Garfield Heights City Schools - Regular Board Meeting - May 19, 2025

001Good evening and welcome to the Garfield Heights City School District's Board of Education. This evening is Monday, May 19th, and I call this meeting to order. Mr. Oko, could I get roll call? Miss Cox, here. Mrs. Daniels, yes. Miss Thomas, here. Miss Morrison, here. Dr. King, here. Could I get a motion to adopt our agenda as present? So moved. Second. That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Mrs. Daniels. Is there any discussion? Could I get roll call, please? Miss Morrison? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. Yes. Now, if we could take a moment of silent reflection and followed by the pledge of allegiance I pledge of aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God,

002indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Could I get a motion to approve the minutes from the March 29th special board meeting retreat a the April 7th special board meeting and the April 14th regular meeting as presented? Is there a second? Second. That was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Cox, yes. Miss Morrison, yes. Mrs. Daniels, yes. Miss Thomas, yes. Dr. King, yes. Now we'll move into the board president's report. On behalf of the board of education, each member sends through this report their their message of congratulations and affirmation to the scholars and families of the Garfield Heights High School class of 2025. Our annual commencement ceremony is a public recognition of their accomplishments. This gathering always represents what is what is best and brightest

003in our Bulldog learning community. We extend our best wishes on our f on your future plans and thank you for the honor and privilege it has been to have you all as a part of our school family. Thank you to Dr. Reynolds, his administrative team, and the entire staff at the Garfield Heights City Schools, who will soon complete another school year. Thank you to the individuals in our our community who attended the very special celebration at Maple Leaf earlier this month in recognition of its 100th anniversary. The students always make our celebration events the most special, but was truly amazing. It was truly amazing to see so many individuals from the community past and present reflect and awe reflect with awe and memory upon the legacy of Maple Le Maple Leaf Elementary School. Great job

004to Mr. Glazer and Mr. Fino for planning such a meaningful event. I would like to thank the volunteers and those who supported the Garfield Heights City Schools with issue 20. Unfortunately, the Garfield City Schools has little choice but to begin making the tough decisions that reflect what a majority in our community has affirmed at the ballot box. Our students are scholars, and from the board's perspective, they deserve the very finest education resources possible. The board of education will do our best in working with Dr. Reynolds and the administrative team in order to minimize the impact on our on our scholars and staff. But please know changes that have consequences that there are changes that have consequences on the horizon. We have no choice but to regroup and keep doing our very best to inform others

005in the community about the strong, positive, and meaningful impact that the Garfield Heights City Schools can and does have on everyone. This concludes my report. Are there any questions on the board's president's report? All right, we'll move into committee reports. Are there any committee reports? President, Miss Thomas, I do have a report from CBCC. Yes, ma'am. During our April CBCC board meeting, we received reminders of our main events. We hosted our outstanding student reception and senior recognition over two days at our CBCC campus. We also hosted National Signing Day on May 5th. Our board meeting for this month will be this Thursday and we will be hosting our student and staff recognition ceremony where we highlight students who have placed in national and state competitions. We will host our regular board meeting afterwards. Our last

006day for seniors was May 8th. Our superintendent, Dave Mangus, has been nominated as ACTE's presidentele. He has one competitor. All school boards are allowed to vote. Our very own Brandon Gibson will be competing nationally at Skills USA. We had students last month who visited magnet and attended the Northeast Ohio Business Career Fair. And special thanks to our career specialist, Miss Michelle Hassman, for organizing these amazing outreach events. We got a presentation from our sales and service and transport transition to work program. Mindy and Lynn are doing amazing work with our students. I would like to share that they are always looking for jobs and activities for our students. They are able to assemble products, gifts, binders, and an array of other production needs. They share some insights from their community- based experiences. We have students

007who serve at a variety of places including Lizard, Medish, Heinens, Girls on the Run, Bob Abins, Fastenol, Elnique, and Innovation Foods. We also got a report from our building and grounds committee. There's a lot of construction happening that has plans of being completed before the end of 2025. Our April theme spotlight was Alicia Rscott. She is a senior in our graphic imaging technology program. Although it was her third program choice, she shared that she is happy that this program turned out to be exactly what she needed. As a homeschooled student, she wouldn't experience a public school setting before college. She struggled at first, but the program helped her build her confidence in ways she never expected. She will be attending TRIC in the fall to pursue a career in clinical social work. She has a

008passion for advocating for children. At CBCCC, she has learned skills that will stay with her as she hopes to do creative work on the side. Outside of CBCC, she is deeply rooted in her faith and enjoys writing poetry and styling hair. Keep shining bright and good luck to Alisia. That concludes my report. Are there any questions for Miss Thomas on her report? All right. Are there any other committee reports? I have a um wellness report. Um the boys volleyball team had their inaugural varsity boys volleyball season that had a strong start um culminating in a trip to the division se division 2 regional tournament. The team showed great progress and determination before falling to Independence High School. The baseball team will face Uniontown Lake in the state tournament next week with five wins so far

009this season, the most our program has earned in several years. This group has demonstrated remarkable growth and resilience. Our inaugural girls flag football season was a tremendous success. The team finished with only one loss all year, ultimately falling in the second round of the Cleveland Browns Northeast Ohio tournament. Their performance has set a strong foundation for the future of the program. The softball team had an impressive season, finishing second in the LEAL, our highest conference placement in several years. The season concluded with a hard fight, hard-fought loss to Cleveland Heights in the state tournament. Our track and field team is aiming to finish the season strong as they compete in the district tournament next week. We are optimistic that several of our athletes will advance to the regional level and potentially beyond. That concludes my

010report. Are there any questions in into about the wellness report? Are there any other committee reports? All right, hearing that there are no other reports, we're going to um change up our agenda just a little bit and move our recognitions and commendations to before our presentation. So, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Real quick, Dr. We need a motion. Can I get a motion to move our recommendations, our recognitions and commendations to before our um presentations? So moved. Second. That was moved by Miss Daniels and second by um Miss Thomas. Can I get roll call, Mr. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Madam President, yes. Do we need to vote on these prior to um the presentation? Yes, there are there are

011resolutions. We can vote one by one. So, could I get a motion to um approve resolution 2521 recognizing Marcus Johnson for Ohio? Mr. Mr. Basketball Ohio 2025 move. Second. That was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Daniels. If I get roll call, Miss Cox, yes. Mrs. Daniels, yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Could we get a motion to approve resolution 2522 for Matthew Thompson, Stop the Hate Teacher of the Year. Move. Second. That was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Thomas? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. And could I get a motion to approve resolution [Music] 25-26, stop the hate, Cara Miller? Second. That was moved by Miss Cox and second by

012Miss Daniels. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Cox? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Now, I'll turn it over to Dr. Thank you, Madam President. Uh, I will be presenting resolution 202521 recognizing Marcus Johnson as the winner of Mr. Basketball of Ohio 2025. Whereas Marcus Johnson, student athlete at Garfield Heights High School, has demonstrated exceptional skill, determination, and leadership as a member of the Bulldog varsity basketball team. And whereas through tireless dedication, excellent uh athletic excellence, and exemplary sportsmanship, Johnson has earned the distinguished honors of rec receiving the Mr. Basketball of Ohio, one of the most prestigious recognitions in high school basketball. hand. Whereas this achievement is the result of years of hard work, discipline, and relentless pursuit of excellence both on and off the court inspiring

013teammates, coaches, and the broader school community. And whereas Marcus not only excelled in uh in excuse me, athletic performance, but also represented Garfield Heights High School with integrity, humility, and commitment to academic and personal growth. Now therefore, be it resolved that Garfield Heights Board of Education on the day of May 19th, 2025 does hereby recognize and commend Marcus Johnson for his outstanding accomplishment as a recipient of the 2025 Mr. Basketball of Ohio and celebrates his contribution to the legacy of excellence at Garfield Heights High School. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution will be presented to Marcus Johnson in honor of his remarkable achievement and bright future ahead. Presented this May 19th, 2025 by the Garfield Heights Board of Education. Let's give Mr. Marcus Johnson a hand. Mr. Johnson and get some

014pictures. Yes. Thank you, sir. And after the pictures, we're going to give him a chance to recognize his family. And everyone in the room has always been supportive of him. Oh, come on in. Come on in. Stand in front of us. Yeah. I about to say I'm trying not to stand behind him right there. And I like to his family could come up as well. Get some pictures of family. Congratulations. God. Yes. Thank you, sir. You got to get Oh, you got to get You got to get the whole thing. There we go. Perfect. Oh god, look how cute that is. Congratulations to the family. Congratulations. Next, I'll be reading resolution 202522 recognizing Matthew Thompson as the stop the hate teacher of the year. Whereas Matthew Thompson, an education educator at Garfield High Middle School,

015has demonstrated unwavering dedication to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and respectful learning environment for all his students. And whereas Thompson has shown exceptional leadership in promoting antibbias education by integrating diverse perspectives, encouraging critical conversations, and inactively challenging prejudice and discrimination in all forms. Whereas as efforts have empowered students to value uh empathy, embrace diversity and for and become thoughtful social responsible members of the community. Whereas Thompson has served as a role model and advocate among colleagues by offering professional guidance, organizing equity focused uh initiatives and contributing to the development of schoolwide policies that promote belonging and justice. Now therefore be it resolved that Garfield Heist Board of Education on the day of May 19, 2025 does hereby recognize and commend Matthew Thompson for his outstanding commitment to antibbias education and his transformative impact on the school

016community. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Matthew Thompson in honor of his visionary leadership, compassionate teaching, dedication to principles of equity and inclusion. Presented on May 19th, 2025 by the Garville Heights Board of Education. Let's give Mr. Matthew Thompson a hand. Not here. He's not here tonight. In his absence, we'll accept. Thank you. All right. And now I'll be reading resolution 202526 recognizing Cara Miller as the winner of the 2025 Start the Hate poetry uh contest. Whereas Cara Miller, a student at Garfield Heights High School, has demonstrated outstanding talent, creativity, and dedication in the literacy arts through submission of her original poetic work. And whereas her poem titled Manny stood out among numerous entries for it exceptional expression, emotional depth and mastery of language. And whereas Cara has

017been selected as the recipient of the prestigious Stop the Hate scholarship awarded to a student who exemplifies excellence in poetry and commitment to artistic growth. And whereas the achievement reflects not only personal dedication and skill, but also brings pride and recognition to Garfield Heights High School, her educators, peers, and broader community. Now therefore be it resolved that Garfield Heights Board of Education on the date of May 19th, 2025 does hereby recognize and commend Carol Miller for her exemplary accomplishment as the winner of the 2025 stop the hate poetry contest and extends his heartfelt congratulations and best wishes for continued success in all future academic and creative endeavors. Be it further resolved that a copy of the resolution be presented to Miss Carol Miller as a symbol of our admiration and support. Presented on May 19th,

0182025 by the Garfield Heights Board of Education. Please give a hand for Carol [Applause] Miller. And again, we will accept this award for Carol Miller as well. Thank you, Dr. Brown. Thank you, Madam President. Miss Thomas, may I make a recommendation? Yes, ma'am. Um, I would like to make a recommendation that we amend our agenda to show item 6.3 as resolution 2025-2026. Might have just been a small title, but yes, take the six out. Could I get a Well, you made a made made a motion a motion to amend that. Could I get a second? Second. The um motion on the floor is to amend um 6.3 to read resolution 25-26 and take the six out. Um that was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Miss Daniels. Could I get roll call? Miss Thomas?

019Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Thank you, Miss Thomas. And now we will go to back to um our presentation which is um number five. And I will turn the floor over to Dr. Thank you, Madam President. Tonight we'll be hearing an update from our human resources department. There have been changes over the last couple years and structures put in place that allowed us to better u respond to the needs of our building in regards to personnel and any issues that have come across. So, she's done an excellent job and we'll be hearing an update from Thank you. [Applause] What's up? machine set up this year. No, you're good. All right. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, Board of Education. My name is Sasha Pedigrew. I'm the human

020resources director. So before I start my human resources update, I would like to take some time to recognize our teachers who are retiring this year. Some of them have been here for over 30 years. So they've been here what 1995. I think I was just graduating high school at that time where they were starting their career here. So at this time I would just like to recognize now some of them are here in the audience. So if you are here please stand up so we can recognize you and you know And we will also be recognizing you on June 5th at our last PD day as well in front of your peers. So we have Teresa P, um Doug Summers, Kenna Cardan, Bobby Marxberry, Suzanne Mallet, Suzanne is here, Norah Lopez who is also here,

021um Kim Barber, Jodie Randall, Andrew Hart, Jerry Pastor who's also here, and Kylie Davis and Nikki Rose. So again, thank you so much for your hard work, your dedication um to the children and families at Garfield High City Schools. without you we cannot be here or continue to be successful. So thank you again. All right now to the human resources update. So but again can we just give them a round of applause. Thank you. All right. So the goals so for human resources at the beginning of this school year um I set um the goals um for our department. So some of our goals as Dr. Renault said um last year coming in was to really was to focus on creating structures and procedures. I will say that we definitely have done that throughout um

022last year but this year I wanted to focus on some um the next set of goals. One was to create a performance evaluation tools for all classifications. Last year u we created one for the classified staff but this year we now created one for our administrators as well. So now everyone has a voice. Everyone now has a performance evaluation tool to see how they're doing to continue to grow. We also create a self-evaluation tool. I thought that was important because again the performance evaluation tool the supervisor is just pretty much gauging off your performance based on their evidence. But with a um self evaluation so you have a voice you can actually point out some of the great things that you have achieved but also some areas that you would like to continue to improve

023on. So we did we have been receiving a lot of people a lot of feedback from staff saying that they really appreciate the self-evaluation tool because again they now get to work with their supervisor so they can continue to grow and develop. Another goal is to strengthen the employee engagement and retention. Um The next one to decrease absetism and then also to right sizing the staffing. So I will talk about each one of these goals throughout the presentation. Okay. So for retention retention this year um some initiatives that we put in place was department spotlights each month. We were able to truly highlight each department um from our secretaries to our pair professionals to our security staff to our teachers. Um, next month in June, we're recognizing our administrators so they have so they would

024not feel left out as well. But we were able to recognize each department. Um, we brought them together. We were able to meet with them. Um, somehow we were able to hear stories. Um, we were able to give them um, little tokens of appreciation as well. But just to also just to let them know that yes, we're a school district, but we're all one puzzle. We all have we all play an important role in the puzzle into making sure our students are successful. Um another thing that we did was service award. Um this was in November. We were able to recognize all employees who've been here 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. So they all received a service pen and it's just it was a cute pen just um providing them with their

025service. So something that they can wear like a badge of honor that they can wear and they can be proud of our high city schools. Another initiative was holistic development. So holistic development of course we know that employees come here some people come here for money but we really just want to make sure we are developing you from the holistic from the whole person. So we are working on your um we had a wellness event which was really great this year as well. Um during our wellness event we didn't just talk about wellness we talked about financial wellness. Um we also talked about um uh we had someone here for fitness. Um we also had someone here about STRS retirement planning. Um but again that is our goal. We also partnered with Bwell Solutions this

026year where we were also we were able to offer our employees biometric screenings so that they will be able to see your cholesterol levels. They'll be able to see if you are at a risk for a stroke or um heart attack. Um we are also able to offer COVID shots, flu shots. So again that's our goal to make sure that we are developing you from the the holistic um approach. Um we also this year I did new employee checkin. So it was really important to me that um to speak with every new hire to see how was your experience so far? How can we continue to grow and improve and then as a district what do we need to improve on? So I received a lot of great feedback. um also ways that again how

027we can improve but also some things that they feel like we should keep um for next year um attendance contest. So we were able to do perfect attendance contest or spring into attendance. Our winner this year was Maple Leaf who won last year so we missed the name. Um we also did a perfect attendance where we were looking at staff who had um worked at least 90% of the year during that time and we were able to give them two calves tickets. Um was it was the lower vote really great seats. Um so we did have a couple employees that were able to receive that as well as Amazon gift cards. So again as I said one of our goal was to decrease the absence rates. So this is some of the initiatives that we

028did. Uh and then also transparent communication with staff. Um just letting them know truly where we're at and then how we can continue to support. So the absence trends. So I wanted to show you this because again um it's not the best but we are making improvement. So it's baby steps but I believe next year we're going to continue to get better. But I just wanted to be again this is transparent communication. Okay. So as you can see that right here. So this is 2023 24 and the next one out here is 2425. Um they're by the month. So at August everyone is excited. Um so those are your lowest. So you see that we had a total of 203 absences. I mean but and these are just at hours. So this is not total

029people. These are hours. Um but again um as you can see in May it went down to 855. People are burnt out. you're tired. So, um this right here was the total um of the um field rates. And the reason another reason I'm showing you this too is because we did go to our new substitute agency where we were with Ren Hill. Now we changed over to OSTS for this school year. So, our sub rates, our field rates are getting better. Um but again, um they're not the greatest. So, we're still showing improvement. Um but again, as you can see, the attendance is getting better. So it was 203 at the beginning of August of last year. Beginning of August this year was 129. So that's showing us again better. So again, if I go

030down to December, we're 417. I'm sorry. Yeah. Okay. So December of this year it was 475. So that December did go up, but as you can see in May where it was 855, this year May was 646. So we're getting better. We have lots of work to do, but we are getting back. But I just want to just kind of just show you that with some of our um initiatives with also changing some of the leadership with the buildings as well, making sure that our teachers feel supported. People are wanting to come to work. Um, and we are recognizing that there are times where you have burnout as well. But at those times, that's when we're trying to really make sure that we're there to support them as well and recognize the burnout. Um, so

031again, this is just to show that we're getting better. So this is just progress. I know it's not the best, but we will. I believe next year it's going to continue to get better. All right. Okay. So this is the slide I'm sure everyone would like to see their current state of staffing. So currently we have certified teachers 252 classified 126 workers non union will be 120. Um current uh what we're doing so as you all are aware unfortunately we did not pass our levy at this time. Um so what we're doing is we're trying to truly rightsize the staffing. Um we're not filling all of the positions that we're losing. So that would allow us to truly make sure that we are properly staffing our students based on our enrollment numbers as well. Um

032by saying that is that we are doing priority staffing this year. So everyone that's leaving that will be leaving. We're not going to replace those all those positions. However, we're doing that look at our priorities. Um so currently we have eight open teacher positions and our first priority is our intervention specialist. So those are the positions that we are filling first that we have to fill. Um then from there we have going to go to our core subjects. So that would be your secondary math, your secondary science and then the other core. And then our last priority will be encourse or electives for the high school. Uh we also have eight um non-certified positions. So uh we do have which is really good. We only have eight that number can balloon because that encompasses like

033all of your operational. So that encompass like your food service, um your bus drivers, your bus aids, um security officers. So right now we have eight and those are mainly all open in the um transportation department and then we have a couple food service. Um we have four administrator positions. Um and when I'm saying administrators truly, so we have the one um the high school principal. So that is one of the administrator positions and then the other three are school psychologists that we are looking to fill. Um this year we have 21 um teacher administrators resignations. That's as of today. So we know that people are going to be sending more but as of today this is where we're currently at. And then we have 13 teacher and administrator retirements which you just saw. So

034that's our current state of staffing as of today. I wanted to show you these couple slides. So, one of the things that I um that HR did this year is we did an employee engagement survey. We um asked them just several questions about job satisfaction. We asked them questions about um communication um just you know what motivates them to come to work. So, I just have a couple sides that I would like to share. And the reason why I'm sharing this again because we're transparent. We know that we have somewhere you know some ways to go as well but with job satisfaction I'm sorry. So we had 152 people complete the survey. So out of those 152 people you can see the satisfy is um at the highest and then of course we do have

035some that are you know the other ratings but I would say but for the people that completed most of them are stating that they are satisfied with their job. some key factors contributing to job satisfaction. So based on this, this is where some of my my next slide where my goals for next year are going to come from. So you're going to see someone with support from colleagues. So we're just trying to now feel build and see like how can we do peer-to-peer support? How can we do peer-to-peer mentor? Like really trying to pair um new teachers, but not even just new teachers to education, but new teachers to the district. How can we pair you now with a veteran teacher or a seasoned teacher? But just even just peer-to-peer, make sure they have that

036buddy teacher system. Um, also compensation and benefits. We know that that will definitely come. You know, we pass those school levies. We just continue to, you know, be able to be able to pay more. So, we know that that will come. But that is one of the contributing factors. Um, work environment. Um, work life balance. Again, this is very important. We do off offer a lot of employee perks to our employees as well. Uh we work with a company called Working Advantage that provides them with employee perks to literally any entertainment medium. Um so that can be concert tickets, hotels, rental cars. So we do offer that as well as we offer the holistic approach as well. So our wellness events, um making sure that um we have the the COVID vaccines, the flu shots.

037Um so that's what we're doing for the work life balance. um job security recognition and achievements and also professional development opportunities. Um so working closely with teaching and learning department making sure that our um staff can be able to take I'm sorry take advantage of professional development opportunities. So this last side was likelihood to recommend a school district as a workplace. So as you can see the highest one was neutral. Um but we do have I feel like we're still growing. I feel like when I came here a couple years ago feel like it would have been all very I mean I'm sorry unlikely but it's not there. I feel like we are growing. I feel like people are feeling supported and I feel like people are recommending Garfield as a workplace. And doing the

038new employee checks um I met with over 20 new hires and all of them they kind of u gave us a range between 7 to 10 um where they stating that they do but they were real um transparent and honest too um stating the different supports that other people may need. All right so now on to the go. So these are the goals for human resources for 2526. It is to be a premier workplace. Again we know that we have um some work to do. However, I feel like we are moving in the right direction um to retain 95% of the staff. That number is very important because if right now with right sizing the district, I really feel if we continue to build these supports, put the supports in place, um have that shared

039voice, have that mentorship, I believe we can really get people to um to stay here. Um focus on shared voice and professional growth opportunities. again working with teaching and learning department to see how we can what we can do to better support um creating aspiring leaders program um and doing a survey that came out. We have a lot of people that are teachers but again we know that they would like to go to become an administrator to start working in central office. So creating an aspiring leaders program that will provide those opportunities. Um create succession plans. We have some great employees that um again that we know that they're in one position, but we know that instead of for them to go out and seek their professional goals that they will stay here. So creating

040succession plan. So for our secretaries, moving them now to a higher level of a secretary position when we know that someone is about to retire in two years, in three years, start working on a plan now instead of getting here where they're now retired and you don't we don't have anyone to fill those positions. Um so really just start developing succession plans. Um update the HR website and communication. So working with the technology team and making sure that we have a great website and then communication that had that was um one of the feedback from the survey. So creating a human resources newsletter so employees can feel connected. Um we can also you know just highlight share birthdays share different milestones as well with our employees. And then lastly have successful negotiation with both collective

041bargaining agreements. So those are the goals for next school year. That can close our presentation. Any questions? Any questions for Mrs. Pedigrew? I have a comment and a question. Thank you very much for including um feedback and um a self survey for the evaluations. Um we find that that's helpful when we evaluate the superintendent and the treasurer to get their feedback and then you know as a board we um are able to say oh yeah forgot they did this forgot this happened and it really helps us better evaluate the both of them. So thank you for including the staff's voice. Um my question for one of your goals um your first goal was to um be a premier workplace. How are you going to measure whether or not we're a premier workplace? So just again

042probably start off with another survey but also kind of looking at comparison school districts within um yeah looking at comparison school districts but then also just really just to try to see because premier can be different um for you know for different organizations. So maybe even kind of starting off to find what is premier, what does that look like for us? Um working with our cabinet, our senior level team to all try to see what does that look like for us and then kind of go from there. Thank you. You're welcome. Are there any other questions? Thank you. Um, amazing presentation. Thank you for all of the information. I feel like it was very transparent. Um, in your the employee satisfaction survey that you all completed. You said you had 152 completed surveys. Was that

043just sent out to teachers? No. Or to everyone? This was sent to everyone. So, all our employees. That's one of the things that trying to debunk just having like teacher centric but really making sure everyone feels included. Any other questions? Madam President, Mr. Daniels, thank you for the wonderful um presentation. I think it's just more of a comment or maybe a question with the retention piece. Do you think um the I know that you guys only could do so much as an organization, but will it help us to retain quality staff when the staff feels like they're working in a community that is more supportive of the school district? I mean, do you see us not passing levies and things of that sort kind of impacting us being able to recruit and retain quality staff?

044Um to be honest with you, yes. Um I definitely think that we have to so I know that I was able to um speak with a couple of the ladies at the city. So I do think that we need to that partnership better with the city and just other community members. So then that way the community can actually see that the good work that the um district is doing, but also allowing itself to see the community as well. Um, but to answer your question, yes, I do think passing on school levies will definitely help us um be able to retain because that a lot of times when you don't pass on, that's uncertainty for a teacher. Thank you. You're welcome. Any other questions or comments for this group? Great. Thank you. Well, thank you so

045much for the opportunity. Thank you very Oh, just one last thing. Remember this is we are doing exit interviews with all the staff that are leaving. So we will be having exit interviews. Great. Thank you. move to um 7.1 which is our superintendence report. Thank you, Madam President. Uh on behalf of everyone at Garfield High City Schools, I extend a word of congratulations to the graduating class of 2025 from the Garfield Heights High School who graduate at our annual commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 29th. uh your hard work and dedication has helped you to arrive at this point. Your perseverance during the final few months of school to maintain your grades, finish your year end exams and make decisions about your uh respective futures demonstrate your growth. Congratulations to your families uh for your strong

046layer of support that you've upheld for your graduates. Providing encouragement, a word of advice, some tough love when needed, and helping your students to endure the final stretch of their educational journey is a testament to the families that we have right here in this community. So, all the best to your future endeavors and uh remember, once a bulldog, always a bulldog. And congratulations. Uh Garfield Heights City Schools is on a quest to affirm STEM and STEAM strength in our students from K to 12. And a few outstanding examples have taken place over the last few weeks worth sharing with our community. First, the middle school students recently visited Cedar Point to help celebrate STEM week and uh place themselves in the midst of uh practical physics, engineering, and technology skills. Uh what better place uh

047than at America's roller coaster. I I don't ride roller coasters, just just so you know, they're they're they're toughening to me. But see the point. Um while there uh the middle school students and the adviserss uh had great practical hands-on scientific learning experiences which focused on geometry, physics, and more. This is a perfect example of where we're going in our school district when we're talking about steam. Um, in addition, the middle school performing arts uh students recently had a a chance to sing, perform, and take a tour of Baldwin Wallace and even eat in the dining facilities as a way to to see college level activities as they go on there. Garfield Heights has dedicated themselves or ourselves to steam as we've always talked about. And for those who uh don't really know what steam

048is, it is science, technology, engineering, and math. And in the classroom, we're trying to ensure that kids have a lot more hands-on activities, things that are a lot more relevant for who they are as students. And that is where the direction that we're going as a school district. Uh just to highlight one of the things that I'm way off script right now, just to highlight one of the things that is happening right now. We're working with various departments to bring in our AG program. And our AG program is another aspect of steam where kids will be engaged. And as we saw this firsthand here last summer and that's where we started developing that idea working with our uh not only teaching and learning but also our uh academic excellence uh uh department or educational advancement.

049We we've done a lot of great things and we're we're also making sure that we're placing those teachers in the place who who have a a passion for this thing and I think that we did a we made an awesome choice to really push this effort. Uh so we are looking forward to this. So, keep up the great work everyone who's been involved in pushing the steam program. Um, and also congratulations to the class of 2025 once again. And by the way, my daughter is also part of the class of 2025. Hey, yes, she graduated from Spellelman College yesterday and I was just flying in. So, I apologize for scooting in so so quickly. I just got off the plane, dropped my family off, but I'm very proud of her and she's done an excellent

050job. So, thank you all. All right, we'll move on to Are there any questions for Dr. Reynolds and his report? All right, we'll move on to um 8.1 um remarks from the public regarding agenda items. All meetings of the board and board appointed committees are open to the public. In order for the board to fulfill its obligation to complete the planned agenda in an effective and efficient fashion, a maximum of 30 minutes of public participation may be permitted at each meeting. Each person addressing the board shall give his or her name and address. If several people wish to speak, each person is allotted three minutes until the total time of 30 minutes is used. During that period, no person may speak twice until all who desire to speak have had an opportunity to do so.

051Persons desiring more time should follow the procedure of the board can be placed on the regular agenda. The period of public participation may be extended by a vote of the majority of the board present in voting. Agendas are available to all those who attend board meeting. The section um on the agenda for public participation shall be indicated. Not at the bottom of each agenda shall be a short paragraph outlining the board's policy on public participation at board meetings. So, we do have one person that'd like to speak on agenda items and that's Miss Joanie Wonderstock. Don't start to address anybody in No. Joy Wanderstock 10905 Mood Avenue, Garfield Heights, Ohio. I got notes, but I don't need them. Uh, as soon as I saw Johnson on the board agenda, I knew that there was no

052way I was not going to be able to say something. Those of you that know me know my love and affection for this family. Um, I have had many honors in my life, but none could surpass being the godmother of one of the Johnson children. Um, most of you here know Marcus solely because of his phenomenal presence on a basketball court, but I needed you to know that Marcus is just so much more than that. I had the honor of inducting Marcus into the honor society last year. Most of you were there and saw that um, he's a conscientious student. He's kind. He's so focused on things. I think I probably knew when he was about three that his talent was just exceptional. Um, he is raised in a family, I know you all know

053Sunny, but this is a family that has adopted me. And his mother that was sitting here is just absolutely incredible. This is a kid that doesn't smoke, drink, cuss, none of that stuff. He always gives the glory to God. If you've ever hear him interview, that's the first thing that comes out of his mouth. I think what keeps what is so exceptional about Marcus, all his character traits. I could be here for days talking about him, but what sets Marcus apart from anyone I've ever seen at this level of achievement is his humbleness. I tell people all the time, I really believe he doesn't have a clue how good he is. Um, we go to games, I I don't care where I'm at, if I'm wearing a Garfield Heights basketball thing, somebody stops me, do

054you know Marcus Johnson? And I say yes. And and then I feel like a celebrity. But we went to a game in Warrenville at one of Mici's games and I came in and Marcus is is in the corner taking pictures with all these kids. So I went over I said, "Oh, you want a group picture?" And I'm snapping their pictures and everything. And this went on for about 15 20 minutes. And then I gave the kids back the camera and I go back and these mothers are calling me over and they're like, "Oh man, that's Marcus Johnson." And they're like, they could not get over how patient, how kind, whatever combination of kids wanted a picture, he did it. And then what Marcus will do is he will post it on his um Instagram account

055so they get a little notoriety. I mean that speaks volumes for the kind of kid that he is. And I guess I just really felt it was important so that you know that he's much more than a basketball player because long after his basketball days are over. He's going to be an amazing kid. And with the f foundation he has his dad was the I was around when his dad was a student. His dad was the same way. His mother is incredible. She's a highly regarded um school administrator. Um his siblings were here. His brother led the way because he was a great basketball player, too. So, he's surrounded by the love that you don't see very often. And no matter what time of day you go to that house, it's just filled with people,

056love, camaraderie, the whole B. And I guess I just felt that it was really important for you to know he's so much more than a basketball player. And obviously, I love him. So anyway, and I also want to put a shout out to Suzanne, no, and Sherry. Congratulations on your welldeserved retirement. We're losing a lot of incredible people in this district, and I wish you guys best luck. Thank you, Miss Staff. Um, now we'll go to 9.1. Could I get a motion to Oh, let me see. I'd be 9.3 by itself. Yeah. All right. So, could I get a motion to approve um the financials for April 2025? So, move. It was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Miss Thomas. Could I get any discussion? Yeah. Um do you have your you've got your

057I have the forecast. Yeah, but April is a it's usually a pretty t um tame month for us. Same thing. If you uh the board report, we'll see it's a normal two pay month. Grants are 67% expended and reimbured at this time. Um and the only difference again is that change in revenue from year to year, but we will talk about that when I do a forecast. Any questions for Mr. OP in regards to the April financials? No questions. Could I get That was moved by Miss Morrison, a second by Miss Thomas. Could I get roll call? Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. And could I get a motion to approve the resolution 25 2025-8 um which is to approve the 5-year forecast. So move second

058that was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Mrs. Daniels. Um discussion I'll let Mr. presentation Sorry. It's interesting. All right. The wonderful board of education, our administrative staff, friends. It's time of year where I get to bore you for 20 minutes about our forecast. No, it's gonna be interesting today. What's that? It's gonna be interesting today. It's gonna be a good one. Um, so this is our statutorial uh May forecast update. So obviously we did the one in March was an optional. Um, this is our district forecast for May. We have to do this twice a year, November and May. This is our May one. So as always, we do this for what reasons? A, Ohio advice code makes us do it. B, it's important to understand the district finances. And C, arguably

059the most important of the three, it is to be transparent with the community about how we spend our money and how we bring in revenue as a public subdivision school district. So, let's talk about where we are today. Um, I just want to make a quick note with everybody. This forecast that we do today will be completely different tomorrow and the day after. It is a snapshot of what variables we have in hand at the moment that we put it together. So as you can see here projected general fund revenue 47.3 million expenditures 50.4 projected loss for the year deficit spend of -3.083 million. This should not be a surprise as this was the same exact look we had in March when we filed the optional. Again, as being transparent as the um community school

060district, public school district, we have to understand how we got from November of 2024 to May of 2025 and how we went from a surplus to a deficit and what factors can we control to make sure that doesn't happen moving forward. So with that, that's our current fiscal year projected financial analysis with 10 months into the fiscal year 2025. Where does our money come from? Um 56% comes from the states, 41 local taxes. Um you'll see that that doesn't have federal funds included in this. So if we included federal and state funds, that would bump us up to about 63 64%. But this is just general fund money. Projected state funding is 26.6 million. That is the fair school funding plan that's current in law. Restricted state funding which includes uh DPIA which is our

061um restricted dis disadvantaged school student and school money. Special education CTE gifted ELLL state share local taxes. That is the 12.5% our community pays. uh the state pays on behalf of our community members on the levies that are on the books. The roll uh homestead roll back exemptions are the state share of local taxes. Our local taxes are class one and class 2 property taxes and public utility property taxes. Those are pipelines. Um anything First Energy builds here is PUP is what we call it. You can see that we get the majority of our local taxes from real estate and we are 79% residential in Garfield Heights. So let's talk a little bit more about how we are funded. You can see here that we are majority state funded and in 2024 that was a

062larger bar state funding versus real estate. By 2029 we will be getting closer to 5050. And what does that mean for us? Um, you can see on the left the bar graph shows that our funding starts to decrease significantly. Why is that? Well, the county is going to readjust our millillage. We all know this. So, you'll see a significant drop here in 26 27 28 and then they'll do another reappraisal then. On top of that, whatever funding proposal comes from the state legislature, that is not a full phase in of the fair school funding plan. And what I mean fool by base cost input and 100% phase in will automatically put the onus of funding on our local taxpayers. There is no version that gives relief to our taxpayers in Garfield Heights other than the

063fair fair school funding plan being fully phased in. So, what does it take um to hit that $8,89? I believe it is local share. Our property taxpayers um contribute $2,49 per student. State share is $5,680 I believe. Again, significantly um state funded, heavily formula as of today. Okay, this is very important for us as a school district. Our millillage and our impact and what is the story for our school district. We do not have any uh continuing operating levies over the 20 mil floor. We run emergency levies in the school district. So what does that mean? Every 5 or 10 years we have to go back and get them um renewed. Why is that important? The strategy about 20 years ago in this school district and this is in the eye of transparency for all

064is that district started putting renewal levies on emergency levies because every 36 years property reappraisals automatically would drive down millage rates per house bill 920 that was passed in 1976. Now Garfield Heights as we all know took a 55% property reevaluation rate uh reappraisal rate uh last year. So you can see tax year 2022 uh district class one which is our homeowners $277 million to tax year 2023 $418 million significant significant jump fourth highest in the state of Ohio for this class of reappraisal. So right below that effective class with reappraisals in tax year 2022 we levied operating 24.25 effective mills to our taxpayers. What does that mean? We're above the 20 mil floor. So if the rates were to reappraisals were to go higher the rates would drop with it. It can only drop

065to 20. So now you'll see in the purple boxes outside millillage adjusted for cap we are at 13.76. If you add in the 4.86 inside mills which the county automatically levies on behalf of Garfield Heights we're at 18.62. We are now statutoily under the 20 mil floor which means we will levy 20 mills regardless of what happens unless a financial crisis of the likes of 2008 happens again in which case millage would reverse. That's our story and that's something that we all need to be educated about is that we had hit the 20 mil floor. This was the strategy 20 years ago. We just cycle early. We would have hit it in three years instead of now. We took one of the largest again reappraisals. that's why we're there. So, um it is unfortunate that

066it happened at this time with being in the emergency cycle that we are with levies, but that is a strategy for which we put emergency levies on to be, you know, renewed every 5 or 10 years. That's our story for that. And it's important to know that that's going to be our story moving forward as the state auditors and the state legislature looks at cutting the 30% cash balance in the budget that we talk about. So, state aid, fair school funding plan, a guarantee cut, enrollment. Currently, there are so many um variables in the budget bill downstate that there's nothing telling us which budget language to use in our forecast. We opted to use the current language that's in the now Senate chamber that was passed out of the House, which is the House Bill

06796 numbers. But you can see here uh it does not take into account any fair school funding phasing and our district educated enrollment has a trend that's going towards a guarantee. What's a guarantee? It means that we will not get any money less than we did in 2020. You would think the year before, but no, it's 2020. Fiscal year 2020. That's 2028. So you see that 18 million 128.012 million in 2028. That is our fiscal year 2020 revenue guarantee that we would hit. That's just by the trend in uh educated enrollments. Now we talk about a guarantee cut. They're talking about cutting the guarantee. That's not projected in here. But if that were to happen, we'd have to do a whole another forecast because in 2829 that would be cut by 5% in 28, 10%

068in 29. It is no good scenario that would affect us positively except for full fair school funding phase in our enrollment is the bigger issue and that's one that we have to look at internally and look at it seriously. The trend there does not uh lead us into a direction for which we can sustain long term financially. Getting the guarantee is not an option for a school district like us. We need to do as much as we can to not get the guarantee. It's extremely difficult to get off guarantees once you're on it. All right, so we're going to jump to expenditure. Um 74% of our total expenditure cost is in personnel salaries, benefits, purchase services, 17% all under all other expenditures 9%. Now, usually we look at 80% being personnel costs. our special ed

069costs have been significantly higher this year and that has attributed to a higher purchase service. So as we would have more in theory we would have more on staff school psychologists for example we didn't we had to go out and use contracted services for it that's why it shifts some of the expenditures over into that purchase service bucket but you can see here salaries 27.1 million benefits 10.1 million purchase services 8.6 6 million and all other expenditures, transfers, supplies, capital, buses, vehicles, 4.5 million total for this fiscal year. So, where do we spend our money? Let's talk about it. Um, there's been a lot of questions about the fiscal practice of this school district. Um, we have not been on the ballot in 12 years. Um, we have spent our money as well as we

070could and we're under the 30% cash balance that the state legislature is looking at. So, where do we spend it? Again, you can see 53.78%'s on salaries, 20.08's on benefits. We spend our money on people. We are a people, you know, subdiv political subdivision. We educate children. That's what we do. It's what we spend our money on. You'll see the significant drop in salaries, benefits as um forecast runs through. And we'll talk about why that is. Total expenditures, talk about salaries. So we all know that the state put us into fiscal precaution. They they told us we had to come up with a way to uh either a raise revenue or b lower expenditures. We a could not put anything on the ballot to raise taxes and we can't raise taxes ourselves. Um and we're

071losing enrollment. So what do we do? have to um restructure our district to make sure that we can be sustainable moving forward. You'll see in fiscal 26 that is the effect of the reductions that we had put in in front of you guys today. So it's a significant drop and then of course every year we kind of have that little step forward, step up. You see about 2% increase every year. That's the same with benefits. It's a correlating effect, right? We reduce salaries, benefits will reduce. But at some point those will start making up over time via wage increases, step increases, um, and just things getting more expensive in general. Inflation is the silent killer of school districts and political subdivisions. Purchase services. Again, you'll see 20 2020 2021. We throw those years out because

072back then we were taking in the account. We accountable for students coming into the district for uh charter schools and then we pay it out on the back end. Obviously, that's no longer in law, but you'll see that it's a significant step up. 24 to 25 large increase again, significant increase on health services and special special education, things that arguably we have no choice but to honor, especially if we have open enrolled students coming from Cleveland Metro School District with fully written IEPs that we have to honor. And that's been the case for um I would say 15 20 so students that we've seen come through this year alone. So you see if over time it's a 2.3% increase over the life of the forecast for purchase services. Dr. King, this is your favorite slide.

073Days cash on hand. I always include it. Um I I just want to make it uh very clear that our March optional forecast was very doom and gloom as it should have been. This forecast has given us a little bit of more life to be able to govern as a school district for another year and adjust instead of doing it over the rapid 45day pace we had to do it when we did this in March. We have significantly incre improved on our days cash on hand from when we did our March optional. So we will be able to make payroll all the way through into probably midway of 2020 fiscal 2027. That's huge. That's great. Um, obviously we have work to do in the out years of the forecast, but we will do that and

074that's what time buys us. So that's the important thing that our administrative team has put together a sustainable plan to be able to restructure our district to do so. Now, um, the state legislature has attacked our school district in singled us out. They say your scores, academic scores are not great compared to the how much you're spending per pupil. They don't understand that when enrollment drops and revenue stays flat, your per pupil is going to increase. Not only that, but let's look at 24 and 25. You see that 2000 increase between mid 2023 to about mid 2024. We closed out our ESRE funds. If you guys remember 2024, fiscal 24, we had $16.1 million in one use it or lose it time dollars called ESSER and we spent every dollar of that and had a

075beautiful off-ramp as a school district. One of the few in the state that did that. But the state legislature will say you spend too much per pupil for what you're getting. That's just not the case. And our story is that our enrollment is driving this graph. This number specifically has nothing to do with the academic outcome of our students. It is simply data and numbers. I like to throw a slide in there. Daily cost per pupil $114 a day for 8 to n hours. Uh we are able to educate a student, feed them, educate them, transport them for $114 a day based on 180 uh days in a school year. Majority of this uh expenditure report comes from state and federal dollars. 27% comes from residential property owners portion does not include business taxes. Less

076than 30% comes from our class one property taxpayers. We are fantastic at managing the limited resources we have and I'm proud to say that in this school district we we do a nice job of that. But um there is trouble on the horizon as we can see and we know this. This is why we did this in March. This is why we're doing this now. You can see our revenue in black, expenditures in gray. Orange is our renewal levies. The county will readjust our millillage for the next three years. We understand this. How do we deal with it? We have to a pass our renewal levy, b look at our expenditures because we will be des def deficit spending in 2027 and c look at how we can be financially sustainable with or without the

077community support moving forward and that's the job that we have to do as an administrative team for the board of education and the community at whole. And finally, just a quick short summary. Um, I would like to you to look at line uh the line that says equals revenue, surplus or deficit in fiscal year 2026. Important to note that when we did this exact exercise in March, this was a negative, I think $4 million. It's a positive $262,42. We take this very seriously. We spent 35 days looking at everything we can to get our school district to function as a normal school district in fiscal year 26 and fiscal year 27. We have a lot of work to do because again the deficit spending returns in 27 if we do not pass those renewal levies.

078But this is something that we have time to address and we need to do it with a serious notion like we have for the past 35 days to get us into a sustainable situation and not make this district an example that the state needs moving forward. So with that, I will take any questions you have. Thank you, Mr. OP, for your thorough um forecast as always. Um are there any questions for Mr. OPO? I do. What are the chances of state fully funding? Uh so the chance of the state fully funding with a super majority Republican Congress is probably zero. Realistically, the fair school funding plan is written into House Bill 96. Uh, and then the line below it says the Department of Education and Workforce may not um expend any money against the fair

079school funding plan. They're going to strip public schools and districts like ours of roughly $800 million over the bianium. And what they're going to do is they're going to give us a formula that is a guarantee, a fiscal year 25 guarantee, right? We're not going to get any money any less money than we got this year. But over the life of the formula, it's not a formula anymore. Over the life of whatever they want to give us, they will directly uh reduce any enrollment we have and directly reduce any of the targeted assistance that we get. We're one of 38 that get supplemental targeted assistance. They're wiping that out. $600,000 off the table. They will put us on a formula. They will put us on a guarantee back to 2020 and then they will reduce

080the guarantee off the new formula. So they'll give us they'll give us they'll give us an increase in year one and then we will get nothing for the next 10 years as it was between 2011 and I think the fair school funding plan was passed in 2018. Uh this is serious business for us. This is we are the exact school district that they look to attack. They use urbans um as the you know the the group of schools that are ruining public education when in reality we have to be some of the most strict with our finances because it's so limited. Um we would get 8.4 billion dollars if the fair school funding plan was actually fully phased in and used if it was as written in law. But we're only going to get $200,000

081over the life of the bienium. That's $262,000 right there. That goes by like that. That is two people in the school district salaries and benefits. It's a good question, but from what we've heard, no. Any other questions for Mr. Madam President? Mrs. D. Thank you. Um, as we're looking at the decrease in enrollment and just looking at it starting in 2020, um, has the like backpack bill and the increase in vouchers made an impact on our enrollment decreasing or is it something internal factors? Um, I would say vouchers destroy urban public schools. um they are hitting us as hard as any in the state. I would say they were hitting us hard back when it was just that choice but that choice expansion has allowed um parochial schools to further expand their facilities. Um the

082voucher is one thing, but facility money that comes with it because a lot of these schools don't have the capacity, but now they do. And what they do now is they will feed off of public schools and um they will affect us like you see here in 2020 out of COVID all the way through now. Um and the sad thing is is that a lot of these children will take the voucher in urban schools and then they will come back in and they will be farther behind when we get them back. It's just data speaking in data terms to you. Yes, it hurts us. Vouchers hurt our school district. I have one question. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Alco. Um, I know that the city of Brockfield Heights have extensive plans for expanding and growing the

083economic development of the city. And so when you talked about us being we're getting majority of our revenue from homeowners tax base with the city um with the fruition of their plans to expand economic development. Will that impact um the revenue that we're getting in from from the community tax base and kind of relieve some of that stress off of the homeowners to support the school district? or what do we get from um businesses and just like the jail that's coming in? Do the school district get a share of that income tax? Like where do we stand as a school district as we're seeing these things as things come into our city? So for a normal corporation to come in, yes, it significantly helps. um if you had a big manufacturer come in down there

084at Highland Park Square or something like that, um it would take some of the relief off of the residential taxpayer because it's spread, right? You're increasing your tax base, which means that the mill rates will drop to bring that online. Um as for the county complex, the district will see nothing in property taxes from that. Um the county has been very firm that they're going to move that to the taxexempt duplicate the second that it makes its way over through council. Um Dr. Reynolds and I have been very vocal with the county about that for over a year now about how um it is taking 77 or so acres off of the duplicate for Garfield Heights. So what does that mean for our residential taxpayers? If you take property off of it, taxes will increase

085for the the taxpayers because there's less land to tax. Um, and we get nothing, but the city gets payroll taxes. And that's we need to be very clear about that. So, school district gets nothing, city gets payroll taxes, taxpayers pay more. That's the formula. Um, and then of course if there's any abatements, tiff projects, CRAAS, that could affect our bottom line with property tax as well as the city just passed their zoning um issue which would effectively let them reszone into mixed use which we would have the board would have to have the authority to approve any abatements um CRAAS tips anything of that sort. So, it's a it's a to answer your question, it's great if businesses come in and invests in the city. It's not great when the county takes 77 acres off

086the duplicate school district gets nothing for a new jail. That's about as political as we've even tried to negotiate services because once we got the word that we were getting enough at least if it's a campus that's going to serve uh folks for mental health issues as well allow some of the services to to uh be provided not only for our our students or even just for the community as well. That's still in the air. We're hopeful that the county will allow those things to happen. But we're always fighting. you're always fighting too to ensure that not only just the school district but the community is just made whole in these situations. Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Oko? Again, thank you Mr. Oppo. Very thorough and transparent. So, thank you very much. Thank

087you. Yes. Thank you all. All right. So, I'll wait for Mr. finish. So, back to 9.2. Um, that motion was made by Miss Cox and second by um Mrs. Daniels. Could I get roll call? Miss Cox? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes, Miss Morrison. Yes, Miss Thomas. Dr. King. Yes. Now for 9.3, a resolution um resolution 2025-9 approving the precaution written plan workbook and narrative addressing projected deficits pursuant to the ODW notification letter dated April 16, 2025. Could I get a motion to um approve resolution 2519 as presented? Second. That was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion? No. No. I just want to um thank you and Dr. Reynolds for just coming up with um such a comprehensive plan to ensure that we can continue to serve our students with

088the resources that we have. This was um phenomenal. So, thank you guys. Anything you want to highlight, Mr. Oko? Yeah. So, again, um we're submitting this as part of the forecast, as part of our assumptions, significantly better outlook. Um, from what it looks like, the state is not going to move forward, putting us in fiscal caution, which is fantastic. It's a huge win for us. And then, um, it's not official yet. We're going to wait until they approve it, but I know um, but they will be monitoring us because the state is um, worried about the status of our levy. Um, so they will be working with us, but um, statutoily we're we have met the qual the criteria needed for this, and this is what we have to prove and put forth with our

089forecast. So, We don't want to climb too soon yet. Good work. I mean, you guys work. All right. All right. So, that was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Thomas? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. And again, thank you for your hard work and dedication on this project. I know it was a long 35 days, but thank you very much for um the hard work that you put into it. All right, so we have 9.4 um transfer resolution 2025-20. Could I get a motion to um approve resolution 2025-20? Second. That was moved by Miss Cox and seconded by Mrs. Daniels. Um, Mr. Oak, anything you want to share? Yeah, so there was a about a six or sevenyear

090fiscal plan to kind of clean up some of the grant funds that were overexpended in prior fiscal years. Part of the state's um criteria to move forward with the fiscal precaution plan was to do that as soon as we could. So, we are going to address that in May and in June and hopefully clean this up for good and move forward with that. But this is a uh one resolution you'll for transfer. You'll see another one next month as well when we clean up the fiscal year. All right. Any questions for Mr. Oak? If not, that was moved by Miss Cox and seconded by Mrs. Daniels. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Cox? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. Okay. Yes. Um 9.5 res resolution 2025-24 to establish a

091035 severance fund. Could I get a motion to approve resolution 2025-24 as presented? So move. Second. That was moved by Mrs. Daniels and second by Miss Thomas. Is there discussion? Yes. Uh, quickly. So, 035 severance fund will be used um with transfers from the general fund every year to cover only severance payouts or any vacation payout for administrators if applicable. So, um some of the things that we've seen is that um our employees want to see the money for severance. This is the way to do it. So we can specifically say that we're moving the full severance cost per year for employees that's taken out of the general fund so we can see a more accurate picture of what's in our general fund. Also, if the state implements a 30% cash balance and we start

092getting close to that, we have established a severance fund. So if they start looking at transfers, we have a reason why we're transferring it. Thank you. Any questions for Mr. Oko? Hearing none. That was moved by Mrs. Daniels and seconded by Miss Thomas. Could I get a uh get roll call, please? Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. 10.1 Resolution 2025-23 to support the fair school funding plan. This is a resolution um in support of fully funding the fair school plan. Do you know one of three get a motion to um recommend the board approving resolution 2025-23 second that was moved by Miss Cox and seconded by Miss Morrison. Any discussion hearing? None. Can I get roll call, please? Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Mrs. Daniels?

093Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 11.1 through [Applause] 15.1. So move. Second. That was moved by Miss Morrison and seconded by Miss Cox. Any discussion? Again, here I would like to thank all of our retiring staff for their dedication and hard work and to the district. And again, I want to give them a round of applause. Thank you very much and enjoy your retirement. Any other discussion? 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. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Could I get a motion to approve the supplemental contracts as presented in 16.1? So move. Is there a second? Second. That was

094moved by Miss Daniels, Mrs. Daniels, and second by Miss Morrison. Is there any discussion? Could I get roll call, please? Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. Kane? Yes. Next. Could I get a recommendation to approve the We don't have any policy items, but we do have our second [Music] reading. Can I get a motion to approve the second reading and adoption of um our policies? So move. That was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Thomas. Is there any discussion? Miss Thomas. Um, is this agenda item 17.2? Yes. And it should just be 117.2. Is there any other discussion? One thing I would just like to um remind the policy committees to make sure that we're adding um and workforce Ohio Department of Education and workforce because

095I still see that it's some just ODEs. So, we want to make sure it's ODW um or words written out that we add workforce. Any other comments or questions? All right, Madam President. Yes, Mrs. D. Those type of um entries like adding workforce, what might be the responsibility of our um Yes. It's in some spots and not in others. So it's just not consistent throughout all of the policies from my review. Madam President, you know what? Some of the ones that say OD and without the workforce, they might be policies from before it was Department of Education or workforce that we have to approve that we have to approve to the new. Got it. Yes. We'll make sure and we'll make sure Nola can designate which ones are which, but that could reason why it's

096not showing us there too. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? So, for clarification, we all should send you guys um drafts with that appropriate language. Is this not there? I mean, yes. Yes, cuz we do have a number of policies that are from the last few years. So that could be it. All right. If there's no other discussion, that was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Thomas. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Cox, yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Could I get a motion to move and wave the reading of 18.1 through 18.7 18.7 second that was moved by Miss Cox and second by Miss Morrison. Any discussion? Madame President, Mrs. Daniels, just have a question for Mr. Alco. Yes. um majority of contracts here

097that we approving. Are these some of those services um that you shared with us that kind of takes us a little bit over in our budget um that's going out to outside providers to support um the implementation of IEPs for our students. Yeah, they are. And I I would say um the majority of these are ones you see every year. They're just um services that we're renewing. It's that time of year. But I would say um we probably this year and next year will call on these services a little bit more for for extra services as we you know have to look at the capacity for which we can serve our students and the needs and the resources we have. So yes, I would say yes, these are for those extra costs and then also

098this is something that we've been doing for a few years now. Um, but they are that is the largest group in the purchase services that we expend out of are from our special ed contractors. Also, could that be an I'm just, you know, as you was discussing that earlier and stating that the costs have increased over the years. Could that just be an indicator that we're ensuring that we're servicing our students with exceptional needs um at a higher rate and more intentional about that service versus just having some kids fall through the gap because of financial reasons? But we're actually ensuring that our students needs are being met in the district a little bit more. even though it's at a significant cost of course, but I know that we've done a lot of work um

099around that as a district with diesel and things of that sort. Is that possibly just impacting the increase? I would say yes. From a strictly financial situation, absolutely. If we're being compliant with what we have to do for our students, then yes, we will expend the resources. I again, Mr. Mr. Forte is not in the audience so I can't speak to you know the program he's done but I will tell you the conversations which I have financially he is being compliant and we are attempting to address every need of every student that we can which is what we're sworn to do here. Yeah. When we have new students we also uh inherit their IEPs as well. So if it's transportation involved in that we have to adhere to that. um we've gotten a lot of

100that whether it is transportation or it is um uh placement a different placement those are things that we we inherit but as in the students that we're serving that we're going to make sure that we are providing we identify some things yes we're going to make sure that we are serving those children but a lot of the expenses have come from outside placement of students and that we in in some cases we I've never met the student we've never met the student just kind of um we inherit the situation and we respond accordingly just to ensure that the child is receiving the services that they deserve. Thank you. I also would like to say that our staff in in district do a fantastic job at limiting the outside costs. Um, our intervention specialists, our our

101psychologists on staff are fantastic when it comes to taking on the course load and making sure that they're stretched thin. But financially, if we didn't have the group that we have, we would be spending much more on purchase services for special education that we are. So, it's kudos to them in district. But as all urbans are, we are underst staffed and underresourced. But I just want to make that clear when we talk about internal versus purchase service. So, Thank you. Any other questions, comments? All right. So, that was moved by Miss Cox and seconded by Miss Morrison. Could I get roll call? Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Morrison? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. 18.8. A resolution determining to submit to the electors of the school district the question of the renewal

102of an existing tax levy pursuant to section 5705.03 and 5705.194 to 25705.197 of the revised code. Could I get a motion to approve resolution 2025-25? Second. That was moved by Miss Thomas and seconded by Mrs. Daniels. Is there any discussion? Madam President. Miss Thomas, a quick question. Um, may you remind us the approximate cost to put a levy on the ballot? Um, so for a November primary, it'll roughly cost us between 25 $30,000. A May primary like we just had is between 50 and 60 um if we're the only ballot issue on there. Expensive to put on. Um but um the the least impactful are presidentials because we're not the presidential obviously issue is on there, but um nonpresidential primaries and primaries are the most expensive. That's your question. Yes. Thank you. I do have

103an a comment as well. Yes. The school district has done an excellent job with making sure that we were we're only talking about the facts and we put out information about the facts of the matter. The fact that it was a uh it is a no tax uh letter. There's no tax increase at all. Um but we want uh the community to understand every aspect of this. That's why we we go out into the community, give the information, we send out information, we put things on our our website. We want to be as transparent as possible. As you've seen with the presentations tonight, we're giving all the information. There's nothing that we're hiding. All we want to do is serve kids. That's all we're trying to do. We're not trying to build all types of

104facilities all over the place. That's not what this is about. We're trying to make sure that we're able to maintain the the the forward progress that we've been making as a school district, but we we will need the help of the community to understand what the facts of these things are. So, we'll continue to put out the information, put out the facts, uh have opportunities to discuss whether there are questions or not, but everything that we've done has been straightforward and straight to the point, giving factual information, and we'll continue to do that as well. Thank you, Dr. Williams. you and your team did a great job with um getting out into the community as well as um other volunteers and so we want to thank you for that and we'll continue the good fight.

105Any other questions or comments? Madam President, Mrs. things. Um, I just think it's very important, you know, for first I would like to thank those that did go out and vote for the levy, even the yes and the nos cuz it is a democracy. So, it's very important to acknowledge, but I do appreciate the support um, just as a parent of the district. But, you know, I must say I was just a little frustrated and I think it's just very important that um and I'm just speaking as a parent, you know, that us as parents that we bring our kids to the school district every day and rely on the school district to educate our children and prepare them for the future. We have to get involved and take a stance. You know, it is

106free public education and it's all if all you have to do to ensure that your children get what they need, show up somewhere one time, only take you five minutes just so your kid can have somewhere where they eat every day for free. They learn for free. They are taken well taken care of. If you need food, we pass that out. If they need health care, they got a little bus that they can go jump on and do that. if we do so much for the community but more so for our children and at some point um we're just going to need our parents to engage. It's not we're not asking a lot. We're not asking a lot for all that we get just for you to participate so that we can continue to do

107the things that we do for your children every day. And that is just may be wrong or right, but that is just where I'm at on it. And I'm just really encouraging parents because some parents may not know what the importance of their civic engagement is. But it is vital. These are our kids and we cannot sit back and wait for someone else to educate and take care of our kids and make sure they have what they need. We need the parents along with the community to partner. cannot expect the community to do what parents also should be joining and partnering with the district and the community to do. So, I just want to say that and I'm sorry if it was off the mark, but that's just where I'm at with this because I

108care about our kids getting what they need every day here in this school district. It's important. It's vital. It's critical. Thank you, Mrs. Any other questions or comments? Mr. President, Miss Cats, uh, with the presentation that we, um, heard from HR and the financial presentation, when will the community know the the we've talked in the I don't want that macro, but we we're when will when will the community and the the parents know the effects of our lean? steps in trying to keep the doors open. When will I guess I should Yes, I can definitely respond to that. After we go through this process, our job now is to give the information of the heavy cuts that will take place if we are unable to pass a levy. Um that is factual information because that

109is actually what we have also included in our plan as well. if this then that is actually a part of our plan. So there will be heavy cuts. We're looking at uh some things that um the community um will probably be um a little shocked um but is a necessary they are necessary cuts uh in order to maintain our school district. Um and I am very very hopeful that they'll understand that these facts that we're giving are actual. There's not um um there's not anything that we're giving as opinion. They're all facts and by the numbers. So, there's some substantial cuts that we'll have to make that will impact the community if we are uh unable to um to move forward with uh or gain the support of our families or gain support of this

110community. So, we will be releasing a list of the areas of cuts that will occur. We we'll list the things that we've already cut to make the adjustments so that 54 plan looks the way it looks now and but we'll also include that information of exactly what we're going to do. We don't want anything to be a surprise to anyone. Um so we will be sharing that as we've always shared with that level of transparency that we're always talking about. We will be sharing that information but there will be substantial cuts if we're unable to do those things. One more question. We we shared that list before the last levy. Are there any um cuts or any changes that will be made from the last levy to this one? Yes. Okay. Yes. That's it. Any

111other questions or comments? Are there some cuts that's going to potentially happen just as we're preparing prior to the ballot? because you know do we now start preparing for the no so it's not a hard drop for services and students come November are we going to start staggering some cuts now just in preparation for that and then have the opportunity to restore later or are we just going to sustain and just make these hard cuts right at one time that's a part of what um Miss Pedigrew was was explaining that the fact that all the positions that we we're losing when folks make other decisions, we will not be filling those positions outside of our um independent specialists. That is an area that we have to ensure that our special ed um students with IEPs

112are are able to be served appropriately. Um but that is the first step right now in not replacing all of those positions. Uh there are some additional repairs that we're also going to be cutting uh as well that's happening with process is happening now. Um so those things are happening. What we're doing right now is trying to ensure that we don't are not cutting so deeply that it impacts our kids in the classroom. That's what we're doing. But the next level cuts I am unsure because they they'll be substantive. Um so I'm very hopeful that we are able to do a a much better job. Uh, I thought that we did a great job. I'm I'm confident that we'll do a much better job in getting this information out consistently. We plan on doing these

113coughing conversations every month next year just to make sure any information out even outside of the web post that we're actually in front of the community and asking questions various locations. Uh I know there was a question about us being in one location which was great idea at the beginning and we saw that we probably need to spread out just a little bit to make it good being for everyone in the community. So we'll be taking those into as a part of the plan as well. But we will be sharing every bit of this. There will be no surprises. We're going to put all the information out as we've always done and and I'm very hopeful that our community will support our children. I'm not even talking about supporting us as the adults. I'm talking

114about supporting our children because these things will impact children right now. The cuts that we made, as I said a little bit earlier, if we're able to sustain the the forward movement that we've we've experienced right now, but I'm unsure how that will be adjusted if we're unable to to gain community support. Thank you, Madam President. Can I ask Dr. Reynolds one question? Yes. Regarding your coffin conversations, is there opportunities to um do some of those sessions where it's more accessible to working parents and working families because I think that was one of the the barriers um parents was having challenges engaging in those. Yes, there will be flexibility in that. I want I want to be in front of everyone. I want to be in front of everyone who has questions. Now, sometimes we

115get into these situations where folks just want to prove a point. We really don't have time for folks to come out and prove a point. We just have time to come out and give you the information so that you can make a a choice the way you need to make a choice. That is an issue in this community right right now. If I'm going to be just totally transparent, is that we get into conversations that are totally off what's best for kids. I don't have time for those conversations. If you have conversations about how this is impacting the community, what we're planning on doing, how we're going to respond to the needs of the children in this community, those are the conversations I'm very very open to having. Even the tough ones, even the tough

116ones. But when people are showing up just to prove a point, I don't have time for that because that is a distraction and distracted people do what they do, distract people. And that is something I just don't have time for. Um, I'm in the business of children and I that's that's all I've ever done and that's where my focus will be moving forward. But I am truly open to answer any questions about children and what we can do to help children and families. But we don't have time to be distracted. All right. Um, hearing no further discussion. That was moved by Miss Thomas and second by Mrs. Daniels. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Thomas, yes. Mrs. Daniels, yes. Miss Cox, yes. Miss Morrison, yes. Dr. King, yes. All right. Could I get a

117motion to move away the reading of 18.9? So moved. Through 19 three. So moved. Sorry, I jumped the gun. Okay. Second. That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Mrs. Daniels. Are there any discussion? Miss Thomas. Quick question. May you tell us about these new high school classes? [Music] Good evening. Um, so we have three exciting new programs um or courses we're going to be offering. The first is our African-American literature course that will be for our 12th grade students. Um Miss Carla Saunders will be teaching that. We're very excited to offer that to our students. And um with the agriculture team, we have two new programs, introduction to agriculture, food and natural resources and our animal and plant science courses for CTE. So again, some exciting things happening at the high school for

118next year. Any further questions that I can answer about those classes? the African-American lit course. Is it a regular high school course or is it a CCP course? It's a regular high school class at this point in time. Yes. And we're also going to be offering CCP classes in English um for creative writing second semester. We're just finishing up the work on that one. So, very exciting. Great things happening. Thank you very much to you and your team. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? That was moved by Miss Morrison and second by Mrs. Daniels. Could I get roll call? Miss Morrison? Yes. Mrs. Daniels? Yes. Miss Cox? Yes. Miss Thomas? Yes. Dr. King? Yes. Um, we didn't have any um public remarks in regards to miscellaneous school items. Um, is there any part any comments

119on the public participation for IDAB funds? Hearing none, we'll move on to um the announcement of our next school board meetings. We will have our um special board meeting work session on June 9th at 6 pm and we will have our regular regularly scheduled board meeting on June 16th at 6 pm both here at the school uh school board office. At this time I would like to entertain a motion to adjourn this evening's meeting at 8:56. So move Second. That was moved by Miss Cox and seconded by Mrs. Daniels. Could I get roll call, please? Miss Cox, yes. Mrs. Daniels, yes. Miss Morrison, yes. Miss Thomas, yes. Dr. King, yes.