LSR7 Board of Education Meeting -3/20/25

001Welcome guests to tonight's board meeting. Can I get in a motion to adopt the agenda? I move to adopt the agenda as presented. Second. Motion and second. All those in favor raise your hand and say I. I. I. Motion passes. Next up is item 2.01, superintendence report. Thank you, board president. As you can tell, we've had a couple folks not here, but thank you for the board members who are feeling healthy and able to come tonight. Um, there is a bit of it going around, so hopefully you all avoid it. Um, first off, Road Runners, you did a great job with that. Nicely done. Um, this is school board appreciation month, and uh, you know, I know we have two of them not here, but all seven of these folks give of their time as

002for service, a ton of hours every single week, and they get paid zero dollars for it. So, thank you to the board of education for all you do. Um, thank you to board president Foley and board member Garrett for attending the MSBA legislative day with me a couple weeks ago um over in Jeff City. So, it was a a good day. I wish it was a little more productive, but it was a good day. Um, we tried to be productive there. Um, I want to thank the 97 realtors and developers who came to our realtor developer day last week on Friday. What a fantastic event. Thank you, the chamber for joining us and we'll bring the city in next time as well. Um, last night we had our 100 people who care over at East

003Trails Middle School. We had 37 different nonprofits. Uh, and we had everybody learned about a lot of nonprofits and we had four gave a pitch and the winner of the night was answering the call, a nonprofit uh that exists to give um support to fallen um or hurt uh families from first responders. So maybe you break a leg in the line of duty and you can't work. Um, and so that uh answering the call got about $8,000 last night. So, what a great event. Thank you to everybody in the community who came out and supported that cause and hopefully everybody learned about a lot of different groups. Congratulations to our Lee Summit West girls basketball team. They made it to the lead eight. So, they had a great run this year. I'm excited to share

004that Becky Griffin, a fifth grader at Underwood Elementary. This was her goal last year when she competed really well. She wanted to make sure she qualified for the National Spelling B in Washington DC and she did that. So, we'll see Becky Becket Griffin on the uh um ESPN scripts national spelling bee competition later this year. Congratulations to Mrs. Tammy Williams, assistant principal at Lee Summit North for being named the assistant principal of the year by the Greater Kansas City Association. This achievement recognizes Miss Williams exceptional leadership and dedication to students and staff. Um, these next two sections, I'm not going to read the names because we're going to try to get these kids to come next time, but we had six of our kids qualify for the Missouri 100. So, this is the top 100

005kids in the in the state of Missouri. We educate about 2% of the kids. So, for us to have 6% of the award winners means we're overachievers, and that's because of these six amazing kids. So, thank you. We'll try to get them to come next meeting. We also have seven different students who are finishing their sophomore year qualify for the Missouri Scholars Academy. So, um, we'll try to get those seven to come, uh, next time. Missouri Scholar Academy is a what's called a governor school for the month of June, uh, at MU. Um, has 330 kids. And, uh, both, uh, Ben Juel over at Lisa North and I used to teach there maybe a quarter of a century ago. So, Boomba, they'll find out what Bumba means here in a second uh, when they get

006to go in June. But, it's a great program. Congratulations 07. So, we'll try to have those 13 folks as well as National Merit finalists and Missouri Fine Arts Academy selections which are not out yet um to our next meeting to be recognized by the board. LSR7 recently celebrated our excellence in teaching and teacher distinction and our support professional excellence award winners. This is co-sponsored by the chamber. Um so, we thank thank everybody who helped give out those awards. We look forward to celebrating all of them at the April 2nd uh ceremony and this year we're going to travel to Lee Summit West. It was a great show at Leum High last year. We'll be at least summit west this year. Congratulations to two exceptional educators in LSR7 who've also uh earned some pretty big awards

007recently. Rachel Benson, she's a German teacher at PLMS. She was awarded the modern language department. Um, no, sorry, Central States teacher of the year of foreign languages. So, this is a 14 state region. So, she's the teacher of the year for 14 different states. and she will now move on to uh New Orleans to compete for the national teacher of the year of foreign languages. Uh Cameron Pac is a 10th grade history teacher and avid teacher at Lee Summit High School and he was selected as the social studies high school teacher of the year. So congratulations to Miss Benson and Mr. Pac. Lee Summit West and Lee Summit North bowling teams are heading to the state championships. Congratulations to both of them. Summit Ridge Academyy's principal who is retiring, Andy Campbell. He was just recognized

008as one of eight in the entire state to get the award called the consumate professional award given by the Missouri Association of Secondary School Principles. So congratulations to Andy. Um Special Olympic athletes who competed in regional basketball tournament qualify for state state tournament Saturday March 29th in St. Louis. So going to congratulate quite a few names here. Um so first off um uh Reese Burke uh a student at Bernard Campbell School earned second place in the loan skills competition. We had two three uh versus three teams that took second place. Um Broncos team of Jaden James, Jeremiah Shelton and Andreas Cretton. And then doom team uh was consisted of John Sherke um Max Bern and Miles Demino. So congratulations to them. And then we had a five on five team. And this consisted of of

009kids. All these have kids from other teams, right? So the first one, not all three are from North, but that last one, there was one of them from Lisman High, Lisum North, and Miller Park. This next one has all three of our high schools and a St. Michael student and Summit Lakes Middle School student all in the same team. So congratulations for them. They took second place. That's Ryan Britt, Ryan Christian, Julius Jones, Reese John's, Owen Merritt, Brooklyn Moses, Colton Shields, Helen Schmidt, Milan Skellski, and Orin Thurber. So congratulations to all them. And really thank you to our special education department and Stacy Matthysse. It was kind of a challenge. We want to get more opportunities for students and they've come through with choose to include in and events like this and they've done a

010great job. So, thank you to them. Missouri School Board Association has a academy for people like Miss Linda Ezmer and her backup and her backup is Hannah Puit and she just received the initial level of Miss MSBA's new board secretary academy. So, kudos. We have two people who have done that now. Um I don't I'm wonder if we're the first in the state to have two. I don't know. Um MSBA also announced we had two awards. One's in the written report, but one came in this afternoon. So, the first one, uh, board president Foley has completed the rigorous requirement for its highest recognition for ongoing PD. Um, it's called the distinguished board member certification. So, congratulations, board president. And Stacy Meyers rece uh earned the advanced certification hot off the press about 3:00. So, the

011ink is still drying on that certificate she has in front of her. Um, two more things. I know I'm I'm a little longwinded today. Last week there was ma or last weekend there was major storms affected 26 different school districts um especially three so Popper Bluff Rala and Perryville had significant damages to buildings. Rala decid you know they didn't have a spring break this week until they had that storm now they have spring break this week and they know they're not going to return to some buildings when they come back next week. So please keep uh if you have friends and family in there hope they're okay but please keep uh those communities in your thoughts. And then last, we do have an April 8th board election and a bond election. So, I hope everyone

012votes on April 8th. I want to thank Dr. Steve Shelton, Miss Katie Bergen, and Miss Talia Evans for going on tour with me. Um, we have talked at 49 events in the last 6 weeks, talking to 2,289 different people. Um, trying to educate folks about the bond issue. Um, we have more to go. We get a break tomorrow. We have a day with it's rare day with no no events but um you can learn more at lsr7.orgbond lsr7.org back/bond to learn more and that concludes my rather long superintendent report. Madame President Thank you so much Dr. Next up we have item 3.01 01 school spotlight, Richardson Elementary. Good evening everybody. My name is Jason Quanini Berg. I'm the principal at Richardson and I'm Molly Williamson, the assistant principal at Richardson. And tonight we have uh

013Mrs. Brittney Bernard. She's our one of our student council representatives, our uh sponsors. And then we have Mr. Casey Blakemore, who is our other student council sponsor. And tonight, we're here to spotlight our Richardson Student Council. Richardson Student Council is all about student leadership. So, with that being said, I'm going to turn it over to Kora to get us started. Student council is made up of 24 grade level student reps. 12 from fourth grade and 12 from fifth grade. Stugle reps are elected by their peers to represent grade level grade level for one year. The election election includes an application teacher recommendations and a speech. Then students vote on their same grade peers. Richardson Stukco serves the school and local community in a variety of ways. We serve Richardson by having daily door greeters, helping

014set up an MCR assemblies, helping at school events like our turkey trot and cookies and cocoa, running the schoolwide recycling program, assisting with school beautifification such as pulling leaves and planting flowers and making posters and announcements for events and service opportunities. We serve the community by having an annual warm tree where we collect warm items such as hats and gloves to donate to Lee Summit social services. We have an annual food drive where we collect and deliver food items to the Prairie View pantry. Each year we make Valentine's cards for people who live at John Knox and we have an annual Blackwell Road trash pickup day in the spring. Everybody in student council has a job. We have a president and vice president. We have our publicity team that helps make school announcements for events.

015We have our assembly team that helps set up and lead our school assemblies. We have photographers who help capture memories of school events and door greeters who greet car riders, bus riders, and special program students each day. All of this helps set up all of this helps set us up for success. Sugo offers us leadership training, leadership opportunities, and service opportunities. Zugo helps increase our confidence, public speaking ability, and opens our eyes to ways that we can use leadership to make the world around us a better place. All right. Thank you so much, Richardson Student Council. [Applause] All right. Next up, we're going to move into uh the Richardson Elementary Volunteer of the Year Award. Um I'll go ahead and invite up uh Mrs. Jennifer Jones and her family. You can come on up. It

016is with great pleasure we are here to honor an exceptional individual who has gone above and beyond in her commitment to our community and more specifically her commitment to Richardson Elementary. Jennifer Jones has been involved with Richardson in our PTA for the last seven years. During that time, she has coordinated the yearbook every year. She has volunteered in classrooms, in the library, and helped with Richardson hospitality for teachers and families. She is finishing up her fourth year as PTA president. As the PTA president, she has provided countless numbers of meals for the staff, promotes PTA back to school night, and helps with many events such as our first day Yahoo Boohoo breakfast, ice cream social, color run, fall carnival, trunk or treat, cookies and cocoa, class fall and spring parties, and a number of other

017fundraisers. Jennifer Jones embodies the true spirit of volunteerism and we truly appreciate all of the work she has put in at making our PTA special. With unwavering enthusiasm, she has devoted her time to our school. Richardson Elementary and this community. Thanks you. [Applause] All right. Next up, we have item 3.02, school spotlight, Bernard Campbell Middle School. I'm Jeff Scale Farrell. I'm the principal of Campbell Middle School. Uh I'm going to make a request this year that we go first because every year we follow our elementary student leaders and they set the bar so high that we have to like reach that or try to go over it. Right, Mr. Scout Farrell? As soon as you wear Chief's gear to this meeting, we'll do that. It's not going to happen. Uh, be good, do good, God

018bless, go Bills. Uh, um, anyhow, um, we're here to highlight Campbell Middle School and specifically our AVID program. Uh, AVID we implemented about three years ago and it is a it was a high school program that we started implementing at the middle school level and one of the big things for us was to implement it schoolwide. We have our AVID elective and um these kids are in our AVID elective, but we created a little something different to help uh implement it and spread it schoolwide and they are called our AVID ambassadors. So, I'm going to let Miss Kelly Smith uh speak to the AVID AVID ambassadors. She's our uh AVID teacher. Hi. Um, all of these young ladies are in my AVID class, but they're also in my advisory, and that is where we want

019run our AVID ambassadors program. And we set this up for these these people and all the other AVID Ambassadors that I have to act as mentors for our sixth grade advisories. So, they're going to tell you how AVID Ambassadors has helped them as a student and how it helps our school. Hello, my name is Marley Spears. I'm an eighth grader at BCMS. AVID Ambassador has helped me a lot with my scout troop. I am um assistant senior patrol leader in my scout troop and I need to help my u fellow scout troop members in the troop with various tasks such as tying knots or planning a camp out and a ambassadors has really helped me out a lot with the leadership skills that I need to do this and it's not only helped me with

020scouts but it's also helped me with taking care of my crazy three younger siblings Hi, my name is Lillian BS and Aan Ambassadors has helped me become a better student by influencing me to help others in our school. The aan ambassador program has helped our school by letting us help sixth graders get used to filling out their planner so they can do it for the next two years they are at Bernard Campbell Middle School. Hello, my name is Fiona Dawson and the AVID ambassador program has not only helped the graders learn so many useful skills that they can use later in school and in life. But it has also helped with personal growth which with each of our active ambassadors myself included as it has taught me for one how to speak to a group

021of people as I'm doing right now and how to help other students to learn better and have growth themselves. Hello, my name is Ava Martinez. I'm a seventh grader at BCMS. Being an AVID ambassador has helped me speak more comfortably in front of crowds like this one, like Fiona said. And helping to like teach kids how to do tutorials and stuff. And going to a sixth grader, like having the opportunity to go to the sixth grade classroom has helped me get this student who has never brought his planner to class to filling his planner out every single week. Um, hi, my name is Riley Sparks. I'm an eighth grader. Campbell. Um, AVID a being an AVID ambassador has helped me become more an effective leader um, and really getting my point across while also being

022a great leader. Um, it helps me help sixth graders at BCMS build their planner, be more organized in their binder and we teach adolescence as well. Hi, my name is Isabelle and I'm an AVID ambassador at Bernard Campbell. And being an avid ambassador helps me learn to like Ambassador helps me work on my skills such as public speaking and it also helps the sixth graders become a better middle school student. Hi, my name is Cadence Harris and I'm an eighth grader at BCNS and an AVID. Oh my gosh. And being an AVID ambassador has helped me learn my responsibility and help the sixth graders from the beginning fill out their planner and keep their binder clean throughout the year. And like I said, this was a new thing this year. It was mostly uh I

023would say Dr. Fogle, assistant principal, and uh Miss Smith's idea to do this. And it's really helped us push AVID in the building. And AVID is, you know, time-t tested uh instructional strategies, organizational strategies to help kids uh be better students. So, um we're happy with their progress and their contributions to uh Campbell Middle School. and they're gonna they're going to get out of here and go to Custard's last stand. So, and then next up for us, uh, for our volunteer of the year, um, you heard this, you heard the name earlier, answering the call. Um, I have Nicole Walters from the board of Answering the Call. um is here and they are specifically helpful to Campbell Middle School because we call you we've got connections on the board there and we call and we

024say hey we need coats uh we need shoes for our kids coats shoes are there we had a student that needed a new wheelchair new wheelchair right they're there the name fits the group because they answer the call and uh we need something they're there no questions asked um and it's and it is a really a beautiful relationship and we are very appreciative of at Campbell Middle School. So, I can't say enough about it. And again, we're very appreciative of it. You don't need this. We got to get our picture taken. And by the way, this is Nicole Walters. She's on the board. She didn't want me to say her name. Next up, we have 3.03. Board President Foley and I are going to tag team this one. So, Jackson Reed, can you come up

025to the front so we can talk about you while everybody looks at you? All right. So, Jackson, I'm gonna start off. I've had I have a superintendent council in all three high schools. In all the years, I've only had three kids serve three years, and Jackson's one of them. Here's what I can tell you about Jackson. No matter what dilemma or problem we discuss, he is incredibly thoughtful, kind, he's interested in what his classmates have to say, and he's also very good at articulating and and coming to consensus on ideas. So, Jackson, I really appreciate you. So, this honor that board president Foley is going to talk about, I know it's welld deserved because I've seen it over three years. So, kudos to you. Thank you, Dr. So Jackson has submitted a bill to the

026legislature to advocate for robotic robotic programs across the state. He received recognition from speaker Patterson, but we also wanted to recognize him with this excellent in advocacy award as he is now qualified to attend the first robotics world championships this year. Yes, team robot team broncobots noted that Jackson was chosen as a deans list finalist at the central Missouri regional. He's been doing some big work to advocate for our first in Missouri and to amplify the team's mission here in Kansas City community and we're excited for him to represent the team on the world stage. Thank you, Jackson. [Applause] Next up, we have item 3.04, student board representatives update. Um, good evening everyone. My name is Addison Ditimore. I'm a senior at Lis High School. Um, and I'm one of the board representatives for my

027second year. Um, so kind of we go over some good things going on in the high schools. Um, so bear with me while this is all over the place for Lee Summit. Um, we just kind of finished our student led enrollment night. So, we're really encouraging that student leadership with the student led, studentr run enrollment. So, they're they're basically telling counselors, telling their parents, telling teachers what classes they're doing rather than have having a teacher have to realize or not realize, um, kind of put together just all those. Um, which really helps with the workload from students and teachers because it's kind of a co- co-work or however you want to word it, I don't know. And then juniors just had their ACT at our at our high school. um just like a few days

028ago and so they all hopefully did good on that. Um there's a lot more who were actually involved in the ACT this year than there was last year. Um we just got done with a career day about a month ago. Um this is our second year doing a career day where we have different job fields come in and have the whole day just talking to students about what they do. Those students truly get to pick what classes they get to go to and what careers they get to learn about. Oh gosh, sorry. Shut off. Okay. And then um we just had a pro announcement. So our theme is a night on the red carpet. So it's going to be a lot of paparazzi um a lot of red going on. Um we just had our

029state olymp or state olymp our special Olympic state sendoff today. Um the ROC unit we just got nominated for distinguished unit um based on our unit inspection for this year. Um and then we're also going down to Whiteitman for a curriculum and action trip where students and cadets get to see kind of all the career options at Whiteitman and what the military can offer. Um, Graham Elbert and Angela Kim were part or were two students that were in the Missouri Scholars 100. And then thankfully, um, even though Missouri is a little bipolar, I say let it snow cuz seniors have 61 days till graduation. So I don't care how mad Missouri is and how mad that your house and yard are at Missouri, but let it snow. So I'm gonna pass it off to them.

030Hello everyone. We are juniors representing Lisa M West. I am Izzy Laflur and I'm Laura Lassman. Uh we are here to discuss the positive and successful things that have happened in West in the past month. So our robotics team is strong. They're going to they're participating in Shaunie for a competition. They showed us a video of their robot and it's dealing with the issue of cleaning coral reefs. Um Matias Jones was um selected as a Missouri delegate for the Congress of Future Medical Leaders which you get nominated for based off of your academics and your um passions for medicine and then you have to get picked from there. Along with that with medicine we have a couple people going to HOSA for state. So that's really exciting. Good luck to them. And our debate team

031is sending six people to nationals this year which is a lot more than I think we ever have. Yes. Um, like you said, uh, Lisa West got third in bowling. That's really exciting. And our girls basketball team has done really well. Our junior varsity has had a record setting season of 20 wins. Our varsity team was district champions and we've had a freshman set the record for a number of rebounds. Along with sports, spring sports season has just started. And yes, our boys or our boys baseball team is currently ranked number one in the preseason. We also have two people. Congrats to Adit and Avery. We're really inspired by y'all's hard work in the Missouri Scholars 100. And our job fair is coming up. Uh the PTA president at West has organized a lot of

032it and it has helped um a lot of students get summer internships and also jobs at 14 years old. Prom is April 26 and we're really excited. And unfortunately, Lisa North is not able to make it, but I don't know. But they got a lot of good things going on. So, [Applause] thank you so much. All right. Next up, we have item 4.01, public comments. 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 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

033policy 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 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

034children 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 those in the audience that board policy BDDH prohibits the use of signs or audible responses. This includes applause, cheers, or jeers. If you're 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 interact in any way with person with any person in the audience. When your name is called, go to the

035podium and clearly state your name and the organization you represent, if any. Aaron Gregory Hi, I'm Aaron Gregory, Lee Summit parent and taxpayer. If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything. Most of this board panders to extreme partisan groups, groups that not only advocate against public schools, but in many cases, groups whose supporters have little to no vested interest in LSR7. It should come as no surprise most of this board stood for not renewing a key staff contract before ultimately flip-flopping in the face of their wildly unpopular decision. This board stood against Prop Cy being on next month's ballot despite receiving the opposite recommendation after considerable time, work, and resources were dedicated to make that recommendation. Another flip-flop on another wildly unpopular decision. Board members thought they knew better than Lee Summit voters and

036didn't prioritize what could have generated four million in funding for desperately needed teacher pay raises. Targeted positional payraises for teachers who lag behind their area peers. To clarify, all the teachers I know actually work for income because grocery stores and mortgage lenders don't accept outcomes as payment. Let's be transparent about tonight's Props Cy agenda item. It's meaningless. A reelection stunt. A totally different board will vote again and a vendor will be paid to draft unnecessary documents. There's nothing to prepare. It's state statutemandated ballot language. I sure hope the April 2026 board cares more about our teachers than this one. This board stood for some of its members embarrassingly questioning our library staff with a clear lack of preparation. Classroom teachers and library staff must be treated like professionals and allowed to use their expertise. stop

037micromanaging and pandering to people whose kids go to school elsewhere and whose taxes aren't even paid up in Lee Summit. This board stood except for some um for allowing an absurd conspiracy theory about a flag to run rampant on social media pages. The same social media pages where they're pandering for votes and support. This rumor disparaged one of our schools and even named an innocent teacher by name. This was truly low and the silence from board leadership was shameful. This board stands for its president of a public school district board being an engaged member of social media groups advocating for school choice and attending events to rally around school choice. Where are the receipts for real out loud advocacy for public schools? I can't I can't find any videos of that, but I can find

038videos of her speaking at We the People meetings. Ask for the receipts and you'll be deleted. Actions speak louder than words. On April 8th, we can elect better board members. board members who advocate for public education, who communicate with transparency, board members who don't sway with the wind, and are willing to stand for something. Specifically, stand up for our schools, teachers, and the 18,000 plus students in this district. On April 8th, friends, and especially teachers, there's one very important question to ask yourself. In the words of Janet, Miss Jackson, if you're nasty, what have you done for me lately? Thank you. Devoya Marshall. My name is Davoya Marshall with Strengthening Education Together. I want to tell you a short three minute story. There was a beautiful, intelligent African-American woman that I know very, very well

039that signed up to be a substitute teacher in LSR7. Some would think we share the same DNA. One of the very first things that she noticed upon entering the building is the wall of staff. There was absolutely zero African-American teachers in this building that has the highest population of minorities of any middle school in the LSR7 school district. A building that also has one of the highest discipline rates in the entire LSR7 school district. She immediately met a special needs teacher who would prove herself to be one of the best teachers she had ever met in her life. This teacher's testimony is that when she started as a pair professional in the LSR7 school district, she barely made enough money to pay her bills, causing her to rack up three months of credit card debt

040until she was able to get a better position. Through Kelly Services, pair professionals make $13 an hour, less than what my high school kids make at their part-time jobs. One day, that sub was assigned to a math class. A helpful neighboring teacher came over before the day began to give her the rundown of the classes. She mentioned that the first half of the day would be a bit rowdy, but about fourth hour the day would mellow out as these students were advanced. So the sub put her voice put on her strict voice so the kids would know she meant business. She is also a researcher. So she had been gathering information and noticed that sometimes when students began being disruptive and talking, it is because they are struggling with the work. So she walked around

041the classes, interacted with the students on their level, and had zero problems in the classes that were presumed to be rowdy. These classes were predominantly minority. Why is this important? There are reasons studies show children perform better when they see themselves in staff and in the curriculum. But when you vote against professional development that could help staff understand neurodeiverse, disabled or minority students because it falls under DEI, you are voting against students and against public education. Voting against a seal program that makes it easier for students to learn is a vote against students and against public education. Voting to prolong or postpone teacher and support staff pay increases for political reasons is a vote against staff, ultimately students, and against public education. We're sick of politics in the district. I understand being a board member

042is not an easy task at times, but it's easy to sit up high and make decisions for others without knowing their struggle or make post about people without facts. Campaign speeches expire. Actions and votes don't. Because of these reasons, I recommend on April 8th, LSR7 residents cast their votes for Michelle Dawson and Nikki Nickens, who actually support public education staff and providing the best education for all students. Leon Weatherbe. Good evening everyone. For those of you who have not met me, my name is Leon Weatherbe. The month of March is recognized by the state of Missouri as the schoolboard appreciation month. As a parent of children in the district, I would like to thank each board member for your tireless efforts and selfless sacrifices you have committed on our behalf. The long evenings away from

043your families have not been spent in vain, but in service to your community. School boards work hard to represent the entire community. The students, yes, but also the teachers, staff, and the greater taxpaying community. Balancing the needs and priorities of all stakeholders is incredibly difficult. So, I appreciate the effort to bring broader community input to the district. I especially would like to thank Mrs. Eslick as her team term comes to an end. She served with honor, integrity, and compassion. Her compassion was shown in her efforts to stand up a pratt to ensure community voices were heard on the recent Lee Summit Elementary and Westview Elementary consolidation proposal. It was greatly appreciated by the local community and shows her commitment to representing her constituents. I wish you well in your future endeavors and thank you for

044your service to our community. I would like to thank Miss Foley and Mrs. Garrett for their recent advocacy of our district in Jefferson City where they made our voices heard on such issues as fully funding the formula and opposing House Bill 711 on open enrollment. I would also like to thank Miss Mrs. Myers and Dr. Johnson for their efforts on Team Lee Summit to identify teacher and staff positions that are lagging behind in pay. I am confident that the board will address this issue as they previously had in the past. Teachers are our greatest asset in our district and our board has consistently shown a willingness to invest in them. I would like to thank Mr. Haley for his steadfast focus on safety of students and staff. We have seen a substantial drop in issues

045since his terms began. I would also like to thank the board for their effort on the recent cell phone policy prohibiting the use of cell phones during instructional time. This kind of policy will decrease bullying and classroom distractions leading to safer schools with greater academic achievements. We parents also appreciate the decrease in midday text messages from our board high schoolers. These are just a few examples of the amazing work our board has done on behalf of us. Sadly, I can only scratch the surface in my brief time as I have to speak. It is great public servants such as yourselves that have inspired me to run for the school board. I wish to serve this great community and help steer it to become an even stronger than it is now. There's always work to be

046done. There's always improvements we can make that will strengthen our schools, support our wonderful teachers, and equip our children to lead successful lives. I leave you with this quote from Condisa Rice. There's no greater challenge and there is no greater honor than to be a in public service. Thank you guys. Best hails. Hello. I am a very serious best hales tonight. Um, I am a French teacher in the district as well as a parent of three alumni and two current LSR7 students. I'm here tonight to talk about academics and to ask the board to focus money and time on academics instead of talking points. I want to start by highlighting a huge positive for our district and my department. In 2017, the state of Missouri joined other states in creating standardized requirements for proving biiteracy.

047Students earning the state seal of biiteracy must prove intermediate mid proficiency, which is usually gained after four or more years of study of a language in both English and another language and write an essay about the benefits of bilingualism in a global society. In the last Desessie report about the state seal of biiteracy, LSR7 came in second on the number of seals awarded only behind Rockwood. And despite having about 2,000 fewer students, we were only three awardees behind them. This is important because according to a survey of more than 1,200 US employers, knowing another language is in the top eight desired job skills regardless of the job title, sector or geography. Also, 14 Missouri colleges give students free college credit for earning the seal. In my mind, the fact that so many of our students

048earn the seal of biliteracy shows what can happen when a district values and encourages students to show up to school as their authentic selves. In addition to awarding seals in the four languages that we offer, LSR7 had recipients in Arabic, Italian, Korean, Erdo, among others. Lee Summit is truly a diverse district and I am proud that we recognize and support our students and their diversity. This is but one example of why and how our dignity work is important. So why did I feel called to share this information tonight? Because we are getting ready for another board election and I am hearing candidates and board members talking about getting back to academics. I would argue that our district administrators, teachers, and students do a great job of focusing on academics, which includes creating dignity for all

049of our students. Students cannot learn if they do not feel safe and valued. On the other hand, there are some board and community members, often the same ones shouting about academics, who are spending valuable district resources of time and money on non-academic subjects like book banning and revisiting the dress code. I would ask the board to please keep in mind that just because a few people are complaining doesn't mean that you have to take action. Instead, trust your educators, trust your administrators, trust us to make decisions based on our expertise, and stop pandering to voters who may not even be taxpayers or have students in the district. Thank you very much, Mara Stout. Okay. Um, Donna Gordon. Good evening. My name is Donna Gordon. My kids are grown. Um, married on living on their own.

050They graduated from Lee Summit North in 2012 and 2013. And yet, I've remained involved in the district. Why? Because I think that at good schools benefit the entire community, not just those who have kids in the district. So goes the district. So goes the community. I fully understand the value of local funding on the district and that twothirds of the district funding comes from local property taxes. I've seen but I've seen angst and community bashing from this current board for their decision to not place a Prop C waiver on next month's ballot. I have seen decades of schoolboard races in my 35 years living in Lee Summit and most candidates will say they represent all the stakeholders in the district, students, teachers, staff, as well as the broader community who by and large has supported

051our schools through the years by volunteering, supporting the educational foundation and voting to approve bond issues. So, I'm here to represent the community member stakeholder contingent here tonight. A tax increase in this current environment has the potential to throw gas on what has been a smoldering fire, but is threatening to become a blaze in our community. Last month, taxpayer advocate and former longtime member of the board of equalization Preston Smith submitted a request to the county collector to provide a complete list of all the properties that have delinquent taxes and to classify those according to risk of being sold on the courthouse steps. A similar request in 2020 produced a list of 2,171 properties countywide with delinquent taxes dating back to 2006. his new 2025 February February of 2025 list had 26,047 properties listed. So

0522000 to 26,000. Um this huge increase in assessments since 2023 have made this list nearly 10% of all the properties in the county. If all these properties are sold on the courthouse steps, we could see a severe impact on the housing market in this county. and Lee Summit. Preston's list revealed 660 properties with nearly 4.9 million in back taxes owed, 139 properties are two years delinquent, and 96 with three or more years delinquency in danger being sold on the courthouse steps for back taxes. While the county does not list properties by school district, suffice it to say, there are hundreds of taxpayers in this district struggling to keep their homes. No one is saying teachers and staff do not deserve to be fairly paid, but these tax increase proposals should take the entire community's best

053interests into consideration. Thank you, Nikki Nickens. Good evening. Accountability. The obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one's actions, decisions, and their outcomes, both positive and negative, and to be answerable to others and oneself. Our elected officials should be held accountable to their stakeholders. And this includes those elected to all positions from the local school board to state and federal lawmakers. This year, we've seen two examples of when four board members chose to vote one way initially and then to change their vote a short time later. The first example was when the board voted whether to include the Prop Cy question on the April 2025 ballot. Four board members voted against letting the taxpayers make the decision and now they want to make a decision to place it on a future ballot. Perhaps the second

054time was when four board members voted against extending a key contract on February 15th and then each of those four voted differently only five days later. Only seven people are elected to the board to represent a community of almost 105,000 people that live within the district. To vote based on personal unsubstantiated opinion is to ignore the wishes of the constituents and stakeholders in the district. Board members receive a lot of data and information prior to voting on nearly any decision. Team Lee Summit and the CAC were involved with gathering information on comparative salaries of teachers, support staff, and administrators in the area, debating and sending a recommendation to the board to put Prop C on the April 2025 ballot. Likewise, in evaluating district leadership, a very large amount of data indicating metrics by which district

055performance is measured is available not only to the board, but also to the general public. In both examples I have provided the same four board members were provided a plethora of information but seem to have ignored first the databased recommendation from CAC that the board asked for and second the database performance indicators that should have guided them in making contract decisions. No new information was collected and reviewed between the first and second votes in either example hold them accountable. Tomorrow the district will host six of our state legislators at the legislative breakfast. This will be attended by many members of the LSR7 community. I hope that those attending will remember their voices as advocates of our public schools. I hope you ask them if they are voting to support public schools. Ask them if they're

056voting to support underfunding the foundation formula for schools. Ask them if they're voting to support $50 million in vouchers for private schools. Ask them if they voted to support open enrollment. Each of their votes carry consequences for all of us. To say that you support public schools is just lip service. If you vote against supporting public schools, whether that's voting against asking taxpayers to fund teacher pay or voting against anything at all that may contain the words diversity or equity or inclusion, regardless of whether you know what those programs may do or whom they may serve. To say you support public schools is just empty rhetoric for someone who doesn't vote to support public schools. Actions speak louder than words. Please hold our elected officials accountable. Next up, we have item 5.01, board committee reports.

057Start with board member Haley. Yeah, recently I had uh the pleasure of attending the uh finance committee via Zoom this uh actually earlier this week. Uh it was rather uneventful. Obviously Mr. Holder has a very good handle on everything going on things financially. So and he said this is actually kind of a low activity time of the year. Anyway, um I attended the dress code Pratt. Um I attended the safety Pratt and also um I actually toured Miller Park uh with Dr. Matthysse and I to Prairie View Elementary this week as well. Thank you. Thank you, board member Miller. Yes, I um have been busy busy busy um reading over I think I was over 60 applications um for our excellence in teacher award as well as our teacher of distinction award. We had I

058think 160 nominations come in. So um that is an award that we do every year um to recognize our incredible teachers in our district and um it's LSR7 along with the chamber that um is the committee that that decides and um votes on this and so we had the pleasure of reading so many incredible applications and obviously um that's such a hard decision and we had the pleasure of being able to surprise all of the winners. So, um, three teachers of distinction and 12 excellence in teaching award winners um with 15 um all all 15 of those can interview for teacher of the year. So, we're excited to keep the celebration going on April 2nd at Lee Summit West where we'll also be recognizing our support professionals of the year as well. So, that's really

059exciting. And again, thank you for all of the work that our incredible teachers and staff do on a daily basis to support and love on and lift up our students. We appreciate you. Um, let's see what else. Oh, I had the opportunity to go to um Lee Summit West um for their production of Harry Potter. Our students are incredibly talented. So, great production there. Also, our Black Student Union at Lee Summit West hosted their first ever business expo featuring small businesses. So, congratulations to Miss Rhonda Ireland and April Marquez who are the um sponsors for that. It was a great event and really supporting our businesses in our community. Um great turnout there. I also attended the Taste of Lee Summit benefiting the Lee Summit Ed Foundation. Congratulations to um Chrissy and her staff. They

060had standing room only at that event and it was completely sold out. Another great event that um really supports our district. I was able to attend Pancakes with Panthers um at at Summit Point Elementary. So, thank you to Melanie Olsen Cox and her PTA staff there. They do an incredible job every year. Um including Chris Cakes Pancakes and and if you know Chris Cake Pancakes, those are like the best. Okay. So, so yummy. And they all the students, they brought us they wrote letters and all kinds of cool stuff for um all the board. So, that was always fun to see. So, thank you to to Summit Point Elementary students. Um I also attended the chamber candidate forum. So, congrats to the Lee Summit Chamber. Excuse me, board member Miller. Can we can we keep

061our comments to the committee reports? Sure. Um let's see. So, well, I just have two more. So, um, the candidate forum, Lee Summit Cares event that happened today. So, that was good. Um, and then I just want to do a quick plug for Becket who Dr. Buck recognized. Encourage you to follow her on Facebook for Becket goes to the spelling bee so we can support her. And also, Lee Summit West, Lee Summit North, and Lee Summit High School is hosting a student job fair this Saturday at MIC. So, we encourage you if you have a student that needs a job, please send them there. Um, thank you so much. Thank you, board member Myers. Um, it was a busy month, but my committee busy uh would be teacher of the year. Um, and that was

062uh that was a nice chunk of reading and some really really amazing things that that people are doing. It was kind of fun to see. Um, and then the the safety and security pratt meeting. Thank you, Vice President Heslick. Um I attended the government relations committee meeting with you board president Foley and uh heard a great presentation um from uh Dr. Buck and building our futures. Right. That's the campaign. They did great presenting the bond. Um and then uh attended the finance committee meeting um which board member Haley already covered. So that's really it. Thanks. Thank you. I attended the government relations meeting, the board leadership meeting, and then board member Garrett and I went with Dr. Buck to MSBA's advocacy day in Jefferson City. We had the opportunity to hear from the Desi Commissioner

063Eslinger and to speak directly with a few legislators to advocate for funding the foundation formula and opposing bills that would negatively impact our schools. Thank you. Next up, we have item 6.01, 01 approving transfer of funds. Can I get a motion? I move to approve the transfer of $4,460,22364 cents from the general fund to the special revenue fund. Second. Motion and second. All those in favor raise your hand and say I. I. Motion passes. Item 6.02, approving the treasures report and payment of the bills. I move to approve the treasures report and the payment of bills. Second. Motion and second. All those in favor raise your hand and say I. I. Motion passes. Next up is the consent agenda items 7.01 through 7.17. I move to approve the consent agenda items as presented. Second. Motion

064and second. All those in favor raise your hand and say I. I. Motion passes. Next up is item 8.01 Prop C resolution of intent. This is uh written by Ben Thompson who works for Gilmore Bell. Um, so the request was um from board leadership about, hey, can we put Prop C vote in this uh board meeting? Um, so we started working on on the ballot language with um with Ben Thompson. Ben was very um emphatic that that we shouldn't do that 13 months in advance. Instead, do an intent resolution. So um he has authored this intent resolution before you. And unfortunately, he is not here today because it's his kids spring break. So he is on vacation somewhere, not here. Thank you, Dr. Buck. Can you um inform the audience here uh why the decision

065was made to choose April versus August as we've had a discussion about the Prop C recommendation being split between April 25 and August? Yes. So, if you remember back in uh gosh, I can't remember which month where the conversation was whether we put it on this April or not, and we talked about uh the CAC was really split on that. It was by one vote. It was for this April. Um the other date was August, but to do it in August will cost us over $100,000 to run it in August. And the intent that the CAC recommended to the board was for it 100% to go to salaries. If we do that in August, if then we would collect the money next year, but we would be unable to give it um and salaries because

066we had already started our contracts. Correct, Joe? So, we would collect money for the intent that we couldn't do. So, we don't want to collect $4 million for an intent that we can't actually do with it. So, so if we do it in April, that would be plenty of time then to have the salary improvements for the year following. Um, so you can make those recommendations based on it. Um, um, with a fortunately a passage. Um, so that's that's why you're going to save about $100,000. I will add a third piece and the PR department will let you know this. It's really hard to campaign in the summer August. It's an early August vote. Everyone's gone. Everyone's out. Our staff's out. Our community's out. You've heard me earlier talk about Dr. Shelton and I along

067with Katie Bergen and uh Talia Evans, we've done 49 speaking engagements. We would not be able to do that many. Um I did 72 speaking engagements um in total for for the 23 bond trans or for the bond levy transfer. Um we wouldn't be able to do that in the summer because we just wouldn't have people around to do it. Thank you. There has also been a little bit of misinformation floating around indicating that staff are not going to be receiving raises this year. Could you speak to that? Yeah, every staff should have got that email last week from Team Lee Summit. So, Team Lee Summit has just a smidge over six million. I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head because it's not an even six million, just a tiny

068bit over $6 million. Um almost four million of that's a step. Uh and then there's a an increase being recommended to the board of $560 to the teachers base and a like percent to all other bases. Um so that is what team Lee Summit's recommendation. Thank you. And there were some gaps in certain occupations um or positions that were going to be addressed further um at a at a point in by team summit. Can you talk a little bit about that plan? Yes. Before I do that, I should just say you just approved the salary improvements in your consent agent. So I shouldn't say they're recommend you approved that um um just a second ago of 7.08. Um yes. So they uh are tasking an outside organization to study support and administrative uh salary schedules.

069Am I saying that right, Dr. Carlson? Yes. Um so that there's an an outside group doing a study and they'll bring it back to Teamly Summit at a future date when they're done so teamly summit can digest and do something with that. If you think back to the 23, I wish I had it up. I know I shared it with you guys prior. Um the percent of jobs are in the bottom third has greatly rec decreased since the 23, but please know that you're never done because everyone else is always doing things as well. So, um we'll never be done. Nothing will ever be fixed because we're competing against other people who are doing things differently as well. Thank you. And do you have an idea of when this recommendation will be coming forward or

070at least being presented to Teamly Summit? I I know somebody could answer that. Dr. Carlson, do you want to come up and do it on the mic so the camera can get you? So David Carlson will know that because he's the one who's the direct contact with the outside organization. We've already started doing that work with EMS and uh they plan to have some things back to us this summer and we plan to have that to teamly summit at our fall meeting in September. Thank you very much. Welcome. Are there any other questions, comments? Do we have a motion on the table? Board member Miller. Go ahead. Okay. I move to approve the Prop Cy resolution of intent as presented. Second. Any further discussion or questions? Board member Mill. I just had a couple of

071questions. Um I I'm just curious how this um this particular agenda item how did it make it back to our agenda since we just talked about this a couple months ago? Was it a request from administration or It was a request from board leadership to honor the CAC recommendation by putting forth this item for the August ballot and in discussion with Dr. Buck. He presented the three items that he talked about today as reasons why it should not go on August and should instead go on April 2026. Okay. And is there so board leadership um it was a request from board leadership it sounds like. So, is there a reason though that board leadership didn't consider the voices of the five other board members in the presentation of the resolution? Dr. Buck communicated these points

072out to the full board, but I just wondered why we didn't hear it from board leadership why it wasn't a discussion, I guess. I understand it came from Dr. Buck the information, but I'm wondering I'm just curious why the why we weren't kept in the loop of the decision to put it back on the agenda. You received the email from Dr. Buck with the information and right now is the time where we have that meeting to be able to discuss. Okay. Um, I guess the other question I have is I'm just curious what additional information did board leadership receive since our January meeting about this because we already voted on this to not move forward and then so I'm just curious how it ended up on our agenda again to talk about since we've already

073talked about it. Did we did you in the prior meeting we talked about putting it on the ballot for April 2025. We then brought it back to talk about putting it on the ballot for August of 25 and we received the recommendation from administration to instead do April 26th and so that is what has been brought forward. Can I add something to that? So, the other question that was posed by board member Haley was regarding being able to add language that further clarifies to the voter exactly what they're voting for, which was something that was also important uh to at least some of the board members to be able to fully explain to the voting public that when they vote to um eliminate the Propsy roll back, it raises their tax levy, which is not

074really clear in the language. So, the question was posed to bond counsel whether that language could then be added. The answer was yes. So that changed the dialogue a little bit as well and brought support from board member Haley as far as I understand. He's nodding his head and myself as long as we can have that language in there that really educates the voter on the implications of a yes or no vote so they're fully informed. So that was another element that I'll just add to to that conversation. We didn't have that information um because the conversation that board member Haley had happened after the the most recent vote on Prop. Thank you. Um I also just want to clarify too and this is I probably I don't want to butcher it so I'll push

075this to Dr. Buck because I had asked the question of Dr. Buck about um just having a better understanding. So, you're saying um putting language on the ballot um so that people can understand and I just wanted to make sure because based on what I heard from Dr. Buck that it's not necessarily true um that tax rate would go would increase it actually could decrease and so I'll I don't want to butcher that Dr. Buck so I'll let you speak to that. So what Ben Thompson had con some concerns about that because there's tax rates could go down. It just wouldn't go down as much without the full waiver. So that's one of the things that we want to get Joe Hatley here with Ben Thompson. So I decided to write down the scenario what

076you asked, right? So um the scenario if you look at if we' have passed a full waiver in April of 2023, well remember in September 28th of 2023, we rolled back our tax levy 59.77 cents was the actual vote compared to the prior year. 10.2 26 cents of that 59.77 cents was the Prop C roll back that year. So if we would had a full waiver pass that year, instead of rolling down 5977, we'd rolled down 49.51 cents. So it still would be a lower tax rate. It just wouldn't be as low if you didn't pass it. So we have to be careful in how we comm you can't we don't want to say your tax rate will go up because it may actually go down. It depends on when it's passed and what's happening

077at that time. um you have to be very technically correct and and so I think that's a conversation Joe Hatley and Ben Thompson want to have um between now and whenever this comes forward to you again with the actual ballot language. This intent does not have the ballot language. Um it is really just an intent uh that we're uh the board is signaling that the the goal is to put it on the April 2026 ballot. Thank you for explaining that, Dr. Buck. Vice President Hesick. Oh, sorry. I still have my button pushed, but I'm pretty sure we kind of covered it, so I am good. Board member Haley, thank you. I just wanted to clarify um the reason the timeline worked out on this deal is after we had our last meeting where we discussed

078the Prop C waiver going on the ballot, I consulted the board's legal counsel to discuss this issue about clarity and transparency in putting this on the ballot, and that's where this all came from. So, I support putting it on the ballot as long as it is transparent to the voters of what we're doing. So, contrary to what people might think, you know, I am supporting putting it on the ballot. So, and the other thing is uh to the to the members of our public here, the CAC only split by one vote on putting it on the ballot on April versus August. And so that's one of the reasons why the board chose to defer it and not put it in the ballot in April because there is a no tax increase bond going on the

079ballot. Now we want to put a tax increase on the ballot at the same time. That was um confusing to some of the people on the CAC quite frankly. So that's the reason why the board chose not to put it on the ballot in April of this year. Thank you. Board member Myers. Um, my position on Prop C as a ballot item hasn't changed. I supported this back in January when when it was voted down. I continue to support it today. I believe that the public deserves the opportunity to vote. My only my only real comment about this um um and I had to do a little bit of research, but I the intent document signals to the public that we intend to bring this back up. Um with a caveat that it's going to

080be a different board that looks at this. So, um my position will remain solid. Um but there's no guarantee as to what the composition of the board looks like when this when this comes up again. So, um, at the end of the day, I I guess other than signaling to the public that we we have, uh, met some of the criteria that we felt like we didn't have back in January, I don't know that this really changes a whole lot at this point in time. Um, so thank you. Um, to that I will say that I think what this does is this lets people know that we we heard them. You know, we heard that there was a split recommendation between April and August. And so, if we're not moving forward with August, if we

081did not come out and say that we're intending to put it out for April, people may think that we just rejected the recommendation entirely when that was not the intent. The intent was to take into consideration the points that were brought up about um by Dr. buck about um getting the the community PR out there and um getting the the the cost of the election, getting that covered because if you put it in April, it's the same time as we're already having an election. And then um how how you would communicate it if you're doing it when you can't collect the money for the salaries. Um so I definitely think that that that is a reason that we should have that and communicate that out today. Um, board member Miller. Okay. So, I just wanted

082to follow up with a couple more questions um or and thoughts, I guess. Um, just this one's for Joe. I mean just for clarity for the public and just for us and I think actually um board member um Meyers kind of mentioned this but the resolution itself the rationale for the resolution is what does it do I guess just in by definition I think that's been stated already it expresses the will of the board as of this moment to put this on the ballot in April of 2026 right so and it could be changed certainly could Okay, thank you. Um, and so if it was put on, if we had chosen to put it on this year in April, then our staff would have felt the increase next school year. Is that correct, Dr. Black?

083That's correct. there would have been approximately a 2 and a.5% um higher raise for teachers for next year and similar raises for all their staff members. Okay. Because the 6 million was already in the budget for them to receive raises and the 6 million comes to about 3.42% I think it is um raised for teachers the average teacher next year. And then if we would have had that extra it would have been an extra I think I've heard you say four million approximately. That's what yes it can range from three to five but the average is around four million and so I'm rounding off two and a half% would be the additional raise average teacher received. Okay. Vice President Hesik. Yeah. I just kind of want to remind everybody of the conversation that we had

084about um what the four million was intended to do. It was, to my understanding and my recollection, was not just intended to be blanket raises, but was actually intended to be targeted raises for certain subsets of our uh of our staff who are lagging in the bottom third. And the questions were asked at the time whether Teamly Summit had a plan to be able to avoid salary compression and some of the factors that impact being able to actually address some of those positions actually being raised above that bottom third. And the answer was no. So yes, that four million could have been used for blanket raises, but that was not the express intent and that was not what Teamly Summit was coming forward and expressing the need for. So that's one of the reasons why

085we're giving them also more time between now and the time that we can improve Prop C to be able to come up with a plan to apply that $4 million in the most meaningful way to the positions that need it the most. So it's not just about blanket raises, it's about targeted raises for the positions that need it more than others. So, I just that's my recollection. Someone can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but that's that's how I remember um our conversation when we had this discussion in January. I do believe you're right. The board was talking along that line. CAC did not de delve into that. They just said for 100% of it to go to salary and benefits. Um our path here in this district is that in Teamly Summit

086would take those dollars. That's what we did in 2023. Teamly Summit works those dollars. Before the April 23 election, they had if it passes, this is the package. if it doesn't pass this as a package and even educate each single staff member what the difference was for them. Um it would really go back to team le but you're right the board talked about that. I just want to be clear the CAC did not delve into how four million to be spent. They said we want to do propsy and we want it to all go to salary and benefits board member Myers. Yeah. I I sat to reiterate the teamly summit portion of this. I was in those meetings that we are still ongoing and there are definitely some areas that very specifically need to be

087addressed and that um actually Dr. Carlson probably held the conversation back just a little bit on some of it because um there was kind of the hey well what if this happens we could and that that conversation went nowhere like really quick because you you didn't know that whether it would get on the ballot or not and it didn't. Um so they're part of the reason why they are doing the study right now with EMS is to look at um some things with regards to salary scale issues and see what fixes can can maybe be more longer term or more impactful um with that hopefully the opportunity to have that money than than not. Um that doesn't mean that regular teacher might get a few extra bucks here or there in their in their monthly

088paycheck as well. But there are definitely some areas that are still in that bottom third that require some um they just require some adjustments. Thank you. So as a um member of team Lee Summit, it was shared to me that even the information that was provided originally in regards to the bottom thirds might not necessarily be accurate because of how positions are labeled and sometimes it's not an applesto apples comparison. And if we have multiple levels within a position, is that something you might be able to kind of comment a little bit on as far as how did the discussion went? We have we have talked about that a little bit and we've we um I think there were a couple of things and I don't have that notebook here that uh they were going

089to take off of our list because we no longer use the job title. Um and and and there were just some just some just regular discussions about um it's a moving target. So, we make an adjustment and we fix something. Uh, who knows what's going to happen next door, Blue Springs or Ray Peek or across the Shiny Mission. I mean, it's a it's a it's a constant chess game. And, um, so, um, you just try to do the best you can with what you have at any given moment in time to to get things as best as humanly possible at that moment in time until you have the opportunity to to do it again. And so, um, that's why, um, yes, you're right about that. Um, there were a couple of areas that they were

090they were going to take off the list. And there's also some challenges, too, with regards to perhaps who reports data and who doesn't and and that type of thing. And, but that's kind of out of our that's kind of out of our hands. We can only work with what we have. So, um, but yeah, there are some specific things that we'd like to be able to accomplish. Thank you, Dr. Buck. Yeah, I'll add to that. Sometimes we have some position title names that um have different job duties that other districts may have. And I'll just give you one example. Um most districts just have a paraprofessional salary schedule. We have three different ones depending on what type of pair of professional you are. Um giving more monies for some more intensive um situations that some

091of our pair professionals work in. So that's really hard. When we look at pair of professionals, we're looking against just one salary schedule in other districts and we have three where we have two extra bumps high. Um I just pulled up the I and again I've sent this a long time ago to you. It's called LSR7 salary ranks over time. It goes back a decade and a half I think. So before we passed the levy transfer only 35% of our positions 35.29% were in the top third and we had 25% of our positions in the bottom third. When we did the transfer the next year, we set a record for the last decade and a half with 61.76% of our jobs in the top third and only 8.82% of our jobs in the bottom third.

092Um the last this current year that's those numbers when you don't do significant things but other districts are that's dropped a little bit. We're at 57.5% of of our positions being top third and 12 and a half% being the bottom uh third. And so that'll just happen. You remember when we did a levy transfer, we rolled back that 59.77 cents I mentioned earlier. Um there are other districts that didn't roll back. They kept all the all their tax rates. So we are now the lowest tax rate uh district in the county. 12 file 12 or the lowest of the big six. So all the districts bigger than 10,000 were lower than um and that includes u an additional one of Kansas City is also bigger than 10,000. Um, we're also lower in them, but we

093don't tend to count them in the big six because they have some courtmandated tax rate reasons, but we're about 20 cents lower than them, too. So, we are the lowest tax rate in town, in the county, uh, in the area. Thank you. All right, we have a motion and second. All those in favor, raise your hand and say, "I." I. Motion passes. Next up, we have item 9.01, student support team annual program evaluation. I don't know if we all should fill in time. This is Dr. Sean. She's trying to come up. Dr. Sean, I think we're going to have you sit over here. I think that might be wiser if you're okay. We get Usually when I have to stall, I make Dr. Shelton tell dad jokes because he loves telling them. They're really bad.

094That's why everybody likes them. You can sit down before you talk. It's okay. We'll figure it out. There you go. Okay. I do appreciate Dr. Shelton's dad jokes and Dr. Buck. I do appreciate all that you share with us because you are incredibly intelligent. I love hearing you talk about um everything and and with the district, we trust you. So, thank you so much for your leadership. Um I'm excited to talk about my student support program tonight. Um I do have my PowerPoint presentation up on the screen and I also have my written report that was attached. Um my name is Jesse Segan. I'm the director of student support. This is my third year in the district. Um been in education for 18 years and honored to be a part of the LSR7 community. Okay.

095So, you can see the program design. Um, my team consists of the school counselors at each of the levels. Um, also the mental health therapists. And I'm going to dive into a little bit more of what their role consists of. The focus room interventionists, um, focus room facilitators, also known as the 504 coordinator team. And we also have a school community liaison in the district, um, synonymous with a social worker. We have one administrative assistant on my team. Her name is Sarah Thompson. And then myself as the director of student support. Other programs that are um underneath me. I'm excited about my pre kindergarten program. I don't get to dive too deeply in that into that tonight because it will be included in the written report in May alongside Dr. Matthysse as she talks about

096her early childhood programs at Great Beginnings. Um but that is a program that I've had the opportunity to oversee this year alongside um the director Katie Bert. We also have school-based health partnerships. We have two agencies with whom we partner, Burl Comprehensive Mental Health and Rediscover. We just added Rediscover last year and we're going to go over those numbers here shortly of how many of our students are participating in those programs. Um I also work with our BIS, which is behavior intervention support team. Um they have monthly consultants who come into our buildings and support our students and our staff. The trauma smart programming through Kittton's Children's Center is also something that I oversee and um that was uh developed through a grant through the Jackson County Children's Fund. It was a rather large grant

097for about $300,000 and it was um over the course of three years. And so we've been able to um incorporate several schools into that program and helping them to be that trauma-informed lens as they are working with our students. I've been in partnership with Dr. Heather Kenny on that and the elementary schools and great beginnings as well who's been implementing that this year along with Underwood and Trail Ridge. Character Strong um is the social emotional learning curriculum that is in my department. Um we have the school counselors implementing that alongside the advisory teachers at the high school level and the middle school level and um the middle school teachers and have been implementing that all school year and the high school uh started implementing that second semester. We also have caring school communities under my

098department and that is um the social emotional learning curriculum in elementary schools. And in my department we also have homebound services um for students who for um medical reasons or IEP 504 related are unable to attend school full-time. We do find an instructor to help these students. Okay. Next, strategic alignment. The team's mission, vision, and beliefs are in alignment with board priorities. the maintain a safe environment in which student and staff engagement, participation, belonging are prioritized as well as increasing the academic growth and achievement of each student. Um, I will show you a little bit more about that if you want to learn more about how we impact the academic growth as well. We support the CSIB goal 2 stating that we will foster a responsive, inclusive, safe, and caring environment. And that is a

099picture of the school counselors, the mental health therapists, and the 504 team during um some uh team building time. for financial implication. Uh these are the formats in which the staff are in our buildings. It just kind of breaks it down for you. We have um one counselor in each of the 11 uh elementary buildings. We also have 0.5 counselors in seven of those elementary buildings. We don't have any elementary with two full-time. We have a full-time counselor for R seven online. This was um a position that we had a grant for last year and then we chose to um have that that counselor come back on board and she works very closely with Dr. Hutchinson in the R seven online program and it's been a great collaboration this year. We have three full-time in

100the middle schools, five in each of the high schools, a full-time counselor at Summer Ridge and um for our early college program as well for the mental health therapists. So these are our licensed clinical social workers and our licensed practicing counselors and um so each of them are licensed and we're very lucky to have them. This is the format in which they serve. Four of them are in three schools, three of them are in four schools, we have one and two and then we also have a full-time person at Miller Park and um a full-time person at both of the great beginning sites as well. the school community liaison. He's housed at SRRA, but he helps um all of the needs in the district and we have a resource form that he moni monitors that

101if families need anything, they can go online and complete it and he monitors that form and make sure that families get resources that they need. For 504 and I'll go over numbers here in a little bit, too. Um we have one uh you can kind of see the format there. So, we have three full-time coordinators and then one of our coordinators is the elementary counselor and coordinator. So, her case, it's a little bit smaller. For other programming, um, we have our pre kindergarten program, which I just wanted to make mention of because we're very proud of that program this year. It's the first year off the ground. We have 193 students in that program. Um, eight of those classes are full day, one is the half day. Um, and then this year we were able

102to get the Missouri Quality PreK grant for 1.3 million where every single family had the opportunity to attend for free. And we also with Shelley Sanders help last year did a startup grant for 450,000 for that program and um our finance department, business department has been great in helping us with that as well as Kyle Gurell and his team and um everybody in the academic services side too. They also maintain their own school budget. I maintain our homebound travel expenses for our homebound teachers and Burl and Rediscover. I just want to notate that there is zero cost to the district with partnering with those two agencies. It's been very helpful. Um it's based on um Medicaid and private insurance is who funds that and that's per family discretion if they want to join in that

103program. Our interventionists are supported by building budget and that is that for financial application stakeholder and planning process. If you're interested in who the steering committee members are, those are listed in the written report. Very proud of those steering committee members, the counselors and mental health therapists. We plan department meetings. Um and then we have monthly meetings with each of the teams. And there's a couple pictures to show you. For our program goals and action steps, um we place a focus on student and staff well-being. Social emotional learning is one of the ways that we do that. And you can see we follow the castle framework and partnership um with Shannaboo and career navigators to incorporate the portrait of a graduate model in the district. So you can see there those are the five um

104those the five skills that we are hoping that our students have when they graduate. The next slide you will see um is school counselor and mental health therapist data. I did link the brand new DESIE standards. Those were just approved in February and those address the academic career and personal interpersonal and intrapersonal development. Used to be called social emotional learning. They are now calling it interpersonal intrapersonal development, but it's the same similar areas. Um, so I linked those there in case you wanted to look at them, but it dives pretty deeply into how school counselors and staff support on the academic side, career side, and interpersonal, intrapersonal as well. I left those time task total charts there for you to see. Over the course of six days, randomly in the year, school counselors are tallying

105their time spent on their programs. Um school counseling program is broken into four areas. It's school counseling curriculum, individual planning, responsive services, and system support. And so you can see what Desi suggests and then what our school counselors are implementing as far as percentage goes. Um the curriculum, we have curriculum teams for each level for elementary, middle, and high that it consists of school counselors. And um all of the lessons that are implemented are based on the state standards. So everything is um in accordance with what the state wants us to do. And then with our mental health therapists, you can see there uh like I said, they're licensed. They're very professional, knowledgeable people. They're wonderful. They serve um general education and students on IEPs and they also have social groups as well. So you

106can just kind of see the numbers there um as far as how that goes. Next, for our CEB student survey, I had the opportunity to partner with Dr. Matt Jones in the data and assessment um as well as Dr. Barger and other people in the department as well. And we developed uh this year we used the Desi culture and climate survey to gather data. We did a fall um assessment or survey, excuse me, and then we're also going to do one this spring. And so this is just our baseline data that you see here. The CIB question up at the top was administered to students in grades four and five. And as you can see, um I feel safe at school, the the 94.9, and I'll let you guys add all of those up, but

107you can see that our elementary students um are having very positive experiences, which all comes down to feeling safe and feeling like they belong at school. And the second round is our grades 6 through 12. And you can see those percentages there. You can add those up. Um those are on the higher end as well. They're ranked differently. For fourth and fifth grade, it's yes sometimes or no. And then for the higher grades, strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree. So you can kind of see those different rankings there. That data does exist in our Qualric platform, which is an internal platform that our technology department created. Next is our interventionist data. Um they are rock stars. We have 29 interventionists in the district and what they do is um very proactive work. So they offer

108um they offer a calming space. They offer opportunities for students to refrain from getting in further trouble. Um that those numbers do appear somewhat high, but that's again because a lot of those proactive measures have been put in place. Very thankful for the work that our interventionists do. And this is the data that was received at the end of February. um they also follow the BIS framework which I was mentioning earlier when they are working with students and um so there's that data. Next is 504 plans. Um so again these are students who are general education who have accommodations in the classroom um because of major life activity is substantially limited in some way. So, as you uh can see the first coordinator, she has a lower case load, and that's only because she's also

109a halftime counselor. And then um broken down there, you can see how the numbers um look for the second coordinator, the third coordinator, and fourth coordinator, totaling 1,331 504 plans in the district. And as far as our school-based data, the this is the partnership with Burl and Rediscover. As I mentioned, we we brought in Rediscover last year. We started with Burl in the spring of 2021, phased them in, and now all of our schools are being served, including our early childhood programs in um preK as well. I actually got an update today that we have 332 that are enrolled in Burl and 70 who are enrolled in Rediscover. I linked the schools just in case you were curious of how it was broken down. Once a family is at a school, they stay with that

110same agency. They do not um go to a different agency. the agencies are assigned by school. Again, this is no cost to the district. Um, this is something that families can opt into. Next, we have our department data. I just wanted to do a little spotlight on my um school counselors and mental health therapists. We administer a survey every year to them. And a couple of the questions are always focusing on their sense of belonging. One of the questions was how positive is it working within the student support department? Um, which I'm very proud of. 83% said that it's either a four or five. And of course, five is where we want to be. Um, so that's something that we are always continuously looking to make sure that the the folks in the department feel

111supported and cared for. Strengths and celebrations. Got a couple pictures up there and really want to add a couple more, but two school counselors were recognized as regional greater Kansas City School Counselors of the Year. Molly Viki at East Trails Middle and Stacy Okonnell at Lee Summit High School. And of course um when we did the call to recognize them, the lady said, "You guys even had an elementary counselor who was almost chosen." So we almost took over the whole region for um school coun amazing school counselors. And so if they choose to go for a state award, they can do that and then be honored next year. And we also had one of our mental health therapists uh and one of our interventionists recognized as support professionals of the year. So thank you to

112those of you who looked through all those applications. um Kiara Palmer and Blair Flack were recognized for those one of those six people in that department. We have a high percentage of staff members who have a sense of belonging in the department. Also, the trauma-informed expansion has been great work. We're really excited about it. It's really um we'll see if we get a grant again. I'm hoping to be able to apply for that, but the funds have to be there um through Jackson County Children's Fund, the successful partnership with Burl and Rediscover, and I've heard from a lot of families that they're benefiting from that programming. And then also of course not up there is the pre-K program which I'm very in incredibly proud of and all of you should be too because you were

113a part of that last year. And the opportunities we are going to continue like I said to apply for those grants. Hopefully they become available. I'm keeping my eye on them including the prek grant and um continuing to support schools as they implement seal curriculum at the all levels. And lastly program goals and action steps. We will continue to set goals that are in alignment with the CSIP and we will continue to use survey data and work with building administrators to help with a sense of belonging. Those in my um student support department collaborate greatly with the school administrator. So excited to see how that continues to grow. Are there any questions? Board member Miller. Well, first I just want to say thank you so much. I really enjoyed your report and reading all the

114data and um you and your team do an incredible job of supporting our students every day. So, thank you and supporting the teachers um as well. So, um I did have a couple of questions for you for Trauma Smart and is that program being implemented I know it's just rolled out, but is that is the plan to implement it across the board for all or is it is it specific to ages? So, um it's it's a kind of an expensive program. It's a $50,000 program per building. And so, right now, we're dependent on the grant. Um that is it comes from the Jackson County Children's Fund. And so, we should know something within the next couple of months if we're going to be able to apply for that grant again. And then the hope would

115be to um if if we are awarded that grant, we would just follow the outline and and be able to implement it as we can afford it. Thank you. [Music] um for the burl services, the rediscover and burl, it's no cost to the district, but it's also no cost to the families. Is that correct? Sort of. Um because it it they use both Medicaid and private insurance. And then also if a family doesn't have either then they have grant money set aside to serve those families. So their goal is that all families are served if the intention is there. Perfect. Yeah. I just want to make sure there was no barriers to people receiving services. So, thank you for asking that. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you for the presentation and for the

116work that your team has done in putting this together. Um, I had something that just jumped out at me that I wanted to see if you could speak to. It's on slide seven. Um, when talking about the school counselor data, it says that there's 7% 13% and 4% that is spent on non-school counseling task activities. And so that 13% in particular kind of jumped out at me. Do you have any idea as far as what kind of activities we are requesting the counselors to do that are outside of their scope? That is a really good question. I would have to dig a little deeper into that. Um, I know that sometimes they help with various duties and they may we have fair share duties where school counselors help in the same way that any other

117staff member would help and sometimes they may um offer to do a little bit more of that. So that would be accumulated there. Um, so but I could look into that deeper and let you know exactly what that kind of consists of. Thank you. All right. All right. I see no other questions. Thank you so much. Thank you very much for your time. All right. Next up, we have items 10.01 through 10.04, written reports. Any questions? Okay. Well, with that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much everyone.