is there a liability with that? I mean, you have that equipment inspected or is there like you sign this and this is yours no matter what happens >> sold as is. Is that is that how that works? >> Um, a decent amount of that equipment is, you know, reaching the end of its usable life anyway. Um, and >> yeah, anyway, >>
135so any other questions I can answer on that? We've had you do this before with other things, but just bringing it >> to your attention ahead of time now. >> So, that made me think and also with Mr. Casey's presentation, this is probably dumb. I don't know, but talking about people wanting bricks. I know it's not Assembly Hall Court or Macki Arena Court, but would there be a way to cut out sections of the gym floor to >> That's not a question for Mr. Casey. >> Auction or give away or raffle or you taking it all for your dining room floor? >> I would like to defer that to people that are not. So, I am not gonna make that decision. >> I think he's gonna put it in Mr. Lyens barn. >> Yeah, >>
136I'm joking. I knew you. I know you. >> People have asked about that. Like I'm trying to run a school and then and then also have a new building being built and I make this very clear like those questions. I want to encourage Dr. as the board because people can take whatever they want to whatever extent like people have asked about buying desks. I know that have sent desks over to our building. I think it would be really smart to get those out of the building before they demolish the building. I mean, I know we're kind of like you have extra space, >> right? >> But there are a lot of questions that I don't have to >> we'll have to we'll have to put together a formal process by which we'll do that kind
137of >> stuff as we have refrigerators that we don't instead of just tearing down, >> but I'll let you guys. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> No, there was an auction. There was a Syracuse elementary auction with old stuff. >> I'm sure we'll do an auction for equipment that we're not going to reuse in the district. >> Yeah, I'm sure we'll do an auction for the >> for any of the equipment and the stuff that we're not going to reuse. We are planning to reuse a fair amount of stuff um that's in that in that building because that if you recall the building did get a facelift here not too long ago. Um and so there's there's things that that people have already expressed interest in having and so we'll we'll put together a process
138for what that looks like. But um Mr. Bokart maybe not uh offering sections of gym floor for sale uh I said it might be I said it might be a dumb idea. >> It sounds like a >> you can bring your saw in there also. >> It sounds difficult. >> You know the reason I think of this also is my wife's a big cabin ma main cabin master fan and the one college in Maine whatever the college opened it up and then the cabin masters came in and cut out sections of the floor and put it in one of the cabins they were renovating. All right. >> Can I move on now? >> All right. Any other items? >> Yes. >> I Oh, you weren't done yet. >> I No, I've got three more things.
139>> Okay. Um, >> yeah. First off, an easy one. Um, we did offer a uh a formal formal offer to a transportation director here earlier today. Um and uh that person did accept the offer pending board approval next Tuesday. Um so our uh that will be coming your direction. Um and looking forward to to that person starting on December the 15th. So two weeks from today, right? >> So looking forward to that. >> Um also um in talking with Dr. Penrod and trying to figure out how we can um take a look at non-certified raises. Um we are going to um be recommending to you a 50 cent per hour raise to our nonerts. Um that would go uh 25 cents beyond the um the annual longevity >> longevity raise >> raise that they typically
140get. Um, and so we we're going to do that. I do think that that's going to push us a little bit. Um, especially on the operations side of things. Um, and I say on the operations side, we're in we've got a a healthy cash balance on the operations side. So, we've got some time if um the Senate rolled act one impact is more significant than what we are expect or even as significant as what we expect. We've got a little time to make an adjustment there, but um hopefully that impact will come down a little bit uh or not be as significant. But I do think if if things go the direction that that we anticipate with the way that the SEA1 is currently structured, it's going to push it's going to push us. But
141we feel like, you know, back to our conversation about our pair of professionals, we have to stay competitive. And so, um, you know, in talking with Brandon about that and, you know, I I basically expressed that I don't know that we have another choice other than to do 50 cents and we really need to do more, but I don't think we can afford to do that right now. So, >> uh, we'll be bringing that for consideration next Tuesday. Um and then the final thing I think um one of the things that has been expressed um it came up actually even in the um alliance meeting last month uh was hey what's going on with communication position um as I've been processing that um you know both individually with uh individual board members or through different
142conversations with other stakeholders. Um, one of the things that I think I feel like we need is an audit of some sort. And what does that look like? Um, I I think we're figuring that out. And so I had a conversation with Jeff Dyson um earlier within the last month. uh we sat down and had lunch about um him potentially conducting an audit for us and by an audit, you know, what does that mean? Like what are the needs and how can a position um begin to fill those needs uh from a communication and marketing perspective? Um I think Jeff is definitely interested in doing an audit for us. he's um in he's worked in that space um for his career and uh and would be interested in taking a look at at helping us
143out there. So, I think he had I I can't remember who he said he already met with, but one of you individually. >> What's up? >> And then he's got a couple other meetings, both of you, I think, scheduled this week and and um wants to touch base with the board members about what they're looking for. Um, so he's I think re reaching out to you and and talking to you, but I do think it'd be worth taking a look at. Yep. >> Um, and he's gonna after talking with you guys u put together what he feels like uh would be a good structure for a proposal and we can take a look at it uh after the first of the year and figure out what that looks like. So >> those are the three
144things that I wanted to update you on in addition. So, I don't have anything else. >> Okay. Anybody else have any other items? No. Okay. Um, patron comments on agenda items only. Last thing of the evening. Okay. I don't think I >> we don't adjourn. No, because there's no meeting. I mean, it's a meeting, but >> thanks everyone. >> Yeah. Yeah. You >> stay safe going home. It might be getting slippery.