001Good evening and welcome to the Garfield Heights City School District Board of Education meeting. This evening is Monday, November 10th, 2025. I call the meeting to order. >> Could I get roll call, please? >> Yes. Miss Cox? Yes, >> Mrs. Daniels. >> Yes, >> Miss Thomas. >> Here, >> Miss Morrison. >> Here, >> Dr. King. >> Here. >> Could I get a motion to adopt this evening's meeting as adopt this evening's agenda as presented? >> So, move. >> Second. >> That was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Do I get is there any discussion? Can I get roll call, please? >> Miss Cox, >> yes. >> Miss Morrison, >> yes. >> Miss Daniels, >> yes. >> Miss Thomas, >> yes. >> Dr. King, >> yes. At this time, I would like to
002ask for a moment of silent reflection and followed by the pledge of allegiance, which will be led by Miss Morrison. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Could I get a motion to approve the minutes from the October 13th special board meeting and the October 20th regular board meeting as presented? >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Cox. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Can I get roll call, please? >> Yes. Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. >> At this
003time, we will have the board president's report. I begin my report by expressing my gratitude to the community for passing issue 48. Without question, the need for this funding was absolutely critical to keep funding at current levels and to make the education for our our students an absolute priority. By passing issue 48, the scholars of the Garfield Heights City Schools will now have the opportunity to continue pursuing their dreams and aspirations from an educational perspective. Buildings can operate and staff can continue to do what they do best, which is mentor our children. Thank you. Thank you community for your support of issue 48. There was a small group of volunteers who went over and above the call of duty who performed the various tasks essential to running and winning a hard-fought campaign such as this.
004This small group attended meetings, distributed literature, woke up early on Saturday mornings, participated in coffee talks, and more. Some of them were on the board of education. I thank the members of the GHTA who held signs throughout the community and made our efforts and the need for this issue important. Thank you to the parents who played a c crucial role in getting out to vote as well. With that being said, funding is under a very powerful microscope at the state level. And while I fully recognize that times are tightening for all of us, the need for future resources will always be a part of the future conversations in public education. Please do all that you can to keep informed regarding matters at the state level, how cuts are being discussed to public education and continue
005to ask questions to your elected officials at those levels. We must continue to be vigilant in ensuring that the wonderful staff, students, and family families have the funings and funding and resources they need. Finally, I would like to congratulate Heather Morrison on her reelection and Chloe Irvin Doure and Mitchell Dudley on their election to the board of education. Could we give them a round of applause? With that, it concludes my report. At this time, we will have committee reports. Are there any committee reports, Madame President? Miss Cox, just want to share uh with the academic excellence committee uh we will meet on November 19th. The second quarter ended October 28th and I will have an update at our next board meeting. That concludes that committee report. >> Do you have any other committee reports? >>
006I do. Uh the strategic plan was completed or is completed and it will be submitted to the board within the next 7 days. That will conclude my committee report. Thank you, Miss Cox. Are there any other committee reports? Hearing no other committee reports, we will move on to our presentation for the evening, I'll turn the floor over to Dr. Reynolds. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, tonight we'll be hearing from our middle school team led by Mr. Rogretz, and they will be presenting updates on how things are going over here at the middle school. >> Thank you, Mr. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. >> Good evening. All right. So, if you don't know me, I'm Daniel, the head principal here at this rate middle school. Um, I have with us Miss Taylor, who is
007our sixth grade principal, Miss Jasper, who is our seventh grade principal, and all over the eighth grade. All right. With so many great things is going on, we wanted you all to hear first from our scholars. So I invited Miss her who is our choir instructor and her choir to open our presentation. Turn around. fill in your spots. Okay, over here. All right. You just All right. Hi everyone. Um, tonight the seventh grade choir will be giving you a sneak peek into our winter concert. Um, thank you for coming. We hope you enjoy and please join us on December 17th at 700 p.m. at the High School Performing Arts Center for our concert with the band. Um, here's our seventh grade choir performing Winter Storm. Do you feel it? Do you sense it? There's a
008change in the atmosphere. As the sun sets, you can sure bet that the morning won't be as clear. The temperature is falling. The weather folk are crawling for something to come our way. Wor making his way through the dark of night. Winter storm awake to a thrilling sight. Winter storm hit every morning before it's too late. Winter storm is coming. It's cold and I just can't wait. Wind is blowing. Now it's snowing. As I lie in my comfy bed, I am waiting, anticipating when the snow is above my head. And just as they were saying, the icy trees are swaying. Something has come our way. Win a storm making his way through the dark of night. Winter stor away awake to a thrilling sight. Winter storm he every warning before it's too late. Winter storm
009is coming is coming. And I just can't wait. Winter storm is coming and I just can't beat every beat every >> I can. >> The National Weather Service is entering what >> and I just can't wait. LET me say All right, that is our choir display something that uh they started on. Dr. Reynolds, if you heard them, they're telling me when this horn is coming. I know it's possible. All right. So, getting into our uh brief presentation, our mission here at the middle school is to unite the potential in every scholar by cultivating a spirit of dedicated effort, empowering students with essential knowledge and opportunities so they can excel in earning their success and building a brighter future. Our vision here is inspiring scholars to achieve their dreams through effort and integrity, empowering them to
010earn their success and excellent continuously throughout their journey. Okay. So, part of our one plan, we do have three goals here for this school year. Um, our first goal is we want to increase all student achievement outcomes. Um, we want our scholars to grow one and a half years um by focusing on our tier one instruction. So that's all instruction that everyone in the building receives. Our second pillar, our goal is to increase student achievement outcomes, also a year and a half growth by implementing a co-eing model. So we do have um co-eing going on in our ELA classrooms with our um gener teachers and our IS's and they're strengthening uh the skill sets of our kids and working with the entire entire class. Um second semester we're thinking about flip-flopping it to offer extra
011support in our math. And our third goal, our third pillar is to reduce chronic absenteeism um from 60 to 40%. Um through the use of build initiatives, student recognition and building a sense of belonging. So um chronic absenteeism um for those who may not know is when scholars are missing at least 10% of or more of their education. So, it's hard to come every day, but come to Target every day and still fall as a um chronic absent child. So, for our attendance initiative, um we started in October. Um we're having monthly contest to boost student attendance. Um we order trophies every Monday. We do have a sixth grade um team meeting. our grade level meeting. On Tuesdays is our seventh grade meeting and Wednesday our eighth grade meeting. So weekly we want to pass
012on a trophy to the home that had the best attendance for the week. Trying to make it a fun um competitive um initiative for our kids. The teachers are buying into it. Um challenging each other. Um just giving them you know again that sense of belonging and to celebrate them coming to school. Um, so for October we did the battles with home room and this month we're doing just the entire grade level. All right, we do have a bulletin board tracker which is updated weekly. It's right outside these doors um past the bathrooms on your right and it shows the percentage of students um as far as you know coming to school each week. Also, we're going to do perfect attendance rewards for um students who did not miss a day during the first quarter.
013We did have over um 70 students who had perfect attendance. So this is outside the door here. Uh this is weekly. Um so the score means that that grade level one for the entire school. So our sixth graders uh won six times. Our seventh graders won four times. And our eighth graders look like the Browns. They pass zero. So we we need to challenge our eighth graders. I don't know if they're, you know, because they're the older scholars in the building, but um I have these individual conversations with our eighth graders telling them that, you know, being over the eighth grade myself that, you know, I wanted to be score some points. All right. So currently, this was as of November 7th. Um this is our enrollment. We got 576 scholars here. Um 108 of
014those are students with disabilities. So 19% of our population here at the middle school are exceptional learners. And of course we we're getting new kids every day. So kids are coming um to Garfield every day. So this number will be different by the end of this week. So again for our attendance for our atrisisk students um what we have done we identified 118 students that are um listed right now as at risk. So we divided it between our teachers um giving each teacher about three students to focus on. That's their group to focus on. So, um, when their kids when they're not here, we we're asking those teachers to place calls to their homes. Um, us administrators, we have students, um, the secretaries have students. We're spreading the wealth throughout the building. Um, when the
015kids in this work, when the kids notice that they're not when we notice you're not here, and we go to that child and say, "Hey, where were you? Got your name." And they're like, "You didn't know I was here. No, I was looking for you." It means, you know, so much more to them. So when they come to school, they report to us like, "I'm here today, Mr. Lorance," or "I'm here today, Miss. Taylor, and we want to hopefully look at the numbers and it'll grow. It'll grow." Um, we do send out a bi-weekly newsletter to the staff regarding our attendance. Um, and then we have our Bulldog Express initiative, which is starting November 17th. Um, and it's going to run until March 27th. um that's getting scholars here at 6:30 in the morning to
016get um some preschool tutoring um before the school opens. Um and we're going to get them by way of you know school bus. So for some of our kids that live far enough to get a bus or very close to not qualify, we want to, you know, target them to get them here every day. But the goal is to increase attendance especially during the weather months. We know that a lot of our parents u don't like our kids walking because it's dark and then you all know about the bridge situation um where they saying it's not plowed properly and it's unsafe. So we're trying to help them out. >> Okay. So every Wednesday first period our sixth grade teachers go into our TV meetings our teacher based team meetings. Um second period is seventh grade
017and third period is eighth grade. And basically we go and we look at the data from our students and we analyze it and we plan. So if um some scores are not looking, you know, too well or or good, then we ask the teachers, you know, what do you think happened? Why are the scores looking like this? How can we go back and revisit? Um how can we draw up a new plan? And they go with, you know, the plan that we create. So we did ask our teachers to hypothesize um last week and we have what they came up with. So a lot of them are saying the same things that you know the chronic absenteeism or scholars are not taking a serious is they're rushing through test. Um so we're trying to figure
018out how to you know have the scholars and we're showing them like how important these tests are and what do we do with the data. So, one example that I always use is when we create groups in the classroom based off of the results, a lot of times they say, "Mr. Rice, I know this stuff already." Well, they didn't show us that they that they knew this stuff on the test. And so, we trying to make the connection like we look at this these these exams and these tests that you're doing so that we can best give you the path of education that you need. is in seventh grade and eighth grade. All righty. So, what we have up here is our um data dive for our um middle school students. And we're going to
019start right here um with our sixth grade science. Our um RIP is our preassessment. And then we have our uh post assessment at the bottom. So this here um shows that when the students first were preassessed, they had a 1.35% and they um this is identified as a glow for us where our students made a major increase um for our sixth grade science. I would say one of the contributing factors that we've identified that we want to keep going and growing from this idea is that the students were um working with like different type of rocks. It was hands on. They were able to touch them. They were able to see them. They were able to have conversation overall relate to um it was something like tangible where they could relate to and say um
020feel confidence in what they spoke about. So I think that um was one of the contributing factors as it relates to sixth grade. Same with seventh grade um almost or 50% increase from our quarter 1 preassessment to our post assessment and then um the same for eighth grade science. So we wanted to start with a um little spot here um overall for our students in science. If we can get some claps for our students here. Thank you very much. And um we love bringing this type of data up just so that we can have an area of highlight before we get to some of our areas that may not be as high. So the very top we have our elementary data which is the um test that's taken in a fall and in the spring
021to capture the um information that the students learned throughout the year. So we had about 20% of our students who met our proficiency. So they were able to display that they comprehend it at um 26% or 80% or better. For our sixth grade for our adventum fall for seventh grade 35% um met that quota. And then for the eighth grade fall we had 25% meet that quota. And um this area here raised a bit of concern for us. If you look at our checkpoint one um which was our pre-assessment, our students um had higher scores, a higher score, and then a score went down. So, we want to make sure that we're being transparent about this type of data and examining the um systems that are being used so that we can make some improvements.
022So, um I one of the things that I'm excited about being here at the middle school is the um transparency and taking a step back and really seeing like what's happening as it relates to um chunking and step by step by step. So once we got this type of data coming back, we were able to meet we meet weekly on Thursdays as an instructional team and we were like what happened? So did they lose the information or what? Um this here is just the numbers but in the so this here is identified as our quantitative data and our qualitative data where the students are or the teachers are able to type up some of the things they talked about they said that um there was a mixup in um for instance are I reading forformational
023text or RL reading literature so they did that there wasn't alignment in the pre and post so the questions that were in fact actually on the pre were um reading um the literature. However, there was an accident when creating the test. So the RAI theformational text some questions were on there. Nevertheless, we um said, "Okay, well that might count for one or two. What else did we think?" So getting into um some of the different hypothesis and just as it relates to other contributing factors, not everything we were transparent as a staff and um just as leaders of this work that different contributing factors may um consist of just the foundational levels that students have. So if so, how can we intervene and build up that knowledge? Another contributing factor are attendance. So that's where
024we brought in the um attendance wars trying to encourage the students to be better uh different another maybe the mobility of students where we have transient students moving in and out of our district. So just overall being transparent and making sure that we are in fact showing up and showing both bright spots in um areas that need some refinement. And overall, the part that's most dearest and sincerest to my heart is that our students are not only resilient, but they are capable. And our students show up here every day willing to learn. So, it's all always amazing going into the classroom to see the students like just hanging on, waiting for that ounce of knowledge, waiting for that ounce of instruction, and um beginning to create that culture that education is in fact the um
025key to their future. So that was for the ELA. This is here um the math data. Um moving from the academics to the PBIS happening. So we um connected with a bridge to high school. So at a lot of our elementary levels is funny with us being in the middle. A lot of our elementary levels, they do be safe, be responsible, um be respectful. And then when you get to the high school, they have more of specific directives of how to use their PBIS through pride, being prepared, respectful, involved, determined, and excellent. So here at the middle school, we have a bridge between both. We make sure that daily we're asking our students to be safe in the hallway by walking. be respectful to your teachers, be responsible for your learning. But in this space,
026we're also starting to expose them to the bulldog pride and how they can show up to class, being prepared, how they can, you know, get involved here, be use their time wisely, breaking, unpacking what does the tournament look like, as well as excellence in all you do. So, we are PBIS team. They meet bi-weekly. So we have two meetings per um month. The first meeting we look at what type of interventions that we can have for our students whether it's check in check out we have that in um three different tiers. So for everyone we do our reward systems where um our students in September earn donuts. In October they um received a candy bag and November they re they will receive a pizza party and this is for um students who are rather either
027one of our acronyms whether they show respect whether they've been determined. the teachers um select students and add them to a running document of list. And another part that we love about this is an opportunity for us to engage with our community and um Dunkin Donuts. However much if we buy four dozens, then they donate four. So we also have that relationship with Domino's. If we buy 12 pieces, they donate 12 pieces. So beginning to bridge that relationship with the community. Um so again PPIs have twofold. We have our interventions where we give students the tools that they need through either character development um deescalation building relationships and then we also on the other end of that have where we recognize students. So that PBIS is a twofold. All right. So um the next uh
028hot topic that's um connected with our PBIS is in fact our discipline data. So again right here um numbers talk they say a lot. Um we currently have 608 incidents versus our 500 last year. So when unpacking this data we've identified perhaps two different trends that may lead to that. The first trend is our um expectations for teachers to make sure that we have mainstream a process where they are in fact documenting what's happening. So perhaps um it's just a more amount of documenting. So when we saw all the extra documentation, then we had to go back to the drawing board and make sure that teachers um had an understanding between major and minor referrals and beginning to coach our teachers up and provide them with the skill set of um tools they can use
029to pretty much handle some of those instances and occurrences in class. And what that ultimately leads to is the belonging where through relationships are the only way that our teachers are going to get our students um to even care about what they're teaching. First, they have to know that they care about them. So, we make sure that we're um always looking for multiple lenses as it relates to the different data cyos for those. Bring in Jasper for our seal connections. Okay. So, our seal uh connection, social emotional learning. Um Dean Hayes, he's the dean of culture here at the middle school. Um he's great with relationship building. Um helping out with discipline concerns. Um starting on Monday the 17th of November, uh he'll be initiating the junior de restorative roundts. Uh that would entail working
030with tier two students. Um he's going to have at least five students per session uh by gender and uh by grade level. Uh and it it will be a safe place for children. Um so they will feel free you know sharing and venting and things of that nature. Um and they are encouraged to come as they are. Um again they focus on real world social emotional um and working through tools that will help them deal with their mental health maintenance. Um it focuses on the theme is focusing on a respectful caring environment. So that uh the acronym is for course and upon completing the groups the students will receive a lanyard upon completion and then he'll rotate and get more groups. Um also he does restorative roundt frequencies that'll be done during our lunch periods.
031Uh students have 45 minutes to eat. So half of the period they would eat and the other half they would meet with Dean Hayes. Um and that will be on Mondays and Fridays and again each group will participate in a total of six sessions. Um and this will take place the final session will be January 2026. Um so then these are the dates that are listed. Um on Mondays it will be manhood so the the male scholars bulldogs and then on Fridays it will be the females. Um and then he's going to keep track uh with a running record. He's calling it the emotional vending machine. So EVM and and it will be electronic and it will consist of journals and he'll have mandatory uh roundts and also um let's see here. He basically states
032that students will be able to unpack their emotional vending machine. Um and then you see the acronyms refer and that's what we will be used during the restorative roundts. I've actually sat in on a couple of those um last year. Uh and it is a great resource for students and it's like peer-to-peer. So sometimes students react better when they're being mediated by their peers. And some of the topics that they will be discussing um is uh distress or discomfort um impair daily functioning increase the risk of risk of problems and uh to be repetitive and persistent. So these will be some of the topics and then we'll talk about self harm, avoidance of social uh situations, aggressive behavior, procrastination, um excessive worry. And it's important to note uh that these are all considered non-inductive uh
033behaviors that can vary based on cultural norms, individual circumstances, and developmental stage. The next topic is the yonder vouches versus new cases. Um, as you know, the governor passed a law where uh schools in Ohio have to implement um some type of uh system where phones are locked up during the school day uh for less distractions uh for a safer environment. Um so those are the main reasons and um initially the middle school was the pilot for that. Um and we started off with the yonder pouch which is on the right hand side. Um, and now we're transitioning into the case on the left, which is called the New Germ case, and that's what our incoming sixth graders have been issued. Um, the outer pouch um had some hiccups. Um, they weren't very durable. They're
034not easy to clean. Uh, the students were uh very creative being able to break them open so they can get them open during the school day. Um, so and they weren't as as cost effective as the new term case. So, uh, moving forward, any students that need a replacement will get the new term. So, this is just how it works. Basically, uh, it has a lock on it. So, as the students enter, they put their phones inside the yonder pouch and you can click it to lock it. And then after school, uh, we have unlocking devices that we put up on the walls and the students are able to go up to it and unlock their device. That's with the yonder. And in the new germ case, that's the picture to the right. Um, again,
035it is harder to u to break. So, so far, we haven't had a lot of broken um cases just yet. And also they're very durable and they're shatterproof and they uh quickly lock and unlock. So that's the benefit of the new journey. And some great things happening here at Garfield Heights Middle School. Uh STEM received a $15,000 uh grant from Project Lead the Way uh which is awesome. And through this grant, students are able to participate in uh in design and modeling and flight and space forces. Um and as you see, we have the show choir return back to the middle school. So that's awesome. And our football team went undefeated 8 and0 this season. So that was a great thing. Uh and we also have the effective leadership program uh which has been put
036in place and that's for sixth and eighth graders. And this program does focus on um career pathways for our students. And so far it's going great. The next thing uh we are trying to do monthly family engagement events that are taking place throughout the school year. Uh we just had a line dance in class. Um so that was nice. A lot of the parents showed up. Um and we plan to continue that. Croquet um club was started currently. um crochet I'm sorry club was started and currently there are about 25 kids participating and it's every Thursday afternoon and we have kids on a waiting list ready to get in the program so that's going very well uh also we have plans in place to start a chess club and we're participating in the foundry uh
037the first group of students will start the series on November the 12th and they will be learning about rowing These are some pictures just to show the great things that are going on here. >> All right. So, u going back to the line dance night. I don't know if you know what, but Miss Morrison celebrated it with us. She learned some of the new line dances. So, um she can show you all our members. If you learn anything, you should know them all by now. All right. And uh just to clarify, Miss Taylor when she presented, you saw two columns of numbers. That's because we have two teachers per grade. So that was both teachers in comparison. All right. So we are following um this year's model 212. We know that right now we we
038need to turn the heat up a little bit more to you know get to that boiling point. But our hopes and aspirations is um you know moving in the second quarter with Philly. >> All right, that concludes our presentation. If there's any questions for us, we will take questions at this time. >> Thank you, Mr. Lorettes and team for your wonderful work that you're doing here at the middle school. >> You guys are doing an awesome job and we love to see all of the wonderful things that are happening here as well as areas in which we need to improve. So, thank you for that and being very transparent. Is there any questions from our board? >> Madame President, Mrs. Daniels, I don't know if this um question for um Mr. Rex or Dr. Reynolds,
039but as we looked at the data and the student success, we seen where our students seem to be more responsive to projectbased learning. And do we have any plans to begin to begin to use that model across the different um areas of curriculum and not just science? >> We do. Um that was a uh actually part of the things I was introducing for the beginning of the year more of STEM type of focus. And we've learned over the years and in my experience, we've learned that hands-on experience with kids, they they seem to buy in more to the lesson. And I I use a comment that kids remember experiences, not lessons. So, we're providing those experiences that they showed to you or explained to you that they're doing a lot more hands-on if we continue
040to to uh encourage our teachers and provide uh training for them to do PBL problem based learning or project based learning. Do some inquiry inquiry based learning as well. But just a lot of things where kids are actively involved. I know that several our schools have been focusing on student engagement and that's part of it. Uh and I' I've met with a few teachers so that we could just continue the discussions on STEM based learning where one of the pillars of of STEM is basically real world problem solving. So we want to continue to push that. It doesn't go as fast as you want it to. Um but we will continue to encourage our teachers and provide training for our teachers to do more hands-on type of experiences. Thank you. >> Are there any other
041questions for our middle school team? >> And president, I have a question. >> Mrs. Morrison, >> on the program where we're um helping the kids with career paths, is there a reason we're only focusing on sixth and eighth grade? So the grant that um that we were given focuses on that those two grade bands. Yeah. So we were trying to uh strategically think of how can we address our seventh graders um as well. Um but they uh the organization pays for the trainers to come out and everything else. And so that's the rationale. >> Thank you. >> No problem. >> Any other questions? All right. Again, thank you very much for your presentation. We greatly appreciate it. >> All right. Next, we'll move on to remarks from the public regarding agenda items. Mr. Oak, do
042we have anybody? >> I do not. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Oh, Madam President, I skipped the superintendent report. >> I was going to let you slap. >> We're going to back back up to uh Dr. Reynolds and the superintendent report. >> Thank you, Madam President. Um, again, thank you and thank you to the team at Dark Heights Middle School for hosting this event tonight. Uh, first and foremost, tomorrow is Veterans Day and throughout the district, our buildings will be paying tribute to the individuals who fought to uphold our freedoms and defend our uh, shared values. So, please join me in Garfield High City Schools and saluting our veterans. Uh, next, please keep in mind that Thanksgiving break is fast approaching and that the entire school district will observe the holiday on Wednesday, November 26th
043and Thursday, November 27th and also Friday, November 28th. So, please mark that on your calendars. Um, parent teacher conferences are taking place throughout the district next uh this week and the Gford High City School strongly encourages our parents to play an increasing role in scholars individual educational lives. Uh we're happy uh that those who have signed up for the meet um the one-on-one meetings with their instructors and with staff and more involvement is helpful to advance our students in the in their future. So, thank you so much for the parents who've already signed up and we're looking forward to meeting other parents who we anticipate will be involved as well. And the Ger High City Schools is hosting a district-wide food drive this month. All items can be turned into the board of education or
044to any of our school's front office. Uh please uh consider donating unused and unexpired canned goods and non-p perishable items. Garfield Heights has also been a very strong community and and one of the thing that uh we don't let happen in this community, we don't allow our our people to go hungry. Uh I've seen us come together in incredible ways before and we need that same spirit now more than ever. Uh with the ongoing federal government shutdown, families across the country and including right here at home may see a pause in their SNAP benefits. But please know that help is available. Our Garfield Heights City Schools food bank um will hold its next fresh produce distribution right here at the middle school on Tuesday uh November 12th from 3:00 to 5:00. And you can also
045visit the uh Rock Community Church food pantry on the third Saturday of each month. And the senior senior sitter, if I can get that out, the senior center pantry is also going to be on Wednesday uh the third Wednesday of each month. So again, we want to make sure that we provide the opportunity for our parents and our community uh in this time of need right now. Wednesday. >> Wednesday the 12th. >> I'm sorry. Wednesday the 12th is our food bank. So, please mark those on on our calendars. Uh related to this topic, I would also like to share a special shout out to the members of the Garfield Heights High School Triumph Chapter who teamed up with the students at the Garfield Heights Middle School Triumph Chapter to work our monthly food drive in
046September. The food drive provided much needed uh food assistance to 85 household in the Garford High City community uh including 150 children. 25 high school and middle school students worked on this impactful project led by our very own Mr. Brett Dawson and director of bands at the middle school and the high school. The president-elect of OMA at the middle school and high school and the president-elect of OMA District 7. So, congratulations to the music students at Garfield Heights High School and the Garfield Heights Middle School for their combined service for the community uh in the name of music. And finally, on beha behalf of the entire Bulldog family, thank you to our citizens who um who won by a margin of 54% to 46% affirmed the need of issue 48 and passed our important renewal
047issue. Many individuals are to be thankful the successful on on this ballot which ultimately stands to benefit our students of Garfield High City Schools. We thank our dedicated board members who worked tirelessly for this issue. Mayor Berg, the members of the city council who openly spoke up for the support and thank you to the THCA who played an active, involved and passionate role and to our staff members who helped to contribute literature uh make contributions, hold signs and even more and to our parents of this district who fought hard, supported our e efforts and who were very much so committed to what we're trying to do for our children. and our gratitude is expressed to our voters who recognize the importance of improvements that are being made right here in the school district and believing
048in our futures. With issue 48 now passed, our mission remains issue remains the same and to prepare our kids and equip and empower our students, every child every day together. And we will continue to pursue every available opportunity for grants, strengthen community partnerships and the and ensure that each student provides is provided with everything that they need to be successful. We are committed to transparency, responsible financial stewardship, and protecting the core instructional uh experience of our students. And this concludes our report. Thank you, Dr. Rims. Is there any questions for Dr. Reynolds in regards to this report? >> All right. Now, we moving on to remarks from the public regarding agenda items. And we don't have anyone. >> Nobody. All right, we're going to move on to um reports and recommendations of the treasurer. So,
049could I get a motion to approve um 8.1 through 8.2? >> So moved. >> Second. >> That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Cox. Is there any discussion? >> Yes. Uh good evening everyone. Um so October's financials are going to look significantly different um than they will in November as issue 48 pass. So um what that means for our school district is that we will take that um line item in our forecast and move it up into line 1.01 instead of being at line 12.01. Um right now um when we did our analysis when the levy passed we are running a small surplus budget. So again being fiscally responsible with the dollars that the taxpayers give us. On top of that um the ongoing federal government shutdown has not affected the grant
050um implementation for our school district. I know that there are some districts out there that have experienced some issues in draw downs and approvals, but since we were able to get that done as a district in July, um we have been able to draw down as we go. So, we've um expended and reimburseed about 12% of our funds through October 31st. And um other than that is um line item 8.2 2 resolution 202547 is the annual um resolution needed by the board to collect property tax advances from the county. So instead of waiting to get our settlement in March, we get two advances in usually January and February and then a March settlement. So it allows us to have some funds to make payroll when things get a little bit tight after we make our
051bond payments and our payrolls in uh December and January. >> All right. Are there any questions or further discussion? All right, hearing none. That was moved by Miss Morrison, a second by Miss Cox. Could I get roll call, please? >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. >> All right. Now, we're on to 9.1 Vouchers, Ohio. lawsuit discussion and I'll ask Mr. Oko to please lead this discussion. Hold on one second. >> Dr. Rivers, would you check on Mr. I said lead the discussion, not I'll text a heads up where we're going. I thought you said leave. >> No, leave. >> Oh, I'm so sorry. >> All right, I'll leave you there. >> Then I got to thinking
052about it. I said I think he thought I said leave. No, don't leave. >> Sean, if you put that from the video, everybody Um, all right. Back on track. Um, Voucher Heard Ohio. Um, so, uh, currently there are, I think, about three or 400 school districts that are involved in or in litigation with the state of Ohio in regards to the voucher um program. So, as we all know, the the state legislature enacted expanded voucher access for folks. I think it's about 400% above the poverty line which makes everybody in the state essentially eligible for the vouchure. The I think the premise of the litigation and I'm not an attorney by any means but the issue is that the Ohio Constitution calls for a thoroughly efficient funded uh public school system and vouchers are not
053public schools. they go directly, taxpayer money goes directly to um the pocketbook of folks who send their kids to non-public uh religious schools. The question is, you know, there's a fee for us to join if we wanted to. And you know, honestly, it really is a question of how's our school district been affected by these vouchers. So when the state finally released data for that, we have about 500 to 600 students that are attending outside non-public uh religious schools and um and that doesn't include charters. So Brilliance Down the Street doesn't include that. Now I will say we have two in our district, right? So we have St. Benedict, which is formerly St. Monica's, and then Trinity High School. And the majority of those kiddos are Garfield Heights residents. The question is, you know, our
054taxpayer base is overly burdened as it is and the state is cutting our budget almost every two years. We see a a reduction in in state funds. And the question is they're expanding that for vouchers, but taking from some of the most at need underfunded school districts at the helm of it. your Brexville, Broadview Heights, and your North Royal City Schools aren't feeling the effect of the state budget cuts like our school district is. And that's the question of, you know, do we want to even have the discussion of joining this um lawsuit with, you know, two 300 other school districts in the state. It would cost the board roughly $5,000 um give or take to join in on this. Sorry about that. I will stay for the rest of the Please. Any questions for
055Mr. OPO about the um vouchers hurt Ohio lawsuit? >> Miss Thomas >> um of that few hundred districts who um are in this lawsuit already. Where do we stand um with our neighboring districts with our other inner rings? So I I believe Cleveland Heights University Heights is enjoined in this. I also believe Richmond Heights is involved. I'm not quite certain about some of like our I would say like our sister districts which would be like the Maple Heights or or even Bedford. Um I can find out for you though. I can send you a list of them. Um I get these emails every morning kicked out to me from these folks. Um, and you know, it just as the last budget cycle went through and we testified, our school district submitted testimony, submitted our story,
056and the legislature just did not, you know, really care. And at that point, we had to say, had a question, you know, these kiddos are in our school district. And ultimately, our school district is a three star school district that's probably overperforming these school districts or outperforming them. That would be the question for you guys. I know it's a long way to answer. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? Madam President, Mrs. Daniels, I do believe that since our district is directly impacted and also would be a beneficiary of the success of this, I think it probably would be in the best interest of us to consider it so that we're doing our fair share um to support these efforts. Um I do believe that $5,000 is a small fee to join in with other
057districts that's contributing compared to the amount of money that we're losing and the amount of students that we're losing um due to um the unfairness of the um Ohio vouchers. So, I do really believe that the board should really consider in joining these efforts because we most definitely are a part or most one of the districts that's mostly impacted by the efforts and the initiatives related to um the unlawful use of vouchers in Ohio. >> Thank you, Mrs. Daniels. Any other questions or comments? Madam President, >> Miss Thomas, >> um five to 600 students Do we all remember an estimate of about how much money per school year that is for us that we give away? >> Um I can probably formulate an estimate, but um millions of dollars. So we're a formula district. So,
058it's about out of the $8,100 we get in base cost from the state, you know, that's the number that they set. It's a shared partnership between local and state, about 65% of that state. So, you're looking at 6200 um ahead, right, per student. And then that's not in incorporating if they're gifted student, if they're an English uh second language learner, if they have any inkling of, you know, like career tech education or uh even special education, right? So all of those things tie into it and have a cost millions of dollars though with our students alone. If we had that those student that student population in our school district and it was steady and stable, we would be a firm formula district and our numbers would not we would not look like we would be
059in same funding year after year. >> So for less than what we give the charter schools per year, we can join this fight >> for less than one student in state cost. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> President, I do have one question. >> Yes, Mrs. Stains. Um, feel do the um individuals that um that are leading this lawsuit, you know, because I know that they've been they've made some great successes and they're still moving forward with some things. Are they reaching out to districts now because they really need that support? Because I'm sure that I'm assuming that, you know, paying the attorneys and the finances, they they really want the districts that are, you know, vested to participate and do their fair share is that one of the reasons we've been
060asked today. And then one more question is what will be the board's next steps if we feel that we um should insert ourselves in this lawsuit? >> Yeah, I think so this uh vouchers u vouchers for Ohio lawsuit has been going on since the very beginning. So, um it's and I I I swear to you every day I get an email um from these folks. And I think what really what I when I brought it to you, it really came from when we were getting hammered from on from on state budgets, federal budgets, and the auditor of state was really putting the screws on just about anything, you know, districts could do to promote itself. So the question is, you know, if we don't have a voice the traditional route through advocacy, our school district
061and school districts like ours, poor urban minority based school districts, then this was this could be an avenue and opportunity to really voice our concern and say, "Look, this is hurting us more than everybody else." So second part of your question is what are the next steps? I think the board would have to consult with the board's attorney and just see if this is a recommendation that they can work with um the attorney and then um pass a resolution and then we can can join and from there I can get you further lists of school districts involved and then um the board can make a decision on that time in session. >> That come out of our board. >> That's a good question to ask. That's probably a you know attorney question. uh where the
062funds come from or where they come, but it is a nonmaterial amount. Remember, we're $46 million um school district. It's just a general fund. Um good questions. So, all right. Thank you. Are there any other questions or comments? All right. If none we will move on to um our next se section. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 10.1 through 15.1? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Is there a second? >> Second. That was moved by Mrs. Daniels and second by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion? >> Hearing none. Could I get roll call, please? >> Yes. Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. Could I get a motion to move and wave
063the reading of Well, let me ask a question. Does 16.2 have to go by itself? >> I I would recommend 16.2 by itself. >> Okay. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of policy P 0 6550 and PO 7310 >> sec. Is there a second? >> Second. >> That was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. Could I get a roll call, please? >> Yes. Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. Could I get a motion to move away the reading of 16.2? >> So move. >> Second. >> That was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion hearing? None. Could
064I get roll call, please? >> Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Dr. Kane? >> Yes. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 17.1 through 18.3? So moved. >> Is there a second? That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Cox. Is there any discussion? >> Madam President, >> Mrs. Daniels, I have a question regarding 18.3. I see the who who are we in contract with? >> 18.3 >> three. >> Okay. Um this is what we're doing uh similar to what we've done uh with our principal uh consultants, our principal coaches. What we we're getting some assistance and some things that we're trying to improve in our guidance department. Uh so we uh have basically
065gone out to work with the consultant who's a recent retiree uh who we brought back to assist with what we're trying to do at the high school and and also could also bleed over to the the middle school as well. um they're in there a few times a week uh and they actually just um just gotten a hold of got them started to um to ensure that some things are happening the way that we should. So that's what this consulting uh it's an individual. It's not a firm or anything. It's an individual. >> Yeah. There's no no name. >> Okay. >> No amount. >> Okay. >> No nothing. So are we just approving the proposal that this is something you guys want to do or are we approving an actual contract with someone to provide
066the services because this propo this is this is consulting report does not have any terms like comment >> yes um yes so We can revise it. Um, it is Michelle Rafford. She did provide us with that. Um, she does have a fee. So, I can make sure that she mean that it's updated and we can send it out. We can resend it. >> Okay. Yes. So, that's that was just my question cuz I was just a little confused. There's no no terms, no contract, just the report. >> Okay. So, should we remove 18.3 and move that to our next meeting once we get the information that we need? So, could I give a revised um motion on the floor? So, it would be a motion to um approve 17. 2 through 18.2. too. >> President,
067I'm sorry we make that change. Will we be um just so we don't delay the services, will we be putting um this on our work session agenda in December versus waiting for it to go later in the month? >> Yes. >> Okay. Sorry about that, >> Miss Morrison. I will move uh 17.1 to 18.2. >> Thank you. And could I get a second? >> All right. So, that was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Cox. Could I get a any additional questions? >> All right. I'm sorry. Um, Madam President, one small question. Um, the community in schools, I see that we now have it at Maple Leaf and the high school. I think we used to have it here at the middle school, too. Just wondering why we're, you know, what those changes
068are. >> Um, here here at the middle school, um, we um were having a few challenges uh with individual groups actually serving the students. So we have some amazing investments and it also was consistent with us looking at where we were most affected. So we decided to go into two buildings that were most effective especially over at Maple Leaf. Maple Leaf um their representative that they've sent over there to that building basically a part of the staff. She does outstanding work there and the gentleman actually who's at the high school. He's he's new. They ended up bringing us someone new at the high school. Um he's very much so uh engaging when it comes to students. I met him a couple of weeks ago as he's standing in the hallway engaging students and also just
069working with security to get to know students at the time. So communities of schools has has been a an organization that I've worked with in my past and they've done an outstanding job as as we've seen it uh happen over in Maple Leaf. Uh if you go in Maple Leaf well she's actually out for a little while right now. um she's a child. Um but she's done a wonderful job and if we were only going to have one in our school district, we would have been there at that building because you know the data actually points towards the work that she's done in that building as well. So this has been a a wonderful partnership even though we've had to make some adjustments and we have to make some decisions based on what we could
070do u financially as well. So that's why one of the reasons why we ended up just going with the two. So, so, uh, we we anticipate that hopefully we'll be able to do more because it it has worked for our students, but that's where we are right now. >> One last question, Dr. Maybe is our junior dean program in the middle school maybe filling in some of those gaps that community was providing for our students. >> Dean here at the middle school. >> Yeah, we've seen a whole presentation about the junior dean. Oh, that is that is actually uh something that the dean here is putting together. >> Um and just uh just to speak a little bit about the work that the dean has done and you saw a lot here about social emotional
071learn. Um he is a a gentleman they can actually speak to that who's who's aggressively gone after children to to help them building relationships and really understanding what they what they need and and even creating small groups for students. So you're seeing him just try his best to be creative to engage kids in different ways. Um and he has been helpful here. Um as in would we like to have someone else to the system in that area? Um like with community school, yes, we love to have that, but it has to be the right person for middle school students. And it also has to be um um affordable for us as well. >> I just kind of want to connect the dots to make sure people maybe understand that we're just not leaving this vulnerable
072population without our support that the presentations that they hear today made here today. Um demonstrated that there is some work happening internally within the building to continue to support our students although we may not have this very important program available. So that was I was just trying to make sure we connect those but I don't have any more questions for Dr. Any other questions, Madame President? Miss Cox, another question about 18.2. Um, that question would be for Dr. Um, are we hiring for that role? >> We are. We are working to hire for that role. Um, and EMA's position is a tough position too, especially when you're looking for someone with experience. um and the folks that we have identified who may who have the experience that we need um uh they're a little expensive
073when it comes to what our budget will allow us to do. Uh so what we've done is work with not only just kind of a working someone part on a part-time basis but we've also partnered with connect to assist us in that area as well just to ensure that the work that they've done in that department um remains consistent and responding to the things issues that are coming up. It's as you know with emus there are always errors and alerts that are popping up that has to be constantly responded to. Um we want to keep that going. We want to keep that going. Yes. >> Any other questions or comments? >> One more question, Madam President. >> Yes. Mr. Reynolds, is the person in that role, is that a stretch for them or is that
074just their responsibility? >> No, they the person who's currently who's doing the part-time basis. No, they they have other things that they've done. Um they were formally with us. Um they left and we were able to um to partner with them at least get us through this time of transition where we're trying to buy something new. >> Any other questions or comments? >> All right, hearing none. That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Cox. Could I get roll call, please? >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Miss Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. Could I get a motion to table 18.3 until our um work session in December? So move. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> That motion was
075moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? Are there any questions? >> Could I get roll call, please? >> Miss Cox? Yes, >> Miss Morrison. >> Yes, >> Miss Daniels. >> Yes, >> Miss Thomas. >> Yes, >> Dr. King. >> Yes. >> And we don't have any remarks from the public. >> I got nothing. >> All right. At this time, I recommend that the board enter into executive session at 7:17 to consider the employment and discipline of public employees or officials for the investigation of charges or complaints against the public employee, official, license, lency, or regulated individual unless the IND employee, official, lency, or regulated individual requests a public hearing of division. Vision G1 of section 121.22 of the revised code. >> So moved. >> Is there a
076second? >> Second. We will now enter into executive se session and no um action will be taken after we leave out of executive session. >> Dr. King, can I take the role? >> Oh, I'm sorry. Roll call. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Thomas? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. Now, we're going to enter into executive session and no action will happen after executive session. Thank you.