001Okay, I call this meeting to order. Um, if you could please join uh I need to get a um approval a motion from my uh my vice president to go into No. All right. Would you please join us in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy and justice for all. Thank you. We would like to welcome everyone who is with us this evening and uh those that are that are joining us from home. Um could I get an adoption of the agenda? I got ahead of myself. I move to approve the agenda as presented. Second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say I. I. Motion is passed. Item 2.01, the superintendent report. Thank you,
002Madam President. Got a lot of good news to share. The first one we just found out about yesterday, and it's funny because this is Jennifer Jones is in the audience. We found this out about this time last year for Jennifer. So, uh, yesterday we were notified that our own Aubrey Shortino, our district teacher of the year for this year, is the 2026 Kansas City Regional Teacher of the Year. This recognition honors her leadership, dedication to educational excellence, and commitment to student success. Miss Chino will now continue on the Missouri Teacher of the Year selection process. So, kudos to her. And I'm gonna tell you right now, if you ever need a smile, you're feeling down, you go to Kindergarten, Trail Ridge, and see Aubrey teach. She is a joyful teacher. Um, I love walking in
003her classroom. Um, we're proud to recognize students across the district who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and by literacy. We are literally the leaders in the state in this. 182 pathway awards were earned by 164 different elementary and middle school students representing 16 elementaryaries and all four middle schools. These students have developed and maintained skills in 18 different languages with many earning award multiple years in a row. At the high school level, we have 111 seniors who earned the Missouri seal of biiteracy, including five students who received the distinguished seal for advanced proficiency. So, kudos to all of our kids and their learning. Um, congratulations to track and field athletes from all three high schools who placed in the finals in 2025 state championships. So you're seeing all the all state honors there ex on this
004page and it goes on to the next page. I'm going to point out the start of the second page. We have one individual who is a fourtime champion at the track meet and it's in the par division. So congratulations Lee Summit North Jeremiah Mangles. Um four different events. He won them all. Um congratulations to Norah Lassman an incoming senior at Lee Summit West for receiving the Congressional Art Award for Missouri's fifth district. As part of this prestigious honor, Norah earned a trip to Washington DC where she attended a special lunch and awards reception at the US Capitol and met US Representative Emanuel Clever II. And you can look see on our Facebook page her and uh Representative Cleaver looking at her artwork on the wall at the capital, which is pretty awesome. Um it'll be
005displayed at the US capital alongside other winners from across the country. For the first time in the 20-year history of the Kansas City Dragon Boat Festival, a high school team joined the competition. Lee Summit West. Thanks to a generous gen generous sponsorship from Jan Armstrong, students from the Asian Student Union and the National Chinese Honor Society took to the water on June 21st, competing in four rounds. The team's participation celebrated Chinese culture and showcased the power of community and student engagement. Again, there's some fantastic photos in our Facebook page of this event. Um, and congratulations to our Bronco bots across the parking lot here at Lee Summit North. They uh it's kind of weird robotics they go to globals or worlds and then they come back and compete for a state championship and then uh
006because there's a different competition they want to focus only on on the big prize before they come back here. Um and it's a two-state state championship. Missouri and Kansas combined. I think there was 27 teams that participated in the Moan state championship and the Bronco Bots won it all and team Titanium out of West placed third. So congratulations to both of them. updates. Um, West El West View Elementary is serving as the host site for the district's summer meal program offered through nutrition services. This program provides free breakfast and lunch to all children's 18 years of age and younger. Meal times breakfast is 8 to 8:30 and lunch is 12 to 1:00 p.m. U remaining service dates are June 27th, June 30th through July 2nd, so up till next week Wednesday. If your student is
007entering 8th or 12th grade, like one of mine is, um they may be due for routine immunization. An immunization clinic will be hosted by the Jackson County Public Health Department at Lee Summit High School from 9 to 11:00 a.m. on August 7th, 2025. Registration is highly encouraged to guarantee availability. They will take walk-ins if they have uh the supplies and the slots open, but a parent guardian must be present with in insurance information. You can find more information on our in our district newsroom. Uh two more items. Uh then the LSR7 libraries mo bookmobile is still out there. Um there sometimes coming up here is it's going to be on June 30th and July 28th at Hit Park in Greenwood. It'll be a crossroads apartment on July 7th. Sage Crossing Apartments July 14th and at
008Lee Summit Elementary July 21st. All those it would be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 pm. And then annual registrations and enrollment opens on 8 or at 8 am on July 18th. This annual process is required for all families including those who participate in kindergarten pre-registration earlier this spring. Remember to save your bills. I usually have to go search for mine because I didn't think about two months earlier to save them. Um so hopefully you uh do better than I have in the past. And I want to end. We have two people in this room who are moving on. Um so Nathan Holder is up here in the front. has been a CFO here for the last four years. Um, he's retiring and and then we have Kevin Whe in the back who's moving on up
009to the Northland. Um, both of them have spouses that work in the district still and they both still live in the district, so they will not be strangers, but they won't be at every one of our board meetings unless they're just board on third Thursday nights and they still come. So, thank you to Kevin for all your years of service to Lee Summit R7. Thank you to Nathan Holder for all your years of service to Lee Summit R7. That concludes my report, Madam President. Thank you very much. Item 3.1, we get to celebrate the 2025 Missouri State Teacher of the Year, Jennifer Jones. [Applause] I sat as far away from the computer as possible so I could make a dramatic entrance. You're all very welcome. Um, thank you for inviting me here tonight to just
010give you a quick update on what I've been up to. Um, there's a common misconception that when the school year ended, my Missouri State Teacher of the Year term was over. That's not how Missouri State Teacher of the Year works. I'm the 2025 Missouri State Teacher of the Year. So, that's very much still happening. Um, I wanted to kind of frame what I was going to talk about by uh referencing something that was said to me um at our national orientation in California in February. Uh, the 2023 state teacher of the year uh or sorry, national teacher of the year who's from Oklahoma um gave a speech and she referenced just how busy this experience is. And it it's hard to describe but it's almost like you're one person doing two full-time jobs um and
011also trying to just be a person. It is a lot. Um and she talked about how for a lot of her year um she was staying in hotel room after hotel room and she would often not have time to open the windows. Like she would never open the blinds and look outside and she said her message to us was that we all took time make sure to take time to open the blinds and look outside. So your invitation tonight actually requires me to do that in a way and I appreciate that opportunity. Um, a lot of what I've been doing in the state of the Missouri is focused on speaking to students who are interested in pursuing a degree in education and that has been some of my favorite work. I have to tell you,
012I mean, as those of you who've interacted with our own like grow your own program know, there are a lot of future educators out there who are so passionate and know so much more than I did when I was heading into this profession. They have a very realistic and complete view of what's ahead of them. Uh the pictures I included, one is just a stranger who like wanted a selfie with me, which that made me feel really special. Um and the other one, those two students, um Tagen and Tree are actually Lee Summit West graduates from 2025 who were also in my IB English class and they were great smiling faces uh for me in the audience at I think it was UCM they were at which was pretty cool. Um, and I still have
013one of those events coming up at Truman State in the fall. Um, another thing I've been, this is another thing. This is like a collection of thing. I also work with a lot of current teachers in Missouri in this role. Um, and so I have attended a lot of conferences. I've been getting a lot of quality professional development. Um, I've also presented uh done keynote speeches, done closing remarks. I I've given more speeches in this year than I gave on the speech team for four years in high school, I think. So, it's it's been quite the experience. Um, I just got back on Tuesday night from a conference at uh South Southeast Missouri State University called EdTE. Um, which was just like a professional development opportunity for teachers in that region. And that was fun
014because they didn't just want me to give a speech, they also asked me to run an actual professional development session, which was just a fun different thing that I haven't been doing a lot of this year. Um, so that was great. And these two pictures are just of the couple of finalists in the upper left corner from last year. Um they are just amazing teachers and people in their own right and that's a collection of semi- finalist finalists and Missouri state teachers of the year in the right. It is a family and they are an amazing support system. Um I've also been doing a lot of stuff with the with the national group. There's actually I think it's 56 state teachers of the year because there's things you don't think of like American Samoa and
015Washington DC and all those other extra people get there too which is really fantastic. We have ton of virtual trainings um and conferences. We had orientation in California in February and then all the things in the different colored font are things that are still upcoming for me. So actually a lot of my national travel is still on the horizon. I will give a shout out to Liz in that picture there. She is the Kansas teacher of the year and man, she is a force of nature. You want you want to try to get like an extra VIP perk in your experience, you just follow Liz. She is in the business. She like had a career in the business world before and uh she is awesome. She is awesome. Um personal highlights. I thought I would
016just like tell you what my favorite things have been. Um I am not even and I know this is sacrilegious. I'm not even that big of a football person, but going to the Chiefs game and getting to go on the field was just it was awesome. I don't know how else to say it. I was I was just aruck. We got to meet a couple of former players. Um I have also really enjoyed they put us into orientation groups at the national level which is so cool. I mean there's people from all across the country in that group and um that's it kind of like makes me realize how important our advisory program is. I was like, "Oh, I'm an adult advisory right now. This is fantastic." Um, and one of my favorite things I've
017done, and this is not something that most state teachers of the year was do. Uh, they most Missouri State teachers of the year get invited back by their college just naturally. Um, I am from Minnesota, so I just let them know, you know, just casually that I had uh been named teacher of the year. And they asked me to come up. I talked to all their education classes on what happened to be the senior's last day of class ever. I didn't know that going in. Um, I got to talk to future teachers who were on campus that day. And then I also got to give a one-hour public lecture in the most famous room on my campus, which I won't go into, but it it's called the Cow Palace, and it was amazing. Um, I
018get to throw a first pitch in well that I'm using that term loosely. I'm throwing a first pitch on August 16th. if anyone's going to be at the K that night. It's teacher appreciation night. So, that's pretty cool. Um, I get to be involved in the selection of the next Missouri teacher of the year, which I am so excited to have like a new family member at that point. It's going to be amazing. And right now, I am in the process of we all get to participate in an online training that's like TED talk training and at the end of it, you can apply to be one of five people who gets to give an actual TED talk. So, um, if I have time, uh, hopefully I do, I very very much would like to
019do that. I think it would be incredible. Um, I don't know everything that this will mean for who I am as a teacher or a student or what or like a person. I don't know what it's going to mean for my students, but I know that when this experience is over and I have time to process and reflect, this is like so life-changing that it's really hard for me to even articulate right now. So, I appreciate all the support um from my students the past year who had put up both of my incessant absences. Um my colleagues, same um and of course everyone at the district who's checked in on me and supported me through this process. So, just thank you for having me here tonight and asking me to, you know, peek out the
020window for once. I appreciate you all. [Applause] So board, we're going to have you come around, but uh we have two things to give to you. So um President Myers, who your formerly a colleague there at West, she has not only a plaque that we or a certificate we've given you, but also your picture was in the hallway here for a year and now Aubre is up here. So you get to have that as well. And I just want to brag when she won the teacher of the year at the same time that Curtis uh Terry, who was a former student of mine from the 1990s, don't judge me on my age, um was he's in charge of the program, called me to let me know she won and it was clear and it wasn't
021even close and they deliberated for like 10 minutes and it was easy pick and you can see why she was calling Katie Bergen saying I bombed it. I I I I did so much better when we practiced and she's a very humble human being, but she is awesome. So, let's join and give her another round of applause. Next up, item 4.01, public comment. We appreciate your attendance and your 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 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
022will 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 or operations of the district. 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
023ages 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. This includes applause, cheers, or jeers. If you are in the audience and wish to respond in some way to a 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 any interact in any way with any person in the audience. When your name is called, go to the podium and
024clearly state your name and the organization you represent, if any. Kristen Grubs Hi, my name is Kristen Grubs and my family and I have lived in Lee Summit for over 42 years. My K through2 education was in Lee Summit School District. All four of my children have attended Lee Summit schools. Three years ago, my husband and I made it chose a different path for our kids. Public education had changed. My child who always loved school and connecting with her teachers left public education when school stopped being about education. Her love for learning had faded. Her admiration for her teachers had turned to aversion. Her asthma mixed with strict compliance to masking made climbing stairs and using her inhaler at school a regular struggle. An increase in fights at school made her feel less and less
025safe. My other daughter shared her story with board members a couple years ago. She'd been bullied by another student in her class to point to the point of having suicidal ideiations. She tried to get help from her teacher and counselor, but was dismissed repeatedly. It wasn't until she left public education that I realized the depth of her depression. She had no will to live. For several months, I was on constant watch to make sure she lived to see another day. I still have no clue what the bully got the help she needed. These are a part of my family's story. Now, if the principles taught through dignity consulting are effective, then this school district, my school district, its employees and leadership would honor the dignity, honor my dignity through empathy and a willingness to listen
026to my concerns about the state of education in LSR7 schools. This is not how I've been treated by district leadership. Despite dignity consultants Floyd Cobb and John Crown's training, my identity in the district as a mother of thankfully still four very lively children as an alumnest, a resident, taxpayer, and a voter in Lee Summit has been denied by the current vice president as well as some former board members. As Cobin Crownle would say, my dignity has been violated. I've been judged, dismissed, blamed, called names, and degraded. How How come after five years of Cobb and Crownle training in our buildings, I'm still being otherthered and treated like an outsider by district leaders? Why would you want to spend another dollar on dignity consulting when the previous $276,000 haven't made one ounce of positive change in
027the district? I could go on about how student surveys show no improvement in belonging and how the authors blame white teachers for the failures in public education, but I'll leave you with this. Please make a wiser decision and put the money toward the actual educating of our students. Thank you. I have a question. Melanie Olsen Cox. Good evening, President Myers, Vice President Miller, Dr. Buck, and members of the board. My name is Melanie Olsen Cox and I'm the parent of three current students. I also serve as a volunteer PTA leader. As a proud member of the parent teacher association and parent teacher student association, I think it's valuable for the board and the public to know that the national PTA advocacy platform supports the implementation of diverse and inclusive curricula in the K through2 public
028schools nationwide. Tonight, I speak in support of continuing the dignity and belonging work in our district. The proposal you are voting on tonight focuses on maintaining momentum and expanding capacity by providing ongoing content and development opportunities to dignity teams and facilitators. The work that Dignity Consulting helps us with is tied directly to the following board priority. Maintain a safe environment in which student and staff engagement, participation, and belonging are prioritized. Sometimes it can be hard to understand how we measure the value of the work. What are the results? I'm a data driven person and I also understand that sometimes the fidelity of the work is simply that the work continues. Understanding that it's foundational to our continued growth and success as a district. It helps us be better people. The board has al already agreed
029that the work for dignity and belonging matters having made it one of the three priorities. Belonging is not a trend or a fad. Students who feel like they belong are more likely to attend school consistently, engage in class, and perform well. The same would be said for staff. So, why is there so much concern about this work? Is it the cost? I don't think it's the cost. There are plenty of other consent agenda items tonight with similar costs year-over-year that were not pulled for discussion. We trust district leaders to vet programs, softwares, and make recommendations to the board on what they need to be successful. But it seems we don't have the same level of trust in our leaders on the topic of dignity and belonging. So, if it's not the cost, what else could
030it be? Having personally participated in some of the training offered through dignity consulting, I can share that the very nature of the dignity framework asks individuals, especially in leadership, to reflect on their biases and behaviors. This kind of introspection can feel threatening to some people, particularly if they aren't willing, ready to engage deeply. Perhaps we need to do some of that reflection. Next, I'd like to share the following statement from a teacher leader in our district. Dignity and belonging work in LSR7 is imperative and not at all in opposition to student achievement goals. We don't need to choose one or the other. As a parent of a soon-to-be senior and an educator in the district, I have observed and experienced un obstacles in belonging, conditions to belonging, and both intentional and unintentional bias. The path
031we are forging in our dignity work is helping to create environments where students and staff are not just permitted to join in, but are welcomed, included, involved, and connected. Academic outcomes don't happen in a vacuum. Dignity and belonging work and the expertise needed to implement and conduct the work successfully has a cost associated with it. Please continue the work for dignity belonging and vote to approve the contract with dignity consulting. Aisha Ali. Good evening. My name is Aisha Omali and I am a graduate of Lisman High School um as a alumni um and I am a parent of a student um a fourth soon to be fifth grader now um at Westview Elementary. and I'm here on behalf of two students, my son, um, and another student who have benefited from the dignity team, the
032the D team, um, whose contract is is up for renewal this evening. So, I would like to share some of those those statements. Um, this one is from Gabrielle James who is in the audience tonight and she's a recent um, Lee Summit North 2024 graduate and she is a current nursing student and employee at Children's Mercy Hospital. She states that as a former student of Lee Summit North High School, she can confidently say that the dignity team, affectionately known as the D team, has a lasting impact on her high school experience and personal growth. The D team provided something many students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, often struggle to find, a safe and supportive space. It gave me and others like me a trusted environment to speak honestly with adults about how we were being
033treated, whether it was because of our race, gender, identity, or other differences. Simply knowing that we were heard and validated, made a world of difference. But the D team didn't just stop at listening. It empowered us to act. We worked together as a group of diverse students to come up with ideas, solutions, and creative ways to bring awareness to the broader school community. It helped foster understanding among our peers. It encouraged collective action to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone. Today, Gabrielle, she is a nursing student and works at Children's Mercy Hospital. And the lessons that she learned through the D team continue to guide her every single day. She says, "My empathy and my my ability to listen with empathy and respect differences and advocate for equitable treatment for all came
034directly from her time on the team. In healthcare, cultural competence and compassion are essential and she credits the D team for helping lay that foundation early on. Being part of the D team helped her build confidence, leadership skills, and a stronger sense of self. It showed her the power of the student voice and the importance of standing up not just for what's right um just for ourselves but for each other. The work the D team does is more than necessary. It's transformational and I hope that the district continues to support programs like this because they truly shape the lives in and beyond the classroom. Sincerely, Gabrielle James. I'd also love to share a statement from my 10-year-old son. U he is a student at Westview Elementary. He says and he's at a baseball game right
035now. otherwise he would be here speaking on speaking to you. Uh he says has students from all over the world and the teachers feel work to make every student feel like they belong. The board committed to making sure that students feel like they belong in LSR7. If kids don't feel like they belong or learn like everyone else, it can be scary. But our teachers help us. Please continue with the D team. Thank you. Okay, we will move on to item 5.01, board committee reports. We'll start with board member Haley. I was actually unable to attend the finance committee meeting this week. I had a other engagement. I did attend the MSBA U annual event down in Branson with several other board members here uh and it was a very positive experience. Thank you. Thank you,
036Dr. Nickens. I got to go to my very first um committee meeting for the board policy review and updates committee where we reviewed two um policies that are on the agenda later. We also got our orientation for that committee. Um I got to attend five graduations since being sworn in. That was a lot of fun. Um great way to start. And I also attended the MSBA summer summit which was super educational um and also where our president and vice president were honored for their hard work. Thank you board member Garrett. Thank you. Um I had a committee meeting with the work for workforce alliance. Um and that was that was my first time sitting on that committee. So it was very interesting to hear about the partnerships with students and um how they are working
037with students to get more engaged um or fitting them with students with the with the right internship opportunities. Um I also attended Lisa Educational Foundation board retreat. Um, and of course we had our MSBA conference and then we had our board retreat where we got to see Micah Ali for the third year in a row and that was awesome to do and get to know more of our board members. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Johnson. I have no committees to report. All right, board member Dawson. All right. Um, I also attended the same uh policy committee meeting that uh Dr. Nickens did and go through the new uh committee member orientation. That was great. Thank you so much for that. Um, I attended the Lee Summit Cares uh committee. Um, I went to their finance
038meeting because I was unable to attend their board meeting because I was at the MSBA conference that you heard about. Um, and I was able to to go through an orientation for that as well. Uh, and I filled in uh at the uh workforce alliance meeting as well that uh board member Garrett mentioned. and I attended the finance meeting on Monday uh going over the items for consent and also the new budget and uh also attended the board retreat on June 6 and the MSBA summer conference and was able to finish my new board member training while I was there. That was great. and uh also attended a meeting for the um the school districts of Kansas City CSD GKC uh meeting uh in early June and that was really interesting to to meet uh
039folks from different districts. Vice President Zimler. All right. So, I attended I've actually since our last meeting, I've attended two LSEDC um meetings and those have been really um really great actually just learning a lot about um how we're all working together. So, um more updates on that um after the next meeting. Also um with President Meyers, we attended our first and voted in our first delegate assembly at MSBA conference. So, um It's been an eventful eventful last month. Thank you. Okay. So, um I don't know that I have these in the right order, but I have uh since the last board meeting, I participated in the government relations um committee meeting, which was which was super interesting uh blend of people from all across the community. A couple of are which are in the
040room right now. Um but the the speaker was the Jackson County prosecuting attorney and and her her presentation was um it was it was very interesting um to listen to her speak and we we have we meet again tomorrow morning. Um I attended a a quarterly meeting with the superintendent and the city that um I kind of had to pinch myself that I was in the room. Um, but I attended that and and and I found out when Third Street's going to open up, which will be wonderful that I know we are all excited about that. Um, I attended the the Consolidated School District, Greater Kansas City, uh, advocacy event that was mentioned previously and um, uh, that was that was really interesting, too. These are things that classroom teachers have no idea that that
041stuff even happens. Um, that was really it was a very interesting evening. um the MSBA summer summit are our was was a great experience as well. And then uh of course our oh and the delegate assembly went to the delegate assembly that Vice President Miller mentioned and then last but not least our our own retreat. So uh it's been a it's been a busy month. So anyway, okay, that's it. All right, so moving on to item 6.01. Um I didn't skip anybody. Okay, I need a a motion, please, to approve the transfer of funds. I move to approve the transfer of $4,695,2567 from the general fund to the special revenues fund. Can I get a second? Second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I. Okay. Motion passes. All right.
0426.02. to approve the treasur's report and a payment of bills. Could I get a motion, please? I move to approve the treasur's report and the payment of the bills. Second. Okay. All those in favor, please uh raise your right hand and say I. I. I. I. All right. Motion passes. 6.03. Amend the budget for 2425. I move to amend the 2425 budget as presented. Second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I. I. Motion passes. 6.04, the preliminary budget for 2526. I move to approve the preliminary budget for 2526 as presented. Second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I. Motion passes. All right. Moving down to the uh the consent agenda. Could I get a motion? I move to approve the consent agenda items
043as presented. A second, please. Second. All those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I. I. All right. The consent agenda is passed. Moving now to item 8.01, the dignity consulting contract renewal for 2526. Could I get a motion, please? I move that the board approve the dignity consulting contract as provided for the 2526 school year to complete the training with our LSR7 staff as noted in the proposal. Second any discussion I'll go. Um obviously we've had folks speak tonight that uh support this program and we've had folks speak that do not support this program. The debate rages in our nation about DEI. Our current administration, Washington DC, is is opposed to these types of programs. The current administration in Jefferson City is opposed to these types of programs. I believe that
044this board at least should explore the reasons why people have a problem with this program and attempt to address its application. rather than just pass it and and move on with business. Um there are, I believe, a significant number of people in our community that are concerned about um the DEI initiatives um that um our school has adopted and is implementing. So, I just think we need to take a deeper dive rather than to just superficially um approve it and move on. I mean, Fortune 500 C companies are abandoning DEI. I mean, big companies that are successful, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Boeing, DEI is very um controversial. So, I think we just need to take a deeper look at it before we I mean, if we're going to approve this, I still think we need to take
045a deeper look at it and and figure out um the folks that have a problem with it, what they have to say about its implementation. Board member Dawson, thank you. U I'd like to respond to a couple things that board member Haley said. Um I think we are several years into this. Um I think a deeper dive is a little bit redundant with the information we've received as a board. At our board retreat uh in June, so was just a few weeks ago that we all attended. Um we were presented with the content of the dignity program and that content is not in any way controversial. um acceptance of identity, recognition, acknowledgement, inclusion, safety, fairness, independence, understanding, benefit of the doubt, and accountability. And we actually did an exercise where we looked at uh policies
046and procedures and activities of the district using this lens. And no one in the retreat had an objection with it at that time. And if you look closely at the presentation for the item for consent now for decision, it's simply a expanding capacity for something that's been going on in the district for years. So, um I don't think there's a need for digging deeper into something that we're all very aware of what it is and how it functions and how we use it in the district. Dr. Nickens. Um, I agree with board member Dawson and would like to respond to board member Haley as well as um people who have reached out to the board and expressed their opinions um and feelings one way or the other. Um I think it's interesting this somehow has
047been labeled DEI. I know that's a hot point. Um this is called dignity work and it actually addresses a a a variety of issues. Um, having visited with Dr. Wilson about this work across the district, it has served staff members as well as interactions between staff members and students, as well as concerns that parents have brought up at the um elementary, middle school, and high school level, including Hilltop and Summit Ridge Academy. So obviously it provides the opportunity for all of our various buildings with their unique cultures and populations to have the opportunity to address issues that come up and have the power um to do that with this work um and come up with solutions and be critical thinkers and problem solvers as a result. I'd also like to point out that one of
048our board priorities which was agreed on by all seven of us at our retreat starting out as a new board um states that we a priority is to maintain a safe environment in which student and staff engagement participation and belonging are prioritized. That's what the dignity work is about directly on our comprehensive school improvement plan. If you look at goal two, goal two states the LSR7 school district will foster a responsive, inclusive, safe, and caring student environment. And if you look at the top three interventions or actions on that goal, they all directly um require the dignity work. So it is part of our C our CIP on our legislative priorities. The very first priority is listed as support legislation that promotes equitable and inclusive educational opportunities in service to our diverse learners. And finally,
049we have an entire board policy that's called the equity policy. It's long, but part of it, the heart of it states, each Lee Summit R7 school district student deserves an equitable education. The Leummit Board of Education is uniquely positioned to prioritize educational equity in order to maximize each student's full academic and social potential in a school culture that maintains individual dignity and promotes a sense of belonging. And as we heard in our public comments, when a child doesn't feel safe and is bullied at school, it can certainly have an impact on their opportunity to learn and be um successful. That that would just be one example of work can have a positive impact on outcomes. I would also like to call for the question. That requires a second. That would require a second. Second. Okay.
050So, the question has been called to vote on. All those in favor, please. I thought I had my button on. I didn't get called. I'm sorry. I was looking at our lawyer here, Joe, if you want to come up and say what how they should proceed because I don't think we've had that in my five years here. If she intended to have a question, I think just out of fairness, we probably need to let her ask the question. I think I'll take I'll take your word button. Thought you had it on. Okay. Um well, I think that wanting to talk about oh um to to talk to want to pull this from the agenda from the consent items to actually talk about this. There's a lot going on in legislation right now. I mean we
051have to face that. Um earlier uh in the meeting that we had before we talked about our budget and there's there's of course a concern with everything. I mean, we've been questioning this particular uh cob and crown apple for the last I don't know what four or five years that we've had this particular um program and its efficacy. That was a huge thing that's always been into question called into question uh you know if there was any evidence that we see that it's working. Now, I understand I I read the emails and I heard the comments and I understand that this probably helps some students that need it. Um, I don't think it's helping every student. I think there's still students that are lacking, that are still struggling, that are falling between the cracks, and
052I don't see their struggles being addressed. Uh, I still hear from teachers that we have a huge reading problem. I mean, we don't have a program yet for our secondary uh grades, and so that's something that I would like to see improved. I would like to see a program in place for them to help with those struggling readers. Um, I did have some questions um about how this came onto the agenda. So, what I understand last year um Well, actually, I I'll talk to I want to ask Dr. Buck a question first and then I'll address the legislation questions. Um, so last year, you know, Dr. about you. I guess uh I was told that you met with board leadership and that that there was um a contract that was going to be expired and
053we did not need to spend more money on those particular consultants is what I understood. I don't know if you can clarify that. um and the the same consultants that we've had for several years um for repeated staff training. So did that was that ever um a discussion that you had with board leadership last year? So the first part we meet all five years here every single month meet with board leadership and go over the agenda. So that's obviously yes. I don't know which are you talking about these consultants right that there was uh a discussion on the contract discussion I believe a year ago was whether we do it before the April election or after April election and the decision was to do it after the April election. Okay. I I kind of vaguely
054remember that. Um but also um so why did this get added to the agenda? It is an annual renewal. So last year was a one-year renewal. This is a one-year renewal. If we were to extend it into the FY27 sometime between April and June, you would have it in front of you. Again, as you can tell, we're trying to lower and wean ourselves off this so we can do it ourselves because it's efficient. That's what Cobb and Crown Apple want as well. Um, they wanted us to get to a point where we can do this without their help. Okay. Um, so was this initiated by the board leadership or you or This was initiated out of Dr. Wilson's office and what they need to support the work they've been doing with D teams. And I'm,
055you know, he probably could talk to it, but I'm sure he he's got 57 or so trained facilitators and they talked about what their needs are for the next year to support their work. Thank you. Um, Mr. Hadley, I did have the questions, the legal questions for the budget. answer your question depends on the question. Okay. Well, I think this had to do with and I did try to do my due diligence and tried to get a hold of MSBA to find out what ramifications there would be as a result of having a DEI program in our school district if we would be defunded. Um, and I mean I didn't get a clear answer. I did get uh sent a uh question and answer or uh frequently asked questions I guess is what I got.
056But I didn't know if you might be able to uh I know there's many people that have thought that if we sign this contract then we would possibly be risking you know defunding either state or federal. I think that would be extremely unlikely for a couple reasons. First of all, uh, the governor, I believe, has done an executive order on this, but it only applies to executive agencies. School districts are not executive agencies. I know that the current administration, the current president has uh executed an executive order as well, but all that requires is that some cabinet members get together and come up with a strategy uh to address it. Whether this is even covered by it depends on what the content is of the program. Um, but I think you also have I think
057if and when they come up with a strategy that does what people seem to think they want to do, I think it's going to have some legal challenges to that. Um, because uh, Supreme Court cases over the last 30 or 40 years have said that you can't take funding away for something that's unrelated to the purpose of the For instance, IDA, special ed law, there's a condition of funding that you provide IEPs. A school district could lose its special ed funding if it stops doing IEPs, but it doesn't allow the federal government to take funding away for something unrelated. There's not a statute out there right now that would authorize, this would be the legal challenge, there's not a statute passed by Congress that would authorize defunding school districts for doing this type of work
058or even beyond this and without that congressional taking away the money uh there's a pretty good case to be made that the the the president can't just by the stroke of pen take away funds like that and I understand that Governor Kho also has something in the works it hasn't been signed off it hasn't been finalized yet but yeah well we we also don't generally allow funding to be taken away after the fact so if you enter into a contract um US Constitution, states can't take actions that impair contracts. So the school district enters into a contract, the state can't then after the fact, I believe, come in and take that contract away or put district in breach of it. Could only apply to things prospectively, not retrospectively. Thank you. Um, and I just have
059one more question. So, was there when we decided to initiate this contract, it was just reference to who we had used before? Was there any other programs that were looked into that might be less divisive? Because I'm still hearing that within the district. I don't have an answer for you there. It be Dr. Wilson if he looked at other programs but it's a continuation just like we have our power school that we use for our student information system to make switches causes change and restarts um so we tend to continue forward with things that are um core to what we're doing and this is core to Dr. Wilson's work thank you Dr. Johnson. Yes, thank you. I will be brief. Um, just to let everyone know, we have multiple examples of this dignity work working
060in our organization. So, if you would like to have that information, we do have it available to you. Multiple schools, multiple levels of schools, middle school, high school, and elementary school. So, we do have that. Um, I know we like to use the uh the hot button words like uh DEI. And while I do support that, when we talk about dignity, from a secularist perspective, it's it's respect. From a religious perspective, it's inherent worth and value of each person. How we get to that place is learning them, understanding them, meeting where they are, and checking our unconscious biases. That's not something that everyone can just do on their own. And that's why trainings are extremely important. Some people have been around for 20 plus years and know these things. Some people have been around for
061one year. And so it may be repetitive to some, but it may be new information for others. And because like we said, we continue to see disparities in different groups, we need to continue this work. I called a question. Second. Okay. All those in favor of this motion, I need you to raise your right hand and say I. I. Those opposed. I Okay, the have it. The motion passes. We have two items of information and written reports. And I think that concludes this portion of our meeting. Thank you.