001e e e i al 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 we like a motion to approve the agenda for December 12th 2024 as presented second all those in favor say I I all those oppos say no eyes have it next we have special recognitions m [Music] j thank you president Bertrand and before we jump into our official recognitions this evening can we have another round of applause for the amazing Women's Chamber choir from Francis aligh we really appreciate them performing for us this evening and I want to invite their choir director Miss Pamela sha to the podium to share a bit about this talented group and what they've been up to and then
002we'll let the students Escape out the side door while we continue the meeting um I'll tell you first just a little bit about Miss chica she has taught for six years at the secondary level and is in her third year as director of vocal music for Francis H High School she directs four choirs at the high school and sings with box society of St Louis she graduated with a bachelor of music with a minor in K12 education in 2019 from lyndenwood University and returned to comp complete her Masters in music education last year Miss chica serves as the treasure for the local Missouri Coral Directors Association chapter and is president-elect for the local Missouri music educators Association chapter M ch [Applause] good evening and thank you so much for having us perform this evening our
003Francis H High School Women's Chamber choir continues to demonstrate remarkable talent and dedication that truly showcases the incredible potential of our students this Ensemble that sing for you this evening includes sophomores through seniors this evening's performance featured selections from our fall and spring concerts with 20 extraordinary students who represent the very best of our school Community some highlights include all 20 students are on the honor rooll with a 4.1 cumulative weighted GPA 38 School clubs Sports and activities are represented by these members we were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall last spring with Central and North 14 students have received a first or second place rating at Misha District soul and Ensemble contest 75% of the class has auditioned and participated in St Louis Metro District choir six students have received All State Choir auditions
004with a total of eight students across our program this year and finally we have three Allstate choir participants and one alternate who perform at the Missouri music educators conference in January with some of the top singers from across the state those students are Mia lisst Jessica hail Logan Liddell and Kate Marshall the students in Women's Chamber exemplify ex Excellence not just in music but in academics and Community involvement their recent accomplishments including our newbies learning three new pieces and memorizing them for this performance make me incredibly proud your continued support of our students and the arts program in our districts is greatly appreciated [Applause] back row and then front row your back row back row then front row you got it [Music] converge okay front row squeeze squeeze CL [Music] okay wait one second there
005you go I see everybody perfect okay big smiles everybody perfect thank you [Applause] right and we have the honor tonight of recognizing another group of talented students from two of our high schools student journalists from Francis H Central and Francis howal North recently returned from the National High School journalism Convention held last month in Philadelphia jointly sponsored by the journalism Education Association and the national Scholastic press Association or nspa the convention is the largest gathering of serious High School journalists and advisers the NPA Awards honor the nation's best Scholastic journalism in a wide range of categories there are 46 contests in 11 divisions and the competition is rigorous with just 9% of the 4,800 entries earning finalist status winners in this year's competition were announced November 9th during the convention and we are thrilled that
006many of these national award winers are here with us tonight of course we would be remiss not to recognize our journalism teachers and advisers who help coach and shape students into the amazing photographers reporters and media Specialists you will meet tonight I'll first invite Mr Matt shot Publications adviser at Francis House Central to come forward to recognize his students and we'll ask as you can tell we have a large group that you hold your applause until all names have been called and then we'll take a group photo with the board before recognizing our group from how North so Mr shot uh thank you um I wanted to just start by thanking uh Dr rompus um and the district for uh creating and supporting an atmosphere where um the students at all of the districts in
007our high school um are allowed to pursue stories and express themselves um and free from censorship um and able to cover the things that best reflect our community um throughout the district uh um I am uh would also uh very much like to thank the principal at H Central Dr Suzanne leak uh for uh creating and fostering an atmosphere where again we feel free my students feel free um to cover the things that are important to students at our school um in the best way that they know how um I am continually impressed um with all of the different amounts um and variety of work that they create um in just just complet dazzled um with with what they're able to create and how quickly they are able to create it um they really truly
008do represent the best of how Central so uh I have six editors uh with me tonight um and we'll also recognize some of the students who um couldnot be here uh either for for other engagements or they have graduated um as well as some of the students who are here so um to start with just some of the students who uh are not here and and had graduated um o we have um current senior and she's the editor of our newspaper birie Baron uh she was the second place uh fin finisher in design of the Year illustration um then in photo of the Year Sports reaction graduate Kendall L took third place um in the photo of the Year feature a graduate Raina strer um took fourth place um then in design of the year
009uh spread design Hannah Halterman who is here and Emmy Bernard took an honorable mention uh Raina strodder also won an honorable mention in photo of the year for news photo um and for Story of the Year Sports Hannah Halterman was given an honorable mention for one of her stories from last year um moving to students who are in attendance so the editors um of our website fh.com um are uh who and who are here uh are Hannah Halterman Colin Nichols Caroline craft Su Suarez and Ian rashley um the website earned second place in best of show in the large website category uh this is the highest finish we've ever had in this competition um the editors of our news magazine the central Focus uh berie Baron and Thomas Ramos uh earned 10th place for their
010first issue from this school year in best of show for large school news magazines um and then individually um for uh 20 2024 election coverage in their best of show category Hannah Halterman took six place in that competition and in best of show feature photography Caroline craft took 10th place in feature photography so I'd like to call them forward and I'll give them their certificates [Applause] [Music] you didn't have mine didn't have mine bir is it okay in wait's okay now you can see it perf big smiles everybody thank you [Music] all right thank you Mr shot and next we'd like to recognize our national award winners from Francis how north um media adviser Aaron manful had another commitment and could not be here this evening but I'd like to invite principal Jeff Fletcher to
011come forward to help us out with his students good evening board and executive cabinet uh in addition to some great awards that our journalism staffs won as a whole uh in Philadelphia we had a number of individual honors earned by students as well in fact we took 32 students uh to Philadelphia I say we Mr Manfield took 32 students uh to Philadelphia and 22 of them earned an award at the National Convention that is one of the largest groups uh of individual Awards W earned at a National Convention before uh and a few of the students won multiple Awards I'd like to recognize all these students uh here with us tonight uh please sa your applause to the end we do have quite a quite a long line so first up mallerie Barker placed fifth
012in photojournalist of the Year portfolio Camden Blair earned honorable mention in Broadcast News Story of the Year and earned an excellent in on-site broadcast feature story Cherry Clark earned an honorable mention and illustration of the year and placed fourth in the artist of the year portfolio she also earned an honorable mention in on-site editorial cartooning Miranda Fabian earned an honorable mention in on-site literary magazine and photo and photography Ellena Forbes earned an honorable mention and on-site yearbook layout inside pages Carter Howell earned fifth place in social media promotion of the year and second in marketer of the Year Drew Johnson placs 10th in feature story best of show and an honorable mention in on-site feature writing Kane manful plays third in broadcast feature story best of show and he earned a superior in on-site broadcast
013anchor Michaela manful placed ninth in election 2024 coverage best of show third in newspaper news magazine design best of show she also earned honorable mention in designer of the airport portfolio second in news magazine page spread design of the year and additionally honorable mention in on-site graphic design photo illustration Vanessa en placed eighth in editorial leadership best of show isan Patel earned an and on-site feature [Music] photography Faith Smith earned honorable mention in on-site photography portfolio Nathan Smith earned an honorable mention in on-site video package editing Gavin schwar earned an ex excellent in on-site press law and ethics free teero earned second in newspaper and news magazine design best of show that's all [Applause] pretty good it's pretty good you guys thank you let smile yeah thanks [Applause] [Music] hey and we are excited to
014introduce our student board representative for tonight's meeting and as you know and you hear me say every month the purpose of the student board rep program is to honor and recognize talented students Elevate student voice and provide growth opportunities in the areas of public speaking leadership and governance students are selected for this Honor by their principal with input from the student body they have an opportunity to prepare and deliver a short spech to the board and public that is focused on their school or the district and tonight I will invite Dr Suzanne Lee principal of Francis H Central to the podium to introduce our student board thank you good evening president Berrian and members of the Board of Education before I introduce to you an amazing student I don't know if you've heard yet it's
015hot off the press within the last couple hours Francis H Central just won the state championship in our Esports competition so very exciting for them thank you for the opportunity to introduce Bryce cash the student representative from Francis House Central he has been chosen to serve as tonight's board meeting Bryce is here tonight with his dad his sister and his girlfriend while his mom is at a work obligation and watching live stream from Chicago Bryce is an exceptional student leader who currently serves as fhc's public relations senior class officer he has been dedicated student Mentor for the past 3 years in his mentoring role Bryce welcomes new students to Francis House Central by giving them and sometimes the students family a personalized tour of the school he answers their questions introduces them to their assistant
016principal counselor and teachers and ensures that they feel supported as they transition into the Spartan Community Bryce approaches this responsibility with great pride embodying the spirit of Spartan nation and inspiring excitement for the school experience through his tours when I asked a couple of Bryce's teachers about him one teacher shared that Bryce's undeniable energy lights up any room and he can bring a smile to anyone's face he consistently shows kindness and responsibility which makes him a wonderful role model for his peers another teacher said Bryce is a student that I look forward to seeing every every day with his constant smile on his face positive attitude and eagerness to learn and help in any way needed he is the perfect example of a hell Central Spartan his wrestling coach shared Bryce is an incredible young
017man he is always extremely respectful to his teammates and coaches he meets every expectation and does whatever he can to give back and support the program in addition to his leadership and mentoring roles Bryce has been a member of the wrestling team for four years and the track and field team for 2 years showcasing his dedication and commitment to Athletics his involvement in sports highlights his teamwork perseverance and determination qualities that further Define him as a leader among his peers Beyond his athletic and mentoring achievements Bryce has competed at the state level in both Deca and FBA additionally he has graduated with gold status in the law enforcement program at Lewis and Clark career center these accomplishments reflect his Drive professionalism and commitment to personal growth it is an honor to have Bryce represent Francis
018House Central at tonight's meeting and we are confident he will exemplify the leadership dedication and school pride that Define our students please join me in welcoming Bryce [Applause] cash thank you Dr Lee for that speak um good evening everyone I'm incredibly honored to stand before you guys tonight and I want to start by thanking my principal Dr leak um and the board of education for inviting me to be a part of tonight's meeting um when I transferred to the French South School District I was in Middle School at that time I was known as a quiet kid not social and often keeping to myself to be frank I didn't care for school and my attendance in my previous District reflected that I welcomed the change when my family moved to the France cell School District
019but little did I know my entire life was about to change from the moment I started in France cell School District I felt like I found a second family the staff and students welcom me in a way I've never experienced before at France South Central I quickly realized that everyone was strongly encouraged to get involved to Value to ah sorry to Value the time spent there and make the best of every moment as a freshman I was introduced to countless opportunities that continue to shape me into the person I am today I felt seen when coach cross saw me in the hallway my fresh reading year pulled me inside and told me I look like a great wrestler and he even encouraged me to enjoy the wrestling team when I went home and shared that
020I wanted to join the wrestling team with my parents the they showed some hesitation we'll say they were cautiously optimistic now if you attend a meet you'll see him in the stands cheering loudly for me as if they always knew this was my path the incredible sports program at fhc taught me the true meaning of teamwork and it was here that I discovered My Love For Wrestling the variety of clubs ensured every student could find a place to and I had the privilege of being involved in many included student council Deca a student mentors Central Outreach and the crumble cookie club Yes you heard that right the crumble cookie club where we try new flavors every month FR C Central has done more than just provide activities it has opened doors for my future I
021worked with Mr Bailey who's our college and career counselor and um as well as my teachers about all the opportunities I have through fhsd with their guidance I chose to attend the ls and Clark career center where I've now discovered my passion for law enforcement the law enforcement program coupled with Miss stayback science class has solidified my dream of becoming a detective fac also connected me with the Air Force where I'll soon sign a 4-year contract to become a military police officer words cannot fully Express the impact frce House Central has had on my life the teachers staff and principls work tirelessly to ensure every student is prepared for success and I'm a living example of that dedication when people ask me to describe my school in one word I say family France houseal Central
022is a place where everyone is accepted everyone wants you to be successful and everyone wants you to feel seen I want to thank Dr leak and her Administration team and every single one of my incredible teachers who guided me supported me and helped me Thrive through this journey and the board of course for inviting me out tonight FR House Central isn't just a school it's a home thank you guys again [Applause] [Music] fine one more okay step this way just a little bit there you go perfect thank you all okay wait we're going to do one swap you two change places there you go perfect thank you so much so I want to uh personally welcome you you are welcome to ask ask questions um share some opinions along the way you're not allowed to
023vote but you are here a very important role uh you're here to represent um students and so that we always remember what we're here for and you're the living personal personification uh of that reminder thank for all right welcome Bryce um up next we have District Patron comments during Patron comments residents of the district and staff members are invited to address the board of education on issues related to the school district speakers are called full Bo in the order of sign up each speaker has 3 minutes to make their remarks please remember that only one speaker is allowed at the podium at a time and combining time are giving your time to someone else is not permitted the board appreciates that you've taken the time to come this evening and we value both your input
024and 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 the board policies regulations and rules we reserve the right to cut those three minutes short we also re ask that patrons and the audience are remain quiet in order to be respectful to speakers a lot up next we welcome Harper Schneider my name is Harper Schneider and I'm a part of students for Francis H we as students for Francis hell Stand Together United by a shared vision for our schools a vision where every student regardless of race gender identity or sexual orientation feel safe valued and supported our schools should be places where students can Embrace who they are where their unique identities are celebrated and where they feel
025they truly belong but lately I've seen actions and decisions that threaten this vision from in incidents where our students have been directly targeted and now to policies like 2116 it's clear that some members of our school board are more committed to pushing harmful agendas than to protecting and uplifting the students they are supposed to serve it's heartbreaking to watch decisions being made that prioritize fear and division over the well-being of our students take the bathroom policy for example we hear constant claims about safety being the reason for these restrictions but where is the evidence how many incidents have actually been reported if safety is the true concern then the data should speak for itself instead what we see is an agenda that targets a small group of students using them as scap scapegoats in a
026broader culture War these actions don't make anyone safer they only further isolate and harm the most vulnerable Among Us what message does it send when students can be threatened when students are pushed into when policies are pushed onto marginalized groups no matter the cost it tells our students that their identities don't matter that their safety is secondary to political game gamesmanship to those who make these decisions as the school board members what are you prioritizing is it the well-being of every student or the comfort of vocal minority is it creating schools where every child can Thrive or pushing policies that divide and harm we deserve better our students deserve better Francis how should be a place where every single single child feels seen supported and safe thank you next we welcome Anita cooner Keener ke
027every time good evening I'm Anita Keener a resident and grandparent in the Francis heal School District after watching last month's board meeting I am increasingly disappointed in this school district first we have Randy cook Board of Education vice president who technically is a part of the administration negotiations team Grill the fhaa president about a negotiated item that the district wanted then he proposed that teachers should add time to their schedule and work for free teachers already spend countless hours working for free but to have a board member expect them to work a contract day for nothing proves teachers are not valued let's move on to an even bigger embarrassment Jane pushkar it is appalling to listen to her give identifying information about a student to fear monger and push her agenda not to mention bullying
028our students leave our students alone December 2 Jane went on the news talk St Louis STL just so she could talk about bathrooms and continue to bully vulnerable students Jane after you asked people to call the board secretary exactly how many people called where is your support our transgender girls are being told that their need for privacy and safety isn't important again how many called on the show Jane questioned whether or not the parents in our school district care about their children because there is no District outcry to support her horrible policy Randy Adam Mark she is also questioning your integrity she said all the men on the board have wives and daughters too during the show you tell more fear-mongering tales about student athletes being uncomfortable about bathrooms but claim that they won't say
029anything because say anything because of fear of Retribution this is just more lying Jane please let us know where this is happened do you care about the students who are transgender and their well-being do you care if they are bullied when you go into the ba if they are bullied when they go into the bathroom or do you only care about the Boogeyman and Gars agenda at all cost you have bullied a library worker and it had nothing to do with bathroom this a issue was the way this issue was the way they dressed he wasn't hurting anyone you stood up and talked about him with no regard for his safety we need people on the board who care about our students our staff and our community it is wellpass time for this board to
030condemn Jane's Behavior and the constant bad press that this continues to create about Francis how it is time for this board to stand up for all students and focus on real issues instead of the agenda of the Francis H families pack thank you you'll hear for my attorney thank you Miss time is up up next we welcome Harry Harris back to welcome jar psur Harry's not here couldn't be here he sends his regards um good evening Dr Rus Mrs heer thank you to those who responded to my email yesterday I'd like to start by saying I'm here tonight to read part of my email into the record as I believe other District stakeholders deserve to know what I've learned in the spirit of transparency what follows are excerpts of that email quote it has come
031to my attention that a Wentzville Board of director is aware of the ex existence of a denial letter that was sent to you from our insurance provider music if policy 2116 is passed I recognize this may be privileged in information known only to board and admin perhaps in Clos session which is precisely why I'm writing to you today it is completely unacceptable that this director a non-resident of the district would have this information while taxpayers in the district in our district are kept in the dark as I can't show everyone the attachment I'll read the relevant statement made on social media by that Windfield board director quote I was recently made aware that the Francis H board received a denial letter from their insurance company music pertaining to any litigation brought due to a bathroom
032policy end quot quote my email continues if you truly support transparency as the public is often told you need to take steps to show your commitment to same also this director has been somewhat demure when questioned as to how she happened upon this information I would encourage you all to consider how this information made it into either a public form such as the one she references or directly to her from a source with knowledge of closed proceedings I that's the end of my email I understand that it may not be possible to release this information even though we all may disagree on many things I think we can all agree it's important to be honest with one another if the district has been given guidance from our insurance provider that pushing forward with policy 2116
033means they will deny support for any litigation then this board which bills itself as fiscally conservative has no business entertaining this policy discussion as this District stands to be exposed to considerable Financial Risk risk that we cannot afford further there is no data to suggest that this policy is built around preserving student safety but rather preserving a few people's comfort I urge you to put this policy discussion to rest by removing it from any future agendas and concentrating on real problems facing our district teacher retention District Finance aging infrastructure as I close I remind patrons that it was one year ago that the majority pulled their 11th Hour maneuver to remove the black history and black lit elective courses only to reverse course due to public outcry and then provide revised curriculum which fails to
034adequately represent the contributions of the black community and I remind patrons it has been approximately 18 months since the resolution olution against racism and discrimination was rescinded and we were told a potential replacement resolution would be brought forth as it stands we've had no tangible update on this effort either to the Francis how Community I urge you to stay informed as to the actions and inactions and decisions of this board and hold them accountable especially in April thank you for your time [Applause] welcome Chris [Music] Heyman thank you good evening um I here am here also to address director pushkar's uh comments from last month's meeting you can call a point of order I'm going to ask you to stop the clock every time that happens I'm not going to talk over um but I
035would like to read into the record some of her bullying I'll start with when point of order I will not be defamed in this boardroom and I'll take my time back please the open for is not is [Music] not am my good thank you than you um about a year ago 13 months ago she harassed me personally when she sent me an email response asking me to be publicly accountable for every assault that took place in the bathroom because I support students using any bathroom they want to as long as they wash their hands directly after last month's meeting she went on a radio talk show the famed four of you and walked right up to the line of fura she's harass harassed whole communities of humans based on by singling them out based on
036their gender we can no longer ignore the behavior of this board member who has used her platform to meet demean and Target students based on where they go to the bathroom while she now claims to be the victim the truth is clear students are the ones who have been bullied this needs to stop constantly harassing and revisiting this losing issue only drains energy and resources it is deeply troubling when a leader uses their per position to perpetuate harmful rhetoric by constantly publicly criticizing and shaming students for using the restroom that aligns with their identity Jane has created an environment of fear and stigma she has has sent a message that some students are less deserving of respect and dignity and yet when we call out this behavior when we demand accountability her response was to
037shift blame and claim victim let me be clear holding someone accountable for harmful actions is not bullying it is leadership and if you have not already please read the Francis hell North editorial board piece was very good about communication between everyone and the Board of Ed I'm asking you to do three things acknowledge the harm even when it comes from with own in your own ranks and do so transparently recommit to a safe environment and open lines of communications with everyone Implement clear standards for conduct for board members and know that true leadership is about inspiring trust fostering growth and leading with integrity to create a lasting positive impact thank you your time is up next we welcome jce hello my name is Grayson justice as we're in the holiday season here are some things
038I'm hoping for the new year a balance board of education instead of one specific party group board members listen to the community during public comments and not interrupting the speaker unless there are there is hate speech against a community no personal political agendas into policies and resolutions and also bring back the resolution of racism and discrimination now from the main topic Miss pusar went on an allout war on conservative radio shows for on our fight for having her anti-transgender locker locker and uh restroom policy and said that if a train student use the only single stall restroom in the building and gets a tardy for not arriving on class on time it's not the teacher fault it's the non-binary and terance students fault studies show that there is no factual evidence of highrisk dangers from
039Miss postcar claims the AC academic journal the Journal of American Academy of psychology and law Harvard School of Medicine American Medical Association and the frontiers of sociology and King law are some of the actual Experts of this topic and there is no link between the inclusive bathroom policies and safety risk and there is no evidence that claims that cisgender male posting as a transgender woman to expose restroom access me and my community will continue to speak against this hateful rhetoric against my community that Miss pusar no longer wish to listen until her time on this board is up finally I want to wish everyone a happy holiday a safe and healthy winter break for every teacher student and staff and we hope to see you all next year happy holidays ni to welcome Amy grer
040oh you are sorry yes car Z apologies all right thank you all right um so I want to address something that just happened during the meeting just very quickly um my daughter was a very first Speaker I'm really proud of her just for getting out here and saying her thing but a Community member took her photo while she was up here speaking and I realize that she's in a public space she's doing a public thing there's an there's the expectation that public things happen I expect that media would take pictures obviously we're on camera right now now um but it's weird she's 16 years old um anyways I just wanted to say that I didn't think that that was appropriate I know you probably just call me a leftist or whatever which I'm not but
041whatever all right on with my speech um good evening sorry for the holiday overload holiday was our theme today I came straight from our project night um as we move forward um after this holiday atth this holiday season it's time to shift our Focus away from the divisive culture wars and anti-woke debates and instead pray prioritize what truly matters high quality education for our students we must ensure that curriculum resources are are approved promptly and are rooted in best practices supporting our Educators through access to professional development is key as is reducing class sizes to allow for more personalized learning as a mom of a neuro neurod Divergent high school student who unfortunately doesn't qualify for an ie or 504 I think it's also important that we educate staff students and families about neurod Divergent
042characteristics and Implement Strate IES to help them learn Thrive get better at executive functioning all that stuff district teachers work EXT extensively daily to meet the educational and social emotional needs of our children the staff here at 801 you're always busy ensuring that grants funding are handled curriculum is written and aligned programs are in place opportunities for our kids in the district are are happening I appreciate that while I do believe that system should be re-examined from time to time and the way we have always done it should be challenged ask the teacher teachers North I I talk about um system sometimes making monthly board meetings into a microcosm of the madness that's happening in our political sphere is not helping our students Advance learn more or feel supported the families Pat keeps saying there's
043a mandate for the conservative values due to a recent election where yes the Republicans did come out here on on top here in Missouri but many or most of our individual precincts in the school district still had 45% or more of Voters voting for other candidates and our most most recent Schoolboard election more moderate C candidates prevailed winning election shouldn't be a community in a community shouldn't be a mandate School Board should make decisions for everyone we're looking for um we're looking for input we should listen to public comments emails but we know that largely a lot of this is ignored we need to move away from the division and work to include all families in our decision we can differ on cultural religious issues but work to respect everyone in our policies I'm disappointed
044that board members and community members have decided it's okay to share descriptions of students publicly and board me meetings on radio you your time is up next we welcome in grer thanks hi everybody um I and clearly a number of others uh saw on the agenda tonight that we have yet another discussion on bathroom policy so I implore the board uh to please work to shift the conversation from bathrooms to classrooms in only a few weeks 15 elementary and middle schools in our district lose a beloved classroom resource for over 10 years called brain poop brain poop and brain poop Jr will no longer be available in fhsd classrooms as of December 31st this year because at the June 6th meeting director cook and four other board members voted to end this District subscriptions when
045asked whether he had consulted with teachers on this decision and what they said director cook responded they like it but challenged you think I should do whatever teachers say these are wildly popular broadly used age appropriate digital resources used for educational videos quizzes and activities that support critical thinking and creativity including skill development in computer literacy and computational thinking after winter break they will no longer be available to supplement our kids' learning and our teachers instruction this means yet another avoidable burden to our teachers having to adjust their instruction practices because five members of this board thought it necessary to deny the renewal this year there is no comparative offering available or alternate supporting resource being provided teachers use Brain Pop is a trusted source of Quick videos and information all about all kinds of
046topics so when students ask a question the teacher can confidently send the students to research on brain poop rather than putting that learning on hold because right now our teachers certainly don't care don't dare to Coldplay a video they find online to help answer Kids Curious questions these are the real life impacts of uh real life decisions impacting a huge number of our kids over 8,000 students and teachers that is a board decision worth revisiting I would like to compel this board to get serious and refocus your efforts toward drafting policies that help our teachers and approve spending on resources training and conferen that support our teachers in their professional development because at the end of the day how we equip our teachers directly relates to how we enrich our students thank you next next
047we welcome Alexander Collins many of you will recognize me from last year I was a senior and I came to many board meetings and spoke uh usually on the bathroom policy but also about um black literature classes and various other issues this year I am a proud student of trumman State University and if you've lived in St Louis for long enough you know that the most common small talk question is where did you go to high school um imagine my surprise when I went up there proudly said I went to Francis hell and immediately got agreed with oh the RAC one um and then immed I was like okay weird weird thing to be known for right off the vet but I'll continue my introductions next person said oh I'm so sorry and then I
048got really I didn't think people there went to college and I got I'm going to be honest the only thing I know about how is the culture War stuff and I got I figured everyone there would have either left or killed themselves which was awful to hear as someone who was SU suicidal in high school and managed to make it through and then I met a professor who was a how Alum who said wow I remember when that was a good school I don't even tell people I went there anymore wow none of them knew us for any of our academics sports or anything that we say we're proud of other than the culture wars people are embarrassed to say they went here and that should be embarrassing for you we should be able to
049be a district that people are proud to say they attended School in not one where people skirt around the topic because they're worried of what people might think of them I went to college yes excited to not have to come up here and talk to the school district anymore because honestly I don't like doing this um and I was really happy to know that I was going somewhere that probably didn't have as many culture wars as I had to deal with you but I did not expect them to follow me and for people up there to associate where I went with the awful things that I fought against I had to defend myself from being associated with Francis Howell and I don't like that because I really liked going to school here and like many
050students tonight have said like Bryce said in his speech going to school in this district is actually a really great experience most of the time I wish that people knew us for that I wish that when I went and told someone oh I went to Francis hell their first response was someone like oh my cousin went there they really loved it I don't want to be embarrassed and neither should you actually wel Amy G y I'm [Music] back all right I'm the other am and um I just want to leave back on where I left off on the last meeting uh last month just talking about there's a problem that I think we could improve the finances and special education in a lot of ways by supporting the teachers and all the PA professionals but
051when I tell you that you're probably like well where is that money going to come from but I just want the district to know that there is a way that school districts can bill for ABA and bcba services that's something that's fairly new uh Special School District from my understanding um has been testing the waters with it and of course it goes through Medicaid so you have to be very careful and I'm in that field where you need to make sure you're documenting correctly but if you guys are a great school district and I've heard really good feedback from a lot of the parents that I've worked with I can't get to uh personal about that but I think that would be something worth looking into and maybe somebody has but me saying this and
052I didn't know if I needed to put a sunshine request in or not to be able to figure that out still learning things but um other than that I kind of wanted to also go over what is a big topic tonight um and back when I was in school which was 2005 was my graduating but I actually graduated from Farmington long story but uh my first two years were at Francis H Central and then I was also at Sager middle and I just want you guys to know that when we were in the bathrooms there were plenty of people that were probably intersects and as being kind of a Grand Central Station for tea I think a lot of people tell me things because they can trust in me and I know a lot of
053people that were either inex and um just at different schools too I don't want to get too specific that's their if they want to come out with it and never once did I feel unsafe in those restrooms the places I felt unsafe with we're around cismen and certain situations and you know um I won't get too into it but kind of the me too movement and if you look at research on that that's really supportive and if you really want to focus on something to help make a big difference maybe look at that first for this thing that has no evidence base it's just a guess um um but anyways um I've also I can really relate to what Alexander said I hope I got their name right uh or shoot I'm not supposed to
054say names I'm sorry uh the person before me um still learning the rules but uh I'm embarrassed to say where I went to school too and I went to school my second two years at Farmington School District they seem to be more Progressive and supportive of people and worried about the actual General well-being than Francis House Central and that's not to knock at them um but no he brings up a really good point and I don't want to be ashamed I had a lot of really good experiences good teachers and I just don't know why we can't get this right and it's really disappointing I would love to be you your time is up I'll be back next we welcome Jessica be good evening members of the board my name is is Jessica B and
055I am the parent of a first grader at Central Elementary I am here tonight because I am deeply concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the children in my daughter's classroom since the beginning of the school year there have been 35 reported classroom evacuations due to escalated behaviors from the same student this means that on average my daughter and her classmates have been forced to leave their learning environment multiple times a week because of severe behavioral incidents each time this happens it disrupts their education other classrooms are also disrupted and creates an environment of anxiety and fear but this is not just about lost instructional time children are getting hurt my daughter and several of her classmates have experienced multiple incidents of being injured I have spoken to seven other parents who have also had
056similar experiences one student has been punched in the face twice this year another was kicked while she held the door open for the other students to evacuate the room today this same student pushed my daughter down to the ground and repeatedly jumped on her as she tried to get away leaving her bruised shaken and scared she's 7 years old in first grade we've raised these concerns with the principal have held two iners meetings and have been promised that more behavioral interventions are being implemented this week multiple times since our first meeting on September 26th yet no meaningful actions have been taken we are now months into the school year and our children are still being subjected to unsafe and chaotic conditions it is clear that our teachers and staff are not being supported I urge
057you as leaders in our district to take immediate action to address what is happening in this classroom every CH child and teacher deserves to feel safe at school in addition every child and teacher deserves the tools and support to create that environment I know you have 18,000 students to worry about on any given day and I I know that you have a thousand more on your plate but this is one seven-year-old little girl who is terrified to go to school last year we had to kill time in the driveway because she was so excited and wanted to get to the bus stop a half an hour early this year we're dragging her out of bed because she's so afraid to go please listen to these students listen to these kids listen to the teachers they
058need need your help thank you f good evening my name is Francine Hill and I am the President of fhaa I was reminded this morning by an email I received how fortunate we are to work with employees that care and Foster each other sometimes other influen do make us forget that our fellow employees around us every day and all across the district are a family that looks out for each other that's what makes our district what we strive to be I want to extend that appreciation to Dr Buckman for having a teamwork to find resources for our teachers to replace brain pup that will sadly that will sadly be losing at the end of this month brain pup has been a useful tool for our teachers for a long time and many teachers have countless
059L lessons written using this resource while lesson plans will still need to be modified to fit a new resource these suggestions provided by our academic team will help we know how many hours our teachers put into planning interesting relevant and engaging lessons for our students hours from their personal time Family Life and interests teachers in our district struggle to find that important work life balance not because someone is tell telling them they need to do what's best for our students but because what is best for our students is their priority please be mindful that it is important for our board to remember that when you make a statement that a teacher should attend students out of school activities to be a good teacher it can be hurtful and it's confusing we recently saw a policy
060stating that teachers should only have a professional relationship with their students and not be involved in personal areas of their life life also some of our teachers have more than 150 students I personally have been invited to events from birthdays to baptisms and it's been my honor to go to everyone that I've been invited to that isn't possible for all our teachers and it doesn't make them any less of a good teacher I want to again thank our Francis hell North staff for continuing to strive to work for our students while this odor issue is being investigated those of you that have experienced illnesses due to this issue are in our thoughts and we will continue to work for you we look forward to working with District administration to find helpful ways to improve behavior
061in all our schools and build relationships with our building principles I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing break thank you peaceful [Music] thank you Bo my name is Tracy edeland I'm representing Bea as a vice president of interpreters I have been a certified and licensed American Sign Language educational interpreter for 30 years I have been with Francis H school district for 17 as an educational interpreter our role is to facilitate communication between students staff teachers and their peers students rely on us to obtain equal access and each student's education during before and after school activities and within the classrooms we are blessed to have such an amazing deaf and heart of hearing program at Francis H school district and I couldn't ask for a better team of interpreters to work with they are talented
062at the no November board meeting the board approved a change in calendar to align the Senate Bill state state Senate Bill 727 the biggest change for employee groups we represent was adding a work day to their calendars and that was originally a non-work day as we spoke about this last board meeting many employees received their calendars and schedule appointments for themselves and family members on non-work days when possible we worry about employees losing their holiday pay for President's Day due to the change in the calendar we would like to reiterate that we look forward to working with Administration on an equitable solution for all of our represented employee groups due to this change with winter break just over a week away we want to thank all of our teachers staff and students for all of
063their hard work and dedication over this school year so far you all very much deserve a peaceful and relaxing break for our employee groups we hope that you find the new paid days off between Christmas and New Year's Day to be a relaxing and stress-free time to spend with family and friends this was by far a biggest Improvement made at our last round of negotiations for our yearr round staff maintenance grounds custodial yearr round administrative assistance building tchs we hope that you are able to recharge with the need of using vacation time for our non-year round staff Paras interpreters Behavior Support Specialists nurses and 10-month administrative assistance we hope that the addition of these four paid holidays will help mitigate the increased cost of the holiday season instead of having a very painful paycheck to
064start the new year as this has been the norm in past year yours thank you up next we have Patron comments on policy 2116 um policy 0412 allows residents of the district to sub an agenda item which is related to governance or operations of the district for the policy of patrons or Patron who has made the request be given it does any amount of time of to five minutes to speak [Music] board uh superintendent R rumpus my name is Tim Baker and I'm here uh on behalf of the students that aren't that haven't come up here and told them how comfortable they feel with the opposite sex using the restroom the silent majority that I say now you guys are afraid of a lawsuit come on the lawsuit that you are facing or could be
065facing if something happens would be far greater so I I think you guys all use caution and think about what you're doing so thank you hi board David jorski I'm going to read a statement to you see we have four minutes on the clock yesterday December 11th 2024 I submitted a formal request under board policy 412 seeking clarification and enforcement of the Francis House School District's existing posted policy related to student bathrooms specifically uniform signage throughout the district facilities indicates that each student's bathroom is reserved for students of one or the other biological sex nevertheless reports indicate that biological male students in at least one District school have been using bathrooms designated as use by female students since District signs indicate that this is a policy violation I'm requesting from the superintendent and the board
066a clarification of existing policy including a clear statement from the district regarding when and by what criteria each student's sex may be determined for the purpose of complying with the curtain District's signage as an alternative to clarifying the district's current policy which appears to rely on the districts assigning each student to one of the two biological Sexes I continue to encourage the district to adopt a new policy regarding bathroom use that addresses the reality that students do not always identify themselves by their biological sex pleasure policy is currently before the board and there's also a board a policy that has been passed by the Windville School District that has been up in an operational 1750 I implore the board to consider the policy 1750 which provides private bathroom access to students who do not identify
067with their biological sex thereby providing a safe and just bathroom facility for every Francis how student now one of the things I wanted to mention about the fact that the reason I'm up here is because the fact that there was a student a girl who was confronted with a very large male in the bathroom reason we know this is because Dad actually just out of the blue said hey has there a boy ever entered your bathroom and she said yes and he said why have you not said anything to me about it and she said I didn't want to be the one the pressure that's on these kids to not speak about this is intense as been exemplified by the previous speakers the reality is is that many kids are not reporting things because of
068the social pressures that are on them and that is happening so I'm encouraging you to actually take action on this thanks [Music] we up next I'd like a motion to approve the consent agenda for December 12th 2024 as presented all those in favor say I I all those oppos say no I or like motion to accept the financial audit as presented har Miss thank you very much this evening we have with us Christina jacquin she is a senior manager with Han Camp PC and a familiar face for us here at Francis hell I want to also acknowledge our director Finance Julie Walsh is in the audience and Julie and her team performed uh significant work in supporting the audit and this is the Financial audit for the 22 excuse me 23 24 fiscal year and
069we've also posted for you publicly beyond the financial audit the ASB which is our annual financial report to the Department of Elementary and secondary education that information along with the board minutes um indicating that you have accepted the audit will be submitted to the department uh by December 31 that is a requirement of desing and we are very uh appreciative of Christina and the work that she's done for us so thank you Christina thank you Miss Embry thank you members of the board for the opportunity to briefly present the results of the 2024 annual audit and the related reports to you this evening as mentioned my name is Christina jacin I am an insurance senior manager with ham we have issued the following reports as a result of our audit the financial statements including the
070required state and federal program reporting and a governance report which includes a report to those charged with governance and a report on internal control after some brief comments I would be happy to answer any questions the board may have the first report we issued is the financial statements prepared by the district on the modified Cash basis of accounting We performed an audit of the district's financial statements for the year ended June 30th 2024 our responsibility as Auditors is to plan and perform the audit to be able to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial final statements are free of material misstatement on page one of the financial statement report you will find our independent auditor report in that report we give our opinion on the financial statements our opinion is that the district's financial statements are
071fairly presented in all material respects in accordance with the modified Cash basis of accounting with regard to federal reporting the district continues to have expenditures of federal covid-19 funding during the 2024 fiscal year in 2024 total education stabilization fund expenditures which mostly consist of sr3 funds were approximately $4 million the major federal programs tested as a result of our audit for 2024 were the special education program and the Child Nutrition program in addition to Federal compliance Dy requires us to perform certain procedures over state requirements such as attendance and transport ation information we are happy to report that we noted no instances of internal control deficiencies or non-compliance related to the federal or state compliance testing that we are required to report the second report we issued is a report to those charged with governance
072which contains required Communications from Auditors to those charged with governance at the conclusion of an audit this communication indicates among other things that management is responsible for the selection and use of appropriate accounting policies these are described in note one to the district's financial statements that we did not encounter any significant difficulties in dealing with management during our audit and that there were no disagreements with management there are no uncorrected misstatements and that management has provided us with representations with in relation to the audit I would like to thank Miss Carol Embry and Miss Julie Walsh for their assistance in helping us complete the audit and at this time I am happy to answer any questions the board may have questions board thank you very much thank you very much so all those in favor
073of subance of the financial audit all those in favor say I I allos say no nice to have it next board like a motion to approve the recommendation from Administration regarding Debt Service management and facility planning second good evening again so this evening I'm providing for you a restatement if you will of that which was presented by the piper Sandler team that joined us for a rather lengthy board meeting November 21st we had a lot of construction that evening and uh also then to make recommendation to you regarding our next steps and how we uh handle the district Affairs uh with regard to debt and facility planning this is a reminder slide it's a familiar slide for you it reminds us that we have an operating Levy and a debt Levy and ner the two
074shall cross right absent vote of the board or the public as required so this shows you what is funded by the operating Levy uh that includes uh salary and benefits it's people it's supplies fuel for buses uh supplies and classrooms that kind of thing it also funds facility issues uh in the event that there is a levy placed in the capital fund and if we have a lease purchase uh that is the fund that is used for paying those uh those debt issues The Debt Service fund is relative to bond issues that are approved by the public and uh is handled Through The Debt Service Levy excuse me so this is again summarizing the information that was prevented presented by uh Piper Sandler reminds under our bond 101 lesson that we have a multitude of
075opportunities to bring a bond issue to the public but dependent on not only the year if it's an odd or an even year or if it dependent on the month in which that is presented it carries a different passage requirement so for 47's majority that's a 57.14% yes Vote or greater and if it's a 2/3 requirement then that's a 66.67 uh percentage yes vote for those dates we have significant bonding capacity in our district 330 million and it's calculated basically by uh looking at 15% of the assessed valuation less any outstanding principle and that's per Missouri statute so if a bond issue is passed those funds go into the capital fund and the bills get paid out of the capital fund we use a subf fund here it's the bond fund regarding the debt repayment
076the loan repayment that that is uh generated Into The Debt Service fund and then we pay our payments out of that fund the there's a very significant difference between debt that's created by a bond issue and a lease purchase a lease purchase it provides immediate capital for a district it does not require a vote of the people and I want to provide Clarity regarding the dollar amount of a lease purchase you are not capped on that uh you're capped based on what you can collateralize so no different than when we do a lease for buses or a lease for technology or other types of equipment we are basically promising that if we don't pay our debt back they would have that property just like we do personally so the reason I highlight that for you
077is that in districts where they have very little bonding capacity because they're primarily a residential Community they can do a lease purchase to deal with major building issues or even constructing a new building and elementary school or whatever it is that they need and so all of that flows through the capital fund so the challenge is that it drains the operating fund because I showed you on that first Slide the operating fund includes the capital fund so that's why typically districts if they have bonding capacity they will seek a a vote uh of the people for a bond issue so it's a separate Levy so for the longrange planning options Piper Sandler provided different Pathways for consider ation and you'll recall that one of those was these hypothetical future Bond issues that would generate 5
078or 555 million um over the 12-year period And it considered future assess valuation growth um it also created a financially sustainable plan and it also could allow then for a u reallocation of 12.5 cents from The Debt Service fund over to the operating fund to support operational needs in the district so that was one pathway the other pathway uh was basically to pay existing debt off early uh and currently the way our debt is structured we would see our Levy uh EB and flow so it's currently higher and then it would need to drop and then come back up and so most districts most actually taxing jurisdictions they attempt to create a flat Levy that does not cause major swing swings for our patrons when they receive their tax bills and so that's part of
079the strategy when we're structuring debt so for our um uh I oh I have this additional information uh just to provide context and again Brent Levens and Joe Kinder covered this information but historically over the past 20 years our operating Levy in Franc Al has been as high as 47135 for $100 of assess valuation we're currently down to 3.41 191 I acknowledge that part of that is due to the growth in assess valuation in the community we are the lowest in St Charles County and the debt Levy has remained steady at 67.1 3 cents since 2004 the 20032 2004 fiscal year part of the presentation included an awareness piece that as of the information that we were provided by St Charles County we can anticipate lack a future Revenue growth of 743 th000 that's if
080no additional applications are received relative to Senate Bill 190 but they can still continue to receive those and when we'll really be provided the official data will be September of 2025 when the debt Levy is set or the operating Levy rather so uh that is summarizing all that information that we received November 21 and as Administration continued to reflect on the options for us and um identified early on that we don't have an updated facility master plan in the system we determined that going either of those ways was not the proper U uh direction to take at this time so our recommendation includes that we continue to monitor our operating fund trajectory we know that uh someone might say we're conservative uh I I might offer we're being realistic we don't have financial institutions tax
081budgeted Within our operating fund to directory because it's very unreliable very sporadic in terms of the dollar amount and if we embed that into the operating budget we might become dependent on that for our regular operating costs that are recurring and then we would not be in a financially sustainable situation so we discussed that during one of the meetings that we would budget it after we receive it and we should know coming up in January if there will be a windfall of Revenue coming uh to us this year we do need to understand the real impact of Senate Bill 190 and we also need to continue our uh review that we've committed to of all potential reductions but also identifying all of our needs uh and uh then beyond that we do need to get
082some updated demographic information we know that the the information received previously has uh expired if you will we've seen that what has occurred is not what was projected in that data we need to have a clear understanding of our student uh populations and the capacity of our buildings so that we can make solid recommendations and part of that would also include engaging hollisa Miller the new architect for the district to provide an updated facility master plan they would uh be helping us identify future bond issue needs so that we don't have this hypothetical 555 million idea and um and then based on those recommendations we would also as I've shared with you in previous conversations we would want to uh really develop out that scope get solid estimates including inflation for all of our needs
083so that we have real uh great estimates for moving forward the last item number four is that recommending that we engage with Piper Sandler so that we um can pay off debt early it's called a defeasance when you're dealing with public debt in uh public schools and so that would be part of the recommendation happy to answer any questions if you have any thank you Miss um always do a great presentation um my question has to do with the uh Le uh lease purchase situation does that in any way um what what's the downside of that for the district does that limit products or services that we can Avail ourselves of what's your general definitely that would occur because it places a demand on the operating fund so we have limited dollars in the operating
084fund uh with which we take care of kids whether it's providing Staffing or supplies or um those other needs uh that we have incurred and we have only certain ways to place money in the capital fund and that would be the fund we'd be making those payments from there are certain limited revenues that can be direct receded to the capital fund and as you know the board U may also place a portion of the levy in the capital fund but either way it that is taking money away from the operating fund that pays for for people but does it limit anything that we could contract for I mean I I know about least purchas program in your personal life you know for a car but I don't know of one for a stove I'm just
085right that kind of thing does that limit Us in any that's an interesting question I will tell you I know of districts that have actually done a lease purchase for a major loan it was $15 million and they used one of the U Middle School buildings as collateral uh because they were having Financial uh issues in bridging uh the the gap between revenue and expenditures so long as you have collateral for lease purchase I think probably uh and that and that you know you have the financial wherewithal that's also looked at always no different than a regular bank loan but you could do pretty much whatever you needed to do I also um totally support your con conservative budgeting regarding the fit tax there's no way that we can find out what that where it
086comes from I I was almost thinking maybe it was casinos because you know their revenue is kind of like that so and I've said this before but I'll just say it again since we're referencing fit tax that that was a new thing that's financial institutions tax and it's Unique to the community um where the district resides and this was a brand new thing for me in any District I've been in before the fit Revenue has been so tiny you didn't give any thought to it you simply budgeted based on historical and it usually stayed very steady but in our particular community and we believe it's due to certain businesses uh within this community we have excuse me we have a significant swing I mean it goes from multiple millions of dollars down to are there
087some years some years are dry too so there's no way you can okay we'll take it when they give it to us that's right I just comes from because if you don't know where it's coming from there's a good chance they might come back to try to take it other questions for right all those in favor to approve the motion iose or like a motion to approve the financial report as presented going to coverage your Ponder okay so we just have a few slides and when I say we I do mean my partner uh Julie Walsh our Director of Finance she's doing a fantastic job as a reminder she started in that role July 1 but she' been in the department uh working steadily and has great foundation for us so uh for this evening
088I um I'm going to comment about our budget amendment and transfer it's uh fairly limited uh also the operating fund trajectory which is our Norm to cover that and then just a quick update on a few finance and operational uh Focus areas so uh the revenue is not changing and as you recall we brought a significant budget amendment to you last month and the expenditures though uh I I want to walk you through this because all of the expenditure budget increas is relative to the music insurance bill and music uh is that Consortium uh that we have been a member for I know for at least 35 years uh there are a number of districts in the area that participate in that they um provided us with preliminary information that we brought to you in
089September and that was when we sought approval from you that we move forward with the music insurance program and uh and then what they do is and they provide a bill and that's where we're at now they provided the updated invoice uh relative to claims and all the other factors involved and so so uh the expenditure budget amendment is 250,000 and um the other thing I want to share with you they had provided some information through a video communication they've seen uh relative to this renewal and to help you understand the increase in pricing even beyond what we had already uh budgeted um they've had 200 200% tornado increase 50% severe wind increase I mean we all know what's happened in our communities and we're likely all going to be experiencing this personally as well
090uh on our insurance bills but I I want you to know that um with the music agreement because it's a group of school districts and um community colleges that participate um uh they spread the the um the cost right and they um they also though have some requirements within the agreement that if you leave this organization you can't get back in for 5 years and the price estimate if we were to leave would be even an additional 29% over the percentage increase we're experiencing this year I did reach out to to a broker uh that I've worked with in the past just to ask the question you know is this doable and so what I want you to understand is in the event that the board uh would uh desire that we would explore a
091different pathway that again still May cost more money we basically would probably need to start that process super early like probably we would need to hire someone to help us bid it out normally Brokers are paid a commission uh if you go that way but in this situation where we may not stick with them um they would um want to be paid a fee UPF front and we would need to launch an RFQ for the broker and then they could do their due diligence and gather all of our data there is a notification requirement for music you have to let them know by October 1 if you intend to leave the the group and if you don't notify uh there's a 25% penalty so it's it's a challenge uh but but has it been looked
092at legally it it's quite legal it's quite legal it's it's part of the agreement but again I want to reiterate that this is a nonprofit organization they're giving us uh lower rates to begin with because they don't have the overhead that some other uh companies might carry and personally I I do Wonder but if we went through the whole process of rebidding we would we would not leave we would stay with music because the price point would be lower so I just wanted you to have that understanding I'd had a few questions about it and um Wanted to provide that Clarity for you so moving forward this is the summary document that just shows you uh our November transfer amount and uh then we have and that was Revenue this is expenditures where we're just
093showing that December trans or budget amendment rather and also it still repeats the November amount gives you the total and then uh this shows you the grand total with our updated fund estimated fund balance percentage for june30 of 2025 at 29.78 and that's a a slight reduction from 29.91 that was reported in November and I do include a note on here that based on the updated operating expenditure budget each 1% is approximately 2449 million so this is the operating trajectory and as we know our policy uh indicates we should Target uh no lower than 15% on our fund balance and I've reminded you multiple times that we can't look at one year we have to look at multiple years and this shows you we are on a downward um uh angle and we also know
094the reason for that is because of the spike and Esser money that we had received previously this uh is an excerpt from the bond financials and I want to highlight just a couple of things here uh a reminder the full Bond report is posted each month and uh We've made some changes I've shared with you that we learned from the Department of Elementary and secondary education that any of that Arbitrage money which is we've made way more Revenue in interest than what we are paying on our bond issues to those who purchase them so we must return that as a gift to IRS uh it doesn't go to anyone but IRS uh and and so it's a pretty sign ific amount because we've made significant revenue and so we' moved that down as a footnote
095to just indicate that it can't spend it out of bond money because we have to close the bond in order to do the Arbitrage calculation for the the department for IRS rather and so the um that will be coded out of capital funds which again will drain the operating fund so um but we also know that then some of the things that we might have spent on regular Capital could be shifted over to bond as we as we finish out the funds available in this project so we um we continue to provide you with the contingency return and the escalation allowance as well so as you can see based on that and all the current projects that have been bid and we have the final numbers for we are uh sitting with 4,789 414 available
096to be allocated to other Bond uh qualifying projects and then this last slide is an excerpt from uh is a condensed version of our self-insurance fund financials we posted that for you I want to highlight and I probably should have put a footnote on this but on the revenue line you can see that fy2 uh July through November shows a 4,429 increase over that same period of time the year prior and that does include that transfer we should have labeled it to uh include the transfer that we made from operating we'll continue to monitor this we don't have new information yet uh relative to the performance of the fund uh from a a utilization perspective other than the bills we're paying um we have a quarterly meeting set up in January I don't know that
097we'll have comprehensive clear information for the period October through December 31 at that point in time but we'll continue to keep you apprized of what we're seeing and um get busy scheduling our insurance committee meetings uh in the future this last slide just gives you some date updates as you know you've uh received part of the safe schools assessment this evening in close session we'll continue that this evening you've received the debt update and the audit and the financial report we're still in process on our Capital controlled supplies and um we have a consultant currently reviewing procedures and ensuring we're tight on internal controls and other things uh the health fund monitoring I mentioned uh we need to launch a broker RFP very soon so that will be coming your way and then I have
098some other things indicated there there are some of our uh special projects um that you've heard about uh and uh next next month I plan to bring you the facility master plan recommendation uh we'll launch the demographic assessment RFP and also I will bring you a recommendation for Legal Services just for that continuing extending uh our existing services our technology assessment with budget impact it's become a little more complicated right Scott uh but we want to bring a good product uh and uh we'll do that next month Scott will have a uh a major uh recommendation so he'll come to the podium in a separate agenda item sorry Ken that's new news for you I think uh and uh then also uh we'll continue with our quarterly construction reports and bringing you all those bids
099so happy to answer any questions you may have uh Scott I think we hired you to not be complicated so that's right um can you go back to slide eight for Me Maybe oh look you go is that it yeah okay that's oh I'm sorry I couldn't see there we go yeah I just wanted to so of the 4.7 89 million that we have not committed any of that to anything else whether it be idea yet correct yet now nothing that you know about we have we have some bids out on the street and how those come in will impact that dollar right but you're correct right that's what I'm saying is That's not including the VIS that we have out on the street that's right we've got the estimate that we have for the
100all the things that have been um approved for leas for releasing and then as we get the final numbers in then we Shore up if you go to the primary Financial document you see where we go in and modify that amount any other questions board all right all those in favor say I I I'll suppose say now I have it next board I like a motion to approve the purchasing of a Dyan TMI mechanical equipment through the utilization of the inter local purchasing system a necessary supplemental scope of work to complete phase one heating ventilation and air conditioning improvements for a total cost of 11,320 625 as presented Sor Mr SCH good evening board and before I present to you I just want to acknowledge an individual that's um here with us this evening that's
101been just a phenomenal um partner uh to get us to where we're at today we've been really working at this for the last 6 months if not a little bit longer to provide uh the board with information and also be able to look back and look at what we currently have and specifications so I'd like to just acknowledge Mr Jeff escot he's Dy TMI and appreciate he and all of his team's efforts so we'll jump right into it uh much of this you will have already seen uh from the November Board of Education meeting uh but as we always like to do just repaint the picture for you and uh flavor in new information that uh we may not have shared at the previous meeting and then hopefully get to the recommendation [Music] so once
102again uh this is the timeline again I won't go through every single piece here but a couple of key things um really the constru pending the necessary approvals uh construction date would really start immediately after the last day of school and substantial completion uh August uh 8th of 2025 for the five sites again as a reminder these are the five sites uh the year the equipment was installed as you see on all five of them the useful life has expired and we range anywhere from uh 25 25 to 31 years U of ser of Life Cycle Service on those so we are overdue uh and we're on borrowed time as I shared with you guys at the November 21st again uh what you'll be approving uh or considering for approval uh is the equipment and
103supplemental Scopes those are articulated here then this is the project pricing by location and so you'll see those individual line items uh that will tally up for a total of 11 11 million 320,3 25 and then uh we just released the demo and installation package uh it hit the streets uh yesterday actually and uh We've shared that with all of our partners out there including the Tri County labor Club um we will have a mandatory pre-bid meeting uh we actually just moved the date uh because we have three other bid packages that the board had uh approved us to let bids on that open on the 17th and there's just a conflict some of those contractors are going to be in both uh at both pre-bid meeting at the bid opening for the two auditoriums
104and the multi-purpose wrestling facility so we ended up moving the pre bid meeting for the mechanical so public mid opening um and that pre-bid meeting is mandatory and the re the reason for that is the logistical uh balance and making sure that everybody that is interested in that project has all the necessary information and knows that the district is purchasing the equipment and the supplemental Scopes that way their scopes are high and tight in terms of what they are going to deliver on bidday then the public bid opening will be held on January 3rd and then um a recommendation will be made at the January 16th board meeting U pending the successful bid opening for the demo installation so as we've noted before uh at the previous board meeting in the event the bids are
105higher uh than the pricing we already have from the tips uh inter local purchasing uh system then we would uh utilize the tips pricing model to bring forward a recommendation so the recommendation this evening is we recommend approving uh Dy TMI U as to purchase mechanical equipment through the utilization of the inter local purchasing system and the necessary supplemental Scopes uh for the phase one heating ventilation and air conditioning improvements of those five sites for a total cost of 11,320 625 and then we'll come back to you in January ending the demo and installation uh of the equipment uh with the recommendation so with that I'd be happy to answer any questions or clarify anything that I've shared with the board yeah maybe it's not clear to me when you put on your first slide
106one of your first slides if you can go back to that I think you said the would start 325 or 324 to 328 yes so some of that uh just in order to have kind of the framework set up uh that'll be spring break so we'll we'll get above ceilings and just double check some things or might be some preliminary things that we could potentially Advance uh just from running some electrical um lines for the controls those types of things that can be that need to be done above ceiling and if we can get that infrastructure first in there we chical bigger pieces will come okay but I think maybe it was the next slide it said that wouldn't be completed until 5 oh construction start date never mind I thought that was when it
107was being started in March and it wouldn't wouldn't be finished until the end of May Never mind my okay I got it I was thinking that you they wouldn't have any air conditioning from March through the end of school that's not the case yeah okay thank you any other questions anything else thank you all right thank you all those in favor say I I suppos like a motion to approve the purchases as presented all in favor say I I all in favor say no next we have information on our safe schools tment Miss EMB thank you very much so as you know we had the pleasure of receiving a report from Mr John McDonald who is the Chief Operating Officer for the center of Education safety also accompanying him in our close session meeting with
108Mr Glen Moore who is now here with us this evening to provide uh the update publicly uh the report will be posted after delivery of the information here publicly and this is regarding threat assessment suicide risk and mental health responses and where we stand as a district to ensure we're keeping our students and staff safe so this gentleman has vast experience many many years decades uh of experience uh in in terms of uh threat assessment he also uh is involved in social work and uh he brings a vast knowledge for us in the assessment that he conducted I want to thank our principes and other leaders who were involved in the review process with him and I'll turn it over to you Mr Moore thank you thank you um what I'm going to present is
109based on the findings we had overviewing mental health process um suicide response and prevention uh threat assessment as well as trauma informed approaches through the district we looked at all of those with the lens of safety and how they provide for that in the district in our review um what we identified was that your district has um is far above what we typically see um what we mentioned in closed session was that uh often times when we're asked to assist a district it's after a crisis has happened and when we have a district it's rare that we have one that is preventative and brings us in beforehand to try and improve process so we were not only happy to see that but uh we also acknowledge always that safety is a process it's always ongoing
110and evolving based on Trends and different aspects of um of school safety that that change continually the um the factors that we noted were um threat assessment the uh the process that was implemented in Francis how school district is the newest among um the different procedures that we mentioned such as trauma informed practices uh Suicide Prevention Etc with that there are always a bit of growing pains in development um however um the district is on track with their efforts and um what we identified and what I'm going to mention were isolated incidents that we typically see and uh we minimal compared to what we typically see when a district is implementing a new process such as this uh some of the things that we noted um when we look at threat assessment and threat management
111one of the keys is reporting and getting the reporting in and having that uh worked on quickly um we talk about as a flaw something we call report latency so if there is a delay for any reason that can be a significant danger um so having those open lines of communication and reporting procedures is imperative uh one thing that was noted in some of the buildings was because there are a lot of English as a second language speakers um in the community in the district sometimes there are barriers to reporting based on the language concern so um we made some general recommendations as far as um posting things in in um Native languages to some of the speakers that are common in the district and having those procedures in place so that um the reporting
112process is known to all members of the U of the community um some other things that we noticed um there were um the districts are doing really well with implementing the process uh but there is a a need for continual training with that and U this is being done um but the there there is a concern of bandwidth in terms of uh with a new process there will be surges as we see sometimes when there is a school tragedy uh we see a um kind of a contagion effect that can happen and also when you start a new process um it will be used more it doesn't doesn't mean your district is in more danger it just means the the process is being used so you'll see more threats actually emerge with that it will
113require more um more bandwidth on your part of your staff so they're going to have to respond accordingly and um that can be a bit of a burden to the district as a whole so what what we recommend is um monitoring that and being ready to adjust with any needs for personnel Etc um in terms of looking at your overall mental health process as a whole uh you have a a very robust system with using leading practices that are recommended um one thing that was particularly impressive was Westwood alternative um the the staff and the ratio of um Personnel um is exemplary and um it's a program that um we look at um as um as kind of a model so when we see things of that nature uh it's something that we can share
114with others and um what what they're able to do through Westwood is uh is very impressive so um a lot of what we saw was um was very beneficial and um what we worry about when we see really good strong safety procedures is sometimes the emphasis loses a little momentum so we we want to encourage that support for those different procedures that are in place um and the training that goes along with that the um uh we gave some recommendations for continuing education on the threat assessment realm especially Buy in among the community members too because a common thing that we see is with the case management that's necessitated by that uh we often um it it's new and novel and sometimes it takes a little bit of Education of the student and stakeholders and
115community members so we did recommend a few different training methodologies that could complement that one thing that was mentioned too is um Behavior Support Specialists are utilizing the district very effectively however this is a position that um is difficult to fill sometimes it's a lower paid position um that serves an essential role and with that there can be a lot of recidivism because it can be used as a stepping stone position I to other roles and um it's um but from speaking with building administrators it's been an essential part of the mental health process so the support of those positions um can prove to be very valuable um the uh the bottom line of our our uh our assessment on the mental health side um was to uh to continue to support what is being
116done you have a lot lot of collective institutional knowledge in your leadership at the district level and at the building level um something I mentioned earlier that I want to repeat is that typically when we interview people at the building level we don't see the same shared knowledge that we did when we spoke with uh the building level leaders at Francis H they all collectively had that level of knowledge to be able to know the process and support the people under them and what needed to be addressed and that was obviously very impressive um the other thing just again to repeat is that your building level leaders they're very good at managing the personnel and the resources that they have but uh be cautious with any type of surge of activity or evolution of activity
117in terms of safety um and listen and heed their advice if they need assistance in different Realms uh for example something as simple as um the behavioral support Specialists and and filling those positions can really be critical because it's an essential piece if those are if those laps you have um one of those layers of safety can be uh compromised in a way that's um sometimes very surprising so um our overall assessment on the mental health side um extremely positive on the physical side that was discussed in Clos session um that for safety reasons um holds there but um we we always recognize that it's process with safety it's always an ongoing and evolving process um so we're always willing to support and assist in that um and we are um we're happy that we
118had this opportunity to assist I'll entertain any questions questions board thank you very [Music] much did you have a question question one moment St question uh our sh representative uh heard of something that is used at another school district and just want to ask um if you're aware of that and give us information on that cop so when I attended leis and clar career center there was um one feature there that they had and it was included with their Intruder drill it's called a safe defend box have you heard of it yes um that's one thing that I saw there and it was actually very cool and um it I I would say it would help in more situations if a school is that threat and uh I was just wondering what what your thoughts
119BR so can you can you explain what's included in the safe defend box because they're a little different for some districts yeah so for the St Charles uh School District they had and it it was a strobing flashlight uh baton and I believe pepper spray if I have that right but I think that's all it was but it was activated by a staff member by their fingerprint and if any other student tried touching it it would notify the office immediately to know who the student was there are various versions of those and some districts have employed them with great success um others are cautionary about them and um we gave some recommendations um that were in closed session regarding some of the security procedures for physical security and response um so I can't unfortunately share
120those but in general um security is um somewhat cultural too and based upon the needs and response capabilities of the jurisdiction that you live in so um we there are very few things that we say no don't do that um they all have a place depending on where you're at so the recommendations we gave were the ones that we thought would be most appropriate for Francis how thank you thank you thank you very much next we'll have a franc North update Miss imy yes so we know that this has been um a popular topic if you will of late and um I we wanted to help you understand all the work that has been going on behind the scenes and so uh I'm inviting uh up to speak Matt Frank Matt is a Project Director
121with SN Wilson and he has developed a presentation to provide you and others in the public with an awareness of the steps taken Matt works collaboratively with our director of facilities salum ster and other engineers and multiple teams of people and so we appreciate you coming uh today Matt to provide us this update thank you great thanks Carol um it's nice to see everybody tonight and I'm sure most of you if not all of you have heard of the uh sewer odor that's been experienced at Francis H North and um so I wanted to come tonight just to talk through it give you an update um what we've done where we're at today and um it's kind of what's going on so I think most people would think uh there's a sergas odor it's pretty
122easy to solve um we've all experienced probably in our own homes um it's present it's there the closer you get to the source it becomes clear uh you identify it and you can fix it it's pretty easy however this issue is much more like chasing a ghost um the the odor appears and then sometimes within minutes it's gone um sometimes it's gone for days and then reappears in a different portion of the building um makes it really really challenging to figure out the source um we we have engaged Engineers uh we've talked to Engineers that have been in business 40 50 years um subcontractors other consultants and everyone's pretty complex uh on on what the source is so we've been at it um the first documented uh issue of the smell was on November 6th
123uh we heard that there was a smell problem we came out right away we have a superintendent on site fulltime so he went to investigate um we dug into it and that's when we started talking to the engineers subcontractors Etc and um it appeared that day and then was gone for 5 days didn't come back uh till the 13th of November it it reappeared and we again dug into it uh then we thought okay this is a real problem it's back um let's figure out what to do so we talked to the engineers um what we felt was probably the problem was the kitchen grease trap that um they they can often smelly they uh require maintenance it wasn't due for maintenance yet but we thought okay some of the source seems to be coming
124from the GRE trrap vents on the roof so we had a company come out uh 11:19 the smell was reported as being present so we had the company come out they cleaned out the grease strap the smell disappeared it was gone we thought okay great it's fixed uh no issues there from 11:21 to 121 uh no smell we thought okay it's fixed uh it's been a week Thanksgiving break everybody goes they come back on December 1st and smell uh the odor reappeared but we had it fixed um so we got a hold of uh the HKC controls contractor thinking that the smell is maybe coming in through the rooftop units uh as part of the HVAC system we dialed the outside air intake down to minimum code minimum to reduce that likelihood seemed to help
125uh really no reports of the smell again and um really smell went away from 123 to 1210 uh there was one day in that time period where we got down into 18° temperatures that night there's a bit of an issue with the air handler it was the first time they experienced cold weather of that sort so the controls contractor was manipulating it it created a negative pressure environment in the building the smell was present that day we turned the air handlers back to normal operations SM went away um so we um we did on 124 find a plumbing vent in men's restroom in the auditorium that had a a break in it we fixed that it was a very local smell but somebody reported it and that was kind of that sewer smell that's easy
126to find it was it was reported uh we went to it we found it immediately fixed it that day it was it was done um on 1211 which was yesterday our superintendent uh that's on site thought he would call City of St Peters and just see if they can help so city of St Peters came out and Camera the sewer M on the west side of the building and did find a clog in the sewer M um so today we had a hydro um uh basically a hydro um pressure service come out and they broke that clog free in the sewer main um and then we also did find a break in a small vent in a nerd station a different area of the building today uh totally isolated issue is reported a smell we
127cut a cabinet open found a break fixed it um so that one's that one's done some challenges uh with this like I mentioned early early in the conversation uh it's kind of like chasing a ghost uh smells intermittent it is uh infrequent it appears in different areas of the building only on the west side of the building never on the east side of the building but sometimes in the common areas sometimes on the second floor sometimes on the first floor so it makes it really difficult um we haven't been able to reproduce it intentionally if we could make it happen we could solve it uh easier right but we can't reproduce it um and like I said it's often not there for days and then suddenly reappears um we also have an intelligent hpac system
128uh in the building it's great system uh works great for economy for heating and cooling but it does make it difficult to find problems like this we had identified that it's most likely coming through the hbac system um but there's a lot of components to it it uh changes fan speeds depending on weather temperature it changes how much outside air brings in uh versus not depending on condition so it just makes it even more complicated to figure out some actions that we have performed I've mentioned some of them but we have a superintendent on site every day 40 hours a week there if a smell is reported uh within minutes he's going to investigate it and um so so we are there we're there every day um we have had meetings with mlar engineering uh
129the HPC controls contractor plumbing contractor Haber and Hegman that both worked on the project and uh other third parties Consultants to try to figure this out um truthfully everyone that we've talked to had a few ideas or things that we've already tried um no clear solution um we did clean out the grease Interceptor we remove the grease Interceptor we removed 1,000 gallons of uh grease and water out of that it did seem to work at the time uh but then it reappeared the um Plumbing Systems on the west side of the building we smoke tested the Plumbing Systems in the building uh on three occasions we had a company come out and they applied smoke to the vent stacks on the roof they basically charged the plumbing system with smoke if there was any break
130in the building on the West Side smoke would be identified we had ceiling tiles pulled out uh Francis H District people were there we had plumbers there we had the engineer there our superintendent uh everybody looked and there was no smoke in the building pluming said systems completely intact on the West Side um building as a temporary measure we did uh order some odorhog charcoal vent pipe filters and uh those basically are charcoal filters that you put on a vent cap on the roof absorb smell that comes out of it uh to a point I mean they're not foolproof but something in the interim to find a solution while we figure this out um and then like I said we did have city of St Peters come out and they camera the line and found
131a clog in the SE M on the west side of the building and then we did order some air admittance files as well if none of that works uh they're basically a oneway valve that allows air into the vent but not out so we have those as a backup to install if need be fortunately uh like it mentioned City St Peters came out and camer at the line we think we probably found the cause and hopefully solved it today uh we are cautiously optimistic that the problem is resolved um like IID said we've only ever had a smell on the west side of the building there's a seain that runs along the east side of the building on the outside of the building there's a SE that runs along the west side of the building
132exterior the SE on the West Side had a major clog in it um we did clean that out today so those things would suggest to us that that is a likely it's identifiable problem it shouldn't be there um we cleaned it out today we did go up on the roof um previously the roof was smelly is the truth you go up on the roof and and it did just smell bad in some areas uh it would come and go but that's not really normal for a roof uh been a lot of roofs in my career and they're usually not smelly but this one was um on the west side so we hydr flushed the line at noon today uh went up on the roof the roof didn't smell and not only that previously the air
133coming out of the roof fence was either neutral or it was coming out of the vent it really should be going into the vent um we went up there today air is going into the vent Stacks with the clog out of the way so we think again a good indicator that the problem is solved um now we are scheduling next week for uh the company to come out and Camera the lines to see if there's any reason to suggest that a clog May reappear uh we don't think there is but just extra Assurance we're going to take that step next week um then you may wonder how does a clog ra Mell situation in the building I don't want to talk about that uh here just to help everybody understand a little bit so this
134um this is a wave machine but I think it represents uh the what happens in the pipe so the first picture here this would be a sloped sewer M which they slope so the water runs downhill under a normal condition the water is on the bottom portion of the pipe and it flows Downstream it draws air with it which pulls air into the plumbing bent goes down the pipe and that's the way it should be working however if you have a clog the water will run into the clog now this is a pretty major clog um city of St Peters ran a camera 200 feet down the seain uh about 200 ft of that distance was the camera was underwater they eventually got far enough down hit a spot they couldn't get past uh that
135was the clog they pulled the camera back out we had her fleshed it today got the clog free but it was a pretty major clog so if you have the kitchen in operation they're using a lot of water uh classes change periods all the students go to the restroom flush toilets you're going to get bunch of water flowing down the sewer now when that water runs into that clog it's going to Dam up and then like the third picture it's going to flow backwards on the pipe now that backwards flow what that's going to do is push that super smelly air back through the pluming bent system to the roof where it can be sucked into the air handler the outside air uh intake on the air handlers we think that's why the smell is
136intermittent and it appears in different areas there's 20 Air Handlers on the roof there's more Plumbing vents than that there's probably 40 Plumbing vents on the roof so depending on the motion of the water what's going on with the students uh you know and the staff and the water usage where that sewer gas Puffs out of the vent which air handler is running harder at that time all are variables on where the smell may get sucked into it also explains why the smell's there and then it's gone uh if it's coming through the supply Ducks you would experience a smell at the speed of the air flow into the room and then as fast as that air is changed out of the room and smell's gone which I personally was on site um last th
137two Thursdays ago and um one of the teachers called and said uh my room has a smell in it by the time that me and two other people got from the main office to the teacher room there was no smell and we walked out to the end of the corridor on the roof check out the air handlers do some exploration the teacher came down the corridor and said it smells back let's go look at it walk down the corridor smell gone uh by the time we got there so it just illustrates how quickly the smell comes and goes um so we think that now that the the roof is not smell the clogs gone right so water can go Downstream it draws air with it a is going the correct way down the vent um
138we think the problem should be resolved we'll we'll know in about a week uh you know fingers crossed the smell doesn't come back um this this is a kind of a nice picture it's video but these are some snapshots of it um when we were smoke test testing the vent system we had the smoke system up there and one of our superintendents took a video of the wind so you can see that the black pipe sticking out of the roof with the hose to it that is Plumbing vent it does have the smoke system attached to it the second photo you can see the air handler and that's the outside air intake kind of that levered section that you see there so the smoke representing smell that would be coming out of the vent as
139the wind shifts the wind blows it into the outside a intake and this wind shifts Clos away so another variable of why this was so challenging um to figure out so it's a long story short we think we have it fixed um it why the clog you know uh there was a clog it's gone uh was outside the building and um hopefully that's the end of it but I know it's been a nuisance to the district and uh We've really been exhausting ourselves trying to figure this out um it's just very unusual and uh usually you wouldn't look to the exterior domain uh clog is a problem for smelling so hopefully that shed some light on the issue um I'm happy to answer questions see may have some any idea what caused the logs they
140prevented in the future well we do uh we have a really good idea uh we did pull a brick out of the sewer M now oddly first thought is somebody threw a brick in there during construction the strange thing is the brick didn't come from the job site um how we know that is it was a modular brick which is a residential size brick uh the only bricks on this building are jumbo bricks which are a commercial size brick they're larger brick it was also a brick that had mortar on the edges that would tell tell you that it was installed in a radius pattern similar to like a a little garden structure somebody would build around their mailbox or in their front yard something like that um so that it 100% didn't come from
141the job site um we'll probably never know how it got into the sewer M um but we did pull it out and we're confident that that was the source of the CLA so don't flush bricks you can make make some FS about it but yeah it's also I think something to point out that Matt shared with us really this is a blessing in disguise because that type of um clog could have also led to sewer backing up into the building at some point which would have been even worse than the OD we were experiencing yeah and that would have happened I mean truthfully it was a pretty major clog and it was getting worse uh I mean it was backed up 200 feet into the SE pipe did they go further than that to make
142sure that there's no other clogs Beyond did yeah so we we pulled man holes all the way down the line and water was flowing very well um so everything's working great now but yeah I mentioned it it hopefully our noses uh took us to a spot that prevented a more major problem solos of lining in the issue there any uh pump stations or lift stations on the side or is it all gravity it's all gravity it all flows to the South any additional questions for thank you very much for the update great thanks next I'll turn over to miss Simpkins for an information on the Staffing plan good evening Bard I am excited to chat with you today about our staffing presentation and what I believe is our most valuable resource know we talked about
143some money and some facilities but we're here today to talk about people and all the great people that do all the great work for our students um so first I thought I would talk with you just a little bit about our process executive cabinet really begins to have discussion about the next school year's plan as early as October Dr Rich and I our director of human resource and I begin going out to each building uh to talk with our building leaders about the needs that they're they're expressing and what they need to have successful programs in their building and we develop an initial plan that is then reviewed by our senior leadership team throughout conversations this year with each of our leaders we shared the intent of presenting a status quo Staffing plan to you
144U with only minor changes and so we really asked them to focus on what were their critical needs for the next school year to run their buildings and have successful school programs um if we were able to address all of the needs that they expressed this year our plan would include about 30 additional FTE for teachers and about 37 positions on the support staff side but as we continue we are going to review those requests uh we want to really be mindful of the resources the financial resources that we have we need to really look at those critical needs of the organization and have a better understanding of what that 2526 budget can support and sustain longterm therefore we're bringing this plan to you in two parts um tonight we'll present and we'll ask for
145your approval in January for a status quo Staffing plan all of the current positions that we currently have in the district we're asking for your approval just to move those forward into next year we do have a slight addition at the Early Childhood level and special education that I'll explain to you in just a moment and then we'll continue to review the data um look at the uh what might support the new requests and if and the budget as we work through that and if necessary we'll bring part two of the plan to you in February or March for any approval of additional positions we may need I do want to take a minute to share with you contingency Staffing and why that's important in our plan um each year we ask for a small
146amount of contingency Staffing there additional positions that we place on hold um and only use them if it's absolutely necessary so if a class size is larger than what we expect enrollment is a little bit larger than what we expect we can quickly utilize this contingency Staffing to address the need uh without coming to you and asking you for additional Staffing at the next meeting we scrutinize those requests um we don't give up that contingency Staffing very easily but it is nice to have that to be able to act quickly um if we need that um each year if we utilize contingency Staffing we back it out of the plan uh before we bring the plan to you again and that way we're very transparent about how we're using that Staffing um if if it
147is needed for the next year it's coming to you as a request for a new position so we'll talk a little a little bit about the big ideas on the certified side um currently our approved positions uh will be utilized and and adjusted from building to building classroom to classroom just in response to the projected enrollment that our capacity team has shared with us um as we work through the positions in the spring um we'll have more information about some of those specialized positions that will be moved from building to building based on student need as well the plan will provide the these average class sizes at the elementary level again they are averages um we look at the desie desirable class size the midpoint and the maximum and when we create the plan we're
148really focusing on that midpoint level or slightly below and possible if we have the resources to do that um this plan chose K through three a slightly lower than where we were last year at this time and fourth and fifth grade just slightly above so that we could utilize our resources in the best way now they are just averages and not every class size is going to be at this level we will have some Pockets that are lower and of course we'll have some Pockets that are higher so this plan would would have at least one fifth grade section with about 26 students in it right at that midpoint and again we start watching those enrollments and class sizes as early as the first week of July and every week we monitor those class sizes
149to be sure that we're um reacting in the best way that we can if those class sies get higher than what we expect them to be at the middle school and high school level it is much harder for us at this time to determine any kind of a class size and so we don't focus on class size when we're creating the plan we really just look at the ratio between the student enrollment and the number of classroom teachers that are in those buildings um this plan sets some ratios that fit the Desi desirable and maximum a little bit lower it it does not include or take into account teacher plan time it also does not take into account when our students are in specialized services or early college or special education um it really is
150just a way for us to identify and um separate out the FTE per the buildings and then our building administrators will utilize that FTE and they'll work through their course enrollment with students to determine how to best utilize the FTE that we've provided them to ensure that they stay within those Desi sizes those class sizes um of course we'll continue to monitor that and we pull seat counts um and look at those class sizes as we get into the school year and again we'll use the contingency Staffing to adjust if we need to um at the Early Childhood special education level um this particular plan that we would ask for your approval in January does include a slight increase um it's a02 FTE um and at the start of this school year we utilized uh
151that amount of contingency to increase a particular SLP position from a08 to a 1.0 we really needed that employee to be a full-time employee and so just asking for your permission to keep that contingency in this plan so that position will stay full-time it was a it's a cost of about $14,200 as we go into the Staffing budget on the support staff side again a status quo plan for you today we will move staff from building to building as we look at student needs whether those are PA professionals or other staff um throughout the district just looking at enrollment but we'll utilize the resources that we have to meet the needs of our building within this plan so really really not a lot of change right now at this time uh just that slight change
152in early childhood Staffing with an increase of about 14,1 $6 um and then our plan uh will be to refine any requests and bring those back to you in February or March for any additional positions uh that we feel like we have the data to support and the resources to sustain so I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have about the status quo Staffing plan questions yes um I was just wondering if uh we're taking into account the extra cost for moving to desirable in all class sizes we have not moved to desirable in all class sizes what the cost would be it was significant we have looked at that in the past um it would take a significant number of teachers to do that um at an exorbitant cost that we did
153not we were not able to handle you think we could look at that in some areas that really need it ones that we think needed the most we can definitely take a look at it and see what those costs would be I know class size makes a big impact on student sucess absolutely we have a good opportunity as part of the strategic planning work that will also happen this spring as Miss kimin said to really look at what are those areas of focus both for the board and for the community um understanding that there's always a finite level of resources and really it is a prioritization of um where we believe we'd have the greatest impact in moving our students forward and supporting our staff so we can absolutely entertain that and look at it
154as we move forward I think that'd be great questions just as we look at class size I as we look at this um we have a finite amount of classrooms within each building and I know most of them we are we're full so um so yeah certainly prioritizing that but hope hope that we'll consider that as well Qui question last year we added five middle school math interventions we did that is included in this plan as as part of the status quo plan Okay so that's what I wanted to double check because we were ambitious we put together or you put together the plan for the school performance and I wondered has there been an evaluation are those five enough is that going to help us moving forward with achieving the results that you want
155yeah that'll be an ongoing process I would say that you know we're just the beginning of December and so when we think about the benchmarking process and data piece it's still early in the year for some of that we also in this first year um while we'll be looking at outcomes right now it's also looking at kind of the input so the number of students being served what does that look like in the scheduling just knowing that um with the positions being new and the resources being new we want to look at that but yes on both sides are these the right positions are they serving our students and getting the outcomes we want and will we potentially need more such positions whether at the middle school or the high school level to support students
156as they move throughout the levels well as we move forward director Haron will be happy to share that with the board else thanks I look forward to seeing you in February or March just for communities reference there's a quite a number of first three policies on the agenda's information for anybody interested in reading through policy writing any feedback um we also have a number of second reads the board like a motion to approve the policies and regulations as presented second all those in favor say I I oppos say no eyes have we also have policy and regulation 036 um more like a motion to approve policy and regulation 0360 as presented um I have a question or point of order whatever music question time for questions discussion I was just wondering I should sorry that's
157my I can use that excuse a l um I was just wondering since we made changes since the first read if it should now be a first read again in my mind that makes [Music] sense I mean I think as a board we have many options we can get we can go through I I don't know that we done that many times unless there's been a drastic change to the policies well um I was I was just wondering about um if we could name the collect bargaining organization name them who we use right now and put that in the language you know like and you you know if it changes you know how we've changed names before on different policies that people that run that policy you know what I'm saying I would say generally
158in policy you try not to put specifics and more generalized change we we've voted on a lot where they've just changed the name call titles yeah they changed titles yeah so we'd make changes I'm just saying since they are the collective bargaining agency I think that would make them feel good are you making a motion to change that well see I thought we should change it to first read so we can I don't know do that you tell me Well we have a motion right now to to approve it so we either have to T have a motion to table it or a motion to amend it oh okay I make a motion to amend it make a motion to amend which to amend that that there it's named the people that are do the
159bar collect bargaining are fhaa and Fe is that possible instead of saying that instead of using the term Collective bargain organization you would like the name them the actual name of the organization is that I do that wrong no you're good we're good all right we have a second on that motion second motion by director Owens second by director BL in discussion board well I just um some people have reached out to me and said that would make them feel good that they were named in there and then they're just like out there somewhere you know what I mean yeah I'll just note that an earlier version of this policy had additional employee groups listed and at the fha's request those were removed from an earlier draft and now it's the more generalized collective bargaining
160agreement the FHA has made that request during policy committee change was not made so certainly understand you're making a a last Stitch effort here but it it has been discussed and was considered few times it was considered to just leave their name in it was what they asked was to add their name add their organization's name to the committee instead of more General and then what what was the result of that well the result is what you is what we're voting was it voted on or something no the policy committee doesn't vote on those type of changes take feedback just this the policy committe recommendation oh the policy committee did vote no it was policy committee makes feed provides feedback Prov feedback they didn't vote on it to feedback to who just ideas thoughts well
161for this one it would have been to myself when we wrote the policy I'm not sure how that hasn't in you mean that you don't really come to a conclusion by a vote or something you just talk about stuff it's not for the policy committee to decide on policy it's for the board to decide oh I have yeah so you have a motion to amend it motion to amend and put the bargain organization in um any other discussion questions all those in favor say I I all those opposed say no no have so we back to the original motion to approve policy regulation 0360 ask presented any other discussion or questions board all those in favor say I I I'll suppose say no no eyes have it U moving on we have curriculum board like
162a motion to approve the curriculum as presented director Ponder questions or discussion board all those in favor say I I all those oppos say no I had it now we on to superintendent comt thank you president Bertrand uh since we last met the Missouri Department of Elementary and secondary education released the annual performance report for the 2023 24 school year um these reports highlight our district successes across multiple key indicators uh that really reflects the hard work of our students our staff our teachers um and while we celebrate the achievements there the overall growth that we had over the 22 23 data we remain continued focused on continuous Improvement and look forward to building on that progress with your continued support I want to make sure that everyone is aware that this Saturday December 14th
163from 10 to 1:00 in the Francis Hall North athletic Commons the district will be hosting its annual community resource Fair uh this event is put on and really made possible by our alternative our Alternative Learning department and several Community Partners it's a long-standing tradition that connects families with organizations that offer support in assisted technology mental health Recreation Behavior Support and a variety of other important resources I know several of you have been there before it really is a great event and we hope that everyone will help spread the word to our community about that event this Saturday at 10:00 um you just heard a little bit from SM Wilson regarding the ongoing odor concerns at how north um I appreciate Mr Frank being here this evening to talk through some of the specific steps but
164I also wanted to take a moment just to recognize and thank our internal team that has spent a significant amount of time problem solving this issue uh Mr Fletcher and the district building fhaa Reps for north and for the district Mr ster and members of the facilities team uh Mr Delaney and Miss Embry have all spent many hours really sharing information trying to come together um visiting the school and working to understand and resolve this um none of us have been thrilled with how long it's taken and really whether it's one teacher or student or many um it's not acceptable and we're happy that um they believe they have now identified what the source is and optimistic that that is the end of it but I think it really reflects um our our ability to
165come together around the topic and really focus and work together to problem solve the district is officially closed this year from December 24th through January 1st um which is new and we are excited and thrilled that this will provide a well-deserved break for most of our employees but the reality is as a school district we are never completely closed I want to acknowledge that there are several maintenance projects that still need to be completed and our buildings have to be monitored um and especially during cold weather and over breaks uh we have student athletic teams that will continue to compete and that requires coaches that requires some bus drivers and additional supervision and custodians in the building uh Miss heer and Miss Jones will be here on December 31st from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. to
166close board candidate filing and so while it is a break and we're excited to be closed there are people that will continue to serve the district over that and I wanted to acknowledge that as we enter our last week before break there are still many concerts parties and other community events that I hope you um our staff our parents and families get to take a part of there special moments and it's a lot of energy and excitement in the district so I hope that our teachers our staff our administrators and our families are able to enjoy the winter break and enjoy time with their loved ones throughout the holiday season thank you on to board comments any board comments I'll say something just really briefly uh last uh Friday I visited Francis H North to
167be able to uh respond to some of the uh teacher concerns regarding the smell I was uh part of the conversation with principal Fletcher uh when I arrived I walked into a fire drill or fire alarm and when I was supposed to go inside all these students walked out and I was standing outside for 30 minutes with a bunch of high schoolers without like long sleeve shirts or jackets on and I was freezing but I couldn't show it so I was just cold and watching the teachers just care for the students which was really cool and um no pun intended and then um went inside U and was able to watch the FH and admin team just deal with the after effects of where to get the students to what class uh students trying to
168get checked out and I saw a handful of admin be able to navigate a situation with a class urgency attack and I wasn't there to judge them or grade them I was just there watching and all and I just saw in that moment they gave clear Direct instructions they brought the temperature down it was just really cool to see um and then after that uh I did walk around with uh principal Fletcher to see where the smells do take place when I was there I again I didn't smell it but he did show me the different places and um I want to reiterate uh what principal uh not principal superintendent rumpus just said um there's just been a lot of effort that's been going on and I I can see the pain in principal Fletcher's
169eyes to be like I hate this I hate that this is happening and I know um you sh the the same deal it's one thing it's a smell smells happen in schools right um but it was a smell that's been making some people not feel well and I know you guys have taken that on yourself so um from my angle as a board member I want to say thank you for the response of the building admin and the district admin uh I don't know if SM Wilson's chronology of times and dates matches with other experiences but um I'm thankful for what I've seen in both uh the district admin and the building admin to respond thank you I have something um I also got to go to two um basketball games this week Francis Al
170unfortunately my grandsons were playing on the opposing teams um I won't tell you the scores but everybody did a great job and I was cheering softly for how and loud for my grandsons they just have to do that um but anyway also uh to kick off the holiday season I attended a Thanksgiving dinner at the famous Westwood Trail Academy that we heard about tonight I was greeted by the SRO who generously donated the turkey for the dinner and the principal who was eager to share what was going on at Westwood I was impressed by the generosity of the staff in preparing and serving this delicious meal for students and families and their teachers counselors and Par professionals there was a Full House of happy students the most impressive takeaway from this Gathering was the joy
171expressed by each and every staff member I spoke with I found that unusual they all spoke of the love they have for their jobs in service to the students at Westwood I could feel the the caring climate and the camarad that makes them a family on a mission to make their students lives better their passion for their work does make a difference every day and does make this world a better place thank you Westwood for showing us that successful teaching isn't just about dispensing knowledge your caring compassion and service is a lesson for all of us I hope the holiday season brings everyone in the Francis H Community the joy peace and love we all need thanks [Applause] just you have a comment I a lot of the comments tonight I just want to say
172going through life and I talk to my kids to this all the time if you want to find negative you'll find negative but couple of the things that we that were missing here the news week uh the email that highlighted the the performance of our schools that news week did a study and how good our schools are doing that's something to be proud of the the the comments that we had on on the safety audit that's something to be that's something to be proud of I know I've had I've had several kids graduate from Francis House Central loved it all the way back from Sonia Arnell to Dr leak love Francis House Central they will not talk negative about Fran's house schools so if you want to find the negative you'll find the negative but
173there is tons of positive in this school district never CRI first I'd like to address the large amount that this District spends on legal fees the lawyers are a needed asset for the operations of a district this size they should not be the first goto for advice some issues can be discussed and waited through with nothing more than common sense I would like to encourage any and all who have regular access to attorneys to think about the cost of an attorney phone call when it could be avoided by either contacting an expert in that specific area are by plal Common Sense next I'd like to address our ever increasing Insurance costs they have gone up significantly over previous years I also read on the internet so it has to be true that's sarcasm that our
174insurance company music has capped coverage over certain issues I had not previously heard or understood this if this is true I Look to our supremely competent CFO to look toward other options that I know you alluded to this that may be more reasonable in cost and are more financially supportive our cost this year to music as you heard earlier is 4, 450,000 1010 it's a huge sum of money for them to turn down or max out coverage if the opposite of this is true and they are not limiting coverage then I still think it wise to search out more options I understand that they have been our insurance carrier for many years I'd like to thank Mr Baker and Mr jarski for taking the time to speak to us this evening I will continue to
175support a common sense bathroom and locker room policy it's imperative to the vast majority of people that I hear from that they are in favor of such a policy and don't understand the reason for waiting recently in Montgomery County Pennsylvania a young transgender man targeted and physically attacked a young lady in the lunchroom why would he do that because she had previously point of order you can interrupt but we can't this is a our boardroom not your courtroom he made up a hit list and she ended up in the hospital without a proper policy in place there is no governance of safety and privacy in our student bathrooms the Blue Spring School District transgender case being cited in other Communications as a reason to wait to adopt a bathroom policy is currently being appealed to
176the Missouri Supreme Court the award is members of the Board of Education have been waiting for a definitive ruling from the MSC however none has been given and this case continues to stall the Blue Springs case being appealed has a very different is very different from the fhsd previous proposed policy that case is distinct and not a reasonable alternative to not passing a policy since cross sex bathroom usage has been verified at multiple schools in our district many of our parents have expressed concern about the fact that there is no policy Direct in bathroom usage by waiting and not Furnishing a common sense bathroom and locker room policy the female student in our district are being told that their needs for privacy and safety must take a backseat to the needs of any male wanting
177to occupy their bathroom and locker room our male and female students deserve better not only that but this morning a press release was issued by Mary Katherine Martin a Harvard trained and Harvard Law review member attorney urging Francis Hall to adopt a similar policy to the one adopted by onville and which was made active on April 1st 2024 that is their policy 1750 and it's available to anyone visiting their website the press release states that we already have a policy which is evidenced by uniform signage throughout our District's school buildings it goes on to say that the district is not free to ignore this Pro problem as some of you have written to us and ask that we forget about 2116 it says our student safety is threatened every day by The District's failure to
178either enforce its current policy or adopt a new one that that protects every FH fhsd student there are copies available oh there's no copies here I'm sorry I'm ask Jane never mind there's no copies here you can uh get it online I'm not breaking any Sunshine laws by requesting a motion continually continually and Robert schs of order specifically says I have the right to continually bring this motion forward even if it is incorrectly denied a failure to Second this motion I'm about to make is a vote for the chaos in the bathroom and locker rooms to continue until everyone realiz the realizes the damage that is incurring to our young ladies who are voiceless or they are scared to speak up this is the biggest case of misogyny I have ever seen and I will
179not be quiet or complacent in protecting them for those of you that listen to the radio thank you I promise you I will not be silenced for these reasons I make the motion to bring a copycat of Wentzville School District's bathroom policy to next month's agenda as a first stre and I would say that motion is out of order why is it out of order this is not time to be making those kind of motions according to Robert's Rules of Order and to other to other um parliamentarians it is the proper time so your opinion is your opinion this is the correct time so again I'm I'll make the motion to bring a copy kit of went bille School District's bathroom policy to next month's agenda as a first read so I need a second
180any other board comment here I would just like to say a few things just thanks everybody for the hard work as we enter the end of the year ideally won't be seeing the board for till till till next year uh so hope everybody has happy Holidays and Merry Christmas and spends a lot of good time with friends and family and gets the rest and relaxation they deserve or like a motion to adjourn Open Session and reenter close session all those in favor say I hi thank you everybody