JPS Board Meeting -11/18/25

001and I'm calling this regular Jackson Public Schools Board of Education meeting to order. Thank you for attending the people here and then online. We really appreciate that. If you want to address the board, there are forms in the back on that shelf. If you could fill those out and submit them to Sarah Eersol, we'd appreciate that. So, agenda item item number two, we're going to stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And now I'm going to turn this over to Sarah for a roll call. Miss Hamilton, present. Mrs. Zimonetti, Mr. Ready, Miss Sharp, Mr. Doby's, Miss Actton here, Miss Hunt. At this time, um, agenda item

002number four. I would entertain a motion to approve the agenda. Any del any deliberation? Seeing no deliberation, all those in favor signify by saying I. I. All those opposed signify by saying no. Motion carries. At this time, I'm going to turn agenda number five over to Jeremy Patterson, our superintendent. Thank you, Vice President Actton Dao, serving as president today. Thank you for filling in and welcome to the November meeting. Uh, I want to start off with a huge celebration for Jackson Public Schools and the successful passing of the 2025 bond program, securing 100 and 26 million for JPS and a 0% tax increase to our community and our taxpayers. We have been campaigning for some time now. This last board meeting we were asking everyone for vote yes and they came out um a lot

003of voters came out in support and a lot of voters uh came out overall as opposed to the last bond program that we ran for JPS. So this was um something that our board uh voted to move forward with. This is something that our community and the bond planning uh did their due diligence and researching our facilities and our programs and what students are looking for, what staff are looking for, and I'm just so ecstatic that it passed and now we begin the real work of implementing with Fidelity. So, meetings will begin to take place on December 1st and there'll be a lot of meetings forthcoming. Um, sometimes people think it's something that gets done in like a month or two, but this will be a work for years to come. So, uh, I've had

004a lot of people say, you know, when is this happening and when is this happening? And and really the bond is a proposal. And so, it's just kind of an an idea of what it could be. And now that we have the yes vote, we'll start to go through the process. But, um, for those who are out there, sometimes people do watch us on recording. I want to say thank you to our community of Jackson that's been very supportive of Jackson Public Schools and I think that by supporting our public schools here in Jackson, it's going to only add value to our community at large as well. So, thank you for everyone that had whatever role they did in the process. Some people walk doortodoor bond planning, the board of education saying yes and moving

005forward. And I mean there was no one thing that we could have uh been successful without. And so I just want to recognize those that did the most and those that um have found some way to uh become actively engaged in passing the bond. Thank you. Also, um in my board communication last month, I said we had some great news to celebrate with regards to academics. And so we've been embargoed, which means there's a 10day grace period where districts are allowed to uh preview information, but I wanted the board of education to have this information first. So Julie's been keeping a timeline over a series of years, and some of our buildings are knocking it out of the park and we're making progress and gains. And that was a part of the bond campaign. They

006said buildings are nice, but it's moving the instructional needle, too. So, um, JPS is moving in in the right direction on multiple fronts right now, and I wanted her to be able to share some of this information with you, Julie. Good evening. One of the um pieces of data that we um that comes out just about this time every year is called um the index reports. And it basically gives each of our schools a a score. And then that score winds up on a list with all of the other schools in Michigan. And we are we are graded on things like test participation, um absenteeism or I should say positive attendance, um the programs that we offer in schools, the growth that the that we that our students show on assessments, the proficiency that they

007demonstrate on per on on assessments, graduation rate, and many other things. And these all add up together and have different weights depending on what um scores are available. For instance, Jackson High has a has a scorecard that looks a little different than the rest of them because it does include a graduation rate. So um things are weighted a little bit differently on theirs. And um we had some some really good um good changes that came out came through on our index reports. One of the be the biggest ones that I wanted to make sure to share was that um this is also three years after the last time that schools in Michigan were identified as comprehensive support schools. And um and when that happened, this is when we entered into our partnership agreement with the

008state of Michigan because we had uh one of our brickandmortars um one of our traditional schools, John R. Lewis was identified as a CSI school and um so one of the things we're watching kind of with baited breath is are they going to be identified again and no they're not. They um dropped off the list. They are now considered a universal support schools. That was very very exciting for us. Um for elementary we don't have any new identifications at all. Um let's see. So, I will kind of go through um we saw overall increases in um the the scores for Cascades. They went from a 41 to a 44 this year. Um Dibble increased in their overall index report from a 66 to a 79. Um Hunt went from a 58. They stayed just about

009the same this year from a 58 to a 57. So, they're holding their own. Um, Lewis went from a 28 to a 39 and and were not reidentified. So, that was fantastic. Um, Monasuri School went from a 46 to a 60 for their score. Northeast went from a 41 um to a 41.72. And then Sharp went from a 94 to a 90. So, they stayed within the same um the same area. middle school at Parkside um is continuing on as a universal school and um a universal support school. They went from a 44 or 54.9 to a 57.33. Um Fourth Street Learning Center is no longer our a school, but um last year they went from a seven to a 16, so there was even growth there. And uh Jackson High went from a 56

010to a 61. they were named a um a u a targeted support school and that has happened in the past. Um but that's just a one-year designation and it's based on one um one group of students. So that is something that they've overcome in the past and they will do again. Um Pathways um went let's see Pathways was not identified. They're a universal support school and South Central went from a 15 to a 29.76. They did remain a comprehensive support school, but they that does not mean that we are identified as a partnership district or a comprehensive support district. So, the news is just overall really good news and it's um it was a really exciting week to to have the bond pass and get this great news and we're happy that we finally get

011to share it with you. Does anyone have any questions? I do. Okay. Um, congratulations. That's super awesome. Yeah. Um, thank you. I'm hearing comprehensive support, universal support. What are the what what is it? So, um, universal supports are schools that are don't have any designated support. So, they just get the same supports as every other school. So, they haven't been identified um as having any special label. Oh, like that's the highest level or Yes. Okay. Yep. that's a it's sort of a non-level, okay, if you will. Um, targeted support is um those are schools that are identified for a single year and it's usually because um it's not that they're low on the list in the bottom 5% or anything like that. It's just that there's a group of students that um isn't performing as

012well as as their peers. And I believe for this year it was students with disabilities if I'm not mistaken. Um I'll I'll make sure to get you that information. Um, and we can print off these score reports so that you can see them and if I can give you more information on that. Um, and then comprehensive support schools are um, schools that are identified every three years and um, they receive a lot of supports from the state of Michigan. Um, and a lot is expected from them as well. So, um, it was kind of important that for Lewis not to be reidentified because there's another set of steps that we would have had to have taken. And um the other piece is that is that we finished our benchmarking or or looked at our end

013targets and they look good. So we're just waiting to hear back from the state of Michigan on those and we're hoping that we'll be exiting that partnership status soon. It sounds like we have no um comprehensive supports. Is that the only one that we have left is um SCMV. And does that that does not mean that we'll be a partnership district? No. No. because it's an alternative setting and they were identified in the last round as well, but um because they're an alternative school that they sort of there's a sort of a pass given, if you will. Um but our traditional buildings, if any of them had been identified, we would have been pulled back into that partnership status. Thank you. One last question for you. Sounds like it's TSI, targeted, and universal. Is that

014the three designations? There's another one. It's um ASI, and I I can't remember. We haven't we haven't had any ASI schools for identification, but the two that we've seen are the CSI and um so the comprehensive support and um the targeted support. What's a where does ASI rank among those? Um I would say that it is probably in between them in terms of between comprehensive and targeted. targeted being it's a one-year um it's a small percentage of students and so we've we usually we might be identified for a year and then or a school will be and then they they drop off they address the um that group of students and and their their needs and then we see that they will drop off usually. This is why you're an amazing deputy what is it

015deputy what superintendent because your knowledge level around this stuff is absolutely amazing. So, thank you. And also, I just would like to take a second to thank everybody for um just allowing me to take on that position. I appreciate your support. So, thank you. Anybody else have any questions? Thanks for that update. It's very exciting news and this is information that we discuss as a district improvement team, information that we get out to our community, information that we'll be creating PowerPoint presentations around. And again, we're not only are we going to get off the state list, but we're going to continue to see our scores increase. Um, ATSI is called additional target supports and an improvement. And we've never had one of these schools in JPS and it says it's schools that have one or

016more subgroups performing poorly um under a CSI school. So, you're kind of in the low and you have these low performing subgroups. So, we have never had that in since its um inception. So, with the passing of the bond and some great celebrations regarding our index scores for JPS, there will be more great information to come. But at this time, this will conclude the superintendence report unless there are further questions for myself. I have some um embargo. [clears throat] Can you just kind of explain that whatever you said has been embargoed that's there's a period of time where the state allows schools to review the information first before they are um showcased publicly. So it gives you an opportunity to look at your own schools before everyone else gets to see them. And then there's

017a 10-day period that that happens. And so that embargoment uh was released Friday at five o'clock pm and then the schools are allowed to share that information publicly. Perfect. Thank you. You said that, but I wasn't sure if that if those were together or not. Um one more one more question for you. Um we have bond meetings beginning on December 1. Um and I don't know if we want to talk about this in the when we talk about the extra duty or not, but the um the TMP group, am I that's the right name? Um will they continue? Um will they be like you know uh continuing at all with the bond meetings? Absolutely. They're going to be one of our major partners from start to finish. So they'll be here basically through throughout the

018however long the bond takes to implement and complete. That's correct. They were our partners in the last bond program and they already helped to kind of get us started with a lot of information, a lot of the bond planning. So they do a lot of work upfront to help us to be successful and they are architecture firm. So they'll start with the initial meetings and all the design meetings here moving forward. Um, another question for you. Thank you for answering that. Um, it sounds like are they kind of like the program manager of the bond? Are they are like help me just understand? I see I hear the meetings. I hear they're architect firm. Are they building? Are they, you know, are they RFPing for other people to do? Like what's their you know? Yeah.

019their their their main um asset in the beginning of the bond was the bond planning committee. Okay. So, they helped to um you know kind of guide us in the right direction if you will. I guess the best way to explain it is the district is the owner and then we hire people. So, we hire the architects to do the designs and and the specs and the work and they partner with the construction manager who are the builders. So you've got the owners of the district, that's us. You've got the designers, and you've got the builders. So that's probably the best way to explain those three groups that we're entering into an agreement with and we'll have an extensive contract where legal counsel also gets involved to help us make sure everything is how it

020should be. One another question for you. I'm just trying to understand the scope of their involvement with the bond. Um, now I'm understanding what you said as far as owner something else something else architect. Thanks. Um, with these uh these TMP people, would they also now are the owners the one which I understand that's JPS. Are they the ones that are setting the meetings or would these TMP people the ones kind of set the meetings and kind of run the meetings, get the agendas together? Is that something that they'll also be doing or most of the time we'll all meet together? And so we'll typically do that because there's probably more of our people who need to, you know, roll out the plan, if you will. So this is in our house. So they're going

021to tell us and come in and partner with us and we're going to say yes, that's what we want to do after they make these plans and we're going to say yes, that's what we want to do as the owners. They're the architects and then they're going to talk about how the construction happens and how they make it all work and then we're all in the same meetings together. Okay. I'm going to have more questions for you, but thank you. Yes, you're welcome. Any further questions regarding the superintendence report? Thank you, Jeremy. Thank you, Julie. Good work. Very exciting news. We're [clears throat] moving on to agenda number six, consent agenda. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? Any deliberation hearing? None. All those in favor signify by I. All those opposed

022signify by saying no. Motion carries. At this time, we're going to have agenda number seven, citizens requesting to address the board. Do we have Oh, no one. Okay. No one No one is addressing the Oh, wait. We have one person addressing the board. Hurry. [laughter] Time's up. [clears throat] Just get my timer going, guys. Okay. Good evening, board. Um, I'm here to discuss an item on one of your action items tonight, which is the uh extra duty pay contracts. Um, I'd like to first discuss what I think are some of the problems with it and kind of what's wrong with the proposal and I'd like to hopefully uh talk about a prospective solution or a new direction. Um so to be so to begin with I think you need to understand that you know when

023you look around at JPS you um everyone pretty much everyone is working under a contract. So the teachers have a contract uh the administrators have have a contract. We you just wrapped up working on a contract for the new superintendent. So if you've ever been a salaried or contract employee it pretty clearly stipulates that on one side of the ledger here's your pay and your benefits and your total compensation. And on the other side is basically you're expected to do the job. There's really not such truly such a thing as a 40hour o a week work week if you're a um if you're a contractor salaried employee. You're just expected to do the job as it's given you. So that's kind of one one of the problems with the extra duty pay is it sort

024of extrapolating an above and beyond means to compensate people. And that's just kind of really at odds with how this this reality works for most the other people in the district. I mean, simply put, there is not extra duty pay at JPS for teachers. Um, and that leads on to the next problem is I think that if if this proposal kind of passes or is adopted as is, I think there is a potential to damage the relationship between members of the administration and teachers at JPS. And I could see this becoming a a like rallying call for them. Like when they come back to negotiations and they're going to say, "Where's our extra duty pay?" and it might be an unintended consequence that the board really wouldn't like. Um, and and finally, I think there's

025just no way around it. Uh, this is just a any way you cut it, this is just a bad look for JPS uh to be awarding these these these sums um the same year that you lift you eliminated 35 uh teacher jobs. Um and well actually that's not finally the final consideration is would be legacy costs because and you can talk to Mr. Um, you could talk to Marcus about this, but there's a formula that's used to calculate um, pension benefits. And when you get these additional uh, cash forms of compensation, that could be inflating your pension costs for people here who are young and spry, but one day won't be, and might be drawing pensions from JPS, you know, well into the back half of this century. So I think in order to um

026I think the first thing best starting point is to just kind of eliminate this this current proposal as it stands. Um I think the second thing you should do is if you want to keep cost down on the project is you should start with Todd Fry and his staff and sit them down. This is not going to happen in a week. Maybe it'll take a couple months to go over the work you're going to be doing and saying guys what can you do? So I'll give you one example. Todd Fry, and I've heard a lot of good things about the facility staff here, really good things. But Todd Fry, he has a background as an HVAC contractor, and that's a significant piece of this. There's no reason your guys can't do that. Um, it's my

027understanding that also that you can pay for a and there's there's a specific term, but basically sort of a supervisor to represent all the work for JPS. You can pay for that out of the pond funds. I think it's better to have a third party do that than than keep it inhouse and then there's not a question over the expertise of the person doing it. So I think um you should try to avoid extra duty pay allto together. I do think since I don't I'm pretty sure that a lot of members of the board were not even kind of aware of this. This is something that originated just in 2018 and you know it's been a long seven years and it wasn't on the radar when you negotiated the contract with the superintendent. So what

028I would say is if need be you can open up the contracts for Todd Fry, possibly some people on his staff and um the other person I would put on that list. I think that there's a case to be made that the superintendent cuz the buck stops with him and he needs to be very aware of this stuff and I would favor opening his contract if you need to boost his compensation to reflect this. But I think the extra duty pay is a bad way to go and then for the rest of it if you need to go you have 120 million bond funds if you want to hire um someone to to supervise the work specifically. I mean, all the work you get done is is under contract and should be guaranteed anyway. So,

029um, I'd be interested to hear all of your thoughts. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hastings. Agenda item number eight, Neiola updates, first reading. And I'm turning it back over to Mr. Patterson. Thank you. You see a number of edits for our policy. We partner with Neiola. So they come down to uh work with our staff and our policy committee uh most recently on November 5th. So we took a look at a lot of different policies that um were eliminated or revised. And so um our policy committee members present can u speak to that as well. I I did share in my superintendent communication that we went through this process. And one other item in board policy that I'll lift up is the um addition of the FAFSA as a graduation requirement. Um this is something

030that was brought to my attention by the college and career access center, something that could potentially bring the district um somewhere in the neighborhood of $200,000. Uh I'm in the process of an application to um secure those re resources. The only thing that we don't have in our board policy now is that FAFSA is a requirement for graduation. We had uh Nancy Peters Lewis came and presented to the board kind of our high statistics and how well our groups are performing and I think we are like there was like 30 kids maybe that didn't complete the FAFSA and there is an opt out form for them that they do not have to complete the FAFSA because we're also going to offer an opt out for those who choose. Maybe they're not going to college. Maybe

031they're not going into the trades. Maybe they don't have the um wherewithal to do it even though we provide college and career access resources here at Jackson High School. So that is uh one thing that we had some more extensive discussion on in the board policy as well as other items. So this is a first reading just for discussion today. So I'll open it up to further discussion. And again, if anyone was at the policy committee would like to speak on behalf of any other updates, then um I'd appreciate that. Thank you. Was there some grant money that was coming for doing the FAFSA? Was that what I my understanding that we would get some type of money? I'm kind of Yes. So, it's called the universal FAFSA grant. 10 out of 13 local districts

032have already applied and received somewhere. If they're comparable in size, one school district received 217,000. Another was 170,000. There's potentially could be more. There are not a lot of strings attached. One thing that we utilize is our partnership with the college and career access center because um we do have staff here specifically to help our students with college and career preparedness. Um so uh 10 out of 13 districts are already doing it. Um this district uh opted to not do it last year and so I I think that um it's a great opportunity. This is something that is very much a part of who we are as a school district and providing resources opportunities. Recently this year, we had our junior class visit two local universities and a career trades. And so those trips have

033expenses associated that could be covered under this grant. And so the grant process application is due December 1st and uh the school districts will be notified pretty quickly. It's a pretty good quick turnaround. Even though our implementation won't be for the class of 2027. So that's the only edit I have to make to that board policy. It says the class of 2026, which is this year's graduating class. And after uh consulting with multiple superintendent, the College of Career Access Center, um we can change that language. So, that's the update that I'll have for next month is it's not the class of 26 that will have to do a waiver or a graduation requirement even though the district will still receive those funds this year if we have that policy in place. Thanks for lifting that

034up. Are there any other questions? I just had one. um and excited about the uh FAFSA provisions and our opportunity to help our students advance in their um uh careers and uh educa additional education opportunities. As far as the other Niola updates, uh, am I correct in that I was trying to track what policies are being struck and it kind of seems like it's a consolidation and we're moving around some of the uh, non-discrimination provisions around genetic information and some of the uh, anti-harassment policies and consolidating them into specific areas. I think that's fair. There were some policies that were rescended, I think, is what you said. So, I'll agree with that. Um, most were around non-discrimination, but not eliminating them. We're we're just accounting for those provisions in uh different locations within our policy.

035That's correct. Some were revised and some were rescended. Okay. Um, so first of all, I'm wondering if we can't improve our process for policies. So policy committee met two weeks ago, like you said. This is a huge chunk of work to get on Friday for a Tuesday meeting. So, can we maybe send these policies to the board earlier? That's my first thing. Since the meeting was two weeks ago, can we get them ahead of the agenda? Because with everything else that we have going on, like I said, that's a lot. It can be overwhelming. Um, then there are six policies in here that are in here only for technical corrections. And it's my understanding that we passed a policy about a year ago that says that policies for technical corrections do not have to come

036to the board. when you're changing pronouns or you're changing contact people, we this shouldn't even be in our packet. We shouldn't have to look at these policies. And then I only have one other one that has just a not a typo, but a correction on um 5460 graduation requirements. There's just one area where it identifies parent and it should say parent/guardian. um on the first page of that policy. That's all. Thank you. Thanks for that information. We've taken those notes and again we have one revision to that policy and now we'll add two and that was specifically the the FAFSA graduation require policy. Yep. Okay. Thank you. I got a couple questions for you, Superintendent Patterson. Um, just to go off of this really quick, um, the technical corrections, if that's a policy, cuz I

037don't remember that. Um, can you just clarify? Um, make sure that we all know for sure. Um, it just good to know. You can send an email or whatever if you want. I want to know for sure. I don't remember that one last year, but I could have missed it. It's okay. I'm going just keep going. Um, rescended, help me to understand. Um, now clearly I understand the term rescended, but I just want to understand the context of our policies. Um, and I have not gone through the policies because I just got them as well. Um, and that's not, you know, u a bad thing. I'm just letting you know I haven't gone through them yet. Um, but the rescended, just for my clarity, are we saying that that means that these policies are no

038more? The ones that are rescended, because I hear you saying there are some that are rescended versus uh put into other ones, um, the rescended policies are those ones that are no more. So, when I'm reviewing them, I'll know what you know what I'm looking for. Yeah. So, I'm looking at one particular rescended policy. It's a copy of the anti-harassment. So that's not eliminated, but it's struck in out so much that a new policy has been created to put in its place is my understanding. Okay. And is that pretty much what the rescended policies all look like? So much has been struck out, they've been recreated into something different. Is that pretty much what I'll be looking for when I'm That's correct. Okay. Thank you. Um, couple more questions for you. Um, the FAFSA as

039a requirement. Um, that sounds amazing as far as this money. obviously that it can come in, but I'm concerned about um the requirement to pay and I or to sign or to you know to fill out the form and I hear you saying that there's an opt out form. Who has to sign that opt out form? Uh in our letter in our policy it's in there and it I think that's a part that Cheryl just lifted up that said parents or guardian. And so I think there's more language in there that says every effort will be made. And so sometimes, you know, there's things that the school have have to do to, you know, make sure the kids get there because we don't want anything to obstruct our students from being able to walk across

040the stage. So this is another um thing, but it does say parents and guardians. And again, if they've done the schoolwork and it's not a 2026 thing, so we'll have plenty of time to notify the next graduating class that they come through and have their class meetings. But I'm pretty sure in the language, I can go back and reread it, that it says that parents and guardians, unless a student is agent majority. What's the age of majority? 18 years old. Oh, okay. Um, so question for you. Um, I thought it was 18, but I'm just like, what's that another term? You know, it's lots of terms and I want to understand them. Um, it sounds like our concern um with potentially not getting a a parents signature um is uh not a high concern because

041if they're not able to get their parents' signature, it's probably because they're not graduating. Am I hearing you say that or no? No. Okay. Um, it's not because they're not graduating because if they didn't meet the academic requirements then then they don't meet the academic requirements so they're not graduating. Um, I'm just saying that uh the district does not want to see one more barrier placed and sometimes when you think there's additional graduation requirements that it could potentially be a barrier. But the administration, the counseling staff, my office have all agreed that this will not be a barrier. This will only be a benefit. We'll be able to secure some more resources to further assist our students to get help completing the form. And if they don't, that will exhaust all measures to make sure

042we get the waiver completed so that they can walk across the stage. So, worst case scenario, cuz you know, I'm just I just want to plan for it and at least be informed of it. Um, we have a kid who's ready to graduate and I'm wondering like is this possible? We have a kid who's ready ready to graduate and we cannot we've exhausted all of our, you know, efforts to get their signature from their parent or guardian. What are we doing in that instance? Is this child not graduating? Now, because I I just gave the scenario of a student who um, you know, they're not graduating because academic reasons, so we don't have to be concerned about their parents signature, you know, opting out. Let's say we do have a kid who's or is that

043scenario never possible or rarely? Yeah. Um I'm sure it happens where parents aren't available. Sometimes kids are just on their own. And so I think that's an opt out um that option C here after all good faith efforts if they um that the waiver will be made available. But um yeah, sorry you're saying number two. I'm missing that right there. The student is unable to complete the fast form as a independent student. Yeah. So the my my understanding is that um and I have to ask another district if they've had that example because our intent is to you know make sure that if all good faith efforts have been exhausted that the students can opt out. So maybe with the support of the schools because sometimes it's a financial need and it becomes a barrier

044and I'm thinking the same thing here. So that'll be really important for me um next month when we vote on this. I want to make sure that um we're not placing a barrier. I get all the good that could come from this and you know I would be in support of it for those reasons but um I do want to make sure that I'm not putting a I'm not voting to put something in place for a kid who just potentially could not if there's an opt out that says you know we've exhausted all of our things and then maybe the counselor can sign for him or like there's something there that there's a a a net for them then I would be in full support. So I appreciate that answer. Um you know whatever you

045get to find out. One last question for you. If you read the policy on the first I haven't read the polic. One more question for you, Jerry. identifies that it says the monies that we'll be getting are about $20 something thousand potentially. Um, and I heard you say that the monies could be used for like going on trips and it sounds like there's not a lot of parameters around there. Am I understanding that correctly? That's correct. And last question for you maybe, unless I have another one from whatever you say. Um, potentially what have they been using the monies for that we might also use the monies for? Yeah. So, one of the biggest things is um helping the students have access to a college and career advisor. And so, sometimes we can um secure

046a full-time position and sometimes we only have a re enough resources to secure a part-time position. Um the other thing, like I said, visiting schools and sometimes it's taking care of meals for our students, so they don't have they can have food on a college campus. And so, um, those are some of the options and there's more listed here if you would like to, but these monies will be earmarked and and set aside for that specific stuff only, right? Not like general fund monies. That's correct. Okay. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Agenda number eight, discussion items 25 2634, the energy project RFP. I'm turning this over to Marcus. All right. Good evening. Um, so for well over a year, JPS has been working with our energy adviserss at Guaranteed Community Advisors, GCA, on assessing

047our facilities and and looking to see where we can bring energy efficiencies or conservation measures to the district. Um, we've already partnered them partnered with them on several projects including the EV bus program and the solar fields that we've brought to the three buildings in the district previously. Um what we have here is the results of an RFP process that they uh managed for us and vetting the proposals. We have selected a few initiatives that we feel are the best bang for our buck that will provide us the best savings over in the long term to the district. Um, some of these include things like power optimization, data monitoring, um, making sure, you know, monitoring our voltage, reducing energy waste, um, cooler and freezer upgrades for energy efficient motors, things like that. Again, to save

048on utility costs, uh, water conservation, things like leak detection valves and and things of that nature, sensors. The total cost proposed cost of this work is $697,38. Um, and again, this is a tough one to a little hard to explain. And next month, we'll have a representative from our energy advisor firm to help uh further this the discussion. So, yes, there would be a cash outlay for these. However, these projects will more than pay for themselves within a matter of months or years depending on the project. and we'll see um uh savings to the district in terms of utility cost these projects. This is also backed by an insurance guarantee that we will see these um savings. So if we do not for whatever reason we are made whole through this insurance policy as well.

049That's something that the energy advising firm provides um which is a nice thing. There's a few different sources that we can use to fund the initial outlay, which would be the remaining 2018 bond fund to help close that out. Um there's a lot of 0% um green energy initiative uh loans and financing available. So we wouldn't have to pay interest on some of these initial outlays um to get the projects up and going. Um and then I also wanted to mention that I think one of these the data monitoring the vendor that we've selected has a um program um there's a curriculum opportunity that we can explore where they train and hire it's like a paid internship for some of our high school students where they can teach them this work and they can get

050paid doing it and that could be definitely a pathway that we could look at for the new innovation center as we look at this bond program. So, a lot of these projects will go hand inhand with the bond program and and just um enhance it a little bit more and provide long-term savings to the district. So, again, this is just for discussion tonight. We're not looking for a recommendation or anything. We'll bring this back next month and we'll have uh the CEO of our energy advisors here next month to help with any questions I probably can't answer tonight possibly. I was wondering um wasn't there a real life example with something there was a leak underneath the bleachers or something that you could speak to? I thought that was really interesting. Yep. So, um uh

051we had a leak I want to say it was in the concession building out by the football um stadium, right? And I think it happened out of the season or during the week or whatever and and just cuz we're not there every day, especially in the off, you know, when it's when the field's not used, you know, it went unnoticed for, I don't know, a couple of weeks or whatever, and our water bill spiked that month. So, with some of these measures in place, it will instantly alert us when something's a leak or, you know, out of the ordinary, we can go address it right away and and save on wasted water and money out the door in terms of utility costs. Thank you. So just as far as financing goes, is am I right

052that there's about 2.4 million left in the 2018 bond monies? What I was looking at the financial report. How maybe I interpreted it wrong. How much is left in the 2018 bond? So we have I estimate after the free projects that we approved earlier this year, we'll have about $400,000 left in the bank account. Um, so I'd recommend right now that we can safely say we'd have at least 350,000 that we could put towards this, probably more. Um, we're down to the last few trades um that we do owe um some retainage and things for on that bond program. So, we're really getting down to the end of it. Um, and we thought this would be a good way to just close out those funds um and and again uh lessen any initial outlay on

053the general fund, which you know would help. Okay. Yeah. because I knew we had kind of talked in the past about using those 2018 funds for a variety of other things. So that's correct. I think this might be a better use just to you know Thank you. cut that in half. One more question for you. Um when you bring this back um for a vote, are we voting potentially next month? Is that the plan? Yep. When you bring it back for vote, will we know um will you have a better idea of where where you going to pull it from? I hear you saying potentially for these funds, but will we know then? Um, that would probably be a better question for our energy adviser. I think he's um got a lot of the the

054financing down in terms of what he would like um to see happen, but again um at least half of it could be covered by the 2018 bond, those remaining funds. And then we've looked at other things like rebate programs and grants and I think at this point there's a couple of 0% um financing options available. And then I believe these also some of these initiatives will also qualify for rebates from consumers for uh pursuing these initiatives. So as we've done with our LED upgrades, we've received rebates back from consumers just for taking that extra step. So we will we would be seeing those as well for uh projects that are applicable. So forgive me, I asked the question wrong. Um will we know where they're coming from? And I know that there were going to

055be rabbits and da da da, but will we know when you come back? You'll say this is where we taking it from that we're taking 300,000 from here. we're taking money from here. Will we will you know exactly where the money's coming from at that time or at least you know we can have a better conversation with our energy advisor next month and they'll tell us where to take the money from. Correct. Within our district. They'll be able to recommend uh what he would recommend for us to use to finance them. Okay. I guess I did ask you right. Thank you. You're welcome. Any more questions? Agenda item um number nine 252635 2026 summer property tax levy resolution. I'm turning that back over to Marcus again. All right. And so this is something that we

056bring every year. We're required to vote on how we want to collect our taxes for the next year. Right. So we're talking about summer of 26. And historically, at least longer than I've been here, at least for the last 10 years, we've collected 100% of our taxes in the summer. Um, I think that's beneficial to the district, especially from a cash flow perspective. Um, and I think we saw it this summer and fall with the fight over the state budget and a lot of districts were worried about potentially meeting payroll at the time without state aid. uh we don't have to worry about that because we collect again the majority of our taxes between that July and September period. So um we're able to kind of weather some of those uncertainties. Um so we would

057recommend continuing the the process and it it gives uh homeowners kind of that peace of mind knowing status quo for next year of not changing up when I'm paying what for taxes as well. I make a motion to approve the 2026 summer property tax levy resolution. Any deliberation hearing? None. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. All those opposed signify by saying no. Motion carries. Number 25 2636. the monthly financial report for October. I'm turning that to Marcus again. All right. And typically you see this in the consent agenda each month, but I wanted to highlight this specifically this month just after, you know, last year and and and going through some of the actions that we did to rightsize our district. I wanted to have everyone have a chance to be able

058to look first look at how, you know, how some of those actions have played out, right? And um so as you look at this overall comparing the district as of October 31st this year to the same time period last school year, our revenues are at 23%. Last year they were at 19%. Um we did have seems like we have had a stronger tax collection rate this summer than last summer. Um along with we had um I think I probably mentioned it in June, but it's been a minute. So, um, at the end of the year, uh, there was some state grants that we received that we maybe did not, um, spend all of that in the same year. So, we would move that to our balance sheet and then bring that back to the income

059statement in the next year. So, we had a little over a million dollars and that we call it deferred revenues. Um, that also contributed to um, some of the positive things that you see on the monthly financial report. Some of the other things that I would turn your attention to, as you can see going down the expenditure lines, most of those categories are under and some are significantly under last year at this point in time, both in terms of dollars and percentages. And that just again highlights some of the the measures and things that we took last year to keep our budget under control um is currently working so far. And um we are in a good spot. We're moving forward in a at a good pace. Um and again, you know, the current year

060numbers include some of the one-year, you know, extensions that we made with our with our uh bargaining groups over the summer, recognizing that, you know, we didn't know what the state budget was, but we wanted people to be able to move a little bit, you know, at least. So that includes those salary increases um and benefit increases and still um you can see the decrease in the total expenditures so far um after the first four months of the fiscal year. So at this time we would recommend approval of the monthly financial report. I'll recommend approval of the monthly uh financial report for October. And I'll note that uh Marcus is so excited uh that he also recommended approval of the December financial report. [laughter] Did I hear a second? Was that you sub? Okay. Any

061deliberation? Well done, Marcus. Hearing none, all those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. hearing um none. The motion carries. Next on the agenda, 252637 bond extra duty contracts. I'm turning this over to Marcus. All right. So, I know we've discussed this last month. We also brought it to our finance committee. U we've talked about it um a great deal, the extra duty contracts for the 2025 bond program. Um, you know, I know Jeremy and and and everybody has talked about the amount of work. There's a substantial amount of of work that goes into planning getting the bond passed and running the program for the next however many years. Um, some of the doc the documents are mostly the same that you saw last month. I've edited that spreadsheet just to show

062some of the different information a little bit differently. some people um uh you know just to show a little graphically better I would want to point out a couple of things. Um you know again these are temporary contracts. They're not permanent things. When the construction's done the contracts go away. Um it could be less than six years. I mean this is I use that number because that's the quote that we receive from an owner's rep. They based it on a 72-month schedule. And I like to compare apples to apples as much as possible. Um, you know, I also thought that it was interesting. I know and and we do try to be good stewards of our of our taxpayers dollars and resources to put as much into the buildings and instruction and staff as we

063can. And you know, one thing to note, um, you know, part of what I just mentioned in the financial report with the revenues being up, a good chunk of that comes from the interest that we earn on the dollars that we bring in. And I would point out that over the last two fiscal years through last month, we've earned almost $2 million in interest alone. Um, which is not tax dollars, it's money we've earned on money, right? Um, I think so far this year, we're almost to $300,000 in interest. Um, just to put things in perspective, right? Um, we're talking about these extra duty contracts over a six-year period. um you know these are something that we definitely can afford and would be included in our budget amendments and um you know as they were

064last time around nothing like that would change um and so again I I guess we've had you know discussions and things like that I'll open it up to more discussion now madame vice president yes uh I'll move approval of the assigned duties the contract language An extra duty salary schedule is presented for the 2026 bond program. Do I have a second deliberation Elena? Um, I'm seeing here at the bottom of the spreadsheet it says uncertain if owner rep cost is a bond allowable expense. So I guess I I'm just asking um is we have not had the conversation of whether or not there should we should pursue having an owner's rep. Um, so that is not necessarily what I'm asking, but the research that I've done talking to other districts who have undergone bond projects

065recently, many of them have used owner's reps, and many of them have been very happy with that. They have all used bond dollars. So, is there a reason we're not sure we could use bond dollars for an owner's rep? The districts that I spoke with either didn't use an owner's rep or weren't sure. I believe it probably is. I just wanted to be fully transparent, right? I'm I'm pretty confident it is. Um and I I could I just wasn't sure if I was missing like a special case or and I've heard from districts and from firms that owners reps can be a good thing. It just depends on the situation. Um you know, sometimes it comes down to the experience of the district and the owners, right? Um, you know, and I I believe we

066do have the skills and experience to manage this program ourselves and continue to save the district and the community those dollars because at the end of the day, if we do if the board chooses to uh hire an owners rep firm there, you know, that's that's the board's decision. You know, the district will still have to do a lot of this extra work, right? We still have to make these final decisions, approvals. um you know, we're the ones that have the history and background information on our buildings, our facilities, our district. Um you know, we're not going to turn this over to a third party and say, "Here you go." And so, in my personal view, it would be an added expense. Um you know, we would be foregoing over half a million dollars of

067bond projects. And you know, you never know what you what you're going to run into, right? So, a lot of this is infrastructure related. We're going to be opening up many old buildings like this one that's going to be 100 years old. And we don't know what we're going to find when we open up some of these walls, right? And so, we want to make sure we have um those contingency funds available to address those needs. And um you know, a half million dollars is a lot. Trusty. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I just wanted to say a few words about my feelings about this, uh, to maybe take some of the weight off of Marcus, uh, because he's included in, uh, the extra duty pay. Uh, I've organized my thoughts a little bit, uh,

068today. uh when the voters entrusted us with a $126 million bond that doesn't raise uh any taxes and was the biggest bond proposal uh that was passed in the state this November. uh we did so making a commitment to uh deliver that programming and those improvements with excellence uh transparency and a commitment to uh fiscal responsibility. I think some of the things that Marcus has already talked about tonight uh showcase that by approving the extra duty compensation for uh the internal talented staff that would lead this work. I think we're putting the right people at the helm. Uh not placing uh a huge bond program in the hands of someone that uh doesn't necessarily understand our district um and comes at a higher cost. These are people that know our buildings, uh, know our students

069needs, and I believe are uniquely equipped to see the project through, uh, from, uh, planning to, uh, completing the final, uh, punch list. Uh, I don't think that it's new for JPS. Uh we did this with the 2018 bond as well and just looking at some of the numbers that came out of that uh closing out that bond uh and what we paid with extra duty pay versus what we could get from contracting with the private sector uh company based on industry averages. uh it came in like 70% less. Um that's a huge savings uh by applying that same efficient model. Again, I think we're continuing to ensure the highest quality execution of our bond, saving the district significant taxpayer dollars, and I think it's somewhere in the neighborhood of $360,000 compared to outsourcing those

070same services. Um, so I think it's a win for uh the district. Uh, I think it's a win for the improvements that are to come by using the expertise of those uh that we have here uh in the room and ultimately a win for the students. So I'll be voting yes on it. Um, I agree also. I think we have quality people and I think when you look at the people on this list, I would trust them completely. I'm certainly a believer in promoting from within, whether that's a job promotion, a salary bonus, or whatever, but um I'm I'm still struggling on a couple things. Um differentiating regular duty and extra duty. I'm struggling with that. So again, these are salaried employees and and each of you knows in your head how many hours you

071spend a week at your job. So what I want to know is with this bond work, does that mean you have 10 extra hours, 20 extra hours? I'd like to see what the extra duty means with regards to time. And then I have a hard time believing that every single person has an equal share of extra duty. I would think that perhaps Todd would have a higher amount of extra duty than say Sarah. And when you look at the possibility of an owner's rep and all these tasks that are listed, do they take over all of these? And is Sarah still going to be coordinating meetings? I'm really struggling with normal duty and extra duty and who's doing the bulk of the work. Yes. I think that when whoever we hire being the owners, the

072district that all of these people named will still be doing the work. Somebody might package it up for us, but somebody's still going to have to approve that. Whether it's the superintendent, um I've seen the last program on how much the executive assistant coordinated all these calendars like they typically do within the district, but this would also be taking place with folks outside of the district and coordinating those calendars as well. So, I think what's what's been named is regardless if there's a owner's rep or if we choose to do this work internal, it doesn't it doesn't negate the extra duties that the district does that that these people named. And so, we tried to provide feedback from the last meeting. What are some of those things? And yes, there will be meetings during the

073day. Yes, there will be plenty of meetings in the evening there as there have been which I've kind of communicated back all the additional duties that it took to pass a bond. We'll take those same duties to keep the community informed to keep our community to keep our staff informed about the events and happenings and it's going to be bonds are very disruptive to the orderly educational process. So there's going to be a lot of things that wouldn't traditionally happen. School would just happen first hour to six hour, but in a bond program, somebody's got to pick up and move when they're putting air conditioning and drilling and the power's got to be out. So there's a lot of day-to-day operations that are just going to happen that have happened in the past. And these

074are the people that we trust and know. I've heard good things from owners reps as well. It's just comes down to again how much do we want to spend as we continue to do the work and and again I believe in the team that we have assembled here. I think we've had strong financial reports. I think we've had strong facilities reports. I think we communicated to our community what's going on in the bond and I think we have people who organize all that. So, when I look at the tasks that are going to be accomplished over the next six years, some smaller districts that I spoken to will take on an owner's rep because they don't simply don't have an assistant here, an assistant there, and the extra staff. And so, they they need that

075additional supports from the folks that I spoke with. Well, but I think that there's also other staff who will have extra duties who aren't going to be acknowledged. teachers who then have to move a classroom or people who work under Todd. It's not just Todd who's gonna have extra duty, but I'm guessing his people are going to have extra duty. So, where do you draw the line on rewarding people for doing extra work? Yeah, I can speak to a couple examples. As a principal last time, you know, there typically we can work that within our um staff meetings. you know and we can you know utilize those but there are going to be extenduating circumstances one I can remember is because of construction school wasn't going to start on time so one particular building was

076compensated it didn't have to be in the board approved notes to do the business of the district to say all right you know we've got to get school to start on time so teachers need to come in two days early to be compensated to you know do extra extra duties or stipens because those things do happen and they do take place. So, um there's going to be painting in a particular hallway where we don't want children going up and down the hallway while painting has happened. So, when you relocate, you have to take that into consideration. Is this something that we can do on the regular or is there something that is going to be so disruptive that we got to pay people to come in in the evenings and weekends and those things took

077place in the past and those people were compensated? So, I want to I want to speak honestly, but I also want to speak with a recognition of an appreciation of all the work that has been done and that will be done. Um, as a teacher, I feel like if I heard this in my district, I would be really discouraged just because as a teacher and for the teachers that work in this district, we they have taken on so many extra duties already. And on a daily basis, we're asking anybody who is in a building working with students to be counselors, behavior interventionists, attendance coaches, curriculum specialists, and we have asked them to do more by eliminating physicians. Um, and to turn around and to not address that first, to not award extra duty to teachers.

078I mean, I'm all for paying teachers more, but I I think more importantly, we're not recognizing that they are doing extra duties and we are not taking steps to alleviate those extra duties. First, um we we eliminated positions and I understand that there will be some some of those backfilled. I think it's really insensitive and shows a lack of understanding to say that we will um be paying extra for things when that would also be taking focus away our administrators who should be helping with these issues and alleviating these issues. It would be just taking their focus onto something else. Um and I realize that I'm biased as a teacher, so I have one perspective. Um but I can't in good conscience vote for that. So, um, for me, I'm all inhouse because I've seen

079multiple years. Uh there's so many teachers out here spending extra time after school coaching kids from football to basketball to volleyball to tennis and example good example uh Mr. Uh Jason from Parkside Middle School, he started coaching tennis. Um three years ago, we were getting 60 to 70 kids out there. The reason I want to see this more because as a teacher he knows the kids and I like the teachers to be working with the kids knowing what these kids and how these kids behave what they are capable of. So in the similar way uh Todd knows more about these buildings, Marcus know knows more about these buildings than outside people. So all these coaches who are coaching, they were getting extra pay and there's so many teachers who work after school at the football

080as a security guards, they get extra pay because they're putting extra effort. So, I am 100% supporting this uh going in-house. Uh when it comes to uh these tax dollars that we collected from this community, we want to make sure that we save and we put in good use. So, um my thoughts on this, um I've also had opportunity to um talk to school board members really from around the nation. Um, I've been benefited to be able to be in uh different groups again with schoolboard members from across the nation. And um, overwhelmingly most of those uh, schoolboard members that I spoke with um, mentioned that they all have a, now that I'm getting the term correct, this owner's rep. Um, because the the work can be extensive. Um, and I appreciate um some of

081what Elena said as far as um even if we were to approve this, it would be taking you all away from some of the work that um you would be expected to do with our current with our with our district. Um primarily because and I agree with this because I've heard teachers say this as well. Um they need more of you all support. Um, so if we were to give this extra duty pay, it would be taking attention that they're not getting right now even further away from them. Um, so I agree with that as well. Um, but again, as mentioned across the nations, I've talked to these board members and they called it project schoolboard members. They called it project managers. Um, I understand that we're saying owner um rep. um the funds that

082we are uh potentially taking from would be coming from the general fund because I understand that um we can't take we can't pay our people here in the building from the bond dollars but um across the nation and that's the question also that Elena raised um these bond dollars could pay an owner rep so we wouldn't be um impacting our uh general fund dollars um and even the the idea of us or the fact that we have, you know, laid off so many teachers, um, paid out so much money for people to to retire. Um, and then this idea that we would turn around and pay extra duty, um, to, uh, admin who are paid very, very, very well from this district, um, it doesn't sit well with me either. Um, this is a seven-year

083project. at least you know what we have on the paper we have at least seven years out I think that we've been given um in the uh in this uh graph or whatever this thing that you gave grid that you gave us um and it could be longer than that it could be longer um and that's concerning and then the 2% interest I don't know if this is this also and we spoke about this in the email Jeremy you weren't able to give me an answer and that's okay but that also concerns me because I know that with the other extra duty contract that we had when uh we had the previous superintendent he was get that 2% interest that he gets um as a raise each year, cost of living raise. It also that

084two that uh extra duty got a 2% interest as well. So, it's not just what we're seeing there. Potentially, we might also be getting an additional um fund from that, you know, monies additional additional money from that and that doesn't sit well with me. Um again, this money coming from the general fund, which is where it will be coming from is concerning. This is the largest bond and thank you for sharing that Jeremy as far as like the years because I asked Jeremy to send me um the last 20 years worth of bonds that we had and he sent me about five of them I think. Um, and it showed that we got, I guess, 127 this year, 127 million versus the previous years when they were less. Um, with all that money that we're

085getting, um, and the scope of the work being potentially larger based on that, it seems like also we will be doing us a disservice to have you all, um, getting paid that extra money went, you know, considering the the amount of work. Um, and then again, we draw huge, uh, salaries already. Um, so that it again it just it doesn't sit well with me. Um, the other thing that I wanted to mention, give me a second, let me find it in my notes. Oh, that's the thing that I wanted to mention. You know, I'm reading the different uh duties that would be expected of each individual and there are very quite a few of them are overlapping. You know, we're we're several people are doing the same jobs. Um, and I feel like this was

086just, you know, put in there. one, we wanted to understand the scope of the work that each individual would be doing, but um some of these duties again would be overlapping each other, meaning that two people will be doing the same job and both of them getting paid for it. Um and that doesn't sit well with me. So, I'll definitely be a no on this. Um I would much rather see this money going towards um teachers, students, you know, um uh uh equipment, materials, you know, stuff that our teachers need. um even afterchool programming if that's a thing that we could potentially fund it or you know give these general fund dollars to versus staff. Um and I'm very much would be in a support of hiring an owner rep now that I know that's

087the term that we use um for these bond dollars or for this you know to manage this bond. I got one last question Marcus. How much money uh was the difference if we were to hire somebody last bond um and and we did in-house what's the difference? I want exact number please 363,000 the for the 2018 bond and expected cost would be about $435,000. We paid out an extra duty contracts that $128,154. So the district realized savings of $36,846. Thank you. Can you can you repeat that one more time loud and clear, please? The district realized savings of $36,846. That's a that's a lot of amount. So we are not just looking to pay these folks who are going to put extra hours like a lot of teachers out there putting for coaching other kids

088or being security guards at the places. These people are willing to spend their time to make our schools safer, better, and getting paid extended pay and saving for the district. So I am going to be 110% yes on this. Any other deliberation? Do you have some Oh, okay. Um I just wanted to to respond I I think to to some of the comments tonight. Um, I don't see uh we're we're going to have to uh have someone uh be the the program manager for the bond. Um a team of individ either either um company or a team of individuals. Um what the proposal here is for us to have uh that internal team, those that know the district uh do that work. My concern with hiring an owner rep uh is that they're going to

089come in and be consulting with those same individuals um in that case. and those we're going to be then asking uh this leadership team uh to continue to meet with those owner reps and do extra duty. Anyways, uh we can save those costs uh by working and doing this internally. I don't think that uh I don't see this as an affront to any of of the um others that aren't uh receiving that pay. This is um the team that uh I think Superintendent Patterson has pulled together to lead uh this bond proposal. Um it is if you look at the um salary schedule over uh what is this 7 six years um $266,000 it's around 40 grand a year uh to do this work. So to me I think there are just significant savings in

090going about doing it this way. Uh we have you know past practice of doing it this way and I think we really delivered for the community with the 2018 bond proposal and I think that we can do the same uh with this proposal. I just I just want to add talking to several board members and administrators who have gone through bond programs here recently, they do understand that there is a significant difference in that pay to start. However, many many of them referenced how much they saved through the long run by having professionally trained experts in the area of construction and construction management. And as much as I love and I trust everyone here, I have the utmost respect. We are educators and we are not trained construction professional project managers. So although that number

091is there, I think we don't know the actual number because there are other things that come up that they can anticipate that maybe we cannot um as not me because I'm not doing it but our people cannot um not because not because they are inept but because that's not what they're trained and professionally trained to do. So, I just I just wanted to make sure that I was coming across knowing that owners reps are there to represent the school and make sure we're getting the best deals, best contracts, best timeline, best scenarios in those in those cases that come up from from what I've learned. So, and I think to piggyback on to that is I'd like to hear from an owner's rep. I mean, this is a new term for me. I don't know

092who they are. I don't know what they have to offer. maybe they can come and do a presentation and tell us why we should hire an owners rep. Another comment for me. Um so, um before I make my comment question for you, Jeremy, I mentioned that I would come back to TMP. I had a couple questions about them. Um what's the scope of their role? I heard you say they're the Hold on a minute cuz I got it. They're the owners as as in the architects. And then they're going to find We're the owners. They're the architects. They're going to find the builders. Nope. Okay. Tell me what it is. They're going to complete the designs. The architects builders are the construction management, which is triangle. And so if when you put the triangle together,

093all three of these folks will merge together to do the business of the bond. So explain in detail as if you're talking to somebody who's in the fifth grade. Yeah. What exactly a TMP? What's that? What's what's their what's their what are they doing that's different maybe than what you all are doing? I'll give you an example of the district vision of secondary curriculum. We surveyed the staff. We surveyed the students career readiness, hands-on innovation. So we use our curriculum leaders along with our educators. That's the vision. And so we share the vision with the architects and they came up with four classrooms. And so we further continue to have that discussion with the architects who do the renderings and then share that with the construction management. And then we say yes or we say

094change this, change that, change the other. So between all three parts, that's a significant project that we've been in discussions with in partnership in advance already with our architects and our construction management in the district. That's very helpful. So I think I have this right. Um it sounds like uh the role that the owner, which is JPS, am I correct in that? Okay. It sounds like the owner um will be expected to attend meetings, um sign contracts, um approve uh architectural designs. Did I say that right? Look at that. Architectural designs. How quick am I? Quick study. Yeah. Anyways, so um approve architectural designs, walk through buildings, um you know, say yes or no. Um look at budgets, write checks, uh sign checks, rather. Um it sounds like that's kind of some of the stuff

095that the owners are going to do. attend some meetings. That's the expectation. Yeah. All the above. Okay. Okay. So, so I'm a I'm still a no. You know, a very hard no. Um because TMP and whoever our they sound like they're our um owner rep or program manager as I was told in uh you know, these other groups. Um it sounds like as they're the ones who will be doing the bulk of the work and our role will still be mostly oversight, which is like that's a part of the job. You know, we we're they can't they can't sign our checks. They can't approve our designs. they can't, you know, and so the work that we're expected to do, it's still work that we should be doing and that we have to do anyways. Um

096it doesn't sound like extra duty to me. Um so I'm a no on that one as far as well for that reason. Um this is the largest bond amount that we've passed in a very long time. Um so I feel like we have the money to pay to spend to pay an owner rep and potentially their team because what else comes out of you know what what what other funds or whatever. But anyway, so we have enough for um to pay an owner rep and and uh their team and whoever else. And then again, we're taking funds if we were to pay our team from the general fund. Um and that's concerning to me because we could be using that money in my opinion for parapros, for teachers, for equipment, for materials. Like there's so

097many different things that we need that money for that I feel like we should um use that money for. Um, and then to speak to a little bit of what Elena mentioned as far as um, the expertise. Um, this next statement is not to say that we don't have expertise in our areas. I think we absolutely do. Um, but an owner rep or a project manager, them being hired to uh to to oversee this bond, mind you, we're their overseers, but them being hired to do that that whole process with this bond, the expectation is that they would have had experience in this and a lot more experience than we have. And again, we're signing checks. That's what it sounds like we're doing. So, yeah, I'm a no because um I really feel like we

098should have an owner rep. And I also like uh Cheryl's idea around having somebody come and talk to us and say what the difference could be, what the benefit may be to have an owner rep project/manager type person. Um so yeah, still a no. Madam chair, I just want to clarify some things because I think again it's uh Trusty Hamilton is maybe getting confused um on the the different roles. TMP is not the owner rep. They're the architect firm. TMP is the architect firm. Correct, Marcus? Correct. And then Triangle is the construction management firm. Correct. Triangle oversees the trades that are selected and recommended by the district and approved by the board to perform the work. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Derek. Yep. Uh I just it I think it kind of got confused in some

099of the the things that you were saying there. I just wanted to clarify. So so it didn't get confused. Um I feel like we need to have an owner rep project manager project manager to oversee this project. And if that means that they sit in between JPS and TMP and whoever else the people are as the architect, that's absolutely fine. Somebody else to do that work. But I definitely don't think that our team needs to be doing this work. So again, we're still a hired no. So I had a lot of input on this from my constituents for since the last board meeting. [clears throat] So, we've been asked to approve an extra duty compensation request from the administration as it relates to the recent passage of the millillage request by JPS. I don't believe

100we should set a precedent because extra duty pay was included in the 2018 bond fund. This doesn't have to continue. of concern is that this extra duty pay could be included in legacy costs. In March, the board of education gave administration a 2% raise. I was the only no. And I know that on 620 of 2025, the administration did get some extra duty pay. It's right here on the spreadsheet. It's, you know, for the public. In March, the board of education gave 37 district employees a voluntary severance package due to a budget shortfall. So, and then I'm going to agree with some of my board members that I don't see that the administration has much experience overseeing a construction project. I'm concerned also that this isn't an equitable arrangement in account of our teaching staff

101needing to do extra work too. The extra duty pay could be used to fund several positions in the district such as teachers, paraprofessionals, teachers aids, behavioral support specialists to name a few. to close the achievement gap in reading and math scores. And then in this uncertain economic climate, many of our parents are struggling to make ends meet with high inflation, power bills rising, and the cost of housing rising. Also, in light of the uncertainties concerning the impact of reduced funding for special education, the outcome of a newly filed lawsuit regarding 31A, which is school safety funding, and SNAP, you know, people thought they're going to lose their SNAP benefits. I think we should hit the pause button. Perhaps this request should be reviewed by the board of education during its regular budget developmental cycle, which

102begins around March of 2026. By that time, the full board will be up to speed with regard to the district's financial status and a project manager or operator's representative that I just learned about about a month ago for our bond fund projects could be considered for hire. Now, I have talked to other um school boards and actually they hired operator representatives that saved them money. I'm proud of the teamwork of our administration on getting the millage fund passed. However, I'm going to urge all members of this board to exercise a judicious approach when deliberating deliberating on this matter. Madame Chair, [laughter] um I just to to answer some of your points, I the I think saying that the administration doesn't have the experience um when they've uh some of those same individuals have carried through

103uh the 2018 bond proposal um is is not accur is not an accurate thing to say. Um, and I also I think you mentioned that the extra duty pay could be used to fund uh extra positions like teachers and uh various other positions. I'll just note that the like 20 26 27 totals for the six individuals here would total $40,000 across all of them. uh if you add all of their extra duty pay for that fiscal year, it would be $40,000, which I would assume, Marcus, is not enough for like a full-time FTE. Um I would assume uh with with uh benefits and uh the benefit package and things like that. Um because I've you know there's so pointing having having said all of that um it sounds like maybe there is some interest for

104the board in exploring um or having a discussion from a owner's rep firm. So, I would maybe table my motion or offer to table the motion uh if and that's supported by trustee ready uh to table that to the December meeting uh to give time to the administration to maybe um have some conversations with owner reps and bring that back in front of the board. Can you restate your motion? What is that again? I table my own motion to December table what motion the uh the motion to approve of the signed duties contract language and extra duty uh salary schedule is presented. Okay support deliberation support So, I would be in favor of that, Derek, because I was otherwise going to be a no on this as presented. I think it needs more work. I'd

105like to see it come back. So, I would be in support of tableabling. Any other deliberation? Yeah, I'd be a no on this um tableabling motion. Um, so that that would be a no. I feel like we could uh vote on it now, you know, but I do like the idea of us potentially uh and I know we're not making a motion, but I like the idea of us saying no to this and then just hiring somebody. So, no to this motion. I'll be a no on it. Miss Hamilton, no to Dar's motion. Mrs. Simonetti. So, just to clarify, that is what we're voting on table. Tabling it to December. Yes. Mr. Ready? Yes. Miss Sharp? Yes. Mr. Doby's? Yes. Miss Actton? No motion carries. Moving on. Agenda item 252638, MASB strategic planning. And I'm

106turning this over to Jeremy. Yes, thank you. So last month we had a presentation by MASB rep uh Debbie Stair who gave us a proposal to continue on with a strategic plan. Uh this is something that I felt there was a strong interest from the board along the way. Um, we have a strategic plan that's kind of coming to a close with the end of our partnership agreement. And I think it would be wise for a uh MS MASB, our partners, to come alongside of us to work on a district-wide strategic plan as presented. Do I have a motion? Um, I'll move approval of the MASB. Move approval of the MASB proposal for strategic planning as presented. I have a second. Any deliberation? Just Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Sure. Um, I'm in favor of this.

107I'm just questioning the timeline because I thought they gave us a timeline and then this is kind of vague about when it would actually start and end that. So I'm just questioning the timing. Yeah. So I think they will do what we asked them to and when they presented they referenced like starting before the holiday and my recommendation was after the holiday. Um so that that's what my assumption is is they're going to do what we asked them to do which is starting after the holiday and concluding before the end of the school year. So, um I'll say um that I will be in favor of the um strategic plan. Um I've been in favor of a strategic plan uh since I got on the board in 2021 when I started. Um my first comment

108on this was in 2021 and um I said to the board at that time, it feels like we are uh in the middle of an ocean. um without a compass because we don't have a strategic plan. Um I'm not sure when the state of Michigan's partnership agreement became the strategic plan for the district. Um I know that was something that we were required to do based on uh where we were falling at in our academic numbers and whatever else was going on that Julie explained earlier. But um absolutely um I'm fully in agreement with us creating a strategic plan that includes our community and um the board and um just the whole nine yards to set the vision for JPS. Um even I I would love to even see if our tagline is something that

109the community loves, you know, loves or want to change or not, you know, just in the process of that whole community uh strategic plan. So I'll be a firm yes on this. Any more deliberation hearing? None. All those in favor say I. I. All oppose say no. Motion carries. Agenda item 10, board comments. I want to say huge congratulations for the accomplishment of exiting or about to exit the partnership plan. That is so awesome and I have been so honored to sit in on those district improvement meetings and just watch how much work and time and energy and just love has gone into that. It is evident um as as an observer. Um, so so much appreciation for the whole team that was involved, Miss Baker, for your leadership in that capacity and I'm just

110so thrilled for all of you. Congratulations. I can go next. So, but yeah, that's a huge accomplishment and congratulation to everybody who were part of this achievement because those numbers are that tells you a story. Thank you. Um, congratulations. I'll echo the congrats again. Um, congrats on uh Marilyn for running a fine meeting this evening uh and wishing President on a speedy recovery. Um, I had one uh quick thing to say just looking ahead to our organizational resolutions in January. I'd like to see or ask the administration to conduct uh RFP process for our annual retainer contracts. Uh that's just one thing I've noticed. Every January they just come to the board uh as continuing agreements. Often we don't see the cost of the contract language cost or contract language unless we're like asking for

111it and we're under different leadership now. But uh for the sake of transparency and accountability and ensuring that the district receives the best value um I think we could uh post those in a public RFP process which allows us to kind of openly evaluate which firms are going to provide the highest quality service at the lowest cost. Uh and then uh finally I just want to thank everyone who voted uh who uh volunteered on the bond uh committee. Many of us in the room. I actually was driving up West Dav and I saw Elena I would anticipate uh knocking doors for the bond uh with her two kids. So or two of her kids. Um so incredibly excited about it. look forward to continuing our conversations about how we're going to um properly administer it

112and move that program forward. Uh but really proud that we passed this and can continue to do the good work of the district. Uh and pretty proud that it was the largest bond proposal to pass in the state. So we have a lot to be proud of and proud day to be a Viking. Anyone else? Yeah. Um, just to um our community, I know we're getting ready to celebrate a holiday. Um, just want to say happy holidays to um us as we celebrate this holiday and I'm hoping that we remember um the facts around the holiday and that we're celebrating the right things. Um, again, happy holidays. So, thank you everyone that did work on the bond planning committee and Julie great. I campaigned on reading, writing, and arithmetic. And those scores make me want

113to burst out crying. I'm so excited for this district. So, thank you so much. And thank you for everyone attend that attended tonight and everyone that gave their feedback to me. I appreciate that. So, as we move down to the calendar, November 26 through the 28th is our Thanksgiving recess, no school. December 3rd is going to be our board work session superintendent evaluation at the Jackson um County ISD room 220 at 6. December 16th is our regular meeting at the JHS media center. And December 22nd till January 2nd is winter break with no school. So, do I have a motion? Second. All right. Thank you everyone. Have a good night.