001Mrs. Strode >> present. >> Miss Williams is present. >> Thank you so much. And I am aware of Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Kavanagh not being in our meeting this evening. Are there any public comments on agenda items at this time? Seeing none, moving on to um the approval of our minutes for uh July 24th, August 1st, and August sec second, excuse me. Are there any corrections to those men minutes? Seeing none at this time, moving on to presentations. We don't have any pre do we have any presentation? No, we don't have any presentations at this time. On to our reports. Um from our secretary. Yes. Let me grab it right here. So, um on August 6, please join us for uh personal enrollment assistance from 4 to 7 p.m. um at the district welcome center
002at 2400 Patengill Avenue. On August 14th, we are going to be having our farewell to Luton uh from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. um we're hoping we're going to have a huge group of alumni and current families and staff and neighbors to come honor uh the past and embrace the future of our beautiful new Luton that we will be having. Um and that is located at 2000 Luton Place. Um, and on August 18th, it's our teachers first day of school. And on the 20th, we have our first day of school for our students. Um, coming up for our board. On August 21st, we are going to have our regular board meeting and information study session. On September 4th, we have a regular board meeting. And September 18, we have a regular board meeting and an information
003study session. >> Wonderful. Thank you so much. Are there any questions for our secretary at this time? I don't know why I'm led to ask that. Probably because of the p the personal enrollment assistance. So, we'll be offering that to the community to come. That's a great thing to do. So, thank you so much, Trusty Herd. >> Madam Secretary, that was yesterday, right? Is there another opportunity if somebody missed the opportunity yesterday because it's the seventh today. This was yesterday. >> Thank you so much for bringing that up. One thing I would say to the community is anybody who needs any assistance with enrollment, you can always go to the district welcome center. So, uh, two 2400 Patent Gill, um, we're always here to help you. So, any families that are having difficulty because they
004are wanting to enroll, which is wonderful. Please always reach out, but thank you for bringing that up. Uh, that was yesterday. Yes, >> thank you. I didn't I didn't realize it was on the 6. Yeah, that's okay. We have assistance available. Let's just say that. All righty. Moving on to our um B committee report, the finance committee. Dr. NZ Martinez, could you please report on behalf of Dr. Kavanagh? >> Yes, of course. So, um our June 2025th treasures report um for the period of June 1st, 2025th through June 30th, 2025 is attached, uh so it's attached to our evening's agenda. Uh but here are some highlights from the report. The beginning cash and investment balance was 66,100,562. Receipts totaled 28,218 and 751 while dispersements equaled 18,618. The net interfund transfer totaled 72,68951 in interest from
005fund investments to the students and bond funds as well as journal entries to remove the due to due from uh froms in all funds and the monthly transfer to the general fund for bond expenses was zero dollar and0. Uh the ending general fund cash and investment balance on June 30th, 2025 was 3,1 10,173. The general funds cash and investment balance is 64,390,918 uh less as compared to the same time last year. And we want to say thank you to our donors. This month we had a total of 30,357 in donations and that came from it was $10 from my school bucks H Heartland uh for Everett uh $30 from the Blackbod and Assenture donation to LSD and uh from a miscellaneous donor we have $317 um for Postto Disney musical and uh ABM Industries Incorporated
006uh donated $30,000 to uh ABM student scholarship fund. >> And Mrs. President, this concludes the June 2025 treasures report. >> Thank you so much for reporting. May I have a motion, please, to >> so moved. Accept the report. Yes. >> Madam President, I move that the board of education approves expenditures as presented for the June 2025 budget. >> All righty. So, it was moved by Trusty Williams. Second, please. >> Second by Vice President Lopez. >> All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Any oppose. Motion passes. Six z 70. Thank you for counting for me. >> 70. >> Oh, >> thank you. Thanks so much. Superintendent. We're on to your report. >> Wonderful. >> Well, good evening everyone. Uh, this is the first time in a while that I'm speaking at the six
007o'clock time and not at the 8:00 time. Uh, so it is uh it is wonderful. So maybe I'll go on a little bit longer. I apologize. Uh, but I really just want to start out by saying how great was the Mount Hope opening. >> That was really Yeah. Thank you. And and it's and it's thank you to the community, right? You know, the the the bond that was passed $129.7 million, but you know, who's counting? uh was allowing us to do something that this district hadn't seen in a generation, which is build a building from the ground up with the most modern technology, with the safest of things. But what was so great about that building is so much of the structure and so much of the way in which it was built was because
008of parents and because of students and because of teachers because they let their voice be known about what they wanted. And if you were there and you heard one of the students talk, the thing that the student was most happy about was that they had not one room that was the gymnasium, the auditorium, and the cafeteria, but we actually had a full-size gym and a full-size auditori cafeteria that actually has a stage that you can do productions in. that happens because we listen to the community and we want to make sure that they get really what they deserve, which is the best uh facilities. And it was so great. Um, you know, saw the former principal of Mount Hope, the former superintendent. Somebody actually showed me a pamphlet from when they opened up the original
009Mount Hope in the ' 40s. Uh, and it was amazing. Uh, you know, but just how things have changed, right? You know, the old Mount Hope was two stories. definitely not ADA accessible. You know, it was falling down when I got, you know, and and it was just really a wonderful day. So, I want to thank this board. It was because of your dream that we could have this bond and that we can move this forward. And of course, to this community that voted on it. Um, you know, other things that are going on. Uh, and in fact, we have a did you know I, you know, usually because I'm speaking at 8:30, I don't want to belver the point. Uh but we have a wonderful video that we're going to show you about one
010of the programs that we're doing during the summer. And just to say that, you know, a district never sleeps, right? During the summer, our staff is going to trainings and they're still doing summer school and we're teaching. Uh even today uh first deputy superintendent uh you know Jessica Benvdas and I presented for almost three hours to the principles and the assistant principles about how we're going to re-energize and focus on instruction and do those things. So it's been it's been really good. Um we want to make sure that if anybody is listening at home or watches this on video, if you do have any questions about enrollment, please please please reach out. If you have uh questions about transportation, please please please reach out. School starts on the 20th. Teachers are back on the 18th,
011but kids are back on the 20th. I know that is early. I know that feels early, but that is the day that us and many many other districts are starting because of the way that the calendar goes. So, with that, I do want to um turn it over to to our comm's team if they want to play the did you know. Uh and then I'm certainly happy to >> comes to life each summer. FES camp is the bilingual education summer tutoring program, >> but it's more than just an acronym. >> We like to think that it has the best teachers and the best staff and the best students and is the best program. >> Best camp started in 2020 and has been growing ever since. Generally, students who are more newly arrived have been here
012about a year. And students who need opportunities in the summer to continue to work on their English language skills as well as additional academic skills. >> From kindergarten to high school, kids from around the world come together to learn. >> Coming here and being able to express where they're from and their their perspectives and their environments and then watching that honestly just it's amazing. >> Best camp started in 2020 and has been growing ever since. This year we invited um about 280 students. Um we've seen about 245 of them. >> As it grows, so do its partnerships with local organizations, volunteers, and enrichment opportunities that go beyond the classroom. >> This year we have dance, we have swim, and we have tennis. >> The goal is to help students feel ready for the school year
013ahead. there's more intensive intervention and they're in with peers who are in similar language spaces and so they're learning together as opposed to a traditional classroom where they're kind of working to keep up with their peers. Here, everyone is learning English all together. >> What we want to do is make sure that they make a 10 to 20% gain in whatever they're doing. We want to make sure that we're working with that student and that they'll be able to master at least one or two skills beforehand. and beyond the classroom, introduce families to all Lancing has to offer. >> We're very intentional about the field trips that we take, and when we plan those field trips, we reach out to those locations in advance to kind of source materials um or lesson plans so that
014we can intentionally pre-teach as we go. >> Over the course of 6 weeks, something incredible unfolds. >> When they do get something right that they've been struggling with, they just get so happy and so proud of themselves, and they share it with their friends. students find their voice >> in a space like this where we're all kind of learning together and we have staff and teachers who all come from different linguistic backgrounds. Um it creates this very kind of safe and hospitable space for kids to just really open up and start talking. >> Friendships and community >> when they really start truly coming out their shell and talking about where they're from, their family, and you know that's really when when you're like wow. And for many, it starts to feel like home. >> Every
015day I get at least 20, 30 hugs from different students, whether they're middle schoolers or younger. And every day is just a happy day to be here >> because here, every summer, learning is just the beginning. >> Thank you. So, thank you to the comm's team and of course, thank you to the great team at Best Camp. Uh, yet again, one of the many, many programs that we have during the summer and being very focused on and intentional around the kinds of supports that we give certain students. So, uh, with that, uh, certainly happy to answer any questions, but again, I want to make sure, uh, that we get on to the business of the board. So, thank you very much. >> All righty. Any questions for our superintendent? Yes. I want to start at
016this and Trusty Ninsky, please. >> Uh, yes, thank you. I was curious if you could give us a brief update on the federal and state funding since the last meeting. >> Sure. Uh, always fun. Um, you know, so the the good news is that the federal money that was being held on July 1 has now been released. So if you remember there was a time where money that had already been voted on already been approved to be sent to the school district uh had been held up for a reason minations from the federal government. They have now uh released those monies and so we are in in full for this current year for our titles title one title two title three etc etc. Um the great news of course is as I explained previously um
017we we had a feeling this was coming and even if it wasn't we were going to fund these programs because they're really really important. Uh we made sure that they stayed intact in that interim and now that the feds have released the money to MDE uh that money should be uh coming or is kind of in in transit so we're in good shape. In terms of the state budget, you know, we don't have one yet. Uh so you know if the the the state of Michigan has a rule or they had a rule that they said that they were going to have a state budget by July 1. That was their own kind of uh rule. They have blown by that. Uh you know we're in August, but the real issue would be if we
018don't have a budget by October 1st. Right now we are funded all the way up to September 30th. So I don't want people to be nervous or or worried that you know somehow we can't open up school or anything like that. So there is currently no state budget for next year. I certainly know that our friends two blocks from here are working hard on this or at least I hope they are working hard on this and you know it is our intention of course to keep our ears to the ground as much as they possible. Now I will say I also want the community to know this. You might have seen reports or even just conversations about some districts making decisions about cutting or not cutting. The Lancing School District is not even going down
019that road at this time. We have the money. The budget is there until September 30th. We have no indication that there isn't going to be a state government uh budget coming on. And certainly our students deserve to be able to have uh a wonderful first day. Now, if the budget doesn't get passed by October, that's a different story. But, you know, that will be a difficult situation for all school districts in the state of Michigan. So, the good news is the federal money has been uh allocated and the state budget is still uh being decided, but again, the really hard deadline for that is the September 30th, August, October 1st. Um, and we haven't gotten there. We're still a month out. So, thank you for asking that. Thank you, Trusty Ninsky. Did anyone else have
020any questions? Um, Trusty Herd. >> Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. Would you update us on um your vision to support the community with gun safety resources and supports? Also, would you speak to your vision for safety in schools in the coming year? >> Great. Thank you so much for that question. You know, one of the things that I said today at the uh professional development with all of our educators is at the end of the day, the first act we must do as a school district is to keep children safe. That is absolutely the number one thing. Everything else comes from that. But if we are not safe in our buildings, if we are not safe with our health and wellness and physicality, then we are not doing our job. So, I love this question because
021what you can see in this district over the last couple of years is a huge investment in safety and security for our buildings. Everything from, you know, bullet resistant glass to fences to secure vestibules to um video cameras. The Now, I don't want a police state. That's certainly not the the concern. And in fact, if you see like Mount Hope, we have more light and we have more sunshine and we have more openness, but it's done in a very very thoughtful and safe way. We're building and I'll turn it over to um COO uh Slate in a second, but we're are building uh secure vestibules at our schools. The new ones of course all have it. So, just to remind families, not only do you have to be buzzed in to the first door, but
022you're buzzed in to a second door and then you go into the main office. So, you're not like just out in the school. That's something that's really, really important. You if you're a visitor, you have to put in your ID and we go and do background checks. They're not like FBI, you know, fingerprint, but it goes through your ID and so we can see if there's issues about that. So, I really do want this community to know that we truly do believe that safety and security is always number one. And the truth is the safest place your child can be probably in this entire city is in one of our schools. And so, please know that uh when we do that and again, there's a zillion things that we're doing to keep our students safe.
023And then, of course, training for our staff. Our office of school culture has done quite a lot. We have up-to-date things like Alice training and rave. So we have apps where you can press a button and immediately get to 911. There's quite a lot that we're doing to keep people safe. But before I answer the second part of the question, which I really look forward to, I want to turn it over to um COO Slate just if there's some things you want to add in terms of what we've done even this summer in terms of safety and security. >> Absolutely. Thank you, Superintendent. Just to mention a few of the buildings that we've added the secure vestibules at. So, superintendent mentioned all of our new builds. Those are automatically happening happening, excuse me. Um, Atwood,
024Lions, and Forest View all got secure vestibules this summer. So, those will be up and functioning um as of the first day of school. Dwight Rich is also getting a secure vestibule. That one's taking a little bit more time just because the layout of the school requires a little bit more engineering, fire suppression, those different types of things. but they will have one into the beginning of the school year, definitely before second semester. Um, and then we are looking into other our other schools that currently do not have secure vestibules such as Gardener um to see what we can do there um to plan it out so that we can ensure all of our schools have secure vestibules over the next year. >> Thank you. So, please rest assured that this is always front of
025mind for us and it's something that we care really deeply about. The second thing, and this is a kind of a role of the superintendent, is certainly first and foremost my responsibility is to the children and the staff in our buildings, but we also know that we care about this community and we care about the people of Lancing. And sadly, this summer, like many summers, we've witnessed gun violence. We've we've witnessed uh you know, violence in our community. And one of the things that we have to do as a school district is recognize that we're a leader of this district. And so over the last month, we've been working on plans to not only work even closer with nonprofits and organizations, specifically Advance Peace. So, in fact, we have a big meeting uh with them,
026uh is it next week? Yeah, next week. Um and just as a reminder, Advanced Peace is a nonprofit that focuses on uh reducing gun violence in our community by addressing individual actors who are part of it. We now have a much closer relationship with them. We're working with them individually. We're also working with nonprofits about uh having gun locks for families if they so choose. Again, we can't force it, but certainly if you do have a gun in a building, in a home with a child, it is very, very important that you have safe storage. Uh we'll probably have something my hope is the first day of school. Um, but we also want to make sure that first day of school happens. Uh, but you know, I I really want the community to know that
027safety and security isn't just about in Mrs. Jones's class. It is in this community at large. And so, you know, what you'll hear from me is some extra things that are happening hopefully that first week of school about gun locks and safety locks, but it's also about our strengthening and our partnerships with uh Advanced Peace. And you know, one day I actually look forward to bringing them to uh the board so that you can see the really thoughtful work uh that they're doing with us. They have people in our schools. We uh also certainly support them. So, you know, this summer has been a summer of re-engaging the nonprofits that are doing really well so that we can bring them uh forward. So, we're building safer schools. We're trying to create a school community that's
028safer. And you know, it's it's August 7th. You know, the hope is that by the first week of school, uh, we'll have something to do something in the summer when folks are out. It's just not really the best time. When everybody comes back, that's the time we want to really focus and I look forward to giving a preview of course to this board uh before, but um there's a lot going on that I that I look forward to. So, thank you. >> Trusty Herd, did you have >> Yes, I did. And and while we're talking about safety, could you speak to parents who might be concerned about food security? >> Sure. >> Um with all that's going on with some of our neighbors, would you speak to them so that we can get in front
029of this with the truth? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, if you go to the Lancing School District, we will provide you breakfast and lunch. I don't want anybody to think otherwise. regardless of what's happening from the federal level or the state level. But please know that right now the state budget goes through September 30th. So there really isn't a concern for us and we know how important this is. But I want to go a step further. So, not only is there going to be food for our children, but if you remember, we also have care closets, we have period products, we have health care products that we understand that our role in this community is to support all of our families with not just the great education, but food and health, you know, uh,
030you know, shampoo or conditioner or even clothes. So, please, if anybody is listening out there and they're in need of those things, please let us know. I mean, I'll turn it over to um to Miss Black. You know, I know that we do these handouts quite often. Um you know, if you want to just speak to that a little bit, that'd be great. >> Thank you. Sure. Um the office of school cultures uh department of health uh oversees our uh community uh care closet in which um again superintendent has laid it all out. Uh we have tons of product. We open uh the window once a month for families and students to request whichever items they would like on the list and we hand deliver those items uh to either the parent or the student,
031their choice. Uh a lot of times students don't want you to bring it to the schools and so uh we will deliver uh the package wherever they they would like for us to deliver it. It's well packaged in a pretty brown bag with handles. Uh and so we want to not only provide the the product um but we wanted to provide it neatly uh nicely uh and take and give it with care and love um that it it it that it actually absolutely deserves. Um and so we look forward to um opening the window here in September. Um, but even when the window is closed, when families or students share with us that they are in need, we make sure we get them whatever item they they're in need of. We just had a a
032big period product drive yesterday at the Hock Center and families were stopping uh for it was like a three-hour event and so uh the community really came out and we were there to show up for them. So, we're we're here. We're open. Uh the doors are always open 24/7. Yeah. And look, I appreciate that not everybody is glued to their computer watching this wonderful show. Uh but please know that anybody listening, please spread the word. If there are families in need, we've got you. We've got food, we've got clothing, we have health care products. We want to make sure that people recognize that this district thinks of itself not just in the education way, which of course we need to, but in all of those facets as well. So, thank you so much for those
033questions. >> All righty. Any other questions for our superintendent at this time? Trustee Williams. Superintender, question for you and kudos to having all of these services available to the families in the communities. I think the biggest thing that we're finding though, while some people will make it known that that they there's still this big trust issue and also with the trust issue, it's that independency and that secrecy and wanting to be how are we going to address that? because again it's not I won't say it's a pride issue but it's again where we have lack of trust there's everything else and so we really want people to know that these things are so how do we do that because if we're saying because sometimes I will stand in the gap for people and say okay
034I'll sign up and do it for you but I can't keep doing it how do we get these people to understand that we are here mindbody spirit to help you holistically because again that big trust factor right now that's out there is what's keeping I think a lot of our students and a lot of our families for reaching out and connecting. >> Sure. No, I think that's a really great point and you know that's one of the things I would really lean on the board for is you know as the representatives of the community you know the more that we can be seen as working together that trust factor can go up. So many of our families, you know, know the teachers, they know the principles, they grew up with each other. And I think
035just continuing to say we're here showing how they can trust us. And that making sure that going through somebody like you, it's wonderful that they're saying, "Hey, we trust you. Can you help?" I look at the board, I look at our staff, and I look at our community at large. Is Lancing is a small city. Everybody knows somebody. And if you have a good relationship with folks, please tell them that there's nothing to be ashamed of. There's nothing to hide. And if they do, and that's what uh executive director Black was saying, rather than go in person, we can drop it off. We can do things. So, I agree. I think that there's a long history of, you know, either distrust or questions about the district. And I would just say that the more we
036continue to show that we are there for the community, the better. And I would look towards the board as a way to help support the district as well. You are well thought of. You have great relationships as does the staff. Let's figure out ways together that we can try to to to break down uh that those barriers. But I think the best thing we can do is to continue doing the the work. I I mean I would defer to to Cordelia, but what we're seeing is as the program continues, there's more upkeep. People care about it. They're getting more and more. When we started it, five families all going, "Is this real?" Like, I don't know if I can trust this. And now that people are starting to do it, we're giving away literally hundreds
037and hundreds of things. And so, I love this board. I really appreciate you bringing that up and just knowing that we want to support you in that community as well. So, thank you for bringing that up. >> Maybe a question, observation, or even my my personal ask maybe the first or second week of school that representatives are in the school with maybe a clipboard or something saying, "What can we do for you?" Having them sign up to say what we need. I mean, I think this will show them that we are here for you. I mean, it could be something as simple as I may need help with my electric bill. Who do I go to? Can I come to you? I mean, and I'm willing to do this. I'm willing to sit at different
038stations. I mean, I think most people know that first day of school, you'll probably see me everywhere loving on the babies cuz that's me. Um, even though I'm excited my grandbaby's going to school this year. Yay. So, that is a suggestion. If we don't do it the first week, I mean, whatever I can do to assist you so that we can bridge that gap and make it even better this year, I'm willing. >> I appreciate that. Thank you so much. >> Ready, Trusty Stro. >> Awesome. I think the biggest thing as I'm hearing is I know firsthand just being in the seat that I'm in and also being a parent of this district and believing in this district. I feel like the big thing that we have to get out in the message of people
039that are watching or maybe watching it later, we are not at a space where we're giving to be seen, but we should be seeing given. And I think that this district has done a great job at reiterating that point. But as we're wrapping up to the first week of school, I think the board, and I don't want to speak for all of my colleagues here, whatever it is that we can do to be seen, given, but not just given to be seen. I think we are really excited about that push. Whatever we can do to get that out to the community, we're willing to do that. Um, and I'm just curious too if we can pull some data metrics about how we're helping out with that care closet. Um, maybe there are some more folks
040out there that want to donate or want to share in pushing that community effort forward. Um, I know personally that I know a lot of folks that would love to to be a part of that initiative. So, maybe just even getting the the awareness out of how to participate in the giving side. You know, not everybody wants to go and pass it out, but somebody might write a check, right? We have a lot of folks like that. So, I'm um excited to uplift that and if at some point we can get some data mapping surrounding what that looks like and what the needs are or what maybe products are, you know, slimming more or what the more people are asking for, right? So, if if we could do that, that'll be great. But again, I
041think just lifting with we're not doing anything to be seen, but we want to be seen given. Thank you. >> Thank you, Trusty Strobe. N Martinez. >> Yeah. So, um I wanted to kind of piggyback off of what um Trustee Williams was saying. Um and I know we do this uh on a lot of our things, but maybe making sure that we have the information also in Spanish and other languages just because our immigrant um you know, folks are really scared of seeking help at all currently. Um and so knowing that we have these services and this uh these things available would be I think really great for our our Spanish speaking parents. but all of our immigrant parents. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you for lifting that. We we always want to make sure that
042it's accessible for everybody. Um any Vice President Lopez? >> Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I I'd like to ask um uh Christina to give us an update on the air conditioning of our buildings. Uh so people are aware. >> So we went from personal items to the air conditioning. >> Well, that's important. You know, it's very important. It's very important. Are are we off are we done with Okay, >> happy to. Thank you so much. Um, so we've been working on several air conditioning products throughout the summer. Um, several several of our schools already have air conditioning, but I'm happy to announce that um, six more of our schools will have air conditioning by the first day of school. Um, so we are very excited about that. They're currently in the schools putting
043in the air conditioning right now. We had to do quite a bit of electrical work in our older buildings to make sure it could handle all of the air conditioning. Um so all of that's being done. Um happy to announce uh Kavanaaugh's air conditioning will be complete. Um big projects there, new parking lots, all kinds of beautiful things. Um but very happy to announce that now most of our schools, we're not completely there yet. One of these days I'm going to say 100%. Um but most of our schools will be airond conditioned by the start of school. It'll make it so much better for our students. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. I I do have another question. Uh Mr. Superintendent, I know that um you spoke to your your staff and principles earlier today. Um can
044you uh talk to us about um your big push this year in terms of student achievement, student comprehension? >> Absolutely. No, thank you for bringing this up. Uh you know, I guess this is what happens when we're not talking at 8:30. uh is is that you know when I got to Lancing, you knew that you had amazing people. You had people that care deeply about this district, students, families, teachers, educators, you name it. But the systems and structures weren't necessarily there. Uh when I got here, there were 125 to 135 teacher vacancies. The attendance rate was 70%. It's really hard to focus on raising MSTEP scores if 30% of the kids aren't there and 100 plus teachers aren't there. And a lot of this was COVID, what have you. And so over the last couple
045of years, we've really been able to focus on the systems and structures so that we now have uh the last number we saw was maybe less than 10 vacancies in classrooms starting next week. Amazing. Uh our attendance rate is well over 85%. We're moving the needle. We have curriculum that you all voted on which is terrific. And so this year we all feel really comfortable that those the structure is there for us to really move instruction. Now of course instruction has always been a focus. I don't want anybody to be like oh they now figured out kids should read. now is but that this uh this morning Jessica and I spent two and a half three hours really focusing on what can we do to really move the needle on instruction you know and what's
046so great is you could see the light in the eyes of the principles where they feel comfortable now really taking the idea of raising our MSTEP scores by 50% you know 50 or 100% doubling you know those are those are ideas that we're not even bringing up, they're bringing up. And so the big focus this year is really about instruction. The focus is about proficiency, about getting kids to where they need to be. Not that that wasn't the case in in years, but so much of the last couple of years has been focused about getting those structures. And so, you know, my promise certainly to the community is that this year we really do think that we're going to see a dramatic change. Now look, over the last couple of years, our scores have gone
047up. We know that, right? We are making progress, but we really feel like the ground is super fertile for a big growth spurt uh this year. So, a lot of it is the new math curriculum, the new English curriculum, doing it to fidelity, supporting our educators so they feel comfortable doing that, making sure that the schools have the things. I mean, look, we we can joke about air conditioning, but be honest, it's pretty hard to learn if it's 90° in a classroom, right? And so, those are the kinds of things that um we're really focusing on. And and what I hope and I look forward to is we know these six boards every month are going to be filled with student work and you're going to start to see some higher level uh work, some
048really thoughtful stuff because our teachers are great of course, but now we have some of these curriculums that are really going to be pushing the needle. So, you know, we spent the the morning really focusing on this, but then also asking the principles, what do they need? How can we be supportive? And so, you know, look, I I really look forward to this year. I think a lot of great things are going to happen and, you know, we'll only know kind of at the end, but you'll also be able to get a sense every month how things are going. So, thank you for asking. >> The the other the other um area that I want to just mention is that um at our retreat, we talked about AI and how this district is going to
049u um use AI and implement it. Obviously, this is just starting discussions, but uh let the public know that that that's something that's going to to be happening and we're uh we're going to have to deal with not only how how to use it in the classroom, but what kind of policies we we're going to implement. >> Absolutely. >> And that's our secretary over there that >> is going to have to be deal with the policy on AI >> and is used and none abuse of it in in the school district. So, uh, that's another thing that's that's coming up that's very important >> and that we all need to to be on the same page, >> I guess, >> at at this time. So, it's a huge huge huge uh issue and um how
050we best use it for the benefit of our students and our teachers is going to be really the u the hard part to do and uh but you know that's part of the work. >> That's it. >> Thank you for lifting that. Um, Trusty Williams, did you have an >> I have one more question. Mr. Superintendent, um, can you tell us are we fully staffed for the school year and there was no one displaced, laid off or anything that was currently working or how is that looking for us this year? >> Sure. So, you know, with the way the school district works with the multiple different bargaining units and the multiple different positions, um, we are not fully staffed in some positions and we are fully staffed in others. So, uh, as I said just
051a moment ago, you know, we are down to maybe maybe 10 classroom teacher vacancies, but what's been really nice is we have the guest teacher program. So, this is the best position we've been in generation, but we are uh fully staffed where it comes to uh administrative positions. Um, I assume, and again, please don't quote me on this, there might be one or two openings, I assume, in the LEA, so assistants, paraprofessionals, things like that. So, you know, we're in, you know, we're in the best position we've been in since since I got here. Um, but of course, each bargaining unit has their own rules and they have their own positions. So you know if there are any sort of displacements or any sort of closing down that would be by bargaining unit and then
052you know not to speak in the future but we do have some large grants that will be ending and so with that those folks uh have been informed and there's conversations about if those grants do end uh you know what what their opportunities are. But you know what we would say to anybody is you know always apply for things, always try uh to to you know to to stay with the district if you can. Um but you know each bargaining unit has its own rules and and regulations in terms of things like vacancies and displacements. So you know right now we're looking at I you know Clayton's not here so I don't want to quote exactly but we're looking at maybe 10 to 15 classroom teachers. There's definitely LEA assistant paraprofessional openings. There might be
053one or two um nurses maybe, you know, something like that. There's like one nurse opening, but in general, we're we're we're as fully staffed as we've been in forever. So, >> so yeah, I have a qu I let me ask you a question about the grant ending. >> Do you know how many positions that'll affect? >> It's hard because, you know, we have multiple grants that have multiple end dates. um you know there is one large grant called the team's grant um and so we're that one I think is ending December 31st and so it gives us time you know it's still it's August 7th um but we've informed anybody that's under that uh grant that you know these are possibilities and and let's be honest when you have a grant grants have deadlines right
054like you know that right and I think that we've been trying our best to do it and then of course because we don't have of a state budget. I can't say for sure what might happen. So if we could maybe save some of those folks maybe. But what I would urge anybody in any grant that's ending is please look at the vacancies we do have. So please please apply for those. But you know it's it's the way of school districts where you've got your general funds and then you've got your grant funds and you can't you can't trust that those grant funds are going to go on forever. And so you always have to make, you know, alternative uh opportunities for that. >> Thank you. All righty. Trusty Stro, I love that we're we're having
055more conversations again about the budget. So I'm going to go back a little bit. So we know that when you have a district like ours that has been very financially responsible with how we budget. The biggest thing about the grants ending, we know that there's always a grant term and a grant cycle. I know that we've had preparedness conversations before about what that's going to look like. The hold up again is that state budget not being approved, >> but we can't have a fire until there's a fire. I wanted to circle back because there is conversations and maybe folks have some misalignment with their understanding about the school-based budget. Can we address what that actually looks like and entails as we're going into the school year this year for Superintendent Ben? >> Sure. I'm always
056happy to have these conversations, but what I would uh certainly say is whatever I say now, I'm happy to have a much more thoughtful and robust conversation about something as important as like school-based budgeting. But, you know, the the the kind of quick and dirty uh response here is previously the way that school districts tended to be budgeted is the person in my chair got to make decisions and they just said, "I think the money should go here." And what ends up happening is you've got school districts that sometimes make decisions based on relationships or friends or and some schools get more, some schools get less. and you start to wonder like where that's all coming from and there becomes a big equity issue. And so what a lot of school districts do and what
057we're doing is we're saying we're going to have school-based budgeting where we're going to push more money from the district side into the schools. And in fact, one of the things that Jessica shared with the staff this morning is how many more people are in the schools than they have been before. But there's another piece which is we want to empower our leaders to make the decisions. Me as superintendent, I don't know what's more important in your individual school. Is it a dean? Is it a behavioral specialist? Is it having an extra teacher here or an extra teacher there? By having school-based budgeting, principles are empowered to actually make decisions around the money that they get. So often, far too often, districts would say, "I think we know best. We're going to create all of
058these jobs and it's all going to be in central office and we're going to control it and we're going to dish it out as we speak." That doesn't work. What works and what's much more equitable is to say, "Hey, you have these many kids. This is the money that we get. How do you want to spend it?" Now, within reason, right? If a principal says, "I want, you know, a pony." Like, we're not going to do that. But, you know, if a principal says, "Look, we think it's more important to have a behavioral specialist than a dean," we said, "Okay, like, let's have that conversation." And to Trusty Williams point, of course, within the construct of the contract, right? We can't just say, you know, here are the rules. Uh, you know, we throw them
059out. But, you know, I think with school-based budgeting, what you've seen over the last couple of years is many, many, many more people in the schools, much more balance within the schools in terms of programming and support, and then you've got a understanding of what's happening in the individual schools and even in the individual classrooms that um we didn't have previously. Now look, not everybody is a, you know, wonderful budgeter. That's why uh, you know, Kim Adams and her team meet with these principles. In fact, she created a report card system uh, last year where every principal once a month gets an update on how they're doing, are they spending, etc., etc. But you know what I want folks to really take away is that we're finally in a much more equitable position where the
060money is following the children and we're empowering the leaders on the ground to make decisions. Now look at the end of the day a superintendent can always kind of step in if they see there's oh my god there's this huge problem but doing that takes away the power of the individual leaders who really should be empowered. So >> and thank you for that. I am looking at uh Adams over there, Kim, because it looks like she is itching to add to the conversation. But the one thing that I do want to add is I love the importance of giving agency um to our principles and reiterating just for the teachers that's watching at the board level. We are also encouraged, but we are supporting our educators as well and pushing that relationship too where you
061have a principal that is maybe at the head of the seat to say you're going to get crayons and you're going to get a new window. There's conversations with the report card I think that was mentioned to give them agency and saying well we're not getting a pony this year. So can you speak a little bit just briefly to that from your your chair? And actually just before she does, I want to set this question up because I'm so glad you said it that way because it joged something from me. Is if Kim you feel comfortable talking about the process but then also sit and maybe Jessica if you want to talk about sit as well because to your point it's not just about empowering the principles, it's empowering the teachers. >> And I'll refer
062that back to I'm going to ask superintendent. >> No, no, no. It's fine. They're they're better at this than I am. So go ahead and answer both questions. Thank you. >> Thank you for protocol. I I messed up. >> Still not working. >> Okay, there we go. Thank you for the question. Um, I am a big fan. I was not at first of school-based budgeting because it was something different and something new. From my perspective, it's been awesome because it does put the control back in the school. And not only is the principal responsible for making the choices, but as we just mentioned, they work with their school improvement team. And so there's feedback. The school improvement team is relaying information to the principal about what they'd like to see at the school. So they
063generate all the ideas there at the school. Then they come and meet with us and then we budget with them how they would like to budget. Now, would we intervene if they wanted to say, "I want to go out and buy a pony." as Ben said, and we say yes or no. Yeah, we say no to that one. We also try to ensure that everything that they're doing is instructionalbased, um, achievement focused and increasing those test scores. So, ultimate goal is for all of our kids to learn and grow. So, I can share a little bit about the school improvement team process at the school. Um, each school does it a little bit differently, but it is part of our LSEA contract. And so, this has been something I was a school uh sit chair
064many years ago. And so, this is a process that's been pretty consistent across the district. Um, sometimes in our smaller schools, the entire school might be the school improvement team. And other times, the teachers have kind of elected in in a way uh the school improvement um group of people that will kind of take the leadership of the school. They do look at the budgets. Um there is actually a vote on the budgets and there is a very close look at the data and the needs of the schools. So if we do see an uptick in mental health or we see an uptick in behavior or we see that reading is more of an issue than math, those are all things that the school improvement team takes into consideration when they make those decisions. So
065there is a um comprehensive needs assessment that they do at the school level. That's also something that's audited by the state that we have to turn in as well. But that's a way that they can make databased decisions based school by school. And so this school-based budgeting just more so enhances that because then you're taking that data and then you as a school improvement team and as a as a collective staff are then having the opportunity to do that. We are really lucky at several um in several of our schools that we actually have parents that are part of the school improvement team. We often solicit parents. parents are welcome and we would love them to be a part of the school improvement team. It is hard for many of our parents to commit that
066kind of time. But um for any parent that that is out there watching this, please contact your administrator because we are always looking for parents for their input um into the school improvement team process. That also includes surveys for parents, families, and students. And so the students in a tangential way also have a voice in how these um monies and um things are determined. >> So the one thing I just want to add is I know this is a really good system but I also know it's not perfect and I know that some teachers might feel like their voice isn't heard or parents voice isn't heard. So, I just want to urge everybody that if you are listening to this, please get involved. And if you are at a school where you feel like maybe
067it's not functioning right, let us know. But, you know, I think that again the structures are there. Um, and I really appreciate it. Again, you know, I want to make sure that if the board wants uh some details about these things, I'm always happy to do uh a kind of an in-depth presentation, but I love that we're talking about this because I want people to feel comfortable uh you know about what's going on. and thank you so much for answering the question and again uh giving it to you to go ahead and ask your team here to give us that information. >> Um the big thing I would ask for my board colleagues is that maybe since we're back into the groove of going back to school at some point if it is okay to
068ask of our superintendent to go ahead and put a presentation together just to get us all in alignment. Um there's a lot of conversations surrounding budget and we want to make sure that the community as well as our educators are aware of how that works. They have some knowledge base on that and then we are here to support and uplift our students, our teachers and the whole system. But it doesn't work if everybody doesn't have the knowledge. So I appreciate um being able to just ask those little bit of questions and maybe we can do a a deeper dive later. Thank you so much. >> No, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Alrighty. >> Yes, Vice President Lopez. Just just one more item. >> Uh back to teachers. Uh superintendent, I know that we we
069do several things to help um our own staff um attain a teaching certificate >> and can you talk a little bit about that? Uh >> yeah, sure. So, there's a lot of different programs that the school district's a part of. We have a large grant which does end one day uh called the grow your own uh where we've been able to actually send folks back to school and pay for their degrees. Uh we're also part of a statewide grow your own program where where people are also able to do that. But then we also have internal professional development as well. And you know what we hear from faculty is some PD is good, some PD not so good. And so we're certainly trying our best to make the professional development tied to really tangible things
070and and good things. But I will turn it over to um to Jessica if there's any specific uh professional development you want to talk about that the that the teachers are getting um especially with the new curriculum. We started the uh curriculum trainings this summer for any staff members that wanted to take advantage of getting kind of a jump start on that time. Of course, it is optional. Um and in many cases, we were able to pay them for the professional development hours that they went in. So, for the teachers that wanted to get a little bit of a jump start on the new math curriculum or a refresher on the ELA curriculum, that certainly was a part of this summer. Um, we've also run classroom management workshops um that are have been quite successful
071and we I think we're on our third iteration of those because people are asking for um those to come back and we have several staff members that enjoyed it so much last year they want to go through it again this year. So um we've had some of those um during the school year we have seven uh DPPD days uh district provided district-wide professional development days. It's a handful or a mouthful. Um, and on those days we also have opportunities to have time with the curricular tool because again we want to to really be consistent on making sure that teachers are very comfortable with the curriculum. We invest a lot of time, money and energy into that. So they need to be able to be very well prepared in that in that area. Uh we also
072have um our OSC uh who has time on DPPD day and they will have lots of different focuses through the school year that they um will do from safety and security to mental health. We also have our special populations department doing workshops on special education IEP completion um servicing our bilingual and ML students. So it is really a team effort across our executive team and departments on those days so that our teachers really feel like they're very well steeped not only in the curriculum but in other areas as well. And then lastly we have our new teacher project. So next week it's a very exciting week in Lancing because we have our new teacher orientation and we will have over 50 new teachers joining us during that week. And the week is really exciting because
073it starts with kind of a drop in openhouse with HR. So if they have questions about benefits and those kinds of things, they can get answers for that. They have a um a day around classroom management and equity which is an amazing day with Dr. Sarah O'Neal and then our retired principal uh Rebecca Stevens who does classroom management. And then they will have a day at their schools, a day with our instructional team leaders, and then our our really well uh crafted um really exciting bus tour. So, they take a tour of Lancing for the morning, and they get to know about Lancing's history and just how rich uh the the the area is, right? Our our history here and how that has impacted um our neighborhoods and our the culture that we have in
074Lancing. and then they have lunch downtown uh together as a group. So that new teacher project then doesn't stop next week. Um that actually continues with monthly professional development, monthly social events, and then monthly pop-up PDs based on their needs. So super excited about supporting not only our veteran teachers but also our new teachers and welcoming them into the culture at Lancing. >> I have a question. I don't know if I missed this, but do we have mentors for our new teachers? Did you mention that? >> Yes, so we do. and I'll turn it back over to Jess in terms of how we do it. >> So, we do have mentors in Lancing. Um, you have a mentor for your first three years in the Lancing School District and the hours of mentorship kind of
075taper off as you go. But, um, I believe the first year is between 30 and 45 hours of mentoring. And so, with the new teacher project, the mentors will also be joining some of those professional developments and social events to really kind of connect them um to the school uh climate and culture. >> Wonderful. Thank you, >> Trusty Williams. >> What happens? Can you hear me? >> I'm sorry. So, what happens to like teachers, staff, principles, and everything who may have to get a shift or move to a different position? Are they given mentors? Like say I'm going from being um a special ed teacher coordinator to just working in the schools. There's a lot of difference there. So, am I provided a new mentor versus the normal things that have to be done? Because
076some things can change going from one one dynamic to the other. Am I provided a mentor or someone that's going to give me that until I understand everything fully in my position? >> So, that's a great question. Um, I'm actually going to ask if uh Christina from HR's perspective as well as Jessica uh just to make sure that we get both voices because there's two set because there's a great question. There's there's two sets of the pedagogical and then the contractual. >> So the contractual piece is kind of what Miss Benvitas talked about the first three years of teaching. With that being said, I would say that I'm actually might turn it over to Mr. Kek too and Jessica. Um but when teachers turn over um or go into new positions, we have that actually
077happen a lot. So, especially with our grow your own program where we have teachers wanting to go in and get a graduate degree degree, go into special education, let's say, then we do make sure that they are partnered up with other people in the profession to receive that additional training. So, um Sergio or Jessica, I didn't know if you wanted to add anymore, but >> good evening. Um specific to special education, uh we have uh many specialists at the schools now that one of the reasons why they're there right now because we have a large amount of new special education teachers and teachers that are trying to uh achieve their certifications. So we have people that specializes and developing IEPs and supporting the kids and supporting the general education teachers. So when we are trying
078to uh support one specific type of teacher, we have to make sure that those teachers are also able to work with all kinds of kids. And that's why we all work together to make sure that we try to put all the pieces together to support our new teachers. And finding uh appropriate mentors and helping the mentors be good mentors is a challenge that we all have in this profession and that we continue to work to make sure that our new teachers are getting the support that we need for them to succeed in this career. Thank you. >> Thank you. Alrighty, no more questions. Wonderful. I love the conversation. This is great. Um, moving on to our new business. Um, on our agenda and in our board packet, we have a um proposal to accept the
07951. >> Oh, it's on. Maybe I was just not Can you hear me now? >> Well, I can hear you. >> Can you hear me now? No. All right. Maybe I need to move up a little bit. All right. In your board packet um this evening, you have the 517 ministries proposal. Um may I have a motion, please? >> Um Trusty Williams, >> before we take a motion, can we ask some questions or do we have to do the motion first? >> Motion, move, supported, and then we'll do discussion. >> Okay. >> All right. May I have a motion, please? >> Yes, vice president. Um, >> I move that the board of education accept the contracted service agreement with Street 517 Ministries as presented. >> Okay. >> Second. >> It was moved by It was
080um moved by Trust Vice President Lopez and second by Dr. Nas Martinez. Um, any discussion at this time about the proposal presented this evening? >> I do I have a couple of questions. um the funding because it looks like they're ask it's the the proposal is saying $75,000. Where does the funding come from? >> Sure. So, if if it's okay to the president, I think it would maybe be uh helpful if somebody from ET kind of explains the proposal and answer your question of course, but give a little bit more background about what they're doing and what they and why why this is coming to the board. >> Yes. So, >> would it Yeah. >> Is that a Cordelia? >> Jess. >> Yeah. >> Uh thank you. Uh we have a proposal this evening for
081streets 517 in contracted work with Pleasant View School um specific to their middle and high school students. So Streets 517 will be providing relational and academic support services to students um including the high school and of course middle school students. The goal is to increase student engagement, improve um academic outcomes, reduce dropouts through mentorship and structured interventions and afterchool programs. So the core services that are being provided are um adults building relationships with students throughout the school day again in high school and middle school. Uh providing in the- moment support not only in the classroom, the hallways, the cafeterias, but during classroom interactions and interventions. They will also be providing afterchool clubs for the students at Pleasant View. They will be providing an uh bridge builder which we have found to be um very successful
082which is a case load management where they really monitor students and provide mentoring for struggling students and those that may become disengaged over the time that they are there. They also coordinate lunch and learn um opportunities for students which is connecting them with job opportunities or with other mentors or successful adults in the community to really provide kind of that inspiration for them as they connect um with a kind of next stage of their life after high school. Um the staffing and time allocation for this for the high school is two staff members for a com combination of 50 hours a week and that is for the relational support that I mentioned earlier and then we also have the middle school support which is one staff member providing 25 hours a week uh with a
083total cost of $75,000. There are expended um expected outcomes within the contract which I do think are really important to lift. Um the expected outcomes are increased student engagement and attendance, >> re-engagement of disconnected students, so they often will do home visits um with our students um that are are disconnected and improvement in graduation rates, measurable progress via data tracking and reporting and enhanced collaboration with the school leadership. Uh, Streets 517 is active with our e-WIMS teams, which are the teams that we look at early warning um, signs and those meetings happen between weekly and monthly depending on kind of the school cycle, but they're an integral part of that because as they have built relationships with students within the schools and families, they're often out helpful for us to help re-engage students because they
084are excellent at mentoring. Um, this was something as I oversee the alternative education program, as I met with the principal and um, assistant principal and staff, this is something that they had felt was very valuable last year. They felt that the data supported this and they opted to use, I believe it was their 31A monies to Oh, it was in general fund. Thank you. But it was through their databased um, school budget that they decided to allocate this towards streets 517. >> Yeah. And to add to that, this is where that idea of school-based budgeting is so powerful. You sit with a principal, you sit with the staff and you say, "What do you need? Here's your budget." And they say, "You know what? We need we need streets." And so it's not the superintendent
085or the executive team saying to the board, I think this is important. What it's saying is our people in the schools are asking for it. So, we bring it to the board because our rules stipulate that if it's over a certain threshold, it's got to go to the board, but it's the school's money. They're deciding, saying, "We like this program. It's really good. We want to spend the money on that." And the other thing that I really like about our new contract service ideas is that we're really writing them with outcomebased in mind. Sadly, and this is not just Lancing. This is every school district I've ever seen, they'll create contracts with vendors by just saying they'll provide a service. Rarely do they say, "What's the outcome for children?" And so, what we're moving towards
086is a real thoughtful way of saying, "Hey, school, you you've got your money. What do you want to use it for?" Oh, great. Okay. What are the outcomes we're going to expect? So that's where this comes from is that again the idea of bringing it to the board is because we now want to bring services to the board rather than just in the old way where it was just certain expenditures. But the idea here is the school has the budget. This is what they want. We approve it in the sense that it works with our school district and then coming to the board uh for your approval because that is certainly the way that we that we work. So, >> thank you. >> So, thank you for asking answering my question about funding. I still
087have a couple of more questions. Um, are these people I'm going to just do all my questions and then if you need me to go back are are there any certifications from these staffings that's come in? Who inputs the data and what have been prior outcomes and data that says that this program is successful? And then my final to that, what about some of these nonprofits that have money that want to come into the district? How are we looking? Because there are several community partners out there that actually can bring in their own funding. They just want to work with the district and the schools and stuff. How how is that in comparison to this? >> That's a great question. Um I think a couple of things. One, if any nonprofit is out there that
088wants to work with the school district and certainly has their own money, my email address is Ben. I mean, in all seriousness, please, please, please reach out to us. I had a wonderful meeting today with um the director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters. Last week, I had a meeting with the Boys and Girls Club. So, anybody that wants to, we will always meet with you and we'll want to make sure that it is uh synergistic with what we're doing. If you're a wonderful nonprofit and you do an adult softball league, probably not going to find the the the response, but we please, and I thank you for bringing this up, is anybody hearing this, if you want to, and if the board knows, please put us in uh touch. But in terms of the
089questions you asked about this specifically, I'll turn it back over to uh to Miss Benvitas. >> Great. And I can Do you want me to go one by one again? >> I I did take notes, but you let me know if I missed something. So, um I'm not sure that there's specific certifications that are necessary, but I do know in meeting with Patrick Sauer, knowing what criteria he uses when he is looking for the individuals that work with our schools, many of them are grads of our our very city, right? And these are people that are really invested. They are young people for the most part. And so, our students can really relate to the students. And that's one of the reasons that this is so incredibly successful because that relational um building is really
090incredible to kind of watch and see how they they look up to these individuals and they really trust them because they've kind of walked in the same I mean if you've lived in Lancing like I have for my whole life you know they talk about different areas different streets different you know uh experiences and these are people that can relate to them and I think that is really critical. So that answers the certification part um the outcomes and data. So, there's two things there that I do want to lift. One is that um we have um Dr. Dory, it's Moore. I always mess up her last name. I want call want to call her Morris. Um uh Dr. Moore meets with our community partners once a month. whe whether they are nonprofits through contractual service
091agreements like street fi streets 517 or whether they're volunteering their time and she does go through their kind of metrics and expectations once a month and then of course through our e-wims meetings we're looking at uh the re-engagement numbers for our staff or excuse me for our students to say okay streets here was your case load this month how many of these have we re-engaged so that is a monthly process that we look at of course I don't have the hard data with me tonight but That is something that we look at once a month with our contracted service agreement specifically with Streets 517, but certainly with several of our other groups that we work with as well. Did I miss a question? >> No. Thank you. >> Thank you for asking those questions, Trusty
092Williams. Those are great. Uh, Trusty Stro, did you have something? >> I did. Thanks for lifting the redirect of that the school actually has this as a request from the school from the teachers um at to the need of what they're looking for for their building being that we have been talking about budgets and I'm trying to get off the budget topic. Can you confirm that by them say we vote on this today and this is something that uh we fund they would be in the okay with their budget. this isn't taking away a salary from a teacher or um having to move some stuff around because of this great ask or not. That's my first clear up of question. And the second piece that I just want to bring um you know I'm in
093the the tech world. I'm like all on their Facebook and I'm looking and the thing that I will notice here and I don't I don't know any of these people personally but I see students. I see them in the classroom. I see them with signs with our kids at graduation. Um, I see them uplifting the students and if they're asking for this at the school level and they have relationship, we have to rally around them. So, I'm lifting that echo for my colleagues as we go into the vote. But, I guess that question is for the budget. If they say yes to this, they're not going to be in a deficit later and say, "Hey guys, we need some more funding." >> Yeah. So, first of all, thank you for the second part of what
094you said is the great thing about modern technology is you can look at a contract in real time and you absolutely saw the work that they've already done and the students love them, the schools love them and that's why the school chose to bring these folks on and so we certainly know that historically uh streets have been great with our kids and we think of no other reason why they wouldn't continue to be great moving forward. in terms of their budget. We would never bring anything to you as the board without having gone through all of the minations in terms of how they would be able to fund it. So, I'll turn it back over to uh Miss Adams. But certainly, if we ever and we hopefully will over the course of however many years
095bring more things like this to the board, everything's going to be vetted before it gets here so that you voting on something wouldn't then put something in the red. uh that would be malpractice on our end and we we wouldn't do that. But Kim, >> hi. Yes, I'd like to confirm during the budget process, they specifically earmarked those funds with their team and set them aside. So, the budget is all good and ready to go. >> Thank you. And I do want to clear up my ask was not to imply anything um but simply as we're talking about budgets and not have an approved budget for state. I want to make sure that folks understand for there's any rumor mail to come that they voted on this $75,000 contract and now we don't have a
096teacher. So you're hearing it here first that we ask the questions that people want to know and we're getting the answers in real time so that we are being held accountable in all sites. Thank you. >> Absolutely. And I really appreciate that. Thank you. I I certainly um it is great when you are able to ask a question like that for us to answer it because we do know that uh the game of telephone is real and that I very much appreciate that. So yeah, we we do a really good job. Kim does a really good job with this. And you know, again, my only ask is the more and I'm in this position, the more we're we as a district are trying to empower our folks. And this is a great kind of one
097of the first examples of bringing something to the board that's an ask from a school rather than, you know, from my seat or anything like that. >> Thank you, Trusty Stro. You all righty, Vice President Lopez. >> Thank you. just to um uh this is uh school-based budgeting. So um if they would have wanted a social worker, they could have set a social worker instead of 517. So that that's a school decision. So that that's what we need to keep in mind and that the community listening out there understand that this is what the school chose to do and um that's within their power to do it because they have the budget and it's been confirmed that it's not going to take money from anybody else >> except their budget for whatever services they and
098their school improvement team decided on. So I'm excited about it. Yeah, I am too. And I apologize. I just want to add one thing because I want to make sure that I'm clear and sometimes I am not. The great thing about schoolbased budgeting is it's empowering our folks, but there is always always a standard that the district is going to have for all schools. So, you can't use school-based budgeting and say, I want, you know, all $5 million to go to 37 social workers and not have a third grade teacher. So, I want to make sure that everybody in the, you know, listening at home knows that there are guardrails. And in fact, not to go and belabor the point, but one of the really important things that we do in school-based budgeting that's equitable
099is we take the principal salary and the first secretary's salary off the top because we know all schools have to have principles. But it would be unfair to a very small school to judge them like a very large school when it comes for those salaries because you need to have a principal with one kid and you need to have a principal with 10,000 students in a in a school. I mean the largest school in in America 6,000 kids but you know and so what we do to make it equitable is we take that kind of stuff off the top. So what's left is based on the number of students and then the needs and the wants of the school. So thank you for bringing that up. Thank you, Trusty Lopez or Vice President Lopez. Is
100there trusty herd, did you have something? >> I have a deep appreciation for streets um 517 and the work that they do. Um but I spoke with um Jessica before. The one one thing that was troubling me about this CSA was my question about perhaps a midyear review or something where we can see halfway through, is this actually working? and can we terminate it at the middle of the year if it's not going with the board strategic plan? If they're not moving the needle forward for our kids and we're making this expenditure. Um, she answered me, but somebody else might have the question in TV land. Can you answer about are we empowered to terminate this CSA midyear or at some point if we find that it's just not working anymore as much as we
101love the people involved? So, I will defer to my good ET, but um it does say as far as I can tell from terminals of agreement number one subsection C upon written notice from either party to the other of termination within 30 calendar days. So, I think that really basically says if something's wrong, we have a month and then we can do it. So, I really appreciate the six-month check-in. The hope and the experience we've had with them already is we have monthly check-ins and so again if there was an issue we would have 30 days to to cancel. >> All right. Any other questions at this time regarding the proposal? >> Yes. Will will the um the data points um I I like the pretty proposal but will the actual numbers be sent to
102the board? It would have been nice to have had that before and and even an opportunity for them to come and brag on themselves. Um, you know, this is a huge expenditure that we're are voting on now. And I'm not saying blindly we have full confidence in the great work that they're doing, but um I'm not seeing the real numbers where they actually helped attendance or they helped people graduate. Um, everything so far has kind of been testimonial. And also um with the school-based budget and we're saying that we spoke to the principal and the team wants this. It would have been nice to maybe have something like a letter of support from that principal or those staff members talking about the impact and maybe a couple of students um along with their data set
103to talk about the impact that it's had on their students so that we're hearing it from them. Um, and what it does for me is it makes my vote yes, which I'm gonna vote yes anyway, but it's makes my vote yes a lot more airtight. >> So, so I really appreciate you bringing this up. This vote today is really a pre precursor to more things I think coming down the pike. So what you just uh elucidated I actually think is a great way that the district should be moving forward that if a large expenditure being requested by a school occurs there should at a minimum be a letter of support from the principal right that makes a lot of sense and I think that that's why we have these great robust conversations is this is
104kind of the first time we're really doing it and the reason why is the board policy does not state you have to bring services. We in an era of being even more transparent than we need to be are bringing this to a vote. But because this is new, I love this idea is at a minimum a letter of support from the requesttor and then of course if there are data points maybe something like that. So certainly in the future I think we should very much take that under advisement. >> Wonderful. Thank you for lifting that trusty herd. a presentation would extremely be nice. And I believe they did present um years ago, but I would love to see them again and see what the outcome has been. Wonderful. At this time, is there any more
105discussion before? Yes, Trustina Winston. >> I guess I'd just add to the conversation that we're having and in the in the thought of having a presentation on school-based budgeting. On the other side of that coin, I think I would be concerned as a board getting into the weeds and tiny details of every single school's proposal and how we're measuring that with each school. So, I just think when we have that presentation, maybe bringing that thought to to the the front of that and considering how that will develop with the board and schoolbased budgeting because I I would be concerned about getting too much into that and hearing every single contract proposal across the district. So, just want to lift that up and fully supportive of of passing this today. >> Yeah. And and I appreciate
106that. And one comment I would make to that is my hope is that when we bring something to the board, it's large enough that it would merit a kind of conversation and we'll try to do our job in terms of saying, you know, if it's under a certain threshold or it's a certain kind of thing like, you know, we don't vote on, you know, the the social worker because that's part of the contract. So, you know, I love this because I think it's indicative of where we're moving the district, but and I appreciate you not wanting to be in the weeds and and I certainly appreciate that as a superintendent, but it's certainly my promise that we're not going to inundate the board with too many of these things, but you know, $75,000 is $75,000
107and so I we feel very comfortable in wanting to bring that to the board. >> Thank you, Superintendent. >> Is the board ready to vote? >> Yep. >> Wonderful. Could the clerk please call the role? Mr. Herd, >> yes. >> Mr. Lopez, >> yes. >> Mrs. Moore, >> yes. >> Dr. Nars Martinez, >> yes. >> Mr. Nabiski, >> yes. >> Mrs. Strode, >> yes. >> Ms. Williams, >> yes. >> Motion passes 70. Wonderful. At this time, we have one public comment. Miss Lori Abbott Smith, please come join us. You have three minutes and the board typically does not respond to comments. Thank you for being Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good afternoon. My name is Lori Smith. I've been an administrator in schools for about 37 years in a variety of ways. school administrator,
108special ed director, MTSS coordinator, uh just to name a few. Um I'm coming today on behalf of the laid off staff. I'm excited to hear that staff are all have a position, but I find myself laid off and I'm not sure how many others are laid off. Um but I uh wanted to know that information um one and also uh just the process of that being laid off. I was given a notice on June 10th and then I was laid off on July 11th. Um and the other reason I'm asking is my colleagues started to call because you know this is that time where they're coming back and um looking at what's happening for the next school year. not received any information about my my layoff. I am actually no longer laid off. I am
109unemployed. So I am drawing now effective I think next week drawing unemployment. Um but I just wanted some information about that process and unfortunately um our HR director isn't here. I'll try to reach out to him. Um and I did also apply for North on July 6. My um they often come in but I did not at that time I was still an member so those are the things that I am just wondering and hopefully there are not too many thank you all right so at this time are there any comments from our board members I'm going to start at this and trusty strode. >> Of course, we have a comment. I don't think we're going to come back together before the first start of the school year of next on the 20th when our
110school starts back. >> So, the comment I have is let's rock out this year to our students, our educators, our parents. I'm a parent, too. I'm ready for the kids to go back to school and I am so excited to serve with our board this year and I'm excited about all the amazing things that you all will do this year that we will do together collectively as a community and as a board. So way to go first day of school. >> Wonderful. Yay. First day of school. >> So I'm going to second that. Yay first day of school. I have a lot of mixed emotions because I do have a five-year-old glam baby that's going to kind for the first time. >> Um, she'll probably do a lot with Sergio because she does have a
111IEP. So, take care of my baby. No, I'm kidding. Um, I also have a senior Jesus. Jessica, where your baby growing up at? That's all I'm saying. But I'm excited to see what our kids are. And even with that, as you guys see, I have Big Bees. One of our graduates works in one of my Big Be stores. and she made the comment and it was so funny today. She says, "I really enjoyed graduation even though you guys kept saying as we went out, smile, smile, smile." She says, "But I didn't really realize what that smile what the words you were saying to us until now as I'm scheduling my classes for LCC. So, I want to say to each one of you, the words that we say to the students as they're crossing us
112for the last time as graduates means so much to them. So, whatever you're saying, whatever you're doing as you're shaking their hands, fixing their college ties or whatever, keep doing it because it makes an impact in their lives. They're thinking about the things that we're saying because I even said, "Did you remember to fill out your lancing promise?" I did. I did. I did. So those seniors, start doing your Lancing Promise. We're getting ready for the next few weeks. And also, congrats to Justin who is part of the Lancing Pro promise for the next steps. You mean so much to all of us here in the district. We can't wait to see where you're going, but we know you're not leaving us. I think that's all I have to say. Yes. Thank you. >> Okay.
113Any other comments from board members this evening? >> Go that way. >> Did anyone Did you have something? >> I always have something. Well, you've got the flu. >> As we're approaching the school year, I think you still have time um to if you are considering sending your students to the Lancing School District to make them shining stars and help them realize their greatest potential. There's still time before the beginning of the school year for you to send them right back home. Thank you. >> No coming home. I do. >> Anybody else have something before the board this evening? >> I do. >> No, I do have. >> Okay. Trusty Lope. >> Okay. Thank you. First of all, I want to welcome my grandson, >> uh, Christ Christian to Dwight Rich >> School. So, and
114and I'm going to switch a little bit. The studio uh lasas So I just want to say this in English that u translate for those people who don't understand I can pick up the word >> there is an adult education program that that you can learn Spanish as well understand some of the words >> uh no this is this is important um our website you can read it in any language you want and I I some people just don't realize that and I think that if if you go to the website and you don't understand English now I'm talking to somebody that doesn't understand English and tell them but anyway you have friends that that do not speak English or or or read English uh that they can just press the button to languages and
115it goes to Spanish uh Farsy uh Vietnamese uh I think seven or eight languages. >> So there is that ability but I think people are really not aware of that and so I hope that those that are listening can share the information. So thank you very much Madame President. >> Yes, everybody has babies. >> Well, now that we're all bragging on our babies, I also want to welcome my two boys to Postto. They're very excited. Um, I am excited too. Also ready for them to go back to school. Um, so we're gonna have a great year. >> Go board babies. Right. All the board babies. Well, I have a graduate. Woo. I'm an empty neester. So, all right. Any more business before the board at this time? With no more business before the board, we
116are journed at 7:31. Have a wonderful evening. ever been a part of my holy spirit.