001Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting to order. If you would please stand and join us in the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> I would like to thank everyone for being here this evening. Uh whether you are at home or here with us in person, we appreciate your time. Um could I please get a motion to adopt the agenda, please? >> I move to approve the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say I. >> I. >> Motion passes. >> 2.1 the superintendent report. >> Thank you, President Myers, Board of Education. Several good news things to share with
002you. First off, we have seven LSR7s who made the cut for National Merit Scholarship semi finalists. So, congratulations to Paul Kim and Lu and I was looking to see if Ella was in here, but she's not. She's one of your board reps. Um, of Lee Summit High School, um, Carson Deas, Leo Hillbrand, Reed Moore, and Sage Summerhouser from Lee Summit North, and Braden Canrell from Lee Summit West. So, kudos to those seven. Another congratulations to our Aubrey Shortino. I've said this before, but she is one of seven finalists for Missouri uh teacher of the year. That'll be announced sometime next month on a Monday night. And then congratulations to Dr. Stacy Matthysse, who I believe is still in the room. You want to wave to everybody? There you go. Dr. Stacy Matthysse, who was selected
003to receive the 2025 Missouri Council of Administrators of Special Education Recognition Award. This honor highlights individuals with at least 10 years of experience who have made a significant contribution to the special education field. So, congratulations to Stacy. Give a round of applause. Next one. My old teaching partner at Missouri Scholar Academy back in the day, Lee Summit Norris, Ben Juwel, was honored by his peers with the Wayne Brown Outstanding Teacher Award at the Speech and Theater Association of Missouri. So, congratulations to Ben. And congrat congratulations to East Trails Middle School math teacher Amy Ruof, who was just awarded this month's Learning for Life award. Miss Ruof was nominated by her peers for a hands-on approach that empowers students to work through problems independently, offering guidance without judgment and encouraging growth and continuous improvement by students
004and fellow teachers. And even though she is a veteran teacher, she's taken on cheerleading this year as a math teacher after more than a couple decades of teaching. So, kudos to her for doing that. And then, uh, some updates. Families, a reminder to apply, uh, if you qu if you think you're going to qualify for free and reduced lunch. those students who applied last year um but haven't reapplied yet this year. Your deadline is October 1st, which is next week. And we don't want you to lose your eligibility. LSR7 recently hosted its annual college fair. We had I think it was 350 people go over to John Knox Village for that. Open to all students from Lee Summit High School, Lee Summit North High School, and Lee Summit West High School. The event connected students
005and families with representatives from a wide range of colleges, universities, military recruiters, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secretary Education, and more post-secondary institutions and organizations. So, thank you to our staff who helped set that wonderful event up for our students. And then families, um, if you have a first, third, fifth, or eighth grader, first, third, fifth, or eighth grader, your child can apply for and earn what's called a pathway to biteracy award. And we're like the leaders in the state with this. So, um, please, uh, if you're going to do that, uh, fill out the application by November 1st. You can learn more on our website. And that concludes my superintendent report. >> Thank you very much. Next item on the agenda is this year's student board representatives. >> All right. Uh good evening
006everyone. So we're going to start off with Lee Summit North. Of course I'm from Lee Summon North. My name is Max and Chin and I'm a senior. and this I'm Micah Sanchez and I'm a junior at Lis North. First thing up, we've had some festivities in the past month that all went amazingly well. Homecoming this year was very early, but it was a great week. Our dance, of course, organized by our student council, was wonderful and had a huge turnout with around a thousand students in attendance. Aside from the dance, we had a very fun pep assembly and annual parade in downtown Lee Summit. And this year, before our football game, we had a party in the parking lot sponsored by our LSN chapter of Black Student Union. Staying in that realm, we have had
007immense success in athletics recently. Following our win at our homecoming game, varsity football player Josiah Robinson was named the Hi-Ve athlete of the week last week after our victory versus Mil Valley. Additionally, our girls volleyball team has had a great start to the season, amassing a record of 16 and4 so far. For their success, our volleyball team was recognized as the HY team of the week just two weeks ago. All right. Um, since school has started, we've also seen some immense academic success. As Dr. Buck just mentioned, Lisa North is extremely proud to announce that we have three commended National Merit Scholars and four semi- finalists for the National Merit Scholarship. Uh, moving away, as Dr. Buck also mentioned a little bit an outstanding teacher at Lee Summit North has been recognized for not one,
008not two, but three separate awards for excellence in teaching recently. Mr. Benjamin Juel was recognized early summer for his fifth diamond award from the National Speech and Debate Association, which recognizes his long service to speech and debate education, not just in Lisa North, but in the entire region. He was also awarded the Wolf Teaching Excellence Award from Kansas University. And his nominations from this award came from graduating KU seniors recognizing a high school teacher who positively encouraged and influenced them to dream, aspire, and persevere. And finally, of course, Mr. Dul was just recently awarded the R Wayne Brown outstanding teacher award from the Speech and Theater Association of Missouri. Additionally, Lisa North just reinstated our JOTC program. Mr. Gardner and Miss Sigman are doing a great job of recruiting members and building up our program
009once again. Again, they've recruited nearly 50 members in just a month. So, to sum it all up, Lee Summon North has been doing great and because of that, LSN was recognized by US News and World Report as a top Missouri school and was ranked the best high school in the city. That sums it up for Lee Summon North. Thank you guys. [Applause] >> Hi there. My name is Haley Barnett and I am from Lee Summit West. It's nice to be here again this year to be able and do this. Hello board members. It's nice to see you guys again. And those to those who I don't know, it's good to meet you. First, I'm going to start by honoring student and staff who's gone above and beyond the school year and it's only September. First,
010like Dr. Buck mentioned, we have one semi finalist of the National Merit like Scholarship and that is Braden Cantrell. We also have three commended students this year. Alden Marshall, Sam Ninmeer, and Riley B. Now to move on to staff shoutouts. We have a new IB coordinator, Dr. Edwards, who has stepped up in organizing the program and getting all of our IB students ready for the school year and their exams. Next, I would like to honor Miss Humphre, who has really stepped up. She has taken on both student senate, our student body government, and NHS. She was been insane and doing a bunch of work. So, I really want to honor her today. She has put in hundreds of opportunities for students to volunteer around the district and it's been super cool to work with her
011in both Senate and NHS this year. Um, I also would like to honor our new activities and athletic director, Miss Washington, who has stepped up and created our first majorette dancing team, the Titanets. And finally, Miss Sanka, who has stepped up for scholar in light of a previous sponsor stepping down. and she's just been doing an awesome job making our scholar bowl team great. Moving on, I'd like to talk a little about about what NHS at Lisma West has been doing. We recently had a very successful blood drive in September and last Friday we got to go to Trailbridge Elementary School and build birdhouses which was really cool to experience and we had a lot of fun working all day doing that and that's not something we typically do. So, it was super exciting to
012get to have that opportunity. Um, nextly next I would like to like move on and talk about fundraising and volunteer opportunities for Lisa Mo West. So on this week on Friday, we have a first homecoming dress drive where we have homecoming dresses donated to the school so that students can have access to nice high quality dresses but don't have to pay. It's not only dresses but it's also shoes and jewelry. So that gives our students an opportunity who otherwise might might not have that chance to buy that dress. Next, we have our next NHS blood drive December 2nd. Um we're super excited about that. We had a great turnout in September, so we're looking forward to the December one. We have a HOSA, our HOSA chapter has a Chipotle fundraiser. So if you guys don't
013want to cook on October 6th, stop by the Chipotle on Old Parkway and get some food and support Lisa West Hosa. And finally, I would like to talk about Powderpuff. Personally, I'm a senior and I'm doing Powderpuff, so I'm super excited. And Lisa West this year has had the highest turnout. We have over a hundred girls playing and we have increased the teams from two to four. We're super excited. So, tickets are on sale now and they're $10 and the game will be October 5th. First game is at 5:00 pm. Second game is at 700 p.m. And personally, cheer for the pink team because I'm on that one. Thank you so much. Now, I have Taylor. >> Hi everyone. My name is Taylor Husband. I'm a senior at Lisa Mil High School and I'm super
014excited to be here today. First, I'll start by talking about homecoming, which is next week, and our theme is Rio, which is super fun. Um, like I said, we have spirit week next week. We're all super excited. We also have our home homecoming game, and we'll be playing against the Raymore Peculiar Panthers. And then on Friday, we have a parade from 3 to 4. This is a chance to see a bunch of different activities at Lee Summit West. And if you have little ones, bring them. They can get candy. Um, and then also, BSU will be hosting a homecoming tailgate. This is one of the first actual clubs to be hosting a formal tailgate at least in the West. So, it's super cool. If you guys have time, please stop by. We would love to
015have you guys. Um, and then moving on to the theater program, we had a very successful performance of 12 Angry Jurors. It was great. If you guys can come to see any plays, it would be super helpful. The theater department loves to have you guys there. Coming up, we have another play, Water for Elephants. This is November 8th, 14th, and 15th from 7 p.m. at 700 p.m. And then we have it on the 9th and the 16th at 100 p.m. So again, if you guys have time, please show up. They love your support. They love you guys to be there. The theater has done an amazing job in the theater department. Our theater department needs extra support ever since the passing of Mr. Racker. So once again, please come support the theater department. They love
016to have you guys. Moving on, 32% of our junior and senior students are enrolled at classes at SCA, Cass Career Center, Hearnden, or through the early college program at Long View College. This is super impressive. We love to see our students doing these wonderful off-campus programs, and it's a great accomplishment for these students. Moving on to our IB program, it continues to grow and thrive at Lee Summit West. We have nearly 500 IB course enrollments this year, representing 250 individual students. This is awesome for our school. Moving on, the class of 2026. Um, we have 13 diploma program candidates this year and we have 19 career related program candidates. And then for class of 2027, we have seven diploma program candidates and we have 32 career related programs. This is awesome. Our school is just
017doing so amazing. And through these highlights, it's just a reflection of how amazing Lee Summit West is doing and how our students just strive for success. Thank you. [Applause] Hi, I'm Lucy Doran and this is my first year being a student board representative, but I'm really excited to be here and yeah, now on with Lee Summit High School. So, I first wanted to start out with um talking about how Lee Summit High School was recently mentioned in a Kansas City Star article, specifically our life skills program. they were able to get and earn a grant um and are now building like a garden and it's helping them with their life skills and other um amazing skills that they're able to get through this garden. And I would also now like to talk about our athletics
018department. We have gotten a state record in the 50 free for swimming and the four times 100 track relay. So, both very impressive on that standpoint. And I would now like to touch up on some of the very many clubs that we have here at Lisum High School. I believe we have around 80 different extracurriculars that students can get involved in. So, starting off, it's a new club this year called the Inner Club Council. And this is where different representatives from all these different clubs meet around like once a month and talk about issues and just like kind of unity of what these clubs can do in the in high school. And it's really um it's new this year, but I've heard feedback from students and they really enjoy the idea of it and I
019think it's going to be really good. And um talking about other extracurriculars, we had our varsity showcase for debate uh last week and it went really well. There was a very good turnout compared to showcases in the past and everyone had really good performances and I think this is going to be a really good year for the Lum High School debate team. Um, speaking of um like showcases, we also had our ice cream social showcase for the entire music music department that exact same day. Uh, band, orchestra, and choir performed and did like a little uh, tidbits of all of their different songs that they have prepared so far this year. Everything sounded really good and I think around 300 people showed up to watch all the different performances. So, that was really good. Um,
020and Speaking of the band in particular, they had their first marching band competition this past weekend where they got sixth out of 17, I believe, and they have their second one this weekend and are very excited to participate in it. Um, and I think that is it for today. Um, hi, I'm Casey Worthy. It's my second year being a student rep. And then try to keep it short and sweet. So, we have homecoming coming up next Friday and we're playing Lisa West. So, watch out guys. Um um so we're all very excited for homecoming. And then a couple days ago, our varsity team played Ray Peek in soccer and they won three zero and they're playing rockhurst tonight. So hopefully we'll get a win there. And then last Friday, we also went to an elementary
021school for National Honor Society and helped the kids build birdhouses. It was really fun. And then that same day at night, we had our Rachel Stone Memorial Scholarship tailgate, which it had a great turnout. We had so many people come and donate money for a parking spot, which I didn't think was that big of a deal, but apparently people are really into that. So, we've got a lot of money raised for that so far. So, yeah, just short and sweet and that's what's going on for Leama High School. And thanks for listening to us. [Applause] Thank you all for coming in and we look forward to seeing you again soon. All right, next up we have our Lee Summit Elementary Westview Elementary process action team report. Thank you. There we go. All right. Well, uh,
022thank you for the opportunity to come and visit tonight. I want to introduce my, uh, co-presenter here. I will say if we'd have known we were following that act, we may have, uh, um, asked to go first, but uh, we'll we'll do our best. But this is Monty Helm. Monty is a parent in school district and was a member of our team. He's also a college educator in our community and uh has been a joy to work with on this team and we're going to be tag teaming this presentation tonight and and we'll talk about the agenda. But our goal here, there's a lot of details and a lot of information. Our goal here is to give you an overview of the process, some highlights of what we did and then end with the final
023recommendation, but I'll let him go ahead and walk through that. >> Right. So the uh first of all, thanks again for the opportunity to to present this to you, the work that we did. Uh the idea tonight is again just brief overview on what the process was. We're going to talk about the membership process to start with, how the members were selected, talk about the the highlights of the meetings that we had to meet, and then end with our final recommendation and give you all the opportunity to ask questions at the end. >> So, and and Monty, I thought the the spot to start was to talk about the foundation. So you got and you got links here that you can go to, but the three links here, first is the board meeting that um
024set out the charge for our work and the work that we did. then the resolution that the board approved at the at that board meeting. Um as well as then the charter uh that then guided our work as we uh uh did the process action team regarding the Lee Summit Elementary Westview Elementary um 2025 bond. So those three links there give you that foundation of uh Okay, we'll do um we'll get those to you. So um the resolution as you know also gave us guidance as well. So kind of give you an overview of that. That's the foundation that guided our work and was kind of our compass as we worked through the process. >> Great. Um as part of the charter there was a prescribed selection process for the stakeholders which consisted of Lisum
025Elementary parents, Westview Elementary parents, uh community members at large and le LSR7 staff. Um so you can see there highlighted on that link the different um components of the the team members. Um we called for volunteers. It was only the uh non parent at large members where there was more applicants than spaces. So for that group there was a lottery process to pick the members that were ultimately um served on the committee. Uh the other ones again the spots were filled um and there were still open spots left. So you can see they're highlighted 13 LSC parents, 11 Westview Elementary parents, 12 um at large, five LC staff, and three Westview Elementary staff. And then um there's a link to the roster membership if you'd like to take a look at that. Highlights the different
026uh the members and what their roles were um for the different uh stakeholder groups that they were in. So, next I'm going to walk through the three meetings that we had and and show you some of the information that's going to be here uh when you go to digest the uh the presentation. Um we did have facilitators and they set the agenda and and process us through. And uh this is uh the meeting one agenda that was at we met at Lee Summit Elementary School. And I'm going to click here and we utilized a a resource called social pinpoint. This online resource really was a place where they could get information through links. It also would have postmeating surveys that also had a discussion board that folks could put comments on and then um make
027uh notes on the comments. There's a couple different formats for that, but this is the um really the the vehicle, the tool that we used to organize meetings, keep information going, and and and maintain communication outside of the meetings. Meeting number two happened at West View Elementary School. Um like meeting number one, um we had uh an agenda set out. One thing that we did at both schools, all three schools we went to was a tour of the building. And you'll see in there we had um an kind of pros and cons, things we like, things that we we appreciate about the school and everyone. There's great things about all schools and there's things that you know what, what if this could be improved, those types of things. The parking lot is something that we
028used at each meeting. Uh when you have this many people together, this became a tool where people had questions, they could put them on a a poster board, a parking lot, and um typically we would get those we get those answered for them and then sent out to the group and then uploaded to that social pinpoint website. So you can see the different questions that uh the team members had and then the responses that were either from ourselves or sometimes there was responses from the facilitators that made their way into the presentation. That way we had that continuous dialogue and information going. Then meeting number three was at Mason Elementary School. The the reason I chose to take the group to Mason was because that was the most recent bond project school with a major
029renovation. So it gave some ideas. Every school's different and every school team would choose differently. It gave an idea as to what that could look like for Lee Summit Elementary, Westview Elementary if they were going to do it. So um I'm going to use this link and each of these meetings has all three links. I'm just kind of giving you a sample, but this is the meeting agenda and structure. It kind of gives you an idea of the how the the meetings flowed. We had norms we followed. There's the project processes logistics and then um we did a tour of that school as well. We did recaps from the different meetings and then there's another example of the parking lots from uh the meetings and the RSP also uh responded to those. This here is
030an example of exit tickets, deltas and pros about the the site tours and when we analyzed each of the three sites, give you an idea to how that looked. And then RSP actually used social pinpoint and some electronic uh uh tools to get some feedback from the group as we work towards consensus for the recommendation. Uh so you see in here the the social pinpoint surveys and and the feedback from the team uh throughout the meeting. We also had uh maps, demographic information, enrollment information, parking lots also provide a lot of information about school uh details, class sizes, staffing models. Uh people even asked for information about um uh the costs of different projects throughout the CFMP even outside of this is an example one of the tables about building capacities and and what those
031looked like. So it was it was a very comprehensive process where then at the end of our third meeting that we're talking about now uh we actually uh move towards a final recommendation from the team to then present to you as our board of education. >> Yeah. And I'd like to say uh Dr. Carlson did a great job as one of the leaders of the meetings and really helped the committee let everyone be heard and we were able to reach a consensus in the end which was great for the the work that had been done and all the time that have been put in. It's highlighted here. Um the final recommendation was to uh do not consolidate Leisum Elementary and Westfield Elementary um with the following items to consider. And then we had four sub
032points. Um honor the recommendations and options that were presented in the original CFMP. Um consider new boundaries, conduct a new study that would provide updated enrollment demographics and new developments. And the final point, if the budget can't meet the original recommendations, allow for a change in scope. um and allow the feed the schools to add put in feedback towards that. Um to clarify that last bullet point is really tied with the first bullet point. It was just the order that that that we put them down on the board. Um the original CFMP the budget in that was was um for complete remodeling of the schools. The committee felt like that should be allowed for a a change in scope. Maybe not a complete remodel but something uh appropriate to the funding available. Um, so with
033that, if there's any questions, we'd be happy to answer those. Um, you'll have this available to you. I know it's just an item of information for tonight, but you'll have the the presentation, the links, the social pinpoints, the parking lots, all those links, and all that data and information is available and active for you to review. >> Member Dawson. >> Hi, thank you for that presentation. And as Dr. R said the links don't work yet. So, I'm looking forward to seeing the data that you flipped through. It looked like there was a lot there. Um, one of the things I did notice as you were going through a lot um was the number of people on the committee and the number of people who attended each of the meetings. There were a lot of Ns
034and not Y's under those meetings. And I noticed that the final vote was only 31 people. So, how many people were selected for the committee who did not vote? um on that final resolution because it had to have been more than 31, right? >> Yeah. So, well, if you look at the 24 36 plus 8 Yeah. 44 staff uh or parents that were uh individuals, 44 individuals on the team. Um sometimes people had conflicts for different meetings, things like that. But the 31 represented all of the team members that were able to be there that last night. And yes, there is uh information about attendance um on the roster membership so you can see who was there and when. >> Yeah. Okay. >> Does that answer your question? >> Uh yes. And I have a
035couple other questions if you don't mind. Um I noticed in the summary page, the final recommendations, it's it references uh original CFMP and original uh uh recommendations. Is that different from the CFMP that I have access to today? Okay. So, it's not different. >> Yeah. I don't know which one you have access to today. I think the the folks that were there were some of the members on the on the Pratt that were a part of the original CFMP process for the individual schools. Okay. And they were really the spirit of what they were saying, I'm not sure what you have, but the spirit of what they're saying is, hey, when we did the CFMP conversations at the beginning of this process, we'd really start, we would like to look at those options again as
036they were originally presented and and really recommend to the board, please look at those options as they were originally recommended. >> Okay. So, so the CFMP document has not changed. It's just the discussions around the CFMP that these these uh Pratt members would like to revisit the same discussions that were had when the CFMP was discussed with the CAC, was it? >> Well, and I think the language they used was honor. They they'd really like to see those top those conversations honored in the work moving forward. >> Okay. Um I think I understand what they're getting at. Um, and then there was a quote in here, send back to schools for feedback. Um, do they mean the school administrations who offer up like when when the plans are being made and the administration says, you
037know, we're going to need a new roof, we're going to need this, we're going to need that. Is it that type of feedback or when they say back to schools, do they mean another Pratt or do they mean the admins? >> Monty, correct me if I'm wrong. I I I don't I don't know that we we got to that detail. I'll say the spirit of when talking about schools and the work we did, I think they're talking more the school community um and those folks that were a part of the conversation during the CFMP process. >> Okay. So, >> if I could just add on I was on the CFMP committee also and I think the the what we were saying there is there was a long list of of asks that we were told
038to come up with as part of the CFMP process. And so if we tie that in with the first poll, if there is going to be a reduction in scope, going back to those schools and see what are the highest priorities of the list from the CFMP that was done since we don't have the funding to do all of them. I believe that was the intention. Okay. >> If I can add, Miss Dawson. So the CFMP part of what they said is do a project, do it really, really well. What if because of tariffs we don't have enough money to do one whole project? Then we'd have to scale down the scope. open. That's what this fourth bullet is for. But CFMP was not only did it list for each building what you could do,
039but their recommendation was if you do a project, don't do a part of it. Do all of it. Um that way we're not going back to the same building over and over and having ongoing construction in the building. Okay. >> Am I saying that right, Monty? Yeah. >> Okay. Yeah. I guess I just wanted to make sure that we're clear that we're not doing something above and beyond what any other school in the district was able to do for the CFMP. Um, I don't, you know, I wouldn't want them to get like special treatment above and beyond, you know, Lee Summit North or Trail Ridge Elementary or whoever. So, okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Any other questions? Okay, thank you guys. Appreciate your time. Okay, next item up is 4.01 public comments. We appreciate your
040attendance and willingness to speak to the board. Please remember that the board does not respond to public comments during the meeting, but may ask clarifying questions. Your comments will be noted by the board and administration, and if appropriate, we will discuss further action with the superintendent. Only those who have signed up prior to the meeting will be allowed to address the board. Pursuant to board policy BDDH, we will be limiting all comments to no more than seven people with a limit of three minutes each. You may not transfer any of your time to other speakers. Your allotted three minutes will be counted down on the screen. Please conclude your comments when the timer expires. Your comments must align with the subject described in your written request to speak and must directly relate to the business
041or operations of the district. I want to emphasize the following point tonight. Please pay particular attention to this. Your comments may not discuss individual employees or students in the district. Regardless of whether your comments speak of them in a positive or negative light, any such comments should be directed to the superintendent who will then determine if further action is needed. Because the board does not and cannot impose age-based restrictions on who attends or views board meetings. And because children of all ages frequently do attend board meetings, comments may not include obscinities or sexually explicit content. Furthermore, comments may not include threats of physical or emotional harm or threaten in any way the safety of others. We also remind all those in the audience that board policy BDDH prohibits the use of signs or audible responses.
042This includes applause, cheers, or jeers. If you are in in the audience and wish to respond in some way to public comment, you may contact the board or superintendent after the meeting. Your comments must be directed only to the board because the purpose of public comment is to bring something to the attention of the board. You may not speak to or interact in any way with any person in the audience. When your name is called, go to the podium and clearly state your name and the organization you represent, if any. Valerie Salazar. All right. Good evening. Um, my name is Valerie Salazar. I'm a parent of two Lee Summit Elementary students. I'm also a proud alumni of LSR7. I went to Mason, I went to Campbell, and I graduated from Lee Summit North. In fact,
043Mr. Juel was my teacher, so we won't we won't age him, but so excited to hear that. I want to say that we are grateful that our gra our grassroots efforts led to the board's decision to establish a committee that finally gave parents, community members, and our staff members a voice in the proposal to close Leummit Elementary. Many folks are here tonight because they continue in that grassroots effort. Our community has only grown stronger and bigger. It's actually been overwhelming. As one parent from the Lee Elementary and the Westview um process action team shared at our last meeting, we realize that both schools want what's best for all students. That Lee Summit Elementary wants what's best for Westview and Westview wants what's best for Lee Elementary. And we also want what's best for our own
044because we're one community. We ask you to continue standing with us. As you meet with influential leaders, we encourage you to amplify our voices and recommend they connect with us directly because ultimately this proposal will most significantly impact our children, our students. And if you have questions, ask us, meet us. heck, hold a public forum at our school. I deeply believe in the power of public schools. Strong public schools build strong communities and they build vibrant neighborhoods and that's what we have in downtown because of Lee Summit Elementary. One thing we can truly be proud of here in Lee Summit is that our public schools are rooted in strong, supportive communities, something I've witnessed firsthand over the past year. My husband and I couldn't imagine a better place to live, raise our children, and have
045them attend elementary school than right here in the heart of our city in our neighborhood in downtown. And that's Lee Summit Elementary. We hope every family in our neighborhood has the same opportunity in the future. And that's why we will continue to advocate that Lee Summit Elementary remain as an elementary school at its current location in the heart of the city. We haven't been here to resist change. We're here to shape it. Let's explore creative solutions if need be. Let's reimagine what's possible without erasing what already works. Because when we invest in schools, we're investing in our future. And when we protect a school like Leon Elementary, we send a message that every child matters. We hope you'll continue to amplify our voices and support the recommendation from the LSC WVE Pratt today, tomorrow, and
046into the future. So, thank you. >> Mike Mcgru. >> Good evening. I'm Mike Mcgru. Uh, I was a member of the LSC WB Pratt team speaking on that item today. Um I want to second many of the recommendations and testimony of my previous speaker. Um we did see 26 to4 84% agreement. Um but there were many times along the way where it didn't seem possible and uh I want to generally thank the district as a whole and its representatives. Um the work and coordination with the Pratt and the third party facilitator showed grace and a genuine commitment to active listening which was sorely needed. Um, it made a significant difference. Um, it was a credit to LSR7 and I'm grateful for that service. Um, I request uh one thing specifically tonight. Um, because it's not
047really technically shown in either the CAC uh enabling language or the Pratt language. Um, I would just request that the LSR7 board of education empower the LSE WB Pratt representative to present the findings and recommendations directly to the CAC. um including a dedicated question and answer session for CAC members to ensure a genuine exchange of information and a thorough consideration of the community's perspective both the CAC when I say community I mean not just LSA WBE I mean CAC and the community as a whole um it's just unclear if the direct presentation by the action team is implicitly allowed in either the CAC charter or the Pratt so um yeah I I think the solutions and the and the recommendations were very targeted. Um they came from a place of of of sensibility. Um it's
048there was a lot more detail and discussion that went into each one of these four bullet points. Obviously, there's there's a lot of time and opportunity to continue this discussion, but um yeah, I just generally want to second that and specifically speak on that issue today. And that's it. Thank you so much, >> Donna Gordon. Good evening. My name is Donna Gordon. I am a parent of two LS graduates and a 35-y year community member. On se September 10th, I was eating a late lunch, opened my email to see breaking news that Charlie Kirk had been shot. I immediately went to X where I saw a number of updates and and see saw that he ultimately died, but I also saw post after post after post of people celebrating his death, saying it was justified
049and saying it was deserved. I was literally sick to my stomach to see such hate on that day and in the days after, including some in our own district. Nearly every single hateful post called out something that Kirk supposedly said, although every single one was a manipulated pull quote that was out of context. Thomas Soul has said, "It is usually feudal to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance." Nevertheless, the context of Charlie's remarks in the sec to the in regard to the second amendment. This is his transcribed quote. Having an armed citizenry comes with a price and that is the part of liberty. Driving comes with a price. 50,000 people die on the road every year. That's a price. You get rid
050of driving, you get have 50,000 less auto fatalities. But we have decided that the benefit of driving, speed, accessibility, mobility, having products, services is worth the cost of 50,000 people dying on the road. So we need to be very clear that you're not going to get gun deaths to zero. It will not happen. We've passed laws making drunk driving illegal. Do we then ban alcohol if that can save lives? 1920s taught us how that worked out. Despite the cost to society of legal alcohol, we've made a choice. Life is all about tradeoffs and making rational decisions. It's time to return to rational discussions in this country, in this city, and in this school district. It's time to stop using emotional appeals to bludgeon the opposition and start talking. Charlie said, "When people stop talking, bad
051stuff starts. When marriages stop talking, divorces happen. When civilizations stop talking, civil war ensues. When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group. And what we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have reasonable disagreements where violence is not an option. Emotionalism and being led by emotions is not human but animallike. Humans are distinguished by having the use of reason and intelligence. I think we can all do better at that in our community. Thank you. >> Adriana PZ. >> Good evening. My name is Adriana PZ. I have two students in LSR7 schools. Um I'm also a social worker and educator. So, I've been studying youth civic engagement and education for the past several years,
052and I've dug into research that shows that when it comes to highquality civic learning, which was once the main mission of public education, it is important for young people to be able to discuss and process real world topics and issues that impact them directly, and it's important for them to be able to have these discussions both inside and outside of the classroom. Sometimes this requires modeling, guidance, and support from trusted adults. Which is why I'm concerned and speaking today about what I've seen going around social media, not only in our own district and community, but across the country in which there have been numerous calls for the termination of teachers because of their social media posts commenting on recent incidents taking place in our country. I want to say that I appreciate the district's unwillingness
053to try and censor the speech of any public school employee who is speaking outside of their employee role and speaking merely as a citizen on issues of public concern in ways that do not cause harm or disrupt the educational environment. And I commend any adult who is willing to speak truth to power, whether that be calling out racism or emphasizing the harm that is caused by gun violence at a time when it is more and more dangerous to do so with the current rise of authoritarian demands to silence, censor, and punish. I want to end with a question and comment to this board and our entire community. What should upset us more? a person working in our schools who can spot racism and who is courageous enough to call it out or a person working
054in our schools who is actually racist. Because calling out racism is not racist and it's not reverse racism. It's called speaking truth to power. And I honestly wish we were seeing more of it right now because we are all teachers of the next generations and our young people are watching. Thank you. Devoya Marshall. >> Good evening. My name is Davoya Marshall with Strengthening Education Together, also known as SET. I received an email last week asking what were our goals. Well, our goal is to ensure that all men, women, and children are created equal and that there is no superior race or gender. Our goal is to ensure that Americans have freedom of speech, free of hate or discrimination. We support LSR7 model, preparing each student for success in life. Some are here tonight in response
055to a letter written to the district calling for some of our teachers to be terminated based on social media post they made in their personal time on their personal pages. We stand with the teachers as they support our students and have their best interest at heart. In the words of retired LSR7 teacher Julie Hume, who couldn't be here tonight, "It has always been clear to me that our job is to educate, not persuade our students to adopt our worldview." There have been threats of violence to teachers for expressing their First Amendment right, which is ironic because those writing letters calling for teachers to be terminated for comments on the violent death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk are exhibiting the same violent behavior behavior they claim the teachers post promotes, obtaining personal cell phone numbers and
056causing one to leave his home. This is irrational, illegal harassing and bullying. We condemn any acts of violence. We stand against any type of gun violence and stand for more regulations that yes can prevent future school shootings. We also support student organizations that provide opportunities to our students. As written by a neighboring Lee Summit attorney friend, I am opposed to student clubs that promote sexism, racism, homophobia, misogyny, and authoritarianism. We have to do better as a society and for our kids. Our kids hear our words. Our kids see our actions. As I've stated before, if we put ourselves in someone else's shoes, we might just empathize with others experiences instead of condemning them and being self-righteous. We ask the district to continue to support these teachers and to continue to create an environment where teachers
057and students are safe. Okay, moving on to um 5.01 board committee reports. Board member Haley, >> as you know, I attended the insurance uh committee meeting uh with you and we got uh we were informed of the changes that are uh a foot with uh the way we ensure our our staff. Um I was unable to attend the finance committee. I was traveling. Um, but I'm sure that somebody will come along and report on that. Thank you, >> Dr. Nicks. >> Um, I was able to sit in as an audience member um for the third meeting of the Le Elementary and Westview Elementary. Pratt was really interesting. um want to really thank those committee members for the time and dedication they gave to um all the discussion and work and time they put into that.
058Um I also uh attended a policy review committee meeting um with Dr. Carlson and um my first CAC and my first team summit. So it was a big month. >> Board member Garrett. Thank you. Well, I have, excuse me, I'm losing my voice today. Um, the most meetings I did attend today, I had um several meetings with the Lee Summit Educational Foundation. And something that, um, is coming up here pretty quickly. Um, October 11th, um, that's on a Saturday, we will be having the Race for the Future 5K run. So, I'm wearing my shirt to represent, but uh just keep that in mind. Uh we would love to see you out there. It is a great time. It's early in the morning. Um but it's great watching the sunrise as we're out there warming up
059and getting ready to run. So, I will be there as a volunteer and my son is going to run his second year. And then um I also attended the um MSBA region 4 fall meeting um where we had an update on policies, bills and laws. And as we know the one most recent law was the cell phones. So um they are completely banned uh from the beginning to the end of school. Um, and then we had an early education advisory meeting and also I attended the Rachel Stone tailgate. So, that was great to see people there and honoring her. Um, let's see. I think there was something else here. Oh, and then the uh Lee Summit High School art display and World War II commemoration. There is a display at uh city hall. So, I
060went ahead with my husband, took a look at that, and it looks pretty cool. And that's it. >> Dr. Johnson. >> Yeah. So, this was another light month for me. But one of the things I did get to attend was the LSE Westview Pratt, which was interesting, and thank you to all the community members and all the staff and um the adviserss that we had come in, the facilitators that we had to come in to do that. I'm glad that that opportunity was given to the community. I also attended a schoolboard conference with Vice President Erica Miller in LA. Um, and it was an amazing experience. It was quite different than what I've experienced so far. Um, gave me different perspectives on how we can maybe improve some things here in LSR7. Thank you. >>
061Board member Dawson. >> Um, I was able to attend the um the board policy meeting that Dr. Nickens mentioned on September 9th, uh I was not able to attend the uh Lee Summit Cares uh board meeting, but I was able to uh participate and volunteer at their um their tag kickoff uh which was great. They got a lot of new members. Um and then this past Monday, I did attend the finance committee meeting and um I want to uh thank everyone at the both the board policy meeting and the finance committee meeting for all the work you guys did to prepare. Thanks. Vice President Miller. >> Thank you. All right. I also attended the MSBA region of four fall meeting with several of my colleagues and it was a it was a great time. Always
062connecting with um other folks from around the region. Also, I had the opportunity um to sit in on the board of education student board rep orientation that was hosted um Dr. Buck and um Katie Bergen did an incredible job of of leading that and we had a lot of fun just getting to know each other and um Dr. Buck led us in some pretty cool um team building activities. So if you ever need team building activity ideas, he's got a lot of them. Um I also, as um Dr. Johnson said, we attended the NSBA um conference and just a great time um to be able to just learn about what's happening around the country and school districts all around. Um we talked through things like legislation that is affecting all of us. Um funding obviously
063public school um the needs of public schools as they are right now, mental health for our students and our and our staff as well as just coming together as a community. and what does that look like? Um, and of course the biggest topic is AI, right? AI is not leaving us. So, there's a lot of um conversation around AI and and I also attended the Lee Summit Cares TAG um kickoff. So, that was great. All right. Thank you. Okay. So, um I attended my first quarterly leadership meeting at city hall with Dr. Buck. um attended CAC um business roundt kicked off for the school year and we had a kind of a um first round presentation if you will of a little bit about where the district is currently financially what the historical record is
064um where we compare with other you know districts in the county and things like that and a pretty um robust conversation about that uh I attend a teamly summit um the insurance committee meeting that uh Mr. Haley referenced earlier talking about how to manage you know increased premiums and and all those fun things. uh the region four fall meeting for MSBA and um I think that's well yesterday we um we we did a dedication for uh coach RH's career of 34 years in Lee Summit and all the things that he did as the district athletic director. So that was personally wonderful and I know it was wonderful for him and his family and it was great that so many people in this room were able to attend that as well. So that was that was
065kind of icing on the cake for me. So thank you. Okay, moving on to items for decision. The first item up is to approve the transfer of funds. Can I get a motion, please? >> I move to approve the transfer of $219,290.32 from the general fund to the special revenues fund. We get a second. >> Second. >> All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." >> I. >> Motion passes. Uh, next step is to approve the treasures report and the payment of the bills. >> I move to approve the treasures report and the payment of the bills. >> Second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." >> I. >> Motion passes. Uh, 6.03, 03 approve the tax rate for the 2526 school year. I get a
066motion, please. >> I move that the board approve the 2526 tax rates as presented. >> Second. >> All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I >> I." >> Motion passes. Next up, we have items for um decision on our consent agenda. Could I get a motion, please? >> I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Second. Second. >> All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." >> I. >> Motion passes. >> Last thing that we have on the list for today would be items of information where we have a building report from Hawthorne Hill, a building report from Lisa West High School, and the construction manager at risk notification. Everybody has access to those reports. All right. I declare this meeting is officially adjourned. Thank
067you for being here.