FHSD Board of Education Meeting-August 21, 2025

001So, good evening everybody. Welcome. We're glad that you're attending whether in person or watching us all online. Uh we're going to be doing something different this school year. Uh each meeting we're going to have somebody from an elementary school lead us in a pledge of allegiance. And so today we have Emily B and Paisley F who are both fifth graders from Independence Elementary. and they will call this meeting to order by leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Will you all please stand? [Music] >> I pledge aliance 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 to Emily B and Paisley F. I know you were practicing. Thank you so much for being

002our very first people doing all that. Um, so before we approve the agenda, I just want to remind everybody that we have a strategic plan. You can look at it online here in the room. You can scan the QR codes. They had not only a QR code for the agenda tonight, but also for the strategic plan. A lot of work has gone into this. And uh we have focused on four main pillars. Teaching and learning, people in workforce, finance and operations, safety and security. And we are dedicated to this. And um not uh the entire board shares and owns this vision as well. And so we're just going to share what our vision is for 2030 >> to rec to be recognized as one of the top five high performing school districts in the state.

003>> The Francis Hall School District will be the employer of choice for talented educators, leaders, and staff. >> We will be fiscally sound with a track record of smart long-term planning. We will be known for graduating well-rounded students who are equipped with the skills and experiences they need to be successful in the world. Francis House School District will be celebrated for the work we've done on culture, morale, and ensuring all members of our community feel safe and welcome. >> And trusted by families and the community to make good decisions and do what's best for students. >> Thank you. The board agenda that we have created tonight helps us accomplish those goals. And so board, we have a motion to approve the agenda for August 21st, 2025 as presented. >> Second, director Pushkar, followed by director

004Ponder. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any oppose say no. >> Motion passes. Jennifer Joles, the district's chief communications officer, will present an update on the strategic plan. Uh, Miss Jules. >> Thank you, President Blair. And you stole a little of my thunder. I was just going to remind everyone that you can download a copy of the strategic plan on the district website. So there it is for you. Um for tonight's update, I want to talk briefly about culture and climate which falls under pillar 4 of the strategic plan. This was a topic at the board retreat earlier this month. One of our goals as outlined in the strategic plan is that all students and staff will feel safe and welcome at school and at work. Research says that if we can

005do that, if we can create a positive school environment where students feel safe and welcome, we will see improvements in academic achievement, student attendance, graduation rates, emotional regulation, and teacher retention. And not surprising, then research found that positive school climates result in a decrease in risky student behaviors, suspension, school dropout rates, bullying and violence, and emotional exhaustion for teachers and staff. So, we asked our community to tell us how we're doing in this regard. And I'm going to quickly highlight just some of the themes we heard over the last 18 months from parents, staff, students, community members. This was through a series of surveys, uh, focus groups, and citizens roundts. First, we'll talk about what the district is doing well, and I know there's a lot up here on this slide. The community highlighted recent

006safety improvements as a strength, including the installation of security vestibules at all schools, expansion of the school resource officer program, and safety related communications. We heard praise for our amazing PTO organizations and the work they do to support teachers, administrators, and students. Families appreciate the many opportunities for both students and parents to be involved in school activities. Programs to help new students feel welcome, such as the student buddy programs and transition days were celebrated. And other strengths include the variety of support services and resources the district provides to students and families, specifically our counseling and behavior support specialist specialist programs. Efforts to celebrate other cultures were recognized as well as awareness and inclusion of students with different abilities and diversity in the curriculum was noted as a strength by many stakeholders with mention of the

007black history and black literature elective courses as a positive learning opportunity for all students. And finally, community engagement programs such as citizens in our schools, senior pals, and community roundt events were highlighted as positive steps to build trust and improve transparency. This slide then highlights some of the areas where our community feels we can do better. There are opportunities for student voice and decision-making, hiring a more diverse workforce that better reflects the demographics of the students we serve, and providing staff training around cultural competence. Our community believes we need more mental health supports for students, greater consistency in applying student discipline, and more support in addressing student behaviors, particularly in the classroom. We heard a pretty consistent plea to end the culture wars at Francis How with an understanding that conflict among adults in our

008community often filters down and impacts students. There are opportunities to improve trust and transparency, a desire for more events that celebrate the diversity of our community, and programs that teach kids about empathy and respect. Finally, our community values opportunities for dialogue and connection, and would like to see more citizens roundts and similar events in the future. So though we have a great deal more work to do, some of the steps that have already been taken toward creating safe and welcoming learning environments include on the physical security side, security vestigules that we mentioned have been installed at all Frances schools. We hired a law enforcement veteran with 20 plus years of experience to serve as our new director of safety and security. And we added school resource officers at Frances Union and Warren Elementary. this year.

009In terms of emotional safety, we streamlined the reporting process for bullying and harassment, making it easier for students to report concerns so they can be addressed. We also made the form more visible, adding the reporting link to Canvas and campus portal and also on physical posters that hang in our school buildings. We're all aware of the new state law that bans student cell phone use during the school day. But even before the law took effect, many of our schools were already restricting the use of cell phones during instructional time. and they've reported that this has helped students form more meaningful relationships at school and reduce some of the bullying behaviors often seen on social media. As part of the strategic planning process, as you know, we developed a set of community values with several focusing

010on people and relationships, kindness and safety and working together. And finally, we prioritized safety in our new strategic plan to ensure this important work remains a focus of the district. So, what's next and where do we go from here? The Pillar 4 team, as we mentioned, is finalizing specific action plans to continue our work on student safety and culture and climate. We will be rolling out the new core values districtwide to ensure all students, staff, and visitors to our buildings know what they are. Our goal would be to have framed posters in every building near the entrance so that this will indicate very clearly to the community what our expectations are for how we treat others. We are also making an intentional effort this year to showcase how we are living these values in our

011day-to-day lives. So, we want to be highlighting stories about kindness and teamwork on our district social channels and other platforms. So, the recent all hands-on deck moment at Henderson that many of you were a part of uh for to get the building ready for classes is just one example and we need more of those stories from our community. So, um when you see I guess my plea to the community would be when you see the one how in action just make sure the district communication teams knows about those so we can help highlight that so the whole community can celebrate. And again, the board and community can look forward to an update on pillar four work along with the other three pillars in October. Um, I'll end with just a reminder that we know we

012have work to do in creating safe and welcoming school environments. This isn't a quick fix. This isn't something that happens overnight, but will require all of us working together to create the community we desire. We know this work is important and that's why it's been prioritized as one of the four pillars in the strategic plan and we look forward to more progress to share with you in October. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Jones. [Music] Now we will move towards patron comments. Uh during patron comments, residents of the district and staff members are invited to address the board of education on issues related to the school district. Speakers are called forward in the order of signup and each speaker has three minutes to make their remarks. Please remember that only one speaker is allowed at

013the podium at a time and combining time or giving your time to someone else is not permitted. The board appreciates that you have taken the time to come this evening and we value both your input and your perspective. I would like to remind everyone that we expect the speakers will remain civil and respectful when giving remarks. If anyone fails to comply with board policies, regulations, and rules, we reserve the right to cut those three minutes short. We also ask that patrons in the audience remain quiet in order to be respectful of the speaker's aotted time. So, as we begin, we welcome Jarrett Pillsbury to step forward. >> Good evening, board. I want to cover one main thing tonight. Communication. Communication. Your lack of communication with the public and I'm guessing your lack of receiving communications

014from others. It's my opinion that a lot of things lately landing us in the headlines go back to communication. First on the superintendent selection. You spent nearly $300,000 on this person who didn't work a day in this district and the public is in the dark without any explanation. That's a lot of money spent for the message to be trust us. This was the right call. The public has no understanding beyond social media rumor mill and it's a bad look and one that erodess trust in district leadership. Second, according to reporting, director push car worked outside established processes to push for unilateral authorization of $3,000 paid to a consultant for a poor four-page list of books as the work product. Third, Henderson Elementary. I like to understand the reasons for the last minute scramble that had

015over a 100 volunteers in addition to the trades people racing around a week ago helping teachers to get ready when the building was still not ready to open. Did the board not know? Did admin not know? Were you all in the dark until the 11th hour? Or were you notified in time and chose to do nothing or trusted wrong information? Where is communication breaking down? We need a wellexecuted communication plan so that these things don't ever happen again. Because right now the public, us, the taxpayers, the patrons, we are getting crickets. I do want to say how amazing the response to Henderson was. I echo Jennifer Jolles's comments. And if you can excuse the ask, would everyone in the room who showed up and helped stand up for Henderson and showed up in the last

016few days stand up as you're able and receive the applause you're due? That includes President Blair, BP Grider, Director Harmon. Come on. If you if you were part of the solution, stand up, please. Please. Anybody? Thank you. I see a few people. Thank you. Everyone should give them a round of applause. That was an amazing community effort from one Howell. We need more of that to be sure. We need less crises. We need more of that. Thank you for your time. Thanks for listening. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Up next is Carl Suri. >> Thank you. I too was a little disappointed to find out that Dr. Dominguez wouldn't be joining us and we had to pay $250,000 um to sever the contract with him. But I asked to see the contract and separation

017agreement and I received it fairly quickly. I read it. Uh it seemed pretty straightforward to me. And after I read it, I came to the pretty quick conclusion that this was a a decision that was made by the board. Uh we had a three-year agreement that said that we we were liable for three years worth of salary. We end up settling for one year. I don't know and I doubt we'll ever know the reason for that, but we have a sever seven member board here. It's bipartisan and it was a 70 vote. So, I trust uh that y'all made the right decision and I think that's the end of the story there. What bothers me about when I read the contract though, and it kind of goes back to the root cause of where we're

018at, was the fact that we released Dr. Rumpus from his contract. He had time left on his contract. And if the superintendents are going to enforce the contract and cause us to pay them to buy it out, then why don't we enforce the contract when we have multi-year contracts with executives and force them to honor their end of the deal. And that's that's the beginning of this. So I don't I don't think we should have ever released Dr. Rumpus without, you know, may I mean maybe if Kirkwood wanted to buy us out, maybe we would entertain something like that. But I think we need to stop this merrygoround where it favors the superintendents. The other the other concern I've got is that we released him without any restrictions on what he could do. And so

019he poached one of our key employees, I believe, Brian Rich, our director of secondary education. What I'm used to is seeing severance agreements where uh the leaving executive, they can't go to a competitor and they can't poach employees. So, I think next time around we need to take a long hard look at what kind of contracts we're offering. Whether we offer a contract or we whether we offer something with a severance package to help them out, but we need to take a long and the board has to step up and say if we're going to offer a three-year contract, the board has to be in a position to say we're going to enforce it if we have another superintendent that wants to leave. I think we need to do business differently. Thank you. >> Thank

020you. Up next is Jennifer Me. [Music] Good evening. It's been an action-packed summer here in Francis Hell. And while I know others will and have speak to the superintendent situation that's been the focus of much of the summer, I'd actually like to speak to two positive events that book ended the summer months. First, I would like to recognize the great summer programming that we have in our district. My youngest son took advantage one week of elementary school camps. Teachers and staff were enthusiastic. The content was engaging, and my son got the chance to reconnect with a friend from another school. There were new camps available this year, and I love how the staff keeps exploring additional options for camp theming and subjects. Middle school camps and high school offerings are also awesome. Second, I want

021to say how gratifying it was to see the HAL community come together to support Henderson last weekend. I was astounded at the number of parents, community members, teachers from other schools, and even friends from other districts who came to help where they could. I especially appreciated seeing board members and district administrators alongside community members. Your servant leadership did not go unnoticed, and I left for my own short volunteer period with my bucket filled and some restored hope in one howl. Up next is Gina Leech. [Music] Hello. Um, I just wanted to say thank you again for a great summer. Um, to reiterate what other people are saying. Um, I know there's a lot of questions about the superintendent and what happened there. um if we could have transparency because that is what is shown on

022the website from the board that we are going to receive that so that would be great. Um you know we just want to know were there background checks done um what you know what steps were taken when with the discussions of the closure of the contract and why that money was paid out. So if that could be addressed that would be great. Um also some other positives were the summer camps as well. My daughter attended those. She loved it. It was great. She did get to reconnect with other students as well and meet new teachers. And my son is attending Francis Hal as a freshman and I know there's a lot of construction going on there, but it looks great and he's excited. He's so excited to attend and see all the new things that

023are happening there. So, thank you very much. [Music] >> Up next is Christy McLarland. [Music] You did great. >> All right. Good evening. My name is Christy McGlaughlin. I'm an alum of FHN and a mom of four in the district. I grew up proud to be a part of this community, and I've tried to pass that pride on to my kids. But lately, the whiplash between pride and embarrassment has been real. First, the $3,000 payment for a book list of the list. That list could have been pulled for free. As a taxpayer, I expect transparency and accountability for every dollar spent. We deserve answers, not excuses. Second, the two superintendent debacle. Leadership changes happen, but let's be honest, chaos is a choice. If it hadn't been for a rush process by the previous board majority,

024we wouldn't be here. It doesn't have to be this way. With succession planning, respect for teachers and staff, and clear communication, transitions can be managed without leaving families and staff in the dark. Third, Henderson Elementary. I'm so proud of the parents, teachers, PTO members, and administrators who rolled up their sleeves in the heat, the dust, and sometimes even the dark to get that school ready. It showed the best of this community. But emergency heroics should never be the plan. We deserve proactive preparation so our students and teachers don't start the year in crisis mode. This community has shown time and time again that we will show up for our kids. But it shouldn't take emergencies to prove it. We need leadership that values transparency, respects those who serve our district, and makes decisions that put

025students and teachers first. I love this district. I want my kids to feel steady pride for their schools, not pride with an asterk. We can do better and we should. Thank you. Thank you. Up next is Andrew Mawkins. >> Hello everybody. Good evening. My name is Joel Mawkins and I'm a senior at Francis Hall High School. I believe in strong public schools, good governance, and most importantly, transparency in how we make decisions and how we communicate those decisions to the public. I am deeply concerned by the revelation that one member of this board unilaterally directed thousands of taxpayer dollars to an outside consultant without public discussion, without a board vote, without any sort of open bidding process, and without the knowledge of the superintendent. This consultant's task to review district library materials and take a

026list of books was incredibly simple and also could have been done by any of the district librarians that we already have on staff and already pay. This consultant was not vetted by anybody at the district. This district did not and hasn't done any work to benefit the district. Every one of us here pays taxes on the understanding that our money will be spent effectively, transparently, and for the public benefit. It is astounding to see such a serious ethical lapse from a board member who to my knowledge campaigned on being a good steward of taxpayer funds. And that's a quote. Our community deserves better. My questions to the board are why was this payment made? Why was it made without informing the board? Why was it made without informing the superintendent? And most importantly, why was

027it not disclosed to the public? And why hasn't it been disclosed and um investigated further? Furthermore, I think the board needs to amend district procurement policy so that these kind of consultant hires require a public vote and can't be done by one member. I think after such a serious breach of the public's trust, I have no further confidence the continued leadership of Director Pushkar and I call for her immediate resignation alongside a public apology to our district. Our students, teachers, and taxpayers deserve a district run with integrity. I urge this board to restore the public trust and ensure that our money is being spent effectively, transparently, and for the public benefit. Thank you. Thank you. >> Up next is Harry Harris. I certainly appreciate uh students who come to speak because I know it's it's

028uh a little intimidating. So, thank you for coming to speak. Uh, I wanted to to say tonight, thank you to everyone who was involved in opening schools this year. I know there was a lot going on in the weeks leading up to Monday. Uh, but getting to spend time at Henderson last weekend with so many people who were pitching in their time during weekends. Uh, to get that school up and running was way beyond refreshing. Uh that's what I hope a lot of our new employees uh to the district were able to take away and that they were able to see that we have a community here that really comes together in a in a time of need. Um I also want to publicly thank Mark Delaney for stepping in as the interim superintendent for

029the year. I don't think there's anyone that would disagree that this is a tough job. Uh and pivoting to take over leadership so quickly is admirable. Um but it does have me questioning your sanity. Um, but thank you. We really we we do appreciate having somebody to to steer the ship. We have so much to celebrate as we kick off this year, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that there are things that we still have to take care of addressing. Um, we're on day 763 of of being promised from Director Ponder that he would be working on a revised version of the resolution against discrimination and racism. Um, yet we haven't seen any work of that being done. And that's despite many community community members, including myself, reaching out to offer help.

030There's a feeling of distrust from the community when over two years goes by without doing what Bun says that they would. And I think that that definitely um plays into what uh Miss Joles was saying earlier, uh is one of the things that that the community would like to see um addressed. Additionally, we found out earlier this month that $3,000 was paid out for a list of books that doesn't seem to be authorized anywhere by a board vote. I'm very disturbed by this. Um, for one, the company seems to have no credibility to produce any sort of accurate or useful non-biased information. Uh, the fact that protections were not in place to stop this from happening is also concerning. As a taxpayer, I'm formally asking that the district be reimbursed by whoever was in contact

031with this company and ask that this work be produced. The list is meaningless, and it's not even worth the paper it was printed out on. Not only has this list proven worthless, but it is slap in the face to our community at a time when teachers are doing GoFundMes for crayons. I hope we can take the time to make some of these corrections and that we can continue this year with that one how spirit that we all saw at opening. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And next is John um Hybrer. Hybrid and please come forward. Correct my mispronunciation. >> Good evening. Uh thank you. My name is John Hybrider. I've been a resident here in the district for the last 15 years. Uh I addressed this body several times. Uh a couple months ago,

032uh I offered to lead an effort to prepare a unified mission statement. Uh I've since pondered that and uh decided to reapproach you tonight. I would offer to lead a fiveperson committee. uh myself, Dr. Blair, Jane Pushcar, Mark Delaney, and uh Michelle Bab to uh work on that unified mission statement. uh when I wrote a letter in July of 23 to this board uh admin and the leadership of the teachers uh I focused on one item which was developing better character for our students. Um we it was clear to me that we were asking students to come in and decide if somebody's black or white. Nobody's black, nobody's white. We are all color. I wrote a second letter uh in August of 23 and it focused on having a shared mission statement as a 15-year

033uh resident. My four kids all went to h uh Zoomalt, but I saw all this turmoil here and I I'm still seeing it uh that we're not unified. So, I'm disappointed. No one's responded to those two letters I sent two years ago. Uh, so I've been working on this, looking at what's wrong with education today, not just here, but in this nation and our K12 programs. I was blessed to work with Mr. Delaney what, 23 years ago, briefly at uh Melville Schools. Uh, I've been blessed to work in many districts during my career with many superintendent and literally hundreds of different schools. Uh, our founding documents state, "We hold these crews to be self-evident that all men are created equal. They are endowed by their creator with certain inaliable rights. that among those are life,

034liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In my August letter, I said We are all created equal and we are created man and woman. I think this is clear and this is clarity that our students must have. So sometimes we get a little lazy sometimes. >> Thank you. Your time is up. [Music] >> Thank you very much. Up now we have comments from our teachers union FHA. [Music] >> Good evening. My name is Francine Hill and I am the president of FHEA. It's been very exciting this week to welcome back all our students and staff to our buildings. We want to thank our maintenance and custodial crews that have pulled together to make our buildings ready for us to start teaching. FHA especially wants to thank everyone for the hard work that was done at Henderson

035last week and throughout the weekend. It truly is our staff and community that make Francis Hull a great place to work and learn. We know our teachers and staff at Henderson have been very tired this week from the hours they put in in the evenings and over the weekend yet still showed up every day for our kids and gave them the very best education. FHA wants to thank interim superintendent Mark Delaney for paying our teachers their pdium for working over the weekend. We hope everyone can keep these things in mind when so much negativity is all that seems to be the focus. We are a great district with wonderful people. FHA looks forward to a new year of working collaboratively with our district leaders and our board of education. Let's have a great year. Thank

036you very much. Up next is our feast. >> Good evening and thank you board. My name is Heidi Nixon. I am the FISA vice president of technicians. FISA would like to welcome back all of our students and staff for the 2025 2026 school year. We are so excited to have all you all back in the buildings. We would like to thank our custodial, maintenance, grounds, and IT teams along with teachers, administration, and community members who labored over the weekend to get Henderson in a position to start the school week. Francis Hell has dominated the local news cycle for multiple weeks now, and we would be remissed not to touch on it. We want to assure the community that students, teachers, and support staff will continue to work hard throughout the rest of the school year.

037Buildings will still be maintained, phone calls will still be answered, nurses offices will be staffed, and students will still be taught and supported. We will continue to enforce our mission to empower students to be lifelong learners prepared for the future. Finally, we would like to congratulate Mr. Mark Delaney on assuming the interim superintendent position for the rest of the 2025 2026 school year. Mr. Delaney has worked directly with FISPA for many years. He has proven track record in the Francis House School District and we are excited to continue to work with him moving the district forward. We are one how Thank you. [Applause] >> Thank you as well. Uh board, we have a motion to approve the consent agenda for August 21st, 2025 as presented. >> First by Pushkar, second by Ponder. All those in

038favor say I. I. >> All those opposed say no. Motion passes. Uh board, we have a motion to approve the finance and operations report as presented. >> Motion by Pushkar. Uh seconded by Director Ponder. And now our district's deputy superintendent of finance and operations, Dr. Amy St. John will present. >> Hello. Thank you for this opportunity to share information about the 202526 school year budget. [Music] I have the there we go. Uh this is a familiar slide um as presented each month and what you are able to see here is where we stand within each of the funds the four funds that we have available to us as well as where we are projecting our end ofear um fund balance at 27.95% which is slightly higher than last month as the year ended on June

03930th and we were able to um finalize those documents and those have been presented to DESIE and we're waiting for that final um next step on that. No amendments are needed for this current month. The slide that explains the operating fund balance trajectory from 2025 through 2029. Um albeit something that looks like it's in a downward trend. Um I think it's important to um pro provide a little bit of context for the assumptions that go into that information. So sometimes I am asked if we are living currently in a balanced budget then what does that look like in the future years? So a balanced budget in the current year is accurate because based upon the um revenue estimates that we have from the various sources of revenue for that be to state local um taxes

040and such. Um we balance that against the expenditures that have been planned for that school year. And so that's what puts us into balance. But when you project out for the coming years, you want to conservatively put revenue um estimates in there for your projections. And so we grow those at a 2% um range. And that varies through the years. And then with your expenditures, you have those at a higher percentage, which causes the the trend to look like it's going down. So for instance, we have an assumption in there for teacher salaries to be in the 3% range. we have benefits to be in the 8% range and that. So, as you can see, that's going to cause that trend to look like it does, but that's what we update each month as we

041um and each year as we go through that. [Music] These are the bond financials as of July 31st. And what you can see with this is that we are still at about that $4.4 4 million uh surplus that is um as we are finishing up phase one and we will be moving into phase two of the bond projects. That will be a full presentation next month um as well as all of the things that we expect um that we would be um putting in that and Salum Settzer will be sharing the construction update here shortly um so you'll be able to to hear more of those details with the self- insurance fund. as I spoke to you last month about that the um $5 million transfer was made at the end of June 30th or

042effective as of June 30th which puts us into a place of more of a threemonth fund balance in the beginning of the year. So that puts us into a a better spot than we were. As I mentioned last month, the total number of transfers from the operating um funds into the self- insurance fund were $11 million. that's much higher than it had been in any prior year. And so one of the things that we will be doing moving into this year is that we'll be looking at that um on a monthly basis um more strictly month over month or year over year for that month so that we can see um those projections are still heading in that same direction [Music] as I mentioned last month on my um items that I had been working

043on. And as um Carol Embry had left um um some works that were going um or items in work in progress rather. Um one of those items was the transportation review. And so the transportation review came back as five different areas uh that they provided to us um both observations and opportunities. And with that the first is the transportation of policy and operating procedures. They update um what they noted is that it does um the transportation department does have an updated handbook. it follows all the correct policies and procedures and it is consistent with the teamsters agreement. So that was a positive. One of the opportunities is to further document the routing procedures and parameters. And so what I mean by that is it's like writing down a recipe. there are some um sort of

044things that go on that people just know because they've done that job for a mount good amount of time and there's a suggestion there for the um standard operating procedures to be in place which aligns also with our strategic plan um in the finance and operations pillar. So that'll be something that we'll put on on the to-do list. Next it looked at routing efficiencies and the observation is that we do have a multi-tered routing um system that we um also look at thirdparty vendors um to mitigate driver shortage. We are currently 21 drivers um short for that um which is actually extremely high. And so one of the things that you have to do is you have to outsource um that um for students in certain situations. Um oftent times that is um in special

045needs situations. They also talked about needing to restructure the department um to think about a lead router position or a person that can um um really understand um the larger capacity buses, maximizing the capacity and efficiency and then decreasing those contracted costs that I mentioned. One of the cost analysis that we'll be looking into is the average cost per student um for those um special situations that I mentioned are proportionately disproportionately higher than um than they really should be for even um peer figures. And so really looking into that and trying to decrease that. One of the things that they mentioned is looking at um potentially looking at vans um things that you can um travel with students that um maybe wouldn't require even the same level of lure um and we would be able

046to u mitigate some of those cost. Number four of the transportation review is the driver recruiting and retention. As I mentioned, we are um short this year as we open up school. Um they describe our current recruiting strategies as passive um meaning they are um our pay and benefits package. Um they talk about really having a a robust retirement system and albeit those are great things. It's they're saying that we really need to kind of jump out and do a a few more things um to do that. And so I'm um partnering with uh the human resource department and really looking at some things that we can do. And that's some of the things that Lisa Simpkins and I have been looking at. The fleet replacement um as you know the transportation department became in-house

047in 2019 and when you do that and you start a new all of the buses may have um close to the same age and so you have um block obsolescence is what they call that. So they're all going to break at the same time. They're all going to need to be turned over at the same time. And so really looking at a phased process for that and and l stren lengthening out the amount of time um that that we would be replacing those. So a 13-year cycle is what they recommend for that. So we'll be looking at that as um time goes on as well. Other items that are work in progress are the facility master plan and demographic study that um will come to the board in September where we will provide an update

048as to where that process is. Um they'll um come and share the um information and um things that they've brought together for our demographic study and where the student enrollment patterns are and capacity for our buildings. We're also finalizing the um summer construction projects which I don't want to steal any thunder. That's more of a full presentation here in a moment. We're wrapping up the um open enrollment for our benefits that closed today. We have the annual financial audit which is every school district goes through um based upon statute. We have to um as our books closed um at the end of June 30th. Then um we start working with the outside auditor in order to finalize those. that will come to the board in November and must be filed um December 31st as part

049of our regular practice. We will also um the finalization of the employee um insurance committee was part of your work here tonight and that first meeting will come up in September and I'll be leading the group through that. We'll meet on a monthly basis and we'll look at things um kind of on a longer planning table. Um that was some feedback that I heard from last year and so we'll be implementing that this year. citizens in our school um will have a finance focus this year and more information is coming from Jen Joles for that our safety and security implementation of the recommendations of some of the things that are part of both the strategic plan as well as the safety audit that the district had gone through last year and boy oh boy has

050technology had a beginning of year preparation so way to go Scott and team and next this is a slide that I've shared again um each month um not a lot of additional information but some clarifying pieces to it as I've received a little bit of feedback is that I would just um the top part is the the same we know that it happened in June we know that our county St. Charles County as a um we would freeze with our 2024 um tax assessed valuations and that it could be negatively affected through the Hancock amendment in its aggregate um looking at suppressing um that information and the total value before we apply those tax credits. Those are things that are stated and known. But what I wanted to share with you just so you kind

051of have like an elevator speech that goes along with it if if um anybody were to ask what does that really mean for the school district? The first word that I have underlined there is growth. So what that is telling you is the operating revenue growth that has occurred in our school district in these previous years. Meaning we have received from where our base is and grew in that year for the year of fiscal year 23 was 5.5 then 8.3 and 1.2 and that is going to have um ups and downs based upon a reassessment year and not and then each year is always including new construction. So that's why that eb and flows. What we're projecting is based upon historical information. And so the um line operating revenue projection includes what we believe this

052year would include which is 4.1 million and then 2.6 3.9 and 2.7. That growth portion is what is in jeopardy when I describe Senate Bill 3. So it's as if there would be no growth year over year over year. However, as stated in the last bul bullet point, our expenditures would continue to grow. So, as that graph I just shared with you moments ago has a conservative revenue growth, this would be a zero revenue growth, but those expenditures would still continue to grow. And with that, I'll leave it if anybody has questions. [Music] >> So, one second. Um, so thank you. >> Yes, >> the chart that we have seen shows like the downward amount that's going to be left in our coffers, so to speak. >> Senate Bill 3 would expediate like that problem,

053right? It would >> it would create more of an issue, more of a gap between income and expenses. >> Correct. And so how many on average millions of dollars a year would we expect to not receive if Senate Bill 3 was um proven to be constitutional? If it was voted on by the entire county and approved if all that happened, how many millions of dollars would be missed as a school district next year? >> It is estimated um from our assessor at $3.3 million. So, Citadel 3 would cost would take away $3.3 million of expected revenue growth >> the first year would be realized and then every year after that because this is currently written as to to infinity >> right so that every single year >> that large portion of our budget I think

05475% is that what he >> that would remain flatlined or frozen and all our expenses would go up so every single year after Senate Bill 3 if it were to be proven constitution additional or if they would be passed by the county. Um the gap between revenue and cost would just get bigger and bigger every year. So the first year be over 3 million and the next year it would be >> the gap would continue to grow and it it is difficult to guess that but as you can imagine if you just had flat revenue but our CPI is at 3 to 5% meaning it's going to cost that in order for us to just do business then yes that gap would continue to grow. So, Senate Bill 3 has some very serious impact on

055our school budget as well as any other school budget in St. Charles County. >> Correct. As well as other taxing entities such as libraries, ambulance, fire. >> Thank you. >> Questions. >> Yeah. So, that will impact our ability to pay our teachers and keep our buildings. >> It impacts everything, right? So when the revenue the largest portion of the revenue that goes into the bucket is affected then yes it's going to affect all of um all of the expenditures. >> All right. Anything else? >> All those in favor say I. >> Any oppose say no. >> Thank you very much. Motion passes. Board. We have a motion to approve the purchases as presented. >> Ponder. Director Ponder >> followed by second by director Pushkar. Any comments? >> All those in favor say I. >> I.

056>> Any oppose say no. >> Motion passes. The board. This next purchase is under the purchases for prival prior approval threshold but the donation is over the threshold for BOE approval. Uh therefore it must have the board of education approval before the purchase can be made. Board. We have a motion to accept Harvest Ridge Elementary's PTO donation as presented. >> Director Ponder with a motion, second by Director Pushkarp. Any comments >> to Harvest Ridge. >> Thank you to Harvest Ridge Elementary PTO. Um, a collective thank you to Harvest Ridge Elementary PTO. I want to I want to take just a quick moment of personal privilege to say that our PTO's in this school district are absolutely amazing. And it is um so wonderful and such a gift for us to have those active um people

057in our community who are supporting our schools as well. Um they're doing everything from supporting our teachers. This was our first week back to school. Um we're tired. We're all tired. um those PTO's were stepping in to deliver everything from snacks and treats and um now this is a a very generous donation to also assist with a a playground. So this is a phenomenal and I want to say thank you to our PTOs and how wonderful they are. >> Thank you. >> All those in favor say I. >> Any oppose say no. Motion passes. uh tier one committee bylaws indicate that there can be up to 10 staff members on the employee insurance committee since the July 17th, 2025 board of education meeting. These additional highlighted staff in the attachment members have expressed interest in

058serving the 2526 employee insurance committee will serve through June 30th, 2026 or do we have a motion to approve the additional staff to the 2526 employee insurance committee? So moved some second and >> motion by director Oki, seconded by director Pushkar >> and with a caveat to thank um the the staff and others that have volunteered to be on this committee. I think it serves a really important purpose. >> Thank you. I >> I don't know if Kim Coyle if you were really actually volunteered or you were if you volunteered or if you were volunteered it. We just really appreciate the service from everybody on this committee. So, gratitude shared by everybody. All those in favor say I. >> Any oppose say no. Motion passes. Uh the tier one committee bylaws indicate there can be

059up to 10 staff members on the policy committee since the July 17th, 2025 board of education meeting. These additional highlighted staff and the attachment members have expressed interest in serving the 2526 policy committee will serve through June 30th, 2026. board. We have a motion to approve the additional staff to the 2526 policy committee. >> So second >> motion by director Kushkar, seconded by director Olki. Um all those in favor say I. >> Any oppose say no. >> Motion passes. And now we have an update um for the FHN French North um quarter update. Uh SM Wilson representatives are here with us this evening. [Music] Good evening. Uh, thank you board for the opportunity to provide an update tonight. I'm Patrick Ellsworth, the market executive from SM Wilson. So, just here to support our team and

060really the hard work that our team's put in for past couple years here on your campus and kind of just show our commitment from our firm uh to get everything closed out and we're real close to the finish line. So, again, a positive update tonight and I'll kind of turn that over to Matt Frank here to to provide the update for you. >> Everybody, good to see you again. So, well, tonight uh we have more good news which makes me happy uh to deliver. So, we'll go and get started. Um, so today we still have the air air monitors in place. They've been in place since April. There have been no recordings of any hazardous levels of uh hydrogen sulfide or the leals or oxygen. Uh the only VOCC's and CO readings that we had

061were over the summer with cleaning activities. Uh nothing since then. So air has been good since April. Uh so we're in good shape there. So, the last time I was here, uh, we shared some exciting news that we we had the monometers in place. A reminder, a monometer reads air pressure and what we were finding was positive pressure in the building. It should be negative. And we had the suspicion that it was coming from the municipal sewer system. Um, so we're going to talk a little bit about what we did to test that tonight. And the last time I was here, we had just gotten the data. It was really indicating it was going that way. uh but we hadn't had a chance to test it yet. So since the last meeting uh we did

062test and uh so what we did was we moved some monometers into the uh sewer main basically to test the air pressure in the main and found that there was positive pressure in the main as well that correlated with the building pressure and that was a what we needed to determine that it was originating from the municipal sewer system not the building which was great news. Um, so we also tested a a fix for it basically. And the last time I was here, we talked about the good news of it being the municipal system is we can fix the problem before it reaches the building. So, we had to determine how to do that. So, we were able to uh test a a fix, which I'll go into in a little more detail here in

063a minute. And then we've also been working with the city of St. Peters to uh help them understand what we're seeing and also uh coordinate and implement that fix as well. So we'll get into some of the details here. So just a reminder, the monometer it's it's a pressure device, right? Uh the plumbing system should operate under negative pressure. Um we were finding some pretty high positive pressures in the building last time. So we moved one of the monometers down to a single manhole. We're finding positive pressures. It was kind of close to the building. So we wanted to be very certain that the building wasn't maybe creating some pressure that we're reading at the manhole. So we moved another monometer hundreds of feet away from the building. It's probably 300 ft away from the

064building. It was also recording positive pressures which gave us the assurance that it's it's a municipal uh sewer system. [Music] So like I talked uh a little bit earlier, the goal is to intercept that positive pressure before it gets to the building. Um the test it was pretty simple. We removed a manhole cover in the sewer uh main and what that does is it allows a relief. So the positive pressure is coming from the municipal system. It travels up the sewer main to the building. If we remove a manhole cover that relieves or provides an outlet for that air to go out of and this is a graphic of uh what the building is experiencing. Now we have a sewer main which you can see on the right side. We have positive pressure coming back

065up through the sewer main into the building. It should be flowing the other direction. So when we remove the manhole cover, it just provided a relief. Uh it's going to positive air pressure is going to take the easiest path basically. So simple test, we allowed it to get to the atmosphere before the building and we did find success. The test um basically reduced the pressures by 50%. what we were seeing in the building once a man was removed. So this was a a spread a chart that I shared last meeting and what we were finding is positive pressure spikes up to a tenth of an inch. Now the monometer stops reading at a tenth. So it could have been higher than that but it was literally pegging the monitor at a tenth of an inch.

066So this was before the manhole cover was removed and this was after. Now, visually, you'll still see some high spikes, but the spikes in the previous chart were a tenth of an inch. This one, the top is 400s of an inch, and we're seeing a lot of the positive pressure near 200s of an inch or hundreds of an inch, which is a lot less than a tenth of an inch. That's just by removing the manual. But what we want to do is get the air pressures to not be positive. We want them to be zero or negative uh as close to that as we can. So the solution that we're working with working with St. Peters is not just providing an atmospheric relief but a powered relief a fan basically that's going to draw air

067out of the sewer system. What that will do is when we get those positive pressure spikes from the municipal sewer main with the powered fan it'll intercept those uh positive spikes and vent it to the atmosphere. Um now by doing that too it'll also allow negative pressure to come from the building and should fix the issue. Now you may ask um you know this seems a little unusual. The graphic kind of looks like a factory. Um it's just you know diagrammatic. It in real life it'll look like a light pole basically. Um you know we have the the light poles in the parking lots. It'll look similar to that. It'll have a concrete footing. Uh the pipe will be about 8 inches in diameter. It'll extend about 30 feet in the air and it'll look

068like a light bulb with no light on it, but it will vent that uh sear gas up into the atmosphere and be carried away. Um so it shouldn't you shouldn't experience any uh odors anywhere else. We're talking with the city of St. Peters to make sure that they agree with the approach. So, next steps, um, Mccclure and Bax Engineering, they're working on finishing the plans. They have preliminary drawings, uh, already put together. We've met with City of St. Peters. They like what they're seeing. They'll finish up the drawings and submit them for a permit. Once the drawings are done, we'll get them out to the subcontractors to price and implement the installation. It should be a pretty fast installation. We're not talking about a lot. It's similar to putting up a light pole, which we

069do all the time pretty quickly. And then so once that fix is in place, we're going to leave the monometers installed so we can measure it because we don't want to just think we fixed it. We want to actually have data that we fixed it. So we'll install the venting system. Then we'll read the pressures to make sure that the system is operating negative as it should be. Once that's confirmed, then we'll remove the one-way valves that are currently installed on the roof as a temporary measure. And at that point, the building should be functioning as it's intended, as it's designed. Will have intercepted that municipal back pressure and uh it should fix the problem. So, the good news is I haven't heard any odors um reported. The teachers were back early August. Students have

070been back throughout the course of the summer. We haven't heard any odors. The building's in use and haven't heard anything. So, all really good news. Um, and then we'll keep the air monitors in place until uh everyone feels safe that that they're ready to remove. So, so exciting news. Um, we're there pretty much. I mean, we just have to install it. I know it's been a long journey and we really appreciate everyone's patience and it was just a very difficult problem to solve and uh I think we got it. So happy to answer any questions. >> Any questions board? >> I have a question. >> Start off without >> um I was just wondering if you know the approximate cost of all these fixes that have been going on here. >> I don't know uh

071off the top of my head. We'll have to wait for the final design in the city to make sure that they agree with it before we'll be able to put a price. >> And uh who's responsible for paying? Does St. Peters take on any of the cost or >> I think that is for discussion still. Uh you know the district has an attorney involved and uh working with the city and I think we'll get down that path as we get down the path. >> So we'll find that out soon. >> Yes. Yeah. So, you mentioned four times taking off the manhole cover and that that relieved the the positive pressure, correct? Okay. >> Will that still work in the future in case this thing malfunctions in any way way, shape, or form? >> In case

072the uh like the fan were to >> Well, that that was going to be my next question regarding the fan. >> Sure. >> Is that thing going to work forever and ever? Amen. Or >> Well, I guess it would be like any piece of HBAC equipment. It'll be designed to run continuously. So, it'll be selected for continuous operation. It will need to be maintenanced from time to time and it'll have a life cycle. >> Okay? >> So, you would eventually need to replace it like in any piece of equipment. But even if the fan did fail, the vent would still be open. So, it wouldn't be like slam shut. It would still be open. It just wouldn't be powered. But, you would know if it failed and would be afraid of. >> We would know.

073Okay. Well, well, not in that regard. I I still think that um >> Fair enough. >> So, >> thank you. >> Other questions? >> Is there How would we know if it failed if it was like >> it'll stink again? >> Well, I don't want it to stink again. >> None of us do, but there be like a little light that goes off. We be like, "Oh, look. There >> it's working. It's working." >> Yeah. Yeah. Is there an alarm or anything? Well, there can be a control sequence that would allow notification if the fan were to go down. Um, that's something we'll work through through the engineering process. Those are kind of the questions that come up uh through that process. So, so yeah, there could easily be a notification that's sent out that

074the fan is offline or a breaker's tripped or whatever happens. So, >> great. retroper. >> So Matt, basically you install a super fancy or going to install a super fancy radon removal kind of like we all in our houses. >> You're on target. Yeah. I mean it's basically it's a it's a fancy radon system. Uh you're venting >> a g radon is a gas and it's in your basement. When you have a radon problem, there's an inline fan and a vent. It puts it in the atmosphere. So yeah, great correlation. >> No, it won't be. Um my but my actual question was I just kind of wanted the public to be able to visualize this. >> Um is there a fix from the St. Peter side for to to eliminate the positive pressure? >> So

075we think the problem may be that well south of the property of the school there's a confluence of sewer piping basically where there's a few subdivisions that all come together at a point. It's very possible that that that confluence of sewer piping is causing those back pressures when flows come together at the same time. A fix for that. It's unlikely that St. Peters would engage in that just because of the cost. It there would be a lot of new sear remains it would have to run. It would be really expensive. So >> I I figured as much. Yeah, it's not a simple uh a simple problem that could be addressed easily. >> Any other comments? >> Power outages. >> Well, if if you do have a power outage, the fan would be off till the

076power comes back on. But power outages are usually pretty short. There are two electrical services to the building. >> Okay. >> I I I don't think it'd be a concern. And as soon as the power is on, the fan would start back up again and the problem would be solved. >> You guarantee that, right? >> Nothing else. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thanks. >> And now, next on the agenda, we have the quarterly construction report that provides updates on construction projects funded by bond funds and capital projects funds. Executive Director of Facilities and Operations Lon Stzer is here to present. >> All right. >> Thank you. Uh good evening board. Uh tonight I'm pleased to present to you the quarterly construction update. Uh but before I do that, I do I also want

077to take a moment to just thank uh not only my team but all the stakeholders who were who were impacted by this summer's work as a district just continues to uh support several focus areas within the strategic plan. Uh but especially want to uh want to thank the team uh all the educational stakeholders at Henderson and all of the volunteers for all their efforts and helping us open that building this weekend. So I'm really grateful for that. I think everybody deserves another round of applause. Um I committed to uh Mr. Delaney and Miss St. John that I would uh keep my presentation to 10 minutes. So I'm going to go ahead and jump into it. Otherwise, I owe both of them lunch. So boy, if you can help me out with questions uh at the

078end, keep them to a minimum, that'd be great. Um we'll start with Henderson. Um obviously many of you have been in the building. I'm not going to cover kind of the front slide of each project. Uh that's just kind of how we got to the point where all the work was taking place. Uh the necessary approvals when bids were issued, all of those uh boilerplate items. Uh but I'll jump into the meat and potatoes which everybody is uh I think hopefully excited to see because they're all very important improvements across the district uh to support learning. Um Henderson. So this is the classroom addition. Uh the slide the picture on the image on the left there my left um is one of the new kindergarten classrooms. And so you see all the furniture set up.

079This this is really two days ago. Um, so you can tell kiddos I think were at lunch when I was in there, but uh it's a nice environment. Uh, it's really provided additional uh space in what was an overcrowded building. And then the uh image on the right is the connecting corridor hallway. You've got two banks of student restrooms there uh that will serve that serve that kindergarten wing as well as those classrooms u in the existing area that are connected or close to proximity um to this addition. this slide here. Uh again, I know there's uh frustration, you know, from what took place, uh this weekend, but I also just wanted to be able to really articulate uh not only to the board, but also uh public to the community of just the sheer

080amount of work that took place there in a very condensed schedule. We've been very transparent with the board that this schedule was going to be aggressive from the beginning. That is why we utilized all of the brakes that we could uh to be able to advance some of the work, but we couldn't do anything in the middle core of the building. And you know, when you talk about putting in an entire new mechanical system, if you recall, Henderson had all the PTAC units very similar to what you'd see in hotel rooms. There's no duck work in the ceiling for those. Those are just um in the direct space and providing heating and cooling into that space. There was also other requirements from all of the regulatory agencies that um you know such as fire and

081other regulatory agencies in terms of bringing Henderson up to modernization from a life safety standpoint. So all new sprinkler systems throughout the building uh all new uh smoke detectors, fire alarm systems. So the building is safer than it's ever been. But this picture on the left is uh approximately 40 days ago. Okay. And all of the trades have to be sequenced uh in terms of the work. Uh we also introduced uh a nursing suite uh I believe six uh speech language pathologists uh instructional spaces, a counseling suite. All of those had their own systems that they require. We had to run roughly about 45 ft of new uh sewer lines that connects on the east side of the building. And there's just a lot. Anybody that's been through construction knows how difficult and challenging it

082is. And for every step that you take forward, you end up taking five back because when you open up ceilings and floors, you run into a lot of different challenges that require design teams, engineers to work out. And so Henderson is is is no um is not immune to that. Uh but the positive thing is it's open. Kids are learning and the image on the uh the right uh that was just yesterday. Okay. So you can see the drastic difference with uh all the work that took place there. The gym edition is coming along. Um the image on the left is about midappril if you recall. Uh we were really slow out of the ground. All of the utilities for that entire building come from the east side connect from Hackman Road. So if you

083recall, we had several um internet outages as we were routing rerouting all of those utilities. We had to cut water to the building several times as we rerouted that just to be able to get the gym edition going. as part of that challenge. Also, uh the soils were real bad there and so we had to remediate that soil and then coupled by the fact that we had the wetest April in uh in St. Louis area on on record uh really slowed getting the building going vertical. So, the slide on the right there, you uh see where we're at today. Teams obviously were focused on getting the internal uh part portions of the building uh student ready. The gym is lagging a little bit. I did work with the team this Wednesday. Next week they'll give

084us an update in terms of uh critical paths. Teams are working inside. There's electrical being run. Um and most of the plumbing infrastructure is in place. So we're hopeful that it's a fairly quick timeline now that all the trades are focused uh in that space. And and just just so everybody understands on on this project every day we had about 80 uh trades people, okay? Uh working to try to get Henderson uh to a point where we can open it. So going to move over to Fairmont. Uh that one was a little less stressful in terms of the uh interior work. Uh the slide on the left here is what was the former fine arts suite. Uh it now serves as the essential uh skill suite as well as sped uh suite. And so this

085is a little collaboration area. The immediate door to the right there uh is basically what uh what I consider a large mudroom. They got washers, dryers, and any apparatus needed to support those programs. And then there's four individual uh classrooms, essential essential skills classrooms in that uh suite. Uh on the right there is the cafeteria. Again, new floors, uh new paint, new acoustical ceilings. We also expanded a little bit to be able to accommodate uh their lunch shifts. And so that opening there in the left kind of in the center of the uh the slide is where the expansion took place. So it allows them to be able to expand there when needed. And then to the right of that space is also a little storage area where uh they store a lot of items

086that are needed for that space. Uh the addition obviously uh we've been we've been transparent about that. We were slow getting out of the ground again just due to conditions and permitting challenges. Um but the addition is continuing to to progress. top image there is the uh front portion where it'll once it's all done it'll house a vacation station as well as a couple of additional sped classrooms and then the mason the area that you see inside there in that lower uh image are going to be all the u specials so you'll have art and uh music that'll occupy u those spaces one of the challenges uh that H that Fairmont also faced was just lack of parking and traffic flow. So when you when you pull in off of Kelly Road, you have um

087we've expanded that parking lot and everything from an asphalt pavement surface standpoint was mailed and overlaid with the exception of where we're still working in front of the uh storm shelter edition there. Transportation fuel island uh things are progressing uh nicely there. You can see on the image on the left, u this is a heavily sequenced project because we still have to support uh transportation operations while the work is taking place. All of the pavement improvements with the exception of about 10% where the existing uh maintenance uh service bay is. We we can't obviously complete that yet partly because we've got to demo that and then finish those pavement improvements. And so that's kind of scheduled tenatively for the the fall. Um middle image there is the building itself and you can see there's a

088lot of uh steel up and starting next week actually I was there today. They've set all of the interior door frames. Next week they'll start installing laying the concrete masonry uh walls for the interior of the wash bay and some of the other spaces that are separated that separate um where that they work on the buses. the exterior metal panels. They'll start installing those hopefully starting next week as well. Uh that last image on the right is the new fuel tanks that will support the new fuel island. That's a 10,000galon unled fuel tank. There's also another tank that's not shown there that is a diesel tank. Uh it's 5,000. Most of our fleet is is unled. Uh but we still need to provide a little bit of diesel for a handful of um vehicles that

089utilize uh diesel. Francis How High Wrestling Multi-Purpose Edition. Uh, it's going well. The image on the left is the exterior. So, the roof is on the Actually, let me take take that back. The the metal decking is on. The lightweight concrete's been poured. You can see just barely there. There's some items that are being stored on the roof. That's the uh roof insulation. So, they're starting to install that before they get the membrane. And then we'll get the most part dried in here. Sometime next week they'll start installing the brick veneer on the exterior of the building. Uh you can see on the interior simultaneously there's trades uh that are working mechanical, electrical u and plumbing working on getting all their roughins. Next week they'll start installing the walls that separate the the restrooms and

090the mechanical rooms. For the most part, this addition is going to be wide open uh with the exception of uh restrooms there and the mechanical room that'll house some of the equipment. Francis how high the auditorium improvements uh those are are going well as well. The top image there um I wanted to highlight that because that's where the old sound and light booth is. And when we were working with uh building leaders and students to really prioritize uh the project before we brought the recommendation to the board, one of the things was increase the capacity, right? I think with the broken seats in the space as well as uh just how small the space was, they they only had a capacity of about 225. So, we pushed the um the booth out 14 ft into

091the hallway, still, you know, allowing egress flow. And that allowed us to get the seat count up to, I believe, 399. And so, that'll be a nice uh addition there once once the project is complete. Uh bottom left uh image there is the interior of the auditorium. Again, you can see the walls are painted. They still have to paint the the uh the booth there. Uh all of the audiovisisual uh components are starting to go in. Uh they're getting the house lights as well as any sound uh equipment. The floors are polished uh waiting for seats and just want to be fully transparent that way everybody understands kind of where we're at. We are delayed from the manufacturer on the seats for both Francis How High as well as Francis House Central. uh the manufacturer

092is uh is based out of Mexico and again it's it's just uh the very same things that we deal with in other areas just from long lead items. So we've uh notified both building leaders uh of that and you know we're anticipating to receive the seats sometime in early October and so those spaces will be ready obviously before that. they just won't have seats. So, we'll be able to turn those over to them to practice for any pre um any plays that are coming up. They just won't be able to hold the actual performances in the space until we get the seats in. So, both buildings have figured out a workaround and uh we'll support them as as more needs uh are needed. Top right uh image there is the lobby. You can see uh

093the display cases uh are in place. all of the lighting, um, ceilings are in. And then down below, if if those that remember those restrooms, um, those have been improved, and so the all the wall tile is in place, all the fixtures, the resinous flooring is in place, the lights are in place. We just have them temped in right now just through uh construction. So, right now to finish out that bottom space is um we're just liking the the restroom partitions and uh those do have a little bit of a lead time and uh we should get an update sometime next Monday when we uh meet again. Francis How Central again. Uh same thing. The lobby is is coming along there. We got a little section of flowing. We did run into a few conflicts

094there in the lobby as we were installing the new lights and uh ceilings. We had to relocate quite a few sprinkler heads. Um, that work went fine, but did cost us a few days from a schedule standpoint. Image down on the bottom left are the dressing rooms. Again, very similar to um how high. They've got the fixtures, wall tile up, it's painted, lights are in. So, they're working their way out. They'll hang uh some additional fixtures, mirrors, uh as they work their way out. And then the auditorium space itself, it's painted out. You can see there's personnel there starting to hang the remaining house lights. Uh you can't quite see it on the stage, but they were fil finishing uh all of the audio audio visual equipment, projector screens, as well as uh new speakers.

095Phase one, uh HVAC improvements. Uh those are five sites. Just as a reminder, uh we had three elementaryaries and two middle schools. So the two middle schools are Brian Middle and Francis How. uh Francis How middle and then we had elementary wise we had Independence John Weldon and Harvest Ridge. Uh I'm not sure if you can see it but the this is Harvest Ridge and these pieces of equipment uh 1991 they've been in service since. So, uh, they were tired and, uh, overdue. And when you take the average between the five buildings, it was about 27 years that each one of those, uh, pieces of equipment have been in operation at those buildings. So, that work is uh, all done. Um, the feedback that I've received from those building leaders is the environment just from

096uh, indoor air quality is significantly better. We are still working through just a couple of uh, issues. We had a couple of bad components from the factory. Those actually were just overnighted the other day. The biggest uh building that was affected was uh Independence and they did install that today. So hopefully tomorrow the building uh will will be 100% just from an indoor air quality standpoint. It's just a wing on one of the ends. So uh the other positive thing that I I want to mention, not all the buildings qualify for it, but u Harvest Ridge did. Our utility provider for Harvest Ridge is Amron and they run a um an energy incentive rebate program and we've applied for that. We sent in all of our paperwork and I just heard back from them and

097because of all the mechanical improvements uh we're slated to get just uh shy of about $97,000 back to the district uh from a rebate standpoint. And so I will hand that check right over to Dr. St. John will receive it and I'm sure she will find uh good use for it. Um Sager Middle, uh these are the the image on the left for cooling towers. They they had been in service uh since 1997. Um and then the new ones there on the right. Again, if you recall, we brought a recommendation to the board because we were concerned. We had we had a piece of equipment fail on the existing cooling towers and we were really just concerned about those cooling towers being able to make it through uh this academic year and if those failed

098um I don't even want to talk about that. We they're the new ones are in. Uh but we advanced that work uh because we've been tracking Sager as part of phase 2 HVAC improvements. Uh but we advanced that portion and we're hoping to bring a recommendation to the board for approval uh for the remaining phase 2 improvements at six sites including the internal components at Sager sometime in September at the September board meeting. Um, so remaining just uh bond uh projects from a priority that uh the priority list that the we shared with the board at the work session back in uh March of 2024 uh are these sites. Um so we'll have Central High, Daniel Boone Elementary, Warren Elementary, Central Elementary, Cosley, and then Sager Middle. And again, just a caveat there as we

099advance the cooling towers next year, we'll focus on the internal components. So, moving over to regular capital projects, uh Hackman, uh we had taken a recommendation to the board back in uh April uh to replace all of those systems there. They had been in service since that building was constructed. I want to say 97 as well. Uh so, you can see what the old units were. Uh you've got new units, condensing units that are there in the bottom left. And then on the inside uh those are those it's a commercial application but something that is more uh residential I guess for lack of better terms. Uh so those were all installed in the interior spaces. Um and visiting with the building leader uh the buildings never felt better. Uh Fair Mountain Holland back roof section

100replacement. Um top image there on the left. Uh those are two roof sections that we brought to the board for approval. I believe back in we do that back in uh in May and those two sections were 30 years old and so we went all the way down the deck and the image on the right is uh the new system and so hopefully I'll be retired by the next time it needs to be replaced. And then bottom left there is the roof section at Fairmount uh where the solar panels were. You can I'm not quite sure you can see it, but it was quite wet. You know, obviously that roof had been uh in place for a long time and so moisture had uh gotten underneath. So, we had to demo and go down the

101deck and then you can see on the right that the uh it's all done and we put the solar panels back as we articulated that they still had useful life to them and um everything's good. >> Uh Francis, how high pavement improvements? Uh this is another very large project. A lot of sequencing that needed to take place. Uh you can see on the image on the left u we mailed and overlaid the all the asphalt on that uh campus with the exception of where we still need to uh demo the old Francis How Union and District Learning Center. I'll talk about that here in a sec. And then in the middle image there, uh, if you guys recall, um, if you've been on that campus around the track, it was asphalt and just a lot

102of ADA challenges. And that asphalt, I believe, had been in service for about 31 years. Um, it predates the new how. Um, and so we demoed all that out, widened it, uh, to create just better access. It's getting a new fence around it as well, and we made concrete improvements around the main entry there to, uh, the stadium. And then also additional ADA improvements there uh at the entry of the stadium. I believe we were able to maximize and add a few more uh spaces for for those that uh need ADA access. Francis How Central Tennis Courts. Uh image on the left there is what we showed the board at the March capital uh planning uh meeting in terms of uh building the capital budget out. um that that surface had been in place since

103I believe uh I think it's about 13 years and typical life cycle for tennis court surfaces even on a post-tension court which is what that is is really about 10 years and we were about 3 years past that. So we brought that recommendation board approved it and you can't quite see it. We also replaced the fence. Uh many of the components on the fence were welded and you could see it. it's bending out outwardly and we were just worried about it breaking and um potentially uh hurting a student. So, we included that as part of the recommendation in scope. And on the image on the right, you can see the new uh black vinyl fence uh which will last longer than the the galvanized and then the courts have been resurfaced as well. Francis how

104track surface again uh back in March we brought a brought a recommendation to prioritize uh replacement of this track starting to develop a lot of large cracks which pose safety risks uh for participants. Uh this project was a little bit delayed uh if you recall and I think we highlighted it once we we built a contingency amount uh because the process for this track is to get the rubber off and then you mill and overlay the asphalt that supports the rubberized track. Well, in that process, uh there were several areas that needed to be completely rebuilt that were u creating the large cracks and so that took a little bit and there's a 21-day cure time um for the asphalt to cure before you can go back with the rubber surface. So, that delayed us

105a little bit. So, we went ahead and continued with all of the other work that was taking place on that campus, just sequencing all the other work. Uh they should be wrapped up I believe uh just minus the striping uh next Monday and so just in time before how high would have to host their uh their first football game. Harvest Ridge. Uh this was another uh project, capital project. We replaced all the light fixtures uh in that building and um we there aren't any energy rebate incentives uh through Amaran for this one. I think uh those that program for lighting has run its course. I think most lighting these days uh you you can't supply it. So, I think it's one of those where um Amron's like, well, you know, they need to change it

106out anyway, so why would we incentivize it? So, anyway, um they're a tremendous partner to work for, but unfortunately on this work with, I should say, uh on this one, there isn't an opportunity to recoup some of our investment there. I do want to note as part of uh I shared the the energy rebate that we'll get back uh from a a check standpoint for Harvest Ridge Henderson. And obviously when you move from Pax to a forced air uh system, that's an Amaran site as well, we will be getting back roughly about $94,000 uh for the improvements at Henderson. So with that, um pending capital projects that have already been board approved, uh bleacher replacement at Sager and Hollandbeck. Uh that's slated for sometime in October. Again, that was a long lead item. And uh

107as soon as those those lutures uh arrive, we'll work with the individual building leaders to get those in. Um one of the projects I haven't talked about is the demolition of the uh old uh Francis How Union building. Uh we're we're ready to go. We ran into we made all the utility disconnects. What we learned through that process is the gas line um also served Halh High and so Halh High did not have gas after we made the disconnect and so there's a little bit of delay there as we work with our utility our gas utility provider to run a new line and uh their engineers are working on that. So as soon as that is uh complete then uh that building can start to come down. So be happy to I guess I owe

108>> those two. So >> and then lunch you all get appetized. >> You all get appetiz feels like lobster tail for me. >> Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. I'll be happy to answer any questions uh or provide clarification that the board >> any question. >> I first off I'd like start off uh >> first I'd like to um give my congratulations and my utmost respect to Mr. Stutzer for the incredible job that he has done and and seeing this through. I feel that under your toutelage that um things went much smooth more smoothly than they very well could have. So I thank you for all of your hard work, your dedication because as I sat and watched this unfold over the almost three or two and a half years, it did quite an undertaking. So

109congratulations. That being said, due to any unforeseen circumstances, do you see most of these projects being completed by the end of the year? Leaving aside the um HVAC units that you have listed for summer of 2026, do you think most everything will be completed? Just a guess. >> Yeah, I feel pretty confident about that. Um the only one that uh would kind of give me a little pause is just the transportation, you know, cuz depending on sequencing once that building gets demoed, uh the existing maintenance facility, uh depending on where we're at um in the fall period, uh the challenge there is asphalt plants for the most part start shutting down in November, uh because you can't lay asphalt unless it's 40° or above. So that that's my only concern, but I think for the

110remaining projects, uh, we'll be sitting pretty good. Yes. Thank you. >> Yeah, congratulations also on so many projects. I I was waiting for like, wow, wow, wow. And then getting rebates back on top of it. That's like awesome. Um, so awesome. I I'm wondering if there was a way just to understand like I don't know if I g I I'm a child of the 80s and I grew up and I watched the movie um the money pit with hummings >> and I remember every time they say when's it going to be done and the answer was 2 weeks and it was like more like four years and I get I understand that that's like normal when anybody ever does any type of remodeling or construction it always takes a lot longer um but I wanted

111to just kind of ask like with the Henderson scenar scenario. We we watched a community come together which was absolutely beautiful and it was wonderful. Um but the communication part of that could that have been backed up and improved in any way, shape or form or was it just not possible with permits or inspections? I I wonder if we could have had more time to know. >> We're we're going to internally we're going to have a debrief session uh with executive leadership to just go through that. Um, we we do our best to be uh transparent. I put together a five, six page report weekly that I submit to uh uh my spirit, Dr. St. John, as well as Mr. Delaney. And maybe I just uh should have done a little bit better job articulating

112the status of Henderson, but the other reality of it to uh and this isn't an excuse, it's just it's it's the reality. Um those seven days from a snow standpoint did did impact that. I mean, if you take if you put 7 days back into the overall construction schedule, would it still have been tight? Yeah. But would we have been um at the 19th hour? Uh probably would have given us a little breathing room. But we don't control Mother Nature. Uh but internally, we'll just do a good job of making sure that we're crystal clear uh as we debrief and make sure that the board's aware of those uh challenges that we're facing, whether it's permitting, uh long lead items, those types of things. Any other questions? >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you.

113[Music] >> All right. Uh now, let's welcome our interim superintendent, Mr. Mark Delaney, for comments. Thank you, President Blair. Uh, I have a few things I'd like to say today. So, first off, I want to thank you and the entire board for putting your trust in me um to lead this district for the remainder of the 2526 school year. As you all know, I'm a product of the Francis Hall School District. I'm proud of that. Uh, I attended both Fairmont and Hollandbeck. I'm also very proud of the fact that I've worked here now over 20 years. Uh I will say and continue to say this is a great place. We do great things for kids here. Uh and our staff is a big part of that uh success. The district has helped raise my own

114two kids. Uh I'm proud to say that uh they started their careers here as kindergarteners and finished as seniors. And my wife and I are forever indebted to the adults in this community that helped them become the people that they are today. We're very proud uh people of of our children and we're so thankful uh for some of the teachers, support staff, administrators that they have come across. Uh and I hope to continue to lead this district and uh continue to have the same transformative uh support for other kids in this district like my kids have received. So again, I just want to thank the board uh for this opportunity. I also want to take some time to uh focus on the fact that there's an incredible energy in our schools this week. Uh we've

115welcomed nearly 17,000 kids back. I was able to visit the vast majority of our classrooms this week uh and our schools to see firsthand our dedicated staff in these buildings and how excited they are to have kids back. It's great to have our teachers and all of our support staff that work directly with kids back in our buildings. I've been able to have conversations with our teaching staff and I know how excited they are to help kids get learning underway and to support that process for all of our students. I want to take some time to recognize the staff members who work through the hot summer months to prepare our buildings uh for for our kids and our staff. From our grounds crews to our custodians, our HVAC staff, our maintenance, and our technology crews,

116it takes a lot of dedicated people to keep our schools, grounds, and equipment in good condition so that we can help create the best possible learning environments for our students. I also would be remiss if I didn't specifically recognize facilities and operations leaders. I want to thank Salum Stutzer, Dan Allison, Mike Deers, Jason Griezinhower, and Jason Halbert, and their entire departments that they work with. As you saw from tonight's presentation, we had a significant number of construction projects happening all over the district. Um those gentlemen that I just shared, they're bouncing all over this place uh monitoring, managing and and interacting with construction crews all over the district. It is a insurmountable amount of work that these uh individuals did. And the crews, our crews were disrupted all over the district. So as you can

117imagine, our Henderson custodial crews were not at Henderson. They were at other places throughout the district. And as we got to that last hour, we were pulling crews from everywhere else to come support Henderson. So, I just want to thank all of those crews and the work that they did. I would also be remiss if I didn't talk a little bit about Henderson. So, Henderson is one of the many buildings seeing improvements this year to thanks to Proposition S. The project got a late start as you heard uh Mr. Stutzer talk about and this accelerated timeline meant Henderson teachers did not have as much time as they normally would to set up their classrooms and prepare for the school year. As a former teacher, as a a dad to a teacher, as a husband to

118a teacher, I know how much that time in your classroom before school starts matters. And so I can only apologize to the staff that didn't get that opportunity or had to work under those uh you know much more stressful conditions, but I know that Henderson is better today because that building is where it is. Um and I also want to say, you know, I think I'm thankful for the Frank South community that sprung into action and over the course of three days we had more than 100 volunteers in that building. This included parents, board members, former Henderson teachers, district leaders, staff from other Francis Hall schools, citizens in our schools, alumni, former superintendent, spouses and parents of staff, and even teachers from neighboring school districts who showed up to help us. It was an all

119hands- on deck, and it was truly a one howl effort. It was so encouraging to see families and staff from buildings across the district stepping up when they heard of the need. I also want to convey our appreciation to the Central County Fire and Rescue and the City of St. Peters officials who work throughout the weekend to complete a series of required safety inspections to clear the building for school. Finally, I want to thank the construction partners. I was able to meet a wide variety of tradesmen and women who were dedicated to getting this building ready. I met several individuals who were alum of the district and took pride in the fact that they knew their work was impacting our students and our staff. We truly would not have been able to open without the

120support of all of those people. So again, kudos to everyone and I'm I'm very indebted. So thank you for that. going to wrap up with just a couple of reminders. I'll wrap this up with uh this first. The next family learning series will be held virtually on September 4th at 6:30. The September Healthy Minds Healthy Schools session will focus on supporting kids with anxiety. Guardians and staff members who attend can expect to learn more about ways to differentiate between anxiety, stress, feeling overwhelmed, and anxiety disorders. Participants will learn how these issues affect students, especially those experiencing school anxiety and discover ways to promote resiliency. You can find a link to sign up on the homepage of each school's website. And finally, while our certified teaching positions have been filled, we are still in the need

121of several important support staff roles. I am asking for the community's help in finding paras custodians, bus drivers, and substitute teachers to fill shortages across our district. We currently have 21 open bus driver positions. Our transportation department has done the heavy lift of getting buses uh and routes up and running. It's no small feat to get that those buses and all of those things ready for students. I also am thankful that we had the snap in the warm weather. Those first two days were pretty brutally hot, but the last three have been great. And I'm thankful um uh for all of those staff people. Starting pay for our bus drivers is $23 an hour, and a secondyear bus driver and beyond can earn $27 an hour depending upon their experience. Training is provided by the

122district, and a CDL license is not required to apply. Bus drivers, like all full-time positions, are eligible for great medical benefits and a public school s uh pension, sorry. The short application can be found on the district's website, and we would just encourage people if you're interested, we'd love to have you. And thank you, um, Bo, are there any comments? >> We'll go with uh Owens first. I'm kind of doing a reiteration, but I personally wanted to give a big thank you to all of the custodians, maintenance, parents, teachers, administrators, board members, anybody that I didn't notice um who stepped up and did what it took to get Henderson Elementary ready for this school year. When I walked in the building last week, I didn't see how the building could possibly be ready in time

123to open on Monday. I underestimated one howl. I should have realized this community always shows up and rolls up their sleeves for our schools. You are the best. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next. Want to make comments? All right. I want to say some final comments. Uh number one, when it comes to Henderson Elementary, uh we have uh three principles, a the principal and two assistant principles did an amazing job. Uh so principal Lisa, I forget the last names right now, but uh assistant principal Vicki, assistant principal Chrissy, uh not only are called and equipped to do a great job as principal and assistant principles, but also great at organizing volunteers and triaging. So Salum, if you need any help with um construction sites in the future, um we think that we have just um

124>> we have skill sets over there in Henderson that can translate as well into your situation. Um, I know there are people who are concerned about uh Henderson. Um, I just want you to know your concerns about the district are a sign that you love the district. And so whenever somebody raises their hand and says, "I'm concerned about this," I interpret and we all interpret to say, "You must care enough to share your concerns about this." So, thank you for sharing your concerns about Henderson Elementary because when you share those, we receive them. We benefit from hearing from the public directly. Going to say thank you. um in so many ways. Uh when you share concerns, we know what's behind it. We see the best out of you. We see the best behind all those

125concerns. So, thank you for sharing all those concerns about Henderson Elementary. Uh I just want you to know that uh we're all listening very closely. Um we hear them all and uh we will respond to all them as we are able to. I want to say uh happy first day of school to all 23 campuses, not just Henderson. Um I don't know Henderson's getting all the attention right now. I don't I don't think Henderson wanted all the attention right now. So for all of you who I had a easier transition to the school year, please let um please know that we all care about you uh as well. Um I also want to say a thank you to the rest of the board. Um the board has been involved with different kinds of training uh

126different kind of ways that we can be more efficient to make our meetings more efficient. Um and thank you all for attending those uh meetings, those conversations. Um all um six of you have been involved and engaged in a lot of different ways. Uh so publicly um in this moment I want to say uh a public thank you to Director Oki, to director Ponder, Treasurer Owens, Vice President Grder, Director Busushkard, Director Harmon. Thank you all for your dedication and all the work. Um I know there are number of concerns that were shared about uh recent news stories. Um, all I'm able to say is uh that Dr. Dominguez resigned from the Francis How School District effective on July 31st, 20125. I cannot comment further on a confidential personal matter. That's all that I can say.

127But I can listen all day. And so if you have anything you want to share through email, I will listen. I I will listen. And so will the board. The board has designated uh me to be the person who responds. But I want to make sure in a public statement you all know the board equally cares about your words, equally cares about your concerns. Um I'm just the one designated to be the one who um says those two sentences and and listens and responds in whatever way I can as well. And lastly, I would like to say to uh Mark Delaney, thank you. >> There's a lot of stuff going on. um you are uniquely gifted for this moment to put attention on students to get us ready for a great school year. We are

128thankful for your ability to be the interim superintendent for this school year. Uh we appreciate your courage um you being willing to talk to the seven of us on a routine basis. You know, the seven of us don't agree on a lot of things, but we know we're we're so we're so so happy that you are the superintendent um for this school year in the interim status. So, thank you so much for your willingness to say that. So, um, board, if there's nothing else, um, I'd like to have a motion to, um, close. >> So, move. >> Second. >> Motion by director Kushkar, seconded by Director Ponder. All those in favor say I. >> All those opposed say no. >> Motion passes. Thank you all for being here in person and online.