001Good evening everyone. All right, it is now 6:33. I need a motion in a sec. I'm sorry, wrong one. Mr. Cathy, can you please uh lead us in the pledge? Thank you. All right. Public comments. The school board has established a normal item of its order of business to each regular board meeting, a period of for statements as noted in policy BDDH1. During public comments, any citizen, excuse me, of Kirkwood School District may make a statement or address the board concerning issues pertaining to Kirkwood School District at regular board meetings. The period of time set aside for public participation shall not exceed 30 minutes. Any non-board member wishing to speak at a meeting must register their desire to do so and the matter they wish to present with the board clerk before the meeting is
002called to order. No individual will be permitted to speak more than once during this period. Speakers are not to address the board concerning specific personnel issues at a meeting. Such issues should be addressed using the district's established procedures for sharing concerns about school personnel and if necessary brought to the board's attention in private. Board members will not directly respond to a speaker during the meeting, but if a response is required, the appropriate individual will get in touch in the days following the meeting. The board establishes a uniform time limit of three minutes for each speaker. Although the public has the right to attend regular meetings of the board of education, no individual or group has the right to enter into the deliberations of the board. So with that being said, our first uh patron upcomment
003is Ann Frey. on. Thank you. All right. Hi, my name is Anne Fry. Um, it's been a minute since I've been here. Um I'm a resident and I have a couple of kids in the district and I'm also here with several friends from um the West County Action Network. I'm here tonight to thank the district and the board for their past support of diversity, equity, and inclusion as stated in our strategic plan. I also ask the board for continued advancement of both DEI initiatives and in affinity groups within our school community. Research has consistently shown that DEI and affinity groups not only benefit the individual but contribute to a stronger, more cohesive educational experience for the entire school community. A report from the American Educational Research Association shows that when students feel included, their engagement
004in academics and academic performance improves significantly. Another study in the psychology of education review says that students who interact in diverse settings develop stronger problem solving skills, better conflict resolution abilities, and increased empathy towards others. In addition, the benefits of affinity groups for both students and staff are supported by research. Affinity groups provide students with a sense of belonging and self- validation, which leads to resiliency and academic success. Since affinity groups are often studentrun, an opportunity for development of leadership skills is also available. In a talk recently, Pete Buddhajed said that the opposite of DEI is uniformity, inequity, and exclusion. These are not the characteristics of the school culture that I envision for my grandkids or for our young people or teachers and staff. I know that the district may be facing resistance to these
005efforts to create a more inclusive, equitable, and supportive educational environment. However, it is vital that we continue this work to achieve the district's stated mission to equip students with skills, knowledge, and understanding to be empathetic, successful, and to value all people. Thank you in advance for your courage. Thank you. Next up, Amy [Music] Leatherberry. Green button is already pressed. That's a win. Good evening. Uh my name is Amy Leatherberry and I work at Kirkwood High School and I serve on the executive board of K&A. Uh, I'm here this evening to thank our administration and this board for the continued support of diversity, equity, and inclusion, affinity groups, and the Kirkwood teachers of color mentorship program. Uh, my first experience of equity PD in Kirkwood was in 2013 um when I presented as part of the
006courageous conversation series at North Glendale, uh, read led by the remarkable uh, Robera McWoods. Um those tough but vulnerable and compassionate discussions that I witnessed and participated in that day have stayed with me um as some of the most important professional development that I've ever had. The core tenants of that work uh to speak your truth, lean into discomfort, expect and accept non-closure have taught me vital lessons about the necessity of ongoing dialogue in creating meaningful change. and the phenomenal educators with whom I've built relationships rooted in that work have profoundly impacted the quality of my instruction and strengthened my integrity as an educator and as a person. Since then, uh I've encountered many iterations of equity training from our varied February sessions to more personal book studies to powerful speakers and many more. Each
007of these experiences taught me something new and helped me evolve my craft. Thinking more deeply about how I operate in the world and becoming more cognizant of my own perspective and biases encourages me to be more intentional in how I engage with students. Research tells us that when kiddos feel like their teacher genuinely understands and respects them, they engage more. They take more academic risks and they gain confidence. The habits and strategies I've learned from the equity PD I've had across my career here helps me to create a culture where students know they belong. Not because I assume I understand their experiences, but because I've learned to listen. We are facing challenging and uncertain times and our children are going to look to us for guidance. They will watch what we do and also what
008we don't. So I want to conclude by urging your continued commitment to our DEI initiatives in the current and in future strategic plans including professional development opportunities, affinity groups, and a focus on attracting and retaining diverse staff in partnership with KTOK. We may be facing new frontiers of division and fear, but we are a district of pioneers. When we embrace our mission and values, there is nothing that we can't do together. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, our KHS students. And I know we have Eevee Deckard and a friend. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to speak about a topic we find important to Kirkwood School District. We are juniors in Mr. Roland's AP language and composition class. And over the past school year, we have been cultivating a series of
009guest speaker events. Kirkwood High School students of all grades have had the opportunity to attend the events and learn from speakers during home room. The purpose of these meetings was to inspire students to explore and learn about different career paths to eventually help them find a career they love before graduation. This winter, we hosted career experts from a variety of different fields, including Kirkwood Fire Chief James Silverell, entrepreneur and baker Britt Royale, director of business strategy for the St. Louis Blues, Mary Burrilla, architect and interior designer Jessica Sen, and a team of six agents from the St. Louis FBI field office. This project sprouted from our observation that Kirkwood High students do not get enough career guidance from the current system. Recently, Kaiser Elementary School hosted their yearly career expedition day where parents and local
010individuals presented information on their careers to elementary school students. While it's beneficial for young students to be experienced to career guidance, a greater effort should be focused on high schoolers who are entering a more career relevant stage of their lives. Though we believe that deciding on a major does not make or break your college experience, knowing the field you want to pursue can save students time, money, and stress. Our KHS C college counselors work extensively to support students and with their help many graduates have found success. Even so, the guidance that students currently engage in is not frequent or extensive enough to effectively build a strong career knowledge. At most, students will see their college counselors twice a year. This is not enough exposure for students to effectively discuss their post high school plan. This
011leads us to conclude that there are other career guidance strategies that would better prepare Kirkwood students to a greater degree. We believe great career guidance is formed from the input of every educator. So what we ask of you today is that you consider what opportunities you have to bring more career experience and information to students. Specifically using your power to review and approve curriculum can ensure that students are learning their typical course curriculum alongside receiving career guidance and support. After all, the purpose of high school is to prepare young students for their future. Co career exploration presentations, emphasis on local internships, and more utilization of STL caps and South Tech can change the course of students lives for the better. Overall, the best thing to do for our high school students is include more frequent
012and in-depth career exploration, whichever shape or form it comes in. As representatives of the student body, we believe if each educator made a small effort to increase career and college readiness, we would have a more confident and knowledgeable graduating class. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I need a motion and a second to approve the presented agenda for the March 31st, 2025 regular meeting. I'd like to make a motion to amend tonight's agenda. Let me make sure I'm reading this correctly. I would like to make a motion to adjust the agenda uh request that item 7.02 be changed to include two separate recommended actions. First, 7.02 2 to approve the presented one-year salary package in 2025 2026 salary schedule for administrative staff at the elementary, preK, middle school, and high school as presented. And then
013second 7.03 3 to approve the presented one-year salary package in 202526 salary schedule for administrative staff at central office as presented and then to adjust all subsequent agenda items to be sequenced as appropriate. Second. All right. So, all those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I. I. All those opposed? So, that's four. All right, motion fails. Um, so I need a motion and a second to approve the presented agenda for the March 31st, 2025 regular meeting. So move second board. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say I. All those opposed. Okay. Thanks. Copy. All right. Okay. I need a motion and a second to approve the presented consent agenda items 5.01 01 through 5.18. So move Pengorn second Motika. All those in favor, please raise your right
014hand and say I. I. All those opposed. Motion passes. We're going to do this. All right. Thanks, Mark. I need a motion and a second to approve the personnel report for March 31st, 2025 as presented. So moveka second hepern. Any abstensions? I abstain. I abstain as well. I will abstain too. All those in favor, please raise your right hand. All right. Motion passes or fails. It's four. He He raised his hand. Yes. Uhhuh. Yes. Okay. 7.01. Financial statements February 2025. I need a motion and a second to approve the financial statements for February 2025 as presented. So moved. Pangorn. Second. Motika. Good evening. Our operating revenues in February were just over $20 million. Most of that is current taxes, which was about $17 million. Our collection rate for current taxes was 83.8% through February, and
015that's close to what it was this time last February at 82.7%. and we budget for a 97% collection rate in current taxes. Our operating expenditures in February were $9.5 million. Most of the this is salaries and benefits, but we also paid 2.5 million in principal and 49,000 in interest on the 2013 and 2014 leasehold revenue bonds. In our debt service fund, we paid 3.9 million in principal and 818,000 in interest on the Prop R bonds. Any questions? I'll start to my right. No. Mark, do you have any questions? Sorry, Mr. Boyco. No. To my left, any questions? All right. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I I All those opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Next up, 7.02 administrative salary package. I need a motion and a second to approve
016the presented one-year salary package for administrative staff with a combined package increase of 4.40. So move Pangboard. Second. Motica. Dr. Fields. Good evening, Board of Education. It is a pleasure to recommend a one-year salary package for administrative staff with a combined package increase of 4.4%. Okay. Um, open, excuse me, questions. Um, I'll start to my left. Yeah, quick question and I got uh just some some brief comments. Um, is is this up on board docs, the actual information? That's where I pulled it from on the public site. Okay. All right. So, I feel it's important to note that there's two topics, hence my, you know, request uh to amend tonight's agenda. Um, and I'll be brief, but um I want to be upfront that that was the the rationale for my request to split them
017out um in the agenda in an orderly manner. Um the reason I personally wanted to do that is to make sure that um you know what will transpire um with the way this vote likely plays out um that I in no way come across as not fully supportive of the proposed salary package and schedule for our building level administrators as presented for 2526. Um I want to be very clear um with that. Hence the opportunity that I had requested to to vote in that manner. What I'm not able to support is the recommended salary package in the schedule for central office that was brought to the board late last week. Um in my opinion, an assessment of the current competitiveness of our compensation should take into account the overall evaluation of our entire salary schedule
018compared to those of our peer districts. That has not occurred. This recommendation has changed a few times um but in its current form it still does not address all of the original goals that were stated at its outset. So I appreciate the opportunity to make those um comments. So I have Thank you. Thank you Miss Andrews. Um, I cannot support this package, but I want to acknowledge that our administration is a highly talented group that does great work and puts in incredible effort. Um, my vote um is not a reflection on their dedication um but rather a reflection on the process and methodology used to make this recommendation. We've been told publicly that uh a hiring freeze is recommended yet raises double the amount of our teachers received are being proposed. Um Dr. Alrich in
019conjunction with a third party worked diligently to de develop an administrative salary package schedule or a salary schedule um which was completed in 2023. I struggled to understand why in both May 2024 and now in March 2025, we're being asked to change the methodology for determining salary competitiveness. The schedule was just developed and at that time adjustments were made to ensure competitiveness. In 2024, a third party was re-engaged to justify the current proposed changes. However, there are flaws in the revised methodology, which I've expressed to both the board and our administrator. The reasoning behind these changes has shifted even as recent as last Wednesday. One major flaw is the use of individual salaries from comparison districts rather than a structured salary schedule that provides a consistent reliable method for determining competitive pay. To illustrate the
020issue, here's an example. This is not based on real numbers or individuals. Suppose this year's salary adjustments are based on a group of employees in our comparison districts who have 15 years of experience and earn an average of $150,000. Next year, all those employees retire and are replaced by individuals with only one year of experience earning an average of $100,000. Under the proposed methodology, we would be considered competitive one year but above market value the next despite no actual changes in our pay structure. This approach creates an un um stable and inconsistent method of salary comparison. Our employees deserve to be paid competitively, but they also deserve a stable, consistent, and fair process for determining competitiveness. In my opinion, the current recommendation does not achieve that. Thank you, Miss Maltika. I was very excited three
021weeks ago to vote yes for the salary package for staff. And I'm just as excited tonight to approve the administrative salary schedule for all of our building administrators and our central office administrators. Um, it's important that we show our people how much they matter, how much we value them. And I believe that this salary schedule does that. And there were a few corrections, a few um discrepancies that have been addressed which I think were very um carefully done. Miss Heer. Yeah, just a couple quick comments. Um I want to make it clear that uh I think the word raises is a little bit um misrepresentative of what we're talking about. The differences that were referred to are adjustments based on the existing competitive compensation strategy that we have in front of us. Um, so there
022were a few adjustments to make sure that we were in line with the goals that a third party presented as a good goal for us to have. Um, personally, I mean, we as Kirkwood are so blessed that we have so many tremendous resources with iPads, incredible buildings, idea labs, all these wonderful things. The best resource that we have as people. Um, and it was part of my promises when I campaigned for this position. and it continues to be something I'm very dedicated to is making sure that we attract and retain the best people. Um, and I think compensation strategy and making sure we remain competitive is an important part of that. Right now, we're using the information that we have in front of us that came from a third party. We have um a recommendation
023and a methodology. It is the tool that we currently have and that is why I'm going to support using that data to make this decision. Um, but I want to be very clear that I'm extremely open in the future to looking at that methodology, looking at what our competitive compensation strategy should be. Um, and I'm very open to a discussion to make changes or edits if we think that there's a better methodology or strategy um, that we could apply in the future. I'm just going to go with what we have today. Thank you, Miss Pangborn. Sure. Um, I uh, Dr. fields appreciate all the work that you've done and and bringing this to us and and Dr. Alrich. Um I appreciate everything that our staff are doing, especially our admin and our principles and the
024support that they're giving to our students. Um the students education, the focus there. Um I also um appreciated the administration package and the fact that we've had a year to really talk about it and understand um you know what was being recommend um the input that was coming from um the third party about why we were trying to be competitive the roles that our people are doing that recognition retention attraction all that. Um, I do think the recommendation is fair and representative of work being done in our district. And I like what director he said in that yes, I also agree that if in the future um and we have changes to roles and positions and um anything in education uh also open to methodology, I don't think that one change at any time is
025forever. So um I support the administration package as is and appreciate all the work being done to date. Thank you, Mr. Boy. Uh, I'm good. Thank you. All right, we're going to go to a vote. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I I." All those opposed and I abstain. Sorry. Oh, sorry. I oppose. You get that? Thank you. Motion passes. Motion passes. Next up, the KSD comprehensive staffing plan. Good evening, Board of Education, community, and colleagues. Tonight, I will continue what has been a journey with respect to the Kirkwood School District comprehensive staffing plan. As we continue with the staffing plan, obviously everything is going to be within the lens of the strategic plan. As it pertains to tonight, I do want to let the public as well as everyone
026here know that in addition to this presentation that you'll see tonight, which is really an update, there is on board docs a 300 plus um page document that does provide all of the information. Um Mark, if you ever want your hard copy, I do have it here with us. to truly understand the staffing plan. They are there are nine components. Um the opportunity that I had in front of you all last time I focused on components three and four otherwise known as standard sections rather three and four. And so in its full totality you have section one staffing standards. Section two process for updating and approving job description. Section three, staffing levels and ratios. Staffing four, staffing recommendations, which have been updated. Section five, position management system. Six, budgetary implications. Seven, updated standard operating procedure
027for hiring. Standard eight, implementation timeline. and standard 9 monitoring as well as evaluation. For those of us that are not present, um any time that you will see salmon color or in this particular instance the salmon border, I tried to pull off the salmon today in reference to that. Um but you can see that it is something that was previously discussed and unless there's a substantive update or a specific question from the board of education, I will not discuss it. However, you do have access at both you can access it rather excuse me by going to board docs or you can scan a QR code which will take you directly to the previous presentation. And so staffing standards um are really self-explanatory. I do want to spend time looking at the MP6 minimum standard. Um
028I heard I heard the board loud and clear in terms of looking at the difference in terms of the numbers that DESI has. However, as it relates for this particular comprehensive staffing plan, this is set up in a manner to show the board how much latitude you have as it relates to decisions. And so, by doing so, the DESIE numbers that you will see for core instruction are the minimum standard. However, Kirkwood School District's staffing allocations have consistently been below these ratios, ensuring compliance with DESI's mandated thresholds. Well, I won't talk too much tonight about positions versus FTE because all of that is um included in section 3 which was already reviewed and that makes up the bulk of the particular plan that we have in front of us. There is a difference between the
029positions as well as the FTE and I do want to stress that here for the board tonight. Let's proceed to section two, which is the process for updating and approving job descriptions. In HR, we love process and we love having a system. This gets us closer to having a system that we can continue to grow accustomed to here in the district. The process for updating and approving job descriptions ensures that all roles within the Kirkwood School District remain clearly defined, consistent, and aligned with operational efficiency. and strategic objectives. Regular updates and comprehensive reviews support compliance with legal standards, fairness and compensation, clarity and hiring processes, as well as accuracy and performance evaluations contributing to robust and equitable workforce framework. The purpose of the job descriptions that you all get a chance to see and we'll
030talk about that process moving forward. We want to make sure that they are clearly defined with the roles and expectations. There are clarifying responsibilities, qualifications as well as reporting structures support operational efficiency within the Kirkwood School District as well as them being accessible online. As we continue with that, there is an importance for us to have accurate job descriptions. We believe this helps us be fair and consistent with compensation, clear recruitment and hiring criteria, legal compliance and regulatory adherence, structure performance evaluations, effective management and workplace accommodations as well. And just an anecdotal, we have heard from some of our um comparison districts reaching out liking the new format. There has been a change. Um, EXMI was able to go into a lot of heavy lifting in terms of making sure our job descriptions were up
031tod date as well as a legal review. And so that has been noted from many of our comparison districts. As we continue, we are going for an annual review of the process. And what I mean by that is job descriptions will be reviewed and approved annually by the board of education. Previously, job descriptions would just come and that's okay. But from a system standpoint, we want all of them to come at the same time so the board can have all of the information in front of them. This this ensures a current consistent alignment with district goals. And in the event that there has to be an amendment, just for the sake of clarity, we want to make sure that that amendment has the superintendent approval, justification in terms of why an amendment is needed, the
032impact for the assessment such as any staffing or budgetary or operational implications, legal and regulatory compliance, as well as board approval. So again, anything that would be outside of that annual review process would make sure we would make sure that it does meet these criteria that you have in front of you. As it as we continue with the comprehensive review every 5 to seven years, which was recommended by a third party, we need to have a fullscale district-wide update process. Um, this ensures alignment with evolving roles, the everchanging laws as well as changing district priorities. This also helps us with the potential impact on compensation structures due to updated responsibilities, market analysis and internal equity considerations. Last but certainly not least, I believe there the these are the steps that we would have as part
033of that comprehensive review process which we should all be accustomed to now that we have worked with a few third parties. The first of which being a job analysis and data collection, also known as the JAQ, benchmarking and market analysis, legal and compliance review, classification and standardization, stakeholder review and board approval, implementation and integration into our current systems. And then with compensation considerations, updating job descriptions does not automatically alter compensation. compensation changes consider only for substantial revisions. And so oftentimes when we see the other duty other duties as assigned that clause is not necessarily grounds for compensation adjustments just yet. We have to go through a formal process and then the changes require the board of ed I'm sorry the um human resources department review as well as the superintendent and board approval. As I
034go to section three, uh we spent a significant amount of time on section three, but what I do want to make sure we see is the updates with respect to um section 3. We do have updated data. Um thank you to Elizabeth Wright and many of our band and orchestra um staff members who were able to provide us with some historic data um that previously was not housed anywhere in the HR office. And so going through these data, we were able to look at the trend numbers with respect to participation as well as establish a secondary instrumental staff to student ratio. And so this will help us not only right now but as we move forward and certainly 5 10 15 years down the line. This data is rich and again thank you to the
035team for helping us get such data. the staffing recommendations. Um you'll see the salmon sort to speak because you will notice last time there were eight recommendations and that first recommendation was to complete or fully complete the comprehensive staffing plan. Um we essentially removed that and then moved everything up. And so instead of being number two um in this example um it is number one now which is to implement a temporary pause on additional staffing. And just to be clear, um, and this is located on page 295 of the, um, document that you have in front of you, there are three criterion that would be used to make sure we are aligned with staff. The first of which being a critical instructional or operational need is identified. The position strongly aligns with state mandates, DESIE
036compliance or district strategic priorities or enrollment or course demand requires an immediate staffing adjustment. Those would be the terms for having conversations about additional staffing and so on and so forth. you will see all of the other recommendations are still the same starting with develop a more structured process going all the way to adopt a position management system for annual staffing updates. Speaking of position management system, I think um you and I both Mr. Cathy have a love for making sure we have a system and a source document for the data that we are pulling. um we had a tremendous amount of time speaking with the finance department and through so we actually had a dormant um process not process but a system that was already there through powers school so what that means is
037essentially we have it there it's not active but we are part of it so to speak and so um we were excited to hear that and payroll was excited as well and so there's some work there but we feel really good with where we are allow me to dive dive in a little bit more. The position management system is essential for ensuring efficient staffing management and resource allocations within the district. This system integrates with human resources, payroll, and financial operations to optimize transparency and support strategic datadriven staffing decisions aligned with district objectives. The position management system overview that we currently have is implementing power schools ERP payroll and human resource position control module. Say that five times. It integrates with our human resources, our finance and our payroll functions that we already have. Um there
038is enhanced transparency and accuracy as well as strategic alignment on the staffing. Just a few system capabilities. It is real time tracking of staffing levels. What's pretty interesting and is when I was having conversations with many of our other HR um colleagues across the region um many of them were just like us like we have a document and we have some hard copies, we have some digital pieces and when we need something we try to go in and try to make something happen. Well, this would almost alleviate that moving forward with real time tracking of staff levels. I like to call it the equivalent of infinite campus for staffing and for positions which would really help from both a payroll, a finance and a human resources um perspective. The effective management tool um would um
039certainly have an authorized and occupied piece where when we have positions that are authorized or occupied, we have it. However, when that position is removed and it's vacant, it allows us to have so much real-time data that we can even speed up the onboarding as well as the offboarding process that we have right now. It will help with improved budget tracking as well for accurate financial planning as well as datadriven decision making and support. There are some additional um systems that are in place such as features the full-time equival equivalency piece the integration with fund accounting real time position tracking as well as the highly qualified teacher tracking um we will be able to see if there were any issues with respect um quicker with respect to certification historical record maintenance as well and so
040having said all of this this is all great but what are the next steps for us and that includes licensing licensing to make It is secured. Again, we do have the activation, but it's not being utilized. So, we are currently finalizing the setup steps with power schools. When I say we, that is HR, finance as well as payroll. We are preparing for a comprehensive training for both the HR and the finance teams. And we also have um to configure the system parameters for optimal usage. As we um continue to find out, there are some systems that we have that are great, but if everyone doesn't know how to utilize them in their full capability, we run into a situation where we are not maximizing our human capital or our resource management and you will see
041some continuation implementation steps um that we are going to follow. Moving along, all of this is a review that I will get a chance to go through uh pretty quickly. Thank you to the finance department um in particular Mr. Rome for collaborating on this particular section which is to analyze the budgetary implications of the staffing recommendations and making sure it's critical for maintaining the financial health and sustainability of the district. As we get into some numbers you'll see the certified piece, the support piece and then on the subsequent slide you'll see the administrative dynamic. It has both the recommended operating fund increase. You'll see the additional adjustments. You'll see for certified returning teacher salaries increase. You'll see the total operating fund salary and benefits for both certified as well as support staff. On this next
042slide, you will see the same information for administration. Um for administrative staff recommended salary percentage increase returning administrator salary increase um the total salaries and benefits for 2024 to 25 and 25 to 26 adjustments um as it states with medical insurance as well as retirement contributions. A summary of the financial impact for the operating fund. You'll see the certified package increase 2.85. You'll see the support percentage 4.18. And you'll see administrative 4.4. four. As we shift gears to section seven, which is the updated standard operating procedure for hiring, the board has seen this information as it has been presented a number of times. The only difference um other than looking at the feedback over the years is really extending that out not just to certified staff. If you recall, we were looking at the updated
043standard operating procedure for hiring and we were really looking at certified staff. This what we have in front of us will be for all staff. And so you'll see the application and screening process on the screen now as well as the hiring process. You'll see the selection and recommendation as well as approval and onboarding. I just want to thank the board again because um our director of recruitment and employee services we've received so much positive feedback from both staff as well as individuals who are coming on to the organization once an administrator were to re make a recommendation for hire or supervisor within a matter of minutes if not hours there's already an email that's sent out saying hey such and such welcome to the district we here are the next steps etc. etc. And
044Candace um Harris has done an absolute fantastic job. And that's not just from my perspective. That is feedback being shared from both the administrators as well as our staff that we are stealing from other district I'm sorry that we are hiring and bringing within our organization. As we continue with the updated standard operating procedure, there is times for special considerations. Now again, we do want to have a process, but there are instances where we need flexibility. We have taken that into account flexibility with both the timelines as well as the advertising scope. Um we do have the information for support staff there for some of those considerations as we continue with compliance and accountability. Again making sure that we have strict adherence to state and federal laws which are required. Annual training u mandatory on
045anti-discrimination and hiring laws. Documented HR approved deviations are required. And so if there's a situation where um we're trying to hire, yes, we have to still be in alignment with board policy in those three days, but it may be a situation where what happens if you only have one candidate or two candidates for some support staff roles and and one of the candidates um unfortunately is not qualified or doesn't meet the qualifications. What do we do in that instance? So we want to make sure we have flexibility in that particular regard. But we also will have regular audits which are conducted for compliance. The last few um sections are more so narratives and it speaks to the implementation timeline. Again, there are some pieces that we want to get um started with right off the
046bat. Um one of those being the um the process for having a position management control and then with some of the recommendations there is a phase in piece. We don't want to start right away with aligning middle school schedules, but we do want to make sure that is an ongoing conversation. So once we get to the 2627 school year or start planning for the 2627 school year, it isn't something that just have dawned on us. We would have been planning throughout the entirety of the school year. Um annual updates will ensure ongoing alignment with the evolving district priorities. And so, um, while I don't anticipate creating 300 and some pages every year, if there's a need to do so, the hardest time is doing it the first time, and seriously, if that's what it requires
047to make sure that the district is making the, uh, best decision given all the data that we have, then so be it. And so, uh, we're excited about having this level of process, but also this level of clarity. Lastly, we do have the monitoring and the evaluation component. This goes handinhand with the previous section of the timeline. Um, if you look at the second paragraph in terms of an annual staffing review will be conducted by district leadership teams including representatives from the HR, finance, curriculum, instruction, and school principles. This is an opportunity for us to review the focus of the analyzing our enrollment trends, our workload distribution, our data, budget implications, etc. This is an ongoing conversation that we have among the team to make sure any and everything that we're moving forward or making
048decisions or a byproduct of real live data to help us move forward. Feedback from staff, administrators, and community stakeholders will be integral in the annual assessment, ensuring diverse perspectives um inform staffing decisions. um as part of the CBA process and as part of not the CBA process, we do have the opportunity to engage with our unions, with our teachers to get feedback as it relates to some of these mechanisms. And last, but certainly not least, um this comprehensive staffing plan outlines clear structured strategies to optimize staffing practices within the district. Moving forward, immediate priorities include initiating those critical actions that have been recommended as part of this process. The last sentence is what I will go over and then I'll turn it over to see if Dr. Orick would like to share anything before we
049open it up in questions. And that is very important and that's this piece. Regular monitoring, evaluations, and annual updates will ensure sustained alignment with the evolving district goals and the operational excellence. I'll turn it over to Dr. All right. Thank you very much, Dr. Fields. Just want to uh reiterate the comprehensive nature of this report. I know you've been working on this with your team for months. I greatly appreciate it. I will tell you just by virtue of uh the first presentation of the draft that uh Dr. Dr. Fields did. I've already been asked by a superintendent colleague about what the rest of this looks like. And so, um, again, I do think that it is something that not only will be something that will work for us, uh, and the district moving forward, I
050do believe that it will serve as really a model for other districts in the region. Some of my HR colleagues are not happy with some of those questions. So, awesome. Okay. Thank you. I'm start to my right this time, Mr. Boy. I appreciate the thorough uh report both spoken and uh provide to us. So, thank you. Thank you. Uh I also appreciate it and I have not read all 300 how many 10 pages. Um, but I did note I'm really intrigued about the power schools ERP. Um, and potentially aligning that uh strategically aligning that to district objectives. And I think it's a question that we are kind of questioning sometimes as board members, right? Like how do some of these decisions or staffing align with our strategic objectives? And that may give us more data
051that we haven't had in the past. So, I'm really excited about that. Um, on page 302, um, I again just want to emphasize that I appreciate the update to the SOP for hiring and seeing it in writing, um, since we've talked about that. But again, like seeing it here holistically is really great. Um, and I think it'll be important to incorporate the implementation timeline and actions that come out of this into our upcoming strategic plan. Um, because some of those years will overlap here uh, on page 305. And then lastly, um, sorry, I'm just rattling off. I gotta get out of my head. On page 307, you said you're going to ask for feedback from unions and teachers. Will this also include principles or other staffing and admin folks that may have really good input
052towards like an annual discussion? Our um administrators um as well as our staff have been amazing in terms of sharing thoughts, feedback. Um, seldom is there even a need to just say, "Okay, let's get feedback on X." when something happens that's great, we take note of that. And then when there are a few items that are uh we're struggling with, we take note of that as well. Um kudos to the HR team. One of the things that we've implemented over the last few years um is our quarterly meeting. So we just have proactive meetings with administrators to have, you know, focus on, you know, this or that. today, this morning, I believe it was, we met with the high school and being able to work through some of the pieces that they're um dealing with
053as well as some things that just come up. And so being able to do that four times a year, it has really helped with the proactive nature of it. And then to your point, that feedback and always getting that real time feedback, which one of the pieces of feedback I provided today about candidates, that was based off of feedback from the high school. Okay. And then that feedback if you get it on a quarterly basis could in theory go into that power school's ERP so that it would be documented so when you have to make decisions later on is all connected I would think but I haven't had a chance to look at the actual sorry that's exciting dynamic but I hope so and that's something I'll take note of me and Mr. Rome as
054we continue to work with them. Okay that's great. No that's really exciting so that those discussions are not lost right when we go to make decisions especially at budget time. So really appreciate it. Thank you, Miss Heburn. I just want to thank you for your work and want to call out that I think one of your particular skill sets is on developing and refining processes and I think it's something that as a district I've seen a lot of movement on recently in general I off the top of my head I can think of curriculum multiple HR processes. All of these are good for our district and set us up for prolonged success and um make sure that we continue on the trajectory we're on. And so I really appreciate that. I also wanted to call
055out, you know, I can see throughout this document where you have taken feedback um certainly from us. I am sure from a lot of other places. I mean just calling out one the workload distribution um you know measurements something like that. So I I just want to thank you for your work and I think this will be good for us. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Maltika. I echo everything that they've said. This is um the the detail, the process, the the thoughtfulness of it. Um really helps me personally and I I think us as a board to understand how how you're doing this. So, really appreciate it and I love um the the dedication to regular monitoring, annual updates, EV valuation um that comes through very clearly. So, thank you for that. Thank you.
056Thank you, Miss Andrews. Hey, Dr. Fields. Hey, how's it going? Good. Thanks for your work on this. Um can you speak a little bit to our current approach for adding additional staff? Current meaning up until this point or in the past? Yeah. Yeah. Up until up until your Yeah. In the past, um if in fact there has been a need, um there is an opportunity for administrators to fill out something that they absolutely need. Um from there, we get a chance to look at the budget, have conversations, and then as a cabinet team, we'll try to decide what are the necessary steps in terms of priorities. I'll also shift over to Dr. or here in a moment because again as we looked at the strategic plan and and what is priority those decisions are made
057um as a cabinet team. So I'll yield over to Dr. Orick to finish up with that response. Yeah, I don't have much more to add other than that's accurate description of the process. Thank you. Um and so then um another question that I have is um in there it says that we're going to develop a strategic process. Um is the strategic process for reducing staff through attrition already developed? Yes and no. When I say yes and no, um I've been in constant communication, for example, with our elementary principles. And with the elementary principles, we looked at all of the data that we have, both cohort data for enrollment as well as look in the mid series of the coffin report to try to establish where we are for kindergarten. As we look at those numbers,
058what started out the conversation was based off of those who retired at the elementary level. And so before we just started replacing people as which was the process quite frankly um in years in the past the last few years have been more so regardless of how many staff members you have now what is the data suggesting what are the trends suggesting where we are it wind up working very um nicely this year because when you look at the number of retirements that we have when you look at excuse me some of the one-year only positions that we have and when you look at the decline that we have in terms of the number of needed elementary positions. We were able to then do a few things. Give principles the autonomy to see if they're going
059to have any changes, meaning one staff member is going from fifth grade to third grade and all of that. And I trust that that was a collaborative process. Now we're looking at situations where we have some fantastic, you know, one-year only um folks, which has always been the case. Now we have x amount of positions and our principles are going to be meeting on a particular day and having conversations and interviews with individuals as we place those other um individuals in spaces. And so that's a that was an internal only posting because we had enough existing staff for positions that are still outstanding. And so that's more so the detail in terms of a process that's being created utilizing our trend data to make some decisions. Thank you. Thank you so much for that. Um
060that's that is great to hear. Um okay and then one more question Dr. um Dr. fields is um so create a plan to reduce temporary staffing usage. He talked to like absolutely. So sometimes we um Kirkwood does a phenomenal job of supporting their students. I know having um two students in the district and oftent times when we are looking at temporary support we're talking about potentially in this example a 504 an IPO what have you and we may put staff in for that. Dr. Bailey is actually masterful at making sure we have the supports in place and keeping HR in the communication loop. And so in the past, someone may have been assigned over to X elementary school. However, if that student left the district or if that student moved on to the middle school
061or another secondary school and that level of support students are still getting, but we don't need additional staff. Well, what happened with that staff member? There was also an instance where in the past um if in fact an enrollment was more so tipped over and in lie of hiring another certified staff member in the middle of the year there may have been a um TA or classroom assistant doing phenomenal work. However, if we don't keep track of that, then it becomes a situation where, hey, you know, we want to continue to support our students, but we have a responsibility to make sure we're also being good stewards with our resources. That includes our human resources. That would be an example of making sure we're looking explicitly at those instances. Okay. Um, do you have a
062plan to kind of let us know about what areas um where you know we have temporary staffing and how that's going to be reduced because um again I just you know you we balance being you know responsible stewards with meeting kids needs And um it's a fine line and so um do you have a timeline on that? I'll certainly um speak with our team and and Dr. Olric um do I have a plan or some ideas? I always have a plan and some ideas. Will it work? I mean the feedback tell us that. But I do want to direct um the board to page 296 which is implement a system to track individual and teacher and support workloads. I want to be very clear, our teachers do a phenomenal job and this isn't an opportunity
063to say, "Okay, how many kids do you have? Let's make sure." No, they do a great job with that. And our principles um do great as well. This helps with what you were just talking about in terms of making sure at any given time we know not only what staff we have, but if this staff member right here um is about to leave and they've been supporting students, not only do we have a replacement, but how long will we need this level of support? That level of intentionality and detail would be would make us very happy in HR because again we want to be able to provide you with such questions and this such responses rather to that question in this example that particular recommendation is an example of something that would help. Now in
064terms of how soon or what have you again I'll speak with Dr. Oric and the team and kind of go for where we are right now. Yeah, because I guess what I'm thinking is if if we have put support in place for say student A who has a 504 and student A now has um left but we still have the support for student A but we have student B, C and however who are in our district but you know we're we're doing the best to support them that we can but Maybe some other resources are needed. We could use we could kind of move that. Absolutely. That's our thinking as well. Okay. Good. I think so. Um just one more. Um what is the current process used to analyze the budget implement implications of staffing?
065And for the most part, um, we use class sizes to determine the number of certified staffing and, um, building location. Support staff is a little different. Um, for example, custodians, it's based on square footage. And so, um, we've been increasing our custodial staff over the last few years just because of the new building additions. Maintenance is affected. Similarly, we've added maintenance staff because of additional building and square footage. Um, but generally certified staff is based on enrollment and class size guidelines. Thank you, Miss Roa. Oh, Mr. Cathy, thanks. Um, yeah, so real quick, I know we spent some time about a month ago talking about the position management system and I asked you like, do you have a vision for what that was? So, it sounds like answer is P school. Yeah, correct. So, that's
066exciting. Um, I'm glad that we kind of have it right ready for us. Now, obviously a ways to go to implement, right? But, um, and thank you for pushing on that because I once I saw it, I was like, "Oh, wow. We have this." And I'm like, "Oh, wow. We should have been using I take zero credit at all." Um, but I would just, you know, obviously it was a resource that we kind of had exposure to, but just, you know, I trust your um recommendation if that's what you bring forward. But, you know, there are solutions out there. Um, again, I don't know anything about them. I just know they are out there to help people stuff like this. So, um, but if you're comfortable with P school, I think that that's a fantastic
067development. So, um, I will I will say Just to be candid, I I'm struggling with the first and implement a temporary pause and additional staffing because when I look at the bullet points, I say would we we would always follow those bullet points in terms of assessing whether or not we would bring additional staff on. We added a position tonight. We did. That meets the criteria set forth in this. So I I just want to be careful because what it tips forward and and we pressed to have some of this information brought forward to us about a month ago uh because of some financial information we saw ahead of you know contracts and ultimately the budget for next year. And again I I let off my statements a month ago and I'll say it again
068that we are in incredibly strong financial position here. Um, but we would always, you know, make sure there's an a critical instructional or operational need identified that it's aligned with our strategic priorities and then monitor enrollment. So we added a position tonight and my question is based on this guidance like I just want to be careful that we don't put oursel in the corner because there have been you know additional resources to support ELLL and things that have been discussed by this board and I worry that I mean essentially that first bullet point is business as usual we will add resources in a sound manner to be good stewards of the district's funs as opposed to saying temporary pause on staffing unless it really makes sense. So I I would push back on that point.
069Um making good decisions looking at our projections is business as usual for this district. Um so with that my question is you know based on this the way this recommendation is presented is the goal for just the the book to be closed on any additional resources for 2526 and I will fully recognize right now that the finger could be pointed on me in terms of speaking out of both sides of my mouth potentially but I just want to make sure that like again we're we're just being thoughtful but also taking into account the conversations and feedback that this board can provide about where we might want to see funds used. So my that question with my I'll wrap up because I have one other point with the way that bullet point reads is the way
070that the budget's going to be developed for 202526 that as recommendations and asks come up from our building are we going to explore them? I'll turn it over here in a second to Dr. or but I do want to say thank you for that because I think that's that's fair. Um and it's certainly something that we grapple with. So I'll yield over to Dr. Orward. The short answer is absolutely yes. But we will continue to consider any opportunity we have to improve outcomes for our kids. Um certainly will be viewed through the lens of of the work that Dr. Fields has done. So will we have visibility in terms especially with this budget and you know sensitive to this because we have transition taking place in the district obviously um and the timing of the
071budget too the way that hits with all this taking place. Will the board have any visibility in terms of what is considered because we have asked in the past to know kind of what rolls up in the budget process when ends up not being making it there. We have not seen that. Um so will we have visibility to that specifically this year and I'm sensitive to the transition that's taking place. Again the short answer is absolutely you will. Um per my commitment throughout the u I will let you know that obviously we are in a a period of transition specifically as it relates to the superintendent. Um so have confidence that anything that is brought forward has been done. U Dr. Rumpus has been informed um and uh we um where appropriate we will even
072engage in joint communication uh with the board of education specifically as it relates to um any items that we will bring forward that would be additions. Um certainly you can be confident 100% confident that anything that we do bring forward uh would be in the uh in the context of the strategic plan but yes absolutely the board will be aware will be aware of what additional resources get brought forward as part of the standard budget process and potentially don't make it into the 2526 uh budget draft. Yes, that is correct. We will see that. Yes, because that would be a change. Correct. Yes, we will be sensitive to that specifically given the transition. Okay. Um and then lastly, workloads. We spent some time on that topic too. Um you know, the the third bullet I
073think as it reads, you know, I'm not going to um you know, dissect it, but one of the things I talked about and I think a few other board members spoke to was just taking into account more than just ratios like student to um to teacher. Um I think the third bullet point encompasses that. But what I would press is just as a result of this work as we evaluate workloads like what can our teachers expect to be different as we evaluate that does does this fund not fundamentally but would they see small incremental changes in terms of the information that we look at to determine whether or not we're comfortable with the workloads? What will look different? and I'm putting you on the spot if if you know this is you know the ink's
074still drying on some of this, right? Um I I think that's that's something that I have an appetite to hear just to speak for the teacher perspective and knowing like what changes going forward. So if you have insight that's fine you can share now but certainly if you know followup would be appropriate too. I think it's a fantastic question and and I'll be you know just upfront I'm biased because I absolutely love data and I I love data inferencing and so initially as it states to tracking the tracking piece or the monitoring piece allows us to then have conversations that are necessary that would be a component with working with Dr. in her office looking at those particular pieces because she would have some insight that from an HR standpoint I might be looking in
075one regard she may be looking in another um Dr. Bailey as well as um the new Mr. Rome um and so all of that the way that I read it in terms of this centralized tracking system that is the go-to as it relates to knowing exactly what the workloads are. So I think that's the first level. Um I think um director Heburn talked a little bit as well um looking at the the workloads and all of that. No decisions or anything are made right off the bat. But absent of that and bless you absent of that information I think we're we're making decisions that can be even you know better if we have it. And so I think the first level is just having that. Now as we start looking at the data and um
076looking at the results in terms of component number three which is in its entirety staffing loads in relation to student outcomes um to ensure appropriate support for student success. Then what is the data suggesting? Is there some type of data like it's aha we didn't know that x amount of dynamics are leading to x outcome. Then that would be incredibly helpful. And so right now, um, as far as I'm concerned, we don't have that dashboard or that mechanism. And what this recommendation does gets us closer to that so we can have some of those more substantive conversations that I think you're ready to have, which is, okay, what's the X percentage or what's the sweet spot away from class sizes that help us determine X, Y, and Z? Let's explore that a little bit more,
077and then do we need to make some staffing adjustments as a result? It's just we don't have that right now for me to be able to give you a more substantive response. Yeah. And I understand like there's things that have to be put in place, but I just, you know, um destination district and all that has been not only talked about tonight, but repeatedly as it should be. Um teacher workload is to me I think like one of the biggest ways to make an impact there. And if we can show like things are done different in Kirkwood to look at that And I think we're on track to do that and I think that could be a monumental um step in the right direction. So I'm sure and I think Kanye and MSTA will agree
078with you. Yeah. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for your work on this. I just want Is there a cliff notes version? I'm just kidding. No, seriously. Thank you for the Yeah. Um for this. I did I was happy to hear about power schools because I I love that we're maximizing the resources that we're already using so it's not another you know um thing. So that's really good. I love that um all the job descriptions will come to us at the same time every year so we can create that. Um but yeah know thank you so much for all of your work on that and then I'll hand it back to Miss Pangborn. Did you have a question? I I do have a question. We're not voting on it tonight, right? Okay, perfect. Um
079I I want to follow up on something, Mr. Keffy, um that you said, and I hadn't read on page 295 that implemented a temporary pause the way that you did, and now that you brought that up, I really appreciate that comment. So, I guess my question is, does it need to be rewritten or something added to the budget implications? like if this isn't a normal hire, right, that it goes it comes to the board, like does that need to be specifically in there since this is quote unquote a temporary pause? Like would that help answer I think some of what you were getting at? Yeah, potentially. I It's just my feedback. I think I thought it was really good. I think also, you know, you can make the counterpoint that the way it's written right
080now depicts, you know, standard operating. I just wanted to is more kind of making the point that um um to me it just comes across as like business as usual being smart and um you know as opposed to definitively saying it's it's a flatout pause because obviously we've we've had a sorry you got me rolling Jennifer um we've had a fundamental significant change which is enrollment we haven't seen just one year. We now have probably call it a trend, right? Two years in a row. Um that's a big deal. Um so it kind of precipitates this, but it to me we are also still in an incredibly strong position, right? So we have to make smart decisions, you know, teachers in terms of the number of sections that will be needed are obviously the first
081thing that we'll look at. But um you know I don't think I think there's still an appetite with this board to do things thoughtfully and that if there's a a need that's like really going to move the needle with the strategic plan, right? We'd have a detailed discussion, but we're probably I don't want to get ahead of myself. No, but but I guess your point is really good. And so I guess my and my I guess my thought here was if there is something that is added to make it less about this is how we would traditionally do this. But again, the uniqueness of that desired outcome for a hire, right, the budget implication or coming to the board to meet your your like kind of where you were going, I think would be really
082helpful because I really appreciate that point. So, I just wanted to add that. Thank you. And again, thank you to the board of education. All of those questions, feedback, pushing on the data that helped us get to this point. And so, the HR office, we can't take that credit. At the end of the day, you all push our capacity and we like to think we're doing the same. So, thank you for that. Thank you. All right. Okay. The prescriptives, Mr. Bailey, I have to take Dr. Bailey. Sorry. Um, future events. Uh, April 8th, 2025. We do not have school, but it is the general municipal election day. Um, go ahead and vote for your school board, new school board members. Um, April 9th, budget finance committee meeting. April 14th is board reorganization meeting. April 18th,
083teacher work day. There's no school for students. And then April 28th, there's another board meeting. All right. So, I guess this meeting is adjourned. Have a great evening.