001Okay. All right. I'd like to call the meeting to order. >> Uh, may I have roll call? >> Mr. Antoine is absent with notice. Mrs. Bonick is absent with notice. >> Uh, Mr. Ber >> present. >> Miss Bowman >> here. >> Mr. Hockey >> here. >> Mr. Dy, >> I am here. >> Okay. >> All right. Please stand for the pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. May I have a motion to approve tonight's agenda, please? >> Motion by Chahakei, second by Ber. All in favor? >> I I'm sorry. Any questions? All right, moving on. Due to the snow day that we had today, uh we will
002not have our bulldog spotlight. So, I don't know if they'll be rescheduled. Dr. Robinson. >> Yeah, we'll get them >> in the in the near future, but um hopefully all the kids um enjoyed that day today. So, uh we'll be moving on then to our consent action items. This is approval of our general fund bills, financial reports, uh our wire transfer report, purchasing card expenditures, and the approval of minutes from our organizational meeting, which was the last time we were here on January 5th. Do I have a motion? Motion? Motion by Bowman. >> Second by Ber. Any questions? Okay. All in favor? >> All right. Moving right along to communications. Um I don't have anything at this time. Dr. Robinson. >> Uh no. >> Okay. All right. Then we have two committee reports tonight. Uh
003there are two committees that have met since the beginning of the year >> [clears throat] >> uh began policy and security. So if we could start with policy, this is Rice. >> Sure thing. Uh we met on January 21st. It was a committee of the whole. All members were present including [snorts] some uh district representation from each building level. Uh we had discussed uh some administrative regulation updates um on uh 20006 policy which we're actually voting on tonight um to implement. Um we discussed draft regulations uh under review for implementation for the 202627 school year on that policy to allow time for planning and communications. Um we [sighs] the restrictions clarified um for devices including like personal laptops, tablets, gaming devices, but that's not all wired devices, earbuds and earphones, smartwatches. Um and the policy
004outlines uh the regulations more more on that uh to come. Um we discussed the discipline matrix draft by grade level and uh exemption process confirmed um according to ADA and special uh special requests. So we also talked about outside activities 4005. Um we talked about language revisions um to address the concerns raised by the REA for um teacher tutoring. Um an updated draft will be reviewed um by legal counsel before we move to a second reading on that. So more to come on that. Um policy 4005. We also discussed [clears throat] um the recent policy that was approved on ideological and political symbols. We did discuss um possibly including more language um including political rhetoric uh in the classroom outside of curriculum. So more to come on that that's still under discussion. Um and overall
005it was a very productive meeting. >> Right. And maybe when we get to that resolution you can read just the language um that we are voting on tonight for the second reading. All right. Uh can we move on? Mrs. Bowman for security. >> Sure. Um the safety subcommittee met on January 14th. Um our first discussion item was student conduct reports. Um we talked about the summaries of student conduct reports, the format from the first four months since school started. It included a summary of expulsions, any imminent and high uh behavioral threat assessment ratings, and a summary of serious discipline incidents. [snorts] We discussed how much volume should be included in these reports. um particularly at the elementary level, the board stressed that we would like the volume to that volume to be included so we
006can make informed decisions about the needs of those individual buildings. Mr. Murray and Miss McFarland um also explained how they're working with administrators with the new power school behavior uh software that we recently approved. Um they're working on how to examine the dropown menu of this program to relate to our current current student code of conduct. they don't meet up. Um, so the committee agreed that the language needs to better reflect like behaviors versus age level. So the plan moving forward is to edit the this our student code of conduct here for the district to provide the necessary offenses or labels and then have the power school behavior support software directly match the codes. Um, so that way it'll be easier for administrators and teachers to pick depending on age and um, all that. So,
007and this will also allow for more consistent reporting with student behavior across all buildings. Um, then we discussed that the 31A funding update. Currently, the court of appeals decision is expected in late February and early March. And more to come on that. The SRO update, there was a discussion on the potential for a third SRO and a hybrid position um continuing with both the Mcome County Sheriff's Office and the Washington Township. um it's still in its infancy, so it's too early to begin discussing ex specifically what that SRO would be doing uh his detailed here his or her detailed job descriptions and their jurisdiction. The idea would be that they would be present at the ninth grade academy um during lunch hour and also assist with elementarymentaries if needed and also be a backup for
008officer Lavish may he be absent or get called elsewhere. The sheriff's office is confident they can staff this position. Um, so we're realistically looking at the start of next school year hopefully. Um, but it's still in discussion uh with the township. So, more to come on that as well. Um, other items was a district safety committee update, the 2526 school safety focus. Uh, Mr. Thomas was present and he gave an update on how they are working on relocation routes by coordinating with our emergency response team representatives, first responders, um, and our bus drivers. And then we discussed the safety director contract. Um Dr. Robinson emphasized what an asset Mr. Thomas has been to our district, citing all his examples with his background in law enforcement um in comparison to how he's handled various incidents in
009the district. Uh the committee members all agreed with Dr. Robinson to pursue for Dr. Robinson to pursue an updated contract renewal with uh uh Mr. Thomas' contract. So more to come on that and we adjourned at 5:47. It was a pretty quick meeting. quick, but it was very meaty and all the things that we discussed. So, all right, we'll move on to superintendent's report. All right, we'll start with academic services. Mrs. McFarland and pinch hitting for Mr. Murray, so I want to read his email so I don't get anything goofed up. Um, so, [clears throat] um, Mr. Murray apologizes for not being here this evening. Like to talk about CKLA coaching returning. So if mother nature cooperates, we are planning for our Amplify coaches to return to support our teachers again. During their first visit
010to Romeo this year, the coaches visit is visited classrooms to observe instruction and provide feedback for for growth. In a twist from what we have done in the past, when they visited, we arranged time in the visit schedule for teachers to meet with the coaches for a Q&A session. Doing this allowed us to look for common pinch points. The most common concern from teachers was being able to cover all the ELA content within a school day. In response to this, um, we have planned for our coaches on this next visit to show teachers how to trim daily lessons, ensuring coverage of the most important content while keeping instruction within the daily window of instruction. His next update has to do with our upcoming Young Fives and Kindergarten roundup. The process for understanding enrollment numbers at
011Young Fives and Kindergarten has begun. Each week leading up to Young Fives and Kindergarten information night, which is on February 24th at 6:30 p.m. at each of our buildings. The district and our elementary buildings are publishing a contact form that we are asking prospective Young Five kindergarten families to complete. Completing this form will give us a better idea of what enrollment numbers might look like while also allowing us to communicate with previously unknown families if needed. Please spread the word. Knowing who's coming will allow us to more effectively plan for the upcoming school year. Are there any questions? All right, home run. >> Moving on. Uh secondary update. Um so the weather has not been kind to our high school team. Um so they um will finish exams tomorrow. So the NW NWA window for
012high school is um going to be extended a little bit. Our 9th and 10th graders take the ELA and math NWA. So um they just need a little bit more time for it. So we'll extend the window so they can get those assessments in. I wanted to make you aware of our DEM partner popin. It's this Wednesday, uh, 7:45 to 9:30 a.m. So, if you're not at work yet or on your way in, um, uh, Mrs. Dawson, our CTE director, started this last year. It's a very casual, it's not scripted. Um, you can pop into, you know, our DEM CTE classes or DEM content area teachers. They know that, um, people might be popping in. And um I think our culinary she gives you a muffin juice to go um on your way to work.
013So if you plan on attending um let me know um and I will be on the lookout for you. Wanted to give you some updates about our middle school. Um so lots of lots of things have been happening. It's so exciting to finally see some of our plans in action. So, our sixth grade explore um they had their nonprofit um fair early in November. Um but um they rated um some of the partners that were there and who they wanted to learn more from. Um so those were 4 and MSU extension, leader dogs for the blind and paws, oz and claws. So Mrs. Ra Reevich has been working with those um nonprofit partners and they will be doing some things with our sixth graders to continue to explore about those areas and then there'll be
014some follow-up um activity reflection activities that the students do. And the hope is um our eighth grade leadership team mentors our sixth grade um like twice a month. Um, so when they finish this presentation about what they learned from these partners, they will present to the eighth graders. So trying to get them used to presenting and working on those profile skills. Our seventh grade engage. Um, so we've got two weeks in. Wednesday is canceled. Forgotten Harvest is not distributing food on Wednesday. I don't know. Sorry, broke the news. Um but we've um had two at our times visit and participate in the food distribution um with Forgotten Harvest. And Mr. Marts actually um last week Thursday um brought in one of the seventh graders who participated and she was not a Romeo student for her
015whole school career. This was her first year in Romeo and she couldn't say I mean she just went on and on about how great it was and she actually I think put the frozen turkeys in the trunk something her hands were cold I'm like well they have they have bigger gloves for you but it was it was amazing listening to what her um experience was that morning she told her mom she didn't want to go and her mom encouraged her to go. I think her mother might have been a chaperone as well. And so, um, the young lady shared with us, um, at the administrative meeting that, um, she and her friends want to go back, um, maybe in the spring or the summer, and she had all these plans. So, got to love seventh
016grade energy. Um, we also do Romeo open-handed. Um, so they can take a smaller group. Um, so we split our times in half and uh they fold clothes, they put um food and other um items on shelves. Um so that's that's been going very well as well. They will go on Wednesday because it's inside. Um our goal is for kids to experience two outs for service learning and two ins. Believe it or not, the ins are more challenging than the outs um to schedule. So, um, Mrs. Revich has been on the phone and emails and trying to get, um, we think we have Travis Manion, um, who was at the nonprofit fair to come in and do an, um, an activity with students in the building. We're just looking for a second one. And then
017eighth grade empower. [clears throat] We weren't supposed to do anything this year, but I challenged our administrators to let's do something to make sure we know what we're doing. So next year when these seventh graders are eighth graders, we've got something planned. Um so we um are piloting two um activities with the leadership classes. So fourth hour is focusing on senior citizens. So, we've finally got someone um uh at the Bruce Township uh Parks and Rec Senior Center. Um so, actually Mrs. Hop came and was visiting Thursday, I think, with uh Mrs. Revich. So, we're hopeful number one that we can get some of our seven seventh graders out to the senior center and then she can come in and talk to our leadership class about a project to do something for our senior citizens.
018And then the second leadership class, [clears throat] we're focused on um students with disabilities and we're partnering with uh Mr. Essen and Hubble Elementary. Um and so um they've had Mrs. Forier come in and speak with them, a physical therapist speak with them and Mr. Essen speak with only two two days, two Fridays. Um so um they're very excited about what they are envisioning. Um it'll be later in May. We'll let you know when that is. so you can come see what our kids are doing. And [clears throat] then Mr. Eldridge and Mrs. Revich are also working on uh five different um we're calling them engaged plus though not quite a changemaker challenge yet um aligned to some of the lead worthy um activities and themes um kindness anti-bullying um the environment animal welfare um
019home and food insecurity and then heroes in our community. Um, so all of the learning that our students are doing in the reflection, um, they're reflecting on the profile and the strengths and the attributes that they demonstrated through these opportunities. So, we're very excited things are finally happening. So, they will be here in March. Our middle school team, it's March's middle level education month. So, they will be Bulldog Spotlight in March. I >> was going to ask if we get to see pictures, but I'm sure >> Oh, you'll see pictures. You'll hear kids. Yeah, you'll see you'll see a bunch of stuff in March. So, >> any questions? >> Sorry. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you. >> Uh couple couple things in my report tonight. Um uh from the construction standpoint, we have a resolution
020tonight to uh approve the equipment purchase um for our two remaining playground renovations for this summer. uh a few pieces of equipment in the order are are have a extended lead time. So um we we move this up to get this approved. Um and um looking ahead to February, we have our construction meeting tomorrow and then I know the current bid bid windows that are open uh are closing up uh towards the end of the month. Uh, I'll have a conversation with our construction team about the implications of waiting from a potential special meeting on February 9th to our regular board of education meeting um later in the month in terms of signing contracts and preparing for construction this summer. I'm anticipating that we'll be okay to wait to approve those um two projects uh
021at a regular meeting. Uh, I know some of our concern was the lead times on the equipment. Uh, that had us thinking potentially earlier in February. So, I'll communicate with the board um, uh, this week once I get some feedback from our construction team. Just a couple of, you know, uh, examples. We've, we've learned a little bit from the first three installations. And so, uh, Mrs. Wchek and Mr. Assess had a conversation uh with our other three principles, you know, about equipment on the playground. Uh they've made a couple of modifications. Um we know that the setup at Heav Elementary actually has separate lower and upper L playgrounds on different sides of the building. Um so it looks like less equipment, but it's only half because it's just the lower L. and we've actually done
022some improvements to that playground area, uh increasing play space and things like that. So, uh just a couple views of some of the equipment, uh very similar to our other uh three renovations. Uh and of course, we've allowed the school design teams to pick their own color scheme. So, little bit of variation in color. Um so, lower. This is a little bit more of a aerial view of the back of Hevel. Um and so uh we see the layout of the different equipment. Um they have a different climbing apparatus than uh the um one that the first three playgrounds um thought thought we could make a little bit better choice um for student play in that. So you'll see that in the middle of both playground designs. Uh and then a little bit some some
023close-ups of some of the climbing and and things like that. So some exciting stuff. Uh, our kids are using it a ton. Uh, took about almost two months before anyone played anywhere else than the the equipment on the new ones, which um, which was neat to see. So, um, in terms of Indian Hills, little different color scheme and more centralized layout for for both levels. Um we're we're relocating the play equipment area on the site um to get out of the lowest area that has a tendency to always be, you know, uh a little bit uh underwater or overly damp um in that spring time frame uh when we're getting a lot of rain. So, we're we're moving this to the west. Um, and just for reference, like you see the the black top in
024the top right corner there, that's the new play pad that we put down uh the end of last year. So, you're actually looking north um uh at the playground from here. And we'll connect the walking path like we have and the other ones. So, uh that'll be there for staff and students to use uh when they're outside. Um little different view. Um, and we're hopeful to uh include a little bit of area for potential future growth of equipment. Um, but uh other than a little bit of escalation in cost, uh the budgets across all of our buildings have been very similar for equipment and you've seen those numbers um from the 2021 bond in your packet. Um the second thing that or third thing I should say that that I wanted to talk a little
025bit about was we have our annual school of choice um resolution on the agenda tonight for 105 and 105C. Um so I know I gave uh the board a memo with a lot of information. Uh I want to thank Mrs. Pereira for her help in putting that together. um she got a bit of a crash course with the help of our enrollment coordinator and and power school and Mr. Murray also. So um lot of time but I think it helped um for her to have a little bit of an understanding of actually how many kids it is based on our enrollment, how they're divided across the buildings and of course what the the financial uh implications of that are. Um so um probably more for those who might watch the meeting on recording than the
026board tonight. Bear with me, but I think we'll we'll share just a couple highlights. Um 105 uh is Mcome County resident students um from other districts and then 105C is contiguous neighboring counties. So, um, when you're located like this in the on the border or on the corner of a county, um, your district butts up against districts that are in a different county and the state allows you to accept um, students from those neighboring counties with a different um, approval. So, um, that's the difference in between the 105 and the 105C. um the board has to approve annually and we can declare unlimited choice or limited choice uh based on the different grade levels uh and and uh in some cases buildings if it's the only building that services those grades. So our request again
027this year is for unlimited school of choice for grades uh young 5 through 8th grade and then our limited school of choice um for 9th through 11th. There is no school of choice for 12th graders. Um, and our numbers are the same allocations this year for the limited at the high school level as they were last year, which I believe is 40 seats for the 9th grade building, 20 seats for 10th grade, and 10 seats for 11th grade. Um, we did not hit those numbers last year. Um, we probably had the most incoming freshmen. um but uh seems seem to get very few 10th and 11th graders who are uh making that that move once they start in a high school. Um just in terms of when these applications comes in um you know it's
028it's important that we get prior transcripts or report cards based on the age level of the kids. We want to make the right academic placement. Believe it or not, there are times where parents will enroll their students and try and repeat a grade or skip a grade. Um, both resident and through school of choice. Um, we want to make sure we have prior discipline history. We have a specific form that parents sign whether you're resident or new resident student or school of choice, which is an affirmation of prior discipline. Um, they make a declaration whether there was discipline or not. uh specifically if the student's been suspended or expelled. Uh and then there's documentation we ask for. Um typically a print out from the student information system from whatever school district it was. Sometimes in
029the case of some of the prochial or private schools, we get a letter um from the principal of that school um stating there's no discipline. Um, students are only placed uh in um grade level classrooms at a building if there's availability. And I'll shed a little light on that uh in u one of the other slides coming up. Um it is important to note that once a student is accepted via school of choice in Romeo, they are essentially like a resident student uh unless enrollment is broken. Of course, we don't provide transportation um for out of district students. Uh we do have some instances where if there's availability at bus stops, transportation department will coordinate with those parents for those students to be dropped at a stop. Um sometimes that gets, you know, it's on
030the edge of the district closer to where they're coming from. Um so we do do try and help if we can there, but we're not going out past district boundaries to pick kids up. Um when we look overall um we currently based on the fall count day uh have 435 interd district school of choice students. That's 179 students at the elementary level and 256 in grades 6 through 11. Uh just a reminder that we don't do school of choice for seniors. In most instances, if a student has been with us through high school through school of choice, their res their home high school or home district will release them um to finish their their school career here for their senior year. Um so it's about 8% of our total enrollment. Uh and based on our
031foundation allowance for this year, uh that's about $4.4 million in general fund revenue. So you can see uh on the chart there um the enrollment for each of our buildings, the number of school of choice students and then the percentage of enrollment in that school. So at our elementary level um we're as low as 3% of student enrollment or school of choice. At uh Washington a little bit more than that at HampR and then at HEL that's our highest volume of school choice students. uh that's about 15%. Uh and that essentially really has allowed us over time to ensure that HEL stays uh efficiently staffed and can remain a building with three sections at each grade level and we don't get into a situation of blended classrooms or things like that. One of the things
032that's creating um what appears to be like this growing number of or growing enrollment at HEL, you have to remember our growth in the IRR program because our resident students from all schools that are in that program go there. And as we keep adding sections to IRR, you know, we're now at I think it's 60 students just or just under 60 students in the IRR program. Um, so although those students are included in specials and in some classroom instructions that they have their own teacher of record and spend the bulk of their day in their own classroom in that specialized programming. Um, middle school 7%, high school 8%. Um, that's just kind of the trend in the larger enrollment in those buildings pretty much mimics our overall district. a little higher um in uh school
033choice participation in the RVA program. Um we opened that up um for second semester and I believe we had two students >> two or three students that that took advantage of that from from neighboring districts. Uh when we look a little bit more at the impact on elementary, you know, we start looking at um that, you know, once again the same information, total enrollment, the number, the percentage, and then when we put that up against the actual sections or classes, grade level classes in the building, we'll begin to see the average of school school of choice students in each class. So, um, Amanda Moore, an average of just under two school of choice, um, students per classroom. Uh, Hamilton Parsons closer to one. Uh, and He were, um, closer to four. Um, we do have
034some students who are special ed students um, at HEL. Um, a a couple that are in the IR program, but most of them are are all resident students. Indian Hills is about two school choice students per grade level classroom and Washington's averaging just under uh a student. So overall uh 1.9 is the average um of of uh the number of kids in a grade level classroom through school of choice at the elementary level. Um we have three classes or sections as we call it for staffing purposes at each grade level and all of our schools with the exception of um fourth grade at Hamilton Parsons. That's that grade level that we had to do four kindergartens years back. Uh we think some parents keep kept their kids home in that COVID year and started kindergarten
035the next year. Uh and that's maintained for sections all the way through um to fourth grade and they'll they'll move to fifth grade next year. Uh and then fifth grade at Amanda Moore was a lower enrollment. So we actually um consolidated and there's two sections of fifth grade at Amanda Moore. Uh we talked about He having the highest number, Washington having the lowest. uh school of choice students at the elementary level are able to fit into our resident student staffing allocations. Uh if there is not room in the grade level cohort because we're trending above that target um per teacher contract and closer to the maximum then we would close that grade level um for enrollment. And we always ask our uh parents requesting um school choice to give us their top two school choices.
036Sometimes some parents don't make a second choice and if there wasn't availability they just wouldn't enroll. Um but most families will give us a couple choices. Uh when we look at the revenue stream just specifically for elementary it's about $1.8 million of general fund revenue. And if we put this just on an average metric that's really enough revenue to employ about 18 teachers. However, when we look at this volume of students according to target or lower class size, um it really would only take about seven teachers. So, this is how school of choice uh enrollment, you know, supports better staffing levels and better average class sizes. um that doesn't necessarily fix everything because we have those anomaly grade levels at certain buildings that are just higher enrollment and closer to the maximum numbers um as
037they metriculate through the system. um did an analysis of class size. Um I think just in general when we look at the volume of classes, we have 70% of our classrooms at the elementary that are currently below the target number of students for that grade level per the teacher contract and in some cases pretty significantly below the target. [snorts] Only five of our 95 grade level classrooms uh have class sizes at the maximum number of students. Uh and that is 5%. In in in two of those cases, we actually had um some higher than normal resident enrollment late in the summer uh and into the beginning of the school year. That has pushed those class sizes up towards the maximum. Uh I think we have one classroom that is has is paying one overage currently.
038Um you know and and once again you know when we don't have room we won't accept um students through the application process. That's all for me questions that the board might have. Mrs. McFarland, Mrs. Pereira might ask for you to help. [snorts] >> Can you go back? Uh, class selections. What is that? Classes, sections. What do you mean by that one? >> So, there's 18 grade level classrooms at Amanda Moore Elementary. >> So, that's >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. So, it's typically three per grade level. There's one young fives and then three per grade level. In the case of Amanda Moore, because they only have two fifth grade, they're one lower at 18. I just have a comment that I appreciate the the metric the ratio of how much school of choice brings in and
039the rules that we have according to class sizes and then how you organized everything so that we can visually see that school choice actually supports better staffing >> um and hiring more teachers. So I I really appreciate this my comment and this can also be saved for resolution time. Um I have a few things but last year we voted there there's all of this focuses on interd district which um just to clarify for everyone interd district is just as Dr. Robinson explained it's it's children outside our residency. But we last year we also voted to um maintain interd district. I don't know if I'm saying that correctly. Inter district is where um students who are already in our resident attendance area um can opt or or apply to go to a different school. Um and
040that data is not presented here because we did vote to u indefinitely keep that. Um, I did talk to Dr. Robinson about, you know, if the board is interested. This same board voted, you know, agreed with that last year at this time. Um, that is something I personally would like to look at again because that does affect class size numbers and that's not reflected in this data here. So, um, you know, that's just a thought I have. >> So, I gave you the information in the memo. Um, and that isn't as timesensitive as as the intradist windows are. Um, so if the board wants to look further at that, we we've got the numbers there, we've got where the kids, what their homeschools are and and you could take up a resolution in February. Um,
041you know, that has stood in place and when that was suspended, it was years, it was actually a couple years before I came when they did a significant redistricting of of uh, Indian Hill students to both He and Hamp. And so the board at that time put a stay on intra district choice to keep everybody at their home school. Uh and I think it was three years ago um we were at the point where the board um voted to to reinstate it. Uh and so we addressed it a couple years in a row each year and um it's one of those things that it's like we we you know in the resolution we'll present the data every year. Um, quite honestly, the best time to probably give you that data would be in the spring.
042Um, but the timing with everything else to make the decision if we were going to suspend it really should be now. >> No. Okay. >> Yeah, >> I would appreciate that. Um the other part of a couple things that I highlighted um taking notes I know um that third grade core third grade is such I mean all of these grades are are important but third [clears throat] grade is such a critical year um you know that transition from lower to upper elementary. Um, so I did notice that on the data that shows that those are typically in our district the the most of the where the classrooms are over their targeted number. And then um this is where you know the board is not just for the public's knowledge when the teachers negotiate their contract
043the board is not really we're not in the room and we're not part of that. We rely on information that we get from administrators. But when we were um getting that previously in uh last year, I had specifically asked administration are teachers at you know is there a fight at the negotiation table for smaller class sizes because um as an educator myself I know how critical that is. I know how the difference of two kids can make or break a classroom. Um and that is something definitely you know that is I I'm passionate about and I was told at that time administration said, "No, they really didn't ask for it." But then I've heard, you know, from not, you know, I haven't sat down with the teacher union, but I've heard from some teachers that
044actually we did ask for that. So, I think there's that disconnect, too. The board here is asked to vote and make this decision that affects so many people. It affects us financially. it affects teachers, but yet we really don't have all the clarification, at least for myself, um to really know, you know, are we I I don't want to say no to the funding that we need. I don't want to say no to um families that currently have kids from out of district, but their younger ones are not in yet, and I don't want to close it for them. Um, but I also feel very passionate that we have teachers that are suffering with high class numbers and some of that has nothing to do with school of choice. I know that sometimes just building
045and and where subdivisions are going up, all of that affects that, but like something's got to give at some point. So, um, you know, I still have a lot of questions about this >> for myself. I mean, I'll I'll make a comment in terms every negotiation's different, you know, and and of course, we know when we're in that process. We don't compromise, but we're not. So, we don't negotiate again until next year. Uh, one of the conversations that I've had um um just at this point with Mr. Murray. Um but um we we we pondered whether maybe because we're not negotiating this year, we could um get, you know, Mrs. Butler and some of the union leadership to sit down and have a conversation about this outside of the vacuum of negotiating >> pressure of
046that >> um and get some input across the spectrum. Um because it wouldn't surprise me that, you know, when we look at, you know, some classrooms that are up at the max that those teachers wouldn't really want to address class size. You know what I'm saying? But then I also know if we looked at a grid and we looked at all the classrooms in our district that are 24 students or less kindergarten classrooms that have less than 20. I just don't know that school of choice is the top of their, you know, any any teacher is going to tell you that class size is important. Any administrator would tell you that. Um so it's one of those things that that maybe we need to have a little conversation to get on the same page. Um
047and certainly prior to any um any negotiation, you know, because if if you're going to lower class size, then you're going to put yourself in a position to open more sections, which is what's going to happen because school of choice does not impact us enough for it to just be because all the kids that are here on school of choice stay unless they break enrollment. We would only be stopping any new from coming. Um so over time it's really going to be the resident student load in that building and grade levels that um we could end up having to open additional sections and and now you have facility implications at times in some buildings more than others. So um uh I I understand I'm very respectful it's a sensitive issue for the board. Um, but
048I would tell you that um, in my 11th year being a superintendent, I've never seen better class- size numbers across the district. And that doesn't mean that we don't have these five cohorts at buildings that are up there. Uh, and we got to keep an eye on them and not let any school of choice students into those cohorts as we look to future years. Um, but I I feel very comfortable about our class size. Um, and I am hopeful that we continue to see enrollment growth and increases in the state foundation each year because when those two things don't happen, then we'll think very differently about class size and we'd be back to those conversations about where do we have to contract sections? Um, where do we have to blend classrooms? Um, so um so
049uh that's that's my that's my story. >> Okay. I know one of the other things um not to belabor the point but this is last year when we had this discussion I and I know we've had um you know thoughts on this as we knew that this was coming up on the agenda some questions um from the board but um we were talking about specific buildings and would we shut off certain buildings uh you know that that maybe had high residency and already were filling up would we shut those off to school of choice and last year I mean It wasn't put in writing, but I was told by administration, absolutely if that if that school is high numbers, we are not going to touch them for school of choice. And yet, I see the
050data and school of choice kids were put at that school. Not a ton, but that also, I I'll be honest, creates a little bit of distrust because we were I I voted yes on it last year assuming that that would be followed through. And it, unless I'm misunderstanding data here, it seems like some of that was not. And I know it's not always a black and white issue either. >> Yeah. Well, the the most conversation last year was around Hamilton Parsons and their enrollment is 17 kids smaller this year than it was last year. And we would never close an elementary building. We would look at it as grade levels within each >> and I think I think that's more of the issue at that building. It's it's specific grade levels at any of the
051schools. some, >> you know, the the even at the secondary level, we have to look at the grade level and the available seats and that's the limited and and we've had some conversation about, you know, maybe we need to investigate limited in the future down into the middle school. You know, what we really want is families that want to be here, both resident families that were not their choice right now and potential school of choice. We want to get the students in as early as possible because it allows us to staff for them especially at the secondary level and it also allows them to have maximum time in our curriculum. Um so that that we have a lot of control. In a perfect world we'd get them at four years old at Cwell and they
052be with us all the way until we hand them a diploma. Um but uh we do get some we do get some eb and flow. Some of our buildings see more turnover than others. Um, but three three of our five elementary schools are pretty consistent enrollment in terms of resident students are here and they're here for their whole elementary career. >> So, are you saying that we can close certain grades in certain schools? >> Yeah, I think I think uh I know we traded a little bit of uh uh email about this. I I this this really isn't the time to do that. I think the first look we should be looking at is our February count and then realistic in April because one of the things that will happen every year is we'll get
053students who will drop you know and so where we're looking at a number right now from fall and unfortunately we might have some kids move away and that actually could reduce the strain on that. Uh, I would say definitely we could get into a rhythm of April to August, like if not monthly, maybe even twice a month. Um, updating of where those ones are at. If the numbers are there right now, then we would put a freeze on that grade level and be communicating that we collect these applications for a period of time. We don't start talking to people about their acceptance until April. >> Okay? Because my worry is that we leave all this open come September. Uh one of these being Indian Hills having quite a few and nobody leaving that grade. >>
054And then oh we have school choice kids two even though two doesn't seem like a lot. It is because at that point if you have 30 kids in a classroom that's that's crowd control and that's not education in my eyes. And I have I I love that people want to come to this district, but I feel like I have an obligation for the kids in this district already and the teachers and the staff that I I don't want to oh, we have this maximum number. That's all great, but we're over by seven classrooms in this target. And I don't like, oh, we're at the maximum. Oh, we can pay these teachers more. I'm sorry, but some of these teachers that I've talked to don't care about this money. teachers when given the option, they would
055rather have the extra help than than >> I don't want to wait till February to say, "Oh, let's look back." Because again, what if nobody leaves these classes and then here we are stuck with all these kids in this classroom. >> Yeah. Well, we're two weeks away from February count day, you know, so that that will be the most current information. I think I think one of the things that you know we have to understand is the you know the contract class size at the elementary level has this established target and max and and there's a variance in between there and that variance when we have three classrooms in a grade level at a building is really nine students. you really have nine you have the capacity to take nine additional students in between target
056and max if if there's three sections in that grade level. Um so I'm convinced there could be an equation that would allow for both younger siblings. You know what I'm saying? At the at the entry point of families that are already choicing here. Um in most cases we know we know those parents and we know there's a younger one coming. they might even be at Cwell. Um, but I think there's the ability for us to to set that number and then track it. And in those cases where we're over that number, right now it's closed. Um, but I will tell you it it changes over time and it changes over time primarily because of resident student in and out. But that doesn't mean that we wouldn't take those applications from people. we would just tell
057them we do you want to go to your second choice? We don't have a spot for you. Um it isn't as restricted as limited. When you do limited, you can only take kids in a certain window of time. When we're unlimited, if people are willing to stay on a wait list to see if something were to change, um we have the ability to do that. So, it wouldn't take long for us to tell you the five or six grade level cohorts in the district right now that we need to be very mindful of. We could also tell you the 15 that we have all the space, you know, and more um to to take kids there. So, um, that's something we could work on and just make it a part of communicating it to the
058board, you know, in my weekly updates. Once we get the spreadsheet set up and you understand how to read it, then we're just going to update the numbers, uh, as we move move through, you know, the enrollment season. >> Okay. >> Any other questions, thoughts? >> Thank you. All right, I do not have a public comment pertaining to tonight's agenda. So, I will save this one that I do have for our last public comment. Uh, we're going to go ahead and move on to our regular action items that are all in your packet that you received. So, I'm going to begin with employee services resolution number eight. This is our personnel update which if you noticed had a teacher and two paras that we are hiring along with um resignation and a couple retirees. It
059was a fairly light personnel update compared to some that we've had. Do I have a motion motion? Okay. Motion by Bowman. I'll second it. Okay. All right. All in favor? >> I opposed. Okay. Motion passes. All [clears throat] right, moving on. Employee services resolution number nine. Uh, this is the board of education policy update 20006, our second reading. And, um, Mrs. Rice, do you mind just reading the language of that? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. Draft board policy 20006 pertaining to personal electronic devices reads as follows. The school district reserves the right to prohibit the possession or use of personal electronic devices on school district property or at school district related functions. For purposes of this policy, personal electronic device means a privatelyowned device that is used for audio, video, or text communications, including
060but not limited to cell phones, personal laptops, smartwatches, and other wireless device connections. Students are not prohibited to use personal electronic devices during the school day unless required by law or as set forth in the corresponding RCS administrative regulations. The superintendent shall develop administrative regulations consistent with this policy. >> Just want to clarify it with students are not permitted um to use personal electronic device. Thank you for reading that. Do I have a motion? >> Motion. Motion by Ber, support by Rice. Any questions, concerns? I know we met with the administration and had a very extensive conversation over the course of two meetings on this. So, we appreciate their time in helping develop this policy. Uh, all in favor? [clears throat] >> Opposed? All right. Motion passes. Moving on to facilities resolution number 10, the
0612021 bond playground equipment purchases at Hebel and Indian Hills which we were presented tonight. Do I have a motion? >> Motion by Bowman, second by Chiakei. Any questions, comments? Okay. All in favor? I opposed. >> Okay. Motion passes. Okay. Business services. Oh, go ahead. >> Sorry. One quick question, Todd. on the in your report earlier, it talked about the the high school supplemental gym or extension gym. >> That's going to come up in February because that wasn't it was listed under the playground stuff in your thing, but >> Right. It's out for bid right now. It'll come in February. >> All right. Yeah, I didn't see it on here and I didn't see it in this. I was just just confirming. Okay. >> All right. We [clears throat] are going to move on to business
062services resolution number 11, school of choice for the 2627 upcoming school year. and that is 105 and 105 C interd district. >> Um I'd actually like to make a motion to table this for the next meeting. >> Okay. Motion to table this resolution. Um I would support that especially given that we have two members missing tonight and this is a very important decision for the district. Um, so the motion on the table is to table this resolution until our regular scheduled meeting in February. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >> Okay. So, that motion was made by Chahakei. Supported by Bowman. Any questions? So, we're going to our resolution is to move this to February. All in favor? >> I >> opposed. Okay. So, we have voted to move that resolution into next
063month and Dr. Robinson, that will still be within the time frame of getting everything in for the application window. >> Matt, >> yeah, I mean, if we have to move dates, we have to move dates. Okay. >> You know, I don't know all the individual. I would have to go back through it with >> Mrs. Pereira and our enrollment coordinator. >> Okay. >> Um, pupil account to make sure. I know that that's early spring that those all begin to open up. >> Okay. >> All right. Moving on to business services resolution number 12, CTE equipment purchase. Do I have a motion? >> Motion by Boyman. Bowman, second by Chihake. Any comments, questions? >> So, what exactly is this for? This is I'm sorry, I'm trying to get to it. the lighting. >> So, scroll down
064way down in your packet. >> Page 28. >> Yep. >> So, $67,000 and it's coming out of what budget? Vocational education fund. >> So, there's a CTE equipment >> budget. So, that's what it's coming out of. >> Um, our I think it's called a screencaster. Um, it's for our video production. um the current one they [clears throat] have, I think they've probably put enough band-aids on it that it just it it's going to go to sleep pretty soon. So, this is covered through a um our CTE funding that we get from the state. So, it's a a state grant. I think you also see in the supporting documentation the notes from the advisory board meeting back in the fall that supported, you know, our business partners supported updating this equipment for our students in the
065pathway. >> Okay. And these are for the classrooms, >> correct? Is for the media production u Mrs. Harbison and Mr. D'Angelo's classroom. >> Okay. Any other comments, questions? Okay. Uh, this again is resolution number 12, CTE equipment purchased as laid out in your packet. All in favor? >> I opposed. Okay. Motion passes. >> Abstain for the record. >> So that's by >> yes. >> All right. I am going to apologize to interrupt our agenda the close session that we have which is our next item. I'm going to propose that we move that to after um our last public comment and uh board discussion for the good of the district. Any questions on that? Okay. All in favor of that? I >> I Okay. All right. Um so moving on now for the um go to
066the district. Any board discussion? Thank you for the we've had quite a kicking off the the new year with a lot of subcommittee meetings. Thank you all for, you know, committing to that um and being in attendance. Lots of good things going on in our district um and working with administration. Any other thoughts? Okay. All right. Then I am going to move on to our last uh public comment time. I do have two here. I will begin with Danielle Barretts and then Karen. Did I say that correctly? >> Karen. Okay. You will follow her >> and you will have three minutes. >> Oh, >> okay. >> Oh, I didn't time it. [laughter] >> Um, I'm Danielle Barrett and I'm here to comment about the potential reszoning for the data center. Everybody's favorite topic. But first,
067I just want to comment on a well respond to a comment that Dr. Robinson made about we like to start them at four and have them here until they get their diploma. I have a second grader and a fourth grader at Hevel and my second grader did start at four at Croswell and we hope to be here until he gets his diploma at least and beyond. So, um firstly on the data center and resoning, I know we've all heard a lot of different things about it. One thing I want to touch on is that the proximity of our schools to the site really does matter. We know that data centers run 24/7. They're loud. There's fans. There's cooling equipment. Those low frequency sounds and vibrations have been reported to travel 2 to four miles and
068they do penetrate buildings. So, that is a concern because it makes it harder for students to concentrate, hear their teachers clearly, and stay focused, especially younger students. and as we talked about tonight our IRR students. Second, the scale of these facility bring cumulative impacts. When it comes to the major electrical equipment, cooling systems, emergency power infrastructure when all that's placed near a school, the area starts to feel more industrial. That can affect our indoor and outdoor learning spaces, recess areas, athletic fields, and any program that depends on a calm, predictable environment. These are everyday spaces that our students rely on. Third, the impacts are not shared equally. Our district, as we talked about tonight, only has two secondary schools, and both are located in the most affected areas from this project. That means that every
069middle school and high school student will feel the effects of the decisions made today. This is an equity issue. Students shouldn't have to face greater environmental and operational impacts simply because of where the school happens to be located. Schools can't mitigate these impacts on their own. Unlike private property, you guys can't just pick up and move. You can't redesign your buildings. You can't install largecale noise and vibration controls. Once these occur, the impacts fall directly on the students and the staff and the district has limited options to fix them. That's why it's important to talk about it now before this happens. For the long-term planning, we should put educational environments first. We talked about the inter and intra uh school of choice and we know that people move to our community for this district. My
070[clears throat] family loves this district. We have several friends that are school of choice into this district. So, we should absolutely be concerned about any large infrastructure project that comes near them. They should be they I'm sorry. It should not compromise the conditions the students need to learn, focus, and thrive. I want to make a quick comment too on the potential impact of millages. Using conservative estimates, this property would have an SEV of about $9.3 million. And at that value, our schools would miss out on roughly $216,000 per year in new revenue, or about 2.6 6 million over the standard 12-year tax abatement period. Last, I want to acknowledge that we understand administrators can be hesitant to get involved in land use decisions. It's not typical. These decisions are complicated. They're outside of your day-to-day
071activities to run a full school system. But the impacts to the students are real and you all deserve the clear, accurate information to understand what this project could mean for our learning environments, equity, and long-term planning. Having the facts will allow you to advocate effectively for the conditions our children need to succeed, which we sincerely urge you to do. Thank you. Right. Hi, my name is Ken Graer. Uh, I have three kids. One kid in Hamilton Parsons, one kid in Romeo Middle School, and one kid in the ninth grade academy right here who had to tell me what the media center was. I was She's like, "It's a library." I'm like, "Okay, I got I got that." Um, so also here to talk about the data center. Um, you know, right now that area is
072zoned egg, residential, and a little bit industrial. The future master plan has it zoned commercial on the 32-mile area, a swash, a swatch that is industrial, research, and technology, and then an area that's residential, right, which is a mixed balanced way to move the township forward. Um they want to the resoning request is to reszone the whole thing to industrial research and technology which would allow uh would can be the gateway to a data center into allowing a a data center on 312 acres uh which is a massive data center and they would be allowed looking at other estimates is probably between a 1 to 2 million square foot facility. These are industrial facilities. These aren't data centers of the old which are quiet. These are industrial buildings. So I my ask for you all
073is to do your research. Um there are not a lot of case studies out there yet because hyperscaled data centers are fairly new because of AI, the growth of AI. So there's not a lot of case studies and published research out there. But what you can find are a lot of documentaries of towns people who live next to data centers who live within one to three miles of data centers. and those are valuable in the meantime until the long-term studies can come out to tell you the impacts that people have. If you would write down a few things um a few towns that would be good for you to look into. Um Google Memphis, Tennessee and data centers. Uh there you will see a massive data center that was put in uh put in with
074a large amount of backup diesel generators and the town was told these are just backups in case the power goes out. But these things consume enormous amounts of natural resources, electricity and water, resources you need to run your facilities as well, right? And those tend to impact surrounding homes and businesses and schools and their ability to get those as well. The Memphis, Tennessee facility does can't get enough electricity from the grid to run itself. So, they have fired up those diesel generators and they run 247 and has contributed to air pollution in Memphis, Tennessee. Now, when all this was approved and the paperwork went in, it sounded nice. Oh, all this tax revenue is going to come in. They won't have air pollution, but the reality of it is they couldn't get enough electricity from
075the grid, and those generators are running constantly. You can read and listen to the documentaries of people who now have bronchitis and asthma who live within miles of those facilities. So, that's when I would suggest you look at Mason, Georgia, and look at the water impacts down to that area. Uh, also in Virginia, you can just Google data center alley. It shows you what happens once one data center comes in. The surrounding areas get delued with data centers. [laughter] >> Um, is that the timer? >> That's my timer. >> Oh, all right. All right. [laughter] >> That's a whole lot better than some of the other timers at the Washington Township meetings. >> [laughter] >> song. >> Um, so just my request is to please do your research. Um, Danielle and you're not crazy people.
076We're very normal people, right? And when I say to you there are impacts here. We're not making stuff up. Some of these sites are starting to look at modular nuclear reactors to bring in, it's a it's a it's a slippery slope, right? And we don't know what's exactly going to happen or what's going to be proposed here. So, um, just please do your research and think about, um, showing up to the trustee meetings, forming an opinion, and sharing your opinion, whether it's as a board or individually. We would love to have you guys be part of the conversation for our students and staff. Thank you. >> Thank you. And, um, just for the record, the school board does not have a vote on this. This is definitely a Washington Township uh, issue, but it is
077something that affects our community. So, if you're listening, um, please take that data and take that information and and, uh, look into it. We thank you for coming. >> Can I have a motion now to go go into close session? And just a reminder, we are not uh, we cannot vote in close session and we are not coming out to vote on anything, but this close session is to uh, further discuss our superintendent evaluation. >> May I have a motion for that? Motion >> motion by Ber second by Chahakei and I roll call for that [clears throat] >> Mrs. Bowman >> here Mr. Ber >> here >> Mr. here. >> Yes. >> Okay. All right. Thank you all for coming.