001Okay, welcome everyone. It's 7 PM. We're going to get started. Adequate notice has been given. I'd like everyone to join us in saying the pledge of allegiance. 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. And I did we have any public comment? I didn't have a chance to look, Gina. No. Okay, great. Okay, so we're moving on to our superintendent communications with Dr. Patel. Oh no, sorry. We have to approve the agenda. I'm sorry. >> I move that we approve the agenda as posted. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Okay. Agenda is approved. Now I'll turn it over to Dr. Patel. >> Thank
002you. Good evening everyone. Thank you for being here tonight on this lovely warm weather day. It feels like it's almost summer lately. Um since we last met, we've had some meaningful learning happening as always and some highlights that I do want to share with you tonight. First highlight was last Friday I had the honor of driving down to the Ozarks to watch our Wound Middle School chamber orchestra perform at the MMEA I always have to say that right ma conference. So the Missouri music educators um conference that they have every year and they select different chamber orchestras from across the state to come perform and whiteon was selected and I have to tell you it was simply stellar, outstanding. When they were done performing the the whole um ballroom, everybody gave them a standing ovation
003and they would not stop clapping. Like it took a while to get everybody to settle down. It was like one of those goosebump goosebump moments and like there were tears in people's eyes and it was all led by um Carolyn Day, our amazing instructor. But these students were outstanding and I just want to I'm so proud of them as superintendent and I was just um it was great to see them. So if you know any of them or if you see them or if you see our amazing teacher Carolyn Day, please congratulate her. And also at the conference I walked in and our um fine arts coordinator and band teacher Daniel Henderson was there. And so um he was just standing there and then all of a sudden someone told me something and I said
004Daniel last night at the conference were you awarded the Missouri music educator of the year? And he was like I was. And I it's I like did you know about this because we probably could have come and you know and he's like I did but I wouldn't want to go around saying hey I'm the Missouri music educator of the or your award. So he was recognized and that is a huge um you know a moment to be proud of and if anyone knows Mr. Henderson he's phenomenal and our students are lucky to have him as well. So please um congratulate him as well. This week switching gears this week is school counselor appreciation week. So, we have pictures of all of them up there, but I just wanted to take a moment and congratulate them
005and recognize them for all the work they do every single day in our um schools, the kindness they show show to our students, the care, the dedication they have, and a lot of the work they do is behind the scenes. And so, I just want to make sure that we recognize them. If you see them anywhere in the buildings or out and about, please thank them and appreciate them for all that they do. Next, um, as you know, at the last board meeting, our board voted to place Prop O on April 7th's um, ballot. And so, we've continued to work on all the things leading up to that. Our focus really has shifted now to the communication part and how do we get our community to understand what Prop O supports and how we continue
006to enhance all of the learning that's happening and strengthen our community. So tonight you will hear a presentation um from Donovan Group, Susan Downing, Gina Tart, our communications um chief officer, and they're going to share the plan that we have leading up to April 7th. And one and this week actually, we've had a lot of focus groups. We've been hearing from different stakeholders. And one of the things that has come up that we know we need to address is our bridge campus. And when we talked about the three pro projects that we are focusing on for Prop O, which is Glenidge Elementary School, Clayton High School um learning lab, and then Gay Field, the main question right now is where will the children and our students go from Glenidge Elementary. And so we've been exploring
007a couple of options and one option is a partnership with WashU to be able to use the Fontbond University space. And what that could look like is having a bridge, what we're calling a bridge campus on Fontbond property and utilizing that athletic center for the gym and the cafeteria portion of it. So we're we don't have the details finalized. We're still working with Wu, but the more we know and as we finalize that plan, we'll be sure to communicate that out. In addition, we're going to almost create like a FAQ for just Glenidge Elementary School and say this is what the bridge campus is going to look like. These are here's pictures of what it would look like. Here's what where we have to consider like the transportation um you know day-to-day food how we're
008going to do all of that. So, as we get those details mapped out, please be um assured that we will be sharing all that with you. So, we will have all of that dedicated. will send it out as you know um through various ways maybe home mailers we'll have it on the website social media etc. What our goal is to be as transparent as possible and to communicate as much as possible leading up to April 7th and I believe that is it. Nina actually was part of one of the focus groups that we have held over the past three days and she our student board rep is now going to give us a little more information about what that looked like. So yesterday I got the chance to meet with a focus group to discuss
009Prop O and we talked a little bit about advertisement language and wording but we mostly talked about how Clayton students can continue to help advocate for their needs. We talked about how important it is to get not only representation from all students but especially from the students who currently experience um classes in the sectors that would be potentially renovated um as this really helps emphasize the importance of these updates. Because of this, I am making it my goal to reach out to more students on the robotics team, regular CTE participants and students who spend a lot of time at Gayfield. Additionally, I will be meeting with Glenidge students next Monday where I hope to get even more insight on how they will benefit from the renovations. All in all, students have already played an enormous
010part in representing the purpose of and advocating for Prop O, and I'm excited to continue my work to ensure that their voices continue to be heard. It was a super fun focus group and a lot of people had such amazing ideas. I'm once again blown away by the students of Clayton High School. >> Thanks, Nina, and thanks for participating and rallying the the students around this. Um, okay. We're moving on now to agenda item 5.1, which is um communications presentation. >> Can come on up. >> Yep. >> The for the bond campaign. Thank you. >> Okay. Good evening. Um, I'm Gina Tart and I'm joined with some colleagues who are going to give an update tonight about what's in progress for the bond information campaign. The entire focus is hinged on transparency and education, sharing
011information with the community so that they know what the priorities are and what'll be included. >> So, you would introduce yourself? >> Sure. Sure. >> So, good evening. My name is Dr. Dr. Lori Miller and I am a partner at the Donovan Group and the Donovan Group is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We are a nationwide communications public relations firm only working with K12 public schools and education. That's our why. And I'm just grateful to be with you all to support your work in informing your community about what your needs are and what the proposed solutions are and what they can expect throughout this process. >> Good evening. I'm Susan Downing and uh I have spent uh 16 years with the Leoo School District, the first five on their board. One of those years as their
012board president and then the next 11 as their communications director. Um and retired in 2020, which I I retired before the pandemic came around. It wasn't the reason, but then spent another year um running their most recent bond campaign. So I'm here just to kind of offer my advice and thoughts you through those experiences. So I'm happy to be with you all tonight. So we want to talk about what what's our focus, right? And so as a public school district, we're required to remain neutral on ballot issues. So what that means is we're going to focus on the information piece. We won't cross over into that lane of advocacy. And I don't know if you want to continue to express like you know employees may express their own personal views as private citizens but not
013during your their work time or to use resources at work. >> And we've been um sharing information with employees so that they're aware that they can inform and providing them with guidance so that it's clear. So what does success look like? If we do a great job of informing, I think success means that you've built additional trust, you have deeper engagement with your community, open dialogue, open conversation, and that as a board you you're leading with integrity, and that will pay it forward moving moving past this bond. So whether the bond is successfully passed or not, this time right now leading up to April is a time to continue to build up your relationships with your community. So when we do a bond or referendum campaign process, we talk about it in phases and you
014all are in the last phase of that process, which we call at the Donovan group the solution phase, which means you've already put the measure, you've taken the action to put the measure on the ballot. And so our focus during this phase is inform, inform, inform, right? So, it's explain what is on the ballot, what are your specific needs that you're addressing with your solution, and provide accessible information to all of the voters. So, from now until that that April 7th date, that's what the focus is is just to engage and inform. So where we currently are at in that process is, you know, on the left hand side here, you can see that there have been a number of things that have gone into place even though you just took that action in the
015solution phase on January 21st, right? So you can see there that there's been efforts to send out a news release, create messages for your families and staff, social media announcement. We have a a bond brand which is important to convey what is this about. So that's your Prop O. Uh we have a dedicated web page now on your website that has all of the information about Prop O and also includes the FAQ as well as an opportunity for individuals throughout the community to submit questions and then those get submitted directly to the district so that they we can answer those and add those to our FAQ. Uh we have a draft fact sheet in place. We have a a sheet that will support all of you and staff about where they can what they can
016do in terms of advocating and what they can't do in terms of advocating. Um so we're helping everybody go through this process in the most ethical way. Uh we've also have created some what we call at our firm like storyboard or shot sheets which is a way to map out how we're going to put some video reels together. So video reels are short 90 second videos at the most that really highlight different components of the bond. Um we've also started to draft posters talking points for all of you and your staff and we are we're gearing up to send out a mailer um in the the middle part of February here in progress. you can see on the right hand side um the some of the things that we are currently building up to and
017one of the things that is probably most of urgency right now is that mailer that's going to go out mailer number one. It's a four panel mailer that goes in great detail about the bond campaign. Uh and then we've been doing focus groups this whole week and so we'll talk a little bit more about that next. So throughout this week's Monday through today, we've been hosting a a series of focus groups. We said 12 groups we've met. I believe uh we've met with parents, community members, uh including community members who don't have children in the schools. We've met with your city leaders, business partners. Uh we've worked with your staff. We even talked to high school students as Nina shared. We talked to your your athletics folks, uh safety folks. We talked to them as
018well and even the Clayton Condo Building Association and we just held a focus group with you all uh a little before this and and so some of the things that we've done with these focus groups is we've worked to kind of give those key messages. What is this bond about? starting to inform them and then leading with some opening questions. Like we've asked them to give us some feedback on certain messages or statements like what's clear, what's confusing, what's compelling, what's not compelling, what's trustworthy, what's not trustworthy. And that feedback is really helped us firm up our information for mailer number one. We've asked them um are there certain words or messages or expressions that the district should definitely use in this information? Are there likewise in the same vein any words or expressions we
019should be avoiding because that wouldn't resonate or it would maybe create confusion for the community. Um we also asked them questions like you know who who do you want to hear this information from? Who do you trust the most? And also how do you like to get that information? Uh so really good feedback. We've learned um you know just some themes that people are very curious about that bridge campus. They want to know more about that. Um we've heard there that there's a desire for a timeline that everyone understands like where my student might be impacted and what that looks like if this is passed. You know with Glen Ridge Elementary in particular. Um what does it really mean a zero tax rate increase? How can that be? So I think that's all good feedback
020for us to use in informing the community. They're sharing our needs, their their needs, right? So in terms of the campaign, I think it's important for the board to understand that there's alignment between a number of entities to make sure that we're all saying the same things. And so you can see that you know on a weekly basis we are coordinating ourselves uh you know whether it's district leadership the design team which is which is paragon architecture um myself and other members of my team of the diamond group and Susan along with Gina we are coming together to make sure that our messaging is aligned that any visuals that are being created and shared out with the community are aligned that the timing is you know coordinated and that um we are we're intentional about
021the outreach that's occurring around the campaign. Here's here is a set of key messages that we've been testing with our focus groups and tells a storyline if you will of what the bond is about. So from a high level we always like to start with our students and our why. And this is a premier district. It's a top performing district for your students and and lots of families choose Clayton. And yet our students said this and Nina, I've held on to this. You know, it was a great expression that our facilities or our schools don't reflect or match the reputation of the students and and the the excellence that they have. So I think that's an important piece. I think it's also important to share with the community that as a board you have been
022intentional to collaborate with the community to listen to the community engage them around what are our our dire or most pressing facility needs how can we prioritize that what are our priorities and then propose a solution for the voters. We have informed individuals that you have taken a phased approach to this because the overall cost of all of the facility needs would be uh asked to raise taxes and that you are an intentional and good financial stewards of that of their tax dollars and you're you're trying to do this important work for your students in a way that doesn't increase taxes. So, our targeted audiences, it's important that we identify who do we need to make sure we're engaging with. And so, here you'll see a set of primary targeted audiences and also secondary audiences
023that we want to make sure that we're engaging with. So, we do this. We we list them out because we want to make sure that we we message consistently to those different groups in ways that they need to hear the messages. And then with reaching all audiences, we deploy a number of strategies. Uh so some of these things we've already talked about that we're working on. One of the things that we heard through the focus groups that's going to be really important is giving lots of opportunities for individuals to get into this the school particularly Glenn Ridge Elementary to really see for themselves why there are the needs that there are and what those needs are. And then thinking about as many community presentations as you can do and our help with you for that.
024newsletter articles, fact sheets, signage, all that to say is those weekly communications that we have. We like to be responsive to what you're experiencing. So, if you're finding out in the community that you need something that we are not working on as a communication, then then we we do that, right? We add that to our calendar. So currently we have um you know a three and a half fourmonth calendar mapped out with all these different communication tools to make sure that they they are being delivered to you to use. But again if there's anything that comes up uh throughout the process that we need to tend to we do. So just from a really high level what does that timeline look like? You know we we just we just finished January right? Uh so February
025does include the focus groups. We'll see the fact sheet mailer number one come out the the start or initiation of some pretty significant community outreach, the video reels and other assets that support information. In March, I think it'll be important that we continue that community outreach as a board. Um, look at those tours, do as many tours as you can. Uh we'll have additional video reels and there will be another mailer if not two additional mailers that will be more like postcard mailers that remind everyone that this is Prop O is on the ballot. And then April is the final outreach before election day on the 7th. So what can the board expect? We want you to expect ongoing updates from this team. I'm going to provide you a report, a summary report from the
026focus groups what we learned. So you have that information. Um we will share with you that communications calendar so you can review that and know you know suggest what you might need in addition to that and we need we need you to feel like you can have continued support in the work that you do with messaging and engaging with members of the community or even the media. So from a from a role perspective sometimes I'm asked you know board members like what what's my role in this process in this campaign? We think it's important for you to stay informed, use the materials that we put together for you, direct questions that community members have to the district's web page, the referendum web page, and then also help model integrity based communication. Right? We want we
027just really want to make sure that everybody in the community understands these are our needs. Here's what this Prop O is about and and here's why we think that's the best solution. Okay. questions. >> Okay. Who's got questions about communications plan? >> Anyone? Pam, go ahead. >> One of the slides you asked to come in the focus groups. Who do you want to listen to the most? >> Yes. >> What kind of answers did you get? >> Was fascinating because we got varied answers depending on who the group was. Mhm. >> Um, but I I do think what if I were to summarize and what I what I'm hearing from all of them collectively is they want to hear from board members. They want to hear from um students. They want to hear from the
028staff that are in these spaces and um you know I think they want to also hear from you know administration what what what is needed. But I would say students came out almost in almost every focus group >> came out in ours. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Um the next thing is about this um is there a place for the district to disseminate the information about the senior tax freeze >> and the impact of that on voters who have applied and received that? >> Yeah, it's a great question. Right now it is included in the FAQ, but if you're thinking that it might need a more prominent place, we can we can definitely make sure that it's incorporated in other communication tools. >> Yeah. I agree. >> Perfect. Good. >> One final one. Um I'm not
029whether it's for you or for you Susan, but how have you advised how did you advise the LEU school board and how have you advised all the board members that you've worked with um to best disseminate this information so that we know our >> you I I know you said that you you have that on here the second to last slide but >> what would you recommend are the >> sure um I can start with that. I think one of the important things for you all to remember is that while I'm sure it feels like you work for the school district, you certainly put in the hours and the time and the effort, you are not employees. You're private citizens and you can do everything a private citizen can do to advocate for Prop Up.
030Um, now you can't use district resources and you probably have a little more access to district resources than, you know, the average person on the street, but you're you can put up a yard sign, you can have a coffee, you can talk to anybody at the grocery store and tell them, you know, information about it. You can direct people to the web page. I would encourage you to be as active as you can. I think, you know, you advocating for it shows strength and unity among the board and, you know, you leverage that to the extent that you can. >> Yeah, I would agree with that. In my my past experiences, there's a lot of value or promise in having board members stand shoulder-to-shoulder, whether it's with students or staff or administration to share the
031information, right? You're doing that as a board member. You want to make sure you stay in that lane. However, you all have really strong capital and trust from community members because they put you on this board and you represent them. So, I think that's important for them to hear from you. Thank you. >> Sorry, I think you alluded to this for a set of how many mailings are we doing? >> So, yes, typically in the process that we facilitate, we will do three mailers. >> Uh sometimes districts are like two is enough, right? I think it just depends on the context of what's being asked and what the information is. But our first mailer is always a really that detailed mailer. That's a four panel mailer. And and then we usually will follow that up
032with a postcard mailer that's less intensive. It's just high level reminding everyone what's on on the ballot. But yeah, and then if we do a third one, it's just to remind people to vote. Yeah. >> To go out and vote. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Yeah, >> that sounds good. Any other questions about the planations plan? Thank you. so much. Nina, do you have any questions about it? >> Um, >> you don't have >> Yeah, I have. >> Okay, good. >> So, I think social media is a great way to spread the word. So, I'm really glad you guys brought that up, too. And I was just wondering, are you planning on maybe having like a separate, and this might be a thing, um, and I can't remember, but are you planning on having like a
033separate social media page solely for like the in like the information sharing of Propo or like are you thinking that it will mostly be like posted on the superintendent or like Clayton school district Instagram or other social media platforms? >> Yeah, I will I'll actually let Gina answer that because it's it's what she does. >> Currently, we have the messages slotted in with our regular social media calendar. So people in the community won't hear about Propo every single day in our newsfeed, but they'll continue to get that good quality information about student spotlights and outstanding things going on in our schools and then sharing Propo information along the way. Um we I think if people got it every single day that might take away from, you know, what we do and our business in terms
034of educating our students. So it'll be a message that'll be spread out in a lot of different channels, but social media will be just one to complement some of the others. But Nina, the um citizens committee, which is, you know, a committee of citizens who are a who are advocating and out there to say vote yes on prepo, they have social media pages that were just created. >> Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah. >> Okay. Anything else? >> Thank you. All the work you have been doing um and that you will continue to do until April 7th. We I appreciate it. It's >> you've thought of everything it seems to me. >> So grateful to >> We appreciate it. Thank you so much. Thank you. >> Okay, we're moving on to policy. Um, we have
035a few first readings. First with Dr. Saulberger is first reading of policy GBa, which is the drugfree workplace. Um, it's a first reading, so it's our chance to make any suggestions, ask any questions. Um, does anyone have questions or comments on this one? The drug-free workplace, GBEBA policy. >> Okay. Hi. >> Can I ask questions? Are we ready? >> Yeah. Go ahead. >> Yeah. >> Um, Leo and I were just pointing at each other because we had a discussion today about this. Um so one of my questions about this is that um on the bottom of page one to top of page two it says um that the district added used to transport um at required district activities. So basically saying um I think this is right staff cannot be using substances at required district
036activities. and I felt that that was um not quite inclusive enough but was struggling with what would be the appropriate wording and so I understand that we have district events that students are not at that staff you know gets to choose what they do >> um but that when there are students around whether the staff has a direct supervising responsibility for the students I just don't want us to get in trouble of not saying that they that they can't be using substances or can't be embedded or embibing or something like that. >> And so Leo had a great idea. >> So I guess the question is why was the why was the word required added there and is that word necessary? That's that's to ask the question directly. So the word required was added there
037intentionally because we were trying to make sure that if staff were at a district maybe sponsored event or a conference or um afterwork things where they're representing the district but like you said not having students there um that they wouldn't be in violation of this policy. So, I I do see what you're saying of district activity is defined um at the top where it says any activity, event or function where students are under um direct or district supervision such as field trips or athletic events. I do think agree that that would maybe cover us for that first one. I still though have reservations about the second part where we because it's or otherwise engaged in district business >> because district business isn't defined. That's >> correct. So I wonder if if we maybe omit it
038in the first one but leave it in the second one. >> Yeah. I mean, I think it's debatable whether the situations you've described constitute district business and if it's not defined, maybe it would be up to some administrative discretion. But I'm also okay with leaving it required in the second time. So, it's just the first time I think we remove it and then that resolves that issue. >> Yeah, I agree. That makes sense. >> I'm in agreement of removing the first required. Does anybody else have thoughts or questions on the second required? >> I think that's that makes sense to me to leave it in the second one. >> Yeah, since we can't we didn't define what district business is. So, it clarifies that a bit. Well, sorry, I'm not a lawyer. Um, okay. Any
039other questions or comments about this policy, the drug-free workplace policy? No, I had one other on can, but um Kelly and I emailed about this. The um second page under cannabis, it says >> prohibited drug. Oh, and it looks like it was already changed >> to substance. We got it. >> Yep. Hikah sent it in. We got it changed. >> Great. >> Okay. Next policy, the next first reading is policy GBB, employee alcohol and drug testing. Okay. Any questions or comments on this one? No, Pam. >> Well, I'm not really sure how to bring this up, but in the policy, it allows drivers who drive our students to have consumed alcohol. that says only they cannot unless they have consumed it within the 4 hours prior to driving. That seems unsafe to me. I went
040into some other stuff in my question to you about the metabolism of alcohol and different people, but that is less important. Um, I understand that the Department of Transportation has this 4hour rule. I don't know how to change it, but it doesn't feel right to me in this. >> Find out where it is. I don't know. Give me a moment. >> Four. >> It's under provisions applicable to drivers on page three. >> Um, >> thank you. >> It's the second paragraph as required by law. >> Drivers shall not report for duty within four hours of using alcohol. >> I guess I mean that's ridiculous. >> We don't I was my question was going to be how do we ever know? And I guess we have other policies and including this one that say you cannot
041appear to be under the influence. >> If they would be um exhibiting any of those factors that would give us reasonable suspicion, then we would go ahead and um have them tested for drug and alcohol. >> Can you tell us how that would work? What's like logistically? Yeah. So, we actually have um a a procedure, a board procedure that has already been reviewed um since I've been here. So, I it might have been last year, but recently. Um so, if a staff member is um exhibiting any um signs that maybe they would be um under the influence of something. So, that might be slurred speech, it might be sleepiness is one that I've had. You know, a teacher seems really sleepy or they're falling asleep on their desk, things like that. Um, so when they're
042exhibiting those factors, they would give me a call. So I'm trained in reasonable suspicion. I went through the Department of Transportation's um, training course that they have and um, there's also two people currently that work in facilities because they kind of monitor um, the testing part because our drivers have to be tested at a certain so they actually monitor that part. And then there's another HR specialist that has the the training too. So if I wouldn't be available, there's multiple people through the district that have this reasonable suspicion. We have a form that we use to to actually document. So, we would go over, we would document those signs that we're seeing and if we would say that yes, we have reasonable suspicion, we would take them to go be um tested for drugs and
043alcohol. Um >> at that moment, >> at that mo at that moment, correct? Um, where I think it gets really tricky is, as you know, um, with, um, marijuana being legal here, like some of those things could still show up, but like because we're not allowed to be under the influence of the drug if we have these signs, you know, it's it's still there, I guess, if that makes sense. >> Um, does that answer >> where do they go to get the testing? >> Um, we use the Mercy Center. So, we use Mercy's testing facility and then the results of that go to Lori Rainwater and facilities and Heather Chrisman who's our nurse coordinator and if we would to get a positive on that. Since I've been here, I haven't had to take any of
044our employees to do that, it's all been um the random drug testing that we do for our our drivers. But if they were to get a positive, they would immediately turn that over to me and then I would, you know, have to determine what our next steps are. >> Okay. So as soon as you take them out of whatever environment they're in, they get there's a substitute put in >> and you go through that process with them. >> Yes. >> And have you had anybody refuse to do like to cooperate? >> No, we haven't had anybody refuse to cooperate and I think in in the um policy it has the language that you know refusal to participate in it. Yeah. So, so no, we don't have many of our drivers that have refused to participate
045and you know, thankfully we have not had any employees since I've been here um that we've had reasonable suspicion to believe they were under the influence of something at work. Um but that was one of the first procedures that I looked at. I did have some questions on why the procedure was the way it was. Um so we we discussed it as a central office team because my concern was a lot of it fell on the principles who are not trained in reasonable suspicion. So I wanted them to immediately contact me so that I would go over and say like yes I am observing these things that you are too. Um so we and then they still you know write up what they observed that kind of started the whole process. So >> one in
046the district that has that training >> and the facilities. >> No we have we have two people in HR and we have two people in facilities and then I think a third one is going through it. So >> with soon we'll have five. Right now we have four. So, I think it's great that training exists and that you all did that. >> Yeah, >> exactly. >> That's valuable. >> Awesome. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments about that? >> So, you feel okay about that one? >> As required by law that you said the Department of Transportation has this rule. So, what kind of law is this? Is this a >> that they that they can't do any um safety sensitive functions? So, and I think that even includes like um like checking things like
047if you had a job that you had to check safet like any sort of safety sensitive things you wouldn't be able to do if you had consumed alcohols within that 4hour window. I understand what you're saying of like so if it was, you know, if I had 12 beers and I stopped for hours and 5 minutes before I was coming to work, that would be a problem. We would reasonably assume that that person would appear under the influence. Is it worth citing what the law is or saying state law >> or I don't know what the law >> I think it's a federal law. Yes. >> Okay. Federal >> I can look it up and try to add it in there if that would help. >> I defer to others on this but that just
048seems vague to me. >> Okay. >> Oh no. It's probably not a federal law. It looks like it's >> state statute. I think it might already kind of be referenced there. >> Missouri law. >> Yeah, >> the Missouri Constitution. It says, >> "Yeah, that's funny. While drivers cannot use Missouri Constitution, >> Oh, no. This is about medical marijuana. I could look it up and see if there's something that we could site there." and then add that in at the next meeting if >> it does reference the federal drug free work >> on the second page. Yeah. >> Yeah. On the second paragraph >> or the Yeah. The second part of the reference disclaimers. >> Anything else? Any other comments on this one? Anybody else? Okay. Okay, the next the other last first reading we have
049is policy GCBA, professional staff compensation. So, this does include new requirements from a House bill, I believe, a new Senate bill, I guess. Um, any questions or comments on this one? Professional staff compensation? >> No, the only >> Oh, no. The only thing that I was going to say is our school district does not really fall into this hard to we don't really have a hard to staff issue here within Clayton. So, we're adopting the policy to be up with the requirements, but it's really not a non-issue for us. >> Yes, thank you for bringing that up. I was going to have Kelly, just for the public sake, define what that is. >> Yeah, so we call hard to staff areas an area that we don't have any certified applicants for um appropriately certified. So,
050if we were putting in a teacher maybe that only has a substitute certificate into um you know a math teaching position, they would not be appropo appropriately certified and then we would fall into this hard to staff area. And there are districts around us that have many teachers that you know are not appropriately certified and they are having harder staff um positions and something like being able to place them higher on the salary schedule to recruit you know um more qualified staff would be um appropriate for them. We are very fortunate that you know going back to the uh propo we are a destination district people want to come work here um and we we are not faced with this problem right now and we have a lot of strategies so that moving forward we
051won't find ourselves in this pro this problem either thank you for that >> yeah that's what I I I talked to Kelly about this um and I was really impressed with how much because I said how do we combat this going now we don't don't have a problem is is there anything in place that we make sure that we don't have a problem. And there's several things that we do as a district to ensure that we have >> Yeah. So the the first thing we start with is that's why we do earn up every year, our early retirement um notice. They give us that early retirement notice so that we can plan for the future and we know what positions are coming because if if we are going to have you know several positions for
052physics teachers like that that could get hard to fill that we would have um the right fit. So we start with getting that notification early. Um, and then I also do a lot of things with like our student teachers and the local university. So when we have student interns, I always offer to come and observe a lesson for them and to go through like interview feedback. Some of them take me up on it, some of them don't, but that gets me an opportunity to get to know them um, a little bit better. We're also looking more at our classified staff and trying to determine, you know, what we can be doing to offer them, like if they might be interested in moving into education. So, one of the things that I, you know, hopefully in
053the near future we'll bring to you all is we're looking at for the tuition reimbursement. Right now, it's at a it's set at a lower rate for our classified staff. We'd like to bump that up a little bit. We have very few classified staff that are actually taking advantage of the tuition reimbursement. So, we're hoping that, you know, if if we did have TAs or people that would be interested in becoming teachers, if they knew if we had a little bit more tuition reimbursement money or if, you know, I could get a sit down with them with another university, a lot of the university programs are are pretty reasonable right now. Um, so even though we technically say three credit hours, that amount could probably get them a lot more than three um credit hours.
054So, we've been looking at at some of those things like that to be proactive. Um, I also explained to Chris that our hard to fill areas tend to be more in the entry level positions like uh Kids Zone. That's like a split shift. Um, so that doesn't work with everybody's schedule. And some of the things that we've had um success with is we have some of our high school students that are working at Kids Zone. And we've actually recently even had some of our staff here at central office that are looking for additional hours. They work before and after their shifts here at central office and help out in a different way. Um I I can speak there's a member on my HR team that is doing that and it's really cool for her to
055be able to see the kids that she you know normally is maybe a little bit farther removed when you're in HR versus in the buildings. Um so I think that there's been some really positive outcomes from that as well. >> Those are great ideas. >> Thanks for sharing all that. >> Okay, moving on now to second reading um 6.4 On the agenda, policy JA compulsory and part-time attendance. If you'll read that motion, please. 6.4. I move that we approve policy JA compulsory and part-time attendance with the recommended changes. >> Second. >> Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Any further comments or questions on this one with the changes? Okay. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? No. Okay, that motion passes. The next policy is JECC, assignment of students to grade level classes. If you'll
056read that motion, please. I move that we approve policy JCC1, assignment of students to grade level classes with the recommended changes. >> Second. >> Any further questions or comments on this one? Okay. All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Okay, that motion passes. 6.6. Uh, the policy JFC A+ scholarship program. I move we approve policy JFC A+ scholarship program with the recommended changes. >> Second. >> Okay, that's been moved and seconded. Any further comments or questions on this one? All those in favor? Any opposed? Okay, motion passes. Um, policy JG, student discipline. I move that we approve policy JG, student discipline with the recommended changes. >> Second. >> Okay. Moved and seconded. Any questions or comments on this one? All those in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion passes. And the last one, policy JHDE, behavioral
057threat assessment. >> I move that we approve policy JHDE, behavioral threat assessment. >> Second. Oh, and >> and yes, any questions or comments? I'm going to just make a comment on this. I understand why I understand why we have this. I understand that we're doing this. I understand that the title of the policy comes right out of a Missouri statute and we're tracking Missouri statute. I really don't like the change from risk to threat. I think that hardens our language in a negative way. And I would like I I I'll just we're gonna I'm gonna vote for the thing. I would ask that you guys avoid language that that is that negative about our students even if it's a negative situation. That's that's a tough word that bugs me and I'll vote for it. >>
058I think part of I hear you Leo and I don't disagree. I think that isn't a like that's not a Clayton word. That's a like common language of what it's called. So we can't really avoid it. Yeah. It's right out of the statute. >> I maybe we could, >> but we don't need to. >> But I understand what you're saying. >> It bugs me about the whole culture. So that's all right. >> Right. And so I think part of what you're saying is let's make it culturally not that harsh. You know, it's still we're still going to follow the procedure, but instead of allowing, you know, our staff to start thinking about these things in that harsh of a, you know, that threat instead risk really. So I don't know what the language would be
059but I just think our understanding of how we approach it with you know our heart and our head you know is is important to think about. >> So one interesting thing with that is that we actually had the same conversation and looking at it and when we're looking at our assessments we are not using the term threat assessment or risk assessment. >> So I appreciate that. Yeah, in our internal language is just the same. >> And you and the mindset that kind of transmits. I think there's a little value there. So, I appreciate you're doing that. >> Okay. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. All those in favor? >> I Any opposed? >> No. Okay, that motion passes as well. And now we are moving on to consent agenda. >> I move that we approve consent
060agenda items 7.2 2 through 7.5. >> Second. >> Okay, that's been moved and seconded. >> I'm going to come in on one thing there. >> You want >> um boy, those tuition rates are a great deal. People should be coming to Clayton at those rates and maybe we should be looking at whether we could raise them. Just a thought. >> But the tuition rates for personal tuition students seem like a a steal at that rate. I think we can't. There's a state. Yeah, >> it's relative. It's kind of >> It hasn't changed in three years and it's going up by 3%. >> There's not a state defined equation, but there is a recommendation as to how we come up with the tuition rate that John assesses every year, which he's about to explain. You're asking
061about the >> I'm just saying >> formulas for setting the rate. >> I didn't ask any questions. I just said it was a great deal. >> Maybe John start with what the tuition rate is being proposed for the >> is a good deal compared to private uh schools in the area >> which are the only other schools that charge tuition. We are the only public school that does. >> I think that there's a lot of interesting things in um that consent agreement that I just wanted to point out. And maybe you guys already knew this because you've done this in the past. But as I said, our tuition rates have not increased for three years. They are going up by 3% starting next year. That's one piece. The other is that it is also new
062to say starting next year we will not enroll new students who do not live in St. Louis County. >> Correct. >> And so I wanted to point that out and either let you or you Nisha explain that or I can explain what I was told by you all. Um, you know, currently, and it's been up for a long time, SSD provides special ed services to students. Uh, they are not legally obligated to provide those services to students who not do not reside in St. Louis County. When we accept somebody from outside St. Louis County, we take on some risk and liability in the event that that child or student would need special ed services. and we're not in a prepared to contract or uh employ people to serve those needs which can vary widely on
063a case-byase basis. So to protect ourselves from the potential liability of that, we've reviewed the matter with legal counsel and uh been advised that we can restrict our um acceptance of enrollment of tuition students to those that reside in St. Louis County. Wouldn't another alternative though be to accept tuition students from anywhere and just make it clear that they would not be eligible to receive SSD services if they needed >> that has been our past practice but uh in reviewing the matter with legal counsel under FAPE which is federal law we have an obligation to provide those services we can't escape that >> and I was going to say depending on the needs sometimes there's um >> I'm trying I think how to say this nicely like a danger to others. It's not just them
064receiving services but it might be an unsafe situation >> but the truth is it's out of our >> hands. So for the 23 24 students that we currently have in the district that are tuition students that are not in the county. What is our plan for them? >> Oh they can stay. That's >> stay just for next year or stay through graduation. >> It's the How does that liability then go away? >> Is SSD agreed to continue to provide them services through graduation? >> Currently, none of those students are receiving services. >> What if they need them? >> And so I mean there is there is some risk that uh a situation could develop out of that group. >> Um And we could certainly grandfather them or or or terminate their enrollment if we wish
065at the end of any school year. >> So do they enrolled one year at a time. >> Do we have any idea what the cost is per student if we were to pay SSD to add a student outside of the county to their roles? >> They have refused to do so. >> I don't think they would enroll. I don't think they would. They will they won't >> their legal counselor. We wouldn't just be able to pay them. >> No, I think we'd have to hire our own. >> Correct. >> So, we're not really removing the liability for the 23 students that we already have. >> Correct. >> But moving forward, we're avoiding it >> because our option would have been to then I mean, we reviewed them every year anyway, but our option would then
066be not grandfathering them in, which is tough, too. Well, look, I mean, I also had my conversations about this, you know, and so where I sort of leaned on this and and as I it's probably not a surprise to anyone who has paid attention like I I have on a number of levels, I have some real heartburn around saying St. Louis city kids or or Jefferson County kids or Franklin kids, whatever. St. Charles >> can't Yeah. St. Charles can't come and access our excellent school district, you know, and so, you know, on that level, I have some real heartburn around it. I accept that there are reasons that it is best for the district today to enact this. I um appreciate that it is done administratively. I think that, you know, I would just ask
067that we keep an eye on what happens with special education in our region in general over the coming years because I think that is an ongoing discussion right now. And if there's an opportunity to reopen this, I would ask the administration to reverse this. >> That's that's my request. >> So to follow up on that, um, two things. Um, first, yeah, I I really agree with J. When I heard this, I thought, what this isn't us, this doesn't align with our values, you know, this isn't what we're known for, you know, and I know Nisha has done quite a bit to look into this. she you you know immediately you had that same response which was if we could we really would like to keep these folks etc etc we had to get legal involved.
068It it it's a really tough thing to to accept. What I'll say is um I'm the one of all of us that's on the SSD governing council. We're just about to have elections for the SSD board of education. So that is something that I'll be asking the candidates how they feel about this issue. We have the representative from the our district is up for for um election this year. So I agree. It's it's it's a really tough thing. >> Do we wouldn't Okay, I sorry I cut you off. We shouldn't really be doing this in consent agenda having this type of discussion. >> We should have pulled >> Well, then it should pulled in the consent agenda. We should have >> Well, um >> we could pull it out. >> I don't know if there's
069that much more conversation anyone wants to have. So much of this is out of our hands. Special school district, you know, can't do what they can do. But should we should we pull it out or I mean does anyone want further discussion on this? It's an it's an administrative dec. It's a special school district decision and it's an administrative decision that I'm leaving up to Nisha >> and it's an unfunded liability. >> Yeah, >> it is. I mean addition to it being it is an asset to us now from a financial standpoint because it's about half of our tuition students. So, which isn't insignificant even if our tuition is less than private school, which we should also maybe talk about in another meeting. >> Um, what >> but uh but it's also an it's an
070unfunded liability. >> So, >> which I that feels wrong too. I know. So, I I think really John, you're up here to confirm that there is a math equation that is how these tuition rates get set. That's really it's not a it's not necessarily a a supply and demand uh discussion. >> Well, the the statute and the policy allow us to set it at uh an amount that does not exceed our cost of education. So our cost of education >> there's variables in there that you can decide which variables in or not like you know do you include the debt levy do you include a factor for that do you include a factor for other things. So this is number these numbers are below our cost of education which are not really a cost of
071incremental cost for each additional student. there the total cost divided by the number of students. >> Our incremental cost of one more student is not that number. And uh so we're setting these rates, they are attractive. They are intended to help grow our tuition enrollment. Um and indeed our enrollment has more than doubled over the last three or four years. >> Okay. The only other um thing I want to call out in consent is we have a donation. On behalf of the district, the board of education would like to thank Essex Industries, Inc. for their generous donation of $5,000 to the high school robotics program. So, thank you to them. Um, something funny. Okay. Um, all those in favor? Any opposed to consent agenda? Okay, it passes. So we are moving on now to board
072committee reports. Um Ben, you had a technology committee maybe. >> Yes, in fact we did. Yeah. Um it was really a focus on the devices this time around um in terms of student devices, how they're used, a little more refinement of some of the all the data that's already been collected. And um so um again I think marching along um yeah I think Luke and I have talked a little bit and they continue to um you know really synthesize this information and u you know work towards some goals and there's also the AI thread that we've talked about as well. Again lot lot to talk about there but uh you know great another great uh meeting. Um, I'll piggyback on that because I had a um teaching and learning um meeting as well and it
073was about the technology study and the teaching and learning committee um as you know is not just um district employees but there's parents there too. So, it's great to get their perspective um on all of this. And one thing I really liked that Melena said to start the meeting is that I I think it was Molina or Luke um that we're trying to move our students from consumers to creators. And I just thought like that mindset change about how our students are creators with technology and not consumers of it. I think was a great >> different mindset. Um we talked about a survey that went out about technology and also um looked at some new language about that um that we don't want to look at our learning as device dependent but enhanced by the
074technology. So kind of like a you know added added bonus. Um, we talked about student devices, AI, and technology use, not just in the classroom, but outside of the classroom, beyond the classroom, and how are we setting our kids up, you know, to be successful with it, even when they leave us. So, it's always a great um, we looked at the goals and we give a lot of feedback as Melina said, it's a pretty like vocal group that really pushes her thinking and Luke's thinking, which I think is great. Um, we reviewed kind of the fleet we have and where we're moving towards, which I know is what Ben's talked about too, but >> it was a really robust discussion around how do we present this to the community like what phrase what words do
075we want to use? How are we how are we presenting it and um and how did how are we taking it and as parents really was really to get the parent perspective. So that was teaching and learning and um let's see Kim you had a or I don't know if Jason were there too financial >> so Jason and I were both last night with John we had the financial advisory committee meeting so we meet with them once each semester >> um and we gave them an update on a number of different things but the major thing that we talked about was the um the bond issue that was passed during our last board meeting. So we went through some of the project priorities. We also had a chance to talk about messaging and answer questions,
076clarify questions. Um one of the things that we did talk about during that meeting is um after we had Propy, which is different than this bond issue that we're doing. Um we had a voluntary roll back as the board um after that. >> Um and I think that there is an opportunity potentially to do that here. We talked about um where our current um oh gosh where our current um >> thank you where where the operating levy is and where our percentage is and we're at a very healthy operating levy right now. Um, not that we don't want to remain at a healthy operating levy, but our operating levy is really at the point where the board should be talking about it just in general, even in the absence of, I would say, this bond
077issue that we're putting forward to see if we um should be giving back money to our tax base if we don't need it. >> Um, and so that's something that I think uh the board should consider. What did the committee what was their take on that? >> They thought it was a good idea. They thought that um it could also shore up support um for the April election. >> So, okay, it will take some explaining. >> Um so, a lot of discussion was around, you know, how how will you get that information out because you're going to then promise to lower effectively lower people's taxes. But it is possible to do that. Okay. Thank you for sharing that and I'm glad it was a timely meeting. I'm glad you have that now with the with
078the bond issue definitely on the ballot too. Any Did anyone else have any other events they attended or committ meetings or anything? >> No. So, the other thing that we talked about, which I mean at the end of the meeting, which I thought was interesting, maybe good to share, is you guys know that we um you know, everybody pays taxes, residential real estate taxes, commercial real estate taxes. They're collected by the county and then they're individually, you know, individuals can protest their personal property tax or their their residential property taxes or even your commercial property taxes. And apparently sometime last year, St. Louis County changed the system, the actual uh information technology accounting system or enterprise resource system, ERP, um that they use in order to collect collect um account for and then redistribute those
079taxes, right? Refunds or amounts to that go to schools. And whereas in the past, John and um CFOs, school CFOs used to get, you know, a eight or a 10page report and uh treasurers of the of the boards used to be able to sit down with the CFO and say, "Okay, here's what's on here are new properties that have entered the tax role, for example, for Clayton. Here are properties that we know are new properties that aren't on here. we should make an appointment to sit down and ask where it is because there could be additional money there that we're we're not receiving that maybe we should be receiving. Well, those reports are gone since this new system was put in place and instead they're getting like a four a 100page report or 200page report
080with an entire list of everybody's properties in St. Louis County atwide and it's now impossible for um you know for John and his staff or any financial staff at our school board level to be able to um analyze that information and determine if it's right >> and until they fix those problems at a system level at the county from this disaster system that I guess they have in place, we won't be able to do that. And we're not the only one that won't be able to do that. Nobody will be able to do that. Um, so that's just, you know, >> not great. >> No. >> Anything else, John? >> Is there a timeline? >> No, they don't. And if, uh, apparently we had another, uh, school CFO there, um, who's on our financial advisory
081committee, and apparently even if you call now and say, well, hey, can you just, you know, what what do you want us to do? The answer is just look up your top 10 and see if it's right. And even to do that you have to Matt was saying our our you know our new CFO coming in um was saying even to do that you know you have to write your own queries in order to do that and again you get a PDF document that is over aundred pages long. >> So they don't offer they don't give you the date the raw data at all. >> No you're basically doing the county accounting >> you're doing the work forum. >> So which isn't another thing that school district financial offices really need to be responsible for
082or should be responsible for. Wow. >> So, if you see a school district CFO or accountant, particularly ours, you should tell them they're doing a great job. >> Wow. >> I have one more question about that. Do you have any idea if it will be when or if this gets changed? Will it be retroactive? Could we then look past and who knows? >> There is no information that is being shared other than they know it's a problem and they're trying to make it better, but they can't tell you how or when or what. >> Great. Okay. Government any other communications to share? If not, we can adjourn. >> CO. >> Yeah. Right. >> I move that the meeting be adjourned. >> Second. >> Okay. It's been moved and seconded. >> All those in favor?