CSPS Board of Education Meeting 10.27.25

001Good evening. We'll call the October 27th Cedar Springs public school board meeting to order. It is now 6:15. And if you would rise with me for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> You have a roll call, please. Secretary. >> Yes. Trusty Bowser here. Trusty Patton here. Trusty L >> here. Treasurer Gilmore >> here. >> Secretary Slater here. Vice President Schoffner >> here. >> President Ree here. Thank you. And we've established a thorum for this evening's meeting. That brings us to the adoption of the agenda and I would entertain a motion for as presented. >> I'd like to make a motion to add it to the

002agenda. PO 5610 emergency removal and PO012-3 terms as was discussed in last meeting. >> What was the first one? >> First one was PO 5610 the emergency removal about adding >> or expulsions. >> I'll add that for discussion. >> Correct. the second read of I believe amended the first year. >> We have a motion to the agenda. >> We got a second. >> So I will call vote. Vice President Scher. >> No. >> Secretary Sider. >> Yes. >> Gilmore. >> Yes. >> L. >> Yes. >> Trusty Ton. >> Yes. Trusty Bowser. >> Yes. President Rey, no. I believe motion carries. Add them all up. >> All right. So, we'll add those discussion items on for discussion item E and F. Okay. All right. So that brings us to gratitudes and I will open up the

003table and I'm going to jump in there with my finals Wednesday and athletes that were going there but feel grateful. >> Yes, lots of exciting sports things to all this. I also gratitude shout out to middle school cross country. We had our girls and boys middle schools um as regional champs, high school, cross country. >> Yep. Uh the boys >> I'm grateful for the successful uh season of parent teacher conferences in each of the buildings. Uh and also um starting to do some fall engagement nights. So Cedar Dean's fall engagement night is tomorrow night. Uh and teachers have done an outstanding job putting together a collection of uh math and reading activities for families to come and enjoy. Um and then um also excited the fall play is right around the corner. So there's a

004lot of new things happening that will be here at the high school >> and we might hear some fall days in the hall. Yeah, they're fragile. They need an item. >> Okay. All right. That brings us to our consent items. Normal business. And then we entertain a motion for as presented. >> Support. Vice President Shner. >> Yes. >> Dr. Slider. >> Yes. >> S Gilmore. >> Yes. >> Trusty L. >> Yes. >> Trust Ken. >> Yes. >> Trusty Bowser. >> Yes. >> President Reed. Yes. Motion carries. And that brings us to the work session of our meeting tonight and we have the beginning of the year data review. >> Okay. So, presenting uh information to you this evening uh and uh answering questions that may come from the board table uh is Kristen Elate. And

005Kristen really works and serves as the district's overall continuous improvement coordinator uh and does an outstanding job being a support member of the academic services team. Uh Ron Barrett Hall is also here to support questions in regard to uh the secondary academic points or academic data points. Dan Scoville is sick tonight so he was not able to be here but I'm confident that Kristen has the ability to answer those questions that come to the table uh from the table regarding our own data logged out if you don't mind. Um, and Kristen's slide deck is linked in to board book uh as well as an updated version of our comprehensive needs assessment that you first saw back in June. Um, the update was that she put in the additional data points that have come to us

006uh since you first reviewed that document back in June. >> All right, I'll just um get started. The data is going to look a little different. Um, I'm presenting it in a different form, I guess, than what you maybe have previously seen, and I'll kind of explain the why behind that as I go, but if you guys have questions, just feel free to stop me and and ask. Um, I might move through some rather quickly, but um, it might be a lot for you to process in the city, so you obviously you have the slide deck of that information. So, if you want to go back and look, I'm going to have further questions later, you're welcome to reach out. Um, all right. So I just appreciate this quote and it's one that I start

007all of our data meetings with because um sometimes when we talk about data it feels really people feel vulnerable but it's we have to just recognize our growth edges in order for help us to move forward um and be better. So that's kind of the motto we've been rolling with this year as we work with our teams in every building is that we have a lot of celebrations in our district and when we talk about data some we have to look at both those celebrations and those growth edges in order for us to even get better than where we're at right now. So um our overall goal um moving into this school year is increasing academic achievement through the whole child support. So we have had a lot of focus on a lot of behavior

008goals um uh social emotional learning and student mental health in order to enable students to feel um excited about coming to school to feel welcome to feel safe and all of those are very important. We also want to acknowledge that the purpose of school is to increase that academic achievement because the ultimate goal of school is for graduation and that requires academic achievement in order to get those credits for them to be successful and leave us and be um productive members of our world. Um and so this presentation in particular is going to focus on the academic sense versus some of those behavioral pieces. And as the year goes on, we'll collect more of that behavior data as the year goes on to be able to give you updates on how we're moving through that

009part um later on this school year. Um I Ready is one data point that you guys are familiar with. We've presented before. Um our K8 students take it three times a year. It's a benchmark assessment and that um assesses all standards in both reading and math. And that includes early reading skills, comprehension, vocabulary, a lot of different pieces of the reading world, as well as all the pieces of the math world like algebra, geometry, and the different domains that go with each of those. It's standardsbased, meaning that it's aligned directly to our standards that we're expected to be teaching. And it's criterion referenced. That means that the scores that it produces are directly tied to their achievement within those standards. There are other benchmark assessments that are norm referenced and those scores are more derived

010by how stu compared to other peers. This is not compared to others um other peers or other students here or elsewhere. It's compared to the standards we are expecting them to be mastering when they leave us. Um, I'm going to talk about scale scores versus proficiency. In the past, we've presented a lot of um, reports to you. Speaking of proficiency, we want to gauge students proficiency. But that can mean different things to different people. If I stood in front of you and said, um, talked about my age, but I didn't tell you my age, and I said, I've lived 50% of my life. You guys might be able to all guess my age, but it might be different based on your frame of reference, right? And so when we talk some of the proficiency reports

011is similar to that. You might think that students are or aren't proficient when we're looking at some of the reports in I Ready um because of the language that's used. But when we look at the scale scores which be be my age um specifically that number the scale scores is a specific number and it's real and then we don't have to generalize and make assumptions about what that means. So, I'm going to shift our focus and think more about the scale scores so that we can have more raw and real data to use so that we can all make meaning together and it then it doesn't change based on what time of year we're we're looking at. So, um as an example, this is a report on proficiency in Ire. So, this was end of

012school year last year for beach. This is just an example of of what I just explained to you. Um, so that green with the lines is what we would be aiming for for proficiency. In the world of teaching and a lot of places, green means go. And a lot of times we would add the 38 and the 29 and say they're all green. They're all proficient. But if you look that solid green is early on grade level. So they're on grade level but if they're early on at the end of the year they're early fourth grade at the end of fourth grade that they're not actually proficient. So some of the again some of the information we've been sharing in different ways has led us to believe different things. Now the same group of students

013the beginning of the year this year this is their graph. And then you think, hm, did they really lose from 38% down to 10% over the summer? Is that summer slide that big? How did from the end of the year it go from this to this? They didn't lose that much. The reason is because I Ready is criterion referenced. And once a fourth grader becomes a fifth grader or third grader becomes a fourth grader, now they're assessed on fourth grade standards in fourth grade. If they test at the end of third grade level, that's considered a year behind, but they might not actually be that far behind. So again, just an visual demonstration of why I'm not going to use these pictures and graphs and go to the scale scores to create meaning that's helpful

014for all of us. Um, and it'll stay consistent no matter what time of year we're talking about the data, if that makes sense. Is there any questions about that so far? All right. So, this is a chart with a lot of numbers. I'm not going to spend a ton of time digging. I I'm going to show you this in relation to where our students are. Um, but this is an example of those ranges of the scale scores actually that are expected at each grade level. So now when I show you the numbers, you can have a frame of reference of where those numbers are falling for each of our grade levels at different points in the year. Um, so here's an overview. If you look at the history, and this is all beginning of the

015school year of what students in each grade level achieved at the beginning of the school year, every year since the 22 23 school year, we see there's a few years that you can see a little incline. Now, when we're talking scale scores, a few points does make a difference. So, if we were seeing a gradual incline, but it was only three points a year, that'd be positive. Um, overall though, our data is relatively flat for the beginning of the year and so we're hoping to make some changes and I'll explain some of those things and through the lens of continuous improvement that we're working on to try to change this to make more of an inclined graph. But as you look at it, our beginning of the year scores, this is the average score um

016for students in reading um at the beginning of the year every year since then. Similarly, um, oh, not similarly. So, here it is mapped out. So, I put the the actual numbers onto the scale score graph and I put them in the boxes that, um, encompass it. When you look at that yellow bar, that's considered one grade level behind. So, the scale scores that are popping up for our students at the beginning of the year are showing average. Now, average would be the middle. half of those kids are achieving right into that at grade level area, but half of them are not. So that's why the average is showing there in the yellow. Um we we are hoping that our average could pop up back to that green area. So we have some work to

017do. Um I just put at the top corner that typical growth points. As you can see in kindergarten and first grade, the younger grades have a potential of gaining a lot of points in a school year. Um there you know think back to when you're you have children your children were babies and they could from zero to one they went from you know infant to now walking right the trajectory for young children for learning is is huge and as they get older not that they can't learn just learning looks different and so this way that score shows up in um where their skills show up in scores just slows and so um we want to hit those early grade levels really hard because that's where we would have the best um the best chance of

018shifting things for the trajectory going on past those early years. Um because kids in kindergarten could perhaps make 50 points growth in a typical year as calculated by I Ready what typical kids would grow. Um so that's our for reading. Is there any questions so far? And then this is the math graph. And as you can see, like kindergarten down here, kindergarten had three years. That was actually an incline. And I know it doesn't look like much, but again, when we're in increasing a few points every year, that's positive. But those are kids coming into us, right? So we don't have a lot of control over how they come into us unless we're, you know, helping them with preschool prior to them coming to us. So um because this is the beginning of the year

019data points. So there is a slight increase in kindergarten. A lot of the other data points are relatively flat. And again, it we're not doing bad things. This is our real data. We want to again help enable our students to not just maintain but close that gap. And so that our beginning of the year averages should be slowly ticking up over time. It'll take time to do that year after year, but we can do that. So we've been talking a lot about that um in our team meetings about those strategies our teams can use to um make those increases. And then so similarly I mapped out where those math scores fall with those scaled scores. Those are the again the averages. And as you can see when you get down to eighth grade they have

020even a bigger a bigger gain because they're right 492 is right at the end of that two years behind level. Um, so we want again to push all of those beginning of the year scores up because if students are starting at grade level or more students are starting at grade level, they have more of a chance to maintain it. Historically, we're good at maintaining where kids already achieve. It's harder for us to close that gap. And we're do we have a lot of great things in place and I'll I'll talk through some of the extra things or more things we're doing this year to try to conquer that. Um, but again, it starts really early, right? because again those early grades have the biggest potential to make those gains and so that then down the

021road they can work on maintaining instead of closing the gaps. There any questions about that? >> I just have a question. >> Sure. And do you think that we've now gotten through the cope from co like because the kids were very behind? Yeah. After co do you are you seeing now that we've kind of gotten over that hump? Um I I I mean I think that co impacted students and families in a variety of ways. So I think there's probably all always going to be some dominoes out there, but in terms of learning our kindergarteners, let's see, my son was in kindergarten when that happened and he's now a sixth grader. I think that's right. So, um I I mean, so if you look at those sixth graders when they were in kindergarten, they've had

022um well, if you look at fifth graders, fifth grade and down then would have had a more normal K through five careerish. Maybe their kindergarten year was a little wonky, right? That year after was a little bit goofy for a lot of families and schools. Um, so but as you can see like we're not really seeing, you know, it it's very consistent, right? It's not like even fifth grade to sixth grade and seventh grade and some of those kids who were impacted and the ones that again not saying CO didn't impact those students in a different way who weren't in school yet, it did. Um, but again, judging by how consistent our scores are, it just feels like we are more in the groove of this is where we're at and this is how we're

023achieving. I mean, that's my opinion. >> Yeah. And COVID really is one of the things that studies have repeatedly shown is that it's it's affected different groups of the population differently. So, um, and and typically that's aligned with the socioeconomic demand of the family. So um students that were um predicted to be successful precoid uh or who were on a trajectory that was a success you know oriented trajectory um bounced back more quickly had less negative impacts um on their um it's not just their learning but it's it's a lifestyle. It's um you know um it's it's it's a lifestyle, it's screen time, it's a combination of factors that are impacting the development of children more significantly than any other collection of factors uh in time in reported history. So it's it's co but it's

024also screen time. It's also um social media. There there's so many different things at play um that to to to pin our where we are from an academic perspective on on one factor is would be to deny a lot of other things that are impacting. >> Okay. >> Thank you for the question. So, um, I I also mapped out summer slide for you just because I know again with based on that first graph, you might think, "Oh my goodness, we have a huge summer slide." That's again the eye ready and how it's judging kids based on the criteria for the current grade level. So, when you actually look at and I I put the reason that blue dot is down at the bottom because the kindergarteners were not here last year. So I the um

025first dot that would be first grade those are the students were end of year kindergarten and now where they were here um at beginning of year first grade. So those are the same students to show that summer slide which again there's a couple that uh grade levels that are slightly tipped down but overall it's pretty pretty stagnant. Our summer slide is pretty flat. Um which is good. That's a good thing. Um, so our students may lose a little bit but not a ton. So that's not a huge thing for us to focus on to overcome per se. Um, because we we have to work on what we can do while they're here at school. So summer is a very small factor. Do you have a question? >> Yeah. So why will we even do the

026beginning of year testing? Like if we know that we're not preparing new things in year five to come into a fifth grade with fifth grade knowledge, why do >> Yeah. Well, a lot of the beginning of the year testing informs that next year because so like I said like in fifth grade they're assessing fifth grade standards and that does help a fifth grade teacher then dig into to know within their standards what they need to do to intervene. So the meetings that we have on a regular basis throughout the year we go back and we do analyze that from the perspective of what are my standards right now. >> Right. like where where we meet the gap and get them up to exact that makes sense. Yeah, thank you. >> Yep. >> Another question. Um

027>> this data might not be on there but for the summer slide kids read now program that we switched. Did you see an impact in switching for that or that not quite >> um I didn't I didn't map out prior year's summer slide and I could I could do that just forformational purposes to see if it's significantly different. Um I mean I would guess we had decent amount of participation. Not every kid read every book but uh or logged every book I should say um within the program but um that was a positive experience for a lot of our families and that could have potentially impacted ELA scores. Um but I didn't map out prior summers to compare. >> Um and then here's the math again. math. There's um that second grade took a pretty

028pretty big dip. A few took more of a dip than others, but um so those teachers again the beginning of the year they'll be able to see where that dip took place to be able to fill in those gaps as they go move through the school year. Um there is a little summer slide for some of those grade levels, but not huge. Is there any questions about the math? Um, no, you're okay. How >> they compare with before I think when we were doing the bars, we sometimes talk about um can't tell here. We talk about how we stack up versus our beers kind of in the same geographic area and then maybe the state. >> Sure. >> Did they convert to the same kind of still do some benchmarking? >> Yeah. Not all of

029our districts in Kent County and across the state use I Ready. So, we don't usually use those comparisons for the I Ready assessment, but we when we bring those out, that is through the lens of the MSTEP or the PSAT and SAT, and those are the tests that everybody countywide uses. Um, I do have the our data. I do not did not put the comparative data in here, but it is something that I could get to you um for other um districts in the county for both of those. Yep. Um I there's a place marker here for the high school benchmark. So last year um you guys help voted on to helps we use grant funds. You guys voted to get for the um high school and the high school has been um really using

030that and harnessing its potential and the high school actually now has the ability to do an Ire like assessment through. So, the ELA and math teachers this fall um tried it out. Not all of their students were assessed. That's why I don't have a graph on here. About 50% participated. Part of that is them working out some kinks about when it's appropriate, which classes it's appropriate to do the testing in, whether sore time could be used, that new time that they have built into their schedule. Um, and so some of those kinks we're working out, but we're hoping that as this year goes, we will be able to build the high school's portfolio more similarly to the LK8 world so that we can have more frequent data points for us to um, show that growth

031over time with also our high school students. We just haven't had that data point in the past. Um, we've had the PSAT and I again I have that it's in the um, comprehensive needs assessment and I also have it on a slide. Um, but that only is again assessed in the spring and then you know it's now this school year and they took it last year. So it just isn't it's not quite as helpful with the actionable things that we could do throughout the school year to monitor how we're doing with the things we put in place. So I just wanted to make you aware that that's something we're dabbling with implementing. It's just not fully implemented yet. Um, so again you guys have the copy of the comprehensive needs assessment. I updated it does

032say 2425 because again it's all those data points the MSTEP and the PSAT that didn't come out till right now. So that's I updated it with that. Um there are still a few data points absences and graduation rates that are still hanging out there because the my school data site has not published that information yet. When that gets published that'll be also inserted in there. And then I'll start another column to start gathering this year's data that we can have that as a record for all of you to stay updated. Is there any questions about that? Um, so this is again this snapshot straight from the comprehensive needs assessment. So this exact format is is in the full document, but just so you could see it here today. This is the English language arts for

033third grade through 11th grade. This would be the data point that could be compared countywide. I didn't bring that comparison today, but um I could bring it at a future meeting if that's of interest. Um, so there's the um how we fell on ELA. And again, as you look, you can see that there's some grade levels that made some jumps and some not as much. It it's interesting to see that continuum across the board. There's not necessarily um I think that eighth grade is the most consistent, you know, in moving up and maintaining it a little bit. Um but most grade levels are kind of up and down >> and the state of it was embargoed when we were here in the >> fall. Yeah. If you look diagonally you can kind of see that

034the trajectory of the same class. So like this these third graders are were in this grade level then this grade level then this grade level. So, it's also interesting to do the diagonal look as well as the across. And then here's the math math. We have quite a few more increases, which is really exciting. And then science social studies got some good good growth in social studies from last year to this year or even from historical. So that's really exciting to see. I know that our um our CKLA curriculum that we've been using is a lot um has a lot more science and social studies content built in and that could be a reason why which would be super positive. um could be a why. Um I I enjoy this quote by Henry Ford because

035sometimes we can lose the forest through the trees or sometimes the best idea is just one that hasn't been thought of yet. We want to make what we're doing bigger and better and sometimes we just have to like cash it in and start with a new innovative idea. So, we've been stretching some limits this year in terms of some of our data dialogues to think about data a little bit differently. And some of that has to do with looking at that comprehensive needs assessment that I shared with all of you so that teachers can then have access to more data points to say, oh, we've been trying to teach this better in our classrooms, but really we have an attendance issue and that could be the reason that's impacting reading. That's not necessarily an accurate

036statement. I just was using that as an example. Um but there could be um other dominoes found as we look at all the data together rather than just in isolation. So we're attemp trying to do that this year and have um different types of conversations that not only zero in on what a teacher is teaching but also some of the systems we have as a district um that are supporting students in the right ways. Um so again at the beginning of the year I shared with you on our my kip our mykit plan now is focused more on that systems level work and the goal this year was to build alignment. So we took what was built into the s the systems level goals from our um our my kit plan what we put in

037for the state of Michigan and we tked our buildings and then from the building level down to the PLC level to connect those goals. Um, prior to this year, there was there was a lot of really good things happening, but there was a lot of goals. The building might have identified different goals than the district, and the PLC's might have identified a different goal from that. And so, different people were choosing which goal they were focusing on because we all can't focus on all the things when there's a buffet of 10 things in front of us. So, so we can all kind of work together through the lens and know truly what we're targeting and what we're working on together. um we can better evaluate whether it's working. So that alignment is huge for us

038this year. So that's kind of that um lens of continuous improvement, what we're doing about the data. We're trying to create that alignment so that we're hyperfocused and targeted making those connections so that every classroom is working on the same types of things um through that to that end goal. Um and all the layers then are also collaborating and talking to make sure that we're progressing. So that's new and I hopefully will see that making a difference this year. So again, this is the Cedar Trails Connection. This is beach. There's a lot of words here. I'm not going to read it to you. You guys do have access to it. Um but you can kind of see how they're um thinking. It's a the building level goals relate to the systems, but they become a

039little more specific. And then again the PLC's like a third grade student at be or third grade teacher at beach now takes this and says what does that look like in third grade versus second grade and and gets a little more specific. So again they're targeting the same goal um within their classrooms. Then Cedar View Middle School high school. I will say at every building there's some really exciting things happening through this lens. Um they're they're really you can see it like middle school because they didn't have that hawk time before they're really thinking about in their buildings and PLC's what what are we doing every PLC about this? So they're making a point to every single meeting that we provide for them. this Thursday they'll have PLC time and they're talking about how are

040we using that Hawk time to support our students and what data do we have to reinforce that and those conversations haven't necessarily been present um in every PLC before. So again, the connection of how can our building support the Hawk time to make that most effective for students is huge for the middle school and high school again is doing the same same thing. At the PLC's, they're going to use that data and the formative assessment data they have in their classrooms to then inform what students get during that sore time because that sore time by definition is meant to address those specific needs of students. So that's all I have. Do you have any other questions for me? Okay. Appreciate your time. >> Yes. Thank you. >> All right. That ends our work session information.

041That moves us to discussion items. So we'll begin with discussion item A. high school course proposed name change for Ron Harum and that is on for accuracy. >> Yeah. So, any questions on the proposal that I presented last meeting on changing pre-alp to AD pre-alp pretty straightforward one. >> Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you for coming on. >> No problem. >> All right. Okay. Moving on to our finance update with money. All right. Norm, normally I'd just go over this real quick uh sitting down, but we have quite a bit to kind of like to go over with the uh adoption of the new state budget. Um this a little bit bigger. So, as usual, we have a year-to- date budget to actual on a cash basis. Uh, this is the first time seeing the budget

042to actual for the 202526 school year. Uh, it is through September 30th, 2025. Any questions on that? Uh, we also have the bond budget as usual. Um, so a couple highlights of the school aid budget. Uh it was passed on signed into law on October 17th. Uh the state government did avoid a state government shutdown. They did a um they didn't have the budget passed before by the deadline of 9:30, but they did do a kind of a 7-day uh budget to get them to avoid that state government shutdown. And then within that seven days, uh the House and Senate agreed on uh Senate Bill 166. uh moved it on to the governor for her signature and she passed it on October 17th. Uh highlights of this budget included a 144 uh I'm excuse me

043$442 increase to the per pupil foundation allowance. Uh it continued the universal free breakfast and lunch for all students. Um that was on a top priority for the governor and I I know lawmakers throughout the state were catching a lot of heat for the possibility of not continuing that program. Uh 31A at risk funding was increased by 25%. Um, and then something to really keep an eye on moving forward is, uh, you know, I think we've previously discussed one of the kind of lynchpins of this budget was how to fund infrastructure and road improvements. Originally, they were talking three out of $3 billion worth of uh, improvements. I think it came down to closer to two billion. Part of what they did, so part of that $2 billion infrastructure package is they shift shifted uh

044$390 million of higher ed costs from the general fund general purpose budget onto the school aid uh budget. uh bringing the grand total uh up to $851 million of school aid funds that is supposed to go to K12 education is now funding uh community colleges and state colleges and universities throughout the state. So that is something districts will keep an eye on because obviously uh has a lot of per pupil funding that's not going to K12 education right now. Uh we will do a quick review of attachments two and three. Uh section one the section 31A implications. This is actually a separate agenda item. So we'll cover that in uh a few minutes. Uh the the fall count was October 1st. Uh it was a uh a good count. This is the first count since

045I've been here for three and a half years that uh our enrollment went up. So, um that was very uh very good to see. This is an unodudited uh number. So, um Erica will be submitting our ball count data to the state. uh they will then start reviewing it, go through a a count audit and we will have audited numbers. I believe late late November early December is when we'll have certified fall count. So this number is subject to change but this is where it stands as of now. Um so this column here is our spring count. So the count from February of this year. So that was would have been last school year that counts for 10% of our current year state aid membership. Uh this column here is our fall 2025 count. So

046the count from the first of this month. Uh you can see our numbers went up uh 23.35 FTEES. So when you add that all up, uh we are coming to a state aid membership, a projected state aid membership of 2,971 FTEES. Uh compare that to our 2425 membership, uh we are down 25.5 FTEES. Uh but we'll see on I believe it's attachment three we actually that that's better than what we budgeted back in June. So it that's a positive variance on our budget a will be a positive variance in budget amendment one. Uh, and then just something else to be on your radar, uh, open enrollment will start, uh, we have open enrollment starting November 12th, running through November 30th of next month. Um, I know last year we kind of gave you the heads

047up. So, uh, once again, the premiums that we are being charged have increased greater than the cap amount, that public act 152. So last year it was like a 7.5% increase to our premiums and that cap went up. 2%. Uh it's not quite that bad this year, but this year our premiums went up 9.1% which was the pool average and that cap increased 2.9%. So once again the employees will have to pick up that difference through employee uh shared premiums. That will be a payroll withholding. Um, just like we did last year, we did go to the pool and work with them to offer some new benefit plans that are maybe that are lower cost to the employees. It might not be as robust coverage, but depending on the personal needs of that employee and

048his or her family, they might not need that full robust plan and they can then choose a lowerc cost plan that fits their needs. So if I am healthy, I never go to the doctor, I never use medication, I can select a plan that we are offering one plan that will be no cost to single family or uh full family, single, double or full family uh participants. So well, yes, the plans are going up, but we're offering some new plans that uh are lower cost. Any questions on that? I just a question and I should remember this but I don't but for the count why do we have partial decimals is that for like half these students are partial enrollment or >> yeah so most of the the partial FTE are at the uh secondary

049level so middle school but primarily at high school so let's say we have a student that is takes four classes they're a point8 um and then also our special ed students um they only count towards special ed FTE when they're in contact with special ed educators. So the time that they're in passing or at lunch that counts as a gen ed FTE. So you we don't have any 1.0 special ed uh students. >> Thank you. Uh this is just a quick kind of summary of the comparisons between the executive, Senate, and House budgets that were previously um released compared to Senate Bill 166. Um but I really want to kind of focus on attachment two and three. So attachment two, I just kind of took a look at all right, let's compare the 2425 budget

050to the TW what was passed in 2526 and let's just assume we did not lose any FTEEs. It stayed the same. We we maintained the 2,996 state aid membership. So, I took those numbers, plugged them into the calculator, factored in our changes in property tax value. Um, and also factored in so last year we did not receive a state aid a per pupil state aid membership increase if you remember correctly and instead we received a section 147A4 messers cost offset. So I calculated that out to be about $386 per pupil. Well, this year we they eliminated that. So we don't have any of that in its place. They increased the foundation allowance by $442. But if you net those two, the increase is $56. So on average, an average increase over the last two years

051in effect was $26 over the last two years on average per pupil increase. So I I think I've kind of used that graphic in the past of the solo cups and the shell game. That's what we're kind of talking about because right now in the media it would be advertised as historic high funding. this is the highest stated uh per pupil foundation allowance in history and that is correct. It's that's not you know a madeup statement but they're leaving out the other part where last year we didn't get one and what we said you were getting instead has now been taken away. So factor all of this in. Uh, another big part of this, if we didn't um lose any FTEES, the section 29 enrollment stabilization that we received, we would receive zero dollars this

052year compared to 400,000 last year. So, you factor all of that in and our net revenues would go down $60,000. So that 4 6% increase isn't as great as advertised, but that's not our reality um that we're looking at. Attachment three is looking at what the adopted budget compared to uh what we'll be looking at for amendment one. Um big change here. We budgeted for a state aid membership of 29.45. We're looking closer to 20 2971. So a 26 FTE increase. So that definitely helps out a lot. So, if we scroll down here, you know, you can see our enrollment stabilization is going down 92,000, but we're making up for that with the additional FTEES. Um, that's about a 20 almost a 28% increase to our at risk funding. Again, that's highly restricted. So, um,

053you can't just use it on uh, you know, whatever you the district needs. it is very restrictive what we can use it on. Um and then we're but I'm forecasting I had budgeted 340,000 for section 31A. Right now I'm forecasting around 450,000. So the positive variance for adopted compared to amendment one right now is what I'm projecting about a 625,000 or $626,000 increase in funding. primarily driven by that increase in our FTEES. Any questions on that? All right. Um then we will move on to next item. Um, so I believe it was early last week, uh, Jesse, um, Nelson, he is a partner with Baker Tilly, a financial a CPA and financial advisory firm, reached out and said, "Hey, uh, just wanted to have a meeting with you. As of now, the interest rates are

054starting to get down to a level where it may make sense to refinance the 2016 uh bond. Uh so on Wednesday, I had a call with him. Um and he just kind of walked me through the process. Um but I wanted to give you kind of the highlights of the conversation. So, if we were to refinance, this would have to take place in January because there's a 10-year kind of waiting period between when you issue uh a bond and when you can actually refinance it. So, after 10 years, districts can then refinance. So, if we were to refinance in January, first quarter of next year, right now, we would uh refinance for $4.6 million. We'd have right here would be our issuance costs. So about $126,000 which would come out of that $4.6 million that

055we're uh receiving on the reissuance. The net savings right now is projected to be $132,000. So that's the net that we would save taxpayers in uh interest payments going into the future. Um Jesse said, you know, right now it's not like he's jumping up and down, screaming from the top of the building saying you have to do this right now, but he does feel like it it is it's a there rates have gone down enough he thinks it's a, you know, it's definitely something to consider. Could that number go up? Uh this 132 that could go up. He said, you know, realistically, if you know, everything went well, that might go up to 150,000. Alternatively, it could go down to 110. Um, so it's not something that the board has to take action on right

056now. I wanted to get it out uh in front of you for so you can start chewing on that. Um, and you know, maybe in November we can uh discuss it a little bit further. I believe there will be a Fed meeting before the November 10th board meeting. So, we'll kind of know if rates have gone down even further or if they've gone up. Um, and then we can direct Jesse, hey, let's start getting this ball rolling. The only risk that we have is once we say, hey, let's do this. There is an S&P rating that we would have to receive. Um, and there is a fee associated with that. It's about a 20 to $21,000 fee that comes out of these issuance costs. But let's say we we have the S&P do that rating

057$20,000 and then rates spike up again and it just no longer makes sense to refinance. Well, at that point, we've, you know, we've signed a contract with S&P. They've provided the service. So, the district would then have to pay that $20,000 whether or not we actually do that bond refund. So, that's kind of the only risk associated with this. If we get the ball rolling and interest rates go up and it no longer makes sense to do it. If we've if we've ordered the S&P rating, uh, we will have to pay for it. >> You said this decision would have to be made in January. So, how soon would we make the decision here for that rating to occur? November, December. >> Uh, I think the rating would probably we we can't take action. we

058can't issue the debt before January. Um, so I didn't get that far along in the discussion with Jesse as far as the timeline of when we would do the S&P rating. Um, you know, I said, "Hey, this the the call was a perfect timing because gave us an opportunity to have the discussion tonight." So, um, maybe after the the November meeting, we can give him some direction as what the board would like to do. Yeah, I would think we'd want to do whatever we can timelinewise to minimize that risk, you know, for a quicker turnover. >> Yeah. Well, we won't be a like the risk is, you know, this is a projection, but we can't we won't know the rates until January and that's the first we can actually start taking action. to be a

059long saving taxator seems like self for sure and and we can tell we can ask him to start kind of get the ball rolling and then get up to the point of all right you have to make that decision on the S&P ratings let's get there and hold up until that point there's no cost to the district so he he said they can start doing the leg work now if that's what you would choose or we can wait. >> I I kind of get a a straw poll here. I think makes sense to say that. >> Yeah. >> All right. 31 AAA. All right. Uh 31 AAA. So um so new to 31A this year, this is not the first year that the state has uh had a section 31A funding available. But what is

060new is there's now three components of it. Uh section subsection two is districts have to opt in or out to receive it and uh you will have the board will have to opt in districts have until November 16th to opt in. Uh there's subsection four and five which are competitive grants. Section subsection four relates to SRO's and school safety dogs. and subsection six or I'm five uh relates to hiring new support staff for student mental health. It's section two that uh has caused a lot of debate because new to this section is the requirement that districts that opt in are mandated to op uh wave uh client attorney privileges if there is a mass casualty event in the district. Um and it does not provide a timeline. It's kind of an indefinite waiver. So they

061can go back and look at CL uh attorney communications as far back as they want or as far forward as they want. And when I say client attorney privileges, you are the client. The board is the client of the the attorneys. So there's a lot of discussion amongst superintendent, business officials, um what does this really mean? Um patched the uh trun elblast um and they kind of highlight a lot of their potential implications of accepting these funds. The number one concern being that waiver of attorney client privilege and I know Scott has uh sat in on a Clark Hill webinar. Um I think True was probably a little more of the >> cautious risk averse opinion. So I sat in on a workshop on Friday morning with the colleague superintendent and um you know there's

062talk about um the possibility of um districts uh individual members of the district individual members of the board of education losing of their governmental immunity. So acting in good faith on behalf of the government in the event again though like Marty said of a mass casualty event. Um there's some question if whether or not that would continue to move forward if we accepted these funds. But the other big question mark is really centered on um on the the attorney client privilege of a communication protecting that attorney client mediation between either us as a district you as individual board members. Um and so that's where the the question really uh really sits right now. There are uh there's a lot of speculation. Um and of course, you know, attorneys, their job is to paint the worst

063case scenario for us, provide us with the greatest measure of protection as possible. So, Trum's initial letter was very stark. It was very um they really took it worst case scenario in terms of the protections that we currently have that we would no longer have moving forward. Um Carill's interpretation was maybe they went a little far in one direction. Carill really tried to present more of a middle of the line uh type scenario. Um, you know, there's just a lot of um there will be a lot of things that are eventually determined in the court because attorneys can interpret the law, but ultimately a judge is required to uh make a finding on the law. And so, um, it's it's something that really what what we're doing is holding until we can get as much

064information as we can so that we can provide you with the best information possible in terms of what direction we should take moving forward. This is a a really an unprecedented move on the part of the state. it is related to um you know the lack of uh some some heat that uh that the state got uh following the Oxford uh mass casualty events and um so they're trying to just establish some greater parameters in terms of what the state can do as far as investigation goes. uh and they're holding funds hostage essentially uh in order to make this happen. Uh there are concerns around you know what what defines a mass c mass casualty event. Um is it a fight at a football game or a basketball game is you know there's just so

065many questions. Um you know the the lack of clarity is very difficult. Um, we just need to make sure that we are very aware of what we would be saying no to if we said yes to accepting these funds. >> So, if we don't accept them, what does that do? What's what's the money? What's that do to us and where does that move us? So, I budgeted the adopted budget included $340,000 of new 31A funds because we do have some 31A funds that carried over from previous. >> Those would not be under this new rule. >> Those are not under the new rule. So, we can continue to use those and we don't have to wave any privilege. So, it would be a $340,000 hit to the budget that was adopted in June. Um, based

066on the funding that they ended up passing, I have projected about, you know, if the district were to opt in, it'd be about $450,000. So, saying no in in effect would put a $340,000 hole, additional hole in the budget. But if I'm sorry, go ahead. >> But opting in, we could get an additional 110. >> But there are some very um interesting requirements around the spending timeline for the new dollars. And so just because we got them doesn't mean that we could spend them in a way that really had a positive impact on our students. That's the difficult thing about um you know dollars that are um the flow through as a grant mechanism. You know they're there are oftentimes timelines in place and so you're you're spending money on things that maybe aren't necessarily

067in your best long-term interest because they have to be spent in a short window. So we could spend dollars on staffing Uh, and that's we've got dollars to cover that position for 2025, 2026, but we may not have those dollars for 2026, 2027. And so then it, you know, yeah, we invested in a position. It was good for a year, but now those dollars are gone. So either a we have to cut that position or we have to make up for it in another way within the budget. And so it's it's a very complex complex equation. >> Yeah. And and some of the items that we some positions that we budgeted in 2526 using 31A, we could shift to 31A with that 25% increase. Um they would kind of fall under an allowable expense for

068that at risk pool bucket of money. without all this extra legal stuff. >> Correct. >> And so we would be looking to take action on this in a November meeting. >> Uh yes, you the board will have to take action to opt in or out November 10th because we have to respond to the state by November 16th unless you have a special meeting. >> Yeah. So, if there's key findings that they're anticipating coming during the week of the 10th, that may serve the board well to hold a special meeting later in that week for a second meeting just for the 31 clarification. >> November 16th is it's due Sunday, November 16th at 11:59 p.m. So, I think gave you the weekend. So at the current conference on Thursday, they really tried to avoid this topic

069for obvious reasons, but uh at the end it did come up that they did start chatting a little bit about it. And one of the things that they brought up was the potential of however many districts opt in versus those that opt out. Uh it could increase the funds potentially. >> So, you know, some of the the smaller districts might get windfall. >> Yes. >> Yeah. We talked about that in Friday morning, too. So there's $200 million set aside for this line in the budget. >> So if only one district across the state opted in, you know, in theory, they could net $200 million. U in actuality, what would likely happen is the legislator would legislation would act to reallocate those funds and it wouldn't be a pot of $200 million. it would be a

070pot of $500,000 and then they would reallocate that 195 million 9995,000 or whatever that number was they would reallocate those funds to another another line in the budget. So while they've got a set aside for 200 million if they don't get significant interest they'll they would be reallocated those funds. >> Yeah. And >> very quickly, >> um, so it's the November 16th deadline. I believe they want to distribute the funds with the December state, so 1220, and then you have until June 30th of 26 to fully spend it. But you can request a one-year, a 12-month extension. So in effect, you have until uh June 30th, 2027 to fully spend these dollars. any funds that aren't spent by then are then uh remitted back to the state. Um but in like you know in that

071scenario if a district got $200 million I don't know if any of you seen the movie Brewster Millions with Richard Prior and John Candy but he has to spend $30 million in 30 days and it's uh you have to get pretty creative. Um and it it's it's very difficult. So, the likelihood of, you know, if if we got a million dollars, um, we would have to think very hard about how to actually spend those within a 18-month period. This budgeting cycle has been incredibly difficult on business and finance uh, specialists uh, you know, and districts across the state. It's it's very difficult to do any type of meaningful long-term planning when you don't have a a a sense of where your budget is going to be. And it's it may sound great. Yeah, we got

072money. We can add positions this year. But in order for those positions to have real impact, they have to be integrated deeply into the plan. They have to be a part of the work. It can't just be a one time fix just doesn't you don't have long-term success when you're trying to live like that year to year. Either feast or bam. >> So just for clarification, this is a one time opt in or opt out. >> The funding is one time. It's unclear if you're waving your privileges, your client attorney privilege forever. >> Good question. And it's not just forever into the future. If there's an investigation on an incident and there's some relevancy to circumstances from five years ago, you know, there's question about, well, what does that can they can they lean into

073that record from five years ago because it's pertinent to the details of the ex of the existing investigation. So just thinking through that I I got want to make sure we digest probably need some time to think about it but I know like we have gone to close session to discuss security and security protocols perus do that and we've met with consultants. So through the course of that all of your security protocols could be made public compromising future security of the school. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> It'd be Yeah, it'd all be foyable. >> Well, that that's that's one of the concerns that they would raised is potentially all of that would be afoable and available to every anyone who wants it. Another way to look at it is because of the public um

074opinion that the school should be teaching more academics and not quite so much you know social emotional pieces that loan could be another reason to turn on the money as well as the liability the extra 10fold that I really leaves us exposed. Not that we're hiding by anything else, but it's crazy world out there. >> Why are they having fun to the intern client privilege? I just think it's very >> What other kind of workplace does that? >> Yeah. I I asked Scott, is this even is it even legal? And I don't know if I don't know if that has been answered. >> No, because it's your >> but but I I I guess as an individual, I don't know if it's legal, you know, obviously the district is not an individual, it's an entity.

075So >> many >> but the is making a decision that impacts the individuals within the organization. >> So and it potentially it's future members of the team or past members of the team. So it's both from the board table and from the district. It's a fascinating time. Sorry to be the abandoned spre. >> All right, let's go forward to bond construction updates. >> Okay, so I broke this down um into kind of two categories of work. one is future planning and then um the second is really focusing on uh the wrap up of some existing projects that we have going around the district. We've been working with both Triangle and GMBB on uh planning work for the 2026 uh summer of 2026 cycle. We really want to make sure that we are ahead of the

076the game, ahead of the wave, um that we've got the plans in place. Um and so we're able to really time that uh presentation of projects to our contractors during the bidding cycle to maximize the dollars uh that we have that we'll be putting on the table for potential projects. And so we've done two walkthroughs uh on campus uh really narrowing down our focus both in terms of scope. Once we've then narrowed our scope, we're going to be able to really lean in uh and get a sense of the costs associated with each of those uh projects. Our goal is going to be to present you with a series of projects um with recommendations based on uh how much uh how many dollars we have available to spend. Um and so it'll be um you

077know you'll have an opportunity maybe it's going to be the case that all of the projections are are going to be doable uh under the uh under the current uh set of dollars that we have available to us. it may be the case that we have to set aside some of these projects those alternates. Uh so in the event that we can't you know depending on the bids if they don't come in um low as low as we hope uh then some of the projects may have to be uh factored in as an alternate but those will all be things that we'll be putting together some reports for the board to uh be considering so that you can give us some direction as far as where we want to move forward uh in terms of

078our project design and orientation for the summer of 2026. Um some things that we are uh really focused on. Um one is the trails parking. Uh we'd really like to separate the drop off loop from the overall traffic flow of pedestrians. Right now um the drop off loop is around the perimeter of the parking lot. And so any families who are bringing their children to trails to walk them into the front door, they've got to walk through that uh two-lane drop off loop. And that's just that creates some safety concerns. And so we've been working on a couple of different designs to separate that drop off loop or handoff loop um to separate that from the parking area. Um, so one of the designs that we were looking at uh really was a positive concept,

079but I think because it um infringed on some wetlands and we didn't really have clarity around how that was going to impact um the overall scope of the plan with a DEQ or with Eagle. Um we've kind of moved away from that more dynamic project and or proposal. We've got another concept that would uh enable us to do the same thing to separate that drop off or handoff loop from the parking but do it at a much smaller uh much smaller price tag. Uh and so that's one of the things that we'll be uh looking to consider. Um and then really a big focus on making sure that our roads are in good shape. Um adding some in some cases we'll just be doing a a coat seal coat over the top. Uh in some

080areas we'll need to do some rebuild uh complete rebuilds because the substructure is such that it needs to be redone. Um in other cases we'll be able to do um just a a grind and then a repainting of the top layer of of asphalt. And so really it's going to be a combination of those three solutions that we'll be looking at to make sure that when we are buttoned up at the end of the 26 uh construction cycle that we'll have a quality uh road network across the district. That's been something that, you know, we heard about when we put this original proposal on the table for voters to consider in 2019 and it was also something that we had heard, hey, you haven't fixed the roads yet, uh, when we brought it back out

081to the table in 2020. So, that's seems to be a high priority for us. Um, and then we also want to make sure that our sidewalks and our walking paths, uh, paved walking paths are all in good shape and they're going to the right spots. Um, So that's another uh big kind of component. So um we got a trail parking lot, a drop off loop, we've got our roads, we've got our sidewalks and paid uh trails. And then the last uh thing that we're looking at is a potential expansion. When we initially built the early childhood center, uh did the design for the early childhood center in the administration building. Right now, we've got a parking lot uh on the south side, kind of the southwest side of the of the west facing entrance. Uh

082so between the early childhood center and Beach Elementary School, there's a parking lot as you walk out the door to the left. But in the original plan, there was also a parking lot that was to the right. Um and so we eliminated that early on in the scope of the the first series of bond uh expenditures um because we we didn't know if that was a need or a want at the time. Um it does get busy at the early childhood center during drop off and pickup time. Um so we do see that as an added value. It would also serve as overflow parking for the beach site, but that would be something that will also be priced out for your consideration as well. So, that's kind of the summer plan. Uh, as far as

083we just need to still wrap up um on on the district. Um, uh, Hilltop uh the the question has come to heat or not to heat that is the question. So, um, Northwest Kent Mechanical is recommending that we don't fire up the boilers. Um, for the winter, the boilers are, um, semifunctional um, at best. Um, and there's some real concerns around the the pipes. Um, you know, there's scale and things built up inside those pipes. It limits the ability of the water to flow through the pipes to heat the building. Um, so there's some question, you know, when you've got reduced flow, increased pressure on the pumps, you know, there's just some real questions about the soundness of that system. But Triangle Construction, you know, took a different approach in their recommendation. Um, if we

084don't heat it, there will be pipes that burst. That's just the reality. And if you get moisture at high enough levels in infiltrating an interior of a building, the mold and and other organic contamination is going to skyrocket significantly. And so Triangle's recommendation is to heat it um to uh maintain it will buy us a little bit more time to make some decisions. uh even if that does mean uh there will be some additional costs just in terms of keeping the building number one but also if there are repairs or maintenance that has to take place uh we know that that's going to be you know that would have to be a part of a part of the budget. So um our our position right now is we're going to keep the building at least

085for the foreseeable future um to buy us some more time. Triangle is working on uh completing a comprehensive needs assessment for you. Um they'll be ready to present that uh to you at the December board meeting. It will include an overall scope of need with some really highlevel estimates in terms of what it would take to get that building stable uh stabilized. Um, you know, it's not just a matter of replacing the boilers or replacing the pumps. You know, all the infrastructure, the pipes are over 100 years old in many cases. Um, you know, that years of use, years of sediment, years of contamination. Uh, they're just the the heating system really would have to be uh completely redone. Uh, and so there will be some costs that come that are coming through. uh the

086triangle will be presenting here to present you with that comprehensive means analysis just so again you've got a sense of of what we're looking at as far as keeping that building online. Um we are meeting uh we have a meeting Thursday morning with uh Northern Analytics and we're going to just kind of start listening to some of their thoughts on asbestous abatement. you know, the building has asbestous in it. Um, and so, you know, what would be the cost of removing the asbestous? We've got to remove the asbestous regardless of what we do. Um, and so whether it whether we remove the asbestous for a renovation or we remove the asbestous for demolition, both of those uh both of those outcomes require us to remove the asbestous ahead of time. And so that's a step

087that we would need to take regardless. So we're going to start exploring that as an option uh as well for you for our consideration for your consideration um coming up in December early. So any questions on future projects or our thinking right now around Bill? Okay. Um getting in then to existing projects. So, uh, 40 years ago, 40 years ago, in 1985, a band called the Talking Heads wrote a song called The Road to Nowhere. And the Talking Heads wrote that song and it was a metaphor for life, right? Well, um, in 2025, the road to nowhere has a new meaning, um, because we lost our bid to, um, create a minimalized, uh, solution for, um, accessing the cold storage. So, um, uh, we had a crew on site this morning, uh, starting to create

088the pathway for our sidewalk, um, to the to Coast. Uh, so that'll be completed this week. Um, once that's completed, there should be no blockades preventing us from having uh, having access to that building. So, uh, we are hoping we are hoping that we're headed in the right direction and the number came in, uh, less than what we anticipated. Uh, we were able to avoid having to create any switchbacks because of the incline that, uh, depending on how we brought the sidewalk in. Uh, and so the number um is going to be somewhere closer to $19,000 compared to the $35,000 number that we were thinking. So, but we I finally feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the cold storage building and it is not an oncoming train.

089Um, another good news, the wait room flooring was shipped a week ahead. Uh, we're expecting that to arrive uh tomorrow. Um, and so now um Vic and the team uh SO team will be uh working with Sony and Triangle Construction to make arrangements for installation. um to get that the flooring the pieces cut out and removed that need to be replaced, new flooring installed and hopefully that's going to go very very smoothly. Um and we're excited for for that direction. Uh at Beach Entry, they're bucking up some punch list items. There's still some little areas, paintings, some uh you know, just little things that are that are out there that they're working on. Um they've completed the staining process of the exterior brick uh on the the original portion of the buildings and I that

090looks great uh from the road color matched up very very nicely. Um they're finishing the installation on some of the roof flashing. That was a question mark that you know that our roofing company is working on and making sure that that's buttoned up. Uh and then um I happy to share we had um hosted uh almost 30 people uh who wanted to walk through the building last Wednesday night for tours. And so Amy McCarthy and Dian Brook Miller uh and Stafford Trap did an outstanding job putting together um and arranging the tours. Dennis Scoville and myself led the tours. And so it's just a neat way to to kind of show people from the community uh you know some of the neat things that are happening at each elementary school. So the the feedback was

091was very positive from those tours. So um yeah that's kind of the extent of where we are from a bond perspective. Any questions you very very welcome. All right, moving forward. 25 overnight field trip. Pretty typical. We've known about the East Coast trip for lots of years. It's on tonight. >> Any questions? Okay. Okay. E on the emergency removal policy was scheduled for November, but we've had that for the session now. So, here we are. >> Further questions on that? No, the second was I was president. Can you read the language that was discussed last month once I pull it up last month? >> Yeah, I was going to do that. >> No worries. So, it's a lengthy document. We read it word for word. You're gonna have me give you a summary. >> Yeah.

092um from this from this pop up from the screen >> or probably >> can you log into >> that might be the fastest >> so it's 5610 it's an attachment down in October The big difference is is it broke the suspension window down into uh segments. So 0 to five. A principal can suspend a student for up to five days. Um if the suspension is beyond 5 days up to including 10 days the principal and the superintendent would uh be needing to be involved in that in that decision. Uh if it was more than 10 days but less than or equal to 45 days, then that would have to be a decision that was supported by uh the superintendent, a board president and then two additional members of the executive of the executive um committee

093of the board. So either the vice president and the secretary, the vice president and the treasurer. um just two of those three additional seats on the executive committee would also need to support the suspension the long-term suspension for up to 45 days. And then um beyond that for any suspension exceeding 45 days, so between 45 and 60, it's still viewed as a long-term suspension in the eyes of the state, but we would have a full board uh hearing. The full board would vote on the long-term suspensions between 46 and 60 days. Anything beyond a 60-day suspension in the eyes of the state is defined as an expulsion and then the expulsion would obviously be done by the full >> and the the language in the is the language and the language was the discussion. Um

094the language in pink the language in pink is language that is been stricken or pulled out removed. >> Okay. The green language is the new language uh that is being proposed as >> so the thinking that period of time in 10 days to 45 the thinking is that that expediting the process without having the full >> correct part. >> Yeah. So if it's the you know third week in April and the you know it's students made some decisions that are not in their best interests are impacting the educational experience of others. You know the superintendent, the board president and two other members of the executive uh council the executive committee could suspend that student for the remainder of the year. would be an expulsion. They'd automatically be enrolled for the following year. Um but that

095that subgroup could suspend a student for no longer than 10 days but less than 46 days and that was recommended or that's what this group decided. Um that's what this group decided. Uh there reason I was asking this because I I was thinking in particular with the open feedback. There's some language around you have more than a handful of us together making board decisions and it's not been open. >> Not more than four members. >> Four members. So that's where you have >> two executive. Thank you for that. >> You're so welcome. >> Any on that question, comments? Then discussion item >> F. So one more thing about that just thinking I'm trying to remember I want to make sure given some thorough thought. Um we did have a case um and without details of

096course um but we had a case where it was a an odd time frame was there was an opportunity for some conditions to be met for that student to be reinstated and if we were to go with the proposed language here while you wait for those for that potentially could we delay students coming back that were given a longer term but then had to meet conditions or I just I just I Just want to think it through because it's >> the implications. >> Yeah. Yeah. What's the ripple effect that we're not thinking about? >> Right. Um so just talk it out loud. >> Yes. So we had a student at the end of the school year last year who we suspended for more than 10 days because it was the middle of May. Um but

097the board did not expel the suit. the board um voted to indefinitely suspend the student. So under definition, an indefinite suspension could be up to 60 days but not more than 60 days. A suspension of more than 60 days would be an expulsion. So that would give the students 60 days, 60 school days to complete the preventative measures that the board put in place. So I don't know that it would have it would not have the would that see the uh plan was to you know have them complete the um necessary steps over the summer in order to you know enroll and have a successful launch to the 2025 202 So the only thing this had this uh policy been into place for the 2425 school year um that decision could have been made without

098requiring a full board uh meeting to approve the recommendation. Yeah. So you're sus if you do a if the if the decision is to um suspend a student pending investigation or something like that, you know, we look into incidences, the number of days would be unknown. Yeah, we might say an indefinite suspension pending the outcome of a behavioral threat assessment or be, you know, pending the outcome of a psychological evaluation or, you know, pending the outcome of a, you know, a detox, you know, something like that. you know that that indefinit suspension could not go past a length of 45 days without further action from the board. So the board at that point could either decide to extend the long-term suspension for another 15 days or they could elect to expel the student based on

099the progress or lack thereof that had been made during the initial window of suspension. >> Yes. So that's where I think three you're in that violation. So time to >> sorry >> to reate that you're going to need 30. >> Oh if it's beyond 45. >> Okay. >> Then we would have the full board, >> right? But what was the stipulation where it would be just the the superintendent, the board president, and then executive that would think that would >> wonderful. So, if it was a if it was a long-term suspension, not an expulsion, a long long-term suspension greater than 10 days, but less than or equal to 45 days. >> But how does that not break openly and you only have >> three of us? >> It's not an official meeting of the board.

100>> Yeah. without having a meeting, >> right? >> Because it's a little bit more lengthy. And did the parents retain a field rights on that? >> They do. >> Yes. Okay. >> Sorry, >> good. >> So again, just probably I just want to make sure we're making, you know, I want to digest it because again, I'm catching up here a little bit. So if you were to sus if if the building principal were to suspend a student for five days pending a something psychological evaluation or something and it took longer than the five days to do that you have to call an emergency committee meeting together because it's longer than 10. >> Yeah. If it's long, if it's if it's longer than five, the principal and I would or the principal and the superintendent would

101consult in the superintendent and the principal can suspend up to 10. That's just like we have it in now. >> Yep. >> Okay. If it was going to be beyond 10, then what I could do, what we would do is reach out to the board president and um you know, I'd start with the vice president, then I would go to the secretary. Um if all three of those individuals were uh in agreement that you know we could we could extend the suspension to it's a it's a suspension of indefinite duration. U but for the purposes of this initial factf finding it can't exceed 15 days or something like that. um and then we reach that 15-day point, either we have clarity or we don't, but then we could take further action. And so that could

102even be if it was October, um you know, if we've got a situation where it's October and it's a significant event, um if the suspension goes beyond 10 days, the only option we have is to pull the whole board together and have a disaster. So this really gives us more it gives us an option to give us more flexibility and more time to really find out the details you know to get to the core of the instinct at play. So typically, you know, if you've got a student who was in possession of alcohol or possession of and they were selling or selling narcotics, you know, those those require very little um investigation. It's, you know, this is these are the facts of the case. You know, we have video evidence. We have multiple witnesses who

103saw it. you know, that doesn't require any extended amount of time. We can suspend pretend pending award board action if it's if we're going for expulsion. But there are times that involve behavior that do take more time. it, you know, particularly if we have seeking um information from outside counsel, whether it be unrest or you know, other um you know, mental health support providers. Sometimes those appointments take longer to arrange. you know, it can really eat up those days quickly where all of a sudden it's, you know, day nine, we don't have the details we have, but we still have to have uh, you know, a formal board hearing to extend the suspension beyond 10 days. So, this just gives us a little bit of flexibility. >> What? So, this was modified. What was the

104original language that >> right now? It's any suspension greater than 10 days the board has to act. >> Okay. So that's this is the piece that initiates the committee option and that's basically the >> and the committee option would only be you know we're not looking to modify the whole process but if there would be benefit to buying a little bit of time uh or to not have to pull together the full board if it's a window of just the remainder of the of the semester. decision. >> So try to think about student experience you know or the parent experience in this situation. So again just thinking big topic I guess but you're talking about you know discipline right. So from their perspective on they would have met with the student would have met with

105the principal. So they would have had one meeting there for a five day. This is something kind of drags on or becomes something bigger. We go and then we potentially bring the student and parent before they leave. They would have a second meeting and then maybe a third meeting with board. They would meet with >> myself and the principal. Yeah. And then I would reach out share the details of the the situation. >> Got it. Okay. All right. Thank you. That helps a lot. >> Yeah. So we really this would not apply if we were looking if if it was a a matter that would be a just an expulsion now you know a permanent expulsion now that would never this would never play you know we've never seen this this is really more about

106those unique windows where it's you know a short period of time till the end of the semester or a situation where we need more time for an individual to get the details surrounding behavior. Good questions, good discussion. >> All right. And then moving on to the term policy. This one I can't read. Um or you can look it up. Uh this the current language uh members of the board shall be elected by the school electors for terms of federal and then the proposal is uh to add a power and then add with only three consecutive terms. So I had a question. So the proposed language was three consecutive terms. So would that mean a board member could serve three consecutive terms, be off the board for a number of years and serve again? Or is

107the intent of this really a total of It's not quite as complex as 318A, but that is something that we would have we would have to how how are we controlled this when the law the only requirement of the law is to live in the district or be a how are we saying no longer Beyond that, >> I think it's on ballot. >> So, it wouldn't be on the ballot, but it'd be the same way as six year terms or four year terms. But the election the ballot language does not include the policy language. >> The ballot language just includes the duration of the term. >> So like sometimes we have people who are appointed to a position where let's say someone is elected for a four-year term. They resign after two years. There's an

108individual who is appointed to fill the remainder of that term. um and they're appointed by action board, but then in order for them to serve a new term, they would have to be elected by the >> in an official election. >> What happens when you don't get enough people to run for the board, then isn't it there's a few that will select people like >> Yeah. So the Kent Yeah. would actually we would um actually this happened in Rando >> um and so they um go to the community they um you know identify individuals who are interested in the position but didn't want to run for the position so people um submit an application um to the Kent ISD school board uh and then the Kent ISD school board either depending on how many people

109um submit applications. They might interview all of the candidates uh or they might you know identify a a subgroup of that candidate pool to uh to interview and then they interview those individuals and then the KISSD board selects. >> So basically >> the members >> it's not really the voters who get an opportunity to vet and pick who they want to board on that instance. >> Is there enough and highest wants a book in that position. >> So you run that risk when you're trying to limit how many tournaments >> that's run these past few weeks. So, one one other thought would be if we wanted to put this on there, um, which my personal opinion is no, I don't, but if we did, I don't think that we can require this. It could be

110recommended. >> It's recommended. It could be a practice that you have, but as far as requiring, >> I don't think I don't think you can. and it it would be something we'd have to check with attorneys, which this wasn't on the agenda for tonight. So, having that time to to check wasn't part of uh the process, but I think that you were mean to because this could be a liability for us. >> I can do that. Reach out to Marshall Great and look into it for our meeting in November. So, a couple of other things I did uh thank you guys for sending me to the MA SPD conference where I did get to ask a couple of board members outside of the district and they kind of were in the same thinking like um

111were very concerned on the legality of it and brought up again just the the only state departments are living districts. So you know how how we require that above beyond the state. Um, the other thing that I noticed is during the delegate assembly, the very first thing I did uh to recognize the the board members was have those that have served five years, those that have served 10 years and within that 5 to 10 range, there was a good majority of board members. So, there were probably 500 plus board members at conference. Um when we got into I think the jump to 20 30 40 those numbers were way down you know it's pretty rare to get something above 12 years certainly and they're there but the conference uh theme was innovation and leadership and

112they're there to learn how to be a better leader. So it's very inspiring to see volunteers to students to a to a very good cause. So, I don't know. I Yeah, that's all I'm going to say about it. >> Well, to your point about the numbers decreasing, I did a little bit of research and the average, this was nationwide, so I was trying to find more specific um data, but um but it was 6.7 years the typical term. So, you know, on average, I mean, it's if it's like the board, >> I I just feel I the longer you're on the board, you bring a wealth of knowledge. Also, there's so many policies and so many just rules and and the way you have to do things on the board. And so, like I like

113how you two rely on each other of like you'll remind Heidi about emotion or whatever. You know what I mean? like certain and even when Shannon was on the board also just it's a wealth of knowledge experience to also help because when I first came on the board it was overwhelming it really was overwhelming because there's certain processes and the way you have to do things the way you have to speak the way the open meetings act and situations like that so I will vote no on term limits I don't believe in it I don't think it's appropriate I I like having new also you know mid-level and then also seasoned um so I am just going to be quite honest no I don't want term limits and I will vote no >> I mean

114the term limits of three years that's 12 years I mean person should be able to pass the knowledge on to a new person from coming in that 12 years somebody that's been on the board 20 years does have experience that also leads into corruption too you have >> there's no corruption on this board isn't I'm very offended by you even recommending that you've been here one year. So, let's just stop right now. >> Last week. >> Well, let's stay let's stay focused here. >> So, you want to talk about corruption? >> So, who came up for four years? Was it state or was it this board? >> Well, we we did actually change our policy. >> It was six. >> Yeah, it was six. It was reduced down to four. So >> when I was

115appointed it actually I was completing a six-year term. >> So originally it it's typically been four years. The state shifted the uh timing of elections which pushed boards to go to a six-year term. So it was generated from the state kind of that sixy year but we have since uh relooked at that and dropped back down to four year term limit. I did get to talk to some other members and had a mix of people there in the conference around my table at least where some were still at six square at four. So you know it's originally just timing election >> timing. So, >> I think when I first came out of it, there was like two seats that were still six and then there was like I think five that were four. I can't

116remember something like that until everybody could get I like the four. >> Six years is a long time. >> That was part of the reason we dropped back down to four years is >> it's too hard to find people willing to commit to six years. >> Exactly. A lot of things change and >> a lot of things do change. >> So if it's not state for four years, we could be on here for 10 is what you're saying. >> Well, that actually has mention >> I just I just Googled it. Looks like there is Michigan legislature. The language says to a school district shall be elected to school electors to in terms of four or six. So they let the district Thank you. section 3.11. Okay, you ready to move on? >> Okay, um discussion

117items and we move we do have a close session item. So I would entertain a motion to move into close session. Some moved. >> I'm going to read pursuant to the opens meeting act section 8 for safety and security planning. >> All right. Any discussion? >> Having none. Vice President Shner. >> Yes. >> Secretary Serger. >> Yes. >> President Bill Moore. >> Yes. >> Trusty M. >> Yes. >> Trusty Patton. >> Yes. >> Trusty. >> Yes. >> President Reed. >> Yes. Motion car. >> Okay. Let the record show we are rolling back into open session at 8:40 and we land with public comment. This is time in the board to hear for the public uh not to solve any problems but to listen. Do we have any parties for any speakers? >> We do hold

118public comment. Moving forward to our action items for this evening. We have the 2526 overnight field trip request. 20 2026 Gate Bridge East Coast Strip as has been for many years. I would entertain the motions as presented. >> Any discussion? >> Having none president? >> Yes. >> Secretary Slider? >> Yes. >> Sergeant Gilmore? >> Yes. >> Trusty Lun? >> Yes. >> Trusty Patty? >> Yes. >> Trusty Bowser? >> Yes. >> President Reed? Yes. Motion carries. That brings us to the high school course to propose a name change and I would entertain a motion for as presented and for the minutes. Um let's state which force it was to give us to support. >> Any discussion having none vice president? >> Yes. >> Secretary. >> Yes. >> President Gilmore. Yes. >> L. >> Yes. >> Patty.

119>> Yes. >> Bowser. >> Yes. >> President Green. Yes. Motion carries. That brings us to the communication portion of C and you have all my communication. Do you Matt has a few? >> No, that was action. >> Sorry about that. >> That's right. All right. ASB sharing there. Sure. Uh delegate assembly. Um everything passed as it was written. Uh we did have it was supposed to be a really quick assembly, >> but uh there were some issues with other sections that people brought up. So they found a little bit longer. Uh in fitting with last year's, you guys need to set those. Uh they are very interesting and um the new line but not really. Uh so anyway it did pass. The other two that were brought up uh for existing stuff did not pass.

120Um, one was a a language in supporting books for kids of all um, race, age, sexual orientation, um, couple of other words in there. So, it's existing language that was there and NASD was just trying to keep it open for everybody. everybody everybody's learning stop desire to learn from. So some people had issues with that and um but again like I said it it was voted to maintain that language as it was and that was something that came up last year. So it was just something again people were taking issue with. Uh the other one was uh medical um trying to remember but she so this was another delegate and she asked for them to remove a certain section talking about vaccinations and so that was brought to the entire assembly and so just wanted

121to report on those uh the conference itself was really good um they had two very good keynote speakers. One was uh addressing like I mentioned before innovation in leadership and he did a phenomenal job that was very maybe everybody knows but just a nationally known speaker um very inspirational and then the other gentleman can't remember his name but he did uh his presentation on leading through complexity. Again, that was a good keynote speaker presentation overall. Very helpful in thinking about how we as leaders should look at uh what we're doing in light of the current circumstances around us society, but also kind of pointing in towards individual students. They were both very student focused as we should be as they were and very inspirational. Um did a a few of the clinics uh outside of

122the keynote speakers. Um, one was on AI and that was very informative and how u how it's changing the future of everything really and I would recommend you guys to take some courses on that. This was done by Michigan virtual um at Disney when I saw him institute and he did a very good job of just even updating from the spring to now. You know there's been changes and just how it's being utilized in classrooms and it's very exciting. Um I've heard two sides. It's very polar opposite, right? as far as AI and education and during the um attorney's conference they had one opinion which was very negative especially in light of how people will just you know chat GBT any legal issue and then they get the results of that and a lot of

123times those u the chat GBT part is not it's just not vetted through there's they lack understanding of how it's applied And so that they have to inform and just kind of compounds their job. So you know that's one side is very negative um as well as all the other stereotypical things that go on with AI. The other side is uh AI here to stay. How do we use it as a tool? You see a lot of the keynote speakers um the AI clinic session that's we're focused more on that uh how you utilize it not only in the workplace with teachers but also down to the student level and how can we better understand the uses and the potentials that uh one of the one of the things the speaker said it's it's there

124and yes there's negative things about it for sure those are going to be you know the evil aspect of AI is going to be there but how can we shed some so that was informative uh on Sunday I did as I mentioned earlier took the safety and security course that was a great um refresher just to know myself of all the things that are out there. Um, but it also was really helpful because it was kind of I have Steve, but they use serious writers and quite a few of their um scenarios and and recommendations. So, that was a point of pride for for us >> little pat on the back there. But, um, yeah, it just was really nice to go there to be able to chat with other board members um, and to

125just kind of engage with the happenings going on in other districts and I was able to also share some of the things going on with us and get feedback, you know. >> So, it was a great learning opportunity and thank you guys for sending me. I do have some of the information, the PowerPoint slides from a few of the um uh presentations that I went to. All of them had powerpoints, so they're not all in there, but feel free if you want to look through those. There's a lot of great information. >> All right. >> Nothing new for me. >> All right. So, we have planning. So, we have our November meeting coming up. So, you're looking for us on that. We got things and we know more of the board. We will stand adjourned

126at 8:49.