001and welcome to the Garfield Heights City School District Board of Education regular board meeting. Today is Monday, July 21st, 2025. I call this meeting to order. >> Could I get a roll call, please? >> Yes. Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. Miss Thomas, Miss Morrison >> here, >> Dr. King >> here. And could the record reflect that Miss um Thomas has an excused absence? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Could I get a motion to adopt the agenda as presented? So move. >> Second. That was moved by Miss Daniels and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get a roll call? Is there any discussion? >> None. >> Can I get a roll call, please? >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Dr.
002King? >> Yes. At this time, I would like for us to take a moment of silent inflection and the pledge of allegiance, which will be led by myself. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Could I get a motion to approve the minutes from the June 9th special board meeting, the June 16th regular board meeting, and the June 30th special board meeting as presented? So move. >> Second. That was moved by Miss Cox and seconded by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion? Could I get roll call, please? >> Miss Cox, >> yes. >> Miss Morrison, >> yes. >> Mrs. Daniels, >> yes. >> Dr. King, >> yes. >> At
003this time, we will have the board president's report. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and the scholars of the Garfield Heights City Schools are recharging for another successful upcoming school year. Your hard work from last year will continue as we approach the fall. Take some time to relax. Don't forget learning opportunities are around every corner. And we will see you next month. The first day of school for grades 1st through 12th is Friday, August 22nd. And for kindergarten students with the last name beginning with the letter A through K. Thursday, August 28th, and letters L through Z would be Friday, August 29th. We also ask that you mark your calendars for the Saturday for Saturday, August 16th for our annual back to school bash from 1 to 4:00 p.m. at the high school. This
004event be has be been one of our most fun and important events in the district during the school calendar year. and the district will feature back to school supply giveaways, games, activities, music, and entertainment. Hope to see you on August 16th. Please keep in mind that the Garfield Heights City Schools leadership is assessing our efforts to be as fiscally mindful as possible, balancing the direction from the community and our responsibilities to successfully and efficiently educate each and every one of our scholars in the Garfield City Schools community. You will see another re renewal levy on the ballot this coming November which renews funding that has been in place for many years in our community and will not increase taxes. Please do your best to become informed about this issue as the district makes information available
005to the public. This concludes my report. There any questions on the board president's report? >> Madame President, >> this is Daniel. >> Um is there any plans for um information informational sessions um regarding your last statement and the renewal of that last time. >> I'm sure we will be having someformational sessions as long as well as the coffee with the treasurer and um uh superintendent. So, we will have opportunities for the community to learn more about the renewal less. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. Any other questions? All right, we'll go on to other um committee reports. Are there any committee reports? I will report from the wellness committee that um our um athletic director was able to obtain 100 free u mouthpieces through the Delta Dental free mouthpiece giveaway um program. So, he was
006able to obtain 100 free mouthpieces for our scholars, our scholar athletes. Are there any other reports? >> All right, hearing none, we will go on to the superintendent report. Dr. Reynolds. >> Thank you, Madam President. There are several items of importance for the Garfield High City Schools community that I wish to to share and with attendance from the entire school family. So, first the district will host its annual back to school event on Saturday, August 16th from 1:00 until 4:00 p.m. at 4900 Turney Road, uh, which is the high school, and it's going to be in the main parking lot. There are families and students can receive supplies and giveaways as you stated, um, meet their teachers and also have a the first overall school community experience. Uh, please make sure you mark this on
007your calendars. The first day of school for the Garfield High City Schools will be Friday, August 22nd for students in grades 1st through 12th grade. And kindergarten students will begin to split schedule format on Thursday, August 28th for those who last names beginning with the letters A through K and Friday, August 29th for those last name beginning with L through Z. Uh I would also like to extend a a great Bulldog congratulations to Mr. Brett Dawson uh who will be serving as the Garfield Heights High School band director. Uh we are certain that he will continue to be to provide that outstanding leadership for students and for the district. So please be sure that we're supporting our music and our arts department. Uh parents, we will continue uh as we continue through the summer. I
008ask that you continue to read to your students every single night. Have them even to to read to you. uh take them to the library for library field trips for brand new books and our focus this year will be on literary across content areas and we need your help and throughout the year we'll continue to develop opportunities for for you to be a part of what we're doing as a school district and how we can help you as well. I am very much so committed to this partnership and we look forward to another successful school year. So please enjoy the remainder of the summer and see you next month. >> Thank you Dr. Reynolds. Is there any questions for Dr. Reynolds and his report? Okay. Next, we'll move to remarks from the public regarding agenda
009items. Don't have any. All right. Now, we'll go on to um 8.1, which is the approval of the financials for um the June 2025. So, could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 8.1 and 8.2? So, moved. Second. >> That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Cox. Any discussion, >> Mr. Ok? >> Madam President. Yes. Um, so as we all know, June final year, final month of fiscal year 25 um went smoothly. Our June 30th cash balance for the general fund was $5.9 million. Um, and we started the year at 9.4. So again, ran a um deficit budget this year as we looked at in May with the forecast. Um, what does that mean for us? We have to do again some more prudent financial planning moving forward.
010But it does give us that clear view picture that fiscal 25 is over. We can move into fiscal 26. We closed fiscal year 25 in three days, open fiscal year 26. And I would say the biggest um takeaway from this financial report is our grant funding. So, our grant funding, as we all know, the federal department of education froze um some of the funds, title four, title three, uh title 2a, they did not freeze title one, which was um which is our school improvement, student improvement, um which is the largest bucket that we get. It is important to note that because of the frozen funds from the federal department of education, the state department of education and workforce also froze those funds and clawed back that from our application for fiscal year 26, even though
011we're substantially approved to spend those dollars. What we need to do now is fully expend fiscical year 25's aotment from the grant funds, which we plan on doing before 9:30, which is the final expenditure report due date with that 15-month carryover for grants. And then we have to take a real look at what the frozen funds in the new appropriation bill will do for some of those title two, title four, um, and even the title six, which is the idea funds. Luckily, the title one funds were not touched. Um, they were still given. We still were appropriated that, but with the other ones in flux, you know, it's been very difficult for us as we do expend some of those funds as of 71. So, we did continue with that given that, you know, the
012assurance we have from the Department of Education and Workforce is that that those blocked grants will make its way to us at some point. They just don't know when. So, I would put an emphasis on monitoring the grant funds this year because those are the ones that would be up in the air as of cuts and um title four specifically because they are they are very on track of eliminating anything that touches um DEI initiatives and title four is what they claim to be really DEI oriented regarding the well-rounded education of the student. So, Title 4 and we utilize that funding quite heavily during the year. Um, other than that, it was a smooth fiscal year end close. >> Any questions for Mr. Sto? >> I I do have a question. >> Yes. >> Do
013you do you think that uh that will change with funding because there seems to be a a direct correlation with removing funds and what the is assumed to be DEI. Do you anticipate any changes. >> Yeah. So, um from what we know from Washington, when we um when uh President Trump signed in the one big beautiful bill on July 4th is what it's called. They essentially froze the appropriations for funding for some of those title funds. And the idea is to strip down the federal department of education and block grant to the states those dollars as long as you're not um teaching or using those funds against what the current administration thinks is appropriate for the use of those funds. The biggest ideiation of that is DEI initiatives. this the federal department of education truly
014believes that school districts like ours um indoctrinate our students with DEI initiatives without fully understanding what a DEI initiative truly is and what we do with those funds and assisting the well-rounded education of the student. So I see in the future that as long as we have the trifecta that we have in Washington, they will continue to strip down federal funds, block grant to states, and then state legislators will be in charge of appropriating those funds as we see fit. And what does that mean for us? We just watched what happened to our school district with the bianual budget and layer on top of that that those funds would be included in um the next round of budgets in two years for the banual budget. If that were to be the case, which is what
015they're doing right now, um the Supreme Court has again limited the power of injunctions to stop the dismantling of the Department of Education at the federal level. And we can realistically see the state of Ohio tying our federal funds, title funds at the state level to like the elimination of DEI mandates across the board and anything that would be cloaked as a DEI initiative in annual fiscal audits. That's where this could go and most likely with our Republican legislature in Columbus would go. Um so that if that answers your question, Dr. Reynolds >> and and just kind of off script uh the financial piece just a little bit. Have they even defined what they perceive is DEI >> or are they just kind of leaving it out there so that anything that tingles their spidey
016senses would would invoke a response of uh something negative? >> Um so I can give you two answers. At the federal level, they're very good at cloaking their their determination of what is a DEI initiative and not. At our state level, they are very open with it now that they've gerrymandered themselves into a supermajority every two years. At the federal level, there are still some moderates that will push back on certain things, but we all have to remember that this is a direct attack on blue states and their push for equity in school districts and the way that they do that. and the southern Republicans in Congress um think that that is indoctrinating our students and indoctrinating wealthy suburban districts with DEI initiatives. Um and they're very racial-based and you can tell in the the
017federal bill that was passed that they're very based on attacking black and brown minority school districts first and then rural white districts second. And the legislation speaks for itself, but a senator would not come out and say that in Washington. Rather, a senator in Columbus will say that to your face, and they do. >> Yeah. And and these questions are not meant to spark a liinal conversation at all. It's to spark a conversation on how our kids are impacted on the dayto-day. Uh there is concern uh from from our department from from my central office um that you know some of the uh services that we're providing for students that uh responds to their needs is going to be attacked. Um so that's why I wanted to make sure that we were all on the
018same page on our response and our conversations. And again um it is directly about what is happening to the children that we're serving right here. And I wanted to ensure that that conversation was being had. >> Good one, Dr. >> Been on my heart. >> What's that? >> It's been on my heart. >> I there any Is there any other discussion? >> I have one more thing for you, Madam President. >> Yes. >> Um 8.2 resolution 202536. We're transferring money from the general fund into the newly created 035 to cover severance costs for our teachers that um retired who do not opt to take the EPC plan. So that's the first trunch that we'll move into. Again, be more transparent on our total severance costs moving forward. Um because right now they're lumped in the
019general fund. So now we can get a a clear and accurate portrayal of what we spend severance wise for employees moving forward as a school district. >> Thank you. Any other discussion? Could that was moved by Miss Morrison, a second by Miss Cox. Could I get a roll call, please? >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. >> All right. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 9.1 through second? That was move moved by or is there any discussion? Yes. Madam President, um, one question. I know we talked about this during the um, work session. Um, Dr. Arnolds, do we can the board be provided with some data regarding the exit interviews of those who um resigned? >>
020Yes. Yes, ma'am. It was very important that we had those conversations and we'll be sharing that with the board as soon as possible. >> Um, also one other question. Is there anything you would like to share about some of the new hires that are coming on? Um especially um I see that we do have some new um like a new assistant principal, you know, just anything that maybe stands out about some of these new hires and individuals that are coming on board to the Garfield High City School District to serve our students. >> Yes, ma'am. and and I mentioned it a little bit in the uh in the board report um the super superintendence report but Mr. Dawson who's done very well for us at the middle school. As a matter of fact, he came
021on and once he began uh he hit the ground running. Uh he's taken on leadership roles whether it's dealing with music or not. He's just been a active participant in making sure that we are progressing as a school district and we're very excited about what he's going to be bringing to the high school. Uh he is definitely a lover of music and and he cares about children as well. So, he is going to bring a a new level of excitement for that program. And as I discussed a little bit earlier, um we want to make sure that we're pushing kids to be a part of something. Uh whether we're talking about our athletics or our arts and our music uh or even just kind of a uh clubs, we want kids to be uh active
022participants as well. and we think that he will be actively you see how he grew the middle school program and we're anticipating that he will continue to do those same things at the high school. So, we are very excited about that. Also, at the high school, as we've already talked about with our new principal at the high school, he's also been working to build his team and he's hired a a new uh assistant principal who will be bringing a a level of excitement there. A former ELA teacher, I believe. ELA >> um special ed >> special ed the special education teacher and uh that is an area that we are um every year we're trying to improve our efforts in special education those are students who who need our support and need consistently and she's
023going to bring a new level of support there but we are very excited about about the new uh folks who are adding to our team to bring that new blood that new excitement those new ideas um and also just speaking of new ideas what we're trying to do as well with our teachers who and our staff who's been here. I want to really push them to start thinking about passion projects. Uh I' I've seen that in the past and we've we've hired someone in in our new agricultural science um um position and he's bringing a level of I don't know passion and commitment to this and we want to make sure that we're doing that for all our teachers. So I will be encouraging our teachers to bring their u their passion projects to the
024table. let's figure out how we can fund those projects. So, we'll be coming back to Phil and asking Phil how to fund some of these projects, but I want that to be a thing because I saw how the passion was just ignited in this teacher and I want to continue to do that. >> Thank you. And I think that's a great idea about the passion product projects and um I know you were doing some of those sofa talks and we were able to see a lot of that when you sat down with the staff. So that was phenomenal. And I do want to congratulate Mr. Dawson also. Um I have a eighth grade um band student and one piece that you did not share that he's very good at is his parent engagement. I think
025this is he has been the most engaged um teacher with the parents and he just doesn't send us messages but he educates us on the impact that band has on our students and the importance of their participation and our participation like he's always communicating out to the parents um just in a way to educate us on how to be um a better support to our students in the band um programs. So, >> and I think I think that's one of the reasons why it's grown so quickly. >> Um, because he's bought into the idea that we do our best for our kids every single day and we can't do our best if we're not partnering with our parents as well. And he's bought into that and he's lead he's leading the way with that and
026so I'm I'm anticipating that he'll continue to do that at the high school as well. >> Thank you. >> Any other discussion? All right. So, that motion was made by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Dr. King? >> Yes. >> Could I get a motion to I should add this way of 14.1. Um yeah, this 14.1 should add that to the other one. >> So move there. >> Second. >> That was moved by Mrs. Daniels and second by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion? >> All right. Hearing none. Could I give roll call, please? >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. Dr. King. >>
027Yes. Did I get a motion? There aren't any. We do have one policy, but I have to do that one by itself. 15.3. >> Yes. 15.2. What does your agendas have on it? pay to play propo participant proposal. >> Yes. So I know we talked about both of those. We can do them separate. We can just discuss 15.2 and then >> and then do 15.3 if you'd like >> 15.3. So let's do them separately. >> Okay. >> Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 15.2? So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Discussion. This was our paytoplay proposal. >> Anything anyone wants to say? >> This is, you know, this is an area that um we don't want to be in the situation that we're in right now.
028We'd love to be able to provide these opportunities for our students because this has been I've always pushed again to be involved but this is where we are financially and that's why the the tough decision has been made to to bring this in front of the board. >> Okay. Thank you. Any other discussion on pay to participate pay proposal? >> I have a question. So it's not just sports. Are we including music express and band and are those separate? Um so um Music Express has already been paying a fee to participate um for I think a few years now and then uh I believe the pay to participate was going to be across the board for all student activities. >> Is that sound? >> Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. >> Of course. >> Any
029other questions or discussion? And um Madame President, Mrs. S. And um it says that the due date for these payments will be May 1st. So families will um once it's assessed, how many programs the student participated in, families will be assessed that fee. >> Yes, sir. >> Are we still in a position? Okay. But we do have a contingency plan. We do. We do. >> So if the levy, if we are able to pass the levy, the district will be able to cover these costs for our students. >> Yes, there has been discussions on how we can ensure that those monies that have been paid will be returned as well. Um but this is to to ensure that you know we are able to purchase the things that we're able to purchase for each one
030of these um programs. Um but yes there is a contingency plan in in the case that we are then able to to fund it ourselves. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> All right. So that was moved by Mrs. Daniels and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? >> Yes. And right before that, this is just to um approve the reading of it. Correct. To wave both readings of this pol proposal policy. >> Yes, this is the recommendation. Let me go back and make sure that that's clear with Mrs. Daniels and Mrs. Morrison. It's recommending to wave the readings of the pay to participate and to approve the said policy. Just want to make sure that that was clear. So, does your motion still stand? Mrs. Daniels? >> So, moved.
031Yes. And Mrs. Nor. Yes. Second. Second. >> All right. So, that is moved by Mrs. Daniels and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? >> Yes. Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. Dr. >> Yes. Next um is our open enrollment um policy and this is again recommending waiting the readings of the policy and to approve said policy. Is there a motion on the floor? >> Second. >> So that is moved by Mrs. Cox, Miss Cox, and second by Miss Morrison. Discussion. >> Yes. U this has been proposed to the board uh in response to our fluctuating uh enrollment that has happened because we are a transient population. Uh and one of the things that we've been working on throughout this year is to make
032sure that it was something that we felt was was fair. Um and and also that we didn't just kind of open the floodgates because one one thing that we want to do is ensure that the students who choose to enroll in our school district are also students who um who commit to participating in one of our um programs. Whether it is the AG program, the agricultural science program, whether it is the band or athletics, we want to ensure that they are students who are coming in to be involved. Again, we've talked about students who've been involved over the years. you've seen it, our top 10% has always been students who've been participating. So, we're encouraging more and more students to participate and any students that we uh anticipate that would want to be enrolled in
033our school district, hopefully they're coming to be a part of one of those programs. >> Thank you. Any other questions or comments? >> Madam President, Mrs. Daniels, >> Dr. Williams, do we um have as the department that is handling enrollment and registration. Now, um do they have the management policy or the management instructions to ensure that we have a smooth process for enrollment this year, especially since we're, you know, opening up our enrollment. um and just want to make sure we're not going to have some of the same barriers that we had last school year and have we had an opportunity to implement those procedures into our um policy manual yet? >> Yes. So, um what we wanted to do was ensure that what happened last year with kind of the u the issue that
034we had with registration that had it never happened again. So, we have placed everything in writing. Um, that these are the processes we're doing. Each department has placed their processes in writing. We're going to continue to adjust those things, but just to make sure that the processes are never lost ever again or we're cutting corners. We want to make sure that we are we're doing everything possible to make sure these are smooth transitions, especially for parents who are enrolling students. So yes, all the information has been provided, all the adjustments have been made to the department. Even with the new member of the the department, the training has been different as well to train in the way that we uh don't have any issues and so far so good. Um, we haven't had any issues
035with enrollment, but we had had a few phone calls asking about our open enrollment pieces, folks who are interested in being a part of our school district, and we want to provide those opportunities for students who are coming in focused and coming in wanting to be a part of what we're doing here in Garfield. >> Will you be marketing these efforts to the community? >> Yes, we will. Um we already started with just um developing a plan of action of just kind of ensuring that information is getting out. We have so many things have been happening over the summer and we have not been putting that that information out. We've been we had our football team hosting camps. We've had things happening over at the um the schools where we're doing summer schools, summer programs
036in this room. We've had a summer program running this year where we're just working with kids, high school uh students and helping them with with workforce development as well. So, there's a lot of things, but what we haven't done excellent job is and and we need to do much better is getting that information out and that's why we've been developing the plan according to our strategic plan and Mr. has done an awesome job with just lining up how we're going to be communicating with families, how we're going to make sure that we're consistently uh communicating with them and the ease of getting that information out. We've updated our website so far and there's still those things that we are working to clean up on the website because it basically took information from one website and
037placed it on the other. But he's done an excellent job with developing these partnerships and all and and even on top of that, it is a um an app that folks will be able to to basically sign up for or download and it will give them access to to all of our information on our website and our principles will have access to to go ahead and and post information while they're at an event. So, so we are trying to improve what we're doing because when I'm selling everyone this um it it is 100% true. There are a lot of awesome things that are happening in our school district and I want everyone to see all the things that are happening. So, that's why improving on our communications was extremely important. So, yes, we'll be getting
038all that information out there. >> I'm starting to see flyers on social media from other districts. So, that's just why I was asking. >> Yes, ma'am. questions or comments? That was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get a roll call, please? >> Miss Cox, >> yes. >> Miss Morrison, >> yes. >> Mrs. Daniels, >> yes. >> Dr. King, >> yes. >> All right. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 16.1 through through 17 three. Is there a second? >> Second. That was Well, is there any that was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison? Any discussion? President, Mrs. Daniels, can I get um some clarification on item 16.6 and that's the connect progress book six month renewal. I thought we were switched over
039to Infinite Campus. So, just wanted to know >> that piece has to do with Navvian. Navian is what our counselors at the high school are using to help with understanding uh what students are interested in to to help guide their conversations and their enrollment in programs. Uh that was something that actually uh popped up. Uh the finance department had some questions about that as well. Um as a matter of fact, Mr. Wayland, are you familiar with the Naviance piece? Yeah. So, our our data team and the Navian team still need some of the legacy data from progress book that's still in there. We the renewal that you're seeing is actually a 12-month renewal. We have the ability to cancel it in six months. They need a few more months to be able to pull that
040data over from the legacy platform. Um it's just to make sure that we have all of our previous information for our scholars that are still here in our district right now from that platform. >> Madam President, >> Mr. Cox, >> somebody managing that process, are they have they been given 12 months or are they is there a time that they need to get that information over? >> That's work going through our data team. So they've been working on that piece right now. That's why my qu my my answers are very very general with you as far as that piece. Um uh because of the connect contracts go through the tech department. I know the general pieces off of that but they have been working very closely with the high school staff on that piece as
041well. >> So I get more information for you. >> Yeah. As far as timelines though they've been given that six-month window. The idea is we want to cancel this out in six months versus the 12th and we made that piece clear with connect >> because this is a cost. So it would be nice to know if >> exactly what it is. >> Absolutely. >> I'll make sure we get that information. >> Madam President, Mrs. D. Um so the sooner we're able to um disconnect, we will not absorb they will refund us or we won't do we still have to pay this total amount if we don't use it for the whole whole year or >> No, they they they charge us in six month cycles. So we can cancel it after 6 months and then
042be completely free from progress. But we asked them that right from the get- go. >> So if we're not done in 6 months, we get discharged again. >> We'll be done, >> right? We'll be done in six months. We'll be done. >> We get a plan from the data team as to what their their timeline is and ensuring that we're done in six months. >> Sure. I'll ensure that you you have that information as soon as tomorrow. >> Madame President, Mr. Daniels, one more question. And can we like is there anything like is there make sure that we um audit or just make sure that there's no more gaps with the system. you know, like we get past this one and then we have to pay again because we need to capture more data cuz
043now we see that there's another, you know, loophole. Like is there any way that we can make sure that >> like do we know for sure now that this is the last piece or is there any way that we can find out if there's anything else so that we can kind of move forward with this data transfer? >> Sure. They have weekly meetings with connect too for just that purpose. >> Okay. >> It's usually Mondays 1:00. >> Okay. So yeah, so hopefully connect is giving us a full like this is it. >> Any other discussion? All right. So that was moved by Miss Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get a roll call, please? >> Yes. >> Miss Cox? >> Yes. >> Miss Morrison? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Daniels? >> Yes. >>
044Dr. King? >> Yes. All right. Is there any remarks from the public regarding miscellaneous school items? >> All right. So, at this point, I would like to entertain a motion to enter into executive session at 6:42 to consider employment by division G1 of section 121.22 22 of the revised code and for the preparing for conducting or reviewing collective bargaining strategy by division G4 of section 1.21 121.22 of the revised code. >> So moved. >> Second. That was moved by Mrs. Daniels and second by Miss Cox. Is there any discussion? Could I get roll call, please? >> Mrs. Daniels, >> yes. >> Miss Cox, >> yes. >> Miss Morrison, >> yes. >> Dr. King, >> yes. There will be no um action taken at the end of our meeting entering into executive session.