FHSD Board of Education Meeting-June 19, 2025

001Am [Music] I good? Well, good evening everybody. We are glad that you are joining us. This is the June 19th meeting for the Franch School Board. We're glad that you are here. we get a chance to have a conversation today about the wonderful French South School District and we're glad that you're watching us both in person and online. Let us start off with the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our school district has a a strategic plan uh with four pillars. You can follow along with those four pillars on our website. There's QR codes uh here in the room as well as well as a QR code

002to follow along with the agenda. We hope that you follow along and see all the great things happening here in Frances. And so this agenda has been formed to help us accomplish that strategic plan. So I'm going to ask for a motion to approve the agenda for June 19th, 2025 as presented. So moved. Second. Uh Director Pushkar and then director uh Ponder. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. Motion passes. Well, we are all the way to patron comments. And during patron comments, want to remind you the 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

003that only one speaker is allowed at the 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 perspective. I would like to remind everyone that we expect that 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 patrons of the audience remain quiet in order to be respectful of the speakers allotted time. We welcome Carl Suri to the podium. Thank you. Good evening. I just wanted to publicly thank both Dr. Rumpus and Mrs. Embry for their service to the district over the last several years. Uh

004I'm just one guy looking in from the outside, but I believe both of you have made significant contributions to our district, particularly when you consider that both of you started under extremely adverse conditions. Dr. Rumpus started during COVID. He was hired as a deputy superintendent. He quickly became our cozar and under his leadership, we were able to open our schools and keep them open. uh and educate the children, which many districts were unable to do. Two years later, he was thrust into the superintendent role after fallout from Prop S and a lot of the mismanagement that occurred and we had turnover. A year later, Mrs. Ambry joined us and again, significant turmoil in the finance department and I can't overstate the amount of damage that had been done and and the disarray that occurred in

005finance. And so I thank you both um for the significant contributions you've made and I will say that you're both shining examples that one person even in a district this large can make a huge impact. With that said, I'm done early and can we set that as the pattern for the night? You may want to get done early and get out of here tonight. Thank you. Thank you both. Thank you. uh tonight that is the only patron comment and so with that uh we would like to welcome FHEA for FHA is our teachers union. This is president Francine Hill. Good evening. My name is Francine Hill and I am the FHA president. First I want to clarify some information that was misunderstood from my speech. I realized that it was a great deal of information,

006which is why I wanted to provide the board with paper copy. In my speech, I I referred to seven bargaining groups in three districts. Knowing that most of the board has not yet experienced negotiations, I wanted to be clear that districts have multiple groups that each negotiate separately. I clearly uh stated the six groups that negotiations were from two different districts, St. Charles and each district has three different groups. In Francis Hall, we have four groups that negotiate separately. FHEA negotiates for our certified staff and our ESC separately since they are two different bargaining units. Visa negotiates for most of our non-certified staff and teamsters negotiates for transportation. Our certified staff are the only group to request the owners. I hope that makes the information in my last speech clear. Please reach out to FHA

007anytime you feel like you need clarification or have a question. FHA wants to have a truthful and transparent relationship with the board. We also shared concerns about the new policy to allow staff to carry a weapon in our schools. It was great to learn that the district has included funds in the budget to place an SRO in every school. This is a step forward in providing a safe environment for our students and staff. So having a SOP or another non police officer carrying a gun is not necessary. Since the last meeting and the introduction of this new policy, we would believe that you have received emails from stakeholders regarding this policy. In the past, Francis How has done a great job of conducting community roundts to get information from all stakeholders. You should consider pausing

008on pushing this policy through so quickly and hold some of these discussions. FHA believes a decision of this importance should provide all the stakeholders an opportunity to provide insights and concerns. Why does this need to be done in such a rush? With the summer months upon us, it is the hope of FHEA that the toxic gas issue at North is found and fixed. Lastly, we want to thank all our staff for working so hard over the summer to provide extra support to our students and to prepare our schools for the upcoming school year. We hope everyone finds time to relax and enjoy the summer. Thank you. Thank you. And now we welcome uh FISPA for comments. [Music] Thank you and good evening. My name is Jennifer Vineyard and I am the FISA vice president of

009clerical staff at the BIS at Warren Elementary. As we begin begin the summer season, we hope our students and staff are enjoying a well-deserved break. To our year-round staff who are hard at work on important projects while activity in our buildings has slowed down, we hope you are also finding time to relax and recharge during the summer months. To staff and students participating in our summer programs, we hope you're gaining valuable experiences and even enjoying a bit of fun along the way. We understand that being in school during the summer is not easy, but your dedication and commitment is very important and truly makes a difference. We would also like to express our appreciation to Aaron Poji and the benefits and payroll department for their quick and effective response in resolving a recent issue affecting

010some of our non-year round employees. Your collaboration and timely communication ensured that we that they were informed and supported and we are grateful for your efforts. I'd like to personally thank the HR department for acknowledging the need to provide additional support for high school level BIS's. I'm hopeful that the same support will be extended to BIS's at other building levels for the 2627 school year. Regarding the noxious odor at Francis Hall North, we remain hopeful that the source of the ongoing odor will be identified and addressed before the start of the 2526 school year. This issue has caused significant concern among staff and students affecting their comfort, sense of well-being, and the overall learning environment. We we respectfully urge that the health and safety of our school community remains a top priority for everyone in

011the building. As we approach the end of June, we want to recognize those who will be leading Francis Health. Whether you're you are retiring or moving on to new opportunities, thank you for your service. Your work has shaped the lives of council students and left a lasting impact on our district. To those joining us to fill these roles, welcome to the Francis Hall family. We look forward to working with you to continue making our district a great place to learn and grow. And we thank Dr. Rumpus for his dedicated leadership and service. Your tenure has been marked by integrity and a strong commitment to student success. We deeply appreciate the time, effort, and care you have devoted to our district. The impact of your work will continue to be felt by students, staff, and families

012for years to come. On behalf of ESPA, we offer our heart heartfelt gratitude and wish you the very best in all that lies ahead. Thank you. Thank you to Jennifer Vender. I'd like to have a motion to approve the consent agenda for June 19th, 2025 as presented. So moved. Second. Director Pushkar for the motion. Second, Director Ponder. All those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say no. Motion passes. Okay. wondering. I think we're maybe out of order here somewhere. But at this point, I invite Carol Embry to come forward. I'm not sure why I brought my phone. I don't know if I'm planning to phone a friend or what's going on with that, but I have to It's not like I'm going to watch the time on my phone, right? I'm teasing.

013This is very short for us this evening. Excuse me. Yes. I'm sorry. I Oh, you didn't do the vote, did you? One second. I'm sorry. Would you come up with my papers stuck together? And so I want to make sure we go through this the right way. Motion to approve the budget as presented. So Director Puscar, Director Ponder with the second. And now we welcome Miss Embry CFO to present. Thank you very much. So this evening, this is basically a refresher for you regarding the recommendation that was fully presented to you during the June 5 meeting. And so I just have a few slides for you this evening. So highlighting that the full bud budget presentation again was presented during the last meeting. A balanced operating budget is presented for this FY26 budget. The budget

014includes receiving 3.2 million of state adequacy target increase within the budget. As you know, we've discussed that it could be up to 6.4 million if fully funded. Uh and this would be the 50% mark. The recommended budget will support the strategic plan alignment and of course as usual future budget amendments will uh be recommended as new information is known. This slide highlights for you the operating fund balance trajectory where we're providing you that operating fund balance percentage estimate at June 30 each year. For FY26, we are targeting at this point in time 27.3% which is a 1.9% reduction as compared to our current estimate and that's if all revenues are received and all expenditures are expended relative to budgets. This is the repeat of the operating fund balance trajectory and the recommendations relative to addressing

015that downward trend including information on levy uh generation of revenue. And then this is the general budget summary. It is included within the previous presentation and within the budget document. This is what summarizes all the governmental funds. It's structured much like the ASBR or the annual secretary of the board report. That is our state financial report. And again you can see the operating fund balance percentage at 27.3. This budget recommendation includes total governmental funds that include bond funds and capital and debt of uh revenues 292,202516 expenditures 333,627 358. Again the gap between revenues and expenditures is us continuing to spend down bond funds that were received a few years ago. The next slide is just a reminder that not included within those governmental funds is our self- insurance fund. So, it's posted separately. It's the

016same information that was provided to you during the June 5 meeting. That concludes the reminder on our budget recommendation. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer those. Any questions, board? My life wouldn't be complete without asking our question. Between last meeting and this meeting, have we had any update on on insurance cost? Uh, we have not. Okay. There's not been any check. If there are no other questions, uh, board, uh, let's have a vote. All those in favor say I. I. I. I.................... All. Those opposed say no. Motion carries. A motion to approve the finance and operations report as presented. Second. Director Pushbar with a motion. Second with director Ponder. Miss Simbrey. Okay. Thank you very much. This uh shows you that we do have a budget amendment recommendation and it's not a

017surprise. We had conducted that defeasence based on your approval in a previous board meeting and that closed on our last board meeting date. And so this provides you the debt service budget amendment uh for expenditures in the amount of 13,975812 and it does not impact our operating fund balance trajectory because it's separate from the operating fund. So we're still at the same um estimate as prior month of 29.2% for the current year. We have included for you the information relative to transfers. I'll highlight those for you because your motion and approval uh references transfers as well. The transfer of funds from the general fund to the capital fund up to the guaranteed taxbased transfer currently estimated at $7 million. uh the other allowable transfers per the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and a transfer

018of unused operating funds for fund 10 and 20 to the health fund amount to be determined at June 30, 2025. And our commitment is that we would not drop below the 29.2 funding fund balance percentage uh ending at June 30. So we're still continuing, the team is still continuing to generate payrolls and pay all the bills for the year. That activity will continue well up to the final June 30 date and at that point in time we will ascertain what we might be able to do. The next slide reminds you of the budget amendments that have occurred relative to revenue throughout the year. This next one is expenditures and this shows you detailed information relative to that debt service fund budget amendment. Again, a familiar slide where we're showing you our operating fund balance trajectory.

019This is the bond financial information highlighting that we do still have $4,265,000 that may be designated for certain projects and uh otherwise the bond financials are comprehensively posted each month on board ducks. our insurance fund uh continues to struggle and uh where we had left off we had included a $6 million transfer from the operating fund to the health fund and we'll continue to monitor that and determine that that additional amount that's needed. This slide provides you the work in progress. So you know that the facility master plan and demographic study are underway and well it might be July, it might be August. I'm not sure when that will come forward for your review. Same for the transportation review that's being conducted this summer. The facility team and our partners in the work are delivering

020on between 45 35 to 45 million in construction projects. And uh transportation of course is addressing routing. Our technology team is busy deploying those devices that you approved and redistributing 4,000 devices throughout the system. Our end ofear close for 24-25 includes those balance of contract checks and reconciliations. Our open enrollment for benefits will occur August 4 through 21 for all of our employees and retirees participating. And then the financial audit, the engagement dates included June 2nd through 3rd, then again October 6th through 24. And the final recommendation for acceptance of the audit needs to occur by December, end of December so that we can be compliant with DESIE requirements. So either it would be delivered to you in the November meeting or in the December meeting and then we'll start the budget process all over

021again the continuous cycle. I do have an added this was a change that was just made today. The DESIE information that we received June 18th so that was just yesterday indicates that the formula in the current year is not fully funded by approximately $10 per student measure. So that's an impact of revenue loss for Francis How of $173,000. There was an additional appropriation that was provided and that the governor approved, but it wasn't quite enough to meet the demand. So that's how it works. Uh but this next slide is very important and I want to cover this information for you. I want you to know that there's a lot to digest and that there will be many many more conversations about this. So, Senate Bill 3 is a property tax freeze uh bill that made

022it across the threshold and that happened within a 12-day period. Then the legislation uh became law when the governor signed it June 14 uh technically to be implemented in August as is all uh legislative changes. A special session had been called on June 2nd and so that's how quickly that transpired. The House and the Senate both approved it on uh June 8 11th, excuse me. This placed a cap on the value of every residential real estate parcel based on the September 2024 data. Senators identified the impact to their counties. No change to the current law of impacts 18 counties of 114. Uh and St. city is a number in there that may throw us off one, but 5% cap on on increases per parcel is 75 counties and a 0% increase per parcel, per residential

023parcel, 22 counties, and we are one of those counties. A 0% increase. A vote of the people must occur by the April 2026 election. So, the opportunities would be the November election or the April election. Uh, this bill works just like Senate Bill 190, but there's no age limitation or expectation. You don't have to be 62 years of age. The Hancock amendment will still apply in the aggregate. Uh, and so basically, it will still suppress our levy. I've told you before that when AV goes down, the levy goes up to compensate so that we can maintain our revenue base. That will not happen because the value of those properties for residential property owners will still increase but then they will be given a tax credit. Our levy will be calculated off of the increased AV

024but we will not receive that revenue. It's a direct uh slice off the top of the revenue. Other assessed valuation types will need to carry the debt service payment demand. And what that means is because residential real estate represents nearly 76% of our tax base in this community, uh if those revenues do not continue to grow to meet the amortization schedule payments of our debt service demands, then that burden will be placed on other properties such as commercial, agricultural, that type of thing. So the Frances impact is that uh March 2025 I just mentioned our residential real estate uh represented 75.8% of the total of 4.195 uh billion in AV 0% growth per parcel for all taxing jurisdictions. This is not a school districton situation. This will impact all taxing jurisdictions in not only our

025county but other counties throughout the state. The operating revenue growth in the past years I've indicated for you at 5.5 million 8.3 million and then 1.2 million if we add current and delinquent together. Okay. And our trajectory I I don't like to use the word conservative. I say realistic. We have realistic increases included in the trajectory and we know that we have a downward trend. But we included currently FY26 4.1 million FY27 2.6 6 million, FYI28 3.9 million and FI29 2.7 million. Again, the roller coaster there is because of reassessment and non-reassessment years. So, we have that eb and flow. This is a very significant conversation for all of us to have throughout the county, throughout the state, and uh we've already had significant conversations as an administrative team regarding next steps in informing everyone

026of the the potential impact to our district. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer those on any of this information. Yeah. Um, Carol, thank you for that. Um, I've been looking at the Senate bill a lot today trying to figure out, is this something we should consider um, prepping for in terms of, for example, we just definitely bought our new ELA curriculum, so we know that that's going to be good for our students for the next six or so years. However, I know the math curriculum is something that is very aged. Should we consider buying that now while we have a little bit of funds before we don't? Um, I'm wondering if we should also figure I know you buttons and levers. Um, should we be what should we be doing

027to prepare for this possible eventuality? So, part of our conversation and part of that information sharing with people who will be considering this opportunity, again, patrons will be asked to go to the polls uh by April 26 and vote on whether or not the tax credit should be brought into St. Charles County. Um, as an administrative team, we need to be developing the list of what are all those places that we would look at first. and it will be a major process for us to develop that information to share with the board of education. I will tell you though that we can nickel and dime supplies all we want, but the only way to get at real revenue losses is through people. And we've experienced that in this district in the past and we already

028are faced with a situation that is it doesn't have a bright future for us relative to our revenue growth and now we have this uh additional onus placed upon us. So many many conversations not easy to answer uh in the moment but a lot of work will be taking place to address it. Thank you. So uh thank you. What has happened is that uh Jefferson City has approved Senate Bill 3. it has passed, but there will be a future election uh ballot initiative where the county decides if we want to keep going by our current plan or if we want to apply Senate Bill 3 uh for our county. And so what has only happened is the opening up of those two options. And we don't know yet when that will be on the ballot,

029whether it's going to be in November or April, but we're just aware that it will be on a ballot coming up. And so we just need to be informed and to share information. Is that correct understanding? St. Charles County would need to certify that election, that ballot question by August 26th, I believe was the date. I looked that up earlier today. And uh so we would know by then if it's coming at the November election. I encourage everyone to move quickly and begin that information campaign regardless of when the election occurs. And um just make sure everyone understands we are already suppressed on our ability to grow revenue on our operating levy because of the Hancock amendment. It's a constitutional amendment that the voters of the state have applied and everyone is treated equally through

030that. And this is a very disparit approach to how counties are taxed differently. And just to make sure because we we've been so thankful to have you just want to make sure we get your opinion on this before. One of the impacts of this would be that the costs that we have to pay would still have inflation to it. Whether it's inflation of insurance or uh energy, all anything that we're paying would still have inflation, but with this would cap out the majority of our residential taxes at a certain year's level, right? And so that doesn't inflate. So basically cost inflate for us, but the biggest chunk of revenue largely flatlines, which creates problems. That's what I'm hearing you say. That's correct. Yes. Thank you. Are there any other questions? I was just wondering how

031St. Charles County ended up as a 0%. So, I wasn't present for how that played out, but as I understand it, each senator or the group of senators was able to identify their counties. I I do understand from a another official in the community that uh engagement occurred with St. Charles County on that. I don't know that that happened statewide where that would have would have occurred, but uh most definitely senators determined which of their uh counties which which option their would apply to their county. So our our legislators agreed to that just one just our state the Senate the Senate set set the bill. It's a Senate bill and that's how it originated and then it was uh passed by the Senate and then not changed by the House and they did it on

032the same day and a majority of the rural communities were at 5%. Is that right? Uh there are an I would say that is correct for most of them or either that or no change to the law. Okay. There are just interesting pockets. There have been a couple of maps uh developed that help us see how that uh plays out. And um in the center of the state, it's mostly um grayed out, meaning no change. They're sticking with the law with the current Missouri statute. And then it's that outliers that you're correct. I would say those would be the rural areas. That would be the 5% mostly. And then when you get into some of the other urban areas, uh, it's a 0%. But also on the southern the southern border of Missouri, a number

033of those counties are also 0%. So I'm not I don't understand all the dynamics that were at play regarding this. Uh, but it is a very uh serious situation for us to consider. Do you think there'll be litigation about this? Personally, I would not be surprised because of the disparit treatment of you. You you could well, let me explain. Well, first of all, there are school districts that have multiple counties within their boundaries. Uh a variety of rules are being applied to people within a community uh for the most part. And um and the other, you know, the other thing, of course, again, Missouri statute governs the entire state and this is separating us out. Um my concern in addition to not only the impact to taxing jurisdictions is that this will economically be uh

034a downturn for any community that's experiencing this because people won't want to sell their houses if they're frozen in time at September 2024. They won't move to a house of equal value because then they'll have a new uh base right there. I think it will be a downturn on construction activity which will impact us again because we do uh acquire new construction values when we're uh receiving revenue. So So we need to hunker down and we need to communicate like crazy and we need to be very strategic in the approach. Okay. Mhm. Are there any other questions about the finance and operations report? Okay. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Motion to approve the purchases as presented. Second. Motion by Director

035Pushkar. Second by Director Ponder. Any discussion. All those in favor say I. All those opposed say no. Motion passes. At this point, we have a different kind of agenda item than normal. This is a discussion general uh a discussion agenda item. And what I will do is set a time limit for the maximum of 15 minutes. And want to make sure everyone has a chance to speak uh at least twice or twice about it. Um Director Pushcar, I'm going to say if I'm just going to make a rule that if you want to speak up to four times, this is your idea. um in order to answer questions. Feel free to speak up to four times. Sound good? So, this has to do with a discussion surrounding a third party vendor who would look through

036all the books in our libraries. If Miss uh if director Brushkar could set the conversation up. Uh sure. Uh what the I brought this forward at the last meeting and the hope was that we might consider not make a decision tonight but might consider hiring a third party uh independent reviewer of the library materials. I know Stephen and I had a discussion the this afternoon and asked if this was going to do this or that and I mostly responded well that's for the board to decide but what I know uh I I know not personally but I know this company um I've talked to the consultant that that does this type of work um I do know that he does not um require a contract it's an ad hoc sort of thing so it would

037be something that we would maybe hire for a month, see if anything is being reported that we agree with and then move on from there. Could be every other month, could be twice a year. It doesn't doesn't really matter what what it is. Um, but basically what he does is he uses an algorithm to go in and and check uh books for their age appropriateness and he merely points them out is from what I understand from the questions that were asked, he merely points them out to the board. It's up to the board to decide on their own what whether they think that they're age appropriate or not. What I also did was uh one of the books that that's in our high school libraries. I my belief is that it's age inappropriate. I took

038some of the excerpts from the book and put them on a piece of paper and gave them to you so that you could read. not not for the fact of shaming anyone but the fact of I think we need to watch this or look at this a little bit more closely again my opinion um since we do have things that no I I know everybody's tolerance is different of course but at the same time I in my estimation we need as I just mentioned we need to look at it more closely can I help with any questions before I hand it over I uh yes I looked Um, I looked this person up. I noticed that they're affiliated with Hillsdale College, which is out of Michigan. It's also a conservative Christian school. So, I'm concerned

039if there would be any third party biases, um, especially with like a political affiliation that this person would be using this algorithm through. Sure. What I' I'd like to respectfully respond to that, Sarah, and say that the books from the ALA definitely have a political bias and a certain slant. Do I know about Hillsdale? Yes, I do. At the same time, the books that are being reviewed, he would come to the board and ask what our tolerance is. Do you have a very high tolerance or a very low tolerance as far as topics such as sexual education, uh, politics, things like history, things like that? So you you kind of set the parameters. Does anybody else want to make sure everybody has a first first comment first before we get to second comments? Anybody Anybody

040else have a first comment they want to ask for Jane or anything else you want to share? Well, I guess I was wondering why um we don't think our library media specialist can handle this. Well, the uh the library media specialist um I'm sure you were here or at the last meeting mentioned that they are so overworked and they don't want to put an ISBN number on a list of books that because it would take too much time. So, of course, I would make the assumption that they're too busy to review every book or to read every book or to classify every book or to answer all of our questions about it. What is the So, I'm hearing that librarians you feel like don't have time to properly review all of the materials. Yeah. And

041we would then pay somebody to review all of our materials. Like, how are they going to have time and how much is that going to cost? I guess from the last time that I talked to him, it was a choice per month and you could throw in as much as you wanted. I I think that we'd have to negotiate that a little bit. He'd have to negotiate that a little bit better, but at the time um he offered to look at our list of books that we we have and if we wanted to re he we wanted him to re review curriculum, he would do that as well. Okay. How is this different than our current process, I guess, that we have for parents or anybody in the district to challenge our policies? That's a

042great question. The books that come out, Sarah, they don't um if even if you review them every month as a parent, I'm sure that you don't know what what who you know, all the authors of the books that may have a pension for writing things that are age inappropriate. I don't I mean, you might, but I think most parents don't. So, it would be more of a I guess a preview or having a third party independent look at it because not every parent has the time. Not every even if they looked at it every month, they may not know that there's agent appropriate things in there. This this to me is like an insurance policy. I have a lot of questions, but I forgot to every time. Thank you so much. Uh my first uh

043comment will be um just sharing some of the information. I received an email from the company and the starting cost is $3,000 per month uh when they asked what background do you have in literature, education, library services. Yeah. The answer was I've taught as a teacher and department chair in grades 3 through 12, history, civics, government, economics, ELA, and Latin in Texas and Minnesota and and received a certification from the Texas Education Agency. uh mentions, I I specifically avoid consulting school library journals and the like due to their hard ideological bias and the propagation of texts that directly aim to undermine the American tradition of free self-government and print of rights. uh when asked what criteria do you use to identify possibly problematic books made a comment about um I'm looking for bias for certain

044viewpoints or approaches about drepresentation or opposing considerations and grade level appropriateness and then said for the former content that pushes oppressor oppressed or critical theory narratives in a Marxist vein diversity equity and inclusion that discriminates social and emotional learning and culturally responsive teaching that perpetuate the above um are some of the things that you identify as problematic Um, and so I just want to share that as one of my my comments. Does anybody else have a first comment to share? Yeah, I I actually have a question. Um, Amy brings up a a good point of the initial process of screening these books or or if there is a process of screening the books. If I'm not mistaken, I think Connie, you said something a meeting or two ago. I don't know the exact date, but

045when I think director Bushkar first brought this up about this the the books that come in are not and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but said something like the books that come in are not typically screened if they had an award or you said something like that had like a Newberry award or something. I don't remember exactly what you said, but you said something along those lines. Can you Yes. I was trying to pull my notes up really quick, but you were quicker than I was. Um I believe the the policy the recent policy that we um brought forward 6410 6310 6310 um you guys had asked us to get some feedback from our building library media specialist about it. We went and got that feedback and one of the pieces of feedback

046that they provided was um what you were talking about the Martway nominees the newberry that they order those each year to make them available to kids. there's something in the contest if you read so many you can vote on the winner things like that. Um and so one of their suggestion, one of our suggestions in the updates of the policy was that we know that they're all buying those each year. They're a list that's curated from a group of folks that we wouldn't bring they wouldn't have to wait for those to be a um they're not approved. They wouldn't have to wait for those to make it through a board agenda. They could go ahead and and purchase those. So careful not to use I know you're not approving them, right? Um, so that was

047just a a change based on the feedback. Does anybody have a second comment or question? Um, as a parent, I value my authority with my own child to choose what books they read and are exposed to. And I'm concerned that um we would be undermining our parents with something like this that that we would be not allowing. I mean, I'll give you here's an example. I'm a teacher. I teach ELA and I'm well aware of all the books that I use within my own curriculum. I love Mark Twain nominees. I love Truman award winners. I promote those in my classroom all the time. But I constantly build relationships with my parents who tell them that if you are concerned, please go to Common Sense Media, which is another third party. It's free. And I ask

048them to look up the book. And when they look up that book, it'll tell them if there's language, if there's um sex, if there's violence, if there's things that they are concerned about because I don't want to speak for them. I don't know their values. I don't know their cultural identities. But I do want to be respectful and common sense media is free. I I appreciate your comment, Sarah. Um I think it's mis there's misunderstanding. This would not mean that those books would be p pulled and then the board would approve them. These books could be lined out and in some sort of way to the the parents to say, "Hey, you may not want your kid to read this." And if that's the case, then there is a policy that that will handle a

049book challenge. But up in for the last two years that book challenge policy has not been used at all. And it that for some whatever reason I don't I you know after reading what I just read and gave to all you guys I'm like wait a minute I think maybe it it would be used a little bit more. So it wouldn't these books would not be pulled for us. Anybody else have a second comment? Well I guess I'm kind of concerned about what we were reading. Uh to me it shows the bias held by this person or this company because I think it's skewed. I don't think it's in the middle and I mean everybody has bias but again he's he's he's not pulling anything. But the comment that he made that he doesn't consult

050school library journals and the like due to their hard ideological bias and their propagation of texts that directly undermine the American tradition of free self-government and parental rights. That's just well that's under the DEICRT um title which if we have those in our libraries we're going to get financially well like I but like I said at the last meeting DEI is public schools. We don't have public schools without DEI. Thank you. Thank you. I just want to give you a we have we're at 11 minutes and 25 seconds. Thank you so much. Uh final does anybody have a second comment? Amy or Mark? I I do um I I I agree with Sarah um quite a bit there because I I also value my authority as a as a parent. Now, this particular subject hits

051directly home for me. Um a couple years ago, my uh daughter brought home a book. It was shortly after Halloween, and she likes spooky things. It happens. I think y'all I've told all of you guys this. We didn't think anything of it. Get a a note from the teacher. Um and uh her teacher was fantastic. She said, "Hey, I didn't get a chance to look over this book." And um you guys might want to take a look at it. So, we used Common Sense Media. And we looked it up and we were flabbergasted at what it actually had told us. Now, the thing about about that is that's up to me as a parent. Other parents may not have been flabbergasted. they might not have cared. I did because I thought, well, a, the book

052was rated 8 to 12. Why is my 7-year-old able to bring it home? So, that was concern number one. Concern concern number two that my seven-year-old didn't get to read it because we intercepted it, but there were depictions of rape, um, uh, uh, incest, murder, hangings, lynchings, the n-word, and so, of course, we we kind of freaked out a little bit, but the the system at that point worked. It was it it it was intercepted by the teacher. The teacher understood what it was. They told the parents, the parents got to got to stop it, right? Other parents may not have done that. That was my choice as a parent to have that that particular authority. My problem with that wasn't that process. My problem with it was that it was able my my child

053was able to get it in the first place, was able to have that in her hands and she may not have brought it home. She may may have read it in the library. It was it was to to to Jane's point, it was placed in an age age inappropriate hand. And so I think that's where we're all at right now is how do we how do we make sure that the new bear award winner I think that's what that one is. Go ahead. Yes. But can I correct myself? That was in the first draft that we brought you. That was one of the revisions that we made for the second read that you have tonight. So we did take that part out. So they're not automatic. Right. Right. That's that's where I was going with

054that, too. Good. Um, but those are the things that I think we're all talking about. It's just making sure that our children don't have access to things that they should not have access to. Should, you know, that book be in the hands of a 12-year-old? Sure. Yeah. I mean, the problem that I have now with that particular instance was my daughter could have learned things in that book that if she had practiced them without context or knowing what it was in her classroom, she would have been reprimanded for it by using something or using a term or a word that she learned from a book that she got from the district. So, it was very upsetting to us. But to both of your points, this is a process that we have to understand and and

055and get through. Um, is it easy? No. But like like Sarah, I I value my authority as a as a parent. That's one of the reasons why I ran as a board director. Um, and became a board director. But I also understand Jane's point where everything needs to be put into appropriate hands. Um, and and we just have to figure out how we get there and what those what that looks like. But what hands are um what books are appropriate and what books are not? All right, so 15 minutes are up. Um so Jane, do you want to say one final thing? Yeah, I just want to say that I think this enhances the ability of parents to parent their children because it it's more transparent and brings things to their their attention. I appreciate

056it. And thank you, Stephen, for putting this on the agenda. No, no, I I appreciate the conversation and uh we thank you all. Thank you everybody for sharing that as you were able to share. Uh we are moving to policy and regulations. Uh this policy isformational only at this time. It will be it will be brought back for a second reading and vote at the August 21st board meeting. That's reference to 3510 annual audit financial operations first read. At this point, we're moving to the agenda item that has multiple policies and regulations listed. Um, and as of right now, we are going to consider them all together. Um, unless we want to separate them, but as of right now, looking at all the policies 1432, 2340, 6310, regulation 6310. A motion to approve the policies

057and regulations as presented. Second. Motion by Vice President Grder, second by Director uh Ponder. Um are there any conversations about uh I guess any of these or again I think an ISBN number is really important. All right. So uh there are no more questions. Um all those in favor say I. I. I. All those opposed say no. No. Motion passes. And now we will welcome Kevin Roberts and Matt Frank for our Francis Hall North building update. President Blair, as our guests who are partnering with us in this work uh join us at the podium, I'll just remind everyone that uh we have uh engaged with Mr. Roberts as part of this review. I see Mr. Stutzer is joining them at the podium as well. Uh just a reminder for you and everyone that SM Wilson

058was the construction management company that uh oversaw the construction project. The building was designed by Honer Architects and they partnered with Mccclure Engineering. Those are the entities that designed the building and the mechanical, electrical, engineering components of the building. And as you'll learn this evening through the update, uh Mr. Frank will be providing some of that engagement information as well. So, thank you very much for being able to join us. Thanks, Carol. Um, good to see everyone again and uh we have a presentation tonight uh for you. The uh first item on the agenda though, we thought we'd jump right into the air quality monitoring and give an update. So, I'm going to turn it over to Kevin. Thank you. Hello. Since the last meeting, since last month, we've installed five more monitors throughout the

059school. So we have a a total of 10 um telemetry monitors that are monitoring for sewer gas constituents throughout the uh school. Believe seven on the first floor sporadic uh locations where there's been complaints. Uh two on the second floor and then one in the lower level um in the uh the art hallway down there. Uh since the last month uh we are again continuously monitoring this. We're taking a sample or a reading every second 24/7. And since this last meeting, we've had no detections of hydrogen sulfide. Um, we've had no uh issues or elevations of the lower explosive limit, which could be various chemicals that could cause a flame explosion such as um methane, methane gas, hydrogen, all that. uh carbon monoxide levels have all been below uh the uh our alarm levels. We

060I'll go into that in a second. Oxygen has remained constant at the 20.9% is what normal air would be. Uh we have shown um the last uh week and a half, two weeks some elevated levels of VOCC's. However, um being able to pinpoint and look at when these readings were, uh we have uh associated all these readings with the stripping and flooring floor stripping activities at the school. Um I'm sorry, remind me what a VOCC is. VOCC's are volatile um organic compounds. So, it's various chemicals that it's typically the odors that you smell. Could be in hairspray, deodorants, all of that. Uh when we first installed these, we could pretty much tell when class was being dismissed because the students were walking by and were picking up all those uh little low V levels of

061VOCC's as they walked by. So, we did have some of these VOCC levels and like I said, it's attributed to the waxing and floor stripping activities performed at the school. Uh two nights ago, uh we did have a hit of CO. We're still below the alarm levels. Uh but CO is carbon monoxide. And again last night, we added again. And then looking into that, this was right around when we had the VOCC's going up and down um in those hallways. And we were able to contribute that to the machines that the school that they're using with the floor stripping activities are propane powered. So the propane is the machines burning it off. However, there is some low levels of CO. So again, these readings are all below um our action limits and well below anything

062that is uh considered to be um you know an exposure that could cause harm. So everything is uh remained constant and uh does not appear to be any elevations attributed with any of the uh the store gas or anything at this time. [Music] Thanks. Let's see. Um, so some progress since the last time we spoke a month ago. Uh, we have done quite a bit of work since then. Uh, one thing we done that was really important was we did smoke test the entire building. Um, it didn't matter if there was a complaint in the area or not. The entire plumbing system has been smoke tested last week. Um, and not we didn't do a normal smoke testing like we spoke last time. Uh we burned a lot of smoke and really did an intensive

063style of smoke testing to identify any break in the plumbing system. Um good news is we did find a few breaks. Um we found one in the 2400 corridor. It uh appeared that when the masons were installing CU walls, there's some plumbing venting in there and they were probably at the top of the wall and dropped a brick in or a seamu block, it cracked a pipe. Um, we were able to find that through the smoke testing. It had about a maybe 3/4 inch by two and a half inch long crack in it. So, not not major. I mean, but it was there. Um, typically a crack of that size, you're going to get some odor probably in the room adjacent to it. And that's about it. It's really not going to travel. Um, this

064was in an area where the odor was able to travel a bit and part of that was the science rooms on the second floor. all have exhaust fans and I understand the thought process behind it, but the teachers were turning on the exhaust fans uh and let them run 24 hours a day that was drawing about 8,000 CFM and that air had to come from somewhere so it was pulling it straight out of that crack in the vent piping. Um so a couple things, one we're fixing the vent piping, you know, so that'll be fixed. Uh the other thing we're doing is we're putting dial timers on the exhaust fans. So you've probably seen them. They're a wall timer. you crank it, it lets things run for an hour and then it'll turn off. So,

065that's good for building efficiency and pressurization and all kinds of stuff. So, kind of fixing two problems there. Um, we did find one more break in a uh the coach's shower room basically and that really hadn't had any complaints in that area. Um, while we were smoke testing, it was mentioned the coaches said it occasionally got an odor just in that bathroom. Uh, we did find a break in that wall. looked like it was from the masonry contractor as well. Uh, and that was just a very local complaint. Occasionally that bathroom smelled a little bit. So, that one's repaired as well. And after we're making these repairs, too, we are smoke testing again. So, make the repair, run the smoke test. If there's no smoke, we're sure that it's fixed. Um, and then we did

066find one other area that was by the concessions uh space by the main gym. Again, an area where there were never any complaints, but just being thorough. Uh we have plumbers scheduled next week to investigate that. Um these were not easy breaks to find. Uh they were basically found through you identify some smoke and then we had uh scopes, basically cameras on cables and drilling holes through the masonry and going behind the walls. I mean, these were all behind masonry walls. So, um, also with the smoke testing, just so you understand the, um, I guess precision of it, there was a, uh, plumbing stack and they have a clean out cap screwed on them. You've probably seen them in your house, just kind of a white cap with threads on it. And there was one

067that wasn't cranked down all the way and smoke was coming through the threads of the of that cleanout. So with that said, if there's a break, we found it. Um because it comes out of the tiniest spaces. So the good news is uh we were there. Mccclure Engineering was there to window smoke testing and Aber Plumbing was on site as well. We all feel 100% confident that we found any opening in the building. Um now the openings we found I would say are they were an opening. We're happy that we found them. happy to fix them. Uh we would classify these as a minor contributor uh to the overall problem. Uh but that is done. So now at this point the building will not have guarantee there's no openings in the plumbing uh inside the

068building. That also checks any uh floor traps that may be dry. Basically any opening has been identified in just a few areas. We also through inspection found a uh in the kitchen gas piping union from the um kitchen manufacturer, the equipment manufacturer. It was loose and leaking a little bit of gas. So, we fixed that. Uh that's corrected as well. Um last couple meetings, uh we spoke and Mark you had a question about uh potential uh odors coming up through the earth and that can happen on buildings. So, we spoke with SEI engineering and they said that the uh chance of that on this occasion is very unlikely. Um really any smells are going to come through organic matter below the building and all organic matter was removed during the process. And we also have

069a vapor barrier installed. So, it's a a thick mill plastic barrier underneath the concrete slab. They said there's virtually no way. Yeah. But worth checking. So, we can rule that out. Um, the other thing we've done and and this is kind of a big one that we're going to implement this summer is McLaren Engineering is redesigning the plumbing beds on the roof and we think this is really the big solution here. Uh, so as we've uh our theory has has been uh for quite a while is the main source of the odor coming in is coming out of the rooftop vents and getting sucked back in through the air handlers. And how do you correct that? Um, we met with Abberger Plumbing and McLaren Engineering and others and really the uh the best way to

070fix that is get those plumbing events as far away from the air handlers as you can and get them extended up as high as you can so that way prevailing winds carry the sear gas away. It can't come back into the building. Um, so McCclure Engineering is going to have those drawings done tomorrow. We got a preliminary set yesterday. Final drawings will be done tomorrow. We'll get those to Hey, Brooker Plumbing. And uh the plan is to get those vents moved this summer before school starts. And with that, I would say I am confident that moving these plumbing vents far away from the air handlers and getting them high in the air and then also verifying we don't have any breaks in the building that the odor should be resolved. I'm confident. So I uh

071Yes. Yes. That is very good news. Yeah, thanks. Thanks. Um, so one other thing is we are installing monometers. Monometers are a pressure differential gauge and we're putting those on five of the rooftop vents. They were installed today. They're going to log data over time. There has been uh some observations that the plumbing system is uh can turn positive. Sometimes pressure is off uh from what you typically see. So, we're measuring that. Uh, it's kind of information. I don't think it's going to change what we're implementing as a fix, but it's good information to have uh if needed. So, smoke testing, I mean, we did talk quite a bit about it, but I just really want to make sure you understand what we did. Um, a normal smoke test, you're going to burn. So, you

072have a fan, it's a centrifugal fan, and you put smoke pellets in it. The smoke, it's kind of like a smoke bomb, the firework that you would see. It's a little fancier, but similar. Eli, did it emit smoke? It pressurizes the building system. A normal smoke test, you'd burn two pellets. If that doesn't work, maybe two more, so maybe four pellets. Um, last week, we burned over 400 smoke pellets in the building. Uh, so it gives you a sense of the amount of smoke that was pressurized in the plumbing system to find anything that could be open. Just an example of smoke testing. So this is it. Smoke testing in action. The graphic is just to help everyone understand. You implement smoke into the plumbing system. If there are any breaks inside the building, smoke's

073going to come out. It's pretty easy to find. So especially with that volume of smoke, it it's very easy to spot. So, the revised vending strategy is, as we talked about, uh, McCclure is going to have their drawings done tomorrow, and we're relocating all the vents on the main roof, uh, the auditorium, the industrial arts area, which is down in the lower section and the west classroom wing. So all those vents are going to be pipes across the roof to a remote location a extended anywhere from 10 to 15 ft above the roof level uh to get those into the winds and let that travel away. And primary objective there is just making sure that sewer gas odors can't get back to the rooftop units and drawn back into the building at that point. Just

074an example here of um a graphic of what we're doing. So you can see the uh arrows that are kind of going in a circle. If when you have a building that has parapit walls, which are kind of those walls that stick up at the edge of the building where the roof turns up, air can get trapped in there and it can turn. Uh there's just different obstacles on the roof that can trap air and redirect it. This is an example of you get that uh that vent up high, the cloud from the odor is above all the equipment and it can travel away where no one cares. And this is just you've seen this video before, but this is an example of the low roof and how that that odor can travel right along

075along the roof level and right back into the air handler extend that 15 ft in the air. It just goes into the atmosphere and uh problem solved. [Music] So, our next steps, um, we're going to fix the last of the, uh, plumbing openings that were in the building, and we're scheduled to do that next week. Those will be fixed. We'll smoke test one more time, replace the CMU block that's been removed. Uh, that should be done by the end of the month. Um, we're going to install the roof tap monometers. Those were installed today. So, we'll collect data, uh, get some more information there, and then Mccclure's drawings are coming tomorrow. We'll get that out to the plumber, get those installed. Um, plan is to have all that work done before school starts again. Um,

076it's a fair amount of work, but we're going to work hard to get that done. And then, yeah, you know, we're going to keep monitoring the air quality as as CN said. Uh, he's he's got a close eye on it. I mean, anytime one of those monitors sense anything, we get email alerts. Kevin's calling at saying, "Hey, this monitor spiked a little bit. What's going on there?" Uh, a couple good things. It proves they work for one. I mean, they are picking up stuff. Uh, I mean, they can tell when the janitorial staff is scrubbing floors or kids are coming out of the classrooms. They're very sensitive. Um, they're worthy. And then, uh, the other thing is just keep being transparent. We keep up to date on what we're doing. um when the work's done,

077etc. So, any questions? I I do. Sorry that I'm the question girl. Um I know we just have custodians right now in the building. We don't have any students or teachers in there right now. So, um we do have a small group of students. Um one of our summer um theater camps is taking place there. And then we also have some sports teams that continue to have summer practice choirs in the building. Okay. Any any complaints from people since we've found these issues at all? None that I'm aware of. Uh we've we've been in the building quite a bit as well and haven't haven't smelled anything ourselves. Um we haven't heard any complaints. So I know at the last board meeting we talked about testing for biologics. Was that ever done? Kevin, do you want

078to talk about that a little bit? Yeah. So we have not had a chance. Uh basically when we want to sample for biological you know matter such as you know um fungal u mold spores certain things we want to be sampling when the odor is present to verify that there that those with the odor present there are safe levels of mold spores or biological matter. Um I think there's been one time we had that complaint unfortunately we were not available that hour and by the time we were ready uh the complaints had dissipate or the order had dissipated and there was no no longer there. So we have not performed the biological sampling and we will uh continue to if there has been a complaint uh you know jump on board we can. Okay. And

079then um I'm very happy to hear about finding the leaks and the brakes and the plumbing and the fixes. At this point, would you say you you think we found the root cause? Is it a design flaw in the vents? Well, it's complicated question and answer. I would say that um we've confirmed what we've considered for a while is that the main the main problem is the Siri is being drawn back into the air handler units and distributed in the building. Why that is specifically happening in this building and maybe not others is not determined, but the solution to cure the symptom is determined by moving the vents. So, occasionally you do have buildings that have those problems. Um the convention center had the problem recently and the solution was moving the vents. Um there's

080a couple other school districts in Missouri that had a similar problem on renovations. Uh it was smaller scale because it was typically a smaller renovation that had some new plumbing systems and they were um experiencing a smell and the fix was to relocate the vent. Um now in those cases it was a little easier because you're talking about one or two vents. Um in this case we're it's a lot of vents. Um, so you know, has the the source of the problem been found? Um, it's difficult to answer, but we we know where the problem is coming from, which are the vents on the roof, and we know how to fix it so you don't experience the smell, right? And then in the future when we build new buildings. Also just to add to the

081question that you just asked Erdog, we work with a wide group of partners. And so parallel to what Mr. Frank had just shared, we worked with uh several um of our local union business agents who had been in the plumbing industry for, you know, we had three people there. One had 46 years of experience with plumbing. And as Mr. Frank shared regarding the um the new convention center that's being constructed downtown. They've experienced a similar issue and there's about four other buildings in the downtown area. And the resolution for all of those everything met code. The resolution was to move uh the plumbing vents further away from the rooftop uh units that were heating and cooling those buildings. So uh as he shared, we feel fairly confident. We've also engaged with other experts with significant

082experience in dealing with these issues here locally and um we feel fairly confident that this will also address that issue. So in the future when we build new buildings, do we need to consider wind patterns? You know, that's that's a good question. Um and obviously, you know, I'm not an an engineer, right? Uh but uh certainly warrants a discussion. I I know as we go through constructibility, you know, on the front end of at least in projects that I've been involved in, we do talk about those things such as, you know, which way the sun's coming in and where you have your most glass, you know, exposure and, you know, that building. And so those are conversations that are being had and this can certainly just be added to one of those checklist items. Thank

083you. Yeah, I have a question. So I think two first in the event that this happens in the future are there any mitigations for filtering or something like that either coming out of the stack or into the air handlers or anything like that that may be like charcoal charcoal or some type of filter that's inside of that that would prevent this even if even if the the stacks are not moved. Sure. Yeah. speak to that. Yeah. So, one of the things with mechanical systems is obviously they all have filters and those filters have certain MV readings. The tighter that filter is, the less it the more it suffocates that unit uh which causes a lot of things to burn up internally, whether it's compressors or other components. So while there might be a product out

084there, it's it probably can't be utilized on the mechanical systems to help filter that out because it compounds the issue with burning up that unit. as a lot of people, you know, if you recall during COVID, uh most most systems use what is what is called a MV um 8 uh some of the legacy systems use a MV 8 uh filter and a lot of systems during CO to help filter, if you will, increase their rating on their on their filter on their filter, the MRV 13 or greater and uh had dire consequences on their mechanical systems that are just now rearing their head if you will. Same reason why we have to change the filters on our furnaces. That is correct. If you had a clock furnace, your AC doesn't work and Exactly. kinds

085of problems. Um the second thing is is the smoke test, you know, put you in a situation, right? Building's done, the kids are about to move in. Yep. Smoke test is not performed. So, not typically. And um what I would say is the difference. So there's there is testing that's performed on vent system. So after the plumber's done, uh they do water test the system. So they fill the entire vent system up with water. It has to sit for 24 hours and the inspector looks at it to ensure that there's no breaks. Typically when that test is performed, um plumbing systems intact, you move forward. The difference on this building is it was so masonry heavy that to perform the masonry work on this building, we had to hire the two largest masonry contractors in

086a three-state area, and they had to team up to get this job done. Any given day, we had from 50 to 60 masons on site, plus each mason typically gets two to three laborers with them uh to get the work done. So you're talking, you know, 120, 150 guys on site installing masonry every day. To get this done, they had to bring in travelers from Oklahoma, uh, from different states to get the work accomplished. And I think that so what I will say is that the smoke testing on a heavy masonry job is implemented in our QAQC process. Now, that's what I was going to say. Yes, it is going forward. But but I would say uh typically smoke testing a building is something that that no one does because you don't run into that.

087And um if you do have a break, it's usually a local space. And and that's what these cases were. The breaks in the building, it was a complaint in one bathroom that you would go and find that case. Um the case on the 2400 hallway, it probably would have been easier to find except for the exhaust fans were drawing it across the entire floor, so that complicated it. Um it was one of the biggest masonry jobs in Missouri of of recent years. And I think just having that many masons with travelers, you know, they dropped a few blocks and unfortunately uh didn't tell anyone when that happened. So, but very good point. Um, we will be smoke testing buildings in the future. Yes. Okay. Sorry, one last one. August, we bring all the kiddos back,

088the building is filled, and we have an odor, what do we do? Call me. Okay. Um, yeah. Yeah, I mean basically if if there's an odor and and like I had said the last meeting, we're committed uh to get this to a resolution where you have a building that you're happy with that there's no odor issues, uh we are confident this that this is going to solve the problem and if it doesn't, we're here and we're going to take the next step as needed. I don't expect a need to do that, but but if we do, we are here. Thank you. Thank you for your time tonight. Great. Thanks. At this time, um, we are going to welcome Superintendent Comments and we're going to welcome Dr. Rumpus to speak. Thank you, President Blair. Um, and

089maybe thank you for the quickest meeting ever so I can talk for the next 20 minutes. Um, I first want to um I'd like to recognize that today is Junth. Um, while the district was open and we do have a meeting this evening, I don't want to lose sight that today is a national holiday. So, I wanted to draw attention to that. Um, as I close out my final meeting, board meeting of superintendent, I do want to take a few minutes for some thank yous. Um, I've always believed that, you know, people are brought into our lives, or in this case, the district at the right time and for a certain reason. And so, I'd like to start with Miss Embry, um, who started supporting the district in the fall of 22 through some consulting

090and through some work that we were doing. Um, and then we were thrilled that following that year, she was willing to come out of retirement to join our team as CFO last year and then committed to again staying this year when we couldn't identify the ideal candidate last year. Um, our improved financial trust and transparency within the community are in large part due to her exceptional knowledge uh and understanding of school finance. Uh, but more importantly her ability to communicate the nuance of it to all stakeholders at whatever level and to help all of us better understand um, school finance. She has been a trusted advisor and teammate um, to this group and especially to me over the last three years. Uh, so during one of our first Zoom meetings back when it was just

091consultant Miss Embry working with the district, she showed me a framed print that she had in her office that was a gift she received when she retired in 2021 from public education from the Springfield School District after 29 years. And the print showed each district she had been in um in the years in which she had served. And so on behalf of the district, um, our team would like to present Carol tonight with an updated print that now shows her commitment, um, after she came out of retirement to serving the Francis Howell School District and now recognizes her 30 plus years of service to public education. Carol, the district, our team, and I are all better um, having worked with you and have learned a lot from you. So, thank you. Oh my goodness. Special

09230. Oh, did he have to have a conversation with Is this ready? Is that it? I think there's a little bit of a gap here. Do you want to come down here or are you too tall? That side. I just s go this way. There you go. Hold that a little straighter. Oh, I don't know what that is. even that out. Thank you. That was that cool. Super cool. I know. It's awesome. I know. That is so surprising. Look at that. That's really cool. [Music] Did do you have to did you have to take down the other one or that would be her decision? Um fortunately her her partner home. He was willing to help me out and get me. So uh next to our teachers, our staff are building our district leaders. Um you

093are the heart of this district. Every day you show up for students with professionalism, care and resilience. Whether that's in the classroom, behind the scenes, the front lines of support, keeping our buildings beautiful, um meeting our students at the bus each and every day, uh your commitment to our students and families is unmatched. And thank you for believing in the potential of every child in our district and for carrying forward our mission with integrity. Uh while this has not been the easiest five years necessarily with all of our associations, I hope that even during the challenging times that FHEA, FESPA, and Teamsters know that I value them and what they do for our students and staff. And I hope that the spirit of collaboration will continue and that the relationship continues to improve. um to

094the current board of education and the multiple iterations over the past um five years that I've gotten to serve. Thank you for your leadership first and foremost in your service to the community. Thank you for putting your trust in me as a deputy superintendent 5 years ago and as superintendent for the past 3 years. While we have not always agreed on every decision and you have not approved every recommendation I've ever made, um I have often said though that I've always felt as a person supported by this board and that you got to know me as a person and I've had the opportunity to get to know you as individuals um and know that you do care about students and about this district and that's why you've committed to this service. um we have navigated

095challenging moments together and we've also celebrated a lot of success that we sometimes forget because the those challenging moments rise to the surface. I so I appreciate your dedication to governance to the fiscal responsibility that you have to holding us accountable um and to keeping student success at the center of the work. I really hope for continued collaboration of you as a board and openness to hearing one another and our community. To the Francis Hall community, our parents, our patrons, our neighbors. Thank you for your trust and ongoing support of me in this role. You remind us time and again that strong public schools are the foundation of a thriving community. And that that is important. Um, and especially important to make sure that all voices in the community are heard, especially the voices that

096we don't always agree with or that bring a different perspective to us and understanding the work. While we continue to have opportunities for improvement, I celebrate the steps that we've taken over the past several years to hear different voices and to provide different opportunities to engage more of our stakeholders in ways that we haven't in the past. Um because I recognize that there have been times that historically we have not always listened to all the voices, the ones that wanted to question us or hold us accountable. And I think we've all learned over the past few years how important that is to the cabinet and especially the executive cabinet sitting here with me and Miss Hepler. Um it's been an honor to serve alongside each of you. I've often said that this is the hardest

097working team that I've ever worked with and your work ethic is unmatched. Thank you for your wisdom, your humor, your cander, and your drive to do what is best for students, even when the work is hard and it's hard decisions. You have challenged me. You've pushed me to be better. I appreciate you as colleagues and as friends. You are all exceptional leaders and any district would be lucky to have you. So, thank you for serving Francis How. Um, I want to thank my family. I invited them to be here. here. I said this was the last opportunity and no, they are not here. Um, this role is demanding and it really is a family commitment to serve as a superintendent. So, I want to thank Amy who keeps things running at home. Garrett, Haley, Hayden,

098and Addison for the grace of my absence because in addition to having four kids, I get the honor of serving 17,000 other students and they understand that. Um, and to my mother-in-law, Libby, who watches every meeting in its entirety, and when I get home late, often we debrief the meeting. Um, it's been an honor for the past two years to get to be a superintendent dad. This was the first time I got to do that to two for two of my own kids, and I look forward to being a part of the district as a parent moving forward. As I leave this role, I do so with a lot of pride in what we've accomplished and hope for what's ahead for this district. There is always more work to be done. There's more academic and

099social emotional goals to achieve. There's more voices to hear, more bridges to build, and more opportunities to grow. This has been the hardest five years of my career and probably also the most challenging um most rewarding and challenging. I believe that I leave here a better leader because of the opportunities and the challenges that I face in Francis Howell, the challenges that we've faced together. And as Mr. Delaney recently pointed out, I'm leaving with a lot more gray hair than I came with 5 years ago. Francis Howell is not and has never been defined by one leader. This district is defined by a legacy of success and by being a leader in preparing students to be lifelong learners prepared for the future. I hope that the district never loses sight of the collective strength of

100this community and the values that we share. Again, we share a lot more values. We have a lot more values in common than than what divide us. Um I really hope the district continues to work toward the idea of one howl and that's working together, listening deeply to one another for us to ensure that every student is seen, heard, and known and that has the opportunity to be successful and grow from where they come to the district at. So thank you all for the incredible privilege that I've had serving the district over the past 5 years. It's been an honor. [Applause] Now it's our turn to say some appropriate words. Um, so board comments. Uh, who would like to go first? Oh, I'll go first. I have two actually. Honor stuck the doctor. honor about

101um July of 2023, which was approximately 90 days after I was elected, I spoke to Miss Embry and I said, "Find us a million dollars." And and what I meant by that is find us a million dollars in savings. And and as the long process wore out, all she kept coming up with was million dollars on the wrong side. We kept, you know, everything was going up a million dollars, not coming down a million dollars. Well, tonight she remedied that. She gave me a million dollars. So, I thank I thank you, Miss Emry. Yeah, we're gonna Yeah. I almost spent it. I almost spent it tonight. I paid for that personally, but just to be clear, I just want to say uh a few more words about Miss Embry. We're here today to celebrate someone

102who has spent years balancing budgets, forecasting spreadsheets, and silently judging us for submitting expense reports in comic sands. The day, yes, the day has come. Our fearless CFO, Miss Carol Embry, is retiring again, or as we like to call it, permanently out of office. Let's be honest, we're not sure how we can function without her. Who else will remind us that miscellaneous is not an actual budget category? Who will stop us from panic buying things at the end of the fiscal year like it's Black Friday? Who else will be able to help us help find that million dollars to save? Carol has been the financial backbone of this organization. She's been the calm in the audit storm, the wizard behind the spreadsheets, and the only person we've ever met who actually gets excited about four

103buckets. And let's not forget, she's the reason the lights stayed on, the clock, the checks went out, and we only had three panic attacks during budget season. That's leadership. But now she's off to a life of relaxation, sleeping in, no more emails marked urgent, and the freedom to ignore Excel and voicemail messages forever. Or at least until she starts budgeting her vacation with color-coded tabs. We'll miss your wisdom, your wit, and the way you could spot a rounding error error from 30 ft away. Enjoy retirement, Carol. You've earned every minute of it. Just promise us one thing. If you ever get bored, you're welcome to come back as a volunteer CFO, unpaid, of course. Congratulations, and many may your next chapter be full of joy, travel, and absolutely no board reports. [Music] I I'll go

104ahead. I'll be my I'll do my uh who else wants to share? Oh, you go ahead. We'll go um ponder then Sarah. Um, okay. Up until Carol got here, I had never seen a 70s slide PowerPoint ever. Not once. You're welcome. So, thanks for that. You gave me something I've never had before. Um, I have always enjoyed my my conversations with Carol and Ken and all of you for that matter. Um, Carol and I had some very candid conversations over the last, you know, however long you've been here. Um, and if if if anybody really wants to know who Carol is, she's somebody that just punches you between the eyes with everything that she says. So, she doesn't hold back. She tells you exactly what she means and and she doesn't sugarcoat things just for,

105you know, your feelings. She tells you what you need to know, not what you think what not what she thinks you want to hear. So, thank you for that. We're going to miss that here. I hope that your replacement is exactly like you. She is. You keep telling me that and I'm going to hold her to it. Um, and really Ken, you too. I We You've never You've never really beat around the bush. You tell us what you want. You tell us how how you how you want us to get it and and how we um how we can help the district and and and we there a superintendent a superintendent should not do anything other than that. Um, we should know exactly what you want and exactly where you stand on on everything so

106that we understand the business plan behind what it is that you need as superintendent to fulfill the needs of the kids and and staff. So, thanks for that. You you keep doing that. Whatever it is you that you're doing, keep doing that and you'll be limitless. Um, I will see you if I don't see you before. I will definitely see you two years from now at graduation. That's all I got. Did you want to go? This is just board comments. So, who else has a board comment? Okay, let's go with Governor. I just wanted to say a very simple thank you. Um, as a brand new board member, learning the ropes has not been easy. It's I keep I have to remind myself this is a volunteer position because of the number of hours I

107am putting into it. Um, but I did want to point out that Carol, your mark is clearly um left on Francis Hell because as I was going through my statemandated uh board of education training, I saw the word certificated and thought of you. So, I hope the new person keeps that word. So, um well, sadly, we must say goodbye to two phenomenal leaders in the Francis House School District. And when I thought of ways to describe the personal characteristics of Carol and Ken, I realized they share common traits. So, I narrowed it down to 10 words representing their remarkable leadership skills. And these are just 10. Remember, I I narrowed it down. Collaborative, respectful, knowledgeable, positive, brave, unifier, honest, hopeful, and caring. That's just 10. I could go on, but we wish you well in

108your future endeavors and I hope you know that we will miss both of you and your calming presence. That's important. Keep that. Should I go ahead with the other thing I wanted to say in honor of Junth? I'm kind of changing changing gears here. Did you want to go first? Go ahead. I can read that. Okay, go ahead. Uh I'll I'll leave my I'll say my two comments. I'll just then I'll pass back over to you. Um so I just want to add also to uh Miss Embry and Dr. Rumpus too. So my one of my life mantras is courage over comfort, right? Um there's a Bnee Brown quote that is in rising strong um that says integrity is choosing courage over comfort. Choosing what is right over what is fun, fast or easy. and

109choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them. Um I think that this embodies you both in your leadership. So may you continue to choose courage. Um to shift a little bit also I just wanted to recognize I know Dr. Rus mentioned uh Junth also just very briefly for those who are not aware I want to make sure everybody knows what this day is about. Um Junth Emancipation Day um commemorates the end of slavery in the US specifically marking the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas announce the freedom of enslaved people on June 19th, more than 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It's a celebration. It is a day for reflection on African-American history, culture, achievements, and resilience, as well as a day um to celebrate freedom and justice. So

110hope um everyone finds a way to uh reflect on Junth today. What we will do um if there are other board comments, this is a unique uh Thursday. If there are other unique board comments, this is the time to do that. And at the very end, I will wrap up the time with u some other words for both Carol and Ken as well as uh something else to share. I had something else. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I want to make sure that we are going to get back to since I haven't been here in so long. Well, we've missed you and we have missed you. So, also in honor of Junth, um I couldn't help but think of the resolution in response to racism and discrimination that hung on our walls previously. So, I want because

111I believe in it, I wanted to share that tonight because I think the words need to be said. The Frances House School District Board of Education pledges to our learning community that we will speak firmly against any racism, discrimination, and senseless violence against people regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or ability. We will promote racial healing, especially for our black and brown students and families. We will no longer be silent. We are committed to creating an equitable and anti-racist system that honors and elevates all, but one that also specifically acknowledges the challenges faced by our black and brown students and families. In order to accomplish these ideals, the Francis Howell School District Board of Education commits to the following. The Francis Howell District Board of Education stands firmly against

112all acts of individual and systemic racism. We commit to becoming allies in the struggle to foster better understanding and a socially just community. We will openly talk, challenge, and confront racism. As a school board and district, we value each and every student, family, and staff member. We embrace our organizational responsibility to ensure that the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are integrated into the culture, curriculum, policies, programs, operations, and practices of the Francis House School District. The Frances School District Board of Education hereby declares that racism is a crisis that negatively impacts our students, our families, our community, and our staff. The board hereby declares its commitment to establishing, supporting, and sustaining a culture of anti-racism districtwide. We see you, we hear you, we are listening, and we are learning. It was adopted in August

11320th, 2020. and it was sunset. And um I think we've all as a community been asking ourselves, what do we do or what can we do with that looking forward and how can we honor our community and the one how spirit that we want to see continue within our community. And I hope I do this right when I do this because I'm going to look at this book here and I'm going to make a motion if we can to create what might be the next revision of our resolution against racism. Something that goes beyond and incorporates the voices of our community. I'm asking that we create a committee or a task force uh sometime in the very near future to um hash out what those words might look like and how as one how we

114can embrace that um future. So the chair recognizes that you're mentioning a motion. I'm trying. We are you're doing a very good job. Thank you. We have uh recognized this as a topic worth discussion and it is going to be part of a retreat discussion at our summer retreat and I'm asking if that discussion at that time looking at different possibilities or manifestations or different versions if that would be a efficient or sufficient response to what you're offering. Yes. Motion sustained. I have a black read. Okay. Well, while we laughing, you know, Robert's rules of order is is interesting. It feels like, but what Robert's rules of order exist is to provide efficiency and fairness in a meeting. And so, I hear what you're sharing and want to say that when we land on our

115summer retreat, that will be part of the conversation at the summer retreat. I look forward to it. Thank you. Anything else? You want to say something too? Yeah, if you want it. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. We're gathered here today to se celebrate another great leader, a passionate educator, and someone who somehow managed to survive school board meetings, budget season, and bus route complaints, all without running off to join the circus. Although, let's be honest, that probably sounded pretty good on some days. Yes, our beloved superintendent, Dr. Rambus, is leaving us to join another district. We're trying to be happy for him. Really, we are. But it feels a slight bit like being dumped by someone who says, "It's not you. It's it's this new district that's slightly closer to Trader Joe's." We can't help but wonder,

116was it our parking lot? Was it the copier that jams every time you print something important? Or did someone finally crack and mention that innovative learning was just a fancy way of saying we're figuring it out as we go? But in all serious seriousness, I can't even say it. Siri uses. Yes, Ken, you've been more than a superintendent. You've been a steady hand in chaotic times, a calm presence during very uncomm, and most impressively impressively someone who still remembers most of our school acronyms. Yeah, we still don't know half of what them stand for. AIP, GM, QILS. You've led with heart, with humor, and with a deep belief in students, teachers, and the power of education. And even though you're off to greener pastures, or at least to new cafeteria menus, we hope that you'll

117always remember this district as one of your best chapters will miss you. your leadership, your guidance, and your uncanny ability to smile through a three-hour board meeting before that also was attached to a closed session that ended at 11:30 p.m. Please don't be a stranger. And if you are, at least send us your new district snow day policy as a parting gift. Thank you, Ken, and best of luck. They're lucky to have you. Just don't forget us little people here still arguing about the difference between AMI and a snow day. Thank you so much. I want to share something and then we want to um we have a picture we want to take with you as well. Uh so just very briefly, Carol, thank you. You and I have had a lot of conversations. Thank

118you for all the levels that those words mean. Thank you. And for the people who are here, the 15 or so folks who were here on Thursday night, um thank you for those of you who are watching. Um there's a number of things. We're in a better place as a district because of you. Thank you. And for Ken, I just want to say the same thing. I've enjoyed working with you the last year plus. Um, you love students and you understand that helping staff and admins the best way to give every student the best education possible. We see it. And the reason why people are crying because you're leaving is because we know that you have fought so hard for uh a lot of people in ways that they don't know. And we are thankful.

119I met the Kirkwood board president and she was said, "We're looking forward. We're so excited." And my words were um you should be. And I use the phrase uh you know to know this person is to love them. That's one of the best compliments you can give, right? is that the more you know a person, the more you you love them and care for them. I think that applies Carol and the rest of the admin here that goes to you as well, but for Carol and Ken, this is your moment. Uh to know you is to love you and I appreciate you being transparent and genuine and I'm very thankful. You have never been just Ken. You are Dr. Kenneth Rumpus who puts the super in superintendent. You are Kuff and you always will be

120enough. Can we sing a song now? Oh, there will be a dance break later on. But um I do want to share with you a a gift as well. Um what's funny about this gift? Um, you know, sometimes you give the gifts that you like to receive and so like somebody likes clothes, you buy even clothes for somebody like jewelry, buy jewelry for somebody. Well, there's this wonderful uh description of all the different places you have been to, whether it's Belleville or St. Louis Public or Rner, Francis, maybe Kirkwood. You put Kirkwood on there. Kirkwood is on there. uh what we want to do is have you come up and give this as a gift to you as a way of celebrating your time here as well. So let us all uh have Kim come

121forward. [Applause] You have enough room on your walls. We're not great original ideas. You can come up and get a better picture. You're a proud parent. You can I'm good. Okay. just for my um use. Will you grab your frame and jump in Carol so get one of you together so I can use it in the board. Should we have something in a minute? Everybody now that way it's stuck because now Ken's head go that way when it's stuck. You good? Did you want one more picture of everybody? Let's take one more picture of the other admins just really quick. Um, everybody join us. Um, Carl will I know Carl very well. Carl, Carl or Sam? Sam, would you be comfortable? Carl's closer. All right. See, you're our only patron coming tonight. So, start snapping.

122So, keep your mouth open, your eyes closed. All right. There we go. We're good. We got four. You're welcome. That's right. That's my favorite moment. Oh, I'm sorry. You're good. Almost there. I I do want to share I do want to share time. I do want to share one more piece is that there's a group called the MSBA that does a lot of board training and there's some ways that we're going to find uh opportunities to be more efficient to lead our meetings uh get a chance to be uh just a better board and a better board to help us for the next uh stage, next season, all that stuff. And I just want to share that you all have a strategic plan to follow. Oh, you have been equipped and entrusted to follow through

123with that plan and just want to say clearly the very best days for Francis How are still in the future uh because of way you have led us and prepared us for this moment. So, thank you again to all of you. Uh thank you again to Carol Embry. Thank you again to uh Kenneth Rumpus. And with that, I'd like to make ask for a motion and happy birthday, Stephen. It's your birthday today, so happy birthday. Yeah. Should we sing? We're not I I I appreciate that. I prefer to focus on kid and Carol right now. Well, you can sing later. We'll just But to keep the focus, uh, thank you so much, Amy, but for Carol and all of you, thank you for what you do. And with that, I'd like to have a motion

124to adjourn the meeting. Motion by director Pushkar, seconded by Director Ponder. All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. Motion passes. Thank you all very much.