001Thumbs up to go. >> All right. On to our presentation for the evening. >> Yes. Board. Tonight, we have Dr. Christy Ferris to share an update on our K2 K8 success academy. This is one of those programs that really reflects who we are as a district. Building relationships, helping students do hard things, and putting them on a path towards successful outcomes. I'm excited for you to hear about the great work happening here. Dr. Ferris, it's all yours. >> All right. All right. Well, I'm honored to be the I'm pretty loud. I don't even know if I need that. I'm honored to be the principal of the Rayex Success Academy. I'm in my seventh year of doing it. Um, some of the things I love about it is I get to work with every principal almost
002in the district and um, and they get to come to our building and work with our students. And then I just also love my favorite part of the job. Every day is different and I love when the families come and the student comes for the first time. Sometimes they're the microphone so people can hear you. >> Sometimes the families are stressed when they come. Sometimes the families are angry when they come or um have a lot of things that they want to talk about and I know that in just a few weeks or a few months they're going to be able to exhale. I'll have parents call me and say, "You haven't called me this week. What's going on up there?" And I say, "Nothing. Your students in class and they're learning and growing." And
003um that's the best part of the job is when I see the students exhale and then the parents exhale. they can go to work for 40 hours a week and we can start um teaching their student and getting them back to uh their their school of residence. So, the success academy is still a kindergarten through 8th grade program and what we work on with the students is self-regulation skills and strategies and we want to help develop their social skills so that they can return to their traditional elementary or middle school setting. Um we we work on four main goals which is having a school safe body and a school safe voice and then following directions of any adult and then participating in their academics. And once they're those four goals get up to about 80%
004then I start contacting their school of residence principal and we start working through the process of going back. We usually go back in a couple of hour increments and the students will shuttle from the success academy and then every two weeks we meet and we look at their data. If they have 80% at the home school and 80% at my school still, then we'll add time until they're a full-time student back at their school of residence again. Um it takes a it takes a lot of people to do that. were able to get on Google Meets, thank you COVID, and work on, you know, what strategies working at the success academy versus what strategies working at their school of residence. What we've seen not work. Um, and and it takes a village to get these
005kids back to school and we love it. See if I'm doing this right. Oh, I did what Ryan told me not to do. There we go. Let me see. Yep. Um, tonight I brought our four teachers of the success academy. If you guys could stand. I want if you don't know, Ray Peek is very uh we expect high high expectations here and these teachers teach a multitude of grades. So, um, teaching three grades in Ray Peek is no small feat and trying to get in the prioritized standards, um, as well as teaching the behavior. So, I want to honor, um, this is from left to right. Katie Fernandez is our third through fifth grade teacher. Cassie Brooks is our kindergarten through 2 grade teacher. Amy Tomkins is our sixth through 8th grade teacher. And Rachel
006Chamberlain is our kindergarten through fifth grade behavioral skills teacher. Um, thank you guys so much for everything in that. Uh but overall I was counting as I was making this presentation there's about 35 staff in our district mental health professionals uh behavior interventionist our student support team social workers that come into our building every week occupational therapists speech pathologists counselors from country crossroads and uh compass that help these students. We usually have about 16 to 26 students in any given time come and go. And so it um you know 35 kids you can see the effort that we put in to provide each student a successful and meaningful life. They we you can come to success academy and see that and I'm sure many other places we the behavioral skills program is a new addition
007to the success academy. Miss Chamberlain's class. It's an it's a smaller classroom that has three paras in Miss Chamberlain and it provides extra help, structure, and support for students that need even a little bit more help than our typical classrooms provide. And here's some of our lovely friends doing uh making birdhouses, learning how to use the scooter for the first time, uh enjoying one of our monthly assemblies, and our Christmas uh lunch that we do with Ray Peek Academy. And then last but definitely not least for me, uh one of the great things happening at the success academy, we could not make this program possible without the Rayek Foundation. This year we received four um grants for um we got PE teachers this year. So, we wrote a grant for PE equipment, um stuff to
008support the um staff's wellness, uh chomp saws, and we had um field trips come in person so that we didn't have to put the little guys on a bus just in case they had a big upset. So, we have another one coming next week, which is a puppet company that we're really excited about. They also pay a lot of money for us for our middle school students to go to boys grow which is a farm in Raytown where they go do mechanical uh agriculture and culinary twice a week as an elective. So we could not do it without the Rayek Foundation. So I could not do it without Carrie Penny who is our elementary instructional coach and Tammy Novak who is our sixth through eighth grade instructional coach. I could definitely not do this program
009without them. So, they're going to tell you a few things. Um, in our reading program, um, each unit is around a theme and, um, one of the units that we just wrapped up was about heroes. And at the end of the unit, we wrap up with a week six project. And this week six is about a comic. Heroes don't have to come from comic strips. They can come from anywhere uh that they want. Our everyday heroes. And so our wonderful, wonderful staff um brainstormed who are some of our community heroes and we came up with firefighters um our animal shelter coordinator here in Raymore and of course Dr. Slaggel. Um so we invited um each of those individuals in and they told us a little bit about their jobs and then the great thing is
010that the students got to ask them questions and then at the end students then made their opinion about who was the community hero. Um and so all students picked all three different types um and they got to showcase um their learning and this one was Dr. Dr. Slegel. And I just want to read this student's opinion about Dr. Slaggel. Dr. Slegel helps kids have good behavior. He greets me and makes me feel good. >> He runs meetings in the boardroom. And as you can see too, there is Dr. Slaggel with his cape on because our heroes >> don't have to come from comic books. >> And by the way, we picked this before his awards last week. So I have to point that out. We had already nailed that. Sorry, you're fine. Okay. Um, I
011work with the middle school and I enjoy so much working with Mrs. Tommpkins. And what I'm going to talk to you about came about through interest surveys that we did with students to actually learn what they're interested in so we can incorporate it within what we do and when we plan together so that we can try to ignite that love for learning that they um some of them have are missing and school has been hard for a while for them. And so the foundation gave us the chompsaw and we're really grateful for that. We're in the beginning stages of learning how to do that. Um you'll see that a student for her interest driven project used the chompsaw to cut out different types of cardboard to show and learn about um rocks, different types of
012rocks. Um we have the students the first day um you can see them using the chomp saw and um working together. The best thing is I um pull an agility and portrait of the ray grad. I walk in, they look at me, they walk over and start discussing about how they or what they're doing together connects with that and it was just such a powerful moment. Um, one of the students has really gotten into it and so um, we've challenged her to work with the younger students, teachers to talk about what um, learning targets they might be have coming up and then um, there she's going to create things with the chompsaw that they could use for their learning. And so those are just a few of the things that they've worked on since we've
013had it for a short time. And the next thing that I want to talk about is really um a dream come true for me um in the fact that um I have dreamt of bringing Minecraft in and for years um students have talked about their interest being video gaming. I did not grow up with video games. God bless Jared's heart working with Amy and I as we figured out how to implement it safely into the classroom. He was teaching us a whole another language. Um the first day um we walked in the classroom and we had the kids go through the modules because we're like you know not everybody may know it, right? Um Amy and I took forever just to get through the first part of the first module. I'm like where am I
014going? The kids are like going so fast through all of them. Like in 15 minutes they'd gone through all the modules. Um, one of the students stood up, had his Minecraft dance, and so the room just filled with joy and laughter as they began this process of using something that they love to do and connect it to different targets. Um, I had to leave to run into another classroom that I had already had appointment with and then I came back because I forgot my bag and Amy came up to me and she was like, "You'll never believe this. when we had to wrap everything up, they automatically got up, walked back to the agility's table, started making connections to the different agilityities and what they had done in class, and then they walked over and
015did the same thing for the portrait. And I got in on the last part of that. and to think about how students um that might struggle or not had um positive impact in school can make those connections to those essential skills that they need was really powerful. And so I want to thank Dr. Bolt, Carmen, the technology department for all the work that they did to try to get this up and running. Can you go to the next slide? So after of course we had fun. Oh, it skipped one. Oh, it may not be up there. Um, so if it's not up there, but we did connect it recently to ELA where they're talking about how characters can change over time and their um per personalities change depending on what happens throughout a book. And
016so they were reading holes and they each have their own world and they had to create different things through that. And then there's a great writing component component within Minecraft. And so it's so powerful to watch that. In fact, um the day that we did Minecraft, I came back in and they're doing Chompsaw in the afternoon and I'm like, "Whoa, what are you all doing? You're laughing and smiling in class and they're like, "Oh, you're so funny." But it was just the room was filled with such joy and so many great things and learning happening in that room. So, it was wonderful to see. Next slide. >> Oh, yep. Um, this one is one thing that's really important to us here at the innovation academy is that we do crosswork where our um, high school
017kids work consistently and think about our younger we call them the littles on this side. Um the middle school isn't so little, but we incor include them whenever we have like our fall festival um our holiday dinner. And recently for one of our classes independent um art um the students asked um the younger students to make um a monster and then they took in that art class and designed that monster and then took and gave that to them. So, we're always working to build that family together um with the student. So, so in closing, I just wanted to say to a lot of the people over here that developed this program seven years, eight years ago, because we're in our seventh year, um how forward thinking it was and how lucky Ray Peek is that
018we have done that. We continue to get uh school districts that call up and ask if they can come in and uh tour our program. Um every year we host two or three school districts. This year we had Reed Spring School District Southern Missouri come up. Um tha school district came back for a second tour. They're opening their K8 alternative program in August. And so once they hired the principal, they asked if they could bring her for the morning so she could come out and kind of just get a feel of like what she was walking into. I think she's still going to do it. So that's great. And then uh next week after spring break, we're going to do Eastland School District. The superintendent is coming for a tour on the Monday we get
019back. So um but thank you for everything and that's it. Have a good night. Are there any questions from the board? >> Thank you for all that your uh school does. It's it's definitely an impact not just on those kiddos but on their families as well. >> Thank you. So, thank you all for everything you do. >> Your staff. Thanks, guys. Appreciate you. >> THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE consent items? >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other discussion? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. On toformational items. Summer school. >> Yes. Board. Next, we'll hear from Dr. Crystal Bar with an update on summer school. This remains an incredible part of our work with a large number of students participating each year. something we're very
020proud of. So, Dr. Bar. >> Yeah. So, I'm just going to do a few highlights. It didn't change much from last year. Um, but the purpose of um our summer school program is dual. It is to provide remediation. Um, but it's also to imp enrichment opportunities. Um, and it's at all grade levels. Um, our structure, our full uh in-person summer school will be four weeks. The focus is on priority learning targets. At the elementary level, it's a um four-week cohesive experience that centers around science, technology, engineering, arts, and math or steam um for 16 days with electives um blended in as appropriate. And then at the secondary level, it's a four-week themed experience. Uh the theme this year is game on, taking learning to the next level. So, they kind of took that off of
021our um innovation summit. It's kind of a nice connection there. Um with a focus on the portrait of a rape graduate traits. Um, we will also have activities related to America 250, a celebration of our country's 250th birthday at all the grade levels this summer. Um, online registration is going to be through focus and that will open up April 9th. Our proposed sites based on enrollment is that Bridal Ridge and Peculiar students will funnel into Bridal Ridge Elementary with Kelly Schoolcraft being the principal. Timber Creek, Raymore, and Creekmore students will funnel into Timber Creek Elementary with Jennifer Carr being our um summer school principal there and Stonegate and Eagle Glenn will funnel into uh to Stonegate with Amanda Bar being um our principal. Our secondary 6th through 12 will all be at the high school.
022Um Jennifer Ramirez, Lena Quinland, and Emily Craig are our administrators for the secondary level. students are enrolled in the grade level that they will be entering into um then in 26 27 which is really particularly helpful for those incoming kindergarteners. It really helps them kind of learn school before school uh which then helps our kindergarten teachers a lot um in the fall. We do provide transportation um for for all of our students as needed morning and afternoon and then for high school midday because our high school does end in the middle of the day. Um our courses may include more than one grade level depending on enrollment. Also at the elementary, in addition to those themed courses, we do have reading intervention courses that meet the Senate Bill 319 students. So students who need additional
023reading instruction because they are behind. Um and our high school does offer um one credit, one credit maximum for incoming nth graders, two credits for all other grade levels. Um it is remediation, which again I said it's project based, but then there's also some opportunities for kids to get ahead by taking PE, health, or personal finance. This also helps our kids who go off-site. um their their junior year is tight and so it gives them an opportunity to kind of um allow for some movement and then there are online opportunities um for all students that are open in June and July. Um our first session which is the in is in person. We also have a virtual option is June 1st through the 25th for elementary. They go Monday through Thursday, June 1st through the
02426th for our secondary kiddos. Um no school on Junth. Um and then our second session is in July is only virtual and that is July 6th through the 31st. Um our start times um elementary is going to go 8 to 3:30. Middle school will be 9 to2. High school will be 9 to 1220 which will serve um breakfast and lunch for our students. So that's just some of the highlights. The lead team does meet on a monthly basis and then our our site team or um secondary and elementary teams meet even more than that. So they'll be gearing up. Uh typically our summer school does um house about half of our kids. So we're running about the Harrison School District, Harrisonville school district size of summer school. So it's a big endeavor. They work really
025hard to make really great opportunities for our kids. So questions, >> quick question, and and I know you won't have the number right off hand for this one on that Senate Bill 319. How many students do we typically have that are affected by or impacted by that? We have to >> Oh, get get it for us. >> Sorry, it was it was just a question I had. I didn't think about it ahead of time. >> It's all right. Um, so we have a little bit different based on building to building. um and so they can run anywhere from around 20 up to about 50 students in reading that need um some type of uh support. Now, some of those students do not always um present according to our data as having um a significant deficiency,
026but um we wrap around all those students and just make sure to watch them extra carefully even if they aren't necessarily here. >> Is that in one building or across >> by by building? Okay. each building and it fluctuates because as our staff works with them they often improve and then of course we have new friends who come in. So >> is that something that we have to test for for lack of better word like when school starts each year? So, three times a year actually um we are required based on Senate Bill 681 to assess students in foundational reading skills um for kindergarten through third grade and then anyone new who moves in fourth and fifth grade. Um and then those rating success plans if they um are flagged per se um which is
027a mechanism that the state and the um testing company set um if um they have to clear twice um on those assessments to then be released from that reading success plan. So um and then they do follow them through um middle school and eventually into high school if they um end up still needing that type of support. Um, and also a student who has a diagnosis of dyslexia also receives one. Again, even if they're not necessarily struggling, we want to keep an extra watch on them. >> Thank you. >> Approximately how many students do we have in summer school? >> About half of our population, so around 3,000. Any other questions? >> Thank you. >> All right, moving on to sharp focus. >> Yes. Uh, Mr. Craig Berkings here tonight to help us continue our
028conversation around I believe the winner NWA scores. >> Correct. >> So Craig, off to you. Thank you. Good evening everyone. All right. So like Dr. Sgel said, tonight we're going to continue on this month's sharp focus um by working on the reading and literacy piece of the uh NWA growth data. So last month we talked a lot about math, where we were, what was good, where we can grow, where we were glowing. This month we're going to do the exact same thing except for the ELA and literacy pieces. But I'm going to show it in a way where it's really hard to find a lot of the grow pieces because you can see in the ELA world, we are really doing a great job in this district. And when we're talking about the double-sided coin
029here, you're going to see that 71 and 77. And then on the other side, that 29 and 23 for our glow, which are much higher than the math numbers, which we were very proud of last month. Let's talk about the ELA 71% first. Now, when you look at this, there's a lot of numbers on here that show a lot of different pieces. So, I'm going to start with the 71% on that left hand side. We're going to talk about the student reading skills. These are individual kids. Every single one of our students put together, 71% of those kids either maintained or grew from where they were when they started on in September from where they were when they came back from winter break in January. 71%. It's a huge number to say that during that
030one interim piece and like we talked about last month that is more growth than we have seen in the past three to four years after the COVID swing and looking at really focusing on these NWA pieces. When I look at it as a bigger scale, I said where are we at with our classes? Again, three years ago we were at 69%. That's a great number. But as far as that number is great, now we're over three4 77% of our courses which are all classes K12 are exceeding growth targets. So not only are we doing it as an individual basis, but every single grade level again we're talking about a 77% growth. That's huge. Um and in fact when I when I cross reference this 10% are actually higher than the national average on that. So
031when you're looking at those courses on average, we're 10% higher than national average. So the numbers that NWA are showing in the mid-year growth are really encouraging. Now like I said in the beginning, we are going to talk about the glow and now the growth side, but this is impressive, guys. Like this is this is really interesting because we're only looking at 29% versus that 71 flip of the coin. So we have about a fourth of our kids did not grow. So when we look at those numbers, you know, we can say what's going on. What are we doing? And how can we jump into this right now? This is the beauty of an interim assessment like NWA or any of the interim assessments. We don't have to wait until the end of the year
032to make changes after summer when those kids are gone. your district teachers and administrators had this data in front of them immediately following that test. We're already making those changes. On the other side of the other side of the 77 is 23. So less than a fourth right now of each class, they did not show where they needed to be as far as the growth pieces. So what we're doing is we're working on a pathway for them to make sure that they're hitting those targets. And again, a lot of this comes to where did we project them to be in September? We have all the data from NWA for years. And of all that projections, what did we then observe? And again, these numbers are phenomenal numbers. Um, it's amazing to me that the math
033numbers I thought were great. Um, so we're kind of saving the best for last year. Our ELA numbers outshine those great numbers. So, even though we do have some room to grow, when I do look at 29 and 23, um, our district administrators and teachers, like I said, we know who those kids are. We know what what standards or strands they're really are struggling on and where we can find trends that we maybe have not seen growth and then all of a sudden we're working on those professional learning teams and we're working on those standards. We're working on those domains so that we can move those kids forward. I think the biggest piece and takeaway is still a repeat from last week or sorry last month but it is very important for to realize when
034we're talking about our most vulnerable learner learners the same thing happened in math in ELA as well it's showing that those kids are making the greatest strides which again goes back we are doing great things in our classrooms what we are seeing in math and ELA it's working um so when we move forward with these pieces, we always will have room to grow, but again, in looking at where we are versus where we were, there's been great strides and and I truly believe if we're growing kids, everything else just falls into place. And looking at that midterm NWA data, we are definitely growing kids in Ray Back. What questions do you guys have for me this evening? Not a question, just a comment again of how this pulls it all together for us, your position
035and giving us pieces that um the community can see. You know, everybody has somebody that comes home with a with a test and a and a number, but to see it as a full district-wide, it's very helpful. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions, >> Craig? If I'm a teacher in a classroom and I have some students who are not meeting target, they're part of the 23 or 29%. What kind of information am I getting from you or from the building principal that helps me with their instructor? What does that look like? You know, I I I kind of referred to this as a baseball card. Um, back in the day, um, showing my age here, when I collected baseball cards, you could flip that card over and it showed all of their
036statistics on how they did for every team they ever played for. And it was from batting, from fielding to doubles, triples, home runs. It gave their entire scope of who they were as a player. What I'm creating for our teachers is every individual kid gets that baseball card. So, let's say I'm talking about an eighth grade student at one of our middle schools. They're going to be able to see that past data, how they performed on every single one of the Missouri State tests from your GLAS or EOCC's, but not just that yearly data. Then we can take NWA and say how did they do on their last two three 10 NWA and then let's actually look at the trajectory of that growth. Where did we see a fall? At what grade level was that?
037So if we see a fall that might have happened in fifth grade uh as an eighth grader, you know, and then I saw that they really never rebounded. Then that would be able to say so I can look at the standards and strands that they might have struggled on then and I can start filling some of those holes and gaps. And if I can see all those different pieces, I would be able to get a complete picture of the student. Not that, you know, we're, you know, even the kids that don't grow to where we need them to be. If the kid that comes in on their MAP test below basic, below basic, below basic, it's not the thought of, well, this is a below basic kid, I can see growth within the level. And
038if I know that there's kids that are growing within the level, we can make that reach to proficiency because we can see the growth. The the problem with some of the just the four basic levels is it gives you kind of a very vague visual. What I'm able to do is give teachers the exact visuals. And the more we do this, I will be able to show those specific standards where those kids have struggled on throughout their history, whether it's this year or a couple years ago, and they will be able to pinpoint those strategies. So in our intervention teams, they will be able to go in with a group of kids that possibly all miss that same small piece and work on that specific strategy to fill that hole and gap and then open
039up that basically open up their entire world for learning because that one piece now all of a sudden that teacher aha click moment you get to have that and I hopefully will be able to identify that for every kid in this district. So how are we then in turn able to work with parents to give them this information in a way that they can understand and see how they can partner with the teacher, how they can work at home with them, you know, how they can help them. >> You know, I some of the reports that I have are very specialized for some of the teacher strands and standards. But with the history reports, that's something any teacher could be able to share kind of like their students history. What we've talked about is having
040data conversations with kids and those types of forms go home so that in in our in our littles, you know, they might have a coloring sheet to say, "Here's how I grew throughout the year." Well, as we move forward with that, then the parents can see and kind of have that growth and then they would be able to say, "Well, what is a normal what does a normal growth look like?" Those data conversations can then go home. And then when we're having those parent teacher conferences, they can say, "Well, I've noticed that we may not have grown as much. What are some things we can work on at home?" Well, that's a great question. and here are some of the pieces that we saw when we were testing. Here's what they might have missed on
041the standardized test from the state, but within the past 3 months, here's what we've seen really great things to celebrate at home, and here's some things that we might want to really reinforce after that lecture. So, where we're going to be able to move forward, and I've really been talking all along is having the kids be a part of the data story. And if we have the kids involved and the teachers, those forms will go home and and the parents then will should be able to see this and have a clear picture because again, we're all stakeholders in education and if we're all on the same team, we're really opening up the future for our kids. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you guys. Have a good
042evening. >> All right, on to bond planning update. >> Yes, Dr. Vulkar is going to come really about the next three items. We're going to brief you on the the bond planning efforts, the World Cup preparation, and as well as American 250, just let you know how the district is participating and being involved in each of those. So, Dr. Vulker. >> Well, good evening everyone. Tonight, I'll share an overview of how we communicate with our community regarding the R Prop RP bond campaign, including the scope, frequency, and variety of outreach efforts undertaken over the past several months. Since late January, our communication strategy has been comprehensive and multi-layered, utilizing our website, district and school newsletters, direct email to families, social media, and public service announcements to broad to broaden awareness. We are organizing messaging around
043weekly themes. I hope you've seen those themes. Safety and security, early childhood learning spaces, student opportunities, and facility improvements supported by detailed articles and FAQs. This included the production of both snackable video and a comprehensive video to make information easy and accessible to understand for our patrons. In addition, we launched a dedicated website and consistently reinforced me messaging through multiple channels, ensuring our community had repeat opportunities to engage with accurate and timely information. I'd like to thank Christy McMurland and her team in communications for all the hard work completed to help our community be informed on this topic. They've done an amazing job. I hope you've seen the videos and the articles, the snippets, the longer video. They've really done an incredible job putting in information out there for our community. In parallel, we prioritize
044face-to-face engagement through an extensive series of staff and community presentations. Throughout March, district leaders presented to staff at every building and department, ensuring internal understanding and alignment. We also connected with a wide range of community groups, including PTAs, booster organizations, chambers of commerce, Rotary, and other civics and stakeholder groups. In total, we've conducted over 35 presentations, reflecting a deliberate and transparent approach to communication, meeting stakeholders where they are, providing multiple entry points for information, and creating ongoing opportunities for questions and dialogue in our community. Our flyer, and I believe I left it over there, sorry, sorry, has really been key. Also, great work by our communications department. a lot of work by Pam um getting this together for us to give information as you see our priorities held within and I've talked to many groups
045and we've really used this as kind of our focal point talking about when our bond is what our priorities area actual language and then where to find more information so a lot have been invol involved with this great job as well by our communications team our hope is that our community is well informed concerning Prop RP and is able to make an informed decision vision on April 7th. Any questions about our efforts so far? Okay. Well, lots of people to thank, a lot of hard work. Hopefully, our community feels uh informed really. So, I want to briefly highlight the America 250 celebration taking place across our community and really across our state and then across our nation. Um there's been a lot to go in that in all our communities. This national initiative marks the
046250th anniversary of the United States and provides an opportunity to reflect on our history, celebrate our shared values, and engage our communities in meaningful ways. Locally, both Raymore and Peculiar are hosting a variety of events that bring the celebration to life in Raymore. Activities include Rock the Ridge on June 25th at Hawkidge Park, um the Raymore 2.5 fun run on June 26th, and the Spirit of America celebration as American as apple pie with the parade starting actually in the Raymore parking lot, Raymore Elementary parking lot. Um on that July 4th, I believe they're stag they are, excuse me, they're staging that parade in the parking lot. And in peculiar they have the very peculiar Independence Day event at Lions Park that culminates with fireworks on the evening of July July 4th. And there'll be other
047activities as well. So a lot of exciting events. In addition, our students, as Dr. Bart said, will be engaging American 250 activities during summer school and principles and staff incorporate themes, lessons, and activities that help students connect with the significance of this milestone. Together, these efforts create meaningful opportunities for both celebration and learning across our entire community. And then the last item, unless there are any other questions, >> first I want to acknowledge Dr. Falker. You're on the statewide America 250 planning committee. >> Yes, I am. I was appointed by then Lieutenant Governor Mike Ko. So, I'm the Lieutenant Governor's appointment. Even though he is still he is now the governor, I'm still technically the Lieutenant Governor's appointee. But yes, I serve on that statewide committee and we plan activities and educational things across the
048state and that's been a a learning experience and a little more work um than I had thought, but you know that's always the way it goes. So that's been going well. District administration has also been meeting community leaders regarding the 2026 FIFA World Cup. We're going to have a very busy summer here in our community. I I think you all recognize that. As Kansas City will serve as a host city, these conversations have focused on logistics, community impact, and coordination, particularly as Argentina, England, and the Netherlands have selected Kansas City as their home base locations. And truly, we believe thousands and thousands and thousands of their fans will follow them here to Kansas City in that area, which is both exciting and then provides a little trepidation. This will increase activity, visitors, and international attention
049to our area. As we plan ahead, we're also considering the potential impact on summer school operations, including transportation and and attendance. Although our transportation provider has communicated with us, we will have enough bus drivers to run our summer routes, even with the increased need for drivers in our metro area. We um usually need 25 to 28 bus drivers in the summer. Truly believe they'll be able to accomplish that from our list of 75 to 80 bus drivers. And that is our hope. If not, we will problem solve. Then the first World Cup matches in Kansas City are scheduled for June 16th. That is a Tuesday. We do have summer school on that date. June 20th, June 25th, which is a Thursday, that will impact. And then June 27th, July 3rd, we think those will not
050be as impa impactful. All of them will impact traffic patterns and community activities across our area. So, there's just a lot going on. We want you to be aware that we are aware and we're planning for those activities and we'll have contingencies in place if complications arise. >> A comment was made today at the chamber meeting talking about supply issues. Have we thought about that with summer school lunches and different things? >> Yes, we're I will talk with Lindsay just to get a little more detail being purchasing in commodity commodities and being able to frontload a lot of that. I am I'm very hopeful that we will not have any supply issues, but do I think it will be a little bit different in our region for that month? Yes, I do. There will be
051some challenges that come up. >> Yeah, there's been a citywide planning effort countywide, regionwide, and honestly 500 to 600,000 people with their forecasting over that, you know, eight eight to nine week period. Uh we don't have that imagination right now what that's like. So there will be some snags but we are as far ahead of it as we can be. Uh Dr. Vulker and team have worked on that. So very appreciative of their efforts and we'll just cross our fingers and hope for the best. >> Keep you updated. >> 500 to 5 to 600,000 people are anticipated to be in this region above and beyond its normal population during that time. >> Stay home. >> Yeah. Really their events if you see past World Cups and just look I've watched a couple videos. It's what
052some of those host cities. We're talking about thousands and thousands of fans from each one of those teams. >> Yeah, we've got three of the more >> Yes. >> passionate fan bases. >> Yes. >> That have selected Kansas City as their home. >> Yeah. Greatest tradition. I think we got Messi's team and then the Dutch Netherlands are travel in incredible numbers and then England has historically a powerhouse. um really interesting reading on why they've selected Kansas City and it really takes me back to some of the reasons why we love this region and seeing others around the world recognized. Now, that doesn't mean we want them to all come here and and stay, but maybe a visit will be nice. >> Is it barbecue? >> That was one of them. >> It brings everybody. The
053barbecue's pretty good. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. On to the budget update. >> Yes. for tonight. Tiffany Banks is here to provide a budget update and recommendation for approval. Miss Banks. >> Yes. Good evening. Tonight, I'll walk you through a brief overview of the district's financial position through the end of February. Overall, our financial position remains strong and in line with expectations as we move through the fiscal year. On the revenue side, the district has received approximately $89.8 million through February, which is about $4.2 2 million higher than this time last year. This increase is primarily driven by strong current tax collections which continue to reflect growth in assessed valuation and the positive impact of the board approved levy transfer. We are also seeing increases in state funding included
054basic formula and Missouri quality pre kindergarten grant as well as higher activity related revenues tied to student participation. These gains are partially offset by expected declines in a few areas. Most notably, we are seeing lower revenues from POP C sales tax, reduced interest earnings compared to last year's higher rate environment, and the phase out of SR federal funds. We are seeing fluctuations in items like classroom trust fund and prior year one-time revenues. Even with those offsets, our total revenue remains ahead of last year, which is a positive indicator as we move into the final stretch of the fiscal year. On the expenditure side, total spending is approximately $70.4 4 million, which is about $1.8 million higher than last year at this time. This increase is primarily due to salaries and benefits, reflecting the board's continued
055investment in our staff through compensation adjustments and staffing support. We are also seeing some growth in instructional and operational supplies. These increases are partially offset by lower spending and purchase services and capital outlay, which is largely due to timing differences. Several larger projects occurred earlier in the prior year that have not occurred this year. Additionally, interest expense is higher which aligns with our current debt repayment schedule. In summary, our revenues are trending ahead of last year. Expenditures are aligned with expectations and overall financial performance remains stable and consistent with our budget plan. Bottom line, the district remains in a strong and stable financial position and we are on track to meet our budget expectations for the year. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have for me this evening. >> There's been some chitter
056chatter on social media saying how, you know, we should be getting all this money from the casinos and uh lottery tickets and now the online gaming. Can you um do a little education on what we actually do receive from that? You know, um it's funny you ask about that because I was just reading a Desi memo earlier this week and um our gambling earnings come from our classroom trust fund and that budget and that bucket is about4 to $55 million behind. So we we do not get um I know initially when that um Endeavor venture went out, we we don't receive that money. Um I don't know that we ever will. I don't know. I know Candace has has done it before us and I don't know that we ever will see it realize into
057what the expectation maybe perhaps was. >> I'll follow a little bit back. That's excellent. The u a lot of this blame is being placed on the gray boxes of not for the gambling money not flowing to be a taxable source of of revenue. to the point, the gray boxes are these these gambling boxes you find at gas stations and that aren't as closely regulated and aren't tied to the overall uh tax collection system. Uh there's been some legislative action to try to get these outlaw. In fact, um action did pass the House. It's now on the Senate side hoping that that will shore up that that revenue stream. Um, but the gambling monies from from sports betting have not yielded the benefits that was anticipated at this point and there's been a loss of some
058revenue that many legislators believe is because of the the gray boxes themselves. >> Thank you. Any other questions for Tiffany? >> Can you say that again? You that they're behind like payments of 40 to 50 million. >> No. So the bucket the appropriation so everything that they deliver they budget is based on a governor's appropriation. So once that bucket is it's kind of behind schedule it means that there's just not going to be as much piece of the pie right to give out. And so that's what they're predicting is that that once promised um position of that money may not be realized by districts. >> Are we getting anything then? >> We're getting some. Yeah. >> But not a sign >> not what we expected. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. All right. I will
059entertain a motion to approve the budget updates as presented. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other discussion, comments, questions? >> All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. >> All right. On to district-wide vehicle replacement. >> Yes, board. For the next several items, we have Scott Dobson, our director of buildings and grounds to walk us through these various items. I think there's six of them in secession that you have for us tonight. So, uh, we'll turn it over to the Scott Dobson show. >> All right. Thank you very much. Uh, this evening, we do have several action items. Uh, many of which, uh, we spoke a little bit about last month, preparing for a couple of the projects we're going to talk about tonight with the actual bids. Uh,
060first up is going to be our district replacement. So, yearly, we replace anywhere between two to four vehicles, uh, depending on the cost and the needs of those vehicles. This year, we're looking to replace three vehicles utilizing, uh, the Sourceful Co-op, uh, through Enterprise Fleet Management. We've this is now be our third year of partnering with Enterprise Fleet Management. We've been very happy with the service. Um it has definitely extended uh the the number of vehicles and the quality of vehicles in which we are able to purchase through that with their buying power. Uh the help of their fleet analysis and then the resale of our existing fleet has been a huge benefit to us instead of just uh selling those on gov deals where we do realize uh some pretty good money. But this
061way we also are realizing that money back into the fleet um right away. And then the purchase of the new vehicles is very helpful. We are able to get the vehicles in a much timely manner and then us sourcing them themselves through a local dealer. We get those vehicles kind of when they want to allot us the vehicles and then when they want to get them upfitted. So this has been a big benefit to the school district. So with that we are seeking to replace three vehicles and then surplus three vehicles at the same time. With that, um, I would like to make a recommendation to replace the three vehicles for a cost of $150,27. And that is assuming those trade in values of those vehicles. That number could fluctuate just a little bit depending
062on what those vehicles do sell. We do remain um have the option to decline those offers if we so see it. Um, and those do go to public auction. Those vehicles do. Happy to answer any questions on that about the vehicles or anything. Are these trucks, vans? What What are What vehicles are they? >> Uh, two trucks. Actually, all three of them are trucks, if you will. The replacement of our Maverick security vehicle and then two new trucks. Uh, both with snow plows. One's pretty heavily outfitted uh with a snow plow and a salt spreader and flatbed. And the other one's just a plane, 3/4 ton truck with a snow plow and a tunnel cover on top of it for the maintenance fleet. >> And in the long run, this saves us from having to
063outsource a lot of these services. >> It does. Yep. We h we have uh done our sub removals since I've worked at Rayek and we will continue to do that. >> And Scott, funding source for that is capital projects this month directly from their operation fund. Correct. >> That is correct. >> This was a budget expense for you when you made your budget for your >> Yep. Just our plan budget expense a little lighter this year. We've been around 275 or 175 to 200. Uh we are a little lighter this year where we don't need as many vehicles. >> I was going to say, do you have a a parameter? Do you have just like each year you know which ones you're going to trade in every so often? >> Great question. Yes. So we
064definitely are evaluating snow removal has been a pretty big part of that. U we are adding taking one van out this year and adding another truck just with the addition of the lead center the ninth grade little bit of addition at the high school where try to be able to uh bring the crew in in the morning and still be able to remove snow. We like to be able to remove remove snow kind of that four inches and under within about five to six hours is kind of our goal. So that's where we're at a truck this year. Great question. And then this will retain us to four salt spreaders in the district. Again, just trying to be more efficient, more effective, and be able to have school hopefully a little quicker and easier and
065not have to work so many uh long long long nights. Right. Okay, I will entertain a motion to approve the fleet vehicle purchases from Enterprise Fleet Management utilizing the Sourcewell Purchasing Co-op for an estimated amount of $150,27 pending trade in sales. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other comments, questions, discussion? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. All right, on to the the academy. >> Yes, the academy. So, uh Dr. Dr. Bar and myself were able to talk about this project last month and this has been probably one of our most exciting projects this coming summer is going to be the re-imagination if you will of a care space here in the academy. Uh we will be combining two spaces uh kind of three individual classrooms if you will into one
066large space to kind of go from retail shopping experience, the packing of the produce and the items going out to the backpacks program all the way to uh the clothes shopping and the closed closet if you will kind of on the other side of the building. So wrapping all three of those components into one building in one space is going to be awesome. Uh with that we are trying to make um it easier for all of our staff to be able to access that. So, there's going to be a dedicated entry straight from the what would be the east side of the building here at the academy and some dedicated parking stalls. So, with that, we are needing to rip out those three windows that go into that classroom, replace two of them uh to
067nice sealed windows that do not leak, and then one of those is going to go into a door. Uh so, basically, we're going be taking a window simply like what's behind you, cutting that down to the ground, and putting in a doorway in there. So with that uh we reached out to a a trusted partner with the district for many years through the Gordian group um through a pre-negotiated contract through a jock which is job order contracting um a very effective method here for us at Rayek. So with that we are entertaining the bid from Gordian Group to perform that work and happy to answer any questions about that project. >> This is on the east side. >> Yes ma'am. Were there other biders or was this the only one since we've used them before?
068>> This is the only one. It is through a co-op. So, it's a pre-negotiated uh project upfront. So, as you look through that quote, they have to achieve every line item. Pricing has to be upfront. So, that was actually pre-negotiated for them. So, they just have to honor it. >> And we saw these plans in a work session at our last meeting >> uh last month at the Yep. At the board meeting, Dr. bar. I was able to share a lot of that and we have some more here coming up here in just a second. >> Super very very excited for that to get it all together and the integration that we'll have with all of our different student groups also for that. So >> yes ma'am >> I do believe there's uh this is
069the ed foundation fund a need project for this year. So we not this not this particular project itself but overall the this re redesign. So we are looking forward to getting some cost partnership on that as well. All right. I will entertain a motion to approve the purchase of exterior doors and windows through a cooperative purchasing contract with Gordian in the amount of $44,487.94. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other discussion? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. All right. On to furniture. >> All right. As we continue to talk about the same project, uh more of the fun part of this project, if you will, is going to be reimagining all that space on the inside. So, how do we take this raw block rectangle, if you will, and
070make it usable? So, through the last several months, we've been working with the volunteers uh out of the can pantry. Dr. Bar and myself, Dr. Vulkar, and some other volunteers throughout that uh program have been meeting routinely. Uh we've had five or six in-person meetings and then several emails over the last couple months uh to go ahead and solidify this furniture layout for them. So, this is going to encompass all the storage that it takes to house all the food, all the clothes, the packaging of all the spaces, uh, some adult learning spaces, um, or adult landing spaces, if you will, to do some computer work, some printing, and then the really cool far part is going to be the checkout counter, uh, and kind of the kiosk, if you will. So, we have some
071ADA islands there and a large exchange counter where they're going to be able to have their point of sale systems uh be able to check those customers out as they go out the door uh with their goods. So, with that, we worked with Freedom Interiors over the last couple months to help us imagine this space. Uh with that, we have settled on our final final rendering and we are seeking approval tonight to go ahead and get that furniture purchase so we can secure it uh hopefully the middle of July to end of July for install. So, we're ready for middle of August and happy to answer any questions. Um, the rendering of this one, there are some uh some other 3D renderings of this and make it uh help bring it to life as well.
072We can share those. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion to approve the purchase of furniture for the Academy Care Space from Freedom Interiors in the amount of $57,159.72. >> So moved. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other discussion? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. All right. South Middle School Delta Pod. >> All right. Another amazing amazing project uh this summer uh from the academic side. We're really excited to share what is going to be this amazing space over in the 100 pod. Uh formerly known as the 100 pod, now to be the Delta Pod, uh at the South Middle School. So over the last close to a year at this point uh we have been imagining what this space could look like um from a design standpoint uh a little bit
073from the construction standpoint up front and then once we got that idolized then we moved on to the furniture. So over the last several months uh the Delta Pod team uh myself, Dr. Bar, uh Dr. Vulker have been meeting with the staff uh meeting with Freedom Interiors and designing this uh amazing space there that you see on the screen. So, there's been a lot of feedback, a lot of work put into this. This has probably been um probably about 150 to 200 hours, I would imagine, just in this furniture selection, furniture design put in this project, from colors to the seating to the fabrics, all that. A lot of student feedback um and a lot of adult feedback as we finish this up. So, we're really really excited to bring this one in front of
074you tonight for approval. And happy to answer any questions on this one. Well, I think we've all learned through the lead center and the uh ninth grade center that this mobile furniture design is much more conducive to our learning styles for our teachers and students. All right. I will entertain a motion to approve the purchase of furniture for South Middle School Delta Pod from Freedom Interiors in the amount of $197,912. >> So move. >> Is there a second? Second. >> Any other discussion? >> All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. >> All right. The HBAC. >> All right. Again, continuing our trend here at the South Middle School. Uh we this year the buildings and grounds team is hoping to finish up or will be finishing up uh phase two of the uh HVAC replacement of
075the building. Last year, as you recall, we replaced 39 units on what would primarily make up what would be known as the student side of the building or where the classrooms are primarily on the north side. This year we're going to be in the gymnasiums, cafe, uh the two elective hallways, 800 900 hallway, um yeah, library and everything's already done. So going to be on that side of the building changing out 13 rooftop units with that. Uh we have to do all the testing and balancing of the air ducts, all the cleaning a little bit of the air ducts and then we do all the commissioning and the testing of that of those systems. So for that uh we reach back out to our partners at Henderson. They provide us uh a quote uh that
076you see in front of you tonight to commission and do all the said work. So happy to answer any questions on that one. >> Are we using our intern over this? Well, we have an HVAC intern from the lead or >> Yep, we have two currently. >> Okay. >> Yep. Uh or hopefully both of those were seniors. So, we're actually actively placing both of those. Uh one of them I actually believe will be going to work for uh the company we're going to talk about next actually. But uh yep, they have been placed. But yeah, we'll keep them as long as we possibly can. But they both are seniors and and moving on. >> Okay. Excellent. >> All right. >> Kind of a question for everybody. U for Dr. Schlaggel. Is this kind of budgeted
077this year or is this contingent on Prop RP pass? >> A great question. None of this is contingent upon Prop RP. This is from uh as you will see, this is from Scott's capital projects uh budget line. As you know, we transfer um $2 million to him annually to keep up with stay ahead of some of this stuff, and this is an investment in that area. So, this is not continued on Prop RP. >> This is totally separate. Thank you. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion to approve commissioning services for the South Middle School HBAC phase 2 from Henderson Building Supplies or Solutions for $47,575. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other discussion? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. All right. Automation system. >> Yeah. So, as the final part of
078again of that south middle school on the south side of the building as we refer it to phase two. Um, with that it has been the district standard for the last pushing a decade. Every time we replace the equipment, we do go ahead and replace all automation controls with it just so everything's new. We start over on warranty. We start over on system type. Um, the original this access control system or excuse me, building automation system that uh is at the building is all original. So it's all 2003 along with the rooftop units. So it is well past its uh age of service is well past being able to be uh used and serviced and supported anymore supported anymore. So with that we are seeking to replace it just like we did on the north
079side of the building. We've had amazing results and continue to to relight savings there. So we're just looking to mimic the exact same thing on the south side of the building and happy to answer any questions. Do you still have HVAC uh tech member on staff still? >> We do. We have two. >> Good. >> We have two full-time. And this work again will be inhouse, the rooftop units themselves. Uh really the only three things that we subcontract if you will is going to be the commissioning services and the and the air balancing that we can't do in house and the building automation systems. And then we the third part of that is just the crane itself. Uh we'll do all the electrical, all the gas piping, all the condensate piping and then actually set
080all the rooftops, program all the rooftops and get them all up and running ourselves. >> Thank you for having the foresight to think about those things in your hiring so that we can keep that in internal. >> We appreciate the support on that. It is very nice. Uh we are very fortunate. We are amongst uh probably one of the only uh two to three districts in the entire metro area. I think ourselves, Blue Springs and Lee Summit are about the only districts that do any work like this, even attempt to do any work like this in house at a real savings. >> For the board's information, whenever you change HVAC units out, there's this ripple in the pond effect, especially around the commissioning piece and the automation system piece. These are not unforeseen costs. These
081are not unforeseen needs. These are part of the whole entire project, but they have to be done at different times. So, it looks like it's it's an add-on or maybe extra. It's it was foreseen >> 100%. >> It's just kind of continues to bleed over into the uh the following year. >> Yep. It's just a separate uh action item just because it's a different vendor, but it's all part of the one scope, one project. Good, good questions. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion to approve the proposal from control services company for the installation and service of the building automation at South Middle School in the amount of $15,000. >> Is there a second? Second. Any other discussion? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Dobson. >> All right, on to
082Chromebooks. >> Good evening. Uh, tonight I'm recommending the approval of the purchase of 1,210 Lenovo Chromebooks from YNS Technologies in the amount of $64,758. This is part of our planned annual Chromebook refresh cycle to replace devices that have reached their end of life. It will provide take-home technologies for our sixth and 9th graders and um be handed out at the nth grade center and our two middle schools. YNS Technologies was selected through a competitive request for proposal process as it offered the best overall value, including a full four-year accidental device protection warranty, the Google management console licensing, white glove deployment services, and which turned out to be the most important thing in this year's bid. On-time delivery, which half of our biders could not guarantee that they would have the Chromebooks to us by July
0831. So that tells you how the the situation we're having with supply and demand around the Chromebook and computer area. So um all this funding is within the current technology budget. So these are all expected expenses and so I'm happy to answer any questions you guys may have over Chromebooks or any other technology issues. >> This isn't this is just on a rotating cycle, don't we? >> Yeah. So this is our refresh cycle for our sixth and ninth grade students. So we start them out in middle school with a new device and then start them at high school with a new device. We take the the extra devices that we have that get retired at our eighth grade and our seniors and we take those all the way back to the elementary. So every year
084the elementary we're pumping about six or 700 new device used devices in with our elementary students. they don't take them home as much and aren't not near as rough on them as our middle school students are. >> Um, I know we have the warranty with all this stuff, but didn't we at one time have a a class at the high school that worked on learning how to repair? >> We did. We had uh a couple of students um in a class that did repairs on Chromebooks. >> You still have that? >> It did not make I can't believe it. All right, I'll enter >> one other because Mr. Good and I talked about this earlier this week, this expenditure because it's fairly significant. It's $600,000 and come to the conclusion that this is m much
085like a utility at this point. These are things that in our current state of affairs we use these, we use them effectively for student instruction and there's a cost to the ongoing cycle of these things. The question I have for you, Ryan, before they the vote, what if what happens if they're not delivered by July 1st? What's in our contract for any kind of renumeration? What what is that look like for us in their in what we can do? >> Yeah. So, we don't have any damages written into our contract with I mean, we probably wouldn't get any anybody bidding on it if we put damages in a contract if they missed that that date. YNS Technologies though is a company that we've worked with multiple times in the past and they've never missed missed
086a deadline. Um I talked directly with the president of YNS Technologies and he assures me they have these in stock. We're actually hoping to get our PO ready really quickly and get it to them as soon as possible so they can actually just ship them to us. So, we we probably will be storing these a little bit longer than we typically would, but um while they have the stock, we just want to we want to take it because it's it is a rush for them all over the all over the nation to get to get Chromebooks. Everybody's trying to buy the same thing. So, no damages written into the contract, but I have a a high confidence level that they'll they'll be able to deliver. >> Thank you. >> All right. I'll entertain a motion
087to approve the bid for,210 Chromebooks from YNS Technologies in the amount of 604,758. >> So, is there a second? >> Second. >> Any other discussion, comments, questions? All in favor? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. On to committee reports from the board. Uh the legislative group continues to meet every week and that's always an exciting half hour of uh >> I was going to say entertainment. >> Did you say exciting? >> All right. No. >> So uh big thank you to Dr. Schlaggel for the hard work that he puts into the research and getting all that information ready for uh each week for that call. Um there's some really engaged community members who are a part of that group and always have great questions and comments and discussion and and
088then follow through with uh when we need to make some reachouts to our legislators. So shout out to the group that he put together for that. >> All right, any other committee reports? All right, on to superintendent's comments. >> Thank you, Madam President. Just a couple of quick updates tonight. Uh first, as Dr. Vulker reminded you tonight or two weeks from tonight uh is April 7th and the uh would be the election on several fronts. We have obviously the board election. We have a bond election and we have Senate Bill 3 election that we'll all watching be watching very closely on. I appreciate the time, effort, and the care that has gone into making sure our community is informed about the bond. We'll continue those efforts right up to election day so our our patrons
089can make the best decision for our schools and community. Secondly, I want to make mention of our last day of school has been announced and has been adjusted to May the 21st to make up for the one day of school that we missed on December the 2nd. We'll continue to communicate that clearly to our families. The calendar has been updated as we move through uh the remainder of the school year into what is always a very busy spring. And finally, I get the chance to boast on you guys that this this is the finest board of education in the entire state of Missouri. And tonight, this month has been board appreciation month. And this tonight we have some gifts that we want to uh give to you from a number of our schools across the
090district. What makes this board special is your willingness to stay in involved and focused on what matters most. That's our students. Many of them are here tonight. While also being willing to ask us hard questions, push us a little bit, think through complex issues, and make decisions that move this district forward. Thank you for your leadership and your commitment to our students and community. Tonight, I'm going to ask staff to come forward to give uh I think what every elementary school every elementary school has a little bit of hand in this tonight. So, you already have some at your place table >> and you have the best one I liked is the schoolboard survival kit that you have there. So, >> Oh, thank you. >> Sweet. Thank you so much. So, I'll read off while
091we're all getting our goodies. This survival kit is lifesavers to remind you of the many times you've been one. Tootsie Rolls to roll with the punches. Starburst for a burst of energy when you need one. Snickers to remind you to always keep your humor. Kisses to show you all the love you deserve. Kit Kat to remind you to take a hard-earned break. Thank you to all of the different buildings. It was fun to get all of the And there's a plant. Let's see if I can keep it alive. Just sprinkle. Okay. Look at the back of it. >> I don't know why Deanna says favorite child. >> No, I'm favorite child. >> No, I'm dead. >> Okay. So, will you guys fight that out? Mine says not dead yet. >> What does yours say? >>
092Mine says >> not dead yet. >> Yeah. Well, some I have to wonder if Al had something to do with that. >> No, I don't. We need to know who put these in each of them. >> They were here. I don't know. >> Oh, they were just here. >> Well, they were here when I got here. So, I I have no idea. >> So, they must have known where we were going to sit. >> The lovely chalk thing out front. >> I don't know. >> Just success academy. >> That was very nice. >> There is chalk out. That was very nice. Lord, I hope you take these small reminders of how much the community appreciates your effort and the work that you do. Uh we sincerely appreciate you. I I sincerely appreciate working with you.
093Uh thank you for being the best board of education in the entire state. >> It's just what I asked him to say. >> Well, that leads right into board of education comments. I would just like to say this is one of the most meaningful things that I never dreamt that I would ever do but have been privileged to be a part of and I uh never take it for granted. >> All right, leading into that, somebody wrote me a script so I can stay on track. Tonight is a very special moment for our district and I have the honor of recognizing someone who probably wishes we would keep it quieter just a little bit longer. Recently, our superintendent, Dr. Mike Slegel, was named the statewide recipient of the Robert L. Pierce Award, Missouri's highest honor
094for a school superintendent, presented by the Missouri Association of School Administrators. This award recognizes extraordinary leadership, integrity, and a sustained commitment to students and communities. Each year, just one superintendent is selected for more than the 500 school districts across the state. The announcement was made late last week at the Missouri School Administrator and school public relations joint conference and it turned into a suite for Ray Peek. Not only did Dr. Slegel received the Pierce Award, but he also took homep administrator of the year award, also the top award for school superintendent. It is truly a proud moment for our district. Since becoming a superintendent, and this was something that was shared there uh in July of 2020, he came right in the middle of COVID if we all remember. Uh he has helped expand meaningful
095opportunities for students in powerful ways. Under his leadership, the district established the lead center, developed the integrated learning house, increased the number of students earning market value assets, and strengthened precipit participation in the Missouri Success Ready network. He also worked to build strong relationships with families and the community while maintaining a clear focus on preparing students for successful and meaningful lives. You know, we all laugh about his uh bus, his morning car lines, but I that's become one of the most favorite things that parents and students uh love is your morning interactions with them. What makes this recognition even more meaningful is how Dr. Slegel talks about it. And accepting the award, he shared that honors like these are never about one individual. They reflect the work of an entire team. our teachers and staff,
096our students, our families, and this community. This humility and team first mindset says a great deal about the kind of leader that he is. As part of the Pierce Award, a $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a Raymore peculiar student. Dr. Slegel, on behalf of the board of education and the entire Ray Peek community, thank you for your leadership, your heart for students, and your commitment to this district. We are proud of you and we are grateful for you. And tonight we are excited to celebrate you. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Slaggel. And if any of you would like to add to all of this, please do. >> You're the best. I mean there we there's only one happy smiley clappy guy. >> So and you're it. So um we're very honored and um
097having kids gone through this district. We they talk to you. I see kids talking to you every time you're there. Fist bumps. um they actually know who you are and that's a testament to your work and um just your love for all these these kids. You were a a hero also to to some of these um the academy kids. So it's great >> and you know I would say any of us that's been in a building with him the minute he walks in some kiddo is coming up and giving him a hug >> or yeah in just about every classroom that we visit. So yes, he is definitely very well known amongst the students and teachers alike and very well respected and you can go to any conference around the state and hear from others,
098oh you've got him, you've got a good one, you know, so he's very well respected amongst his peers, amongst our peers, you know, across the state. So we are very very grateful. >> Thank you. You make you make our job easy. Um we can't ever say well I didn't know about that. you keep us informed on every aspect and uh you know you're comp you compliment us a lot by saying we're the best board, but it it's easy to work for you and and your staff, the people that support you because of the way you keep us informed and you got a finger on every aspect of of the 6,000 students and the 2,4500 employees, whatever. I mean, you know, you know them, they know you, and we appreciate that. >> I like >> I
099would like to say that I'm sorry. >> Go for it. >> But I started first, but I never get to second anything. >> I I've had the pleasure of experiencing you both as as my boss, as an employee at Rayek, and now you tell me I still don't believe it that I'm your boss. That's true. >> Uh, >> but from all angles as as someone working with you and someone that worked for you, uh, you've been a wonderful leader, friend, and mentor. >> Just I mean, we're saying all these great things. You're not done. >> No, just so you know, like >> if you say so. >> Okay. >> He's gonna want a raise though after all these nice things. >> We are true. We are truly blessed to have you. So, thank you very
100much for your dedication to our students and our staff. It's greatly appreciated. >> I want to highlight what Ruth said on one of the statements about your integrity and just your commitment to our district to staff, students, and families that are here. Um, I really appreciate that. >> Do I get to say something? >> I suppose. >> All right. Uh, first of all, Recognitions like these are never about one person in time or one point in time. And I want to talk about that not being a one person in time first because I'm looking at that team right over there and our committed leaders who are not here tonight but have they do the work. I clap a lot and stay out of the way. That's my gift to them. Um, but they do they
101do the work and they have done tremendous work and I wouldn't want any other team in the entire world surrounding us and our kids than what we have right here. They are dedicated. They are missiondriven. Uh they love students. They love each other. They love staff. Some of the things they get away with is is incredible. The conversations we have is are fun, but they're productive. And this is probably the most highly um functional group of people, group of leaders I've ever been around. It's never about one person in time. And this board of education, don't under don't sell yourself short. Uh the way you push us, but the way we continue to converse about difficult things um makes this job worthwhile. It's also never about one point in time. So even though these how
102these recognitions are given, it was on a certain date to a certain person. Um there's been a long road of leadership in this district that gets us to this point. I go back six years ago when I took over for Dr. Mons. Dr. Mons hired most of these people here, put them in positions to be successful. So when I got here, there was no problems to fix. there was just a baton to take and move it around the track. And so that's what we've been able to do. So, you know, when I look back at what Carrie was did to put everything together, set the table. Of course, the table was set for the pandemic, but we got through that as well. I mean, I think because of this team we had together, >> we
103were able to move that baton forward quicker and faster than other districts were because of the quality that I walked into. So, what happened last Thursday night was all about a culmination of events over time that brings us to this point. And I'm incredibly blessed to have a timeline to have a lineage here in Ray Peek where I was able to lead and the people I lead with. So, thank you for this everybody and let's continue to do great things. All right, we're going to do a group photo, but let's go ahead and finish up business here. Uh, April 7th is election day. April 9th, teacher and support staff of the year reception. 6 pm reception, 7 p.m. program. April 13th is our reorganization meeting in this room at 6 pm and April 23rd is
104our next regular meeting 6 pm closed 7 p.m. open. And with that we are adjourned.